The Modified Cover Reveal

What would you sacrifice to save the one’s you love? To save the one who holds your heart? To save the world?

Kenley Grayson is all too familiar with these questions.

After Earth is thrust into its first intergalactic war with an unknown race called the Bringers, our military forces begin to suffer heavy losses. Desperate for a solution, the Allied Federation issues a worldwide draft for every able seventeen-year-old to

enlist. As Kenley turns seventeen, she finds herself thrown into the very war that took her older brother’s life.
This year’s draft is a little different than in the past though. A new program, known as the Magnus Project, has been introduced, and only the best and brightest qualify. Kenley is amongst a select few whom are chosen to join this elite group of soldiers, and as a part of this project, undergoes a modification procedure that leaves her and her peers endowed with powers beyond their wildest dreams.
As Earth continues in its struggle against the Bringers, Kenley is transported to a high-tech training facility, the Magnus Academy, to prepare for the major battle that lies ahead. It’s here that she meets the California heartthrob, and son of a legendary war hero, Landon Shaw. As unexpected feelings toward Landon begin to develop, Kenley wonders if this is the right time or place for romance to bloom, especially when those feelings start to interfere with her training.

The Dragon Within

The Dragon Within by Cindy Lyle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely love the world created by Cindy Lyle in The Dragon Within. You can almost feel the Tolkein influences on this work but at the same time its entirely her own.

The Dragon Within Excerpt

I would like to thank author Cindy Lyle for sharing this excerpt from The Dragon Within. I am currently reading this book and will have a review coming soon.

We pretty much ran all the way back to the castle. Fitch insisted on coming too, so I had to stop a few times to let him catch up. Elric didn’t bother to wait for us, by the time Fitch and I reached the inner ward the alarm had been sounded, and everyone was busy preparing for the impending encounter with the Dark Lord. We hurried into the main hall of the Keep and found Anora, Edwin and Elric conferring with some of the

army’s commanders. A scout ran in ahead of us and reported directly to the king.
“The prince’s reports are accurate, Sire. There is a small group of about fifteen headed toward us, but I did not see the Dark Lord. He does not appear to be among them, but there are Litui.”
“Send a detachment to the bridge and stop their advance there. Since they did not bring a large company I don’t think this is an attack, but be ready for anything. If there are Litui, chances are his Hautur are there as well, so their numbers could be deceiving. ”
King Edwin turned at the same time as Anora to see Fitch and I enter the front hall. Our reception was not a warm one. Edwin was furious, and the look on his face made me feel like I was the Dark Lord himself.

The Unsacred Gift: A Young Adult Paranormal Novel

Have you ever had a dream that came to life? How about losing the one you love and not being able to save them? What about a gift that you were cursed with? Well image having all three like Sicily "Sissy" Monroe.

"Some might say what I have is a gift. I say, I want to return it." Sissy declares.

Sicily "Sissy" Monroe has all the qualities of a perfect young lady. She is almost where she wants to be in life. But lying deep in the pupil of her eyes hold something that she cannot get rid of which interferes with her plans. She fights everyday with no one but herself. After having her first vision at age six of her sister's (Misty) disappearance and the dreams of failing to save her, Sissy wants no part in another person's fate. For years Sissy tried hard to avoid contact with people because she feared foreseeing their death. In keeping with this, she tries to stay away from her family. Little did Sissy know she could not run from her past, or her gift. She hopes someone will put her out of her misery, but she will soon discover that her visions and dreams were just a mere image of herself.

First Frost

Author Liz DeJesus has stopped by with a teaser for the First Frost Blog Tour

For generations, the Frost family has run the Museum of Magical and Rare Artifacts, handing down guardianship from mother to daughter, always keeping their secrets to “family only.”

Gathered within museum’s walls is a collection dedicated to the Grimm fairy tales and to the rare items the family has acquired: Cinderella’s glass slipper, Snow White’s poisoned apple, the evil queen’s magic mirror, Sleeping Beauty’s enchanted spinning wheel…

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Frost wants none of it, dreaming instead of a career in art or photography or…well, anything except working in the family’s museum. She knows the items in the glass display cases are fakes because, of course, magic doesn’t really exist.

She’s about to find out how wrong she is.

The End Begins: The Nine Giveaway

Enter for your chance to win one of 10 copies being given away internationally of The End Begins: The Nine. These are all ePub English versions and its not a requirement to follow my blog but its always welcome.

The Nine. Once an academy for training students in the ways of wizards and alchemists, has become a facility for harvesting the powers of students for study.
Cassarah Telmar escaped the Nine, vowing to bring it down.
But is the choice to live as a slave or to die with freedom one she can make alone?

Mars On the Rise

Mars on the Rise by Rae Gee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received a free copy of this for review.

This is certainly not a read for everybody, but I really liked it. This is the first steampunk novel that I have read and I found it very different than what I am used to. Its a completely different world set in Victorian times, full of fantastical machines.

