Monday, June 16, 2014

Review & Giveaway - Dark Metropolis by Jaclyn Dolamore


Series: Dark Metropolis #1
Release date: June 17th 2014
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion


Cabaret meets Cassandra Clare-a haunting magical thriller set in a riveting 1930s-esque world.

Sixteen-year-old Thea Holder's mother is cursed with a spell that's driving her mad, and whenever they touch, Thea is chilled by the magic, too. With no one else to contribute, Thea must make a living for both of them in a sinister city, where danger lurks and greed rules.
Thea spends her nights waitressing at the decadent Telephone Club attending to the glitzy clientele. But when her best friend, Nan, vanishes, Thea is compelled to find her. She meets Freddy, a young, magnetic patron at the club, and he agrees to help her uncover the city's secrets-even while he hides secrets of his own.

Together, they find a whole new side of the city. Unrest is brewing behind closed doors as whispers of a gruesome magic spread. And if they're not careful, the heartless masterminds behind the growing disappearances will be after them, too.

Perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare, this is a chilling thriller with a touch of magic where the dead don't always seem to stay that way.

My thoughts:

I fell in love with Jaclyn Dolamore's writing style while reading Magic Under Glass and was eager to read her newest release, Dark Metropolis.  The story is very different from anything I have recently read which just added to my enjoyment. The characters were easy to connect with. I typically don't enjoy an alternating POV, but in Dark Metropolis it works beautifully and adds layers of depth to an already intricate story. The characters were all unique and interesting. 

The setting was beyond cool. The world building was perfect.  I loved the post-war alternate reality and all the political intrigue. I was fully invested in the story after just one chapter. I especially enjoyed scenes that took place at the Telephone Club where characters Thea and Nan worked. It had the feel of a historical novel (which I love), but the alternate world elements gave it an edge that made this novel addictive.

Dark Metropolis is a very fast paced read. The mystery elements made this a difficult book to put down. I kept allowing myself "just one more chapter", only to discover I'd almost finished the entire thing in one sitting. The plot moved quickly and as soon as I felt like I'd figured it all out a new twist was presented. I haven't had a book suck me in like this one managed to in a very long time. I was thoroughly impressed with how unpredictable this story was.  A perfect blend of magic and mystery.

Add Dark Metropolis on Goodreads 


About the author




Jaclyn Dolamore was homeschooled in a hippie sort of way and spent her childhood reading as many books as her skinny nerd-body could lug from the library and playing elaborate pretend games with her sister Kate. She skipped college and spent eight years drudging through retail jobs, developing her thrifty cooking skills and pursuing a lifelong writing dream. She has a passion for history, thrift stores, vintage dresses, David Bowie, drawing, and organic food. She lives with her partner and plot-sounding-board, Dade, and two black tabbies who have ruined her carpeting.

Find her on the web



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Thursday, June 5, 2014

Blitz & Giveaway - My Best Friend, Maybe by Caela Carter






Release date: June 3rd 2014
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Purchase: Amazon
Add on Goodreads


Colette has been bored and lonely ever since her best friend, Sadie, dumped her the summer before they stared high school. She tries to be perfect for everyone left in her life: her parents, her younger brothers, her church youth group, even her boyfriend, Mark. But Colette is restless. And she misses Sadie.


When Sadie tells Colette that she needs her old friend to join her on a family vacation to the Greek Islands, one that leaves in only a few days, Colette is shocked to hear their old magic word: need. And she finds herself agreeing.

Colette tries to relax and enjoy her Grecian surroundings but it’s not easy to go on vacation with the person who hurt you most in the world. When the reason for the trip finally surfaces, Colette finds out this is not only a fun vacation. Sadie has kept an enormous secret from Colette for years...forever. It’s a summer full of surprises, but that might be what Colette needs.
 
 
 
Excerpt:
 
Dad pulls up to the curb outside the international terminal. 

When he looks at me, his eyes aren’t so wild anymore. They almost look sad. “You ready?” 

“what’s going on, Dad?” I ask. It hits me that he somehow snuck me out of the house and now he’s ready to push me onto an airplane to some distant island, but he still hasn’t said anything real. 

He shrugs. “Mom’s not always right,” he says. 

But she is. 

His eyes fall to his lap. “Neither am I,” he says. “Call your mother. Say good-bye.” 

My hands shake as I finally turn on my phone. 

She answers before the first ring. “Don’t get on that airplane, Colette,” she says, “Know that I don’t approve of this.” 

“You know?” I ask. 

“Your father left a note. Colette...” She trials off. “You heard me tell you not to go, right?” 

“Yes,” I say. 

“Well if you go anyway, be safe. Protect your body and your soul. I changed your phone plan so you can only call home, okay? It’s too expensive for you to call Louisa and Mark willy-nilly.” Mark. “But call when you arrive, okay? So we don’t have to worry.” 

“Okay,” I say. 

My hands aren’t shaking anymore. I’m relieved to hear her sound like any-old-mom. 

“And, honey?” she says. She says it so softly I think she’s going to tell me to have a nice time. Or that she loves me. 

“Yeah?” 

“I hope you understand what a terrible choice you’re making.” 

She hangs up. 

I stare at the phone in my palm. 

“She okay?” Dad says finally. 

I shrug. 

We get out of the car and I spot Sadie and her family climbing out of a limo curbed fifty feet away. She jumps up and down as soon as she sees me, her now purple-and-blond hair waving across her face. I can’t help smiling. I can see her mouth moving even from here. “You came! You came!” 

I give my dad a quick hug, pull out my suitcase, yank up the handle of my rolly bag, and take my first step as the new, imperfect Coley. 

“Colette?” Dad says. 

I turn around, ready for him to sit me back in the car, to tell me this was all a test that I failed. Instead he holds out his hand and shoves a stack of bills into my fist. “For whatever you need, little lady. Have fun. I—we. We love you.” 

Then he’s gone. 

“Coley!” Sadie is running toward me so quickly that I only have a second to open my phone and click on my good-morning text from Mark. 

“One more day! I love you!” the message says. 

My heart beats faster and salt water threatens to escape from behind my eyeballs and I know he deserves so much better than this, so much more explanation, so much more of me. And me, too. I know I deserve a better good-bye than I’m going to be able to give him. But I only have ten seconds before she reaches me, before it’s time, before the bell rings on my perfect life and I dive into the drama with Sadie. 

I type the seven letters i-m s-o-r-r-y. Then I press Send. 

Here we go.
 
 
About the author:
 
 
Caela Carter grew up in Basking Ridge, NJ and Baltimore, MD. She's been writing since she learned how to pick up a pen but before the writing thing got serious she spent six years teaching English to middle and high school students in Jacksonville, FL and Chicago, IL.  Her debut novel, ME, HIM, THEM AND IT was published in 2013 by Bloomsbury.  When she's not writing, Caela is a teacher of some awesome teens in Brooklyn, a Notre Dame football enthusiast, and a happy explorer in New York City.
 
 
 
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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Spotlight & Giveaway - Love for Beginners and Hometown Love Boxed Set









Book Title: Love For Beginners
Author: Sally Clements

 She needs a lesson in love, and he’s the perfect teacher.

Mechanic Melody Swan is looking for a man who can share her hopes and dreams, but she swore she would never lose herself to passion. When sexy Heath Starr agrees to temporarily sub in the Under the Hood garage for his sister, Mel sees the perfect opportunity to enjoy being with a man without becoming attached. 

Heath came to Meadowsweet to photograph nature, not find a hookup, especially since his last relationship ended in disaster. He vowed he’d never break another woman’s heart, and in turn, protect his own. Still, when Mel offers to serve as his outdoor guide, he can’t refuse. 

