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Monday, November 30, 2015

Release Day Blitz: Lucky Penny by L.A. Cotton

Title: Lucky Penny
Author: L.A. Cotton
Genre: Contemporary Romance
 Release Date: November 30, 2015

Blurb
I was his lucky Penny. He was my light in the dark, hope in despair. Our bond was one of survival, friendship... first love.

But then we were ripped apart and Blake Weston became the memory I turned to when everything else in my life fell apart.

Seven years later, a summer working at Camp Chance is supposed to be my fresh start. Beautiful scenery and the chance to better the lives of foster children--kids like me. But when my eyes land on him across the fire, time stands still and feelings come rushing back to the surface. I thought I'd moved on, tucked him away in my heart. One look into his soulful blue eyes and I know I'm wrong. Blake Weston can heal the broken parts of me. Restore my hope. Love me.

It's our second chance. A sign we are supposed to be together.

Isn't it?

I was twelve when I survived the accident that killed my parents. Fourteen when I survived the devil. And sixteen, when I survived a heartbreak of the worst kind.


But in my twenty-three years, Blake Weston might just be the first thing I won't survive.

Purchase Links

AMAZON US / UK


Excerpt
Marissa didn’t follow me. It was most likely she had pieced together our story after Blake’s song. How could she not? It was as if he had weaved our entire relationship into his lyrics. I could feel his sixteen-year-old self singing every line to my sixteen-year-old self. Although, I was pretty certain the sixteen-year-old Blake I’d known then had no clue how to play the guitar.

After washing the tearstains from my face, I brushed my teeth. It was still early, but I couldn’t face going back out there, so I changed into my shorts and tank top and climbed into bed. Sleep would be impossible, but at least here, I was safe.

Most people felt lonely in solitude, but I welcomed the silence. I embraced it even. Something about the quiet, the knowledge no one else was around, comforted me. I knew it made me different. I didn’t need a shrink to tell me that, but it didn’t change the fact that I found sanctuary in being alone.

I lay there not really allowing myself to think. Thinking was dangerous; it led to remembering, and my memories were stained with pain and hurt and the kinds of things that made most people’s nightmares look like a walk in the park. Instead, I tracked the uneven cabin ceiling. My eyes followed the planes of the wood from one end to the other and back again until they grew heavy.

A knock on the door startled me sending my already restless heart into overdrive and I rubbed at my eyes.

“Hello?” I called out hoping to hear Marissa’s voice, but I knew it wasn’t her. She wouldn’t have knocked; she would have barged right in and demanded answers.

“Penny, it’s me.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, but my mind betrayed me as an image of Blake’s face filled my head.

Another knock.

“Penny.”

Forcing myself to sit up, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. He wasn’t going away. Blake—our connection—was something I was going to have to deal with sooner or later, and from Blake’s admissions over the last few days, it seemed that he was making the decision for me.

My legs were like lead as I walked to the door. It swung open and Blake stood there looking at me with such reverence in his eyes I almost crumpled. Maybe I did crumple because, before my head had time to process what was happening, I was in Blake’s arms, and he was holding on to me like he needed me to breathe.

“I’ve missed you so much. I’ve tried to stay away, to give you space, but I can’t. I can’t spend another day feeling like you might slip through my fingers again.”

One of Blake’s hands buried itself in my hair and cradled my head holding me to him. My face pressed up against the collar of his hoodie, and I breathed him in. He smelled familiar, like damp grass and fresh air, of a time when things were less complicated, and my heart ached for us. At that moment, we weren’t two strangers reunited by chance; we were sixteen-year-old Blake and Penny.

And we needed each other to survive.


Author Bio

Contemporary romance and romantic suspense

… written with feeling


L.A is author of the Fate’s Love Series and Chastity Falls Series. Home is a small town in the middle of England where she currently juggles being a full-time mum to two little people with writing. In her spare time (and when she’s not camped out in front of the laptop) you’ll most likely find L. A immersed in a book, escaping the chaos that is life.

