Release Week Blitz + #Giveaway: Memories of Ash (The Sunbolt Chronicles #2) by Intisar Khanani @BooksByIntisar @chapterxchapter

 

Hello readers! Welcome to the Release Week Blitz for

Memories of Ash (The Sunbolt Chronicles #2) by Intisar Khanani

Fantasy lovers, this one's for you! Love magic, look no further! And you definitely need to check out the awesome giveaway found below.

 

Happy Book Birthday Intisar!

Let's celebrate everyone!!

 

 

In the year since she cast her sunbolt, Hitomi has recovered only a handful of memories. But the truths of the past have a tendency to come calling, and an isolated mountain fastness can offer only so much shelter. When the High Council of Mages summons Brigit Stormwind to stand trial for treason, Hitomi knows her mentor won’t return—not with Arch Mage Blackflame behind the charges.

Armed only with her magic and her wits, Hitomi vows to free her mentor from unjust imprisonment. She must traverse spell-cursed lands and barren deserts, facing powerful ancient enchantments and navigating bitter enmities, as she races to reach the High Council. There, she reunites with old friends, planning a rescue equal parts magic and trickery.

If she succeeds, Hitomi will be hunted the rest of her life. If she fails, she’ll face the ultimate punishment: enslavement to the High Council, her magic slowly drained until she dies.

Title: Memories of Ash 

Series: The Sunbolt Chronicles, Book Two 

Author: Intisar Khanani 

Cover Designer: Jenny Zemanek 

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy 

Release Date: May 30, 2016 

Publisher: Purple Monkey Press

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple | Kobo

 

 

I start forward, my eyes on the bundle ahead of us. I cannot quite make out what it is. Something sticks out from the bulk of it, reaching across the floor like an errant branch, dried twigs.

Filled with foreboding, I draw closer, straining to make out the thing in the light of the glowstone. The mage slows beside me. My throat closes up. I stare, frozen mid-step, at the shape stretched out before me: a body that is nothing more than papery skin curled over the brittle bones within. A mummified corpse, preserved by the endless heat, untouched by nature, its clothing long since dissolved away. Its bones protrude obscenely: each rib tracing a line around its chest, the pelvic and hip bones encased so tightly in skin that the gaps, the natural spaces formed by the bone, seem translucent, as if the light were shining through thin parchment.

My stomach tightens into a ball. I swallow hard, forcing down the bile in my throat. The skull bears no expression, dull teeth showing through leathery lips, the eyes long since shriveled away. But that hand, outstretched... A plea. Or a single, hopeless attempt to escape death.

Beside me, the mage breathes a curse.

 

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES:

 

 

The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she must conceal her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the powerful and corrupt Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame. 

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. When Hitomi finds herself captured along with her charges, it will take everything she can summon to escape with her life.

 

 

Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveler. Born in Wisconsin, she has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. She first remembers seeing snow on a wintry street in Zurich, Switzerland, and vaguely recollects having breakfast with the orangutans at the Singapore Zoo when she was five. She currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and two young daughters. 

Until recently, Intisar wrote grants and developed projects to address community health with the Cincinnati Health Department, which was as close as she could get to saving the world. Now she focuses her time on her two passions: raising her family and writing fantasy. Intisar's current projects include a companion trilogy to Thorn, following the heroine introduced in her free short story The Bone Knife, and The Sunbolt Chronicles, an epic series following a street thief with a propensity to play hero when people need saving, and her nemesis, a dark mage intent on taking over the Eleven Kingdoms.

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Book Blitz + #Giveaway: Hold You Against Me by Skye Warren @skye_warren @XpressoTours

Hold You Against Me
Skye Warren
(Stripped #4)
Publication date: May 31st 2016
Genres: Adult, Romance

From New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren comes a sexy new novel in the Stripped series…

Once upon a time the daughter of a mafia king fell in love with a foot soldier.

This fairy tale didn’t have a happy ending.

My sister and I barely managed to escape alive, and we’ve lived in relative hiding ever since. I’m safe now, but I can never forget the boy who gave his life to save mine.

Except there are whispers that he’s still alive. And he’s fighting a war.

Even knowing the risks, I have to find him. I have to find some way to protect him, the way he protected me. But he isn’t the boy I left behind. He’s a violent man. A criminal. And he’s been waiting for me—the final pawn in a dark game of survival and love.

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iBooks / Kobo / Google Play / All Romance

EXCERPT:

Something moves me gently, constant and rhythmic like waves. I’m warm. There’s something soft curling around my arms, wrapped inside my fists. Padding beneath my cheek that smells like home.

An unnatural darkness weighs down on me, keeping me from waking up—a demon’s whisper in my ear. You’re warm, you’re safe. Sleep.

But something is wrong.

