Facebook Launch Party, Excerpt 1

Currently my Facebook Launch Party for The End of Feeling is going on at . . . well, at Facebook. You can come join the party here. I'm giving away tons of prizes donated by some fantastic authors. This post is, in fact, for one of the games.

Below is an excerpt from The End of Feeling. All you have to do is read it and then answer the question asked in the post about it to be entered to win.

Charlie

“I’m home,” I call, stepping through the front door. I drop my backpack by the door, then remember my aunt’s obsession with order and pick it up again. I can hear the TV playing in the family room at the back of the house. I look around the strange entryway, allowing myself one moments longing for my grandma and her home where we lived until her death a month ago.

I walk into the family room and see my mom, sitting on the couch, watching Barney. I dig my nails into my palms. Man, I hate that stupid, annoying, dense, purple dinosaur. “Hi, Mom,” I say.

Mom jumps at the sound of my voice. She’d been too intent on Barney to hear my earlier greeting. She turns my way, a wide smile splitting her face. I smile back. Her eyes crinkle with joy as she jumps up from the couch, stray, wiry gray hairs escaping her messy ponytail. I grit my teeth at my aunt’s lack of care of her.

“Charlie!” my mom yells brightly, running to me and throwing her arms around my neck, kissing my cheek noisily. I hug her tightly, cringing at the slightly sour smell.

“Mom, did you take a bath today?”

“Mimi says I don’t have to bath today.”

“Mom, we talked about this, remember? You need to bathe every day.”

She shakes her head, mouth drooping. She refuses to shower, has ever since the incident. So we compromise with a bath, followed by a lotion rubdown. If she could manage to go a night without wetting her adult diapers, she could skip a bath. In all the time I can remember, she’s been able to skip only a handful.

“Should we go take a bath now?” I ask.

“Barney’s on,” she whines.

“Yes, and if you take a bath, you can play with your Barney toy. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

As fast as her mouth drooped, it now is replaced by a big smile. She claps happily and skips to the bathroom. I follow and run the water while she undresses, singing the annoying theme from the TV show. I pull the rubber band from her hair and dump water over her head. She blows bubbles as I do so. I get her washed as she happily plays with the big purple dinosaur and I then have to convince her to get out of the tub. Convincing her to get out is as difficult as getting her in.

Once she’s dried and dressed, she sits back in front of the TV to watch cartoons, Barney long since forgotten, while I start dinner. I’m angry that my aunt is still not home. I wonder how long my mom sat here alone, unsupervised, until I arrived.

She comes in when I’m just about done with the spaghetti, acting like nothing is wrong.

“Hi, Charlotte,” Naomi says. I bristle at the name. It’s not that I dislike the name; my grandma chose it for me because it was her own mother’s name. It’s because my aunt refuses to call me Charlie like everyone else does simply because it’s the nickname my mom gave me.

“Where were you?” I ask.

She stops in the act of setting her purse down to stare at me. “That’s none of your business.”

“It is when you leave my mom home alone,” I retort. “She can’t be left on her own.”

“I was gone maybe ten minutes before you got home from school. What can happen in ten minutes?”

A lot, I think. I refrain from telling her though, knowing our living here is precarious and based on staying in her good graces.

“I have a life, Charlotte. Allowing you two to move in didn’t include the requirement that I give up all my freedom.”

“I understand that,” I say, biting my tongue from telling her how selfish she is. “I’m coming home directly after school. I haven’t signed up for any extracurricular activities or anything. I’ll even get up early to bathe her if that’s too much to ask of you. All I do ask is that you watch her while I’m gone.”

Naomi sighs. “We need to talk.”

“It’s time to eat,” I say. I have a feeling I know what she’s going to say. I move past her to call my mom when she places a hand on my arm.

“Not all homes are bad places,” she begins, and fury consumes me.

“I will not place my mother in a home,” I spit.

