30.4.14

Cover Reveal + Giveaway : The Unforunates by Skyla Madi

Adore this cover!
I usually hate the colour green but this stands out so well and it's pretty damn hot!


by Skyla Madi
Blurb
Nine. 

She isn't known by a name, only by the number she was branded with at birth. 

Nine is now eighteen and as an Unfortunate, she'll be forced to serve under The Fortunates for as long as she lives. 

All her life, she's been force fed rules and regulations on how to serve those above her, but nothing prepares her for Master Kade…the Fortunate she is assigned to. 

His dark and protective nature compels her, creating thoughts in her mind that she'd be murdered for having if anyone ever found out. 

Her option? To fight. Fight hard against her forbidden thoughts and desires. It’s the only way for her to survive in a world that doesn't want her.

Find Skyla

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29.4.14

Blog Tour - Second Chances Excerpt

Second Chance Spotlight Banner
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  Excerpt
Stacy stood there for a minute enjoying the night. The sun had already set and the trees lining the walk way were decorated with twinkle lights. There weren’t too many people out front milling around as Stacy made her way back towards the doors.
“Stacy?”
She knew that voice and felt her body tense. Stacy slowly turned to see Mark standing next to a tree. He looked better than the last time she saw him, but she still didn’t want anything to do with him.
“What are you doing here Mark? I thought I made it clear that we’re over.” Stacy made sure she didn’t get anywhere near him.
He just stared at her for a minute not saying anything. Mark took a step towards her, but she put a hand out to halt him.
“Stop, don’t come any closer. Wait you know what I’m going inside I don’t care why you’re here.” Stacy turned and walked away from him.
“Stacy please I’m sorry. I love you and I’m sorry I hurt you. Please take me back.” Great, now Mark was begging.
“No Mark good-bye.” Stacy turned and walked back into the building. She couldn’t be sure, but she swore she heard him yell ‘You’re mine Stacy’.
Buy Second Chances

Blurb
Stacy Hutchins thought she’d finally met the one, until a startling realization that shatters everything...
Mark Jefferson, her undercover DEA agent boyfriend lied about one tiny little detail…his wife and kids. Stacy hates liars and cheaters so she kicks him to the curb. But Mark makes it very clear he will not go willingly.
Has his obsession with Stacy tied them together forever? Or will Mark finally walk away?
Dustin Carmichael swore off women a long time ago, until his sister reconnected with her best friend from high school, Stacy.
But after a perfect month together, a year ago, Stacy played the ‘friends’ card. Unfortunately, they’ve been good friends ever since.
When Stacy's life turns to shambles, Dustin’s more than willing to be there for her. As she tries to get herself together, Stacy finds herself in another dilemma, she can no longer deny the feelings she’s always had for Dustin.
Will her failure to see that Dustin has changed stop them from having something everlasting?

Find Evan Grace
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Cover Reveal + Giveaway - Hook Me by Chelle Bliss

Hook Me 
By Chelle Bliss

Expected Release Date: June 1, 2014
Blurb
Michael Gallo found his calling in life – he wants to kick ass. He works at Inked as a piercer, but spends his mornings training and dreaming of winning an UFC championship. Michael is the road to achieving his goal when a chance encounter alters his world forever. The title is no longer enough – he must capture the woman of his dreams.

Dr. Mia Greco is dedicated to saving lives and helping those less fortunate. She doesn’t have time to meet Mr. Right with her busy schedule. She buries herself in her work and helping humanity. Fate steps in and sweeps the carpet out from under her. She tries to deny the pull to him, a man that uses his fists for gain, but the universe won’t let her walk away so easy and Michael isn’t one to take no for an answer.

His past is filled with darkness and a secret that may rip them apart. There are forces bigger than them at work; drawing them in and making their worlds collide – not letting either one of them walk away.


Find Chelle
Chelle is an avid reader; consuming contemporary romance, dark reads, young adult, and all things erotica. She wants to create a book filled with characters that readers could relate to with real world problems and matching wallets.
Chelle loves to travel and her favorite cities are New Orleans and Paris. She currently lives in Florida with her amazing boyfriend. He’s showed her the love and passion that she has poured onto the page.

