Cover Reveal: Very Bad Things by Ilsa Madden-Mills

Very Bad Things

(Briarcrest Academy, #1)

Ilsa Madden-Mills

Full Wrap Cover

Expected release date: September 10, 2013

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Age Group: Mature YA and NA

Cover Designed by: Toski Covey Photography,

Sommer Stein from Perfect Pear,

Model is Mariah Jane Scott

Born into a life of privilege and secrets, Nora Blakely has everything any nineteen-year-old girl could desire. She’s an accomplished pianist, a Texas beauty queen, and on her way to Princeton after high school. She’s perfect…
Leaving behind her million-dollar mansion and Jimmy Choos, she becomes a girl hell-bent on pushing the limits with alcohol, drugs, and meaningless sex.
Then she meets her soulmate. But he doesn’t want her.
When it comes to girls, twenty-five-year-old Leo Tate has one rule: never fall in love. His gym and his brother are all he cares about…until he meets Nora. He resists the pull of their attraction, hung up on their six year age difference.
As they struggle to stay away from each other, secrets will be revealed, tempers will flare, and hearts will be broken.
Welcome to Briarcrest Academy…where sometimes, the best things in life are Very Bad Things.

Ilsa wrote her first work at the age of twelve when she penned a little ditty about a handsome prince who had no sense. Since then, she’s written plays, poems, and numerous short stories. Very Bad Things is her first full-length novel and part of a new series called Briarcrest Academy.

She graduated summa cum laude with a master’s in English. After graduation, she directed plays, worked with autistic children, helped start a children’s clothing company, and eventually had a family. Now, she spends her days with two small kids and her Viking husband. When she’s not typing away at a story, you can find her drinking too much coffee, jamming out to Pink, or checking on her carefully maintained chocolate stash.

She loves to hear from fans and fellow avid readers. You can find her on Facebook and a soon to come author website.

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Cover Reveal: Touching Fire by Airicka Phoenix

Touching Fire

(Touch Series, #2)

by Airicka Phoenix

Release date: June, 2013

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance.

Warnings: Strong language and mild sexual content

Formats: ebook & paperback

Fallon’s on the run again, but this time, she’s not alone and she has a direction — she’s going to meet the man whose blood runs through her veins, the only man who can finally tell her who… what she is and why Garrison wants her so badly. But the truth may be more than she can handle when she falls from one world into another, one that shouldn’t exist and learns truths about herself that she may wish she never knew.
Faced with a reality so beyond comprehension, Fallon must accept the destiny she’s given because Garrison will stop at nothing to insure the success of The Amalie Project, even if he must do the unthinkable and become just like Fallon.
Touch Vengeance. Touch Malice. Touch Fire.

He was still waiting when I joined him again, composed. He stood with his back against the wall, his hands lost deep into the folds of his pockets. He was studying his shoes, his hair falling in thick fringes over his eyes. Those blue eyes rose, crystalline pools of electricity, and met mine, and my world stopped. My breath stopped. My heart would have stopped if it wasn’t drumming a tempo of pure elation at the sight of him. It ached, so desperate for the need to be closer. God, it was never close enough. I could crawl into him, burrow into his soul and it wouldn’t be enough.

I took a step closer, as unsteady as a new born calf. He caught my hand, reeled me to him without ever pushing away from the wall. I was pulled into the space between his feet, held there as he bent my arm and twisted it around my own waist. I was pressed into him, his thighs hard against mine. I felt his heartbeat through the fingertips he traced over the curve of my cheek.

“Stop touching me,” I gasped, cotton-mouthed, half-crazed by the possibility that he might take me seriously.

“Why?” His breath fanned over my dry and already parted lips.

I opened my eyes, surprised to find them closed. “Because I won’t want you to stop.”

The band of steel around my waist tightened until I was supported only by him, by his arm, his chest, his heat, his scent… God, I was home! My fingers curled into the soft material of his fresh, clean shirt. He must have changed, but it was yet another black t-shirt.

