Friday, January 30, 2015

Sweet Temptation - Cover Tease




Wendy Higgins, author of the Sweet Evil YA series is giving us a sneak peek of the cover of her newest book from that series, Sweet Temptation and I love it...such a perfect teaser for Kai's book! 




Hehehe, don't you love it?  I am so getting this slogan put on a shirt!  I can't wait to see the rest and most importantly get my hands on this book and see things from Kai's point of view!  Here is a quick description of the book!


Book Description:

Bad boy Kaidan Rowe has never wanted for anything—money, popularity, musical talent…hot girls—but seducing them is part of his duty as a Nephilim, slave to the demon Dukes. As the son of the Duke of Lust, Kaidan has learned his father’s ways, becoming a master of passion, a manipulator of chemistry. Disobeying his father would mean certain death. Thankfully for Kaidan, he’s good at his job. And he enjoys it. 

Until he meets Anna Whitt—sweet, smart, feisty, and inexplicably good—the one girl seemingly immune to his charms. The daughter of a guardian angel and a fallen one, she has a certain power over him, one that makes him wish for more than he could ever deserve. 

Determined to save all the Neph from their dark lives as the influencers of sin, Anna joins forces with Kaidan to overcome the demons’ oppressive ways. In the light of her affections, Kaidan must undergo his toughest test of all, a battle of the heart.

Sensual and swoon worthy, this companion volume to the acclaimed Sweet Evil series from New York Times bestselling author Wendy Higgins, told from the perspective of the irresistibly sexy and mysterious Kaidan Rowe, gives readers revealing insights into his struggle, his intense connection to Anna, and most of all, the true emotions that drive him.


 Sweet Temptation releases September 8, 2015 and you can pre-order it at these sellers, also don't forget to add it to your GoodReads TBR~

 

After earning a bachelor's in Creative Writing from George Mason University and a master's in Curriculum and Instruction from Radford, Wendy taught high school English until becoming a mommy. Writing Young Adult (YA) stories gives her the opportunity to delve into the ambiguities of those pivotal, daunting, and exciting years before adulthood.
She lives on the Eastern Shore of Virginia with her husband, daughter, and son.
 

Maybe Me - Cover Reveal

I am excited to help reveal the cover for MAYBE ME by Amber Hart! 

Maybe Me releases this fall from Kensington Teen!

  maybe me-2    




Book Description:

 A sliver of a second is all it takes. Maria Reyes knows what it means to come from nothing. Escaping Cuba, the States have given Maria new dreams. Like graduating high school. Going to college. Making something of herself. Forgetting a past that always seems to creep up on her family. But mostly, staying out of trouble. Which is why falling for Hale is out of the question. An unguarded moment, a simple mistake. Hale Watson is a flash of a second away from being locked up for good. With a rap sheet longer than the list of homes he comes from, Hale has one more shot at making things right. Graduate senior year. Don’t mess up. Don’t get caught. That’s the plan. Until he meets Maria. And everything changes. 


MAYBE ME is the third book in the Before & After series, but it can be read as a standalone! You can find out more about BEFORE YOU and AFTER US here!

 





Amber Hart grew up in Orlando, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia. She now resides on the Florida coastline with family. When unable to find a book, she can be found writing, daydreaming, or with her toes in the sand. She's the author of the Before & After series (BEFORE YOU; AFTER US; MAYBE ME), and the Until You Find Me series (UNTIL YOU FIND ME; CAPTURED BY YOU). Rep'd by Beth Miller of Writers House.


Wednesday, January 28, 2015

All Fall Down - Review




Author: Ally Carter
Publication Date: January 20, 2015
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Series: Embassy Row, book 1
Genre: Young Adult Mystery
Age Recommendation: 13 and up
Rating: 5 Stars


Book Description:

A new series of global proportions -- from master of intrigue, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Ally Carter.

