Tour Excerpt & Giveaway: Dark Days by Kate Ormand

Dark Days
by Kate Ormand
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Release Date: June 3rd 2014

Synopsis:
The future world has been divided into sectors--each the same as the other. Surrounded by thick steel fences, there is no way in and no way out. Yet a cyborg army penetrates each sector, picking off its citizens one by one, until no one is left. Behind the sectors' thick walls, the citizens wait to die. Few will be chosen to survive what's coming; the rest will be left behind to suffer. A new world has been created, and its rulers are incredibly selective on who will become a citizen. They want only those with important roles in society to help create a more perfect future.

Sixteen-year-old Sia lives in one of the sectors as part of a family that is far too ordinary to be picked to live. According to the digital clock that towers high above her sector, she has only fifteen days to live. Sia has seen the reports and knows a horrific death is in store for her, but she is determined to make the most of her final days. Sia refuses to mourn her short life, instead promising herself that she'll stay strong, despite being suffocated by her depressed mother and her frightened best friend. Just when Sia feels more alone than ever, she meets Mace, a mysterious boy. There is something that draws Sia to him, despite his dangerousness, and together, they join a group of rebels and embark on an epic journey to destroy the new world and its machines, and to put an end to the slaughter of innocent people.

BOOK LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon Paperback | Kindle | BN | iTunes | Bookdepository | Kobo

Excerpt
I turn to leave the room, but the images on the screen stop me. It’s not the usual destroyed sectors airing.
It’s the New World.
I don’t want to see it. Inside, I’m screaming at myself to look away, but I can’t. I’ve seen it before, but this time is different. The recording is showing people arriving in the city, ready to start their new lives.
Damien Hoist, the creator of the New World, waits to greet them and smiles for the cameras. I’ve seen this man’s face once before, and I avoid seeing it again. He is responsible for all of this. I know there are others to blame now, too, but Damien Hoist started it. The very idea for the New World spilled from his lips.
The new citizens step out of the aircraft. It’s a family of three—a mother, father, and a teenage girl.
Just like my family.
Except they can’t be. They must have something special about them—something we lack—to be chosen when we are not. I wonder what they’ve done to earn their place.

About the Author
KATE ORMAND is a YA writer represented by Isabel Atherton at Creative Authors Ltd. She lives in the UK with her family, her partner, and a cocker spaniel called Freddie. She recently graduated from university with a first class BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art Painting. It was during this course that Kate discovered her love of reading YA books, prompting her to try a new creative angle and experiment with writing. Kate is also a member of an online group of published writers and illustrators called Author Allsorts. And she writes children’s picture books under the name Kate Louise. 
You can see more about Kate and her writing by visiting her website (www.kateormand.wordpress.com) or on Twitter (@kateormand).
AUTHOR LINKS:
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Blitz & Giveaway: Fan Art by Sarah Tregay @sarahtregay @harperteen

Fan Art

by Sarah Tregay

Release Date: 06/17/14

Harper Teen

Summary from Goodreads:
When the picture tells the story…

Senior year is almost over, and Jamie Peterson has a big problem. Not college—that’s all set. Not prom—he’ll find a date somehow. No, it’s the worst problem of all: he’s fallen for his best friend.

As much as Jamie tries to keep it under wraps, everyone seems to know where his affections lie, and the giggling girls in art class are determined to help Jamie get together with Mason. But Jamie isn’t sure if that’s what he wants—because as much as Jamie would like to come clean to Mason, what if the truth ruins everything? What if there are no more road trips, taco dinners, or movie nights? Does he dare risk a childhood friendship for romance?

This book is about what happens when a picture reveals what we can’t say, when art is truer than life, and how falling in love is easy, except when it’s not. Fan Art explores the joys and pains of friendship, of pressing boundaries, and how facing our worst fears can sometimes lead us to what we want most.

