Blitz, Excerpt, & Giveaway: Because You Exist by Tiffany Truitt

Because You Exist (Light in the Dark Series, #1)

by Tiffany
Truitt

Release Date: 11/11/14

Limitless Publishing

Summary from Goodreads:

Life is good for LOGAN MIDDLETON.
He’s quarterback of the Shepherd High football team, nephew of the town’s most
successful lawyer, and boyfriend of Jenna Maples, a girl who has finally agreed
to take their relationship to the next level. But nothing good lasts forever.



With only a few minutes of last period English left between him and a weekend
alone with Jenna, Logan blacks out. When he awakens, he finds himself in a
future where Shepherd High lies in ruins, nothing is what it seems, and
everyone he loves is dead. Logan is a shifter. Chosen to travel through time,
it’s up to him to figure out how to stop the terrible events that claimed his
once perfect life.



Of course, all of this might be easier if he wasn’t paired with the one girl
who’d rather see him dead than help him, JOSEPHINE. A girl he tormented during
childhood. Strong-willed with biting wit, who lives in the shadows. Tough and
dark, Jo is Shepherd High’s most notorious outcast and Logan’s opposite in
every way. Together the two must overcome their many differences to figure out
why they’ve been selected for such an overwhelming task, and who selected them
in the first place.



Before it’s too late… 

Excerpt:

“How long did it take you to find me?” Carrie asked, pulling out one of her earplugs.
“What are you listening to?” I countered. I didn’t want to answer her question. I didn’t want to explain how it took me four hours to find someone who knew anything about Scary Carrie besides the fact that she loved hoodies and had zero friends. It involved one of those things where you call a friend who knows a friend who knows a friend whose mom also works at the public library. I used the JV football team as my slew of detectives. They were always eager to please me.
Carrie laughed quietly to herself, no doubt fully aware of the fact that I was avoiding her question. She turned her iPod so I could read the screen.
“Sia. Hmmm. Jenna likes her.”
“Wow,” she said shaking her head. “Why do you sound so surprised there, QB1? What were you expecting to see?”
Um. I don’t know. Maybe some screamo, emo band singing songs about death or how the world sucks, or maybe how conforming to nonconformity is rad. I mean if she was going to wear the hoodie and play out the loner routine, she might as well really commit to the performance. Soundtrack and all.
It was then I noticed how her hood was off her head. Her curly, red hair was pulled into a ponytail that lay in front of her shoulder. Her face was flushed. She almost looked like breathing wasn’t the most painful thing asked of her. She was almost...
Gross.
Don’t go there.
“Listen. Um. Can we talk?”
She laughed again. “Sort of late to ask me that, Mr. All-American. Since you know...we’re already talking.”
“Right.”
Carrie didn’t wait for me to continue. Instead, she pushed her cart of books further down the aisle and began to place the books on the self.
“So, I was thinking we could talk about...you know...that thing...that happened to us.”
“You want to talk about that thing that happened to us!” Carried exclaimed in a louder than needed voice, waggling her eyebrows.
I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. “Very funny,” I muttered.
“Oh, calm down, Die Hard. It’s not like any of your friends spend their Saturday afternoons at the public library.”
“Loving the nicknames,” I replied dryly.
She didn’t respond.
“So. Um. How long have you been working here at the library?”
Why was I so nervous?
I had talked to like a million girls before. Granted, never about the end of the world though.
“Don’t,” she warned.
“Don’t what?”
“Play the I want to get to know you act.”
“I wasn’t—”
“You were.”
Count to ten.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Why does she have to be such a bit...
She lifted a book from the cart, but I grabbed it out of her hand. “Enough.”

Buy Links:

Amazon│Barnes
& Noble│Limitless Publishing

About the Author

Tiffany Truitt received her MA in literature from Old Dominion University. Her debut Chosen Ones, first in the Lost Souls trilogy, is a searing look at what it means to be other and how we define humanity, as well as a celebration of the dangerously wonderful feeling of falling in love.

Author Links:

   

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Book Blitz Organized by:

Holiday Review: Glitterville's Handmade Christmas: A Glittered Guide for Whimsical Crafting!