“You shouldn’t have to give up normal teen things to take ca—”

“I don’t care!” I’m shaking with anger. “I don’t care about any of that. I’ll drop out of school if I have to. I’m not putting her in a home!”

Naomi sighs again and I’m tempted to punch her. What does she know of taking care of my mom? She abandoned ship as soon as she graduated high school to get away from the embarrassment of having my mom for a sister. Plus, she knows what happened when my grandma did buckle under pressure—from Naomi, no less—and put her in a home. How could she possibly subject her to that again?

“I know it’s not ideal—”

I spin away from her, refusing to listen to another word. I walk into the living room where my mom sits, curled up on the couch, a blanket pulled up to her ear in one hand, sucking on the thumb of her other. My shoulders sink in dismay as I walk over to her. Her eyes are glued to the TV, but I know she’s not watching it.

“Mom,” I say softly, sitting down and placing a hand on her arm. Her wide, innocent eyes turn to me.

“Does Mimi hate you?” she whispers, voice trembling. Mimi is her nickname for Naomi.

“No, Mom, she doesn’t. Were we talking too loud?”

She shakes her head. “You were yelling.” Gotta love Mom’s honesty.

“I’m sorry, Mom. We were just having a disagreement. I love Mimi, and she loves me.” Blatant lie. “Everything’s fine now. I’m sorry we scared you. You want to come have some spaghetti now?”

She nods and takes my proffered hand, rising from the couch. When we enter the kitchen, Naomi is outside, pacing, smoking a cigarette. I bite the inside of my cheek. I hate that she smokes, but at least she no longer smokes in the house with my mom and me. I suppose I can give her a few points for that.

I sit my mom at the table and fix a plate for her before taking the time to check my blood sugar. I prick my finger at the counter with my back turned because it tends to freak my mom out. She thinks I’m hurting myself. A few minutes later, Naomi comes in. My mom brightens.

“Hi, Mimi,” she says happily.

“Hi, Cora.” Naomi gives her a tight smile then fixes herself a plate. “I’m going to eat in my room,” she says. At the doorway she pauses, and without looking back says, “Thanks for dinner.”

If my mom weren’t sitting here, I’d probably scream. Instead, I smile and play a word game with her while we eat.

Remodeling: Part I

When life changed last year (read: husband left and moved 300 miles away) it required me selling my dream home I was blessed enough to get to live in for 10 years and get something new. My "something new" turns out to be something that was built in 1975, so it's not really new. It needs a bunch of work, so with help from my daughters and one of my sons, I've been slowly remodeling the thing. My son thought we should film our efforts at remodeling and sell it to HGTV or DIY and call it "Remodeling by People Who Don't Know What the *bleep* They're Doing".

The first room we remodeled was my daughters bedroom. It wasn't a huge remodel, just needed some paint, wallpaper, and drapes.

Gathered supplies and picked a yellow-gold paint.

The room wasn't bad, just a little bland.

Gold on one wall and inside the closets.

Blue and gold wallpaper outside the closets.

Blue and gold wallpaper of three on the walls.

Add curtains Lexcie made with fabric we purchased in LA's fabric district and...

Voila!

Cuteness!

Book Reviewer Yellow Pages

  How great is this?

  Are you trying to promote your books? Are you a writer, publisher, or agent? Promote your book with this bestselling author's reference, the Book Reviewer Yellow Pages. Make your book promotion easier, and get the publicity you need from book reviewers. Learn how and where to submit your book for review. There are hundreds of new book reviewers listed in this book. Each listing details the individual book reviewer's:

• Contact information,
• Pet peeves,
• Preferred genres, and
• Submission guidelines

