Showcasing Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice (Faerie Song Trilogy)

 

Blurb/Synopsis:

Adventure wasn’t something Lorelei Alundra was interested in. Gifted with two otherworldly talents for singing and healing, she’s always shied away from her gifts and the spotlight, preferring quiet anonymity, over attention and fame. But when she meets the enigmatic Adrius, with his dark and dangerous mystique and eyes that peer into her soul, her uneventful life becomes irrevocably altered.

Adrius turns up in every one of her classes and knows more about her than any newcomer should. Including the condition of her mother who is suffering from a mysterious illness. Accepting his offer to help leads her into a terrifying and thrilling world, where Elves are even hotter than Legolas, and Faeries.... are nothing like Tinkerbell. Lose the butterfly wings and add a tattoo. The two magical beings are fire and ice opposites. One Lorelei can’t help falling for, and the other she's compelled to be with.

Now she’s trapped in their world, expected to prevent a war between witches and faeries, or forfeit her mother’s life. Nothing is what it seems. Not her family. Not the Fey. Not even Adrius, whose feelings for her balance precariously between danger and desire.

As secrets unravel and unsettling truths are revealed, Lorelei must fight to save much more than her mother’s life. One mistake could put the fate of his world— and her soul, in jeopardy.

But hey, no pressure… right.

Book Links:

Goodreads

Purchase Links:
Amazon Kindle US| Amazon Kindle UK | Barnes and Noble| Kobo| Smashwords

 

Tour Wide Giveaway:

The Giveaway Prize will be a Gift box with the following:

• one ebook copy of Fire & Ice - Kindle or ePUB  (will not be in the box)
• one bottle of Fire & Ice nail polish
• one candle with Fire & Ice charm
• one mini book key ring
• one Lemon Balm Cafe charm
• one Fire & Ice bookmark
• one $15.00 Amazon gift card

 

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Author Bio:

 

 

 

Michele Barrow-Belisle is chocoholic author and artist living in southern Ontario, Canada with her super-sweet husband, brilliant son and a ridiculously affectionate cat. Often told by teachers to stop dreaming and get her head out of the clouds, Michele still spends much of her time lost in make-believe worlds, populated with fascinating and occasionally terrifying characters. Her passion for fantasy extends beyond her writing into her clay figure sculpt-ing, creating miniaturized replicas of the paranormal beings she writes about. Michele is as passionate about reading as she is about writing. When she’s not reading or writing, she can be found sculpting tiny fairy desserts in polymer clay. She also loves mocha lattes and watching fireflies at twilight. Did we mention she loves chocolate?

 



Author Links:

 Amazon |Blog| Facebook| Facebook Author Page| Goodreads| Twitter| Website

Spotlight for Broken Symmetry

Title: Broken Symmetry

Author: Dan Rix

Publisher: Burning Ember Press

Date of Publication: July 28, 2013

Genre: YA sci-fi

 

 

Book Blurb:

Eleven months after the father of sixteen-year-old Blaire Adams vanished without a trace, he's found wandering outside The Scripps Research Institute vomiting blood and speaking gibberish, his sole possession a worn leather diary filled with an unrecognizable language. He has a message for her.

As he dies in her arms, he claims he never vanished. She vanished.

In a nearby military quarantine zone, scientists are being called in from around the world to sequence a previously unknown strain of DNA. Scientists…and soldiers.

When her father’s autopsy reveals a rare chromosomal disorder—a disorder, it turns out, she inherited—Blaire begins to suspect her father’s last words weren’t induced by amnesia. Like her dad, she has an additional set of instructions in her genes—instructions for what, doctors can’t say. Only one thing is certain: it’s what killed him…and it will kill her too.

But now she’s haunted by prophetic nightmares of the Yellowjacket—a young murderer, eyes the black of charcoal, who lures his victims to suicide without ever paying them a visit. The only clue she has to his handiwork is a lingering feeling of déjà vu. That, and the nagging suspicion that all she knows is a mirage. She is certain of two things—though it may mean confiding in the wrong side of good and evil, he has the answers she needs.

And he is recruiting her.

 

Goodreads link:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18334136-broken-symmetry?ac=1

Purchase links:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E7VD6D6

 

Book Excerpt:

I woke up drenched in sweat.

Orange light poured through the cracks in the blinds, igniting the walls and tinting the air crimson. My bedroom shimmered.

It was light from the street.

I dashed to the blinds and lifted the corner to peek outside—and the blast of heat made my eyes water.

Fire.

A house across the road and two lots up.

Flames exploded from the windows and slithered up the walls and burst into the sky. Above the house, a rising column of red haze bled into the fog.

But it was the scene in front of the house that sent prickles through my heart.

My neighbor was on his knees, begging for mercy.

A boy stood over him.

A boy in a yellow leather jacket, not much older than I was, leveling a gun at the man’s forehead.

At his side a can of kerosene spilled the last of its contents into the grass, and behind him a yellow Ford Mustang GT with a black racing stripe growled on the lawn.

Yellow and black.

Like a hornet.

Finally the distant whine of police sirens cut through the roar, the sound of safety and protection. Of civilization. I let myself breathe again. Thank God—

A flash, the boy’s arm recoiled.

The gunshot echoed up and down the street, and my neighbor keeled over, his lips still pleading for mercy.

I gasped, clutching my mouth to stifle it.

The boy holstered his weapon and peered up at the burning building with a lazy smile.

I couldn’t help it anymore. A shriek escaped my cupped hands.

And despite the deafening roar of the flames, despite the scream of the sirens, despite the double-paned tempered glass windows my father had installed for my protection, the boy heard.

His back muscles flexed, straining against the tight leather. He swung around, and from a hundred feet away his coal black eyes locked on mine.

It was like he reached right into me and gripped my heart. I dropped the blinds and backed against the wall, shivering and wheezing for air. My skin buzzed with fear, and I could hear it ringing in my ears, louder and louder.

Like hornets.

About Dan Rix:

 

Dan Rix lives in Santa Barbara, California with his fiancée, paranormal romance author Laura Thalassa. He started writing his first novel in college while procrastinating his architecture studio work.

Blog: http://www.danrixauthor.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanRixAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanRixAuthor



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The Billionaire Banker

The Billionaire Banker - Release Week Blitz

By Georgia Le Carre

Contemporary Romance

Date Published: 10/18/2013

When Lana Bloom learns the devastating news that her mother is dying, she is faced with a terrible dilemma.  The one thing that can save her is the one thing she does not have.  For young and innocent Lana, the unthinkable becomes her only choice.

But when she walks through the door of that exclusive restaurant she has no idea of the seismic shift her life is about to take, for the highest bidder will not be the rich man she has accompanied.  Fate drops her at the feet of the deeply mysterious and dazzlingly gorgeous American banker, Blake Law Barrington.  Throbbing with raw masculinity and arrogance, this is a man who owns all that he pursues.

And now he wants her.

Lana cannot deny she is both intrigued and intoxicated by the world Blake inhabits and the smouldering passion he stirs in her body, but she is also fearful for this man is addictive, and right now she is very vulnerable.  She knows she should focus only on the arrangement, but how can she…when he has opened a door that cannot be closed?

EXCERPT

‘Have you read Fifty Shades Of Grey?’

Lana looks into Rupert’s mean, pale eyes.  ‘No, but isn’t it about a sick man who abuses his lover?’

‘Perhaps it is not a sickness, but a matter of taste.’

‘Is that what you want from me?’

‘In a manner of speaking.  What I really like is taking a woman by force.  A dangerous activity likely to end me behind bars, so I am willing to settle for consensual rape.  You will meet me in parks and alleyways, or I will pick you up in my car from a street corner and you will pretend to resist while I overpower you and rape you.  There will be a bit of pain and sometimes it will involve a little bleeding, but I will never mark your face or leave any permanent scars.  And when I am finished I will leave you in the gutter to make your own way back.  Would that be acceptable to you?’

Shocked to her core, Lana hears her own voice as if from far away say, ‘How many times would you expect this…service from me?’

‘Let’s say five times?’

She feels as if she is a stick-figured bird precariously perched on a thin wire.  Rupert’s face is frozen into a cold mask.  A businessman to the end.  Ten thousand must be the going price.  The champagne has made her feel quite light-headed.  He is waiting for something from her. He has already figured that her body is her last option.  Can she really agree to let someone rape her?  Unable to speak she nods.

‘Perhaps I should let you lick the brim to taste the poison,’ he murmurs, and moves closer to her.  Instinctively, she takes a step back on her tall shoes, and if not for the solid wall against her back, would have fallen.  With the trailing fronds of a palm tree and his big body hiding her from the party his hand comes up to pinch her right nipple.  So hard she gasps in shock and pain.  He takes that opportunity to crash down on her open mouth, bumps his teeth against her lips, and pokes a pointy, muscular tongue into her mouth.  His tongue tastes coppery and bitter. 

Copious amounts of saliva pour into her mouth making her want to gag.   The oysters she has not eaten but watched him eat flash into her mind.  His tongue feels slimy and dirty.  She wants to brush her teeth, rinse, spit, and rinse again with the extra-strong mouthwash that her father used to have in the bathroom cabinet.  She truly needs to go somewhere and be sick, but pinned tightly by his strong ox-like body to the wall she finds herself totally unable to move.  She feels his hand force itself between her thighs and slide up quickly.  His rough, sausages-like fingers are already grasping the rim of her knickers and pushing the material aside.  And there is not a single thing she can do about it.  Tears gather at the backs of her eyes and begin to roll down her face. 

Suddenly he removes his mouth and looks down at her.  Her face is white with horror and she is gasping for breath.  He brings up a hand and touches her face.  Her distress seems to please him. Her suffering is his pleasure.  She is playing the part perfectly.  If she had enjoyed it, it would have spoilt it for him.

‘For most part the symptoms of excitement and fear are so similar most men cannot tell the difference.  I can,’ he whispers close to her ear, his thick fingers moving into the folds of her flesh.  ‘I am going to finger-fuck you amongst all these high and mighty people and none of them will ever know.’

She is filled with loathing for him.  Her brain scrambles for escape. Desperately, she pushes the palms of her hands against his chest.  The nausea threatens at her throat.  She must be sick  ‘I need the toilet,’ she gasps. 

