Downward Spiral by Bria Starr Excerpt

Blurb

One horrible night changed everything.

And now, Paige can’t stop the nightmares. No one can...

Except him.

When Paige Tomlin unexpectedly runs into Eli Stone one day, memories of that awful night don’t come crashing down on her like she thought they would. Instead, memories from when they were young and inseparable surround her.

The boy she rode the bus to school with every day.

The boy who picked her up and drove her around the first day he got his license.

The boy who told her his deepest secrets.

The boy who left her without saying goodbye…

The man who came back for her.

Thrown into a world of fear and confusion, they lean on each other for support and survival.

But is the one thing that brought them back together the very thing that will rip them apart forever?

Amazon

Amazon CA

Amazon UK

Amazon AU

B&N

Kobo

Author Interview 

How did the storyline for Downward Spiral come about?

It was a crazy dream I had! About a boy I used to go to school with. The dream was so vivid and so real, it also wouldn’t go away. When I told my mom about it, she said, “Maybe you should write a book about it?”

My response? “No way. I don’t know how I could ever turn that nightmare into a romance novel.”

Well, guess what? The dream wouldn’t go away, so I wrote down every detail I could remember, and I set it aside for after I was finished writing Your Exception. I knew it would be my next book.

Describe Paige in 5 words?

Paige is brave, broken, confused, loving, strong.

Was there any parts of Downward Spiral which you found hard to write?

I had the dream in my head with a million unanswered questions. There were so many things I didn’t understand. So trying to base an entire book based on that, and try to make sense out of “why”, was the hardest thing. But it all worked out.

What’s in the future for you?

Writing more books! So many ideas, so little time! My next signing is in Minneapolis, Minnesota on September 26, 2014!

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

HOSTED BY:

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Afterworlds

By Scott Westerfeld

Inspiration for the novel
The inspiration for Afterworlds hit me while I was on tour, coming face to face with the incredible YA community that has appeared over the last decade or so. All these readers, bloggers, fan fic writers and fan artists, all these librarians and booksellers and editors, all creating a new engine which has become the fastest growing part of publishing. Something interesting was going on, and I thought it would fun to document it in fictional form.

Novels, of course, aren't really about communities, they're about characters. The most obvious (and most fun) character for me was a young writer working on her first novel, someone for whom the world of YA would be less familiar and more intimidating, if not more exciting, than it is for me.

So Darcy Patel was born. She's just graduated high school, having written a novel in the previous November (she's a Wrimo!), which has been bought by a major publisher. She's deferred college and left home, and has to learn to live on her own at the same time as she rewrites her book. Darcy sees this YA world from a fresh perspective, and she gets to enjoy its absurdities and wonders as a part of her own growing up. I kind of envy her.

Characters – talk about main characters and whether they’re based on anyone (this could be dangerously liable!)

In the last ten years, I've spent a lot of that time collecting funny stories about touring, bookselling, and editorial conflicts. I also love listening to how writers talk to each other about stories, a process which can make for some pretty interesting stories itself. Darcy's half of Afterworlds is full of those memories, so it's roughly 93% true. The characters are composites, though, so there's no one-to-one correspondence between them and real people. You can see individual glimpses here and there, but I will neither confirm nor deny.

The writing process of the dual narrative - did you come up with Lizzie’s story first, or Darcy’s, or did they flow on from one another – how did this work?

I wrote the two threads at the same time as much as possible, bouncing back and forth between Lizzie and Darcy just as the book does. Sometimes one thread would get ahead because I was having more fun with it, so I'd have to rein it in and get back to the other. I wanted the two novels to influence each other, even in ways I couldn't detect myself, because of course Darcy's novel would be influenced by her real life.

For example, when Darcy learns a cool new word, it often shows up in Lizzie's world a few chapters later (or sometimes earlier, because rewriting isn't linear). And as Darcy is learning about love and adult responsibilities, that also transforms the her novel.

That did make keeping track of everything tricky. I took a lot of notes along the way, and used a piece of novel-writing software called Scrivener to archive old drafts of chapters. This helped me see how "Darcy" was editing her novel as she grew up (even though it was really me doing the editing).

Buy Afterworlds

Amazon (UK/USA)

Book Depository 

Find Scott

Website

Twitter

Goodreads

Conflicted by M.M. Koenig - Meet The Cast

Blurb

Mia Ryan was on the path to make all her dreams come true. Her life was everything she wanted it to be; until one fateful night changed everything – leaving her broken and without direction. Nearly a year later, she still has little faith in anyone or anything. Desperate to reclaim her life’s ambition, she takes an unexpected offer that promises to solve all her problems. But as Mia moves forward, she’s faced with obstacles she couldn’t have foreseen. The biggest of them lies within the mystery of Ethan Fitzgerald; a man who affects her like no other, but who she should avoid pursuing, at all costs. 

On a mission himself, Ethan Fitzgerald didn’t care who he pissed off on his road to fulfill his mother’s dying wish. He relied on himself, and was closed off to the world around him – until Mia Ryan walked through his door. Normally one to avoid messy emotions, Ethan’s world is turned upside down by Mia, and he can’t seem to get enough of her. 

There are lines you can cross that will change the course of your life forever …

Amazon

Amazon CA

Amazon UK

Amazon AU

B&N

Meet The Cast

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

HOSTED BY:

Cover Reveal and Blurb - Bend Don't Break by Skye Callahan

Bend Don't Break

By Skye Callahan

Genre: Dark Erotic Romance

Release Date: November 18, 2014

Presale: Amazon US|UK|CA|AU

Check with your local Amazon, preorders are available internationally.

Nook | iTunes | Kobo|Goodreads

Blurb

I thought I was done. my End I couldn’t take my eyes off her as the bullet tore through me, leaving me with nothing but the hope that I had done enough to save her. The darkness tried to engulf me—to brand me as its own and drag me to my fate. my Darkness Waking to see her tear-stained face above me was enough to make my heart stutter. I was alive and free from that place—but not from the toll it had taken on my mind and body. My story should have ended, but one woman kept standing in the way of that. my Strength The only way I could have her was to find a way to put the darkness to rest.

Warning: This isn't your rainbows and love sonnets kind of romance. This story explores topics of abduction and slavery, and contains explicit scenes of dubious consent, graphic violence and sex.

Find Skye

Blog | Facebook | Google+ | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads | Amazon

Excerpt

“How many women did you have sex with while you were there?” It was the third time Dr. Combs had asked me that question. And for the third time I wanted to avoid it. I had just gotten out of that hell, and I still had the bullet hole in my chest to prove it, but it didn't stop my boss on pushing the psychiatric evaluation. Dr. Combs cleared her throat, and my jaw clenched. I didn’t even want to admit the number to myself even though I could see every one of the girls in my head. Kat, the red-headed braggart who thought she owned every man who walked into the retreat. Gabby, the indignant curly haired brunette. Raini a gorgeous but frail girl who was transferred in right after I went undercover. I had feared that one more night in Ross’ bed would kill her before her first week was up. Alley, a blond sweetheart who belonged to Miles, my unconventional friend. Silver, the girl who simultaneously ruined and saved me. She was the only reason I was alive, and the only reason I had what was left of my soul—except she wasn’t real. Like my undercover alias, Kirk, she was forged from necessity and determination. And somewhere out there Rose was learning to live her own life again. At least that’s what I hoped. The day after I was shot in the raid on the “sex retreat”, my superiors had me transferred to another hospital and put under protective custody until they were sure I was safe. I was fairly positive they were more concerned that any real threat to my life would come from me, since there were very few people who knew of my undercover involvement in the operation. The only company I was allowed was Dr. Combs, my new shrink. I didn’t want a shrink. I wanted the woman who saved me—the only person who stood a chance of bringing me any kind of peace. The woman I could never have.

Inspiration for Predator by Janice Bashman

Inspiration for Predator

By Janice Gable Bashman

Several things happened around the same time that inspired my novel Predator. While researching werewolves for Wanted Undead or Alive (a non-fiction book I wrote with Jonathan Maberry), I discovered there was a race of werewolves called the Benandanti. Unlike other werewolves who murdered animals and humans, the Benandanti fought against evil. I had never heard of the Benandanti before then and found the mythology fascinating.

Around the same time or shortly thereafter, author Carla Neggers posted photos from her research trips to Ireland on her Facebook page. I became interested in Ireland—mainly the landscape and the bogs found in Connemara on the western coast. I started researching bogs and discovered bog bodies—bodies found in the bogs (many murdered). What’s fascinating about bog bodies is that the properties of the bog preserve the flesh so the body, other than being stained from the peat, looks almost like it did when the person died. The skin is dried out and you can see bones through the flesh—it’s pretty amazing.

I’ve always been interested in science. So I tapped into the Benandanti mythology, gave it a new twist, and combined it with a modern scientific approach to mutation and the science of transgenics. I set the beginning of the book in and around the bogs in Ireland and then continued the story in the United States. It all came together naturally, with a lot of hard work of course.

Blurb for Predator:

The hunt is on! Sixteen-year-old Bree Sunderland must inject herself with an untested version of her father’s gene therapy to become a werewolf in order to stop a corrupt group of mercenaries from creating a team of unstoppable lycanthrope soldiers.

When Bree went with her scientist father to Ireland, she thought it would be a vacation to study bog bodies. She never expected to fall in love with a mysterious young Irishman and certainly never expected to become the kind of monster her father said only existed in nightmares.

Dr. Sunderland discovers that lycanthropy was not a supernatural curse but rather a genetic mutation. When they return home, her dad continues his research, but the military wants to turn that research into a bio weapons program and rogue soldiers want to steal the research to turn themselves into unstoppable killing machines. Bree’s boyfriend Liam surprises her with a visit to the United States, but there are darker surprises in store for both of them. 

As evil forces hunt those she loves, Bree must become an even more dangerous hunter to save them all. Predator gives the werewolf legend a couple of new spins by introducing the Benandanti (an actual folkloric belief that certain families of Italy and Livonia were werewolves who fought against evil), as well as a modern scientific approach to mutation and the science of transgenics.

She will become the thing she hates, to protect those she loves!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Janice Gable Bashman is the Bram Stoker nominated author of PREDATOR (Month9Books 2014) and WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE (w/NEW YORK TIMES bestseller Jonathan Maberry) (Citadel Press 2010). She is editor of THE BIG THRILL (International Thriller Writers’ magazine). Her short fiction has been published in various anthologies and magazines. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Mystery Writers of America, Horror Writers Association, and the International Thriller Writers, where she serves on the board of directors as Vice President, Technology.

Buy Predator 
Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Find Janice

Website

Twitter 

Facebook

Goodreads

Hostage by N.S Moore

Blurb

My life is split into two realities. Before Code. And after him.

The first time I saw him, he walked into my father’s bank with the strut of a man who knows exactly what he wants. I saw in him a fearlessness that I desperately wanted, needed, craved as much as my next breath.

Because I was watching him, I knew immediately when he pulled out a gun, aimed it at the ceiling, and fired three shots.

And that is the way I mark my life—before that moment and after it. Before, when I tried to be agreeable, tried to be admired, tried to be pretty, tried to make sure everyone liked me. Tried to shake myself of shame. And after, when all of that fell away. When I just didn’t care anymore.

Before Code. And after him.

I didn’t know then what he would be to me. I didn’t know how he would transform the fabric of my existence. I didn’t know he would move me, reshape me, mold me into someone else, someone I wanted to be.

Afterwards, he would become my lover, my savior, my hope, and my strength.

But, before that, he was my hostage-taker.

Buy

Amazon

Amazon CA

Amazon UK

Amazon AU

B&N

Excerpt 

I moan against his mouth because Code is just so much. He’s so much of everything—so big, strong, hard, and demanding. His mouth is devouring mine, his lips moving urgently, his tongue forcing its way into my mouth.

I open to him—not just because I know it’s the smartest strategy but because I want to. I want to feel even more of him.

He pushes forward with his weight until I’m on my back on the box, which is kind of uncomfortable and unstable but it only sends the spiraling excitement clouding my mind even higher. I clutch at his broad shoulders and try to hang on.

“Fuck,” he grits out, tearing his mouth away from mine. “What the hell…”

He doesn’t finish the question, and I don’t know what he was really asking. Was he wondering why he was so turned on, when he was being chased on all sides with only a hostage for cover? Or was he wondering why I was turned on, when I should be trying to rip out his throat?

His blue eyes are like fire, and they rake over my face and then lower to my breasts, which feel like they’re straining in my bra, my hard nipples clearly visible through thin fabric of my bra and top. “You are so fucking hot,” he mutters, his eyes moving back up to my face.

He seems to be holding back for some reason—or maybe just taking his time. Either way, I don’t want him to have time to think things through or second-guess himself. I want him to let his cock take control so his mind gets completely turned off.

