Today I have something super exciting for you! The wonderful Erin Bowman is releasing the first 8 chapters from her upcoming book, Taken! You can check out all the chapters (bloggers listed below) and I am showing you the last chapter… chapter 8!! You gotta check it out.
Taken by Erin Bowman Publisher: HarperTeen Release Date: April 16, 2013 Hardcover: 352 pages Add to Goodreads There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends… and he’s gone.
They call it the Heist.
Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.
Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?
USE GOOGLE TO READ TAKEN — CHAPTER 8
Want to read the previous chapters?
Monday, 3/25 – Chapter 1 Wendy Darling @ The Midnight Garden Tuesday, 3/26 – Chapter 2 Lena Ainsworth @ Addicted 2 Novels Wednesday, 3/27 – Chapter 3 Erica Haglund @ The Bookcellar Thursday, 3/28 – Chapter 4 Shane Morgan @ Itching for Books Friday, 3/29 – Chapter 5 Stephanie Ward @ A Dream Within A Dream Saturday, 3/30 – Chapter 6 Krystal Larson @ Live to Read Sunday, 3/31 – Chapter 7 Alicia Guerrero @ Shooting Stars Mag Monday, 4/1 – Chapter 8 Jessica Estep @ Confessions of a Bookaholic
Today I am participating in the blog tour for Bullet by Jade C. Jamison. Check out the exclusive excerpt below!
Bullet by Jade C. Jamison Release date: February 18th, 2013 Reading Level: New Adult eBook: 451 pages An Epic Rock Star Novel
What if you discover the man you want is toxic?
She tasted a little bit of heaven with him, and now they’ve gone through hell and back, but can their relationship take anymore?
Valerie Quinn is a naïve college freshman when she meets on-the-rise rock star Ethan Richards. He’s an idealistic, handsome, reckless young man, but he’s captured her heart. She doesn’t give up on him and eventually his walls crumble down. By the time Valerie has given herself to him completely, she discovers he’s damaged and may be beyond help. Can she save Ethan and their relationship before he implodes, or will he self-destruct and take her with him?
Excerpt from Bullet Jade C. Jamison I let out the breath I’d been holding in as Ethan rolled onto the bed.
I just lay there, concentrating on my breathing, focusing on relaxing. He removed his condom and then rolled on his side to face me, so I rolled on my side as well. That felt like fresh hell, but I tried not to let it show on my face.
And the look on his face was rare and… beautiful. He looked happy, and that wasn’t a typical look for Ethan. He looked peaceful. He stroked my hair with his hand. “You okay?”
I nodded. The way he was looking at me made everything okay. I smiled at him, letting him know I was fine. “Yeah. Had to be done, right?”
He grinned. “No, not really. You could’ve decided to become a nun. They don’t have to do this, you know.”
I smiled again, sliding my arm under the pillow. “I think in the long run that’d be more painful.”
“How?”
I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t want to tell him what I was thinking. But I knew now. I’d been experiencing some kind of awakening, and for all I knew, all girls went through it, but maybe I was a late bloomer. Whatever the case, there was a sexual creature inside me that had been trapped, and once she’d discovered there was an escape, she would have pushed to get out. I knew sex wouldn’t ever hurt like tonight again. I knew there was some sort of sensual nirvana waiting for me, some revelation I had yet to discover. Inside, I realized that. And to deny that to myself my entire life would have hurt far worse than the temporary pain I’d endured to pass into womanhood. And I wasn’t kidding myself either. I knew I’d be hurting all night long, but it would soon pass. I looked in Ethan’s green eyes, softer than I’d ever seen them before, and maybe that was due to the shitty lighting in the motel room, but he seemed open and vulnerable then. Part of me wanted to tell him all my thoughts, but I too felt too exposed. And after all we’d been through, another part of me felt like I couldn’t fully trust him. Oh, I wanted to. After all, I’d trusted him with one of the most sacred parts of myself that night. But I wasn’t ready to tell him of my growing self-awareness, of my awakening identity. I didn’t know that I wanted to tell anyone, because I didn’t fully understand it yet. My smile was shy. “I dunno. Could you imagine spending your whole life not having sex?”
He stroked my hair again. “Yeah, but my first time was nothing like that.” He got closer and kissed me on the forehead.
