Spring Cleaning Giveaway Hop

2nd Annual Spring Cleaning Giveaway Hop

It's time for some spring cleaning!

 

 

 

Its time once again to do some spring cleaning. Up for grabs is a box of The Far Side books.

All the Far Side I can put in a large flat rate box is yours if your name is picked by the rafflecopter. Due to postage on a large box this is a US only giveaway. As always, its not a requirement to be a follower but its always appreciated.



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The Haret Tour

Felicitas’ life is thrown into chaos when she begins to have dreams of Raine Zadock. Not only has she never met him, but the intimate night in her dreams shows a positive result on her pregnancy test. She doesn’t dare tell her controlling father, Melvin Rebold, the town’s most prominent Baptist minister or her passive mother Sharon. The only person she can confide in is her grandmother Rosie, however her father forbids her to have anything to do with her, claiming she’s insane and speaks with the dead. But, before Felicitas can confess her secret, she mysteriously vanishes. During the search to find her, news of her pregnancy surfaces along with a cryptic Nocturnal Journal that cast an accusing finger on a secretive stranger.
A week later, she is found wandering the woods but with no memory of where she has been. An angry Detective, her boyfriend and her parents are furious with her and of course do not believe her story of becoming pregnant in a dream.
After her father threatens to send her off to County Mental Health, she runs away to her grandmother’s house, all the while haunted by her father’s continual warnings about the woman. True to her father’s description, Rosie seems a bit eccentric and shares wild mystical tales of dreams and other dimensions. Together Felicitas and her grandmother trace their roots back ten generations and make a disturbing discovery that someone very close to her is not who they seem.

The Odin Blood Series

Title: Dagger Heart (Book 1)

Author: Ronnell D. Porter
Published: January 26, 2012
Word Count: 70,000
Genre: Paranormal Romance/Mystery
Content Warning: It does contain some graphic fantasy violence as there is a sequence wherein an army of undead invades the heroine's homeland, and a Tolkien-ish battle ensues. 16+ recommended
Note: Dagger Heart is currently FREE on Amazon!

Synopsis:
Norway, 704 A.D.
The valiant King Ulfur defeated the evil that swept the seaside village of Nornör into despair; Morgan, the demon witch, has been dead for nearly twenty years. The truce between King Úlfur and the Queen of the Fae has remained intact since the day that Morgan’s dark curses vanished. It seemed that peace had finally come to the wounded souls of the village.

But this peace is shaken when three curses that Morgan promised with her dying breath are placed upon the Norwegian village: who among them has cast the spell?

Seventeen-year-old Erica finds herself trapped in the middle of a witch’s deadly revenge scheme with no way out but to fight for survival. On top of trying to end the curses devouring her village like a savage beast she finds herself at the center of attention when it comes to Viking King Úlfur’s three sons: Kriger, Paul, and Finn.

Three of them will fight alongside her.
Two of them want to marry her.
One of them could be the son of King Úlfur… and Morgan.

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Title: Ebon Heart (Book 2)
Published: January 22, 2013
Word Count: 70, 000
Genre: Paranormal Romance/Mystery

Synopsis:
Sequel to 'Dagger Heart'.

"You know not of King Bersek, Lord of Berserkers... The Berserkers are men of darkness; heartless and unyielding. They know no fear, they know no pain – and the sound of them ripping and slashing and tearing people apart by their limbs: chaos incarnate."

One year after triumphing over the events surrounding the cursed Blackthorn Dagger, Queen 'Dagger Heart' Erica receives an ominous warning from a group of survivors that arrives in her village of Nornör: an army like no other, steeped in dark necromancy, heads for her Norwegian shores. With the winter solstice quickly approaching and no sign of the black wolf that used to roam the woods of her lands, she races against time to uncover the mystery of The Necromancer, as well as the absence of her dear friend and love, Finn.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | GoodReads

Excerpt:
The soft candlelight lit her room with hot yellow flickers of flame as she held a black iron jewelry box in her lap. It was so intricate, so lovely, and it allowed her to not only read Finn’s words of love, but to run her fingers across them so that she knew that he was real, that the feeling of his love wasn’t just the fading dream of a naïve girl. When she closed her eyes and held the jewelry box close to her, she could almost see his round face, his dark hair, brows, and lashes contrasted against the pallor of his skin, and those eyes that always seemed to catch whatever light was near to make them glow, even with the faintest of rays in the night. They were the eyes of the Fae blood within him, eyes that held an ancient magic and natural wisdom pooled in shades of forest green.

