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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Excerpt & Giveaway: Firebolt by Adrienne Woods

  

Firebolt
The Dragonian Series
Book One
Adrienne Woods
 


Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: GMTA  Publishing – Mythos Press 
Date of Publication: 20th November 2013
Cover Artist: Mary Park and Kitty Bullard 

Book Description:
Dragons. Right. Teenage girls don't believe in fairy tales, and sixteen-year-old Elena Watkins was no different. 

Until the night a fairy tale killed her father.

Now Elena is in a new world, and a new school. The cutest guy around may be an evil dragon, a prince wants Elena's heart, and a long dead sorcerer may be waking up to kill her. Oh and the only way Elena's going to graduate is on the back of a dragon of her own.

Teenage girls don't believe in fairy tales. Now it's time for Elena to believe in...herself.


About the Author:
I was born and raised in South Africa, where I still live with my husband, and two beautiful little girls. I always knew that I was going to be a writer but it only started to happen about four years ago, now I can’t stop writing. 

In my free time, If I get any because Moms don’t really have free time, I love to spend time with friends, if it’s a girls night out, or just a movie, I’m a very chilled person.

My writing career is starting with Firebolt, book one with the Dragonian Series, there will be four books in total and two to three books that is about the stories taking place inside The Dragonian Series.

I do write in different Genres, I have a woman’s fiction called the Pregnancy Diaries, but it would be published under another name. And then I have a paranormal series, called the Watercress series. There are about ten novels in that one.

So, plenty of novels to come out, so little time.

I hope you are going to embrace the Dragonian Series as much as I loved writing them.

Blog http://woodsadrienne.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dragonian-Series/301375039891281
Twitter: erichb3
Goodreads: Adrienne Woods
Google+: Adrienne Woods


Excerpt:

Chapter One
A girl singing her heart out about a miracle boomed inside my ear. A miracle would get me what I needed: a chance at a semi-normal life.
   The bedroom door hitting the wall expelled the thought from my mind. With his hand tangled up in his copper hair and with huge brown eyes, Dad's figure filled the entire doorway. “Pack your bags.” He had that set to his jaw, the one that meant there was no way out of this. He bolted out of the room just as suddenly as he had appeared.
   My teeth ground hard against each other, and the sharp pain behind my eyes, I guessed from the lack of sleep, grew stronger. Every fibre of my being wanted to explode.
   Ever since I could remember my name, Dad and I had been on the run. From what? Beats me.                   
   For the last two weeks, I'd been pacing up and down through the house, struggling to fall asleep at night, waiting for this day.
   For the love of blue berries, no sixteen-year old should live this way!               
   I climbed off my bed, and the first step I took left my toe tangled in the wide leg of my jeans.  I tried to regain my balance as the closet inched closer, but with wildly flailing arms, I came crashing down. The thud reverberated across the wooden floor, and it sounded as if I'd broken something.
   Dad darted back into my room. "Are you okay?" He lifted me back onto my feet as if I weighed nothing.
   Tears lurked in the corners of my eyes, threatening to burst, as I stared up at him.
   "Don't give me that look, Elena. Please, we need to hurry.” He pulled my suitcase from the top shelf and chucked it haphazardly onto my bed. “We need to go. Now.”
   "Dad…"
   He started to grab my clothes from the shelf and tossed them messily inside my small suitcase. Then he paused, sighed, and looked up with soft eyes. He stroked the side of my cheek with his hand gently. “This wasn't the right place, Bear. Please, you’ve got to trust me.”
   His hand reached back to pull everything off my shelf, while my hands curled up into balls of fury. My heart pounded fast as those two words bounced inside my skull. “Trust you, Dad?”
   "Elena, we don't have much time,” he yelled. “Pack your bags! You can ask questions later." He left, and the hollow “doof” sound from his footsteps stomped loudly as he made his way into the hall.
   Ask questions? Yeah right! I’ll only get answers that don’t reveal why we are on the run for the gazillionth time.' “Trust me” and “I'll tell you when the time is right” were the only two answers Dad gave. Guess time with him will never be right.
   It was no use arguing with him anyway. Once, he threw me over his shoulder and carried me out without any of my things.
   So I grabbed the stuff I needed: my mp3 player, a photo of Mom that Dad didn't know I had, and my journal from underneath my bed. I tossed them into my backpack. It wasn't much, but it was the stuff that made my miserable life felt less pathetic. I zipped up my suitcase and took a deep breath. Looking around my bedroom for the last time, I said goodbye to my sixtieth-something room.
   Dad almost ran me over in the hall with his army bag slung over his shoulder. He grumbled, which I assumed was an apology, took my suitcase, and ran down the stairs. He always rented these huge old houses, pre-furnished and near the countryside, and we always left after three months.
   The pickup's horn honked as I shut the front door. I closed my eyes and took another deep breath. Just two more years, then I'll be eighteen and free from this freak show. Huge raindrops fell hard onto the ground. The smell of wet dirt filled the air. It was my favorite smell.
   The water that pooled on the ground covered all the gaps in the driveway, forcing me to hopscotch around all of them. My shoe got caught in one of the gaps and I smacked down hard in a huge puddle. By the time I reached the truck, my jeans and shoes were soaking wet.  
   Warm heat from the vents inside the truck hit me full blast as I jumped in; a million goose pimples erupted across my skin.  As soon as I shut the rusty door, Dad floored the gas pedal. Tires screeched and the truck spun away as if the Devil chased us.  My lower lip quivered softly as he swerved onto the road. The streetlights flew by in a blur as I plugged in my earpieces. The same stupid song about a miracle boomed from my mp3, drowning the sound of the engine and the hard dribbles on the roof, a percussion that became the perpetual soundtrack to my misery.
   A feeling of utter loneliness consumed my heart as I stared out the window. Homes with white picket fences and the convenient store whizzed by in a flash. A tear rolled down my cheek as I said goodbye, and my breath on the glass created a foggy condensation. Reaching out my index finger, I drew a small heart. These were the reasons why Mom had left. She couldn't handle his paranoia, but why she’d left her daughter to deal with it was a mystery. Dad constantly reminded me of the latter, and that was the only time he ever spoke of her. If he ever discovered I had that picture, he would kill me. That was how much he hated her for leaving us.
   The lights of a vehicle in the upcoming lane shone directly into my face. I shut my eyes, waiting for it to disappear. As a little girl, I used to watch Dad as we drove away from yet another house. He would glare into his rearview mirror every five seconds, every muscle in his face clenched, and his knuckles white on the steering wheel. I hadn’t been able to force myself to peek out the window then, as it used to scare the living crap out of me to consider the possible reasons he was fleeing from, or who might be following us. Now, I didn't look at him or care much for what he was going through. He created this problem. With me becoming the luggage. It was a ritual I endured every three months, and nothing over the past sixteen years had ever changed that.
   The “Interstate 40” sign flew by in a whirl, and the pickup slowly moved onto the turnoff lane.
   My eyes started to burn as I stared at the rain running down my window. Each rivet resembled another town, another place I would never again call home. Exhaustion consumed me and my eyelids felt heavy. I laid my head against the window and struggled to stay awake.
   Suddenly, a dark and huge figure flew past me. Dad swerved to the left, which made me crushed into the side of the passenger’s door. My entire body pumped with adrenaline. I jumped straight in my seat and wrenched the seatbelt over my shoulder to buckle myself in. I tore out my earpieces as I tried to process what had just happened.
   “What was that?” I looked at Dad.
   He stared straight ahead with huge eyes. Beads of sweat rolled from his hairline down to the side of his temple. He looked terrified, something that conflicted with his personality. I'd never seen Dad look that scared in my entire life.
   “Dad!”
   “Did you see where it went?” he asked, attempting to inject calm into his voice, but I could hear the fear lacing each syllable.
   “See where what went? Dad what was that!”
   “You wouldn't believe me if I told you.”
   “For once in your life, just tell me!” I screamed. Sixteen years of frustration exploded from my lungs. I couldn't take the unknown anymore.
   “Fine.” He mumbled something else that I didn't catch. "Do you remember the stories I used to tell you?"
   “Stories? What stories?”
   “The ones about Paegeia, Elena.” He looked in his rearview mirror again with huge, unblinking eyes.
   Vaguely, but I didn't tell him that. "What does that have to do with this?"
   “They're real.”
   I froze and I stared at him.
   “All of it, it’s real. The dragons, the magic, the wall, everything is real.”


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What's Up Wednesday

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what’s up. Should you wish to join us, you will find the link widget at the bottom of Jaime’s post. We really hope you will take part!

What I'm Reading:
I finished The Curse of Malenfer Manor by Iain McChesney. It was really good. Gothic mystery isn't my usual genre, but the ghost story and the way the mystery unfolded really drew me in. You can find my review here. I haven't picked anything up yet, but I am going to be starting a WIP from one of my critique partners this week, and then reading Kiya: Mother of a King (book 2 in the Kiya series) by Katie Hamstead for my birthday. I'm really excited because this is a series I'm addicted to.

What I'm Writing:
I just finished chapter 21 of the rewrite of Altar of Reality and am really excited! Not just because I'm wrapping it up and am this close to 60k for a novel I feared would be too short, or because 40k of that is for NaNoWriMo. Okay, well those reasons too. But I'm really enjoying how this is turning out. There's definitely a sequel in this story, maybe even a third book. I'm going to traditionally query it, so I'm looking for CPs and betas now.



I'm still working on my short story submission for The Borderlands anthology set in the Actuator universe. The deadline is creeping up on me, which means I really need to go add the snark. It's almost done, all it needs is a dash of snark, possibly a rewrite to first person. But I've been busy and trying to push through AoR, so I haven't worked on it yet. My in-laws are coming into town this week, and next week we are going to visit my family, so it is seriously crunch time right now. I've pulled off 10k days before on a regular basis. Here's hoping I can get there again so I can get both projects done in the handful of days I have free!


What Inspires Me Right Now:
The Catching Fire soundtrack. My favorites: "Silhouettes" by Of Monsters and Men, "Elastic Heart" by Sia, The Weeknd, and Diplo, "We Remain" by Christina Aguilera (this one is on repeat a lot--a very good song to write a dystopian to), "Mirror" by Ellie Goulding, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Lorde, and "Place for Us" by Mikky Ekko. So...pretty much the entire soundtrack. I still haven't listened to the entire Hunger Games soundtrack, but this one is just awesome.

I'm also really inspired by my sister right now. She's gotten back into writing, which is awesome. She's so talented. She makes me want to tell her my story ideas and let her write them because prose just comes so natural to her (and does not to me). There's this elegance to her style. She inspires me to try harder and really try to find beauty in words, because she does that with so little effort. 

What Else I'm Up To:
I am all about organizing social media this week. I finally broke down and made my Twitter lists because I have felt sadly out of touch with so many of my writer friends who use Twitter more than Facebook. I also read an article talking about how to better use Google+ and discussing Google+ Communities, which I knew nothing about until reading the article. So I joined about 20 of them today. =D Now all I need to do is find a good RSS feeder since Google got rid of theirs and start following blogs better. I'm also organizing my blog hosting dates to host specific stop types on specific days. Monday will be the Weekend Review (because I couldn't think of a better title and need a date to post reviews), then Teaser Tuesdays, What's Up Wednesdays, Thursday Takeover, and Feature Fridays. I host enough stops now that this became necessary. Or so says my OCD.

I donated an e-book of Heirs of War to T.K. Leigh for her 5000 (seriously? 5k??) likes giveaway, so I've been basking in the follows I've been getting for that. I don't know if they will stick, but I hit 200 on my Facebook page today. Yay! I have my own end of the month giveaway planned to celebrate my birthday (30--eep!), and have some great prize backs from the donations I've collected so far. I think I am going to cut off the donation offers on Friday so I can start the giveaway then.

As I mentioned earlier, my personal life is about to get really demanding. That happens with the holidays, right? Hubby and I are going to be spending the next two days cleaning up even more than we did for the Halloween party for when his parents come visit. They are staying with us, and this is the first time we'll be hosting anyone since I put the guest bedroom together. I'm both excited and nervous.

I won't be around next week (or much of this week--heck, I'm still reading WUW posts from last week), but I can't wait to catch up with you guys after Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

New Adult Author Spotlight & Giveaway: Tawdra Kandle


Sometimes revenge is your only choice. . .

Julia worked for weeks planning the perfect surprise birthday party for her boyfriend, Liam, but that night, she was the one who got the biggest shock. He broke up with her in front of all their friends, humiliating her in the process.

Clearly revenge was in order.

The plan is simple. Make him jealous, win him back, and then crush his heart. Fair is fair. However, there is one little hiccup, and he has curly brown hair and dimples.

Jesse is everything she wants. With him, she could almost forget her bruised heart. Almost. Julia has one choice: let Liam walk away after everything he did, or lose a chance at love in pursuit of payback.

Tawdra Kandle has been a writer since the invention of the pen. Her first published work appeared in Child's Life magazine when she was 13. After a brief, thirty year hiatus, she published a young adult quartet, The King Series. More recently, she has delved into contemporary romance and New Adult romance. Tawdra lives in central Florida with her husband and children, of both skin and fur types. And yes, she has purple hair.

To enter the giveaway, go to each blog and enter the corresponding code into the Rafflecopter.

This is Blog #5 and the code is TAWDRAMARA

Blog #2: www.StephanieLawton.com
Blog #3: www.chasingemptypavements.com
Blog #4: http://lisaswallow.net
Blog #5: http://maravalderran.blogspot.com
Blog #6: http://www.lgcastillo.com
Blog #7: http://naughtylittlekisses.blogspot.com
Blog #8: http://danielelanzarotta.blogspot.com/
Blog #9: http://authoryolandaallen.blogspot.com/
Blog #10: http://dawnaraver.com/
Blog #11: http://tawdrakandle.com
Blog #12: http://midtown-underground.com
Blog #13: http://tyffanickemp.com
Blog #14: www.KristieCook.com
Blog #15: www.jlfynn.com
Blog #16: www.lisasanchezromanceauthor.com
Blog #17: www.adriannejames.com
Blog #18: http://jadenwilkes.blogspot.ca/


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Monday, November 18, 2013

Interview with Iain McChesney, Author of the Curse of Malenfer Manor


Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of reviewing this book. Now, I am sitting down with the author, Iain McChesney, to talk about his family's rich history, his process, and what's ahead for him as a writer.

Don't forget to check out the tour wide giveaway below, where you can win your own copy, and where U.S. entrants can win these awesome charm book marks:
And now for the interview!


Mara: You were born and raised in Scotland, and your family has quite a history there with the World Wars. What can you tell us about that history?

Iain McChesney: Most families have a collective experience from any time of war. Ours is not so special in that regard. There are many families who suffered more. Glasgow was bombed and its children evacuated – I got those stories – but it is the photographs I remember most, relatively young men in faded black and white, all done up in uniform. They lined the shelves and hung on the walls where they never grew old. If you are ever in Scotland, you can go to the capital, Edinburgh, where there is a large castle high on a rock above the city. You can’t miss it. In a room in the centre there is a room full of books that lie open on grand tables. Each book has the hand-written name of every Scottish soldier ever killed in war. I said hello to my grandfather who died at Normandy, and to my great grandfather who died in World War I. They weren’t easy to find; the books were so big and so plentiful. I couldn’t remember the name of the ship on which an uncle went down, so he was lost and never found – again – the irony didn’t escape me. Last year I visited the Vietnam Veteran’s memorial in Washington DC – the stone with all the names inscribed onto it. It was a little bit like that castle room. In such places you get a weight, an impression of the immensity of history, and what those losses did to all those families. Things that should never be forgotten.

MV: A family rich with history like that must be full of stories. What stories in particular did you draw from for inspiration when you were writing The Curse of Malenfer Manor?

IM: My family always seemed to be getting killed, so there weren’t a lot of first-hand tales of war around the dinner table. Growing up, I was amazed at what different people tell you about the dead. They are mosaics, these men that never came home, pasted into the mind of a child. I tried to get a bit of that across in the book. All the heroes have flaws and all the villains something redeeming. Life is full of complexities. The war scenes were composites of history books and research of veterans’ experiences.

MV: You went on to study History and Geography at the University of Glasgow. Is your interest in history what drew you to writing fiction?

IM: Despite the best efforts of my grade eight teacher, I’ve always found history fascinating. No, I don’t write fiction because I’m interested in history, but it certainly colours what I write about. Give anyone the choice between a dry academic textbook full of dates and names and a colourful piece of escapism, and you’d be nuts to go with the former. But that’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m not trying to teach anyone anything – though if you find out something you didn’t know, I won’t be disappointed. A great thing about history is that it affords the writer extraordinary settings in which to spin a plot, and this stuff really happened. Fiction is a time machine. It can take you any when.

MV: In 2010, you and your family moved to Bali, Indonesia for a year, which is where you wrote The Curse of Malenfer Manor. What made you decide to make the move, and what made you choose Bali?

IM: Ha! You’ve been checking up on me. Guilty. Yes, I did. The move to Bali was about a lot of things – showing the kids a different sort of life; exposing them to different cultures outside of North America. But I won’t deny I harboured the intention to use the move for writing. I get a lot of questions (I’m sure any author does) about how one writes, or how one finds the time. For me I had to take the plunge. I had to leave a perfectly good job and take the risk that my family would be okay long term. And I’m very glad we did. My accountant is not so sure. Bali? Why Bali? That’s a longer story. A great deal of luck is the short answer. Besides its physical charms (it is a tropical island in the Indonesian archipelago – what’s not to like?) it is a very creative place. “I quit my job to come and write.” “Hey, so did I. Ain’t it great!” These conversations are not common anywhere else I’ve lived. I kept a diary during my year there, “Letter from Bali,” which you can find at http://mcchez.wordpress.com/. Anyone thinking of quitting their job might want to give it a read.

MV: What can you tell us about your writing process? Are you more of a pantser or plotter?

IM: I thought I was a pantser – make it up as I go along. I wrote Malenfer with a pantser’s methodology and I remain, in a sense, one at heart. But let me tell you, there is a lot of road kill as a pantser. The clean up in the editorial stage made writing the book twice the work. I’m guessing I wrote a solid 150,000 words for this novel of which almost half was put in recycling. That was my experience of writing free thought – it worked, but it went everywhere, and everywhere wasn’t good. I have since adapted. I haven’t gone entirely the other way, though. I heard a story that William Golding, he of Lord of the Flies fame, was so detailed in his planning that when he was finally ready to write, he sat down and wrote the book straight through. One sitting. Urban legend? I don’t know. But that is not me. What I am happy with (at time of press) is a ‘goalpost’ process of writing. I have enough of a plot that I know who I want in a chapter and where they have to get to by the end of the next twelve pages – what hints or events need to take place, where they must go. Then I let it fly. I give the characters their freedom so long as they pass through the goalposts at the end. It works for me.

MV: Can you tell us anything about your other two projects, The Calling and Krator?

IM: Krator I promised the kids. It is a genre jump, so my publisher is not as keen. :-p The Calling (or whatever it ends up being called – for the title of Malenfer I put it to a vote on the blog) will be another Gothic mystery. Anyone who enjoys Malenfer will find The Calling to their taste. In Tweet speak: A varied group is invited by a reclusive industrialist to a remote Scottish island in the 1920’s. Bad things happen.

MV: You were published by Wayzgoose Press. How did you discover this publisher and what made you decide to go with them?

IM: Sort of like Bali, I found Wayzgoose by good fortune, and I have been very happy with what they have done for me. You hear the stories. New writer goes door to door around agents and/or publishers and gets plenty of rejections. I was not immune, but remained positive. I was being asked for a full manuscript by a few of them. What happened was that a publisher I had submitted to eventually declined, but asked if they could show it to Wayzgoose. I am very glad they did. Wayzgoose liked the writing and were not put off by the problem of genre fit. (Is it a mystery or historical fiction, or horror, or romance, or or… what is gothic, after all?) I have been very happy with my editor there, she put in a lot of good work and the book is far better for it.

MV: What was the last book you read that absolutely blew you away?

IM: I don’t get “absolutely blown away” easily. But it happens. There have been a lot of good ones, but Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell took me there. I love how it was sewn together from different torn parts – very inventive. And it had a big theme. I’m a sucker for ‘life, the universe, and everything’ books. The movie didn’t do too bad a job.

MV: What authors inspire you?

IM: I have this love/hate thing with other authors. I like reading quality work, but then it risks plunging me into despair. I can’t read Henry James without wanting to burn my own pages. Ditto for Somerset Maugham. <Insert expletive of your choice.> Here is an idea for a story: Struggling gothic writer is taunted by the ghosts of his betters and peers. Inspiration of a sort.

MV: What’s ahead for you as a writer?

IM: Degeneracy and oblivion. Or soccer practice for the kids. I’ll have to check the calendar.

Big thanks to Iain for giving me the chance to interview him! You can follow him on Facebook or Goodreads. Don't forget that you can purchase The Curse of Malenfer Manor on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes for just $0.99!

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Release Day Blitz: Excerpt from Brass Stars by A.G. Carpenter



Brass Stars
A.G. Carpenter

Genre:  SF Western
Date of Publication:  11/18/2013
Cover Artist: Paul Alexandrescu

Book Description:

Tashndelu Sand has wandered the known universe on a mission of vengeance.  She’s spent years tracking down the gang who murdered her mother.  And, with the help of Snyder—a psychotic cyber-horse with an agenda of his own—she’s killed all but one: Brannigan.

Now she’s come to Paradise, a lonely town on a desert planet.  Here, Brannigan rules with a new gang.  Here, the graveyard is filled with the corpses of gunslingers who have tried, and failed, to kill him.

Get in, kill Brannigan, and get out.  That’s the plan.  And Tashn is determined to finish what she started.  She’ll not be stopped: not by Brannigan’s army; not by her feelings for Johnny, an Extra sapien like her; not even by the darkness she sees in herself. 

About the Author:
 
A.G. Carpenter writes fiction of (and for) all sorts. She studied film-making in college, but quickly discovered that pen and paper are a less costly medium. She likes: movies where things explode, rainy days, strong tea with lots of milk and sugar. Her favorite color is black.

She lives in the South-eastern United States with her husband, their lively son and a herd of cats.

Twitter: @Aggy_C


Goodreads: A.G. Carpenter

Excerpt:
I stand up, sway for a moment and catch my shoulder hard against the post. “Ungh. Damn.”
Jackson is on his feet in a heartbeat, slipping his arms around my waist. “Easy.”
My cheeks are hot. At least it’s dark and maybe he won’t notice. “I’m all right.”
“You’re certain?”
“Just tired.” I try to shrug away from his hands. “It’s been a long day.”
“Yes.” A pause. “Tashn…” He leans in and kisses me.
Warm as a spring afternoon. Intense as a lightning strike. His arms holding me hard and close. Pushing me back toward the house.
It’s nice. Enjoyable, even. And also terrifying. There is no spark like there is with Johnny, no rush of blood in thighs and breasts.
This is energy of a different kind. I take a breath, trying to find something to say. “What the hell, Jackson.” I thump his shoulder with my fist. “You think I’m easy?”
“No.” His eyes are dark, serious. He pulls me in a second time, slower, but no less intense. My chest aches with it.
“Stop.” My hands are knotted in the front of his shirt, caught somewhere between pulling him close and shoving him away. “Let go of me.”
He takes a half-step back, leaning against the other side of the doorframe. Only inches separate us, but it hurts like a bruise.
I press both hands against my chest, panting for breath. This isn’t lust, and I’ll be damned if I think it’s love. But I know this pain. The grief of separation, no matter how slight. The echo of connection, no matter how permanent the distance.
I felt this way when they put Mother under the sand.
I felt this way the day I left my father’s village.
“Damn you, Jackson.” I can barely whisper around the weight over my heart.
He cups my face between his hands. “Come inside, Tashn.”
“I can’t.”
“John won’t keep you safe like I will.”
“Like you will. A gunner with no gun.” I grin, bitter. “I think I’ll take my chances with the one-eyed Extra.”
He tips his head as though he will kiss me again, but this time I lean away from him.


Friday, November 15, 2013

Blog Tour: Waking Up Dead by Emma Shortt



Waking up Dead
End of Days Love
Book One
Emma Shortt

Genre: Horror romance
Publisher: Entangled Select
Date of Publication: 22 October 2013
Cover Artist: TK Designs

Amazon   BN

Book Description:
You know your life has hit rock bottom when you’re living off cooked rats and showering once every few months—if you’re lucky. But for Jackson Hart things are about to get a whole lot worse. When her best friend, Tye, disappears hunting for food, kick-ass Jackson’s ‘head south to safety’ plan looks like it’s dead before it’s even begun. But then she meets ex-mechanic Luke Granger, who takes her to his bunker, feeds her with non-rat based food, and offers her protection against the zombie hordes—not that she needs it. She knows how to use a machete and isn’t afraid to.

Jackson was tempted to stay in the city with her rescuer. Food, shampoo and the possibility of finally getting laid, what more could she ask for? But the flesh eaters are getting smarter and the bunker is compromised, so Jackson and Luke have no choice but to make the journey south.

Luke and Jackson team up to find other humans in a road-trip romance for the ages. They travel for thousands of miles with zombies shadowing their every move. They must utilize every resource at their disposal…and then some. On the way, they discover that even if flesh eating zombies are knocking down their door, there’s always time for sex and even love.

About the Author:

As a kid Emma wanted to be an astronaut, or maybe Captain Janeway. Because she didn't really think her career choices through very well she ended up in an everyday geek job, crunching numbers and sighing over syntax. It seemed a long way from the stars, and in an effort to escape Emma decided to get serious about her other passion. Writing.

Several years later and Emma has yet to walk on the moon or sit in the Captain's chair, but she is still writing. She scribbles stories in all sorts of genres, contemporary, paranormal, post-apocalyptic, historical, sci-fi...if she hasn't tried it yet she will before long. The only common theme is the romance. A hopeless romantic, everything Emma writes has a love story in there somewhere.

She lives on the west coast of England with her very Greek husband and teenage kiddos. Apart from all things geek reading is her main hobby and she likes nothing better than getting home from a hard day at work and curling up with a book, though sometimes she gets home and writes one instead.



www.twitter.com/EmmaShortt

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Review: The Curse of Malenfer Manor by Iain McChesney


It's review time! I was lucky enough to receive an Advanced Reading Copy of The Curse of Malenfer Manor by Iain McChesney.You can follow Iain on Facebook or Goodreads, and you can purchase the book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes for just $0.99.



About the Author:

Iain is a writer of gothic mysteries.

He was born and raised in Scotland. He studied History and Geography at the University of Glasgow.

The World Wars left Iain’s family with generations of widows. As a result, Iain has always been interested in the tangible effects of history on family dynamics and in the power of narrative to awaken those long dead.

For the characters in The Curse of Malenfer Manor, he drew on childhood reminiscences and verbal family history—though he hastens to add that his family had barely a penny, far less a manor, and any ghosts dwell only in memory.

He lives in Vancouver, Canada, with his wife and two children.




About the Book:

Those in line to the Malenfer estate are succumbing to terrible ends –is a supernatural legacy at work, or something entirely more human?

Young Irish mercenary Dermot Ward retreats to Paris at the close of World War I where he drinks to forget his experiences, especially the death of his comrade, Arthur Malenfer. But Arthur has not forgotten Dermot. Dead but not departed, Arthur has unfinished business and needs the help of the living.

Upon his arrival at Malenfer Manor, Dermot finds himself embroiled in a mystery of murder, succession, and ambition. Dermot falls in love with the youngest Malenfer, the beautiful fey Simonne, but in his way are Simonne’s mismatched fiancĂ©, her own connections to the spirit world, Dermot’s guilt over the circumstances of Arthur’s death… and the curse.









 
My Review: 

The Curse of Malenfer ManorThe Curse of Malenfer Manor by Iain McChesney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you follow my reviews, you already know this, but for those who don't...I'd like to preface this review with one very important fact about me: I'm an impatient reader.

That being said, this book is pretty good. There's a lot of back story to dig through, and with some of the characters I got pretty impatient with it (namely the Crevel's junior and senior when the focus shifted to them). I do absolutely love how the history between Arthur and Dermot is told in bits and pieces, and especially how Arthur's time after the tunnel is presented.

Once Dermot and Arthur get to Malenfer Manor, the story picks up and doesn't let go. It turns into a real nail-biter as you try to sort out whether or not the curse is at work, or a tangible villain is responsible. Mysteries are not my typical genre, but the ghost story and curse drew me into this one. So I can't really compare it to anything out there in the genre, but I can say it was like playing Clue as I tried to solve the mystery, which was a lot of fun. It certainly kept me guessing until the very end.

Iain McChesney balanced the supernatural element very well in this book. Ghosts are fun to play with, but can easily get overplayed. Iain McChesney teases the reader with the Witch and the possibility of other ghosts afoot just enough. I also really appreciated the fresh take on ghosts with the experiences of Arthur. His phantom feelings are really well done and help his character to believably straddle the world of the living and the world of the dead.

Dermot is a wonderful and refreshing reluctant hero. A soldier riddled with guilt over his experiences at war, all he wants to do is help Arthur with this final endeavor from beyond the grave and then probably go back to drinking away the things that truly haunt him. His growth is really great to see.

My impatience aside, this was a fun read. I like that it wasn't predictable in the slightest, the characters were so well-rounded and all had clear and vivid histories in the author's mind, and that it was well-told. Iain McChesney has a very sophisticated voice that throws you back to the feeling of reading the classics, and I wouldn't be surprised if one of his books landed under that heading a hundred years from now.

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