': February 2014

Friday, February 28, 2014

Caprion's Wings blog tour. Review, Giveaway & Would you Rather with TL Shreffler

A novella of The Cat's Eye Chronicles.
Release Date: February 28th, 2014

By the age of nineteen, all Harpies know how to fly—except Caprion. He has yet pass the test of the Singing and gain his wings. His family has disowned him in shame and people are beginning to talk. Now an evil voice haunts his dreams, taunting him, drawing out his worst fears—that he will remain wingless forever.

Caprion decides to find the root of this insidious voice, no matter what it takes. He journeys to the secret prisons of the Harpy underground, where he meets a young slave named Moss. In those sunless, decrepit cells, a forbidden friendship is formed. Can Caprion and Moss find the source of the voice? And can Caprion save Moss from a terrible fate?

Join young Caprion as he journeys down, down into the earth, finding his wings and forging a friendship that will change him forever.

T. L. Shreffler lives in Los Angeles, CA. She loves diversity, fantasy, romance, iced tea, long walks, philosophy, and thrift store shopping. She recently graduated with a BA in Badass (Creative Writing) and her poetry has been published consecutively in Eclipse: A Literary Journal and The Northridge Review. She is author of The Cat's Eye Chronicles (YA/Epic Fantasy) and The Wolves of Black River (PN Romance.)

Author links ~
~ Website
~ Facebook
~ Twitter
~ Goodreads
~ Amazon

This book is a Novella in The Cat's Eye Chronicles series, although it can be read as a stand alone, I'd suggest reading the books in order to fully appreciate the characters and the world that Shreffler has built.

Fan's of the series will recognize Caprion from Volcrian's Hunt. This is his story of how he found his voice and his wings with the help of a young girl of the Sixth Race, Moss. Caprion is nearing the age where he should know how to fly, but he still doesn't have his wings. This is his last chance to enter the singing chamber and connect with is voice, if not he will become an outcast. When he fails to connect with his star his family turns their back on him, his brother is ashamed and now his dreams are haunted.

He sets out to find the voice that is haunting his dreams, this leads him to the Harpie prisons deep underground. There he finds Moss, not quite a child but not yet a woman, the two form a bond of trust and friendship a become allies. When Caprion finally connects with his star and gets his wings, the outcome is not quite what he or anyone else expects. Strength and determination are something that Caprion and Moss have in common, it connects them and it will save their lives.

I love how Shreffler is branching out and bringing new characters and storylines into this series. Caprion was one of my favorite secondary characters from book 3, it was wonderful to get to know more about his background with this novella. And the coincidence that Moss is a young girl kidnapped from the Sixth Race, and Viper/Crash has spoken of a young girl that was kind to him that was of the Sixth Race and had been taken by the Harpies, was not lost on me.

I need Ferran's Map on my kindle now, well.. yesterday would be better, but now will suffice! I can see Viper and Caprion clashing in a huge way, they are both strong, independent alpha males. But I can also see them forming a friendship of sorts built on trust and a mutual admiration of shared characteristics. This novella just opened so many doors and initiated the possibility of a lot of twists and turns for this series as a whole. Ferran's Map can not come soon enough for me.

Would you Rather with Author TL Shreffler

Live in a world with no problems ~ OR ~ Live in a world where you rule?I’d rather live in a world with no problems! (Fat chance of that happening, lol!) Honestly, I am always looking out for my friends and trying to help them when they’re stuck in a rut. I try to support the people I love, because we all need to lift each other up when times get hard.

Be famous ~ OR ~ Be the best friend of someone famous?Honestly, I’ve been the friend of someone who got famous...well, HER version of famous...and it was not fun. She completely changed. Got really cocky and started using people to keep building her name. (I live in Burbank, which is 10 minutes away from Hollywood, and most of the major motion picture studios are located in Burbank, like Disney, WB, etc. I won’t name who this friend was, she didn’t get mega-famous, but enough that her head blew up like a balloon.) After a year of watching it progress, I couldn’t stand her anymore. It brought out all of her worse traits and magnified them 10-fold. It’s like she no longer tried or even cared about being a good person. Needless to say, it eventually came back around and bit her in the a$$.

So for that reason, I think I’d rather become famous than suffer through watching a friend go through it. And if I did become famous, I’d probably buy a nice big house somewhere in the country where no one would bother me. Fame is toxic!

Be Rich ~ OR ~ Be Loved?Be loved! Though let’s be honest, having money makes it easier to enjoy life, since you’re not stressing over bills. But I’d rather be loved any day.

Go back in time to meet your ancestors ~ OR ~ Go to the future to meet your Great grandchildren?I’d rather go into the future and meet my great-grandchildren, then I’d google my name on the internet and see how I died. “Shark attack” is currently at the top of my list, next to “Skydiving accident,” “Lost in wilderness,” “gang retaliation” or “choked on gum.”

Jump into your books and meet Crash ~ OR ~ Caprion?I think meeting Crash in person would be pretty terrifying. On the other hand, Caprion can fly. So I’d want to meet Caprion and go flying! Woo!

Be half your height ~ OR ~ Double your weight?Oh geez! Can I say neither? Lol! Half my height and then hopefully I’ll lose half my weight hahaha.

Win free Starbucks for a year ~ OR ~ Win free Itunes for a year?Free Starbucks! I don’t use iTunes enough, I’m all about my Amazon Cloud Player. ;)

Be on the NY Times best seller list ~ OR ~ Hit #1 on Amazon?Well...since I’ve already hit #10 on Amazon...I think I’d go with NYT Best Seller List!

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Blackness Takes Over {book blast & giveaway}

Shannon Kelly’s life has been anything but typical.

