BOOK BLITZ [Interview + Giveaway] Good Intentions by Pembroke Sinclair (The Road to Salvation #3)

Good Intentions 

by Pembroke Sinclair
(The Road to Salvation #3) 
Published by: Booktrope Publishing
Publication date: July 28th 2015
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Katie has been through Hell—literally—and discovered that it wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. In fact, she kind of enjoyed it. She got to be with Josh, found out about her past, and discovered who she wanted to be as a person. Katie didn’t care that her actions went against social norms. She was happy.
But things are changing—again. Wes has come back into her life, and that can only mean trouble. His presence threatens to unravel her new-found happiness. She can’t allow that. She won’t let him back in. Yet, Katie can’t push him away.
Thrown back into a state of confusion and uncertainty, Katie is once again forced to pick sides, and in the process, she may lose herself.

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Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

The basis of the Road to Salvation series is looking at what could happen when a teenage girl with no experience in love falls for the bad boy.  We have this notion in society that it is expected and accepted for women to fall for bad boys and be the catalyst to change them, but that’s a dangerous place for women to be.  What if the person doesn’t want to change?  Where does that leave her?  This book looks at what could happen in this type of relationship.

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

I learned that main characters don’t always have to be likable, but that doesn’t mean their story is any less important.

What books were your favorite as a youth and why?

My favorite books as a young adult were anything by Christopher Pike.  I read everything he wrote.  He was a huge inspiration in how I write my YA books now.

What’s your favorite sweet treat?

Oh, man!  I love anything that doesn’t have nuts in it.  But my favorite are cinnamon rolls, sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and brownies with ice cream and caramel sauce.  Mmmmmm.

What superpower would you love to have? Why?

I would love to be able to multiply myself.  There’s always so much to get done in a day, and I’m only one person, so having some help would be awesome!

You’ve just won a million dollars and you’re not allowed to save any of it. What do you spend it on?

I’m pretty boring, but I would pay off my cars and loans, then go on a vacation.  I’m not sure where I’d go, but Alaska and Iceland are high on my list to visit.

Favorite class in high school. Why?

I had two.  One was biology and the other was English.  They were my favorites because the teachers were awesome.  They were both incredibly encouraging and inspired me to love science and English.

How did you get involved with Booktrope?

A couple years ago, I used to do book tours on my blog.  One of the books happened to be a Booktrope book, and the book manager contacted me on Facebook to thank me for having the author on my blog.  We became friends.  At the time, I was working on the first book in the Road to Salvation series, The Appeal of Evil, and I asked the book manager to read it and give me her opinion.  She loved it and wanted to take it on.

Unfortunately, Booktrope was closed to submissions at the time.  However, because this book manager enjoyed it and wanted to represent it, Booktrope signed me, and the rest is history.

Tell us a little bit about your pseudonyms. How do you decide when to use it?

I use my pen name for my fiction and my real name for my nonfiction.  It’s actually quite a long story about why that happened, but I talk about it in a blog post, which you can find here:  http://pembrokesinclair.blogspot.com/2015/05/pen-names.html.

AUTHOR BIO:

Pembroke Sinclair is a literary jack of all trades, playing her hand at multiple genres. She has written an eclectic mix of fiction ranging from horror to sci-fi and even some westerns. Born in Rock Springs, Wyoming--the home of 56 nationalities--it is no wonder Pembroke ended up so creatively diverse. Her fascination with the notions of good and evil, demons and angels, and how the lines blur have inspired her writing. Pembroke lives in Laramie, Wyoming, with her husband, two spirited boys, a black lab named Ryder, and a rescue kitty named Alia, who happens to be the sweetest, most adorable kitty in the world! She cannot say no to dessert, orange soda, or cinnamon. She loves rats and tatts and rock and roll and wants to be an alien queen when she grows up.

You can learn more about Pembroke Sinclair by visiting her at http://pembrokesinclair.blogspot.com/

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COVER REVEAL! Dangerous Games by D’Ann Burrow (Secrets and Lies, #2)

Dangerous Games 

by D’Ann Burrow 

(Secrets and Lies, #2) 

Publication date: September 28th 2015

Genres: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Kennedy Thatcher is leaving Piney Bluff, Texas. In September, she wanted nothing more than to go back home to California, but things have changed.

Two weeks ago

Kennedy broke Rule #1. She used her gift to save a life. Her secret is no longer secret. Her mother once tried to warn her – using her ability was dangerous. No one could know what she could do. Now Kennedy is paying the price.

