Cover Reveal - Blood of the Prophet (The Fourth Element, #2) by Kat Ross + Giveaway

Blood of the Prophet (The Fourth Element, #2) by Kat Ross

Publication date: September 12th 2016

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Visionary. Alchemist. Savior. Saint.

The Prophet Zarathustra has been called many things. Now he spends his time drawing pictures of weird-looking goats. That’s what happens when you’ve been stuck in a prison cell for two hundred years. But the man who might be mad, and is definitely supposed to be dead, has suddenly become very valuable again…

It’s only been a few weeks since Nazafareen escaped the King’s dungeons with her daēva, Darius. She hoped never to set foot in the empire again, but the search for the Prophet has led them to the ancient city of Karnopolis. They have to find him before Alexander of Macydon burns Persepolae, and Darius’s mother with it. But they’re not the only ones looking.

The necromancer Balthazar has his own plans for the Prophet, and so does the sinister spymaster of the Numerators. As Nazafareen is drawn in to a dangerous game of cat and mouse, her newfound powers take a decidedly dark turn. Only the Prophet understands the secret of her gift, but the price of that knowledge may turn out to be more than Nazafareen is willing to pay…

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Sequel to:

Author Bio:

Kat Ross worked as a journalist at the United Nations for ten years before happily falling back into what she likes best: making stuff up. She lives in Westchester with her kid and a few sleepy cats. Kat is also the author of the dystopian thriller Some Fine Day (Skyscape, 2014), about a world where the sea levels have risen sixty meters. She loves magic, monsters and doomsday scenarios. Preferably with mutants.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

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Blog Tour - 27 Days to Midnight by Kristine Kruppa - Giveaway & Writing tips and tricks

27 Days to Midnight by Kristine Kruppa

Genre; YA Steampunk Adventure

Release date: May 3rd 2016

Giant Squid Books 

Summary:

Everyone in Dahlia's world knows when they're going to die. Except her.

Her father has never shown her the pocket watch counting down the days she has left to live. When he sacrifices himself to save her from her scheduled death, Dahlia abandons her comfortable home and sets off after his murderer to uncover the secrets her father died to protect…and the time research that could bring him back to life.

Then she meets Farren Reed. She should hate him. He’s an enemy soldier, a cowardly deserter, and the most insufferable man Dahlia’s ever met. Still, she needs all the help she can get, and Farren is the only chance she has to find the man who murdered her father. But Farren has only twenty-seven days left on his watch.

In that time, Dahlia must recover her father’s time research, foil a psychotic general’s plot, and learn to survive in a world that will never be the same. But the research holds secrets more dangerous than she had ever imagined. She will have to choose what is most important: revenge, Farren's life, or her own. And time is running out. 

Writing tips and tricks

A lot of aspiring authors ask me for writing advice: how to build characters, outline, revise, get published, and everything in between. In the years it took me to write 27 Days to Midnight, I made a lot of mistakes, but I learned from every one of them. Here are a few of the things I wish I’d known when I started:

• Always carry a notebook. You never know when you’ll find inspiration for a new character or solve that finicky plot hole. I keep a pocket-sized notebook in my purse at all times. If you’re caught without paper or a pen, type out your idea on your phone’s memo app. If you’re running or driving and can’t write it down, use a voice recorder to capture it before you lose it!

• Don’t get caught up in the rules. If you look for writing advice, you’ll find all sorts of ‘rules’ out there for creating a novel. People will tell you that you must include certain character types or that you have to outline your plot in a particular way. You don’t. I’ve seen new writers worry so much about following the ‘rules’ that they forget to love their novel. Take whatever writing advice works for you and use it. If it doesn’t work, leave it.

• Beat writer’s block. Writer’s block is real, and when it hits you may feel like you’ll never finish your novel. I spent three months stuck on 27 Days to Midnight. I couldn’t write a word; every time I sat down to type I ended up staring at a blinking cursor. In the end, I forced myself to keep writing because I couldn’t bear to leave the characters’ stories untold. After a few days of slogging through a tough chapter, the words flowed again, I remembered why I loved writing, and I finished the novel. I could write an entire blog post just on how to overcome writer’s block. Each author has their own technique. You should find one that works for you, because you will need it. Personally, when I find myself stuck, I take a walk. Something about being out in the world gets the words moving. Other writers like to bake, watch movies, exercise, or work on other writing projects until they’re able to continue the story.

