Today is the release day of Rachel Higginson’s Love and Decay: Revolution, Episode 2. This is a serial novella, and completely standalone in the Love & Decay universe. I am so excited to share this with you!! Be sure to enter Rachel’s giveaway as well and grab your copy today!
About Love and Decay: Revolution: Episode Two:
It’s not easy being a badass Zombie killer. But somebody’s got to do it.
Page Parker is unsatisfied with her post-apocalyptic life in the relative safety of the research station. She knows there’s something bigger out there for her. There’s something… more.
When “more” just happens to show up on her doorstep one night, she finally has the opportunity to find the purpose she’s been looking for. And the revenge.
But first she must convince her overprotective family that leaving their home and fighting an evil bigger than Zombies is the right thing to do. Except they don’t want to listen.
Until the fight follows them home. Until it destroys every semblance of peace and illusion of security they’ve worked so hard for.
They’re not safe anymore.
And until they kill Matthias Allen, Zombies are the least of their problems.
Love and Decay: Revolution is a Dystopian Romance Novella Series about Zombies, the end of the world and finding someone to share it with. Every episode is approximately 20,000 words long and released every two weeks. Look for Love and Decay: Revolution, Episode Three coming January 8th, 2016.
Rachel Higginson is the author of The Five Stages of Falling in Love, Every Wrong Reason, The Star-Crossed Series, Love & Decay Novella Series and much more!
She was born and raised in Nebraska, and spent her college years traveling the world. She fell in love with Eastern Europe, Paris, Indian Food and the beautiful beaches of Sri Lanka, but came back home to marry her high school sweetheart. Now she spends her days writing stories and raising four amazing kids.
The ideal gift for mystery and wine lovers — An immersion in French countryside, gourmet attitude, and light-hearted mystery.
Two amateur sleuths gumshoe around French wine country, where money, deceit, jealousy, inheritance and greed are all the ingredients needed for crime. Master winemaker Benjamin Cooker and his sidekick Virgile Lanssien solve mysteries in vineyards with a dose of Epicurean enjoyment of fine food and beverage. Each story is a homage to wine and winemakers, as well as a mystery.
In Treachery in Bordeaux, barrels at the prestigious grand cru Moniales Haut-Brion wine estate in Bordeaux have been contaminated. Is it negligence or sabotage?
In Grand Cru Heist, Benjamin Cooker’s world gets turned upside down one night in Paris. He retreats to the region around Tours to recover. He and his assistant Virgile turn PI to solve two murders and a very particular heist.
In Nightmare in Burgundy, a dream wine tasting trip to Burgundy turns into a troubling nightmare when Cooker and his assistant stumble upon a mystery revolving around messages from another era.
This made-for-TV series is “difficult to forget and oddly addictive” (ForeWord Reviews).
About The Authors
Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen,
wine lover and music lover respectively,
came up with the idea for the Winemaker Detective series
while sharing a meal,
with a bottle of Château Gaudou 1996,
a red wine from Cahors
with smooth tannins and a balanced nose.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATORS
Anne Trager loves France so much she has lived there for 27 years and just can’t seem to leave. What keeps her there is a uniquely French mix of pleasure seeking and creativity. Well, that and the wine. In 2011, she woke up one morning and said, “I just can’t stand it anymore. There are way too many good books being written in France not reaching a broader audience.” That’s when she founded Le French Book to translate some of those books into English. The company’s motto is “If we love it, we translate it,” and Anne loves crime fiction, mysteries and detective novels.
***
Sally Pane studied French at State University of New York Oswego and the Sorbonne before receiving her Masters Degree in French Literature from the University of Colorado where she wrote Camus and the Americas: A Thematic Analysis of Three Works Based on His Journaux de Voyage. Her career includes more than twenty years of translating and teaching French and Italian at Berlitz and at University of Colorado Boulder. She has worked in scientific, legal and literary translation; her literary translations include Operatic Arias; Singers Edition, and Reality and the Untheorizable by Clément Rosset, along with a number of titles in the Winemaker Detective series. She also served as the interpreter for the government cabinet of Rwanda and translated for Dian Fossey’s Digit Fund. In addition to her passion for French, she has studied Italian at Colorado University, in Rome and in Siena. She lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband.
