Book Blitz: When Stars Die by Amber Skye Forbes

When Stars Die
by Amber Forbes
Release Date: 10/22/13

Summary from Goodreads:
Amelia Gareth's brother is a witch and the only way to save her family from the taint in his blood is to become a professed nun at Cathedral Reims. However, in order to become professed, she must endure trials that all nuns must face.

Surviving these trials is not easy, especially for Amelia, who is being stalked by shadowy beings only she can see. They're searching for people they can physically touch, because only those they can touch can see them. Amelia soon learns why she is being stalked when she accidentally harms her best friend with fire during the third trial. Fire is a witch's signature. The shadows are after witches.

Now Amelia must decide what to do: should she continue on her path to profession knowing there is no redemption, or should she give up on her dream and turn away from Cathedral Reims in order to stop the shadows who plan to destroy everything she loves?

Available from:

 

About the Author

Amber Skye Forbes is a dancing writer who prefers pointe shoes over street shoes, leotards over skirts, and ballet buns over hairstyles. She loves striped tights and bows and will edit your face with a Sharpie if she doesn't like your attitude. She lives in Augusta, Georgia where she writes dark fiction that will one day put her in a psychiatric ward...again. But she doesn't care because her cat is a super hero who will break her out.

Author Links:
   

***GIVEAWAY***

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Book Blitz Organized by:

Cover Reveal: Camp Payback by J.K.Rock

The sequel to Camp Kiss and Camp Boyfriend is coming my friends!! I'm so excited I can barely see straight. Both those books are some of my all-time favorites, so this new book is a HUGE deal! I randomly got this email today showing their new cover since the authors pretty much had zero notice, and I had to scramble to put together a cover reveal for my two favorite authors, Joanne and Karen Rock.

Stay tuned for the Giveaway for the blog tour for my debut novel, Destiny, which is being released on November 5th. Joanne and Karen are offering a Camp Boyfriend swag pack including a signed copy of Camp Boyfriend!

Enough jabbering! Ready to see this beautiful new cover? Good! Because I'm going to show it to you!

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Isn't it so fabulous? I love the colors. It's perfect for it's April release! I'm just impatient that I have to wait so long to own a copy...*taps foot* At least we have Camp Christmas coming this fall... More about that later. 

First, here's the blurb:

Alex has big plans for camp this year, starting with making it the best summer ever. Having fun and breaking some rules will get her the payback she wants against her parents and her ex-boyfriend. Because of his disgusting texts, she's headed to a super strict all-girls school in the fall. Then she meets Javier and revenge doesn't seem nearly as important as getting to know the troubled loner determined to keep a low profile at camp. But Alex's trouble-magnet personality and Javier's need to stay in the background don't mix nearly as well as their irresistible chemistry. With her home life eroding under her feet and her last year of summer camp speeding to a close, Alex wants to make her mark on the world and squeeze every bit of fun out of her time with Javier. Too bad her old plans for revenge turn back on her just in time to ruin everything. Will she lose Javier too?

The Camp Payback paperback copy is already available for Pre-order on Amazon.

Add Camp Payback to Goodreads.

Author Bio:

J. K. Rock is the pseudonym for YA writing partners - and sisters-in-law - Joanne & Karen Rock. After years of comparing notes on their favorites books and films, often dreaming up new endings to suit them, they decided to write their own stories. Under their own names, Joanne Rock is a three-time RITA nominee and the author of over sixty romance novels in a variety of subgenres. Karen Rock made her adult romance debut in September 2013 with WISH ME TOMORROW. Together as J.K. Rock, Joanne and Karen penned their first Young Adult release, CAMP BOYFRIEND. The book launches a three-book series and was the inaugural title for the Spencer Hill Contemporary imprint. Their series continues with CAMP PAYBACK in April 2014, and CAMP FORGET-ME-NOT in August 2014. Visit http://campboyfriend.net to learn more about the series and the prequel novella, CAMP KISS.

Follow Joanne Rock on Twitter: @JoanneRock6

Follow Karen Rock on Twitter: @Karen Rock5

Back to Camp Christmas... Joanne and Karen will be appeasing their impatient readers by offering a free novella called Camp Christmas!! Keep a watch out this fall for a cover reveal on my blog sometime in November. The novella will be available on December 17th.

Cover Reveal: Vision by Lisa Amowitz

I love Spencer Hill Press, so I'm super excited for this book to come out! I've been meaning to read Breaking Glass, another book by Lisa Amowitz for a while now. I even have a Breaking Glass bookmark, thanks to the time I won a Camp Boyfriend (another Spencer Hill book) swag giveaway.

Anyway, here's the fantastic cover to Vision.

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Blurb: 

The light is darker than you think…

When seventeen-year-old Bobby Pendell begins to have blinding migraines followed by frightening hallucinations, he fears there’s something wrong with him. Then murder rocks his sleepy town and the visions that put him on trail of a killer—also make him the prime suspect.

Add this book on Goodreads.

