Book Blitz: The Thorn and the Sinking Stone by C.J. Dushinski

The Thorn and the Sinking Stone

by C.J. Dushinski 

Release Date: March 2015

Entangled Teen

313 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

Warring families. Forbidden love. And danger they can’t escape...

Daggers. Roses. Cowboys. Boat Men. Survivors of Earth's Last War, four “families” vie to rule the dreary streets of Rain City through violence and blood. Valencia Hara, Princess of the wealthy Black Roses, is raised in warrior ways with sharpened steel. But she is no ordinary Rose. She is Cursed—tainted with the ability to see seconds into the future...

To avenge his father's death, Sebastian Leold, of the rival gang Two Daggers, must face off against the Black Princess, he with his dagger, she with her katana sword. Yet a secret from a shared past leaves him unable to kill beautiful Valencia; nor can she kill him. For they once knew each other beyond their blood feud...and they have more secrets in common than they know.

But in a world filled with vengeance and violence, there can be no room for love...

Buy links:

Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Kobo Books

5 Things You Don’t Know about Sebastian and Valencia from the Thorn and the Sinking Stone

Sebastian

1. He has a cousin named Avery who has been adopted by his uncle Corduroy. The two boys are the same age and grew up learning the ins and outs of being a Dagger together. Sebastian and I both hope to see Avery make an appearance later in the series, because we both think our readers would love him very much.
2. Sebastian was incredibly close with his mother. She taught him to dance, and cook, and even sing a little. Though, since her passing, he avoids everything that reminds him of her…until he meets Valencia that is.
3. He has a tattoo of two crossing daggers on his forearm, just like every member of the gang to reach maturity. It was “gifted” to him by his father on his 15th birthday.   
4. Sebastian graduated from high school the year earlier, albeit barely.

Valencia

1. Though the katana is her prized weapon, Valencia is a talented martial artist overall and can whip your butt with a pair of nun chucks.
2. She likes to paint in the traditional Japanese style.
3. She is devout in her worship of Shinto
4. Valencia once had a childhood friend named Micah– brother to Aston Mori. He died tragically when she was seven, the same year she met Sebastian Leold for the first time.  
5. Valencia is incredibly intelligent and was homeschooled. Because she spent so much time alone, she had ample opportunity to read and study and teach herself new things.

About the Author

While attempting to navigate life as a responsible human being, CJ graduated from university with a B.Comm and worked her way along as marketer, copywriter, and graphic designer to earn a paycheck while pursing her passion for creating fantastical stories set in dark and wondrous corners of the world.  Born amongst the wheat fields and open skies of the Canadian prairies, CJ’s imagination has always run wild, taking her on adventures across the world from modeling in Seoul, South Korea to backpacking through Europe and surfing (poorly) in Hawaii.

After wandering through ancient cities and civilizations, learning from diverse cultures, and surrounding herself in new experiences, CJ was inspired and began work on her debut Young Adult novel THE THORN AND THE SINKING STONE, to be published by Entangled Publishing 2014/15. CJ currently resides in Calgary, Alberta Canada – home of the Canadian Rockies – and keeps one hand on her passport and pen at all times, ready to pick up, see the world, and weave her experiences into stories. 

CJ is represented by Marlene Stringer of the Stringer Literary Agency LLC.

Author Links:

   

GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz Organized by:

Book Blitz: Red by Alyxandra Harvey

Red

by Alyxandra Harvey 

Release Date: March 2015

Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:

Bad girls burn hot...

Red is the color of Kia Alcott's hair.
It's her temper, which blazes hot and always gets Kia into way too much trouble.
And it's the color of fire. Fires that Kia can start...just by thinking about them.

When her latest “episode” gets her kicked out of school, Kia is shipped off to her grandmother, who works for the wealthy Blackwoods. It's an estate shrouded in secrets, surrounded by rules, and presided over by a family that is far from normal...including the gorgeous and insolent Ethan Blackwood.

Ethan knows far more about the dangers of the forest surrounding the estate than Kia can ever imagine. For this forest has teeth, and Ethan is charged with protecting the outside world from its vicious mysteries.

But inside, even the most vibrant shade of red doesn't stand a chance against the dark secrets of the Blackwood family... 