I’ve seen it happen to guys over and over again. They’re really not that hard to manipulate if they’re suffering from a raging hard-on.

So I arch my back enough to display my breasts better, my breath coming out in fast, little pants. I tell myself it’s part of the strategy, but it’s really not. My whole body is flaming, flushed, embarrassingly aroused. I’ve never felt this way before in my life. Not once.
“What are you…what are you doing?” I asked, making my voice throaty and just a little helpless. It’s not hard to fake. At all.
“Don’t act all innocent. You know exactly what I’m doing. It’s what you want too.” He runs one hand over my breasts, feeling the curve of them, the tightened nipples through my top.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

HOSTED BY:

Blog Tour - Unconditionally by Amber Nation

Blurb

Unconditionally is a novella part of a series but can be read as a standalone complete with a HEA. May not be for all readers as it contains M/M situations. 

Toby Morgan grew up the black sheep in his illustrious uppity family due to his sexual preferences. He didn’t see how being gay was a hindrance in any light.

Being an accountant by day, a kickass singer for The Nation’s Capital on the side, and a fashion and makeup extraordinaire by night, he tried to face every obstacle he encountered with perseverance and positivity. 

Always being one to bask in the limelight and being the center of attention, but what everyone didn’t see was the scared and insecure little boy lurking inside and behind closed doors.

He had waited his entire life to find love and his happily ever after and just when he thought he had grasped his dreams head on, doubt puts a screeching halt in his happiness.

Now it seemed that there were two different men with their sights set on him and they were both vying for his affection.

In the end, will Toby find his one special someone who will love him unconditionally?

Buy
Amazon

Amazon CA

Amazon UK

Amazon AU
B&N Kobo

   

Excerpt

“I’ll have a Martini…dry, please.” Gin was my alcohol of choice for the night. I wouldn’t get shitfaced to where I couldn’t drive home though, I knew my limits. But that didn’t mean that I wasn’t going to get a bit tipsy.

“Coming right up,” bartender number one spoke before he went about pouring my gin and vermouth into a silver shaker and giving it a liberal jerk of his wrist. Seeing the action had my cock stirring in my pants and images of him wrapping his hand around me moved to the forefront of my mind. I needed action and in a bad way.
He placed a Martini glass in front of me on a hot pink napkin and tipped the shaker up, straining and pouring my cocktail before adding an olive as an embellishment.
Giving me a sexy wink before he turned and made his departure towards the other end of the bar, I picked up my enticing drink and before taking a hefty sip, I said partially under my breath, “Happy birthday to me.”
Feeling the cool liquid slide so smoothly down my throat, I had to close my eyes at the exquisite taste of the perfect combination. It was utterly refreshing.
“So it’s your birthday, huh?” I didn’t even notice that someone had taken a seat beside me. This voice was oddly familiar and came out as a deep rumble.

Turning my head to the side I was surprised to see it was Deputy Ethan Bradley. I had never seen him around here before, let alone anyone really from Brown County. Although I remembered hearing something about him being gay, it was just weird seeing him on the opposite side of the spectrum.

He was sans uniform and in a pair of dark denim jeans, with cowboy boots peeking out from beneath his pant legs. I realized that I was taking entirely too much time perusing his ensemble. So I was already going this far, I might as well check out the rest of the package.
Continuing to skim my eyes over his extremely fine exterior, I took in that he was wearing a rather snug fitting polo shirt that was tucked into those amazing jeans, and it was topped off with a silver belt buckle. With the dimmed lights in the bar it was hard to tell exactly what his buckle said, but I imagined that if he was anything like me, it would be something naughty.

I picked up the toothpick that held the green olive from my glass and leisurely placed it in between my slightly parted lips, sucking the remains of my martini from the meaty, bitter garnishment.

Ethan couldn’t take his eyes off of my mouth, so I supposed I was being a bit seductive in my act to eat the olive. No harm in that, right?

Amazon

 Amazon CA

 Amazon UK

 Amazon AU
B&N Kobo

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

HOSTED BY:

Cover Reveal - Twisted Lies by Sedona Venez

Coming: September 30, 2014

Blurb

After working her way up, Sinthia Michaels has finally hit it big in the glamorous fashion industry. Young and beautiful, she has it all—a celeb lifestyle, a gorgeous Manhattan townhouse, and a highly anticipated couture fashion line. 

Core McKay, former kingpin of New York City’s organized crime, is now a wealthy and legitimate businessman. However, when Core sets his sights on a corrupt politician, his need for revenge leads him to Sin’s up-and-coming fashion empire.

Weaving together his twisted lies and dirty secrets, Core entangles Sin in his web of deceit. When the backstabbing fashion world, the vicious political arena, and the ruthless criminal underworld converge, Sin becomes trapped in the middle and struggles to fight her way out.

***WARNING: Twisted Lies is intended for mature audiences. Recommended Reading Age 18+***

Amazon

Amazon CA

Amazon UK

Amazon AU

HOSTED BY:

UK Giveaway - Splintered Light by Cate Sampson

Splintered Light By Cate Sampson 

At four years old, Leah Martens was the only witness to the murder of two women in a London park. Now, twelve years later, as the man imprisoned for the murders walks free, Leah desperately tries to remember exactly what she saw that day. But she's not the only person whose life was scarred forever in that park and whose past now threatens to decide the future.

Two boys are also sucked into the treacherous investigation around the murders… Fourteen-year-old Charlie, who is plotting revenge with a ruthless man, and the enigmatic Linden, who befriends Leah all the while concealing his shameful past and leading her further into danger…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author Interview - Vanessa Barger

Hi Vanessa

A Whispered Darkness sounds very dark and creepy. How do you get your readers to experience the darkness themselves and make them feel it?

Hello! Thank you for having me today! This is a hard one. I must confess up front that I am the biggest wimp ever. But I love making other people scared. I love Halloween and spend more time than I care to remember decorating and reading up on how to haunt a house. I used to spend every October working on detailed plans for a Halloween party, which usually wasn’t as intense as I’d planned. (allowances aren’t that big, after all!) My book is not a “shock and gore” type horror novel. I don’t use the “gross out factor” to make readers scared. I hope that when my readers are reading they are mildly creeped out (or more). And maybe they put it down and think, “eh, that’s not so bad.” But later, when they’re in bed, and its dark and quiet and they realize that the closet door isn’t quite closed, they start to think about something they read and suddenly it’s a lot harder to sleep.

I guess I’m hoping that I can inspire a reader’s imagination to make my work even creepier than it is. That’s what I’m aiming for, at least.

How would you describe Claire? Is she like anyone you know?

Claire is an introvert at heart, who is slowly realizing that she has to come to terms with herself as she is, including her mistakes and her past. She wasn’t a bad person in the past, before The Incident, but she was cocky and a little full of herself, and when the book starts, she’s on the other end of the spectrum. She’s a little broken and she’s learning how to fix herself. 

Claire, as I think all characters are, has some aspects of myself in her. I think that no matter what you do as an author, there’s a little bit of you in every character, whether you realize it or not. Claire’s relationship with her brother is a bit like mine with my little brother. We’re very close (which is unusual, I know.) We weren’t always that way, but it’s nice to read a story where siblings aren’t at each other’s throats or indifferent. Otherwise, there isn’t any one person that I would say I based her on. (All my friends are breathing sighs of relief)

Did you do any research before or while writing Whispered Darkness?

I did a little bit of research into ghosts and the paranormal, but as that is a fascination of mine in general, not too much. I will admit to watching a lot of “ghost TV” while I was writing this as a form of motivation/mood setting.

Hardest scene or part of the book to write?

Oh, this one is easy. The end. It’s always the end. As it stands now, it was a great deal shorter before I did a rewrite. I knew what I wanted, but it wasn’t translating like I’d hoped. Now, I think, it’s much better and much closer to what I intended and what I see in my head. I’d say more, but I don’t want to give away any spoilers!

How long did Whispered Darkness take to write?

It was probably about a year in the making, with some breaks here and there. It went through some critiques and some betas after the first few drafts, so maybe a little over a year.

Thank you again for having me! I hope that you enjoy the book!

Buy A Whispered Darkness

Amazon USA

Barnes and Noble

Find Vanessa

Website

Goodreads

Facebook

Twitter

Cover Reveal - An Indecent Affair

Title: An Indecent Affair Part IV

Stephanie Julian 

Blurb

Kat has uprooted her life and moved to Philadelphia. She's starting her own business and opening her heart. But caring for two men brings both rewards and pitfalls. Tristan and Adam are determined to keep Kat close and win her heart. But work dangers and family obligations conspire to tear them apart before their fragile relationship has a chance to grow into something stronger.

Click here to read Excerpt