Two days ago

Tanner Shields helped Kennedy rescue a friend by skipping school and driving to New Orleans. His entire future is at risk when he’s benched during the most important football game of his life. He’s lost the chance for a scholarship and a way out of town.

Two hours ago

Kennedy made a bargain to save Tanner’s future. When she agrees to return home with her father, she’s forced to ask herself the most important question of all – who can she trust?

Goodreads

AUTHOR BIO:

I’m a fan of things that go bump in the night—at least I like to read and write about them. I write both Young Adult and New Adult romances, frequently with a paranormal twist. (No vampires or werewolves allowed…I see enough of them when I watch The Vampire Diaries, and can any other vampire really compare with Damon Salvatore?)

My preschool teachers began to worry a bit when I said that I wanted to be a witch when I grew up and my favorite color was black. Thankfully, my imagination still gets a good workout when I write about the secrets people keep. And don’t we all have a few secrets?

When I grow up, my dream is to work at the Haunted Mansion. Until then, watching Ghost Hunters will have to count as research.

I’m represented by Kathleen Rushall of Marshal Lyon Literary Agency.

Author Links:

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REVIEW TOUR [My Review + Trailer] They Call Me Alexandra Gastone by T.A. Maclagan

They Call Me Alexandra Gastone
by T.A. Maclagan

When your life is a lie, how do you know what’s real?

Alexandra Gastone has a simple plan: graduate high school, get into Princeton, work for the CIA, and serve her great nation.

She was told the plan back when her name was Milena Rokva, back before the real Alexandra and her family were killed in a car crash.

Milena was trained to be a sleeper agent by Perun, a clandestine organization from her true homeland of Olissa. There, Milena learned everything she needed to infiltrate the life of CIA analyst Albert Gastone, Alexandra’s grandfather, and the ranks of America’s top intelligence agency.

For seven years, “Alexandra” has been on standby and life’s been good. Grandpa Albert loves her, and her strategically chosen boyfriend, Grant, is amazing.

But things are about to change. Perun no longer needs her at the CIA in five years’ time. They need her active now.

Between her cover as a high school girl—juggling a homecoming dance, history reports, and an increasingly suspicious boyfriend—and her mission in this high-stakes spy game, the boundaries of her two lives are beginning to blur.

Will she stay true to the country she barely remembers, or has her loyalty shattered along with her identity?

Goodreads

Praise for They Call Me Alexandra Gastone:

“An intricate, debut spy thriller…readers will keep turning pages, and the surprise ending will have them anxiously awaiting a sequel.” —Booklist

“…the intersection of action, espionage, and drama makes for solid…entertainment: readers will gladly sit back and watch Alexandra navigate the obstacle course that comes with playing her role too well. It’s a strong debut for New Zealand author Maclagan.” —Publisher’s Weekly

“Death-threats, global takeover, double-agents, hidden files and a blown cover—by the time you get to the shocking conclusion of this cliff-hanger, you won’t know who to trust…” —Girls’ Life

“A solid debut that has both heart and smarts. Clever, solidly paced, and power-packed with a killer voice. They Call Me Alexandra Gastone is a blast to read. A perfect balance of mystery, romance, and betrayal. Bring on the sequel!” — Lindsay Cummings, author of The Murder Complex

“They Call Me Alexandra Gastone is a politically savvy, thrilling escapade of a girl who’s given up her whole life to serve her nation. But as her iron grip on her cover starts to loosen and her trust falters in the mission, the secrets unfold quick as gunfire. I couldn’t put They Call Me Alexandra Gastone down—Maclagan’s clever, never-what-they-seem characters and authentic tradecraft tidbits lured me in, while Alexandra’s resourcefulness against overwhelming odds kept me constantly guessing.”-Lindsay Smith, author of Sekret and Skandal

I really don't usually go for the whole spy novel thing. I usually stick to supernatural/ horror but after watching a few "spy" shows on TV I thought I would give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised. It was slow going at the beginning but as a reader you have to remember you need a little back story to set up the book. And once it got going I was looking forward to every time I could get back to it. 

It had some great characters and Alexandra the main character was my favorite. She was trained as a sleeper agent and sent to live in a CIA agents home posing as his granddaughter.  She became very fond of Albert and grew to love him and her boyfriend. All heck broke lose when she was activated. Lots of information came to light on both sides and she had to decide which side she was on. She struggled with the loyalty to her country and the love that she had for Albert and her friends. It has a great twist in the end that you will totally love. Once this book got going it was non stop. If you like YA spy/suspense books you will love this. And even if you don't usually read these like me, you might be pleasantly surprised as I was. 

