Review Tour + #Giveaway: Strained by Marcia Colette @MarciaColette @GoddessFish

Strained

by Marcia Colette

GENRE:  Urban Fantasy

BLURB:

Alexa is keeping a secret from her husband and being half werewolf isn't it. After all, he’s a full-blood and doesn't care that there are those who think their union is an abomination. Despite their abnormalities, the Yorks have settled into suburbia and gone out of their way to look like the couple next door.

Their rouse may have fooled an entire community, but not the Georgia Pack. The Yorks have encroached on their territory. Most interlopers end up dead, especially when the bounties on their heads invite stalkers, killers, and psychos to collect. Despite the trouble the Yorks have brought with them, the domestic suburbanites have intrigued the pack.

Alexa’s less domestic than she seems. Eight months ago, her bounty hunting club disbanded after several team members lost their lives in an ambush. Since then, the club has reemerged and are expecting Alexa to take her rightful place among the ranks.

Keeping the truth from her husband about her extracurricular activities will strain the Yorks’ marriage and risk everything they’ve worked hard for. But, that’s the price Alexa pays when her deception becomes deadlier than her aim. A deception that also keeps her alive.

Goodreads ~ Amazon

EXCERPT:

Several shots exploded along the streets. Pedestrians screamed and ducked out of the way. Glass shattered from stray bullets.

My heart pounded in my chest. My nerves frayed to the point that revenge was the only thing on my mind. He needed to know what it felt like to have someone he held close to his heart nearly snuffed out before his eyes. How dare someone ruin a perfectly good night to use us like China plates in a shooting gallery? I tried to push past Matt’s thick body to get a peek at our enemy. I wanted to memorize their faces in case we met again. Preferably when I had my crossbow or bowie knife to level the playing field.

Whoever was in the car was gone. There were too many witnesses and too many potential witnesses. If they were smart, they’d ditch the car at the first subway station lot.

“Is everyone okay?” Stephan was the first on his feet and hitting the speed dial on his cell phone. He hurried back toward the sidewalk, stretching his neck to get a good look at the car.

“He’s not calling the police is he?” I finally manage to get out from under my husband who seemed more compact than a wolf about to pounce on his prey. In fact, Matt remained a little too quiet for my taste. I met his unyielding gaze. “What is it? What’s…?”

The smell of blood touched my nose.

My Review:

I received a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.

Alexa is half wolf – half human in her world she is called a Human Hybrid. Alexa is married to Matt a very wonderful person who loves his wife Alexa very much. Matt and Alexa are soulmates. They would each give up their own lives for the other. They would do anything possible to keep the other safe even if that meant not being completely honest with the other.

Alexa and Matt both have a bounty on their heads and have been on the run for quite a while now. They have been trying their best to find out who it is that has the bounty out on them so that they can take them out. But so far they have not had much luck in that department. They have been hiding out in Georgia which just happens to be territory of The Georgia Pack which could very easily turn out to be very dangerous to them. I mean you don’t just go into another wolf’s territory without their consent or at the least you don’t take up residence on it. They have been hiding out and trying to live among humans as if they were humans but have they or can they fool The Georgia Pack? Can any werewolf ever fool another werewolf?

While Alexa and Matt have been trying to find out who had put the bounty on them Alexa also has another secret that she is hiding and she is also hiding it from her husband Matt as well and it is not the fact that she is a Human Hybrid because Matt is a full blooded werewolf. So he doesn’t care that she is a Hybrid or not. He loves her with everything in him. Alexa is not keeping a secret from Matt because she doesn’t trust him she is keeping her secret from him because she loves him and in no way wants to bring harm to him besides she is afraid that he would try to stop her from doing what it is she has been doing for years. Her secret is not a bad secret and she would never intentionally harm anyone that was good and didn’t deserve it. She does what she does for the good of both the humans and the wolves. She only tries to protect the innocent.

To Matt Alexa is his woman his baby and like any male he wants to protect his baby. But what he doesn’t know is that Alexa is very independent more so than he knows and can take care of herself. Alexa is one tough woman and can kick but with the best of them. I love books like Stained where the heroine is a kick butt kind of woman and doesn’t need a man to take care of her or at least doesn’t need him to fight her battles for her. A woman always needs her man in one way or another. I have loved the world that Marcia Colette has created in Strained and would really like to get my hands on more of her work. I would recommend Strained to anyone who loves a good werewolf novel with a little action and a whole lot of love thrown in along with a strong willed woman. And also a man that could be a model who knows how to take care of his woman.

