Blog Tour: Stir Me Up by Sabrina Elkins (Review + Giveaway)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I am a former journalist who worked for the Los Angeles Daily Newsand other newspapers in the greater Los Angeles area. Prior to this I worked in advertising, writing ad copy for corporate travel accounts and major motion pictures. My first job out of college was as an administrative assistant to an executive chef and a food & beverage director at a Four Seasons hotel. I also spent some time working as a prep cook for Spago in Beverly Hills.

I received my Master's degree in Journalism from the University of Southern California. While in graduate school, I had the privilege of studying fiction writing under renowned author Hubert Selby, Jr., and comedy writing under famed comedian Shelley Berman. I am a past participant of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers Summer Writing Workshop.

Raised in the woods of Vermont, I now live in the greater Los Angeles area with my husband and three children. STIR ME UP is my first novel.

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REVIEW

Title: Stir Me Up

Author: Sabrina Elkins
Publisher: HarlequinTEEN
Released: October 1st 2013
Pages: 268 (eBook)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
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Cami Broussard has her future all figured out. She'll finish her senior year of high school, then go to work full-time as an apprentice chef in her father's French restaurant, alongside her boyfriend, Luke. But then twenty-year-old ex-Marine Julian Wyatt comes to live with Cami's family while recovering from serious injuries. And suddenly Cami finds herself questioning everything she thought she wanted.

Julian's all attitude, challenges and intense green-brown eyes. But beneath that abrasive exterior is a man who just might be as lost as Cami's starting to feel. And Cami can't stop thinking about him. Talking to him. Wanting to kiss him. He's got her seriously stirred up. Her senior year has just gotten a lot more complicated…

I know what you're thinking - Nina, if you know you don't get on with the New Adult genre, then why on earth do you keep signing up for NA blog tours? Well, I guess the answer is that I hope to find out what the masses seem to love with this kind of book, since despite the fact I'm almost at the age NA books are targeted at, I just don't seem to get it. However, Stir Me Up has changed my opinion of this genre - yes, we still see typical NA features throughout the novel, but for once it held the depth I have come to look for in good reads.

Blog Tour: Bitter Like Orange Peel by Jessica Bell (Excerpt + Giveaway)

Title: Bitter Like Orange Peel

Author: Jessica Bell
Publisher: Vine Leaves Press
Released: November 1st 2013
Pages: 179 (eBook)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
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Six women. One man. Seven secrets. One could ruin them all.

Kit is a twenty-five-year-old archaeology undergrad, who doesn’t like to get her hands dirty. Life seems purposeless. But if she could track down her father, Roger, maybe her perspective would change.

The only problem—Roger is as rotten as the decomposing oranges in her back yard according to the women in her life: Ailish, her mother—an English literature professor who communicates in quotes and clichés, and who still hasn’t learned how to express emotion on her face; Ivy, her half-sister—a depressed archaeologist, with a slight case of nymphomania who fled to America after a divorce to become a waitress; and Eleanor, Ivy’s mother—a pediatric surgeon who embellishes her feelings with medical jargon, and named her daughter after "Intravenous."

Against all three women’s wishes, Kit decides to find Roger.
Enter a sister Kit never knew about.
But everyone else did.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
If Jessica Bell could choose only one creative mentor, she’d give the role to Euterpe, the Greek muse of music and lyrics. This is not only because she currently resides in Athens, Greece, but because of her life as a thirty-something Australian-native contemporary fiction author, poet and singer/songwriter/guitarist, whose literary inspiration often stems from songs she’s written. Jessica is the Co-Publishing Editor of Vine Leaves Literary Journal and annually runs the Homeric Writers’ Retreat & Workshop on the Greek island of Ithaca. For more information, please visit her website: www.jessicabellauthor.com

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EXCERPT
KIT

His head is ripped off. In that photograph. Of him. Kit spots it buried among four years’ worth of undergraduate essays—the photo she stole from her half sister, Ivy, and misplaced in an effort to keep safe.
She drags her bottom dresser drawer out too far. The stiff wood clunks as it slips out of its casing and hits the floor with a thud. Sitting cross-legged and naked on the hot, itchy carpet, she stares at the photograph. At five-year-old Ivy’s carefree grin and trusting arms wrapped around her father’s knees at the Melbourne zoo. A drop of sweat tickles Kit’s crotch. She scratches herself and wipes her wet fingers on the carpet beside her thigh. Stares at her father’s hand placed delicately on the top of Ivy’s head, and Ivy’s sideways and upward glance toward his nonexistent face. Kit touches the top of her own head, imagining what his touch may have felt like, what she would give to have been Ivy those twenty-five years ago, before she was even born.