“I’m okay.”
He rested his hand on my neck. There was something in his eyes, but I just couldn’t read it. What the hell was he thinking? “I love you, Val.”
Oh. Oh, wow. Yeah, I loved him back, but for him to say it… and to say it first. Holy crap. Everything I’d ever heard about dysfunctional relationships (which I’d suspected we had) had made me believe I’d be the only one to ever say it, to ever really feel it. But there it was. He’d said it, and it took my breath away. I don’t know that I was able to smile because I was so overwhelmed. But I said it back. “I love you too, Ethan.” And then, seeing how his eyes lit up, I did smile.
He pulled me closer then, holding me in his arms, and after a while, I heard his breathing grow quiet but rhythmic. His chest rose and fell slowly at the same intervals, and I knew he’d gone to sleep. I shifted, but just a little, because every motion below my waist reminded me of the pain that was still with me. I wished he was still awake, because I wanted him, needed him. I wanted to talk to him, but then I realized I also just needed time for me.
I was overwhelmed with so many emotions, the first of which was my feelings of love for this man that had intensified. Before, yes, I had felt love for Ethan, but nothing like this. It was multiplied now and heavy, stretching into the deep caverns of my soul. I wasn’t sure how to process it.
And then I was also almost giddy that I had just made a passage. I was no longer a girl. Truly, I’d been moving to womanhood already. I’d been responsible for my own care for more than a year, what with living on my own at school, but somehow losing my virginity not only symbolized that process but affirmed it.
Lying there thinking about that, I then thought about my dad of all people. I was no longer daddy’s little girl. I was no longer his precious pearl, and he could no longer protect me from the world, from the beauty and wonder nor from the pain and torment. I wondered what he and my mom would think if they knew. I knew from the experiences over the past summer that they trusted me. Whether that was due to realizing that they had to let go and let me make my own mistakes or if they just thought I was a young woman of incredible self-restraint, I didn’t know.
There was no clock in that hotel room, so I had no idea how long I lay there. Ethan rolled over after a long while, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Between them and the pain, I lay awake until what I was sure was early morning… all by myself.
I have a special post from Janenifer Rush to celebrate the release of her book Altered. Each of the blogs on the tour has been assigned a character (Nick, Cas, Trev, Sam or Anna) and Janenifer has shared her thoughts on each character based on a selected excerpt from the book. I was assigned the character Cas!
ALTERED Excerpt: If Cas knew I liked Sam, did Sam know? Of course he did. I wasn’t exactly secretive about the whole thing. But hearing it out loud changed everything. I suddenly felt nauseous. I put my face in my hands. “Oh my God." The tree branches rustled. Cas dropped to the ground next to me and patted my head. “It’s all right. Go ahead and admit you’re in love with me, too. Let’s get everything off our chests while we’re at it." I swatted at him but he dodged away. “You’re not making me feel better.” “Who said I was trying to make you feel better? Fact: Sam’s got swagger. Fact: I’m straight. Fact: Even though I’m straight, I sorta love the dude. So I can’t say I blame you.” (Altered page 166)
Jennifer's Thoughts: Out of all the Altered boys, I think Cas is the most entertaining to write! There isn’t a lot of hidden meaning in the things Cas says. He isn’t modest. He isn’t quiet. He isn’t afraid of saying whatever pops into his head. As a writer, that’s liberating! In this scene, Cas and Anna are talking about Anna’s crush on Sam, which isn’t news to anyone. But, in true Cas form, while Anna is mortified about her crush, and mortified about him knowing, Cas is climbing a tree. He cannot sit still for longer than five minutes, which is one of my very favorite Cas characteristics. When I wrote this scene, I thought, no way would Cas remain on the park bench while Anna poured her heart out. So what would he be doing? He’s listening to her, of course, because he responds with the perfect answer! But while his brain is occupied, his body also needs to be moving, hence the tree. If you’ve ever watched the movie Marley and Me, just picture Marley, and you have Cas’s canine equivalent. Now, when I write Cas into a scene, the first question I ask myself is: What in this setting can he get into?