Mel may say she’s only looking for right now, but her body is speaking a whole different language. And Heath’s viewfinder is drawn to her time and again. When the two find themselves isolated in a rustic cabin, they could both break their promises if they aren’t careful… 

Buy a copy


 
 About the author

Author Bio: Sally Clements writes fun, sexy and real contemporary romance, partnering hot heroes with heroines who know what they want, and go for it! 

She is a full-time author, who lives in the Irish countryside, and when she isn’t writing can usually be found in traffic, driving ‘Mum’s taxi’. 

Always a voracious reader, she considers writing for a living the perfect job—the only downside is saying goodbye to her characters at book’s end!


Find her on the web
 




Book Title: Hometown Love Boxed Set

Author: Rachel Harris, Ophelia London and Kelley Vitollo


 **For a limited time only!** 


Three novels that prove love can always be found right at home 


There’s nothing quite like the comfort and serenity of returning home again, especially when combined with the sizzle and excitement of finding true love. This limited-edition contemporary romance boxed set from Entangled’s Bliss line features three fun and flirty small-town stories sure to make you laugh, sigh, and smile long after you’ve turned the last page. 


Taste the Heat by Rachel Harris: Colby Robicheaux knows her brother’s best friend—delectable fire captain Jason Landry—is off-limits, and anyway, she’s only back home for a short time. Jason’s looking for someone to help him raise his preteen daughter, not a fling, but Colby’s all grown up and tempting as ever. 


Playing at Love by Ophelia London: When Tess Johansson’s music program gets pitted against Jack Marshall’s football program in a battle for funding, she knows only one of them can win. Jack might be the summer love she never forgot, but her job means everything to her. Competing against the enemy was never quite this much fun. 


Lucky Break by Kelley Vitollo: Sydney Williams might have come home to her small town of Shamrock Falls, but it’ll take more than that to rekindle a broken friendship with her childhood best friend, Kade Mitchell. When friendship turns to sparks turns to more, will Kade be able to convince his best friend to gamble on forever? 


Buy a copy



About the authors


 Rachel Harris

Rachel Harris writes humorous love stories about sassy girls-next-door and the hot guys that make them swoon. Emotion, vibrant settings, and strong families are a staple in each of her books...and kissing. Lots of kissing. 


A Cajun cowgirl now living in Houston, she firmly believes life's problems can be solved with a hot, sugar-coated beignet or a thick slice of king cake, and that screaming at strangers for cheap, plastic beads is acceptable behavior in certain situations. She homeschools her two beautiful girls and watches way too much Food Network with her amazing husband.


An admitted Diet Mountain Dew addict, she gets through each day by laughing at herself, hugging her kids, and losing herself in story. She writes young adult, new adult, and adult romances, and LOVES talking with readers! 



Ophelia London
 

Ophelia London was born and raised among the redwood trees in beautiful northern California. Once she was fully educated, she decided to settle in Florida, but her car broke down in Texas and she’s lived in Dallas ever since. A cupcake and treadmill aficionado (obviously those things are connected), she spends her time watching art-house movies and impossibly trashy TV, while living vicariously through the characters in the books she writes. Ophelia is the author of ABBY ROAD; the Perfect Kisses series including: PLAYING AT LOVE, SPEAKING OF LOVE, and FALLING FOR HER SOLDIER, and the new adult DEFINITELY, MAYBE IN LOVE. 


  
Kelley Vitollo


Kelley has been writing for as long as she can remember. She won her first writing contest in third grade for an essay she wrote on, “Tomorrow’s Leaders on the Move”. Like dreams sometimes do, they fell to the background for a while. She married her best friend, worked full time, and started her family. In 2004 Kelley, her husband and their new baby girl made a move from Oregon to Southern California and that’s when everything changed. As a stay-at-home mom for the first time, her passion for writing flared to life again.

Things haven’t been the same since. 