Visit each blogger on the tour: tweeting about the giveaway everyday
of the Tour will give you 5 extra entries each time!
[just follow the directions on the entry-form]
It’s tough being a thirteen-year old schoolboy, especially when you’re a coward and the big brother who stuck up for you is dead. Oh, and you’ve been thrust into a magical realm you’re expected to save single-handedly. Sebastian Duffy has to learn an awful lot of skills in a hurry if he is to defeat Phobitor by stealing the Spear of Lugh from the peace-loving Tuath. He’s been given some help of course–a mercurial sorceress, an orphaned druidess, a taciturn warrior, a snuff-sniffing leprechaun and a lovelorn poet– an outfit known as the Hibernauts, but can he really overcome a psychopathic, warmongering god when half the realm is bent on his destruction? If he is to have the remotest chance he will have to do deal with aiia, cluricaun, brigands, woodwose, undead warriors, speckled bats, spies, hunkypunks, traitors, skeletons and battle-swine first. And are those Tuath really so peaceable? If only he could find his courage.
An imaginative epic…an intricate and fully realised fantasy world with a big cast of likeable characters that are charming, well drawn and endearing, with wonderfully apt names. The depth and breadth of the author’s high-voltage imagination, and the richness of the world created is very impressive.
~Sam Mills, author of Blackout, The Boys Who Saved the World, and The Quiddity of Will Self
I cannot say just how much I have enjoyed this book … a very accomplished writer with a wonderfully rich imagination and an incredibly inventive mind. Readers will come to love the many wonderful creations in this novel, it is jam-packed with the most wonderful and inventive characters; new, exciting and beautifully realized. ~Cherry Mosteshar, author of Unveiled: One Woman’s Nightmare in Iran.
Check Out This Exciting Excerpt
Static fizzed in his littlest fingers. It felt like the most natural thing in the world. He turned to Conall and pointed. Sparks flew from the tips, longer and longer ones that raced across the space separating them. Of a sudden, two streaks of light burst from his fingertips upending Conall who fell perilously close to the edge. Irritated at not finishing him off, Sebastian turned to Roisin and Blodwyn, raising his littlest fingers. Thinking better of it, he span back to Conall. Fearless of the slippery rocks, he sauntered over and delivered a fierce kick to Conall’s loins intending to roll him off the edge. The warrior barely moved. Raising his fingers, he pointed them downward, watching with satisfaction as the sparks crackled and kindled, building up to the killer crescendo. He playfully sent Conall’s prostate body this way and that, edging him ever closer to the precipice. It felt so good to be killing this insect.
A renewed roar arose as the host of knights poured onto the battlefield. Sebastian let his spyglass fall, transfixed. A dreamlike veil began billowing at the edge of his vision, yet it dissolved rapidly and the scene sharpened into crystal clarity. Countless souls were being murdered before his eyes. His defenses breached, harrowing screams flooded his ears; an awful sound he could not bear. He forced his gaze upwards.
Gobbleratches had arrived in droves and the sky was filled with twisting, plummeting forms. He sank to his knees. “I could have prevented this,” he wailed, curling into a ball. “Why did they do this to me? How could they expect me to kill thousands to save more? I’m just a boy.” He screwed his eyes shut and pressed his palms against his ears, trying to zone out. It did no good. The battle consumed his senses. He could taste it. “Are you alright?” asked Blodwyn, her voice appearing to come at him down a tunnel. “Why did you bring me here?” he cried angrily, his hands trembling uncontrollably. “I’m so sorry,” sobbed Blodwyn, dropping beside him. “I’m so, so sorry.” “I can’t get away,” he screamed. “I’m scared. I want to go away. I want to go home.” Feeling her hands on him, he pushed her roughly away, but when she persisted he found he had no fight left and he let her fold herself around him, opening his eyes to her hypnotic gaze. He saw her raise her arm and bring it toward him, felt the branch touch his brow, and as her lips brushed his lobes and her tears kissed his face, heard the words she whispered in his ear, knew, even as he dissolved into sleep, that he had never heard anything so wonderful in all his life. “Child of my heart,” she murmured. “Child of my heart.”