Title: Glitterville's Handmade Christmas: A Glittered Guide for Whimsical Crafting!
Author: Stephen Brown
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: September 9th 2014
Source: Netgalley & Andrews McMeel Publishing

Description via Goodreads:

Have yourself a Glittery Little Christmas -- with twenty new whimsical, winter-wonderful projects from the Craft Elves at Glitterville!

Following the success of Glitterville's Handmade Halloween, Glitterville is back for the sparkliest holiday of all! Glitterville's Handmade Christmas is as bursting as a mantle-hung stocking with twenty new whimsical, winter-wonderful craft projects that will fill your home with sleighfuls of cheer. Hundreds of beautiful, easy-to-follow, step-by-step full-color photos and how-tos make the crafting fun and the results foolproof. From a Jolly Dolly Holly Wreath or a charming Glittery Village you can nestle into its own Sparkle Forest, to the frostiest Magic Snow and the jolliest pine-cone-bodied Glitter Gnome, "yule" find everything you need to make your home glisten and shine this holiday season!

★★★★

When I saw this book, I thought it would be a fun way for my girlfriend and I to do something Christmassy and fun together. This book is filled with adorable projects that I would love to have in my home. Sadly though, I think I'll leave it to her to make the designs from this book. I don't think I have the chops.

This book contains twenty crafts for the winter season that I absolutely love. There is so much glitter, y'all, and I love it. The instructions are step by step, and fully illustrated so that you can follow along with the pictures to ensure that your crafts are coming along nicely. There are also a lot of techniques used in this book. The author provides steps for these too, but as an un-crafty person, some of them, like using a sewing machine, just aren't in the cards. These designs are too cute but there are things like sculpting faces or painting them that, again as a non-crafty person, I don't think mine would come out quite the same as the author intended.

That all being said, my girlfriend is the artistic one between us and she didn't have a problem with any of the skills or techniques that the book called for.

The designs that I thought were the cutest (though it is super hard to pick) are the Glitzen the Reindeer Candy Box, Nutty as a Fruitcake Party Hat & Frosty Folly on a Swing.

This book gets four stars from me because the designs are glittery and adorable and fantastic, the steps are clear and fully illustrated, and the techniques are well explained, but it also comes with a warning: If you are non-artistic or new to crafting, proceed with caution. This seems more like an intermediate level book.

Thanks to Netgalley & Andrews McMeel Publishing for my copy in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Firebug by Lish McBride

Title: Firebug
Series: Firebug #1
Author: Lish McBride
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: September 23rd 2014
Source: Netgalley & Henry Holt and Co

Description via Goodreads:

Ava can start fires with her mind . . . but is it a blessing or a curse?

Ava is a firebug—she can start fires with her mind. Which would all be well and good if she weren't caught in a deadly contract with the Coterie, a magical mafia. She's one of their main hit men . . . and she doesn't like it one bit. Not least because her mother's death was ordered by Venus—who is now her boss.

When Venus asks Ava to kill a family friend, Ava rebels. She knows very well that you can't say no to the Coterie and expect to get away with it, though, so she and her friends hit the road, trying desperately to think of a way out of the mess they find themselves in. Preferably keeping the murder to a minimum.

★★★★

Firebug is a really solid series debut. I really enjoyed what this book had to offer, and though I had a few faults with it, I would definitely pick up the next book in the series to see what happens next.

Perhaps what I loved most about this book is the characters. There were some that I loved and some that I hated, and some that I'm still torn about, but they were each a distinct voice. Every character was in place for a reason, and despite the fact that there gets to be a fairly large cast of characters, it was easy to keep them straight because they were defined so differently. I know this is Ava's book, but for me her best friends/co-workers Ezra and Lock stole the show for me. Ezra is sexy and he knows it and has a great sense of humor, and Lock has cool powers and a sense of protectiveness that I find endearing. I look forward to seeing what happens with them in the future. And as much as I'm supposed to hate the "villain" of this story, Venus, I actually kind of love her. If I were a villain, she's who I'd look to for inspiration. Just sayin'.