Author Bio:

Lisa Amowitz was born in Queens and raised in the wilds of Long Island, New York where she climbed trees, thought small creatures lived under rocks and studied ant hills. And drew. A lot. She is a professor of Graphic Design at her beloved Bronx Community College where she has been tormenting and cajoling students for nearly seventeen years. She started writing eight years ago because she wanted something to illustrate, but somehow, instead ended up writing YA. Probably because her mind is too dark and twisted for small children. Lisa is represented by Shannon Hassan of Marsal-Lyon Literary Agency. shannon@marsallyonliteraryagency.com

BREAKING GLASS, released in July, 2013 from Spencer Hill Press, is her first published work. VISION, the first of the Finder series will be released in 2014.

Lisa Amowitz is available for guest appearances, Skype visits, school visits, libraries & interviews. Please contact her for scheduling.

Website:

http://lisa-amowitzya.blogspot.com

http://www.lisaamowitz.com

Email: mommatoo@optonline.net

Links:

Goodreads

Facebook

Twitter

Book Review: Not Your Average Fairy Tale by Chantele Sedgwick

When I first met Chantele, she wasn't an author. She was the nice harp teacher with a couple of cute little blond-haired kids who lived across the street from me. Since then I moved away, and we had kind of lost touch. So when I started writing and poking around in the online world of LDS authors, I was shocked to find my old neighbor listed among them. I'm so excited to finally read her book! It was absolutely fantastic!

Image taken from Goodreads

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publisher: Crescent Moon Press
Publication date: Aug 1, 2012
I read: Kindle Edition

The Blurb:

Ash Summerland has it all-good looks, popularity, and the best grades at The Academy of Magical Beings. Ready to complete his last assignment in order to graduate, Ash is confident he will get the apprenticeship he wants. but when he opens the letter from the Council, he is shocked to discover he has been assigned to apprentice Lady Shenelle, Keeper of Happy Endings- aka the head fairy godmother. Ash is forced to grant three wishes to a troubled human girl named Kendall, and ultimately give her a "happy ever after." But Kendall turns out to be more than he bargained for. Still grieving over her father's death, she doesn't want anything to do with Ash. And worst of all, she doesn't believe in happy endings.

Review:

Chantele Sedgwick created a well-crafted world full of magic and secrets that I would love to learn more about. Her writing style was very readable, and felt like I was listening to my friends sitting with me telling me their story.

Kendall: My heart really went out to her. Near the end of the book she has this dream. I won't say what it was about because I don't want to ruin anything, but it was so well written, I felt myself understanding just a little bit of how horrible it would feel to be in her situation. She's so fragile in the beginning. It was amazing to see how much she had grown by the end.

Ash: He had such a typical guy personality. It was hilarious that he had to be a fairy godmother. The best part was his reaction to all of it. Chantele really got his character. He felt like such a real person. I knew him well by the end of the first chapter, but at the same time, not at all. Until the end of the book, he doesn't truly know who he is or what he's capable of, and even then, it's just an inkling of his full potential.

It was such a fantastic read. I found myself wondering about the characters during the day when I wasn't reading. I can't wait to see what Chantele comes up with next!

Blog Tour Stop: Wish Me Tomorrow by Karen Rock

I'm so excited to be a part of the blog tour for Wish Me Tomorrow. I got a signed copy of this book as a prize for joining an author chat with Karen, who happens to be a good friend of mine. I met when I heard about her YA contemporary book Camp Boyfriend. I haven't read a Harlequin book in years, but when I saw Karen was putting this book out I knew I had to read it. You can find the entire tour schedule here.

 

 Title: Wish Me Tomorrow Author: Karen Rock Release Date: September 1, 2013 Publisher: Harlequin Blog Tour Hosted by: Romance Addict Book Blog

Blurb:

Can they build a future on hope alone?

For years nurse and grief counselor Christie Bates has been teaching her patients to confront their fears, express themselves and trust in hope. But as her feelings for cancer survivor Eli Roberts and his two children grow, can she overcome her own fear and love a man who lives every day with the possibility of recurring illness?

Tackling cancer and single parenthood simultaneously has turned Eli into a devout realist. Which is why he finds Christie's perpetually upbeat attitude so aggravating. Still, despite himself, she's making a place in his heart. If only he could offer Christie more than an uncertain future.

Goodreads

My Review:

What a fantastic read! I loved it, loved it, loved it!! Christie was strong, capable, and kind. Eli was broken, but still doing his best as a single dad. Just looking at the cover makes my heart flutter! I'm a fairly picky reader, and I'm very character driven. I think it's because I'm such a people person. My ideal book is one where you feel intense longing to be with that one special person. I want to feel like I'm there. I want to see what the characters are seeing, smell their coffee when they wake up in the morning, feel their intense pain when their fragile hearts are breaking. So when I say I've never felt so connected to the characters in any book I've ever read, it means a lot. Wish Me Tomorrow had all of it. Karen Rock is a master at what she does. I was there right beside Christie and Eli as they met. I felt their strong attraction and resistance to open up. My heart broke with theirs as I followed the ups and downs of their relationship. Everything was so real. There wasn't a single page that didn't pull me in. I was up until 1 am reading it last night and picked it right back up this morning during breakfast. I was so wrapped up in their lives I'm surprised I didn't have dreams about them. (I probably did, but I was so tired from staying up so late I don't remember them!) Karen Rock is an amazingly talented author who I hope will continue to write beautiful love stories for the rest of her life because I know I'll be waiting eagerly to see what she has to say next.