ALTERED BLOG TOUR: Monday, January 7th – YA Bibliophile Tuesday, January 8th – YA Sisterhood Wednesday, January 9th – Confessions of a Bookaholic Thursday, January 10th – Once Upon A Twilight Friday, January 11th – Icey Books
Altered by Janenifer Rush Publisher: Little Brown (January 1st, 2013) Reading Level: Young Adult Hardcove r: 33 6 pages Series: Altered, #1 When you can’t trust yourself, who can you believe?
Everything about Anna’s life is a secret. Her father works for the Branch at the helm of its latest project: monitoring and administering treatments to the four genetically altered boys in the lab below their farmhouse. There’s Nick, Cas, Trev.. and Sam, who’s stolen Anna’s heart. When the Branch decides it’s time to take the boys, Sam stages an escape, killing the agents sent to retrieve them.
Anna is torn between following Sam or staying behind in the safety of her everyday life. But her father pushes her to flee, making Sam promise to keep her away from the Branch, at all costs. There’s just one problem. Sam and the boys don’t remember anything before living in the lab—not even their true identities.
Now on the run, Anna soon discovers that she and Sam are connected in more ways than either of them expected. And if they’re both going to survive, they must piece together the clues of their past before the Branch catches up to them and steals it all away.
I have Lorraine Zago Rosenthal here today to talk about her newest book, New Money.
I'm part of the blog tour and I have an exclusive excerpt from the book below.
Tina had a constant cash flow, but unlike most of the girls I’d grown up with, she’d never been snooty about the fact that I didn’t. She nodded, the light changed, and she hit the gas. “You mean you need money to get your car fixed? Don’t worry about that… I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
“I know. I appreciate it, but I’m not going to keep imposing on you. I need my own car, and I also need to help Mom. Business has been slow… the bills are piling up.”
Tina drove me to an upscale outdoor mall where I handed in applications at Sephora and Banana Republic and eight other stores before catching up with her at the bridal shop where we’d planned to meet. She was leaning against its front window and twirling her hair.
“Maybe I should apply here,” I said, peeking in the window. Tina was covering part of it, and all I could see was half of a mannequin dressed in a white organza gown.
She shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
I kept trying to look into the store, but she blocked me. “Why isn’t it a good idea? And what are you doing?” I asked impatiently. “Get out of the way.”
She folded her arms over her low-cut blouse and didn’t move. “Forget this place, Savannah. It’s filled with snobby women like my stepmother. You don’t want to work here.” She draped an arm around my shoulders, shoved my head down so I was staring at cement, and led me away.
The smell of her mango perfume was suffocating in the heat, and I wasn’t in the mood for whatever game she was playing. I disconnected myself from her and headed back to the store.
She tried to stop me, but it was too late. I stared through the bridal shop’s window at a pretty redhead admiring her reflection in a full-length mirror. She wore a flowing wedding dress, and her mother and a saleslady beamed at her. She looked like a princess. Cinderella. Somebody’s dream.
I swallowed. This was why Tina had tried to keep me away.
She was beside me. “It doesn’t matter. It isn’t what you wanted.”
That’s what I’d thought two years ago, when Jamie bought a diamond ring and asked me to marry him. He was in law school at the University of South Carolina then. He’d wanted to tie the knot when he graduated, buy a house in a fancy area nearby called Mount Pleasant—where Tina lived—and have babies, in his own words, ASAP.
Only that wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to go places, see things, and write award-winning novels that would fly off bookstore shelves. I’d thought that none of those things would happen if I became what he expected: a stay-at-home mom who ate lunch with attorneys’ wives and spent her free time getting massages and manicures.
It had been so hard to end it. But he just wouldn’t wait, and I couldn’t blame him. I knew how it felt to want things. The problem was that lately, I’d been thinking that everything I wanted was never going to happen. I’d been wondering if I’d made a terrible mistake.
“I didn’t know they were getting married so soon,” I said, my voice raw and tight. But I should have known. Jamie had graduated recently. Maybe I’d been blocking it out.
I’d heard about the engagement a while back. The bride was a girl from my high school class who’d been on the cheerleading squad with me and Tina, but Jamie was a year ahead of us and had barely known her then. Now she worked as a paralegal at a law office downtown, and the rumor was that they’d hooked up when he clerked there.
“Yeah,” Tina said. “I heard about it last week.”