With two incredible daughters, an awesome husband and her days spent writing what she loves, Kelley considers herself the luckiest girl in the world. She still resides in sunny Southern California, where she loves spending time with her family and sneaking away to the bookstore with her laptop. 





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Sunday, June 1, 2014

Excerpt & Giveaway - Baby, It's You Blog Tour


With only the wedding dress on her back and her honeymoon luggage in the car, Kari Worthington is running away. Determined to put her controlling father, her rigidly structured life, and the uptight groom she left at the altar in her rearview mirror, she escapes to the Texas Hill country . . . and lands on a tall, dark, and gorgeous winery owner's doorstep. All she needs is a job and a place to live until she can get back on her feet. So why is she fantasizing about losing herself in his powerful arms?
 

For Marc Cordero, freedom is so close he can taste it. He's devoted his life to managing the family business and being a single dad. Now with his daughter away at college and his brother taking over the winery, Marc is ready to hop on his Harley for parts unknown-until a runaway bride bursts onto the scene. Free-spirited and tantalizingly sexy, Kari excites him like no other woman has before. But when irresistible passion turns into something more, will Marc give up his future to take a chance on love?



Excerpt

The ibuprofen, the wine, the heating pad, a sexy man putting Band-Aids on her blisters…what didn't make her feel good? 

"Much better," she said. 

Marc applied the last Band-Aid and removed her foot from his thigh, and she settled back with a sigh of pure contentment. Nobody in her adult life had anyone ever done anything like this for her. On the surface, Marc was big and gruff and demanding, but beneath it all was a kindness and compassion she never would have imagined, and it drew her to him like nothing else. Now she hoped he would pour himself a glass of wine and stay for a while. After that, who knew what might happen? 

"Okay," he said. "It's time for me to go." 

Kari's eyes flew open. "Go? Why?" 

"I'm finished here. I'll leave everything. You'll probably need all of it again tomorrow." 

No! She didn't want him to go. She wanted him to stay there forever so this feeling would never go away. 

"You don't have to go," she said. 

"I have work to do." 

"After dark?" 

"Accounting stuff." 

"Why don't you forget that for tonight? Stick around? Have a glass of wine?" 

"Can't," he said. "Things piles up." 

"Don't you ever relax?" 

”Not when there are things to do." 

As he rose to leave, Kari felt a rush of disappointment. But what was she supposed to do? Grab him by the arm and forbid him to leave? 

"Wait,” she said. “I'll lock the door behind you. Assuming you lock things all the way out
here." 

"Always lock doors," Marc said. "You never know." 

Of course he would say that. Mr. Practicality. And of course Mr. Practicality couldn't stick around and have a glass of wine if there was an iota of work to be done. To say she was attracted to him was an understatement. To say he was frustrating the hell out her was a bigger one. 

Suppressing a groan of pain, she rose from the sofa and followed him. When he reached the door, she called out to him. 

“Marc?” 

He turned back. “What?” 

She stopped in front of him. “Thank you for all this.” 

“It was no big deal.” 

“No. It was a big deal. Believe me. A really big deal.” 

“A pair of shoes, a heating pad, a couple of Band-Aids—“ 

“No. You don’t understand. Nobody's ever done stuff like this for me before." 

The words were out of her mouth before she really thought about them. Now she was stuck feeling just a little bit pitiful, particularly when a look of disbelief came over Marc's face. 

"Ever?" 

"Yeah. Ever." 

"But when you were a kid, surely--" 

"When my mother was alive, I guess." 

"How old were you when she died?" 

"Eight. After that, my father's staff was nice to me. But it wasn't the same." She shrugged. "You can pay people to do all kinds of things. Doesn't mean they care." 

Marc just stared at her as if her words didn't compute, and suddenly she wished she'd kept her mouth shut. She'd looked pitiful enough when she'd almost quit her job. The last thing she wanted to do was look even more pathetic now. 

"What made you change your mind about the job?” Marc asked. 