• Embrace uncertainty. You may be a plotter (someone who outlines in detail before starting to write), or a pantser (someone who jumps into writing with very little planning). There are advantages and disadvantages to each. I’m a little of both. I like to know my characters very well before I put a single word to paper. I fill out character sheets, draw sketches, and figure out what makes them tick. But they don’t always behave. Sebastian, the antagonist of 27 Days to Midnight, took me completely by surprise when he attacked his own soldiers early in the book. But it felt right for him. I scrapped his old character sheets and reinvented his personality. He became one of my favorites by the end of the story. Even if you’re a planner, it’s important to leave yourself open to new ideas and inspiration as you write. Don’t throw away a new idea simply because it’s not in your outline. Explore it, see how it fits, and embrace the uncertainty.

• Love your story. If you only follow one writing tip out of the incalculable ones out there, follow this one. You can only make others passionate about your book if you are. Love your characters, even when they don’t follow your plan. Love the twists and turns of your plot. Love the way the words feel in your head, how they look on the page, how they roll off your tongue when you read them aloud. Write a story that means something to you, and love it.

About the Author:

Kristine Kruppa is a mechanical engineer, writer, and world traveler. Her days are spent designing cool new car parts, but her evenings are filled with writing and cats. She has traveled solo to seventeen countries on five continents.

 Her other hobbies include hunting for the perfect cup of coffee, exploring used book stores, and accidentally climbing mountains. To keep up with her adventures, follow Kristine on Twitter @kskruppa.

Author Links:

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Victoria Vulturilor (Temeraire #5) de Naomi Novik - In curand la Nemira

Descriere:

Nu sunt vremuri bune: trupele lui Napoleon au invadat patria englezilor si prima tinta este Londra, pe care vor s-o ocupe. 

Din pacate, dragonul Temeraire nu mai face parte din armata, iar capitanul Laurence a fost condamnat la moarte pentru tradare. 

Cei doi lupta sa se regaseasca in iuresul razboiului. 

Dar, daca si-ar uni iar fortele, cine stie ce batalii ar putea castiga?

„Combinand cu maiestrie dragonii din SF cu istoria epocii napoleoniene, aceasta serie i-a adus lui Naomi Novik admiratia cititorilor si multe premii. In Victoria vulturilor, scriitoarea face tot literatura de cea mai buna calitate.“ - Sci Fi Weekly

A doua fata de Maggie Mitchell - In curand la RAO

Primit cu aplauze atât de critica americană, cât şi de cea europeană, romanul de debut al lui Maggie Mitchell câştigă un pariu dublu: este nu doar un thriller remarcabil, ci şi o investigaţie profundă a psihologiei adolescenţei, o analiză a sfârşitului copilăriei. 

Descriere:

Două fete sunt răpite şi duse într-o cabană din pădure unde stau alături de răpitorul lor charismatic, închegând o ambiguă relaţie de iubire şi ură. 

Aproape douăzeci de ani mai târziu, una din ele, devenită profesor de engleză la un colegiu, îşi retrăieşte drama în paginile unui roman. 

Cea de-a doua, devenită actriţă în Los Angeles, descoperă citind scenariul filmului care urma să-i relanseze cariera o poveste terifiant de cunoscută.

 Cele două se reîntâlnesc, luptându-se cu amintirile lor tenebroase, dar şi cu un nou pericol născut din romanul conţinut în roman.

Regatul Spinilor si al Trandafirilor (Regatul Spinilor si al Trandafirilor #1) de Sarah J. Maas - NOU la RAO

Descriere:

Feyre a crescut într-o lume în care magia există doar în legende. 

Dar dacă această lume ar fi reală şi, mai mult decât atât, ar ameninţa să arunce lumea muritorilor într-un război întunecat? 

