Saturday, August 31, 2019

The Living Canvas Cover Reveal


The Living Canvas
Pepper Winters
(Master of Trickery Duet #2)
Publication date: November 15th 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Description TBA
The second and final book in the Master of Trickery Duet.
Sequel to:


Author Bio:
Pepper Winters is a multiple New York Times, Wall Street Journal & USA Today Bestseller.
After chasing her dreams to become a full-time writer, Pepper has earned recognition with awards for best Dark Romance, best BDSM Series, and best Hero. She's an multiple #1 iBooks bestseller, along with #1 in Erotic Romance, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary, and Erotica Thriller. She's also honoured to wear the IndieReader Badge for being a Top 10 Indie Bestseller.
Pepper is a Hybrid Author of both Traditional and Self-published work. Her Pure Corruption Series was released by Grand Central, Hachette.
Her books have garnered foreign interest and are currently being translated into numerous languages, including already released titles in Italian, French, German, Hebrew, and Turkish.

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Wonderland Academy Book Blitz #Giveaway


Wonderland Academy: Book One
Melanie Karsak
Publication date: August 27th 2019
Genres: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Retelling, Young Adult
Welcome to Wonderland Academy. Don’t lose your head.
Getting into Wonderland Academy is easy:
You must be a little mad.
You must follow the white rabbit.
You must find the key to enter Wonderland.
You must not be named Alice or risk being beheaded by order of the Queen of Hearts.
We might have an issue with that last one.
My name may be Alice, but Wonderland Academy is everything my real life isn’t. Who wouldn’t want to learn how to ride a jabberwocky, train with a vorpal sword, cast spells using a teacup, or shapeshift into a fairy? As long as no one figures out my real name, I should be fine.
The only problem? Aden, the Queen of Hearts’ son, is quickly becoming my best friend. And then there’s Corbin. Brooding, surly, tattooed, and definitely not my type, I can’t stop thinking about him. But Corbin has secrets of his own, and Wonderland and secrets don’t mix.
How I’m going to pass my classes and protect my secret like my life depends on it is beyond me. But I better find a way. Because in Wonderland, no Alice is safe.
Wonderland Academy re-imagines the fantastical world of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland for a fresh, new adventure. Combining whimsy, magic, and a splash of steampunk, New York Times best-selling author Melanie Karsak invites you into this beautifully re-envisioned fairy tale adventure.
* * *
Wonderland Academy is a college-level academy novel. It contains a slow-burn (not rh) romance. The novel is clean aside from mild language. This is Book 1 in a planned trilogy. Book 1 ends on a cliffhanger (Frodo didn’t reach Mount Doom in a day, after all).
Trigger Warning: This novel also includes references to a school shooting.
EXCERPT:
Setting my bag in a chair by the window, I pulled on my coat. It was pouring. Drops rolled down the windowpane, distorting the view of the sidewalk below. As I pulled my jacket on, however, I noticed someone on the sidewalk below. He was looking up at the window. I couldn’t make him out clearly, but from what I could see, he was wearing some kind of period costume and a top hat. He had long, pale blond hair that almost looked white.
“You all think I’m a lunatic? There’s some guy standing outside in the rain in a Victorian get-up and top hat.”
“What?” Mom asked. “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know. Just some rando guy standing in the rain,” I said then turned, zipped up my coat, and grabbed the bag.
Nurse Gilman stepped to the window and looked outside. “It’s really coming down,” she said, eyeing the sky. She then strained her neck to the left and right. “Your mystery man must have gone back inside.”
“He was right there,” I said.
A sick feeling rocked my stomach. No, no, no. He was there. Dammit, he really was there. I edged toward the window and looked outside. I was right. The man was standing right there, looking up at the window.
