Blog Tour {Excerpt & Giveaway} The Lumpy Duckling by Kai Strand

 

The Lumpy Duckling

by Kai Strand

Lumpy may be hefty with a misshapen mouth, but he’s funny and the most loyal friend Wheezy could ask for. When she meets Unwanted, she casts a wish for people to be able to see her best friend like she does. Her wish nearly kills him.

All the Weaver Tales are set in the same fictional village of The Tales. The villagers are called Word Weavers, because they speak in story. The same little gnome-elf, Unwanted, grants a wish in each book that makes the main character's problem worse. The books do not have to be read in any order.

Excerpt

After school on Wednesday, she swallowed her pride and her pain and her fear and went straight to the park. On the way, she considered how to apologize to Lumpy when she saw him. She carefully chose the words she would use and rehearsed them again and again all the way there. By the time she reached the park, she was actually excited to see him and eager to admit how ridiculous she had acted.

The afternoon was warm, but a gentle breeze cooled her cheeks. Birds twittered in the trees and the fresh scent of grass and earth stirred an excitement in Wheezy for the long summer days that were only a week away. For the first time since Lumpy returned, Wheezy looked forward to spending day after day with him. With a fluttery heart, she realized she truly missed him, his jokes, his laughter, his presence. It didn’t matter what he looked like. She missed him.

She followed the park’s path through the trees and into the clearing. A smile bloomed on her face while she swung her gaze to their picnic table. But Wheezy halted and her smile died away. Her lips parted in surprise. Lumpy wasn’t alone. Edward sat on top of the table, his feet on the bench with his fan club gathered around, but they were all listening to Lumpy speak.

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Praise for The Lucky Duckling

Kai Strand explores friendship, perception, and the consequences of wishes in this fast-paced read. ~Mary Waibel

This is a wonderful story of loyalty and friendship. It also shows how one’s fears and insecurities sometimes sabotage the good things we have in our lives. Like Wheezy, we have to learn to trust, to accept change, to be patient and understanding, and to try not to jump to conclusions. The end is most satisfying, but it’s an exciting, nerve-wracking ride getting there. The Lumpy Duckling is highly recommended for middle grade readers. ~Penelope Anne Cole

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Author Kai Strand

When her children were young and the electricity winked out, Kai Strand gathered her family around the fireplace and they told stories, one sentence at a time. Her boys were rather fond of the ending, “And then everybody died. The end.” Now an award winning children’s author, Kai crafts fiction for kids and teens to provide an escape hatch from their reality. With a selection of novels for young adult and middle grade readers and short stories for the younger ones, Kai entertains children of all ages, and their adults.

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Blog Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 12/29/14

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.  

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Book Tour {Promo Post & Giveaway} The Letting by Cathrine Goldstein

The Letting
by Cathrine Goldstein
Release Date: 12/15/14
335 pages

Summary from Goodreads

What if the Devil doesn’t know he’s the Devil?

This is the question Veronica “Ronnie” Billings poses to Phoenix, her sworn enemy, the leader of the Peaceful Revolution, and the one she loves.

Kidnapped by Phoenix’s rebels, Ronnie learns how wrong she has been. She had no idea that her patriotism was wasted on a corrupt government. Ronnie was proud to be a Leader; taking hundreds of harvested girls to the Letting facility. After all, she was saving them from future Couplings and bringing them to the safety of the New World. Or so she thought…

Confused, Ronnie realizes the only way to discover the truth is to trust her heart. Together, Phoenix and Ronnie devise a plan to stop their corrupt government and preempt the dangerous rebel coup which is approaching. But when their plan goes awry, will Ronnie be strong enough to save Phoenix, her country, and herself?

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About the Author

Given my love for cities and all that is gritty, my new obsession with trees really has me stumped. (Sorry.) Maybe it's because trees are the inspiration behind my new YA/NA novel, theLETTING.

Whatever the reason for my new infatuation, some things remain constant -- like my love for: coffee (although sadly, it's now decaf); yoga; Luna bars (I am petitioning for them to bring back Chocolate Raspberry!); running in my neighborhood; Hemingway; Bukowski... and, above all, my husband and my girls.

I am the author of the bestselling novel, Sleeping With Mortals: The Story of a New York Mistress, and I'm also a playwright. I have my B.A. in English and my M.A. in Theatre.

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My 10 Must-Haves, by Cathrine Goldstein

People have assumptions about writers – we’re quirky (often true), superstitious (sometimes, she answers while rapping her knuckles three times for luck), and antisocial. Well I know for me at least, it’s not that I don’t want to see anyone else, it’s just that I’m in an extremely committed relationship with my computer.