Author Brendan Murphy
Brendan Murphy was raised in Sheffield, England, with dreams of becoming a writer, and has written every day since he was nine years old. After reading medicine in London and psychiatry in Manchester, he moved to Australia in 1999. He is an Associate Professor at Monash University and has written widely on youth mental health. His nonfiction work on the development of football in Victorian society, From Sheffield with Love, was published in 2007. He is contracted to Assent Publishing for his six-book fantasy series, Sebastian and the Hibernauts. The first adventure, Beyond the Gloaming was published in 2014 and the sequel, The Traitor’s Trap, in 2015. He is a columnist for Aontacht magazine. He lives with his wife, Katrina, and their children, Sebastian and Violette, in a sprawling property built for the composer, Dorian Le Gallienne. They share their garden with a mob of kangaroos, a wombat, two possums, any number of creepy crawlies, and some very feisty kookaburras.
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
Welcome to the release day blits for Eerie by C.M. McCoy.
Got so much to share with you today.
Come on in and check it out.
And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!
Eerie
C.M. McCoy
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Omnific
Date of Publication: 15 Dec 2015
ISBN: 1623422337 / ASIN: B0176M19RM
Number of pages: 450 / Word Count: 117k
Cover Artist: Omnific with art by Robin Lynne Schwind
Book Description:
Being a ParaScience freshman is a nightmare come true
Hailey’s dreams have always been, well…vivid. As in monsters from her nightmares follow her into her waking life vivid. When her big sister goes missing, eighteen-year-old Hailey finds the only thing keeping her safe from a murderous 3,000-year old beast is an equally terrifying creature who’s fallen “madly” in love with her.
Competing to win her affection, the Dream Creature, Asher, lures her to the one place that offers safety—a ParaScience university in Alaska he calls home. There, she studies the science of the supernatural and must learn to live with a roommate from Hell, survive a tunneling earworm, extract a carnivorous splinter, evade the campus poltergeists, and hope the only creature who can save her from an evil immortal doesn’t decide to kill her himself.
“Judge of your natural character by what you do in your dreams.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Hailey plunked her head on the desk and groaned. Why, why…why couldn’t she just tell Asher that she wanted out, that she was afraid—afraid of the others, afraid of dying, and even afraid of…of him. After all, he was planning to kill her. Only temporarily, but still.
She couldn’t believe she was even considering it, but she had no choice. If Asher didn’t kill her, one of the others would.
Permanently.
And Asher protected her. He cared about her. He loved her, right? Asher—an emotionless creature. Hailey wasn’t sure if he was even capable of love.
Oh, this made absolutely no sense. Kill her to save her? Was that love?
Freshman year at her dream college was turning into nightmare, and as she rolled her forehead on the desk, the library’s impossibly large ceiling clock echoed a thump with her heart. She simply had to pull on her big girl pants and tell Asher she was done.
That’s all.
She squeezed her eyes shut as a swarm of butterflies took flight in her stomach.
Lately, she felt an awful lot like Jekyll and Hyde: logical, rational ParaScience student by day—emotional monstrosity at night. Come to think of it, this was more like The Phantom of the Opera, and she was the naïve student who didn’t realize the secret and strange angel she’d come to know was actually a homicidal maniac…
“I’m not a maniac.”
Hailey jumped up. She didn’t mean to say that out loud.
Asher slid behind her, putting his lips next to her ear. “But I suppose I am homicidal,” he whispered, his breath on her skin sending goose bumps down her arms and legs.
She leaned into him and sighed.
So much for steadfast resolve.
Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her closer.
“How did you know I was here?” she whispered.
“You were dreaming, Hailey,” he murmured. “I’ll always find you when you’re dreaming.”
~~~~~
About the Author:
C.M. McCoy is an Irish dancer and former military officer living in the Great White North. Though B.S.’d in chemical engineering and German, she’s far happier writing stories involving Alaska and a body bag (with an awkward kiss in the mix.) While working 911 dispatch for Alaska State Troopers, she learned to speak in 10-codes, which she still does…but only to annoy her family. In the writerly world, she’s the PR Manager at Inklings Literary Agency. Her debut novel, EERIE, is a paranormal adventure with romance and released 15 Dec 2015 through Omnific Publishing/Simon and Schuster.