Speaking of Venus, I also really liked the settings of this book, particularly Venus's nightclub. It's a front for her "organization" that sounds like the place I'd want to party if, you know, there wasn't the whole threat of imminent death thing going on. It kind of reminded me of the bar scenes in the Sookie Stackhouse series, which was a welcome comparison to me.

The "organization" that meets is the Coterie... Kind of like a mafia system for paranormals. I thought this was all very well explained and I liked the way it was laid out. I also liked the wide variety of gifts/breeds/whatever you wish to call them that were present. There are vampires, shifters, elementals, blood witches, nymphs, you name it, this book has it. It was well pulled off, diverse without being too much.

This book has a nice blend of humor (I laughed out loud more than once, admittedly), action, and fighting. The pacing is good and there's always something happening. And when there's not... Well, there's the tone that some stuff is going to start going down soon enough. I also totally didn't see the ending coming, so props for that.

The fighting, while overall well-written and rather plentiful in this book, is one of the drawbacks for me, at no fault to the author. I have a hard time visualizing fight scenes a lot of the times, so in books were fighting is heavy it sometimes gets hard for me to follow. That's just a personal quirk, and I'm sure you won't have a problem with it unless you feel the same about fight scenes as I do.

Firebug is a great start to a young adult fantasy/urban fantasy series that I think fans of magic and paranormal will enjoy. I look forward to book two in the series and recommend it to anyone who wants to read about a paranormal mafia and the bring down of a vampiric goddess tyrant.

Thanks to Netgalley & Henry Holt and Co. for my copy in exchange for my honest review.

Stacking the Shelves [69]

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where we get to show off the books we've won, bought, or otherwise received in the past week. If a book catches your eye, *click* the picture to go to the Goodreads page of that book.

Netgalley Invitation:
The Earl's Defiant Wallflower by Erica Ridley
Inside Out by Lia Riley



Freebies:

What Happens At Christmas by Victoria Alexander
Hansel, Part I by Ella James
Crossing the Line by Nicola Marsh



In My Inbox:
My Forever & Beautifully Broken by Kira Adams Thanks Kira!
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake Thank you A Belle's Tales!
Mistletoe in the City by Amber Daulton Thanks Amber!
Gears of Brass Anthology by Various Authors



In My Mailbox:
None!


-----

Be sure to enter to win a copy of Penthouse Variations on Oral, 18+ US/CAN here!

Book Blitz, Excerpt, and Giveaway: Gauge by Cara Nelson!

Gauge

by Cara Nelson 

Release Date: November 2014

New Adult/ 17+

Summary fron Goodreads:

Gauge Bronson has a simple rule:
never mix business with pleasure. As the lead singer and guitarist of
Provocative, he has his fair share of girls throwing themselves at him, but he
refuses to get involved with clingy groupies or women he works with. When
beautiful, beguiling Brynn joins the tour, though, he can’t deny there’s
something about her he finds irresistible. It’s been a long time since a woman
didn’t fawn over him. He’ll have to keep his appetite in check and keep her at
a distance if he’s going to remember that she’s off limits.



Aspiring journalist Brynn Morgan has been given the chance of a lifetime to
interview a rock band for a new magazine and launch her career. When she learns
her assignment is the band Provocative, whose music she’s never liked, any
disappointment is overshadowed by her excitement and determination to write a
killer story. Plus, the fact that she’s not a fan will make it that much easier
to keep things professional. One look at Gauge, though, and she feels an
instant attraction to the cocky, tattooed rocker. But despite the sparks flying
between them, she’s got a job to do.

As Brynn heads out on a world tour with the band and tries to get them to spill
their secrets, the sizzling chemistry between her and Gauge becomes harder and
harder to ignore…

Excerpt:

