Big posts are coming

Hey guys, this has been a super busy week for me. I started a new job, went to the Chloe Neill signing last night, and I'm volunteering at Chicago Comic Con today and tomorrow. I'll update soon regarding the signing and Comic Con. Also, I hope to get back into the meme posts by next week. I'm still adjusting to my new schedule, so things are a bit crazy right now. As always, thanks for sticking with me through the weirdness. Have a great weekend!

Amber

Spotlight: DRAGONWITCH by Anne Elisabeth Stenge + Giveaway + Guest Post!

Dragonwitch A New Tale Is Added to this Christy Award-Winning Fantasy Saga! Submissive to her father's will, Lady Leta of Aiven travels far to meet a prospective husband she neither knows nor loves--Lord Alistair, future king of the North Country. But within the walls of Gaheris Castle, all is not right. Vicious night terrors plague Lord Alistair to the brink of insanity. Whispers rise from the family crypt. The reclusive castle Chronicler, Leta's tutor and friend, possesses a secret so dangerous it could cost his life and topple the North Country into civil war. And far away in a hidden kingdom, a fire burns atop the Temple of the Sacred Flame. Acolytes and priestesses serve their goddess to the limits of their lives and deaths. No one is safe while the Dragonwitch searches for the sword that slew her twice...and for the one person who can wield it.  

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Sneak Peek from

Dragonwitch

By: Anne Elisabeth Stengl

The cat padded confidently, tail high and ears perked, down a certain path in the Wood Between, which grew in the strange, predominantly timeless stretch of existence separating the Far World from the Near. It wasn't really a Wood, or not entirely a Wood. Indeed, the more the cat trod the various highways and byways beneath the trees' long shadows, the more he suspected the Wood was itself a living consciousness, possibly many living consciousnesses all bundled into one. Some of those consciousnesses were pleasant enough sorts. More were cheeky devils, and the rest downright wicked.

The Wood would twist a person up and turn him round and flip him inside out if given half a chance. This the cat knew for certain.

But as long as one walked a path—a known, safe path belonging to a known, safe master—there was little the Wood could do to interfere.

So the cat remained firmly upon his particular path, scarcely looking to the right or the left. The Wood was always shifting around him in any case, and he did not expect to see familiar landmarks, or at least not in familiar places. That boulder shaped like a rabbit's head, for instance, had been a good mile or two back up the way when he'd been here last. And that tree which last time had been split right down the middle as though by a bolt of lightning was mostly mended now, the trunk knitting itself back together with threads of green ivy and pins of stout branches.

No, landmarks were of little use to the cat. He was interested only in the gates.

He approached one of these now. To any mortal eye, it would look like nothing more than a thick cluster of bamboo standing incongruously in the middle of a fir grove. The firs were newcomers; the bamboo, however, remained ever in place.

The cat sniffed at it, his pink nose twitching delicately. Then he put out a paw and touched one of the slender green stalks. It swayed under that slight pressure but sprang firmly back into place when the cat removed his paw.

"Good," said the cat. "Still locked."

Just as he'd expected it to be.

He continued on his way.

There were several hundred such gates to be checked on this patrol through the Wood Between; soft places, so to speak, in the fabric of reality. Places where those of the Far World could all too easily slip into the Near, wreaking havoc on delightful mortal disbelief in Faerie tales and magic. Thus they must be locked. And those locks must be carefully guarded. So the cat patrolled this stretch of the Wood, following the path of his liege lord and checking all the gates.

Sometimes it still surprised him.

For one thing, he'd never much cared for mortals and their problems. Immortal himself, he had spent countless ages of cheerful existence never once considering those who lived beyond the Between in the time-bound realm.

And yet here he was. A knight. A defender of the weak, as it were. A minister of truth, advocate of justice, and who knew what other nonsense no self-respecting cat ever wanted to be!

The cat shook his whiskers as he continued his trek. The path opened up before him with each step, and the trees and ferns and underbrush drew back to make way. He tested another gate and another after that. All locked. All safe.

The fact was, he admitted to himself, he could no longer claim to be entirely indifferent to mortals.

"Dragons blast it," he muttered. "I warned you, didn't I, Eanrin? Get involved, and you'll find yourself caring. Then there's no end to the mischief!" He flattened his ears at this thought. He could blame no one but himself for his present circumstances, however. He had chosen this lot. Or he thought he had. Often he felt a little unclear on that score.