“I can’t.” His lips wrote each word against mine in the caress of butterfly wings.

My bones liquefied. I nearly fainted.

“Why?” The single word was a mere movement of my lips.

His free hand shackled my chin, guided my face up, held me prisoner to eyes much too animal to be human. “Because I don’t want to stop.”

If there was ever any possibility of remembering to breathe, it was gone. I was barely conscious, barely even sane as I sunk into blissful madness cured only by his lips… his touch.

“Touch me!” My desperate plea was met with a fierce growl.

His eyes, dark, feral, bore into mine. “Not here!”

I opened my mouth to protest, to beg, but his finger against my lips became a barricade, trapping the words on my tongue.

“Don’t!” he hissed. His finger drew back, traced the curve of my bottom lip. His eyes followed the slow caress the way a cat watches a canary. “I can’t promise I’m completely in control right now.”

Airicka Phoenix is the best-selling author of the Touch Series with short stories in Whispered Beginnings: A Clever Fiction Anthology and Midnight Surrender Anthology. When she's not hammering away at the keyboard, she can be found banishing pirates or crawling through the attic looking for lost treasure with her kids. She loves baking, gardening and reading. She also likes to travel and take pictures of everything she comes across. When asked, Airicka describes herself as a sarcastic basket case that has an unhealthy addiction to chocolate, old movies and really bad jokes. She loves to laugh, make friends and write. If she could have one wish granted, it would be to spend one day as a fly-on-the-wall inside Stephen King's mind. If she could have two wishes granted, she would ask for a castle dedicated entirely to her overwhelming collection of books.For more about Airicka, also on how to win giveaways, read author interviews and reviews, visit her on all her sites.

Website - Twitter - Facebook - FB Airicka's Mystical Creations - Goodreads - Pinterest

Other books by Airicka:

Touching Smoke - Touching Eternity - Games of Fire  

Midnight Surrender Anthology  -  Whispered Beginnings: A Clever Fiction Anthology  

Games of Fire by Airicka Phoenix Blog Tour: Review & Excerpt

Games of Fire
by Airicka Phoenix
Published: February 14, 2013
Formats Available: eBook ~475 pages
Format Reviewed: eARC
Tour Host: Lady Amber's Tours
Buy Link: Amazon 

Book Blurb:
Sophie has enough problems in her life without Spencer turning her blood to fire, without his eyes freezing and burning her, without his hatred of her. Since his migration into the house next to hers, Sophia Valdez isn’t sure whether she wants to toss him under a bus or kiss that smirking mouth of his. But even as the temperature rises around them, leaping flames of passion, want and desire,everything either has ever known will be shattered by the lurking shadow hounding their every step, wanting revenge.

Spencer Rowth moves to the sleepy town of River Port with his mother and twelve year old sister, Suzy, to escape a deceitful father, an unfaithful girlfriend and a life crumbling much too fast for him to grapple onto only to be smacked upside the head by the last thing he wanted again. Sophie was everything he refused to want. Her temper, her wit, her laugh, her smile, the way her entire body goes up in flames under his hands are things he would rather slam a lid on and forget. Instead, he finds himself falling for the smart-mouth next door. But how long will he have before the evil chasing them catches up? How long before the very thing he never wanted becomes his only thread to sanity? And who is after them? What do they want and why do they want Spencer and Sophie dead?

    

This is my first book by Airicka Phoenix and I have to say I am impressed. When I started Games of Fire I thought it was going to be a paranormal romance type book, but it wasn't and that was a good thing because it was different, but no less exciting. The beginning, while it hooked me was very similar to Twilight and I'll tell you why. Girl meets boy, boy is a jerk. Girl is almost killed by a car, boy saves her. Girl tells boy, "You regret saving me, don't you?" But thankfully, this is where the similarities with Edward and Bella end and Spencer and Sophie's story begins. This is a love story with kick. Sparks fly every time Spencer and Sophie are together, no matter if they are arguing or kissing. Then add in a psycho stalker who wants to possess Sophie for himself and will stop at nothing to get her. Definitely a book I didn't want to put down!

The characters are well drawn and dynamic. Even creepy little Suzy who gives me the heebie-jeebies every time she was around. Can you say Children of the Corn? Actually, Spencer's whole family is broken in one way or another. Spencer is complex and has so many layers to get through to see the real boy hiding underneath. What I love is that nothing happens instantly and Sophie takes her time getting to know Spencer. My favorite statement by Sophie is, "You can have all of me or none of me," meaning that if they are going to be together it is mind and body and nothing in between. No insta-love here, only a real mature relationship that takes time and effort for it to work. Sophie is great and realistic character too. She has friends who are hilarious (the point system!) and does not ditch them at the first sight of a boyfriend. She has real parents and a regular family dynamic; meaning parents are in charge and not the other way around.

Ms. Phoenix's writing style is perfect for the Young Adult/New Adult genre. This is for those over 16/17 due to some seriously hot scenes. She is witty, funny, and can make a scene pop off the page. She also has a knack for creating suspense. The way the book is written is genius. Not only do we get to see the aftermath of the stalker's threats and attacks, but we get cut-aways into the head of the stalker, and the workings of the mind of the stalker gave me serious chills. And while I kinda thought I knew who the stalker was, I had to keep reading to find out if I was right!

The copy-editing was near flawless and I read an ARC. I was very impressed with the story that she wove. Each character had a story and everything happened for a reason - even the smallest of conversations or glances. My only pet peeve was the ending, it was so abrupt. With the book being almost 500 pages, the ending was condensed into about 7% of the book. I wanted more explanations and more 'what happens nexts' but, overall I was extremely happy with Games of Fire. I shall be reading all her books as soon as my TBR pile allows!

Smoking hot read! Almost breathless.

FTC Advisory: I was given a copy of this book from the author for an honest review as part of a blog tour. No backroom deals or whispered promises were made.

“I won’t bite,” he said, probably meaning it as a joke.

“Oh if only that were my only problem,” she sighed under her breath.
“What?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.”

She took his hand, slipping her icy fingers through his. The electric sparks tore a fiery path down the length of her arms, nearly melting the ice beneath their feet. She shivered involuntarily and felt his fingers flex.

“All right?” Had his voice always been so husky?
She dampened her lips. “Yeah…” The single word died in her throat as she was pulled towards him. Her heart tripped. Her lungs stilled. The heat of his body rushed over her with the subtle scent peppermint, leather, spices and smoke.

A soft mist blew around them. Raindrops glistened in his hair, shimmering under the pale glow of the light post. His eyes were shadowed beneath wispy fringes, but the silver in them glinted like pools of liquid mercury. Her breath caught. It must have made a sound because his fingers tightened. His shaky exhale caressed her flushed face.
“This,” he whispered so quietly she almost didn’t hear him. “Is why you are so bad for me.”

Airicka Phoenix is the best-selling author of the Touch Series with short stories in Whispered Beginnings: A Clever Fiction Anthology and Midnight Surrender Anthology. When she's not hammering away at the keyboard, she can be found banishing pirates or crawling through the attic looking for lost treasure with her kids. She loves baking, gardening and reading. She also likes to travel and take pictures of everything she comes across. When asked, Airicka describes herself as a sarcastic basket case that has an unhealthy addiction to chocolate, old movies and really bad jokes. She loves to laugh, make friends and write. If she could have one wish granted, it would be to spend one day as a fly-on-the-wall inside Stephen King's mind. If she could have two wishes granted, she would ask for a castle dedicated entirely to her overwhelming collection of books.
For more about Airicka, also on how to win giveaways, read author interviews and reviews, visit her on all her sites.

Website  -  Twitter - Facebook - FB Airicka's Mystical Creations - Goodreads - Pinterest