I turned away from the window. “Thanks for not telling me.”
She smiled. The bells on the bridal’s shop door jangled, the door swung open, and there was the redhead with the saleslady calling after her, nervously warning against stepping outside because the sidewalk would dirty her hem.
The bride went by two first names. She’d been one of those pageant contestants with a pushy mother who’d dressed her up in high heels and a thick layer of makeup like a six-year-old prostitute. She’d also been my nemesis from eighth through eleventh grade. Now she gave me a phony smile and spoke in a sugary voice as she lingered in the doorway.
“Savannah, are you stalking me?” she asked.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Eva Lee,” I said.
“Seriously,” Tina added. “Savannah has better things to do.”
Sure, I thought. I have better things to do, like resume my desperate search for a minimum-wage job while this empty-headed debutante gets ready to marry the only guy I’ve ever loved.
New Money by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal Published: Thomas Dunne Books (September 10th, 2013) Reading Level: Adult Hardcover: 336 pages Summary:
A young Southern woman of modest means suddenly finds herself thrust into New York's high society when she discovers that she is the illegitimate daughter of a recently-deceased billionaire.
Savannah Morgan had high hopes. She dreamed of becoming a writer and escaping her South Carolina town, where snooty debutantes have always looked down on her. But at twenty-four, she's become a frustrated ex-cheerleader who lives with her mother and wonders if rejecting a marriage proposal was a terrible mistake. Then Savannah's world is shaken when she learns the father she never knew is Edward Stone, a billionaire media mogul who has left Savannah his fortune on the condition that she move to Manhattan and work at his global news corporation. Putting aside her mother's disapproval, Savannah dives head first into a life of wealth and luxury that is threatened by Edward's other children--the infuriatingly arrogant Ned and his sharp-tongued sister, Caroline, whose joint mission is to get rid of Savannah. She deals with their treachery along with her complicated love life, and she eventually has to decide between Jack, a smooth and charming real estate executive, and Alex, a handsome aspiring writer/actor. Savannah must navigate a thrilling but dangerous city while trying to figure out what kind of man her father truly was.
New Money is a keenly observed, exciting peek into a world of privilege and glamour with a spirited and charming heroine at its center.
Teaser 3 from The Impact of You: She slides the sheet of paper toward me and points. “We have to write entries on our own body image, what attracts us in the opposite sex, and an entry on sexual preferences and orgasms.” Her eyes dart up to mine and she drags her teeth across her bottom lip. Fuuuck, that’s sexy. Avery stuffs the paper back into her bag, muttering to herself,“A section on orgasms- that’ll be a short chapter… ” Holy shit. “What?” I can’t help but react. Has no one touched this beautiful girl? Sign me up. Right fucking now. Her head snaps up. “I’m just going to shut up now.” “That’s probably wise.” Otherwise I can’t be held responsible for bringing her to orgasm myself. Under the table. Immediately. Avery collapses, burying her face in her hands. I can’t resist reaching over to rub her back between her shoulder blades. “Hey, it’s okay. If you need tutoring in the bedroom too, babe, just ask.” Avery lets out a groan, and I can’t be sure, but I think a string of curse words too. Once her tirade is out of her system, she takes a deep breath and sits up straight. Her expression is still pinched, like she can’t believe she told me that. I push her coffee toward her again, trying to downplay it, and Avery accepts the cup, taking a sip. “Hey, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, but no wonder you’re so cranky. I would be too without regular orgasms,” I say. Avery spits her coffee across the table, choking and sputtering. I scoot my chair closer and pat her back, nursing her back to health until she can clear her stubborn airway. She grips the table and sucks in a ragged breath, her eyes watering with the effort. “I’m sorry, Whistle.” I continue rubbing her back. “I shouldn’t have said that. I meant every word, but I’m sorry you got choked up.” “I didn’t get choked up. I choked. Big difference. And don’t call me Whistle.” Avery stands, grabbing for her backpack. “We’re done here.” My hand on her wrist stops her. Maybe I went too far. But I think she secretly likes me pushing her. I lift the bag and place the straps carefully on her shoulders. “Remember, Saturday. You already agreed.” “I’ll be there.”
