Dive Smack by Demetra Brodsky Book Nerd Tour | Tams Review & #giveaway @JeanBookNerd @demetrabrodsky @TTCBooksandmore

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: Tor Teen (June 19, 2018)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0765396955 

ISBN-13: 978-0765396952

Praise for DIVE SMACK

"A tense psychological drama with a voice that pulls you in and a twist you won't see coming, Dive Smack is an instant Hitchcockian classic!" —Gretchen McNeil, author of Ten

"A twisty, witty thriller readers will love puzzling through to the very end. A visceral, delightful debut." —Carrie Mesrobian, author of William C. Morris award finalist Sex & Violence

"This riveting debut will plunge readers into an accelerating coil of twists and turns as if in free fall, plummeting them from a precipice as they cling to the dwindling hope of safe entry into the mysterious darkness below." —S.A. Bodeen, author of The Compound

"Brodsky’s debut combines an engaging school story, filled with best friend shenanigans, first love, and a fascinating look at competitive diving, with a tense psychological mystery." —Booklist

"In an impressive debut, Brodsky injects her teen drama with ambiguity, and a subtle hint of paranormal phenomena, leaving readers to guess at what’s really going on. Strong characters and a compelling mystery make this a real page-turner." —Publishers Weekly

"A taut thriller with a twist ending that will blow your mind." —Kim Liggett, Bram Stoker Award-Winning Author of The Last Harvest

"Complex, thrilling, and with a pitch-perfect narrative voice, Dive Smack will leave you on the edge of your seat and unable to put this one down." —C. Desir, author of Bleed Like Me

"Heartbreaking, human and heroic, Dive Smack is a Perfect 10!" —Karen LaFace, 1992 USA Olympic Springboard Diver

“A taut roller coaster of a thriller chock full of dark family secrets, twisty lies, and finally, the redeeming power of truth.” —Michelle Zink, author of This Wicked Game

Theo Mackey only remembers one thing for certain about the fire that destroyed his home: he lit the match.

Sure, it was an accident. But the blaze killed his mom and set his dad on a path to self-destruction. Everything else about that fateful night is full of gaping holes in Theo’s mind, for good reason. Maybe it’s better that way. As captain of the Ellis Hollow Diving Team, with straight A's and solid friends, he's only one semester away from securing a scholarship, and leaving his past behind.

But when a family history project gets assigned at school, new memories come rushing to the surface, memories that make him question what he really knows about his family, the night of the fire, and if he can trust anyone—including himself.

A 2018 JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD SELECTION

You can purchase Dive Smack at the following Retailers:

        

The cover and the synopsis is the reason I was initially drawn to this book... my instinct was right! I was drawn in from the start and probably need to do a re-read on this one as I couldn't get to the next page fast enough. The best way to describe this read is to say it stimulated my brain and ignited my imagination (see what I did there). 

The characters are three dimensional and complex, not wooden or boring. Seriously, every character was well thought out and intricately woven into the story in a way that it didn't seem like there were any secondary characters. Theo's BFF Chip damn near stole the show, I loved his rude, crude, absolutely amazing attitude. 

Fast paced and witty with some stunning twists and turns that will leave you on the edge of your seat. I highly recommend this read. 

Photo Content from Demetra Brodsky

Demetra Brodsky is an award-winning graphic designer & art director turned writer. She has a B.F.A. from The Massachusetts College of Art and Design and lives in Southern California with her family of four and two lovable rescue dogs where she is always trying to make more time for the beach. Dive Smack is dedicated to Pumpkin, the monarch butterfly she once saved from the brink of death. Once you read the book, you'll understand why.         