This exciting new series from NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Ally Carter focuses on Grace, who can best be described as a daredevil, an Army brat, and a rebel. She is also the only granddaughter of perhaps the most powerful ambassador in the world, and Grace has spent every summer of her childhood running across the roofs of Embassy Row.

Now, at age sixteen, she's come back to stay--in order to solve the mystery of her mother's death. In the process, she uncovers an international conspiracy of unsettling proportions, and must choose her friends and watch her foes carefully if she and the world are to be saved.

My Review:

Absolutely loved this book when I decided to get past the fact that Grace's mom died three years ago and not one single person thought it was a good idea to oh, I don't know redecorate the room that used to be her mothers and will now be Graces.  I just took a deep breath and let it go (okay maybe it still bugs me a little) because the rest of the book is so freaking awesome you don't want to let that one little thing bring you down.  Seriously that is my only complaint, haha.

Grace is a girl trying to reconcile her past with her future and struggling to deal with both.  She is a strong female lead with a bit of fearlessness and recklessness.  After watching her mother die she's struggled to come to terms with her death.  Everyone says it was a tragic accident, a fire, but Grace knows differently, she saw it all happen and no one will believe her.  A fire didn't kill her mother, a gun shot to her chest did and she knows there was a man, a man with a scar who is to blame for it all.

Three years of being treated like she was crazy, three years of know one believing her and one fateful night places her in the path of the man she knows killed her mother.  

"He's here!  I want to scream and claw and wail until someone hears me. Until someone finally cares." -Grace

Her family, her doctors, the authorities no one takes her seriously but now with her self appointed best friend Noah (who I adore), Megan, a maybe friend, and her brother's appointed watch dog, Alexei she fights to find the truth without loosing her sanity in the process.  

"My voice doesn't sound like my own.  I keep looking at my hands.  In the past twelve hours my cuticles have become the most fascinating things ever.  I can't look anyone in the eye anymore.  I'm afraid of what else I might see.  "Grace, you're scaring me." Slowly, I force myself to find his eyes, hold his gaze. "That's okay. " I tell him. "Because I'm terrified.""

This book is full of twists and turn and an ending that will leave you gasping and wanting the next book NOW.  This is the perfect spy thriller for young readers and adults alike.  As parents there is no need to worry about what your young teens might come across, the book while full of unexpected moments isn't full of foul language or hot and heavy romance. As adults you will get all the thrills you need plus a simmering romance that I am anxious to watch play out.  I am TOTALLY team Alexei!!!  This is a fantastic read for any Young Adult genre fans, do not miss out on it!  



Ally Carter writes books about spies, thieves, and teenagers. She is the New York Times Best-selling author of the Gallagher Girls and Heist Society series. Her books have been published all over the world, in over twenty languages.
ALL FALL DOWN is the first book in her highly-anticipated new series, Embassy Row. She grew up on a farm in Oklahoma, and has never caused an international incident (to her knowledge).



Apollycon Author Spotlight - Katie McGarry

ApollyCon Featured Author: Katie McGarry

About the Author

KATIE MCGARRY was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, and reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.


Books




Recent Release


A summer road trip changes everything in this unforgettable new tale from acclaimed author Katie McGarry

For new high school graduate Echo Emerson, a summer road trip out west with her boyfriend means getting away and forgetting what makes her so... different. It means seeing cool sights while selling her art at galleries along the way. And most of all, it means almost three months alone with Noah Hutchins, the hot, smart, soul-battered guy who’s never judged her. Echo and Noah share everything — except the one thing Echo’s just not ready for.

But when the source of Echo’s constant nightmares comes back into her life, she has to make some tough decisions about what she really wants — even as foster kid Noah’s search for his last remaining relatives forces them both to confront some serious truths about life, love, and themselves.

Now, with one week left before college orientation, jobs and real life, Echo must decide if Noah's more than the bad-boy fling everyone warned her he'd be. And the last leg of an amazing road trip will turn... seriously epic.


