Friday, October 31, 2014

Blog Tour: Mortal Enchantment (Mortal Enchantment #1) by Stacey O'Neale



Mortal Enchantment (Mortal Enchantment #1)
Publisher: Phoenix Reign Publishing
Release Date: May 20th 2014
Rate: Enjoyed it (4 stars)

Synopsis:

In Kalin Matthew's world, elementals control the forces of nature. They are divided into four courts: air, woodland, fire, and water. At sixteen she will leave the life she's built with her mortal mother. Kalin will move to Avalon to rule with her father—the elemental king of the air court. Along the way, she's attacked by a fire court assassin and saved by Rowan, a swoon-worthy elemental with a questionable past. 

Worst of all, she learns her father is missing.

To rescue him, Kalin will have to work with a judgmental council and a system of courts too busy accusing each other of deceit to actually be able to help her. But, they aren’t her biggest challenge. With the Midwinter’s Ball only five days away, Kalin must take over her father’s duties, which includes shifting control of the elements—power Kalin has yet to realize.

As Rowan attempts to train her, a war looms between the four courts. If Kalin fails, her father will die and the courts will fall, but the betrayal she’s about to uncover may cost her even more...


Mortal Enchantment truly transported me to a whole new world. I found myself immersed in Avalon and dying to know what would happen with Kalin and Rowan. How could I not enjoy this story if it has the best thing about YA? Fantasy, danger and romance.

It is very important for a fantasy novel to build the world perfectly. As a reader myself, I want to be able to imagine the world that the author had in mind for the story and Stacey O'Neale did a perfect job. In every single scene, all that surrounds Kalin is explain to detail and it was pretty easy to imagine Avalon. 

The journey Kalin and Rowan both do together is a tough one and I liked that there were some battle scenes. As for the characters, Kalin is one of those main characters that either you connect with her or you don't. She has some special reactions to some situations that I found it a bit surreal, meaning I wouldn't react so dramatically. However, she was a good heroine and we could see over her childish moments because you can truly see that she was trying to be mature and we also have to remember that she's only sixteen. 
Rowan is definitely a perfect book boyfriend that I am dying to read more about. My only regret is that I wish I have read the novella first to get to know him better before meeting him in Mortal Enchantment. He's good, kind and has this all guardian thing going on that makes him kind of irresistible. Plus his playful side is what most of the times brought a smile to my face while reading the book.

Mortal Enchantment is a fast-paced fantasy novel worth reading about. With a good ending, an amazing world and memorable characters, this YA story has all the things to keep you interested until the very last page.






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Click on the banner below to follow the Mortal Enchantment tour



Stacey O'Neale lives in Annapolis, Maryland. When she's not writing, she spends her time fangirling over books, blogging, watching fantasy television shows, cheering for the Baltimore Ravens, and hanging out with her husband and daughter.

Her career in publishing started as a blogger-turned-publicist for two successful small publishers. Stacey writes young adult paranormal romance and adult science fiction romance. Her books always include swoon-worthy heroes, snarky heroines, and lots of kissing.

Stacey loves hearing from readers. Follow her on Twitter @StaceyONeale, look for her on Facebook, Pinterest, and GoodReads. You can also visit her blog at http://staceyoneale.com/.






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Month9Books Birthday Bash


Book Addicts! It's the birthday of Month9Books! They are turning 2 and they have decided to celebrate it with us by letting us, bloggers, hosting amazing posts with their authors and giving away amazing prizes. 


Lifer
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Release Date: December 16, 2014
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Synopsis:

Asher is a Lifer, a slave aboard the spaceship Pelican. A member of the lowest rung of society, she must serve the ship’s Officials and Astronauts as punishment for her grandparents' crimes back on Earth. The one thing that made life bearable was her illicit relationship with Samuai, a Fishie boy, but he died alongside her brother in a freak training accident.

Still grieving for the loss of her loved ones, Asher is summoned to the upper levels to wait on Lady, the head Official’s wife and Samuai’s mother. It is the perfect opportunity to gather intel for the Lifer’s brewing rebellion. There’s just one problem—the last girl who went to the upper levels never came back.

