Blast & Giveaway: Creed by Trisha Leaver & Lindsay Currie

Trisha Leaver & Lindsay Currie
Release date: November 8, 2014
Publisher: Flux
Genre: Young Adult psychological horror
ISBN: 0738740802

Three went in. Three came out. None even a shadow of who they once were.
When their car breaks down, Dee, her boyfriend Luke, and his brother Mike walk through a winter storm to take refuge in a nearby town called Purity Springs. When they arrive, the emergency sirens are blaring and the small farming town seems abandoned. With no other shelter, they spend the night in an empty house.
But they soon discover that not everything in Purity Springs is as it seems. When the town's inhabitants suddenly appear the next morning, Dee, Luke, and Mike find themselves at the mercy of the charismatic leader, Elijah Hawkins, who plans to make Dee his new wife. Elijah's son, Joseph, offers to help them escape . . . but the price of his help may be more than Dee and her friends can bear. 

Goodreads |IndieBound | BN |Amazon

Praise For CREED:

“Debut authors Leaver and Currie make an auspicious foray into YA horror...creating a believably desperate and terrifying situation for their characters, and Dee's history of physical and sexual abuse adds another layer of terror to this suspenseful and sporadically gory thriller.” ~Publishers Weekly

Welcome to a town that makes "Children of the Corn" look like child's play. There's no shortage of scary shenanigans happening in "Creed" ... We'd rather take a year-long gig teaching botany to the "Children of the Corn" than take a gas-and-bathroom break on a sunny day in Purity Springs.  ~Kat Rosenfield author of Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone/ MTV News

"This is: a straight-ahead, cover-your-ears tale of terror that grows more nihilistic and grueling by the page.... Leaver and Currie do the best thing horror authors can do, presenting protagonists who make smart choices, over and over, but to no avail. Now that's scary" ~ Daniel Kraus/ Booklist

About The Authors

Trisha Leaver: Trisha Leaver graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in Social Work. She lives on Cape Cod with her husband, three kids and one rather irreverent black lab. She is a member of the SCBWI, the Horror Writers Association, and the YA Scream Queens

TWITTER | FACEBOOK | WEBSITE | Instagram: @trishaleaver




About Lindsay Currie: Lindsay Currie graduated from Knox College in Galesburg, IL with an English Literature degree. She is a member of the SCBWI, the Horror Writers Association and a contributor to the YA Scream Queens. 
TWITTER | WEBSITE | FACEBOOK
Instagram: @lindsayncurrie 

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Promo & Giveaway: Pieces of My Heart by Jamie Canosa

Blurb:
**Warning: Contains spoilers

Kiernan Parks settled all the scores. He finished what he set out to do and then . . . he left.

He left Jade. Heartbroken and weary. Existing one day to the next. One breath after another. The only way she knew how to move forward, forever missing a piece of her heart. Until an unexpected surprise throws her volatile life into upheaval, once more.

He left Caulder. Guilt-ridden and grieving. Fighting to hold it all together. Not just for himself, but for the people he cares about. Staggering under the weight of his obligations.

He left them alone.

He left them together.

Purchase Link

Haven’t read book #1 in the Pieces series yet? No, worries. Fall in love with the Parks boys from the beginning with Falling to Pieces (Pieces 1) for only 99 CENTS for a limited time! Or get it FREE with Kindle Unlimited!   Amazon

Author Info: 
Jamie Canosa is a full time author of YA/NA literature, which she absolutely loves. When she’s not writing or spending time with her family, she can usually be found with her nose in a book. She currently resides in Upstate NY with her husband, and their three crazy kids . . . plus the cats, the bird, and the rabbit.

Author Links: Facebook | Twitter | Blog

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Review: Kiss of Broken Glass by Madeline Kuderick @harperteen

Author: Madeline Kuderick
Title: Kiss of Broken Glass
Publication: September 9, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 224 pp.
Source: Publisher

Synopsis
Madeleine Kuderick’s gripping debut is a darkly beautiful and lyrical novel in verse, perfect for fans of Sonya Sones and Laurie Halse Anderson. Kiss of Broken Glass pulses with emotion and lingers long after the last page.

In the next seventy-two hours, Kenna may lose everything—her friends, her freedom, and maybe even herself. One kiss of the blade was all it took to get her sent to the psych ward for seventy-two hours. There she will face her addiction to cutting, though the outcome is far from certain.

When fifteen-year-old Kenna is found cutting herself in the school bathroom, she is sent to a facility for mandatory psychiatric watch. There, Kenna meets other kids like her—her roommate, Donya, who’s there for her fifth time; the birdlike Skylar; and Jag, a boy cute enough to make her forget her problems . . . for a moment.