Available from:
Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo * Book Depository

An Excerpt from Fan Art, by Sarah Tregay:

Chapter Six

¬

In art, Ms. Maude has the lights off and the projector on, and we’re flying through art history at breakneck speed. We started the semester with the cave paintings in Lascaux and, with three weeks of classes to go, we are up to Marcel Duchamp and his urinal. Ms. Maude is certain we’ll get up to present-day art by the end of the term, but the class has a bet going—most of the girls say she will and the guys say she won’t.

I write $1 in my notebook and slide it across the table to Eden.

In my pocket, she writes back.

I’m about to write No way when Ms. Maude leaps ahead half a decade and sums up Dadaism in one sentence. No fair. She segues to the Bauhaus, and I know I should be listening. Those Bauhaus dudes are the founding fathers of graphic design.

But I’m not listening. You going to prom? I write. Again I slide my notebook to Eden.

She looks at me, an are-you-crazy? expression on her face.

I gesture at the note.

She writes something. Slides the notebook back. No.

Why not? I scribble.

She doesn’t wait for me to pass the notebook; she just reaches over and writes. No date.

Be mine.

She looks at me again then writes: I thought you were gay.

I freeze. How the hell does she know?

Eden takes the paper back before I write anything. And you want to go to prom with me?

Yes.

Not possible, she scribbles.

Why not?

Ms. Maude glances our way, and Eden pretends she’s taking notes on the lecture. When she slides my notebook back, it reads: You’re out of my league. Not to mention the wrong gender.

The wrong gender? I try not to look surprised and I ignore that part. What league?

The popular one.

I’m not popular. I’m in band.

Eden sighs as if I’m clueless, and she pushes my notebook back at me without an answer.

Please, I write. I didn’t know dating involved so much persuasion. 

Why?

Because you’re cool. I offer her the notebook.

She reads my note and shakes her head.

I try again. Because I want to get to know you better.

She fake gags on her finger.

Because I’ll have a good time if you’re there.

Eden smiles.

And I have a prom date. 

About the Author

Raised without television, Sarah Tregay started writing her own middle grade novels after she had read all of the ones in the library. She later discovered YA books, but never did make it to the adult section. When she's not jotting down poems at stoplights, she can be found hanging out with her "little sister" from Big Brothers Big Sisters. Sarah lives in Eagle, Idaho with her husband, two Boston Terriers, and an appaloosa named Mr. Pots. Her next book, Fan Art, will be released in June.

Author Links:

   

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2 signed ARC’s of Fan Art (US/CAN only)

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Review & Giveaway: Dark Metropolis by Jaclyn Dolamore

Author: Jaclyn Dolamore
Title: Dark Metropolis
Series: Dark Metropolis #1
Publication: June 17, 2014
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Source: Publisher via Netgalley

About the Book
Cabaret meets Cassandra Clare-a haunting magical thriller set in a riveting 1930s-esque world.

Sixteen-year-old Thea Holder's mother is cursed with a spell that's driving her mad, and whenever they touch, Thea is chilled by the magic, too. With no one else to contribute, Thea must make a living for both of them in a sinister city, where danger lurks and greed rules.Thea spends her nights waitressing at the decadent Telephone Club attending to the glitzy clientele. But when her best friend, Nan, vanishes, Thea is compelled to find her. She meets Freddy, a young, magnetic patron at the club, and he agrees to help her uncover the city's secrets-even while he hides secrets of his own.

Together, they find a whole new side of the city. Unrest is brewing behind closed doors as whispers of a gruesome magic spread. And if they're not careful, the heartless masterminds behind the growing disappearances will be after them, too.

Perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare, this is a chilling thriller with a touch of magic where the dead don't always seem to stay that way.

Thea had to drop out of school to work and care for her mother. He mother is getting worse and she's trying hard to keep her out of the governments clutches but one day she slips up and her world begins to change. She meets this strange boy, Freddy, who is a mystery and she senses something about him. He's drawn to her as well and as she continues to uncover what's really going on in her city, she realizing that something is different about him. Freddy has a secret of his own that will shake them both especially when he learns the truth about himself and why his life isn't truly his own. As they get closer to revealing everything, they will find themselves wrapped in a conspiracy even more horrid than they could ever imagine. I think this is an interesting story and  the pace was steady. I liked the characters but Nan was my favorite, she's so mysterious and I found her story line intriguing. Overall, anyone interested in zombies or necromancy may find this a good light read. 

