Showing posts with label #Gr8Reads. Show all posts

Thursday, January 22, 2015

New Release Blitz &

Two Awesome Giveaways!

Strange Magic by Michelle Mankin

Part One Now Available

YOU ARE INVITED

STRANGE MAGIC Release Party

January 15 to February 17th

Join us for a Mardi Gras/New Orleans themed party with games & prizes every day plus weekly video responses from Ask the Author. Party kicked off with a video interview of how Strange Magic came into being and will end shortly after an Anything-Goes-Embarrass-The-Author-Grand-Challenge for Author Michelle Mankin to undertake while in NOLA for the start of Mardi Gras.

Billy Blade is a hardworking, hard living, razor sharp musical force. Mysterious behind his dark shades, the rough around the edges Texan mesmerizes with his haunting harmonica and tantalizes with his dangerous looks and smooth country charm. His latest album is topping the charts. He’s the newly crowned King of the Bacchus Krewe. He’s definitely living the rock star dream.

Exotic Creole beauty Thyme Bellerose couldn’t be more content. She has it all. An adoring grandmother. A handsome Tulane medical student beau. A satisfying job in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter. Her life is as rich as the ice cream she creates. She’s got everything under control.

But control is an illusion. Dreams can turn into nightmares. And now during Mardi Gras, otherworldly powers stand ready to shape their destinies in ways they could never imagine.

Shadow and light. Magic and mystery. Reality and myth. All come together in a place where rules bend and lines blur. Even those between life and death.

STRANGE MAGIC is a novel in two parts. Part Two, the finale of STRANGE MAGIC will be released on February 5th!

Want a preview of Part One? - check it out here!

http://www.michellemankin.com/strange-magic.php

Fred's Notes

I love this way this starts out with a bang (kinda literally), and the way we encounter burnt-out, beat down bad boy wanna be Bacchus Billy Blade, singing his gritty songs of experience to an audience that is grateful and, apparently only mostly dead. A black stetson isn't your typical shining armor, but Thyme Bellerose (she's the song of innocence part), can't really afford to be picky about it at this point. I love Michelle's poignant and pointed use of poetry to punctuate her perfect prose (girl can wax lyrical, in that violet tinged way we love!), and how the quotes she chooses enhance the vibe, and move the narrative too. The mythopoeic, archetypal fairy tale nature of the story is beautifully reflected in Michelle's style, almost like a lover whispering the words in your ear. Can't wait for part two, really girl, how can you leave us hanging like this! Belle is beyond tied to the damn tracks, the train has done come and rolled over her, backed up and done it again. Gonna need some strange magic, indeed, to resuscitate this bruised reed, that hopefully will not break. Great story, great characters, great setting. Michelle has rocked it again, and part two is just around the corner, so read this now to be ready when it comes.

Just for fun I put together a Strange Magic playlist at Spotify, some old friends (haven't heard Gimme Shelter in a while? I promise it's still amazing, and a great harp part too!), and some new, including an awesome cover of Don't Fear the Reaper by The Beautiful South.

Pre-Order for Part Two Now Available:

STRANGE MAGIC: Part One & Part Two

DREAM MAGIC: October 2015

TWISTED MAGIC: Coming soon

Love Evolution is a rock star romance based on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

http://amzn.to/KZoJS4

After the death of her twin brother, nineteen year old guitar prodigy Avery Jones finds herself desperate, alone, and out of options. Hope arrives in the form of a job opening with Brutal Strength, one of the biggest rock bands out there. Only problem is temperamental lead singer Marcus Anthony doesn't want a woman in the group. So Avery and her manager Trevor come up with a plan involving a Bieber haircut and men's clothing. No one seems to be onto their little con. But what happens when Avery starts falling for Marcus? Will she be able to continue with the farce or will the whole thing come crashing down around her like a house of cards?

(Revised and an additional 10,000 words of content, including 2 new chapters and an epilogue)

Love Revolution is a rock star romance inspired by Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.

http://amzn.to/1aeXf43

The wheels of love are always turning at Black Cat Records. Things are just starting to settle down when two Texas sisters start to stir things up at the Vancouver record label. CEO Mary Timmons sets spirited country superstar Sara Daniels on a collision course with cocky rocker Chris Alex. Meanwhile, Brutal Strength's suave drummer, JR, has his head turned by pretty young intern, Samantha Daniels. Do all their highways lead to happiness or will the wheels fly off when the sisters' tragic past comes back to haunt them?

Love Resolution is a rock star romance inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest.

http://amzn.to/1whIVAp

To forgive or not to forgive...There's a storm brewing at Black Cat Records and lead singer Marcus Anthony and guitarist Avery Jones are at the center of it. Brutal Strength is leaving Vancouver and heading out on a big stadium tour with the reprobate rockers from Tempest as their opening act. Avery is forced to deal with a troubling figure from her past while being pursued by Tempest's tatted bad boy, Bryan 'Bullet' Jackson. Meanwhile, Marcus must battle his own internal demons as well as this rival for Avery's affection. Can Avery and Marcus keep their fairy tale happily ever after together when the prevailing winds of the real world are against them?