26.4.14

*Review* Love, Lies and Lemon Pies

Love, Lies and Lemon Pies
Series : No
Released : 22nd November 2012
Publisher: Stripes Publishing 
Format : Paperback
Source : Publisher
Buy : Amazon (UK/USA)
Overall rating
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 .................................... The Blurb  ....................................
Love, Lies and Lemon Pies, the debut YA novel from Katy Cannon, is the perfect summer read for fans of Sarah Dessen and Louise Rennison. 
With a Bake Club recipe at the start of each chapter, this book perfectly captures the current appetite for all things baking! Lottie, our narrator, captures the experience of a young teenage girl navigating the world of school cliques, difficult teachers and new romance, creating a world that young readers are sure to recognize. Since her dad died, life hasn't been the same for Lottie - it was easier to push her friends away than cope with their awkwardness. But when the school suggest she joins Bake Club to get her back on track, Lottie reluctantly agrees. But Lottie's uncertainty about Bake Club melts away as she rekindles her love of baking and gets caught up with Mac, the school rebel and another unwilling Bake Club member. Both Lottie and Mac have secrets to keep, and as Bake Club progresses towards an end-of-year competition, the tension rises between the Bake Club members. Can Lottie keep up the facade of her perfect life without the others finding out what's really going on at home? Can Mac keep his demanding, heavy-handed father off his back - not to mention the school counsellor who's written him off as a no-hoper? And can their bubbling romance survive the pressure?
 .................................... My Thoughts   ....................................
In Short
- Brilliant and very strong characters.
- Unique and heart warming story.
-  Fun baking side to the story.

In Long
Loves, Lies and Lemon Pies has such a bright and fun cover which is complimented by a fun blurb which gives an insight into Lottie's world. A world which is full of difficulties. I just had to see how Lottie navigated these challenges in her life.

This book has such brilliant characters, especially Lottie, the main character, and Mac. I really wanted to find more out about them from within a few pages. Together they are a very entertaining pair who I couldn't get enough of.

The storyline is a heartwarming one and one which i didn't want to put down, every time I had to put it down I would be excited about picking it up again. I feel like I went on a personal journey with Lottie as she faced these challenges and overcome so many problems in her life.

The baking side of the book brings a very fun side to the story and was really unique and different. It also made me more interested in baking, I need a baking partner like Mac!

Final Thoughts
Loves, Lies and Lemon pies is such a fun and thoroughly entertaining book which was written in a brilliant way.


Find Katy

24.4.14

Blog Tour - Summoned by Rainy Kaye + Giveaway


Blurb 

Twenty-three year old Dimitri has to do what he is told—literally. Controlled by a paranormal bond, he is forced to use his wits to fulfill unlimited deadly wishes made by multimillionaire Karl Walker.

Dimitri has no idea how his family line became trapped in the genie bond. He just knows resisting has never ended well. When he meets Syd—assertive, sexy, intelligent Syd—he becomes determined to make her his own. Except Karl has ensured Dimitri can’t tell anyone about the bond, and Syd isn’t the type to tolerate secrets.

Then Karl starts sending him away on back-to-back wishes. Unable to balance love and lies, Dimitri sets out to uncover Karl’s ultimate plan and put it to an end. But doing so forces him to confront the one wish he never saw coming—the wish that will destroy him.

Author Interview With Rainy Kaye
Author of Summoned

How did your personal experiences influence Summoned?
Besides the last fifteen years of tinkering with words? Or the random fascination the jinn stories? I've also lived my entire life in Dimitri's hometown, Phoenix, and I've visited the places the wishes send him.

Did you do a lot of research before or during writing Summoned?
No. And if you read the book, you'll know just how bad admitting that in public is.

If Summoned was made into a movie, who would you cast as Dimitri & Syd?
My cover model, Adam Jakubowski, portrays Dimitri spot-on. At the moment, I have a difficult time picturing anyone else in that role. 
For Syd, I have no idea. Readers, leave your suggestions in the comment. This will be fun. :)

What was your favorite book as a child?
Like, a wee child? The Fox and the Hound. I don't know why. I think because it had a puppy. I was a very profound child. Or not. Either way, I had the gist of it memorized, aided by pictures, before I learned to read. As soon as I learned to read, I realized it was crap and moved on to books where stuff gets obliterated. Never looked back.