5 Stars!! 

T.A. Maclagan is a Kansas girl by birth but now lives in the bush-clad hills of Wellington, New Zealand with her Kiwi husband, son and four pampered cats. With a bachelor’s degree in biology and a Ph.D. in anthropology, she’s studied poison dart frogs in the rainforests of Costa Rica, howler monkeys in Panama and the very exotic and always elusive American farmer. It was as she was writing her ‘just the facts’ dissertation that T.A. felt the call to pursue something more imaginative and discovered a passion for creative writing. They Call Me Alexandra Gastone is her first novel.

You can find her online at:

Website: www.tamaclagan.com 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tamaclagan

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tamaclagan

Tumblr: tamaclagan.tumblr.com/ 

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tamaclagan/ 

BLOG TOUR [Trailer & Excerpt + Giveaway] Hunter by Renee Donne

Hunter

by Renee Donne 

Release Date: 11/14/14

Anaiah Press

Summary from Goodreads:

Moving across the country isn’t Hunter’s ideal start to her Junior year of high school. She has no friends to hang out with, no beaches to lounge on, and she’s living just a few miles from the secluded hiking trail where her father died when she was a baby.

Living in Wyoming isn’t all bad, though, thanks to Logan, the handsome veterinary assistant at the animal clinic where she lands an after school job. And he seems just as interested in her as she is in him.

As Hunter begins to settle into her new home, she learns more about the circumstances surrounding her father’s tragic death, and it may not have been the accident everyone believes. Something dangerous lurks in the woods, and Hunter might be the next victim. 

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Chapter One

The world outside the beam of headlights didn’t exist. The relative silence inside the car did nothing to help the feeling of isolation. Of course, my dismal mood had a lot to do with the fact that we were moving clear across the country, away from the big city and crystal beaches, and smack dab into the middle of nothing. Out of the corner of my eye, I looked over at my mother. Her dark hair was up in a crude ponytail, between her glasses and the backlit glow from the dash, she looked older than I’d ever seen her look before. And tired. But then again, we’d been on the road for close to fifteen hours, and we were on the wrong side of midnight.

The road had narrowed to a barren two lanes forever ago. Maybe it just ended in the middle of nowhere. I pulled up Maps on my phone for probably the thousandth time to check that the 287 really did run right through town. My new home, Lander, Wyoming. Population: like negative twenty. Or it might as well be. They didn’t even have a Burger Shack.

But I didn’t get a say in the move. Mom decided for me when she lost her job. “We’re moving home to Grandpa Birchum’s ranch in Wyoming,” she’d said. No, home wasn’t a ranch I’d only visited a handful of times, and a grandfather who was more a stranger to me than our mailman. Home was the house we’d lived in since I was two, the bedroom where I’d slept almost every night for most of my sixteen years. I sighed and turned to look out the window.

Only the occasional farmhouse silhouetted against the night broke the monotony of dark landscape. In the distance, a flash of pale light streaked by much faster than we were going. It was gone before I could blink. I rubbed my eyes and looked again. Nothing but darkness. The world was black once again. It must have been my imagination, maybe a reflection of our headlights on something out in a field. Or maybe we’d just been in the car so long I was beginning to hallucinate out of sheer boredom.

“Listen, Hunter, I know you don’t want to move all the way out here. But sometimes we have to do things we don’t always want to do.” My mom even sounded exhausted. I crossed my arms over my chest and kept my gaze on the passing darkness. She continued, “I wish it could have been different, but this will be good for us, I think.”

I pursed my lips.

“Hey, do you remember that time we came out to visit Grandpa for Thanksgiving and it snowed? Remember how beautiful and peaceful it was? We didn’t get snow like that back in South Carolina, huh?” She didn’t seem to notice I wasn’t participating in the conversation.

I reached out, turned the radio on, and let my hand drop back into my lap with a dull thud. All that came through the speakers was soft static. Our usual stations wouldn’t work way out here. Before I could reach for the button to find a local station, my mother reached up and flipped the radio off.

“You know, since I’ll be working on Grandpa’s ranch, I won’t be gone all the time like I used to be. We’ll have a lot more time to spend together.”

Fabulous. It took moving halfway across the country to be able to spend time together… now—when I already had a life and was used to being on my own, more or less. I would really rather have been hanging out with my friends back home than blazing a trail to some ranch out west where I didn’t know anyone.