Finn rolled onto his side and took her hand into his. He left soft kisses along her hand, her wrist, and slid his body against hers.

"I want you to know that I'd decided never to leave your side again," he said. He looked suddenly uncomfortable, his brow strewn together and his jaw clenched tightly. Then he finally drew in a deep breath through his nose and nodded to himself.

"Before I returned here, I think I was starting to forget what it was like to be human... To be me. Emotions were starting we feel dulled, and something like a memory. Suddenly what was important in my like didn't seem to matter much; my old life, the death of my brothers, my mother, my father... Even you. I almost didn't return to Nornör at all, but something inside of me - maybe the last little piece of humanity inside of me - urged me back here. And suddenly, when I saw you again, all of the parts of me that got lost inside of that wolf's body began to come back together. Suddenly I felt fire again, and passion, and I felt that there was something that gave my life meaning again. When I held you for the first time, I felt whole again."

Finn grew bolder, and nodded to himself.

"I can't risk forgetting who I am again - but more importantly, I can't risk forgetting what you mean to me."

"I don't think you ever would have forgotten who you are," Erica said.

"I very nearly forgot you - that's bad enough. I wouldn't want to live with myself if I'd forgotten your name, your face, your voice, your scent..."

"You won't," Erica whispered. She cradled his head against her chest and let him rest there as she tangled her fingers into his thick black hair. "I promise that you'll never have to go another day of your life without me there to remind you of who you are. You are Finn Úlfurson, the man that I have loved since the first time we ran through the woods and howled together like maniacs."

Finn chuckled against her, and lifted his head.

"And you are Erica, great leader to the people of Nornör, and the woman I have loved since you struck me over the head with a rock."

About the Author:
Ronnell D. Porter was raised in Ogden, Utah, and now resides in Denver, Colorado. During his free time he plays the violin, dabbles in graphic design, and, of course, thoroughly enjoys writing stories. He believes that a novel written simply to entertain does its readers a disservice; instead, a book's narrative should always change the way we perceive the world around us, and grant us a little more wisdom than we had when starting the story.

Amazon Author Page | Facebook | GoodReads









Giveaway Details:

There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
• Grand Prize: A Kindle Touch, pre-loaded with 5 books by Ronnell D. Porter
• 10 eBook copies of Ebon Heart
The grand prize is available to the US only! The eBooks are worldwide.


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Lucky Leprechan Giveaway Hop

In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day I decided to offer something with an Irish theme. Up for grabs is my copy of Eirelan by Liam O'shiel. This is a rather long read but very much worth it. I gave it 5 stars and you can find my review here. However, since this is such a large book this is a US only giveaway. As always, its not a requirement that you follow my blog but its always appreciated. Thanks for stopping by and please come back often.

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Lords of Satyr: Dominic

Dominic by Elizabeth Amber

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the continuation of the Lords of Satyr novels. If you have read any of the first three of this series, this is more of the same. If you have not, be warned that these are not for everyone.

This book is split between two novellas: Dominic and then Vincent. There is a tie between the two being the coin of Bacchus that is lost in the first and found in the second.

In Dominic, he is a full Satyr that comes to Earth world to pass on his gift of the demonhand to Jane's sister. Her husband is injured and Dominic must help with the birth of their daughter. The demonhand is a soldier that is often scorned for what he is but is necessary in the war against demonkind. He has no choice in what he is but instead of being given respect for his part in keeping them safe he is scorned. Many of our own soldiers go through this when coming back from wars that are unpopular. Dominic is a sad character in many ways because of this and its nice to see when he finds true love.

Vincent continues the story due to the finding of the coin that was lost in the first novella. He conjures a shimmerskin too many times and causes her to come to life. Many reviewers have indicated that Dominic is the better of the two, but I enjoyed both stories very much. Vincent, Cara, and Landon have an unconventional relationship that was very much filled with love.

Overall, I loved both of these books, and for anyone that enjoyed the first in this series I suggest you continue on with this one. If you haven't read any of this series, be aware that its definitely for those over 18.



