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Thursday, January 19, 2017

Review: Distant Horizon by Stephanie & Isaac Flint @SBibbPhoto @yaboundtourspr



Distant Horizon
by Stephanie Flint & Isaac Flint
Published October 27, 2016
Publisher: Infinitas Publishing
Genre: Dystopian, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult


Blurb:



The Community is safe.
Unless you have superpowers.

Sixty years ago, a hallucinogenic plague annihilated half the world’s population, leading to the formation of the Community—an international government that promises its citizens safety, security, and efficiency. Every day, Community citizens swallow a mandatory pill to ensure their immunity to the plague. A year after graduating high school, they take the Health Scan.

Most pass, and continue with their lives. Others disappear.

Eighteen-year-old Jenna Nickleson hasn’t taken the pill since her senior year in high school. She feels more alive without it, and she hasn’t shown any signs of infection—at least, not until two days after a surprise Health Scan is announced and Special Forces arrive at her university campus.

Spurred by the recent string of hallucinations, Jenna searches for any inkling of what happens to those who fail the scan. Rumor has it that they’re sent away for treatment and, once cured, receive a menial job. But when she uncovers the cruel truth behind the plague, her ideal world is shattered.

Underneath the illusion of safety, Special Forces agents harbor a dark secret.

The plague is a lie.



Buy Link:

Amazon



My Review:


Eighteen-year-old Jenna Nickleson lives in a world that was destroyed years ago by a plague that caused people to hallucinate. A new government was created that has promised to keep the people safe in the new Community.

In this new world everyone has to take a pill that will keep them from getting sick. A while back Jenna stopped taking her pill and discovered that she could think better and that her world was clearer. Every so often everyone has to be scanned to ensure that they have not become infected. If someone does become infected they are taken away for treatment but are never heard from again.

Jenna is worried because the time has come for everyone in the community to be scanned and she knows she will probably scan positive since she has not been taking her pill. So she turns to her two best friends Lance and Tim for help.

But before she can be taken away her grandfather shows up right out of the blue and takes her away. Her best friends Lance and Tim decide to go with her and become a part of the rebel group as well.

The rebels are a group of people that want to expose the government and the Community for what they truly are and all their lies and what they are doing to the people that scan to be positive for the plague.

I love reading books in the dystopian genre and will read almost anything in this genre that I can get my hands on if I can. I have loved reading Distant Horizon and the world the author has created. The Community is a well-developed and organized world. I really liked Tim’s ability that he has with computers. I loved the telepathy and the flying cars were amazing. How fast could these flying cars travel? How long would it take to go from one continent to another?


I would like to recommend Distant Horizon to anyone who loves dystopian, science fiction genre or who just loves a good book and is looking for something outside of their norm. 



About the Authors

Stephanie and Isaac Flint met at the University of Central Missouri, where they soon discovered a common interest in world-building and tabletop role-play games. Distant Horizon is their first joint world, the result of a role-play game Isaac ran in the summer of 2010. After graduating with Bachelors of Science (Photography for Stephanie, Psychology for Isaac), Stephanie and Isaac married in 2012. Together, they plot stories, torment each other’s characters, and enjoy the occasional cosplay. Infinitas Publishing Website: infinitaspublishing.com

Author Links:





Review Organized by:

First Look: SEXIEST DAD ALIVE by M.Clarke @MaryTing @Barclay_PR



Life isn’t a fairytale. Sometimes you have to fight, sometimes let go, in order to get your happily ever after…



Find out what Josh Bennett needs to do to get his own happily ever after in the world of Knight Fashion with SEXIEST DAD ALIVE by M.Clarke…



About SEXIEST DAD ALIVE

Josh Bennett

It was a simple offer.

I invited Isla to rent a room in my five thousand square foot home. Plenty of rooms and plenty of space. But the second she moved in, I knew I was in trouble. I could handle wanting her when there was distance between us, but once we started to play house, all my pent up desire started knocking down walls.

