Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Blog Tour + Giveaway: {Guest Post} VIGILANTE NIGHTS by ERIN RICHARDS

Expected Publication: July 18th 2013   
Publisher: Merit Press 
PurchaseAmazon

A "good boy" will do anything for vengeance when a gang rite kills his twin sister. Will Lucas win, or follow his sister Silver into the darkness?

After a hideous car wreck, Lucas wakes from a coma to find that his world is gutted. Not only is his beloved twin sister, Silver, gone forever, but Lucas is broken in body and spirit. He will never be a college athlete, and is robbed of what he now realizes was the most important bond of his life. Although they weren't identical twins, Lucas and Silver shared a bond so fierce it defied reason, and was nearly supernatural.

After her death, that bond seems to endure when Lucas sees Silver everywhere he turns. Either he's crazy, or Silver is trying to tell him something about the California gang initiation they stumbled into that cost Silver her life. Lucas is bent on revenge, turning on Raymond, Silver's former boyfriend; the one Lucas never wanted her to date. He forms a posse of vigilantes to take out the gangsters responsible for Silver's death, but he risks not only his own life, but the love of the new girl on his block, who knows more about Lucas and Silver than can be accounted for by mere chance.






{Xpresso Book Tours} Book Blitz + Giveaway: SCORCHED TREACHERY by REBECCA ETHINGTON

Scorched Treachery 
 Rebecca L. Ethington 
Series: Imdalind #3
Publication date: July 12th 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Synopsis:
While Joclyn is trapped in the tormenting hell of Cail’s mind, the battle around her only continues to grow and spread.
*
Edmund has infiltrated the underground hallways of Prague, guiding the massacre that would end the lives of the last of the great magical race. In her attempts to stop him, Wynifred has been captured and her magic restrained. Chained up in the ancient dungeons of Prague, her fate is left in the hands of her father, who has tried to kill her before.
With Ryland’s screams and Sain’s fragmented sights as her only company, Wyn must rely on something that has been hidden deep inside of her for centuries to help them break free.
*
Ilyan’s whole life has been building up to one purpose. Protect the Silnį»³. He knows what he must do, and he has no doubt in his ability to do so.
But when his father’s magic removes Joclyn’s mind from her body, he is left protecting the shell of the one person he loves. Desperate to find a way to break her free of her prison, he makes a choice. And that one choice changes everything.
Now, Ilyan finds himself bound to Joclyn in a way that he never knew to be possible.
They say that blood is thicker than water, but Black Water burns, and Ilyan’s heart may not be strong enough to keep it pumping through his veins and give the girl he loves back into his brother’s care.
Even if he can, it may not be safe to do so.

Scorched Treachery is the third book in The Imdalind Series

Clean Young-Adult Paranormal Romance
Language: Low
Violence: Moderate
Sexual Content: Low to None


Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Blog Tour+ Giveaway: {Review} WAITING FOR THE STORM by MARIE LANDRY


Waiting for the Storm 
Marie Landry

Publication date: April 9th 2013 

Genre: YA Contemporary

Synopsis:
Charlotte O’Dell knows this summer is going to suck. Her beloved mother just died, her sister hates her, and her dad has completely checked out. Fulfilling her mother’s final wish, the family heads to Angel Island for the summer to stay in a beach house her mother once loved.

After a year of being shut away taking care of her mother, Charlotte is numb and practically afraid of her own shadow; she hopes going to the island will give her the time and space she needs to begin healing, and an opportunity to bring her family back together. When she meets her mysterious neighbor, Ezra, it doesn’t take long for Charlotte to confess the issues she’s developed. Ezra begins giving Charlotte assignments to get over her fears, and although she accepts his tasks, all she really wants is to be with him. When she’s with Ezra, she’s able to forget the hollow ache in her heart and the fact that her family is falling apart. But Ezra has secrets…

Can Charlotte pull what’s left of her family together, mend her broken heart, and allow herself to fall for Ezra? Or is it all just a storm waiting to happen?

Book Blast: SNAKE IN THE GRASS by STACI HART

Snake In The Grass (Good Gods #2)
Staci Hart
Release Date: July 30th
Publised by: Promise Socks Publishing 
Genre: 18+ Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance

Book Blast Organized by:  IMR Blog Tours

Book Description
*18+*

It’s Round Two of high stakes Love Connection on Olympus, and this time, everything has changed. For Aphrodite, at least.

