Thursday, August 29, 2013

BLITZ: "Seduce" (by Missy Johnson) [Xpresso Books]

Yay, book blitzes are so much fun!

What is a blitz?  Well, it is essentially when a bunch of bloggers band together to get the word out about an upcoming book....like Seduce by Missy Johnson!


*note: this book appears to contain highly adult material.  Not sure what the balance of adult material is to the rest of plot development, but consider yourself warned.  That being said, I haven't read it yet!!  Read with discernment!*



BLURB
"Twenty-five year old Jack Falcon doesn’t do relationships, and why would he when he has woman after woman literally throwing themselves at him? For Jack, life is perfect just the way it is. He works hard and he plays harder.

Jack’s life changes when he meets Belle. Unlike any woman he’s ever met, there is something about this girl that makes him unable to keep away, something beyond the youthful beauty and her innocent spirit. Belle is strong and independent, a big leap from the usual brainless chicks he tends to attract.

Jack begins a dangerous game. He is determined to seduce Belle, and without realizing it, his feelings for her develop beyond anything he has ever felt before. Things become complicated when he learns there are good reasons as to why he should stay the hell away from her.

How can you stay away from someone you want to spend every waking minute with? And what do you do when you know eventually you will destroy that person?

As their feelings for each other deepen, Jack struggles with his own internal demons which threaten to rip them apart. Jack is torn between following his heart and listening to his head, which keeps telling him he is not good enough for her. She deserves better than what he can give her.

How far will he push before they both fall over the edge?"



Purchase:

And who is the lovely author who put this together?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Missy lives in a small town in Central Victoria with her husband, and her confused pets (a dog who think she’s a cat, a cat who thinks he’s a dog…you get the picture).

When she’s not writing, she can usually be found looking for something to read.

Author links:


EXCERPT
"Love f**** you up, which is why I didn’t do relationships. Relationships lead to love and being in love opens you up to the possibility of getting hurt. Love rips your chest open and puts your heart out there to be broken. It makes you vulnerable and puts you out on display until eventually it rips through you like an emotional hurricane and destroys you. I’ve seen what love can do to people."

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

COVER REVEAL - "Through Glass" (Rebecca Ethington) [Rockstar Books]




I am super excited to be able to bring to you the cover reveal for Rebecca Ethington’s THROUGH GLASS, which releases in less than a month on September 20th, 2013.

Both the book’s cover and description are awesome and more than a little bit chilling...good thing its being released soon!

...but if you can’t wait until September 20th for the release of THROUGH GLASS, the first book in her Imdalind series, KISS OF FIRE, is now available in eBook format for free at AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE and for the KOBO.

I love the cover, but what do you think? (You'll find the cover at the bottom of the post...you should read everything else too!!)  :)



BLURB

"Everyone remembers the day the sky went black. They remember the screams as the blackness ate those who were out in the open, those who surrounded themselves by light, and those who made noise.

Everyone remembers the voice from the sky, the way food disappeared.

Everyone remembers the day the sky went black, and the sun was wiped from the sky.

At least that’s what I hope. I hope that there is an ‘everyone’ that will remember.

I hope that I am not alone.

Because I remember.

I remember, because it was the day I became alone.

It was the day the house went silent, and the birds stopped singing. It was the day when everyone disappeared, everyone except the boy, the only person I have seen in two years.


The boy I talk to through the glass."

...ooooooo goose bumps!



ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rebecca Ethington has been telling stories since she was small. First, with writing crude scripts, and then on stage with years of theatrical performances. The Imdalind Series is her first stint into the world of literary writing.

Rebecca is a mother to two, and wife to her best friend of 14 years. She was born and raised in the mountains of Salt Lake City, and hasn’t found the desire to leave yet. Her days are spent writing, running, and enjoying life with her amazing family.







Okay okay....and here is the cover!!


Thursday, August 22, 2013

COVER REVEAL: "That One Summer" - C.J. Duggan (Xpresso Book Tours)

Alright, so the cover on this book looks super duper interesting, and that combined with the blurb tells me this is a good read!