Blog Tour: Intermix Nation by M. P. Attardo (Review + Giveaway)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
M.P. Attardo is a twenty-something, part-time writer, full-time daydreamer. She has a college degree … is still trying to figure out what ever to do with it. She loves amateur baseball commentating, heckling, and overindulging. And putting her bizarre, gritty thoughts into words for all to read.
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REVIEW
Title: Intermix Nation
Author: M. P. Attardo
Publisher: Self
Released: March 5th 2013
Pages: 331 (Kindle)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
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Intermix: to mix together, blend

North America, paragon of diversity, is gone. From its ashes, a new nation has arisen – Renatus – where the government segregates the surviving population into races, forbidding interracial marriage, mating, and love.

Eighteen-year-old Nazirah Nation is a pariah, an intermix, born of people from different races. When her parents are murdered in the name of justice, Nazirah grudgingly joins the growing rebellion fighting against the despotic government.

Overwhelmed with grief, consumed by guilt, Nazirah craves vengeance as a substitute for absolution. But on her journey to find the girl she once was, Nazirah must learn the hard way that nothing … no one … is purely black or white. Like her, every human is intermix, shades and hues of complex emotions. And those who can take everything away are also the ones who can give everything back.

Well, I really wasn't prepared for that emotional rollercoaster! As soon as I read the synopsis, I knew Intermix Nation was a book I had to read. As someone who is mixed heritage, I know what it's like to be of two different ethnicities but feel that, at times, I belong to neither. In Attardo's debut, North America has been divided into a land known as Renatus. The divides have been put in place to separate races, forbidding them from mixing – but love can conquer boundaries, and the children of two races are born. They are known as intermix, and are cast out by everyone but their own. Nazirah is an intermix, but not just anyone – she is the face of the rebellion, a beacon of hope for the citizens of Renatus. But Irri has her own past, and if she’s going to win over the nation, she’s going to have to face her biggest enemy yet: Adamek Morgen, murderer of her parents.

I can't believe how well-written this was, especially for a debut novel. I'm not suggesting that debut authors are bad, but usually since it's their first book, they're still trying to find their own individual style. Attardo has her style set. Admittedly I at first found it strange to read in the person she used, but as I became more engrossed in the story, I grew used to it. Aside from that, the language, the plot, the build up...it was the perfect concoction for a story.

Nazirah Nation has to be one of my favourite protagonists of all time. I know I can go on a bit about how I love my brave heroines, but I think she's one of the strongest I've ever come across. Nazirah is put through a lot of trials, yet she is as hard as nails the entire time. She is a true face of a rebellion, and because of that she made the diegesis, the plot, the idea believable. 

Adamek Morgen is my latest addiction. When we were first introduced to him, I just thought he'd be the counterpart to Nazirah, an enemy to reinforce the idea that she is the good guy. However, halfway through and I realised she created him to be so much more than that. Although the book centers around the issue of racism, it also talks about forgiveness. How can you forgive someone who has wronged you so terribly? He is a counterpart, that's for sure, but he's not necessarily just the enemy. Although we don't find as much out about his past as I would have liked, his character holds a depth so vast that you can't help but feel that he's real. 

This may seem strange, but one thing I really loved about Intermix Nation was how Attardo managed to get this entire story into just one book. A lot of dystopians nowadays are split into a trilogy, a lot of which tend to fall short towards the end. Although I do like it when books are a series, I was glad she just got to the point with the story and didn't unnecessarily drag it out, making it intense, dynamic and dramatic.

I must admit, I really am impressed with Attardo. Debut novels rarely come as good as this, especially New Adult books. This genre has me skeptical, but this book just had the right amount of snarky language, witty characters and smoky sex scenes to be perfect. I recommend this book 100%, it's one of the best indies I've read yet.
Rating: 5/5

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal (#16) + Giveaway

Picture yourself standing at the edge of a dock.
Now picture being lost in your own head, utterly unsure of yourself, surrounded by people who want to use you, take you away, or simply kill you.

This is Junco Coot, aged 19, year 2152, daughter of the Rural Republic’s ranking commander. Assassin, semi-famous athlete, and on the run.


In front of you is your future...
A future filled with secrets so heinous and truths so outrageous, it will push you past the edge of sanity.
…and behind you is a life of lies.
Lies that will rip apart the threads of reality barely holding you together.

Congratulations, soldier. Your life is over, but your mission has only just begun.
Welcome to my twisted, messed-up life. No one’s getting out alive, so we might as well kick some ass on the way down.

I Am Just Junco is a dark, epic SF/fantasy that spans five full-length novels and one novella. It is NOT young adult.

The final book in the series, RETURN, will be released on December 2, 2013.
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Cover Reveal (#15) + Giveaway

Budding illusionist Anna Van Housen is on top of the world: after scoring a spot on a prestigious European vaudeville tour, she has moved to London to chase her dream and to join an underground society for people like her with psychic abilities. Along with her handsome beau, Cole Archer, Anna is prepared to take the city by storm.

But when Anna arrives in London, she finds the group in turmoil. Sensitives are disappearing and, without a suspect, the group’s members are turning on one another. Could the kidnapper be someone within the society itself—or has the nefarious Dr. Boyle followed them to London?
As Cole and Anna begin to unravel the case and secrets about the society are revealed, they find themselves at odds, their plans for romance in London having vanished. Her life in danger and her relationship fizzling, can Anna find a way to track down the killer before he makes her his next victim—or will she have to pay the ultimate price for her powers?
Set in Jazz-Age London, this alluring sequel to Born of Illusion comes alive with sparkling romance, deadly intrigue, and daring magic.
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Blog Tour: By Blood by Tracy E. Banghart (Excerpt + Giveaway)

Title: By Blood
Author: Tracy E. Banghart
Released: February 18th 2013
Pages: 368 (Kindle)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
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For 17-year-old Emma Wong, spending a summer in England should be a dream come true. Gorgeous scenery? Check. Lots of hot guys with accents? Yes, please. 

Throw in an estranged mom, annoying new stepdad, and drooling baby half-brother, and it’s a disaster even her favorite cherry red leather jacket can’t fix. Even worse, there’s (hot) live-in research assistant Josh to contend with. The only thing more embarrassing than   drunk-kissing him hours after they meet? Knowing he’ll be witness to her family’s dysfunction all. summer. long.

But when Emma meets a mysterious girl who happens to be a Druid, her vacation suddenly promises to be far more intriguing than she  anticipated. Powerful rituals, new friends, an intoxicating sense of freedom...and Simon, the sexy foreign stranger she was hoping for. It’s all a perfect distraction from dirty diapers and awkward family dinners.

Trouble is, intriguing doesn’t often mean simple. And Emma is about to discover just how not simple her life really is.

By Blood is a novel about the ways that blood can bind us to others – or tear us apart.

About The Author

Tracy E. Banghart is a cheesy movie–loving, fantasy football–playing (go Ravens!), globe-trotting Army wife who began “practicing” her craft at the age of five, when she wrote her first story. She loves visiting the international friends she met while pursuing her MA in Publishing and spends a portion of every summer at her family’s cabin in Canada, where she finds inspiration and lots of time to relax on the dock. She lives with her husband, son, two lazy dogs and one ornery cat. When not writing or spending time with her family, she is on a mission to bake the perfect cupcake.

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Excerpt
We reached a main street with a pink-washed pub on the corner. I paused, but Ash kept walking.
When she turned again, I had a flashback to lunch and the dim stairs leading to the Wisteria Café. Here we were at another dark passageway. Excitement shivered through me. We walked down a narrow alley between two buildings; my shoes wobbled on the cobblestones and Josh put a polite hand on my back to steady me. The path was lit by old-fashioned sconces built into the walls. Faintly, I heard voices, an occasional burst of laughter. We ducked through a low archway and the space opened before us.

Blog Tour: Quantum Entanglement by Liesel K. Hill (Guest Post + Giveaway)

Title: Quantum Entanglement
Author: Liesel K. Hill
Publisher: Create Space
Released: September 17th 2013
Pages: 400 (eBook)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US

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Five months after traveling to a post-apocalyptic future where collectives reign supreme and individuals have been hunted to the verge of extinction, Maggie Harper was returned to her own time until the threat to her life could be neutralized. She thought Marcus and the others would return for her within a few weeks, and now she’s beginning to worry. 

