Blackness Takes Over Blog Tour

Today on my blog I have the Blackness Takes Over Blog tour. On my stop there is a spotlight, review, and giveaway.

Shannon Kelly’s life has been anything but typical.

Her life has been altered viciously at the hands of others twice.

However horrible they have been, it’s these changes that have given her a family and career…now possibly love.

The last thirteen years she has been supported and loved by her protector, her entertainer, and her comforter, but never a lover.

When Dylan Kellerman enters Shannon’s life he changes its course in more ways than one.

He gives her hope and promise of a future she was convinced wasn’t attainable.

Just as she begins to believe she has finally turned her life into something she can build a future on…blackness takes over. 

Review:

Shannon has never had a normal life. She has had two tragedies in her life that have shaped her into the woman she is. But the horrible crime she suffers as an adult also brought into her life three amazing men who love and protect her like a sister. They are her family. They live and work together but even though she loves them she has never been in love but all that changes when she meets Dylan. Not only does he fit in with her boys he makes her wants things she never thought she could. But there is still an evil lurking in Shannon’s life that just might take her away before she can know if her love with Dylan can last a life time.

I love Shannon. She is strong and beautiful and vows to never be hurt again and make sure that the boys she loves are safe. I fell in love with her as she is so strong and I can see why the boys love her as well. I loved the boys in Shannon’s life and if you asked me I could not pick a favorite as they are all great and will make you love them. I kept hoping Shannon would get the happiness she deserved especially after the things she has suffered. But you can see that she is truly happy with her life and the boys she calls family.  The author does an amazing job at making characters you can relate and fall in love with. I highly recommend this book to anyone. 5/5 Bloody Fangs  

Book Links:

Google Play 

Kobo 

Amazon 

B&N 

Book Depository  

Blackness Takes Over is Norma Jeanne’s debut novel. What began as an homage to the home town of a homesick Midwestern girl, unfolded a story of love, danger, humor, and trust. She’s currently working on her untitled sophomore effort. We can’t wait to see what thrilling saga she leads us through next!

Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, Norma Jeanne recently found herself relocating to the United Kingdom. Now living in Belfast, she took hold of the opportunity to kick the 9-5 job for a chance to become an author. The best part: working from her home office, she gets to spend more time with her cast of crazy characters (written and real).

In her free time Norma Jeanne is a voracious reader and consumes books as readily as meals. She is a people watcher by nature and uses her experiences in life, observed or otherwise, to build the worlds and characters that thrive in her books. A believer in the strength of the human spirit, Norma Jeanne writes the stories of people that persevere when all appears to be lost.

“Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” –Dylan Thomas 

Stalker Links: 

Twitter 

Facebook 

Goodreads 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I would also like to say Thank You to Norma for letting me review your book and say Thank You to Book Nerd Tours for letting me participate in this blog tour. Don't forget to enter the giveaway below. 

~Sabrina 

Giveaway:

5 Winners will receive an  E-Copy of  Blackness Takes Over by Norma Jeanne Karlsson.

2 Winners will receive a Signed Copy of  Blackness Takes Over by Norma Jeanne Karlsson. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Beyond The Veil Blog Tour

Today on my blog I have the Beyond The Veil blog tour. On my stop there is a spotlight, review, excerpt. and giveaway.

Beyond The Veil

The Veil Series

Book 1

Pippa DaCosta

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Date of Publication: 7th Feb 2014

Cover Artist: Celairen Art

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com

Book Description:

“They say I’m half demon, but I like to think of myself as half human, especially as the demons want me dead.” 

Charlie Henderson is living a lie. Her real name is Muse and her attempt at a normal life is about to go up in smoke.

When a half-demon assassin walks into her life, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake, Muse must return to the one man she hoped never to see again and ask for help. The Prince of Greed isn’t known for his charity. The price is high, but the cost could tear her apart.

Trapped between the malevolent intentions of a Prince of Hell, an assassin with ulterior motives, and all of demon-kind, Muse must embrace the lure of chaos at her core; the demon inside her, in order to survive.

When your ex is the Prince of Greed, you’d better be ready to raise hell.  

Excerpt: Chapter 1

I should have known he’d be trouble as soon as he walked into my workshop, but I couldn’t have known he’d be the death of me. He wore a three-quarter length red leather coat, had platinum blond hair long enough to sweep back out of his eyes, and sported scuffed Timberland boots, but if the goose bumps shivering across my skin were anything to go by, he clearly was not as human as his appearance had me believe.

