Tag Archives: young adult romance
Witch Hunt
Title: Witch Hunt
Series: The Witch Game Novels, Book Two
Author: Kasi Blake
Published: October 6th, 2015
Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Synopsis:
A magical game of hide-and-seek begins.
Find the missing player and win.
The game resets.
They all forget and start the game again.
Seventeen-year-old Starr Hughes hasn’t believed in magic since the day her mother died. As an aspiring reporter, the only thing she cares about is cold, hard facts. So when she hears the popular kids at school (the It-Squad) are about to start a secret game, she wants every detail, especially since she has a major crush on gorgeous Dylan Winchester. Hiding under the headmaster’s desk, planting bugs, and breaking into a classmate’s home are all on her to-do list. With her boy-crazy best friend Lily at her side, Starr discovers that witches are not only real, but they also need her help. Someone is using the game to steal their memories, their powers, and perhaps even their lives.
Find the missing player and win.
The game resets.
They all forget and start the game again.
Seventeen-year-old Starr Hughes hasn’t believed in magic since the day her mother died. As an aspiring reporter, the only thing she cares about is cold, hard facts. So when she hears the popular kids at school (the It-Squad) are about to start a secret game, she wants every detail, especially since she has a major crush on gorgeous Dylan Winchester. Hiding under the headmaster’s desk, planting bugs, and breaking into a classmate’s home are all on her to-do list. With her boy-crazy best friend Lily at her side, Starr discovers that witches are not only real, but they also need her help. Someone is using the game to steal their memories, their powers, and perhaps even their lives.
Get Book one, Crushed FREE on Amazon!
~Excerpt~
“It’s him,” Starr said as she grabbed Lily’s foot. “He’s here.”
“Huh?” Lily halfway sat up, looking dazed. “What are you talking about?”
“Dylan Winchester is at my house.” She couldn’t believe it was true even as she heard herself say the words. “He’s knocking on my front door. What do I do?”
Lily sighed. “Answer it so he’ll stop with the pounding.”
Starr glanced down at what she was wearing, black pajamas with purple and silver stars on the top. “I can’t let him see me like this.”
“He already saw you in pajamas once. What’s the big deal?”
And that was when Starr’s ears picked up voices coming from downstairs. Someone else had already opened the door to their young visitor. Hands over her mouth, she freaked out. “Oh no! Dad is talking to him.”
Wide awake now, Lily leaped off the bed. “We’d better stop your dad before he says something that will embarrass you for life and ruin your rep at school. As your best friend, if you go down, I go down.”
About the Author:
If you ask Kasi Blake how old she was when she started writing, she will probably say twelve. That’s when she wrote her first short story. But it started long before then. Her first characters were invisible friends she played with as a child. In the third grade she wrote a one-page story about a mummy for an assignment, and the teacher read it to the class. Even though she was embarrassed, the other kids laughed in all the right places, and she realized she could affect other people through her writing. She loves to get lost in emotional stories, crying and laughing with the characters, so she thinks it’s the most amazing thing in the world to be able to do this for other people.
Kasi is a hardcore Supernatural fanatic and practically has the shows memorized line for line. If you want to see her freak out, tell her you’ve never watched an episode. Then be prepared to listen to a long list of reasons why you should. In her spare time, when she’s not reading or writing, she does nail art, engages in day-long shopping trips with friends, and takes care of her many animals.
Originally from California, she resides in the Midwest on a farm with cows, chickens, ducks, a dog, and two cats.
Clean Teen Publishing Links:
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
- If US, the winner will receive a mystery box from Clean Teen Publishing
- If International, the winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card.
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Awakened (The Gods and Guardians Trilogy #1)
Title: Awakened
Series: The Gods and Guardians Trilogy #1
Author: CJ Anderson
Published: August 28th, 2015
Genre: YA Sci-Fi Fantasy
Content Warning: Mild violence
Recommended Age: 13+
~Synopsis~
The new guy in town has a few secrets …one of which is the ability to levitate and use telekinesis to move objects – Dru Sanjay hasn’t been able to share his secrets with anyone. That is until he meets…HER.
Alayna West can see and experience emotions as color. Her only desire is to complete high school, go to college and create a better life far away from her rural roots. But plans change when she meets…HIM.
When Dru and Alayna meet they experience a hair raising, skin prickling, and unexplainable connection. As Alayna is drawn into Dru’s world, she learns of the Guardians; others like her who have special abilities, whose genetics can be traced back to the Gods. Only the Gods and the other Guardians are actually extraterrestrials who have been banned from Earth for the last 2,000 years.
Alayna’s plans for a better life are shot to H-E-double toothpicks when she discovers another gift and Dru struggles with keeping his last secret. All the while, the chemistry between them, along with outside forces, pose a threat that could change their futures forever.
Excerpt from Awakened – Book 1 of the Gods and Guardians series by CJ Anderson
“It all happens so fast. Dru is calling my name and I look up toward the cliff. When I move my head I catch a glimpse of something in my peripheral vision; something big, something that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up straight. It’s some sort of large and scary looking creature and it’s prowling straight toward me.
The creature is as large as a bear, but it has the body and head of a lion with something that looks like a goat rising out of its back and a long tail, at least six feet long, whipping around with the head of what looks to be a large, creepy venomous snake. My pulse quickens as if fear itself were trapping me and I’m incapacitated.
I think I must be either a) dreaming, b) crazy, or c) dead because then I see Dru flying through the air. What the hell? He is going to kill himself! What is he doing?
Dru slams into the monster; it flies through the air and then drops to the ground. As far as I can tell, with the exception of the snake, which is partially smashed beneath the body, the monster is knocked out. The snake head is making a high pitched hissing sound and it makes me feel sick to my stomach.
Then, Dru is right beside me holding me tight against him. Both of our hearts are pounding.
“Alayna! Alayna, luv, are you OK?” Dru asks, his voice uneasy.
I’m baffled. “Me? Am I OK? What about you? You just jumped, no flew, no, I don’t know what the hell you did but you just slammed into a…a …a…was that a chimera?!…and after jumping from that height, you just walked away!” I stammer.
“I know,” Dru says, “and I can explain. But first, I think we need to head back the way we came before our friend wakes up. She is going to be pissed off!”
He grabs my hand and we run. I’m fast, but it’s hard to maneuver through the woods with all the brush and vegetation, much of which is waist high.
We’re about a quarter mile from the motorcycle when we finally see the trail. Dru slows down for just a moment, looks around and grabs my hand. “Faster!” He yells. “It’s coming.”
I chance a quick glance behind us and see three enraged heads. One is roaring, one hissing, and one is making a terrible ear-deafening bleating sound. I run faster than I have ever run before, even faster than yesterday at the track. Adrenaline is rushing through my veins so quickly that it keeps me going.
We’re almost there but the creature is gaining on us. We can see the motorcycle at the bottom of the cliff. All we have to do is run down the hill and turn the corner and we will be home free.”
About the Author:
CJ Anderson has been obsessed with science fiction and fantasy for as long as she can remember. Star Wars, Superman and Transformers are among her earliest memories. But it was Madeline L’Engle’s book, A Wrinkle in Time, that first grabbed her attention as an elementary student to the genre in the world of books. She has been reading Young Adult, Science Fiction and Fantasy ever since!
Creating stories has been a life-long journey for CJ. As a young child she create stories to tell her imaginary friends. Later on in school, when she became bored during class, adventures in fairytale lands, were a common theme running wild in her imagination. It never really occurred to her to write them down, though, until she was older and taking a class on creativity. Once she started writing, she never wanted to stop. She says it’s one of the best decisions she’s ever made.
CJ has been teaching Gifted & Talented for six years and has been both encouraged and inspired by her students. She lives in Iowa with her husband, two beautiful daughters and two cats. When she isn’t writing, teaching or spending time with her family, you can find her working out, reading or fangirling, of course! The God Kissed: Awakened is her first novel and the first book in a planned trilogy.