The Impact of You by Kendall Ryan Published: June 7th, 2013 Reading Level: New Adult 324 Pages Summary: Needing an escape from her past, Avery chooses a college where no one knows her. Keeping a low profile was the plan, falling for the intense frat boy, Jase wasn’t. Yet she can’t deny how alive she feels when he’s near. Even as common sense implores her to stay away, her body begs her to get closer.
Jase, numb from his own family drama, has grown bored with weekends fueled by nameless girls and countless bottles when he meets Avery. Helping her cope with her past is better than dealing with the bullshit his own life’s served up. Determined to drive away the painful secret she’s guarding, he appoints himself her life coach, and challenges her to new experiences. Getting close to her and being the one to make her smile are simply perks of the job.
But when Avery’s past boldly saunters in, refusing to be forgotten, can Jase live with the truth about the girl he’s fallen for?
Recommended for 17+ due to mature themes and sexual content.
EXCERPT I step into his personal space and lift my hands to his shoulder blades. I press my palms to his muscular back. His head falls forward and his chest fully inflates as he draws in a deep breath. It’s the reassuring sign that I need from him. My tongue darts from my mouth and makes a pass over my lips. I lean forward and drop one chaste kiss in the middle of his back. “Baby, please,” I croon. “Talk to me!” He whirls around to face me, taking me by surprise. “What do you want from me?!” “I-I just want you to talk to me. I want to make sure we’re on the same page as far as we are concerned,” I sputter out, looking to him for the words I need to hear. “Josephine, we aren’t on the same page. Actually, I don’t even think we’re in the same book.” The way he says it is exhaustive, like I’m irritating him or something. It cuts me like a white-hot knife. “I’m not myself; I’m out of control and I don’t know how to come back.” He runs those big hands through his disheveled hair and the expression on his handsome face is one of hopelessness. I know the look well. I step closer to him and reach for his hand. “Before you walked into my life, I felt the floor crumbling beneath my feet. Then you showed up and I had something to hold onto. Let me do the same for you. At least let me try. Please.”
Restore Me by J.L. Mac Published: April 29th, 2013 Reading Level: New Adult/Adult eBook edition: 137 pages Series: Wrecked, #2 Navigating the world alone is all Josephine Geroux has ever known. Life altering tragedy struck early on for her. She endured an admirable struggle through her youth and learned the hard way how to adapt and survive. She managed to arrive at adulthood in one piece in spite of it all.
After such chaos, maintaining a life free of complications is a priority for her. Everything changed when a man with amber eyes came through her door and claimed her heart. She fell hard in more ways than one. The pull between Jo and Damon seemed like fate bringing things full circle.
With another devastating loss looming, Jo fights to hold on to the very thing that brought her to her knees. She finds herself torn between a promising future and clinging to a devastating past. But that’s not the most worrisome problem on her hands.
She must convince more than just herself to let the past stay in the past, where it belongs, but on her journey to find closure and resolution, she does the exact opposite. An old wound caused by a heinous act becomes exposed for what it is. The truth is catastrophic and Jo is helpless, watching as the ruins of her fragile world endure more turmoil.
Can something conceived from tragedy and malice end well? Can something so completely poisoned conquer adversity? Jo is left to make a decision; accept the circumstances she finds herself in or fight with unwavering ferocity to restore what has been damaged. *Restore Me is the second book in the Wrecked series* Bio: USA Today Best Selling Author,J.L. Mac is twenty-six years old and currently resides in El Paso, Texas, where she enjoys living near her family. She was born and raised in Galveston, Texas, until
she married her husband in July of 2005. She has two young children and is married to a soldier in the United States Army. J.L. and her family have lived all over the United States and have enjoyed each new experience in each new place. J.L. admittedly has had a long and sordid love affair with the written word and has loved every minute of it. She drinks too many glasses of wine on occasion,and says way too many swear words to be considered “lady-like.” J.L. spends her free time reading, writing, and playing with her children.
Goodreads Page http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6654493.J_L_Mac Goodreads book link http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17405850-restore-me
Giveaway AUTHOR is giving away: 10 ebooks of Restore Me 3 signed paperbacks of Restore Me 3 ereader/tablet sleeves 3 $5 Amazon Gift Cards 1 Kindle Paperwhite
