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  

Cover Reveal: Casted by Sonya Loveday

Casted 

by Sonya Loveday

Expected Release Date: June 7

“My mind absorbed everything in the spell book I clutched tightly to me. Pages ruffled inside of my head, urging me to remember things and then to forget them. Voices chanted with tempo rising at the breaking points of pain until the book vanished and words to an ancient spell scribed across my arms. Each stroke brought blood to the surface, imprinting words I could not read; words that would forever change who I was.”

Jade had spent the majority of her life running from the Triad. The Triad, are a powerful group, who would stop at nothing to obtain Jade and the missing spell book for leader, Lorenzo’s, nefarious plans. And now that she has absorbed the highly coveted magic contained inside the missing book, there is nowhere left for her to hide.

With the help of her friends, Jade steps out from the shadows and learns how to fight back. But no one is prepared for Elinor-the woman bound inside of the book that’s trapped in Jade’s mind. Now she not only needs to protect herself from the Triad, but from what’s hiding inside her mind as well.

Jade never expected the answer to it all would revolve around love.

Edge is dark, mysterious, and a sworn member of the Triad. He also hides a secret past that threatens the thin line he walks between good and evil. Lives are at stake when Jade and Edge’s two worlds collide. Can Jade learn to trust him when he says he is her pre-ordained and vows to do everything he can to protect her? But more importantly, can she trust herself and the woman in her mind?

 Sonya Loveday, first and foremost is a reader, an avid one. It is of that love that brought her to the realization that this was the answer to the nagging persistent feeling that ‘there’s got to be something more’.
The dream came alive in 2009 when she purchased her laptop and began the tedious step of becoming a published author.
When she’s not reading, she’s writing. When she’s not writing, she’s reading. And when she’s not doing either of those things she’s sleeping, shuttling her children back and forth to school, letting the dogs and cats in and out of the house for the umpteenth time in the last hour and dreaming of a clean house.

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Cover Reveal: Renegade by Cambria Hebert

Renegade

(The Heven & Hell Series, #4)

by Cambria Hebert

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Release Date: May 3, 2013
Formats: Ebook and Print

The conclusion to the Heven and Hell series.
I’ve been beautiful. I’ve been ugly. I’ve died. I’ve been brought back. I’ve had abilities awakened within me. My strength has been tested. My beliefs have been tested.

Yet I stand.

What’s next when you’ve pretty much experienced it all?

The end.

Sam and I are picking up the pieces. We’re trying to come to terms with all we’ve lost. And as much as I would like to hide my head, ignore the reality I live every day, there is no forgetting.

Riley is in hell—I’m still not sure of his agenda. My mother’s past haunts me. And Kimber… Kimber is being herself. Cole sneaks glances at Gemma and she returns them when she thinks I don’t see.

But I do.

When Beelzebub escapes he brings his war to places I never thought he would. Earth. Maine. Home. Now everyone and everything is at risk. This has become bigger than my circle of friends. This has become bigger than me. I have to finish this. I have to find a way to stop him, to finish this war.

I just pray we will all be left standing in the end.

The Complete Heven & Hell Series

(In Order)

Before (#0.5)

Masquerade (#1)

Between (#1.5)

Charade (#2)

Bewitched (#2.5)

Tirade (#3)

Beneath (#3.5)

Renegade (#4)

Another beautiful cover for The Heven & Hell Series! I don't know if it is my favorite, but it is stunning.

Cambria Hebert is the author of the young adult paranormal Heven and Hell series and the Death Escorts series. She loves a caramel latte, hates math and is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens). She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and children (both human and furry) where she is plotting her next book. You can find out more about Cambria and her work by visiting http://www.cambriahebert.com

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"Waiting On" Wednesday: Of Beast and Beauty

"Waiting On" Wednesday (WoW) is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This week's book that I am eagerly anticipating is...

Of Beast and Beauty

by Stacey Jay

Expected Release Date: July 23, 2013
Published by: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Formats: Hardcover & eBook ~256 pages

In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret...

In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city’s vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.

Isra wants to help the city’s Banished people, second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan’s enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.

As secrets are revealed and Isra’s sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why I am "Waiting On" Of Beast and Beauty

I am a huge fan of author Stacey Jay and have read almost all of her books. I have been getting into retold Fairy Tales and Classics lately and I loved her take on Romeo & Juliet in Juliet Immortal and I can't wait to see her rendition of Beauty and the Beast. Plus the cover is so beautiful! I love blood dripping and the fallen rose petals! I probably would have picked this up just for the cover.

What do you think? Will you be reading Of Beast and Beauty? What are some of your favorite retold stories?

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

Focus by Alyssa Rose Ivy Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway!

Focus
(The Crescent Chronicles, #2)
by Alyssa Rose Ivy
Release Date: January 23, 2013
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Age Range: New Adult - Mature YA

Book Blurb:Freshman year of college is hard even when you're not tied to the future king of a supernatural society.
Allie dives into college head first with Hailey as her roommate and the city of New Orleans as her backyard. As things within The Society heat up, Allie realizes that whether she’s with Levi or not, she's in far too deep to turn back.

***Warning - If you have not read the first book in the series, Flight, then you should not read this review as it has some major spoilers from book one!!***

Find my review of the first book Flight here.

After reading Flight and being completely stunned by the ending I could not wait to read Focus. Once again, I was thrust into the world that Ms. Ivy has woven with Levi and Allie at the center of it. Last we heard, Allie said something to Levi that was simply outrageous and untrue. I was really angry with her for acting like a brat. Yes, I know she was tricked into being Levi's mate, but he loves her and though that doesn't make up for what he did, she needs to get over it! Levi is arrogant, infuriating, and extremely sexy. Allie is independent and stubborn and tries to push down her feelings to make Levi pay for the deception.

Now it is a new day in Focus and Allie and Hailey are at college trying to have a normal life. Well, as normal as a Pteron princess and a small entourage could muster. All she wants is a fresh start and some space from all of the drama surrounding Levi, but Levi being who he is, just can't stay away. Actually, most of the time it is Levi doing something to try and win her back and Allie being stubborn and refusing to budge. Like I said, I get that she should be mad, but it is almost too much with her. I found myself getting really annoyed with her at times. (They reminded me of Rory and Logan in Gilmore Girls - how he would do these elaborate gestures and she would just ignore them.) But despite Levi and Allie's constant bickering, they have a chemistry between them that oozes sexuality. Especially since they kiss so much! And she does give finally let him in a little.

Since Levi couldn't actually let Allie go to school alone, he along with Owen and Jared have tagged along. I like that we get to see more of the guys and see a progression of character, especially in Jared who I disliked in Flight. Along with the Pteron males and Hailey, Allie makes some new normal friends in Tiffany and Anne. One of whom may be a love interest of Jared?? Ms. Ivy has really created dynamic characters that evolve and grow. Even her secondary characters are well written. In addition, Ms. Ivy's creativity in building the paranormal underground and secret society is fantastic. We get to learn more about Levi's role in the society and his duties as prince.

Allie whose ice is finally melting towards Levi finds out that he has been keeping another something from her - a Big something. I am not quite sure what to think about it: is he trying to ease her into things so she won't run again - or something else? From what Levi knows about Allie I think he should just be up front with her. Then we get to the ending! Total and complete twist that I never saw coming - and I usually have at least an inkling of an idea of what is to come - nope not this time! And really? Another freaking cliffhanger?? Alyssa Rose Ivy has written a sequel that is just as exciting, sensual, and action packed as the the first book Flight. Focus is amazing and I am dying to read Found!!

Scorching Hot Read! Left me completely 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.

Alyssa Rose Ivy is a Young Adult and New Adult author who loves to weave stories with romance and a southern setting. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children, and she can usually be found with a cup of coffee in her hand.
Find her on:
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Find Focus on:
Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Goodreads

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Cover Reveal: Gravitational Pull by Marissa Carmel

Gravitational Pull

(Vis Vires Trilogy, #2)

by Marissa Carmel

Release Date: April 4, 2013
Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romance 
Cover Reveal Host: Lady Amber's Tours

Touch me, and bring me to life...

How do you move on when you don’t even know where you were going in the first place?
The Spirit Stalker is dead and I have finally started to erect my life. But I quickly discover, that just because the structure is built doesn’t mean the foundation is sturdy. As much as I try to manage my abilities, I can’t completely control them. The physical impossibility of the relationship I have with Justice has reached a boiling point; our fundamental problem is my inability to control myself from absorbing his power, and his fears of touching me because of it.

