Happy Book Birthday to Kristal Shaff and The Emissary!!

I am absolutely thrilled to help spread the word that my very dear friend Kristal Shaff's book, The Emissary, is FINALLY here!!! I absolutely loved this book and can't wait for book 2! Check it out!! Here are the deets:

For hundreds of years, dark clouds covered the skies of Adamah, and an ageless king ruled. Those who emerged with one of six extraordinary Shay powers were forced into the king's army, an un matched force with inhuman Strength, Speed, Accuracy, Perception, Empathy, and Healing. With the army at his side, the king—a man who wields all six abilities—was invincible and unquestioned in his rule.

To most, serving the king was an honor. And for some, it was a fate worse than death. When seventeen-year-old Nolan Trividar witnesses the transformation of his brother from kind to cruel after entering the king’s army, he vows never to follow the same path. So when his own power—the Shay of Accuracy—comes upon him at the Tournament of Awakening, Nolan conceals his emergence instead of joining the king’s ranks.

For years, he traitorously hides his power, pretending to be a gifted scribe. But when Nolan comes face -to-face with a deserter, the man discovers his secret. To evade detection and a death sentence, Nolan escapes with the deserter and flees into a night filled with dark creatures who steal both powers and souls.

Nolan joins a resistance, a village hidden deep in the forest, filled with others who secretly wield a Shay. But his peace is short lived when they discover that the dark clouds, the undead creatures, their own decreasing powers, and even the king, are all connected.

Amazon | B&N

She also has an awesome book tour going on, so be sure to check out all the stops for great interviews and guest posts and a chance to win a copy of her book!

My Thoughts:

I’m not usually a huge fantasy reader so I wasn’t sure how much I’d like this book, but I absolutely loved it! The Shay powers were just cool and I (being a history buff) really loved the medieval setting. The characters are what make this book truly fantastic. Nolan, the main character, decides to hide his Shay power of Accuracy so he can avoid having to serve in the evil king’s army. The journey he takes from someone who hides who and what he is to being a main force behind the rebellion against the king kept me glued to the pages. The other characters in the book are well fleshed out and an integral part of the story, not just there as filler. Alec, Megan and Emery in particular I absolutely loved. Between the magical elements, the rebellion against a psychotically evil king, the group of rebels who band together to become a family of sorts who fight and sacrifice for each other, amazing fighting scenes, truly creepy zombie-like creatures who add even more danger to the game, and even a bit of romance, this definitely goes on my “must read” list – I highly recommend!  

Release Day for Wish Upon a Star!!

Wish Upon a Star is here!! I'm thrilled to celebrate the release of my first non-historical book. This one is not only set in Las Vegas, it has zombies! And a cyborg zombie to boot - tons of fun :D

Here are all the deets :)

Ceri McKinley never stopped wishing that her ex-fiancé Jason Crickett would come back into her life. But when he finally does, he comes with a request that puts them both--and all of humanity--into jeopardy.

Jason only wants two things: to bury his brother properly and to convince Ceri to trust him again after he jilted her. But when Ceri agrees to help him get his brother back, they end up fighting for their lives as the second zombie uprising threatens them all.

Check out the tab above for buy links :) And I'm part of an awesome group blog tour this week. Lots of fun stuff going on and lots of fun stuff we are giving away!!! Stay tuned for more details on that :)

Happy Book Birthday to TRANSCEND and Christine Fonseca!!

I am thrilled to celebrate the release of Transcend by my dear friend Christine Fonseca. This book is different than any other I've read for a while. It's dark and poetic and just masterfully done. Here's the blurb and the gorgeous cover:

All seventeen-year-old composer Ien Montgomery desires is an escape from his family's rigid expectations for his life; someone to inspire his music. When he meets a beautiful violin-prodigy, Kiera McDougal, his life music takes on new life. With her, he imagines a future outside of his parents’ control. That is, until a horrible accident tears them apart. 

Sent to die in a sanatorium, Ien’s obsession for Kiera grows unbearable. Tortured by thoughts he can’t escape and the truth of his monstrous disfigurement, he flees, desperate to exact revenge on the people that ruined his life – his parents. But, vengeance is empty. Betrayed by those closest to him, Ien discovers that the price for his happiness may be his sanity. 

Set amidst the landscape of New York's Gilded Age, and inspired by Phantom of the Opera, TRANSCEND exposes the fine line between love and madness.

The early reviews on this book are AMAZING (and I whole-heartedly agree with them!) Christine's tour kicks off next week, but you can get Transcend on Amazon and B&N (the print versions aren't showing up yet but should be there any minute now) :)

Congrats Christine!!!!

Happy Release Day to Bethany Wiggins and Shifting!!

Today a very dear friend is celebrating the release of her debut novel. I posted about this at Operation Awesome on Saturday (head over there if you haven't yet because I'm giving away a SIGNED COPY - you can enter up through midnight tomorrow) but I just couldn't let this day go by without giving a huge shout out and congrats to Bethany Wiggins and her awesome book Shifting.

I've got something special planned in a couple weeks that you won't want to miss, but for today, I just wanted to wish Bethany all the best and implore all my lovely readers to go buy this book. I love this book, and I'm not just saying that because I'm friends with the author :D

This book has it all for me: weird happenings, cool (and creepy) mythology (made even creepier by the fact that it is based on legends about the area where I lived at the time...and there were plenty of local stories about the stuff in this book...and yeah...I'd get freaked out A LOT after talking to Bethany lol), romance, and mystery, and really really bad guys, and an awesome MC who may just be one of my favorites EVER.

Seriously, you all need to check this book out :) Here is the Amazon blurb:

After bouncing from foster home to foster home, Magdalene Mae is transferred to what should be her last foster home in the tiny town of Silver City, New Mexico. Now that she's eighteen and has only a year left in high school, she's determined to stay out of trouble and just be normal. Agreeing to go to the prom with Bridger O'Connell is a good first step. Fitting in has never been her strong suit, but it's not for the reasons most people would expect-it all has to do with the deep secret that she is a shape shifter. But even in her new home danger lurks, waiting in the shadows to pounce. They are the Skinwalkers of Navajo legend, who have traded their souls to become the animal whose skin they wear-and Maggie is their next target.




You can find Bethany at her WEBSITE, BLOG, on TWITTER, and on FACEBOOK. And you can buy Shifting HERE  :) Stay tuned for even more fun stuff in a couple weeks ;-)

And CONGRATS Bethany!!!! :)