At first, I tried to ignore him, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing me hesitate. A quick glance at my dusty clock told me it was late, past midnight, and I’d be damned if I was going to drop everything just because he’d invited himself in. I continued to work on the sword resting on the anvil before me. I hammered out imperfections in the blade’s surface with renewed vigor, metal singing at each blow. Behind me, the coal forge roared. Rolling waves of heat branded my back. I told myself it was sweltering temperatures sprinkling perspiration across my face and back, making my scruffy tank top cling to me, but in truth, it was fear.

Picking up the unfinished sword with gloved hands, I turned and plunged the blade into the glowing coals before facing my uninvited guest. He’d given himself the tour of my cramped workshop, seeming to admire the various swords on display, some unfinished, some as close to art as I was ever going to get. Shame I couldn’t wield them as well as I could craft them.

“Well?” I managed to instil some genuine irritation in my words in the hope it would disguise the anxiety building inside me. I tried to flick my hair out of my face but a few strands stubbornly clung to my sweaty cheek.

“Impressive.” He nodded once and turned arctic-blue eyes on me before flashing what he probably thought was a knee-weakening smile.

If my guest expected me to gush and swoon, he was in for a shock. “Who are you, and what the hell do you want?” It was late. I was tired. He wasn’t human. I figured I was within my rights to be blunt.

His expression tightened. “You’re Muse, right?” He tossed a gesture at the stuffy workshop. “I was expecting something…else.”

I hadn’t heard that nickname in years. Muse was a tag left over from dark days I didn’t wish to revisit.

Approaching me, he reached inside his coat. I caught a flicker of light slide over a handgun tucked into his waistband and tensed. An unusual motif, like entwined scorpions, adorned the grip. But he didn’t reach for the gun. He withdrew a sword and rested it on my anvil. “I want you to read this.”

I tugged off my glove and skipped my fingers over the smooth surface of the blade. The metal burned cold against my insolent touch, as though the sword resented my presence. It was a wonderful piece of workmanship. The ripple – or hamon – below the surface of the carbon-steel blade hinted at Japanese origins, and the tempered edge was sharp enough to slice through flesh with little effort. An intricate hand-forged guard and leather-wrapped hilt betrayed the sword as functional but with a flair for the dramatic, and yet it was clearly a weapon meant for combat, not ceremony.

A thin snap of power danced up my fingers, and with a small hiss, I snatched my hand back. This sword would not easily give up its secrets. “What’s in it for me?”

“What do you want?”

Now there was a loaded question. I didn’t know what or who he was, and had no idea how much he could afford or what the stakes involved. “It depends on what I’m going to find. If we’re talking murder, then I want danger money. If it’s just a lovers’ tiff you’re interested in, a few hundred should do it. I’m assuming you want recent information. If you need me to go back more than five years, it’ll be another two hundred.”

“Or I could walk out of here now and tell the world where you are. I know there are a few unsavoury characters from your checkered past who’d be very grateful for the heads-up on your whereabouts.” His smooth voice and slight smile belied the threat in his words.

I smiled tightly, my first smile since his arrival. “Now, there, you see? We were having a civilized conversation, and you just had to go and spoil it by threatening me.”

“Why don’t you just read the blade, and I can leave you to get on with your–” he cast a glance about him, “–work?”

And now he’d insulted me. “I’m not telling you anything until you give me more to go on.” Who did he think he was talking to? Some back alley half-human woman who would fall over her own feet to do his bidding? He might know my name, but he obviously didn’t know me.

He blinked, before turning back on the charm, as if I could be bought by a handsome face. “You’re right. I’m sorry. A few hundred, was it?” He dug deep into his coat pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. Without counting it, he tossed it onto the anvil. “That should cover it.”

I tugged my glove back on, pinching the heatproof fabric between each finger. “I think you should leave.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Just read the sword, Muse.”

I didn’t have time to humor assholes, especially those of the demon persuasion. “Get out.”

He pulled his distinctive gun on me, finger resting firmly on the trigger, aim rigid. “You will do this for me.” It wasn’t an order. It was fact–at least as far as he was concerned.

“Go back to hell,” I sneered, before reaching around and snatching the blade from the forge, flinging both the half-finished sword and some hot coals at him. He recoiled, cursing as the embers bounced off his coat. I dashed for the doors. My hand was on the handle, when he slammed into me, knocking the breath from my lungs.

He thrust the gun under my chin, freezing me rigid. “Why do you have to be so difficult?”

I really didn’t want this to escalate. Bad shit happens when she comes out to play. The darkness slumbering at my core began to unfurl, opening like the petals of a flower, but its intent was far from delicate. The trickling touch of power spilled into my muscles. Heat flooded through my body. The warmth of my element embraced me, threading itself through every part of me, the lure of chaos undeniable.

He abruptly released me and took a few steps back, gun up. His narrow glare measured me.

I pressed my back against the workshop door. Power dripped from my fingertips. I couldn’t see it—the human part of me was blind to the energy—but he could. His arctic eyes blazed with a promise of conflict.

He appeared to consider his next move and then, quite unexpectedly, laughed and lowered the gun, tucking it back into the holster inside his coat. “You’re right. This isn’t worth it.” With his hands up, as if in surrender, he turned and retrieved the sword in question before weaving his way back around workbenches toward me.

“I’ll leave you in peace.”

“What?” His sudden change in mood completely disarmed me.

“Step aside. I’m leaving.”

Surprised by his abrupt surrender, I did as he asked and watched him slide the door open and step out into the night. A sharp winter breeze invaded the heat of my workshop, rousing me from my muddled stupor. Confused and somewhat disappointed, I followed him out into the alley. The raw energy he’d aroused began to fizzle out. Its departure left me with a sickly chill and bitter sense of loss.

He climbed into the driver’s side of an old Dodge Charger with rust-bruised red paint. I had no idea who he was, where he’d come from, how he’d found me, or what lay hidden in that damn sword. And he was leaving. That couldn’t be right. Didn’t I deserve some sort of explanation?

“Hey!” I ventured further into the street.

Headlights bathed me in twin beams, forcing me to shield my eyes. He gunned the engine, jammed the box into reverse, and swung the car backward into a J-turn before speeding off, fat tires squealing on wet asphalt.

I stood in the street, hand on hip, head tilted to one side and breathed the crisp night air, clearing my lungs of forge-dust. Then the shockwave hit me. The explosion lashed across my back. I must have briefly lost consciousness, but the furious pain in my back quickly summoned me from the depths. A whine drilled into my skull. Alarms sounded from the industrial units around me.

I turned my head toward the heat, grit digging into my cheek as I peered into the smoke bellowing from the hollow gap between two buildings.

My workshop had gone and with it, my attempt at a normal life. 

Review: 

I love reading books that are action packed and have me on the edge of my seat the whole time while reading and Beyond the Veil did not disappoint me at all.

Muse is trying to lead a normal life but when you’re a half demon and the demons want you dead that so called normal life goes out the window when a demon assassin walks into Muse’s life leaving a live of destruction in his way. Now Muse is forced to ask the one man she never wants to see again for help. The Prince of Greed also known as Muse’s ex-boyfriend. But the price is high for his help and if Muse has any chance of survival she will have to depend on her demon half if she has any chance of coming out of this alive. 

I absolutely loved Muse. She has become one of my favorite heroines this year and I can not wait to read more about her in the next books. My only complaint is I would have loved to know more about Muse’s tragic past. Hopefully in the books to come the author will delve deeper into so we get to know more about Muse.

I loved this whole world filled with Demons as it got my attention from the very first page. I can’t wait for the next book to see more of Muse and the demons in her world. 4/5 Bloody Fangs  

Born in Tonbridge, Kent in 1979, Pippa’s family moved to the South West of England where she grew up amongst the dramatic moorland and sweeping coastlands of Devon & Cornwall. With a family history brimming with intrigue, complete with Gypsy angst on one side and Jewish survivors on another, she has the ability to draw from a patchwork of ancestry and use it as the inspiration for her writing. Happily married and the Mother of two little girls, she resides on the Devon & Cornwall border. 

Stalker Links:

Website 

Blog 

Facebook 

Twitter 

Goodreads 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I would  also like to say Thank You to Pippa for letting me review your book and say Thank You to Bewitching Book Tours for letting me participate in this blog tour. Don't forget to enter the giveaway below. 

~Sabrina 

Rafflecopter Giveaway 

Cover Reveal:Ultimate Kill

Title: Ultimate Kill

Author: Kristine Mason 

Series: CORE Series or Book 1 Ultimate CORE Trilogy

Genre: Romantic Suspense 

Publisher:  Self Published 

Release Date: Mid April 2014

Edition/Formats It Will Be Available In: eBook

Blurb/Synopsis: 

When the past collides with the present, the only way to ensure the future lies in the ultimate kill…

Naomi McCall is a woman of many secrets. Her family has been murdered and she’s been forced into hiding. No one knows her past or her real name, not even the man she loves. 

Jake Tyler, former Marine and the newest recruit to the private criminal investigation agency, CORE, has been in love with a woman who never existed. When he learns about the lies Naomi has weaved, he’s ready to leave her—until an obsessed madman begins sending her explosive messages every hour on the hour.