He waved at me.
“Where?” Nurse Gilman asked, looking up and down the sidewalk.
“There,” I said, motioning hesitantly.
“I must have missed him,” Nurse Gilman said with a shrug.
I stared at the man.
He waved again.
Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.
“Yeah,” I said. “Maybe they’re doing a show in the children’s wing or something,” I muttered then turned from the window.
I didn’t want Nurse Gilman to see my face.
Mom, however, caught my eye. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she gave me a hard look.
I dropped her gaze.
I absolutely, positively, did not want to have that conversation on the way home.
“I’m ready,” I told Mom.
“Good. Let’s get you the hell out of here.”
“Be well,” Nurse Gilman said. She motioned to the nurses’ station. The door to the waiting room unlocked with a click. Nurse Gilman motioned to us that we were free to go.
Mom and I headed down the dim hallway of the fifth-floor psych ward. The narrow hall felt like it was a million miles long. It wasn’t until we were safely inside the elevator that I finally exhaled.
“Your phone,” Mom said, handing it to me.
I had a few missing calls, messages from old friends, but there wasn’t anyone I wanted to talk to anyway. I stared at the screensaver, which had a picture of Nicholas and me. The photo had been taken just before homecoming, before everything went to shit. We’d gone for a hike that day. The autumn leaves in the background were bright orange and burnt red. We were both bundled up, our cheeks red, faces pressed together. We’d spent the entire hike planning a future that would never come to pass.
I turned off my phone and stuck it in my pocket.
Mom punched the elevator button for the ground floor.
I kept my eyes on the lights above the door, praying Mom wouldn’t ask anything.
It wasn’t until we’d passed the second floor that Mom whispered, “Lacey, are you seeing—”
“I’m fine. Really. I’m fine.”
She didn’t answer, which told me she knew well-enough I was not fine.
They’d been popping up in my periphery more frequently for the last two weeks. People who were there then not there. Flickers of light. Shadows that whispered. Otherworldy shapes. Their presence wasn’t anything new to me. While I was more prone to see them during times of stress, they’d been there all my life. I knew that if I really looked, I’d see them. It was better to ignore them.
A mermaid had taught me that.
Mom and I headed to the front of the hospital. I couldn’t wait to get away from the terrible hospital smell. A weird mix of the scents of bleach, chrysanthemums, green beans, and Band-Aids perfumed the place. It was enough to make a person gag.
Raining or not, I was relieved when the hospital doors opened. I inhaled the sweet scent of the rain-soaked air. Mom’s rusted-out Mustang sat waiting just outside.
“Okay. Let‘s run for it,” Mom called, and we sprinted to the car.
Holding my plastic bag above my head, I ran, flinging open the door of the vehicle. But just before I climbed inside, I cast a glance down the sidewalk.
The man was still standing there. He pulled something from his pocket and tapped on it. He waved to me, a broad smile on his face.
“Lacey, you’re letting the rain in,” Mom yelled.
I slipped into the car, slamming the door behind me.
Mom revved the engine then drove off, her nineties rock springing to life. I leaned forward and clicked off the music. The last thing I needed was the dulcet tones of Nirvana shouting at me post suicide watch.
Sighing, I leaned back into the seat and closed my eyes.
Why was I seeing them again?
The white-haired man had been pointing at a pocket watch. A pocket watch.
What in the hell did that mean?
I hadn’t meant to kill myself.
Not this time.
It figured. On the morning I’d been discharged from the psych ward, I was beginning to lose my mind.


Author Bio:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Melanie Karsak is the author of The Airship Racing Chronicles, The Harvesting Series, The Celtic Blood Series, Steampunk Red Riding Hood, and Steampunk Fairy Tales. The author currently lives in Florida with her husband and two children. She is an Instructor of English at Southern New Hampshire University.