Mânată de promisiunea de a-şi apăra familia, făcută mamei ei, Feyre va afla că în lumea zânelor totul este posibil, chiar şi să te îndrăgosteşi de un Mare Lord al spiriduşilor. 

O ameninţare pluteşte, însă, asupra acestui tărâm magic, iar Feyre este singura care poate salva de la pieire regatul zânelor şi lumea oamenilor.

Lacrima (Lacrima #1) de Lauren Kate - NOU la RAO

Descriere:

Oriunde mergea Eureka, era şi el acolo: Ander, un băiat blond şi misterios care îi spunea că e în pericol. 

Acesta ştia lucruri despre Eureka pe care fata încă nu le cunoştea, dar nu şi cel mai întunecat secret al ei: din clipa în care îşi pierduse mama în urma unui accident ciudat, Eureka îşi dorea să fi murit la rândul ei. 

Avea puţine lucruri la care ţinea cu adevărat: doar pe prietenul ei, Brooks, şi nişte amintiri de familie - un medalion, o piatră misterioasă şi o carte veche  despre o fată care a avut inima frântă şi a plâns atât de mult, încât a scufundat un întreg continent sub apa mării.

 Dar şi Ander avea secretele lui. Povestea devine de-a dreptul obsedantă, iar viaţa Eurekăi, mai întunecată decât şi-ar fi închipuit vreodată.

Coperta si titlul original:

Profetia (Predestinati #3) de Josephine Angelini - NOU la RAO

Descriere:

După ce i-a eliberat accidental pe zei din captivitatea lor de pe Muntele Olimp, Helen Hamilton împreună cu prietenii ei trebuie să stingă setea de sânge şi de război a acestora, care amenintă să cuprindă întreaga lume. 

Însă furia zeilor este dezlăntuită, iar timpul se scurge în defavoarea muritorilor. Cum viata băiatului pe care îl iubeşte, Lucas Delos, atârnă de un fir de păr, iar grupul ei de prieteni cunoaşte o scindare neaşteptată, Helen se vede nevoită să facă fată de una singură acestei confruntări şi, de asemenea, să decidă cui îi va oferi inima ei - lui Lucas sau unui eventual Tiran, Orion.

Alte volume din serie:

  

Ce-a lasat in urma de T.R. Richmond - NOU la RAO

Descriere:

Când Alice Salmon moare cu un an în urmă, undele tragediei ating presa, internetul şi, bineînţeles, zguduie inimile celor dragi. 

Accident, crimă sau sinucidere?

 Profesorul de antropologie Jeremy Cooke, cel care o cunoaşte mai bine decât toţi, este hotărât să stabilească adevărul şi sărefacă imaginea lui Alice cu ajutorul jurnalelor lăsate de ea, al mesajelor rămase pe telefonul mobil, al prezenţei online, al extraselor din interogatoriile poliţiei.

 Cooke nu ştie  însă unde îl va duce această încercare...

Mireasma misterioasa a muntilor Galbeni de Yasuko Thanh - NOU la RAO

Descriere:

Un doctor pregăteşte o poţiune din flori de ciumăfaie, cu scopul de a-i otrăvi pe soldaţii din garnizoana franceză din Saigon. 

Bazat pe povestea

reală a Conspiraţiei Otrăvirii din Hanoi, din 1908, romanul prezintă întâmplări care traversează tot peisajul vietnamez. Poveştile din roman - poveştile familiei lui Yasuko Thanh - promit o abordare poetică, fantastică, plină de umor negru a preţului plătit pentru răzvrătire, precum şi a încurcăturilor iubirii într-o perioadă în care condiţiile istorice nu fac decât să complice dragostea. 

Intriga este presărată cu evenimente istorice care fac mai mult decât să contureze personaje individuale, iar epoca în sine devine o metaforă pentru călătoria de autocunoaştere a personajelor.   

 Explorând ramificaţiile dominaţiei coloniale, romanul lui Yasuko Thanh analizează o căsnicie ale cărei procese dovedesc ce înseamnă să fii om într-o perioadă în care dorinţele sunt persecutate şi idealismul îşi urmează cursul doar pe aleile din spate.

Orice lucru are pretul lui de Maggie Lehrman - NOU la RAO

Descriere:

Când Win, prietenul lui Ari, moare, ea îşi cumpără o vrajă care îi şterge amintirile despre el. 

Dar vrăjile au preţul lor. Uneori se dezlănţuie un adevărat vârtej de conexiuni ascunse şi primejdioase.

 Aşa se întâmplă cu Ari şi prietenii ei. 

Spusă din patru perspective diferite, povestea din romanul acesta tulburător împleteşte trecutul şi prezentul într-un suspans narativ care dezvăluie adevărul din spatele unei teribile tragedii.

Blog Tour - The Sound of Us by Julie Hammerle - Teasers + How to write a good plot

The Sound of Us by Julie Hammerle

Release Date: June 7th 2016

Entangled Teen

Summary:

Kiki Nichols might not survive music camp.

She’s put her TV-loving, nerdy self aside for one summer to prove she’s got what it takes: she can be cool enough to make friends, she can earn that music scholarship, and she can get into Krause University’s music program.

Except camp has rigid conduct rules—which means her thrilling late-night jam session with the hot drummer can’t happen again, even though they love all the same TV shows, and fifteen minutes making music with him meant more than every aria she’s ever sung.

But when someone starts snitching on rule breakers and getting them kicked out, music camp turns into survival of the fittest. If Kiki’s going to get that scholarship, her chance to make true friends—and her chance with the drummer guy—might cost her the future she wants more than anything.

Buy Links:

Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Kobo│Amazon UK│Amazon CA│The BookDepository│Books a Million

About the Author:

Julie Hammerle is the author of The Sound of Us, which will be published by Entangled Teen in the summer of 2016. Before settling down to write "for real," she studied opera, taught Latin, and held her real estate license for one hot minute. 

Currently, she writes about TV on her blog Hammervision, ropes people into conversations about Game of Thrones, and makes excuses to avoid the gym. 

Her favorite YA-centric TV shows include 90210 (original spice), Felicity, and Freaks and Geeks. Her iPod reads like a 1997 Lilith Fair set list. She lives in Chicago with her husband, two kids, and a dog. They named the dog Indiana. 

Author Links:

How to write a good plot

Plotting is one of my favorite parts of the writing process. I love trying to figure out the problem of what comes next. It’s like doing a gigantic puzzle.

That said, I’d be nothing without my tools. 

I always start by consulting my favorite writing books. I start with K.M. Weiland’s Outlining Your Novel, and supplement it with a few other books, like Save the Cat and The Virgin’s Promise.

Once I get to the point where I’m starting to think seriously about structure, I pull out my white board and some Post-Its. I map out the story in four lines, each line ending with a plot point (Plot Point 1, Midpoint, Plot Point 2, Ending). This helps me see visually how the story moves and where I might get in trouble.

After I get the story mapped out in Post-It form, I write a scene-by-scene summary—basically telling the story to myself. Doing this really helps me brainstorm and usually highlights plot holes. I’m also able to make notes about what needs to be foreshadowed where, when characters should be introduced, that kind of thing. Often, if this stage is detailed enough, I’ll start writing from here--usually because I’m too excited to wait any longer, and also because sometimes you just have to start writing the thing in order to find the holes.

I’d love to say that plotting is an exact science for me, but it’s not. It’s a lot of trial and error, a lot of notes and comments and deleted scenes, and a lot of long, therapeutic walks. 

Cover Reveal - Daemoneum (The Primordial Principles #2) by Laney McMann

Daemoneum (The Primordial Principles #2) by Laney McMann

Published by: Jagged Lane Books

Publication date: July 2016

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Boulder, Colorado is too quiet, and no one needs to remind Cole Spires how unnatural that is.