Reviewers are rated for quality and influence. This new edition includes several blog tour sites and their submission guidelines. Learn how to get the exposure that your book deserves! Authors and book reviewers can sign up for alerts at: http://www.stepbystepselfpublishing.net *Note: This book is enrolled in the Kindle MATCHBOOK program. If you purchase the paperback from Amazon, the Kindle edition is free. The paperback has a genre index, which makes searching for accepted genres easy. The Kindle version has clickable website links (which is impossible to do in a paperback), so you can click directly to the reviewer's site and contact page. The publisher of this book recommends purchasing the paperback and then downloading the Kindle edition for free using Amazon's Matchbook program, and using both versions to maximize your promotion efforts. PROMO TIP: This is a reference book with active hyperlinks in the e-book. It is easier to view and use the Kindle edition of this book on a computer using Amazon's free Kindle app. That way, you can use the full screen to check genre preferences and submit your query right from your desktop.  

Purchase

Barnes & Noble * Kobo * Amazon

Interview with Christine Pinheiro, Editor, Defiant Press The Book Reviewer Yellow Pages is a bestselling author’s promotional reference, designed specifically for authors who need book reviewers for their books.
Where did you get the idea for the Book Reviewer Yellow Pages? At first, I did it purely out of self-interest! I wrote a nonfiction book in 2007, and I had a very difficult time finding book reviewers. It seemed like an impossible task. All of the regular outlets were closed to me—where do you go when you can’t get a review in the New York Times? Where do the “little guys” go when they need to promote their books? So I started the Book Reviewer Yellow Pages out of my own frustration. At first, the Book Reviewer Yellow Pages was just a big list on a simple website. I added to the list when I had spare time. Book reviewers started seeking me out, and asking to be put on the list, and it just grew from there. In 2009, I published the first “Book Reviewer Yellow Pages,” and the rest is history. The list just grew organically. Now we have hundreds of book reviewers on our list, and thousands of authors subscribe to the newsletter.
How about the book reviewers themselves, what do they get out of it? Many book reviewers just do it for fun, and they get the benefit of free books and ARCs (advance review copies). Quite a few of them also earn money, either from sidebar advertising, blog tours, or other author’s services. There are so many self-published authors out there right now, trying to promote their books without the help of a traditional publisher, so there’s a lot of little business ventures cropping up to serve them.
Many reviewers list their “pet peeves,” is this something that the authors really want to know? Yes! It’s the most popular part of the questionnaire—all the reviewers have their own horror stories. Sadly, many authors have terrible etiquette when they request book reviews. Many don’t take the time to even spell-check their queries, or find out if the reviewer is a man or a woman, so they can address them correctly! I used to review books myself, and it’s amazing how many times I’ve gotten a review request with nothing but a link to the book. No signature, no salutation, nothing! Why would I review your book, when you aren’t even willing to take a few minutes to send me a proper review request? We also added an “author etiquette” section to the front of the book, and that seems to help a bit.
Do Book Reviews really help sales? They’ve helped my own book sales tremendously, and I know hundreds of authors who would say the same. Look, everyone knows that book promotion is boring work. Contacting dozens of book reviewers is time consuming, and you have to deal with rejection, but the payoff from a positive book review is enormous. That’s been the case in my own writing career. Reviews really help sales, and it’s nice to have a public testimonial that customers can refer to when they purchase. On the flip side, many of the reviewers accept ARCs and also work as beta-readers, so if you can get a few good reviewers to read through your manuscript before publication, they might be able to give you valuable feedback. I found a big plot hole in one of my novels that way—a reviewer found the problem, and I was able to fix it before the book went to publication.
Do reviewers ever drop off the list? Can authors get updates? Yes, on our website. Reviewers get added and removed on a regular basis—and the list goes through a complete overhaul once a year. I do a formal update every April. That’s when we put out a new edition of the book, as well as update the reviewer list on the website. The abbreviated list on the website is free, and authors and publishers can sign up for updates to the list here: http://www.stepbystepselfpublishing.net. The newsletter is also free.
Do you have any advice for authors? Be polite to book reviewers, always. Not everyone is going to like your book, that’s just the nature of game. But publishing is a business, and it pays to be professional. It’s just like any other creative business. Reviewers are our critics, and they give us valuable feedback that we need to improve. One of the best reviews I ever received on the Book Reviewer Yellow Pages was mildly negative. The writer gave me tons of feedback on how to make the book better. I followed his advice, and the book has been more profitable since. Book Reviewers really want to help authors—I’ve never met a single book reviewer that was interested in just tearing an author down. We are all in this business together!
 

