Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Blog Tour + Review + #Giveaway: Awakening: Bloodline by Tiera Rice @tierawrites @XpressoTours


Awakening: Bloodline Book One
Tiera Rice
Publication date: October 12th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult, Paranormal

being royal comes with lots of expectations. Born into war as a Vampyre Witch, she has to battle the ultimate enemy: her own blood. When she has a terrifying Vision, Antanasia fights harder than ever to prevent it from coming to pass. Will she succeed? Or does she die trying?




Nadia is an average teenager celebrating her nineteenth birthday. But her day turns upside down when she starts developing unusual abilities that make her question everything she knew. Searching for answers to her predicament, she finds herself trusting Nicolae, a stranger with a familiar presence. Why does she feel so drawn to him? Will Nadia find answers to the questions about her past and take on her new role willingly? Or will she choose to remain in the dark and deny her destiny?


My Review:

Strange things are happening to Nadia who lives in New York, 2015. She is starting to have blackouts and not remembering what she did or how she ended up in the places where she wakes up. Nadia starts having some strange cravings ones that she wants no part of but eventually has no choice when her body takes over and she has one of her blackouts. Nadia tries to hide a lot of what is going from her friends but she does try to get her mother to explain to her what is happening to her but her mom is reluctant to tell her anything. Nadia starts to have vision/nightmares that are very frightening and ones that she doesn’t understand.

In 1480 Wallachia Antanasia is a Vampyre Witch that was born into war and has to fight her own kind; her own blood. Antanasia has a vision that she hopes to keep from coming true. Antanasia loves her mother and her boyfriend both very much and will do whatever it takes to keep them both alive. Will she succeed or will she end up losing one of them? Can she save them both? Will one of them die? What will happen to Antanasia and her people? Will they survive the war? Or will Antanasia die trying to keep her vision from coming true?

While I saw the ending coming I didn’t picture it quite the way it unfolded. Awakening: Bloodline is filled with lots of intriguing and suspenseful adventure. A story of two young women who take you on more than one journey and leave you wanting more.  I highly recommend Awakening: Bloodline to anyone who loves a good vampire novel. 



Author Bio:
Tiera Rice was raised in Rockland County, New York and is a realtor in Rockland, Westchester, and Orange Counties. She earned her degree in criminal justice from Temple University, is the founder of Laughter and Lemonade: a project that focuses on motivational posters for those experiencing a chronic illness, and co-founder of #26forTiera: a foundation that provides financial resources to single parents battling life-threatening illnesses. 
A creator of poems and short-stories for many years, Tiera challenged herself by leaping into the world of novels. Having recently survived a battle with cancer, Tiera decided to use her writing to entertain and motivate her readers. When not writing or selling houses, Tiera can be found spending time with her friends and family, especially her young daughter, fish, and kitty cat. Her other interests include singing, drawing, and dancing. 

XBTBanner1

Release Week Celebration + #Giveaway: HEATING IT UP by Elizabeth Harmon @romanzwrter_grl @Barclay_PR



HEATING IT UP
Download a new Red Hot Russians novella from RITA finalist Elizabeth Harmon!

In HEATING IT UP, a heart-warming novel of mistaken identity and forced proximity, widow Nora Bradford and Russian adventurer Alexei Zaikov must work together to save their small Antarctic town from being shut down—but will the truth about Nora’s role in Amity Bay’s demise, doom their romance?


Keep reading to get a sneak peek at HEATING IT UP! 



Title: Heating it Up
Author: Elizabeth Harmon
Author Location: Chicago, IL
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: February 27, 2017
Publisher: Indie
Series: Red Hot Russians
Word Count: Novella, 30k
Format: Digitial
Digital ISBN: 9781370182220


Synopsis:


Red Hot Russian Alexei is king of the Ice…Antarctic style

Alexei Zaikov loves his life in remote Amity Bay, Antarctica, until a new luxury guesthouse threatens the small town’s future. As head of Amity Bay, he’s driven to save it, but first must discover who is hiding out in the supposedly deserted lodge…and why.

Nora Bradford has lost everything; a promising career and the man she loved. Glacier Ridge Lodge, the architectural masterpiece she designed but was denied credit for, seems like the perfect place to grieve her loss, until a ruggedly handsome Russian arrives on her doorstep, determined to bring her in from the cold.

Desire sparks, leaving them hungry for more. But will the truth about Nora’s role in Amity Bay’s demise, doom their romance?



Spread the news about HEATING IT UP with a GIVEAWAY!
Grand Prize: Three (3) Digital Book Bundles! Three winners will receive Pairing Off, Turning It On, and Getting It Back! 


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Visit all participating blogs for more chances to WIN!