Innocent people are dying. With their deaths, Naomi’s secrets are revealed and the truth is thrust into the open. All but one. Naomi’s not sure if Jake can handle a truth that will change their lives. But she is certain of one thing—the only way to stop the killer before he takes more lives is to make herself his next victim. 

I didn’t pick up my first romance novel until I was in my late twenties. Immediately hooked, I read a bazillion books before deciding to write one of my own. After the birth of my first son I needed something to keep my mind from turning to mush, and Sesame Street wasn’t cutting it. While that first book will never see the light of day, something good came from writing it. I realized my passion and found a career I love.

When I’m not writing contemporary romances and dark, romantic suspense novels (or reading them!) I’m chasing after my four kids and two neurotic dogs.

Author Links

Facebook

Twitter

Website

Big Fat Disaster Blog Tour

Today on my blog I have the Big Fat Disaster Blog Tour. On my stop there is a spotlight, review, and giveaway.

Insecure, shy, and way overweight, Colby hates the limelight as much as her pageant-pretty mom and sisters love it. It’s her life: Dad’s a superstar, running for office on a family values platform. Then suddenly, he ditches his marriage for a younger woman and gets caught stealing money from the campaign. Everyone hates Colby for finding out and blowing the whistle on him. From a mansion, they end up in a poor relative’s trailer, where her mom’s contempt swells right along with Colby’s supersized jeans. Then, a cruel video of Colby half-dressed, made by her cousin Ryan, finds its way onto the internet. Colby plans her own death. A tragic family accident intervenes, and Colby’s role in it seems to paint her as a hero, but she’s only a fraud. Finally, threatened with exposure, Colby must face facts about her selfish mother and her own shame. Harrowing and hopeful, proof that the truth that saves us can come with a fierce and terrible price, Big Fat Disaster is that rare thing, a story that is authentically new. 

Review:

Colby’s life is falling down around her. From her struggles with her weight, her mom’s constant belittling of her, the affair her father is having, and the money he is stealing from his campaign. But what is worse for Colby is that she is the one who blows the whistle on her dad’s activities and everyone hates her for it including her own mother. And now Colby, her mom, and sister are forced to move in with her aunt and cousin to Piney Creek. While living with her aunt things go from bad to worse for Colby and she contemplates killing herself. But that doesn’t even go as planned and now Colby is wrapped up in a lie so big she needs to find a way to fix her life before one more thing goes wrong.  

This was a hard book to read. My heart broke for Colby and the way she was treated by her family. Trying to separate my feelings and being able to keep reading was harder than I thought and at times I wanted to give up but the writing is what kept me going and the hope that things would work out for Colby. 3/5 Bloody Fangs

Book Links:

Goodreads 

Amazon 

Indie Bound 

B&N 

Book Trailer:

In addition to writing Young Adult Contemporary Fiction, Beth Fehlbaum is an experienced English teacher who frequently draws on her experience as an educator to write her books. She has a B.A. in English, Minor in Secondary Education, and an M.Ed. in Reading. She is currently a Library Science student at Sam Houston State University.Beth is the author of Big Fat Disaster (Merit Press/F+W Media, March 2014); Courage in Patience (Kunati Books, 2008); and Hope in Patience(WestSide Books, 2010). Hope in Patience was named a 2011 YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Truth in Patience, which rounds outThe Patience Trilogy, is as yet unpublished. The Patience Trilogy has been revised and is available for acquisition!

Beth has a following in the young adult literature world and also among survivors of sexual abuse because of her work with victims’ advocacy groups. She has been the keynote speaker at the National Crime Victims’ Week Commemoration Ceremony at the Hall of State in Dallas, Texas and a presenter for Greater Texas Community Partners, where she addressed a group of social workers and foster children on the subject of “Hope”.

Beth is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, like Ashley in The Patience Trilogy, and the day-to-day manager of an eating disorder much like Colby’s in Big Fat Disaster. These life experiences give her a unique perspective, and she writes her characters’ stories in a way meant to inspire hope.

Beth lives with her family in the woods of East Texas. You can find Beth online at http:www.bethfehlbaumbooks.com on Facebook, and on https://twitter.com/bethfehlbaum

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I would also like to say Thank You to Beth for letting me review your book and say Thank You to Book Nerd Tours for letting me participate in this tour. Don't forget to enter the giveaway below.

~Sabrina

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wanderers Blog Tour

Today on my blog I have the Wanderers blog tour. On my stop there is a spotlight and interview.

WANDERERS

(Wasteland #2)

The Emmy Award-nominee and Edgar Award-winning duo bring readers back to the Wasteland in this thrilling sequel.

Karin Slaughter, bestselling author of Criminal, called Wasteland, "A Lord of the Flies for future generations. An irresistible page-turner."

The former citizens of Prin are running out of time. The Source has been destroyed, so food is scarcer than ever. Tensions are rising…and then an earthquake hits.

So Esther and Caleb hit the road, leading a ragtag caravan. Their destination? A mythical city where they hope to find food and shelter - not to mention a way to make it past age nineteen.

On the way, alliances and romances blossom and fracture. Esther must rally to take charge with the help of a blind guide, Aras. He seems unbelievably cruel, but not everything is as it seems in the Wasteland.…

In this sequel to Wasteland, the stakes are even higher for Esther, Caleb, and the rest of their clan. They're pinning all their hopes on the road...but what if it's the most dangerous place of all? 

Book Links: 

Goodreads 

Amazon 

B&N 

IndieBound 

Book 1:

Authors Bio:

SUSAN KIM

Susan Kim has written for more than three dozen children’s TV series. Brain Camp is her second graphic novel. Her first, also written with Mr. Klavan, was First Second’s City of Spies.
LAWRENCE KLAVAN Website 
Author Interview:

13. What do you consider to be your best accomplishment? 

LAURENCE: I’m proud of most of what I’ve written, happy that I’ve managed to support myself in one way or another since I’ve been an adult, glad that Susan and I have written together without splitting up as a couple, and relieved I haven’t been even worse to other people.

SUSAN: I’m honestly thrilled with the Wasteland trilogy. Laurence and I had written together before—we wrote two graphic novels, City of Spies and Brain Camp, that were lots of fun, and I love those, too. But those were basically screenplays, a form we’re very comfortable with; and they’re much shorter, too. That we were able to not only plot and structure this immense story but then actually write it without killing each other still amazes me. I’m really happy with the journey all of our characters take over the course of the trilogy – not only Esther and her friends, of course, but all of the people they encounter on the way.

And like Laurence, I’m thrilled that I’ve been able to support myself by basically telling stories.

14. Are you a plotter or a pantser?

SUSAN: I think that everything I write comes out of both. The early stages tend to be incredibly pants-y… I like to follow my gut and take chances and let my characters roam all over the page or lie down and be incredibly passive. Writing the WASTELAND books was a bit different, since there were two of us. The outlining stage is when we allowed ourselves to be pantsers, at least to a degree: we’re both very familiar with dramatic action and story structure, but when we outline, we’re just trying to come up with a basic plot together, brainstorming little moments, possible developments, motivations, and so on. It’s extremely loose; I’m sure the early notes from our early sessions would seem totally incoherent to an outsider. But out of that, we start to really buckle down and structure the plot. By the time we’re ready to write, we usually have a detailed outline that’s literally pages and pages long. Even so, I occasionally veer a little from what we’ve agreed on; sometimes, the characters surprise you. And of course, those little changes reverberate and affect everything that follows.

 LAURENCE: I didn’t know what a “pantser” was until Susan told me. I’m a plotter, though most of my schemes go desperately awry.

15. How important are the names of the characters in your books? Do they all tend to have a deeper meaning, or do you choose them because they just seem to flow well with the story?

LAURENCE: I generally can't write a character until I have the right name, though sometimes it changes as I write. Some have meanings known only to me; with others, it's just a sound thing or a joke. For the Wasteland books, we wanted to use a mix of whatever might be left in the air and in people's heads after a societal collapse: names from the Bible, ads, different nationalities, etc.

SUSAN: I certainly try not to come up with really ordinary or interchangeable names… unless of course that’s an integral part of what I’m writing, e.g. a world of people named Bob. As Laurence said, we definitely tried to come up with names that had a bit of resonance; some of them, like “Esther” and “Joseph” are definitely meant to recall the Bible. Funnily enough, we sometimes come up with names that we realize too late sound too much alike; so we’re constantly tinkering and changing them as we go along.

16. Do you read your reviews? 

LAURENCE: Usually, to see if I or anyone else can use them. But some of the ones online are so mean, I just skim them through shaking fingers.

SUSAN: I have to confess that I only read nice reviews that someone, usually Laurence, emails to me. I know some people read terrible reviews; but I can’t. They just kill me. I still remember bad reviews years later—not just the negative ones, which are painful enough, but the really cruel, mean ones. And even while the good reviews make you feel great for a while, they’re like a sugar rush; you know you’re going to crash by evening. The sad fact is you can’t depend on others for praise or criticism; you have to listen to and trust yourself.  

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I would also like to say Thank You to Susan & Laurence for the interview and say Thank You to Book Nerd Tours for letting me participate in this blog tour. 

~Sabrina