He hesitates for a second and then he smiles.  It is the smile of a man who is too pleased with himself.  ‘It’s not very posh to say toilet.  This lot call it the loo.  Go on, then,’ he says, and steps aside. 

The first thing her shocked, ashamed eyes meet is Blake.  There is a blonde in a long red dress wrapped around him, but he is staring at Lana with an expression that she cannot fathom.

Buy Link
Amazon

Georgia Le Carre

Author Bio:

Georgia Le Carre lives in England, in an old 19th century romantic cottage surrounded by a magical garden filled with fruit and walnut trees.

When she is not feeding words into her laptop, she is either curled up in bed with a box of chocolates and a good read, or lost in a long walk in the woods. Especially on moonlit nights.  And often with the man of her dreams.

This Release Blitz is brought to you by Reading Addiction Book Tours

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Double Cover Reveal

Double Cover Reveal:  Today we are revealing the covers for the Forever & Always Series by E.L. Todd!

Genre of the Series: New Adult and College; Contemporary Romance; Coming of Age; Romantic Suspense.

Only For You Synopsis:

When Scarlet realized Penelope was dumping Sean, her best friend, she was devastated. Penelope was the love of his life, the woman of his dreams. Scarlet knew how far her best friend was going to fall and she had to catch him. Scarlet became Sean’s rock and helped him through a very painful breakup, but her own hidden desires bubbled to the surface in the process. When they finally gave in and slept together, she thought it was the start of their new relationship. Unfortunately, Sean didn’t feel the same.

Humiliated and heartbroken, Scarlet moved across the country and found what she least expected. She rekindled her damaged relationship with her brother, who she hadn’t spoken to in a year, and her brother’s best friend was attractive and interesting. Their relationship was natural and unforced, and she was immediately drawn to him. Would she be able to get over Sean, forget about him, by sleeping with Cortland, or would that just be another repeated mistake?

ADD it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18666527-only-for-you

Forever and Always Synopsis:

Now that Sean and Scarlet are together, Scarlet couldn't be happier. They were meant for each other and would make any sacrifice to be together. With her greatest friend as her new lover, their relationship was perfect. But when Sean asks her to move back to New York, she hesitates. She doesn't want to leave her brother after finally reconnecting with him so they agree to make the coast-to-coast trip every weekend. Scarlet wants Sean to move to Seattle but she knows he can't leave his job for her. Scarlet fears that Sean still loves Penelope even though she never questions him about it. When Penelope shows up at Sean's apartment pregnant and penniless, Sean has to decide what he really wants. Will a baby interfere with the happiness that Scarlet has recently found?

ADD it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18666539-forever-and-always

Author Bio

E. L. Todd was raised in California where she attended California State University, Stanislaus and received her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences, then continued onto her master’s degree in education. While science is interesting and a hobby, her passion is writing. After writing novels as a small child, her craft grew until she found the confidence to show her closest friends—which is how Only For You, the first installment of the Forever and Always series, and the Soul Saga series began. When she isn’t reading or writing, she is listening to indie rock music. Her current favorite artist is Mumford and Sons, whom she credits most of her inspiration for her novels. She also enjoys running and swimming, as well as working as a high school teacher. She also works as an assistant editor at Final-Edits.com. She has an unusual obsession with dogs, even though she doesn’t own one, and her favorite vacation spot is Disneyland, which she visits several times a year. The most important aspect of her life is her friends, whom contributed so much time and energy into all of her novels. According to E. L. Todd, “Without them, Only For You and Soul Catcher never would have come to fruition. I am theirs forever.”

Links:

Soul Saga: http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Catcher-Saga-ebook/dp/B00EM3RB6C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380830132&sr=8-1&keywords=Soul+Catcher

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006476920251

Twitter: @ELTODD42

Tempest

 

Title: Tempest

Series: The Destroyers (#1)

Author: Holly Hook

FREE on Amazon

Purchase on B&N

***This is the first book of the Destroyers Series, a five-book young adult fantasy series that is now completed.***

 

Sixteen-year-old Janelle knows something's not right with her father when they move to their new home in Florida. He refuses to evacuate them from the coast when a hurricane bears down on them, despite the fact that all their neighbors have gone. Even worse, it seems like there's something he wants to tell her, something terrifying, but he's not quite opening up. Then Janelle's life flips upside down when a teenage boy, Gary, materializes out of the storm right in front of her. He bears a strange marking on his arm, a gray spiral that matches the one she was born with. Perhaps her strange birthmark means something after all. But when she points out Gary's mark to her father, he refuses to speak more about it. It's up to Janelle to find the truth about the connection she and Gary share. When she tracks Gary down again and discovers it, it's far more terrifying than she could ever imagine: she and Gary share a powerful, deadly curse. Worse, learning the truth is only the start of Janelle's horrifying adventure into a world she had never imagined.