AUTHOR BIO:

Author Marcia Colette didn’t start out reading or writing books. She had earned a bachelor's in Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before going on to complete her Masters in Information Technology at American Intercontinental University in Atlanta, GA.

While riding the MBTA train back and forth to her job in Boston as a software consultant, she picked up a copy of John Saul and never looked back. It wasn’t long after that when she started writing her own stories. Five years later, she signed a contract with Double Dragon eBooks to publish her first urban fantasy novel.

Her next novel was a paranormal romance entitled Unstable Environment and was picked up by Parker Publishing, LLC. She went on to sell her next urban fantasy entitled Stripped to Samhain Publishing, LLC. During that time, she also released Bittersweet (YA), Hazardous Environment (Paranormal Romance), The Spider Inside Her (Urban Fantasy), and Deadlier by the Dozen (Urban Fantasy) under her own independent publishing label Dusk Till Dawn Books. She has sold several short stories and novellas to Mocha Memoirs Press and has continued her Alexa York series with Purple Sword Publications.

Marcia also writes science fiction under another pen name.

Still holding her own as an IT Manager, Marcia is a single mom who lives in South Carolina.

Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

Giveaway:

$15 Amazon/BN GC

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Review: Rarity by D.A. Roach @daroach12books @YABoundToursPR #YABOUNDBOOKTOURS

Rarity
by D.A. Roach
Release Date: June 16th 2015
Limitless Publishing

Summary from Goodreads:

Brogen Mathers can’t deal with teen drama…

As an empath, she is constantly bombarded with other people’s energies. Despite coping techniques taught by her psychologist mother, it’s often too much to bear, forcing her to avoid most activities a typical high school junior would enjoy.

Jay Wilken won’t let his past define him…

A dead mother and an alcoholic father brought Jay to Stanton, but he doesn’t want pity. His good looks, charisma, and friendly nature quickly win over the whole student body, but he has his eye on one girl…Brogen.

Brogen can’t believe anyone could be so genuinely nice. It has to be an act, right? But when Jay literally saves her from deadly jaws, she has to admit he’s exactly what he appears, and he’s worth risking the potential emotional upheaval.

“Drama” might as well be Becca Grant’s middle name…

Another newcomer to Stanton, Becca’s blonde beauty and abundant attitude shoots her straight to the top of the popularity charts—and she believes Jay belongs right there beside her. Accustomed to getting exactly what she wants, she launches a relentless mean-girl campaign to shake up Brogen and claim Jay for her own.

Everything changes with a devastating diagnosis…

When Jay learns he has a rare and potentially fatal disorder, he keeps it secret and begins to push Brogen away to spare her future pain—which is exactly the sort of opening Becca is waiting for.

As Jay’s well-meaning deception unravels,

Brogen realizes there is much more than her heart at stake…

But how far is she willing to go to fight for someone she loves?

Buy Links:

Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Amazon UK

My Review:

I received a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.

Brogen is a teenage girl who is an empath and still in high school. Brogen has had a hard time of dealing with being an empath as her abilities are very strong. But she is a lucky girl having a mom that is an empath too and has been a big help to her by trying to teach her how to deal with what she feels from others. She also has this best friend for most of her life who accepts her she the way she is. Meg is a very good person and has stood by Brogen for many years. Actually Meg is one of the few people that Brogen has let into her life.

Brogen is just starting a new year at school and only has two years left before graduating and she can’t wait. With the new year starting up they get two new students in their class. One is a guy, Jay who is very good looking and all of the girls want him for their selves especially the other new student who just happens to be a girl, Becca thinks she is the QUEEN of the whole school or the whole town for that matter. And guess what yeah you guessed it she wants Jay all for herself and is determined to get him no matter what it takes. But Jay only has eyes for one girl and that is Brogen.

Brogen can’t believe that he likes at all much less has chosen her over the QUEEN Becca. But to Jay Brogen is the QUEEN and not Becca. But with Becca doing everything she can to get him Brogen may end up with a broken heart. She is not use to fight for want she wants. She usually just sits back and lets everyone have want they want without interfering. Brogen hates drama and being the center of attention unlike Becca who loves it and would just rather let everyone have whatever it is they want. But this time just may be a different story after she meets Jay one night when she is out for a run and is attached by a rabid dog and Jay comes to her rescue. Jay and Brogen have a connection after that night.