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
- A $25 Amazon gift card
- 5 $5 Amazon gift cards
Giveaway is International.
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Cursed Rebel
Title: Cursed Rebel
Author: H.G. Lynch
Published: July 14th, 2015
Publisher: Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Recommended Age: 15+
~Synopsis~
Never trust a pretty face. My grandma taught me that. She warned me about the Fair Folk but I never believed her…until I was kidnapped by one. And damn, he is pretty.
But Fin was sent to bring me to his King, and if I want to survive the Otherworld, I have no choice but to trust him – for now.
Oh, and did I mention my sexy best friend is hunting me? I should’ve listened to Gran.
Read FREE with Kindle Unlimited
~Excerpt from Cursed Rebel by H.G. Lynch~
Looking at the faery boy in front of me, with his exquisite features and striking eyes, I thought that Grandma had been right. I was realizing she had been right about a lot of things. I wished I’d listened to her better, wished I’d believed her when she warned me about the Fair Folk.
Staring into those inhumanly bright eyes, seeing the glitter of something cruel beneath that prettiness, I whimpered. I didn’t mean to, and the second I did, I wished I hadn’t. I couldn’t show fear there, or the beautiful monsters would tear me apart like well-disguised lions.
About the Author:
H.G. Lynch is a Scottish Paranormal Romance author, avid reader, and cat-lover. She spends most of her days writing, while wrestling her cat, Sooki, off her laptop. She believes that chocolate cake can save the world, and is highly caffeine-addicted. She loves horse-riding, Star Trek, and snow.
Her books are dark fantasy romances, usually with a bad boy and a bad girl. Sometimes with zombies, sometimes vampires, sometimes other things.
Her books are dark fantasy romances, usually with a bad boy and a bad girl. Sometimes with zombies, sometimes vampires, sometimes other things.
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
- $15 Amazon gift card. Giveaway is International.
Minutes Before Sunset
Title: Minutes Before Sunset
Series: The Timely Death Trilogy #1
Author: Shannon A. Thompson
Published: July 28th, 2015
Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Content Warning: Violence, Adult Language
Recommended Age: 13+
~Synopsis~
Two destinies. One death.
“Her kiss could kill us, and my consent signed our death certificates.”
Eric Welborn isn’t completely human, but he isn’t the only shade in the small Midwest town of Hayworth. With one year left before his eighteenth birthday, Eric is destined to win a long-raging war for his kind. But then she happens. In the middle of the night, Eric meets a nameless shade, and she’s powerful—too powerful—and his beliefs are altered. The Dark has lied to him, and he’s determined to figure out exactly what lies were told, even if the secrets protect his survival.
Jessica Taylor moves to Hayworth, and her only goal is to find more information on her deceased biological family. Her adoptive parents agree to help on one condition: perfect grades. And Jessica is distraught when she’s assigned as Eric’s class partner. He won’t help, let alone talk to her, but she’s determined to change him—even if it means revealing everything he’s strived to hide.
Excerpt from Minutes Before Sunset by Shannon A. Thompson:
“You look mad,” he said, quieter this time.
I wouldn’t look at him. “I am.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t get you,” I admitted. “I have no idea why you’re acting this way, and it makes me feel like I don’t know you.”
“I didn’t realize you wanted to know me,” he said, and I turned around, momentarily meeting his eyes. They were dark, shadowed by an expression I hadn’t seen before.
“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked, feeling heat crawl over my neck. “We’ve already spent a lot of time together.”
“For a project that’s completed, Jessica,” he said, and he shook his head, driving silently through my neighborhood. I waited for him to speak, but he didn’t. Soon, we were at the end of my driveway. Eric shoved the gears into park, and I reached for the door, but he locked it.
“Why are you so interested in my life?” he asked, and my heart pounded. I didn’t say anything. His eyes met mine, filled with an intensity that made me shudder. “It’s not that great.”
“I know,” I managed. My voice was shaking.
His face reddened. “But you ask questions.”