On the other side of the universe, an alien attack has left Earth in shambles and a group called The Company has taken control. Blank wakes up in a pond completely naked and with no memory, not even his real name. So when a hot girl named Megs invites him to a black-market gaming warehouse where winning means information, he doesn’t think twice about playing. But sometimes the past is better left buried.

As Asher and Blank’s worlds collide, the truth comes out—everyone has been lied to. Bourne Identity meets Under the Never Sky in this intergalactic tale of love and deception from debut novelist Beck Nicholas.


by Beck Nicholas


I’m so happy to be here to celebrate Month9Books birthday. I won’t sing though because I don’t want to injure anyone’s ears.

While I love to write in quiet (silence preferably) music often helps me in the ideas part of a story. A song (or several) can help me work out or capture the mood of a book or a scene. It can help me return to it quickly and pick up where I left off writing and that was particularly true for LIFER.

Below I’ve listed a few songs and their meaning for the book, without giving too much away.

Starships by Nicki Minaj

This song reminds me of Lifer every time it comes on the radio. I think of it as the Lifer anthem for the feel of the book.


Ink by Coldplay

Lifers have a tradition of marking their skin in remembrance of someone who has died. The opening scene is Asher marking her body for her lost boyfriend. When this song plays I’m right there in that scene with Asher feeling the needle go into my skin.


Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead

The first time we meet Blank he is waking in a garden. In the middle of the garden, surrounded my stone and fake bushes is a single living tree, encased in glass.


Pictures of You by The Cure

Asher is grieving. While she has no images of her brother, she’s at one point surrounded by many photos of her lost boyfriend. At first she thinks they’re a treasure but soon, like in the song, she begins to forget every memory but those captured in the pictures. She fears that’s all she’ll have left of her lost love.


Numb by U2

This sums up how Asher feels as the book goes on. She becomes numb to the terrible pain and focused on her goal to find out what happened when her brother and boyfriend died. When she suffers more loss she wonders if she’ll ever feel again.


These songs are a few of those that make me think of LIFER.

Thanks for having me as part of the celebrations and I can’t wait for December when Lifer is out and you can all meet Asher and Blank.


Don't miss any Month9Books author and post!

Sarah Bromley will be hosted by A Book and A Latte
Steve Bryant will be hosted by Jump Into Books
Brynn Chapman will be hosted by A Backwards Story
Scott Craven will be hosted by Books and Ashes
Ty Drago will be hosted by The A P Book Club
Jennifer M. Eaton will be hosted by Book Briefs
Kit Forbes will be hosted by Book Lovers Life
Amanda Gray will be hosted by Aspiring Joy
Nicola Marsh will be hosted by ReadWriteLove28
Georgia McBride will be hosted by YA Sisterhood
Pab Sungenis will be hosted by Classy Cat Books
Rachel Tafoya will be hosted by Jessabella Reads


Beck-Nicholas-head-shot-248x300
I always wanted to write. I’ve worked as a lab assistant, a pizza delivery driver and a high school teacher but I always pursued my first dream of creating stories. Now, I live with my family near Adelaide, halfway between the city and the sea, and am lucky to spend my days (and nights) writing young adult fiction.




Win (1) New Kindle with touchscreen (US only) loaded with all our Month9Books titles (US Only)

Win (1) Paperback prize pack of 5 Month9Books Titles (US Only)

Win (2) eBook Prize Packs of 5 Month9Books titles (INT)




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Release Day Event: Among Monsters (Red Hill Novella) by Jamie McGuire


Travel back to Red Hill on Halloween! AMONG MONSTERS available on October 31st!

Among Monsters (Red Hill Novella)
by Jamie McGuire
Release Date: October 31st 2014
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Synopsis:

Being thirteen has pitfalls of its own, but growing up has never been this hard. 

Jenna had promised her mother that if the worst happened during her dad’s weekend, they would meet at Red Hill Ranch. When she finds seven words spray-painted on her dad’s wall the morning after a deadly outbreak, she makes a promise to herself: to get to the ranch with her seven-year-old sister, Halle, and to get them both there alive. 

Among Monsters is the companion novella to Red Hill, both exploring from different perspectives what many broken families experience every other weekend: What if your children aren't with you when the world ends? What would you do to get to them? What would they go through to get to you? 

For Jenna, seeing her mother again is worth everything. Determined to keep her promise, she is faced with experiences and decisions that force her to leave her childhood behind.




Among Monsters
by Jamie McGuire

“You’re scared. You’re too scared to keep going.”

“Honey,” Dad began.

“You had to walk one day, and you’re scared? You killed a dozen infected and walked away without a scratch. We hit a parked truck at fifty miles an hour and barely noticed. Why are you suddenly opposed to Red Hill?” I was trying to remain calm, but with every point, my tone got higher.

Tavia clasped her hands together. “We’re all scared—”

“Then, stay!” I said, my voice transitioning to a weird chuckle even though I found none of what they were saying funny. “You don’t have to come with us. But our mom is waiting for us at Red Hill, and that is where Halle and I are going.”

“Not today,” Dad said.

“Then, when?” I asked again, emphasizing each word.

“When I say,” he said, sounding final.

I laughed once without humor. “I’m not asking to go to the mall. We’re talking about Mom being alone without us! She’s waiting for us! Do you honestly think I care that you’re”—I used my fingers to make quotation marks in the air—“the dad right now?”

He stomped over to me and leaned into my face, taking me back to a time when my parents had still been married. “You’d better start caring. Just because it’s the end of the world doesn’t mean I won’t whip your ass!”

Tavia pulled him back, and he flipped around, picking up a pillow and throwing it against the wall.

She eyed Dad warily. She was now seeing the side of him that Halle and I were used to, a side that I had been waiting for since this began.

“Andrew, maybe you should take a walk and see if you can do anything more to secure the house.”

Dad turned to her, his face severe. The skin between his brows had formed a crevice, as deep and as dark as his anger in that moment. His hazel-green eyes burned bright against his olive skin. Just when I thought he would start yelling again, he left the room.

Tavia took a deep breath and held her hand to her heart. “That was—”

“Typical,” I grumbled.

“You fight like that with him a lot?”

“We used to but not lately.”

“He gets pretty mad, huh?” she asked, glancing at the closed door.

“He has a temper. He’s working on it—allegedly.”

“Is that why you want to get to your mom so bad?”

My eyebrows pulled in. “What would you do if you were separated from Tobin?”

She blinked.

“She’s my mom. If I scrape my knee, I call for her. If I’m sick, I ask for her. If I’m scared, I cry for her. If there’s an apocalypse, I’m going to the ends of the earth for her.” My eyes and nose burned. The sudden emotion surprised me. I wiped my cheek and sniffed, staring at the floor. “It’s forty miles. We can make it.”

“We…we don’t know if Tobin can make forty miles. Who knows how long that would take on foot?”

“It doesn’t matter if we waste time here. What were you two talking about? How to convince me to stay? For a few days? For a week? Forever?”

“No.” She shook her head. “We’re just worried about the little ones being able to make it that far. We need a car—or at the very least, a way to carry the supplies. I can’t hold Tobin all day long. I can’t run with him. It’s too dangerous to try.”

“I like you, Tavia. I’m not trying to be mean, but no one’s asking you to come with us. If you want to stay here, stay here.”

She was taken aback. “I know, but we can’t do this alone. We need one another.”

“Brad will leave eventually for Shallot. You need my dad to stay.”

“It’s not so different. You need him to leave.”

“But he’s my dad. I’m not going to give up on seeing my mom again because you can’t travel with Tobin.”

Tavia’s sweet smile fell away. She wasn’t being confrontational, but she did have the look of a mother bear protecting her cub. “Halle can’t make the trip either. You would be risking her life if you go, especially if you try something as ridiculous as leaving without your dad. We’re the adults, Jenna. He’ll listen to me.”

I took a deep breath and lowered my chin. Tavia was pretty intimidating. I thought about what Mom would say when I told her about this conversation later. She would want me to fight. She would want me to do anything I could to get Halle and me to Red Hill.

“My dad and I have had our ups and downs,” I said, keeping my voice low and steady. “But if you try to make him pick between you or me, you’ll lose.”





New York Times best selling author Jamie McGuire has penned the Providence series and contemporary romance Beautiful Disaster. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband and three children. She is an RT(R), a graduate of Autry and Oklahoma Northern College, and a full time writer.




Go to Jamie's Facebook Page for a chance to win a signed hardback of Red Hill AND a signed paperback of the new novella, Among Monsters!


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