For more information visit: The Book Reviewer Yellow Pages Website * Facebook

Blast Giveaway $100 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 5/31/14 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Scents and Senses

Scents and Senses: Supernatural Friends. What the fairy tales didn’t tell you Playing the role of a knight in shining armor is more complicated than it seems in the storybooks, as sixteen-year-old Joy discovers when she repeatedly comes to the rescue of a fifteen-year-old human. But when she meddles in the girl’s social life, Starra sends her packing. Starra is determined to completely dissociate herself from the subterranean creature that has manipulated her life and cast her into the limelight. However, her resolve is soon tested when she becomes involved in a critical situation where supernatural assistance can enable her to carry out a daring plot. Eventually, Starra’s involvement with her new other-wordly friends extracts a heavy price when she is beset by challenges that range from the down- to-earth struggles of a typical teenage student, to the realm of the fantastic. Nothing prepares her, however, for the ultimate challenge.  

Amazon * Smashwords

Excerpt

Joy Ever since I’ve been old enough to kick off on a condor with my own two chicken feet, I’ve been drilled to mind my own business. Mind your own business, the first of the American Ten Commandments. It’s not one I subscribe to, even though in our community, not minding my own business means more than social suicide; it’s a crime when we ascend above ground. For thousands of years we deeems have kept away from the creatures running over our heads with their five-toed feet. So if anyone in my community gets wind of the risky job I’m on these days, I’m practically a goner. But that doesn’t stop me from shadowing a certain teenage fivetoe. There’s also a totally different occupational hazard involved in this position I’ve created for myself, one I’m suffering from right now: this job occasionally makes school seem relatively stimulating. Yawn. I’ve played too many Angry Condor games to count since Starra got involved in some fantasy book a couple of hours ago and lost contact with the real world. Even if I knew how to become visible to the fivetoe eye and suddenly revealed myself, I bet she wouldn’t notice me, the cute teen perched on her windowsill. Time simply refuses to advance, and I have to resort to counting the spider eggs cocooned in their nest on a nearby tree branch. A sudden sigh interrupts my lame occupation. There’s a starry look in the big eyes, and I notice the novel is slipping out of Starra’s dreamy grip. This is my window of opportunity! I finger the starchy edge of the book jacket and coax the book forward. Thud. The book falls to the floor, and the movement seems to bring Starra back to her senses. At last she grabs a hoodie and sets out, probably for one of her night excursions on the Vista Del Mar Path. Are we running or biking tonight? Running it is. I jog behind her, finding the excursion by the shoreline an improvement to watching her read. At least we are moving. She runs for half an hour, at a speed faster than the sea turtle pace usual for fivetoes. Then she slows to a stop at a jagged rock, half-submerged in the ocean. I groan quietly and contemplate leaving. From experience, I know she’ll climb to the top of her rock and dream away. I start backing off, but when I’m some fifty feet away, I look back. Starra makes a pretty picture there, her silhouette perched high on the rock. Her long legs are tucked under her, and her head hangs back as she keeps her gaze on the stars above. If only she would let loose the heavy dark mane of hair she always twists up at the back of her neck, she would truly look like a mermaid risen from the sea. Something pulls me back to her. I can’t explain it, but I have a feeling trouble is lurking nearby, waiting to snatch her in its net. My chicken feet make an about face and follow Starra home as she takes the shorter route through town.