That was my first mistake of many.

The private investigator I hired to track down my ex found her not far from where I live. I should have locked my past behind me, but something urged me to find her. I’m glad I did. But our union left me with a situation to be reckoned with.

When a new fire is lit and old flames rekindle, one will have to burn out.
The decisions I’ll have to make won’t be easy.
No matter what I choose, my heart will break.


On Sale in Digital: February 27, 2017


Add SEXIEST DAD ALIVE to your TBR pile on Goodreads!


Excerpt:

Josh
            It took me thirty minutes to get to her house. Not hours, not days. She lived thirty minutes from my house. Thirty freakin’ minutes. Inhaling a deep breath, I willed myself to calm down as I released the tight grip on the steering wheel. But panic slammed hard against my rib cage. I’d found her—well, technically the private investigator I had hired found her. But what the hell was I supposed to do next?
            I’d played out the scenario in my head while I drove. Knock on the door. When she answered, tell her I heard she lived nearby and thought I’d stop by to find out how she was doing. It all seemed simple and easy in my mind, but as I parked at the curb of her house under a grand oak tree, nerves knotted inside my stomach. Fuck it! I’m an idiot. Starting the engine, I decided to leave the past behind and lock it for good, but then I spotted a movement inside the house. I killed the engine and became a stalker.
            I jumped in my seat when my phone ringing startled me. Staring at the phone, I eased my breathing to a steadier beat. Wondering if any one of the neighbors spotted me loitering in the car put me on edge. Heart still thumping, I read the text. A text from Isla usually put a grin on my face, but not at that moment. Every single muscle tensed—I couldn’t shit if I wanted to.

            Isla: Where are you?
            Heat rushed to my face. Lie.
            Me: I’m about to head home. Where are you?
            Isla: Home. I meant your home.
            Me: It’s your home too. You live there.
            Isa: I made dinner. Thought we could eat together.
My lips curled at her kind gesture.
            Me: Sounds great. I’ll see you in an hour.
            Isla: See ya.

            An hour. I’d have thirty minutes to drive back home and thirty minutes to say hello and leave. Or just stare at the house. Grow some balls, Josh. What’s the harm in saying hello?  Placing my hand on the door handle, I tugged a little, but my planted legs refused to budge as my heart hammered faster with every effort I made to get out of the car. It’s been almost two freakin’ years since she disappeared out of your life without a goodbye or explanation, that’s why, you idiot. She didn’t care about you when she left, and she still doesn’t give a fuck. Get the fuck out of there.
            Five minutes rolled by. Ten … fifteen … twenty. I had to go soon. Clenching my teeth, I shoved myself out of the car and forced my feet to the front door before I chickened out again. As I passed by the window, I caught a glimpse of Shelly, unclear but definitely her.
Her back was toward me, but I remembered her face perfectly. How could I ever forget my first love? My first heartbreak. That woman made my heart expand to the fullest, only to burst it with her lies.
            Her blonde hair, shorter than before, zapped me back to our past, and my heart raced as I remembered all the good and bad we shared. And the scent of the perfume she had worn every day—Poison, how fitting—whiffed through my nostrils and pulled up old memories. The pain of her absence started to chip away the wall I had built and started to crawl into my heart.
She bent out of my line of sight. The sun dipping to end the day reflected on the window and blinded me. What she held in her arms when the glare faded, or I should say whom she held in her arms, stopped me in my tracks. I stared in shock and confusion. My heart lurched in my throat. The tightness trapped all the oxygen in my lungs, and I couldn’t breathe.
            What the fuck? A baby? Her baby? The baby couldn’t be more than a year. Doing the math … ten months of pregnancy, plus a year or less for the baby’s age, equaled two years. About two years ago, she disappeared from my life. Was the baby mine? Or did she cheat on me? Anger flared, and the rage that still lived in the pit of my stomach resurfaced. I’d always suspected she ran off with another man. Maybe she did cheat and got pregnant. Perhaps she didn’t have the guts to tell me, so she ran. Things didn’t add up.
I pulled back before she saw me, and I rushed to the safety nest of my car. I became that boy with a shattered heart again as I shrank down in my seat to soak it all in. But what if the baby was mine? What if she lied to me? Would she?
I should have left my past behind. But once I located Pandora’s box, I had to open it. It would eat at me day and night if I never knew the truth. Oh, fuck me. Okay. I had to gather myself, figure out how to find the truth. But not that day. With my poker face on, I drove out of there as fast as I could.





