Saturday, September 28, 2013

Giveaway ~ Waking Up Dead by Margo Bond Collins ~ Paranormal Mystery \ UrbanFantasy Book

Hi, everyone! First I want to thank Michelle’s Paranormal Vault of Books for hosting today’s stop on my pre-release teaser tour. I’m discussing my new paranormal mystery Waking Up Dead. It’s forthcoming from Solstice Publishing and available via Amazon on October 8, and I’m pretty excited!



Waking Up Dead (Callie Taylor #1)
By Margo Bond Collins
Solstice Publishing
Available to buy October 8, 2013
Paranormal Mystery \ Urban Fantasy

Be sure to add Waking Up Dead to your Goodreads bookshelves:

When Dallas resident Callie Taylor died young, she expected to go to Heaven, or maybe Hell. Instead, she met her fate early thanks to a creep with a knife and a mommy complex. Now she's witnessed another murder, and she's not about to let this one go. She's determined to help solve it before an innocent man goes to prison. And to answer the biggest question of all: why the hell did she wake up in Alabama?



Excerpt

“Hey,” I said, hurrying after the woman. “Wait up.”
“I know you’re not talking to me,” she said. She stared straight ahead and pushed her cart down the middle of the aisle toward housewares.
“I am talking to you. Look. I know this is really weird, but I need your help.”
“Well, I’m not talking to you. I don’t know what your problem is, but you can take it somewhere else.”
I wanted to reach out and grab her cart, to make her stop and talk to me, but of course I couldn’t. Which gave me an idea.
I scurried out in front of her, planting myself in her path.
“Move,” she said.
“Not until you hear me out. Please?”
She moved her cart to the left. I stepped out to intercept her. She moved to the right. So did I.
“You got some kind of death wish or something?” she asked.
I laughed and shook my head. “If only you knew.”
“I’ve got no time for this,” she said. And she slammed into me with her shopping cart.
At least, that’s what she planned to do.
The shopping cart, however, slid right through me. When it stopped, the basket had sliced cleanly through my midsection. The bottom rack merged with my ankles. From my perspective, it looked like two perfectly solid objects--me and the shopping cart--had melted together. I don’t know what she saw.
Whatever it was, it wasn’t good.
The woman’s eyes widened, then rolled up into her head as she slumped to the ground in a dead faint.
I bent down to try to wake her up, but no matter how hard I concentrated on making contact, I couldn’t even touch her.
I hate being a ghost.




About the Author

                               

Margo Bond Collins lives in Texas with her husband, their daughter, several spoiled cats, and a ridiculous turtle. She teaches college-level English courses online, though writing fiction is her first love. She enjoys reading urban fantasy and paranormal fiction of any genre and spends most of her free time daydreaming about vampires, ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and other monsters. Waking Up Dead is her first published novel. Her second novel, Legally Undead, is an urban fantasy, forthcoming in 2014 from World Weaver Press.



Connect with Margo








Be sure to enter the giveaway for a chance to win one of four copies of Waking Up Dead or a $10 Amazon card--and follow the tour or come back here once a day for even more chances to win!
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Thursday, September 26, 2013

Book Review & Tour ~ The Second Shadow (The Second Sign #2) By Elizabeth Arroyo

The Second Shadow (The Second Sign #2)
By Elizabeth Arroyo
Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Date Published: 9/5/2013


Jake thought being demon meant a shredded humanity, stripped of all human emotion. Chaos and self-preservation dominates a demon’s instincts. But Jake feels every ounce of pain and despair around him.
And it’s driving him deeper into Hell.
Gabby’s choice to save him last summer left a fissure in Hell’s gate that released a malevolent evil. When Jake’s given a mission by the demons to shadow a human girl who may know the whereabouts of an ethereal weapon, he doesn’t expect to see Gabby. But Fate has her own agenda.
When Jake and Gabby are thrown together on a camping trip with a group of delinquent teens, Jake begins to grapple with the haunting choices he made in the past.  When the evil finds them, the group begins to battle for their lives, alliances are made, and truths revealed. 
As the evil begins to influence Jake, he questions his link to the demons, his purpose, and his love for Gabby.
But the answers to those questions are only found in Hell. And it may cost him his soul.

Elizabeth Arroyo

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Elizabeth spent most of her younger years as an avid reader with a wild imagination which led her to write her first manuscript at the age of fourteen.
But, life got in the way. Elizabeth completed a Bachelors degree in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice at Northeastern Illinois University and works in the community strengthening families.
But her love of stories held, and in 2008 she found herself back into her storytelling roots and began writing again. In 2012, Elizabeth signed with Sapphire Star Publishing to release her debut novel, THE SECOND SIGN.
Elizabeth still resides in Chicago’s south west side with her family, a household of kids, and the bliss of chaos. The good kind.  She continues to work in the community. 


Buy at Amazon
(Read the excerpt below, I chose to post just the first part of Chapter 2, as Chapter 1 from Jakes Point of View had tons of spoilers for book one, and I didn’t like the excerpt as its not from Gabby or Jakes point of view, and to me didn’t give a great taste of this awesome series. I stop the excerpt before some spoilers hit, so no worries.)

You can read my review of book one only, here. You can also read about the book, and an excerpt of the first one there, or Add to Goodreads here


Excerpt

Chapter Two (part of Chapter 2, to avoid too much of spoilers for those who hadn’t read book one)

A Different Type of Hell

Buildings swept past Gabby in swirls of grays and reds, so different from the wooded area she had called home. Max had opted to hide in the big city. He’d said they’d be able to blend in better. In a big city, no one cared what you did, what you were, how you looked, so long as you left them alone.
Wearing jeans, a thick, black belt with an iron buckle, a black tee, and iron buckled combat boots with iron bands looped into the laces, Gabby fit in perfectly. Hiding her freaky purple eyes with contacts, she’d layered on a thick coat of black eyeliner, thick mascara, and deep purple lipstick. She’d be ignored by the student body for fear of hexing someone. The thought had crossed her mind. If only she actually knew how to hex.
Then there was the homemade metal clamp she wore on her left calf to stop the flow of demon energy from giving away her position. Black coated rings over iron adorned every finger. Iron bangles looped her wrist, over her arm-warmers. Her ink-black, randomly braided hair, accented with chimes, loops, and bands—all iron—made her immune to the energy around her. She wore iron earrings—two on each lobe—and an industrial bar. A helix completed the madness. The best her guardian, Adler, could come up with on short notice, a three-day freak makeover while being suspended wasn’t ideal, but it was all she could do to keep sane. The iron prevented her from seeing girls on fire. Her brother was right. She’d blend in perfectly.
Shifting in her seat, the metal beads made her sound like a freaking chime.
“Uncomfortable?” Max asked beside her. Older by four minutes, her twin had mastered the art of reminding her how screwed she was.
Hell, yeah. “I sound like Christmas bells.”
He turned to look at her, his eyes casting their usual sorry-as-shit look. She hated it.
“Maybe you should take the suggestion of laying low a bit more serious,” he scolded.
“I saw her burning.” As the words left her mouth she remembered the vision. Tasha wrapped in a curtain of fire. Her flesh melted off her body, revealing white bone underneath. Tasha’s screams echoed above the lunchroom’s vaulted ceiling until Gabby had snatched a bucket filled with mop water and spilled it on the girl. Tasha had not been on fire and had knocked Gabby on her ass with a right hook to the jaw. Gabby had been given a three day suspension and a mandatory camping trip for delinquents.
Enrolling in school had been the biggest mistake they’d made. Logan Heights looked more like a penitentiary for the criminally insane than a high school, and emotionally spiraling teens and a hypersensitive angel-demon hybrid did not mix well. The stimulus drove her mad the first couple of weeks. The iron helped, but the visions grew stronger.
“Say something,” Gabby demanded. “You usually like rubbing how messed up I am in my face.”
Max never rubbed anything in her face, but he sucked at hiding his emotions. He tried to keep the peace with her, but she needed this fight. It made her feel good in a morbid kind of way.
Max had changed during the summer. He didn’t study the scriptures like Adler asked, or talk about their deadbeat father. Gabby had met her father last summer for the first time. Mir had given her his essence to bring her to life after she’d been born. Her mother died as a result. She couldn’t be near him without sucking away his life energy. But Max was different. Max wanted their father’s attention. Max had wanted to be part of whatever the angels had planned……


This review for this post for the tour, is more of my opinions of both series, and this book 2 is hard to review and tell pretty much anything about without revealing some major spoilers for the first book. I will get a review up at Goodreads and Amazon soon for just book 2, that can be read by those who read book one already. I hate when spoilers are mentioned on book tours, when its like this, the 2nd book, and may not have read the first yet.

So, no worries, no spoilers here, wont say anything more than you can read in the blurb as far as that kind of thing goes.

I loved book one, though graphic in the violence area, was a great paranormal read with a little bit of the scary in it, as well as book 2. We meet Jake in book one, with Gabby, and this book is a continuation on that story, so like I said, not easy to avoid spoilers.
I will say I absolutely adore Jake, even though we know he is half demon (that is in the blurb, so we know this) and I really liked Gabby, even more as the story continues on. I really liked book 2 just as much as I liked book one.

I love Gabby’s twin brother Max, who is an angel, and he has that mysterious factor about him that just makes me want more from him. I would love to see a book more about him, or a novella even, just to learn more about him, and his journey. I found him interesting for sure.

This book is very well written too, and keeps you wanting to read late into the night. But beware, you may get some scary dreams if you do that. (I did, lol)

I do highly recommend this series as a whole to all the paranormal lovers out there, this has a touch of horror I think, just for some of the more graphic scary parts, lol.

I give it 5 out of 5 stars. Love Jake, he is hot!

This book was provided to me by the author for my honest review.

This book tour is brought to you by Reading Addiction Book Tours

You can find the rest of the blogs on the tour by clicking the banner below.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Book Boyfriend of the Week #8



This is a meme created by Reading and Things for bloggers to talk about their book boyfriends and tease the readers with things they've said.


Want to participate?


Then all you have to do is:


1) Pick a book boyfriend, it can be from the book your currently reading or from one you've already read.

2) Write what kind of boyfriend he is, and if you want, say why you think that.

3) Pick a quote from his book, long or short, that proves he is the kind of boyfriend you said he is.

4) Make sure the quote, and the explanation DO NOT give away anything from the book (we want all of the twists and plot surprises to remain surprises).

5) Share it! And shout it out using the #Reading and Things.


My Book Boyfriend this week is Eli, a Seraph angel, that is Emma's trainer/friend but more, lol, he is forbidden to get involved with a human, even an Nephilim warrior like Emma Hellsbane, but you know how those forbidden loves go, lol. Anyway, this is from book 2, as there is nothing worth adding for a steamy scene in book one (Hellsbane) Here is a small piece of a great scene, you can read the whole excerpt if you like at the book tour post, that also has a giveaway if you want. That post is Here

I chose Eli, because he is just so hot, sexy, but sweet and everything a guys should be, but he is also forbidden, which as we all know also has its appeal.

Teaser (yes its longer, but worth it,)


 He huddled around me, his lips brushing my ear, sending a quick volley of tingles over my skin. “I’ve missed you,” he said.
I swallowed hard, drowning in the emotion at the back of my throat. “I’ve missed you too,” I said, but my voice cracked, the last of it barely a whisper.
He turned me around, one arm holding my waist, the other hand catching my chin and raising my gaze to his. “They were wrong, Emma Jane. What I feel, it’s not what they think, what they fear. It can’t be…it’s more than that. I’ve been at home—at peace with my brothers, but you have never left my thoughts. There are so many wondrous things on heaven and earth that I wanted to show you, to share with you. It seemed every moment something new would make my mind turn to ask for your thoughts and my eyes search for your face. A comfort I’d grown accustomed to without realizing. A comfort I am finding it difficult to live without. I am lost without you. For even surrounded by all those who love me I am alone—unfinished. I missed you. Why is that wrong?”
          My chest tightened and I inhaled hard, forcing my lungs to fill. I knew by the way he’d said it that he wasn’t really asking me, but I wished with all my heart I could give him an answer. “I don’t know.”
          “Neither do I.” Before the last of his words left his mouth, Eli leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.
Heat spread through my body like a bolt of lightning, warming me from the inside out in an instant. My mind spun as his tongue stroked against my lips, gentle at first and then more demanding. I opened to him, tasting his sweet warmth—the warmth of an angel.
His arms slipped around me, pulling me closer until our bodies molded to each other. The hardness of his excitement pressed against me, cueing my brain, crystallizing my awareness. The risk we were taking, what it meant if we let go of our last thread of control, melted from my thoughts. We could do this. We could be together. All that was stopping us was…




Heaven and Hellsbane
Hellsbane Series,
Book Two
Paige Cuccaro

Genre: Urban Fantasy


Amazon   BN

Book Description:

Someone’s killing angels and turning the half human, half angel illorum warriors against their angelic supporters. If the supernatural baddy behind the attacks isn’t stopped soon, Heaven itself could fall victim. The Council of Seven has called in the best they’ve got to find the killers, and no one’s more surprised than Emma Jane Hellsbane when it’s her phone that rings.