Tour Schedule

Author Loren Secretts Loren Secretts was raised in a book-filled home, in a sleepy east coast suburb of the US. These factors are undoubtedly responsible for her early design of a number of exciting imaginary worlds that she could escape to from time to time during her childhood. In her teen years, between schoolwork and lending an ear to her friends, Loren had less opportunity to go AWOL. Instead, her experience as a confidant to others inspired her to major in psychology in college and earn her M.A. in the field on the west coast. As an adult, Loren has found fulfillment in her work with children and families for more than a decade. Her passion for writing was revived when she discovered that she enjoyed delving into the human psyche to write psychological reports. But clients' reports are safe with Loren, who guards secrets fastidiously. Indeed, one of her aspirations is to work as a psychotherapist for the CIA, but since she now lives with her family in Canada, that dream will have to await its turn…

Website * Twitter * Facebook * Pinterest

        Blast Giveaway $50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 5/27/14 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Falling to Pieces

Suffering the bitter tongues of her alcoholic mother and cruel boyfriend, Jade struggles just to look at herself in the mirror. She hates her life, her insecurities, her ineptitudes, but most of all . . . Jade hates herself. She wants nothing more than to disappear, and everyone seems happy to let her. Until Kiernan Parks moves back into town. 

Jade’s been crushing on him ever since kindergarten, when his family moved away. But now he’s back, and looking better than ever. 
Hiding is a way of life for Jade, but Kiernan insists on uncovering the real girl he’s sees trapped inside her. On drawing her out of her shell, and showing her that she is someone worthy of love. 

Together, they fight back the darkness she’s living in. But when they finally step into the light, will the secret Kiernan’s been trying to keep buried destroy Jade, once and for all? 

For some people, happy endings are a fairytale.

My thoughts: Jamie Canosa does it again! A brilliant tale of a broken girl and the boy who helps her put the pieces together again. Heartbreaking and full of hope all at once, you won’t be able to remove Jade and Kiernan from your heart once you’ve let them in.

Jade Carlson has spent her life internalizing the ugly taunts of her alcoholic mother until it’s become the truth she believes about herself. She even has a boyfriend who confirms everything her mother has convinced her of—that she’s ugly, stupid, and worthless. Enter Kiernan Parks, who comes to the rescue of the bullied girl—whether she wants him to or not. Just about the time Kiernan begins to convince her that she’s the opposite of what she’s been raised to believe, a tragic truth comes to light that just might undo everything Kiernan has done for her.

Fantastically drawn characters and a rich storyline make this one you won’t want to miss. I seriously loved this book, and highly recommend it.

ONLY 99 CENTS for a LIMITED TIME!!!

Amazon 

Goodreads 

Author Info:

Jamie Canosa is a full time author of YA/NA literature, which she absolutely loves. When she’s not writing or spending time with her family, she can usually be found with her nose in a book. She currently resides in Upstate NY with her husband, and their three crazy kids . . . plus the cat, the bird, and the rabbit.

Author Links:

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Fairy Tale Fortnight

It's time for the Fairy Tale Fortnight Giveaway Hop hosted by:

                                                   I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

The Book Rat &

A Backwards Story

This is in conjunction with the 4th annual Fairy Tale Fortnight. Since I happen to have several fairytale retellings, I figured this was a good place for me to be.

Below you can read about my fairytale retellings, and then enter to win a copy of my Enchanted Fairytales. Beneath the Rafflecopter for that, you'll find the Linky list to hop to all the other blogs participating in this fun event, and giving away their own goodies. Good luck! And may all your happily ever afters come true - whatever they might be.

     Enchanted Fairytales is a retelling of five different fairytales from the imagination of Cindy C Bennett.

Beautiful Beast: Though she knows it's cruel, Calli agrees to accompany her friends to Monster House where it is rumored the beast howls at the moon each sunset. Alex believes Calli has bribed her way into his home in order to get a look at the beast of Monster House, and is determined to hate her. He isn't prepared as she batters down the hard walls of his soul with her kindness and humor.