WEEK ONE

JUNE 18th MONDAY JeanBookNerd REVIEW & INTERVIEW 

JUNE 18th MONDAY TMBA Corbett Tries to Write EXCERPT 

JUNE 19th TUESDAY The Cozy Reading Corner EXCERPT 

JUNE 19th TUESDAY Lauren's Boook Shelf REVIEW 

JUNE 20th WEDNESDAY Vicky Who Reads REVIEW 

JUNE 20th WEDNESDAY Movies, Shows, & Books EXCERPT 

JUNE 21st THURSDAY Book Queen Reviews REVIEW 

JUNE 21st THURSDAY Crossroad Reviews REVIEW 

JUNE 22nd FRIDAY BookHounds YA REVIEW 

WEEK TWO 

JUNE 25th MONDAY RhythmicBooktrovert REVIEW

JUNE 25th MONDAY The Book Enigma REVIEW 

JUNE 26th TUESDAY A Dream Within a Dream REVIEW 

JUNE 26th TUESDAY My Book Addiction REVIEW 

JUNE 27th WEDNESDAY Cover2CoverBlog REVIEW 

JUNE 27th WEDNESDAY The Avid Reader EXCERPT

JUNE 27th WEDNESDAY Book Dragon Lair REVIEW

JUNE 28th THURSDAY Here's to Happy Endings REVIEW 

JUNE 28th THURSDAY Book Lovers Life REVIEW 

JUNE 29th FRIDAY TTC Books and More REVIEW 

JUNE 29th FRIDAY Wishful Endings REVIEW

*JBN is not responsible for Lost or Damaged Books in your Nerdy Mail Box*

--Giveaway is open to International. | Must be 13+ to Enter

- 5 Winners will receive a Copy of DIVE SMACK by Demetra Brodsky.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Speed Dating the Boss (Cowboys and Angels: Book One) by Sue Brown | Cat's Release day Review, Excerpt & #giveaway @Dreamspinners @suebrownstories @TTCBooksandmore

Cowboys and Angels: Book One

Will a mix of privilege and blue collar be a recipe for love… or disaster?

Dan’s pretty satisfied with his job at the working-class bar Cowboys and Angels. He enjoys his simple life, his apartment, and his cat, but he could do without the fights that break out in the bar, his boss’s meddling daughter, Ariel… oh, and a brutal, unrequited crush on his straight alpha boss, Gideon.

When Dan’s friend prepares to tie the knot, everyone insists that Dan needs a date for the wedding. Before he can protest, Ariel arranges a gay speed-dating event at the bar with Gideon as a participant. The unforeseen revelation that Gideon is bisexual raises Dan’s hopes, especially when Gideon announces that he wants to accompany Dan to the wedding. Could Gideon really be interested in Dan? 

When Dan needs someone most, Gideon offers his unconditional support, and with genuine commitment, he shows Dan the kind of man he really is. Teaming up to save the wedding from a hungover groom and intolerant parents, can Gideon convince Dan they’re the best match since beer and pizza?

Buy links: Amazon | Dreamspinner

Cat gives this one 4 Meows with a 3 Purr heat index...

  

Dan works at Cowboy's and Angels a rowdy blue-collar bar where there are lots of fights. He also goes to college to get a business degree hoping someday to own his own bar. He has been in love with Gabriel the owner since he first met him but Gabriel has lost his wife and son in a car wreck and has a spoiled rotten daughter he lets get by with everything.

Dan's best friend is getting married. He plans on going stag but his boss and his daughter want to hook him up, so they set up a speed dating in the bar.

Speed Dating the Boss is a fun story. It is pretty slow build and the actual romance doesn't come till later in the book and the hook-up and sex very late, but it's hot when we get it.

The setting is fun and the characters are intriguing. Thre are a few I can't wait to read their story.

Excerpt...

