Friday Flourish: Another Sneak Peek!

Happy Friday Everyone!

A few months back I featured a fun little teaser with small snippets of recent designs, and since it seemed to go over well I thought I'd go ahead and share another one!

As you guys have noticed by now, I've had to scale back a bit with the blog, taking Monday's off and calling in reinforcements in the form of my family to help me keep up with reviews. *sigh* Work has really taken off since January of this year which is hugely exciting, but it has definitely limited my reading time. I've also found that even when I do have time to read, I'm just not as motivated as I once was. Part of it is the fact that my work and this blog are now linked in that they're both book-related, so even though I absolutely LOVE my job and this blog, when I get time off, I want that time completely off from anything involving books. Also, Netflix has clutched me to its evil bosom and will not let me go until I've watched ALL THE THINGS. *wanders off to binge watch season 7 of The X Files*

I do love bringing my work life and blogging life together and sharing my covers on Fridays though, so I hope you guys won't mind me indulging in my shameless self-promotion once again:)

Artwork is hugely subjective, and it's always so interesting to me to see what kind of imagery or typography really jumps out at people, so please let me know in the comments which box most catches your eye. I hope to share all 6 of these in their entirety soon!

You can check out more of my cover design work at Seedlings Design Studio!  

Talon Blog Tour: Teaser + Giveaway!

I'm absurdly giddy today to be a part of the promotional tour for Talon, the newest paranormal young adult release from Julie Kagawa. I always want to read anything and everything Julie writes, but my excitement for this book is on a whole new level....because dragons. DRAGONS! Yes and please. If the rest of you aren't as excited as I am yet, I hope you will be after you read the teaser below! Be sure and check out the bottom of the post as well for all the details on a Catch the Dragon scavenger hunt in which 5 lucky winners will each receive one of Julie's fantastic dragon figurines, so you don't want to miss out.

But first, time to be teased:

• • • • • • • • • • •

TALON

Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser.
 

Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.
 

Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.

Goodreads • Amazon • Barnes & Noble • IndieBound • BookDepository

• • • • • • • • • • •

JULIE KAGAWA 

Julie Kagawa was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn’t getting chased out of it  by reef sharks, jellyfish and the odd eel.

To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dog trainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full-time.

Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks are at an all-time low. She lives with her husband, two obnoxious cats, one Australian shepherd who is too smart for his own good and the latest addition, a hyperactive Papillon puppy.

Website • Blog • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads

• • • • • • • • • • •

CATCH THE DRAGON CONTEST

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, a dragon will appear on a different blog and stay there for 48hrs. Once you have found the dragon, click on it and you will be directed to a Rafflecopter entry form for the Grand Prize Giveaway. To enter, you must answer the daily question found at the tour stop!!!

Where could the dragon appear? On all Book Blogger Tour Hosts and The Harlequin Blog, so go now and catch yourself a dragon! Will you find it? And will you be able to keep it?

What do you win if you track this bad boy down you ask? A prize package of AWESOME:

Five lucky grand prize winners will receive one of Julie’s amazing dragon figurines as well as some fun signed swag. To enter for the grand prize, you MUST follow the tour each day, find and catch the dragon, and answer the daily question. Giveaway is open to US/Canada.

Want to win? Then catch that dragon!

TODAY'S QUESTION: Now that you've gotten to know the characters and read a few teasers, on a scale of 1 to 10, how excited for Talon are you?

• • • • • • • • • • •

DAILY GIVEAWAY

In addition to the fabulous grand prize giveaway featured above for the Catch the Dragon contest, I also have a finished copy of Talon to give away on the blog today! To enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter form, and don't forget to check out all the participating blogs below for character profiles, interviews and chances to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, October 2nd – Harlequin Blog 

Monday, October 6th – Jessica at Step into Fiction
Wednesday, October 8th – Katie’s Book Blog
Friday, October 10th – Page Turners

Monday, October 13th – Bewitched Bookworms
Wednesday, October 15th – Mundie Moms
Friday, October 17th – Fiktshun

Monday, October 20th – Two Chicks on Books
Wednesday, October 22nd – YA Interrobang
Friday, October 24th – Supernatural Snark

Shadows in the Silence: Teaser + Giveaway

Today I'm thrilled to be a part of the promotional tour for the final book in Courtney Allison Moulton's paranormal young adult trilogy, Shadows in the Silence. As a special treat, I have a short and super sexy teaser to share with you all, and I'd just like to thank Courtney for writing a character as delicious as Will. When you're done drooling (it's possible I've read this teaser an embarrassing number of times), be sure and check out the bottom of the post for all the tour and giveaway details!

He was so close now that I could taste his breath and when he kissed me, it sent a rush of electricity to my toes. It only took seconds for the heat between us to set ablaze, his body scorching against mine, pushing me into the bed. I wiggled toward the pillows and away from the edge of the mattress, and he followed me, molding his body to my shape. Kissing him now, feeling his lips against mine and his tongue against mine, reminded me of how long it had been since we were alone together and truly happy. The kisses we’d shared in his dreams felt tangible at the time, but now I knew that nothing could substitute the feel of Will’s body in the real world. I’d missed him so much, missed the smell of his skin and the warmth and roughness of it brushing my own. I wondered what he felt when he kissed me back, if there was anything better than this to him.

Um. Who else is running to the bookstore immediately to buy this? *raises hand* More information on Courtney and the Angelfire trilogy can be found here:

Website
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
Amazon Buy Link
Barnes and Noble Buy Link
IndieBound Buy Link

SHADOWS IN THE SILENCE

Your strength in heart and hand will fall. . . .
 
Ellie knows that the darkest moments are still to come, and she has everything to fight for:

She must fight for Will.
 
The demonic have resorted to their cruelest weapons to put Will in mortal danger, and Ellie makes an unlikely alliance to save him and to stop Lilith and Sammael, who seek to drown the world in blood and tear a hole into Heaven.

She must fight for humanity.
 
As the armies of Hell rise and gather for the looming End of Days, Ellie and her band of allies travel to the world’s darkest and most ancient regions in her quest to come into her full glory as the archangel Gabriel.

And Ellie must save herself.
 
Her humanity withers beneath the weight of her cold archangel power, but Ellie must hold tight to who she is and who she loves as she prepares for the ultimate battle for Heaven and Earth.

In this final installment in the Angelfire trilogy, Courtney Allison Moulton brings her dark world of epic battles and blistering romance to a blazing bright conclusion.

A DANCE WITH DARKNESS (An Angelfire Novella)

There were shadows in this alley that no light touched, and where there was no light, anything could hide.

At the end of the fourteenth century, angelic reapers struggle to defend London against a legion of the demonic who have their sights set on claiming human souls and ancient relics for a dark purpose. Madeleine, a young but powerful warrior, is duty-bound to fight the demonic, and she lives for this pursuit above all else. Then, on a routine night of tracking, she is ambushed by a cadre of reapers and, though she defeats them all, she is left wounded and at the mercy of their lord, the notorious Bastian.

Madeleine is astonished when Bastian lets her live. She goes deeper into the world of the demonic and is shocked to meet him again-this powerful reaper whose touch makes her restless and gives her a thrill unlike anything else. When they fall into a dangerous clandestine affair, her head and her heart must wage their war: can their love overcome his demonic nature? Will her dance with darkness burn her or bring Bastian into the light?

With scorching romance and fantastic action, this original novella is a prequel to Courtney Allison Moulton's gripping and epic Angelfire series. 

This Angelfire novella has recently released from HarperTeen's new Impulse line, you can buy it here:

Amazon Buy Link
Barnes and Noble Buy Link

GIVEAWAY

Thanks to Courtney, there are 3 sets of the Angelfire series up for grabs as part of this tour. To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter form below and click on Terms and Conditions for all the giveaway rules. Don't forget to check out the previous and remaining stops on this tour for more teasers, behind the scenes tidbits and cover shoot pictures!

1/30 - Once Upon a Twilight
2/1 - thebookcellarx

2/4 - supernaturalsnark
2/6 - MundieMoms
2/8 - Fiktshun

2/12 - PageTurnersBlog
2/13 - Once Upon A Twilight
2/15 - thebookcellarx

2/18 - supernaturalsnark
2/20 - Fiktshun
2/22 - MundieMom

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Evolution of Mara Dyer: Madly In Love Blog Tour + Giveaway

I'm beside myself with excitement this morning as today marks the launch of the Madly in Love blog tour celebrating the release of Michelle Hodkin's astoundingly brilliant follow up to last year's The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. The Evolution of Mara Dyer releases on October 23rd (who's been looking forward to that date since they reached the last page of Unbecoming? This girl.) and to ratchet up your anticipation to an unprecedented degree, twelve blogs are going to share a variety of teasers from Evolution, all of which focus on the relationship between the oh-so delicious Noah Shaw and our troubled Mara. In addition to the teasers, each blog will feature a couple questions posed to Michelle to create an ongoing interview week to week, providing even more kindling for your anticipatory fires.

Be sure and visit each participating blog between October 15th and 30th to not only get your Mara and Noah fix, but also for your chance to win a finished copy of the book and some very cool secret swag. The full tour schedule as well as the giveaway details can be found below!

And now I give you your first taste of the Noah and Mara awesomeness that is to come on this tour:

 

(click to enlarge)

“Should I go? I asked.

His hand was still on my face, and his touch was impossibly soft. “You should.”
I wasn't about to beg. I broke away from him and reached for the door.

“But don't,” he said, right when I touched it.

INTERVIEW, PART I

In Evolution, as well as the extra scene you posted, we get to see a little of what it’s like inside Noah’s head. What’s your favorite part of writing from his point of view?

His voice is so different from hers; it's more poetic, I think, and more dramatic, too. I like that what he thinks so rarely aligns with what observers (including Mara) think he's thinking. He's surprising. Tricky. That's my favorite thing about him.

If Noah could describe his relationship with Mara using only the title of a piece of fiction, what would that title be?

Noah's answer: Sexing the Cherry - Jeanette Winterson (can't help it.)

Mara's answer: Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov

My answer: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie

THE EVOLUTION OF MARA DYER

Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.
 

She can’t.
 

She used to think her problems were all in her head.
 

They aren’t.
 

She couldn’t imagine that after everything she’s been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets.
 

She’s wrong.
 

In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next?

More information on Michelle and her books can be found here:

Website
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
Pinterest
 

SCHEDULE

Monday, October 15th - Supernatural Snark
Tuesday, October 16th - Mundie Moms
Wednesday, October 17th - The Book Swarm
Thursday, October 18th - Refracted Light Reviews
Friday, October 19th - Dazzling Reads

Monday, October 22nd - Candace's Book Blog
Tuesday, October 23rd (release day) - Bookish Type Reviews
Wednesday, October 24th - Page Turners
Thursday, October 25th - Pure Imagination
Friday, October 26th - Bewitched Bookworms

Monday, October 29th - Books and Things
Tuesday, October 30th - Alice Marvels

GIVEAWAY

I have one finished copy of The Evolution of Mara Dyer to give away as part of this tour as well as some undisclosed swag made of win. To enter, please just fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway