Book Blitz + Giveaway: Catching Summer (Second Chances #6) by L.P. Dover

Catching Summer (Second Chances #6)
by L.P. Dover
Publisher: Loveswept
Release Date: April 5th 2016
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

Synopsis:

Former nurse Summer Jacobs has seen her fair share of suffering, but she never expected tragedy to hit so close to home. After watching her husband die in the MMA ring, Summer spends the next two years fighting her way through the darkness. The last thing she needs is another hardheaded athlete turning her life upside down. But that’s exactly what happens when she meets a gridiron star who’s as skilled at stealing hearts as he is at snagging passes.

Carolina Cougars wide receiver Evan Townsend usually has no problem winning fans, so he’s intrigued when Summer shoots down his go-to plays for winning a woman’s attention. Never one to back down from a challenge, Evan turns up the heat, setting off sparks that neither can deny. But as his slow seduction begins to chase away Summer’s pain, he gets the feeling that someone is desperate to keep them apart. Now Evan will do anything to protect her—because he never misses a chance to make a perfect catch.

Once out the door, I breathed a sigh of relief and slowed my pace. “Come on, Summer, stop acting like an idiot.”

“Talking to yourself now?” Evan teased from behind.

I stopped mid-step and closed my eyes. “Do you enjoy provoking me?”

When he circled around me, I opened my eyes. “Not really, but I do love seeing you blush. I didn’t realize I had that effect on you.”

“You seriously are full of yourself, aren’t you?” How could I be so stupid? There was no way in hell I could hide my face now. I didn’t want him to know how flustered he made me.

Chuckling, he shook his head and kept his gray eyes solely on mine. “I’m really not. I was just hoping to hear your laugh again. I guess I didn’t get enough of it yesterday.”

“So, this is you flirting with me? What do you expect to gain from that?”

He took a step closer and smiled. “For starters, I was hoping to persuade you to come to my party after the game Saturday night.”

My heart thumped wildly in my chest. I could feel the sweat pouring down my back. “Like what? A date?”

“Only if you want it to be. I just figured I’d save you the trouble of having to ward off my teammates. I can name three of the guys who are interested in you. My threats to stop their advances can only go so far.”

“What if I didn’t want to go to your party? I can easily just tell them I’m not interested.”

He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. “You could, but that doesn’t mean shit to these guys. They’ll keep hounding you until you give in. They love the chase.”

“Just like you,” I retorted with a smile.

“What can I say? I’m relentless when I want something.” I sucked in a breath and bit my lip. Did he really want me like that? The thought made everything inside of me tighten. It was too dangerous to think of him like that.

“So are you trying to save me from your friends or are you really wanting me to join you? I know how you guys work, and I don’t want to be a part of some game you’re playing to get girls.”

His grin faded, gaze hard. “I don’t play games, Summer. I may have in the past, but I would never do that to you. Have I ever given you the impression that you can’t trust me?”

Sighing, I shook my head. I felt like such an idiot. “No, and I’m sorry for being presumptuous. It’s just . . .” I paused and bit down on the side of my cheek.

“It’s just what?” he asked in all seriousness.

“It’s just this is all new to me. All I’ve ever known is Austin. Being around you makes me nervous. I’m not like the girls you’ve brought into the restaurant. If it’s sex you want, you can forget it. I’m not one of your groupies.” For a second there, I thought he was at a loss for words, but then he belted out in laughter. Ouch, that hurt. “I’m glad I could amuse you.”

When he straightened up, he took off his hat and ran his hands through his hair. And again, my heart sped up at the sight. Shit. “Damn, you are a fiery one. And just so we’re clear, I’m not trying to fuck you or trying to put another notch in my belt. Believe it or not, I’m actually interested in something else.”

“What is that, exactly?”

“I don’t know, but I’m hoping you can help me figure it out.” Grabbing my hand, he pulled me toward his truck. “Let’s go.”

USA TODAY Bestselling author, L.P. Dover, is the author of the Forever Fae series, as well as the Second Chances standalone series, and her NA romantic suspense standalone called Love, Lies, and Deception. She lives in the beautiful state of North Carolina with her husband, her two wild girls, and her rambunctious kitten Katrina.

Before she began her career in the literary world, L.P. Dover spent her years going to college and then graduated to cleaning teeth, which she loved doing. At least until the characters in her head called her away. She has never been the same since.

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Book Blitz + Giveaway: The Summer Marked (The Winter People #2) by Rebekah L. Purdy

The Summer Marked (The Winter People #2)

by Rebekah L. Purdy

Publisher: Entangled: Teen

Release Date: September 22nd 2015

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:

The sequel to the chilling Winter People returns to the world of Faerie, and is a romantic and enchanting follow-up.

Salome left humankind behind to be with her boyfriend, Gareth, in the Kingdom of Summer. But now forces of darkness are rising. Her happily-ever-after is coming apart, and the Kingdom is on the brink of war.

Newly-single Kadie Byers is on her way home for Thanksgiving, imagining a visit filled with hot chocolate, a hot guy for a little rebound action, and some girl time with her bestie, Salome. Except she receives a message from Salome with two important words: PLEASE HURRY.

When Kadie rushes to help Salome, she’s ripped from the human world and pulled into the kingdoms of Faerie, where she’s shocked to learn that Salome’s monsters are real, and that she’s now at the mercy of one extremely vengeful Winter Queen…

Now both Salome and Kadie must find a way to survive the deadly chaos…or lose themselves to Winter’s deadly, icy grasp.

by Rebekah L. Purdy

I had a blast writing The Summer Marked (book two in the Winter People series), but mostly because I got to create the story from two different characters’ points of view. Kadie and Salome are SUCH different people. Kadie is more bad ass and hardcore, where Salome, who can be tough if she needs to, is a more “soft” kind of character. She kind of wears her heart on her sleeve and cares SO much about people. So it was nice being able to see how each character reacted to their environments.

But these two girls are both in very different types of places within Faerie. Kadie has been dropped right into something out of a horror flick or a fairytale gone wrong. Winter is filled with so much darkness, violence, and nightmarish stuff—a very macabre place. It was tough to write Kadie’s character, because we see how all this evilness is starting to break her down. She’s struggling to remain strong and protect her friend at all costs. But her whole situation seems helpless. It’s like every ray of hope that she has just keeps getting sucked away.

Salome, on the other hand is in Summer. When I was creating Summer all that kept popping into my head was something out of Tolkien novel, kind of like Rivendell. Summer is a HUGE contrast from Winter. It’s beautiful, with fountains, waterfalls, flowers, trees, castles etc. But underneath all the beauty there is a danger for Salome as well—and she learns quickly that not everything that’s “pretty” is nice. She has her own battles to fight, especially since not all the Fae like humans. She trying to find her place in a world where she really doesn’t totally belong or fit into. I had a different kind of fun writing her character. I liked showing her contrast from Kadie. How she had her own “horrors” and political issues she was dealing with. But also showing her grow more of a backbone and into her own so to speak.

The great thing about duo povs is being able to give the reader a bigger look at the setting and characters your writing about. To give them an idea of things outside just the main protagonist’s thoughts. I seriously love this book and hope the readers do as well.

Rebekah Purdy grew up in Michigan, where she spent many late nights armed with a good book and a flashlight. When not hiding at her computer and getting lost in her stories, she enjoys reading, singing, soccer, swimming, football, camping, playing video games and hanging out with her kids. She loves the unexplainable like Bigfoot, the Dogman, and the Loch Ness Monster (lots of good story material)! She admits to still having all the books she bought throughout her childhood and teen years, and she may or may not have an obsession with anything chocolate…

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FFBC: Welcome to the club, Trust Me, I'm Trouble (Trust Me #2) by Mary Elizabeth Summer

Trust Me, I'm Trouble (Trust Me #2)
by Mary Elizabeth Summer
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: October 13th 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller, Fiction

Synopsis:

The sequel to TRUST ME, I’M LYING

Staying out of trouble isn’t possible for Julep Dupree. She has managed not to get kicked out of her private school, even though everyone knows she’s responsible for taking down a human-trafficking mob boss—and getting St. Agatha’s golden-boy Tyler killed in the process. Running cons holds her guilty conscience at bay, but unfortunately, someone wants Julep to pay for her mistakes . . . with her life.

Against her better judgment, Julep takes a shady case that requires her to infiltrate a secretive organization that her long-gone mother and the enigmatic blue fairy may be connected to. Her best friend, Sam, isn’t around to stop her, and Dani, her one true confidante, happens to be a nineteen-year-old mob enforcer whose moral compass is as questionable as Julep’s. But there’s not much time to worry about right and wrong—or to save your falling heart—when there’s a contract on your head.

Murders, heists, secrets and lies, hit men and hidden identities . . . If Julep doesn’t watch her back, it’s her funeral. No lie.

Hello Mary Elizabeth! Welcome Back! We are super excited to have you in our FFBC tours again!

Thanks!! Super excited to be here.J

Sure! Trust Me, I’m Trouble starts with a job that Murphy and Julep are pulling to flush out a potential insurance scammer. It’s just before the last week of school of their sophomore year at St. Agatha’s, and seven months since the events of Trust Me, I’m Lying (two months since the events of Down to the Liar). Julep’s not over what happened seven months ago, let alone two months ago, so she’s functioning on the surface, but kind of a mess underneath. She hides it well, of course—she’s a grifter, after all. But she feels a ton of guilt about what happened, despite all the good that came out of it. Luckily, she still has her friends to pull her through. Murphy, Dani, Mike, Bryn, and yes, Sam, all play big roles in this book. 

That is a bit harder to say without giving too much away. Many scenes were a joy to write, but the most fun were the ones where Julep was caught flat-footed. She’s not perfect by a long-shot. Her blind spots are big enough to drive semi-trucks through. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t get her own back in the end. She’s a smart cookie and can roll with a lot of punches.

Yes, definitely. Or at least I do. Mostly when I need to corroborate some minute detail, like a name or place or timing. Timing is a pain in the neck to keep straight. Also, I quote a lot from the first book (and the novella) in the second book. That’s partly to help catch readers up to speed, but also because, as I mentioned before, Julep’s not over all the stuff that happened in the first book. She flashes back to bits of it where it makes sense for the story.

All the time. The biggest piece that still surprises me—though it shouldn’t by now—is how much of the story is written by the characters themselves. If you create interesting characters with complicated histories in the first place, then all you have to do is keep throwing them under the bus and see how they react. That’s where voice comes from—not from dialect or using a thesaurus or lists of dialogue beats or any of the other tools authors use to tweak voice. Voice originates from an interesting character reacting to stimulus as that character, and only that character, would react.

Not at all, and that’s because I have to scrounge for writing time wherever I can get it. If I’m standing in line at the grocery store, I’m writing on my phone. If I’m waiting for my boss to review something at work, I’m writing in a 2-inch by 2-inch window, so no one can read over my shoulder, on my work computer (in fact, that is exactly what I’m doing right now). If I’m driving alone in the car, I’m coming up with dialogue for a scene in my head, or brainstorming the story arc with my mother on the phone. I frankly don’t have the luxury of relying on a routine. I have to write desperately, like my life depends on it. Because there’s no time to waste, and because it does.

Yes! An actual teenage fan emailed me about how much she loved the first book, and then came to a reading I was giving at a Barnes & Noble store. It was so awesome to get to meet someone who loved the book that much who wasn’t me or my mom. 

Neither. Both the first line and the last are easy and organic and thrilling to write. It’s all the lines in between that are hard.

So many! Let’s see… Emily Lloyd-Jones, April Henry, Fonda Lee, Eliza Crewe, Jennifer Bosworth, Marie Langager, Elissa Sussman, Dahlia Adler, Robin Herrera, Miriam Forster, and a few of my beloved CPs who aren’t totally published yet (but don’t worry—I’ll be telling everyone all about them once they are). I’m probably forgetting a ton of authors I worship, but these are a few off the top of my head.

ZEROBOXER by Fonda Lee. I’m not even super into sports stories, but this one killed me. I wept at the end. And the writing was superlative. I also adored THE KILLING JAR by Jennifer Bosworth, but that book doesn’t technically come out until 2016.

Again, so many! My current favorites are Teen Wolf, The 100 (why do I have to wait till 2016 for the new season—WHY), How to Get Away with Murder, Blackish, and Empire. Also, Sherlock (the brief dribbles of it we get every few years or so), So You Think You Can Dance, and The Voice. We’ve also started watching Rosewood. I like it so far, but it’s too soon to tell if it’s a fave. 

Thank you for participating in our FFBC Tours again Mary Elizabeth! 

Thanks for having me! I love hanging out with you all. *hugs*

Follow the Trust Me, I'm Trouble by Mary Elizabeth Summer Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Mary Elizabeth Summer is an instructional designer, a mom, a champion of the serial comma, and a pie junkie. Oh, and she sometimes writes books about teenage delinquents saving the day. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her daughter, her partner, and her evil overlor–er, cat. TRUST ME, I'M LYING, a YA mystery, will be released by Delacorte in Fall 2014.

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