That said… what are those 10 things that I absolutely, positively cannot live without?

1) My husband and my girls. This is cheating, I know. But they are just spectacular and I love them, love them, love them.

2) Luna bars. Oh, it’s a bit of an addiction, all right. I nearly mourned the end of Chocolate Raspberry, and now I have a healthy addiction to Caramel Nut Brownie. How can anyone pass on a food called "Caramel Nut Brownie" that’s actually GOOD for you…?

3) My treadmill. That baby gets a workout. Some of my best writing comes during my run sessions. I listen to whatever song I’m using for inspiration at the moment, over and over, and let the scenes form themselves.

4) My car. Yup. I would love to walk everywhere, but I no longer live in the middle of Manhattan so it’s not an option. I have a bit of wanderlust. Gypsy blood. I need to constantly move. Sometimes, even my characters get exhausted.

5) My computer. I really, really, positively love to write.

6) Books. Any and all. I love to read like I love to write. I also love reading things outside my normal “genres” – I am an extremely adventurous reader.

7) Reruns of Law and Order. Any of the shows. It’s all that my husband and I ever get to watch together—we watch reruns on late night when I fall into bed, exhausted.

8) Yoga clothes. I love yoga, but I love yoga clothes even more. And really, what else can you wear when you’re chasing after two little girls and writing novels?

9) Trees and the outdoors. There’s just something…transcendent…about trees, isn’t there? Some of my favorite childhood memories are of being sprawled out under a huge maple tree, devouring a pile of books. Back before I was allergic to maple trees, that is...

10) My family and friends.

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Blog Tour {Excerpt & Giveaway} Real Time by Jeanine Binder

Real Time

By-  Jeanine Binder

Age Group/Genre- Romance 16 +

Twenty-five years of fame comes at a price for Nick, leaving him hard—a machine to produce nothing but his music. True to his British upbringing, he’s very set in his ways. Things are just as he wants them—no deviance.

In steps Kate—a studio musician who, by a strange twist, manages to get hired into his band. Everything starts out with the boundaries firmly placed, and it doesn’t take long for Nick to realize she’s going to change his world. To his surprise, he’s the one who is attracted to her first. She gets under his skin. 

Living by the creed that letting people close gets you hurt, Nick stays driven in his commitments. He is a musician, first and foremost, but a turn of events leads him to investing in the recording company who produces his music. Can he handle this new venture, his music, and keep the woman he now loves?

   

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Excerpt -

Kate knocked on the door leading to Nick’s bedroom.  “Better be bloody important,” was the answer she heard.

Kate mentally counted to ten, then opened the door.   She went  inside, quietly closing it behind her.  Inside she saw his suitcase along the wall and found Nick standing in front of the large picture window, staring down at the city lights.  There was a half empty bottle of Scotch on the table next to him and he didn’t turn around as she stepped further into the dimly lit room.  Kate didn’t say anything as she walked up behind him, putting her arms around his waist.  Nick stiffened in reply at the foreign touch but after a few minutes, she felt him start to relax against her.  She remained quiet, wanting him to get comfortable with her there.  There was no doubt in her mind how she felt about him, boss or otherwise, and she was not going to let him drown himself in this pain, whatever had happened.  She was sensing something more than just the funeral, which was depressing enough on its own.  No, something happened and it was tearing him up.  She had never seen him drink alcohol straight before.  Matter of fact, she rarely saw him drink anything alcoholic in the almost six months they had toured together.  The rest of the band drank their share of beer and other drinks, but Nick was almost never with them.  And then only a single glass of something.

            “Was it bad?” she asked softly, finally deciding to break the silence.  The fact he hadn’t instantly tossed her out, Kate took as a positive sign.

            “It was bad,” he confirmed, continuing to stare out the window and drink the Scotch he was holding.  

He showed no intention of moving out of Kate’s embrace and rested against her.  “This is why I have American citizenship, so I don’t have to go back to England.  And, after this European tour, love, if I even remotely talk about doing anything in London, I want you to lock me up somewhere in a mental ward.”

 About the Author-
Jeanine Binder grew up in a small town in California on the outskirts of Palm Springs, where the Hollywood celebrities liked to vacation. After thirty years, she packed up, moved to Arkansas where she still lives today. Writing has always been a passion and hoping the next twenty years will bring many enjoyable books for others to read.