Exclusive sneak peek at HEATING IT UP!
Copyright © 2016 Elizabeth Harmon

The first thing she noticed was that yesterday's sad vulnerability was gone. Now his ice-blue eyes were flinty and determined as he strode inside. She remained by the door, hand on the knob, ready to show him the way out. Yet she sensed that sending him away wasn't going to be so easy this time.      
"You're too late," he said.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Fifteen years ago some New Zealander became first woman to winter-over solo. Maybe you already know that. Or maybe you don't care, because we both know that's not the real reason you're holed up in here."
She winced. He knew she wasn't being honest, but not to what extent. Burdened by guilt and too deflated for battle, she sighed and leaned against the door. "You’re right it isn't."
"Nora..,” the gentleness in his voice felt like a caress. "Staying here alone doesn't hurt Herbert Quinn, it only hurts you. And it hurts me too."
"How's that?"
"Because to keep you secret, I have to lie, not just to IFAR, but to the people who work for me.  People whose trust I don't take lightly.  Staying up here not only puts you in danger, but also them. This what your brilliant boss forgot. Down here, people survive because they depend on each other. If one of the systems failed in bad weather, or you had an accident, computers and Vancouver would be useless. Someone would have to put themselves at risk, and come to help."
Most likely, that someone would be him. Even with blizz lines strung, making such a trip could be life-threatening. Fear tightened her throat as she considered how it would feel to mourn another man she cared about.
"I know you’ve lost much," he said. "And while I know losing a fiancĂ© is different, I understand the hurt of missing a person I loved dearly."
“That woman who lied to you?” she demanded, shocked and angry.
“No,” he said. “Not Natalia. I’m talking about my mother.  For a long time, I felt like she was the only person who understood me. But when I came here to Antarctica, I found others like me and a place to belong. In time, the pain was not so bad. Up here all alone, you don't have that."
"No," she whispered.
"Ask yourself if this is what he’d want for you. I don't think it is. I know that if I was gone... and the woman I loved was left behind, this isn’t what I’d want for her."
Her fingers twitched on the doorknob, and she thought of ordering him out, but didn't. In her heart, she knew he was right. Even if she weren't drifting through darkened rooms in a ruined wedding gown, she was teetering dangerously close to Miss Havisham territory. In the process, she was putting others in danger.  The weather was turning, and soon the months of darkness would come.  It was time to decide where she would spend them.



Praise for the Red Hot Russians Series

Pairing Off: A 2016 RITA Award Finalist
Pairing Off: “Very Enjoyable Book by a knowledgeable author about my favorite sport”—Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
Turning It On: 2015 Favorites—Nelle’s Nightstand
Getting It Back: “Truly Magical”—Top Pick-Harlequin Junkie
Getting It Back: 4 Stars—Romantic Times
Getting It Back: Heats Up the Ice—Library Journal




Other Books in the Red Hot Russians Series

PAIRING OFF (2016 RITA nominated Best First Book!)

TURNING IT ON (Red Hot Russians #2)
Available at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo | iBooks 

GETTING IT BACK (Red Hot Russians #3)

 Available at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes | Google Play


Author Bio:

Elizabeth Harmon loves to read and write romances with a dash of different.
A graduate of the University of Illinois, she has worked in advertising, community journalism and as a freelance magazine writer. She feels incredibly blessed to have a career that allows her to spend her days imagining “what if?” and a loving family that keeps her grounded in the real world.  Her debut novel, Pairing Off is a 2016 RITA Award Finalist.
An adventurous cook, vintage home enthusiast, occasional actress, and entry-level figure skater, Elizabeth makes her home in the Midwest, where life is good, but the sports teams aren’t. She loves to hang out on her front porch, or at her favorite local establishments, enjoy good food and wine, and talk writing with anyone who will listen.

Follow Elizabeth: Website |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Amazon  | Goodreads | BookBub |  BookLikes  | Google+



Release Day Blast + #Giveaway: ASSET: ARSENIC (ELITE ELEMENTS BOX SET) by Heather Long @HVLong @Barclay_PR

ASSET: ARSENIC (ELITE ELEMENTS BOX SET) BY HEATHER LONG
Arsenic is playing a dangerous game, but one with a hefty payout—Red Wolf’s head on a platter.


GIVEAWAY:


10 Lucky Winners could receive a digital copy of Elite Metal (Elite Elements Box Set #1)







Title: ASSET: ARSENIC (Elite Elements Box Set)
Author: Heather Long
Release Date: February 21, 2017
Series: Elite Warriors
Genres: Military Suspense/Romance
Format: Digital

Synopsis:

For most of their lives they’ve lived in the shadows, pulled from every nation and background, united by one common cause—an all-consuming hatred of Red Wolf. The unquenchable desire to rid the world of his very existence fuels them, drives them.

