Curling Up With A Good Book: February 2016

Monday, February 29, 2016

Kismet Book Tours Blog Tour, Character Interview, and Giveaway: The Asset (Anna Del Mar)

Anna del Mar’s explosive, sexy debut novel in the Wounded Warrior series, perfect for fans of Lisa Marie Rice and Lora Leigh—the story of a woman desperate to escape her dangerous past and the navy SEAL who would lay down his life to save her
Ash Hunter knows what it is to run. A SEAL gravely injured in Afghanistan, he’s gone AWOL from the military hospital. Physically and mentally scarred, he returns home to his grandmother’s isolated cottage—and finds a beautiful, haunted stranger inside.
Like recognizes like.
Lia Stewart’s in hiding from the cartel she barely escaped alive, holed up in this small Rocky Mountain town. Surviving, but only just. Helping the wounded warrior on her doorstep is the right thing to do…it’s loving him that might get them both killed.
Soon, Ash realizes he’s not the only one tormented by the past. Pushing the limits of his broken body, testing the boundaries of her shattered soul, he’ll protect Lia until his last breath.

Get a Copy:

Series: The Wounded Warrior #1

Release: February 22nd 2016

Goodreads

Anna del Mar writes hot, smart romances that soothe the soul, challenge the mind, and satisfy the heart. Her stories focus on strong heroines struggling to find their place in the world and the brave, sexy, kickass, military heroes who defy the limits of their broken bodies to protect the women they love. She is the author of The Asset (Carina Press), the first novel of her Wounded Warrior series and three other novels scheduled for release during 2016.
A Georgetown University graduate, Anna enjoys traveling, hiking, skiing, and the sea. Writing is her addiction, her drug of choice, and what she wants to do all the time. The extraordinary men and women she met during her years as a Navy wife inspire the fabulous heroes and heroines at the center of her stories. When she stays put—which doesn’t happen very often—she lives in Florida with her indulgent husband and two very opinionated cats.

Character Interview:

An Interview with Ash Hunter, the SEAL hero from Anna del Mar’s new romance, The Asset.

We’re thrilled to have here today Major Ash Hunter, a Navy SEAL currently on medical leave, born and bred in the Rocky Mountain town of Copperhill, Colorado. Ash is the hero in The Asset, Anna del Mar’s new romantic suspense novel. He’s here with service dog, a sable German shepherd called Neil, such a handsome boy. Ash, is it my imagination or do you look kind of uncomfortable at the moment?

I’m not much for words. Neil and I, we don’t like people a lot these days. I’m only doing this for Lia.

You mean Lia Stuart, your co-protagonist in The Asset?

Yes. Lia is wary of strangers so she asked for an assist. I can’t say no to Lia. And please, don’t ask about my prior missions or what I did during my time in Afghanistan. That’s classified.

How did you and Lia meet?

When Lia and I met, she was hiding in Copperhill, pretending to be someone else, running away from the drug lord who’d terrorized her life. She didn’t want any attention and neither did I. I was just out of the hospital. Well, technically speaking, I hadn’t been discharged yet, but I had to get the hell out of there.

What was wrong with you?

I was wounded in Afghanistan. I’d been at that hospital for weeks on end. I was done with hospitals and doctors. So I went home, to the old lakeside cottage, where I could be alone and get my head on straight. And there she was. Lia. Aiming a loaded shotgun at me. Hiding. Pretending. Jumping three feet high when anybody approached the cottage. I knew she kept secrets right away.

You were lucky she didn’t shoot you on the spot.

I’ve got Neil to thank for that. Lia would never hurt an animal. Never. She loves animals and she adores those rescue animals of hers.

So what happened next?

I threw up in Lia’s kitchen, that’s what happened next. I was sick and not in my best state of mind. It was really touch and go for a while. Lia was frightened. God knows, looking back, she had some very good reasons to be frightened, of strangers, of me. That’s why she welcomed me with a shotgun.

But the girl’s got guts. When she figured out who I was and what was wrong with me, she took me in, even if she risked her cover—and her life—to do so. She vouched for me when the Marines came looking, then devoted herself to making sure I got better. It takes a special person to do all that for a stranger.

Sounds like you have a lot of admiration for Lia.

She’s the hero of this story and, for a guy who was in bad shape, she became my number one asset.

What do you believe are Lia’s strongest traits?

She’s brave. She’s all heart and guts. After everything she’s gone through, she’s resilient as hell. She’s gorgeous, resourceful, self-reliant, smart and loyal. Oh, and she’s funny too.