Excerpt:

Without releasing her hand, he blurted, “Are you having a good time?” He almost smacked his head. What a stupid question. Christie’s mouth quirked then grew serious again. “Actually. I am.” Her eyes met his, their gazes locked as tightly as their hands. “I’m glad,” he heard himself say from some disembodied place that did not come from the land of reality and logic. “Happy you came.” He pressed her hand, exhilaration shooting through him when she squeezed back. “Me, too. It reminds me of my dancing years. I wish Tommy could have been here.” “Trust me. He’s sorrier than all of us combined. Poor guy.” He debated asking her the question that had been in the back of his mind. “Did your brother watch you dance?” Christie’s lids lowered for a moment. In the silence, he gave himself a swift, mental kick. He wanted to know more about her, but not cause her pain. And her pale, clammy palm proved he’d done just that. “You don’t have to answer.” When she reopened her eyes, her lashes were wet and spiky, but her voice was steady. “Before he got too sick, he always made these insane signs to make me laugh. Like ‘Christie the Great’ or ‘Christie is the Best Sistie.’ He did it to help me get over my stage fright, but the other girls made fun of it so I begged him to stop.” He gathered her other, trembling hand. “Now.” Her voice dropped to a notch above a whisper. “I’d give anything to have one of those signs.” His heart expanded, wishing he could take away her pain. He’d gotten used to heartbreak. “You must have loved him very much.” “Not as much as he deserved,” she said beneath her breath, more to herself, it seemed, than to him. “Excuse me.” When she scooted off to the ladies’ room, he berated himself. She’d done him a huge favor in joining him tonight—more than he’d guessed now that he knew about her brother. How brave of her to come to the recital for Becca, and him, when dance held such powerful memories. He grabbed her shawl and purse and waited by the door into the auditorium. After a couple of minutes, she joined him, her cheeks damp but no longer ashen. When the crowd clapped inside the auditorium, they opened the door, tiptoed down the aisle and found their seats. “I’m sorry Jacqueline didn’t come,” Christie breathed in his ear, sending shivers of awareness down his spine. He looked into her earnest face and found himself unable to lie. “I’d rather have you here.” Christie bit her lower lip then studied her lap. “I’m glad, too,” she surprised him by saying. Her shimmering eyes lifted to his. His tight chest eased at her soft expression. They settled back in their seats and counted down the remaining routines, the silence between them as promising as the dancers who flitted gracefully across the stage.

Buy Links:

Harlequin

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

iTunes

About the Author:

Since Karen Rock’s grandmother passed her shopping bagfuls of Harlequin Presents as a teen, it’s been her dream to add her voice to the Romance genre. Now an author of Harlequin’s latest contemporary line, Heartwarming, Karen is thrilled to pen wholesome, tender, deeply romantic stories that all can relate to. Her first novel, WISH ME TOMORROW, is out in September 2013 and her next, HIS HOMETOWN GIRL, is out in spring 2013. Additionally, Karen is a young adult contemporary romance co-author with fellow Harlequin author, Joanne Rock for the CAMP BOYFRIEND series that debuted July 2013 with Spencer Hill Press.

When she’s not busy writing, Karen enjoys watching anything starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, cooking her Nona’s family Italian recipes, and occasionally rescuing local wildlife from neighborhood cats. She lives in the Adirondack Mountain region with her husband, her very appreciated beta-reader daughter and two King Charles Cavalier cocker spaniels who have yet to understand the concept of “fetch,” though they’ve managed to teach her the trick! Hmmmm… wonder how that happened?! She loves to connect with other romance fans!

Please check out her website at http://www.karenrock.com, her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/karenrockwrites, and follow her on twitterhttp://www.twitter.com/karenrock5 or Goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/karenrock.

GIVEAWAY!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GRAND PRIZE

Signed copies:

• Karen Rock's WISH ME TOMOROW
• Robyn Carr's THE WANDERER
• JoJo Moyes' ME BEFORE YOU
• JoJo Moyes' THE GIRL YOU LEFT BEHIND
• JK Rock's CAMP BOYFRIEND

Unsigned copies:

• Bella Andre's I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU
• Pamela Tracy's KATIE'S RESCUE
• Tara Randal's ORANGE BLOSSOM BRIDE
• Syndi Powell's THE RELUCTANT BACHELOR

Harlequin tote bag

RWA 2013 water bottle

RWA water bottle holder

3 RUNNER UPS

$10 Amazon Gift Card