Her life has been altered viciously at the hands of others twice.

However horrible they have been, it’s these changes that have given her a family and career…now possibly love.

The last thirteen years she has been supported and loved by her protector, her entertainer, and her comforter, but never a lover.

When Dylan Kellerman enters Shannon’s life he changes its course in more ways than one.

He gives her hope and promise of a future she was convinced wasn’t attainable.

Just as she begins to believe she has finally turned her life into something she can build a future on…blackness takes over.

You can purchase Blackness Takes Over at the following Retailers:

Norma Jeanne Karlsson
Website

Blackness Takes Over is Norma Jeanne’s debut novel. What began as an homage to the home town of a homesick Midwestern girl, unfolded a story of love, danger, humor, and trust. She’s currently working on her untitled sophomore effort. We can’t wait to see what thrilling saga she leads us through next!

Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, Norma Jeanne recently found herself relocating to the United Kingdom. Now living in Belfast, she took hold of the opportunity to kick the 9-5 job for a chance to become an author. The best part: working from her home office, she gets to spend more time with her cast of crazy characters (written and real).

In her free time Norma Jeanne is a voracious reader and consumes books as readily as meals. She is a people watcher by nature and uses her experiences in life, observed or otherwise, to build the worlds and characters that thrive in her books. A believer in the strength of the human spirit, Norma Jeanne writes the stories of people that persevere when all appears to be lost.

“Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” –Dylan Thomas

3 Winners will receive an E-Copy of Blackness Takes Over by Norma Jeanne Karlsson.
1 Winner will receive a $20.00 Amazon Gift Card.
Must be 13+ to Enter
International Giveaway

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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Waiting for Rain Promo Tour {Review & Giveaway}

Waiting for Rain

by Susan Mac Nicol

Promo Tour

Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance

The village of Stamford, the quintessential chocolate box English scene, seemed an impossible dream for foster kid Toby Prentiss. Now he’s found a home among the haystacks and village fairs as the General Manager for the Duck and Drake Hotel. With the fears and demons from his youth hidden away in this bucolic oasis, he’s very protective of who he lets in. Until he stumbles across shirtless carpenter Rain Engel building the hotel’s new custom-designed bar. Working in the countryside, Rain prepared to face his biggest fear: sheep. He didn’t expect to deal with his second biggest fear: commitment. Toby’s controlled, tough guy façade coupled with his “find happiness where you can” optimism calls to Rain like nothing befor.e. While Rain may be an exhibitionist, his romantic history forces him to hold his emotions close. As their relationship develops, secrets from their pasts drive a wedge between them: the ex-boyfriend who tore apart Rain’s trust and Toby's history with the law. But can the secrets hiding among the quirky villagers bring them together? With missing sheep, pole dancing at the winter festival, and a crippling drought, everyone is waiting for Rain

Toby Prentiss has been single for a long time, and he’s come to the conclusion that being alone is better than being hurt. He’s so wrapped up in his work that he doesn’t even realize his boss wants to be a little more than friends. Then he meets the charismatic and outspoken carpenter, Rain.

Rain Engel is building a bar for the Duck and Drake hotel where Toby is the manager. From the first day, that first meeting, the two have an electric chemistry that threatens to ignite and burn everything around them to the ground. They also share a very short fuse, a mutual disdain for the word trust and the inability to ask for or allow their friends to help when it’s needed. All this makes for a very explosive read.

Both men are hiding their past from the other, afraid that the truth would drive them away. But keeping their secrets is what’s driving a wedge between them, not the truth. Slowly Rain gains Toby’s trust and just as slowly, Toby peels back the layers that make Rain who he is. Chemistry is not the problem for these two, they can’t go much more than five minutes without lips on skin. Communication is what may prove to be their downfall. Or a lack there of; I said this recently for another review and I’m reminded of it again with Toby and Rain. “What we have here, is a failure to communicate!”

Although I could see the ending of this story coming a mile away, Mac Nicol still did a fantastic job of painting the picture and conveying her story to the reader. There weren’t really any side characters either, except maybe the sheep. The secondary characters were as three dimensional as Toby and Rain, and an integral part of the story. While I loved the inner workings of Toby and Rain’s relationship as it grew and unfolded, I also could have nipped one or two of the, “he slammed me against the wall while he shoved his hands....”. Do NOT get me wrong, I love me some sweaty naked man on man sex, its f**king hot. But there is a thin line between wiping steam off my kindle and reading fifty shades of gay.

That being said, overall this was such a fun read. I blew through it in one setting. If you are a fan of hard luck stories, two stubborn alpha males finding their home, and LOTS of guy on guy action this is a must read for you. Oh, and pole dancing, as if the cover didn’t give that one away, it is a very erotic and well written pole dance guys.

{I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through MM Good Book Reviews}

Watch Now!

GoodReads

Susan Mac Nicol was born in Leeds, UK, and left for South Africa when she was eight. She returned to the UK thirty years later and now lives in Essex. Her debut novel Cassandra by Starlight, the first in a trilogy, was published earlier this year by Boroughs Publishing Group in the US. Sue’s latest story, Saving Alexander is her second m/m romance. Sue has written since she was very young, and never thought she would see herself being a Romance writer, being a horror/psychological thriller reader all her life. But the Romance genre is now something very close to her heart and she intends continuing the trend. Sue is a member of the Romance Writers of America and the Romantic Novelists Association here in the UK. To learn more, visit Susan on her website and blog on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and Pinterest. Susan Mac Nicol is also author of The Magick of Christmas, Confounding Cupid, Cassandra by Starlight , Together in Starlight and the best-selling Stripped Bare.

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