Monday, March 31, 2014

The Unofficial Book Blitz: All My Restless Life to Live by Dee DeTarsio



All My Restless Life to Live
by Dee DeTarsio
Release Date: April 29th 2013
Genres: Adult, Romance
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Synopsis:

Award-winning author Dee DeTarsio combines life’s darker side with humor and tenderness in a wonderfully charming look at love and the afterlife.

Life is a soap opera, especially for Elle Miller, who is a TV producer. (Ellen dropped the “n” in her name in hopes of finding a better ending for herself.) When her laptop crashes, she borrows her dead dad’s computer and gets way more than she bargained for.

As Elle tries to save her career with a storyline featuring a trip through Atlantis, she takes a trip to the Emmys, and finds herself in the middle of a romance between a real doctor and a hunk who just plays one on TV. Friends, family, and clues from “the other side” all help Elle figure out the difference between living the good life . . . and living a good life.


All My Restless Life to Live
by Dee DeTarsio

I laughed. Giggled, actually. I didnt know why I felt so happy. A low-pitched voice hummed between the beeps of some kind of monitor. Was somebody playing with the hospital props again? The voice got louder. Im Quez Shirrock. Can you hear me? Uh huh, I thought, still smiling. And Im Betty Rubble. Quez Shirrock. Liam has really lost it. That is the worst soap opera name I have ever heard.
Elle. Wake up. The low, soothing sound of that voice vibrated to my very heart as I felt a hand touch my left breast. Yikes! Whos feeling me up? My eyes flew open. What in the world?
Forget The Flintstones. It was Jon Snow. From Game of Thrones. Without the accent and animal pelts. But with the same vulnerable, brooding, coal-black eyes. An odd, not unpleasant mix of peanut butter and cinnamon blew into my nostrils. He peered into my eyes.
I know nothing, Jon Snow. I must have said that aloud because his immobile, almost stern features, shifted as the corners of his mouth turned up. What was going on here? I turned my head. Nope, I wasnt in the studio.
You hit your head and fainted, he said. I couldnt think about him as Quez Shirrock, I was afraid Id laugh in his face. Do you remember anything? he asked.
I shook my head no.

They brought you up here, to Sharp Memorial Hospital. Im a neurologist. Of course you are. Quez Shirrock. Why couldnt I keep the smile off my face?




by Dee DeTarsio

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the rayon will not creep.
I mix it up before powering down,
But look more like a circus clown.
In case of emergency,
(If neighbors, police or firemen might see,)
I cover up, but comfortably.
In my head Im a femme fatale,
That lying mirror tells a different tale.
Victoria may have a secret, but I have one too.
I look like I killed someone, or escaped from the zoo.

A. Slinky, sexy lingerie.
B.  Shunned-by-the-dust-rag yoga pants.

If you answered A, thank you. That is all. You aced the quiz, no need to keep reading. The rest of us:
A.  Wish we were you. Go you. Seriously, just go.
B. Dont believe you.


This edition of Vicks or Vixen is brought to you by It’s time to buy a new pair of pajamas—ones that don’t wrinkle, creep, make you sweat or look like a man; smell good, wash well, and fit perfectly. Seriously. What do you sleep in? And what do all those popular authors out there write in? The One & Only Emily Giffin, I’m talking to you. I bet she has a peignoir, a word I can barely spell. 

I don’t know about you, but I’m fascinated by what people wear to the land of Nod. T-shirts? Leggings? Flannel nightgowns? Half of our life is spent in this hidden wardrobe, seen only by those special (lucky?) few. How can we not honor this important costume? 

I’ve tried Victoria’s Secret–though I’m apparently fifteen years, ten pounds and two cup sizes out of their demographics. I was watching a movie with my family, and I had on a two-piece number. There may have been fuchsia trim. Someone actually hummed a circus ditty, “doo doo doo doo do do doo do do do,” like I was balancing on a unicycle in the center ring, honking my nose while chasing down an ice cream cart. Not the look I was going for. 

How hard is it to invent cute pajamas? Ones that don’t wrinkle, creep, make you sweat or look like a man; smell good, wash well, and fit perfectly. (I am ashamed of how much I love polka dots—what is it about their dangerous lure?) When the bra comes off, the brain and body power down, according to research at IMTU (I Made That Up). We deserve special garb for this most sacred time. Hey garment industry, the world would be a much better place if you could design pajamas that make us look like Jennifer Anniston starring in a romantic comedy. Thank you. 

*Music rises with a swell.* One day, there will be sweet, sweet PJs . . . soft, smooth, comfortable, alluring, am-muy-bien snoozewear, in which we can answer the door, wear to check the mail, and even drop kids off at school without having to fill out a journal entry for their future therapist. A girl can dream. 

Anybody? Please tell us about your favorite jammies! 

You do not want to see what Dee DeTarsio sleeps in. Her latest novel, All My Restless Life to Live, will put you to sleep. Oh, come on, you know what I mean!



Dee DeTarsio is a graduate of The Ohio State University and lives in southern California with her family. She did not teach herself to read at an early age or write stories by the time she was in kindergarten. She was still wetting the bed and playing in the can cupboard.



Win (1) ebook copy of All My Restless Life to Live (INT)



The Unofficial Book Blitz: Blades of Magic (Crown Service #1) by Terah Edun



Blades of Magic (Crown Service #1)
by Terah Edun
Release Date: March 31st 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
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Synopsis:
It is not a peaceful time in the Algardis Empire. War is raging between the mages and seventeen-year-old Sara Fairchild will be right in the middle of it.
She just doesn’t know it yet.
Sara is the daughter of a disgraced imperial commander, executed for desertion. Sara is also the best duelist and hand-to-hand combatant in Sandrin. She lives quietly with her family’s shame but when challenged about her family’s honor, her opponent inevitably loses.
On the night she finds out her father’s true last actions, she takes the Mercenary Guilds’ vows to serve in the emperor’s army. Using her quick wits and fierce fighting skills, she earns a spot in the first division.
There she discovers secrets the mages on both sides would prefer stay hidden. Dark enemies hunt her and soon it’s not just Sara questioning the motivation behind this war.
While fighting mages, blackmailing merchants and discovering new friends, Sara comes across something she’s never had before – passion. The question is – can she fight for her emperor against a mage who has unwittingly claimed her heart?
This is year one of the Initiate Wars. Sara is hoping it doesn’t become the year she dies.
Blades of Magic
by Terah Edun

Chapter Seventeen

It took two days. Two days of Ezekiel not speaking of her. Two days of setting up camp with strangers who glared at her and tried to pick fights. Two days of getting the last of the food from the slop cart because no one would tell her where the mobile kitchen would be located at the end of that evening’s ride. And a day since she fell off her horse because someone had cut the straps on the saddle without her noticing. It had been six-hours since she’d woken up, huddled not in a tent, but on the freezing cold ground where she’d been forced to sleep next to her horse so that she could make sure no one messed with her tack or Danger again. So she gave up her stubbornness. Gave up her pride. She was damned tired of being alone.
She went to look for the only person who might even be half a friend in the entire convoy. She went after Ezekiel Crane. Well, she and Danger went after Ezekiel. The convoy was currently parked on a giant bluff overlooking a crystal clear lake and meadowland. Many of mercenaries were taking the day to enjoy their first bath since leaving Sandrin. Sara was hiking along the bluff looking for a curator who didn’t want to be found with her horse in tow. She couldn’t trust the horse wranglers to look after Danger like the other mercenaries could. Mainly because everyone seemed to hate her from that one outburst the first morning she joined.
So she led Danger by the reins with her scimitar strapped to the left side of the saddle, her sword on her back and her knife at her waist. She had ridden Danger up the slope but it was more of a problem getting down. The slope was slippery, littered with rocks, and had a steep incline. Making it hard for a horse to get down without breaking its legs. She knew the wind mages and earth mages of the guard would work together to make a smooth incline when they were ready to leave. The way it was now was just a defensive tactic that would slow down any enemy’s forces.
They were a further three days out from the nearest deployment site and Sara had to wonder who or what Captain Barthis Simon feared that he would stick his entire mercenary regiment atop a hill with defensive rings all round them.
Sara shrugged irritably at the thought, It’s his problem, not mine. We’re sitting ducks up there. All it would take would be for one enemy soldier to get the brilliant idea of starving us out and we’d die on that hilltop.
That was part of the reason she was heading down. That and the solace of Ezekiel’s company.
“Crap!” yelled Sara as her foot nearly slid out from under her. She refocused on getting down the hill without breaking her neck.
What made life difficult for their enemies, made life even more difficult for a single rider just trying to get from atop the slope to grassland.
As they eased down, Danger whinnied anxiously.
If he could talk Sara had a feeling he’d be saying, “I’m a warhorse, not a mountain goat you idiot.”
They came close to a few tumbles, with the earth sliding out from underneath Danger’s hooves and the gelding almost pulling her down the slope with him. But they regained their footing and made it to the base. When they did he gave the loudest snort she’d ever heard.
“Good boy,” she cooed to him softly. “You were a good, agile boy.”
She reached a hand up towards his nose. Danger tossed his head away from her, refusing to let her pet him.

“Fine,” said Sara. “You’re welcome to be mad at me too. But make no mistake, you’re coming.




Terah Edun is an international development professional and author/lover of all things Young Adult Fantasy fiction. She is a native Georgian, adoptive Washingtonian, unrepentant expat currently living in South Sudan, brilliant dreamer, lover of dogs and not-so-closet geek.

Terah Edun's latest YA Fantasy novel, SWORN TO SECRECY, published on February 24, 2014. Book Five, SWORN TO DEFIANCE, will release in April 2014. Before that she's working on BLADES OF MAGIC, her YA Fantasy project that includes a girl determined to change the odds on the streets of the city she knows best - Sandrin.



Win (1) ebook copy of Blades of Magic by Terah Edun (INT)