Buy Links:

Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Kobo Books

Excerpt: Ethan from “Red” by Alyxandra Harvey

I continued along the edge of the property, an arbitrary line drawn by men in business suits in an office in town. The forest was the forest and it only cared about its own ferocious appetite. The Blackwood wards looked innocuous enough: palm-sized Gorgon heads with snakes for hair. Unlike the myth of Medusa, they couldn’t actually turn people to stone, but they worked on the same principle. The magic inside kept people and beast alike away from the estate.

I wished it worked on me.

I wondered if Kia would notice anything, if she managed to get this far into the forest. Most people didn’t. She didn’t seem like most people, though—I could already tell she saw more than she let on. And in this place, that was as dangerous as anything else the magical wards banished.

I painted dozens of hidden Gorgon heads with a mixture of blood and bone dust—; most from the butcher shop, others best left unexamined. Magic flickered and flared, intensifying. Even though I’d done this once a month since I turned ten, the hairs on my arms still lifted, prickling like needles.

The more magic you used to keep monsters away, the more monsters were drawn to you. It was a delicate balance. Who knew what else had already gotten out?

Or in?

About the Author

Alyxandra Harvey lives in a stone Victorian house in Ontario, Canada with a few resident ghosts who are allowed to stay as long as they keep company manners. She loves medieval dresses, used to be able to recite all of The Lady of Shalott by Tennyson, and has been accused, more than once, of being born in the wrong century. She believes this to be mostly true except for the fact that she really likes running water, women’s rights, and ice cream.

Among her favourite books are ‘The Wood Wife’ by Terri Windling, ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte, and of course, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen. Elizabeth Bennet is her hero because she’s smart and sassy, and Mr. Darcy is, well, yum.

Aside from the ghosts, she also lives with husband and their dogs. She likes cinnamon lattes, tattoos and books.

Author Links:

   

GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz Organized by:

Blog Tour: Gathering Frost by Kaitlyn Davis

Gathering Frost (Once Upon A Curse #1) 
By: Kaitlyn Davis 
Release Date: 02/17/15

Summary from Goodreads: 

Will his kiss be enough to revive her frozen heart? 

Once Upon A Time meets La Femme Nikita in GATHERING FROST, a dystopian romance from bestselling author Kaitlyn Davis that reimagines the classic fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty.

Jade was only a little girl when the earthquake struck. Before her eyes, half of New York City disappeared, replaced by a village that seemed torn out of a storybook. Horses and carriages. Cobblestone streets. A towering castle. And, above all, a queen with the magical ability to strip emotions away.

Ten years later and Jade has forgotten what it is to feel, to care...even to love. Working as a member of the queen's guard, she spends most of her time on the city wall staring at the crumbling skyscrapers of old New York. But everything changes when the queen's runaway son, Prince Asher, returns. Jade is tasked with an unusual mission--to let the Prince capture her, to make him trust her, and then to betray his secrets to the crown. In return, she'll earn her freedom. But life outside the queen's realm is more than Jade bargained for. Under Asher's relentless taunts, her blood begins to boil. Under his piercing gaze, her heart begins to flutter. And the more her icy soul begins to thaw, the more Jade comes to question everything she's ever known--and, more importantly, whose side she's really on.

Buy Links:

Amazon

My Review:

Initial Thoughts: I absolutely loved it! I love retellings and I love a wonderful plot and characters. I was completely into the story and had such a hard time pulling away from this beauty. I can't stop saying enough how much I enjoyed Gathering Frost.

The Characters: I really loved Jade. For some reason, I just connected with her from the start which I thought would be hard because she is emotionless, but nope, not the case. Maybe it was because I just knew she would be a good person with a kind heart which she is. She's a great fighter as well as a really caring person even though she doesn't see herself with high regard. Jade felt completely genuine and I adored her for that.

Asher. Well swoon is all I can say! He's probably my favorite part of the story! Probably because he's the type of guy I like to see in books. He's really sweet, smart, and willingly to give his life up for others. I also loved how he helped Jade through her transition from the Queen's spell and was always kind and loving to her. He was perfect!

"You were so beautiful, but so hard, so cold. When I looked at you, I saw caged fire. Your spark was almost gone. It was smothered, slowly dying. And all I wanted to do was set you free." ~ Asher

The Story: The book starts off with Jade as a little girl in New York as the modern world and a older, magical world cross over and combine. The Queen from this older world takes over and anyone put under her spell is emotionless and Jade was one of the first be put under. Years later, Jade a trained fighter and still emotionless, goes out to check on some explosion that was triggered by the perimeter and that is where she meets Asher, the Queen's son who had ran away as a little boy and was never seen of again. Of course she goes to the Queen and tells her she saw his son and the Queen wants Jade to do something about this. Now I'll leave the rest of the story for you to find out but believe me, it's full of love and intrigue and mystery and absolutely wonderful!