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Cover Reveal for Greta and the Goblin King (Mylena Chronicles #1) by Chloe Jacobs

Greta and the Goblin King (Mylena Chronicles #1)

by Chloe Jacobs

Release Date: 12/11/12

Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:
While trying to save her brother from a witch’s fire four years ago, Greta was thrown in herself, falling through a portal to Mylena, a dangerous world where humans are the enemy and every ogre, ghoul, and goblin has a dark side that comes out with the eclipse.

To survive, Greta has hidden her humanity and taken the job of bounty hunter—and she’s good at what she does. So good, she’s caught the attention of Mylena’s young goblin king, the darkly enticing Isaac, who invades her dreams and undermines her will to escape.

But Greta’s not the only one looking to get out of Mylena. An ancient evil knows she’s the key to opening the portal, and with the next eclipse mere days away, every bloodthirsty creature in the realm is after her—including Isaac. If Greta fails, she and the lost boys of Mylena will die. If she succeeds, no world will be safe from what follows her back...

Greta and the Glass Kingdom (Mylena Chronicles #2)

by Chloe Jacobs 

Release Date: February 2015

Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:
The sequel to the Hansel & Gretel retelling Greta and the Goblin King ups the stakes of danger and romance. As conflict surges across Mylena, the tough Greta struggles to save those she loves.

Against all odds, Greta and the Goblin King miraculously survived the battle against the evil Agramon. Greta should be happy to be alive and ready to claim her place in Mylena by Isaac's side. Yet nothing is the way she thought it would be. The battle against Agramon left a dark magick inside Greta that will eventually kill her. Isaac hasn't been the same since he almost went Lost. And there are whispers of a rebellion brewing throughout Mylena...

Determined to save Mylena from a bitter civil war, they travel to the mysterious Glass Kingdom to form an uneasy alliance with the deadly Faerie race. But when an unexpected disaster tears Greta and Isaac apart, she must make the journey on her own. Along the way, she discovers a conspiracy stretching back to events she never thought she would have to revisit, betrayal from allies whose loyalty she never questioned, and an enemy vying to control all of Mylena.

Follow Greta into unexpected romance, explosive secrets, and shocking betrayals that will leave her and all of Mylena forever changed in the stunning second installment of The Mylena Chronicles.

About the Author

Chloe Jacobs is a native of nowhere and everywhere, having jumped around to practically every Province of Canada before finally settling in Ontario where she has now been living for a respectable number of years. Her husband and son are the two best people in the entire world, but they also make her wish she'd at least gotten a female cat. No such luck. And although the day job keeps her busy, she carves out as much time as possible to write. Bringing new characters to life and finding out what makes them tick and how badly she can make them suffer is one of her greatest pleasures, almost better than chocolate and fuzzy pink bunny slippers.

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Book Blitz {Excerpt & Giveaway} Where Dead Bodies Lie (The Body Dowser Series, #1) by Kat Cazanav

Where Dead Bodies Lie (The Body Dowser Series, #1)

by Kat Cazanav 

Release Date: 12/16/14

Summary from Goodreads:

For as long as I can remember, I have been told to follow three important rules;
Always guard my ability
Never share my secret
And pretend to be normal.

However, those three little rules don’t make my life easier. I still find dead people and deal with strange visions. Not to mention, an attraction to a boy who doesn’t exist. Whenever we cross path’s he mists away like smoke on a mirror. He drives me crazy, that Kaff Cooper.

As a flock of dead crows fall from the blackened sky, Kaff becomes the only one who can see the truth straight to the dark underbelly of who I actually am.

My hands feel the pull to extract the forsaken, the lost, the forgotten. It comes as naturally as breathing and there is no stopping it. 

Excerpt

A few more steps into the shadows and the lightness of a feather brushed against my cheek.

Instinctively, I turned around, expecting to see someone but instead I lost my balance and stumbled forward, arms extended to catch my fall. I landed on my knees, my hands scraped by broken twigs and rocks. I shifted my focus from my hands to a crumbling neighborhood further off in the distance. Barely visible through heavy fog, the dilapidated buildings had a rippling effect. There was no clear explanation for it, but looking back on that moment later, I realized the nausea, dizziness, little black dots floating across my eyes, even the black crows passing overhead, were all precursors to what was about to happen.

The ground rumbled and opened up, like a woman spreading her arms wide to take me in. There was only one frightening explanation for this and as absurd as it seemed, it made sense.

Body dowsing. Someone was waiting for me in the limitless black hole beneath my feet.”