"I don't know. It doesn't matter. Thanks again for helping me," she said, having a hard time looking at him. She nodded toward the door. "Go ahead. I'll close it behind you." 

But he didn’t move. Instead, he continued to stare at her. It was just like at Animal House that night, when he hadn't even blinked. He just stared at her stoically, as if he was feeling absolutely nothing. Zero. Nada. Zilch. 
 
So why wasn't he leaving? 

He flicked his gaze to her almost-empty wineglass. "Now that I think about it," he said, "they say people who drink alone have a drinking problem. You're new in town. We wouldn't want people jumping to the wrong conclusion." 

Kari's heart bumped hard against her chest, her stomach quivering with anticipation. "Exactly. It's like you said when we were at the inn. This is a small town. Word gets around." 

But he made no move to grab another wineglass and fill it. She held her breath, wondering what he was thinking. His gaze played across her face, then moved downward to her chest, then lower to the V of her robe where it dipped down between her breasts. It had fallen open slightly when she rose from the sofa, but the last thing she wanted to do right then was pull it shut. As far as she was concerned, he could look at anything he wanted to as long as he wanted to. 

They both stood motionless, the air between them growing hot and heavy. Evening was turning to dusk, and the dim light from the single lamp gave the room a dreamy, otherworldly feeling. Or maybe it was the wine. Maybe she didn't know. She only knew she loved the feeling and didn't want to lose it. 

Then his attention turned to a spot above her eyes, and his brows drew together with
concern. 

"What's the matter?" she asked. 

"Is that a bruise on your forehead?" 

"Yeah." 

"What happened?" 

"I came out the kitchen door. Unfortunately, it was the door you're supposed to use to come in. I've learned that's a felony when you're working in a restaurant." 

He lifted the hair on her forehead to examine it more closely. 

"It's okay," she said. "It doesn't hurt." 

"If I'd known about it, I'd have brought an ice pack." 

"No need. I'm fine." 

He moved his fingertips downward, letting her hair fall back against her forehead. But to her surprise, instead of pulling his hand away, he traced those two fingertips all the way along her cheek to her jaw, then wrapped his callused hand around the side of her neck and stepped closer. 

Oh, my God. 

She couldn't meet his eyes. Didn't dare. She just stared straight ahead at that big, rock-hard chest and prayed he didn't stop. She leaned into him, closing her eyes at the heavenly feeling of her body pressed against all that bone and muscle. All the sexy thoughts she'd been having about him since she came to his door two nights ago melted into a red-hot jumble in her mind until thinking wasn't an option. She couldn't have mustered up a single coherent thought if her life depended on it. Whatever pain she'd felt earlier had vanished. She only knew she wanted Marc. She wanted him here. And she wanted him now. 

"This is a bad idea," he whispered. 

Kari felt a shot of desperation. "No. It's a good idea. An excellent idea. In fact, it's the best idea I've come across all day." 

He moved his other hand around to the small of her back to pull her closer, and her heart went crazy. But he still did nothing else. Good God. Did he have to have so damned much self-control? 

"What's wrong?" she said, barely able to breathe for the anticipation she felt. "Do you have a girlfriend I don't know about?" 

"No. No girlfriend." 

"And I no longer have a fiancĂ©." 

"But you just left him at the altar two days ago." 

"Which was better than marrying the wrong man." 

"Okay, that's logical," he said. 

And then he kissed her. 


Buy a copy of Baby, It's You



  

About Jane Graves


New York Times bestselling author Jane Graves is a nine-time finalist for Romance Writers of America's RITA Award, the industry's highest honor, and is the recipient of two National Readers' Choice Awards, the Booksellers' Best Award, and the Golden Quill, among others.  Jane lives in the Dallas area with her husband and a very sweet kitty who kindly keeps her lap warm while she writes. You can write to her at jane@janegraves.com.  She'd love to hear from you!

Find her on the web





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