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Apollycon Author Spotlight - Kristen Proby

ApollyCon Featured Author: Kristen Proby

About the Author

Kristen is the author of the Amazon and USA Today bestselling With Me In Seattle series. She has a passion for a good love story and strong characters who love humor and have a strong sense of loyalty and family. Her men are the alpha type; fiercely protective and a bit bossy, and her ladies are fun, strong, and not afraid to stand up for themselves.

Kristen spends her days with her muse in the Pacific Northwest. She enjoys coffee, chocolate and sunshine. And naps.


Books




Recent Release


From New York Times bestselling author Kristen Proby comes the third romance in the Love Under the Big Sky series, featuring a veteran struggling with PTSD and the one woman who can help him recover—and learn to love again.

Jillian thought she was a city girl through and through; the fast cars, high fashion, and glamour—she loves it all. But when her ex tells her he’s having a baby with his new wife (after Jillian struggled for years to get pregnant), she hightails it back to Montana to cry on the shoulder of her best friend, Cara.

But in truth, Jillian would rather be comforted by someone else…specifically Zach, Cara’s brother-in-law. Zach is a veteran of the Iraq War who came back to the family ranch to raise his preteen son after the boy’s mother took off. He’s struggling to re-establish a relationship with his son, and warding off the demons of PTSD, which still haunt him. The last thing he needs is bold, brassy Jillian…but why can’t he keep his hands off her?


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Monday, January 26, 2015

The Terrible Two - Review




Mom Monday




Author: Mac Barnett and Jory John
Publication Date: January 13, 2015
Publisher: Amulet Books
Genre: Middle Grade Humor
Age Recommendation: 8-12
Rating: 4 Funny Stars



Book Description:

Miles Murphy is not happy to be moving to Yawnee Valley, a sleepy town that’s famous for one thing and one thing only: cows. In his old school, everyone knew him as the town’s best prankster, but Miles quickly discovers that Yawnee Valley already has a prankster, and a great one. If Miles is going to take the title from this mystery kid, he is going to have to raise his game.

It’s prankster against prankster in an epic war of trickery, until the two finally decide to join forces and pull off the biggest prank ever seen: a prank so huge that it would make the members of the International Order of Disorder proud.

In The Terrible Two, bestselling authors and friends Mac Barnett and Jory John have created a series that has its roots in classic middle-grade literature yet feels fresh and new at the same time.

My Review:
I really enjoyed this humorous tale of finding your space in the crowd, in being yourself and not the kid you think people want you to be.  

Miles Murphy is miserable.  Miles Murphy is moving to some country town full of cows.  Miles Murphy has an identity in his old town.  Miles Murphy has to decide what kind of kid he will be in this new town. What if that kid is already at the new school.

"But Miles didn't want to be any of those kids. He didn't want to be a new kind of kid at all.  Miles wanted to be the same kind of kid he was at his old school: the prankster. Miles had been the best prankster his old school had ever seen, and he'd be the best prankster at his new school too."

After being paired up with his school buddy Niles, who as Miles (yes Niles and Miles) describes him is the kiss-up kind of kid,

"There was a Niles at every school.  The kiss-up. The do--gooder. The school snitch."
he starts to make his plans to set himself up as the schools best prankster but when the moment comes his plans are foiled, again and again and again.  Who is this prank stealing prankster and how will Miles ever out prank 'him'?  

This book is full of witty humor that had myself and my 9 year old smiling and giggling the whole read.  I love the banter between all the characters, the outlandish persona of the Principal Barkin.  The Cow Facts are a wonderful addition and the illustrations perfect the book.  Don't forget to take the Prankster Oath at the end of the book as I can see this book creating a whole new era of school pranskters, if it wasn't such a fun read I am afraid teachers might hide in fear. 

This is a book that any reader will love and would be a great choice for reluctant readers, it's ridiculous, smart, hilarious, engaging, and just all around fun!  