“INCOMING!”
At the shout Daniel Collins dropped to the floor. A projectile skimmed the top of his buzz cut and narrowly missed the bottles behind him.
“Quit throwing glasses at me,” he yelled, knowing he was wasting his breath and likely to get smacked in the mouth. It was futile. Everyone was too liquored up to pay any attention to the barmen cowering behind the thick mahogany bar.
That was their usual Friday-night entertainment at their favorite bar. Cowboys and Angels was a long established blue-collar bar, not a place for Wall Street suits or hipsters. Late afternoon, students came in search of jugs of cocktails and cheap beer. They vanished by early evening in search of music and dancing and left behind the construction workers and builders who came for the extensive list of draft beers and a chance to relax. On a Friday night, they’d get paid, arrive at Cowboys and Angels in time for happy hour, and drink with their buddies until closing. A fight was added entertainment. They’d throw punches with random glee, not caring where they connected. Then they’d go home, arms slung around the guy they’d been beating up ten minutes beforehand singing at the top of their voices.
So, Friday night as usual.
“They started early tonight.” Dan’s coworker Bradley ducked as a barstool went flying over their heads to crash into the fridge.
Dan cursed as the stool rebounded and caught him on the cheek. He was convinced he was going to end the evening in the ER, with stitches and a concussion. “Ariel’s in the bar.”
“Where the hell is Gideon? He’s supposed to keep her under control.” Bradley lobbed the stool back over the bar, not caring where it landed. From the pained grunt, he could tell it made contact with someone.
“Get him down here,” Dan ordered.
Arms over his head, Bradley crawled along the bar to the phone and dialed the boss’s number. “Boss, get her out of here now, or you won’t have a bar left.” He nodded at Dan. “He’s on his way.”
That was one of the things Dan appreciated about his boss—no questions, no discussion, just action. His daughter, Ariel, was like that too, except she was normally the center of all the trouble.
Time to shut the fight down before it got out of hand—more out of hand. Dan grabbed the baseball bat tucked behind the bar, sent up a quick prayer that he wasn’t about to get glassed, and got to his feet.
“Stop!” he yelled it at the top of his lungs, honed by years of practice. For a moment the action continued. A bottle crashed by his ear. “Cut it the fuck out,” he yelled again, feeling the sting in his other cheek. “The next person who twitches a muscle gets banned for life.” The occupants of the bar froze as though Dan had hit Pause on the remote control.
“Sorry, Dan.”
He didn’t know who made the muttered apology, and he didn’t care. Nobody moved a muscle. Their attention was fixed on the baseball bat Dan was smacking into one hand. So far Dan had never had to use the bat, and he intended to keep it that way. Dan saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and swung around, bat ready for action. Then he relaxed at the sight of the tall figure. “Boss.”
“Good job,” Gideon drawled.
Dressed in a tight black T-shirt with the blue Cowboy and Angels logo and jeans that molded his ass, he stood like a giant in the middle of the destruction. Originally from Texas, at six foot five, Gideon was two hundred and fifty pounds of solid muscle. Despite being ten years older, he could bench-press Dan—and had—without breaking a sweat. There were men there who made Gideon look small, but they all listened to him. Not for the first time, Dan wished he had Gideon’s physical presence.
Gideon picked his way over the broken glass and tipped-over furniture to arrive at his daughter’s side. He held out his free hand and hauled her off the floor in one smooth move. “Ariel, darlin’, what happened this time?”
Ariel tossed her head and grinned at him. She had no shame. “No idea, Daddy. I was just here for a quiet drink with my friends.” She pointed to the two young men either side of her who stared at Gideon. Both of them wore terrified expressions.
“Darlin’, that’s the biggest pile of horse puckey you told me since the last time you destroyed my bar.” Gideon sounded more resigned than annoyed.

Sue writes about love, imperfect and real. Sue is a bi, dog-loving, British gay romance writer, completely addicted to chocolate and coffee, and with a secret desire that she could have been an aristocratic private eye in a former life. She lives on the outskirts of London with her two dogs and two kids. The household is ruled by the youngest member, Faith, whose personality and dominance has grown in proportion to her legs and ears.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

TWOSPELLS by Mark Morrison NERD BLAST & #giveaway @JeanBookNerd @TTCBooksandmore

Paperback: 316 pages

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (February 23, 2018)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1983962155

ISBN-13: 978-1983962158

Sarah and her twin brother Jon are heirs to an ancient magical realm and its most valuable treasure, an enchanted library. The library endows readers with the supernatural means of crossing into the uncharted inner-sanctum of the second dimension, inhabited with peculiar and sometimes perilous creatures. 

The children are emboldened with a wondrous mystical gift that no other being has ever possessed. But fate intervenes and triggers a disastrous inter-dimensional war that disrupts the fabric of time and space spanning multiple universes, tearing destiny a new and savage pathway. 

The two must rescue their world from a phantom hybrid alien race controlled by a demented dark-wizard, Jeremy Sermack. They will either assimilate or be exterminated. 

Will they be the saviors the prophets spoke of, or will they retreat to the perceived safety of their distant homeland? 

Grab your copy from Amazon today (Read for FREE with KU!)