***Tempest (#1 Destroyers Series) is a 2010 Amazon Breatkthrough Novel Awards Semifinalist in the Young Adult category***
"Meteorology may seem an odd literary motivation, but this novel puts weather at the center of a solid young adult fantasy-adventure."--Publishers Weekly
***Books 2-5 of the Destroyers Series are now available*** Inferno (#2 Destroyers Series) Outbreak (#3 Destroyers Series) Frostbite (#4 Destroyers Series) Ancient (#5 Destroyers Series)

Teaser

Chapter One

This was almost certainly the end. Janelle's breath caught in her throat. Outside the bay window of their new home, mountains of black clouds lumbered through the sky. The wind screamed, threatening to blast out the glass at any second or send a piece of debris shooting straight at them. And all through it, her father stood and watched, hands folded behind his back. “Dad, get away from the window. I'm begging you. We’ve got to get out of here. Didn't you hear what the cops were blasting when the drove through earlier?" Her father turned, and he was smiling of all things. It was the opposite of what she felt, and it made zero amount of sense. No one should be smiling in a situation like this, except for people with a death wish, and her father didn't strike her as the type. “Isn’t this exciting? I want you to see this.” Rain beat against the house, adding to the roar that filled the world. The roof creaked like it wanted to peel off and fly away. Every single bush and tree in their yard bent over as if pointing them back to Michigan, to the sanity they'd left behind. To her best friend, Leslie, who was no doubt thinking she'd come to a sunny paradise, gawking at shirtless guys at the beach instead of trying to huddle away from a full-blown hurricane. Janelle bit her lip, hugging herself. It was all a dream. It had to be. It was one of those nightmares where only she could see the danger, and her father wouldn't listen to her, like the one she'd had about him setting up camp above quicksand back in junior high. She’d wake up soon in her real life, go to school, and attend her Math Whiz meeting at her normal school. Any minute now she’d— Snap. A tree fell across the street with a sound like gunfire. Her heart thudded as she moved behind the couch, closer to the glow of the television. At least it could protect her a little if the window blew out. “Please. I want to go to the shelter.” It was getting harder and harder to keep her cool. And her sanity, for that matter. How was any normal person supposed to endure this? Footsteps approached. Eyes shining, her dad spoke in an even voice, the one he reserved for work conversations on the phone and lectures about working hard in school. “We’re completely safe, Janelle. I’ve been through this before. Just enjoy it. You’d never have this experience back up north. This is nature’s most powerful storm.” Behind him, a piece of sheet metal cut through the rain and somersaulted its way down the street. Did he really expect her to enjoy this? Sure, he'd grown up in Florida, but that should only make him understand how dangerous this whole situation was. Their new neighbors seemed to. The rest of the houses on the street were vacated, lights off and driveways empty. “Exactly. Dad, why won't you explain this to me? If you've been through this before, you should know what can happen.” Something was way, way wrong here. Her dad was always Mr. Careful. He'd even made her wear knee pads when she rode her bike up until middle school. She fell silent, waiting for his response. Her father ground his shoe into the floor, watching it with great interest as if he'd been caught doing something illegal. The storm continued to roar outside, sending a fresh wave of creaks across the roof. There was one last option. Sucking in a breath, she dodged through a canyon of moving boxes to the TV, fighting down panic. “Look. We’re running out of time.” A weatherman pointed to a green and yellow radar mess behind him, rambling on about storm surges and wind speeds. The eye of Hurricane Gary twisted closer to shore, and their new home, Palm Grove, stood right in its path. “See?” A dry lump formed in her throat as Hurricane Gary vanished and an angry red border appeared on the coast. Something about where the surge would be at its worst, and Palm Grove was right in the middle of it. Every horrible image of storm damage and flooding she'd seen on TV flashed through her head. Water rising inside buildings. Roofs flying off houses. “What if this ends up like Hurricane Andrina where like, nine hundred people drowned? We could die if we stay here!” Click. Her dad had turned off the TV. “Honey, you need to control your emotions. Don't let them scare you. They’ll only tell you the bad stuff on TV. Hurricanes are actually really cool. They play an important role in—” “I don’t want to hear it.” Someone must have slipped something into her dad's coffee this morning. Janelle ran into the kitchen and swept an avalanche of papers off the table in search of the car keys. It wasn't time for a science lesson. She could read up about hurricanes later if she wanted. If she had to drive to the shelter with her learner’s permit, so be it. “Where’re the keys?” “I’ve got them.” Her dad fiddled with his shirt sleeve, not looking at her. In fact, he wasn't even looking at the storm outside anymore. A car alarm went off somewhere across the street. So much for the tantrum. So much for the TV. Janelle sucked in a breath and kept her voice level, holding down the scream rising inside her. “Please. Why are you acting so weird?” Her father’s gaze slowly dropped to the floor. He sunk to the couch like an old man, patting the cushion next to him. “O…okay. Come sit down, Janelle. We’re not in danger, and I’ll tell you why.” A loud rap on the door made her jump back against the fridge. Now what—had a branch hit it? Or a tree? But the banging came again, louder than before. “Open up! Police!” “Thank god,” Janelle said, running for the door. Someone with some sanity was going to get them out of here. She tripped over a box and sent her collection of stuffed sea animals sprawling across the floor. The sea star she'd had since she was eight. The beanie crab. The killer whale Leslie had won out of the claw machine for her on her sixteenth birthday. The sight of it sent a brief pang through her gut--they might not see any of this again--but she forced her way past with her dad on her heels, yanking open the door. The storm blasted in, tossing the papers off the table and swirling them in the air. A man in a dripping yellow rain slicker stood on the porch, bracing himself against the wind, and a black police car had parked next to her father’s truck. It looked like a chariot sent from the heavens. “What are you still doing here?” he asked her father, eyes dark and narrow. “You’re under a mandatory order to evacuate. This could all flood when the surge comes in. We can’t come out and help you once it gets too bad. There’s a shelter five miles inland at the high school. You need to follow me there.” “I’m in. Thanks,” Janelle said. “We’re fine, sir—” her dad started. Janelle reached out and took his arm. Now wasn't the time to let him be in charge. “No, we’re not.” “Mister,” the cop spoke with the voice that could have stopped a rhinoceros in its tracks. At the same time, his pupils opened with the same confusion she felt. “Do you care about your daughter’s safety? We’re taking her whether or not you decide to come.” Her father bit his lip, staring at the wall beside the door for a second. “All right. Let’s go.” The officer waved them out into the curtains of rain. Janelle let the relief flood through her limbs, until her father urged her out into it. Immediately, a stray gust nearly knocked her skinny legs out from under her. Her dad’s truck