Book Blitz + Excerpt & Giveaway: Sworn to Conflict by Terah Edun

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Sworn to Conflict by Terah Edun

Sworn to Conflict by Terah Edun
(Courtlight #3)
Publication date: December 6th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
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Ciardis Weathervane fought for the living dead and won. But worse than taking on a mass murderer, was her discovery that she had been deceived by her friends. Now she needs to not only fight a war in the North and survive, but also decide where she stands in the midst of competing sides.

A threat to all she holds dear lies in the North and her heart is not the only thing she might lose. A massive army awaits in the mountain pass, surging closer to the gates of the southern lands. Nothing the Algardis army has done so far has dissuaded their march forward and Ciardis finds out that her powers to enhance are needed now more than ever.

As she faces her greatest fears on the battlefields and her heart is torn between her love of Sebastian and loyalty to her family, Ciardis must choose her fate carefully. For in her path, lies the destiny of the empire.

This third novel continues the story of Ciardis Weathervane from Sworn To Transfer.

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Excerpt

“Satisfied?” Sebastian said.

“No,” she said with a frown.

He opened his mouth to protest and closed it with audible click when she got up and moved so that her body was snuggled next to his and her arms were around his shoulders.

They said nothing for the moment. Ciardis felt the slow rise and fall of Sebastian’s bare chest under her hand. She was trying to avoid touching the angry bruise he had going down his right half.

She said, “I thought you had died, Sebastian. That you had left me alone. That we would never kiss again, never speak again, never touch again.”

He shifted his head slightly underneath her chin so that his head rested on her chest. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“Sorry for worrying you,” he whispered.

“You should be.”

He laughed gently.

Shifting his head, he said with hope in his voice, “Speaking of kisses…”

She swatted his shoulder. “No.”

“But—”

“No, the healer says you need to rest—”

“But I feel fine,” he whined.

“Go to sleep, Sebastian,” she whispered. “There’s much to do tomorrow.”

“Will you be here?”

“I will.”

As he drifted off she laid a chaste kiss on his hair and a single tear dropped onto his head. Gripping the Prince Heir tightly, she, too, drifted off to sleep.

When she woke it was because of noise outside of the tent.

A guard was whispering, “Prince Heir Sebastian. Lady Weathervane. The major is here to report to you.”

Ciardis shifted, preparing to rise up and tell them that the Prince Heir was still resting.

Sebastian beat her to it. “Come in.”

She still stood up. Sebastian groaned at the removal of her presence from his bed.

The major cleared his throat and entered the room.

He nodded briefly to Ciardis. “Four hours have passed, sire. It is approaching the early evening. We lost two hundred men in the skirmishes, with many more wounded.”

Sebastian nodded and with a wince sat up in the bed. Ciardis moved forward as if to stop him, and he said, “No, I need to see to the wounded, Ciardis.”

“Besides,” Sebastian said casually, “if I collapse again, at least it’ll be in the healer’s tent.”

about the author

Terah EdunTerah Edun is an international development professional and author/lover of all things Young Adult Fantasy fiction. She is a native Georgian, adoptive Washingtonian, unrepentant expat currently living in South Sudan, brilliant dreamer, lover of dogs and not-so-closet geek. Her first novel, Red Madrassa, was released on November 8th and her second novel, Sworn to Raise, comes out in April 2013.

Author Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Are you new to the Courtlight series?

Well, you can grab the first book, as well as five other amazing Young Adult books, for less than the price of a Starbucks latte!  That’s right, I’m offering Sworn To Raise in a new multi-author YA bundle with six authors from bestselling teen book series for just $0.99!

With 155 5-Star reviews and a regular price of $9.99, this Young Adult Paranormal, Fantasy and Romance bundle can’t be beat. So start it today!

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–one (1) ebook copy of Sworn to Conflict

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Book Blitz + Excerpt & Giveaway: If Only We by Jessica Sankiewicz

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If Only We by Jessica Sankiewicz

If Only We
by Jessica Sankiewicz
Release Date: 10/27/13
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They say all it takes is one wrong move and you lose the game. One false step and you’re trapped. One slip-up in your choice of words and you ruin a friendship forever. That is what they say. They say I lost.

I do not believe them.

At the end of the summer after graduation, Adrienne wonders what happened to cause her life to be in ruins. She isn’t getting along with her mom, her stepsister isn’t talking to her, and, to top it off, the boy she’s been in love with doesn’t want anything to do with her. She believes the turning point was a choice she made at graduation. When she wakes up the next day, she has been transported back three months to that moment, the one where everything started to fall apart.

Adrienne realizes she has been given a second chance—and this time she doesn’t want to mess anything up. Reliving the entire summer, though, turns out to be a lot harder than she thought. As the same days and weeks go by, she starts to see how simple decisions can make a huge impact on the world around her. Despite knowing some of what lies ahead, there are some things she didn’t anticipate. She thought she knew what mistake led her to where she ended up the first time. She was wrong.

And by the time summer is over, she discovers what was really at stake.

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ADVANCED PRAISE:

“If Only We is a coming of age story that teaches what is truly important in life may not be what we originally thought!” ~ Dianne from Tome Tender Book Blog

“I didn’t want to leave the world of this book by the time it ended!” ~ Stephanie Parent, author of Precious Things

“A sweet and uplifting story about second chances and love in many of its forms, If Only We is a great contemporary story that I think will appeal to people of all ages.” ~ Marie Landry from Ramblings of a Daydreamer and author of Waiting for the Storm

“A wonderful Debut novel! Full of well developed characters and a very thought out storyline. It is a real page turner, once you start reading it is hard to put down.” ~ Angie from Eastern Sunset Reads

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Excerpt

Buzz…buzz… “…that’s what they said anyway. I thought it was a good…” Slam!

My alarm clock is set to a local all-talk-no-music radio station. The annoying sounds before and the talking always get me up in the morning. If there were music playing, I would keep sleeping. Groaning, I stretch out my legs, still aching from the tossing and turning last night. Remembering moment after moment with Chevy, replaying the conversation in the cemetery. My mind refused to let me relax.

A quick glance at the clock tells me it’s eight. Wait. Eight? I do a double take. Sure enough, it’s eight. I could have sworn I set it for nine thirty so I could sleep in a bit. I will myself to sleep in another hour and a half. After fifteen minutes of staring at the ceiling, I sit up and rub my eyes. As strange as it is to be in my room again, it looks almost like I never left.

I stretch and go over to my vanity to brush the tangles out of my auburn hair. When I look in the mirror, I notice something different about my clothes. Hadn’t I worn the pink and blue striped tank to bed? Why am I wearing the yellow and gray polka dot one? Rolling my eyes, I have a feeling this summer has warped my thought processes.

I throw on a cardigan and head out my door to grab a bagel for breakfast. Kaitlin’s bedroom is across the hall from mine. Her door is open. What is she doing up so early? She is hardly ever up before I am. I peek in to find it empty. Maybe she is in the kitchen.

Before I walk away, I do a double take. Why is Kaitlin’s room pink? She and my mom painted it while I was gone. It was a pale shade of purple yesterday. That’s weird. I shake my head and go to the kitchen. My mom and Maurice are at the table drinking coffee. Maurice looks up from the paper and says, “Good morning.”

Although the tone in his voice seems more cheerful than it should be, given the circumstances, Maurice can sometimes rise above bad things. It’s probably the pale yellow walls. Yellow just seems to bring about a sunny attitude. My reply is automatic, “Morning.” I pull out a bagel and toss it in the toaster. Deciding to extend an olive branch while I wait, I say, “Morning, Mom.” I sneak a glance in her direction to find her smiling.

Smiling?

“Morning, sweetie,” she says.

Is she…happy?

about the author

Jessica SankiewiczJessica is the 28-year-old author of IF ONLY WE, a YA contemporary. You can often find her either reading or marathon watching TV on DVD, her favorites being Castle and Veronica Mars. She frequently mismatches her clothes and giggles uncontrollably. She knows almost every Billy Joel song by heart. She collects books and toys, and she has an intense love of cats and lemurs. Currently in the midst of her quarter-life-crisis, she is still takin’ names and getting very close to reaching an epiphany.

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–One print copy of If Only We (INT)

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Book Blitz + Excerpt & Giveaway: Stir Me Up by Sabrina Elkins

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Stir Me Up by Sabrina Elkins

Stir Me Up
by Sabrina Elkins
Release Date: 10/01/13
Harlequin Teen
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Cami Broussard has her future all figured out. She’ll finish her senior year of high school, then go to work full-time as an apprentice chef in her father’s French restaurant, alongside her boyfriend, Luke. But then twenty-year-old ex-Marine Julian Wyatt comes to live with Cami’s family while recovering from serious injuries. And suddenly Cami finds herself questioning everything she thought she wanted.

Julian’s all attitude, challenges and intense green-brown eyes. But beneath that abrasive exterior is a man who just might be as lost as Cami’s starting to feel. And Cami can’t stop thinking about him. Talking to him. Wanting to kiss him. He’s got her seriously stirred up. Her senior year has just gotten a lot more complicated…

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“Fun, steamy, and leaves you hungry for more. Sabrina Elkins nails the vulnerability of becoming an adult and the choices that come with growing up.”
—Katie McGarry, author of Dare You To

“Cami’s slow burn for a wounded hero will rivet readers. I seriously loved this book.”
—Jennifer Echols, author of Dirty Little Secret

“This book is one of my favorite young adult contemporaries. Not only does it feature a hot romance, it’s also very meaningful and well, you just have to read it and see.”
—#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout

Excerpt

Julian’s in cutoff sweats and no shirt and he’s trying to reach from the weight bench where he’s seated to the door handle of the small fridge, which is just a few inches too far away from him. From my hiding spot by the doorway, I can see his surprisingly V-shaped bare back, and the rise of muscle that runs from his shoulders to his neck, and the cut of his arms. I clear my throat and he turns.

Okay, there are guys who are utterly ripped, like bodybuilders. That’s not Julian. He’s not stacked like a bodybuilder. He’s just… buff, in this way, in this utterly sensual way. Like his pecs aren’t huge and bulging, they’re just pronounced enough. His chest, like his back, is broad and his body tapers in at the waist, leading to another hint of a V-shape pointing down from his hip bones, and above this the shadowy lines of a six-pack. He sees me. “Hello.”

My insides clench. Suddenly, I can’t look at him. “Can’t sleep?”

“No. I figured I might as well do something useful.”

“But now you’ll have to get your wheelchair all the way back up to the house.”

I glance at him and catch him studying me. “Yeah, I guess I will.”

Probably on account of his injuries, Julian is stretching out his left leg and leaning back on the bench instead of just bending the leg and sitting normally. This is what’s giving me such an amazing view. Of his sweatiness. The sweat has dampened his hair, it’s filming his skin. There are a handful of scars on his chest, and with his head back a little like it is, my eye can trace the line up those scars in a kind of zigzag pattern.

I gulp down some air and hope he can’t hear it. But he must, because that curve at the corner of his mouth deepens a little.

“Can you come here a minute?”

about the author

sabrina elkinsSabrina Elkins, author of Stir Me Up, has also worked as a journalist, movie copywriter and prep cook. She graduated from USC and currently lives with her husband and three children in the greater Los Angeles area.

Sabrina loves hearing from her readers, and encourages you to visit her at

http://www.sabrinaelkins.com, on Twitter @sabrina_elkins, Facebook at elkins.sabrina, and Goodreads.

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Win 1 of 3 stockings filled with holiday candy, chocolates, a hand-crafted Christmas charm bracelet and $10 Amazon gift card.  Open Internationally. Void where prohibited.

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Book Blitz + Excerpt & Giveaway: Forever, Jack by Natasha Boyd

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Forever Jack by Natasha Boyd

Forever, Jack by Natasha Boyd
(Eversea #2)
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
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A feisty small-town girl and the Hollywood star who broke her heart

An all-consuming love threatened by fame

One last chance at FOREVER

Keri Ann Butler’s life changed on the night she met movie star, Jack Eversea. She thought she knew a Jack that was very different to the man adored by fans the world over. In the wake of his betrayal and abandonment, Keri Ann has had to pick up and move forward with the life she was supposed to live and has put off far too long.

Suddenly Jack is back, and his explanations for why he left seem more and more plausible, and his declarations more seductive. But being Jack’s latest tabloid accessory isn’t on Keri Ann’s career agenda, no matter how much she is attracted to him. And how can she can ever trust him again?

Jack knows he let the only ‘real’ thing that ever happened to him slip through his fingers. And his hands have been tied to try and stop it. Until Now.

Jack is now fighting to save his relationship with Keri Ann, even as his crazy life threatens to tear them apart. Again. The question is, can he convince her she can have it all? And have him? Forever?

Read how it all began in “Eversea” …

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Excerpt

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Nothing. I felt nothing.

“It doesn’t cut it,” he went on. “I realize that. But I’m sorry.” Jack left the wall, braced his hands on the island, and hung his dark head for a second, before looking back up at me. “You have to understand something, I didn’t stay away because I wanted to. I stayed away because I had to.” Jack gritted his teeth and winced imperceptibly. “I know that doesn’t mean much to you, and I know you are dating someone else now, but I just needed you to know that. That’s all. That’s all I came to say.”

I gripped my glass of water tighter at his mention of me dating someone else. I’d been about to lift it and take a sip and his words stopped me cold. I guess he and Colt really did have a big old pow-wow on the side of the highway. Nice.

“I guess you spoke to Colt?” I was neither confirming, nor denying. But as I watched Jack carefully, and took in his tension and the way his hands gripped the counter, I realized I was admitting it. At least as far as he was concerned.

Jack nodded and cleared his throat. “He’s a good guy. Cares for you. A lot. That’s good.”

“I know,” I said simply and watched Jack’s throat bob as he swallowed. This was fascinating.

“It’s a pity for him,” he said with an even voice, “that I won’t be walking away anytime soon.”

about the author

Natasha Boyd is a writer with a background in marketing and public relations. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and lives in the coastal Carolina Lowcountry, complete with Spanish moss, alligators and mosquitoes the size of tiny birds.  She has a husband, two sons and a host of scared relatives that worry the next book will be about them.  She is a member of Georgia Romance Writers, Romance Writers of America and Island Writers Network, where she has been a featured speaker. Forever, Jack is the sequel to her award-winning and first full-length novel, Eversea.

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–one (1) ebook copy of both Forever Jack AND Eversea

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Book Blitz + Excerpt & Giveaway: Grounded By You by Ivy Sinclair

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Grounded By You by Ivy Sinclair

Grounded By You by Ivy Sinclair
Publication date: November 20th 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult
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Lights, camera, and passions flare as a small town boy gets the break of his career. As the lines of life and art blur together, can he also find a way to win the love of the girl who got away?

Carter Samuel Groveson.

His name is on the lips of every woman in the country who has a pulse. An actor pulled from obscurity to star in the most anticipated movie of the century, he’s an enigma to all. Everyone wants a piece of him.

Except her.

Amelia St. John isn’t about to follow the life plan that her father set out for her. She refuses to be tied down or commit to anyone. A year ago, she ran as far and as fast from Sam Groveson as she could. But when he reappears in her life and asks her to be the friend he needs to keep him tethered to reality in the midst of the chaos, she can’t say no.

Unfortunately for Sam, his big break comes with expectations that threaten his career if he doesn’t toe the line. In this high stakes game of love, everyone is watching.

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Excerpt

Sam held up his beer bottle. “Here’s to the wild and wacky world of finally being a grown-up.”

Millie giggled and clinked his bottle. She took a long pull and then startled him when she reached over without warning and grabbed his bicep. “I notice that somebody’s been hitting the gym. Impressive.”

His muscle twitched reflexively under her fingers, and her eyes widened. Sam wondered if she was looking at him in that moment like a friend, or something more, but then the expression on her face was gone. “It’s kind of a requirement for the acting thing,” he said. He downed the beer and put the bottle down, feeling anxious again.

“Have you snagged any decent parts? Will I get to see you on Broadway someday?” Millie giggled again.

It was the perfect opportunity to tell her. “I actually got a call today about a role I’m pretty excited about,” he said carefully.

Millie sat up straighter and then scooted closer to him. “Really? Tell me all about it!”

“Well, it was a complete fluke that I decided to audition for it at all,” Sam said slowly. “I’ve got so little film experience that I didn’t think there’d be anyway they’d consider me.”

“So it’s a movie? Anything I would have heard of?” Millie started to bounce on the sofa cushion. Sam loved her like that, so attentive and open. She had always made him feel like he could do anything.

“Funny you should say that.” Sam cleared his throat wondering how to say it just right. “I’m sure Kate told you that she got a call a few months ago from that executive producer in Hollywood who wanted to rent out the Willoughby for a few weeks.”

Millie squealed and clapped her hands over her mouth. “You got a role in Where My Heart Breaks? I couldn’t believe it when I heard that they finally cut through the red tape with Walter Moolen’s estate and got the green light for the film adaptation. It’s going to be HUGE! That is so exciting!”

“Yeah, I know,” Sam said. “It’s generated a lot of interest already.”

“So what’s the part?”

Sam took a deep breath. “Jackson Monroe.”

Millie’s eyes widened, and she looked shocked. “Are you serious? You got the lead?”

Hearing it said out loud made Sam’s mouth run dry. “I know. It’s crazy, right? That they picked a complete unknown for the part? I’m having a hard time believing it myself.”

Millie stood up and disappeared into the kitchen. She came back out with a magazine that he knew covered Hollywood gossip and news. She flipped open the cover and then shoved an article under his nose. “They’ve been speculating for weeks about who would be cast as Jackson. Like, everybody in the entire country is waiting to hear the news with bated breath. Sam, this will be massively huge when everyone finds out.”

His stomach muscles tightened. He knew that any expectation he had of what was about to happen was probably woefully inadequate. “They told me that the press release goes out tomorrow morning.”

about the author

Ivy SinclairIvy Sinclair cut her romance teeth on classics like Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, An Affair to Remember, and Sabrina. She is a firm believer in true love, a happily ever after ending, and the medicinal use of chocolate to cure any ailment of the heart. Ivy’s guilty pleasures include sushi, endless Starbucks lattes, and wine. Readers of Ivy’s stories can expect smoldering sweet stories of romance that tug at the heartstrings.

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