Photo Content from Mark Morrison

Mark Morrison was born number seven of eight children in a small town in Ohio. His family moved to Florida where he grew up, met an incredible woman, got married and raised four fantastic children, three boys and a girl.

Many years later, an empty nest left him to his true calling, storytelling. His first remarkable story is about a heroine whose courage and unrestrained personality—like his daughter’s—breathes passion and fervor into this adrenaline-packed story.

*JBN is not responsible for Lost or Damaged Books in your Nerdy Mail Box*

--Giveaway is open to International. | Must be 13+ to Enter

- 1 Winner will receive a Signed Copy of TWOSPELLS by Mark Morrison. 

- 1 Winner will receive an E-Copy of TWOSPELLS by Mark Morrison.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mystic Man (States of Love Book 40) by EJ Russell | Cat's Release day Review, Excerpt & #giveaway @Dreamspinners @EJ_Russell @TTCBooksandmore

When a series of personal crises prompt risk-averse research librarian Aaron Templeton to apply for a job on the other side of the country, nobody is more surprised than he is. He nearly runs home before the final interview except for one little problem: he has no home anymore. He put his condo on the market before he left California and it’s already sold. Only an encounter with free-spirited Connecticut native Cody Brown at the Mystic Seaport Museum staves off Aaron’s incipient panic attack.

Cody loves nothing better than introducing newcomers to the great features of his beloved home state, and when the newbie in question is a rumpled professorial type with the saddest blue eyes on the planet? Score! The attraction between the two men deepens as they explore Cody’s favorite spots, but when difficulties arise and Aaron’s insecurities threaten to overwhelm him, will Cody’s love be enough to keep him in Mystic?

States of Love: Stories of romance that span every corner of the United States.

Buy links: Dreamspinner | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Cat gives this one 5 Meows with a 1 Purr heat index...

Aaron is standing in Sea Port, his Condo is selling, he quit his job and is unsure if he will get the job he applied for here. 

Cody a young volunteer sees the sexy professor looking like a lost puppy and offers to show him around. They hit it off and go on a few dates in the next few days. Cody is an adventure seeker, footloose and fancy-free, living life as it comes. 

These two men couldn't be any different. I loved this story. The characters are all endearing, the setting beautiful, I felt as if I were on tour. I liked the little history lessons and of course, I loved the slow building but sweet romance.

When I got to the sexy professor, and young volunteer I was sold. Oh yes give me May-December any day and I swoon, then toss in the opposites attract, a small dose of cute kid and you have the perfect story to relax on a hot summer day or cold winter night! Grab a drink of your choice, curl up and enjoy! 

Excerpt...