Three full-length rock star novels in one limited edition set

Tempest series (spin-off of The Brutal Strength Series)

Irresistible Refrain: http://amzn.to/SFJ96J & Audible: http://bit.ly/1vOTPPm

Enticing Interlude: http://amzn.to/1gelLT3

Captivating Bridge: http://amzn.to/RT7AMV

Relentless Rhythm: http://amzn.to/1xQpof7

Unforgettable: Tempest #5. A Tempest/ Brutal Strength mashup. Coming soon!

Michelle Mankin is the Amazon bestselling author of the Black Cat Records series of novels.

Romance with subtext.

Reimagining classic stories with sexy rock stars and thought provoking issues.

For many years she worked in the insurance industry as an underwriter. Somehow, the boredom didn't kill her but the hours and hours of looking at facts and figures provided ample time for her mind to wander.

Love Evolution, Love Revolution, and Love Resolution are a Brutal Strength centered trilogy, combining the plot underpinnings of Shakespeare with the drama, excitement, and indisputable sexiness of the rock 'n roll industry.

Things take a bit of an edgier, once upon a time turn with the Tempest series. These pierced, tatted, and troubled Seattle rockers are young and on the cusp of making it big, but with serious obstacles to overcome that may prevent them from ever getting there.

Rock stars, myths, and legends collide with paranormal romance in a totally mesmerizing way in the Magic series.

When Michelle is not prowling the streets of her Texas town listening to her rock music much too loud, she is putting her daydreams down on paper or traveling the world with her family and friends, sometimes for real, and sometimes just for pretend as she takes the children to school and back.

Connect with Michelle Mankin on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Michelle-Mankin/233503403414065

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichelleMankin

On tsu: https://www.tsu.co/AuthorMichelleMankin

On her website: http://www.michellemankin.com/

Receive the Black Cat Records newsletter: http://eepurl.com/Lvgzf

GIVEAWAY #1 of 2

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GIVEAWAY #2 of 2

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, November 14, 2014

What's Left of Us, by Amanda Maxlyn Happy Release Day!

I'm excited to help treasured author Amanda Maxlyn share the release of "What's Left of Us", the heartwarming conclusion to What's Left of Me. Make sure to check out the teasers, pick up your copy and enter the $100 Kate Spade Gift Card GIVEAWAY below!

For more fun & giveaways, come join our Facebook Release Party & Blog Tour Event ~ Friday, November 14th

Book Title: What’s Left of Us

Author: Amanda Maxlyn

The heartwarming conclusion to What's Left of Me.

Love found me three years ago.

I’m cancer free, happily married to the love of my life, and working toward my dream career.

Our life is complete. Perfect, really.

Or is it?

I’ve always wanted a family of my own, but never dreamed I could have one. Now Parker’s ready to make my dream our reality.

But sometimes our dreams are haunted by our deepest fears. Fears of failure, having a child, and in our case … death. How do I help the person I love get over his fear when I’m still trying to overcome that same fear myself?

Together we must learn What’s Left of Us.

To Read the Prologue and First Chapter - CLICK HERE

Life works in mysterious ways.

Four years ago I became known as the girl with cancer.

I refuse to cry.

And I refuse to give in.

A relationship with a man is the last thing I’m looking for right now, but one night with Parker changes everything. He is persistent, and he knows what he wants. Me.

He doesn’t treat me like I’m fragile.

But he doesn’t know, and I’m not ready to tell him.

What if it changes everything?

Tragedy found me when I was seventeen.

Love found me when I was twenty-one.

My name is Aundrea McCall, and this is my journey.

I am the mother of two little boys, married to the love of my life, and living in one of the smallest towns in Minnesota. When I’m not chasing or cleaning up after my boys (yes, all three), I can be found writing or snuggled up with my kindle, a glass of wine, and spending time with my fictional friends and family.

I am first and foremost an avid reader! I love to read anything romance from paranormal, young/new adult, contemporary, and even yes, (wide eyes) erotic/BDSM.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, August 25, 2014

Be My Hero, by Linda Kage - Release Day Review

Synopsis

Eva Mercer’s a mess. She’s single, nineteen, seven months pregnant, and living off the good graces of her cousin. In the midst of a complete attitude overhaul—or at least trying to change—the last thing she wants to think about is men. She’s done with them. For good. Or at least she was until Pick.

For ten years, Pick Ryan has dreamed about this girl. He knows how she smells, what it’s like to hold her in his arms, how she tastes when he kisses her. But he’s never actually met her. He doesn’t even know her name. He just knows she’s the one. It’s his brand of luck that she would walk into the bar where he works on the very day he gets married to someone else.

Pick and Eva come from completely different worlds, and yet the connection they share draws them together too tightly to matter. Nothing can keep them apart—except maybe a three-month-old boy whose life depends on just that. And so, their love becomes forbidden.

Fred's Notes

So, yeah, I always like to do some research when I'm doing a review, and I thought it would be fun to look up the word "hero," since it's become kind of generic for "the good guy," or sometimes even just the male MC, regardless of his nature. Per Wikipedia (only willing to take this research thing so far, lol) "[a]ccording to Eric Partridge in Origins, the Greek word Hērōs "is akin to" the Latin seruāre, meaning to safeguard. Partridge concludes, "The basic sense of ... hero would therefore be 'protector'." Well, that suits Patrick Jason Ryan (aka "Pick,") right down to the ground. From the get-go of this dramatic, sometimes dark, but always sweet story, he's out there in full on defender mode, extending his protective instincts on behalf of the small, the abused and the vulnerable. It doesn't always work out that well for him, and he's got the scars, dents and demerits to prove it, but nothing is gonna deter that big ole heart of his. The metal he's sporting might be piercings, rather than shining armor, but there's no mistaking his nature, once his hero sense is activated by the predicament of the defenseless in distress.

But hoo-boy, this here Pick fellow sure doesn't look like a hero, right? Okay, he's handsome enough (it is a romance, c'mon), but in an unconventional way, with a face full of "hollow dips and lines," punctuated by the aforementioned piercings. And his rap sheet doesn't add a lot of luster to his resume either. But that's the beauty of this story (and this whole awesome series, really) - nothing is what it seems at first blush. One of the things I love about Linda's imaginative stories is that they always have more twists than a bag of Twizzlers. Eva's pregnant (this happens a lot in Lindaland, btw), but she's not with, or in love with, the baby-daddy. And Pick's married, but he's not in love with, or even with, his "wife." And those very basic premises of the plot are not the only surprises Linda has up her apparently capacious sleeves. It turns out there's a reason Eva is so distrustful of men, there's a reason Pick falls so hard for her at first sight, and there's a reason she needs a hero, just when he's around to "pick" up the pieces.

I didn't especially like Eva back in The Price of A Kiss, the delightful first book in this series. She was kind of a B, and a conniving one at that, not above sabotaging her cousin Reese's happiness just for ... well, for whatever. But there's so much more to her story than that, it turns out, and her believable growth as a character and person is one of the real delights of this read. Linda has a knack for keeping it fresh and real feeling - I think it comes from her seeming effortless ability to play with genre conventions in a way that's fun and still emotionally impactful. And no doubt about it, this book is an emotional read at times, as these two fatefully and fitfully find their way into each other's wary and war-weary arms. Some dark events undergird and permeate this read, but I think they're handled sensitively and with the gravitas and respect they deserve. Reading Linda reminds me a bit of Shakespeare's comedies, where misunderstandings, secrets, hidden identities, overheard conversations taken the wrong way, and a host of other events are nonetheless unable to keep two soul-mates apart. There's a palpable sense of relief and cathartic closure as our two heroes (that's right, they both deserve that title) overcome every crazy obstacle fate (and Linda) throw at them (sorry if this is a spoiler, but if it is you're in the wrong genre my friend). As Pick so eloquently says at one point, "My happily fucking ever after certainly wasn't going to come to me, so I guess I'd have to keep working my ass off to make up one of my own." Well said, sir, and well done. A hero's salute to you, and to the enjoyment of reading the latest installment of this clever, rich and rewarding series.

Who's That Girl?

I grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest as the youngest of eight children. Now I live in Kansas with my

husband, daughter, and our nine cuckoo clocks. My life's been blessed with lots of people to learn from and love. Writing's always been a major part my world, and I'm so happy to finally share some of my stories with other romance lovers. (That's Linda's officical bio - I happen to know that she's also a librarian, which makes her all the more awesome and admirable!)

Thanks so much to Tasty Books Tours for including me in this awesome celebration!

Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2014/08/be-my-hero-by-linda-kage-surviving-love.html

Monday, June 2, 2014

He + She, by Michelle Warren

We are excited to announce the Release of Michelle Warren's "HE + SHE"!

Make sure to watch the Book Trailer & ENTER the GIVEAWAY below for a chance to win a Signed Paperback of HE + SHE & a $50 Amazon Gift Card!

JENN STERLING

USA TODAY BEST SELLING AUTHOR

“With twists and turns I never saw coming, He + She is a beautiful story about finding love, redemption and yourself. Everyone needs to read this story!”

MELISSA BROWN

AUTHOR OF PICTURING PERFECT

“Quirky, fun, heartfelt and sexy—this book knocked my socks off.

This is Warren’s first New Adult Contemporary Romance...and I sincerely hope it won’t be her last! One of my favorites of 2014!”

HE is trying to piece together his broken life.

SHE is running away from her wedding day.

TOGETHER, their world is a beautiful lie.

APART, their world is a perfect mess.

He + She is a free-spirited romance about soul-awakening second chances, heartbreak, and hopeful beginnings.

Michelle Warren didn't travel the road to writer immediately. She spent over a decade as professional Illustrator and designer. Her artistic creativity combined with her love of science fiction, paranormal and fantasy led her to write her first YA novel, Wander Dust. Michelle loves reading and traveling to places that inspire her to create. She resides in downtown Chicago.