Day: August 9, 2015

Brain to Books Blog Tour Lu J. Whitley

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Brain to Books Blog Tour

Fast Facts:

Lu J WhitleyAuthor: Lu J. Whitley
Genre:Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance​
Book: Bloodmarked from The Fraktioneers Series

Bio

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, a little girl was born who was just a little odd around the edges. One thing led to another, and now you’re reading her stories.
Lu is a full-time writer who lives a quiet life with her

​geeky, roboticist ​
husband and four-legged children.

Blurb

BloodMarkedA ‘townie’ college student, living off campus with her overprotective mother, Greta Brandt thought everything about her life was r

​un of the mill
. Everything, except for the nightmares that have been plaguing her for as long as she can remember.
When her reality is torn apart, Greta finds herself adrift in a world she thought only existed in her fevered dreams. The on

​e
 soul she can cling to, a dark stranger who seems to know her better than she knows herself.
Jaromir Ragnarsson is a shadow in a world men do not see. Charged with protecting the Brandt women from untold dangers, he had been ever vigilant in his task. Until one night, a fatal mistake threatens to take away mankind’s only chance for survival: Greta Brandt.
Now, he must find a way to protect Greta in his hidden world, where magic and myth are fact not fiction. And curses are very, very real.

Excerpt

He’d last seen the girl three years ago. Three years, four months, and eight days ago, to be precise. Had he been wearing a watch at the time, he probably could have narrowed it down further. She’d been leaving her house just as he’d arrived for a meeting with the older Ms. Brandt, on her way to a late night swimming party at the lake on the outskirts of town. He’d told himself to stay out of sight, keeping to the shadows in the corner of the living room. But as she’d flown down the stairs on her way out the door, he’d caught sight of her, wearing nothing but a black bikini and a pair of flip flops. A sweatshirt tied loosely around her waist. And he’d been floored.
He wasn’t sure how he’d missed her growing into the woman he’d seen before him. It wasn’t like him to be so oblivious. Gone was the awkward teenage gangliness. The braces. The terrible shag haircut. In their place was a full-grown fantasy. Full lips. Sooty lashes that framed her almond-shaped eyes. Her dark hair was cut pixie short, baring the long expanse of her throat. And the body. It was a map of womanly curves he wouldn’t mind taking a few days to travel down. All silky smooth skin that had glowed like a pearl in the moonlight rushing in through the open front door.
Luckily, she hadn’t seen him. And he needed to make sure she never would. He didn’t know exactly what he might do if she ever turned her brilliant violet eyes in his direction. Those eyes the undeniable reason she was under his protection in the first place. So he couldn’t be thinking about her like…like…however it was he was thinking.​”

Links

Lu has two copies of Bloodmarked to giveaway!

View her giveaways and more for the Brain to Books Blog Tour Giveaways here!

Brain to Books Blog Tour M.E. Vaughan

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Brain to Books Blog Tour

Fast Facts:

Author: M.E. Vaughan
Genre: Epic Fantasy, Celtic Mythology, Arthurian Legends
Book Title(s): The Sons of Thestian from The Harmatia Cycle

BIO

M.E. Vaughan was born in England on the 15th of September, 1992 under the fM.E. Vaughnull name ‘Madeleine Emily Vaughan’. In her life-time she has lived in an assortment of countries across Europe, the Middle & Far East, as well as a family home in Horsham, built in the middle of a dragon forest. During these travels she discovered a passion for stories which went on to encourage her to overcome problems with dyslexia and pursue her dream of writing.
In 2011 she undertook a Creative Writing degree at the University of Winchester, for which, in 2014 she received a 1:1. During this time, her short story The Seas Own was published in an anthology by Zharmae Publishing Press, who went on to pick up her trilogy The Harmatia Cycle. The first book The Sons of Thestian was written when Madeleine was 17, and was published in 2015.
Accomplishments: When Madeleine isn’t writing, she enjoys composing, drawing, reading and practising Washinkai Karate, for which she is a 1st Dan. She leads the local Folk & World Music Choir, runs Creative Writing workshops for Children, and is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Winchester.

Book blurb:

The Sons of Thestian, Front CoverThe Prince Jionathan is plagued by visions of death. With the King on his death-bed, and the tyrannical Queen in power, the Kingdom of Harmatia lies in peril. Fleeing the city in fear of his life, Jionathan is shadowed by Rufus Merle, a young, secretive magi tasked with bringing him home. Now, with the help of a fearsome sidhe warrior named Fae, they must traverse a dangerous faerie-wood together. Against bandits, faeries and cursed priestesses, these unlikely friends travel a path fraught with danger, not least from the blood-thirsty Night Patrol and the dark conspiracy that shrouds them.