Excerpt
"Mother, please, it's shining right on my face...." Mother stood at the open window, watching the birds. She liked the birds, she always had, and when Thea was a little girl Mother used to take her bird watching. They would stay with Mother's old friends in the country for two weeks during summer and hike in the woods. "There is a waxwing," she might say in a whisper-voice near Thea's ear while pointing.

Now Thea didn't even like Mother to put an arm around her. Her bound-sickness would bleed out, and Thea would know what her mother was thinking-always, always about Father: Where is he? I can still feel him. He can't be dead. But why can't I find him? On and on.

But Father was dead. He had to be dead. Surely he would have found them by now if he were alive, even if he had to fight his way out of a foreign prison or overcome amnesia or any of the other scenarios she'd envisioned. The binding spell would call him home. 

About the Author
Jaclyn Dolamore was homeschooled in a hippie sort of way and spent her childhood reading as many books as her skinny nerd-body could lug from the library and playing elaborate pretend games with her sister Kate. She skipped college and spent eight years drudging through retail jobs, developing her thrifty cooking skills and pursuing a lifelong writing dream. She has a passion for history, thrift stores, vintage dresses, David Bowie, drawing, and organic food. She lives with her partner and plot-sounding-board, Dade, and two black tabbies who have ruined her carpeting.
WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK

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Reveal & Giveaway: What's Left of Us by Amanda Maxlyn

Amanda Maxlyn and Bandit Publishing are excited to share with you the beautiful cover for Amanda Maxlyn's "What's Left of Us", the heartwarming conclusion to What's Left of Me. Make sure to join the FB Release Event, add to your Goodreads, and enter the GIVEAWAY for a $25 Amazon Gift Card below!

Expected Release: Summer 2014

Book Title: What’s Left of Us

Author: Amanda Maxlyn

Cover Designer: Mae I Design and Photography

The heartwarming conclusion to What's Left of Me.
Love found me three years ago.
I’m cancer free, happily married to the love of my life, and working toward my dream career.
Our life is complete. Perfect, really.
Or is it?
I’ve always wanted a family of my own, but never dreamed I could have one. Now Parker’s ready to make my dream our reality.
But sometimes our dreams are haunted by our deepest fears. Fears of failure, having a child, and in our case … death. How do I help the person I love get over his fear when I’m still trying to overcome that same fear myself?
Together we must learn What’s Left of Us.

Life works in mysterious ways.Four years ago I became known as the girl with cancer.I refuse to cry.And I refuse to give in.A relationship with a man is the last thing I’m looking for right now, but one night with Parker changes everything. He is persistent, and he knows what he wants. Me.He doesn’t treat me like I’m fragile.But he doesn’t know, and I’m not ready to tell him.What if it changes everything?Tragedy found me when I was seventeen.Love found me when I was twenty-one.My name is Aundrea McCall, and this is my journey.

About the Author
I am the mother of two little boys, married to the love of my life, and living in one of the smallest towns in Minnesota. When I’m not chasing or cleaning up after my boys (yes, all three), I can be found writing or snuggled up with my kindle, a glass of wine, and spending time with my fictional friends and family.
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Reveal & Giveaway: A Beauty So Beastly by RaShelle Workman

Genre: Fractured Fairy Tale

Book 1 in the Beastly Series

Release date: July 3, 2014

About A BEAUTY SO BEASTLY: 
“For your vanity, your cruelty, and your cold unfeeling heart, a curse I leave upon you . . .”

What happens if the beauty is also the beast?

The stunning Beatrice Cavanaugh is considered American royalty. She has everything except the ability to love. Cursed on her eighteenth birthday, she becomes more beastly than ever, having a newfound craving for raw meat, and an undeniable yearning for the night. Bitterness is her only companion.