Head on over and leave a link to your Sunday Post and hop around to visits others.
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Some chit chat.
So, here we are again! Another Sunday and Christmas is right around the corner! I’m so ready for the holiday break from work. LOL
My blog has been busy this week. Reviews and lots of events. Make sure you check my other post links at the bottom so you can enter some awesome giveaways!
So, let’s see. What’s new? Not much!
What to talk about? How about a white Christmas?
I live on the Gulf Coast and we don’t get snow. Not often. If it does get truly cold, we might gets tiny ice pellets. I only recall snow once or twice and it didn’t last long.
I was born in Michigan and snow was in abundance during the winter. I loved to go sledding and snowmobiling, hit the frozen ponds for some ice skating and the slopes and trails for the snow skiing.
That was when I was younger. Now I’d probably freeze to death. I’m not kidding. I used to go back home in the winter to enjoy the fresh powder and could never get warm. Your blood thins in the tropical climates and all I did was shiver. LOL
Down here, it’s warm, in the 70s, and everything is growing. My lawn needs to be mowed, the flower beds need to be weeded. Christmas decorations look strange without snow. I’ll never get used to that. But, I don’t miss the frigid weather either.
So, my question to you is, does it feel less like Christmas for you without the snow?
I thought I’d share with you some ornaments on my Christmas tree. They have a southern flavor to them.
A Christmas Octopus.
Santa riding a dolphin.
A Santa Starfish.
And a Southern Snowball.
Can’t forget the Flamingo!
Got lots of bookish stuff to share today, and some fun freebies for ya. Grab em!
Happy Sunday!
I’ll be hopping over to check out your Sunday posts so be sure to leave me your link!
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Here are my new books for review.
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And here are some freebies for ya!
Click on the covers to get yours and remember to make sure they’re still free before you click that buy button.
I hope ya’ll realize I don’t grab all of the free books I show on my posts! LOL
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Books I reviewed this week. Click on the covers for my reviews.
Most of these have giveaways too so remember to enter when you click on the covers!
In the ten winters since Kyanos was defeated, Rider Braidyn and his dragon, Turqueso, have made a place for themselves in the sleepy Boeskay colony. But when two nestlings are stolen from the hatchling cave, Braidyn’s sense of justice leads him on a quest to find the person responsible.
After recovering one nestling, Braidyn recruits his old friends Ruskya and Carryl to help. The friends travel to a faraway desert colony where they find a group of riders with different customs, and meet a beautiful young woman who could be the key to finding the missing nestling. Can Braidyn learn to temper justice with mercy, or will he risk losing everything?
Journey along in this exciting fantasy world in the spellbinding second installment of the Dragon Courage series, Dragon’s Heir, by Kandi J Wyatt.
Excerpt
Two hands gently lifted the hood off to reveal a beautiful young woman with almost black eyes. Her hands shook slightly as she let the hood fall back to reveal long, black locks of hair that cascaded down her back. The deed was done. She couldn’t go back on her decision now. It was out of her hands.
Her father would have to accept her now. Even if he went back on his word again, she could provide the family with another dragon. She closed her eyes and imagined the look of surprise on his face.
“Daughter, how did you do this?” he would say.
She would reply, “It was simple really, Ahbah.”
With amazement in his eyes, her father would take her and accept her as part of the clan. No longer would she be an outcast; she would truly be an Agamid.
Author Kandi J. Wyatt
Kandi J Wyatt is a wife, mother of five, teacher, artist, and author. In her free time, she enjoys writing fantasy stories and Christmas programs, and drawing with graphite and colored pencils. Portraits are her specialty. Kandi also enjoys photography, thanks to her photographer husband who has let her join his journey as both his model and apprentice, and she occasionally serves as his assistant when he needs a “light stand with feet.”
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
All of the physical prize packs are restricted to US/Canada mailing addresses, but there is an international prize pack with a bunch of ebooks and a gift card to Amazon. Every physical prize pack will have a physical copy of the book, signed bookmark, and a collection of book-related items.