But when her own angelic mentor—and off-limits hottie—Eli is targeted, Emma takes it personally. With Emma hot on the trail of the growing army of assassins, though, hackles start to raise around her. Everyone wants to know if she’s in it to protect all angels or just one in particular. The Council has their suspicions…and so does Emma’s boyfriend.

Now Emma isn’t just fighting off demons, rogue nephilim, and Fallen angels, but she’s defending her honor as well. The problem is even Emma Jane isn’t sure of her motives. One thing she does know: if she doesn’t figure out the killers’ identities soon, she may not live long enough to know what, or who, she really wants.

It’s all in a day’s work as Heaven’s ultimate bounty hunter.


Thursday, September 19, 2013

#Giveaway ~ Heaven and Hellsbane by Paige Cuccaro ~ Read 5 Star #Review ~ #Paranormal ~ Urban Fantasy #Book



Heaven and Hellsbane
Hellsbane Series,
Book Two
Paige Cuccaro

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Ebook ISBN 978-1-62266-887-8
Print ISBN 978-1-62266-888-5
ASIN: B00BFQANJG

Number of pages: 320
Word Count: 97,000

Cover Artist: Karen Phillips


Amazon   BN

Book Description:

Someone’s killing angels and turning the half human, half angel illorum warriors against their angelic supporters. If the supernatural baddy behind the attacks isn’t stopped soon, Heaven itself could fall victim. The Council of Seven has called in the best they’ve got to find the killers, and no one’s more surprised than Emma Jane Hellsbane when it’s her phone that rings.

But when her own angelic mentor—and off-limits hottie—Eli is targeted, Emma takes it personally. With Emma hot on the trail of the growing army of assassins, though, hackles start to raise around her. Everyone wants to know if she’s in it to protect all angels or just one in particular. The Council has their suspicions…and so does Emma’s boyfriend.

Now Emma isn’t just fighting off demons, rogue nephilim, and Fallen angels, but she’s defending her honor as well. The problem is even Emma Jane isn’t sure of her motives. One thing she does know: if she doesn’t figure out the killers’ identities soon, she may not live long enough to know what, or who, she really wants.

It’s all in a day’s work as Heaven’s ultimate bounty hunter.



About the Author:

Writing was never a foregone conclusion for me. I once had dreams of being a psychologist, a pediatrician, a school teacher, a photojournalist, a bartender, and/or an EMT. And then I met my husband and my world came into focus. Being wife and mother are my highest priorities and greatest joy. But escaping to the fanciful, sexy worlds twirling through my mind is an absolute necessity. Putting those worlds, and the cornucopia of characters that people them, on paper is just plain fun.

Paige lives in Ohio, with her husband, and three daughters. When she’s not writing she can be found doing the mom thing with a book in one hand and a notepad and pen in the other. Ideas come without warning and the best way to stimulate your imagination is to enjoy the imagination of someone else.

Authors Links

Holy Hellsbane! This was an awesome book, both the first and the second were amazing! I loved all he action this book is packed with. It grabs your attention from the start and never lets you go. It does that from the first chapter of book one, and your hooked from there, and the story builds and escalates and you just can’t get enough.

I really connected with Emma Jane, and I just loved Eli. I really fell in love with him in book one, and it just grew from there. Talk about the ultimate forbidden love, wow. This series takes that to a whole new level.

I do not want to give anything crucial so will do my best to keep this spoiler free for you all.

I loved how this story was not your usual nephilim and angels with demons story. It was quite different. I can say I was not fond of the part where the nephilim children of the fallen angels had to pay for the sins of their fallen fathers. That didn’t sit well with me, but I let that go, and just went with it.