Jay is new in town and is living with his cousin because his father is having problems with a bottle and is getting help for it. Jay lost his mother not long ago and this has been his father’s way of dealing with it. But Jay is trying to deal with everything and get on with his life the best way he knows how. Now he has met a new girl who he cares about a lot and who cares about him too. But when Jay finds out some devastating news about himself he starts to push Brogen away and she doesn’t understand what is going on. Why is he all of a sudden pushing her away? Jay doesn’t have a selfish bone in his body. It breaks his heart to push Brogen away but he doesn’t want to get so involved with her that he breaks her heart as well. But just maybe that should be Brogen choice and not his.

Rarity touched me way more than I ever thought it would when I read the summary. I knew when I read it that I just had to read it. While reading Rarity I cried a lot and it was ugly as they say. I cried just about the whole time I was reading it. I felt so much for both Jay and Brogen but I can really and truly relate to Brogen on more than one level. But the main one is that I know what it is like to love someone who has problems like Jay but they are different.  

I love D.A. Roach’s writing style. I love how she can make you see the world that she has written through the eyes of the characters. You get so lost in the story that you feel like it is more than watching a movie. She makes you feel like you are a character in Rarity like you are standing on the side lines watching what is going on and feel what the characters are feeling. At times I cried and laughed all at the same time. I cried because I felt happy, I cried because I felt sadness and hurt. I don’t guess I have to tell you I really and truly loved Rarity and can’t wait to check out more of D.A.’s work. 

About the Author:

D.A. Roach has been telling stories since she was a young girl in the suburbs of Chicago. In college she met the man of her dreams, her happily ever after, and married him 2 weeks after graduating. They have 3 kids together and a pet cockatiel named Gimli. D.A. did not find a love for books until after college. Her parents were immigrants from Lithuania and found tv and radio easier ways to hear stories so they did not do much reading or encourage it. But once she finished college and D.A. had free time, she discovered how amazing it was to get lost in a story.

D.A. is a full time mom and wife. When she is not doing domestic things (laundry, bills, etc) she is writing, reading, creating mixed media art, and helping beautify her kids’ school landscape. Oh, and she is ALWAYS listening to music. Her favorite authors include Rebecca Donovan, Richelle Mead, Larissa Ione, Stephanie Meyer, E.L. James, and Sylvia Day. Reading great works from authors like these has motivated D.A. to write her own stories. She hopes to make positive changes in the world with her art and writing.

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”

― George Bernard Shaw

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Review: ZIA, The Teenage Zombie & the Undead Diaries by Angela Scott @ascott_author @YABoundToursPR #YABOUNDBOOKTOURS

ZIA, The Teenage Zombie & the Undead Diaries

by Angela Scott

Release date: September 20th 2015

Summary from Goodreads:

Zia would give anything to be a typical teenager... again. Heck, she’d settle for being a vampire or smelly werewolf, but a member of the walking dead? The lowliest of all the monsters? No way! Nothing is worse than being a skin-sloughing, limb-losing, maggot-housing, brain-craving undead girl. Nothing.

It wouldn’t be so bad if humans didn’t insist on “Living Impaireds” wearing bands to keep their insatiable appetites in check. And if LIs want to coexist with humans, then rules must be followed, no matter how ludicrous they might seem. Why do undead teenagers have to go to high school anyway?

Zia does her best to blend in and go unnoticed, but when a new group of LIs are bused in from another school and she finds herself part of a growing horde, all bets are off.

Besides, rules are meant to be broken—especially when an unbeating heart is pulled in two different directions.

Buy Links:

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Kobo ~ iTunes


My Review:

I received a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.

Zia is a teenager and now she is a zombie. You see Zia was in an accident and her dad couldn’t handle his baby girl being gone so he had a witch doctor bring her back from dead. So now she is a member of the undead with body parts rotting and following off. Zia was a normal teenage girl and like any other teenage girl she had her problems or so she thought until she became a member of the undead society.

Zombies, vampires, werewolves ect… all live in the mix of humans now and are known as the Living Impaired or LIs for short. There are rules that they all must follow in order to live with the humans and they have to wear bans either around their necks or wrist to keep them from wanting to eat the humans. Oh and back to the rules they have to follow. The undead all follow these rules even if they don’t like them well like all rules there are consequences if they are not followed and they are definitely enforced. The undead don’t want any part of these consequences either of course.