blinked its headlights as he jabbed the remote to unlock it. “Now!” he said. Freedom. Safety. She'd live to make friends at this new school after all, and maybe even invite Leslie down when spring break came along. Head down against the stinging rain, she charged for the silver truck. Wind whipped her hair into her face and mouth as if trying to push her back into that nightmare. There was no way she was going to let it. Her dad yanked the door open, staring hard at her through the watery beads on his glasses. “In!” It was the first thing he'd said today she agreed with. Janelle seized the door and pulled herself into the truck. Dripping, she spat out strands of blond hair. A blur in the rain, her father struggled against the wind as he made his way to the driver’s side door. He climbed in, bringing half a lake with him. Maybe now he’d realize what a bad idea staying home would have been. “You okay?” Janelle asked, fighting back a sarcastic comment and soaking the cool rain off her arms with her shirt. But getting drenched running to the truck beat the alternative. He wiped off his glasses and put the key in the ignition. “Of course. Just got a little wet.” You could’ve gotten killed, she wanted to say. But she bit in the comment. They were getting out of here. That was all that was important. She didn't even care what happened to the house she'd spent only one night in. Tomorrow, her dad would apologize for acting so strange today. The police car backed out of the driveway. Her father revved the truck up as a palm frond flew off a thrashing tree and plastered itself to the windshield. Streetlights blinked out, casting the street in an even more darkness. They’d finally lost power. Janelle let out a slow breath. “We should’ve left hours ago.” The police car led the way past a row of houses and the fallen tree. The truck swayed against the wind as it followed. A metal piece of something blew across the street ahead. Meanwhile, her father tapped the steering wheel with one hand, driving as if they were still on the road trip down here. Maybe he was just too fatigued from the move to think straight. There had to be an explanation for this. She swallowed, studying the streams of rain marching across her window and the slogans on plywood-covered windows. Get lost, Gary. Gary was here. Get out of town, Gary. She couldn’t agree with them more. The rain managed to beat down harder, until Janelle could only make out red and blue lights ahead. Her father braked twice to avoid trash cans in the street, clicking his tongue in annoyance the second time. Janelle glanced at him, but not so much as one stress wrinkle had appeared at the corner of his mouth. “How can you not be scared right now?” His gaze flickered down to her bare arm. “You shouldn’t have worn a tank top. Here. Cover up your birthmark.” He reached over and took their cheap first aid kit out of the glove compartment. “People might think you’ve got a rotten sense of humor if you don’t.” “We’re driving in a hurricane, and you’re worried about this?” Janelle held up her arm to show her birthmark, realizing he was dodging her question. The two-inch-wide spiral had been there since the day she was born. Her father had always told her it was special for some reason. To her, it looked weird and gave people something to stare at. And now the sight of it sent a little shudder over her skin. It didn’t look that different from the hurricane diagrams she’d seen on TV earlier, and it even had a dark spot in the middle that someone could mistake for an eye. Okay. Maybe he did have a point. She dug through the kit for the biggest bandage she could find and slapped it over the mark as if it were a badge of shame. Yeah, this’ll go over great in Florida. “The school should be coming up.” He turned down a side street. “I’m sure they’re still using the same building since I went there.” “Good,” she breathed. It was hard to believe she'd be attending her father's old school in only days. She still couldn't understand why he'd moved her here, other than nostalgia and that new job offer. His parents had died a long time ago and he was an only child, and none of his old friends had even spoken to him much since he'd moved up to Michigan to marry her mother. Did he just want her to believe all the stories he'd told her about his most annoying English teachers and the secret door in the storage room where everybody snuck back through to smoke? Somehow, she didn't think so. A curtain of rain moved aside, leaving the road ahead clear for a second. One of the telephone poles ahead of them listed slowly towards the pavement. A fist of panic squeezed Janelle's insides. The pole didn't look stable. Like it might-- The cruiser passed it safely, but her father started to hum as he drove after it and closer to the descending pole. He hadn’t noticed it. Janelle grabbed the sides of her seat. “Um…” It was all she could manage. With a great roar of wind, the pole lurched down, wires whipping overhead like hungry snakes. Her father slammed the brakes, but the truck screeched and went into a skid. “Dad!” Janelle broke her paralysis and raised her hands as the pole descended. It was all over. Done. She'd never see any sunny beaches or watch any lifeguards after all. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the impact. It never came. She lowered her hands, unable to believe the sight only feet away. "What the--" The telephone pole had stopped falling feet above them and now trembled against a burst of wind…a burst going in the opposite direction as it had before. There was no holding back her panic now. “Go!” Janelle slapped the dashboard so hard her palms stung, barely noticing her father sitting there, staring and muttering something under his breath. With the squealing of tires, the truck lurched forward. Janelle twisted around in time to see the pole fall to the street as if released by a tired giant, dragging its wires with it. Sparks shot up from the ground and died. “That was way too close.” She folded her arms to keep them from shuddering, but it wasn't doing any good. “Yeah, we’re completely safe.” Her father turned up the air conditioning and smiled, of all things. “Please, take a deep breath and calm down. We’ll be fine. I know these storms.” “Know these storms? What’s wrong with you, Dad? This isn’t making any sense.” He said nothing to this. Janelle leaned against the window to get as far as she could from him, trying to hide the flare of anger shooting up inside her. This demanded answers, but she swallowed her words, eyeing the road ahead. It would have to wait until later, when she calmed down. She just wanted to get inside that shelter, now. The cruiser led them down a third street, one free of telephone poles. A yellow sign emerged from the rain. Palm Grove High School. They’d made it. Another soaking later, Janelle burst through the double doors and into a hallway lined with families on blankets who remained silent as she came through. A string of emergency lamps lined one wall, casting an eerie light on all the huddled families around them. Her father pulled her to his side as they walked down a crowded hall and around blankets. She thought about ducking out of his grasp and getting away from him. Like other side of the school away. After his display, all she wanted was time alone to think. “You can sit over here.” An old man in a brimmed garden hat rolled a blanket across the floor as they approached. “But maybe you should dry off first.” Janelle shook off her dad’s arm, taking a towel the old man was holding out. It hung down to her feet as she dried off. Shooting the man the most grateful look she could, she took a seat on the blanket and leaned against the wall. She’d never dreamt her first week in Florida would be anything near this lousy.