I liked how tough Emma became; she also had a funny witt about her, and had that sarcastic personality at times that I found funny.

I also love how the story is not just about the forbidden love, it’s just a small part of it. There is much more going on, and loved that. It’s not all filled with sex scene after sex scene, which I do not like. In fact this is pretty mild in that area, which is a huge plus in my book.

Basically this book starts about a year or so after Hellsbane ends. Emma is now protecting Officer Dan, who we met in book one, from becoming an illorum like her (nephilim warrior after being marked) , not only because of his kids, but because she is dating him as well. Her feelings for Eli are still very complicated, she does not want to be the reason that he Falls.

War has broken out all around them, and Emma is surprised that the Fallen Angel she is after who is leading the ones that are killing angels is her biological father. So things get really interesting quick.

I won’t say more on the story, just to say it’s well written and will satisfy those paranormal lovers out there and urban fantasy too. I loved both books, and the story just gets better and better as the story progresses from book one into book two.

Check it out. I give it 5 out of 5 giant stars. I really loved both books and the series as a whole.

I was provided a copy of this book from the author for my honest review.

I have this review posted at Goodreads, here and at Amazon here.


Check out the excerpts below. I posted 2 from book 2 Heaven and Hellsnbane, one is a steamy one, the other is an action scene.

You can read both, or just the one you want.

The first is the steamy one, then the action.


Excerpt from Book 2 Heaven and Hellsbane (Steamy Scene)

Eli wrapped his arms around me from behind, holding me in the warmth of his embrace at the edge of the Canadian falls. Pale, colorful lights illuminated the massive curtain of water and a cool, misty breeze washed over us. I knew it was late, but I wouldn’t let myself worry over the exact time. Not yet. I didn’t want the evening to end. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against his chest, breathing in the soothing scent of him. 
  He huddled around me, his lips brushing my ear, sending a quick volley of tingles over my skin. “I’ve missed you,” he said.
I swallowed hard, drowning in the emotion at the back of my throat. “I’ve missed you too,” I said, but my voice cracked, the last of it barely a whisper.
He turned me around, one arm holding my waist, the other hand catching my chin and raising my gaze to his. “They were wrong, Emma Jane. What I feel, it’s not what they think, what they fear. It can’t be…it’s more than that. I’ve been at home—at peace with my brothers, but you have never left my thoughts. There are so many wondrous things on heaven and earth that I wanted to show you, to share with you. It seemed every moment something new would make my mind turn to ask for your thoughts and my eyes search for your face. A comfort I’d grown accustomed to without realizing. A comfort I am finding it difficult to live without. I am lost without you. For even surrounded by all those who love me I am alone—unfinished. I missed you. Why is that wrong?”
          My chest tightened and I inhaled hard, forcing my lungs to fill. I knew by the way he’d said it that he wasn’t really asking me, but I wished with all my heart I could give him an answer. “I don’t know.”
          “Neither do I.” Before the last of his words left his mouth, Eli leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.
Heat spread through my body like a bolt of lightning, warming me from the inside out in an instant. My mind spun as his tongue stroked against my lips, gentle at first and then more demanding. I opened to him, tasting his sweet warmth—the warmth of an angel.
His arms slipped around me, pulling me closer until our bodies molded to each other. The hardness of his excitement pressed against me, cueing my brain, crystallizing my awareness. The risk we were taking, what it meant if we let go of our last thread of control, melted from my thoughts. We could do this. We could be together. All that was stopping us was…
Eli’s eternal life and…Dan. I broke the kiss and pushed back from Eli’s heavenly embrace, the cool chill of the falls’ misty breeze making the loss of his warmth all the more acute.
“I’m sorry. I…” Like a curtain had suddenly been lifted, reality blazed through my thoughts. “What time is it?”
“I don’t know,” he said with a soft laugh. Angels have little concept of time.
He reached for me, but I moved back checking my watch. “Shit, Eli. I’m late.”
****************************************************

Excerpt Action Scene (book 2)
“Dan, people are dying. I have to help if I can. You know that, right? I can’t just stop to go chase every thin lead.” But I knew it was a flimsy excuse. I’d barely even thought about the blurry photo of the angel who’d seduced my mother. Was I ignoring the chance to find my angelic father because a part of me didn’t want to leave this life? I didn’t know anymore.
“You make your choices, and I’ll make mine,” Dan said. Then to the demon he said, “Tell me how this works. What do I have to do to trigger my power?”
The point of Bariel’s sword lowered slightly as he pulled another sword from his hip. The black blade sizzled into existence as it drew from the hidden sheath—the air around it wavering like heat vapors, thin smoke rolling off the forming metal. “It’s quite simple. Use this sword to take the sword of a magister, and then kill him with it. Then we’ll see what happens.”
Dan reached out for the sword, but the demon held it back suspiciously before allowing the cop to take it in his grip.
“Any magister?” Dan asked, and the demon beamed like a proud father.
“Yes. Any magister. Even Elizal, if you like.”
Dan nodded, marveling at the weapon in his hand.
“Please, Dan. Don’t do this,” I said.
He got to his feet, ignoring me. “So it can hurt magisters. What will it do to demons?”
“Pardon?” Before Bariel could puzzle out the question, Dan slashed the sword across the belly of the demon, drawing a quick line of black, oozing blood. The momentum of his swing spun him around and he threw the gibborim weapon to me.
The toss was short, but I sped forward and caught it. Doc Westly was on my heels, but the moment of confusion played to my advantage and I twisted in time for the gibborim to race right into the blade—skewering himself through the gut. His blue eyes widened, surprise and pain playing across his face.
“Emma Jane,” Eli said, and I glanced across the overlook to where the bodies of the other two gibborim lay. I watched as Eli snatched up my sword. 
“Stupid soul sack,” Bariel said and I spun back to see the demon’s sword stab through Dan’s back and out his chest. “I did promise to release you, did I not?”
Disbelief stretched the whites of Dan’s eyes and he looked down at the bloody blade, his arms relaxed at his sides. His gaze came back up to me. “It’s okay,” he said, a shaky smile playing across his lips. “I’m okay. It doesn’t hurt.”
A scream ripped through my head, my mouth open, gaping, and soundless. Precious seconds ticked by but I couldn’t move, couldn’t think, my body like stone, freezing me to the spot.
Bariel pulled back his sword, yanking it from Dan’s spine, and the man’s knees buckled. Before his body hit the ground, Eli appeared at his side, catching him. With a backhanded swing, the angel sliced a line across the demon’s neck that I knew in an instant wasn’t deep enough. But it was all Eli needed to allow him time to vanish with Dan in his protective embrace.
Here is info on book one:

Hellsbane (Hellsbane #1)

by Paige Cuccaro 

Twenty-three-year-old Emma Jane Hellsbane just found out she's not human--or, at least, not only human. She's half angel, too, and now Heaven's got a job for her: round up all the Fallen angels and their red-skinned, horned devil-demon minions and boot their butts back into the abyss. Only problem? The demons and their Fallen masters fight back...and they don't fight fair. 
Luckily for Emma, she can put a stop to the constant threat of having her head hacked off if she figures out which Fallen angel is her father--and then kill him before he kills her. Of course, in the meantime, she'll have to avoid accidentally seducing her angelic mentor, help an old friend conquer his own Fallen sperm donor, and basically save the world from a cataclysmic divine smack down. 
No one said being Heaven's bounty hunter would be easy. But with a name like Hellsbane, Emma Jane was born for the job.




This book tour is brought to you by Bewitching Book Tours, you can see the rest of the blogs on the tour, Here.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

#Giveaway ~ By Blood #Book Tour - by Tracy E. Banghart ~ #YA #Paranormal Romance


BOOK 1
By Blood by Tracy E. Banghart
Series: By Blood #1
Publication date: February 18th 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal

Synopsis:
For 17-year-old Emma Wong, spending a summer in England should be a dream come true. Gorgeous scenery? Check. Lots of hot guys with accents? Yes, please.

Throw in an estranged mom, annoying new stepdad, and drooling baby half-brother, and it’s a disaster even her favorite cherry red leather jacket can’t fix. Even worse, there’s (hot) live-in research assistant Josh to contend with. The only thing more embarrassing than   drunk-kissing him hours after they meet? Knowing he’ll be witness to her family’s dysfunction all. summer. long.

But when Emma meets a mysterious girl who happens to be a Druid, her vacation suddenly promises to be far more intriguing than she  anticipated. Powerful rituals, new friends, an intoxicating sense of freedom...and Simon, the sexy foreign stranger she was hoping for. It’s all a perfect distraction from dirty diapers and awkward family dinners.