What's on the horizon for you?
Three more standalone Summoned books, a ten-book series called Fly into the Dark, and a few other novels wedged into the nooks and crannies of my brain. In short, a lot more coffee.

Find Rainy 
Buy Summoned 
Amazon (UK/USA)

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23.4.14

Giveaway - Burn Out By Kristi Helvig

Burn Out
By Kristi Helvig
Most people want to save the world; seventeen-year-old Tora Reynolds just wants to get the hell off of it. One of the last survivors in Earth's final years, Tora yearns to escape the wasteland her planet has become after the sun turns "red giant," but discovers her fellow survivors are even deadlier than the hostile environment.

Holed up in an underground shelter, Tora is alone--her brilliant scientist father murdered, her mother and sister burned to death. She dreams of living on a planet with oceans, plants, and animals. Unfortunately, the oceans dried out ages ago, the only plants are giant cacti with deadly spines, and her pet, Trigger, is a gun--one of the bio-energetic weapons her father created for the government before his conscience kicked in.

When family friend, Markus, arrives with mercenaries to take the weapons by force, Tora's fury turns to fear when government ships descend in an attempt to kill them all. She forges an unlikely alliance with Markus and his rag-tag group of raiders, including a smart but quiet soldier named James. Tora must quickly figure out who she can trust, as she must choose between saving herself by giving up the guns or honoring her father's request to save humanity from the most lethal weapons in existence.



Giveaway
USA/Canada Only
Ends 1st May
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22.4.14

Guest Post - Kayleen Barlow

Please welcome Kayleen to Books for Company!

Kayleen Barlow is the author of the new novel "I Am No Bird" released just this week. It is available on Amazon, Kindle, and Nook. She is also the writer of a quirky little blog at kayleenbarlow.com

I have thought a little too long about what I wanted to write in this blog post.
It is difficult to approach a new audience and anticipate what they will want to hear from you. Well, it is for me anyway. I have this problem where I want people to like me. Shallow, I know.
Let me start with introducing myself.

Hi.
My name is Kayleen Barlow.
I spent my entire childhood reading, to the point of concern. My mother, an English teacher, actually had to ground me a few times because I was reading too much. If that makes it sound like I was a loser, well then, you're right. I was. At one point, I pulled down the ladder that led up to our garage attic, stapled my sister's leftover silk wedding flowers all over the beams and walls, and spent an entire summer in the sweltering heat, hiding from my stumped mother, reading and reading and reading. It was a great summer. I also lost about 15 lbs of water weight.

Eventually, I went to college. First, I dropped out of the dance department. Next, I left the nursing program. After that, I wandered around for two years wondering if I would ever find a way to be a contributing member of society. Finally, junior year, I sucked it up and took Freshman English so they would let me graduate. And that was it - after that class, I was an English major.

Still, I never quite anticipated being a writer.
It didn't even occurr to me that I was becoming a writer when I sat down at my old, junky laptop one day to write a book. It just sort of happened.
I wrote here and there, as my busy life with a small family allowed, and then, two years later, I had written a book.
I rewrote it several times in the two years that followed. And then - WHAMBINO BAMBOONI! - suddenly I was a writer!
The rest has been a confusing battle of fighting against the downs and celebrating the highs.
But being a writer has brought me so much more joy and fulfillment than I could have anticipated. I do not love all aspects of it. Sometimes the marketing scheme can be a depressing venture. But creating characters and watching them grow and develop throughout the course of the writing process is a mind game I could never tire of playing. I feel like a new person when I am writing. I experience a sense of wonder at the power my stories have to inspire myself and my readers. The greatest review I have received has not been, "This is the best book I have read in years" but, "My heart is full."

I am grateful for writing. I am honored to be a part of the stories I tell, and I am deeply touched and humbled when I hear how someone else has been touched by my book.

If anyone has ever wondered if they should take the leap and write that story knocking itself around in their brains, I have only one bit of advice. "Do it." You will not regret taking such a daunting and somewhat reckless challenge. You will never know the power of a story until you put it into words, and you will never discover what kind of writer you are until you write.

Don't close the door on this side of yourself because you are not sure what is behind it. Rather, swing it wide open and leap on through. Don't you want to discover what might be inside you?

If you are not a writer, that doesn't matter. We've all got dreams.

And life isn't living unless you're following them.

Thanks so much for having me on the blog, Jodie!
And thanks so much for letting me write. : )

Kayleen
Find Kayleen

Buy I am No Bird

20.4.14

*Review* Chaste by Angela Felsted

Chaste
Series : No
Released : 22nd November 2012
Publisher: Createspace
Format : Kindle
Source : Author
Buy : Amazon (UK/USA)
Overall rating
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 .................................... The Blurb  ....................................
When he steps into his physics class on the first day of senior year, Quinn Walker is too exhausted from staying up all night with his three-month-old nephew to deal with moral dilemmas. As a devout Mormon who has vowed to wait until marriage for sex, the last thing he needs is a very hot and very sexy Katarina Jackson as his physics partner. Regrettably, he has no choice.

Kat feels invisible in her mansion of a home six months after losing her older brother in a fatal car crash and will do anything to get her parents’ attention. Since her pastor father has no love for Quinn’s “fake” religion and her ex-boyfriend refuses to leave her alone, she makes an impulsive bet with her friends to seduce her holier-than-thou lab partner by Christmas.

 .................................... My Thoughts   ....................................
In Short
- A slow start but worth the wait.
- Brilliant and strong characters
-  Loved the religious side of the book, unique and different.

In Long

Chaste takes quite a common storyline and turns it into a unique and refreshing read which tackles subjects that not many other authors seem to tackle. I always admire an author for doing this. 


I really enjoyed the religious side of the book. I'm not religious myself so it was kind of a learning curve for me and I found this side of it very interesting and was definitely a factor in what kept me interested as it really did effect the characters day to day lives.

Something else which I found really interesting was that Chaste involved a bad girl and a good guy, crazy right?! But it totally works! I found myself loving the sweetness that is Quinn and everything about him. I was glad he did show his not just a robot though and that he does find things hard to resist.

Chaste is really made special by the characters. They are all very strong and well built and developed characters. You know where you are with them and I felt like I got to know them very well. Like best friends do.

Final Thoughts
Chaste had a slow start but once I got that bond with the characters I found Chaste enjoy a lot.
Find Angela

Author Interview with Brigid Kemmerer

Storm (Elemental, #1)
Author Interview with Brigid Kemmerer
Thanks for taking my time to answer my questions Brigid and stop by Books for Company

-Storm is a paranormal read. Is this something you would pick up yourself? 
Absolutely!! I personally love contemporary YA, but I like being able to explore extraordinary abilities, so I tried to incorporate elements of both into the Merrick brothers' stories. While there's a lot of action and adventure, at its core, the series is about a group of brothers trying to figure out who they are.

- Is there a book or writer you would say influenced any part of Storm or your style of writing?
I'm not sure anyone specifically influenced my writing. I'm drawn to strong characters, like those found in books by Simone Elkeles, Sarah Fine, and Charlaine Harris.

- How do you 'go about' creating your characters? Do you find they grow as you write or are you more planned when it comes to their character and personality?
I throw them on the page and see what they do! Sometimes I'll start with a scenario in mind, and I just see where the character takes me. When I do school visits, I tell people that the best way (for me) to figure out what a character is all about is to throw them into peril immediately. Give them a choice, and give them some high stakes. From there, it's pretty clear what their personality is going to be. Storm would have been a very different book if Becca had run back into the school to get help.

- Becca ; a very lucky or very unlucky girl to become involved with these brothers?

Lucky!! I'd love to hang out with the Merricks.

- Favorite section of the book and hardest to write? (Beginning, Middle etc)
The middle is almost always the hardest to write for me. Not because I get bored or lose track of what's going on, but because the middle is where I start to doubt myself. My husband has gotten to the point where I start saying, "I think this book is total crap..." and he rolls his eyes and points to my laptop and says something supportive like, "Shut up and write your way out of it." :-)


Find Brigid 

Buy Storm
Amazon (UK/USA)
Book Depository

18.4.14

Cover Reveal - Fated by Delisa Lynn

Fated_Smashwords_BN

Releasing June 25, 2014

Blurb
Zander Kelley has always had his eyes set on the one girl he had known all of his life, Audrey Ridge. She gave him feeling he never thought possible. Knowing she didn’t want a relationship, he did what he did best…he used other girls as a vice to try and keep her out of his head. But there were always those times that she would creep back in without anything he could do about it. Leaving home and heading to NYU was his escape route.
He thought if being away from her wasn’t enough, working, attending classes, and sleeping with all the wrongs girls would be. A year later the girl he has been trying to forget walks back into his life by enrolling at NYU and becoming his new roommate. Everything was smooth sailing until one night he almost put their friendship on the line by baring it all to her. Would telling her how he truly felt ruin their friendship forever or would it bring these two together once and for all? Audrey Ridge has been in love with Zander Kelley since she was a teenager. Thinking she was nothing more than his friend she started dating someone else. When her relationship took a turn, she found herself escaping to NYU after graduation. Finding her roommate was going to be none other than Zander Kelley himself, she was thrilled! But one drunken night changed everything. Secrets she kept from Zander may just ruin her chance of ever being with him.
When a tragic event brings Zander back into her life years later, she finds her feelings for him have never changed.
Can their love conquer everything they have been through and bring them to the life that is fated for them or will the amount of time passed cause them to miss their chance again?

Find Delisa

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Blog Tour - The Looking Glass By Jessica Arnold


My Writing Journey
By Jessica Arnold
I decided to become an author the way I make most of my important life decisions—on the spur of the moment. When I was little, I swore I'd grow up to be ANYTHING BUT an author. Then one day I woke up and thought, "Hey, I should write a book." Rational? Hardly. But no one has ever claimed that people who put themselves through the madness of trying to publish are particularly same.

The first book I wrote was a Harry Potter knockoff and it was HORRIBLE. I hate to admit this to people, because nowadays looking back at that manuscript makes me want to claw my eyeballs out. But yes, I wrote a bad Harry Potter rip-off and I (shudder) queried it to many, many agents and am rightly ashamed.

I decided to try again. Which I did … several times over. But eventually I hit upon the idea for The Looking Glass. Sadly it was inspired by the tragic death of my roommate’s niece, who drowned in a swimming pool. She was kept alive on life support for a few days, much as Alice’s body is kept alive in The Looking Glass while she searches for a way to break a deadly curse. I also happened to be reading “The Yellow Wallpaper” in one of my courses at the time, which heavily influenced the character Elizabeth’s mental decline.

Blurb
Find the diary, break the curse, step through The Looking Glass!

Fifteen-year-old Alice Montgomery wakes up in the lobby of the B&B where she has been vacationing with her family to a startling discovery: no one can see or hear her. The cheap desk lights have been replaced with gas lamps and the linoleum floor with hardwood and rich Oriental carpeting. Someone has replaced the artwork with eerie paintings of Elizabeth Blackwell, the insane actress and rumored witch who killed herself at the hotel in the 1880s. Alice watches from behind the looking glass where she is haunted by Elizabeth Blackwell. Trapped in the 19th-century version of the hotel, Alice must figure out a way to break Elizabeth’s curse—with the help of Elizabeth's old diary and Tony, the son of a ghost hunter who is investigating the haunted B&B— before she becomes the inn's next victim.

About/Find Jessica Arnold
Jessica Arnold writes YA, codes ebooks, and is currently a graduate student in publishing at Emerson College in Boston. She spends most of her time in class or work or slogging through the homework swamp. If she has a spare moment, she’s always up for a round of Boggle. Given the opportunity, Jessica will pontificate at length on the virtues of the serial comma, when and where to use an en dash, and why the semicolon is the best punctuation mark pretty much ever.

Buy/Pre Order The Looking Glass
Amazon (UK/USA)
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14.4.14

*Review* Tangled by Emma Chase

Tangled (Tangled, #1)
Released : January 2014
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Format : Paperback
Source : Publisher
Buy : Amazon (UK/USA)
Overall rating
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 .................................... The Blurb  ....................................
When rich, handsome, and arrogant meets beautiful, brilliant, and ambitious, things are bound to get tangled
Drew Evans makes multimillion-dollar business deals and seduces New York's most beautiful women with just a smile. So why has he been shuttered in his apartment for seven days, miserable and depressed? He'll tell you he has the flu, but we all know that's not really true.
When Katherine Brooks is hired as the new associate at Drew's father's investment banking firm, every aspect of the dashing playboy's life is thrown into a tailspin. The professional competition she brings is unnerving, his attraction to her is distracting, his failure to entice her into his bed is exasperating.
How can one woman turn a smooth-talking player into a broken, desperate man? By making the one thing he never wanted in life the only thing he can't live without.


 .................................... My Thoughts   ....................................
In Short
- Tangled is a refreshing and addictive read.
- It will have you laughing out loud. 
- Being written from the males pov is so addictive and unique. 

In Long
I constantly see and read posts which say things like ‘If you liked Fifty Shades of Grey read this’ or ‘Liked Fifty Shades? You will love this!’ Don't get me wrong, I’m not saying these type of posts don’t help you find new books, as they do. However they also give a false impression of the book. This then means the book doesn't get a name for itself and is instead just ‘a book like Fifty Shades’. I have heard Tangled compared to it a few times and after finishing Tangled I can honestly say it deserves to have a name for itself and most definitely stands on its own two feet!
Tangled start’s with the cheeky and hot cover and just carries on getting hotter and more addictive from there. I was swept up into the world of Drew from the first few lines; it’s such a strong start to the book, I straight away fell in love with his character.  
Hot, Addictive, Cheeky, Charming, Sexy.....I can just imagine him with that lopsided cheeky grin. Getting a bit hot over here!
Katherine really reminded me of myself in some ways and I guess that naturally makes me like her just because I understand her that much more. She is also a very genuine character with so many good traits (That might be where we differ, haha)
Tangled is so refreshing, I loved having it from Drew's point of view, authors rarely write from the males POV and I loved every second. Time with Drew just flew by and I craved more every time I had to put the book down. 


Final Thoughts
Emma made everything about Tangled perfect and more. The way she made Drew come alive, his such a typical but real guy. I don’t know how, as women, she created such a strong and believable male character. Hats off to you Emma, Tangled hit all the right spots and more!
Tangled will have you blushing, laughing, addicted, smiling, drooling and just obsessed!

12.4.14

Blog Tour : The Army of The Lost Extract + Giveaway

By Lily Herne

Extract

Tommy
Tommy hangs back while Mooki, Jess and the other newbies swarm out of the kombi and whoop their way towards the townhouse complex across the street. He waits until they’ve chucked their crowbars and shopping bags over the spiked metal gate, then heads in the opposite direction.

It’s his fourth day out in the suburbs, and he’s determined that this time he’s going to come back with something. He rambles along the cracked pavement, pausing every so often to peer through the long-defunct electric fencing. The chances of spotting an unlocked security gate are slim – he’s learnt from bitter experience that most of the houses will be locked up tighter than bank vaults – and the crowbar and skeleton keys in his bag are useless against tungsten burglar bars and reinforced glass.

He finally decides on a small single-storey cottage with crumbling stucco walls that’s set back from the street. It’s flanked by sprawling Tuscan wannabe-mansions, and Tommy reckons that it was probably the shabbiest residence in the
3


area even before the dead took over Jozi. But that doesn’t mean that breaking in is going to be a piece of cake. Even from here he can tell that its burglar bars are made of good-quality metal, and the porch’s overhang has protected the front door from water and sun damage.

Relieved that Mooki and the others aren’t around to see him, Tommy struggles over the fence, the baggy sweatshirt he always wears to mask his gut riding up. He lands clumsily in an overgrown garden buzzing with insects, the path smothered in moss and creepers. A garden gnome grins cheekily at him from its perch on the top step, and, remembering one of the tips he heard at runner camp, Tommy pushes it over with his foot, disturbing a nest of baby scorpions. There’s a glint of metal in the circle of dust where the gnome sat – a key. Score! Barely able to believe his luck, he picks it up and wipes it on his jeans. The lock is stiff but after Tommy’s fiddled for a couple of minutes the door creaks open. Taking a deep breath, Tommy slips inside. ‘Hello?’ he finds himself saying, as if he expects an answer. He stills his breathing, listening for any sign that one of the dead might be trapped inside. There’s the scratch and scrabble of mice or rats in the ceiling, but that’s it. He’s heard horror stories from experienced runners about opening bathroom or closet doors only to find a walking corpse rushing out like a rotting jack-in-the-box. He doesn’t know how he’d react if he saw one right up close. He’d almost puked when the kombi pulled out of the parking lot on their first day of training. Even Mooki had been stunned into silence at the hideous sight of the surging sea of decaying bodies lurching around Sandtown’s high walls, everyone fighting not to gag as the overpowering musty stench of the dead invaded the vehicle. It is one thing to hear their constant moaning – it’s provided the soundtrack to eleven years of his life, after all –
4



but quite another to come face to face with the reality of empty eyeholes and decomposing flesh.

Using the gnome to prop the door open – it’s gloomy inside; the ivy growing over the windows blocks out most of the natural light – he creeps further into the hallway, his feet clunking over the dusty wooden floor. The house stinks of rot and rodent pee, but the ceilings are high, so the odour isn’t overwhelming. He peers into the first room that leads off the corridor, a lounge dominated by a huge flatscreen television and heavy wooden furniture. A flash of movement in a shadowy corner next to a cabinet catches his eye, and his heart leaps into his throat. Steeling himself to run, he inches forward. Oh, gross. One of the armchairs is alive with baby rats. He backs out, deciding to try the kitchen across the hall instead.

His old supervisor was always going on about how kitchens are usually the best bet for sourcing high-quality merchandise, but this one doesn’t look too promising. There are two plates still smeared with the calcified remains of old food on the table in the centre of the room, along with a bottle of tomato sauce that’s crawling with black mould. The chairs lie on their backs, as if they were pushed back in a hurry, and the sink is piled with dishes. His foot knocks against something – a dog’s bowl, the name Teddy painted on the side. Goosebumps crawl up his arms. Tommy reckons that every house, every room, every shop probably tells its own story about the panicky minutes after the dead swarmed through the city, stories that he would prefer not to think about. He fights a powerful urge to flee out into the sunlight; he’s come this far, he can’t allow himself to get spooked.

Trying not to look too closely at the faded photographs still stuck to the kitchen cupboards (most seem to be of a dark- haired girl wearing thick black make-up and cradling a white
5


terrier in her arms) he roots through the cupboard under the sink, ignoring the cockroaches that gush out onto the kitchen floor. He pulls out a bottle of bleach, a tub of caustic soda and a can of WD-40, one of the items on the list of most prized items. Score again!

Deciding to leave the lounge and its rat infestation till last, he wanders into the smaller of the two bedrooms. Its walls are painted dark purple, so it’s even gloomier in here. The bed is covered in a moth-eaten duvet, spiderwebs loop from the light fixtures and the chest of drawers is littered with dried make- up tubes. There’s a creepy poster of a skinny cavorting fellow on the wall above the bed, a wildly grinning pumpkin where its head should be, and Tommy wonders what sort of person would want to wake up with that staring back at her.

Simo, Tommy’s handler, has ordered more plastic Transformers for his collection, but there are no toys in sight. There’s a craze for iPods at the moment – the handlers like to fashion them into necklaces and tie them onto their clothing – so he rummages through the drawers just in case, feeling weird as he roots through bras and underwear. He grabs several pairs of stripy socks, then scans the small bookcase next to the bed, even though the last thing Simo wants is reading matter. Most of the paperbacks fall apart in his hands, their pages fragile lace – the moths and silverfish have done their worst – but on the bottom shelf he pulls out a comic book protected by a thick plastic cover. The Ballad of Halo Jones. Awesome. He takes it out into the hallway where the light is better, carefully removes it from its covering and flicks through it. If he gets the rest of his shopping done quick sticks he’ll have time to read it before he’s due back at the kombi.
6

Find Lily

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11.4.14

Kissed by Kimberly Loth Contest!