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Blood King Book Blitz #Giveaway


Blood King
Amber K. Bryant
(Spirit Seeker, #1)
Published by: City Owl Press
Publication date: August 27th 2019
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
While the Blood King lives, no one is safe.
Sybille Esmond never wanted to inherit her family’s weird business: summoning spirits of the undead and guiding them to the afterlife. While it pays the bills, dealing with supernatural monsters comes with colossal risks, including becoming undead herself.
When tall, dark, and undead Elis Tanner, a reformed member of the soulless ever-after, invades Sybille’s life, bringing with him a possessive, disembodied ex-wife, those risks get complicated, and those complications become dangerous.
Sybille must aid Elis in confronting his jealous ex while also investigating the Blood King, a beast who refuses to die—by stake or by poison.
After a harrowing possession leaves her burned and bruised, Sybille finds herself drawing closer to the tempting Elis, who may be the only one capable of helping her kill the unkillable. With the Blood King and his legions of undead closing in, she discovers her own life is far from the only thing in jeopardy.
EXCERPT:
Unlike most of the people in attendance, Sybille Esmond hadn’t come to the county fair to watch a rodeo show or stroke the glossy fur of ribbon-winning show rabbits.
She came to be hypnotized.
Sybille stood among the selected volunteers as the would-be hypnotist, Elis Tanner, circled them, his scrutiny of his subjects aided by a flourish of his hands to the waiting crowd. Their environment presented a jarring mix, up-tempo techno music blaring like a nineties rave set against rainbow-themed carnival tents and food stands hawking deep-fried butter.
Elis raised his uplifted arms higher, mimicking a conductor about to direct an orchestra. As he closed his hands into fists, the music cut out. The crowd stopped their chatter, blueberry snow cones lowered, gazes raised as the man on the stage commanded their attention. A chill ran up Sybille’s spine.
They were ready to be entertained and mesmerized, and though Elis Tanner had yet to do either, people were already leaning forward, hushing young children, silencing their phones.
The music came on again, another driving beat. Its vibrations tickled Sybille’s toes.
She couldn’t blame the crowd for wanting to be tricked in exchange for a bit of harmless fun. Only in this case, they weren’t being tricked, not the way they imagined.
And Elis Tanner was far from harmless.
“How many of you have been hypnotized before?” He spoke with a vaguely British inflection, like someone who had lived stateside long enough that only scraps of their original accent remained. It reminded her of black and white movie actors. Cary Grant but a bit less Bristol.
A few people raised their hands, garnering a knowing smile from him. Sybille kept hers down. “The truth is, you’ve all been hypnotized multiple times. Every one of you.”
The audience shifted. Sybille remained still. Elis was right: hypnotism was no magic. Not under normal circumstances. Today’s show would present a different story, however. If he was nothing else, Elis Tanner offered the most abnormal of circumstances Sybille had ever come across.
“Hypnotism is simply another state of consciousness, no different than the ones we pass through on the way to and from sleep,” he explained to them.
He searched the audience with clear grey eyes and then turned his gaze to the volunteers, stopping at her. It was a slight hesitation most would have missed, but Sybille was determined to miss nothing. In the briefest of pauses, perhaps there lay a hint of recognition.
Or perhaps not. Either way, Sybille must tread carefully. The enraptured audience had made themselves totally vulnerable. She glanced at her fellow stage-mates. They’d been naive enough to volunteer in handing their will over to him to play with for an hour. Sybille volunteered as well, but unlike the others, she did so with full knowledge of what she was getting herself into.
The music continued to blast. Intolerably loud, it forced its way into her, her head throbbing within a wall of sound.
Elis asked the volunteers to take seats in the metal folding chairs set out on the stage. “Are you ready?” He looked at her when he said this. Eleven volunteers nodded. Sybille smiled. She was ready. It was Elis who had no idea what was coming.


Author Bio:
Amber K. Bryant is an award-winning speculative fiction and romance writer living deep within Sasquatch territory in Washington State. Her stories have gained over ten million reads on Wattpad, where she has built a world-wide fan base. She collaborated on a short story with R. L. Stine and won several contests judged by Margaret Atwood. When she isn't writing, she works as a librarian and spends time with her husband and son enjoying the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. She has yet to spot Bigfoot but has faith it will happen one day. Blood King is her debut novel.