In the aftermath of Dracon’s death, the Daemoneum have gone into hiding. Every known Hive has been shut down and evacuated, and for the first time in Cole’s memory, the Brotherhood, Kinship, and all common houses across the country and abroad are considering lockdown. Leygates are being systematically closed around the world, and the Primordial are waiting …

In the bunker underneath the Brotherhood, Kade Sparrow is as safe as she can possibly be, or that’s the idea, but no one can explain how her Astrum necklace found its way into her bedroom. There were no footprints, no traces of breaking and entering, no evidence of any kind that someone had infiltrated the Brotherhood common house. Yet the necklace still sat on her night stand, wound in a perfect circle of gold, the tiny star glinting on its chain. And the only person who could have put it there … is dead.

In the second installment of The Primordial Principles, strange occurrences are happening across the globe. Relationships will be tested, old players will become new, foes will turn into allies, and an unlikely adversary will force Cole and Kade to go on the run.

As the fallen rise, the Primordial must unite as one.

Or all could be lost.

 Goodreads

Sequel to:

Author Bio:

Laney McMann is the author of The Fire Born Novels, The Primordial Principles, and The CrossWorld Chronicles (coming soon). 

The product of very creative parents and the most imaginative grandmother ever, she has an untapped passion for the supernatural and all things magical. Her voracious appetite for reading fantasy started really young ~ and so did her love of words. 

She writes young adult dark urban fantasy novels mixed with a spike of romance, a hint of history, a dash of mythology, and lots of paranormal. 

On the non-writing side of life, Laney is a former classical dancer, music snob, chef, and a right-brained thinker to a fault. When she's not dreaming up new dead ends to torture herself with, she spends her time running and playing her music way too loud. 

Laney is published by J. Taylor Publishing and formerly by Booktrope Publishing.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Jocul Coroanei (Jocul Coroanei #1) de Evelyn Skye - NOU la LedaEdge

EXISTĂ LUCRURI MAI PERICULOASE DECÂT UN STROP DE MAGIE . . .

Descriere:

VIKA ANDREIEVA poate stârni zăpada și poate transforma cenușa în aur.

NIKOLAI KARIMOV poate vedea prin pereți și poate face să apară poduri din senin.

Ei sunt magi - singurii din Rusia -, iar țarul, amenințat de Imperiul Otoman și de kazahi, are nevoie de un Mag Imperial puternic alături de el.

Și astfel inițiază Jocul Coroanei, un duel al abilităților magice. Câștigătorul jocului va primi puteri de neimaginat. 

Pe cel învins îl așteaptă moartea.

Jocul Coroanei nu trebuie pierdut.

„Jocul Coroanei este un basm fascinant, care îi poartă pe cititori într-o lume fantastică, misterioasă și seducătoare, plină de magie ascunsă și iubiri pătimașe.” - Sabaa Tahir

„Absolut încântătoare. Adevărata vrăjitorie este în atmosferă. Skye creează o Rusie plină de magie și eleganță, descriind Sankt Petersburgul într-un fel atât de spectaculos, încât ai putea jura că te afli pe malurile Nevei și dansezi în sălile de bal ale Palatului de Iarnă.”

Book Trailer - Zero by Morgan Dark

Zero by Morgan Dark

Release Date: June 28th 2016

Rubiños 1860

Summary:

Kyle Bradford is the envy of Drayton College, but everything takes a turn when a dangerous shadow, hidden in the darkness, starts to stalk him. From then on, his life falls apart. 

Unjustly accused of being the main suspect behind the robberies terrifying high society, he is forced to prove his innocence. And to do so, he has to find the real culprit: Zero, an infallible criminal who keeps his identity hidden under a silver mask. 

What Kyle does not know is that his enemy is keeping a secret. A secret he would sacrifice everything for. 

Buy Links:

Amazon│Kobo│iTunes

TRAILER:

About the Author:

Morgan Dark is one of the most original teenage literature writers. Always enveloped in suspense, as of yet no one knows her true identity. She began writing ZERO after a hooded man robbed her in her New York apartment. Included amongst the stolen items was her favorite ring. After ZERO became one of the most awaited teenage books in 2015, her ring showed up in herhouse again… in black envelope with no sender. 

Author Links: