Cover Reveal Blitz: 100 HOURS by Rachel Vincent + Giveaway!

Hi everyone!

I am so excited to share the awesome cover for 100 HOURS, the first book in a new trilogy by New York Times best-selling author Rachel Vincent, which releases on March 28, 2017 from Katherine Tegen Books, along with a note from the author about her upcoming novel and an amazing giveaway.

Scroll down to take check out the gorgeous cover, read what Rachel Vincent has to say about 100 HOURS, and enter for a chance to win. And be sure to share your thoughts about the cover in the comments!

Title: 100 HOURS

Author: Rachel Vincent

Release date: March 28, 2017

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Pages: 368

Formats available to pre-order: Hardcover

Maddie is beyond done with her cousin Genesis’s entitled and shallow entourage. Genesis is so over Miami’s predictable social scene with its velvet ropes, petty power plays, and backstabbing boyfriends.

While Maddie craves family time for spring break, Genesis seeks novelty—like a last-minute getaway to an untouched beach in Colombia. And when Genesis wants something, it happens.

But paradise has its price. Dragged from their tents under the cover of dark, Genesis, Maddie, and their friends are kidnapped and held for ransom deep inside the jungle—with no diva left behind. It all feels so random to everyone except Genesis. She knows they were targeted for a reason. And that reason is her.

Now, as the hours count down, only one thing’s for certain: If the Miami hostages can’t set aside their personal problems, no one will make it out alive.

Pre-order at Amazon

A Note from Rachel Vincent

In my upcoming YA suspense 100 HOURS, Genesis and her cousin Maddie come from opposite ends of the privilege spectrum, but when they wind up kidnapped for ransom during spring break in Colombia and have no one else to count on, they discover they have more in common than either of them thought.

If you’ve read any of my previous releases, 100 HOURS probably seems like a departure for a Rachel Vincent book. And that’s what I thought, back when it was just me and an idea. But as I wrote the story and got to know the characters, I realized that even though this book is set in the Colombian jungle and these characters have no supernatural abilities, 100 HOURS is very much a book about the themes that draw me in over and over. Survival. Family friction and loyalty. High-stakes pulse-racing action. Twists, turns, secrets, and revelations. Girls who can fend for themselves—and for anyone else who needs help.

Photo credit: Kim Haynes Photography

Rachel Vincent is a former English teacher and an eager champion of the Oxford comma. She shares her home in Oklahoma with two cats, two teenagers, and her husband, who’s been her # 1 fan from the start. Rachel is older than she looks and younger than she feels, and she remains convinced that writing about the things that scare her is the cheapest form of therapy—but social media is a close second.

WEBSITE | BLOG | TWITTER| TUMBLR
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | GOODREADS

Courtesy of the author, there is a blitz-wide giveaway for…

• ONE (1) winner will receive a SIGNED SET of a paperback copy of THE STARS NEVER RISE + an ARC of THE FLAME NEVER DIES

Giveaway is US only. Must be 13 or older to enter. 

Ends on July 11th at 11:59 PM Pacific. 

Enter in the Rafflecopter below...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Sales Blitz: For the Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfeund | Only 1.99 + Giveaway!

For the Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfeund is on sale! Grab your copy today for 1.99! To celebrate the sale, Diana is sharing an excerpt with us as well as a giveaway! 

About For the Darkness Shows the Stars:

   Fans of Divergent will love Diana Peterfreund’s take on Jane Austen’s Persuasion set in a post-apocalyptic world.   In the dystopian future of For Darkness Shows the Stars, a genetic experiment has devastated humanity. In the aftermath, a new class system placed anti-technology Luddites in absolute power over vast estates—and any survivors living there.   Elliot North is a dutiful Luddite and a dutiful daughter who runs her father’s estate. When the boy she loved, Kai, a servant, asked her to run away with him four years ago, she refused, although it broke her heart.   Now Kai is back. And while Elliot longs for a second chance with her first love, she knows it could mean betraying everything she’s been raised to believe is right.   For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking YA romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.   