Book review:

In the same way that a musician absorbs and reconfigures the influences of other players and bands, The Sons of Thestian synthesizes a wide array of influences from Medieval Arthurian legend and Celtic folklore to more recent classics of the fantasy genre such as The Lord of the Rings and the Game of Thrones and Harry Potter series. As the first novel in Vaughan’s Harmatia Cycle, this novel begins a saga that has the same degree of scope and resonance as so many that have come before it, but Vaughan’s own alchemy integrates her influences into a result that feels completely fresh and also serves as a reminder of why a fantasy epic can inspire such devotion in readers. The most enduring examples of the genre create a world so rich with imagery that you don’t want to leave, a cast of characters so textured and engaging that they begin to feel like old friends. In building the world of Mag Mell and by giving us such layered characters as Prince Jionathan (pronounced Yo-nat-han), Rufus the Magi, Fae the Sidhe, and a host of others, Vaughan has created an epic that is endlessly absorbing, even addictive.
The plot unfolds with a dying king, a plotting queen, dangerous wizards, and a prince on the run—either away from his destiny or toward it. As King Thestian lies on his death bed, the young Prince Jionathan flees the city and kingdom of Harmatia, fearful of the king’s first wife Queen Reine and the machinations of a group of rogue shape-shifting Magi known as the Night Patrol, who justify murder under the guise of keeping the city streets safe. The prince also carries with him the heavy burden of the assassination of his older brother, Sverrin (pronounced Suh-ver-in), the former heir to the throne. The king and queen, along with Jionathan’s mother Eliane, send Rufus, a young Magi with heavy burdens of his own, to find the prince and bring him home. Rufus easily catches up with Jionathan in the forest beyond the city, and he and the prince forge a close but uneasy bond as the pair tumble from one dire circumstance to the next.
While on the surface, the novel appears to be a classic hero’s quest, but the series of double-crosses, triple-crosses, and twists make it difficult to pin down exactly who the heroes and who the villains truly are, breathing new life into the standard quest narrative. Even with the vast scope, and high page count, the book is tightly written—chock full of gripping battles and action sequences, quiet romantic moments, and dangerous confrontations with fearsome creatures. The pacing of the action is quick and no detail is insignificant, building to a conclusion that will leave the reader breathless and wanting more.

Links:

Purchase

View the Brain to Books Blog Tour Giveaways here!

Brain to Books Blog Tour Julie Mulhern

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Brain to Books Blog Tour

Fast Facts:

Julie Mulhern-page-001Author: Julie Mulhern
Genre: Historical Romance with a dash of paranormal and a hint of mystery
Book: A Haunting Desire from The Haunting Series

Bio

Julie Mulhern always wanted to be a writer. She spent her childhood creating pen names and dreaming of exotic, mysterious, romantic places. To that end, she went to Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia (because, when you’re from the Midwest, the South is both exotic and romantic). There she earned degrees in politics and French. She even spent a year living in Paris. But the Midwest beckoned and she returned home. Now she lives with her husband, two daughters and a dastardly dog. It might not be exotic or mysterious but it is romantic.

Accomplishments

Julie is a 2014 Golden Heart Finalist

Blurb

The denizens of 1902 New Orleans’ red light district aren’t strangers to sinful, violent acts–but, the freshly eviscerated men found in the gutters send a collective shudder through the crescent city.
 Trula Boudreaux, madam of Storyville’s most exclusive brothel, is more afraid of her growing attraction to the Yankee sent to investigate the murders than the murderer. Trula is prepared to risk her life to protect her business and keep her girls safe from the killer prowling the steamy streets. But is she willing to risk her heart?
Loner Zeke Barnes is torn between duty and a new-found passion for a mysterious temptress. His was a seemingly straightforward task – catch a vicious killer and escape the city’s sultry heat. When partnership with local police proves to be of no value, he is forced to rely heavily on the city’s most alluring lady of the night.
 Together Trula and Zeke investigate the city’s dark, ghostly underside. But can they learn to trust the spirits and overome their haunting pasts?

Excerpt

Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1
New Orleans, Louisiana
Monday, October 6, 1902
Go to Marie Leveau’s tomb. Find the woman who can tell you about voodoo. She has what you need.
It didn’t matter if Zeke Barnes had better things to do than melt in the heat of a New Orleans’ afternoon. The instructions were clear. So he waited.
The tombs crowded near, some as bleached and crumbling as old bones, others spruced up with a fresh coat of paint in honor of the newly dead. Winged angels, fat-cheeked cherubs, praying children, a woman bearing a striking resemblance to a Roman goddess, and a group of shepherds watched him from the roofs with unseeing eyes. Zeke ignored them and searched for bits of shade. It was October; morning frosts should powder pumpkins, ruby or gold maple leaves should dance in an afternoon wind so brisk it brought color to his cheeks. He should need a heavier coat and the possibility of an early snow should be the topic on everyone’s lips. Instead humidity puddled in his lungs. He was drowning in a sea of hot, wet air.
A trickle of sweat meandered down his temple. He scowled at the ghost of a pretty young woman. Her cloudy eyes rounded and she scurried away like a frightened rabbit, whispering to the other phantoms, “He sees me.”
Hers was the only voice in the deserted cemetery. A wisp of a wraith didn’t have the answers he needed. William had promised a woman, one who’d help him find the murderer stalking the district. One who’d meet him next to Marie Leveau’s solitary tomb.
He was here. Sweating. Thirsty. With the grit of a near sleepless night scratching his eyes.
The woman was nowhere in sight.
With a silent apology to those who rested within, Zeke leaned his shoulder against the whitewashed side of an oven vault. He needed answers. Soon. Someone with political power had pulled enough strings to bring him to New Orleans to track a vicious killer. Until he caught the murderer, he couldn’t leave, couldn’t escape this ghost-infested, mosquito-ridden swamp masquerading as a city.
The late afternoon light faded to lavender, the very air tinted with dusk. Zeke exhaled. He’d give this fool’s errand one more minute and then he’d leave. He had better things to do than watch ghosts promenade.
Where the hell was she?