Sounds like she ticks all your boxes.

Affirmative. That she does.

Worse trait?

She doesn’t trust people. She’s skittish, especially if she doesn’t know you, and she’s used to keeping secrets.

What about you? What are your strongest traits as a hero?

I really hate it when people call me a hero. Most SEALs do. I mean, we go out there every day and we do our job. That’s not being a hero. That’s performing up to standard.

When did you start to fall in love with Lia?

If you really have to know, I thought Lia was hot from day one, even if the first time I saw her she was wearing her pajamas and pointing a loaded gun at me. But it was the way she watched my six that got me, how she risked her own safety to care for me. In a firefight, you want someone like her watching your back.

At what point of the book did you start getting nervous about the way it was going to turn out?

I was at DEFCOM 5 the entire time. Once I figured out Lia’s secret, I understood the full scope of the danger. I decided it was time to pay my rent and take care of business.

How did you go about taking care of “business?”

I engineered the mission, brought on the guys, watched and waited. There were many operational challenges. I worried about Lia’s self-reliance. She wasn’t used to being part of a team. Lia wanted to protect everyone in her life, including me. I worried that, no matter how hard I tried to protect her, she was going to get hurt.

How do you feel about the ending of the book?

I feel Goddamn lucky, that’s how. I swear, the last few scenes about killed me.

Will we be seeing more of you in the future?

I don’t know about that, but you’ll be reading about some of my friends in Anna del Mar’s Wounded Warrior series, guys who deserve the hoopla.

Really? Like who?

Like Seth Erickson, for example. He‘s protagonist of The Stranger, book two of the Wounded Warrior series due out August 2016. Seth’s the kind of hero you’re looking for, a legendary helicopter pilot and an Alaskan tycoon who met his match when he ran into Miami native, sun-loving Summer Silva. Talk about a hero. That’s a story you might want to hear.

Great. I can’t wait to meet Seth Erickson and Summer Silva in The Stranger. Give my regards to Lia and thank you for this interview, Ash.

Thank you. Come on, Neil. Let’s get the hell out of here.

Thanks to the team at Harlequin and Carina Press, one lucky winner will receive the following:

$25 Amazon Gift Card

eCopy of The Asset

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Monday, February 22nd - Books and Things Guest post

Wednesday, Febraury 24th - Blushing Reads Review with short Guest Post

Friday, February 26th - The Book Cellar Interview

Monday, February 29th - Curling Up With A Good Book Guest Post

Wednesday, March 2nd - Book Briefs Guest Post

Friday, March 4th - Supernatural Snak Interview

Monday, March 7th - Sassy Book Lovers Review with short Guest Post

Wednesday, March 9th - Happy Ever After Book Reviews Review with short Guest Post

Friday, March 11th - Ramblings From Beneath The Sheets Short Teaser

Friday, February 26, 2016

Simon Pulse Guest Post: Unhooked (Lisa Maxwell)

Title: UNHOOKED
Author: Lisa Maxwell
Release Date: February 2, 2016
Pages: 352
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Formats: Hardcover & eBook

From “talented wordsmith” (Publishers Weekly) Lisa Maxwell comes a lush, atmospheric fantasy novel filled with twists and turns about a girl who is kidnapped and brought to an island inhabited by fairies, a roguish ship captain, and bloodthirsty beasts.
For as long as she can remember, Gwendolyn Allister has never had a place to call home. Her mother believes they are being hunted by brutal monsters, and those delusions have brought them to London, far from the life Gwen had finally started to build for herself. Gwen’s only saving grace is that her best friend, Olivia, is with her for the summer.
But shortly after their arrival, the girls are kidnapped by shadowy creatures and dragged to a world of flesh-eating sea hags and dangerous Fey. And Gwen begins to realize that maybe her mother isn’t so crazy after all…
Gwen discovers that this new world she inhabits is called Neverland, but it’s nothing like the Neverland you’ve heard about in stories. Here, good and evil lose their meaning and memories slip like water through your fingers. As Gwen struggles to remember where she came from and tries to find a way home, she must choose between trusting the charming fairy-tale hero who says all the right things and the captivating pirate who promises to keep her safe.
Caught in the ultimate battle between good and evil, with time running out and her enemies closing in, Gwen is forced to finally face the truths she’s been hiding from all along. But can she save Neverland without losing herself?

Find it:

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N |iBooks

Lisa Maxwell is the author of Sweet Unrest, Gathering Deep (Flux, Fall 2015) and Unhooked (Simon Pulse, Spring 2016). When she's not writing books, she's an English professor at a local college. She lives near DC with her very patient husband and two not-so patient boys.

Find Lisa:

Hi, Beth! And thanks so much for having me on the blog today to recommend a YA Book.

I’ll be honest—this is was a difficult post to write, mostly because there are so many great books and picking one was really, really hard. But I finally decided on one that’s stayed with me for a while now—BONE GAP.

If your readers haven’t heard, it won the 2016 Printz award, so there are plenty of people who would agree that it’s a great book. I absolutely loved the writing in it—I’m a sucker for gorgeous, lyrical writing like you find in Laini Taylor or Nova Ren Suma’s work. It also has a twisty plot that keeps you guessing until the very last about what is actually going on in the story.

The story of Finn, a boy who saw his brother’s girlfriend, Roza, taken. Everyone else in the town believes that the girl only ran off, because the boy can’t actually describe the person who took her. They all believe that he’s lying. As the story unfolds in a magical, unreal way, the reader also has to question whether Finn imagined the whole thing, or whether Roza really is waiting somewhere, waiting to be saved.

Rockstar Book Tours, Interview, & Giveaway: Guile (Constance Cooper)

Title: GUILE

Author: Constance Cooper

Release Date: March 1, 2016

Pages: 384

Publisher: Clarion Books

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Yonie Watereye lives in the bayou. The water there is full of guile, a power that changes people and objects. Yonie, 16, makes a living investigating objects affected by guile, but in fact it’s her talking cat, LaRue, who has the power to see guile.
Yonie becomes aware that someone is sending harmful guile-changed objects to certain people, including herself. Her investigation becomes entwined with her hunt for the secrets of her mother’s past and leads her to discover dangers hidden within her own family.
In the suspenseful adventure that follows, Yonie and her furry sidekick face challenges that could end their adventuring forever.

Find it:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks

Constance's fantasy novel Guile will be published March 1, 2016 by Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Guile is set in the Bad Bayous, where the water makes strange and unpredictable changes to things (or animals, or people) that soak too long.
Constance's short stories have appeared in Asimov's, Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, and various other publications. Her work has been podcast, translated into Swedish and Hebrew, and included in “Best Of” anthologies. She also writes sf poetry, and has twice been nominated for the Rhysling Award.
Constance grew up mainly in the San Francisco Bay Area, with one year spent in Surrey, England and a chunk of another spent in Newfoundland, Canada. She studied journalism at UC Santa Cruz, where she hiked to class through redwood forest, explored secret caves, and helped edit the college newspaper. Later she earned an MA in Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, and stayed on in Philadelphia working on a linguistic research project before getting sucked into the brand-new world of website design.
After Constance met her husband, they moved to Edinburgh, Scotland for two years, where she morphed into a software engineer. Just as she'd acclimated to saying “beeta testing” and “proh-cessor,” she and her husband returned to the Bay Area to work for a natural language search company.
Now Constance lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two children, and is enjoying ever-increasing time to write the kind of stories she's always loved. Her published science fiction so far has all been set on alien planets, and often told from alien viewpoints (including reptilian, mammalian, and crustacean analogues.) In writing fantasy, she's attracted to inventive, nonstandard settings, light touches of humor, and just pure adventurous fun. Constance's writing also shows the influence of her love for mysteries.

Website | Goodreads

1. What gave you the inspiration to write this book?

I started with the idea of a witch and her cat familiar, and mixed it up. What if the cat was the one with the powers? What if the witch was young? What if I didn't let myself use the words “witch” or “magic”? I'd been reading some books set in New Orleans, so I got inspired to create a swampy setting where the “guile” was in the water and the water was pretty much everywhere. What would it be like to live surrounded by this mysterious substance? What if its effects were unpredictable—sometimes helpful, sometimes sinister, sometimes humorous?

2. Who is your favorite character in the book?

It's a tie between Yonie Watereye, the main character, and her cat LaRue, who has the power of speech (does she ever!) I loved writing their conversations, with sixteen-year-old Yonie being extremely intelligent but slightly naïve and LaRue being more worldly and cynical.

3. Which came first, the title or the novel?

The novel, by a mile! My editor and I were in the last stages of editing and still struggling to find a title. My working title was “Wily Things,” but that doesn't make sense unless you already know the special meaning that the word 'wily' has in the book. We tried out several versions of “Yonie Watereye and the” something-or-other, but that made the book sound like it was meant for a younger audience. Then one day my editor emailed me: “Finally, the light bulb! What about GUILE for a title?” I loved it instantly.

4. What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?

There's one where Yonie's temper gets the better of her and she hideously embarrasses herself in a very public situation—that was really fun for me, if not for her. There's also a scene where two characters are reunited. As I recall, I actually made myself cry while I was writing it, though maybe that says more about what a softy I am than about the actual scene.

5. Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you've learned as a writer

from then to now?

How to leave out the boring parts! It took awhile for me to figure out that I could magically zap from one place to another without having to describe the route that the characters took. Or I could summarize things like people greeting each other or updating each other on events, instead of having some blah dialog. Now I know that if I'm not enjoying writing a particular chunk of text, it's a sign that probably I can shorten it or get along without it.

6. What do you like most about the cover of the book?

I like the impression you get of deep water, with darkness and mystery below. That's an image that's important throughout the story. On a more practical note, I like how the cover can appeal to a wide audience—male and female, teens and adults—just as I hope the book will.

7. What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2016?

I can't wait to read The Bands of Mourning, the new Mistborn novel by Brandon Sanderson.

8. What was your favorite book in 2015?

Oh boy, there were so many! I have to mention The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett, the final book in his Tiffany Aching series (and, sadly, his final book altogether.) I also loved The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher, which tells the story of an airship captain in a world where humanity is surviving in tall towers far above the lethal surface of their planet.

9. What’s up next for you?

My current project is a YA fantasy novel set in Gold Rush San Francisco. Its main character is a young woman who manages to transport a colony of honeybees to the city. But her plans to be California's first beekeeper start to go wrong, and she realizes there's something very strange going on in the city involving bees, gold, and dangerous magic.

10. Is there anything that you would like to add?

I have a short story coming out in April in To Shape the Dark, a science fiction anthology themed around women scientists and edited by Athena Andreadis (author of The Biology of Star Trek). My story is called “Carnivores of Can't-Go-Home” and features two botanists on an alien planet where insects are enormous, and carnivorous plants are too.

3 winners will receive a finished copy of GUILE, US only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week 1:

2/22/2016- Seeing Double In Neverland- Interview

2/23/2016- Here's to Happy Endings- Review

2/24/2016- Take Me Away To A Great Read- Guest Post

2/25/2016- 5 Girls Book Reviews- Review

2/26/2016- Curling Up With A Good Book- Interview

Week 2:

2/29/2016- A Dream Within A Dream- Review

3/1/2016- Twinning for Books- Guest Post

3/2/2016- Eli to the nth- Review

3/3/2016- Good Choice Reading - Interview

3/4/2016- Wandering Bark Books- Review

FFBC Blog Tour, Interview, & Giveaway: Rise Of The Wolf (Jennifer A Nielsen)

Rise of the Wolf (Mark of the Thief #2)
by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: January 26th 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical, Fiction, Mythology, Magic, Adventure, Action, Juvenile

Nic may have escaped enslavement in the mines outside of Rome, but his troubles are far from over. The Praetor War--the battle to destroy Rome from within--is in full force, and Nic is caught in the crossfire. The secretive Praetors are determined to unlock a powerful amulet--one sure to bring the empire to its knees. Worse, the Praetors believe Nic holds the key to finding this amulet, and they will stop at nothing to steal it, even if that means harming the people Nic holds most dear.
When the Praetors capture Nic's mother, Nic knows he must do anything to save her. He challenges the Praetors to a chariot race. If he wins, they will release his mother. But if he loses, he must hand over a magic that will certainly destroy Rome and end his own life. Can Nic once again harness his magic and gather the strength to defeat his enemies? Or will he lose his mother and bear witness to Rome's destruction?

Follow the Rise of the Wolf by Jennifer Nielsen Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Jennifer lives at the base of a very tall mountain in Northern Utah with her husband, three children, and a naughty puppy. She loves the smell of rainy days, hot chocolate, and old books, preferably all at once. She is a former speech teacher, theater director, and enjoyed a brief but disastrous career as a door-to-door pollster. In her spare time, Jennifer tends to panic, wondering what she has forgotten to do that has allowed her any spare time.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Blog Tour & Guest Post: The Serpent King (Jeff Kentner)

THE SERPENT KING
(On sale March 8, 2016 / $17.99 / Ages 14 & up) by singer-songwriter Jeff Zentner

In this emotional story, the son of a Pentecostal preacher faces his personal demons as he and his two outcast friends try to make it through their senior year of high school in rural Forrestville, Tennessee, without letting the small-town culture destroy their creative spirits and sense of self. Drawing from his own roots growing up in the south, Zentner’s debut is haunting, heartbreaking, and hopeful, and is in the vein of beloved novels The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Looking for Alaska, and Eleanor & Park.

Dill has had to wrestle with vipers his whole life—at home, as the only son of a Pentecostal minister who urges him to handle poisonous rattlesnakes, and at school, where he faces down bullies who target him for his father’s extreme faith and very public fall from grace.He and his fellow outcast friends must try to make it through their senior year of high school without letting the small-town culture destroy their creative spirits and sense of self. Graduation will lead to new beginnings for Lydia, whose edgy fashion blog is her ticket out of their rural Tennessee town. And Travis is content where he is thanks to his obsession with an epic book series and the fangirl turning his reality into real-life fantasy.Their diverging paths could mean the end of their friendship. But not before Dill confronts his dark legacy to attempt to find a way into the light of a future worth living.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Goodreads

~ Praise for THE SERPENT KING ~

"One of Paste Magazine’s “10 Most Anticipated YA Books of 2016”

“Zentner’s prose wraps you up like a warm, Southern hug and packs the punches of a sweaty country brawl...The Serpent King is a debut you won’t be able to resist or forget. The Southern Boy in me savored every syllable and the reader in me fell in love with every page.”

—John Corey Whaley,author of Where Things Come Back, winner of the Michael L. Printz Award and William C. Morris Award

“The Serpent King gripped me in its coils and kept me turning pages late into the night. A triumph of love and dignity."

—Stephanie Perkins,

New York Times bestselling author

“[T]his sepia-toned portrait of small-town life serves as a moving testament to love, loyalty, faith, and reaching through the darkness to find light and hope. Zentner explores difficult themes head on—including the desire to escape the sins of the father and the fragility of happiness—while tempering them with the saving grace of enduring friendship."

— Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“Thorough characterization and artful prose allow readers to intimately experience the highs and lows of these three friends . . . Recommended for fans of John Green and Rainbow Rowell."

— School Library Journal

“Characters, incidents, dialogue, the poverty of the rural South, enduring friendship, a desperate clinging to strange faiths, fear of the unknown, and an awareness of the courage it takes to survive, let alone thrive, are among this fine novel's strengths. Zentner writes with understanding and grace—a new voice to savor.”

— Kirkus, Starred Review

“A musician himself, Zentner transitions to prose easily in his debut, pulling in complex issues that range from struggles with faith to abuse to grief. Refreshingly, this novel isn’t driven by romance—though it rears its head—but by the importance of pursuing individual passions and forging one’s own path. A promising new voice in YA.”

— Booklist

“A moving debut novel of friendship and forgiveness that will stick with you long after you’ve finished it, I’m calling it now… The Serpent King is already one of my favorite books of 2016.”

— Eric Smith for BookRiot

Jeff Zentner lives in Nashville, Tennessee. He came to writing through music, starting his creative life as a guitarist and eventually becoming a songwriter. He’s released five albums and appeared on recordings with Iggy Pop, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Thurston Moore, Debbie Harry, Mark Lanegan, and Lydia Lunch, among others.
Now he writes novels for young adults. He became interested in writing for young adults after volunteering at the Tennessee Teen Rock Camp and Southern Girls Rock Camp. As a kid, his parents would take him to the library and drop him off, where he would read until closing time. He worked at various bookstores through high school and college.
He speaks fluent Portuguese, having lived in the Amazon region of Brazil for two years.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

Why am I excited for this book?

These days there are so many fantasy, romance, adventure books.....so it was about time we got a book that was REAL...just REAL. Something that deals with real issues, real people, and the truth. I have heard so many great things about this book and how captivating the main character is....So I am so excited to start it and see what the fuss is all about!! Hope you will check it out too!!!

Blog Tour Schedule

Week One:

Monday, February 22: Jenuine Cupcakes, Kickoff Blog Tour Post

Tuesday, February 23: Book Hounds, Review

Wednesday, February 24: Mundie Moms, Review

Thursday, February 25: Curling Up With a Good Book, Spotlight

Friday, February 26: To Read or Not to Read, Annotate a Scene Guest Post

Week Two:

Monday, February 29: Bookish Lifestyle, Review

Tuesday, March 1: The Book Swarm, Review

Wednesday, March 2: Katie’s Book Blog, Playlist Post

Thursday, March 3: Paperback Princess, Guest Post: Writing a Character with a Parent in Prison