Saturday, July 8, 2017

Great Summer Reads Countdown Day Eighteen: The Last Princess by Jewel Allen







Jewel Allen is an award-winning journalist and author of the historical series Islands of the Crown.




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1768, Philippines

Spanish Captain Raúl Calderón has accepted a daring mission in the Philippine colonies – to negotiate docking rights in hostile waters for the Manila Galleon. If successful, he can return from exile to be with those he loves. But when he is captured by slave raiders and delivered to the Last Princess, a woman known for killing those who cross her, he is thrust into the center of royal intrigue. The Last Princess is not what she seems, however, and Raúl must stay alive long enough to warn her of the danger in trusting those close to her.

Juliza Alimuddin, The Last Princess, hides behind a cutthroat reputation to protect her beloved islands. But when a mysterious Spaniard, Raúl Calderón, falls into her hands, she decides to go against her allies’ wishes and nurse him back to health. Her heart has been bruised in the past, yet Raúl brings out feelings she never thought she’d have again. Just when Juliza starts to believe in the possibility of love, however, she is betrayed and her family and sultanate put in a deadly situation. Will The Last Princess live up to her reputation when forced to choose between her people and the man she loves?

This is book 2 of a series, but can be read as a standalone.



~ Amazon ~ Amazon UK




Snippets:

“Look forward, my daughter," the sultan told Juliza, "and look to the light. Glance outside now, and see how the twilight is deepening. Everything looks dark now, but don’t lose hope. The morning will come. Someday, you shall find a fitting consort that can usher you into a new day.”



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Friday, July 7, 2017

Great Summer Reads Countdown Day Seventeen: Breathe In by Michelle Bellon





Michelle Bellon lives in the Pacific Northwest with her four quirky and beautiful children. She loves coffee, Superman, rollercoasters, and has an addiction to chapstick. 

She works as a registered nurse and in her spare time writes novels. As a multi-genre author, she has written in the categories of romance suspense, young adult, women’s fiction, and literary fiction. She has won four literary awards. 


Connect with the Author here: 

Breathe in, breathe out. 

This mantra gets Tessa Benson through the day. 

The man she loves walks all over her, and she just wants to get by without her heart shattering to pieces. If she could find her voice, she’d scream.

Everything changes in one night, when she’s snatched from the streets and tied to a bed, a camera set up to capture her dying moment. And the person who paid to watch her die...is still out there somewhere.

Tessa prowls dark neighborhoods in a quest for justice, but she doesn’t find the killer. Not until they strike again…in the place Tessa is least expecting, and where it hurts worst.





~ Amazon ~ Amazon UK



Snippets:

Eyes open. Darkness. Eyes close. Darkness. Where am I? I can’t breathe. I’m so hot. Memory floods back. Eyes open wide. The bag is still over my head. My heart thuds in my chest and my respirations increase. The humidity of my warm breath presses against my face. I really can’t breathe. Instead of flailing around, I hold still and hone in on my other senses. I’m sitting upright, and by the way my body bounces in the seat, I know I’m in a vehicle of some sort and the road is not paved. It’s rough. Over the sound of my desperate panting, I make out the hum of the engine and crunch of tires against rugged terrain.
Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! Where are they taking me?
“Slow down, Jake. We’re bumping around like crazy back here.”
I snap my head toward the left, following the sound of the man’s voice. Is it the man from the library or the other one who grabbed me from behind? Racking my brain, I think back to what his voice sounded like. I think the man next to me is the one from the library. He was in the club tonight too. So the driver must be Jake. How many are there?
“Hold tight! I just want to get there already,” a man barks from the front. His tone is much sharper, deeper. Dangerous. I’m not okay, I’m not okay. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Too fast. I’m breathing too fast. It’s too damn hot in this bag. My back and hips ache as I’m jostled about. The taste and smell of stale tequila wafts into my warm nostrils. A thick wave of nausea suddenly rises. Oh, no, I’m going to throw up. Not in the bag. I’ll choke. I can’t hold it down.
Sour, vile fluid bubbles up and bursts from my mouth and nose. I gag and retch inside the sack. Feels like I’m inside a microwave that has cooked too long and burst the contents. Vomit spews over my lips and down my face and neck, pooling up at the neck where the bag is cinched tight.

“Oh, shit, Jake. She’s puking. Pull over.”