The Romance: Jade and Asher's romance starts slow because well, Jade is emotionless and it's hard to love when you don't feel anything. When she does start getting her emotions back, their interactions are just so cute and love how they work together even though they still have secrets that they hide. So their relationship develops over the course of the book and Jade and Asher are so wonderful together. I love them soooo much. Everyone needs an Asher in their lives.

End Thoughts: Loved it! It's a great retelling and I think everyone can and should read Gathering Frost. Read it. It's an amazing story and I loved it. 5 stars.

Teaser Pic:

About the Author: I've always been a writer. I grew up duct taping my novels together, started writing complete manuscripts in high school and studied creative writing at Johns Hopkins University. Upon graduating, I decided it was finally time to actually give my dream career a chance. So, of course, I started writing a young adult paranormal romance series -- and no, I'm not jumping on the bandwagon. I've been a true paranormal supporter for my entire life! I blame my obsession almost completely on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, my all-time favorite television show. And, before you ask: Yes, I own every season... even the post WB ones! I especially challenge anyone to watch the first three seasons and not fall in love with Angel, securing a lifelong love of vampires! Other culprits of my paranormal obsession are some of my favorite authors: JK Rowling, Raymond Feist, Meg Cabot, Richelle Mead, Lynne Ewing and Tamora Pierce.

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook│Pinterest│Wattpad│Youtube│Amazon

Giveaway: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Release Day Launch: The Hidden Library by Heather Lyons

Hey y'all, I missed this post on Thursday and haven't been near a computer Friday or Saturday so I'm finally able to get this up. Sorry for the mess up!

Summary: Sometimes, the rabbit hole is deeper than expected . . .

Alice Reeve and Finn Van Brunt have tumbled into a life of secrets. Some secrets they share, such as their employment by the clandestine organization known as The Collectors’ Society. Other secrets they carry within them, fighting to keep buried the things that could change everything they think they know.

On the hunt for an elusive villain who is hell-bent on destroying legacies, Alice, Finn, and the rest of the Society are desperate to unravel the mysteries surrounding them. But the farther they spiral down this rabbit hole, the deeper they fall into secrets that will test their loyalties and pit them against enemies both new and old.

Secrets, they come to find, can reveal the deadliest of truths.

Amazon ** Amazon UK ** Barnes and Noble ** iBooks ** Kobo

Don’t miss the first book in this series, THE COLLECTORS’ SOCIETY!

Amazon ** Barnes and Noble ** iBooks** Kobo

 Excerpt:

We are about to open the conference room door and enter the hallway when he stops. He turns to me, his lovely eyes achingly sincere. “I want to take you on a date when all of this craziness is over. A real one. We’ve kind of gone about this all backwards, haven’t we?”

One corner of my mouth lifts up. “Are you saying you’d like to court me?”

There is no playfulness to his face, no quirk to his own lips. My heart flutters at his seriousness. “Yes.”

He wants to court me.

Too many emotions rush around in a caucus race throughout my body. I have no doubts of Huckleberry Finn Van Brunt’s feelings toward me. I understood them two minutes ago just as well as I did this morning when I woke up and from the night before and from the day in Wonderland where he said, in not so many words, that he was falling in love with me.

I told him he was my north star, and meant it. He countered we are binaries.

He and I . . . We’ve never said those words, though, not the ones that truly spell out fragile, deep secrets of a heart and soul. Words so easily and yet unfortunately uttered by many, be it to express their appreciation of fried bits of potatoes to sports teams on the television. Words offered so frivolously about a variety of subjects and yet can be the most difficult, most painful, most meaningful, most cherished syllables we gift another person.

I have said these words before, to another man. Another man I still love. One I know, in the deepest confines of my heart, that I will love until the last breath escapes my body. A man who courted me in secret and then publicly in the face of astonishment, disapproval, confusion, and, in the end, prophesies.

I have willingly given the man in front of me my heart, though, whether he knows it or not. He now holds it in his hands, and while I pray he is my future, there is still a part of me that bucks in conflicted confusion and delight by this declaration of his.

He wants to court me.