Often he felt that knighthood had been chosen for him against all his best efforts.

A certain smell tugged at the cat's nose. Or rather, not a smell, but an unknown sensation whispering to an unknown sense, earnest and quiet and dangerous.

At first the cat ignored it. But within a few more paces, it had strengthened until his nose twitched and his tail flicked and his whole cattish being could no longer deny what he was sensing. He could only hope he was mistaken.

"But when has that ever happened?" he asked himself, with typical feline shortness of memory.

He turned and, stepping carefully, pursued a small path opening itself to him off his regular track. Very soon he found what he'd expected.

"Light of Lumé," he growled then sighed heavily. "Not another one."

Before him lay a circle of white stones shining out brightly against a bed of dark moss. Even a mortal might have recognized it for a Faerie Circle.

The cat recognized a new gate beginning to open.

From this position, he could not tell exactly where it opened to. It could be anywhere in the Near World. It wasn't completely formed yet, he knew that much for certain. And, if precautions were taken, it might never fully form.

One way or another, it would have to be added to his regular patrol. An unguarded gate was a dangerous gate.

"Where do you lead, I wonder?" the cat mused, sniffing each of the circling stones in turn. Then he hissed and drew back sharply, his nose filled with the aroma of caorann berries. They littered the ground around the Faerie circle, dozens of them, squashed and stamped flat among the stones so that the moss was stained with their juices. No caorann trees grew in this vicinity that the cat could recall. Which meant someone had carried the berries here purposefully.

Caorann trees were known for one specific quality: their ability to unravel enchantments.

The perfume of the berries was very light, but once it entered the nostrils, it didn't easily let go. The cat sat for a while grooming his face as though he could somehow push the smell out of his nose with one white paw. As he groomed, he thought.

Someone had been working enchantments here. Someone whose smell was now hidden by the caorann, all traces of enchantment dispersed. Everyone knew that knights of Farthestshore patrolled this particular stretch of the Wood, and someone wanted to disguise nefarious doings.

The cat finished grooming and sat quite still, his paws placed delicately before him, his plume of a tail sweeping gently back and forth and collecting squashed berry hulls. His eyes were mostly closed so that one might assume he dozed, but the thin membrane of his third eyelid remained open as he studied the setting from behind long, cattish lashes.

He came to a sudden decision and stood. Trotting back to his regular path, he hurried on to the closest gate. This appeared to mortal eyes like a pair of young trees with unusually large and twisted roots twining together in vegetable affection.

With a slight shiver of his whiskers, the cat stepped between these two trees and into another world.

  

Researching a Fantasy Novel By: Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Random. That’s the first word that comes to mind when I consider the research I’ve done for my fantasy novels. It’s all tremendously random. Because the world is my own, there’s only so much historical research I can do to help. No dates, kings, queens, or battles. But specific elements of our history can be quite helpful! Such as castles, for instance: Where were they built? For that matter, why? What were common features of European castles as opposed to Asian castles? Were there castles or castle equivalents in South America?

These are all questions I have asked while designing Gaheris House, which features prominently in my new novel, Dragonwitch. My husband and I spent a good deal of time researching castles of all sorts, then making sketches of Gaheris, plotting out its history. These details all made for a more authentic feel as I wrote about Gaheris and the folks living within its walls. I felt as though I wrote about a place I had seen for myself.

I have also spent time researching hierarchies of power in various cultures. For instance, what did the political structure of 1066 Saxon England look like as opposed to Song Dynasty China of the same time period? This sort of research is more hit-and-miss for me, though. I may or may not be able to use it. But I often find that reading books and articles on such things has inspired exciting notions as I create the political structures and hierarchies of my own world. For my current work-in-progress, I’ve found myself having to stop and research very random things along the way, including: gold-leaf poisoning, mules, falconry, gunpowder (did you know it was originally used for medicinal purposes???), ancient temples, carrier pigeons, Pekingese dogs, and more! And, of course, one of the major sources of good research for a fantasy novel is mythology and fairy tale. A writer of fairy tales like me needs to have a solid grounding in the classics. For my upcoming spring release, Shadow Hand, I spent several weeks poring over Frazer's Golden Bough, studying the mythological beliefs and practices of various cultures around the world. I also kept on hand copies of fantastical poems by Percy Shelley, Robert Browning, and others of the romantic era. I nearly memorized Tam Lin, so often did I reference it as I wrote.