THE OCEAN’S on the wrong side.
The sun, tipping toward the west, wasn’t aiming for the sea that lurked out of sight at the mouth of the Mystic River. That, more than anything—more than typing his scathing letter of resignation, more than his brief conversation with an openmouthed real estate agent, more than buying a last-minute, full-price ticket from LAX to Hartford—brought home to Aaron the enormity of what he’d done.
I’m on the other side of the country without a safety net—no friends, no home, no job.
Correction: no job yet. Fingers twitching, panic fizzing in his veins, Aaron fumbled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up his calendar app. Tomorrow the entire afternoon was blocked out in comforting green. Interview and presentation at Hillview Academy.
He’d applied for the job of librarian-slash-history teacher on an impulse anyway, his sinuses burning from over an hour in rush-hour traffic on a day with yet another air quality advisory, frustrated with the latest mind-numbing research assignment in the ad agency’s poorly scanned, unindexed archives. When the school had scheduled his first phone interview, he’d assumed it was a fluke, so he hadn’t been nervous. That must have been why it went so well—I had nothing at stake then. The second interview—same thing.
When he got the call for the third interview, he’d been on his lunch hour, just leaving the food court at the mall. He was about to agree to meet with a local alumni committee when he’d spotted his ex in the jewelry store, cooing over wedding rings with his new boyfriend not two months after Wayne had walked out, claiming he wasn’t the marrying kind.
So Aaron blurted, “You needn’t go to the trouble. I’m relocating to Connecticut anyway. Leaving tomorrow, in fact, so I’d be happy to visit the campus and meet with the committee there.”
What the hell was I thinking? I’m never spontaneous. I always plan and plan again. Yet he’d let hurt and humiliation goad him into the first impulsive decision in his entire thirty-seven years, completely imploding his life.
He’d never even been out of Southern California before. Hell, in the sandwich shop where he’d stopped to buy lunch this afternoon, he’d stared at the chip rack for ten minutes, unable to find any recognizable brands. What made him think he could navigate an entirely new state where even the damn potato chips were strangers?
He blotted the perspiration off his upper lip. Maybe it wasn’t too late for a reset. The HR manager at the agency had always been nice to Aaron. Maybe he could talk her into forgetting about that unfortunate resignation letter. Hillview had told Aaron he was one of three final candidates—they’d have no problem filling the post.
That’s what he’d do. Cancel his interview. Text the real estate agent to take his condo off the market. Book yet another full-price ticket. Fly back to Southern California. With his boss away on his annual self-discovery retreat, chances were good that nobody but the HR manager would even know he’d been gone.
He cast a last wistful glance at the charming historic houses surrounding the Mystic Seaport Village green. He’d come this far. Maybe he could delay another few hours to tour the museum before returning to his hotel to pack.
No. He couldn’t put it off. If this put a serious dent in his savings with nothing whatsoever to show for it, that should teach him a lesson that he’d apparently forgotten: security is paramount. “Familiar” might be unexciting, but at least it was safe.
His phone vibrated in his hand, and when he checked the screen, the text from the real estate agent sent his stomach into free fall.
Great news! Three offers on the condo in the first day. All over the asking price, and no contingencies. We’ll be able to close even more quickly than you’d hoped.
No. No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. He’d set the price ridiculously high, even by Orange County standards, specifically to give himself a seller’s remorse emergency escape option. But if there were no contingencies, and the offers were over the asking price, he couldn’t pull out of the contract without a penalty—which his finances couldn’t support. His savings still hadn’t recovered from the condo down payment, and after further decimating them with two outrageously expensive airline tickets?
He dropped his arm to his side, fingers numb around his phone, alone in the crowd of laughing tourists. Jesus, I’m as reckless and foolhardy as my parents.
What am I going to do?

E.J. Russell—certified geek, mother of three, recovering actor—holds a BA and an MFA in theater, so naturally she’s spent the last three decades as a financial manager, database designer, and business intelligence consultant (as one does). She’s recently abandoned data wrangling, however, and spends her days wrestling words.

E.J. is married to Curmudgeonly Husband, a man who cares even less about sports than she does. Luckily, C.H. loves to cook, or all three of their children (Lovely Daughter and Darling Sons A and B) would have survived on nothing but Cheerios, beef jerky, and satsuma mandarins (the extent of E.J.’s culinary skill set).

E.J. lives in rural Oregon, enjoys visits from her wonderful adult children, and indulges in good books, red wine, and the occasional hyperbole.

Sign up for E.J.’s newsletter at ejrussell.com/newsletter or find her online at ejrussell.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/E.J.Russell.author, on Twitter at twitter.com/ej_russell.

• Website: http://www.ejrussell.com
• Newsletter: http://www.ejrussell.com/newsletter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

✴ ✴ COVER REVEAL ✴ ✴ The Messenger (The Archangel Trilogy book 1) by TM Smith Cover reveal, Excerpt & #giveaway @TTCBooksandmore

The Messenger by TM Smith

The Archangel trilogy book 1

Tentative release date August 31st 2018

For centuries Gabriel, Michael and Lucifer have worked together, coexisting in the same universe. Gabriel chooses to remain silent and secluded, preferring the garden in the Hall of Souls. He dances beneath the Tree of Life, barefoot and with reckless abandon…until the day he looks into the eyes of another angel and sees the dreams he’s kept silent mirrored there.

Eons have passed since the moment Michael came to be the general of the All Father’s army in heaven, the protector of mankind. Michael has been in love with Lucifer for as long as he can remember, their relationship second only to his bond with the All Father. But lately, Michael has begun to notice cracks in the surface of their love, sensing that his lover is not as angelic as he seems.

Lucifer was the All Father’s first creation, the bringer of light, his Morning Star. He has sat to the right of the throne every day since the dawn of time. Two things were tasked to the Archangels from the start: put no other before the All Father, and protect the humans he cherishes. Lucifer challenges both sacred rules. He puts his love for Michael before his love for his creator, and he questions his creator’s wisdom when it comes to the atrocities he has seen committed by mankind.

One will fall while two remain and grow stronger. A battle of wills is on the horizon, and not only mankind, but the fate of all beings will hang in the balance.

Add ‘The Messenger’ to your Goodreads TBR shelf

Excerpt...

NOTE: this is an excerpt from a book that is still in the writing process and has yet to be edited.

Prologue… 

“Lu, please, don’t do this.” Michael begged. Collapsing to his knees, he reached for Lucifer’s face, only to have his hand knocked away. The look of love and tenderness he’d once seen in the darker Angels silver eyes was gone, replaced with anger and hatred, the normally shining orbs bleeding into a dull gray with pulsing coal black slits.

“You made your choice Michael.” Lucifer hissed, venom wrapped around each word he growled between clenched teeth.

Standing, the pissed off Angel shoved Michael aside, advancing on Gabriel. “You did this!” Lucifer let his wings unfurl and the All Father gasped. An Angels wings were liken to their limbs, an extension of their soul as much as bones and skin. Lucifer’s normally black and silver marbled feathers loomed over him, awash in a darkness that resembled brimstone and ash, the tips a dull, lifeless gray that matched his now dead, slitted eyes.

In a blur of movement that none of them expected, the dark Angel flew into the air, spinning and knocking Gabriel off his feet with the suddenly massive appendages jutting out of his shoulder blades. “I will destroy you Messenger. Much like you’ve done to the love he once felt for me, only for me!”

“Enough!” The All Father’s voice boomed, the heavens shaking, a brilliant white light momentarily blinding all his Angels. Blinking, Gabriel stood and moved over to where Michael sat crouched, staring up at Lucifer, confusion and pain dotting his vibrant blue eyes. “Angel of light, my son and most trusted advisor, I beg you to stop this madness. You know what the consequence will be.”

Lucifer glared at the All Father, chest heaving, breathing labored, senselessly fighting against the band of light wrapped around his middle like the sheath of a knife. “Father, please don’t…” God raised his hand silencing Michael.

“I am sorry, Michael, but he has made his choice which leaves me no alternative.” The band around Lucifer tightened, the floor beneath him opening up, exposing clouds of thunder and rain. “Star of the Morning, bringer of light, you are stripped of your titles, your wings forfeit. You shall now be known as Satan, the serpent, the prince of darkness.” Lucifer howled in agony as the strong coal-black feathers were stripped away from his being. “I cast you out of heaven and forbade your return.” The iridescent tears cascading down the All Father’s cheeks formed a river beneath the writhing Angel.

Michael cried out, turning and burying his face in Gabriel’s bronze robe, the silky fabric soon soaked through with fresh, warm tears. He wrapped his arms around Michael, shielding him from Lucifer’s violent, turbulent eyes. In the eons to come, the slow passage of time he and Michael would face together, Gabriel would always question his role in the events of that day. Could it have been avoided? Of course it could have, but that would have meant walking away from the Angel that he loved second only to the All Father.

He asked himself for the millionth time as he held Michael’s head so he wouldn’t see the clouds open up and swallow Lucifer, dragging him down to bowels of the earth, face a mask of agony and pain, forever exiled to the pit and doomed to watch over and judge only the evil of mankind… what have I done?

A military brat born and raised at Ft. Benning Georgia; TM Smith is an avid reader, reviewer and writer. A Texas transplant, she now calls DFW her home. Most days she can be found curled up with a good book, or ticking away on her next novel.

Smith is a single mom of three disturbingly outspoken and decidedly different kids, one of which is Autistic. Besides her writing, she is passionate about Autism advocacy and LGBT rights. Because, seriously people, Love is Love!

Author links: 

Website || Blog || Facebook || Twitter || Pinterest || Youtube 

Author backlist:

Amazon US || Amazon UK || Amazon AU || Amazon CA || Amazon DE

Smashwords || B&N || iTunes || Audible || Kobo || Payhip

       

a Rafflecopter giveaway