"Just one cut to feel alive..."

" Just one cut and you can breathe."

When I began reading this book, it reminded me of Anderson's book Wintergirls and I could see similarities between Kenna and the main character in that book. The need for love and acceptance rings true in this book and that one. Kenna hides her cutting but she also wants someone to notice that she's not alright. She's always been an outsider, so when she meets Rennie, she feels apart of something. Her first cut seals the deal, she feels a rush and can't stop her need for that next high. 

" Purging all the broken bits out of me 
like a tsunami washing debris to the shore"

" I feel the calm,
the bliss,
the sheer weightlessness of zero worry...

And I want this feeling to last forever."

Kenna's ousted in the school bathroom and ends up in a facility where they keep her for a few days to help her and to make sure she won't harm herself more. She meets another girl like her named Skylar, who in a way helps her begin to see things a little differently. I liked Kenna and understood her struggle and her want to belong. Even in just a matter of days she changes but it the war she has between wanting to fit in and being strong enough to stand alone as her own person without someone else influencing her. The story's written in verse and flows so well that I really didn't notice but it paints the picture of Kenna's internal battle so perfectly. I could actually feel her addiction. Overall, the characters and story are realistic and true. The writing is beautiful and quick, I flew through it within a couple of hours. This is a story that will make you really step into the life of the character and come out with a completely alternate perspective on depression and cutting.

Blast & Giveaway: Adrenaline Crush by Laurie Boyle Crompton

Synopsis 
When a daredevil teen pushes herself too far, she must choose between two boys: the one who wants to keep her safe, and the one who dares her to return to her old self.

Seventeen-year-old Dyna comes from a family of risk takers and is an avid thrill-seeker herself, until the day she splinters her ankle in a terrible fall. Her whole life goes from mountain biking and rock climbing to sitting at home and attending group sessions at the bizarre alternative healing center that her hippie mother found. The boy who witnessed Dyna’s accident believes her injury is a wakeup call and he encourages her mild new lifestyle, but a young Afghanistan War veteran she meets at the healing center pushes her to start taking chances again. Forced to face the consequences of her daredevil impulses, Dyna finds herself in danger of risking the one thing she’s always treated with caution—her heart.

 AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laurie Boyle Crompton is the YA author of BLAZE (or Love in the Time of Supervillains) and THE REAL PROM QUEENS OF WESTFIELD HIGH (Sourcebooks, 2013 & 2014) as well as the upcoming ADRENALINE CRUSH from Farrar Straus Giroux. Laurie graduated first in her class from St. John’s University with a major in English and minor in Journalism. She’s written for national magazines like ALLURE as well as numerous trade publications and has appeared on Good Day New York several times as a Toy Expert. Yes, that is an actual thing that people sometimes get to be.

When she’s not writing Laurie enjoys hiking, cycling, reading, cross-country skiing, running, going to the movies and drinking tea by the gallon. She lives near NYC, but loves to escape to the mountains in New Paltz, NY where she and her family can often be found climbing over rocks or tromping through the forest. She is represented by Ammi-Joan Paquette of the Erin Murphy Agency.

WEBSITE | TWITTER | GOODREADS | FACEBOOK

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Waiting on Wednesday #65: Pirate's Alley by Suzanne Johnson

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Pirate's Alley by Suzanne Johnson

Expected Release: April 2015

Synopsis:Wizard sentinel DJ Jaco thought she had gotten used to the chaos of her life in post-Katrina New Orleans, but a new threat is looming, one that will test every relationship she holds dear.

Caught in the middle of a rising struggle between the major powers in the supernatural world—the Wizards, Elves, Vampires and the Fae—DJ finds her loyalties torn and her mettle tested in matters both professional and personal.

Her relationship with enforcer Alex Warin is shaky, her non-husband, Quince Randolph, is growing more powerful, and her best friend, Eugenie, has a bombshell that could blow everything to Elfheim and back. And that's before the French pirate, Jean Lafitte, newly revived from his latest "death," returns to New Orleans with vengeance on his mind. DJ's assignment? Keep the sexy leader of the historical undead out of trouble. Good luck with that.

Duty clashes with love, loyalty with deception, and friendship with responsibility as DJ navigates passion and politics in the murky waters of a New Orleans caught in the grips of a brutal winter that might have nothing to do with Mother Nature.

War could be brewing, and DJ will be forced to take a stand. But choosing sides won't be that easy.

What book are you looking forward to reading?