Pound. Pound. Pound. My feet were moving in perfect timing and rhythm on the treadmill. It felt good, but my nerves were still frayed. If the guys saw my concert review, they wouldn’t be very happy about it. That much was certain, and that made me very uncomfortable.
“Hey!”
I jumped and looked over. Of course, there was Gauge, and his eyes had a different kind of an expression in them. It was more like ‘I’d like to knock your ass right off that treadmill right now.’ Yikes.
“Hey,” I said less animatedly, removing my earbuds and placing my feet on the sides of the treadmill. “What’s going on?”
“That review,” Gauge said. “What the fuck was that about?”
“Hey, calm down,” I said. “I have a job to do, Gauge. You know that. What’s one average review matter to you, anyway?”
“Average. I started to trust you and warm up to you. This is bullshit.”
Now my voice was loud, too. There was one middle-aged woman riding a recumbent bike in the corner. I glanced at her, and could tell that she felt uncomfortable staying, but wanted to hear every word. I knew better than to indulge her in the opportunity.
“When you want to have an intelligent conversation in a more private place, I’ll be glad to discuss my highly accurate review with you.” So okay, I was fueling the fire a bit. I did have pride, however, and I didn’t like being attacked.
“Fine, let’s go,” he said quietly, crossing his arms and staring at me. Was it just me, or did his eyes turn black as he stared at me? They were like a mood ring and I’d never seen them quite so…alive.
Not happy to go but not willing to stay, I walked out with Gauge and went down the hallway, not saying a word. He had his tablet in hand and it was pulled up to the review. I hadn’t even had a chance to view it online yet, and this wasn’t how I planned on celebrating my review.
There was a series of doors along the corridor of the hallway. Finally, Gauge reached one that was unlocked and swung it open. It was a conference room. He walked in and I followed, taking a large gulp of air to calm my nerves and help me keep my backbone. I suspected that this wasn’t going to be pleasant at all.
“Why?” he asked, staring at me critically.
“I had a job to do and I gave a fair assessment,” I said.
“We sound like a joke. Is that what you think?”
“I think you guys are what your public wants to see. There’s nothing wrong with that. A lot of people do it.”
“Do I seem like I’m someone who wants to be like everyone else?”
“Not off the stage, but on…you give them what you want,” I said, folding my arms and looking at Gauge. We were standing there, each wanting the victory, words still controlled for now.
“Broody bad boy,” Gauge began. “Captivating good looks that they use to turn usually smart people into screaming nits…”
I’d loved that line. Gauge, not so much.
“Our music sounds forced, like we’re trying to overplay each other and change the world through overly complicate lyrics. What the fuck?”
“Sometimes things are more meaningful when they’re simplistic,” I said. Now I needed to be on the offensive and stand my ground.
“The show itself is pretty entertaining,” I offered.
“Thanks for that insincere comment,” Gauge said.
“What do you want me to do? I stand by my words, Gauge.”
“You know, this sucks, Brynn, really sucks,” Gauge finally blurted.
I looked at him and saw a vein pop out in his neck. It was throbbing, making me realize the full impact of my words on him.
“Look…”
He cut me off. “I have looked. It’s all here to see.” Gauge pointed to the tablet for emphasis.
“This is what I feel,” I said. I wish I could have sucked the words right back in my mouth again. They were honest but not really applied properly in this case.
He gave me the most scrutinizing glance I’d ever witnessed. His face scrunched up like he’d just tasted something vile, poisonous. “Now I know,” Gauge replied. He turned around and left me, slamming the door and leaving it rocking back and forth as he exited.
I stood there alone, feeling guilty, and whispered, “Yeah, this does suck, Gauge.”

Buy Links:

Amazon│Amazon
UK

About the Author

Cara Nelson is the author of the bestselling 'Men of
the Capital' series. Her books hit the Amazon store in the summer of 2014 and have
since been enjoyed by over 50,000 readers! She is known for her bold
characters, hilariously witty dialogue and touching romances.

Interested in a fun, light and breezy read? Her readers recommend you start
with 'The Billionaire's Hotline'.

Author Links:

  



GIVEAWAY:

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Book Blitz Organized by:

Mini Review: Dracula (Dover Graphic Novel Classics) by John Green

Title: Dracula (Dover Graphic Novel Classics)
Author: John Green, Bram Stoker
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: November 19th 2014
Source: Netgalley & Dover Publications

Description via Goodreads:

Readers will be spellbound by this graphic novel version of Bram Stoker's Dracula. The granddaddy of all the modern vampire stories, the immortal tale unfolds in a gripping journey into the past that recounts a Victorian-era struggle against ancient evil. Original illustrations add an extra allure to this easy-to-read edition.