But like with everything there is always someone who thinks they can do or get what they want or they think they are strong and can break the rules and get by with it if they have enough people willing to back them up. One of the vampires is going around trying to talk all of the Living Impaired into standing up to the humans because they want to be at the top and have all the power. They don’t like being controlled by the humans.

But like Zia not all of the Living Impaireds want anything to do with breaking the rules. They just want to keep on living their now normal lives. All Zia wants and can handle at the moment is just being a zombie and worrying about the guys that want to be her boyfriend and take her to the high school dance. She has enough to worry about with her new family like her step-sister who can be a pain at times and then turn right around and be sweet and help Zia when she needs it. But one good thing about having a new step-sister is she also has a new step-mom who is a very sweet woman and treats Zia as if she is still alive and not undead. She has never made Zia feel as if she is gross or anything like that. She has tried to be the best mom to Zia as she can be. And Zia loves her very much and never wants to hurt her step-mom, dad or any of her friends, especially the human guy who likes and wants to be her boyfriend.

This is not the first book that I have read by Angela Scott and definitely won’t be the last. I have 100% loved and enjoyed reading Zia, the Teenage Zombie and the Undead Diaries. I would love to read more about Zia, her friends and her family. I would also like to know some of the other Living Impaired’s history. Zia’s heart may not beat anymore but she has one of the biggest hearts of any human in the story.

About the Author:

I hear voices. Tiny fictional people sit on my shoulders and whisper their stories in my ear. Instead of medicating myself, I decided to pick up a pen, write down everything those voices tell me, and turn it into a book. I’m not crazy. I’m an author.

For the most part, I write contemporary Young Adult novels. However, through a writing exercise that spiraled out of control, I found myself writing about zombies terrorizing the Wild Wild West—and loving it. My zombies don’t sparkle, and they definitely don’t cuddle. At least, I wouldn’t suggest it.

I live on the benches of the beautiful Wasatch Mountains with two lovely children, one teenager, and a very patient husband. I graduated from Utah State University with a B.A. degree in English, not because of my love for the written word, but because it was the only major that didn’t require math. I can’t spell, and grammar is my arch nemesis. But they gave me the degree, and there are no take backs.

As a child, I never sucked on a pacifier; I chewed on a pencil. I’ve been writing that long. It has only been the past few years that I’ve pursued it professionally, forged relationships with other like-minded individuals, and determined to make a career out of it. 

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Virtual Book Tour + #Giveaway: Deviant Storm by LM Preston @LM_Preston @RABTBookTours

Deviant Storm by LM Preston

Young Adult Paranormal Romance

Date Published: 10/21/2015

Blurb:

The battle is on. Peter Saints thought he'd killed It. But bad people never stay down. Now the jail of his enemy is weakening. Luck is running out for Peter and the girl he saved by wagering the Earth. Only now, with each second and secret revealed, his enemy gains the answers to destroy Peter and devour the world.

Amazon ~ Smashwords ~ Barnes and Noble

Excerpt:

He screwed up. So bad, he didn’t think he could fix it. Peter tossed the ball against the wall once more as he drowned out Kyle’s words. He never admitted everything that had happened to him in the Stronghold to Kyle. Didn’t think he could. One thing for sure, time was up. Peter was through waiting to be told what to do by the Elders of at this dump who seemed to have their own agendas. Dealing with the nightmares of what he’d done - possibly killing a man by pulling something beyond evil out of him, plagued Peter every night. Those times when he wasn’t careful, it pressed his thoughts, even when awake.

“We’ll go get her.” Peter’s dark brown eyes landed on Kyle’s questioning blue ones.

About the Author:

LM. Preston was born and raised in Washington, DC. An avid reader, she loved to create poetry and short-stories as a young girl. With a thirst for knowledge she attended college at Bowie State University, and worked in the IT field as a Techie and Educator for over sixteen years. She started writing science fiction under the encouragement of her husband who was a Sci-Fi buff and her four kids. Her first published novel, Explorer X - Alpha was the beginning of her obsessive desire to write and create stories of young people who overcome unbelievable odds. She loves to write while on the porch watching her kids play or when she is traveling, which is another passion that encouraged her writing.

Contact Information

LM Preston,YA SciFi Author

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