* * * * *

An hour passed and the howling outside only got louder, gusts making the sides of the school whistle and groan. Children started to shift on their blankets while their parents held them close. One little boy asked for some cheese puffs and kicked the blanket when his mother said she’d left them out in the van. And meanwhile, her father remained silent, staring at the wall opposite him. Whatever he'd wanted to tell her back at the house, it was gone now, and it wasn't the time to ask him and start an argument around all these people. Janelle plucked her silver dolphin necklace from under her tank top, rolling it in her fingers as she focused on its tiny smile. It had belonged to her mother, before a patch of black ice and a tree had taken her life in a car accident when Janelle was two. She closed her eyes, holding onto one of the only memories she had of her, the one of her mother leading her around the yard, letting her pick up the Easter eggs hidden in the grass. For a moment, it drove out the wind and rain beating on the roof. The dolphin’s fins poked into her fingers after a while, so she let the necklace fall against her chest. The memory blew away in a fresh gust against the building, one strong enough to make something hit the doors outside. Their new house might not look good when they went back, especially since her father hadn't taken a step to board up any windows or even put tape across them, like they were supposed to do. Water might even be rising around it as she was sitting here, like with Hurricane Andrina six years ago. The pictures on the news of roofs peeking up from floodwater and bodies under sheets had plagued her nightmares when she was ten. But Andrina had been a Category Five, and this storm was a Two. It wasn’t the same, right? The sinking feeling in her stomach didn’t agree. “So, just moved to Florida? I saw you taking stuff out of a moving truck yesterday.” Flinching, she faced the old man who’d lent her the towel, feeling bad for forgetting to thank him. “Yeah.” Then she added, loud enough for her father to hear, “We could have hung out at a motel for a couple more days, though.” “Yes. Now wasn’t the best time to move in.” The man removed his hat and addressed her father. “So, what brings you here?” “No jobs up in Michigan,” he said. “I grew up here in Palm Grove, but when she was a baby—” he pointed to Janelle—“my wife wanted to move north to help her parents. But I got a job offer down here last month.” “Where at?” the old man asked. “I’m starting at an insurance place next month. They need a programmer.” “Sounds like a good job. Say, I never caught your name.” “Lucas Duvall. This is my daughter, Janelle.” Her father shook hands with the old man. “Name’s Ed. I think I live across from you.” The wind outside stopped as if choked off. The battering rain on the roof ebbed away. Heads perked up and the drips from the ceiling came down with a little less intensity than before. Janelle expected another gust to hit the building, but it never came. The storm couldn’t be done already. “It sounds like it's over.” The kid who'd asked for the cheese puffs stood and peered at the doors. Janelle let her shoulders slump. It seemed like he was right. A sliver of pale sunlight hit the brick wall near a trophy case, only to disappear a second later. Cheese Puff Boy looked and down the hall for his mom, who’d walked past Janelle to the bathroom a minute before. The weather radio droned away, and she wanted to kick herself for not remembering such a basic fact. It seemed to get louder and louder in her ears, making the tension seize her neck and raise her shoulders again. “Gary has made landfall in the Palm Grove area and has weakened to a Category One storm with estimated winds of up to eighty miles per hour. It is expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm very soon. As of now, it is headed west at ten miles per hour.” Murmurs flowed up and down the crowded hall, but the kid didn't seem to notice. He was too hungry, too oblivious. Bunching up his blanket, he started for the door. “Um…” Ed raised a finger. Janelle’s stomach lurched. This wasn’t good, but she was closest to the door. This was all hers. “No!” She shot up and bolted for the doors as the kid disappeared through them, out into the deceptive calm. “It’s not over. It’s the e—” "Janelle, let me go," her father demanded, his words night to the day he'd been speaking in on the way here. She ignored him, jumping over one of the lamps with an arm outstretched and ramming her body into the door as it closed. The door flew open so fast that it banged against the wall of the school. The sound drowned out the footfalls of her father and from the sounds of it, half of the hallway coming after her. The air outside was damp, still. Thin clouds stretched and floated overhead. Ponds had replaced parking spaces, and leaves stuck to the windshields