Author Links

Sunday, November 29, 2015

So You Want to Self Publish: Stage Three

STAGE THREE: CREATE AN ONLINE PRESENCE - JOIN WRITING BASED WEBSITES

There are a few websites I joined right off the bat after deciding that I wanted to pursue self-publishing. The first one was Goodreads, and I am not exaggerating when I tell you that it was one of the smartest decisions in my career. Goodreads is one of the best websites for aspiring writers. You can see what your friends are reading, make recommendations, share your own works, and the best thing about the site? The groups you can join once you are a member.

They have a beta reading group, a reviews group, promotions group, etc. These are going to be some of your best assets as a writer and a great way to engage with others on the same path as you. One of my favorite parts about Goodreads is that I can upload my cover, blurb, links, etc. and others can rate my story on a scale from 1-5 stars. It is a great resource for staying relevant as an indie author and for keeping in touch with others on the same journey.

The second site I joined was Wattpad. Yes, this site right here. I have only had my books posted on Wattpad for a little over ten months and in that time frame what I have been able to accomplish is near impossible. In that short time frame I was able to garner over 40k reads on my most popular book, with three others over 12k, one over 7k, one almost at 4k, and one barely over 1k reads. It was not easy, but it was not impossible either. I currently have a little over 700 followers on the site.
I hear people say all the time that they are never able to get substantial feedback from Wattpad users and that having their work up there was useless. I disagree wholeheartedly. I have been able to get some incredible and invaluable critiques as well as wonderful feedback on the direction of my stories. Although, it hasn’t been proven that being on a website like Wattpad equates to monetary compensation—I have been able to receive reviews on my story on not only GR and Amazon from my followers, but some even went as far to purchase it simply to support me.

I enjoy this resource as it is an amazing platform to connect with readers who enjoy what you are putting out there and someday they might turn into your biggest fans which will eventually equate to sales.

I like to write all of my first drafts on WP to feel out my readers; see if they are connecting to the story or the characters. You do not have to do this by any means, it has just been my preference.
A few other websites similar to Wattpad you may want to think about joining are Figment & Scribophile. If you have a lot of time on your hands to read and critique others works—these websites could really benefit you. They are not as user friendly as Wattpad, however, having the biggest online presence is probably in your best interest. I’m not going to go into too much detail, but I will say, Figment is fun because as you engage more with the site you win cute, fun badges that speak to your involvement on the site.

Release Day Blitz: Three by E.S. Carter




I am a son.
I am a brother.
I am an artist.
I am a student.
I am her student.

She was my first.
First infatuation, first ‘real’ kiss, first love, first.....
heartbreak.

I gave her everything, including my body and would have given her more.
I gave her ‘I love you’ ….she told me her heart was filled by another, there was no room left for me.

We could never be.
What we did was wrong.
It didn’t feel wrong to me.

The deepest hurt is a love that you cannot have. It will last the longest, cut the deepest and feel the strongest.
It is an imperfect love; a disfigured circle that never ends.
You cannot control it; it's as simple as blinking and just like blinking the more you try to stop it, the more the pain consumes you.

This is book 3 in 'The Love by Numbers' series.
Although it contains characters from the previous books, it can be read as a standalone. 

 
Buy links for all books (Books 1&2 are on sale for a limited time):

Three
US Link: http://amzn.to/1Rdw6na
UK Link: http://goo.gl/uxF3Uv
 
Twenty One
U.S. http://amzn.to/1R9Y3dD
U.K. http://goo.gl/Il2vkD


Author links:
Twitter - @escarterauthor
IG - @escarterauthor

Friday, November 27, 2015

Release Boost: Paradise Road by CJ Duggan

Title: Paradise Road
Series: Paradise #2
Author: C.J. Duggan
Publisher: Hachette Australia
Genre: New Adult Romance
 Release Date: November 22, 2015

Blurb

The Road to Paradise is never easy

After a year on the coast, Lexie Atkinson can't settle back into country life. She’s missing the glitzy, gritty nightlife of the big city and the group of misfit friends she’d loved to hate. She knows to move forward she has to go back – back to face the guy who stole her heart.