“And you answer them.”
His mouth opened, but then it snapped shut. He sighed, turned away, and grabbed the steering wheel as if he were driving again. We remained parked. “I’m Eric James Welborn,” he stated, his voice wavering into an awkwardness I’d never heard with his normally confident and cocky attitude.
James? His middle name felt personal—like he had opened up a side of himself he’d forgotten about. But I didn’t feel intrusive. I felt comforted, like I already knew the answer before he’d spoken it. But I hadn’t.
“Your name doesn’t tell me who you are,” I said, surprised by my fluidity.
He barely smiled. “Maybe I like it that way.”
“I don’t.”
About the Author:
Shannon A. Thompson is a twenty-three-year-old author, avid reader, and habitual chatterbox. She was merely sixteen when she was first published, and a lot has happened since then. Thompson’s work has appeared in numerous poetry collections and anthologies, and her first installment of The Timely Death Trilogy became Goodreads’ Book of the Month. As a novelist, poet, and blogger, Thompson spends her free time writing and sharing ideas with her black cat named after her favorite actor, Humphrey Bogart. Between writing and befriending cats, she graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor’s degree in English, and she travels whenever the road calls her.
Clean Teen Publishing Links:
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
- A bookmark swag pack and winner’s choice of any Clean Teen Publishing eBook.
Giveaway is International.
Milayna’s Angel
Title: Milayna’s Angel
Series: The Milayna Series, Book 2
Author: Michelle K. Pickett
Published: July 7th, 2015
Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing
Genre: YAm Paranormal Romance
Content Warning: Adult language and violence
Recommended Age: 16+
~Synopsis~
Now that the battle with Hell’s angel, Azazel, has ended, you’d think eighteen-year-old Milayna’s life would take a turn for the better. After all, what could be worse than having the angel of Hell trying to steal your soul? Plenty. Abaddon, the demon of destruction, is angry that Azazel failed to convert Milayna before her demi-angel powers matured. Now she’s untouchable… or so she thinks. It seems even in Hell, there are loopholes.
Not only is her life in danger, but her love life is crumbling, too. Just when Milayna and fellow demi-angel Chay get comfortable on their little cloud of bliss, Xavier comes to town. He’s one angel that’s as hot as the very embers of Hell, and he has his sights set on Milayna.
Now she has the demon of destruction out to kill her, Xavier out to steal her heart, and she still has to take final exams before she can graduate high school.
Sometimes life sucks, even if you are half angel.
~About the Author~
Michelle is the bestselling author of the young adult novel “PODs.” She was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, but now lives in a sleepy suburb outside Houston with her extremely supportive husband, three school-aged children, a 125 pound “lap dog,” and a very snooty cat.
Red Bull or Monster Khaos are her coffee of choice, and she can’t write without peanut butter M&Ms and a hoodie. A hopeful romantic; she loves a swoon-worthy ending that will give her butterflies for days. She writes across genres in the young adult and new adult age groups. She loves to hear from her readers.
Michelle signed her new young adult contemporary novel— Unspeakable, with Clean Teen Publishing in 2014.
Clean Teen Publishing Links:
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
- A bookmark swag pack and winner’s choice of any Clean Teen Publishing eBook.
Giveaway is International.
Wicked Luck
Title: Wicked Luck
Series: Wicked Luck Trilogy #1
Author: Shannon L. Maynard
Published: June 23rd, 2015
Publisher: Crimson Tree Publishing
Genre: NA Romance
Content Warning: Violence, Adult Themes
Recommended Age: 14+
~Synopsis~
How can Ava Starr’s worst nightmare be Dax Miller’s dream come true?
For the past three years, Dax has been stranded on Lamarai Island with his stepsister and two tribes of cannibals. But now a beautiful girl named Ava has washed up on shore. After secretly reading her journal, he believes she is a perfect match to the girl of his dreams. He’s determined not only to keep her alive, but also to win over her heart by convincing her to forget about her past and the secrets that continue to haunt her.
