"To find out what a story's really about,' the Librarian said,

'you don't ask the writer. You ask the reader."


- SNOW & ROSE by Emily Winfield Martin


Showing posts with label Xpresso Book Tours. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Xpresso Book Tours. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Blog Tour: Deeper We Fall by Chelsea M. Cameron (Excerpt)



Fall and Rise #1
by Chelsea M. Cameron
Release date: January 24th, 2013
Published by: DRC Publishing
Genre: New Adult - Contemporary 

SUMMARY

Two years after her best friend was involved in a car accident that caused a traumatic brain injury, Lottie Anders is ready to start her freshman year of college. Ready to move on. Ready to start forgetting the night that ripped her life apart.

Her plans come to a screeching halt when not one, but both brothers responsible for the accident end up back in her life again.

Zack is cruel, selfish and constantly rubbing what happened to her friend in Lottie's face. 

Zan is different. He listens to her awkward ramblings. He loves "To Kill a Mockingbird" as much as she does, and his dark eyes are irresistible. His words are few and far between, but when he does speak, she can't help but listen. 

The trouble is, Zan was the driver in the accident, and now Lottie's discovered he lied to her about what happened that night. Now she must decide if trusting him again will lead to real forgiveness, or deeper heartache.

Purchase from: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

EXCERPT

“Charlotte.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not sure which of the thousand things you’ve done wrong you’re sorry for now and I doubt you know either, in this state.”
The elevator opened on his floor and I got his arm over my shoulder again as we struggled our way to his door.
“Where’s your card?” I said.
He opened his eyes for only a second. “What?”
I shoved him against the door and started the lovely task of searching his pockets. Of course he couldn’t be the kind of person who wore their card on a lanyard. I didn’t either, but I always kept my card in my back left pocket.
He watched me while I searched, finding it in his back pocket. I tried really hard not to think about where my hands were going, and that only a little bit of fabric separated my hand from his skin and other things.
I moved him to lean against the wall and slid the key card into the door before opening it as slowly as I could. There was enough light from the hallway to see that his roommate’s bed was empty and I breathed a sigh of relief as I turned the light on.
One side of the room was a disaster. Clothes and cans and random crap everywhere. The other side was orderly and sparse. I figured that was the Zan side. I got him in and sort of shoved so he fell onto the bed, banging his head on the wall.
“Ow,” he moaned.
“Shut up,” I hissed. My brother and Simon were on the other side of that wall, and they were the absolute last people I wanted to find out about this little adventure.
“‘We are the mirror as well as the face in it,” he muttered, opening and closing his eyes. “‘We are tasting the taste this minute of eternity.’” I swung his feet up on the bed and started yanking his shoes off. “‘We are pain and what cures pain, both. We are the sweet cold water and the jar that pours.’”
How the hell he was with it enough to quote poetry but barely able to walk, was beyond me.
“Charlotte?”
“What?” I finally jimmied his shoes off and chucked them on the floor. I guessed it didn’t matter if he slept in his clothes, because I sure as hell wasn’t undressing him.
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.” He tried to sit up, but I shoved him back down. “Just shut up and stay here. I’m going to get you some water.”
He nodded and stayed put. I peered out into the hallway and dashed as fast as I could to the bathroom and back with a glass I’d found on his desk. I didn’t really care if it was dirty or not. He wouldn’t know the difference.
Zan was on his side when I came back.
“Here,” I said, shoving the water at him. He took it, but his hand was wobbly, so I held it for him as he sipped.
There, I’d done something good for my karma. That was it, I was done.
“Charlotte?”
“WHAT?!” I snapped before I realized how loud my voice was. Shit. I clapped my hand over my mouth, as if I’d screamed a curse word in church.
“I’m Boo Radley.”
“You’re what?” He sort of slurred it, so I wasn’t absolutely sure that was what he said. What did Boo Radley have to do with anything?
“I’m Boo Radley.” His eyes closed and he went limp on the bed.



by Chelsea M. Cameron
Release date: April 20th, 2013

SUMMARY

Katie Hallman is done with douchebags. Done with guys who treat her like crap and leave her broken. But then Stryker Grant is there anyway. With his numerous piercings and bleached hair, he’s the polar opposite of all of her past relationships, which makes him the perfect candidate.

