Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Swoon Romance YA Wednesdays: How To Series by Cassie Mae Book Blitz with Giveaway #ReadSwoonRepeat

How-To-Banner

Welcome to this week’s
Swoon Romance YA Wednesdays!
This week features
How To Series by Cassie Mae!
Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

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Zoe has a great pair of legs, perky boobs, and wears exactly what she needs to show it all off. She works hard for the easy sleazy ‘you only wish you were me’ reputation, burying who she really is—an all-out nerd. 
The only time Zoe gets to be herself is when she hides under her comforter to read X-Men comics, sending jealousy stabs at everyone who attends Comic-Con. Keeping up her popular rep is too important, and she’s so damn insecure to care about the consequences. But when Zoe’s sister takes her car for a ‘crash and burn into a tree’ joyride, her parents get her a replacement. A manual. Something she doesn’t know how to operate, but her next door neighbor Zak sure as heck does. 
Zak’s a geek to the core, shunned by everyone in school for playing Dungeons and Dragons at lunch and wearing “Use the Force” t-shirts. And Zoe’s got it bad for the boy. Only Zak doesn’t want Popular Zoe. He wants Geek Zoe. 
She has to shove her insecurities and the fear of dropping a few rungs on the social ladder aside to prove to Zak who she really is and who she wants to be… if she can figure it out herself.

add to goodreads
 
How to Date a Nerd by Cassie Mae
Publication Date: September 2014
Publisher: Swoon Romance
 
Available for Purchase:
amazon B&N

How-to-Seduce-A-Band-Geek-Cover

Sierra Livingston’s got it bad for her sister’s best friend, Levi Mason—the boy who carries his drumsticks in his pocket, marches with the school’s band, and taps his feet to whatever beat runs through his head. Sierra racks her brain for ways to impress the sexy drummer, but the short skirts and bursting cleavage don’t seem to cut it. 
When Sierra gets paired with Levi’s sister, Brea, for a mentorship program, they strike a deal. In exchange for Sierra keeping her mouth shut about Brea ditching the program, Brea lets Sierra dig for more info on Levi to help get the guy of her dreams. 
But when Sierra discovers Levi no longer plays the drums, his family has moved into a trailer, and he’s traded in his Range Rover for a baby blue moped, Sierra’s not sure if she can go through with violating his privacy. She’ll have to find the courage to ask him straight out—if he’s willing to let her in—and explore other ways to seduce the school’s band geek.

add to goodreads
 
How to Seduce a Band Geek by Cassie Mae
Publication Date: May 2014
Publisher: Swoon Romance
Available for Purchase:
amazon B&N

About-the-Author
 
 
Cassie Mae (2)

Cassie Mae (who dons the name Becca Ann on occasion) is the author of a few hundred… okay, maybe not that many… books. Some of which became popular for their quirky titles, characters, and stories. She likes writing about nerds, geeks, the awkward, the fluffy, the short, the shy, the loud, the fun. 
Since publishing her bestselling debut, Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend, she has published and sold books to Random House, Swoon Romance, and Spencer Hill Press. She has a favorite of all her babies, but no, she won’t tell you what it is. (Mainly because it changes depending on the day.) 
Along with writing, Cassie likes to binge watch Teen Wolf and The Big Bang Theory. She can quote Harry Potter lines quick as a whip. And she likes kissing her hubby, but only if his facial hair is trimmed. She also likes cheesecake to a very obsessive degree.

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Giveaway
 
Complete the Rafflecopter for a chance to win!
 


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Cover Reveal: Palace Secrets by Ravyn Rayne



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Series: Palace Secrets #1
Author: Ravyn Rayne
Publisher: Blushing Books
Expected Publication: June 6, 2015  

Love comes in many forms and always at a price. At twenty-three, Princess Isabella must settle down for the sake of her kingdom. Caught up in a secret affair with her lady-in-waiting, Hannah, the princess knows it can only last for so long. When Prince Alexander arrives to court her, he confides that his father is on his death bed, and he will be crowned king soon. Isabella hastily agrees to the proposal, desiring to be queen, knowing little about her soon to be husband. Murder, secrets, and lies combine with menage, spanking, and erotic encounters in this steamy medieval romance.      

EXCERPT

  Teardrops fall from the sky as I sit in my room with the window open, watching the dirt road into the castle. Prince Alexander, from a neighboring kingdom, is scheduled to arrive at court today. It's no secret I've made things difficult for the last prince that courted me. I can't remember his name, only his beady eyes and putrid breath. I have no desire to tie my heart down. The thought terrifies me to no end.

There's a knock at my door and I shut my window, keeping the mood from seeping inside. Silly superstitions.

"Princess Isabella," Hannah says, greeting me with a curtsey. Her blonde hair is braided intricately across the top of her head and down her back. I wonder who did her the honor. She's wearing my favorite color on her too, a deep rich blue that accentuates and compliments her pale blue eyes. I pull her into my room, slamming the door shut behind her.

Hopefully no one saw her entrance. If they did, we can surely think up an excuse for her presence in my room. Unlike a boy, there's no rules being broken having Hannah alone in my chambers. Lucky me. Without thought, my lips descend onto hers, shoving her forcefully against the door.

Hannah is not shy, though she pretends to be around my parents. I don't blame her, they are intimidating and also the king and queen of our land. "You have to tell your father King William," Hannah whispers between kisses. Her fingers slip against the back of my neck, moving my dark locks to one side. Hannah's rosy lips fall against my bare skin, kissing a path up to my ear. "It's the only way we can be together."