Transition, The Chimera Hunter Series

The Chimera a race so old, the humans relegated them as a myth. The Gods feared the Chimeras’ powers; they believed they were a deadly race, with physical abilities beyond belief. So, they split their race in half condemning them to wander the earth, searching for their other half to be complete. Without their sodalis, each was destined to live life without dreams, without love, without hope. The future rested on finding their one true mate for life.

SHELBY O’NEILhas led a solitary life with her parents. So when she goes to school at Washington State University, she believes her life has just begun. Now in her second year, the dreams begin. She dreams with the same man, night after night for months. When her dream world becomes her reality, and her life becomes a danger zone, she quickly learns to trust the one man who has thrown her into this new and dangerous world.

The Road to Hell

Thanks to author Christopher Starr for giving me the opportunity to read and review his book. Following the review is your chance to win one of 5 copies being given away internationally in your choice of formats.

The Road to Hell by Christopher C. Starr

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I received a free copy of this book for review.

I agree with the sentiments of another reviewer....simply WOW! This is a book like none I have read in quite some time. You feel the story rather than just read it. The imagry is simply amazing.

The Curse of Peter Pan

The Curse of Peter Pan by Kevin Richey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received a free copy of this book for review.

This latest Zombie Fairytale is certainly not your children's bedtime story. Set in a fairtyale world full being overran with the zombie plague we find Wendy Darling wanting to die so she doesn't have to grow up. Enamored of Peter Pan she wishes to die and join his band of zombie children. Meanwhile, the townspeople are enlisting the aid of the Pied Piper to asist the town and rid them of this menace. As always, Richey does a wonderful job of blending these two stories along with the macabre and giving us a wonderfully horrible original tale.

As with the others before it, its not necessary to have read the ones before it to enjoy this one. There are elements from the previous stories that have been woven in so if you have read them you will notice. But if you haven't, you will still recognize who is who.

If you love a good zombie story or even enjoy horror you will like this series. This one appeals more to the child in all of us that wishes we didn't have to grow up.



View all my reviews

The Stone of Darkness

The Stone of Darkness by Resa Nelson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received a free copy of this book for review.

This is the third installment in the Dragonslayer series which follows the life of Astrid who came to Guell as a child to be raised as a blacksmith and find her calling as a dragonslayer. I found this book much darker as we know war is coming to the Northlands with the Krystr.

Blood Bonds Excerpt

We would like to thank author Levi Montgomery for sharing an excerpt from his new book Blood Bonds

How many of us go our entire lives and never see the evil that waits for us under our skins, behind the thin veneer of neckties and fingernail polish?

Blood Bonds is the latest literary fiction by author Levi Montgomery.

Levi’s work spans genre lines from YA to adult literature and touches on coming of age themes that appeal to readers of all ages. Love, self-acceptance, dark and edgy Christian fiction, violence and fear are all explored in his books. With a touch of literary fiction and a raw edginess, he writes in a distinct voice that is hard to categorize but worth taking the time to get to know.

About Blood Bonds

“I vow never to take my blood brother’s woman…”
“…and I vow never to leave him in trouble…”
“…and I vow never to take anything of his…”
“…and I vow never to lie to him…”
“…so help me God.”

Immortality is the birthright of youth.

The young are going to live forever, and they know it. When you’re young, you can cut your hand with a dirty piece of bottle glass from the town dump, and it’s okay, because you’re going to live forever. There will be no pain and no blood. There will be no regrets. You can lie to your best friend, you can steal the very substance of his dreams, and pay no price, because you’re immortal.
When the shadow finally sweeps you up in its slow omnipotent crawl, it is not life that you are leaving behind. It is youth. It is the immortality of belief, of knowing that you can cut your hand, you can kiss a girl, you can steal from your blood brother and never pay a price.

The Iron Maiden

The Iron Maiden by Resa Nelson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received a free copy of this for review.

This is the second book in the Dragonslayer Series and I think it is just as good or even better than the first one, The Dragonslayer's Sword. The Iron Maiden continues the story of Astrid after she returns home to Guell to become the town's dragonslayer after the death of DiStephan. She initially wishes to remain through the winter months and return to blacksmithing instead of following the winter route of he dragons. But fate doesn't allow that and instead she embarks on another adventure.

When “Homework” Turns into Adventure by Resa Nelson

Thanks to author Resa Nelson for this guest post and for letting us be a part of her blog tour. At the end of this post there is a link for a free ebook along with other site information.

Even though I write fantasy, I’m a big believer in doing my homework! First, I do a lot of library research. For example, I modeled my Dragonslayer series on the beginning of the Viking era. Even though I see my series as taking place in a world parallel to ours, I like the idea of making it as realistic as possible. I want people who read my books to feel like they’re really in that world and in the thick of everything that’s going on. One way for me to do that was to research the Viking era (which I already loved) and the Middle Ages.

