Friday, October 3, 2014

YA Bound Blog Tour, Review, & Giveaway: Unrequited (Emily Shaffer)





Unrequited
by Emily Shaffer
Release Date: 09/23/14Swoon Romance





In the town of Belle Ridge there are doctors, lawyers and teachers... but there is only one vampire. Will Leighton has become an expert in making a life for himself amongst the unsuspecting small-town inhabitants, as the high school history teacher. He has spent hundreds of years crafting an identity and routine that make him feel almost human, but he is always missing that important final element, love.
Ashton Wallace is beautiful, smart, and angry. She was forced into an eternal existence, and now her family has moved her away from everything and everyone she knows. In Belle Ridge she is supposed to finish high school and start her life again, but how do you make plans for the next several centuries?
Will has never met another of his kind, and is immediately intrigued by Ashton. He longs to show her that the perceived vampire lifestyle, so popular in storybooks, is far from reality...but will she let him be a friend and guide in this new existence? Can Ashton accept Will into her life, or will she be led astray by a dark stranger with whom she shares an unknown connection? 



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Whether writing stories to entertain her younger siblings, or typing up an essay for a class, Emily Shaffer has been a writer for as long as she can remember. Her stories may have changed from talking cartoon frogs to angsty young adults, but her goal to write a compelling story remains the same. When not writing, she lives in Nashville and enjoys all the music, food, and excitement that city has to offer. Her first novel, the well-received chick-lit title That Time of the Month was self-published on Amazon in 2012. Her latest novel, as the others before, are fueled by diet soda and pie.

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This book kept me interested but in the end I was a little disappointed.  Ashton is a normal high school girl who makes the mistake of taking a drink from a stranger at a party.  The next thing she remembers is waking up in the hospital with two puncture wounds on her neck!  Then she starts to notice weird changes...could she now be a vampire?!   Will is a high school teacher that had a similar strange encounter...600 years ago!   When Ashton moves to Will's town he thinks he has finally found someone like him!  Can he get Ashton to fall in love with him?!  It looks promising until Griffin finds Ashton!  Who is this new vampire, Griffin?  What will happen with this trip?!  I give this one 3 stars.  











Blog Tour Organized by:

FFBC Blog Tour, 5 Star Review, & Signed Book Giveaway: Lailah (Nikki Kelly)




Lailah (The Styclar Saga #1)
by Nikki Kelly
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Release Date: October 7th 2014

The girl knows she’s different. She doesn’t age. She has no family. She has visions of a past life, but no clear clues as to what she is, or where she comes from. But there is a face in her dreams – a light that breaks through the darkness. She knows his name is Gabriel.
On her way home from work, the girl encounters an injured stranger whose name is Jonah. Soon, she will understand that Jonah belongs to a generation of Vampires that serve even darker forces. Jonah and the few like him, are fighting with help from an unlikely ally – a rogue Angel, named Gabriel.
In the crossfire between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, the girl learns her name: Lailah. But when the lines between black and white begin to blur, where in the spectrum will she find her place? And with whom?
Gabriel and Jonah both want to protect her. But Lailah will have to fight her own battle to find out who she truly is.



In the crossfire between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, the girl learns her name: Lailah. But when the lines between black and white begin to blur, where in the spectrum will she find her place? And with whom? 

I am not even sure where to start....This book was so amazing on so many levels. I have not really enjoyed a vampire novel since the Twilight series and have really been wanting to read one so when I saw this book on Goodreads...I thought I would give it a try...and I am beyond glad that I did!!!! Lailah surpassed my expectations and was a phenomenal book. 

Lailah knows she is different. She feels different and has visions of a past life. She has no family and no idea where she comes from. She lives day to day without knowing what to expect next. While going home one night she encounters a injured stranger named Jonah and little does she know but this will be the beginning of her destiny. Lailah helps Jonah and treats his wounds and while he is at her home..."others" like him track him down and attack her home.

Lailah and Jonah are rescued by a rogue group of people who help them escape. 
"I learned something very useful in the seconds that followed--a lesson once taught to me by Frederic, the first Vampire I'd ever encountered. It had slipped through the net in my panic.
Never turn your back on a murderous Vampire."
 


At this point we meet Gabriel. Gabriel is an angel who has devoted his life to fight the evil vampires of the world and he has joined forces with Jonah (another rogue vampire) and his companions to fight the bigger evil that threatens the world. Lailah somehow knows that she is supposed to be a part of this war and she feels as though Gabriel has answers and is just not telling her. Lailah decides to join the group and they move to a secluded house in the wilderness while they figure out what steps to take next. 

Gabriel is by far my favorite character in the book. I am 100% Team Gabriel!!! He is portrayed as a dark, handsome and very "built" young man. My favorite characteristic of him is the way he is so protective over Lailah and his team. There are several hints throughout the book that make me think there is something more to Gabriel and his relationship with Lailah.....and I can't wait to find out the truth. 

Lailah is torn between Gabriel and Jonah throughout the book. They both want to protect her and she feels drawn to both of them but she can only be with one......

Jonah is a vampire but still has feelings for Lailah...He doesn't try to hide his affections even though he knows they can most likely never be together. I found myself feeling sorry for him and wanting him to be happy but I am still team Gabriel so....of course I want him and Lailah together. 

This book is so full of crippling secrets that will just completely take you by shock. I found myself just staring at the book in amazement. Every chapter there is something new and fascinating happening. I loved all the characters in the book. They all had something special about them that made you feel as though you were right there with them. This book is so full of action and suspense with the perfect amount of drama and romance mixed in. Lailah is a compelling, emotional, and fascinating read that you will stay up all night reading just to see what happens next....Nikki Kelly has risen to the top of my favorite authors list and I cannot wait to read future books from her. Lailah is easily one of my favorite books this year. If you love a good vampire story with plenty of suspense, drama, and romance then please check this book out!! I promise you that you will not be disappointed!! It...IS.....AMAZING!!!!!

"Lailah," he repeated. "I would never let inevitability dictate your happiness. Wherever your path is meant to lead, you deserve and you should command the choice to decide. In your decisions, inevitability doesn't rule you."











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Follow the FFBC Lailah Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.






I was born and raised only minutes away from the chocolately scent of Cadbury World in Birmingham, England. So it will probably come as no surprise that when I'm not dreaming in Vampires & Angels, I dream in chocolate! For the past ten years I have lived in West London with my hubby and two dogs, Alfie - the Pug & Goose - the Chihuahua.
LAILAH is my debut novel, and first launched in serial form to wattpad, a readers & writers community. Within just 6months, LAILAH had over a million reads and thousands of comments and votes.
Since then, The Styclar Saga has gone on to pick up a traditional deal with Feiwel & Friends, and LAILAH, the first book in the series is due for release on October 7th 2014.
These days I spend my time balancing my amazing job of writing fantasy fiction, with my other, very important role of Chocolate Connoisseur. I like to multitask and do the two together. It makes me happy.


Win (1) hardback of Lailah by Nikki Kelly (US Only)






Thursday, October 2, 2014

I Am A Reader Blog Tour, Spotlight, & Giveaway: Beyond the Gloaming (Brendan Murphy)

Beyond the Gloaming Tour Graphic



Beyond the Gloaming





Sebastian and the Hibernauts: Beyond the Gloaming It is Easter, 1973 and twelve year old Sebastian Duffy has some serious self-esteem issues. He is beaten by his parents, bullied at school, steals from his friends and still mourning the death of his brother. To cap it all, strange things have begun happening around him and he is finding it hard to distinguish dreams from reality. After a nightmarish assault, he wakes in the Gloaming, a shadow world inhabited by ghosts. There to greet him is Porrig, a creature from Hibercadia, a magical realm crafted from Celtic dreams. Inhabited by Fir Bolg, Tuath and Milesians, it has been overthrown by brother gods from another dreamworld. One brother, Phobitor, is a tyrant and even the Tuath, who took to their underground sidhe millennia ago, are concerned. Sebastian discovers that he alone can save Hibercadia by finding an enchanted spear. Teaming up with the Hibernauts—a mercurial sorceress, an orphaned druidess, a taciturn warrior, a snuff-sniffing leprechaun and a lovelorn poet—he embarks on a fantastical quest, but can he succeed when he is yet to find his magical potential or even his courage, and half the realm is bent on his destruction?

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  Praise for Beyond the Gloaming I cannot say just how much I have enjoyed this book; you are a very accomplished writer with a wonderfully rich imagination. Your use of the English language is amazing and your ability to create the many different speaking styles in the book and to maintain them is remarkable. You have an incredibly inventive mind and readers will come to love the many wonderful creations in this novel, it is jam-packed with the most wonderful and inventive characters; new, exciting and beautifully realised. ~The Oxford Editors   An imaginative epic...an intricate and fully realised fantasy world with a big cast of likeable characters that are charming, well drawn and endearing, with wonderfully apt names. The depth and breadth of your high-voltage imagination, and the richness of the world you create is very impressive. ~Sam Mills, author of Blackout, The Boys Who Saved the World, and The Quiddity of Will Self  




Brendan
Author Brendan Murphy Brendan Murphy was raised in Sheffield, England, with dreams of becoming a writer, and has written every day since he was nine years old. After reading medicine in London and psychiatry in Manchester, he moved to Australia in 1999. He is an Associate Professor at Monash University and has written widely on youth mental health. His nonfiction work on the development of football in Victorian society, From Sheffield with Love, was published in 2007. He lives with his wife, Katrina, and their children, Sebastian and Violette, in a sprawling property built for the composer, Dorian Le Gallienne. They share their garden with a mob of kangaroos, a wombat, two possums, any number of creepy crawlies, and some very feisty kookaburras. In 2013, he was signed to Assent Publishing for a six-book deal. Beyond the Gloaming, the first Sebastian and the Hibernauts adventure, will be published by Assent imprint, Phantasm Books in 2014.



   

  BookBlast Giveaway $50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 10/31/14 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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For Nikki, it feels like no time has passed since they rescued Henry’s sister from her abductors. After all, in the in-between realm, time is completely different than for those still “living.” Even though it’s been almost twenty years, only lately has Nikki started crossing between realms again. She’s been checking on Ian—the person they knew as Curtis before he jumped into a new life. Nikki hasn’t admitted it to the others but she’s been curious. Could Ian’s life really be as good as it seems? Can she find the courage herself to try the other realm again despite what happened last time?


When Nikki suddenly starts receiving ghostlike visits from Curtis—all these years since he returned to the physical realm—she can’t imagine how it’s possible. She also realizes it has to mean something serious. Nikki soon learns that, three days from now, an incident on Earth will end Curtis’s new life. Now, Nikki, Henry and Jamie must find a way to alter the outcome of a future event only they know will take place. They’ll also have just minutes to make that happen. Otherwise, Curtis is going to die again, taking with him any hope Nikki and her friends had for starting over.




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David Pandolfe is the author of two novels, Jump When Ready and Streetlights Like Fireworks. Currently, he’s working on a sequel to Jump When Ready, to be published in 2014. His short fiction has also appeared in literary reviews.

While he’s still writing about himself in third-person, David should probably also mention that he lives outside Richmond, VA, with his wife, two kids and a dog who’s terrified of thunder (not the best situation since it thunders from spring until fall in Richmond).






Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Waiting On Wednesday: Captive (Aimee Carter )



Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at 
and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.


Captive (The Blackcoat Rebellion, #2)
Hardcover, 304 pages
Expected publication: November 25th 2014 by Harlequin Teen




For the past two months, Kitty Doe's life has been a lie. Forced to impersonate the Prime Minister's niece, her frustration grows as her trust in her fake fiancé cracks, her real boyfriend is forbidden and the Blackcoats keep her in the dark more than ever.

But in the midst of discovering that her role in the Hart family may not be as coincidental as she thought, she's accused of treason and is forced to face her greatest fear: Elsewhere. A prison where no one can escape.

As one shocking revelation leads to the next, Kitty learns the hard way that she can trust no one, not even the people she thought were on her side. With her back against the wall, Kitty wants to believe she'll do whatever it takes to support the rebellion she believes in—but is she prepared to pay the ultimate price?

What book are you most looking forward to???




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