 Links

Brain to Books Blog Tour M.E. Vaughan

Sumo Sized Ginger Support Indie Authors ,

Brain to Books Blog Tour M.E. Vaughan

Fast Facts:

  • Author: M.E. Vaughan
  • Genre: Epic Fantasy, Celtic Mythology, Arthurian Legends
  • Book Title(s): The Sons of Thestian
  • Series: The Harmatia Cycle
  • Accomplishments: When Madeleine isn’t writing, she enjoys composing, drawing, reading and practising Washinkai Karate, for which she is a 1st Dan. She leads the local Folk & World Music Choir, runs Creative Writing workshops for Children, and is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Winchester.

BIO

M.E. Vaughan was born in England on the 15th of September, 1992 under the fM.E. Vaughnull name ‘Madeleine Emily Vaughan’. In her life-time she has lived in an assortment of countries across Europe, the Middle & Far East, as well as a family home in Horsham, built in the middle of a dragon forest. During these travels she discovered a passion for stories which went on to encourage her to overcome problems with dyslexia and pursue her dream of writing.
In 2011 she undertook a Creative Writing degree at the University of Winchester, for which, in 2014 she received a 1:1. During this time, her short story The Seas Own was published in an anthology by Zharmae Publishing Press, who went on to pick up her trilogy The Harmatia Cycle. The first book The Sons of Thestian was written when Madeleine was 17, and was published in 2015.

The Sons of Thestian, Front CoverBook blurb:

The Prince Jionathan is plagued by visions of death. With the King on his death-bed, and the tyrannical Queen in power, the Kingdom of Harmatia lies in peril. Fleeing the city in fear of his life, Jionathan is shadowed by Rufus Merle, a young, secretive magi tasked with bringing him home. Now, with the help of a fearsome sidhe warrior named Fae, they must traverse a dangerous faerie-wood together. Against bandits, faeries and cursed priestesses, these unlikely friends travel a path fraught with danger, not least from the blood-thirsty Night Patrol and the dark conspiracy that shrouds them.

Book review:

In the same way that a musician absorbs and reconfigures the influences of other players and bands, The Sons of Thestian synthesizes a wide array of influences from Medieval Arthurian legend and Celtic folklore to more recent classics of the fantasy genre such as The Lord of the Rings and the Game of Thrones and Harry Potter series. As the first novel in Vaughan’s Harmatia Cycle, this novel begins a saga that has the same degree of scope and resonance as so many that have come before it, but Vaughan’s own alchemy integrates her influences into a result that feels completely fresh and also serves as a reminder of why a fantasy epic can inspire such devotion in readers. The most enduring examples of the genre create a world so rich with imagery that you don’t want to leave, a cast of characters so textured and engaging that they begin to feel like old friends. In building the world of Mag Mell and by giving us such layered characters as Prince Jionathan (pronounced Yo-nat-han), Rufus the Magi, Fae the Sidhe, and a host of others, Vaughan has created an epic that is endlessly absorbing, even addictive.
The plot unfolds with a dying king, a plotting queen, dangerous wizards, and a prince on the run—either away from his destiny or toward it. As King Thestian lies on his death bed, the young Prince Jionathan flees the city and kingdom of Harmatia, fearful of the king’s first wife Queen Reine and the machinations of a group of rogue shape-shifting Magi known as the Night Patrol, who justify murder under the guise of keeping the city streets safe. The prince also carries with him the heavy burden of the assassination of his older brother, Sverrin (pronounced Suh-ver-in), the former heir to the throne. The king and queen, along with Jionathan’s mother Eliane, send Rufus, a young Magi with heavy burdens of his own, to find the prince and bring him home. Rufus easily catches up with Jionathan in the forest beyond the city, and he and the prince forge a close but uneasy bond as the pair tumble from one dire circumstance to the next.
While on the surface, the novel appears to be a classic hero’s quest, but the series of double-crosses, triple-crosses, and twists make it difficult to pin down exactly who the heroes and who the villains truly are, breathing new life into the standard quest narrative. Even with the vast scope, and high page count, the book is tightly written—chock full of gripping battles and action sequences, quiet romantic moments, and dangerous confrontations with fearsome creatures. The pacing of the action is quick and no detail is insignificant, building to a conclusion that will leave the reader breathless and wanting more.

Links:

Purchase