At first, Katie just sees him as a physical escape from her previous rocky relationship, and Stryker doesn’t seem to mind just being a distraction from Katie’s problems. But soon he’s getting under her skin, peeling back layers she’d rather keep covered. She tries to make it clear that she doesn’t want a relationship, but keeps breaking her own rules.

Then a tragedy sends Katie into the only arms who are there to catch her, and she’ll realize that she needs him more than she ever thought possible. But is she ready to let herself trust another guy with her already-battered heart? Or will she push him away to protect herself from getting hurt again?


 ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Chelsea M. Cameron

Chelsea M. Cameron is a YA/NA New York Times and USA Today Best-Selling author from Maine. Lover of things random and ridiculous, Jane Austen/Charlotte and Emily Bronte Fangirl, red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker, vegetarian, former cheerleader and world's worst video gamer. When not writing, she enjoys watching infomercials, singing in the car and tweeting. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just as weird as she is. 



A book tour for: 
http://www.xpressobooktours.com/

Monday, April 1, 2013

Book Blitz: HELL'S HOLLOW by Summer Stone (Excerpt and Giveaway)



by Summer Stone
Release date: March 14th, 2013
Published by: Self-published
Genre: Young Adult - Paranormal

SUMMARY

When Seraphina was younger, she healed her best friend's injured hand. Terrified by the inexplicable cure, the girl shunned her. From that day on, Seraphina found herself without friends, a freak and an oddity. And so she obeyed her mother’s rule to refrain from using her innate ability, heeded her mother's warning that its use could land her in the local mental health facility alongside her aunt and grandmother.

But when sixteen-year-old Seraphina finds a mysterious, wounded boy hiding in the hollow in the woods behind her house, she can't hold out against the overpowering urge to help him. She is drawn to him each night, and as they come to know one another, their irresistible attraction blooms.

She longs to uncover his secrets — where he comes from and why he's hiding and how he came to be so wounded — and to share her own, though she knows it's forbidden. And while her healing touch seems to be helping him, it's hurting her. When the symptoms of psychosis — experienced by the women in her bloodline who used their powers — begin to plague Seraphina, she is faced with the unbearable choice of saving her sanity or the boy she’s come to love.