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Thursday, July 6, 2017

Great Summer Reads Countdown Day Sixteen: Such A Secret Place by Cortney Pearson




Cortney Pearson is a mother, a musician, and a lover of all things pink and sparkly. She is the author of Phobic, about doors that shouldn't be opened, and the Stolen Tears series, about an enchanted vial of tears and the girl chosen to wield them. 

Cortney lives with her husband and three sons in a small Idaho farm town. She loves chocolate, romantic books, and classical music, and believes anything can be made better with a book tucked away for those just-in-case times.




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She is their protector.


In an emotionless world, tears are a precious commodity, valued for their magic and sold on the black market. When Ambry stumbles across a vial of these enchanted tears, she finds herself the target of not only the tyrannical Arcaian army, who is stealing her people’s magic left and right, but of handsome, battle-scarred Talon Haraway, who seeks the tears for his own personal vengeance.

Ambry soon realizes the reason for their interference: these tears are the most powerful ever shed. They are the key to saving her people and rescuing her brother and others who've been taken by the Arcaians.With the Arcaian army threatening her every move, and Talon attempting to take the tears from her, Ambry must keep the tears safe at all costs. Her people need them. Her brother needs them. She needs them.
And they need her.


With bold twists, a riveting world of magic-powered technology, and a slow-sizzle romance, find out why readers are calling Such a Secret Place “totally original!”


~ Amazon ~ Amazon UK



Snippets:

The jar illuminates her face with its pale hue, bouncing blue light into the gleam in her eyes. From across the room, the glow also points out another pair of eyes, and I know Gwynn and I aren’t the only ones admiring the jar filled with glistening, blue-tinted tears.
“Can you at least tell me what our immediate plans are?” I ask. We’ve been heading toward the tears, but that can’t be all there is to this whacked-out journey we’re on.
“That’s in your hands, actually,” he says, sliding me a husky look.
“Mine? Why?”
The tears pang at my back, reminding me of their direction. Right. I’m leading him to them.
Talon sighs and frowns into the heat of the fire. “There’s also someone I need to find. I want to know who shed those tears, and I think he has a way of determining that.”
Now we’re getting somewhere. “And you think it’s important, to know whose they are?”

His fire-gleamed eyes hold me still. “Very.”


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Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Great Summer Reads Countdown Day Fifteen: Once Upon A Wish by Danyelle Ferguson






Danyelle Ferguson discovered her love for the written word in elementary school. Her first article was published when she was in 6th grade. Since then, she’s won several awards and has been published world-wide in newspapers, magazines and books. She’s grateful every day to work in her dream jobs – author, editor, and nurturing her readaholic tendencies.


She grew up surrounded by Pennsylvania’s beautiful Allegheny Mountains. Then lived for ten years among the majestic Wasatch Mountains. She is currently experiencing mountain-withdrawal while living in Kansas with her husband and four angels-in-training. She enjoys reading, writing, dancing & singing in the kitchen, and the occasional long bubble bath to relax from the everyday stress of being “Mommy.”


Connect with the Author here: 


"Be careful what you wish for . . .

Delphine Baudry wished to be a best-selling author, and now instead of celebrating and jumping into her next novel, she's frozen with fear. What if she turns out to be a one-hit-wonder? What if all her new fans hate the next book? To top it all off, she can't even discuss the situation with her favorite brainstorming partner, her mother, who is losing her memory to Alzheimer's. Taking a cue from some teens tossing Euros into a fountain, Delphine gives into some whimsy and wishes for her next book plot.

Jean-Paul Chassériau wished to start an online marketing company in La Rochelle. Now the real work begins. Feeling pressure to live up to his father's name in traditional marketing and far enough away to be out of his shadow, he has a million ideas but no clients. When he finds a funky old Franc lodged between cobblestones near a fountain, there was only one thing to do. Make a wish.

When their coins collide, Delphine and Jean-Paul's wishes become intertwined, changing the course of their futures and teaching them that wishes are sometimes fulfilled in unexpected ways."



~ Amazon ~ Amazon UK




Snippets:

Delphine took out her phone, and he pulled her close as she snapped a few selfies of them together. The first few were silly, but then she leaned close and gave him a kiss on the cheek. The surprised look on his face combined with her kiss resulted in a comical photo.
“No fair,” he said. “You didn’t give me any warning.”
“You need a warning before a girl kisses you?” she teased.

“Just for the first kiss,” he replied, leaning in closer.