See what people are saying about the Knight Fashion series:

"Sexiest Couple Alive is a spectacularly exhilarating and breathlessly sensual story that shows us that scars can be beautiful and mistakes can lead you to the best things in life. "
-Amber from The Wonderings of One Person

"Sexiest Man Alive has it all; heartbreak, drama and excitement! M.Clarke has once again completely blown me away, she had me at the edge of my seat and left me wanting for more."

-Lady Amber's Reviews & PR

“5 Stars!!! Yes 5 stars baby!!! Wow!!! OMG I am at a loss for words!!! This book was HOT, Sexy and suspense! I can't believe the ending and WAIT for book 2!!!! Nathan Cross is EVER women's dream ....ALPHA male, Model and yet a sweet warm hearted guy! And Olivia she is a CONFIDENT, sexy and knows what she wants! She triumphs and struggles which makes her relatable and lovable as a character Grab this today you won't be disappointed and make sure you get ready to be hooked on a new series.”
-FMR Book Grind, Stacey

“I am already anxious for the next book as I can't wait to find out what happens next! I have been a huge fan of M. Clarke's since first reading her work a few years ago, and I really love her Something Great series. Nathan is a character that I felt really connected to right away though, and I could not put this book down.”

- Ramblings From This Chick



Check out the other books in the Knight Fashion series!



About SEXIEST MAN ALIVE (Knight Fashion Book 1)

WATCH THE TRAILER: https://youtu.be/loLaqma2-kgT

Nathan Cross is a struggling actor waiting tables at a local restaurant to make ends meet while he attends endless auditions. Though his hopeful career moves at a slow pace, Olivia is the strength and sunshine in his life… until she leaves him. One day, he is offered a contract with a modeling agent, leading him to work for Knight Fashion Magazine—a dream job he never imagined would become a reality.


Olivia swore she would always put her career first and that’s precisely what she did when she left Nathan. Having a deadbeat dad and watching her mom work two jobs to make ends meet have been her driving force. When she is offered a modeling career, she drops everything—even the love of her life—and moves to New York. Though Nathan and Olivia try to steer clear of one another, working for the same fashion magazine causes their paths to cross again and old emotions are awakened.

Can Nathan forgive Olivia or will he take the next step with the woman he is currently dating? Will Olivia do everything she can to break them apart? Or will she choose her career over her heart… again?


Order this title at these online retailers:

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU |Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Google Books | Kobo




SEXIEST COUPLE ALIVE (Knight Fashion Book 1)



Nathan Cross is living his dream. Not only is he modeling for Knight Fashion Magazine, recently voted “sexiest man alive,” but he is dating a beautiful photographer who could be his new future. When he unexpectedly reunites with his past love, his world crashes around


him. Two loves. The past or the future: which one will he choose?

Olivia’s past choices come back to haunt her and could ruin everything she has worked so hard to build. Troy has the power to destroy any hope of happiness. She will do everything to keep that from happening, even if it means giving up her second chance with Nathan. Lies. Revenge. Scandal. Olivia could lose it all.



Order this title at these online retailers:

Amazon UK | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Amazon AU | iBooks | Amazon CA | Kobo




Author Bio:
International Bestselling, Award-Winning, Author Mary Ting/M. Clarke resides in Southern California with her husband and two children. She enjoys oil painting and making jewelry. Writing her first novel, Crossroads Saga, happened by chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother, and inspired by a dream she once had as a young girl. When she started reading new adult novels, she fell in love with the genre. It was the reason she had to write one-Something Great.


Connect with Mary:






Book Blitz + #Giveaway: Dark Legends Boxed Set @XpressoTours


RELEASE DAY IS JANUARY 17, 2017
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Murmurs around campfires, gossip in smoky taverns, discussions in towns and villages…
Everyone whispers of DARK LEGENDS, of supernatural creatures that walk the night…vampires and shifters, faeries and angels, dragons and sorcerers.
They whisper of danger. They whisper of adventure. They whisper of long-lasting love.
Preorder your copy of DARK LEGENDS today for 99c.

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This Collection is packed with more than 20 full-length 
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Don’t miss this collection of more than twenty unique twists in paranormal romance and urban fantasy, providing over one million words of supernatural suspense that will transport you to new worlds with smoking hot action and heart-throttling adventure!
The DARK LEGENDS boxed set includes: 
Mermaids, Sirens, Shifters, Vampires, Dragons, Sorcerers, Warriors, Angels, Faeries, Demons, Witches, Psychics, Ghosts, Mythology, Folk Tales, Legends, Dark Magic, Time Travel, and More!

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T.F. Walsh with Demon's Mark 
Monica Corwin with Soulless
J.L. Weil with White Raven
Laxmi Hariharan with Redemption
JA Culican with The Keeper of Dragons,The Prince Returns
Muffy Wilson and The Para-Portage of Emily
GK DeRosa with Wilder: The Guardian Series
Marilyn Peake with Shade
Kevin McLaughlin with By Darkness Revealed
Carissa Ann Lynch with Midnight Moss
Vivienne Savage with Making Waves
Anna Hub with Beyond the Shadows
HJ Lawson with New Order
Emma Nichols with Blood Moon
Shelley Munro with Claimed & Seduced
J.A.Armitage with Two of Clubs
Leilani Love with Violca's Dragon
Demelza Carlton with Ocean's Gift
Xyla Turner with Broken Treaty
D.S. Murphy with Scarlet Thread
Jeremy Williams with Winemaker of the North



Meet the Authors and Win Epic Prizes!
January 17, 2017
9am - 12pm PST



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Book Blitz + #Giveaway: Making Bad Choices by Rita Stradling @stradling_rita @XpressoTours


Making Bad Choices
Rita Stradling
Publication date: January 10th 2017
Genres: New Adult, Romance

[Recommended 16 + this is a mature YA or New Adult book]

Watch the Book Trailer: Here

Culter Fuller came back into my life on the day my mother died, as if losing my mother wasn’t bad enough.

We hated each other since childhood. Well, I hated him. He had a very different story.

When I moved to my dad’s house to finish my last semester of high school, we went from bitter enemies to. . . something else. He was suddenly everywhere, occupying my space, determined to pull me into his life, filling me with thoughts I knew were wrong.

I knew that soon we would cross a line that should never be crossed.

I knew crossing that line could have very serious consequences; because Culter Fuller wasn’t just any irresistible boy, Culter Fuller was my stepbrother.

But, I was always very bad at making the right choices.

Goodreads / Amazon

Making Bad Choices will be 99¢ during the blitz!


EXCERPT:

“If I think you might disappear on me, I’ll just be thinking about that all night, and I don’t want to have to deal with that shit. Just not worth going for me,” Culter said.
Wow, he made me feel like I was his odious chore, that was nice. I found it ridiculous that he was giving me a hard time about going off with people.
“Just go do your thing, Culter, I’ll be fine.” I might have put a fair dose of insinuation into my words, but the whole conversation was bugging me. I stood, gathering my makeup from the floor as I did.
“What’s my thing?”
“Like I know,” I mumbled.
“Sounds like you think you know,” he said. He stood too, stepping a little closer.
“It doesn’t matter.” I threw my stuff onto my bed.
He stepped in even closer, way too close, and smirked down at me. “Come on, I want to know. What’s my thing, Cassie?”
I licked my lips, before saying, “Threesomes.”
His smirk only grew. “Is that your thing, too?”
“What do you think?” I rolled my eyes, but I felt embarrassed.
He looked like he was going to laugh at me. “I’m not going to Spencer’s party for a threesome.”
“I wasn’t saying that.” I felt my face flushing as I talked to him and I wanted to step away, but at the same time, I didn’t.
He reached up and wound a lock of my hair around his finger. “That was my first threesome, and it wasn’t really one. And it wasn’t my thing. Spooning later, though, that was my thing.”
I looked up into his blue gaze, wondering if he was saying what I thought he was saying. Or had he spooned those girls? I looked away, deciding that I didn’t want to know. Well, I wanted to know, but I shouldn’t know. I was all tangled up in my thoughts, thoughts I shouldn’t even be having in the first place.
Culter’s phone rang, puncturing the tension building between us, and I was very glad for it. Culter flirted as easily as he breathed, and I had to remember that. I had to constantly remind myself of that. I liked flirting, but this didn’t feel just like innocent flirting, this felt dangerous.
I stepped away, grabbing his phone off the floor and handing it to him. Looking at the screen, I said, “It’s Spencer.” Then I walked out and left him alone in my bedroom.



Author Bio:
Rita Stradling is the author of The Deception Dance series, the Dakota Kekoa series and The Fourteen Day Soul Detox Novella Serial. She has a BA in Art History and a particular love for modern and medieval art. 

Rita lives with her husband and son in Northern California.
She has an insatiable novel addiction and mostly reads young adult and adult: romance, paranormal, urban fantasy and high fantasy. 


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Review + #Giveaway: What You Don't Know by Elka Ray @ElkaRay @GoddessFish



What You Don't Know:
Tales of Obsession, Mystery & Murder in Southeast Asia
by Elka Ray
GENRE: Suspense, Short Stories


BLURB:


An American lawyer dreams of killing his trophy wife in Thailand. A Vietnamese soldier goes mad in a haunted forest. A bereaved mother's trip to Cambodia ends in tragedy - or does it?

Take a spine-tingling journey from the jungles of Sumatra through Bangkok's seedy bars to the seemingly sedate streets of Singapore. Your traveling companions are a slew of dark emotions - fear, grief, jealousy, greed, lust and revenge. And your destination? What you don't know can hurt you.
                                                                         
With flashes of black humor and hard-to-forget characters, these ten stories shine light into the dark corners of Southeast Asia.


Excerpt:

“Kyle?” I yell. I’m sure my son is gone, sucked down to the bottom.

Blinking against the blood, I see him lying face down on the deck. He’s got himself wedged against the boat’s sides like a rock climber. I call again and he twists his head. I must look pretty bad, because he gasps. “D—dad?”

The boat is still rocking, but not enough to tip. Water sloshes back and forth. Kyle pushes himself onto his hands and knees. We both look around. Beneath the streaks of rain, the sea is dead calm. No swell. No big whitecaps. Nothing.

“Shit. What happened?” says my son. His face appears bleached. “What was that?”

I’ve been boating in these waters for going on two decades but can’t explain what hit us. If it was the wake from a big cargo ship there’d have been more waves. That wave came from nowhere. Was it a whale? I shake my head. “I…I don’t know,” I say.

The engine has stalled. My hands are shaking so hard I have trouble restarting it. It roars to life once, twice, only to cut out.

"Daaaad! You're flooding it," says Kyle, his voice a hysterical whine. "It won't start! It won't start! You've flooded it!"

I grit my teeth. "Fine, you try."

If he hears, he doesn't respond but just hugs his knees. "My god. My god. She's here. She's here." He says it over and over again.

"Shut up!" I yell, and my son stops. He presses his palms to his cheeks. I force myself to count to ten before trying the motor again, terrified that Kyle's right: If the motor is flooded, we're stuck out here. 