When travelers from the future finally show up to collect her, it’s not who she expected. With the return of her memories, she wants more than ever to see Marcus again, but a snake-like woman whose abilities are a perfect match for Maggie’s, an injured Traveler, and decades of civil unrest to wade through all stand in the way of their reunion.

Meanwhile, Marcus and Karl traipse through the countryside, trying to neutralize Colin, who’s promised to brutalize and murder Maggie if he can get his hands on her. When a collective woman is left for dead, Marcus heals her, hoping she’ll be the key to killing Colin and bringing Maggie back. But she may prove as much a hindrance as a help.

The team struggles to get their bearings, but things happen faster than they know. The collectives are coalescing, power is shifting, and the one called B is putting sinister plans into action. If the team can’t reunite and get a handle on the situation, their freedom and individuality—perhaps their very identity—will be ripped away before they can catch their breath.

Hello Wonderful Readers! I’m here to promote Quantum Entanglement, the newest book in my Interchron series. Special thanks to Nina for hosting me here today. She asked me to stop by and post about either 10 things you may not know about me or 10 things you may not know about the Interchron series. I decided to do both.

Blog Tour: Escape from Eden by Elisa Nader (Character Spotlight + Giveaway)

Title: Escape from Eden 

Author: Elizabeth Nader

Publisher: Merit Press

Released: July 18th 2013

Pages: 272 (eBook)

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US 

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Since the age of ten, Mia has lived under the iron fist of the fundamentalist preacher who lured her mother away to join his fanatical family of followers. In Edenton, a supposed “Garden of Eden” deep in the South American jungle, everyone follows the Reverend’s strict but arbitrary rules—even the mandate of whom they can marry. Now sixteen, Mia dreams of slipping away from the armed guards who keep the faithful in, and the curious out. When the rebellious and sexy Gabriel, a new boy, arrives with his family, Mia sees a chance to escape.

But the scandalous secrets the two discover beyond the compound’s façade are more shocking than anything they ever imagined. While Gabriel has his own terrible secrets, he and Mia bond together, more than friends and freedom fighters. But is there time to think of each other as they race to stop the Reverend’s paranoid plan to free his flock from the corrupt world? Can two teenagers crush a criminal mastermind? And who will die in the fight to save the ones they love from a madman who’s only concerned about his own secrets?

About The Author

Hi. I’m Elisa. I like cheese and reading and TV show marathons. Writing is scary, but not as scary as, say, Civil War amputations. I’m an Aquarius. Uh… let’s see… I’m not very good at writing my own biography. Or autobiography. I guess this is reading more like a slightly incoherent personal ad.

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Character Spotlight

I effing hate Edenton. I can’t believe my parents brought me to this hell hole. Well, I can believe it, I just don’t understand it. What do they expect me to do here? Repent for my sins? What’s done is done. I can’t take back what I did, not matter how much I want to. Maybe this is my punishment?

Book Blitz: Kinetic by S. K. Anthony (Excerpt + Giveaway)

Title: Kinetic
Author: S. K. Anthony
Released: September 20thh 2013
Pages: 336 (Paperback)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
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Being strong is one thing. Being an unlimited source of power is quite another.

Genetically altered by the Organization, Annie Fox takes down criminals CIA-style with her luminary strength. With nothing to mend but her broken heart, she is relentlessly pursued by her boss Derek Lake. Just when Annie is about to give him a chance, her ex-husband unexpectedly comes out of hiding.

A wanted man, Nick Logan is a cold-hearted murderer who is considered enemy number one, and orders are clear: kill on contact. He is more powerful than ever and threatens the lives of those she holds most dear. His plan? Get his hands on Annie and use her Kinetic energy to destroy them all. When Annie finds herself with an opportunity to end him, she pauses, horrified by the scars covering the face she once loved. A split second that will cost her everything...

About The Author
S. K. Anthony is a writer, a reader and a make-stuff-up-er who lives in New York with her husband and toddler twins. She is a wine connoisseur, which just really means she knows she loves it, and a caffeine addict. When she isn’t busy with her family she finds herself being transported into the world of imagination. Well, either that or running away from spiders…she is convinced they are out to get her!

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Excerpt
I knew what I had to do. Orders were clear… KILL ON CONTACT.

The thing is, it was Nick.

Before I knew what I was doing, I'd released my hold. He got up and rubbed his mouth.

“What did I tell you about giving second chances?”

15 Minutes by Jill Cooper (Review, Excerpt + Giveaway)

About The Author

Jill loves to blend horror, comedy, the supernatural, and love, through her novels. A fan of genre blending, her work strives to cross boundaries, but most of all strives to entertain. She loves soft cuddly cats, warm blankets, and paranormal romances. Jill resides in Massachusetts, is constantly renovating her home that she shares with her husband, young daughter, and two skittish cats.

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Review

Title: 15 Minutes

Author: Jill Cooper

Publisher: Self

Released: June 15th 2013

Pages: 236 (eBook)

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US

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I have 15 minutes to save my mother’s life….

15 minutes is all the Rewind Agency gives you in the past, but for Lara Crane it’s enough time to race through the city, find her mother, and stop her from being killed in a mugging that happened over ten years ago.

But that’s not how it happened. The story she’s been told all her life is a lie and when Lara takes a bullet meant for her mother, her future changes forever.

The love of her life acts like a stranger. Her simple life is replaced with a giant house, glamorous clothes and a new boyfriend. 

Except someone knows her secret. And he will try to stop her at every turn as she races against the clock to unravel a dangerous conspiracy.

Science fiction stories featuring time travel can either go really, really well, or really, really badly. With an electrifying plot, an amazing concept and likeable characters, 15 Minutes is one of the best I've read yet.

Cover Reveal (#13) + Giveaway

I'm trying not to shriek with excitement (because lets face it, no one wants me deafening them, do they?) I've followed the Tragic trilogy from the first blog tour, and it's my pleasure to reveal the cover for the last instalment, Panic.

Rook is chasing her dream—film school and a chance at a life beyond the one she left behind six months ago. But before she can become the girl she wants to be, she must deal with the girl she left behind.

Ronin is also chasing his dream—a family of his own and a life away from erotic modeling. And he too, has a past he’s trying to forget. A past that makes Rook question everything about their life together.

Lies, secrets, and shocking truths will rock the foundation Rook and Ronin have built. Can they put the past behind them and move forward together? Or is this just another too good to be true relationship that will crash and burn in the end?

Two-Year Blogaversary Giveaway Winners! (what a mouthful)

So after two months, the giveaway is finally over! Before I announce the winners, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who took part and to everyone who has supported this blog! If I had an infinite amount of money, I would send out books to each and every one of you because, as cliché as it sounds, none of this would be possible without you.

Anyway: the winners! Since the blog reached over 200 followers on Bloglovin' (squee!), I added another winner, hence the plural. So who are these lucky two? Entry #148 Samantha, and entry #2 Sunny! Samantha has chosen Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, and Sunny has chosen Pivot Point by Kasie West.

So once more, thank you to everyone who entered the competition, and congratulations to Samantha and Sunny! I'm already planning the next competition, so keep your eyes peeled, folks!

Blog Tour: Addicted to You by Colina Brennan (Review + Giveaway)

About The Author

I’m a new adult author with a love for the fantastical and the romantic. My new adult contemporary novel ADDICTED TO YOU will be available June 25.

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Review
Title: Addicted to You
Author: Colina Brennan
Publisher: Self
Released: June 22nd 2013
Pages: 183 (eBook)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
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When twenty-one-year-old Leah Carter's latest one night stand burglarizes her apartment, her roommate forces her to attend therapy for sex addicts. Leah insists she isn't a sex addict; she just doesn't do relationships. After all, sooner or later, everyone lets you down.

At first, the group sessions are little more than an education on how to be promiscuous. Until she meets the newest addict—blue eyes, killer body, and a smile that tempts relapse.

Psychology student Will McLean is posing as a fellow addict while researching a case study on unusual addictions. But the more he learns about Leah, the more certain he is that his desire to break through her walls and unearth her secrets has nothing to do with his assignment.

As the uncertainties spike alongside the sexual tension, the only thing Leah knows for sure is that falling in love would be disastrous. Too bad love might be one addiction she can't kick.

Okay, so my track record with New Adult books isn't that great. However, Addicted to You caught my eye. The idea of sex addiction was intriguing - I mean, where is the line drawn between enjoying sex and being addicted to it? I couldn't wait to start reading it.

Blog Tour: The Forgotten Ones by Laura Howard (Review + Giveaway)

About The Author

Laura Howard lives in New Hampshire with her husband and four children. Her obsession with books began at the age of 6 when she got her first library card. Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and other girly novels were routinely devoured in single sittings. Books took a backseat to diapers when she had her first child. It wasn’t until the release of a little novel called Twilight, 8 years later, that she rediscovered her love of fiction. Soon after, her own characters began to make themselves known. The Forgotten Ones is her first published novel.

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Review
Title: The Forgotten Ones
Author: Laura Howard
Publisher: Amazon
Released: April 28th 2013
Pages: 197 (Kindle)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
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Allison O'Malley's plan is to go to grad school so she can get a good job and take care of her schizophrenic mother. She has carefully closed herself off from everything else, including a relationship with Ethan, who she's been in love with for as long as she can remember.

What is definitely not part of the plan is the return of her long-lost father, who claims he can bring Allison's mother back from the dark place her mind has gone. Allison doesn't trust her father, so why would she believe his stories about a long forgotten Irish people, the Tuatha de Danaan? But truths have a way of revealing themselves. Secrets will eventually surface. And Allison must learn to set aside her plan and work with her father if there is even a small chance it could restore her mother's sanity.

I'd had my eye on The Forgotten Ones for a while, so when I was given the opportunity to join in on the blog tour, I jumped right in. The folklore genre is constantly growing on me - there is something I love about the beauty and majestic energy surrounding it. The Forgotten Ones was no exception to this, and from beginning to end, Howard swept me up into the world of the Tuatha de Danaan.

Blog Tour and Giveaway: Steel Lily by Megan Curd (Excerpt)

About The Author
Megan Curd is a graduate of Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota. While having always enjoyed reading any books she could get her hands on, Megan didn’t begin writing until a friend encouraged her to do so while in college.

When not writing, Megan enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She loves to snowboard and travel to new places, and doesn’t turn down the opportunity to play xBox with her brother and friends when it presents itself.

Megan currently resides in Stanton, Kentucky with her husband, son, and Great Dane named Dozer.

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Book Info + Synopsis
Title: Steel Lily
Author: Megan Curd
Publisher: Self
Release: August 20th 2013 (TOMORROW!!!)
Pages: 293 (eBook)
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My review

AVERY PIKE is a commodity. No, more than a commodity. Her existence is guarded at all costs.

She’s a water Elementalist, the strongest of her dwindling kind. She creates steam to provide energy to fuel Dome Four: the only thing standing between humanity and an earth ravaged by World War III. No steam, no Dome. No Dome, no life.

Or so she thinks.

That is, until a mysterious man offers her a way out of having to donate steam. A way to escape the corrupt government of Dome Four. While the offer seems too good to be true, Avery is intrigued. But when she arrives to her new home, she realizes the grass isn’t any less dead on this side of the fence. Instead, the lies are just hidden better.

…Which means digging deeper.

When Avery enlists the help of her friends to uncover the truth, she learns that while some secrets are better left concealed, humankind was never meant to live in a cage. And when you can control the most sought after resource, you can learn to control anything…including the fate of your world.

Blog Tour and Giveaway: Manic by J. A. Huss

About The Author
J. A. Huss likes to write new adult books that make you think and keep you guessing. Her favorite genre to read is space opera, but since practically no one reads those books, she writes new adult science fiction, paranormal romance, contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and books about Junco (who refuses to be saddled with a label).

She has an undergraduate degree in horses, (yes, really–Thank you, Colorado State University) and a master’s degree in forensic toxicology from the University of Florida. She used to have a job driving around Colorado doing pretty much nothing but shooting the breeze with farmers, but now she just writes, runs the New Adult Addiction and Clean Teen Reads Book Blogs, and runs an online science classroom for homeschoolers.

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Review
Title: Manic
Author: J. A. Huss
Publisher: Science Future Press
Released: August 1st 2013
Pages: 218 (Kindle)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / Kobo / B&N
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TRAGIC is over and Rook is ready for the future—Spencer Shrike and the STURGIS contract! 

It’s three months of body art modeling! That means three months of Spencer Shrike’s paintbrush all over her body, three months in front of Antoine’s camera, and three months of twenty-four hour filming for Spencer’s Biker Channel reality show.

Wait a minute…what reality show? Maybe she should’ve read that STURGIS contract a little closer? ;)

Sure, Rook’s bank account is almost overflowing, but Ronin is angry, Clare is trying to escape rehab, Antoine is a worried mess, and Elise is just trying to hold everyone together. Her new family is about to fall apart before she even gets the chance to enjoy them.

Add in a mysterious man from her past, a road trip to the famous Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, and a final show in front of the entire world where all her good are on display, and you've got Manic—a new adult contemporary romance that will definitely make your summer sizzle!

I adored Tragic, the first instalment in the Rook and Ronin trilogy, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on Manic. What can I say? I have a crazy soft-spot for modelling stories, and Huss's writing really just hits the spot. Diving head-first into Manic, I was instantly impressed as I was swept up into Rook and Ronin's world once again - this is a series that just keeps getting better and better.

Two-Year Blogaversary Giveaway

(gorgeous button made by Eloise Gardner)

I have to admit, it feels a bit crazy to think that I've been running this blog for two years now - it doesn't feel like it at all! To thank everyone who has followed Project Read and Review these last couple of years, I've decided to host another giveaway. The twist? This one is going to be bigger and better than them all!

Rules (the usual spiel):

1. The giveaway will be running from July 1st 2013 until September 1st 2013. It will begin and end at midnight GB.
2. This is an international giveaway - no matter where you are, you can be in with a chance of winning!
3. Initially, there will be one winner. However, if I reach 200 followers on Bloglovin', I'll add another one; if I reach 300, then there will be three winners, and so on.
4. The prize is one book from the options below per person.
5. The winner will be chosen randomly on Rafflecopter.
6. I will announce who has won on September 1st 2013, and will send the book/s out shortly after. If the winner/s don't respond within two weeks, I will choose another winner.
7. Pretty obvious, but no cheating. I will be checking every entry, and any cheaters will be found and disqualified.

Blog Tour and Giveaway: How to be Almost Famous in Ten Days by Kathleen S. Allen (Excerpt)

About The Author
Kathleen has been writing since she was eight years old when she self-published her first book. Okay, she hand-copied her poems onto plain white paper, paper punched three holes in the sides, made an orange and blue “book jacket” and threaded red ribbon through the holes that she tied with a bow. Ta Dah! Her first book! She’s been writing ever since. She writes in different genres but YA is her favorite.

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Book Info + Synopsis
Title: How to be Almost Famous in Ten Days
Author: Kathleen S. Allen
Released: March 15th 2013
Pages: 135 (Kindle)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
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Seventeen-year-old Cassie Cee feels invisible because she's a double-digit size. She finds a book in a secondhand bookstore that she hopes will change her life. Her best friend's brother wants to make vlogs about how she is following the ten rules she found in the book, why she is doing it, and how she feels about being invisible for his school project. She agrees, but only if he promises no one but his college advisor will see the vlogs. He promises, but a friend of his posts them online and they go viral. When one of the "famous rules" puts her best friend, Rachel in a dangerous situation, Cassie makes one last vlog and Chuck posts it online. But emails begin arriving from other girls who have felt invisible, and she realizes she has to own up to being "the real Cassie Cee."

Blog Tour and Giveaway: Our Song by Jordanna Fraiberg

About The Author
Jordanna Fraiberg was born in Montreal, Quebec, and currently lives in L.A., where she settled after receiving degrees from Harvard and Oxford. A former national squash champion and Hollywood film executive, she now divides her time between dreaming up stories and chasing her toddler. She is the author of Our Song and In Your Room.

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Blog Tour and Giveaway: The Underground Witch by Debbie Dee

About The Author

Debbie Dee recently moved to southern Idaho with her husband and three children where she is learning how to be a country girl in her favorite pair of blue heels. She adores fairy tales and happy endings, but secretly crushes on the bad guy now and then.

As a dedicated musician who practices way too much, she never expected writing would sweep her off her feet until she jotted down a scene from a daydream, which turned into two scenes, which turned into a messy house and her first novel. Since then she hasn’t been able to let a day go by without writing.

In addition to writing, she plays the piano, harp, violin, and gets in frequent fights with her cello. She loves to read and play board games - when she is winning.

Website: http://www.debbiedee.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debbiedeeauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_DebbieDee
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00CKSPVFY