Get your copy: Amazon | Apple iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Google Play   

 FOUR YEARS AGO - 

   Dear Kai, The sun is probably streaming in through the big barn windows now, which means you’re awake. And if you’re awake, it means you’re wondering where I went. I haven’t run away from you, I promise. But I knew that today of all days, they’d need me in the house. Tatiana may be the head of our household now, but she’s not the one the staff will look to in my mother’s absence. And there is so much to do to prepare for the funeral. Also, I have to go tell my grandfather what had happened to his daughter. I don’t want him to hear of her death from anyone but me. Thank you for last night. I wish I could say I don’t know why you are the one I ran to—you, Kai, not Tatiana or my father or even my grandfather. But I know why. And I have a confession to make. After you let me cry, after you let me sob and shout and choke on all that pain—after you did all that, and didn’t say a word—I didn’t fall asleep like you thought. Not right away. I lay there, wadded up into a ball, and you curved your body behind mine. You were barely touching me—your thigh against the edge of my hip, your arm draped lightly across my waist, your fingers entwined with mine. How many times have our hands touched, when we were passing each other tools or helping each other in and out of machines? Hundreds of times. Thousands. But last night, it felt different. You cradled my hand in yours, palms up, our fingers curled in like a pair of fallen leaves. Fallen, maybe, but not dead. My hand never felt so alive. Every place you touched me sparked with energy. I couldn’t sleep. Not like that. And so I bent my head, just the slightest bit, until my mouth reached our hands. I smelled the oil you never quite get off your fingers. I breathed in the scent of your skin. And then, as if that was all I was doing, just breathing, I let my bottom lip brush against your knuckle. Time stopped. I was sure you’d see through my ruse and pull away. I was sure you’d know that I was not asleep, that I was not just breathing. But you didn’t move, so I did it again. And again. And on the third time, I let my top lip join my bottom. I kissed your hand, Kai. I didn’t do it to thank you for letting me cry. For letting me sleep in your arms. I thought you should know. 

Yours, Elliot Dear Elliot, I know. When will I see you again? Yours, Kai 

 Diana Peterfreund is the author of a dozen books for adults, teens, and children. A lifelong Jane Austen lover and technophile, she lives outside Washington, DC with her family, her BBC miniseries collection, and her smartphone. You can visit Diana online at www.dianapeterfreund.com.       

Twitter: @dpeterfreund & Facebook!

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7 Reasons Why I Couldn't Bring Myself to Like: The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

Title: The Sin Eater's Daughter
Author: Melinda Salisbury
Audiobook
Published: February 24th, 2015
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Genre: YA - Fantasy - High Fantasy - Magic - Romance
Source: SYNC Summer Free Audiobooks

A startling, seductive, deliciously dark debut that will shatter your definition of YA fantasy.

Sixteen-year-old Twylla lives in the castle. But although she's engaged to the prince, no one speaks to her. No one even looks at her. Because Twylla isn't a member of the court.

She's the executioner. As the goddess-embodied, Twylla kills with a single touch. So each week, she's taken to the prison and forced to lay her hands on those accused of treason.

No one will ever love her. Who could care for a girl with murder in her veins? Even the prince, whose royal blood supposedly makes him immune to her touch, avoids her.
But then a new guard arrives, a boy whose playful smile belies his deadly swordsmanship. And unlike the others, he's able to look past Twylla's executioner robes and see the girl, not the goddess. Yet a treasonous romance is the least of Twylla's problems. The queen has a plan to destroy her enemies-a plan that requires an unthinkable sacrifice.

Will Twylla do what it takes to protect her kingdom? Or will she abandon her duty in favor of a doomed love?

Purchase at: Amazon | B&N | TBD | Kobo 

The Sin Eater's Daughter is a huge disappointment of a book. I think the only thing that salvaged this to 2 stars for me is the twist at the end, which I completely did not expect. Aside from that, I don't even know what to praise anymore. I mean, I guess the story is quite original, but nah, unfortunately, it's not my cup of tea.

Here's why I couldn't bring myself to like this book:
1. The world. The world was basically constricted to Tywlla's room and temple and a few parts of the castle. Yes, there were talk of other Kingdoms, but none of them were explored.

2. The plot. Because the world is constricted to Twylla's room and temple, there was not much of a plot except for the evil queen and the romance. Granted, there were a lot of revelations, but still, the world and plot seemed to be narrow-scoped to me, compared to most fantasy novels.

3. The love triangle. Oh, it was so predictable that she would fall for Lief! I mean, what ever happened to girls wanting to marry Princes as the cliché? In novels nowadays, cliché means loving the other guys, and thus it's what's predictable nowadays.

4. What is up with that ending? The novel has an open-ending that I don't get, and there were many loose ends still not tied. What ever happened to the Kingdom, the prince and Lief? There are still so many questions left unanswered, and overall I'm just not satisfied with that ending.

5. It was a boring read. I didn't feel compelled to read it, and the only reason that I didn't put it down is because I have a hard time not finishing books and feel the need to finish them once I reach pass 50%. I keep waiting for amazing things to happen, but until the twist and after the twist, everything was just boring for me.

6. I can't connect to the characters. Twylla is stupid and both Lief and Merek felt manipulative to me. The queen is evil, we all know that, and her mother is a bitch. Everyone in this novel infuriated me at some point, and I just couldn't find a single character that I liked.

7. Self-pitying Twylla. In the end, Twylla was talking about everything was her fault, bla bla bla, and said that she should stop pitying herself. But what does she do a few pages later? Go back to pitying herself, of course. Ugh, Trylla, you infuriate me!

Overall, I didn't like the world nor the plot, didn't get a proper ending, and dealt with characters that infuriated me. If it were not for the unexpected twist, this would have been a 1-star book. I think it's safe to say that I wasted my time trying to finish this novel, when clearly I didn't connect to it from the start. 

2 stars. Ah, it's okay. 

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Cover Reveal - Elementals 4: The Portal to Kerberos by Michelle Madow

Hello everyone and welcome to the cover reveal for...

Elementals 4: The Portal to Kerberos by Michelle Madow!

Filled with magic, thrilling adventure, and sweet romance, Elementals 4: The Portal to Kerberos, is the latest installment in Michelle Madow’s exciting Elementals series. Follow Nicole and her fellow Elementals as they journey to a new and dangerous world to save one of their own, battling monsters and trying to keep their sanity in a prison dimension designed to make them lose their minds.

Title: Elementals 4: The Portal to Kerberos

Author: Michelle Madow

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Release Date: September 20, 2016

Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing

Series: Elementals #4

Format: eBook and paperback

She will venture into hell to save the one she loves.

After being betrayed by one of their own, Nicole watches helplessly as Blake is snatched into the prison world of Kerberos—along with Medusa’s head, which is the one item they need to stop the Titans from rising again. Now Nicole and the other Elementals must enter the portal, find Blake, and bring him and Medusa’s head back to Earth before the deadly monster Typhon returns and wreaks havoc on the world. But there’s one catch—their elemental powers don’t work in Kerberos. In a dimension designed to make those within it lose touch with reality, and that's filled with dangerous creatures who want to stop them from completing their task, will they make it out alive?

In this penultimate book of Nicole’s story, join the Elementals as they journey through hell to save the world… before it’s too late.

Pre-order on Amazon

About The Author: Michelle Madow

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  

 Instagram  |  Goodreads 

Michelle Madow writes fast-paced YA (young adult) fiction that will leave you turning the pages wanting more! 

She grew up in Baltimore, and now lives in Boca Raton, Florida, where she writes books for young adults. Some of her favorite things are: reading, traveling, pizza, time travel, Broadway musicals, and spending time with friends and family. Michelle went on a cross-country road trip from Florida to California and back to promote her books and to encourage high school students to embrace reading and writing. Someday, she hopes to travel the world for a year on a cruise ship. 

Visit her website, www.michellemadow.com, to get books of Michelle's for FREE!

Michelle is hosting a giveaway for a Kindle Fire!

To enter the giveaway click here!

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Blog Tour: Review of The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye

Hi everyone! I'm the first stop on the blog tour for The Crown's Game, a new fantasy novel by Evelyn Skye about two enchanters who must fight in a duel to determine whose magic is strongest. The winner becomes the Imperial Enchanter - the loser dies. If that sounds like your thing, I hope you enjoy my review! (And if it doesn't, read my review anyway because you might change your mind. And look at how beautiful the cover is. LOOK.)

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The Crown's Game (The Crown's Game #1) by Evelyn Skye
Publisher: Balzer +Bray
Released: May 17th 2016
My Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Find it on Goodreads

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.

And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.

Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?

For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.

And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love... or be killed himself.

As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear... the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.

The Crown’s Game was an enjoyable read and while I had a few issues with it, I think it won me over by the end, and I’m looking forward to picking up book two when it’s released!

Vika was an enchanter, and had trained her whole life to become the Tsar’s Imperial Enchanter. Enchanters were rare, and it never even occurred to her, or her father, that she might not be the only one. She was raised with the confidence and the knowledge that she WOULD be the Imperial Enchanter - not that she would have to compete for the position. Even upon finding out there was another enchanter, Vika still wasn’t too concerned - until she realised the loser of the Crown’s Game would be killed. Everyone expected Vika and the other enchanter to fight seriously, to attempt to kill each other to win, to do whatever it took. And Vika was conflicted - she made half-hearted attempts to kill Nikolai, and he made half-hearted attempts to kill her, but really, I’m not convinced they tried too hard, even before they really knew each other. The way they showed off their magic was unexpected too, but I actually quite liked the artistic nature of it. And while I thought she was a bit impetuous at times, I liked Vika too. She was trying to deal with the situation the best she could.

