Blog Tour (Guest Post): The Beautiful One by Emily Greenwood #romance #giveaway @SourcebooksCasa

Title: The Beautiful One (The Scandalous Sisters #1)
Author: Emily Greenwood
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: June 2, 2015
A PICTURE SAYS A THOUSAND WORDS...
The ton is buzzing about The Beautiful One, a striking figure in a scandalous book of nude sketches. Only two men know the true identity of The Beautiful One, and they are scouring the countryside, determined to find her.

BUT NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT ONES
The unlikely center of the scandal, Anna Black is forced to flee home as disaster looms. Her tomboy’s heart and impertinent tongue serve her well when she meets the most brooding viscount ever to darken a drawing room. Will Halifax, Viscount Grandville, has his reasons for pushing people away, and when his tempestuous teenaged ward arrives on his doorstep, he presses Anna to take on her care. As Anna begins to melt the Viscount’s frozen heart, she knows the more she loves, the more she has to lose. For although Will cares nothing for what makes Society titter, he has yet to see The Beautiful One.

Guest Post

A Historical Scandal
Emily Greenwood
With the release this month of the first book in my Scandalous Sisters series, The Beautiful One, I’ve been thinking a lot about scandals. So is it any surprise that Regency era bad boy Lord Byron came to mind—especially since, like Viscount Grandville, the hero of my new release, he’s oh-so brooding?

Lord Byron was famously said to be “mad, bad, and dangerous to know.” With his dark good looks, his keen intelligence, and his perceptive poetry, he was irresistible to hordes of women, and certainly participated in his share of scandals, including a reputed affair with his half-sister, Augusta Leigh.

Blog Tour (Review): Consumption by Heather Herrman #Horror #Giveaway @TLCBookTours

Title: Consumption
Author: Heather Herrman
Publisher: Hydra (Penguin Random House)
Release Date: May 26, 2015
Acquired Via: TLC Book Tours
For fans of Stephen King, Joe Hill, and Sarah Langan comes a thrilling new vision of American horror. In Heather Herrman’s heart-pounding debut novel, evil is ready to feed—and it’s got one hell of an appetite.

In the wake of tragedy, John and Erma Scott are heading west in search of a new life. So when car trouble strands them in sleepy Cavus, Montana, they decide to stay for a while, charmed by the friendly residents and the surrounding ambiance. Here, they hope, is the healing balm that their marriage needs.

Then John and Erma find themselves in a fight not just to save their marriage, but their very lives. For this is no ordinary town. Its quiet streets conceal a dark and bloody secret that has slumbered for centuries. Now, that secret is awake . . . and it’s hungry.

Like a slow infection, evil is spreading through Cavus. Soon John and Erma—along with the local sheriff, an undocumented immigrant, a traumatized teenage girl, and an old man with terrible secrets of his own—must join together to battle an all-consuming force that has set its sights on its prey: the entire human race.

Praise for Consumption

“Both the evil that suffuses the pages of Consumption and the motley gang of innocents who defend against it are much more interesting than those usually found in your average scare fare. Solid writing elevates this imaginative fright-fest from an invigorating new voice.” — Sophie Littlefield, bestselling author of the Aftertime series

My Review

I haven't read as much horror as I've been doing lately since I was a teenager. That used to be my genre of choice, but I'm really starting to drift away from it. Heather Herrman's Consumption was a good, solid read, but it also helped me to realize what I do and do not like when it comes to horror.

There are several characters that are focused on in Consumption, and they are all utterly human. (Major kudos on character development!) They all have their secrets, fantasies, darkness, and lies, and it made them all a little more relatable while being harder to like. If they didn't have any flaws, there wouldn't be a fear (at least for me) of them succumbing to the evil forces at work in the novel.

Waiting on Wednesday (110): Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



Title: Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1)
Author: Susan Dennard
Publisher: Tor Teen (Macmillan)
Release Date: January 5, 2016
On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a “witchery”, a magical skill that sets them apart from others.

In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble—as two desperate young women know all too well.

Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It’s a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires.

Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her—but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi’s hotheaded impulsiveness.

Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship’s captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.


So, I didn't like Dennard's first series, Something Strange and Deadly, but that was probably only because it's about zombies, and there's a love story centering on a zombie. I can deal with killing zombies Resident Evil-style, but I just can't get on board with a zombie romance. Yuck.

But, then the cover released, and I'm totally judging and lusting about this cover. Then, my massive crush on Sarah J. Maas went into overdrive after we went to her author signing in NOLA. And, Maas and Dennard are best friends, and Maas kept talking about how cool Dennard is and how much she helped her when she was having trouble writing A Court of Roses and Thorns. And then, I signed up for Dennard's emails, and she IS a really awesome person. So pretty much, I have decided it's necessary that I love this book. Oh, and it's about witches....

What are you waiting on this week?

Blog Tour (Guest Post): Consumption by Heather Herrman @horrorandbrains @TLCBookTours

Title: Consumption
Author: Heather Herrman
Publisher: Hydra (Penguin Random House)
Release Date: May 26, 2015
For fans of Stephen King, Joe Hill, and Sarah Langan comes a thrilling new vision of American horror. In Heather Herrman’s heart-pounding debut novel, evil is ready to feed—and it’s got one hell of an appetite.

In the wake of tragedy, John and Erma Scott are heading west in search of a new life. So when car trouble strands them in sleepy Cavus, Montana, they decide to stay for a while, charmed by the friendly residents and the surrounding ambiance. Here, they hope, is the healing balm that their marriage needs.

Then John and Erma find themselves in a fight not just to save their marriage, but their very lives. For this is no ordinary town. Its quiet streets conceal a dark and bloody secret that has slumbered for centuries. Now, that secret is awake . . . and it’s hungry.

Like a slow infection, evil is spreading through Cavus. Soon John and Erma—along with the local sheriff, an undocumented immigrant, a traumatized teenage girl, and an old man with terrible secrets of his own—must join together to battle an all-consuming force that has set its sights on its prey: the entire human race.

Praise for Consumption

“Both the evil that suffuses the pages of Consumption and the motley gang of innocents who defend against it are much more interesting than those usually found in your average scare fare. Solid writing elevates this imaginative fright-fest from an invigorating new voice.” — Sophie Littlefield, bestselling author of the Aftertime series

Guest Post

Why the Best Horror Authors are Fem
Heather Herrman
Look at any “best of” list of horror authors, and you’ll find them dominated by, if not entirely composed of, men. You might think this is because mostly men write and read horror. And if we limit the definition of “horror,” you may be right. Often women horror authors are kept out of the genre discussion because of misleading labels (i.e. by calling their work paranormal romance, gothic, etc.). So, I’d like to posit something different: the best horror authors, male or female, are Fem.

Good horror is inherently Fem.

Top Ten Tuesday: Kayla's Most Anticipated Releases For the Rest of 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Kayla's Top Ten(ish) Most Anticipated Releases For the Rest of 2015



1. The Philosopher Kings (Thessaly #2) by Jo Walton
June 30, 2015
I really enjoyed the first book in this Thessaly series/duology/whatever (my review is HERE), and I've been anxiously awaiting The Philosopher Kings. There's a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of The Just City, but Jo Walton's writing is super smart. If you like anything to do with Greek mythology, I can almost guarantee that you'll enjoy this.





2. Darkhaven by A.F.E. Smith
July 2, 2015
It's a fantasy novel with an alicorn on the cover. Why wouldn't I want to read it?!

Review: Nova by Mara Fortune (ARC) #yalit @dawbooks

Title: Nova (Nova #1)
Author: Margaret Fortune
Publisher: DAW (Penguin Random House)
Release Date: June 2, 2015
Acquired Via: Publisher
*36:00:00*

The clock activates so suddenly in my mind, my head involuntarily jerks a bit to the side. The fog vanishes, dissipated in an instant as though it never was. Memories come slotting into place, their edges sharp enough to leave furrows, and suddenly I know. I know exactly who I am.

My name is Lia Johansen, and I was named for a prisoner of war. She lived in the Tiersten Internment Colony for two years, and when they negotiated the return of the prisoners, I was given her memories and sent back in her place.

And I am a genetically engineered human bomb.

Lia Johansen was created for only one purpose: to slip onto the strategically placed New Sol Space Station and explode. But her mission goes to hell when her clock malfunctions, freezing her countdown with just two minutes to go. With no Plan B, no memories of her past, and no identity besides a name stolen from a dead POW, Lia has no idea what to do next. Her life gets even more complicated when she meets Michael Sorenson, the real Lia’s childhood best friend.

Drawn to Michael and his family against her better judgment, Lia starts learning what it means to live and love, and to be human. It is only when her countdown clock begins sporadically losing time that she realizes even duds can still blow up. If she wants any chance at a future, she must find a way to unlock the secrets of her past and stop her clock. But as Lia digs into her origins, she begins to suspect there’s far more to her mission and to this war, than meets the eye. With the fate of not just a space station but an entire empire hanging in the balance, Lia races to find the truth before her time—literally—runs out.

My Review

Holy shit.

Seriously. Those are the only words that I have to describe Nova right off the top of my head.

*takes a deep breath*

Okay, so it's not very often that a book surprises me, and I can be quite cocky about it. I thought I had Nova all figured out, but I really liked Fortune's writing, so I stayed with it. Lia got a little angsty sometimes, but it never annoyed me too much because spacestations. (I love books set on spacestations! *quivers*) Then, three-fourths of the way into the book, I get shoved smooth on my ass. I had to call my mom because I was so shocked. (She doesn't read sci-fi, but she did tell me to stop being so cocky. Hmph.) I suppose you want some more reviewerly things.

Audiobook Review: Huntress Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff

Title: Huntress Moon (The Huntress/FBI Thrillers #1)
Author: Alexandra Sokoloff
Narrator: R.C. Bray
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (Amazon)
Release Date: January 27, 2015
Acquired Via: Author
FBI Special Agent Matthew Roarke is closing in on a bust of a major criminal organization in San Francisco when he witnesses an undercover member of his team killed right in front of him on a busy street, an accident Roarke can’t believe is coincidental. His suspicions put him on the trail of a mysterious young woman who appears to have been present at each scene of a years-long string of “accidents” and murders, and who may well be that most rare of killers: a female serial.

Roarke’s hunt for her takes him across three states...while in a small coastal town, a young father and his five-year old son, both wounded from a recent divorce, encounter a lost and compelling young woman on the beach and strike up an unlikely friendship without realizing how deadly she may be.

As Roarke uncovers the shocking truth of her background, he realizes she is on a mission of her own, and must race to capture her before more blood is shed.

My Review

Huntress Moon and Blood Moon are part of today's Kindle Daily Deal on Amazon. Today only, each is only $1.99.

I think there's a general rule regarding reading/movies/media consumption tastes and professions: lawyers and cops can't watch legal shows and doctors don't watch medical dramas. So, one of the main reasons I like urban fantasy so much is that they combine police procedurals with paranormal for a mix that is so unbelievable, it works for me. However, when Alexandra Sokoloff approached the blog about reviewing Huntress Moon, I actually jumped at the chance.

Blog Tour (Spotlight): The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley @hfvbt @AtriaBooks @LucindaRiley #Giveaway

The Seven Sisters Tour Schedule



Title: The Seven Sisters (The Seven Sisters #1)
Author: Lucinda Riley
Publisher: Atria Books (Simon & Schuster)
Release Date: May 5, 2015
The first book in a major new series from the #1 internationally bestselling author Lucinda Riley.

Maia D’Apliese and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home, “Atlantis”—a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva—having been told that their beloved father, who adopted them all as babies, has died. Each of them is handed a tantalizing clue to her true heritage—a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Once there, she begins to put together the pieces of her story and its beginnings.

Eighty years earlier in Rio’s Belle Epoque of the 1920s, Izabela Bonifacio’s father has aspirations for his daughter to marry into the aristocracy. Meanwhile, architect Heitor da Silva Costa is devising plans for an enormous statue, to be called Christ the Redeemer, and will soon travel to Paris to find the right sculptor to complete his vision. Izabela—passionate and longing to see the world—convinces her father to allow her to accompany him and his family to Europe before she is married. There, at Paul Landowski’s studio and in the heady, vibrant cafes of Montparnasse, she meets ambitious young sculptor Laurent Brouilly, and knows at once that her life will never be the same again.

In this sweeping, epic tale of love and loss—the first in a unique, spellbinding series of seven novels—Lucinda Riley showcases her storytelling talent like never before.

Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound


About the Author