_________________________________________

EXCERPT

As I tried to hug Gran, she jumped to the ground and twirled around. “Did anybody follow you in here?” She closed the door and pushed her chair up behind it. “They’ll be coming for me,” she whispered, sounding scared and certain.
“Mother,” my mom cooed. “No one is coming for you. Come sit down and tell me why MK is passed out like this in the middle of the day.” I didn’t know how she stayed calm with Gran acting so crazy. The room felt hot and too small. Besides the two beds and Gran’s chair, there was only room for the dresser with the TV and radio on top and a decaying brown recliner.
This,” Gran explained, “is what happens when you follow along. Pills go in, MK goes down. They’re trying to control us. Are you sure there wasn’t anyone behind you? They’ll be after me again. It’s that Johnny Rocket fella. He’s a bruiser. Did you see him in the hall?” She peeked behind the curtain. “I don’t know if I can take him down on my own. Why do you leave me with him when you know he wants to axe me?”
“Mother, try to focus. What about your pills?” Mom asked her.
Gran pointed at MK with a look that said something along the lines of she took them and I had nothing to do with it.
“Oh, Mother!” Mom stood up and turned to me. “I’m going to talk to the nurses. Looks like MK has been getting both of their doses again.” She glared at Gran. “Keep an eye on her, Seraphina.”
“An eye? An eye?” Gran called out, backing up against the wall as if I was about to peg her with an eyeball. “You keep your eyes to yourself, young lady. I’ve got two of my own and I don’t need any more thank you very much. I once knew a man in San Francisco who could take his eyeball out at will. Made a horrible sucking noise when he smushed it back in, like the sound of the bathtub emptying. Dangerous places bathtubs. I don’t fancy them myself. Fancy is as fancy does, so don’t go getting up on your high horse. Your horse, your horse, of course, of course.”
“It’s okay, Gran,” I promised, trying to unknot my stomach muscles and calm her at the same time. “My eyes are staying in my head.”
“Damn straight they are,” she mumbled, squinting her own at me like she didn’t trust me. “Straight as an arrow on a hot tin roof.” She pushed the chair under the doorknob.
I sat on her bed. “Can I ask you something?” It seemed hopeless given how out of it she was, but I had to at least try, besides maybe it would bring her around.
“Depends. Who told you to ask?”
“Just me. I was wondering about your sensitivity.”
“We don’t talk about that,” Gran parroted. “No siree, your mom says we don’t talk about that. Bad things could happen. We could bring down the apocalypse like the horsemen in colors of finery of the finest fine. Just like pine. Do you smell peppermint? Is it Christmastime?”
“No, Gran. There’s no peppermint. Listen, Mom’s out with the nurses,” I said. “She won’t talk about it with me, the sensitivity stuff. Come on, Gran, please?” Hope was trickling away. Some days she seemed so with it, so almost normal, and then some days were like this, where she couldn’t string together a complete thought.
“All right, quick then, what do you need to know?” She sat down practically on top of me, her head swiveling toward the door and back to the window.
“Is there a way to … you know, keep it from making you… I mean, is there some way to control it, to protect myself? Like, is it possible to… give in to it and still stay sane?” I couldn’t believe I’d actually thought it, much less said it out loud.
“Lordy be, if I’d figured that out I wouldn’t be in this joint. But there’s gotta be a way. They’re keeping it from us so we all end up in here with the crazies. It’s mind control. That’s why I won’t let them cut my hair. It’s a terrible waste. My locks protect me from those radio waves Johnny Rocket keeps sending. He thinks he can make me do whatever he damn well pleases. But I’m on to him. Don’t you end up in this trap, you hear me? It’s beastly. Of mice and men. Scattered on the shores like so much garbage. You figure out how to block those radio signals, then come back and spring us. All right?”
I could almost feel the wildness of her thoughts, like a storm wind, reckless and raging. 

_________________________________________

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Summer Stone

Summer Stone loves immersing herself in the worlds that live inside her mind. When she's in the real world, she likes kicking back on the beach, exploring new places, reading (of course) and eating rich, gooey chocolate. She loves spending time with her husband and kids, which she does as much as she can. Summer writes young adult and women's fiction, both supernatural and contemporary, realistic and looks forward to sharing her novels with you!


_________________________________________

GIVEAWAY



A Book Blitz for:
http://www.xpressobooktours.com/

Monday, January 28, 2013

Clayton Falls Blog Tour: Derailed by Alyssa Rose Ivy (Review & Giveaway)


Good morning! I am so excited to be on the Clayton Falls Blog Tour today!
Please be sure to check out the blog tour schedule on Xpresso Tours from more reviews and info! 


Clayton Falls #1
by Alyssa Rose Ivy
Release date: September 23rd, 2012
Published by: CreateSpace
Genre: New Adult - Romance 
Format read: eBook


SUMMARY

When you're lost, sometimes the only place you can go is home.

Broken over the death of her fiancé, Molly leaves law school to return to her childhood home in North Carolina. Expecting to lay low until she can figure out what else to do with her life, she finds herself in the arms of her high school sweetheart, the boy who represents everything from the past she tried to leave behind.

Looking for an escape, she instead finds a way back to the girl she almost forgot existed and a future she never dreamed possible.





BOOK TRAILER - Derailed by Alyssa Rose Ivy





MY REVIEW

Derailed is a story about a girl who is trying to mend her broken heart by learning how to forgive, not only others but herself too. A journey to trust in herself and that it is okay to give love a second chance.

Molly has hit rock bottom - she's been going through the motions for a long time and she's finally realized that she can no longer go on this way. She drops out of law school, and having no other place to go, she decides to go back to her hometown for a while to hopefully bury her feelings and figure out what she's going to do with the rest of her life. 
But before she even gets to Clayton Falls, we already know, it is definitely not going to be easy hiding out in a small town where everybody knows everyone's business before anyone else does. Especially when no one knows why she's left school and the true story as to what happened to her fiance. 
Throw in a bad break-up with her childhood sweetheart and other ghosts from her past - Molly's need to keep a low profile and out of the town's gossip is impossible to fathom. 

Molly is heartbroken in so many ways - I found it hard to relate to her, she blamed herself for everything that had happened to her fiance and her father. And I felt that she completely over-reacted to what happened with her ex-sweetheart; but she was 17 when that happened, and I have to admit, at that age, I know I wasn't one to be so reasonable or easily to forgave people over things that meant the world to me... but I was able to sympathize and feel her sadness and guilt. She wanted to be independent, protect herself from everyone - but in her situation, I knew that it wouldn't last that long. Especially after her first run-in with her old beau, Ben. Some feelings run deeper than you realize and it takes a strong, loving person to help you realize that. 

Some would say that there is a love-triangle that happens in this story, and I am going to disagree. Yes, there's another guy who is introduced and tries to force himself into Molly's life - and I have to say, he was so arrogant and pompous, I truly disliked him from the start. But, and I won't be spoiling anything by saying this because right from the start there is no denying that this guy gives no competition with what Molly is going through nor her "non-relationship" Ben. 

There are some secondary characters that are quite memorable, fun and at times hilarious - I adored Ronny the most! There's always that one person in the group that is always happy and their happiness is so contagious that you can't help but smile when you're around them. Kelly, Molly's childhood best friend - I really loved their relationship; it's one of those where even if you don't talk to each other for months on end, you always pick up right where you left off without a second thought. 

 Alyssa Rose Ivy has written a wonderful contemporary story that I highly recommend to all who love romance, second chances and swoon-worthy guys...


Book 2, Veer by Alyssa Rose Ivy
Release date: November 29th, 2012

SUMMARY
Only when you let go can you learn to live.

Between the death of her mother and pushing through law school without her best friend, it's been a tough year for Becca. Needing a break from Boston, she moves to a tiny coastal North Carolina town for a relaxing summer. After bumping heads repeatedly with a local cop, she realizes her summer will be anything but quiet.

Three years after a career ending injury ruins his chance to play Major League Baseball, Gavin has a distrust of northerners and lately girls in general. He wants nothing to do with a girl who is only in town for the summer.

When the two give in to their impossible attraction, they realize that they may just have found the key to freeing themselves from the ghosts of their pasts.



Book 3, Wrecked by Alyssa Rose Ivy
Release date: 2013

SUMMARY
When your past catches up, it's time to stop running.

Jake Mathews messed up yet again— but this time his misstep lands him in the hospital. He wakes up to find the girl of his dreams and the memory of having his deepest secret revealed.

Emily Taylor needs a break. She's been working double shifts as a nurse just to pay the bills while trying to heal a broken heart. The last thing she needs is to fall for a patient. 

Strapped with community service and the knowledge that he's disappointed everyone in his life, Jake is determined not to let Emily slip through his fingers. Emily wants Jake, but can she really open herself up to heartache again?





ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Alyssa Rose Ivy

Alyssa Rose Ivy is a Young Adult and New Adult author who loves to weave stories with romance and a southern setting. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. 
After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write.
She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children, and she can usually be found with a cup of coffee in her hand.

Blog, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter


GIVEAWAY
- Must be 18 years old and older to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A blog tour and review for:
http://www.xpressobooktours.com

Friday, December 21, 2012

Cover Reveal: WRECKED (Clayton Falls #3) by Alyssa Rose Ivy


(Clayton Falls #3)
by Alyssa Rose Ivy 
Expected release date: Spring/Summer 2013
Published by: Self-published 
Cover designed by: Once Upon a Time Covers 
Genre: New Adult Romance

SUMMARY 

When your past catches up, it's time to stop running.

