Release Day Book Blitz & Giveaway ~ Men and Martinis by Delancey Stewart

Men and Martinis (Girlfriends of Gotham #1)

by Delancey Stewart

Release Date: 12/03/13

Summary from Goodreads:
 

Candace Kanie wins at every game she plays. From the boardroom to the bar, she’s confident, clever, perhaps just a tad overbearing. It’s not easy for a girl like Candace to admit that love may be the one game she can’t win…at least not until she’s willing to change her strategy. In Men and Martinis, Candace Kanie will learn that sometimes to be at the top of your game, you have to hit rock bottom.

Men and Martinis is the first release in Delancey Stewart’s series “Girlfriends of Gotham” – a voyeuristic voyage through the lives of a group of twenty-something girls who dance, date, and drink their way through Manhattan during the days of the dot com boom. During an era when the up-and-comers in New York were partying like Studio 54 had never died, this group of friends discovers that the city is theirs for the taking; and they find their often-hilarious way through the forces that work to redefine the way they know themselves and each other.
 

Available from:
 
 

 

About the Author

 

I'm not big on labels, but there are a few that fit me (not necessarily in this order. Or maybe in this order):

- wine drinker (and wine geek)
- mother of small boys
- military spouse
- writer
- chocolate eater

I've written the Wine Country Romance Series, which ties my love of wine to my love of falling in love... and the Girlfriends of Gotham series, which begins publishing with Swoon Romance in December 2013.

I also love short stories, and my themed collection (all set in the same NYC brownstone across the span of a century) published in 2012. 

Author Links:

   

***GIVEAWAY***

1 ebook of Men and Martinis + $10 Starbucks gift card (INT)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz Organized by:

YA Bound Book Tours

Book Tour & Giveaway ~ World of Ash by Shauna Granger

 

World of Ash

by Shauna Granger

Release Date: 12/02/13

 

Summary from Goodreads

 

There are two inherent truths in the world: life as we know it is over, and monsters are real.

 

The Pestas came in the night, spreading their pox, a deadly plague that decimated the population. Kat, one of the unlucky few who survived, is determined to get to her last living relative and find shelter from the pox that continues to devastate the world. When it mutates and becomes airborne, Kat is desperate to avoid people because staying alone might be her only chance to stay alive.

 

That is, until she meets Dylan. Dylan, with his easy smile and dark, curly hair, has nowhere to go and no one to live for. He convinces Kat there can be safety in numbers, that they can watch out for each other. So the unlikely couple set off together through the barren wasteland to find a new life – if they can survive the roaming Pestas, bands of wild, gun-toting children, and piles of burning, pox-ridden bodies.

 

 

Swallowing useless words, I cram the box of matches into my pocket and turn to walk back to the house. It was stupid of me to come out here with this guy, and I hate myself for putting myself in danger. Not to mention the supplies I left at the house. What if someone had followed them? Idiot. I want to run, but the exertion of carrying a dead body so far has taken a lot out of me.

 

Just as I see the gate of the property forming out of the darkness, I hear a voice call out behind me. My stomach lurches, and unable to help myself, I glance over my shoulder to see the boy hurrying to catch up. Blue growls, stopping in his tracks. He barks three times in quick succession, warning him off. The boy has the good sense to pause, holding his hands up in surrender.

 

“C’mon, Blue,” I say, touching his head before I turn back for the house. This time, I do run. I run in spite of the pain in my side and the pounding in my head that lets me know I haven’t eaten nearly enough. His footsteps spur me on.

 

“Hey! Please wait!” he calls. His voice sounds scared and a little desperate, not at all threatening, but I can’t let it get to me. I don’t know him or what he’s capable of. My mother’s warning not to trust anyone in this new world echoes in my mind. The house looms ahead of me, a white and grey mass in the distance. I remember, belatedly, that the front door is still locked and barred from the inside. I veer to the left to run around to the back of the house.

 

Blue keeps up easily, even skirting around the corner of the house ahead of me, barking excitedly to get me to hurry up. My feet feel as if they’re encased in cement, and I can’t lift them fast enough. The muscles in my legs are seizing, and I’m terrified I’m going to get a cramp and fall. The terror of what he might do if he catches me pushes me to run faster, like a hand shoving me forward. I skid around the side of the house, almost falling, but my hand on the ground keeps me upright. I just manage to snatch up my sickle from where I’d left it earlier.

 

I burst forward, hurling myself at the back door. I strike it with my shoulder and a shock of pain crashes into me. I stumble inside and fling the door shut just as I see the boy coming around the house, his eyes wide and scared. I throw the first lock and slam the hasp lock simultaneously. As I turn the deadbolt, I hear him reach the door, grabbing the doorknob and shaking it.

 

“Please, please open the door!” he calls, his voice muffled.

 

My lungs are on fire, and each breath I manage to suck down burns. I collapse as my chest heaves and my stomach threatens to give up what little food I’d managed to eat today. I pull my mask off, letting it hang loose around my neck, to make it easier to breathe. Blue barks at the door, the sharp noise cutting into my pounding head. I squeeze my eyes shut as I cover my ears.

 

“Shush, Blue,” I hiss, patting his head to calm him. The boy keeps pounding on the door until I’m sure his hand must be throbbing in pain.

 

“Please, you can’t leave me out here by myself,” he says. I think I hear his voice catch, as if he might start crying.

 

I shake my head, keeping my mouth shut. He has to stop. He’s making so much noise, and with the fire outside, he’ll attract anyone within a mile of us. And the Pestas, who come out at night. “Shut up!” I yell at him, scooting closer to the door to slam my fist against it.

 

“Please,” he says, his voice softer, “you can’t, you can’t leave me out here.”

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18680367-world-of-ash?ac=1

 

B&N

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/world-of-ash-shauna-granger/1117539221?ean=2940148826361

Kindle

http://www.amazon.com/World-Ash-Shauna-Granger-ebook/dp/B00H1GW75W/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1385962132&sr=8-11&keywords=shauna+granger

Amazon paperback

http://www.amazon.com/World-Ash-Shauna-Granger/dp/1492902144/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1385852690&sr=8-11&keywords=shauna+granger

Kobo

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/world-of-ash

 

About the Author

 

Like so many other writers, Shauna grew up as an avid reader, but it was in high school that she realized she wanted to be a writer. Five years ago, Shauna started work on her Elemental Series. She released the first installment, Earth, on May 1, 2011 and has since released four sequels, with the series coming to an end with Spirit. She is currently hard at work on a new Urban Fantasy series, staring a spunky witch with a smush-faced cat named Artemis.

***Author Links***

http://shaunasspot.blogspot.com/

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4828875.Shauna_Granger

https://twitter.com/dyingechoes

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorShaunaGranger

 

***GIVEAWAY***

2 - Signed paperbacks of World of Ash (US only)

2 - eBooks of World of Ash (INT) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

  Blog Tour Hosted by

YA Bound Book Tours

Blog Tour ~ The Boy From the Woods by Jen Minkman

 

Book Info

 

Title - The Boy in the Woods

By - Jen Minkman

Publication Date - December 1, 2013

 

Blurb

 

Julia fell down on her knees next to his lifeless body, her heart filling with dread as she noticed the left side of his face was covered in blood. He had fallen off the motorbike, hitting his temple on a sharp-edged rock. His head injury looked really, really bad.

 

“Michael?” she whispered softly, putting a trembling hand on his forehead. “Can you hear me?”

 

Julia has been in love with Michael for years. He’s the hottest guy in school, and she can’t believe her luck when they finally hit it off during Senior Prom. Her dream doesn’t last, though: after a few dates, he callously dumps her out of the blue. Summer vacation starts with Julia feeling heart-broken and miserable.

 

But then she rescues Michael in the woods when he has a motorcycle accident in a heavy thunderstorm. From that point onward, her life is turned upside down. Michael has changed completely after the blow to the head that nearly killed him... and he wants her back. But why is he so different? And will she be able to trust him this time around?

 

Can the boy who broke your heart ever win it back again..?

 

 

 

Excerpt

 

Julia wiped the raindrops from her cheeks and trudged doggedly on. The rhythm of the song spurred her on and made her run faster, her heart beating wildly in her chest, tapping out an indeterminate fear. Her hands clenched into fists and her eyes squinted against the rain falling from the sky. Only a few more minutes and she’d be home.

 

And then something caught her eye. She froze. In the light of a bright lightning strike setting the forest ablaze with cold fire, she saw there was someone lying on the ground. The black stain of a person on the edge of the path. A motorcycle on its side, smack in the middle of the forest trail.

 

Julia came to a standstill, her breath ragged. With trembling, slippery fingers, she fumbled with the player to turn off the music. She’d ended up at her favorite oak tree, the place suddenly looking sinister in the gloom. Her throat turned dry as she peered at the unconscious figure on the forest trail. Step by step, she shuffled forward. Her eyes followed the tire tracks that the motorcycle had made in the muddy soil. Julia’s heart stopped when she came even closer and recognized the Honda bike.

 

No – this couldn’t be happening. She rushed the last few yards separating her from the boy on the ground. Julia fell down on her knees next to his lifeless body, her stomach filling with dread as she noticed the left side of his face was covered in blood. He’d hit his head on a sharp-edged rock. His head injury looked really, really bad.

 

“Michael?” she whispered softly, putting a trembling hand on his forehead. “Can you hear me?”

 

He lay very still, his lips almost blue in the macabre light of the thunderstorm flashing occasionally. If only she could see whether he was still breathing! She couldn’t hear him breathe over the din of the rain and wind in the woods.

 

With shaking hands, she grabbed her cell phone from her jacket pocket, setting the camera to permanent flash. The bright light illuminated Michael’s face, and tears welled up in her eyes. He looked so lifeless… so vulnerable. For just a moment, she forgot all about the horrible way he’d treated her. She’d wished for all kinds of nasty things to happen to him, but not this.

 

“Michael,” she sobbed, her voice breaking. “Please, please wake up.”

 

Her heart skipped a beat when he suddenly inhaled sharply. She took his hand. Very slowly he opened his eyes, green like the forest leaves he was lying under, his pupils dilated and black like the treacherous darkness that had caused him to slip and fall in this severe weather.

 

“Julia,” he whispered in a soft, yet clear voice.

 

She swallowed.

 

Why did he sound so different? He pronounced her name with so much emotion that she could almost believe he was seeing her for the first time.

 

“I’ll get help,” she managed to stutter before his eyes fell shut again, her words making him smile faintly.



Links

 

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18665617-the-boy-from-the-woods?from_search=true

 

Book Trailer

 

Soundtrack to the Book

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK1Y2NxNRAY

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7XipXNwdUs

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnqviSljxLY

 

Author Bio

 

Jen Minkman (1978) was born in Holland, in the town of Alphen aan den Rijn. When she was 19, she moved between The Hague, Salzburg (Austria), Brussels (Belgium) and Cambridge (UK) to complete her studies in intercultural communication. She is currently a teacher of English, career counsellor and teenage coach at a secondary school in Voorburg, Holland. She tries to read at least 100 books a year (and write a few, too!). She is a published author in her own country, and translates her own books from Dutch into English for self-publication. In her spare time, she plays the piano, the guitar and the violin. For every novel she writes, she creates a soundtrack.

 

'I have always been drawn to writing. My first book was a sci-fi novel at the age of eight, which I painstakingly typed out on my dad's typewriter and illustrated myself. Nowadays, I stick to poetry, paranormal romance, chicklit and/or fantasy. In my home country, I am the first-ever published writer of paranormal romance, and I will gradually make my books also available in English (seeing I have to re-write and translate the books myself, this will take some time!).

 

Links

 

Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5808037.Jen_Minkman

 

Website - http://www.nwelsaturay.com/jenminkman/index.html

 

Twitter - https://twitter.com/JenMinkman

 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/JenMinkmanYAParanormal?fref=ts

Base post for Skipping Stones Blitz!

 

Amazon Buy Link

 

 

Barnes & Noble * Kobo * Smashwords

 

 

Blurb

 

They say there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

 

Not everyone will grieve in this order, nor will everyone go through every stage. It’s during the stage of denial when Alex Hart meets Andrew Foster. He takes her one-step closer to acceptance: the stage when new, meaningful relationships are formed. The stage when the realization occurs that this is now the new state of normal.

 

Just when Alex thinks she is on her way to healing, she enters the bargaining phase. That’s the phase where you wonder what you could have done differently. You wonder “what if?” Specifically, what if the ones you loved hadn’t left you?

 

Leaving…this is what makes heading off to war so difficult and frightening for Alex. She knows all too well what it’s like to be the one on the losing end of life, which is why she’s made it her personal mission in life to save as many lives as possible. The extreme high she gets from treating trauma victims turns into Alex’s own form of therapy, or so she thinks.

 

When faced with her world being turned upside down, Alex may just find that her true therapy is in the one who has always saved her.

 

 

Author Links

 

Facebook * Twitter * Goodreads * Website

 

A Note from J.B. McGee

 

 

Bio

 

J.B. McGee was born and raised in Aiken, South Carolina. After graduating from South Aiken High School, she toured Europe as a member of the 1999 International Bands of America Tour, playing the clarinet. While attending Converse College, an all-girls school in Spartanburg, South Carolina, she visited Charleston often. It quickly became one of her favorite vacation spots. She met her husband, Chad, during Christmas break her freshman year, and they married in 2001 and she moved back to her home town.

 

In 2005, the couple welcomed their first son, Noah. J.B. finished her Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of South Carolina-Aiken in 2006. During her time studying children's literature, a professor had encouraged her to become a writer.

 

In 2007, she welcomed their second child, Jonah, and she became a stay at home mom/entrepreneur. In 2009, the found out their two children and J.B. have Mitochondrial Disease. In 2011, a diagnosis also was given to Chad. Please take a moment and learn more about Mitochondrial Disease. Awareness is key to this disease that has no cure or treatments.

 

J.B. McGee and her family now reside in Buford, Georgia, to be closer to their children's medical team. After a passion for reading had been re-ignited, J.B. decided to finally give writing a shot. Broken (This Series), is her first book and first series.

 

J.B. is represented by Stacey Donaghy with Donaghy Literary Group.

 

 

Cover Reveal ~ KAYDEN: THE PAST by Chelle Bliss

 

Kayden Michaels has a past filled with sex, addiction, and heartache. A past that he’s avoided sharing with the love of his life, Sophia, and held close to his core not risking rejection. Needing to get his addictions in check and gain control of his life for the sake of his family, Kayden is forced to confront his past and make amends for the path he’s walked.

 

Kayden must recount every carnal act and the betrayal from those he’s loved to identify the triggers that spur his addictions and overcome it all to be worthy of Sophia’s love – his sole reason to exist.

 

Release Date ~ January 2, 2014

 

 

 

Add to Goodreads

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18730380-Kayden

 

 

 

Purchase Links for Untangle Me

 

Book 1 Amazon Link

 

http://amzn.com/B00FH3UTJC

 

Book 1 Amazon UK

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0

 

 

Connect with Chelle Bliss

 

Website

http://www.chellebliss.com

 

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/authorchellebliss1

 

Twitter

@ChelleBliss1

Book Blast ~ Gemini the Heir by Kristen DaRay

Gemini the Heir

Gemini Book # 2

By - Kristen DaRay

Expected Publication Date - December 1st, 2013

Genre - YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy
 
Just a year ago, I thought I was an ordinary human, and I gave up everything on Earth to save the people I loved. I have become the Lenai of Emréiana, making me the heir to the Emréian throne. It also makes me in charge of defeating the Bremoir, a race that has been consuming other worlds. If I can’t stop them, the universe is doomed.

Then there is Aaronmon, my betrothed. We have only known each other for a year, but our bond is strong. It’s that bond that makes it hard to know my true feelings. While I think I am ready for the ceremony, I wonder if I really love him like I loved Kyle, my ex- boyfriend who was murdered.

But none of my feelings matter. In order to rule Emréiana, I must go through with the bonding ceremony. If I don’t, then I risk losing the right as heir and I’ll have no power in the war against the Bremoir. Nobody wants them defeated more than me.

  

About the Author

 

Kristen was born in Alabama in 1991 and still resides there today. She has been writing since the 6th grade. However, she did not begin to write fiction until she was 15. In 2009, Kristen had an idea that would spark the concept for Gemini of Emréiana that she would later write in 2011. During that time, she met her husband. They married in August of 2012. When Kristen is not writing, she spends time watching Korean Drama's or creating SIM's 3 stories. Kristen continues to write the next novels to the Gemini Trilogy. She also plans to release a new series later on in the year.