Born a Connecticut Yankee in nobody’s court, Mia Darien grew up to brave snow and talk fast. She started reading when she was three and never looked back, soon frequently falling asleep with a book under her cheek. (Something she still does, though these days it’s her Nook as often as a paperback.)
At eleven, she discovered Night Mare by Piers Anthony and entered the world of grown-up fantasy fiction and it was all over from there. She started writing at fourteen, then met vampires as a teenager and the concept for what would become Adelheid was soon born. Epic fantasy remains her first love, but she enjoys writing whatever stories come to mind in any genre.
Now she loves both writing and helping her indie community with her freelancing. A geek till the end, she enjoys role-play by email games and World of Warcraft when she has the time. Married to her very own Named Man of the North, she lives with him, their mini-tank (also known as their son) and pets, who usually act more childish than the child.
She is the author of the urban fantasy series Adelheid, and several anthologies for charity. You can find her at her website, or the following social media.
We are excited to announce that the young adult novel Poet Anderson…Of Nightmares by Tom DeLonge and Suzanne Young is now available for sale! Welcome to my tour stop, be sure to stop by the tour page for the full schedule.
From the critically acclaimed transmedia project Poet Anderson: The Dream Walker, comes one of the most anticipated collaborations in YA literature this year: a thrilling, edge of your seat story written by award-winning musician, producer and director Tom DeLonge and New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Young.
Poet Anderson…Of Nightmares follows the epic journey of two orphan brothers, Jonas and Alan, who are Lucid Dreamers. After a tragic car accident lands Alan in a coma, Jonas sets out into the Dream World in an attempt to find his brother and wake him up. What he discovers instead is an entire shared consciousness where fear comes to life as a snarling beast called a Night Terror, and a creature named REM is bent on destruction and misery, devouring the souls of the strongest dreamers to get closer to the Waking World. With the help of a Dream Walker—a guardian of the dreamscape, Jonas must face his fears, save his brother, and become who he was always meant to be: Poet Anderson.
My Review
Alan and Jonas are brothers, orphans. They have only each other. They’re also Lucid Dreamers, able to move in dream worlds. When an accident lands Alan in a coma, Jonas must enter the dream world to find his brother and wake him up.
He’ll have to face a monstrous creature, his very own Night Terror, and REM, an evil being bent on entering the real world.
I enjoyed the names of some of the beings. Night Terrors and REM (rapid eye movement) are both sleep conditions and great choices. Caused some “I see” moments for me.
Jonas starts out fumbling in the dream world but catches on quick. Thrown into dangerous situations, he adapts. Save his brother, the girl he loves, the dream walkers, and the world, a heavy burden rests on his young shoulders.
At first glance the cover looks creepy. Take another look. See all of those images. I give five stars on the cover alone. So creative.
Action galore. It never slows down. Between the dream world and the waking one, you are pulled along at a face pace.
It feels a bit sci-fi, a bit horror, a bit action and adventure, and all thrilling. I can honestly say this story is something totally new for me. Not even sure how to tag it.
I have the hard cover edition and it is awesome. The cover art leaps out at you and the book comes with a music CD. I listened to it while reading and it really lent atmosphere and excitement.
A great collaboration brings you an amazing reading experience.
Tom DeLonge is an award-winning American musician, producer and director best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for the platinum selling rock bands Blink-182 and Angels & Airwaves. His home is San Diego, where he focuses on creating entertainment properties that bridge music, narrative and film through his multimedia company To The Stars. For the full experience of Tom’s work, visit www.tothestars.media.
Suzanne Young is the New York Times bestselling author of The Program series. Originally from Utica, New York, Suzanne moved to Arizona to pursue her dream of not freezing to death. She is a novelist and an English teacher, but not always in that order. Suzanne is the author of THE PROGRAM, THE TREATMENT, THE REMEDY, and HOTEL RUBY.
Prizing is provided by the publisher, hosts are not responsible. Must be 13 or older to enter and have parental permission if under 17. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary to win.
Rachel Higginson is the author of The Five Stages of Falling in Love, Every Wrong Reason, The Star-Crossed Series, Love & Decay Novella Series and much more!