I remember falling asleep, so suddenly, remember drinking water that I hadn’t filled. And I remember the phone call from Amy telling me that Giovanni’s alive. Impossible.

Awareness pricks my skin like a cold breeze. Wherever I am, I’m not alone.

I blink rapidly, forcing my eyes open. They adjust to the darkness quickly, taking in the tinted windows on either side and the wide leather bench curving beneath me. I’m in a car. A limo, to be exact. And it’s moving.

On the opposite side of the long space, a large body reclines. I can see the wide stance of his legs, the pale white of his shirt. A suit jacket tossed beside his hip. His face is hidden in the shadows of the vehicle.

I was raised by the head of the Las Vegas mafia, the capo. I grew up around guns and violence, so I know when a man is armed. It’s the way he holds himself, the warning shimmering around him like a dark halo.

This man is armed and extremely dangerous.

Every muscle in my body tenses. My mind still swims in thick water, because I must have been drugged. He drugged me, this faceless man. Why did he take me? It won’t be anything good, that’s for sure.

Even worse, I suspect this has something to do with my past, with my family. It’s messed up that I’d rather be taken by some random psycho. But at least then I’d have a chance of getting away.

“Who are you?” I demand, my voice hoarse from whatever drugs they gave me.

There’s a long pause, the weight of his regard as heavy as a finger trailing down my neck.

“Have I really changed that much, bella, that you don’t recognize me?”

Author Bio:
Skye Warren is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of dark romance. Her books are raw, sexual and perversely tender. 

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Book Blitz + #Giveaway: A Reason to Stay by Julieann Dove @JulieannDove @XpressoTours

A Reason to Stay
Julieann Dove
Publication date: June 1st 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Elise Newton has it all—a dream job, a house that’s all hers, and a boyfriend who’s a cardiologist. Darren has been carrying an engagement ring in his pocket for two months, waiting for the perfect time to ask her to be his wife. He has no idea Elise has been waiting for the perfect time as well—to break up.

You see, Elise has a fatal flaw. She cannot commit to love.

An early-morning call from her sister gives Elise hope. She’s needed back home in Kentucky, to care for their mother who’s recovering from surgery. It’s the break Elise has been searching for, a reprieve from the strain of ducking Darren’s declarations of love.

But along with Kentucky comes seeing Ben—her first love, the one who came closest to being her happily ever after. Now a single dad, Ben has moved on with his life. But has his love for her moved on as well?
When Elise discovers a long-hidden truth about her family—and the reason why she can’t commit—she must decide which man will give her a reason to stay.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

EXCERPT:

Like A Wrecking Ball

Elise Newton sat across the table from Darren Masterson in Pierre’s, one of the swankiest places in town to eat, watching him like she would an ailing person in the hospital. Right after the doctor informed her he only had hours left to live.

She studied him, trying to remember everything about him that she could. Things that normally couldn’t be recalled if just the image of him popped up in her mind. Like a quick snapshot of a tall guy with a nice smile, dark hair, and an amazing set of blue eyes.

No, Elise wanted to remember the details. Like the lines in his forehead, and how there was one very pronounced one dead center over the bridge of his nose, etched deeper than all the others. And that solitary vein that pulsed on his right temple when he was either chewing or talking very seriously about something.

She took a sip of her expensive wine and swished it around in her mouth before swallowing.

It tasted dry; she much more preferred sweet. But this would do the trick. She needed just a few more glasses of it, though, to deaden the pain she knew would come after she told him what she had to say.
But first his lips. She needed to remember his soft lips. If they had a flavor, it’d be buttercream, like the kind found in the middle of her favorite doughnut from Margie’s Bakery, down off Ontario Boulevard.

She looked at him then, letting her eyes wander down to his perfectly shaped mouth as it took another bite. Lord, she’d miss that mouth … that tongue … that…

“Babe, are you all right?” he asked, chewing at the same time.

“Of course,” she said, blinking rapidly to get the image of him licking her lips out of her mind.

“It just seems like there’s something on your mind. Something you want to tell me.” He wiped the corner of his mouth with the linen napkin.

She shook her head and stared at his blue eyes as he drove his fork around the plate. Now, his eyes were a whole other story than his lips. Ones that she would miss the most. To describe them merely as being blue as the Arctic ocean would be like describing the Northern Lights as blurry thing-a-ma-bobs.

No, they were like two of the most devastatingly blue eyes that she’d ever seen in California, since moving there fourteen years ago. When she looked into them long enough, she discovered they were actually secret portals into the heart of his soul.

And Bam! There she had it. These thoughts about the man sitting across the table from her were the precise reasons why she had to end it. Nip it in the bud. Stop the presses. Lane four is closing, take all your feelings and emotions to the express checkout and get the H-E-double-L out of there.

Elise’s brain sent the cut-it-and-run messages through the loud speaker in her head, but her mouth was having a hard time with the command. She shook her head, trying to snap out of the trance she’d fallen into again. Like the one that caught her last week when she told herself that would be her last date with Mr. Perfect. So far, this was the fifth ‘last’ date she’d had with him.

What was her problem? Instead of studying him like an Adonis sitting front and center in a Petri dish, she had to saddle up for what she came to dinner to do. To break up with him. There was no way around it. It had to be done. Only she had to think of a way.

He wasn’t like the other guys she was used to dating. There was nothing that truly stood out to be a problem with him. Other than Elise was beginning to fall for him. She had been for the past couple of eight months.

She could hear her mother’s Southern-coated drawl play over and over inside her head. “Don’t ever think a man is the answer to your problems, little girl. There is no man out there that’s gonna do anything but destroy you. Destroy all your dreams, and destroy your future. End it with them before they end it with you.”

Author Bio:
Julieann lives in Virginia, yet longs to live everywhere else. It doesn’t come as a surprise that along with her gypsy soul, comes an active imagination. That’s why she loves to write and invent worlds and people, so that she can formulate their happily ever after. Hobbies include cooking new recipes, sewing, and spending time with her cute boyfriend/husband and five fabulous children. Vacations happen in Nantucket or the Carolina beaches—anywhere there is inspiration for her next book. One day she hopes to travel to Italy, drive one of those little cars around the countryside, and speak the language fluently! 

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Cover Reveal + #Giveaway: Darkness Savage by Rachel A. Marks @RachelAnneMarks @XpressoTours

Darkness Savage
Rachel A. Marks
(The Dark Cycle #3)
Published by: Skyscape
Publication date: October 13th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

The fate of humanity hangs in the balance as Aidan faces a crushing choice: give in to the demands of the forces of Darkness in order to save his sister, Ava, or fight on the side of good and risk losing her forever. With so much at stake and so little time, Aidan embarks on a mission to finish assembling a team of “Lights,” other teens whose special abilities are linked to his own.

Meanwhile, Rebecca discovers that she’s more than just a normal teen, and that the power awakening inside her may be stronger than she ever could have imagined. As the city plunges into chaos and Aidan doubts his plan of attack, Rebecca’s newfound gift may tip the balance in the wrong direction.

In this thrilling final installment of The Dark Cycle trilogy, will Aidan find the help he needs to release the world from Darkness’s grip? Or will he lose everything he's been desperately trying to save, including his soul?  

Goodreads / Amazon

Previous books in the series:

Author Bio:
Rachel A. Marks is an award-winning author and professional artist, a SoCal girl, cancer survivor, a surfer and dirt-bike rider, chocolate lover and keeper of faerie secrets. She was voted: Most Likely to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse, but hopes she'll never have to test the theory. Her debut series The Dark Cycle, described as Dickens' Oliver Twist meets TV's Supernatural, is now out through Skyscape, beginning with DARKNESS BRUTAL.

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Blurb Blitz Tour + #Giveaway: The Madness of Mercury by Connie di Marco @askzodia @GoddessFish

The Madness of Mercury

by Connie di Marco

GENRE: Mystery

BLURB:

Astrologer Julia Bonatti never thought her chosen profession would bring danger into her life, but her outspoken advice in her newspaper column, AskZodia, makes her the target of San Francisco’s recently-arrived cult leader, Reverend Roy of the Prophet’s Tabernacle.  The followers of the power hungry preacher will stop at nothing to quell the voices of those who would stand in his way and Julia’s at the top of his list.  She’s willing to bet the charismatic Reverend is a Mercury-ruled individual, and she knows all too well that Mercury wasn’t just the messenger of the gods, he was a trickster and a liar as well.  

EXCERPT:

Wizard had curled into a fetal position on top of a fuzzy throw close to the fireplace.  The wind was buffeting the windows so hard the rain sounded like gravel being thrown against the glass.  The logs were blazing and I thanked my stars I could snuggle inside tonight with Wizard and work. 

Samantha had forwarded about fifty emails from the newspaper to my own AskZodia email address.  As a weekly column, there was space for only three or four questions and answers, but now, the editor was considering running it as a daily feature.  To keep the column interesting to as large a group of readers as possible, I like to pick a range of ages and problems. 

Dear Zodia

I’ve worked as a bookkeeper in the corporate world my entire life.  I’m 65 and my company forced me to retire.  I’m in decent shape financially.  I have a good  pension and savings, but I don’t know what to do with myself.  I’ve tried to find part-time work but no luck.  I’ve never felt so lost and useless.  Do you see any kind of work on the horizon for me?  My birth date is May 4, 1944 at 10:43 PM in Baltimore.

                   ~ Discarded

Poor guy.  Worked his whole life and now shoved aside.  The man’s birth chart showed Venus as the oriental planet, that is, the planet rising first before the Sun, a position that can sometimes offer a strong clue to the profession.  This man was a natural artist, perhaps a craftsman, with his Mars in Virgo.  He was someone with artistic yearnings and capable of patient, detailed work. 

Dear Discarded:

Your true artistic abilities have never been recognized, much less nourished.  A whole new world can open up for you if you would pursue some form of craftsmanship to produce beautiful things.  Jewelry design, working in precious metals, is just one possibility that comes to mind.  Please take some classes, perhaps at a local university extension and try your hand.  I think you’ll be amazed at your abilities and imagination.  Believe me, you won’t look back. 

                        ~ Zodia

I worked through several more questions and responses and then saved them all.  This was hardly a perfect way to practice astrology, but hopefully, my quick judgments and answers would be spot on and help someone head in the right direction.  I clicked back to the inbox and realized three more emails had arrived while I had been working. 

I didn’t recognize the various senders.  My AskZodia address had been set up only for Samantha, but these new emails weren’t from her.  My private clients use Julia.Bonatti and my friends use JuliaB.  None of them would even know of my AskZodia address.  I hesitated.  I’m a hopeless non-techie person and rely on my computer for business so I’m very fearful of viruses.  I clicked on the button to open the reading pane and scrolled down.  A jolt of fear shot through me.  The message read, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” 

AUTHOR BIO:

Connie di Marco is the author of the upcoming Zodiac Mystery series from Midnight Ink featuring San Francisco astrologer, Julia Bonatti.  The Madness of Mercury, first in the series, will be released on June 8, 2016.  Writing as Connie Archer, she’s also the national bestselling author of the Soup Lover’s Mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime.  You can find her excerpts and recipes in both The Cozy Cookbook and The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook.  She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime.  You can visit her at her website:  www.conniedimarco.com, or Facebook.com/ConniediMarco (Author) and Twitter: @askzodia. 

Buy links for The Madness of Mercury:

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Blurb Blitz + #Giveaway: Descended From Dragons by Tricia Owens @GoddessFish

Descended From Dragons

by Tricia Owens
GENRE: Urban Fantasy/PNR (sweet, sensual)

BLURB: 

Beneath the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas lies another city. A secret city in plain sight, full of warlocks and demons, shape-shifters and golems. A city that feeds off the chance magick that is generated by gamblers and which is ruled by mysterious beings called the Oddsmakers.

It is in this strange underbelly of the occult that Anne Moody runs a cursed pawn shop for the desperate, the curious, and the magickally inclined. Though the job is boring, it keeps her under the radar. None of her customers have any inkling that she is a dragon sorceress with a power that's been feared throughout history. However dragons are no help when a stone statue ends up in her shop that is more than it appears. The statue is a gargoyle named Vale, who is shrouded in mystery and secrets. When she learns that Vale is possessed, and that the person responsible for cursing him plans to take over Las Vegas with a horde of demons from Hell, Anne realizes it is up to her to defy the Oddsmakers and save the city, and possibly the world.

EXCERPT:

After silently parting the bead curtain I paused just at the threshold, listening. The shop was spooky enough without the lights on thanks to all the strange silhouettes, but knowing that half the objects were also cursed gave me another reason to shiver as I panned my gaze over the place.

Tick tick tick

I sent Lucky toward the sound. My dragon flew a loose circle around the left side of the room. That narrowed it down a bit, not that I felt comfortable putting my back to everything that was on the other side of the room. I displayed a few katanas and items that could be used as weapons there, but thankfully none of them were cursed with movement. At least, I hoped not. I guess I'd find out for certain when a spear pierced my back.

A fluttering sound, like the flapping of thick canvas, made me instinctively drop into a crouch. Lucky reared up, ready to attack. But nothing flew overhead. Breathing shallowly, I crawled toward the counter. I'd feel safer behind it and with the wall at my back.

As I rounded the counter, I realized I knew what had had made the noise. The only new thing in my inventory was the gargoyle statue. When I raised my eyes above the countertop, the gargoyle was gone from where it had sat. The cameos were quick to offer their opinions.

"You met the love of your life today…"

"…he'll try to kill you, Anne Moody."

The cursed shall pay, Anne Moody!"

Yep, the damn gargoyle statue had come to life and was flying around Moonlight. Definitely a way to make me remember you, Christian.

AUTHOR BIO:

Tricia Owens wants you to know that Las Vegas is actually a pretty cool place and you won't be eaten by a troll there. Probably. A former casino games dealer and cruise ship editor, Tricia has traveled extensively, visiting over 70 countries. She writes full time in several genres including urban fantasy and romance. Her favorite setting is her home town, the city of sin.

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Giveaway:

• $75 Amazon or B/N GC 

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