Jake Mathews messed up yet again— but this time his misstep lands him in the hospital. He wakes up to find the girl of his dreams and the memory of having his deepest secret revealed.

Emily Taylor needs a break. She's been working double shifts as a nurse just to pay the bills while trying to heal a broken heart. The last thing she needs is to fall for a patient. 

Strapped with community service and the knowledge that he's disappointed everyone in his life, Jake is determined not to let Emily slip through his fingers. 

Emily wants Jake, but can she really open herself up to heartache again?








MY THOUGHTS

Looks like a good romance novel to get into.
I am really looking forward to reading this one too! 



The first book to the Clayton Falls Series was redone too


by Alyssa Rose Ivy

SUMMARY 

When you're lost, 
sometimes the only place you can go is home.

Broken over the death of her fiancé, Molly leaves law school to return to her childhood home in North Carolina. Expecting to lay low until she can figure out what else to do with her life, she finds herself in the arms of her high school sweetheart, the boy who represents everything from the past she tried to leave behind.

Looking for an escape, she instead finds a way back to the girl she almost forgot existed and a future she never dreamed possible.



And, the second book to the Clayton Falls Series...

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

SUMMARY 

Only when you let go can you learn to live.

Between the death of her mother and pushing through law school without her best friend, it's been a tough year for Becca. Needing a break from Boston, she moves to a tiny coastal North Carolina town for a relaxing summer. After bumping heads repeatedly with a local cop, she realizes her summer will be anything but quiet.

Three years after a career ending injury ruins his chance to play Major League Baseball, Gavin has a distrust of northerners and lately girls in general. He wants nothing to do with a girl who is only in town for the summer.

When the two give in to their impossible attraction, they realize that they may just have found the key to freeing themselves from the ghosts of their pasts.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Alyssa Rose Ivy

Alyssa Rose Ivy is a Young Adult and New Adult author who loves to weave stories with romance and a southern setting. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children, and she can usually be found with a cup of coffee in her hand.



Promo post for: 
http://www.xpressobooktours.com/


Monday, December 3, 2012

Cover Reveal: DEEPER WE FALL by Chelsea M. Cameron


by Chelsea M. Cameron
Expected release date: January 12th, 2013
Published by: Self-published 
Cover design by: Okay Creations 
Genre: New Adult - Contemporary 


SUMMARY

Two years after her best friend was involved in a car accident that caused a traumatic brain injury, Lottie Anders is ready to start her freshman year of college. Ready to move on. Ready to start forgetting the night that ripped her life apart. 

Her plans come to a screeching halt when not one, but both brothers responsible for the accident end up back in her life again. 

Zack is cruel, selfish and constantly rubbing what happened to her friend in Lottie's face. 

Zan is different. He listens to her awkward ramblings. He loves "To Kill a Mockingbird" as much as she does, and his dark eyes are irresistible. His words are few and far between, but when he does speak, she can't help but listen. 

The trouble is, Zan was the driver in the accident, and now Lottie's discovered he lied to her about what happened that night. Now she must decide if trusting him again will lead to real forgiveness, or deeper heartache. 


MY THOUGHTS

My mind keeps going back to Zan...
why would he lie about what happened that night?

The cover is so mysterious and alluring...

Poor Lottie. I am really looking forward to finding out what happened and if she will kick Zack's butt for being mean and will she forgive Zan?...
I have a feeling that I will ;)

What do you think??? 


ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Chelsea M. Cameron

Chelsea M. Cameron is a YA/NA New York Times and USA Today Best-Selling author from Maine. Lover of thins random and ridiculous, Jane Austen/Charlotte and Emily Bronte fangirl, red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker, vegetarian, former cheerleader and world's worst video gamer. 
When not writing, she enjoys watching infomercials, singing in the car and tweeting. 
She has a degree in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just as weird as she is. 


Cover reveal promo for: 

 
Imagination Designs
Images by LabyrinthofDreams