BLURB
"Loving Chris Henderson would be wrong. Diabolically disastrous. I mean, what is there about him to love? He’s moody, bossy, brooding, a control freak, and that’s on a good day … but there was one achingly obvious fact that haunted my every thought, every minute of every day …
He sure could kiss.
As the countdown to the new millennium begins, there is one thing everyone agrees on: no one wants to be in Onslow for New Year’s Eve.
So that can only mean one thing: road trip!
No longer the mousey, invisible, shy girl from years ago, Tammy Maskala is finally making up for all those lost summers. A new year with new friends, which astoundingly includes the bossy boy behind the bar, Chris Henderson.
She likes her new friends (at least most of them), so why does she secretly feel so out of place?
After chickening out on the trip, a last-minute change of heart sees Tammy racing to the Onslow Hotel, fearing she’s missed her chance for a ride. The last thing she expected to meet was a less-than-happy Onslow Boy leaning against his black panel van.
Now the countdown begins to reach the others at Point Shank before the party is over and the new year has begun. Alone in a car with only the infuriating Chris Henderson, Tammy can’t help but feel this is a disastrous start to what could have been a great adventure. But when the awkward road trip takes an unexpected turn, Tammy soon discovers that the way her traitorous heart feels about Chris is the biggest disaster of all.

Fogged up windows, moonlight swimming, bad karaoke and unearthed secrets; after this one summer nothing will ever be the same again."

Oooooo, who isn't intrigued?  I'm intrigued!!  : )
The author is a lady named C.J. Duggan - picture here -> 
....and here are applicable links (be sure to scroll all the way down...you want to see the cover, right??!!!)

RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY

WEB

AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE

iTUNES

GOODREADS

FACEBOOK

Like C.j Duggan – The Boys of Summer fan page.


duh duh duh duh..........THE COVER (neat, huh? just look at the volumes they speak with their eyes!):



Sunday, August 18, 2013

"Dominant Species Volume One: Natural Selection" - David Coy (Virtual Book Tours Cafe Blog Tour)


BLURB

"Imagine an alien science where tissue, bone, nerves, and muscle are used like we use iron, wood, rubber and wire. Now imagine yourself held captive with hundreds of others by beings who wield this grisly technology as easily as we do hammer and saw; beings whose lineage can be traced through the morally hollow, parasitic branches of nature's evolutionary tree. What would you do to survive? Would you re-draw the boundaries of your own morality to stay alive? What would you compromise? How might you escape? This is the context of NaturalSelection, the first of three volumes of the Dominant Species series of books. What distinguishes Dominant Species from other stories in its genre is its visceral imagery and more importantly, its rich subtext. The story can appeal to those fascinated and drawn to horror and strong drama, and at the same time will fascinate those who can tune into its broader message about our relationship to the natural world. Taken as a whole, the series is a puzzle linked together with genetic threads that unravel like a double helix. Viewers intrigued by mystery and dramatic puzzles will find a fascinating playground for guesswork, thought and discussion.

The first volume sets the stage for the ongoing conflict between Homo sapiens and a visiting alien race. Like all successful serial drama, the story poses many questions to be answered, each one carefully laced into a central theme about human survival, the action driven by antagonists both alien and human.


The story is character driven, each character fully developed and rich, providing the colorful characterization required by serial drama. Central to the first volume is teacher Phil Lynch.

The story starts as a peaceful visit to his weekend getaway in the Sierra foothills. Hours later he finds himself living an unthinkable nightmare. Paralyzed and taken prisoner, his body is used as an unwilling host in a bizarre and grisly series of parasitic infections. On board the alien vessel within which he is imprisoned are more than a hundred other humans – and like Phil – just as confused and terrified – their bodies subject to unfathomable violence for a dark and malevolent purpose. As the terrible truth about the alien visitation unfolds, a small group of captives must first understand – and then fight for escape from the terror that holds them captive. That struggle will stretch razor-thin the limits of the human will to survive.

There is strong language in the story because humans under stress often use such language. There are no puppy love or adolescent motifs of intimacy in the story. Instead there are very many mature, psychosexual themes that run through all three books. Some are represented symbolically, others described explicitly. There is violence. The story is not PG-13.
The story is a human drama that will be appreciated by most adult demographics. It is strong, unflinching theater played through characters who repulse us, fascinate us, and often, appeal to our better natures; ones who continually remind us of our human strengths—and weaknesses."


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
"I’ve had a lifetime love of science fiction and horror. I suspect it started in puberty since most obsessions do. My passion for it was so strong as a penniless youth, I resorted to boosting copies of my favorite authors’ works off the shelves of the book section of the local Federal’s department store. My friends and I soon had a collection of great sci-fi at discounted prices to read and read again. But I’m not wholly without conscience about those shifty activities as a scrawny youth. I’ll shake my head from side to side and mumble “Crap, that was stupid” once ever decade or so. But that’s about it.
I consider myself a sci-fi film Nazi. I’m sure I’ve seen every sci-fi movie ever made – certainly the vast majority of them. I can’t pass up even the worst of it. All those god-awful, black and white B flicks of the 40’s onward, with their outrageous and ham-handed themes of science vs. ignorance and good vs. evil, wrapped in whatever pseudo-scientific covering was popular that year, transfixed me, entertained me, and like the works pinched then stashed in my friend’s basement, made me think. When pivotal films like “Alien” and John Carpenter’s “The Thing” elevated sci-fi film up out of the gutter with all those glorious and expensive production values, I was im himmel.
I attended Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Like so many of my peers at the time, I left Wayne

 State with an utterly useless BA with a major in psychology. I’ve cleaned tractor cranes for money and 

worked as a steel mill laborer when the last one of those plants in Michigan still existed. I’ve worked as a 

 night janitor. I moved to southern California when I was 30 years old and sold cars for a while. Shortly 

thereafter I worked for what used to be called the Hughes Aircraft Company as an in-house photographer.

 For the last 10 years of my work-a-day life I worked as a senior project manager for Computer Sciences 

Corporation. I now live in Oregon where I started and recently sold a fitness gym. I relate this choppy 

history to drive home my favorite maxim relating to life and the living of it: you never know where in the f***

you’ll end up. You’ll find my books laced through with that persistent theme. I hope you find the journey of 

reading them, should you attempt it, if not straight and linear, at least interesting."




REVIEW
First, I apologize about the wonky formatting above - it didn't cooperate with me.  :)

Humans are the top of the biological totem pole.  We are taught this in science classes from elementary school on.  We are the dominant species...all food chains eventually lead to us (or at least the big, important ones).  We dominate the planet and determine its course and future.  We are regaled with science fiction stories that tell us of other species, but we generally eventually dominate them to.  But what if we encounter an alien species, or they encounter us, against which we have no defense other than pure, dumb luck?

Friday, August 2, 2013

Updates!!

Hello all, dear readers!

As you may have noticed, there have been some recent changes on various pages of this, my little blog.  First, I was determined to review absolutely anything and everything I came across...books, products, movies, conversations, etc.  :)

Now, I've noticed that my review posts are super heavily tilted in favor of book reviews (seriously, I think there is one movie review that I mainly did out of consternation about things in Alaska - my beloved home state - and that doesn't really count and only a few product reviews).

Am I reading?  Am I reviewing?  Am I chatting with an author?
That being said, this, my little blog, is henceforth a book blog!  I'll post about anything book related - reviews, book blitzes, upcoming reviews, discussions with other book bloggers, etc.  Of course, there may be a few product and movie reviews interjected here and there, but from now on I'm focusing on books.  :)  Focus is a good thing.

Now excuse me as I go work on the next book that will show up here...it looks fun!!    :)

~Miss Nora

P.S.  You are loved!