Trouble is, intriguing doesn’t often mean simple. And Emma is about to discover just how not simple her life really is.

By Blood is a novel about the ways that blood can bind us to others – or tear us apart.


Purchas Links



BOOK 2
Moon Child by Tracy E. Banghart
Series: By Blood #2
Publication date: August 16th 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal

Synopsis:
Before Emma's adventures in Oxford, her best friend Diana came face-to-face with a killer...

Diana Calvert is so over high school. Who cares if Olivia hates her? And David needs to forget about having a crush on her STAT. Even Emma’s crazy fashion choices can’t keep Diana entertained. All she can hope for is a dance scholarship to a college as far away as possible from too-small, too-boring, too-nothing-ever-happens New Freedom, PA.

Then Diana meets Nicholas Woodhaven. He’s pale, angry…yet weirdly charming. The more time they spend together, the more she wonders who – or what – he really is. Because he isn’t anything like the other guys she knows. Not with the whole only-going-out-at-night thing. And living with his creepy aunt. And not going to school.

Just when Diana thinks she’s got Nicholas all figured out, people in her small, nothing-ever-happens town start dying. She has to wonder – can she trust him? And even more alarming – could she be next?

A murder mystery with a paranormal twist, Moon Child is best read under the covers with a flashlight...if you dare!


Buy Links



AUTHOR BIO

Tracy E. Banghart is a cheesy movie–loving, fantasy football–playing (go Ravens!), globe-trotting Army wife who began “practicing” her craft at the age of five, when she wrote her first story. She loves visiting the international friends she met while pursuing her MA in Publishing and spends a portion of every summer at her family’s cabin in Canada, where she finds inspiration and lots of time to relax on the dock. She lives with her husband, son, two lazy dogs and one ornery cat. When not writing or spending time with her family, she is on a mission to bake the perfect cupcake.

Author Links


Giveaway:
Grand prize giveaway
Prizes:
1) (US only) SIGNED paperback copies of BY BLOOD & MOON CHILD + $20 Amazon, B&N or Smashwords gift card
2) (US & INTL) (2 winners) paperback copies of BY BLOOD & MOON CHILD + $10 Amazon, B&N or Smashwords gift card
3) (US & INTL) (2 winners) E-copies of BY BLOOD & MOON CHILD + $5 Amazon, B&N, or Smashwords gift card

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Review for Book One, By Blood

I really enjoyed reading By Blood. It focused on Emma in this story, and the druids, which is very exciting.  I loved how this book had some mystery and twist and turns that kept me guessing, as well as the paranormal element as well. Which I just have to have. The covers are amazing, and are what originally drew me to the books (By Blood and the 2nd one Moon Child) , covers are very important to me, and are what I first will look at.

I won’t write any spoilers for this, as I want you all to enjoy the story as much as I did. I will say that its written very well, and there was not a boring moment at all.

I loved how it was set in England, at Oxford, that made it really interesting, as I am from the USA, so other countries are interesting to me. I highly recommend this book to anyone like me who like the paranormal and some mystery too.

I give this book 4 ½ stars out of 5. I really liked it.

I received this book from the author for my honest review.

I have this review posted at Goodreads, here and Amazon, Here.


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My review for Moon Child ( By Blood #2)

This book was really interesting to me, and this review is harder to write than the first book, as there are such unknowns in it, and that’s what made it so good, so do not want to spoil that for you.

I will say that the book is written really well, and keeps you wondering. Just like the first book, this one has the paranormal element to it, which I love. Nothing is what it seems at all, and you will be pleasantly surprises near the end.


This book actually follows Dianna, a  friend of Emma from the first book, and takes place before the first one, which is a bit confusing. Anyway, I liked Dianna a lot, and liked Nicholas a lot, he was fascinating for sure.

To sum it up, it’s a fun, suspenseful, addictive story, that if you’re like me and love the paranormal, you will love this too.

I give this book 5 stars out of 5. I actually liked this one a tad better than book one, By Blood.

I received this book from the author for my honest review.

I have this review posted at Goodreads, here and Amazon, Here


You can find the rest of the book tour, at Xpresso Book Tours here.