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Friday, August 30, 2019

Phoenix Rising Book Blitz #Giveaway


Phoenix Rising
Giulia Lagomarsino
(Reed Security Series, #16)
Publication date: August 26th 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Phoenix Rising is book 16 in the Reed Security Series and it is suggested they be read in order.
The men and women of Reed Security are back, but after all the turmoil of the past year, how do they adapt and move forward? For some, it’s easy, but others, the past year is only the beginning of what they will have to deal with. Some of them were shot and almost died. Morgan and Chance were taken and tortured in their own respects and now must deal with the after effects. Payton was torn from her mother and spent a year and a half without her. The wives lost their jobs, and many had to run from their families and friends to keep them safe. But one thing remained the same through all of this, they are each others’ family and will do anything to help each other through. They are Reed Security, and they will rise from the ashes.
BOOK TRAILER:
EXCERPT:
“Alexa, play Sam Tinnesz.”
I waited as it was searching and cringed when Mmm Bop by Hanson came on.
“What the f*@k? Alexa, play Legends Are Made by Sam Tinnesz.”
Alexa searched again, this time playing John Legend.
“You’ve got to be f*@king kidding me. I just want something good to listen to. Alexa, play Hold On For Your Life by Sam Tinnesz,” I said slowly, accentuating every word.
“Searching….”
And then the opening strands of Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On started to play.
“F*@k it.” I sloshed back down in the water, trying to ignore the girly song that was playing while I was trying to relax. I actually found that it was working. The soothing melody had me sinking into such a relaxed state that I didn’t even notice the door opening.
“What the hell are you listening to?” My eyes flew open in surprise. Chris was standing in the doorway with a smirk on his face. “Want me to get you a cocktail?”
“Actually, I’d love one,” I retorted. “I tried to get the f*@king thing to play something else, but like any woman, she just did whatever the f*@k she wanted.”
“Alright, let’s see what we got here.” He walked over to a mini fridge in the corner. I had expected to find water, but instead saw some kind of girly cooler.
“Toss me one.”
Chris popped the top and handed one to me and then got one for himself. After draining half of it, he got undressed and got in with me. “Is this weird?” he asked as he settled in.
“Sitting in the hot tub together?”
“Yeah. You know, it’s kind of like bathing together. You’re sweaty. I’m sweaty….”
I nodded. “I gotcha.” I reached over to the ledge and grabbed a bottle of body wash, pouring in a generous amount. Bubbles filled the tub and I grinned, pleased with myself.
“Yeah, that’s not at all weird,” Chris muttered. “Now we’re taking a bubble bath together.”
“But we’ll be clean,” I pointed out. “What’s worse? Sitting around in each other’s filth or sitting in soap together?”
“Soap is only clean as long as it’s in the bottle. Once it’s in the water, it’s just dirty soap.”
“It’s self-cleaning.”
“Oh, God.” Chris and I turned to see Jules standing in the doorway with Alec and Rocco. “Are you two taking a bubble bath?”
“It’s a hot tub,” I corrected. “The bubbles are just to get us clean.”
“That’s what a shower is for,” Jules pointed out.
“Hot tubs are very good for the muscles,” Rocco said as he yanked off his shirt. “I’m in.”
“Grab me another cooler before you get in,” I said.
Rocco stripped down to his shorts and climbed in with a cooler for each of us. “Ah, this is great. My body is killing me today.” He closed his eyes and then opened them, narrowing in on me. “Are you f*@king listening to Celine Dion?”
I shrugged. “You get the b*%ch to play something else.”


Author Bio:
I'm a stay at home mom that loves to read. Some of my favorite titles are Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Horatio Hornblower. I started writing when I was trying to come up with suggestions on ways I could help bring in some extra money. I came up with the idea that I could donate plasma because you could earn an extra $500/month. My husband responded with, "No. Find something else. Write a blog. Write a book." I didn't think I had anything to share on blog that a thousand other mothers hadn't already thought of. I decided to take his challenge seriously and sat down to write my first book, Jack. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed writing. From there, the stories continued to flow and I haven't been able to stop. I hope my readers enjoy my books as much as I enjoy writing them. Between reading, writing, and taking care of three small kids, my days are quite full.

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Release Week Blitz Lycan's Blood Queen #Giveaway



I am so excited that LYCAN’S BLOOD QUEEN by Catherine Edward is available now and that I get to share the news!
If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book by Author Catherine Edward, be sure to check out all the details below.
This blitz also includes a giveaway for three copies of the eBook, International, courtesy of Catherine, GenZ Publishing, and Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

About the Book:
Title: LYCAN’S BLOOD QUEEN (Randolph Duology #1)
Author: Catherine Edward
Pub. Date: August 22, 2018
Publisher: GenZ Publishing
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 358
Find it: GoodreadsAmazon

Aaron George Randolph, ruling King of the Lycans, is hell-bent on revenge for his mother’s brutal death at the hands of Vampires. But when a suspicious student takes up resident on his turf, he can’t help but be drawn to her despite knowing what she is.

Taken into custody by the ruling family of Brookedge, Mia’s life is complicated by the whole different world of mythical creatures living among humans. Now she must survive the impending civil war between old rivals, all the while learning about her true self and the power she holds. Torn between the nature of who she is and the overwhelming desire for the Lycan king, her choices are minimal.

What begins as vicious hostility changes into defying desire as Aaron and Mia are brought together by an unforgiving grudge that miraculously blooms into something unexpected that neither knew they needed.

With the war on the rise and a powerful enemy at the head of it, will their feelings for each other heal them in time? Or will they be forced to part ways and deny each other what was fated to be?

Read chapters 1-3 on Wattpad!

About Catherine:

Hailing from India, Catherine is an author and law graduate, specializing in Intellectual Property & Copyright Infringement. She is passionate about Lycans, Werewolves, Witches and Vampires, and writes sizzling tales of love and betrayal. 


Her love for books started from a very young age, when her loving father would gift her books like Russian Tales woven with fantasy. But it was in late 2015 when she found the books of Paranormal Romance author Cynthia Eden, whose books introduced her to the whole new world of paranormals. The more she read the more she got enticed and she penned her first novel in 2016. Since then, she has resigned her full time job as the HR and Operations Manager at a marketing/event management firm to pursue her passion as a writer.

When she isn’t writing, she likes to travel and read. Music and writing goes hand in hand for this night owl. Her family and furbabies are her world. 

She also loves to chat with her readers and fellow authors. You can find Catherine often chatting on Twitter or on her Facebook page.


Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a eBook of LYCAN’S BLOOD QUEEN, International.




Release Blitz: Shutout

Title: Shutout
Series: Bases Series Book Four
Author: Hazel Grace
Genre: Sports Romance/Contemporary
Release Date: August 30, 2019
I’ve survived it before, the loss of Colson Hayes. 
Experienced that tingling feeling of hope off my fingertips, one that begged me to hold on for dear life, only for it to melt away.
Some people get a second chance. 
I got the second slap to the face by a vengeful past that always seems to sweep in and destroys us.
I can’t compete with this one. 
Nor can I fend off the loss that swallows me whole. 
He learns my truth, the very one that was supposed to set us free from the decade-old angst we had for each other.
But then I learned his. 
And with that new little piece of reality, karma dealt us a hand that once again triggered the act of our demise.
One I wasn't ready to play.
Hazel Grace is an avid music lover and hardcore Oakland Raiders fan from the mitten state of Michigan. Her writing goals are "what the f*ck" storylines while enjoying her readers private messaging her to cuss her out.
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