But again, all of this is very random. If I could see some solid rhyme or reason to it, I might be able to map out a clear philosophy of fantasy research. But each book is a different monster to fight, and the weapons with which you fight a dragon are not the same as those with which you fight Medusa. I will say that my favorite research was for my debut novel, Heartless. That novel includes several fencing scenes, and I decided to take fencing lessons to make certain I had at least a clue what I was writing about.

And at the fencing club, I happened to meet this ever-so-handsome man, a talented fencer with a warm, bright smile. We fought each other in a tournament, fell in love, and were married within seven months!

So yes, research. It’s a good thing . . . .

Author Anne Elisabeth Stengl Anne Elisabeth Stengl makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a passel of cats, and one long-suffering dog. When she's not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and tea, and studies piano, painting, and pastry baking. She studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at Campbell University. She is the author of HEARTLESS, VEILED ROSE, MOONBLOOD, STARFLOWER and DRAGONWITCH. HEARTLESS and VEILED ROSE have each been honored with a Christy Award.

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CROWN OF MIDNIGHT Exclusive Scene: The Assassin and the Princess - Part 12 By Sarah J. Maas

Read previous parts of this scene here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11

Nehemia was quiet for a long moment, her eyes distant, as if she beheld some far-off land, warm and vibrant, its grasslands undulating under a hot summer sun. “It is my most selfish wish and daydream—to be normal, to be ordinary, to be free of my burdens.”

She hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath, hadn’t realized just how important Nehemia’s answer was to her until she’d heard it. Celaena sighed. “And yet you and I couldn’t even pretend for a single day to be free of those burdens.”

“I’m sorry,” Nehemia said quietly.

“What have you to be sorry for? It was a foolish demand to make of you, anyway.”

“I wish you could have a normal friend—not a princess or a captain or the son of the king. But just a normal friend, living a good, calm life.”

“I don’t have an interest in normal friends. Even if I were just an ordinary girl, I wouldn’t want to be surrounded by ordinary folk. No, I’ll take the rebel princesses and the sons of kings and the grumpy captains and the whores and the thieves any day. And I’d take you over a thousand ordinary girls.”

Nehemia’s smile trembled—just enough that Celaena had to turn to the window before she felt the sting in her own eyes.

The carriage turned down an avenue, and the glass castle arose before them, greenish and glimmering in the night sky.

“I am glad we’re not ordinary, Elentiya.” Nehemia was smiling into the darkness of the carriage. “It’d be so boring if we were.”

Celaena grinned. “Incredibly boring.”

“And, for what it’s worth, I’d pick you over a thousand ordinary and extraordinary friends. I think even if we just met on the street, even if I just saw you in passing, I’d know what you are.”

Celaena cocked her head to the side. “An assassin?”

Nehemia’s dark eyes were bright as she shook her head. “The sister of my heart.”

Celaena had to turn away. When she at last looked back, she didn’t know who reached for who, but a moment later, her hand was grasped tightly in Nehemia’s.

“I think I’d know, too,” Celaena said quietly, and leaned against her friend’s shoulder. Both smiling faintly, the assassin and the princess rode through the quieting city and into the glass castle beyond.

Begin reading another brand new scene from Sarah J. Mass tomorrow at 12:00pm at Fantasy Book Addict!

IGNITE ME by Tahereh Mafi Cover Reveal!!!

I am so excited to show you guys this cover that I'm not even waiting until I get home from work to share. I LOVE this series, and this final cover is TO. DIE. FOR. Enjoy!

 

Release Date: February 2014

Synopsis:

Juliette now knows she may be the only one who can stop the Reestablishment. But to take them down, she’ll need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew—about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam—was wrong.

In Shatter Me, Tahereh Mafi created a captivating and original story that combined the best of dystopian and paranormal and was praised by Publishers Weekly as “a gripping read from an author who’s not afraid to take risks." The sequel, Unravel Me, blew readers away with heart-racing twists and turns, and New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia said it was “dangerous, sexy, romantic, and intense.” Now this final book brings the series to a shocking and climactic end.

BLOOD VINE by Amber Belldene

Blood Vine

Amber Belldene

Rating: B+

Synopsis:

In Blood Vine, bites are an inconvenient bliss, exiled vampires are wasting away, and the fate of their kind depends on the perfect PR campaign. 