Dragon's Teeth Book Tour

I'd like to thank author Suzanne Van Rooyan for making the Cotton Patch a stop on her blog tour for her book Dragon's Teeth

After years of war ravage the globe and decimate humanity, civilization is revitalized in the city of New Arcadia, a cybernetic playground where longevity treatments promise near immortality.Detective Cyrus, fond of fedoras and narcotics, is hired by Benji MacDowell, heir-apparent to an eugenics empire, to find MacDowell's long-lost biological father.

Employing his network of shady contacts within the underbelly of the city, Cyrus uncovers a murderous web of corporate corruption and political conspiracy with ties to the old Order, a tyrannical organization whose sole intent was perfecting the next generation of genetically engineered soldiers.

Now Cyrus knows too much and finds himself caught in the cross-hairs of super-soldier assassins while the dark secrets of his past snap at his heels, forcing him to confront the truth he's been running from... and discover his own terrifying purpose.

Book Excerpt

I never knew my father. It seems, perhaps, that no one did except the woman with whom he joined to give me life. My mother they remember; I’ve heard all the stories. Every version ends the same: her dying as I screamed my way into the world.

Hollowmen (Book 2- the Hollows series)

Hollowmen is the second book in the Hollows series by Amanda Hocking.  THIS REVIEW HAS SPOILERS, IF YOU HAVE NOT READ HOLLOWLAND STOP READING NOW, AND GO READ HOLLOWLAND!

The Dragonslayer's Sword

The Dragonslayer's Sword by Resa Nelson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received a free copy of this book for review.

This was such a fun read. We follow the life of Astrid from the time she is a small child that is bought from a bad place by a child seller. Alone and horribly disfigured she is terrified of the world but at the same time determined to find a place for herself in it. In a world full of dragons and lizard and shapeshifting humans Astrid grows up to make a life for herself and learn what true friendship is.

Amateur Angel

Only 18-years-old, Ashley is no ordinary teenager. Not only is she dead, but upon her death, she mistakenly enters the wrong line in the afterlife, a line meant for trained, guardian angels. With a pair of wings on her back, Ashley is sent to Los Angeles to replace another angel whose "assignment" was none-other-than Cannon Michaels, a current member of the band Sendher, the sexiest man alive, and Ashley's celebrity crush in life.
While exposed to Cannon's selfish, judgmental behavior and his reckless, rock-and-roll lifestyle, Ashley is far from meeting the requirements of a true guardian angel. She misses her family and friends. Will she ever be able to accept her own death? What will she do when she jeopardizes her position as an angel and Cannon's physical safety by falling in love with him?

Interview With Author Ben Burrell and Giveaway

I would like to thank author Ben Burrell for agreeing to be interviewed and making us a part of his blog tour for Red Leaves and the Living Token After the interview enter for your chance to win one of 2 ebooks being given away internationally in your choice of formats.

Please tell us a bit about yourself.

I'm six foot five. I live in South Jordan Utah with my wife and three kids. I love hiking and biking and taking my kids to the park.

Six foot five?! Just hearing that makes me feel short at 5 foot 1 inches lol

Jeffrey Zweig II, Author and Screenwriter

The Cotton Patch would like to thank author Jeffrey Zweig II for stopping by and sharing with us an excerpt from his book The End Begins: The Nine

About the Author
Born and Raised in the state of Indiana, Jeffrey Zweig II is a self published author of Epic Science Fiction/Fantasy. His degree from Indiana State University, with a background in DIY film production, and internships with various production companies laid the foundation for his creative career and for living life on his terms. He resides in Indianapolis, Indiana living the dream, as they say.
When not writing he volunteers his time remotely with the Dallas based non-profit Reading and Radio Resource, a company specializing in aiding those with disabilities to enjoy literature.

Meet the Character - Cassarah Telmar

I'd like to thank author Jeff Zweig II for sharing this character interview with us. Its certianly very enlightening. Am definitely looking forward to reading his book The End Begins: The Nine


So where are you from?
I'm not really comfortable talking about that.

It's okay. The readers are going to find out eventually. The book is basically your autobiography. It's fine.
Alright. I am from The Academy of the Nine. It is what you would call a institution for those with gifts - magic powers.

Lyon: Lords of Satyr #3

Lyon by Elizabeth Amber

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book, being third in the Lords of Satyr series, certainly fits in nicely with it. This series is certainly addicting.

Hollowland by Amanda Hocking

5 Stars

" This is the way the world ends-not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door."-Remy

Voluspa--A Magical World

Bookhounds Summer Blog Hop

The Cotton Patch would like to thank author Ray East for sharing this guest post and giveaway. Be sure to enter the giveaway at the end of the post for a chance to win one of two free copies of Voluspa: A Magical World

Why write a book like ‘Voluspa – A Magical World’? Like countless other teenage girls, I had a difficult time during my pre-teen and early teen years. I had major body issues and even suffered with eating disorders. During these years, I often fantasized about escaping to an alternate universe where I could start life afresh or find acceptance. My imagination was further fuelled by the countless number of books I devoured growing up, especially since they were my only constant companions.

Thus when the time came to put words down to paper, I found myself creating a fantasy world – a place so magical that it had the power to heal even the most troubled souls.