Ava Starr has always been the epitome of bad luck, but she never imagined she would wake up and find herself on a cannibal-infested island with no memory of how she got there. The last thing she remembers is boarding a plane with her pilot boyfriend, Preston. But now he and his crew are missing, and she must find him before a tribe of hungry cannibals finds him first. But Ava’s troubles have followed her to Lamarai, where once again she’s surrounded by danger and people who want her dead. She finds herself caught in a web of deceit and soon discovers the answers to her mysterious past can be found in the most unlikely of places, and that no one is actually who they seem to be.
~Excerpt~
With a satisfied grin, I drop the book in my pocket and step out from behind the tree.
“Well, well, well. What a predicament. Gives new meaning to the phrase ‘sticky situation’ doesn’t it?” My voice startles her and causes a sharp intake of breath as she opens her eyes.
“Dax,” she says with a relieved exhale.
“Hey princess.” I give her my best Cheshire smile. “Looks like your little escape plan didn’t work out so well, huh? Well, I hope you have better luck escaping from that pit of quicksand.”
I turn to walk away.
“Wait! Where are you going?” she asks, and desperation oozes from her voice.
I pause to get control of the amusement cracking away at my serious expression before turning around. “I don’t know. I think I’ll head back to the beach and wait for a hot blonde to wash up on shore.” Her mouth falls open right on cue. “Oh, and sorry to break it to ya’, but you didn’t get the part. Since it’s my fantasy, I was looking for someone friendlier, a little more trusting, a little less sassy, and what was the last thing? Oh, yeah. Someone who actually likes me. But don’t feel bad—you nailed the physical profile,” I say with a wink.
“Stop being a jerk and help me,” she says, and then softens her tone. “Please?”
I uncross my arms and rest my hands on my hips. I’m pretty sure she already regrets that last comment, but I can’t stop now. “Look, princess. I’m a lot of things, but a jerk isn’t one of them. And don’t worry; I’m sure someone else will find you soon. A hungry cannibal—or Roxy. And I’m starting to think you and her might make a good team. The pity-party duo. She’s hateful, complains constantly, and she’s also a member of the ‘I hate Dax club’, just like you.”
I turn my back on her again and take a step.
“Wait! I don’t hate you. Please don’t leave me. I’m sorry.”
I’m a sucker for apologies but when I turn to face her, I can’t resist putting one hand behind my ear and tilting my head.
“I’m really sorry,” she says again. “For running away and being so grumpy.” I wait for more, and she grits her teeth. “And for not listening to you.”
This is the part where I know she expects me to jump to her rescue, but I lean against a tree with a cocky grin and pull a banana from my pocket. She stares while I peel it, take a bite, and chew slowly. I’m savoring the fruit but also my triumph in having the upper hand.
“Aren’t you going to help me?” she finally asks with a hint of worry.
“I’m still debating. If I leave you here, at least I’ll know where you are and won’t have to worry about you running off. I could even build a little hut around you and toss you food and water now and then. You’d be a lot less trouble that way.”
“Very funny,” she says, but I think it is and I can’t keep from laughing.
~About the Author~
Shannon L. Maynard lives in Colorado with her five girls where she is a legal assistant by day and an author by night. In between working and writing she can be found driving kids to soccer, folding mountains of pink laundry, or eating her weight in chocolate. Other addictions include shoe shopping, reading YA, and Australian and British accents (which may be partly to blame for her massive crush on Thor). If she had one wish it would be for more hours in the day to spend enjoying all of the above. Okay, everything except the laundry.
Shannon studied art and criminology before getting a license in cosmetology, but eventually wound up an expert daydreamer; a skill that occasionally leads to getting lost while driving, but has been a huge asset to her love for writing. Her debut novel WICKED LUCK is set to release June 2015 and is the first book in the Wicked Luck Trilogy.
Crimson Tree Publishing Links:
(an adult division of Clean Teen)
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
- A bookmark swag pack and winner’s choice of any Clean Teen Publishing eBook.
Giveaway is International.
Day Parker 