These men and women pulled the fallen Elite from the snow-covered wreckage of Operation Phoenix years ago. To some they’re called saviors. To others they’re called traitors.
As Red Wolf’s power grows, the end game they’ve sacrificed everything for may destroy them all. Or just maybe they’ll finally find the peace they’ve been hunting for.

Revenge is their salvation but is there enough humanity left inside them to save?

A new end. A new beginning. Elite Elements.

Asset: Arsenic is available in the box set Elite Elements available now: Amazon



About Heather Long:

National bestselling author, Heather Long, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas summertime. From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories—her characters drive the books. When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.



Connect with Heather: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon



Book Tour + #Giveaway: The Empty Room by Sarah J. Clemens @Sarah_J_Clemens @SDSXXTours


The Empty Room
by Sarah J Clemens
Genre: Psychological Suspense, Thriller, Mystery

Rain soaked and dreary, it was a 1901 abandoned Victorian that newlyweds Dean and Elizabeth Montgomery hoped would fulfill their dreams of a new start in life, even if the town of Eastbrook, Maine was nestled under a constant blanket of fog.
The first neighbor the couple meets dashes those hopes when he raises a bizarre question: what happened to the last person who lived in their house? A cryptic question, but nothing to worry about. At least not until the couple looked under the floorboards inside the house.
Under mounting pressure from the residents of Eastbrook to stop questioning the past, Dean and Elizabeth are driven deeper into the history of the house, the town, and their neighbors. When the couple discovers what happened in Eastbrook, keeping the secret could save their lives, but uncovering the truth might be worth the risk.
What happened inside The Empty Room is a mystery until the last page. A gripping psychological suspense, the story takes readers on a cat-and-mouse game where some secrets are better off hidden.



The two were quite uncertain as to why it seemed so difficult to step inside the room. They had trampled across every inch of the house and looked through the belongings of a man they had never met, but felt as though they were intruding to even stand outside the door of an empty room. 

Dean was a problem solver though and had finally settled on a way to get over that feeling. 

As he stood behind Elizabeth, just outside of the door frame, and with his coffee cup still in one hand, he put the palm of his hand on her back and gave a strong push. 

She stumbled awkwardly into the room. 

“There,” he said proudly as he took a sip. “What do you think?” 

“I think that you’re going to have a hard time sleeping tonight,” she replied. 

He found it ironic that he had already weighed that possibility before he shoved her, and had still decided to do so. He smiled. “I’m good with that.” 

He took a few faltering steps behind her before taking a deep breath and stepping inside completely. They both looked around and identified the same exact features they had seen the first time they stood outside the door: an entirely empty room with a sheer white curtain covering the only window, now with a new perspective standing inside. 

Compared to the rest of the rooms in the house, this room was small. It had a closet on the left wall and the window on the back wall, which looked out into the backyard. There was nothing special or unique about the room, except this one wasn’t crammed to the ceiling with personal touches. 

Dean and Elizabeth stared at each other as though competing for a prize in a contest, when Dean’s concentration fixated on something else. She followed the direction of his eyes to the wall behind her which had abruptly claimed his attention.

He had only stepped a few feet inside of the room when he eyed something on the east wall behind his wife. As he walked around her, she turned to look. He still clenched his coffee cup tightly in his left hand but reached up his right hand and ran his palm along the wall. Elizabeth stood in silence behind him and waited for an explanation. His hand paused in areas and then continued up and down until he reached the corner of the room. 

The wallpaper, which was striped with thick bands of blue and slender bands of green, had stolen his concept of the English language, and he ignored his wife’s persistent calling of his name. 

“Dean? Dean. Dean!” she insisted without a response from him. She approached him from behind and grabbed ahold of his shoulder and shook him. 

He stumbled back upon reality long enough to mumble, “What is that?” he said, half dazed. 

Elizabeth’s curiosity had remained occupied on her husband’s behavior until she too caught sight of what he had been eyeing. Covered by the blue and green wallpaper was the faint and somewhat abstract outline of something beneath the paper. 

“Go get me something to get this wallpaper down.” The sound of his voice was urgent. He sat his coffee up on the window sill and ran both hands along the wall. 

Elizabeth froze for a moment before turning toward the door. She had just 
reached the hall when he called out, “Hey, wait. Look at this. It peels off.” 

She turned sharply on her heel and headed back toward him. 

“Here, can you help me with this? I’ll grab the top corner,” he said. 

Each gripping a piece of wallpaper, they slowly pulled back the sun-faded sheets as it wilted off the wall. The persistent rain and wet weather, along with a poorly insulated window would make for some mold problems later on down the road, but for now, it made the process of removing wallpaper move at a much more rapid speed, and with their joint efforts the paper pulled cleanly off the wall.

The two stood with the now crinkled wallpaper clutched in their hands. Dean released his grip and dropped the ball of paper. He took a step back from the freshly unveiled wall. 

“What on…” Elizabeth’s mouth gaped open and she seemed faced with the same loss of speech that her husband had experienced moments ago. 

The wall, originally painted a now-faded yellow color, was splattered in red. 
Dean reclaimed the step that he sacrificed an instant earlier and squinted at the wall. The two had questioned the intentions of a man who would leave everything he owned behind and they had possibly found the answer, but now, the question shifted to whether or not they wanted to know. 



Sarah J. Clemens is the author of the debut mystery novel, The Empty Room. She started writing The Empty Room in 2008 and formed her own imprint in 2016 called Off the Page Publishing.
She started out her professional career working as a news assistant for her local newspaper before finding a passion for the law and pursued an education in criminal justice. In addition to writing fiction, she is also a legal assistant with an Associate of Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice with an emphasis in Human Services.
Sarah was born in California and now lives and works in Boise, Idaho. She has the same sarcastic sense of humor as the characters in her books, and she has an unparalleled love for animals.








Cover Reveal: The Supernatural Pet Sitter by Diane Moat @DianeMoatAuthor @XpressoTours


The Supernatural Pet Sitter
Diane Moat
(The Magic Thief, #1)
Publication date: March 2017
Genres: Fantasy, Middle-Grade

Pepper is a 12 year old who pet sits magical animals. When someone steals their magic, Pepper must find the thief before the thief finds her!

Full Description TBA












Author Bio:
Diane is a Tennessee transplant, animal rescuer, and nurse. Dog Gone is her debut novel, born from years of hearing animal rescuers say about animal abusers, “If only I could get my hands on that person...” Diane is assisted by her many rescue dogs. 

XBTBanner1

Book Blast + #Giveaway: The Second Time Around by Ella Quinn @ellaquinnauthor @GoddessFish



The Second Time Around
by Ella Quinn
GENRE: Historical Romance


BLURB:

Can a beautiful Worthington widow find love again? Depends on who’s asking . . .

Before he died, Patience was the Earl of Worthington’s second wife. So why shouldn’t Patience be allowed a second chance at marriage, too? Of course, finding a new husband was not something the mother of four had ever planned on. But a surprise encounter with her first love has suddenly made the impossible seem possible all over again . . .


It seems like a lifetime ago that Richard, Viscount Wolverton, was halfway around the world, looking for adventure . . . while Patience, at her coming-out, was left with no choice but to take old Worthington’s hand. Richard never forgot the woman whose heart he yearned for—and now that he’s back, he’s not going to let her slip away again . . .


Excerpt:

Pulteney Hotel, London, 1815

“And this is Viscount Wolverton.” Patience Worthington watched as Almeria, Lady Bellamny, smiled as she introduced the gentleman to the Duchess of Bristol. Almeria turned her black eyes on Patience. The smile didn’t fade at all as she said, “Wolverton, I believe you have already met the Dowager Countess of Worthington.”

What in God’s name is he doing here? Patience inclined her head and held out her hand. “Indeed. The years have treated you well, my lord.”

Bowing, he took her fingers in his. “As they have done to you, my lady.”

His lips hovered over her hand as she prayed he would do nothing more than kiss the air above them, but no. The devil pressed his warm, firm lips to her knuckles; even through her gloves she could feel his touch and fought the urge to suck in a breath. “Thank you, my lord.”

One would think after all these years and his betrayal she would be immune to him. And one would be wrong. She held her breath, counting—One, two, three, four, five. Thank God—until he finally straightened and returned her hand to her. Thank God! Patience let out the breath, yet she could not control the pounding in her breast. It took all the control she had not to make an excuse and leave the room. Yet, she could not do that to Dotty Stern, soon to be the Marchioness of Merton.

“He has been a friend for a very long time,” Almeria continued, as if she had no idea of the havoc she had created by inviting Wolverton. “Though he hardly ever comes to Town.”

“Well, my dear,” Lord Bellamny said, “you couldn’t be here so often if it wasn’t for the help he gives me. Someone must assist me in my experiments.”

“Very true, my dear.”

Patience made the mistake of glancing up at the same moment Richard Wolverton stared down at her. His amber eyes smoldered as they had the last time she had seen him, only days before her marriage to the old Earl of Worthington.


AUTHOR BIO:

Bestselling author Ella Quinn’s studies and other jobs have always been on the serious side. Reading historical romances, especially Regencies, were her escape. Eventually her love of historical novels led her to start writing them. She has just finished her first series, The Marriage Game, and her new series, The Worthingtons, began in April 2016.

 She is married to her wonderful husband of over thirty years. They have a son and two beautiful granddaughters, and a dog. After living in the South Pacific, Central America, North Africa, England and Europe, she and her husband decided to make their dreams come true and are now living on a sailboat cruising the Caribbean and North America. Europe is next!

    

Buy Link:
Amazon


Giveaway:

$10 Amazon or B/N GC
 



Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.