After accusing a maid of stealing, a disgustingly kind and exquisitely handsome guy named Adam shows up asking Beatrice to drop the charges against his mother.

Infuriated by his goodness, Beatrice vows to break him. Destroy him. Make him hurt the way she hurts. So she agrees. On one condition: Adam must take his mother’s place as a servant in the mansion. 

Because Beatrice won’t stop until he’s more beastly than she is.

Buy Links:

Amazon

Special Note: A BEAUTY SO BEASLTY will be available for 99 cents until its release date on July 3rd! Then it'll go up to $2.99. So pre-order now!

About the Author
RaShelle Workman is an international bestselling author. She writes fractured fairytales with bite and young adult science fiction that's out of this world. RaShelle likes cherry pie, movies, family adventures, and chocolate. If you want to get on her good side, send chocolate. RaShelle's sold more than 500,000 copies of her books worldwide. Sleeping Roses, Exiled, Beguiled, and Dovetailed have foreign rights contracts with a Turkish publisher. 
Facebook | Twitter | Blog | Pinterest

Her books include:

Sleeping Roses

Exiled
Beguiled
Dovetailed
Blood and Snow (1-12)

The Cindy Chronicles

Vampire Lies (Blood and Snow Season 2)

Short stories:

Rose, Undercover

Cindy Witch

The Hunter's Tale

Gabriel
After the Kiss
Zaren's Travels

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Giveaway & Excerpt: Last Impressions by A.J. Aalto

Blurb:
"When an FBI Internal Affairs investigation lands the Preternatural Crimes Unit in a bureaucratic spank-fest, it feels like the perfect time for Marnie Baranuik to skip town and lend her expertise to a bear-sized Canadian cop who doesn't want her help with his case, his love life, or his car stereo. Back in her childhood stomping grounds, Marnie leaps into action, facing an exorcist in skinny jeans, a slap-happy specter, and an old friend up to new tricks. Are ghosts behind a string of unusual deaths? Why didn't her revenant companion, Lord Harry Dreppenstedt, tell her he had a Combat Butler? Can she survive dinner with her parents? With a shifty man of the cloth offering her soul's redemption, and a revelation that could change the future of her love life, she has her gloved hands full. She may not make a great first impression, but no one makes a Last Impression quite like Marnie." 

Excerpt: Last Impressions (The Marnie Baranuik Files, Book 3)

The Epp farm was tucked behind an industrial park on the east side of the canal, not far from the Twin Flight Locks. From the looks of it, the farm had been there for generations, pre-dating the industry by decades. It consisted of two barns and some hen houses, a maze of chicken-wire fences topped with fresh snow, and a light blue farmhouse with doors and shutters freshly-painted the brilliant yellow of egg yolk.

Downwind, it stank of years’ worth of guano. So did Mr. Epp, who came waddling out of the smaller barn wiping his hands on his olive green coveralls, trudging through the snow. His padded, red plaid jacket was the type that always made me think of lumberjacks. Under a crammed-down, wrinkly Molson Canadian knit cap of washed-out grey, he had poker-straight orange hair complemented by a silver-streaked carroty handlebar mustache that he must have begun cultivating about the time I was born. I thought Batten’s upper lip would be sorely intimidated in the face of such manly follicles. When he opened his mouth to talk, I expected him to draw matching revolvers like Yosemite Sam. He was definitely the rootinest, tootinest, chicken-poopinest dude I'd ever laid eyes on.

“Why, I know I said I’m up and at ‘em before dawn, officer, but I sure didn’t expect you to show before the sun did.”

I whispered, “Is he for real?”

Schenk elbowed me. Because of his height, his chiding elbow connected with my left ear. “I understand you witnessed some youths down by the pond recently,” Schenk said. “Why don’t we go inside and you can tell me all about that?”

“Sorry, you misunderstood.” The farmer rubbed one hand with the other in rough strokes, thumb-in-palm. “I said I knew they were down there, but I didn’t personally see them.”

“Oh?” Schenk withdrew a flip pad and his pencil from his inside jacket pocket, and scribbled a note.

“The chickens saw them.”

Schenk didn’t miss a beat. “The chickens.” He wrote this, too, as though it could possibly mean something.

I raised my hand like I was in class. “Uh, how do you know the chickens saw them?”

“They told me. Well, not me, directly.” Epp smiled widely. “Obviously, I can’t talk to chickens.”

“You can’t,” Schenk clarified.

“No, not me, no sir.” When he shook his head, Epp’s ginger handlebars waved hypnotically back and forth like magic tentacles. “So, I’ll just go get the Chicken Whisperer, and we’ll get to interviewing your star witnesses, officer.”

Epp tromped off in the direction of the house. Schenk let a long, steady breath out of his nostrils and began to thump his pencil against his pad rapidly, taptaptap. My eyes snuck sideways and way, way up at him.

“Did he just say Chicken Whisperer?”

Unhappily, Schenk confirmed, “He did.”

“Oh, I’m so glad I answered your call this morning.”

“You owe me big time.”

“Wait a second. You woke me up, told me to come with you under pain of replacement with some less-awesome psychic, and I owe you? What kind of happy horse hockey are you trying to pull, Longshanks?”

“Hockey?” He paused, thoughtful. “I'll be damned. That's why he looks so familiar. He could be Lanny McDonald's twin brother.”

What I knew about hockey would probably fit on a puck with room to spare, because I am the worst Canadian in the history of ever, so I kept my ignorance to myself. I thought he needed a pat on the arm to bolster his spirits, so I gave him one.

He glanced down at me. “Getting anything off him, Big City Psychic?”

“Not a thing,” I confessed. “The Blue Sense must not be awake yet.” I turned at the sound of the door. “Holy crispy crapsicles.”

Epp thumped out the back door of the farmhouse wearing a floppy blond Marilyn Monroe wig and a quilted housecoat thrown over his overalls. He backhanded ropey platinum waves out of his hairy face. He’d smeared tangerine lipstick on his lips. It matched the color of his facial hair almost perfectly. He made me feel like Janet Leigh when the shower curtain tore open. It’s entirely possible I let out a little eep in lieu of a violin musical sting.

Schenk said tentatively, “Mr. Epp?”

“I’m Tina Epp, the Chicken Whisperer.” She handed Schenk a business card. “I’ll take you down to talk to Henny. She’s in charge of the girls out in the big barn. This way.”

I whispered out the side of my mouth, “It’s that new horror movie: Mrs. Doubtfire Silences the Lambs.”

Schenk clamped his lips together hard to keep a straight face and tucked the business card in his back pocket. “Uh, ma’am?” He followed her into the barn, clearing his throat. “Who's Henny? A hen?”

The barn was lit by stark white fluorescents and warmed just enough to take the chill off. The smell of chickens was only mildly worse inside. Epp began rubbing her hands again.

“She’s the Black Jersey Giant. Isn’t she a beaut? Now, hold on.”

She approached the pens and began talking to the chicken. In clucks.

I said, “How come you got a business card and I didn’t?”

 Schenk was working valiantly at keeping his shit together; he flicked me an annoyed glance, dug the card out, and handed it to me. It was warm from being tucked against his butt cheek and it read: Chickens: I “get” them. The hinky quotation marks made me wonder:  how exactly did Tina Epp “get” the chickens? She folded her fists into her armpits to make ersatz wings of her arms and used one boot to scratch at the dirt.

“This might be the best-worst thing that’s ever happened to me,” I confided to the cop in a whisper, “and I’ve been chased by half-naked zombies cosplaying wildlife.”

“Nope,” Tina reported to us, flexing her fingers. “Nope. Sorry. Henny says the girls don’t know nothing. Only the rooster was out.”

I ventured, “And you can’t talk to the rooster?”

“Aw, heck no, not me, Ma’am.” She batted at her wig again, spitting as strands of hair drifted and stuck to her mustache and lipstick: rookie make-up problem. It almost never happened to me anymore. Mostly because I stopped wearing lipstick.

Schenk opened his mouth, and by the hitching of his belt, I figured he was going to tell Epp we’d be heading out. Epp held up one finger to tell us to wait.

 “You just hold them horses, officer. I’ll go on in and fetch the Cock Whisperer.”

Schenk and I froze in mutual stunned silence, our eyes slinking sideways to each other’s, while Epp clomped back toward the house in her black rubber boots, rubbing her hands in one another. I wondered if Schenk realized his hand had drifted to check that his gun was in place.

“Are you scared, too?” I whispered.

“I’ve never been so afraid in all my days on the force,” he said.

Author Bio:
A.J. Aalto is a proud native of the Niagara Region.  Born in St. Catharines, she currently resides with her wonderfully peculiar husband Jason and two quirky kids, a puppy that drives her bonkers and two cats who are undoubtedly plotting her demise.  When not writing horror or dark urban fantasy, you can find A.J. researching horrible things, braying her unladylike guffaw, making dick jokes, mentally undressing strangers or sitting cross-legged on her front porch eating peanut butter M&Ms by the spoonful.
Social Links:
Website | Facebook | Twitter

Buying Link

Amazon

For the giveaway:  the entire series (ebooks/international) to 7 lucky winners: Touched (book 1), Death Rejoices (Book 2), Cold Company (Novella, 2.1) and Dirt Nap (Novella, 2.2) and Last Impressions (Book 3).

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Blitz & Giveaway: Don't Fall by @RMSchieffelbein @swoonromance

Don't Fall by Rachel Schieffelbein
Release Date: 2014
Swoon Romance

Summary from Goodreads:
In which a teenage girl endures the over-protective love of her adoptive mother until she falls for a boy who has her wanting to spread her wings, pitched as a contemporary retelling of RAPUNZEL.

Seventeen-year-old Anya leads a very secluded life in a house on the edge of town with her adopted mother. She doesn't go to school, but instead has a private tutor. Her over-protective mom keeps her so sheltered that she doesn't even have a best friend. 

But Anya doesn't seem to mind. She has her books, her photography, and her daydreams, and would do anything to please her mom. Until one day at the library, the only place she's allowed to go, she takes a picture of a beautiful boy.

Before long she's lying to her mom, and sneaking out late at night to meet Zander. But Zander wants more than a secret romance. If Anya wants to be with the boy of her dreams, she will have to risk her relationship with the only other person she's ever cared about.

Guest Post
First of all, thank you so much for having me on your blog! I’m going to talk a bit about fairy tales and why I wrote this retelling. 
I have always loved fairy tales. I grew up on them, and I suppose I’m a bit of a romantic. I love magic, and true love, and happily ever afters. It makes me happy that retellings are gaining in popularity. All those old stories I loved are getting a new light shone on them, new twists, new characters, and new perspectives.
Rapunzel has been my favorite fairy tale from long before Disney made its version of it. (Although the Disney version is pretty cute.) To be honest, I think a big part of why it’s my favorite has to do with fond memories of visiting an elderly neighbor who used to read it to me. 
It was a story I really wanted to work with, but making it contemporary had its challenges! So I will tell you now, no one climbs anyone’s hair. It’s the theme of the story I wanted to hold onto. The idea of this girl being locked away from the world, and how she has to set herself free to really find herself. 
I love Anya, my Rapunzel. She’s sweet and innocent, but also spunky and fun. I wanted to write her a modern fairy tale, with its own kind of magic, true love, and happily ever after. Hopefully I’ve succeeded, and readers will fall for her and Zander, too.

About the Author
Rachel grew up in a tiny town in Minnesota. She still lives there, with her husband and their four kids. She coaches high school speech and theater, rides Arabian horses, reads as much as she can, and writes stories.

Author Links:
   

***GIVEAWAY***

1 ebook of Don’t Fall + $10 Amazon Gift Card (INT)

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