Mac Barnett:

Born to non-farmers in a California farming community, Mac now lives near San Francisco. He's on the board of directors of 826LA, a nonprofit writing center for students in Los Angeles, and he founded the Echo Park Time Travel Mart, a convenience store for time travelers







Jory John is a writer, editor and journalist. He has written for the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Believer, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, the Rumpus, the Santa Cruz Sentinel and a variety of other publications and websites. He is the editor of "Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country: Kids Letters to President Obama," published by McSweeney's and featured on "This American Life."

Jory is the co-author of "All my friends are dead," and its sequel, "All my friends are STILL dead." He also co-wrote a book of humorous essays called, "I Feel Relatively Neutral About New York" and the children's book "Pirate's Log: A Handbook for Aspiring Swashbucklers," all published by Chronicle Books.

His newest books are "Goodnight Already!" (with Benji Davies) and the forthcoming "The Terrible Two" (with Mac Barnett).

Jory lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
 

Apollycon Author Spotlight - Laura Kaye

ApollyCon Featured Author: Laura Kaye

About the Author

Laura Kaye is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary and paranormal romance and romantic suspense, including the Hard Ink, Heroes, and Hearts of the Anemoi series. Laura's hot, heartfelt stories are all about the universal desire for a place to belong. Laura grew up amidst family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses, cementing her life-long fascination with storytelling and the supernatural. Laura lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.


Books




Recent Release


Caught between desire and loyalty…

Derek DiMarzio would do anything for the members of his disgraced Special Forces team—sacrifice his body, help a former teammate with a covert operation to restore their honor, and even go behind enemy lines. He just never expected to want the beautiful woman he found there.

When a sexy stranger asks questions about her brother, Emilie Garza is torn between loyalty to the brother she once idolized and fear of the war-changed man he's become. Derek’s easy smile and quiet strength tempt Emilie to open up, igniting the desire between them and leading Derek to crave a woman he shouldn’t trust.

As the team’s investigation reveals how powerful their enemies are, Derek and Emilie must prove where their loyalties lie before hearts are broken and lives are lost. Because love is too hard to come by to let slip away…


Other Titles





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Apollycon Author Spotlight - Megan Erickson

ApollyCon Featured Author: Megan Erickson

About the Author

My first stories written in crayon-scrawl on loose-leaf notebook paper were about my childhood pet — a deaf cat with dandruff. And after covering real-life dramas as a journalist, I decided I liked writing my own endings better and switched to fiction. My romance novels full of humor and heart are a far cry from those early scribblings about my hygiene-deficient pet.

I live in southern Pennsylvania, with my husband, two kids and two cats. I like a good pint of beer, a greasy bacon cheeseburger, homemade mac and cheese, and a great book with a happily ever after. When I’m not tapping away on my laptop, I’m probably listening to the characters in my head who just. Won’t. Shut. Up.


Books




Upcoming Release (1/6/15)


After graduating from Bowler University, the last place Cam Ruiz ever expected to find himself is his hometown. A bad job as a bouncer and worry over his mom’s health make living in Paradise anything but. There’s only one thing that can make his return any harder—running into the only girl he’s ever loved.

Tate Ellison made a mistake when she was eighteen, one that cost her the best thing she’s ever had. She’s always hoped the regret of losing Cam would fade over time. Too bad it’s only grown. She took comfort in the fact she’d never have to face him again, so his presence in Paradise throws her for a loop.

The pull between them is instant and when the truth of what happened years ago tumbles out, they share a mind-blowing kiss...which leads to more. But the past has a way of repeating itself. When all the cards are on the table, Cam and Tate must decide what they are willing to do to make it last.


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Sunday, January 25, 2015

Seducuing Destiny - Review






Author: Amelia Hutchins
Publication Date: January 20, 2015

Publisher: Self Publication
Series: The Fae Chronicles
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Erotica
Age Recommendation: 18 and up

Rating: 4 Stars


Book Description

Less than six months ago my life was twisted and flipped on its side. Things have changed so much I barely recognize myself anymore.

I am no longer an Enforcer.

I am no longer a Witch.