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Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Great Summer Reads Countdown Day Fourteen: Ascension by C. Michelle Jefferies





C. Michelle Jefferies is a writer who believes that the way to examine our souls is to explore the deep and dark as well as the shallow. To manipulate words in a way that makes a person think and maybe even second guess. Her worlds include suspense, urban fantasy, and an occasional twist of steampunk. When she is not writing, she can be found on the yoga mat, hand binding journals, dyeing cloth, and serving ginger tea. The author and creator divides her time between stories, projects, and mothering four of her seven children on the wild and windy plains of Wyoming.


Connect with the Author here: 

A PROPHET’S REDEMPTION


Living an unassuming life as a teacher for the Academy, th
e former assassin, Antony Danic, turned Speaker for the Devoted, would love to let the past stay there. However, as hard as he tries, his new identity, Noble Standing, can’t escape who Antony was. The widower, turned self-avowed bachelor doesn’t mean to fall for the red-headed sword instructor, Lyris Jaimes. Noble insists he’s better off single, but he is drawn to her in spite of his memories of Elite. Noble finds that courting her, however, isn’t easy. His interest in Lyris sets into motion a rivalry between him and a dangerous sociopath who wants her for himself. 
Regardless of the vow he made to never shed human blood again, Noble must reconcile his past with his present, and use his assassin skills and knowledge to keep himself and those he loves alive.




~ Amazon ~ Amazon UK



Snippets:

“We’re making pizza tonight,” Noble said, indicating the counter.
“Sounds delicious,” Lyris said. The kitchen smelled heavenly already.
“Noble may not be the best chef, but he makes a mean pizza.” Gage swept the last of the green peppers from the cutting board into the bowl.
“Hey,” Noble interjected. “I am not a terrible cook.”
“If you call heating dinners in the microwave good cooking.” Gage laughed.
“I . . .” Noble sounded like he wanted to debate it but had nothing with which to argue. “So, Lyris, I hope you like pizza,” he finally said. “And board games.”
Lyris blushed as everyone turned and looked at her. “I love it.” That wasn’t a lie. She loved it as much as she loved curry and Chinese food. She’d have to ask them to her place some night for curry. This could become really comfortable if the rest of the evening continued like this.
Noble handed her a round pan and a lump of dough as the others took dough and started to press it onto pans too.
“So what did you think . . .”
“I heard that . . .”
Lyris listened to them talk as she spread sauce onto the dough once it was flattened. She watched Noble pile everything on his while Gage stuck to mostly veggies and Mathilde put only ham and pineapple on hers. Lyris chose a few toppings and then some cheese. She leaned against the counter while the pizzas cooked and just listened to Gage and Noble banter with each other.
Once at the table, the conversation continued. It was obvious they were as close as she and Rianne had become, but instead of feeling left out, she felt invited in and included. She let her reservations go and relaxed. It felt nice. She even found herself laughing at some of the stories that Gage told about Noble and Noble’s rebuttal of Gage’s accuracy. Sometimes the story seemed too good to be true anyway.
“So who’s up for a game of Risk, Calvin-style?” Gage asked as he brought a box to the kitchen table. Lyris and Mathilde had cleared the table while Noble put the food away.
“Calvin Style?” Lyris asked.
“Yeah, as in Calvin and Hobbes? The rules are relative and world conquest is the goal,” Gage said.
“I’ve heard you shouldn’t play Risk with someone you like,” Noble looked at Lyris. She stared back at him. A smile edged her mouth, her cheeks growing hot. He was flirting with her, and she liked it.
“Hogwash!” Gage opened the game box and pulled out the board. “This way you get to see your friend’s true sides.”
Noble sighed. “MAT, you’re keeping score this time. Gage cheats too much otherwise.”
“I don’t cheat,” Gage said.
“I can’t keep score in a game where you guys change the rules every turn,” a voice said.
Lyris paused. The voice, while similar to Mathilde’s, was not the same. “MAT?”
“MAT, say hello to Lyris Jaimes. She’s a good friend of ours. MAT is an Artificial Intelligence Program,” Gage told Lyris.
“Hello, Lyris,” MAT said. “I’m glad to meet you. Noble speaks highly of you.” This time it was Noble’s turn to blush.
 Oh really?
“The question, MAT, is . . .” Lyris looked at Noble and he visibly squirmed. Noble started to open his mouth but Gage grabbed his sleeve and shushed him. “How often does he speak of me?” Lyris asked.
Noble covered his face with his hand while Gage started to laugh. Mathilde smiled and went to the kitchen counter by the back door where there were two paper bakery boxes and a few bottles of some type of drink.
“Oh, pretty often, I think he likes you,” MAT said.

Noble groaned, and Lyris laughed.



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