And yet, as sweet and romantic as such a gesture might be, I require no such formalities. My affections for Finn Van Brunt have already solidified into something real and wonderful and meaningful.

Teaser Pic: 

About Heather Lyons:

Heather Lyons writes epic, heartfelt love stories and has always had a thing for words. In addition to writing, she’s also been an archaeologist and a teacher. She and her husband and children live in sunny Southern California and are currently working their way through every cupcakery she can find.

Links:

Website: http://www.heatherlyons.net

Author Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/heatherlyons

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hymheather

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

THE HIDDEN LIBRARY Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24017512-the-hidden-library 

Giveaway:  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour: Soul Crossed by Lisa Gail Green

Soul Crossed (Of Demons and Angels, #1)

by Lisa Gail Green 

Release Date: 02/25/15

252 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

"A wickedly romantic story that will have you cheering for Lisa Gail Green’s addictive storytelling. SOUL CROSSED is devilishly delicious!" — Martina Boone, author of COMPULSION and the Heirs of Watson Island trilogy

"Soul Crossed blurs the lines between good and evil with addictive characters and plot that will have you eagerly turning the pages." ~Kelly Hashway, author of the Touch of Death series.

One Demon.

One Angel.

One Soul.

Josh lived a reckless, selfish life, so upon his death, escaping the eternal torments of Hell by assuming the role of a powerful, soul-corrupting demon is an easy choice. His first soul assignment doesn’t seem too hard: the mortal Camden is already obsessed with weapons, pain, and torture. If only Josh wasn’t distracted by Cam's beautiful friend, Grace.

Grace never expected to die violently at age sixteen, but now she’s an Angel, responsible for saving a soul. She can already see past Camden’s earthly flaws, so the job should be be easy. If only that handsome, playboy Josh would stop getting in the way.

It’s forbidden for an Angel to be with a Demon, so if Josh and Grace stop resisting each other, the results would be disastrous.

And only one can claim Cam’s soul.

Add to Goodreads

Buy Links:

Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Kobo Books

My Review: 

"Perhaps she meant for me to save the boy behind him."

Initial Thoughts: I've always had a thing for forbidden romances. I mean, who wouldn't? I know for the most part that they end in HEAs but I love reading about the journey to get to that end, and I really enjoyed following Grace and Josh's journey.

The Characters & Story: Grace and Josh both die and end up in Heaven and Hell respectively. Josh decides to become a demon and Grace and angel. Their first task to save or damn a certain person's soul and that person is Cam, also known as the Anti-Christ. He just hasn't quite reached that point yet.

The short chapters alternate between Grace and Josh's point of view and it was interesting and funny sometimes too being able to see each others side and the different characters on each side and their roles. A really wonderful part of the book I thought, was that there is great character development. These characters had depth and for the case with Cam. It was utterly fascinating how he was able to act so differently with Grace and be sweet and light yet around Josh be scary and dark. *shudders* Great development I tell you. Not to mention great change too in people, like Josh who's completely full of himself in the start.

"I wait until she catches my eye, then wink. It was inevitable she'd look over eventually. I mean, I am sitting right behind the dork and I mean, I'm me."

Well that's Josh for you but the great part of books is that we get to see characters change and develop! Yay, now you must read it to see how this happens for Josh and Grace and just everyone in Soul Crossed.

Now, I'll just add that the romance isn't the complete focus of the story. Saving, or guess damning too, Cam's soul is a huge part. But I think both aspects of the story worked well together to create a fast moving plot with twists and revelations and mystery along the way.

End Thoughts: There is great character development as well as many surprises throughout Soul Crossed. The short chapters did take me awhile to get used to but they did make they story feel like it was speeding by, in a good way. And of course there is forbidden romance and it was hard to stop because I just wanted to see how everything would work out! Soul Crossed is a really easy, fun, and thoughtful book. 4 stars.

About the Author

Lisa Gail Green lives with her husband the rocket scientist and their three junior mad scientists in Southern California. She writes books so she can have an excuse to live in the fantasy world in her head. She likes to share these with readers so she's represented by the lovely Melissa Nasson of Rubin Pfeffer Content. She has a parrot but would most definitely get a werewolf for a pet if she weren't allergic. 

Lisa loves YA. She believes with all her heart that teen readers are ready and willing to experience things that some adults have closed their minds to, that books are the safest way to explore, learn, and escape, and that imagination is the key to just about everything. 

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Tour Organized by:

YA Bound Book Tours