This Dover Graphic Novel Classic offers readers ages 8 and up an exciting introduction to a time-honored tale. Expertly abridged and packed with dramatic illustrations, this version offers a streamlined narrative that retains all of the storytelling essentials.

★★

This book was so disappointing. I had high hopes for it. I love Dracula, in fact it's my favorite book. I also love graphic novels/adaptations. So I thought that bringing them both together was a recipe for success. Sadly, that wasn't the case at all.

What bothered me most was the artwork. I have absolutely no issue with a graphic novel being done in black and white, especially when it lends itself to the theme, which it does here with the classic horror story. My issue here was with wasted space- way, way too much of it. There was too much white empty space to the point it was distracting, and not to mention wasteful of paper.

And as for the story? Well, it left a lot to be desired. The panels were fragmented and disjointed. If I weren't so familiar with the plot of the classic story already, I feel that I would have been left frustrated and confused by what was happening. Don't read this unless you already know the story, would be my general advice.

It gets two stars because I love Dracula, but little else.

Thanks to Netgalley and Dover Publications for my copy in exchange for my honest review.

Book Blitz & Giveaway: Gears of Brass!

A world like ours, but filled with gears of brass, where the beating heart is fueled by steam and the simplest creation is a complex clockwork device.

Within this tome, you’ll find steampunk fairy tale re-tellings, as well as original stories that will send your gears turning.

Welcome to the steampunk realm, with eleven authors guiding your path.





Gears of Brass is a steampunk anthology published through Curiosity Quills. Within the pages, you’ll come across clockwork inventions and steampunk-ified fairy tale retellings. Eleven authors will guide you through worlds filled with airships, top hats, and corsets.

TEASERS

(each teaser is from a different tale in the anthology)

 

“Stealing a few steps backward, I reached for him and brushed my fingertips along his cheek. Static energy crept across my palm. It glowed blue and pulled like taffy, sticking to my fingertips, then snapping back to his skin. My hand jerked back so hard I hit myself in the chest. My eyes traipsed down his neck, his shoulders, finally stopping at his midsection. It was almost as though I could see inside him. “

 

“The guards struggled forward, but failed to move even an inch. Everyone was frozen in place, except the uninvited guest. The man floated toward Lord and Lady Miller. “You see, my lord, your wife made a deal with me that cannot be broken. Your daughter is mine.”

 

“I swiped my hand across my nose, wishing I could smell the green of the trees. Eyes burning, I swallowed hard, feeling the incision in my throat where they’d cut out my sinus enhancer. I would never be able to smell my exotic perfumes again.”

 

“Anthie watched the lissom liquid slip inside the carrying tube. I could see her inhaling the smell of the lubricating oil. So could Dr. Holmgren. From time to time he looked across at us through his reinforced goggles. They gave him the appearance of a baby owl, which was at odds with his general nastiness. I knew he was taking everything in. And I knew he had a special eye on Anthie.”

 

“In a hidden room deep inside the base of the great clock there was a click, a whir of gears, a valve opened, and the key chamber was flooded with air. Several minutes later, Bella awoke. The girl coughed, choked then screamed as blood began to once again flow through her veins: the first time in a millennium.”

 

“Something growled near to her right. The hairs along Redyn’s arms stood up and she held her breath. The sound came again, deep, guttural. Redyn turned her head, her lips parted, her gaze scanning the forest. They’d told her not to wander far from the cottage, but they couldn’t have expected her to play with that hideous excuse for a doll near everyone else.

A wolf crept out of the shadows, his gray fur standing on end like hers.”

 

“Three years ago, your father ruined my life. He terminated my family’s reputation.”

“Um…” Amethyst wished she could back up further. Wind pushed at her top hat, so she shoved it up higher to straighten it. “I don’t understand.”

“Now, I’ll ruin his life.”

 

BUY Links: Amazon

Add to Goodreads here

Learn more about the authors behind Gears of Brass over at Curiosity Quills Press

 

Don’t forget to enter the mega giveaway below!

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