As if that wasn’t deal-breaker enough, a new threat looms on my horizon - Darklings.

They are grim reapers of the immortal world who surface every five-hundred-years to feed off the souls of magical beings who are weak, aimless, lost; those who have given up and want to move on.

They also hunt power. Which means, they’re hunting me.

Abandoned by the one person I need the most, I find myself in Melenia’s realm. There, I’m courted by Siberian, a dangerous pixie who covets me, hunted by Death personified; all the while hiding my powers and my ancient bloodline. The pixie prince is alluring, and I feel so broken and vulnerable. I know giving in to him means giving myself over to him. But right now, I don’t care. All I want is to feel anything other than the loss and rejection Justice left me with.

Anything other than pain.

So what do I do when I’m scared to be touched, even though I know it’s the only way to bring my soul back to life?

Justice’s POV

We land right outside the gates of Keelin Castle. Extinguishing ourselves, we descend on the palace.
Walking authoritatively, we make our way down the nave-like hallway of the castle to the huge, golden double doors at the end. The throne room.
“Are you sure that’s where she’ll be?” Derrin asks snidely. “She might be waiting in her chambers for you.”
“Well if she is, she’ll be waiting a while.”
“It could be a good way to get some of your frustrations out,” he says boorishly.
“There’s more than one way to release frustration,” I threaten him.
“Bring it, bitch,” he grabs his crotch, not intimidated at all.
Asshole.
I push open the throne room doors, and as expected, we see the pixie queen perched on her throne waiting for us.
Emery surveys us as we approach. Both Derrin and I give a small nod in due respect as we reach her, but don’t be deceived, we are the supreme strata.
“Your little human has caused quite a stir,” she says evenly, but I can see the danger flashing in her eyes.
“She was the one who was attacked,” I quickly defend Liv.
“Was she? Or did she bring it on herself?”
My look becomes more intense. “What are you talking about?”
“My brother has taken quite a liking to her you know,” Emery says randomly.
Yes, I’ve noticed. “If your brother knows what’s best for him, he will disappear from her life,” I say through clenched teeth.
Or I’ll remove him myself. Emery’s eyes become razor sharp at my comment - she’s realized something. She slips off her throne and stalks down the three slate stairs to the floor where Derrin and I are standing. Like Liv, she is tiny, with long hair blacker than night and almond eyes just like Melenia’s.
“What is so special about this human?” she looks up at me, searing the question straight into my soul.
“Nothing,” I snap, but Emery knows me. She sees right through my lies.
“Then it will be nothing if I send the royal guard to take care of her, and rid my land of such contaminants.”
“Do it, and I will burn this entire realm to the ground,” I growl.
Her eyes grow a little wider, but she doesn’t back down from my glare.
“You love her.”
“No.”
“You deny it?”
“Yes.”
No. “You loved me once,” she says vulnerably.
“What we had was never love,” I bite, “just sex.”
Ouch. That was harsh, even for me.
Emery’s eyebrows crease, and I know I have hurt her deeply.
It’s not a lie, I never loved her. We did have an intense physical relationship that included some emotion, but it’s incomparable to what I have with Liv.
She backs away from me, shifting her eyes between me and Derrin.
Derrin clears his throat. “Not to interrupt this lover’s quarrel,” that I highly enjoy watching, he tells me telepathically, “but what exactly did you mean when you said she brought it on herself?”
Emery’s full attention falls upon Derrin.
“Siberian didn’t give me all the details, but apparently she used her powers on him, and what she did, he described only as provocative.”
I clench my jaw. Provocative? Images of Liv and Siberian reel through my head. What did she do to him? What did he do to her?

 Marissa Carmel has been writing since a young age and although it has always been for personal enjoyment, she finally decided breakout and share her imagination with the world. She hopes that her universe is as fun and intriguing to her readers as it is to her. Marissa Carmel is originally from NJ but moved to Maryland several years ago, she enjoys reading, writing, and catching up on her ever growing DVR library. She is currently working on the sequel to iFeel, Gravitational Pull and the third and final installment of the Vis Vires trilogy, Constellation.
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