"He'll never allow it," I say and sigh letting my eyes shut. I worry that confessing my feelings for her might result in her banishment from our kingdom.

It's not only the fact Hannah is a woman and our relationship is forbidden, there's also the issue that she's a lady-in-waiting. She's not of royal blood and I'm to marry a prince and strengthen our alliance.

Nothing can ever develop between us more than lust and romance.


  Ravyn Rayne

About the Author

Ravyn is a sassy, fun-loving, and adventure-seeking young woman. She loves to travel and can’t wait for her next vacation, wherever it might be. Ravyn writes romantic erotica.

She began writing romance novels in college, spending her down time either reading a book or writing fiction. Please don’t make her choose between the two, she loves them equally.

Although BURNING DESIRE is her debut romantic erotica novel, it is not her first published book. She has been published professionally since 2013. You can find her other books here.


Follow Ravyn:

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For less steamy reads, you can follow her here:

Blog | Facebook | Twitter

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Book Highlight: December, by Linda Oatman High




















DECEMBER
Linda Oatman High
Contemporary YA Romance/Bullying, 54k




~Editor's Pick~

Lake Millay has goals, hopes, and dreams...until she moves to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and becomes ensnared in a vortex of violence. 


Bullying and stalking become Lake’s life, and ultimately the destroyer of her dreams.


A cautionary tale based on the true story of Laurie Show, murdered by three teens in 1991.







Buy Links:    Evernight Teen    Amazon   ARe




Excerpt:

 “This gazing globe’s really old, like from the 1800s.  People believed that a witch couldn’t sneak up on you when you were looking into the dome.”   The voice comes from nowhere and from everywhere, and an electric bolt of fear buzzes through my body.  My heart thunders, filling my chest and ears.  I’m dizzy, numb with shock, not able to move. 
Then a face appears––a face––blurring and blending into my own in the rounded silver of the globe.   I scream, filling my body and my heart and my ears, and I leap and fall backwards, banging hard into flesh and bone:  a person.
I scream again and fall on my knees in the mud. 
“HELP!  NO!”
“Man.  You’re jumpy.  Sorry if I scared you.”
It’s a girl, just a scrawny anorexic-looking girl, about my age, fair-haired and pale, with fake-looking cobalt-colored eyes.  She’s one of those girls with an upturned little nose and perfect teeth.  Flawless complexion.  Makeup.  Teeny-weeny, clean white shorts.  Tanned cheerleaderish legs.
I gasp, trying to catch my breath.
“You scared the crap out of me.”
“Man, you scare easy.”  Knuckles on hips, she cocks her head to the side, pale hair falling over those bright blue eyes.
I press my hand to my heart.  Puke climbs up my throat, and then slides back down again.
“What are you so jumpy about?  There’s nothing to be scared of around here.  Not like it’s an epicenter for crime.”
There are definitely shades of cheerleader in this girl, yet none of that high-pitched perkiness.  Clouds of sadness seem to be leaking from her eyes and her smile and her voice, despite the faultless exterior.  A tiny diamond-like chip glints on her nose. 
“We don’t even lock our doors around here,” she says.
I heave myself to a standing position.  My heart’s still racing in a marathon of terror.
“What did you think I was?” the girl asks and I shrug.
“A wacko.  Weirdo.  Murderer.  You never know.”
She barks out a laugh. 
“All of the above,” she says.  “You better run.”
I try to smile.
“Here,” she says, reaching down to pluck a flower. “Peace offering.”  She holds a red-nailed hand toward me––her thumb and finger, daintily holding the stem of the red flower.
I take it.   Our fingers graze.
 “Servants also used these gazing globes to be sneaky and watch their bosses,” the girl says.  “Pretty far-out, huh?”
I’m still shaking, but I nod.
“Cool shirt.  I can tell that you’re not from around here.”
I look down, suddenly super-aware I’m about fifty pounds bigger than this chick.  This makes me irritable, and I shove the red flower into the pocket of my shorts.
 “What are you doing here, anyway?” I ask.  “Don’t they have laws about trespassing around here?”
“Just checking out the new neighbors,” she says with a shrug of bony shoulders.  Her voice is like cornhusk: raspy and rough.
 “Where’d you come from?”
“Over there.”  She points with her sharp little chin.  “Through the field and to the left.  When the corn’s down in the winter, you can actually see our place.”
“Okay.”
“I’m Brit Dannon,” she says.   “Brit with one T, not two.  You’re the new preacher’s kid, I presume?  Got any pot?”
“What?”  I almost laugh. 
“Got any weed?”
“No, I . . . don’t smoke.”
“Man.  You really aren’t from around here.  What’s your name, anyway?”
“Lake Millay.”  There’s a final feeble clank of thunder, like beaters in an empty metal bowl, and then the sun comes out, shining.  Brit Dannon seems to shimmer:  shiny hair and makeup and nails and that perfect-girl sparkly shirt, with sequins spelling out the word Princess. 
“Welcome to Badger Gap, Lake Millay,” she says.  “The Center of the Universe!  The most happenin’ location on the planet!  The place that’s going to freaking change your life!” 





About the Author:

Linda Oatman High is an author/journalist/playwright who lives in Lancaster County, PA. She’s published more than 20 books for children and teens, and her books have won many awards and honors, including VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) “Perfect Ten” awards. Linda also writes for adults, and her short story NICKEL MINES HARDWARE, based upon the Amish school shootings of 2006, was honored in England in 2012 with the Sunday Times EFG Short Story award shortlist. Linda holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and she presents at schools from K-college both nationally and internationally.






Giveaway:  $10 Evernight Teen Gift Certificate and 1 Signed Print Copy


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