After a few minutes of silence, my mother sighed and reached for the radio button. She must have finally gotten the hint that I just wasn’t up for chatting. I lost myself in the scenery again as she tuned to some easy-listening station and settled back into driving.

Somewhere in the distance, lightning flashed, and I wrapped my sweater tighter around me, hoping it wouldn’t rain. It was creepy enough driving out here all by ourselves. Rain would absolutely not help. I stared down at the line separating our lane from the shoulder of the road, my eyes unfocused. Maybe I could bore myself to sleep.

Legs. A pair of cowboy boots under jean-clad legs flew into and then out of my line of sight as we passed someone standing on the side of the road. I shot up in my seat, turning so fast I pulled a muscle in my neck. “Ouch!” I rubbed my neck and scanned the road behind us, but darkness had closed in as soon as we passed.

“What’s wrong?” My mom didn’t sound even slightly worried.

“There was someone standing on the side of the road back there.” Did I sound as frantic as I thought I did?

“Oh honey, I’m sure it was just your imagination. It’s almost one in the morning. No person in their right mind would stand out on the highway in the middle of the night.” She sounded like she was reasoning with a small child. That tone always grated on my nerves, but I bit back any smart remarks that might have tried to escape. I knew what I saw. I didn’t need her to believe me to validate it. I crossed my arms over my chest and sat back in my seat. But now, I was worked up. I kept scanning the countryside, the shoulder of the road, the highway behind us for signs of life.

I was so busy looking around, I almost missed the woman who dashed out in front of our car, her flowing white dress billowing around her. My mother reacted in an instant, slamming on the brakes and turning the wheel toward the empty lane designated for oncoming traffic. I braced, cringed, and prayed we missed her. Time slowed; each second lasted for minutes as the car spun. Inertia pulled me toward my door, and I was helpless to resist the pull.

We were going to spin forever. This was it, how I would die. Years later, the car rocked to a stop. Everything was still, the car, the air. Everything except my heart, which was pounding a hole through my chest. Then my mother was on her knees in her seat, leaning over me, checking me over for injury.

“Hunter, are you hurt?” Her voice was high-pitched with fear and held the strain of anxiety.

Was I okay? I ran through a mental checklist of body parts, testing each one for pain or injury. “I’m okay. I’m not hurt. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. But there was a woman in the road.” She was already reaching for her door handle, clutching her phone in her other hand. I climbed out of the car, too. There was no body in the road, so at least we hadn’t hit her. My mother and I walked together to the back of the car, each scanning the surrounding area and the road behind us.

The road was empty, the countryside vacant. The woman was gone.

About the Author

Renee Donne is a native Floridian with a penchant for writing books with a western theme. In her head, she's a world traveler and an amateur chef. In real life, she's a hometown girl with an affinity for fine wine and good friends. Her favorite place to write is sitting on her veranda, overlooking the beach.

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BLOG TOUR [Excerpt] Healing Rain by Katy Newton Naas

Healing Rain

by Katy Newton Naas 

Release Date: 04/21/15

Clean Reads

222 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

Some people just naturally seem to have it all. Until five months ago, sixteen-year-old Rain Sawyer was one of those people. She had the perfect life, with a loving, wealthy family and a strong Christian faith, complete with popularity, sports, clubs, and good grades.

When one tragic incident shatters everything Rain thought she knew, she finds herself five hours away, starting over in a small town very different from her glamorous big-city life.

Armed with a different outlook on life – one that no longer includes her faith – she struggles to create a new identity for herself. Determined to keep her dark past as secret, she navigates through a new school year, a new town, and new relationships while trying to figure out who she wants to be. 

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View the trailer at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQuIpAf5G88

 Prologue

The smell of blood – sickeningly thick, fresh blood – filled my nostrils before I ever opened the door. I didn’t recognize that smell at first; I had never encountered that much blood in one place before. But I knew that the smell was off, somehow. The room

usually smelled just like my dad – a mixture of pine trees and cologne, a combination of aromas that I had never quite understood but they belonged to him. I knocked, but no one answered. Cautiously, I pushed open the door. “Dad?” I whispered as I entered.

That’s when I saw his legs. His signature khaki pants and brown loafers stuck out from behind his desk. He was on the ground and didn’t move when I said his name, didn’t even twitch as I opened the door and walked inside. “Dad!” I called again,

louder this time.

Oh no, he’s had a heart attack, I thought. I rushed over to the desk to see his face. But what I saw stopped me in my tracks like a deer in headlights.

I was frozen. My brain screamed at my body to move, to get away from the sight, but my feet were glued to the floor. My arms and legs suddenly felt like sandbags, and I collapsed.

This is not my dad. There was no face, no way to identify him for sure. But it was him. I knew the shape of his body, the clothes he wore. But the pool of blood under his neck took my breath away.

Who did this? Who did this to my father? I heard violent, blood-curdling screams, which I quickly realized were coming from me. I pleaded for help, still unable to get up off the ground, but it was useless. No one else was home.

Or was someone else in the house? My heart stopped beating as I considered this. Someone had broken in, had murdered my father in cold blood. Maybe I was next. Maybe my whole family was next. At that point, I almost wished for it. Death would be a

welcome release from the idea of losing my dad, the man I admired most in the world. My funny, loving, attentive, adoring father. My best friend. And now he was gone.

And that’s when I saw it. The gun. The murder weapon that was used to kill my father was still lying on the scene. I stared at it, too shocked to cry or get scared or have any of the other normal reactions I should have had.

My mind was racing but remained blank. I had to get up, had to call for help. Move, I commanded my feet. Get up and go call 9‑1‑1. Tell them there’s been a murder, get the police to catch whoever did this and make them pay.

And that’s when my brain began to truly process the scene. The gun – the murder weapon – was in my dad’s own hand. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And then the tears came, slowly at first before gushing out of my eyes until I couldn’t see straight anymore. I curled my legs up to my chest and hugged them, putting my head down on my knees as my shoulders shook uncontrollably. Oh, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I forced myself to look back at my dad one last time, just to make sure my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me. He couldn’t have done this. He couldn’t have.

I looked up toward the sky and asked one simple question: Why?

About the Author

From the time she was old enough to talk, Katy Newton Naas has been creating characters and telling stories. As a child, they sometimes got her into trouble. She knew she wanted to write books when she won a Young Author's competition as a second-grader for her short story titled, "The Grape Pie." (Don't let its tasty title fool you - it was actually a sad little tale!)

Katy devoured books as a child and young adult, always doing chores and odd jobs in order to make enough money to buy more of them. Though she continues to age, her true literature love is and has always been children's and young adult fiction.
​
Katy currently teaches middle school reading and high school English in southern Illinois, as well as children's church. She graduated from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale with a bachelor's degree in English Education and a master's degree in Reading and Language Studies. She enjoys her life out in the country with her husband, her sweet and rowdy young sons, and all her four-legged kids: Shakespeare, Poe, Morgi, Cappy, Ana, and Gray.

She loves creating both realistic and futuristic stories about kids, tweens, and teens, and feels so fortunate to get to work with them every day as a teacher.

Author Links:

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BLOG TOUR [My Review + Giveaway] Haunted Echoes by Emma Bloom

Haunted Echoes

by Emma Bloom 

Release Date: 07/20/15

Summary from Goodreads:

Freak!

Oddball!

Crazy!

Loser!

The world sees Abby as unsavory, making her feel isolated. But she most certainly isn’t alone. Everywhere she turns she hears disembodied voices, sees things move as if by unseen hands. Bullies constantly torment her, threatening what remains of her sanity. Her mother is too busy trying to fix her craziness to see what is truly happening.

Abby is tired of the world around her, and wants nothing more than to escape. When her life spirals out of control, she is invited to Hildebranch Academy, a school for spirited kids like her. Can Abby learn to live a normal life?

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Let me just tell you I HATE BULLIES. I am a teacher and cannot stand and will never stand for bullies. When I started this book my heart just broke for Abby. And along with the bullying she deals with spirits bombarding her all the time. She never gets a moment to just be normal. And her mom... well, she isn’t much of a help. Having to support herself and Abby since her dad died has taken all of her time and effort. Until one event happens and a doctor comes through for Abby and tells her about a special school where there are others just like her and that she wasn’t crazy. Abby learns how to deal with the voices and in the end the bullies get exactly what they deserved

I really enjoyed the story and Abby was my favorite. I was so happy when in the end, her life finally was coming together. The author did a great job helping the reader to experience what Abby was going through; the good and the bad. And when her mom finally stood up for her with the bullies I couldn’t help but smile. I highly recommend this book.

5 Stars

About the Author

Author Emma Bloom, that’s me! I was born in southern Illinois and am the youngest in my family. From an early age I found a great love for reading and dreamed of one day creating books that would capture the minds of young readers. I am an avid lover of all things paranormal, even though I admit I’m the first to duck and cover in a haunted house.

Author Links:

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