Red and the Wolf: Three years ago, Rafe Wolfe left their tiny mountain burg of Piera, leaving Ruby Hood behind to mend her shattered heart. Now, Rafe has come home to compete with his brother Lowell for Ruby's heart. But Rafe and Lowell have intimate knowledge of the wolf attacks that threaten their home. Can Ruby live with the same knowledge, or will it forever destroy her?

Snow White: Left her at the mercy of her stepmother Katarina, Snow White is sent into the forest to be killed. Escaping, she stumbles upon an enchanted village created by Katarina to entrap Prince Philip after he spurned her. Philip believes Snow White is the one spoken of who can break the curse that holds Fableton. Snow's only hope of winning freedom for herself and Fableton is to defeat the evil and powerful Katarina.

The Unmasking of Cinderella: Amella Augustus has lived under her stepmother's cruel reign since her father's death. Then she meets the mysterious, enigmatic Dayla. A day later she runs into Char - literally. Just when Amella begins to believe she's found her happily ever after, Iona pounces in and takes Amella away from Char, Dayla, and dreams of happiness. Now Amella must take charge of her own destiny, and make a decision that can either give her the peace she’s longed for . . . or return her to the misery she’s lived in for so long.

The White Swan: Benno von Rothbart, a powerful sorcerer, is jealous of Odette's love for Victor. Victor and Odette are unaware of Benno's powers and manipulations to come between them and win Odette for himself. When Benno uses his powers to transform Odette into a swan, she finds herself in a fight for her freedom and for Victor in this retelling of the classic Swan Lake fairytale.

Rapunzel Untangled

A Girl Trapped in a Mansion

A Mysterious Old Woman

The Boy Who Will Change Everything

Rapunzel is not your average teenager. For one thing, she has a serious illness that keeps her inside the mysterious Gothel Mansion. And for another, her hair is 15 feet long. Not to mention that she’s also the key to ultimately saving the world from certain destruction.

But then she meets a boy named Fane, who changes all she has ever known, and she decides to risk everything familiar to find out who she really is.

Filled with romance, adventure, and mystery, Rapunzel Untangled is one story you won’t want to put down. Discover the true meaning of love and friendship in this modern twist to the classic fairytale.

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The Husband Maker

Woot! A new book from Karey White!

Coming July 15th from USA Today Bestselling author Karey White

The Husband Maker Charlotte’s a girl with nicknames. She may not love being called Charles or Chuck, but the hardest nickname to take is the one she was given in college, the one that’s followed her now for too many years. They call her “the husband maker” and sadly, it fits. Every guy she’s dated since high school has become his next girlfriend’s husband. Not hers. Not three girlfriends down the road. The next. Is she doing something wrong or is she just cursed? When Kyle Aldsworth enters the picture and sweeps her off her feet, Charlotte begins to hope that maybe she's not destined to be single forever. A senator’s son with political aspirations of his own, Kyle's wealthy, handsome, and in need of a wife. Will Charlotte be disappointed yet again, or will she finally be able to make a husband for herself?

 




Author Karey White Karey White grew up in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Missouri. She attended Ricks College and Brigham Young University. Her first novel, Gifted, was a Whitney Award Finalist. She loves to travel, read, bake treats, and spend time with family and friends. She and her husband are the parents of four great children. She teaches summer creative writing courses to young people and is currently working on her next book.  

Website * Twitter * Facebook * Goodreads

  $25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Giveaway Ends 5/15/14
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Hoppy Easter!

It's that time again - time for the Hoppy Easter Eggstavaganza Giveaway Hop, hosted by I Am a Reader and Read Now Sleep Later.

For my prize, if you live in the US I'm going to send the winner a bag of Easter goodies, and a copy of my newest release, The End of Feeling. I wish I could afford to send that to anyone who enters, but unfortunately it's too costly to ship foreign. So if you happen to live outside of the US, I'm going to send you a digital copy of The End of Feeling, and I'm going to give you $10 PayPal cash, or a $10 Amazon gift card (your choice) so you can get your own Easter goodies!

Here's some info about The End of Feeling, so you know what you can win! After you read this, enter using the Rafflecopter below, and then hop on over to some other blogs to win beneath the Rafflecopter.

Benjamin Nefer seems to have it all. He’s the most popular guy in school, the star quarterback with college scouts looking at him, his grades are near the top of his class, he can get any girl he wants . . . but he hides behind his dream life to mask the nightmare of his reality.

Charlie Austin is the new girl. Forced to move in with a bitter aunt, she only wants to protect her fragile mom from the world’s cruelty. When Benjamin sets his sights on Charlie, she’s armored against his charm—friends warned her about Benjamin’s game of pursuing and then dumping a long line of girls, not caring about the broken hearts he leaves behind. She doesn’t count on how single-minded he can be when she refuses him, or how charismatic, easing into her life through what he claims is just friendship.

Benjamin thought he could keep Charlie in the same place he keeps all girls—something to be used and then discarded. But Charlie has as many secrets as he does, secrets he’s determined to discover while keeping his own hidden. He realizes she’s the perfect girlfriend candidate . . . someone he can use to keep up the façade of a perfect life. Now he just has to keep his frozen heart from softening toward this unique girl, because if he doesn’t, his carefully constructed lies might just come thundering down around him, crushing him beneath the burden of feeling.

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SLC Comic Con

So excited for Comic Con to begin again! There's nothing cooler than being immersed in the midst of geeks and nerds. I love all of the cosplay, the geek speak, the Doctor Who conversations -- all of it. Last years SLC Comic Con was the largest debut of a Comic Con with over 80,000 peeps attending. That's a lot of peeps!

Today I go to get set up, so I'll be sending lots of pics via Twitter and Facebook. Then for the 3 days it's here (Thurs, Fri, and Sat) I'll be posting even more. If you're in the area, make sure to get your tickets now because it sold out last year, and stop by my table to see me in Artist Alley, table K-4.

I'll be there will all my books, which you can get for $10 (cheap!) and with that you get an entry to win a pair of comic book shoes, which cost $100+ to buy. Kinda cool, huh?

 

See you there!

Fractured Truth

It's finally here!

Fractured Truth, the final novel in the paranormal, YA Fractured Light trilogy, was just released! Follow the blog tour to find out more about Fractured Truth and enter below for a chance to a signed copy or a $25 Amazon gift card!

Llona is determined to end the fight with the Vykens once and for all. All she needs is to find and destroy the Shadow—the ultimate source of dark power. But when she makes a startling discovery about someone she loves, Llona has to fight the toughest battle yet in this exciting conclusion to the Fractured Light series.

My thoughts: Just when I thought I knew where Llona's story was going, Rachel McClellan throws a wrench into my theory and sets me on the edge of my seat with this fast paced, thrilling, heart stopping installment in the Fractured Light series.

For those who’ve read the first two books, you know the incredible shocker dropped at the end of book two. Don’t think from that that you have any idea of where Llona’s life is headed, because you’ll be entirely wrong. There are characters in this book that I seriously disliked, and yes, even hated, which I didn’t think possible based on how much I liked them in the other books. And there were characters I didn’t expect to come to care for as much as I did here. I can’t name them without giving away spoilers, but I think once you read it you’ll know exactly who I’m talking about.

McClellan's theme of light v. dark continues, with a lot of smudgy, gray edges where what seems like straight-up good or pure evil aren't as clear-cut as you might think. Just as in real life, McClellan’s characters have layers and are more than they appear on the surface.

Fractured Truth has a roller coasters worth of ups and downs. I was almost as raggedly tired as Llona by the end purely on her behalf. Be prepared for the ride of your life!

Buy Fractured Truth

  

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Click the pictures below to find out more about Fractured Light and Fractured Soul, book one and book two. 

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