I no longer hate the Fae. (For the most part)

And the sex-on-a-stick-gorgeous-Fae? He isn't really the Dark Prince.

No, he is the father of my children and with the babies on the way, the land dying and the Mages closing in; alliances will have to be formed if we are all to make it through the war that is coming to our front door.

Between warring Gods and Goddesses, how are any of us supposed to win?


My Review: 

What to say, what to say, what to say?  As usual Amelia Hutchins jam packs her books with so many twists and turns that you can't stop reading, but at the same time I can barely tell you anything because I will give it all away.  

I love the relationship that is developing between Synthia and Ryder, it feels like they are finally coming into their own and I hope that we will get to see more of them growing together as a couple in the future.  Ryder completely stole my heart this book.  I have always been a fan, but seriously this guy (ahem, fairy) just gets more amazing each book.  

Ristan, oh my sweet fun happy Demon.  My heart just ached for him so hard in this book.  He's always been such the happy, sarcastic, dangerous, sexy presence and to see his pain this book, to see him broken and hurt was so hard for me to 'watch'.  I am so anxious to see how his story plays out and how Olivia factors into all of it. 

My only complaint is that I feel like I need a listing in the back of the book to remind myself who everyone is, what caste they come from, if they are Fae, Demon, Angel, Human, Mage, Witch, etc.  I am loving all the new people introduced and can't wait to see how things play out with therm as the books and the spin-offs go on, but keeping a running track of who is who can get a bit difficult.  
  
Keep in mind this book has a warning on it's first pages for a reason, the sex scenes can be intense and you need to keep an open mind, but you can't help but fall in love with these characters and this action packed ride they take you on.  

As a side note if you are at all into following along with a Role Play group on Facebook Amelia has an amazing page for The Fae Chronicles to help keep you going in between books.  Whoever the role players are they do a fabulous job of sticking to the story lines but keeping the action going and are wonderfully interactive.  




Amelia lives in the great Pacific Northwest with her family. When not writing, she loves everything paranormal and everything romance.
The Fae Chronicles is Amelia's debut series, and there are at least five books planned for Synthia and Ryder.
Reading order:
Fighting Destiny
Taunting Destiny
Escaping Destiny
Seducing Destiny

Other series: 

 Darkest Before Dawn 




 

Author Spotlight - Jamie McGuire

ApollyCon Featured Author: Jamie McGuire

About the Author

Jamie McGuire was born in Tulsa, OK. She attended the Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Autry Technology Center where she graduated with a degree in Radiography.

Her most recent novel, Walking Disaster debuted at #1 on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. She has also written bestselling contemporary romance Beautiful Disaster, and the Providence series.

Jamie now lives in Enid, OK with her three children and husband Jeff, who is a real, live cowboy. They share their 30 acres with six horses, three dogs, and Rooster the cat.


Books




Recent Release


If A Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever. But what if he didn't love you, first? No-nonsense Liis Lindy is an agent of the FBI. Deciding she is married only to her job, she breaks off her engagement and transfers from Chicago to the field office in San Diego. She loves her desk. She is committed to her laptop. She dreams of promotions and shaking hands with the director after cracking an impossible case. Special Agent in Charge Thomas Maddox is arrogant, unforgiving, and ruthless. He is tasked with putting away some of the world’s toughest criminals, and he is one of the best the Bureau has to offer. Though, as many lives as he’s saved, there is one that is beyond his reach. Younger brother Travis is faced with prison time for his involvement in a basement fire that killed dozens of college students, and the media want a conviction. Travis’s only savior is his unusual tie to the mob. In a deal that will spare his brother, Thomas has agreed to recruit Travis into the FBI. Liis is stubborn, defiant, and yet somehow softens Thomas’s rough edges, making her the perfect agent to accompany him to the ceremony. Posing as a couple, they must travel to Travis & Abby’s beach vow renewal and give him the news, but when the pretending ends, she finds herself wondering if they were pretending at all. In the second installment of the Maddox Brothers books, experience firsthand the mysterious world of the elusive Thomas Maddox, and how good love can be when you’re not the first, but the last.


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Saturday, January 24, 2015

Apollycon Author Spotlight - Alexandra Bracken

ApollyCon Featured Author: Alexandra Bracken

About the Author

Alexandra Bracken was born and raised in Arizona, but moved east to study at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. She recently relocated to New York City, where she lives in a charming apartment overflowing with books.


Books




Recent Release


Ruby can't look back. Fractured by an unbearable loss, she and the kids who survived the government's attack on Los Angeles travel north to regroup. With them is a prisoner: Clancy Gray, son of the president, and one of the few people Ruby has encountered with abilities like hers. Only Ruby has any power over him, and just one slip could lead to Clancy wreaking havoc on their minds.

They are armed only with a volatile secret: proof of a government conspiracy to cover up the real cause of IAAN, the disease that has killed most of America's children and left Ruby and others like her with powers the government will kill to keep contained. But internal strife may destroy their only chance to free the "rehabilitation camps" housing thousands of other Psi kids.

Meanwhile, reunited with Liam, the boy she would-and did-sacrifice everything for to keep alive, Ruby must face the painful repercussions of having tampered with his memories of her. She turns to Cole, his older brother, to provide the intense training she knows she will need to take down Gray and the government. But Cole has demons of his own, and one fatal mistake may be the spark that sets the world on fire.


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Thursday, January 22, 2015

Shoalman Immortal - Chapter Reveal


I am super excited to help out by bringing you the 4th Chapter from Toni Decker's book Shoalman Immortal. Shoalman Immortal is a New Adult Paranormal and is currently on sale for .99 cents so now is the perfect time to get your hands on it!  Also, don't forget to grab book one if you haven't read it and enter the giveaway at the bottom of the post! 

Also check out all the other lovely blogs participating in this event for more chapter reveals and guest post by the author!





Book Description:

Falling in love was never supposed to be part of the picture.
Kyrissa Spears was born with a powerful, and deadly, gift. When she paints, she captures emotions so strong they can kill.Desperate to find a teacher capable of elping her unlock and control her abilities, Kyrissa's search leads her to an artist who may be able to help her.And he's the one person she can't accidentally kill.
After five centuries of pain and loneliness, Robert Shoalman craves release from his immortality. He's all but given up hope until he meets the beautiful and intriguing Kyrissa. She could paint his death and break the curse, but at the cost of destroying her gift and being lost to him forever—none of which will matter if the demon hunting him finds them first.



Chapter 4 Reveal


Book One in the Shoalman Chronicles is Images Eternal, get it here!





 Who is Toni Decker?

Two authors telling one sizzling story after another about twenty-somethings getting along in their own crazy, fantastical worlds. Both women are wives and mothers, sharing brain cells and characters as if they only exist with the other.
Toni, one half of the Toni Decker brain, is an avid reader of all things Young and New Adult while Kira, the Decker half of Toni Decker brain, devours fantasy for midnight snacks.

Together, their stories are one part New Adult, one part Fantasy and three parts of Holy Hotness.
We leave it up to the readers to decide who writes which character.
You can follow our journey on:

Tumblr: tonideckerbooks
Goodreads: Toni Decker
Wordpress: Toni Decker Books


Blog Tour Schedule:
Week 1:
Jan. 12 - Krista's Dust Jacket / Guest Post
Jan. 13 - Poisoned Rationality / Chapter Reveal
Jan. 14 - The Book Swarm / Guest Post
Jan. 15 - BookShelfery / Chapter Reveal
Jan. 16 - Step Into Fiction / Guest Post

Week 2:
Jan. 19 - Winterhaven Books / Chapter Reveal
Jan. 20 - Jenuine Cupcakes / Guest Post
Jan. 21 - Reads All The Books / Chapter Reveal
Jan. 22 - Read-Love-Blog / Guest Post
Jan. 23 - The Irish Banana Review / Chapter Reveal