Nikolai, the other enchanter, was aware that he would be competing in the Crown’s Game. Unlike Vika, he knew he was not the only enchanter, and it gave him somewhat of an advantage at the start. He thought he could do what he was taught by his mentor, the cold and ruthless Galina, and get rid of the other enchanter early on - but when it really came down to it, he faltered. And once he got to know Vika, he was increasingly panicked at how things would turn out, because he knew he would no longer be able to kill this girl. I did like Nikolai, but I feel the romance between him and Vika was a bit rushed, especially since Vika didn’t even know he knew who she was and what she looked like until later on in the book. I also think the ending was a bit dramatic, considering the two hadn’t known each other long at all, and I wasn’t convinced by it. But, the last few pages tdid have me interested, so I am intrigued to find out what happens next.

Pasha, the prince, was best friends with Nikolai, but knew nothing about this magic. I didn’t know what to think of Pasha. He seemed decent but then suddenly changed very quickly towards the end of the book, and while I know he was extremely upset by what had happened, it seemed a bit unbelievable that he changed so drastically. I also think he became too obsessed with Vika too quickly - but, that being said, he was an interesting character and I would like to know what becomes of him in the next book.

Plot-wise, I found the pacing pretty good, and while the world-building was a bit patchy, I was impressed by the fact that I liked both POVs, which is unusual for me (I am not usually a huge fan of dual POVs). I also liked the mystery aspects that unravelled towards the end of the book and am looking forward to finding out more about Nikolai and Vika’s histories in the sequel!

Overall, The Crown’s Game was a quick and engrossing read, and while I didn’t absolutely love it, it was definitely worth reading, and I’d recommend it if you like Russian settings and fantasy.

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The Crown's Game is Evelyn Skye's debut novel. Find her via the links below:

Official website

Twitter

Goodreads

Thanks so much to Alice at Harper360 UK for letting me take part in the blog tour! Don't forget to visit the next stop tomorrow at Avid Bibliophile!

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Cover Reveal: Torn (A Wicked Saga #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout + SALE: Wicked - ONLY $.99!

The highly anticipated second book in #1 New York Times Bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout's Wicked Trilogy has a cover! The amazing TORN cover was created by Sarah Hansen from Okay Creations with photography by Kelsey Kukal-Keeton from K Keeton designs. Check it out below! TORN is set to release July 19th. Be sure to grab the first book in the series, WICKED, which is on sale for $.99 for a limited time!

Torn between duty and survival, nothing can be the same.

Everything Ivy Morgan thought she knew has been turned on its head. After being betrayed and then nearly killed by the Prince of the Fae, she’s left bruised and devastated—and with an earth-shattering secret that she must keep at all costs. And if the Order finds out her secret, they’ll kill her.

Then there’s Ren Owens, the sexy, tattooed Elite member of the Order who has been sharing Ivy’s bed and claiming her heart. Their chemistry is smoking hot, but Ivy knows that Ren has always valued his duty to the Order above all else—he could never touch her if he knew the truth. That is, if he let her live at all. Yet how can she live with herself if she lies to him?

But as the Fae Prince begins to close in on Ivy, intent on permanently opening the gates to the Otherworld, Ivy is running out of options. If she doesn’t figure out who she can trust—and fast—it’s not only her heart that will be torn apart, but civilization itself.

Things are about to get Wicked in New Orleans…

Don’t miss the first title in the series, WICKED, now just $.99 for a limited time only!

Purchase at: 

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Kobo

About Jennifer L. Armentrout: #1 New York Times and #1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA. She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.  

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Novel Goodreads / Author Goodreads

What do you all think of the cover? Let me know in the comments below.

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Win a Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children TOTE BAG + Fan contest! #5PeculiarYear

To help Quirk Books celebrate the five-year anniversary of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs I'll be giveaway away a tote bag like this one:

All you have to do to win is enter the rafflecopter form below. 

Open US residents only.

Ends July 8th

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also for the month of June Quirk Books is holding a fun FANtasic contest to be a part of Peculiar History! 

A limited edition poster composed of fan art and fan-made photos! For full details and how to win click the image below!

Thanks for stopping by and here's some info about the series in case you're new to the books.

Add on Goodreads / Buy on Amazon

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