of every vehicle. Somewhere down the street, a power line hung low over the pavement. "Kid!" she yelled, scanning the lot. Babysitting wouldn't be a career choice for her. At least, not for kids like this. There he was. Hands on the door of the nearest van, tugging in frustration. He stared at her, but didn't move. The clouds continued to roll overhead. They might only have a few minutes before the other side of the storm hit. There was no time for diplomacy. "Janelle--" her father started behind her, all no-arguments. He hadn't listened to her earlier. Why should she listen to him now? “Come back in. Now.” Janelle lunged forward and took the kid's wrist. “I'm telling your mother what you did." She prepared for protests. Screaming. Arguing. Not this. “Ow!” The boy thrashed, his voice a genuine scream of pain. He thrashed against her grip as it rang in her ears. “You’re hurting my arm! Let go!” Janelle watched her hand as it came open, freeing the kid's wrist. It looked unhurt. Unbroken. How could she have hurt him? She hadn't even held onto him that hard. The boy rubbed his arm, staring up at her with wet eyes. They widened at her as if she was some sort of freak. Janelle could feel the sweat forming around her brow line in his gaze. Had she really hurt him? It was impossible. “You okay?” The kid ran through the small crowd of people around the doors and vanished into the school, leaving a sick feeling that slowly bloomed inside of her. A lone raindrop hit her on the forehead. “Let’s get back in.” Her father emerged from the bodies around her, gray eyes wide with concern. “Be a bit more careful with your strength next time.” “What strength?” Janelle held up her bony arms, trying to shake off the unease inside her, hoping that her dad couldn't see the worry ready to burst out of her in the form of tears. Nothing like that had happened before, and nothing else made sense. She turned to go back inside, but sudden movement in the middle of the parking lot caught her eye. A vortex of mist and water spun between an SUV and her father’s silver truck, shimmering in the pale light and not making a sound. Janelle leapt back as her heart stopped. A tornado. That’s what it was. She’d read that hurricanes could spawn them. But this one was eight feet high and the sky was still a calm gray. It was all so… Weird. “By golly. What is that?” Ed appeared at her side and stood with his mouth dropping open. “Dad?” She backed right into him. “Janelle, inside. Now.” Her father pulled on her shoulder. The dictator was back. “I said go!” She couldn’t move or look away. Her mind raced around, searching for an explanation. The vortex tightened and spun faster, spraying droplets on the surrounding cars like a sprinkler in July. Maybe a water main had blown loose or something. Or the winds had come together just right over a puddle and-- The vortex exploded, sending water to the ground in all directions. Gasps shot up from the crowd. An army of droplets flew right at her, splattering over her skin and re-soaking her clothes. She blinked them away to look for the cause. A teenage boy of fifteen or sixteen stood right where the vortex had spun a moment before. She blinked, trying to make sure she was seeing this right. If Janelle was soaked, this guy was drowned. Stringy black hair stuck to the back of his scalp and his purple T-shirt clung to his skin as he wobbled in place like a newborn calf. He raised a dripping arm, reaching for something to hold onto. His palm flopped down on the windshield of the truck, but to no avail. He let out a sound like a dying horse, tumbling to the pavement with a thud. “Oh, my god,” a woman cried out from the doorway. Janelle looked back at the people gathered behind her. Nobody moved. Ed stared with huge eyes while her father swallowed. It was just like that story she'd heard about in school, about people just standing around waiting for someone else to go help the person getting murdered in a parking lot. What was it called? The bystander effect. “What are you waiting for? Someone else to help him?” Janelle rushed towards the body on the ground. She’d try to figure out what she’d seen later. Now they needed to get this kid inside before the other side of the hurricane hit. Janelle squatted down in a puddle of water and seized his limp left arm, curling her fingers into his wrist. A strong, steady pulse beat underneath his skin. This guy was just unconscious. Thank God. She let out a huge sigh of relief. “He’s alive. Help me get him up.” Janelle made to hook her hand under his armpit while a reedy man kneeled down to get his other arm. The drenched guy coughed; his purple sleeve crept up as she helped tug him to his feet. Janelle froze in place and stared at the arm just inches from her face. No, it couldn’t be. But it was. He had a familiar grayish birthmark just below his shoulder. A birthmark in the shape of a spiral.