Ares is on deck, and Aphrodite is nervous. As much as she loves to hook up with him, she doesn’t trust him as far as she could throw him, which isn’t very far. He’s a big dude. They haven’t been together in a very long time, but she can’t resist him. She never could. Even when every part of her screamed that he was a liar.

Ares has a plan to keep Aphrodite, for good this time. He wants to win the game, but he’ll hold back to get what he wants. He’s sitting on a chance that he’s been waiting thousands of years for, and he’ll do what he has to do to convince her to stay forever.

The only thing that could stop him is the secret that he’s been keeping from her for eons. If she finds out, it will destroy everything.

Kat and Dillon have been through a lot, and everything has been to protect their younger siblings. They have sacrificed everything to make sure their brother and sister are safe. The players are tough and loyal. Fierce and determined. But they become each other’s weakness, even though they fight it, and even though it means danger for Kat and her sister. 

If Aphrodite can get the players over their egos and issues long enough to see that they’re meant for each other, the competition will be a piece of cake. One that she’ll eat a la mode, right in front of Ares, if she beats him.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Blog Tour + Giveaway: {Review} AFTER TUESDAY by RENEE ERICSON


After Tuesday (These Days, #1)Released: May 5th 2013
Publisher: Renee Ericson
Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis via Goodreads:
Family really is a pain…especially when your father is an addict. 
For the last two years, high school senior Ruby has been her own rock and solace. She has learned to depend only on herself and hides her family's issues by keeping herself somewhat unnoticeable. Despite her isolation, Ruby has intrigued the affections of someone unexpected. Finding herself loving life once again as his persistence sparks a romance awakening a well-protected heart. 

While Ruby’s relationship with her father is constantly teetering, her new-found affection continues to blossom into something more than she ever thought possible. Soon, Ruby comes to realize that opening up your heart means being susceptible to love and disappointment.

YA-M: This book contains mature content 
including profanity, drug/alcohol use, and sexual situations/language.






Sunday, July 28, 2013

Blog Tour + Giveaway: {Review} THE LAST DANCE by KIKI HAMILTON



Title: The Last Dance
Author: Kiki Hamilton
Publish Date: February 13th 2013
Book Description: 
Two people couldn't be more opposite...



Kellen Peterson, the gorgeous star quarterback of the Griffin High football team, seems to have it all. Until the night of the Homecoming game, when Kellen gets tackled and suffers a traumatic brain injury - an injury that changes his life - including his ability to walk, talk and throw a football.

Ivy Ly is a senior and counting down the days until she can escape to college. Though her parents have big plans for her to be a doctor, Ivy is afraid to tell them she'd rather pursue music as a career.

Ivy's best friend, Mira, is obsessed with Kellen. When Ivy is asked to tutor the injured football player upon his return to school, she thinks it's the perfect opportunity for Mira to get to know him better - but sparks fly - in more ways than one... 


Friday, July 26, 2013

Blog Tour + Giveaway: [Review] NEARLY BROKEN by DEVON ASHLEY

Title: Nearly Broken
Author: Devon Ashley
Published Date: June 4, 2013
Tour Organized by: YaBoundBookTours

Where to buy:
Amazon | Barnes and Nobles | Kobo

Book Description:

We’d both gone missing at one point, but Claire had one thing I didn’t. Someone to notice. So why was I the one still here and she the one still gone? 

Nineteen year old Megan Smith has spent the past year working in a small town diner in the middle of nowhere. Life is quiet, simple, safe. Then comes the news that her look-a-like has gone missing. 

Claire.

Still damaged both physically and mentally, Megan's not looking to be noticed. Wherever she goes from here, it's a road she needs to take alone. But when Nickolas Ellis takes the job as the new nightshift cook, it scares her how easily her defenses crumble down, down, down for him. But there are secrets she can't bear to share with just anyone, unspeakable acts that continue to haunt, and when the similarities of Claire’s abduction couples with the fear of an unwanted visitor in town, the urge to run before it all happens again intensifies, threatening the only happiness Megan's ever found.

New Adult Romantic Suspense / Dark Realistic Fiction
Recommended for 17+ for mature and disturbing situations, language and sexual content.