My Review:


Payback:

A man and his wife vacation in Thailand. The man gets tired of his wife Candy and decides that he could kill her here and nothing would ever become of it as the law is very slacking.

The Yellow River:

An eighteen year old joins the military and ends up in Kom Tum. His job is to travel up and down The Yellow River with three other guys. On one of their trips they run into a log and their boat is damaged and they are stranded. It is raining and cold. The wood is too wet to burn. So they think and hope that the wood in the jungle may be a little bit dryer so he goes in the woods to find more wood. He gets lost and spends the night in the jungle. While he is lost he remembers a story that has been passed down from generation to generation, a story that is used to tell little kids to keep them in line. The next morning he makes it back to his buddies and find one of them face down in the river and the other one is not talking literally.

Cleaning Up:

One day her ex-husband Binh and his little brother Tung enlist Hong's help in robbing the Jenkins home. But things don't go quite as they planned. Things turn deadly in the blink of an eye.

Burning Bright:

Felicity and her husband Gary are on vacation. Felicity misses her daughter June very much. June was hit by a car one night when she decides to walk home after her father Gary forgot to pick her up. Felicity just feels numb and is thinking about asking Gary for a divorce. She knows what he has been doing although he thinks he has kept his little misdeeds hidden from her for a long time.

Hot Flashes:

Miriam meets a guy on the internet and he wants her to come visit him in Bali in paradise. So she does but she soon learns that she is not the only one he has met on the internet. He has met women all over the world and this does not sit too well with Miriam.

Hit and Run:

A young girl goes missing. A family’s life is put in turmoil when their dog is killed in a hit and run. Bad dreams occur. An unexplained boating accident with mysterious waves.

The Secret Admirer:

A woman and her friend visit a fortune teller. The Fortune Teller tells her that someone in their office has a crush on her so they spend the rest of the day talking; joking around trying to figure out who in the office has a crush on her.

Killing Me Softly:

A man goes out drinking and meets a couple of girls. He takes one of them back to his hotel room and when he wakes up the next morning realizes that he has been robbed. But does he learn his? Actually no he doesn't because he goes out to a bar on another night picks a couple of girls. Same thing he is robbed again. You would think this man would learn his lesson but alas he does not.

What You Don’t Know:

A woman's son turns up missing. She goes looking for him every year. She travels all over Jakarta hoping to find her missing son.

Jungle:

A young girl starts her new job working in an office for Professor Son. He is like eighty years old but he still likes to play around with the young girls. So the first time she is called into his office and tells her sit on his knee she is shocked but she can't lose her job. She worries about him calling her to his office again and eventually he does. But what Professor Son doesn't know is that she is a tough girl and will not go down without a fight.

What You Don’t Know is filled with mystery, murder and intrigue. Each story weaves its own little tale of mystery and mayhem. It will take you on a journey through Southeast Asia. Each story is very appealing to any mystery fan. If you have not read What You Don’t Know then let me suggest that you give it a try. 



AUTHOR BIO:

At the age of eleven, Elka Ray co-founded the Double Trouble Detective Agency. She’s been on the lookout for mysteries ever since. Elka’s latest book, “What You Don’t Know: Tales of Obsession, Mystery & Murder in Southeast Asia”, takes readers on a darkly suspenseful tour of the Far East. Her first novel, a fast-paced romantic adventure titled “Hanoi Jane”, was published by Marshall Cavendish in English and DT Books in Vietnamese. Elka’s next novel, the thriller “Saigon Dark”, will come out with Crimewave Press in November 2016. Elka is also the author and illustrator of a popular series of bilingual kids’ picture books about Vietnam.

Elka divides her time between Hoi An in Central Vietnam and Canada’s scenic Vancouver Island. When she’s not writing, drawing or reading she’s in - or near -the ocean.

Contact: Email Elka at elka.k.ray (at) gmail.com
Agent: Elka is represented by Amy Tipton at Signature Literary Agency http://elkaray.com/542-2/




          
Giveaway:

$20 Amazon or B/N GC
 



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