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Book Blitz {Excerpt & Giveaway} After I Fall by Amity Hope

After I Fall

by Amity Hope 

Release Date: 12/15/14

Summary from Goodreads:
When EmLynn’s dad loses his battle with cancer, the last thing she wants is to move across the country to live with her Mom. Her mom left her dad years ago to start a new, improved family with her new, improved husband.

When Eric finds himself in the middle of a mess of someone else’s making, the last thing he wants is to be dumped into the foster care system. He’s spent most of his life on his own, so he doesn't see the point of having a pretend family now.

A chance meeting has them both thinking that maybe their new town of Roseville isn’t so bad. But as they grow closer, an unknown enemy, along with a tangle of secrets and a web of little white lies, may just be enough to make their newfound love unravel completely.

Excerpt

Jace had the type of obnoxiously chiseled features that could land a guy on the cover of a magazine. His smile was too fake, too perfect. Teeth straightened by braces and whitened at the dentist’s office. His eyes could be his best feature. They were an icy shade of blue, offset by his deep tan this time of year. But they looked cold. When he smiled, it never reached his eyes. His honey blond hair appeared to be shellacked into place. He was also too tall, too thin and lanky for my taste.

Sitting feet away from each other, it was hard not to compare the two.

Eric, on the other hand…

I quickly flicked a glance his way even though I already had his features almost memorized. His smile was adorable, a bit lopsided, compounded in cuteness when his dimple decided to make an appearance. His hair was rumpled and unlike Jace’s, it begged to have someone run their fingers through it. He wasn’t model perfect but he had the wholesome, sweet, boy-next-door look to him that I suddenly realized I preferred. He was a few inches shorter than Jace but much better built. His arms looked like they were made for wrapping around a girl.

Yeah. No doubt about it. I was definitely a boy-next door kind of girl.

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About the Author

A little bit about me...

I live in beautiful northern Minnesota with my two sons, two cats and our Rottweiler.

If I'm not writing, or spending time with my kids, I'm most likely reading.

My next planned releases are:

After I Fall in mid-December

Avenge (Malice #2) will be out late January.

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Blog Tour {Excerpt & Giveaway} Begin Again by Brittney Mulliner

Begin Again

by Brittney Mulliner

Escaping her past, Aubrey Tate moves to Southern California for a fresh start with her older brother, Brandon. Starting over at a new school seems easy with her cousin, Mckayla, and her two best friends at her side, but handling the new guys is another matter. Aubrey ends up in the middle of three rivals that each want her to themselves. Mike claims her first and declare himself her friend and protector. Luke is the school heartthrob that stops Aubrey in her tracks, speechless. Gage is the mysterious, dark outsider that Aubrey can be herself around. How will she navigate her new life while she's still haunted by her past?

Excerpts

I grew nervous as the number of unfamiliar faces increased quickly. I tried to busy myself helping Diane clean up the mess we made in the kitchen, but she shooed me out and told me to go make friends. Unsure what to do, I headed toward the fire and took a seat away from everyone else. I started looking around for Mckayla when two unnaturally beautiful girls walked up to me and sat down on either side of me. The tall modelesque blonde smiled at me like she expected me to know who she was.

“Hi, you’re Aubrey! We’re so excited to finally meet you! Mckayla told us all about her amazing cousin and we’ve just been dying for you to get here! I’m Talia and this is Alexis, we’re Mckayla’s best friends. I’m so glad we are now an even number group. I was getting really tired of the threesome jokes.”

I smiled at her then turned toward the brunette that looked about my height and had an amazingly toned body that screamed she was a natural athlete. She was just as beautiful as Talia, but seemed much less intimidating. She smiled back and nodded toward a group of guys on the other side of the fire.

“I’m glad we found you before someone else got ahold of you. Mckayla is crazy busy being the super hostess, so we’re here to introduce you to people and keep you safe from any of those guys. She didn’t explain in detail, but Mckayla mentioned you’ve had guy trouble lately so she thought it would be best if we acted as buffers from them tonight.”

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Author Brittney Mulliner

Brittney had been an avid reader since she can remember. Her parents' form of punishment for her growing up was taking away her books and making her go outside to play. She was born and raised in Southern California, with a brief hiatus in Arizona. She loves the beach, exercising, sleeping in, and cookies. She is an obsessive dog lover, although her affection currently has no outlet. Something that she is planning on remedying soon. She currently lives in Utah while she and her husband finish college.

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Blog Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 12/29/14

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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