Thursday, July 25, 2013

Feature & Follow #14- What do you do with your books

 photo 8474595901_873f4993f4_n_zps0c395c3c.jpg

click the picture to be directed to a Host blog


It's that time again! Feature and Follow!I'm loving this fun way to meet other bloggers! If you want to join click the picture above to be redirected to a Host blog. I'm sorry I have been MIA from FF for a few weeks I was on Vacation for a while. But I'm back and can't wait to follow new blogs and get new followers!! :)



YA Bound- SIZZLING SUMMER GIVEAWAY- {Excerpt} Demon’s Veil by BRANDICE SNOWDEN



I'm please to be hosting the wonderful BRANDICE SNOWDEN on my blog today for this SIZZLING SUMMER EVENT!! I hope you all take the time to read about Brandice and her book Demon's Veil. With out further ado... Demon's Veil by Brandice Snowden:



Title: Demon's Veil
Author: Brandice Snowden
Release date: July 15th 2013
Published by: Curiosity Quills Press

Where to buy:

Book Descriptions: 
Powerful veils hold Earth apart from realms mortals believe are merely tales of myth and legend. They are opening again, leaving humans vulnerable, and the monsters ready to strike.

Marie Leveau prefers to remain alone and anonymous, for she knows what goes bump in the night, and sacrificing others isn't part of her personality. But life isn’t always about getting what you want.

Contracted by The Organization, a shadow government agency, Marie is assigned a new Special Ops team, one she must introduce via Paranormal 101 to the very monsters they didn’t believe existed. Marie and her team are sent to Asia in search of an ancient relic, leading them into the jungle and tests of a fragile new bond. Despite the initial distrust, and an unholy battle with a demon-god, the team survives, their lives forever changed and woven into an unbreakable tapestry.
Returning home, the new friends sense the very people responsible for their safety are willing to sacrifice them all in the name of power.

They learn of a prophecy, and The Paladin, the one person able to close the veils and keep the mortals safe.

With few clues, the team must unravel the prophecy and figure out how to close the veils. Or the monsters will use Earth as ground zero, innocents be damned.

Adult Urban Fantasy: Intended for readers 17 years of age and older.




“Hello, Marie,” the figure seated in front of a bank of monitors spoke with a deep resonating voice. “I’ve been expecting you … And look, you’ve brought me company.” The figured turned and both Delgado and Johnson audibly gasped. He was beautiful, so beautiful they might have thought him a woman had it not been for the voice.
“Hello, Keiron.” Marie smiled at him and for once, her smile actually made it to her eyes. A casual observer might believe her taken with his good looks. But those who knew Marie understood she truly cared about those she considered friends, and the strange man was counted among that number. “Let me introduce you to some friends.”
Keiron raised his eyes to the two men standing behind Marie, and despite his inhuman beauty, it wasn’t until the men saw his direct gaze the thought of Keiron not being human crossed their minds. His eyes were still beautiful, large, with a slightly Asian tilt to the outside of the eye, but they were unearthly in composition; the color of amethyst and almost seemed to glow. His pupils were slightly off, giving an almost reptilian feeling, like being stared at by a poisonous viper. Fearing what his voice would sound like Johnson just nodded his greeting.
Delgado was less subtle, his eyes shifting between Marie and the stranger. Marie reached out and dragged Keiron from his seat, forcing him into the circle of humanity.
“Keiron, this is Johnson and Delgado. They are good men. Guys, this is my friend.” Keiron looked surprised for just a flash at being called her friend. “He is the best when it comes to sniffing out information; there isn’t a system out there that he can’t get around,” she smiled, proud of her friend’s abilities.
“So he’s a hacker.”
“I prefer the term information specialist,” Keiron smiled and it nearly took Johnson’s breath away. God, he’d never been attracted to a man before; why now? His discomfort made him answer more sharply than he intended.
“I don’t like breaking the law, but I am pragmatic enough to understand it might be necessary to save our skins.” He turned to Marie, “I told you I would let you know when I had doubts about you. Well, I have doubts.” Ignoring Keiron he spoke only to Marie, “You’re hiding something about this guy, something is very off here.”
A little surprised at Johnson’s rudeness, Marie turned her gaze toward Keiron, a silent plea for forgiveness.
“Johnson, is it? This is not Marie’s secret to tell, so address your concerns to me. And please, in the future, don’t take your homophobic fears out on my guests.”
Johnson sputtered, trying to come up with a convincing denial for his outburst. But the fact of the matter was he couldn’t find one, and he sullenly turned his attention towards Keiron. Delgado tried unsuccessfully to stifle a giggle and was punched in the arm by Johnson.
“You’re not human, are you?”
“Well, not entirely anyway.”
“Can you read our minds?”
“Not exactly. I feel your emotions, and if I concentrate, I can see the color of your thoughts. But there are times when people project so strongly what is going on in their heads that I am surprised anyone misses it. Just now your distress at your thoughts was palatable and since I have engendered that reaction before, it was simple to deduce what distressed you. In fact, I find Delgado’s reaction to me more interesting.” Keiron turned alien eyes on Delgado. “You must love her very much.”
“Love who?” Marie asked the question.
“I am assuming it is his wife.”
“It is,” answered Delgado.
“Why would his love for his wife be interesting?”
“You are new to this world outside of what humanity perceives as reality, aren’t you?” Johnson nodded. “What do you know of the Fey?”
“Only what I have heard in old folk tales.”
“Kernels of truth buried in mountains of fluff.”
“Huh?”
“My mother was human. My father was Fey, one that crossed into this realm over the last few hundred years. There are reasons poems such as ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ exists. The Fey are beautiful, but more than that, they secrete a pheromone that attracts those around them almost without fail.”
“Almost?”
“True love, soul mates, whatever you want to call it. Those few who have the connection that transcends the mental and physical realms to lay in the spiritual are immune to our pheromone. Don’t ask me why. I find the fact that Delgado is immune to me interesting because in my many years of existence, I had never met anyone who truly had that kind of connection. You are very blessed, Delgado.”
“So how do we know we can trust you? All we have is Marie’s word that you are on her side. Maybe you are working your hocus pocus on her.”
“It could be possible, I won’t lie about that. But, I assure you, it’s not. Marie sees the truth about me. It is one of her many gifts. I can’t influence the truth, only illusion. If it is any consolation, Johnson, the longer you are around me, the less you will be affected.”
Marie laid a hand on Johnson’s arm, “We need him; otherwise we are going into the fray blind. You have already experienced the director’s penchant for not giving his teams all of the information they need. I don’t want to lose lives because the director decided to play games.”
Still tense, Johnson forced himself to look at the situation logically. “All right.”
“One more thing,” Keiron looked at both of the men, “You can’t tell anyone I exist. I prefer not to be dissected in the name of science.”


About the Author



I grew up around the tall tales and history of Texas. I worked my way through college just because I was told it was out of my reach; earning a degree in Literary Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas. Along the way I learned to shoot, wield a sword and even met a family ghost or two.

I have been an artist, teacher, military wife, mother and now novelist. I spend my free time indulging in my fantastical side, learning first hand skills my characters use in my books. I have a passion for history and mythology and use much of what I learn to create new worlds.

I currently resides on the Texas/Oklahoma border with the love of my life and my children of both two legged and four legged variety.

Follow me on:

The prizes up for grabs!! :)









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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Blog Tour+ Giveaway:{Review} LOSING FRANCESCA by J.A. HUSS


Losing Francesca by J.A. Huss
Publication date: July 1st 2013
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Synopsis:
Francesca Sabatini came to America to take in the sights, celebrate her high school graduation, and have fun wasting time before college starts in the fall.

That’s not what happens.

Fresh off the plane and barely on American soil more than a handful of minutes, Francesca’s face is recognized by TSA scanners to be a match for a child who was kidnapped twelve years ago.

Brody Mason remembers the day Fiona Sullivan went missing during a family vacation in Italy and it’s haunted him his whole life. So when Francescashows up at the Sullivan farm down the road, he’s compelled to figure out if this girl really is his long lost friend.

But Francesca knows she’s not Fiona Sullivan. She knows exactly who she is. At least she thinks she knows – until Brody Mason relentlessly pursues her and she begins to have feelings for him. Maybe being Fiona isn’t so bad?

Reality becomes blurred, secrets are revealed, and life will never be the same when the final questions are answered: Is she Francesca or Fiona? And where does she really belong?


Trailer:



Purchase: 



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.

Author links:

(I was given an ebook copy of Losing Francesca for an honest review. I'm not a paid reviewer. All thoughts are my own.)

I was actually kind of excited to read this one. When I read the synopsis, I was super excited to get my hands on it. I love stories with mistaken Identity of some sort. In Losing Francesca there is something similar. A girl who doesnt know she was or is someone else yet she is also still the same person she think she is. A little confusing? Well actually it wasn't to confusing I might have twisted the words a little..sorry..:)  So without giving to much away but to make it a little less confusing she may or may not be one in the same person they say she is. 

Francesca was picked up by the FBI when she was mistaken for a lost girl that went missing a few years ago. She is then forced to live with the family that the missing girl is from. Scared and confused at why this is going on she feels she need to just wait it out until she is allowed to leave or her father ( who is a very powerful man) comes for her. A few weeks go by and she starts to see the good in the people she is with and that is partly due to the hottie next door...Brody. Being able to spend time with him and this so called missing girls family she starts to care about them. Then her father comes for her.. happy to see her father but confused, sad, and doesn't really want to leave. A few things take place after that and we reach the end...I loved the simple ending...One thing some may know about me is I LOVE love so anything to do with love is great in my book.

All in all I really enjoyed Losing Francesca. I would recommend it to New Adult readers..and possibly a few YA readers as well ( *there are few cuss words that takes place in this book) 







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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Blog Tour + Giveaway: PREP SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL by KARA TAYLOR




Expected Publication: 
July 30th 2013
Publisher: 
St. Martin's Griffin
Purchase: 
Blurb:

In this breathtaking debut that reads like Gossip Girl crossed with Twin Peaks, a Queen Bee at a blue-blooded New England prep school stumbles into a murder mystery.
Anne Dowling practically runs her exclusive academy on New York’s Upper East Side—that is, until she accidentally burns part of it down and gets sent to a prestigious boarding school outside of Boston. Determined to make it back to New York, Anne could care less about making friends at the preppy Wheatley School. That is, until her roommate Isabella’s body is found in the woods behind the school.

When everyone else is oddly silent, Anne becomes determined to uncover the truth no matter how many rules she has to break to do it. With the help of Isabella’s twin brother Anthony, and a cute classmate named Brent, Anne discovers that Isabella wasn’t quite the innocent nerdy girl she pretended to be. But someone will do anything to stop Anne’s snooping in this fast-paced, unputdownable read—even if it means framing her for Isabella’s murder.

Blog Tour+ Giveaway: {Author's Interview} THE COROLLARIA by COURTNEY LYN BATTEN

The Corollaria
Release date: February 2nd 2013
PurchaseAmazon

Synopsis via Goodreads:
Emily has always felt like there was more to her parents' mysterious death, more to her being sent to live with the Lyall’s when she was fifteen. And definitely more to her inexplicable infatuation with Luke, the Lyall’s youngest son.

Luke can’t help but be drawn to Emily. She has these perfect blue eyes, unlike any he’s ever seen. And he feels a fierce need to protect her. Suddenly, one night, changes everything. He feels conflicted about his feelings and his destiny, as he and Emily are suddenly plunged into a strange new world. 

Fast paced and action packed, a romance between Emily and Luke begins to take shape just as they are thrust into an ancient war, caught in the crossfire of bloodlust, revenge and love.




Book Release & Giveaway: BODY & BLOOD by AMANDA HAVARD

(*Picture linked to Survivor on Amazon*^^)

   


How many answers you seek are just a part of you, waiting to be found?

The game has changed.

Fresh from her first brush with mortality, a fragile Sadie Matthau is playing human with Cole Hardwick while the Survivors endure unimaginable tragedy. Wrought with the first deaths of their own kind, a tyrant who will torture them, and an opponent more terrifying than anyone could have foreseen, the Survivors are facing their end.

Told from three points of view, The Survivors: Body & Blood is a bloodcurdling, mind-bending, heart-stopping ride. As Sadie and the Winters uncover more enemies, more history, and more answers, they find themselves brought closer together and ripped further apart. And all the while, a haunting Alexander Raven lurks at the edge of Sadie s lifeline, at the darkening fringes of her mind.

As the Survivors descend into chaos, Sadie realizes a painful truth: the deepest of secrets leave the darkest of marks.

Caught between a terrifying fantasy and her own grim reality, Body & Blood is the story of Sadie s dance with her demons, future, past, and present.



Monday, July 22, 2013

Book Blitz + Giveaways: GARGOYLE ADDICTION by LIVIA OLTEANO


Gargoyle Addiction 
by
 Livia Olteano   

Series: Otherworlds Summons #1 
Publication date: July 2013  
Genre: NA Paranormal Romance

Synopsis:
Summonari don’t trust. Under their command, they summon any number of creatures from the Otherwolds—but never trust them outside of the summoning.

Gargoyles don’t love. Fierce descendants of dragons, they function on power and fear—never love.


Karla isn’t the happily-ever-after type of girl. No territory-hungry guy is going to stick flags all over her unclaimed grounds.
Kann’s world is death and betrayal. As Dar Primus of Haus Varis, he’s expected to follow tradition but he’s not your regular gargoyle. In fact, he’s anything but.

One fateful Friday night, Otherworlds collide. Stuck together in one world or another, Karla and Kann face everything from Awakenings and turbulent love to Festnavals and bloodthirsty scorned suitors.
If there’s one thing they can’t escape, it’s the addiction to each other. And they’ve got it bad.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Book Blitz + Giveaway: EPIPHANY by CHRISTINA JEAN MICHAELS

Epiphany 
by
Christina Jean Michaels

Publication date: July, 2013 
Genre: NA/17+ Romantic Suspense
Where to buy: Amazon

Synopsis:

“I had my first psychic dream when I was nine. Psychic implied power, and powerful wasn’t a word I’d use to describe myself. I couldn’t foretell the future or conjure visions at will, but I couldn’t think of a more fitting word to describe what I sometimes saw in my dreams.” 

For 23-year-old Mackenzie Hill, tossing her life down the garbage disposal is easy after a painful incident shatters her life. Her heart is bleeding, and moving to Watcher’s Point is a chance to start anew, only she isn’t prepared for the guy who walks out of her dreams and into the flesh. Literally . . . because she’s been dreaming about this sexy stranger for years.

Mackenzie is even less prepared to face the dark nature of her dreams. They’ve turned disturbingly gruesome, full of blood and murder, and when they begin to coincide with the media’s headlines, she and Aidan realize her visions might be the key to stopping a madman from killing again.

Only Aidan has painful secrets of his own, and perhaps the biggest danger of all is falling for him.




ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christina Jean Michaels was born in Paradise, California, but she has found the true home of her heart in Eugene, Oregon where she finds plenty of inspiration for storytelling. 


When she was young, her mother said she hated words. Now she can't imagine not writing. She became an avid reader when she was thirteen and discovered the world of Sweet Valley High. About a year later she realized she could play God and write about her own characters. She has been writing in some form ever since.


She lives with her husband and their four children—three rambunctious UFC/wrestling-loving boys and one girl who steals everyone’s attention.

LINKS:



Something inside me cracked right along with Aidan’s expression. Everything he’d been hiding spilled from his eyes.
Aidan . . .”
I need a drink.” He strode away, leaving me glued to the spot where he’d trapped me. A crash resounded from the kitchen, followed by splintering glass. I willed my feet to move, ignoring the little voice of reason pointing out that maybe I should leave him be for now.
He was sweeping broken glass into a dustpan when I walked in. “Are you okay?” Instantly, I wished I could cast a net and pull back the stupid, inconsiderate question. Of course he wasn’t okay. “I’m sorry. I know you’re not . . . okay.”
Don’t worry about it. I know what you meant.” He emptied the dustpan into the trashcan and then opened a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, all the while refusing to meet my eyes.
Mind sharing?” I asked. If there was ever a time for drinking, it was now.
I thought you were beyond corruptible.”
I recalled how he’d said something similar on Halloween. “You remember more about that night than you let on, don’t you?”
He pulled two tumblers from a dark cherry wood cabinet. “I remember you.” Amber liquid sloshed into both glasses as he poured, and a moment later he closed the distance between us. “Straight up?” The question sounded like a challenge.
Sure.” I gulped down the whiskey and ignored the burn as it slid down my throat. Heat ignited low in my belly, though whether from the alcohol or Aidan’s scrutiny, I wasn’t sure.
He leaned against the kitchen sink and finished off his own drink before pouring another. “I’m sorry I blew up on you. I didn’t come here to make friends . . . to complicate things.”
I’m a complication?”
His laughter was empty, cold as a morgue. “You’re about as complicated as they come.”
I stared at the bottom of my glass. “Why’s that?”
You look at me as if you see right through me. It’s unsettling.”
I don’t mean to unsettle you.”
Consider me unsettled. Problem is, I think you’re using more than eyesight.”





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Blog Tour + Giveaway: { Author Interview} BREAKING GLASS by LISA AMOWITZ

BREAKING GLASS
 by Lisa Amowitz
from Spencer Hill Press,
 July 2013
ISBN: 978-1937053383

On the night seventeen-year-old Jeremy Glass winds up in the hospital with a broken leg and a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit, his secret crush, Susannah, disappears. When he begins receiving messages from her from beyond the grave, he’s not sure whether they’re real or if he’s losing his grip on reality. Clue by clue, he gets closer to unraveling the mystery, and soon realizes he must discover the truth or become the next victim himself.








About the Author

Lisa Amowitz was born in Queens and raised in the wilds of Long Island, New York where she climbed trees, thought small creatures lived under rocks and studied ant hills. And drew. A lot.
When she hit her teens, she realized that Long Island was too small for her and she needed to escape. So she went to college in Pittsburgh. Go figure.
On leaving college, Lisa became a graphic designer living in New York City. She eventually married her husband of a zillion years, had two lovely children, and was swept away to a fairy tale life in the Bronx, where, unbelievably there are more trees and wilderness than her hometown. She can see the Hudson River from her kitchen window.
Lisa has been a professor of Graphic Design at her beloved Bronx Community College where she has been tormenting and cajoling students for nearly seventeen years. She started writing eight years ago because she wanted something to illustrate, but somehow, instead ended up writing YA. Probably because her mind is too dark and twisted for small children.
BREAKING GLASS which will be released in July, 2013 from Spencer Hill Press, is her first published work. VISION, the first of the Finder series will be released in 2014, along with an unnamed sequel in the following year. LIFE AND BETH will also be released in the near future, along with graphic novel style art.


I had the pleasure of asking Lisa Amowitz a few question and here are her wonderful answers!! I hope you all enjoy!

When and why did you decide to be a writer?

I never actually set out to be a writer. I was always an artist and graphic designer first, and then a professor of design. But I always did have a way with words, I guess. I’ve dabbled with writing over the years, but it wasn’t until after I read the first few Harry Potter books that I sat down and systematically attempted to write a book. I had no real idea what I was doing or what the genre was—my only goal was to write something so I could do illustrations for it! I ended up getting hooked to the point of obsession. I was so embarrassed about it (a design professor who thinks she can write?!! What?) that I did not tell more than a few people that I was actually writing something. I think it took me about four years before I openly admitted the truth—I am a writer! It’s all come together nicely now. My college knows the whole dark truth—and since I designed my own cover, it does tie in nicely to the curriculum. Plus, we love literacy at Bronx Community College! Literacy is good!

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?
The very worst was something I think a lot of beginning writers eventually face—that point when someone has to break it to you that your craft is far behind your ambitions. That you are uncooked and raw.
When I finished my first manuscript I was flushed with the sheer accomplishment of completing a full-length book. WOW—I’m going to be famous, I thought. A friend had passed along this mess of a book to a ridiculously highly-placed person in publishing (no names will be mentioned—I am too embarrassed to name them. EVER.) Oh—and how their blunt, scathing and not very kind response singed me to my core! But it forced me to realize that I was just in the sub-sub basement of craft. That my score of 5 on the English AP exam and all the grants I wrote for my job meant NOTHING in the face of writing fiction. I was an embryo..no make that an unfertilized egg.
So I licked my deep wounds and joined the rag-tag online critique group of beginning writers that ultimately taught each other to write! My critique-mates in a more later group I formed, The Cudas (after seven years we are still together) happily accused me of “cheese”. They got pretty creative about it, too—coming up with all kinds of lovely metaphors—fromage, brie, gouda and Roquefort. Oh—and my favorite—fondue! After awhile I just laughed and got out my clipping shears.
Best compliment? If anyone tells me my writing is poetic. I love to hear that and never get tired of it. But I’m also going to quote an email I just got from local writer friend of mine, Susan Maskin, whom I haven’t been in touch with much lately but who bought my book:
I kept reading last night until I was so tired my eyes wouldn't stay open, though I wanted them to. You always talked about the importance of character voice. No one could possibly have a stronger character voice than you have of Jeremy, Susannah, Ryan...and the others who aren't as main. They are such real people with complex personalities and problems.”

Do you have any advice for other writers?
Yep.
Develop a thick skin. Let other writers read and tear apart your work. Not your mother, your cousin, your kid, your sister, or your husband (unless they write fiction seriously, too). Sure, let them read it to see if it engages. But you need other writers who write in and read your genre to weigh in and tell it to you straight. Not one person, but many. Find beta readers or a critique group you can trust to give you honest criticism with your best interest at heart. You can find them online on SCBWI, Absolute Writers, Querytracker. You can form your own! I did. Try to listen without losing your own cool or confidence. It is important that you trust and value these people. Once you do, they can tell you anything without you getting hurt. No, you can’t listen to all of them all the time—what you want to look for is a consensus. We hate your character. We don’t get your point. The ending is too rushed...things like that. (all things my crit group has told me along the way.)
Don’t be in a rush to publish before you are ready. Once that book is out there, you can’t take it back.
As Stephen King says in ON WRITING: Don’t be afraid to kill your darlings.
That quote changed my life. What Mr. King means is that sometimes you have to chop passages, sentences, characters or entire plot lines so the book will hold together. You must be a merciless and unsentimental editor of your own verbiage. Anyone who has read my first work will hopefully appreciate that if I learned anything in the past umpteen years as a writer, it is that. To be brutal. I tell my design students the same advice because it applies to them as well.

How many drafts did you have to write for 'BREAKING GLASS'? Any scenes that were cut from the original that you want to share?
Oh, so, so many! I wrote the first draft in a mega hurry—after a writer friend challenged me to complete the ms in two weeks. And I did. Then I worked with my critique group and my former agent to knock it into shape over the summer. The first few drafts did not have the back and forth between THEN and NOW. When the manuscript went on submission, an editor requested a major revision to have more of the past with Susannah—and thus was born the back and forth between the present and Jeremy Glass’ recollection of the past. Once the manuscript landed in the hands of Spencer Hill Press it went through three more revisions. So what was that I said about having a thick skin?

What inspired the idea for 'BREAKING GLASS'?
I am asked this question a lot…so in brief—I think in the end it was just a mood—the mood of desperate longing and the search for something you think you want so badly but find in the end it’s not what you want at all. I found the vehicle to express this deep longing and that is Jeremy Glass. Maybe it’s a metaphor for my writing career? Hell if I know!
What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write in BREAKING GLASS' and why?
There is a scene at a Christmas party where Jeremy is to be the guest of honor that he doesn’t want to attend with every fiber of his being. He is literally hauled there, thrown over someone’s shoulder. His father warns him to be on his best behavior, warns him about potential law suits from their rich hosts, but Jeremy ends causing an amazingly embarrassing scene. The thing about Jeremy a reader may not understand, is that though his present behavior can be outrageous, in his past Jeremy was never the trouble-maker. He was the good kid. But this book finds him as he is falling apart, and so he goes a little to the extreme in the other direction.

Tweet Alert! If you only had 140 words or less to tell us about BREAKING GLASS', how would you write your tweet?

Heartbroken Jeremy Glass misses Susannah so much he tries to call her back from beyond the grave. But is she really dead?#BreakingGlass 2013

What are you currently reading?
I’m so glad you asked me this instead of what am I writing! With the book release and my work as a cover designer, I have been busy and having difficulty finding enough time to write. That’s going to change soon, but I always make time to read. I picked up some great ARCS at the BEA, so here is a list.
  1. I just finished EXTRACTED (Spencer Hill Press November 2013) by Sherry Ficklin and Tyler Jolley. I loved this book and reviewed it on the blog I admin, the Scene 13 blog. Yeah—and I designed the cover so it’s kind of like my baby and all—but it is GREAT.
  2. I am still reading THE DREAM THIEVES by Maggie Stiefvater. Wait—let me clarify—I am savoring it like you would slowly eat the best meal you were ever served. I worship every word that Maggie puts on a page. If she needs someone to form a religion around her I am going to lobby to be her high priestess.
  3. PODS (Spencer Hill Press—available now so run and BUY IT) by Michelle Pickett. Michelle is a wonderful friend and SHP co-author and this book has gotten great reviews. I am hooked already and I’m pretty sure I’m going to inhale this. Some books are like that—Maggie’s books are for delicate nibblings. Michelle’s book is like a smoothie—to be gulped down in refreshing swallows of awesome.


Who is your fictional character crush?
Am I allowed to have a crush on my own character, Jeremy Glass? Okay—but I have so many. Let’s see. My biggest and craziest crush is probably on Will and Jem from the Infernal Devices. And of course, Jace and Simon from Mortal Instruments! Am I excited for the movie? ARE MY GLASSES SITTING ON MY NOSE RIGHT NOW? (I hope so or I’d be typing this in Braille).
But I have others: I love Han, from Cinda Chima’s Seven Realms series. I love Lex from EXTRACTED—and gah!! We found the cover model, so don’t even ask---
Oh and right now—I have a huge crush on both Gansey and Adam from the Raven Boys series. A lot of people love Ronan, but me, not so much.
ADAM, ADAM, ADAM whispered the trees in Cabeswater.
I’m sure I have a million more, but I’m fickle. These are my current ones.





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