View all my reviews

Starseed Book Blast

Starseed

Author: Liz Gruder

ISBN: 978-1937178291

Publisher: WiDo Publishing

Published: February 2013



SUMMARY



Kaila Guidry has always known she is different. When she meets Jordyn Stryker at school, she finds out just how different.



Jordyn was born and raised far from Earth, a starseed, one of six new students sent to Louisiana's Bush High to learn human ways. But Jordyn didn't count on meeting someone like Kaila.



When Kaila is pushed to her limit by high school bullying and cruelty, Jordyn awakens her to a new reality—and to love. But to prove herself, Kaila must look the other way as the real purposes of the starseeds unfold.



As the horrific plan behind the starseed visit to Earth moves inexorably forward, Kaila and Jordan, caught in an impossible love, must determine where their true loyalties lie.





Praise



"You know from the opening paragraph that something very strange is going on… We see Kaila try to live the life of a normal teen, and we see her "otherness" pull her back into an increasingly tangled web of questions, deceit, and hidden intentions. Liz really shines as a writer, lining the closets and drawers of everyday life with spine-chilling suspense that springs out at you when you least expect it. Starseed is an entertaining read. I highly recommend."

--Patricia B. Smith. Author “What the Animals Tell Me” and “Fifty Shades of Santa” (clean romance fiction)



"Liz Gruder’s characters come alive through youthful, spunky narrative, and her headstrong heroine, Kaila Guidry, elicits a reader’s encouragement from the first page. Fans of Amanda Hocking will find themselves similarly transported into Gruder’s exploration of the dark sides of faith, love, higher dimensions, and, of course, high school." --Jadie Jones, young-adult fantasy author

Purchase

Publisher * Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Amazon Kindle

Author Liz Gruder



As a youth, Liz Gruder saw a series of UFOs with her best friend while riding bikes. Ever since, she’s held a fascination for the stars. An avid reader, she used to hide under her covers and read with a flashlight. She has degrees in English and Psychology from Tulane University, a nursing license and a yoga certification. After going through Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Liz realized how short life is and is now slowly fulfilling her bucket list: she’s been to the Egyptian pyramids (totally awesome and thought provoking) and is now teaching yoga and writing speculative fiction. Starseed is her debut novel.

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Tour Schedule

Book Blast Giveaway

$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 4/7/13



Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the authors. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.







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To Love and Die in a Steamy-Reamy World BOOK BLAST

To Love or Die in a Steamy-Reamy World





10 Tales of Steampunk Silliness and Spookery

In the cozy seaside village of Steamville, New Hampshire, an unfaithful zombie, out of control werebots, succubi in corsets, and more wreak havoc in this short story collection from the author of Elemental.

Purchase

Just .99 cents

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Praise



"Well written and very fast paced. You won’t get bored or find your mind wandering. I’d love to see a sequel to this collection and see what happens next. I give this book five out of five donuts."



"This book starts off dipping its toe right into the heart of the story, not unlike Ms. White's YA novel Elemental, and the story never really slows down to a lazy pace; making it a very easy and fast read."



"Ms. White wonderfully succeeded in instilling humor into ten short stories about vampires, zombies, ghosts, and one mad scientist. Each story is brilliantly linked. The Victorian era setting delightfully adds to the humor."



"This is a wonderful mix of Steampunk and Horror written in Emily White's unmistakable brilliance and style. Does it get any better than that?"

About Author Emily White



Emily White lives in NY, wedged between two of the Great Lakes and a few feet of snow and ice. She's spent most of her life running away from the cold, and even spent a year in Iraq, but now contents herself with writing her characters into warm, exotic places in faraway galaxies. When not tapping away at her computer keys, she can be found reading, reading, and reading some more. And when she's not doing that, she's usually playing video games with her husband, peek-a-boo with her kids, or walking through her garden, wondering why the bugs insist on eating all her vegetables.

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Book Blast Giveaway

$100 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 3/24/13





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Secrets

Title: Secrets
Author: Darcia Helle
Published: August 2012
Word Count: 81000
Genre: Suspense
Content Warning: Some adult content and language not suitable for readers under 16.

Synopsis:
SURVIVAL

Samantha’s monsters aren't under the bed; they’re the people she calls Mom and Dad.

ESCAPE

She makes it out alive, her sanity barely intact.