But when Lexie arrives in Paradise City to work out if her future includes bad-boy surfer, Luke Ballantine, he is nowhere to be found.

With no home, no money and no Luke, Lexie gets a job slinging drinks at the wild Wipe Out Bar. Soon her heartache is eased when broody bar owner, Dean Saville, starts taking an interest and stirs more than just her drinks. But nothing is ever as it seems in Paradise City and when Luke barrels back into town, Lexie has a choice to make. But who will end up with the broken heart: Luke, Dean … or Lexie?




Purchase Links

AMAZON US / UK / AU


Also Available


AMAZON US / UK / AU


Author Bio


C.J Duggan is a number one internationally bestselling Australian author of seven independent titles of her popular New Adult Summer series. In addition to her chart-topping indie novels, C.J is set to publish two titles with Hachette, Australia with her brand-new Paradise Series in 2015 (Paradise City and Paradise Road).

C.J lives with her husband in a rural border town of New South Wales, Australia. When she isn't writing books about swoony boys and 90s pop culture you will find her renovating her hundred-year-old Victorian homestead or annoying her local travel agent for a quote to escape the chaos.

The 'Summer Series'
The Boys of Summer (December 2012)
Stan (October 2014)
An Endless Summer (July 2013)
Max (February 2015)
That One Summer (December 2013)
Ringer (March 2014)
Forever Summer (December 2015)

The 'Paradise Series'
Paradise City (April 28th, 2015)
Paradise Road (November 22nd, 2015)

Author Links

Giveaway

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Happy #WIPWednesday!


Excerpt from Untitled
Copyright © 2015 Krista Pakseresht. All rights reserved.


Peyton

I feel like I’ve been run over by a semi-truck. No, scratch that, a train. I feel like I’ve been pummeled by a train. My head is throbbing and my throat feels like sandpaper. I swallow a few times, and then slowly open one of my eyelids. I would open both, but that would take double the effort. As the blurriness from my vision begins to dissipate, my eye lands on the lights lining the ceiling. Strange. I don’t remember my bedroom having that many lights.

I attempt to sit up when I realize that I am being pinned down by a heavy object. Irritated, I open my other eye and glance toward my stomach. A dark tanned arm is stretched out across my stomach, holding me down. My heart begins beating erratically. I turn my head and see a handsome man passed out beside me. He is shirtless, and his shoulders are well-defined. My eyes glide over his face, he is Hispanic, no doubt, with black hair and gauged ears. He has a small soul patch and a large circular tattoo right between his shoulder blades. I don’t recognize him from Adam. My eyes dart around the room, attempting to locate anything familiar, but I don’t remember anything from last night, much less the room I am in or the guy who has me pinned to the bed.

My heartbeat is pounding in my ears loudly as I delicately pick up his arm and slip out from underneath it. It takes no more than a few seconds to realize that I am fully naked now and standing in an unfamiliar room with a stranger. I reach for the sheet that had been covering my body and rip it from the bed, wrapping it around myself. Turning around, my eyes search the floor of what appears to be a hotel room for my clothes.

“Good morning, Firecracker,” a deep, velvety voice says followed by a yawn. “Did you sleep well?”

I spin around, frazzled, holding the sheet tightly around my bare body. I am racking my brain, trying to remember something, anything from last night. “Do you know where my clothes are?” I ask, my eyes shifting nervously around the room.

The guy begins to chuckle, dimples forming on both his cheeks. I’m not talking about small dimples, I’m talking the melt-your-heart-off kind. “You don’t remember anything about last night, do you?”

I cringe. The way he is speaking about it leaves my stomach in knots. I shake my head dismissively.