Blast & Giveaway: Catalyst by S.J. Kincaid

Synopsis 
The explosive conclusion to the series reviewers have likened to Ender’s Game and “Hogwarts-in-Space”

This exhilarating, explosive, and heartrending conclusion to the Insignia trilogy brings Tom and his intelligent, passionate, and brave young friends stunning tests and dangerous confrontations and through to an impossible future they could never have predicted.

Tom Raines and his friends are eager to return to the Pentagonal Spire to continue training for the elite Intrasolar Forces, but they soon discover troubling changes: strict new regulations and the revelation that the Spire is under new military control. What begins as an irritating adjustment soon reveals a dangerous shift in reality. Those now in control are aligned with corporate sponsors and their ruthless agendas. And when the military academy begins welcoming new cadets with suspicious neural processors, the first step in a plan with horrifying worldwide ramifications, Tom is desperate to stop it, even if that means keeping secrets from his closest allies.

Then a mysterious figure, the other ghost in the machine, begins fighting against the corporations, but with methods even Tom finds shocking. And when the enemy comes for Tom, how much can Tom endure in the battle to save himself? He must decide if he can still fight when the odds of success seem to be sliding from his grip.

 AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY

ABOUT THE AUTHORS.J. Kincaid was born in Alabama, grew up in California, and attended high school in New Hampshire, but it was while living beside a haunted graveyard in Scotland, that she realized that she wanted to be a writer. Her debut, Insignia, came out in July of 2012. The second book in the series, Vortex came out in July of 2013. The final book in the INSIGNIA trilogy will come out in Fall of 2014.Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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Blitz & Giveaway: Diamonds in the Rough by Michelle Madow @michellemadow @harlequinteen

Diamonds in the Rough (The Secret Diamond Sisters #2)

by Michelle Madow 

Release Date: 10/28/14

Harlequin Teen

448

Summary from Goodreads:
All-access doesn't mean no problems.

The three Diamond sisters survived the summer in style after coming to live with their long-lost billionaire father. But making a place for themselves at their exclusive new Las Vegas private school is throwing them any number of gold-plated curves. Savannah's YouTube stardom turns into a Sweet Sixteen reality show extravaganza—with complimentary enemies on the side. Dangerous flirtations don't keep Peyton from a gamble that will risk far more than she planned to bet. And when Courtney and the sisters' archenemy, Madison, uncover two explosive secrets, it will rock even this town of glittering illusion—and turn their lives upside down all over again.

Sisterhood, first crushes, and scandalous secrets explode in book two of Michelle Madow's riveting series, The Secret Diamond Sisters.

Buy Links:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A Million| Book Depository | iBookstore

At fifteen years old, Savannah is the youngest Diamond sister. Her older sisters have sheltered her for her entire life. Despite her rough upbringing, she’s optimistic and wants to think the best of people, although this can sometimes lead to her coming off as naïve. She wants to fit in at school, but has always felt like an outsider. She tends to feel overshadowed by the people around her. She trusts easily, and it sometimes leads to her getting hurt, but she’s always there for her sisters and friends when they need her!

Savannah loves singing, and has a fantastic voice, so it’s her ultimate dream to be a famous pop star. She’s been stage fright since a talent show disaster in middle school, but wants to record cover songs and post them on YouTube to try to get a following, like the YouTube stars she idolizes. She also plays guitar, but is self-taught, so she’s still learning how to improve. She mainly plays to accompany herself while singing. She’s athletic, and played on the JV volleyball team in her school in her hometown. She hopes to make Varsity as a sophomore.

She loves shopping and wearing anything that sparkles—dresses, nail polish, shoes, eye shadow, you name it! She loves reading fashion magazines and trying to duplicate the high-end styles worn by the models. Her favorite meal of the day is breakfast, and her favorite food is pancakes. Savannah has never had a serious boyfriend, and wants more than anything to believe that true love is possible! 

Sequel to:

(cover linked to Goodreads)

Buy Links:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A Million | Book Depository | iBookstore

About the Author
Michelle Madow was inspired to write The Secret Diamond Sisters series while walking through her favorite hotel in Las Vegas. The next book in the series, Diamonds in the Rough, launches in October. Prior to The Secret Diamond Sisters, she successfully self-published The Transcend Time Saga. A tireless promoter of her work, Michelle is active on social media networks and has toured across America to promote her books and encourage high school students to embrace reading and writing. A graduate of Rollins College, Michelle lives in Florida ... but she loves going to Vegas.

To chat with Michelle and other fans about her books, joinMichelle Madow's Street Team on Facebook!

Author Links:

   

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