When public relations pro Zoey Porter arrives at an enchanting California winery, she discovers her sexy new client is the almost one-night stand she can’t forget. After her husband’s suicide, Zoey has vowed never to risk her heart again. But can she walk away from the intriguing winemaker a second time?

Driven from Croatia by his ancient foes, vampire Andre Maras has finally made a blood-like wine to cure his fellow refugees. Now he needs Zoey’s PR expertise to reach them. After his wife’s death, Andre has a vow of his own—never to risk another painful blood bond. And one taste of the tempting Zoey would bind him to her eternally. 

His secrets stall her PR plans. Her jealousy is stoked by the blissed-out beauties leaving his bedroom. At every turn, he utterly fails to resist her. When she discovers he is a vampire, will she be lost to the golden-eyed Hunters, or lose herself to the emptiness in her heart, before she can help him save his kind?

My thoughts on the book:

Blood Vine was a pleasant surprise for me. I generally don't read books that are released by small publishers or indie authors because there are normally tons of copy editing, grammatical, and spelling mistakes. Also, the writing is usually subpar. However, I'm doing a blog tour for the second installment of this series, and after reading the excerpts and getting a taste of Belldene's writing, I decided to give Blood Vine a try. I'm glad I did because Belldene is an extremely talented author who clearly has a deep understanding of human hopes and fears. I can't wait to read the second book in the series. 

The characterization in this novel is astounding. Both primary and secondary characters are fully-developed and unique. I was able to sympathize with Zoey and Andre, of course, but I also connected to Bel, Kas, and Lena. Ethan is a truly horrifying bad guy, and while I disagreed with a lot of what Lucas' actions, I still felt badly for him. Pedro is another favorite, and I can't wait to see what happens to him next. Sometimes Zoey got on my nerves because her stubbornness and obsession with keeping others at a distance made her do some really stupid things. However, I understood her reasoning and could still root for her, even while I wanted to smack her. 

The pacing is spot on, and I didn't get bored once. Belldene switches between points of view flawlessly (the POV is third person limited, alternating between the majority of the characters), and each character has his or her own voice. The plot is intriguing, and while it's clear from the start who the bad guys are, there is still enough suspense and romantic tension to keep the reader enthralled. There are maybe two typos, which is about the same number that is in most major publications (no editor is perfect. after all). The romance is super steamy, and a little bit sweet. There are quite a few sex scenes, so my younger readers may want to avoid this one. The ending ties up Zoey and Andre's story, but leaves room for a sequel due to the fact that we got to know so many characters in this first novel. 

Overall, I'd recommend Blood Vine to anyone who is looking for a good, touching, and steamy paranormal romance. Belldene is one of the best writers in the genre, and I am so glad that I gave her book a chance. 

Order Blood Vine (the e-book is only $0.99!)

Spotlight: PLAY ME by Diane Alberts + Giveaway!

Play Me

Take a Chance Book 3
Diane Alberts

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC

Date of Publication: July 29, 2013

ISBN: 9781622661923

ASIN: B00DTDH8X2

Number of pages: 120

Cover design by L.J.Anderson

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Book Description:

Even the best-laid plans can go awry.

Single-mom Kiersten Worth knows a bottle of champagne and night of hot, no-strings-attached sex is the perfect solution to her jilted bride blues…and Garrett Kelly, long-time friend and her teenaged son’s sexy basketball coach, is just the stud for the job.

Garrett wants more from the elusive temptress than a casual affair, but he never expects it to come in the form of an unexpected pregnancy. When he proposes an unorthodox solution—move in and raise their baby together—Kiersten has to decide whether to let down her guard and open her heart to the man who secretly loved her for years, or risk losing his tender embrace for good.

Books in the Take a Chance Series:

Try Me: Take a Chance Book 1

Love Me: Take a Chance Book 2

Play Me: Take a Chance Book 3

About the Author:

Diane Alberts has always been a dreamer with a vivid imagination, but it wasn’t until 2011 that she put her pen where her brain was, and became a published author.  Since receiving her first contract offer, she has yet to stop writing. Though she lives in the mountains, she really wishes she was surrounded by a hot, sunny beach with crystal clear water. She lives in Northeast Pennsylvania with her four kids, a husband, a schnauzer mutt, a cat, and a Senegal parrot. In the rare moments when she’s not writing, she can usually be found hunched over one knitting project or another.

She is a multi-published, bestselling author with Entangled Publishing, Swoon Romance, and Decadent Publishing. She has, as of this date, four books with Entangled Publishing, one book with Swoon Romance, and five older books with Decadent Publishing. Her February release with Entangled Publishing, ON ONE CONDITION, hit #18 on the Barnes and Noble Bestseller List, and TRY ME hit #76 on Amazon. Her Swoon Romance novella, CAPTIVATED BY YOU, hit #31 on the Barnes and Noble bestseller list.  Her goal is to write so many fantastic books that even a non-romance book fan will know her name.

She also writes New Adult books under the name Jen McLaughlin. Diane is represented by Louise Fury from the L. Perkins Agency.

Website: www.dianealberts.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianeAlberts

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DianeAlberts6

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5081315.Diane_Alberts 

Enter for a chance to win one e-copy of Try Me (Take a Chance #1) or Love Me (Take a Chance #2)!


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Spotlight: STORM WARRIOR by Dani Harper + Giveaway!

Storm Warrior
By: Dani Harper
Release Date: August 6 (today!)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Synopsis:

Two thousand years ago, Rhys was the fierce Celtic warrior branded by the Romans as “the Bringer of Death.” Mortally wounded in battle, he was captured by the Fair Ones, cunning and powerful masters of the Welsh faery realm. They spared his life…but for a price. As a grim, he has roamed the earth as a messenger of death—until a single act of kindness breaks the ancient enchantment and delivers him into a strange new world…

As a child, Morgan Edwards marveled at the faery tales spun by her beloved grandmother, stories of the magical beings hidden in the heart of ancient Wales. But now Morgan is all grown up, a veterinarian who believes only in what science can prove—until the night a massive black dog saves her from a vicious attack, and life as she knows it changes forever. Suddenly a stranger stands before her, the man of her dreams made flesh and blood not by science, but by a magic that could bring them their hearts’ desires...or cost them everything they have.

Buy Links:

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Excerpt:

The dream began with a scent. The smell of cool damp earth and rain filled her senses, a faint whiff of horses followed by the warm tang of masculine human skin. She was naked, lying on furs and facing the open door of a skin tent. The breeze was slight but enough to make her shiver, and her nipples had hardened. Her ass was warm, however. In fact her entire backside was heated, pressed tightly against a very large, very male body. Not a stranger, although in the whimsical reality of dreams, she didn’t know who he was. She wasn’t afraid, although she could feel the rock‐hard muscles of his arms, his chest. A powerful man, yet every instinct told her that she knew him as well as she knew herself, and she could feel the bond between them more powerfully than even his touch. As if on cue, his large hand, calloused and work‐hardened, slid over her hip and traveled gently upwards. Her skin tingled deliciously beneath the rough palm, and she shivered again, not from cold but from pleasure as his hand rubbed over her breasts, fondling and squeezing.

His hot breath tickled the back of her neck as he applied soft open‐mouthed kisses and measured bites. His broad fingers tugged softly at her nipples until she felt an answering tug deep in her core. He changed tactics then, making lazy circles and patterns on her belly. She writhed, impatient for more. Suddenly his hand slid between her legs, where she was already slick. He teased at her clit then stroked her deeply until she gasped. Now, now, now… She ground her ass into his groin, feeling his erection thick and hot, wanting it inside her, filling her, claiming her….

Suddenly a deafening crash overwhelmed all her senses. It filled the entire world, echoed and re‐echoed, and Morgan sat bolt upright, clutching her ears. Where the hell was she?

About the author:

Dani Harper is a former newspaper editor whose passion for all things supernatural led her to a second career writing paranormal fiction. A longtime resident of the Canadian north and southeastern Alaska, she recently ventured south with her husband, Ron, to rural Washington to be closer to their grown children and to live the country life (Goats and chickens and pugs, oh my!).

Dani is the author of the shapeshifter series Changeling Moon, Changeling Dream, and Changeling Dawn. She’s currently signed with Montlake Romance for two brand new series – STORM WARRIOR kicks off the Grim Series this August and FIRST BITE launches the Dark Wolf series in October of this year.

Links:

Website

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Giveaway:

Enter to win a signed copy of Storm Warrior plus an awesome tote!

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