LIES

She creates a new past that fools everyone, including herself.

HOPE

A life filled with love and security teeters on its base of lies.

SECRETS

When it all comes crumbling down, will Samantha make it out alive?

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | GoodReads

Excerpt:
Now she wondered if all the lies were necessary. Was her past so bad that she had to hide it?

Samantha trembled as the thought gave her a brief glimpse into the darkness. Oh, yes, the lies were a vital part of her survival. A long time ago she’d learned to suppress most of her memories. But bits and pieces refused to stay hidden.

The memories of those years were too horrific to think about. Samantha pushed the thoughts away before they invaded her conscious mind. The one thing she remembered clearly, had never been able to forget, was her mother’s betrayal.

Would Jeff still love her if he knew the truth?

Would she be able to live with herself if she allowed the memories back in?
Was it even her that Jeff had fallen in love with? Or was it the made-up dream girl she’d invented for the rest of the world? Did she even know her true self anymore?

She choked back a sob as a tear slid down her cheek. Too much about her remained hidden, even from herself.

About the Author:

Darcia Helle lives in a fictional world with a husband who is sometimes real. Their house is ruled by spoiled dogs and cats and the occasional dust bunny.

Suspense, random blood splatter and mismatched socks consume Darcia’s days. She writes because the characters trespassing through her mind leave her no alternative. Only then are the voices free to haunt someone else’s mind.

Join Darcia in her fictional world: http://www.QuietFuryBooks.com
The characters await you.

Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Blog | Website







Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
• 2 print copies of Secrets
• 10 ecopies of Secrets in any format
Giveaway is worldwide.

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The Queen and Commander

Title: Queen and Commander

Author: Janine Southard

Summary:

On a world where high school test scores determine your future career, six students rebel.

A pair of star-crossed lovers plot to stay together, rather than be separated by the system's college plans. A former off-worlder instigates: there's a ship in orbit, he says. We could take it and run away.

But to take the ship, the three conspirators need more friends. Enter Rhiannon, the girl who set herself up for the ultimate success on this planet. She made sure her test would give the desired result: Queen. But her best friend begs her to take control of this plan to run away. So she drafts a would-be doctor who believes in following his Queen with all his heart. She finds a genius who can't seem to make the system work for him.

And then she gets them qualified for the ship in orbit. The ship to freedom. Now what will they do with it? And was freedom what they really wanted?

Check out the UK cover!

ExcerptWinning a ship means surpassing the competition.

The three competing Queens swiveled their heads, hare-quick, to home in on new prey. They’d ignored her until she’d made that noise. Now they had the scent of fresh insecurity and would peck away until they laid her meager confidence bare for the massacre.

“What a sweet little girl,” gushed the one in red. “Where’s your mother?”

Dead, actually. Well, if this Queen planned to come after her for her age, she’d show her appreciation in the way only a younger person could. She raised her eye­brows and furrowed them down the middle, then pulled her head back onto her neck as though repulsed or doing a proper sit-up.

From the way the older woman cringed back, Rhiannon knew she’d succeeded in making the derisive Did you seriously just say that to me? face that she’d seen on her more critical peers.

A teenager can out bitch-face you any time, Queenie. Don’t try that tactic with me.

The eldest cocked her head, more curious than cruel. Perhaps she found it as difficult to gauge Rhian­non’s age as the other way around. As far as Rhiannon knew, this woman had been one of Dyfed’s first Queens, self-made and just as untrained as herself. “Why do you think you deserve Ceridwen’s Cauldron?”

About the Author

Janine A. Southard writes speculative fiction and videogame dialogue from her home in Seattle, WA. She sings with a Celtic band and is working on the next book in the Hive Queen universe. She’s also been known to read aloud to her cat.

The cat appreciates all of these things. Maybe.

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Aurora

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Aura



"I half-turned to her and shrugged, still processing what I'd seen, or at least what I thought I'd seen, in Ms. Neal's eyes—like they weren't hers. Obviously, they were her eyes, but it looked like she'd plucked them from someone else's head. A dead someone else's head."



In the fight between good and evil, Light is your only weapon.



Crystal Scott finally feels like a normal teenager. She has a lead in the high school play, a best friend, and a gorgeous boyfriend. With prom only a few days away, Crystal’s ordinary life seems perfect.



Endowed with great Light because of her virtuous choices and her inherent gifts, Crystal’s aura has become visible to those with the ability to see auras. Unfortunately, her power has also attracted the attention of demons intent on destroying all Light.



When Vincent Crandall, the human host for a powerful demon, discovers that Crystal’s Light is strong enough to disrupt the connection between demons and their hosts, he realizes she may be able to sever the connection altogether. Determined to stop her from interfering with his plans to rule the world, he sends operatives to neutralize her Light.



After the operatives fail to disable Crystal, Vincent decides he must harness her power for himself. He kidnaps her parents, and Crystal is thrust into battle against a demon army she didn’t even know existed. With the help of a mysterious young man and his mother, Crystal must learn to use the power within her before Vincent kills her parents and exploits her Light.

Goodreads * Amazon

Author Rebecca Lynn Talley



Rebecca Lynn Talley grew up in the gorgeous seaside city of Santa Barbara, CA. She met, and married, her husband, Del, while attending Brigham Young University. She graduated from BYU with a degree in Communications. She currently lives in rural Colorado on a small ranch with a dog, too many cats to count, and a herd of goats. She and Del are the proud parents of ten wildly-creative, multi-talented children.



Rebecca is the author of a children's picture book, Grasshopper Pie (WindRiver 2003), a children's chapter book, Gabby's Secret (DuBon Publishing 2011), four novels, Heaven Scent (CFI 2008), Altared Plans (CFI 2009), The Upside of Down (CFI 2011), and Aura (DuBon Publishing 2012). She has also authored numerous children's stories and articles for both print and online magazines.



When she isn’t writing, Rebecca loves to date her husband, play with her kids, swim in the ocean, and dance to disco music while she cleans the house. She has folded at least one million loads of laundry, baked hundreds of batches of chocolate chip cookies, and eaten 5,478 gallons of ice cream.

Twitter * Facebook * Website * Blog * Aura Blog

Reviews



This YA urban fantasy is fantastic! The story grabbed me from the start and kept me enthralled until the end! I love books that keep me thinking about the characters and events and possibilities even after putting them down...Aura is one of those books! Rebecca Lynn Talley has created characters you care about in a world begging for the special gifts they possess. I love the premise of Aura and imagine I'll be enjoying many more Light vs. Demon novels in the future....at least I hope there are more to come!

~KindleQueen



I loved the clasic good VS evil in Aura. I loved that Crystal made the conscious choice to be good inspite of feelings and doubts. I also loved the idea of demons posessing somone who had made dark choices, or greedy bargains. The book is clean and well handled inspite of the serious subject matter.Well done.

~C. Michelle Jefferies



This is one of those books that you hope will become widespread enough to make a positive impact in this world. Personally, I think this is a book every teenager should read and I will definitely be passing it along to my own kids. Thank you, Rebecca, for writing a beautiful story with a wonderful message! I hope you keep at it because now I want a sequel!

~Rachael Anderson



Aura sucked me in from the first page. The book is intense and well-written. I loved that Crystal is innocent and makes a conscious choice to stay that way in the face of intense pressure. I would recommend Aura to young adults on up.

~Cami Checketts



Wonderful, wonderful message. Probably the most solid moral message I’ve ever read in contemporary literature, but without being too heavy or feeling like a lecture. You could almost look at it like an allegory, I think, representing real life with fictional symbols. I’m trying to explain without giving anything away, and I think I’m doing a bad job. Anyway, I have four boys, but if I had a girl, I would definitely have her read it. The story is imaginative and creative, Crystal is a strong but believable heroine, caught up in high school cares and not realizing her own potential or the battle that is waged around and for her. I thought at times it was a bit predictable, and that the first half of the book drug a little. It probably could have been told quicker or perhaps made a little more interesting. But all in all, I enjoyed it. The story kept me going and the characters were sweet and compelling.

~May Abbey



Wow! I got this book for free and LOVED it! I can't wait to read any follow up books! (There WILL be follow up books, right?) In this story Crystal is full of light, thanks to making good choices, and she has to figure out how to keep the light in the midst of high school where temptation runs rampant and where she just wants to be an average girl! I like that things never went too far, and I felt like it was very well-written, with rounded out characters!

~Tamera Westhoff



Blog Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 3.21.13



Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.




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