Check out the blurb for the spin off series from The Destroyers, Twisted!

Twisted (A Destroyers Novel)

Sixteen-year-old Allie isn’t like other girls. Instead of spending her summer break sitting around on the beach, she takes the epic vacation of a lifetime.

Tornado chasing.

And she’s not disappointed. Just a few miles from the town of Evansburg, Nebraska, Allie meets her dream of seeing a tornado. In person. She can’t wait to tell her friends back home. Never mind that her parents are going to kill her.

But her dream soon turns into a nightmare, and a strange event leaves her shocked. Confused. When she returns home to Wisconsin, something’s…different. Allie now bears a curse so awful, it could destroy everyone and everything she’s ever known.

With her best friend, Tommy, Allie must return to the plains to find a way to reverse it. She enters a world that she had never imagined, where she becomes a pawn in a fight to save the people of Evansburg from her fate…or to destroy them.

Twisted is set to release December 15, 2013

About Holly Hook

 

 

Holly Hook is the author of the Destroyers Series, which consists of five young adult books about teens who are walking disasters...literally. She is also the author of the Rita Morse series, a young adult fantasy series still in progress, and After These Messages, a short ya comedy. Currently she is writing Twisted, a spin-off of the Destroyers Series due out in December. When not writing, she enjoys reading books for teens, especially ya fantasy and paranormal series with a unique twist.

Website

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Cover Reveal for Jellybean Kisses

Jellybean Kisses - First love is the sweetest.

In kindergarten, Jax pulled out a chair for Jacey and swept the play dough off so that she would sit down next to him and he's been carving out ways for them to stick together ever since.  Though everyone in their conservative, small beach town sees them as a couple, except it isn't true. They've never done anything officially coupley, no dates, no kisses, no sex.  Getting together for real just seemed so huge, and it always felt like they had forever. So they waited. 

And then Hurricane Sandy came and life suddenly seemed less sure, more fragile. Jacey's house was destroyed, Jax's was damaged and life in their town changed completely.   As they rebuild their lives, Jacey builds up her courage, and finally gets brave enough to tell Jax how she feels, just as timing slaps her in the face.  Then plans change - Jacey’s for the summer and Jax’s for the fall, and suddenly they’re left with just a few weeks together.  Can they begin forever when time’s run out, or will they have waited a lifetime to never have a beginning at all?

About the author:

Amy Evans is a young adult / new adult writer who believes that all the best stories get told with kisses. She’s excited to push the boundaries of romance a little further with Jellybean Kisses, and peel back the curtains on love and life without safety nets. Her first novel, CLICKS, is a romantic coming of age story about hot lifeguards and surf competitions with dashes of sci fi and dolphins on the side.

Connect with Amy:

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Spotlight for Sunset Rising

Title: Sunset Rising

Author: S.M. McEachern

Genre: YA Dystopian

 

 

February 2024: Desperate to find refuge from the nuclear storm, a group of civilians discover a secret government bio-dome. Greeted by a hail of bullets and told to turn back, the frantic refugees stand their ground and are grudgingly permitted entry. But the price of admission is high.

283 years later… Sunny O'Donnell is a seventeen-year-old slave who has never seen the sun. She was born in the Pit, a subterranean extension of the bio-dome. Though life had never been easy, lately it had become a nightmare. Her mom was killed in the annual Cull, and her dad thought it was a good time to give up on life. Reyes Crowe, her long-time boyfriend, was pressuring her to get married, even though it would mean abandoning her father.

She didn't think things could get any worse until she was forced upstairs to the Dome to be a servant-girl at a bachelor party. That's where she met Leisel Holt, the president's daughter, and her fiancé, Jack Kenner.

Now Sunny is wanted for treason. If they catch her, she'll be executed.

She thought Leisel's betrayal was the end. But it was just the beginning. 

 

 

Teaser Excerpt: 

Something in his expression changed when I said that.  He almost seemed surprised.  His intense blue eyes narrowed.  He seemed to want to look inside me, see right into my soul.  Maybe he thought I was lying. 

“So you’re saying you’ll pose as the bride and risk taking a bullet for her in order to save your people?”

“Yes.”

What I was saying could be considered treason.  Jack could call in the guards and have me arrested right now…

 

About the author:

 

S.M. McEachern (also known as Susan) has an honors degree in International Development.  As an author, Susan combined her political background with her love of action and romance to create her debut novel Sunset Rising.  The first book of a trilogy, Susan is currently working on the second book and drafting the third.  What does she like best about being an author?  Hearing from her readers! 

Links:

http://smmceachern.wordpress.com/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sunset-Rising-ebook/dp/B009G3ZIO0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378988754&sr=8-1&keywords=sunset+rising