Blurb
Trapped in a dark cult, sixteen-year-old Naomi Aren has lived a quiet, albeit unhappy, life nestled deep in the hills of the Ozarks. With uncut hair, denim skirts, and only roses for friends, Naomi seldom questions why her life is different from other kids at school. Until the day her abusive father, who is also the cult’s leader, announces her wedding. Naomi must marry Dwayne Yerdin, a bully who reeks of sweat and manure and is the only one person who scares her worse than her father.
Then she meets Kai, the mysterious boy who brings her exotic new roses and stolen midnight kisses. Kisses that bring her a supernatural strength she never knew she had. As the big day approaches, Naomi unearths more secrets of about her father’s cult. She learns she has power of her own and while Kai may have awakened that power, Naomi must find a way to use it to escape Dwayne and her father—without destroying herself.


About Contest
First, thank you, Jodie for having me here today. I’m thrilled to talk about my book a little. Kissed doesn’t come out for another couple of weeks (May 1st), but I’m running a small contest prior to the book coming out for a couple of reasons. One, I’m having a huge giveaway to promote the book once it is released and I want to make sure I know what I’m doing. Second, I have had such great support from my Facebook fans, Twitter buds, and bloggers that I wanted to give something back.

The contest will run for one week and has all your normal stuff on it. Become my Facebook fan, follow me on Twitter, join my mailing list, etc. But I wanted to do something a little more fun. Kissed is about kissing (duh J). Find me your favorite kissing picture. It could be your own, one you found online, one from a movie or TV show. I don’t care, just make sure it’s appropriate (PG-13). Post it on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/kimberlylothbooks or post it on Twitter using #kissed. Then fill out the info in the rafflecopter form and you will have gained 10 entries to win a $10 amazon gift card.

Enter Contest

8.4.14

The Idea Of Him by Holly Peterson Excerpt

The Idea of Him 
by Holly Peterson

Blurb
A fabulous and compelling story from Holly Peterson, the New York Times bestselling author of The Manny

Mary Crawford is a once aspiring screenwriter turned successful public relations executive, mother of two young children, and wife of a hotshot magazine editor whose power base spans the worlds of finance, fashion, culture, entertainment, and society. At 34, she finds herself at a crossroads: between the office and her home, her life has become an endless rotation of people pleasing-whether pulling rabbits out of hats for her mogul boss, entertaining advertisers and phony A-listers for her husband's magazine, or making elaborate costumes for children's school plays. At least, that is, until she meets a head turning, traffic stopping beauty at the bar of the famed Four Seasons Grill Room-where many of the novel's players regularly convene-and shortly thereafter finds the same woman and her husband in an apparently compromising position in her own apartment.

And so begins the story of two very different women bound by similar missions-to uncover the crimes and betrayals of various men in their lives and finally put their own interests front and center. For Mary this ultimately means leaving a husband who is ideal in theory but not in practice, and deciding to risk security for self-fulfillment and a new life on her own. Like so many women, Mary fell for the man she married when she was in her twenties only to realize years later that it wasn't him she fell for as much as it was the idea of him-the idea of a savior who would protect and provide and ferry her from her past into the future. But the guy who seemed so right at the time turned out to be nothing more than a fantasy.

Excerpt 
Chapter 8 - Pulled Towards The Edge
While he was coming to quick terms with the idea that he’d finally found an attractive woman who cared about his world of nonstop news and gossip, right away, I knew that I too certainly liked the idea of this Wade Crawford man before me. He fit a need. His enthusiasm for life and work would soften my losses: my father in a plane to the ravages of an untimely blizzard and James to a burning obsession to save every child on the other side of the world.

New York glimmered around us that night, the way it can when spontaneity falls perfectly into place. After dinner, Wade escorted me to two downtown parties filled with cigarette smoke and writers. Someday I hoped to be like his writer friends who wrote long magazine stories and books that they’d mined from their souls. It was clear from every angle that Wade’s non-stop joie-de-vivre was more than contagious. He was sheer fun, and full of the possibility of escape, of renewal even.

He dropped me at my stoop at dawn, kissing me tenderly on the lips and disappearing into the early morning glow. As I watched him bounce down the street, all I could think was that he had Daddy’s electricity and confidence. And that suited me just fine.
Find Holly

Buy The Idea of Him 
Amazon (UK/USA)

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