Friday, February 28, 2014

FF!: The Last Hours Fan Art

And this week's Fanmade Friday! is...

 The Last Hours Fan Art

As you all know, Cassandra Clare, best-selling author of The Mortal Instruments Series and The Infernal Devices Trilogy, recently announced a new trilogy which is based on the story after TID. So, here, I would like to show you a fabulous graphic set made for it!


Art Information:
Fandom: The Last Hours
Made by: the-manila-institute on Tumblr

Author's Statement:
“For as long as Lucie Herondale can remember, the Herondale family manor has adjourned the manor of the Blackthorns.
It’s too bad that Tatiana Blackthorn, the matriarch of the family, has always been, as her father Will Herondale says, “mad as a mouse trapped in a teapot.” Since the day that her father Benedict murdered Tatiana’s husband, and was killed in turn by a group of Shadowhunters that included both her brothers, Tatiana has nursed a burning grudge against the London Institute and all its inhabitants, especially Will, Tessa and their children: Lucie and her brother, James …”

and she also adds that it will be telling the story of Tessa, Jem and Will's intermediate family and it will all connect to The Dark Artifices too!
My Comments:
Gorgeous artworks make me happy! I'm so excited because I've always been a huge fan of Cassie Clare's Shadowhunters series. I just hope she doesn't overdo it too much. I wasn't a big fan of City of Lost Souls so I'm hoping this trilogy will make up for it. 

Tune in next time for another Fanmade Friday!

Thursday, February 27, 2014

RELEASE: Hero – Leighton Del Mia + Giveaway, excerpt & teasers!


Hero
By Leighton Del Mia
Dark Erotic Romance Standalone
Released: February 27th, 2014

Hero
Calvin Parish
They call me Hero. I defend.
 I protect.
 I ask for nothing in return, and that makes me good.
 Doesn’t it?
That which makes me the ultimate predator also feeds dark impulses I’ve learned to control—until I bring her too close. For years I’ve watched her from afar, but what started out as duty has become obsession.
Cataline Ford
I work hard.
 I play by the rules.
 I’m content.
 My scars are quiet and invisible, and that keeps me hidden.
 Doesn’t it?
One fateful walk home, I’m taken by someone I didn’t know I should fear. Captive and afraid, nobody will tell me why I’m confined to this hauntingly beautiful mansion. I’m given everything; I have nothing. He takes what he needs from me, and for that I hate him. But I might have loved him once.

And just because you’re reading this doesn’t mean I survive him.

✽ ✽ ✽ ✽ ✽

Keep Me (A Hero Novella)
“I will disappoint you. I will hurt you. If I could be different, I would. But I don’t think I can.”
Declarations and sacrifices have been made. After three years, a better life is finally on the horizon. But when the past leaves marks that are both painful and permanent, is there ever such a thing as starting over? Can memories be replaced or forgotten—and should they be?

Keep Me is a follow-up novella for Hero readers who want a glimpse of life after breakfast. It is only intended to be enjoyed after Hero and is not a standalone. It is entirely optional and not essential to the original plot.

 
Leighton Del Mia lives behind large sunglasses and under massive headphones. She can usually be found behind and under these things at any Starbucks on the West Coast, which is where she writes twisty books between sips of black coffee.

Check her out in these sites:
✭ BOOK LINKS ✭
 
(Click book cover for Goodreads link)

Hero ♕
Amazon | Barnes&Noble

♕ Keep Me (A Hero Novella) ♕
Because I’m lost in my thoughts, I don’t hear Cataline enter the room. Her tight black dress cuts across her mid-thighs, and her cleavage teases from a plummeting neckline. She’s done her makeup for probably the second time since arriving at the mansion.

“What is this?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.

“What?”

Jasmine drifts under my nose as she walks away from me to her seat.

“I told you not to dress up for dinner.”

“I thought you’d like it,” she says, lowering herself gracefully into the chair. Her back is straight as a rod, and her fingers are laced. “You don’t?”

Norman decorates the table with food as I stare Cataline down. He clears his throat. “For dinner, we have—”

“Leave us.”

He pauses. Though my eyes are still fastened on Cataline, I know he’s watching me as he bows his head. “As you wish, sir.”

I stand and slowly walk the line of the long table. My footsteps echo through the hall, appropriately menacing. I’ve just come from a burning building but am back in my suit and tie to maintain appearances. And my ridiculous glasses, which I remove and toss aside. She’ll believe I’ve just returned from the office. When I’m standing over her, she tugs up the neckline of the dress and blinks at me. I resist smirking as she tucks hair behind her ear twice.

“Well,” she says, “aren’t we going to eat?”

“I’m going to eat.”

“I’m not?”

“As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one meal at this table, and it’s you.”

My ears pick up her slow swallow, my eyes the curl of her hands in her lap. “That sounds like a threat,” she says quietly.

I bend over, flatten one hand on the table and wrap the other around the arm of her chair. “It’s not. This is a threat: if you’re not naked and spread out on this table in two seconds, I’m going to spank you so hard, you won’t know up from down.”
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This reveal and release was brought to you by Love Between the Sheets.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

CHAPTER REVEAL: Prince of Blood and Steel – AJ Elmore & Nazarea Andrews

Released: January 30th, 2014

Seth Morgan has returned home after two years spent building an alliance that will take his family's crime syndicate to a new level in New York City's black collar society. He expects a warm welcome as heir of the Morgan empire. He hopes to finally marry Nicolette, the woman he's loved his whole life.

What he finds is a different world, one where his family's legacy is in ruins. His big brother, Caleb, has changed into someone cold and bitter, plotting to overthrow their patriarch. And Nicolette, daughter of the criminal banking industry, has left the family entirely.

When a vicious misunderstanding leaves Caleb dead, Seth is left reeling. Desperate for truth, Seth is forced to turn to his only remaining cousin, Emma, for support. As he tries to mend his relationship with Nicolette, he begins a search for answers that will take him from the dirty streets to the highest reaches of their illicit empire.

Torn between the desire to protect those who mean the most to him, and a need to learn more about Caleb's death, he grows distant to protect them. As each secret surfaces, he realizes that the only way to restore his family is to take his place at its head, and fully embrace the brutal way they live.

✮☆✮ CHAPTER REVEAL ✮☆✮

Irving Prep, New York City. January 30th

It's been a week of seclusion and mourning. A week of waiting and wondering. Wondering if Seth will come to her. She isn't surprised that he has kept a low profile. But she wants to see him and know where she stands.
Instead she is shuttled between her mother’s home and Mikie’s, refused any answers. Even her phone was taken away for a time—for her own good. Being constantly under Mikie’s guard has worn on her nerves. It took a screaming match with Bethania, and tears for her uncle, to be allowed to go back to school.

She steps out of the classroom into the hall of people. They give her a wide berth, wary of the dark princess. Emma has heard the whispers floating around school about her family. She ignores them. The idiots at her school know nothing. Nothing. About her family, about her cousins.
Quinn comes up and wraps an arm around her shoulder, pulling her along the hall. She would be lost without her friend. But she resents his company now. She wants her thoughts and her cousin.
“Go ahead of me,” she says. He hesitates, so she puts a little steel in her eyes. A smile tickles the corner of his lips, but he turns and leaves her.

She can feel the darting glances from her classmates, and she twitches her uniform skirt. There's a bathroom ahead. For a moment she considers retreating there. But that's weakness, and she refuses to show that right now. She adjusts her books and heads for the stairs.

"Emma."

It's a whisper of noise, almost blending with the rest of the people murmuring her name. Except that she's waited two years to hear this voice.

She turns and sees him, half hidden in shadows. Her stomach turns, his attention on her like a hot brand.

His eyes are tired, at odds with the smile he gives her as she slips across the hallway to stand at Seth's right hand.

He's studying her, and she shifts, taking the moment to return the gesture. He’s thin, far past his normal slender build, almost emaciated. His skin is soft gold from months in the sun, his dark hair hanging unruly around his ears. His posture isn’t the arrogant disregard she’s used to from Seth—it’s hunched, almost defensive. A bruise is ugly and yellow on his jaw, from where Caleb hit him.

She touches it, without thinking, and Seth flinches away.

“Let’s get lunch,” she says, looping an arm through his. Quinn will wonder what happened to her, but that thought barely registers—Seth is here, and she’s pulling him along.

They get greasy hot dogs from a vendor and a cup of Coke that makes her teeth chatter. It’s street fare, but delicious, and she revels in it—the prince of the city and his favorite cousin, sitting on the stoop of a shop like any commoner. She picks at her hot dog and watches him out of the corner of her eye. Seth eats pensively, staring at the traffic and people rushing past.

“You missed it,” she says, picking an onion off the hot dog.

Seth nods. “Yes. More than I thought possible.”

She wants to ask why he was gone so long, why he never reached out to those he left behind, why he promised to protect and teach her, but left so soon with no word.

Emma doesn’t say any of that—she doesn’t say anything. She crumples her hot dog up and sets it aside. Leans her head against his shoulder. For a few heartbeats, Seth is stiff, startled, all tension and steel. Then a sigh moves through him and she feels his arm come around her, one hand smoothing down her curls. She shivers, time seeming to slow as she leans into him, inhaling his scent.

They sit like that for a few long minutes. Then he squeezes her gently and pulls away. He doesn’t look at her as she reaches for her Coke, wiping at her eyes. She’s so young, he thinks. So damn young and vulnerable.

“What place have you been given in the family?” he asks.

She shrugs. “None.”

Seth jerks, looks at her with startled eyes. Emma hurries on. “Uncle Mikie wanted me to finish school before they brought me in. Besides, you know they always kept me in the dark.”

“I know you never tolerated it,” Seth answers, an amused look brightening his eyes.

She hesitates. Does she tell him now, about Caleb? He speaks before she can, taking her choice away. “Things are going to be a little different, now that I’m home.”

And Caleb is dead.

The words aren’t spoken, but they hang there. She nods and leans into him again. “Yes. It will.” She hesitates, and then adds, “Mother is furious, you know. The entire family is waiting to see what you’ll do—who Mikie will kill next. They don’t know how to anticipate your next move.”

He looks down at her, her red-gold lashes dusting against her cheeks as she picks at the hem of her dress. She’s not a child anymore, not the little girl he left behind, and comments like this remind him of that. What has she done—who has she learned from, while he was gone? She darts a glance up at him, curious.

“Are you still listening at doors, Emma?” he asks, teasing, remembering her childhood habit for gathering information.

She nods. “I listen where you can’t. Always.”

He doesn’t speak—his voice and breath are choked in his throat. He came home to death and threats, to a brother ready to kill him and an uncle who demanded death for that offense. He came home to a family he doesn’t recognize and cannot trust.

But with a simple declaration, she’s reminded him that some things don’t change.
✭ BUY LINKS ✭
(Click book cover for Goodreads link)

Prince of Blood and Steel ♕
AJ and Nazarea became friends in a writers group. Drawn together by a love of fictional bad boys and good wine, they are best kept several states apart but rack up a ton of emails and text messages arguing plot points. 


Nazarea Andrews is an avid reader and tends to write the stories she wants to read. She loves chocolate and coffee almost as much as she loves books, but not quite as much as she loves her kids. She lives in south Georgia with her husband, daughters, and overgrown dog.

Check her out in these sites:



+ + +



AJ has seven tattoos, two dogs, and a bachelor's degree in journalism. She enjoys live music, and a diverse range of writing styles and genres. She has been writing creatively and therapeutically since childhood. She also supports artist collaboration and cross-media projects. She is an advocate of experience as inspiration. She lives and works in southern West Virginia as a bartender novelist.

Check her out in these sites:



This reveal was hosted by InkSlingerPr.

WoW: Black Box – Cassia Leo


Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine to spotlight releases that we're looking forward to! Here is my choice this week...

Black Box


Title: Black Box
Author: Cassia Leo
Is it a sequel? No.
Release Date: March 10th, 2014
A standalone novel about a girl, a boy, and fate.

From New York Times best selling author Cassia Leo, comes an epic love story about rewriting destiny.

Over the course of five years, Mikki and Crush cross paths on two separate occasions. Their first encounter changes Mikki’s life forever, but their second meeting leaves them both buried beneath the emotional wreckage of a violent attack. Mikki is left with more questions and grief than she can handle, while Crush is forced to forget the girl who saved his life.

Now nineteen years old, Mikki Gladstone has decided she’s tired of the mind-numbing meds. She books a flight to Los Angeles to end her life far away from her loving, though often distant, family.

Twenty-one-year-old Crush has always channeled his blackest thoughts into his music, but he’s never had great aspirations. He decides to fly to Los Angeles to record a demo of the only song he’s never performed in public; a song he wrote for a girl he doesn’t even know: Black Box. He has no expectations of fame and he’s never felt like his life had any purpose… until he meets Mikki in Terminal B.

When Mikki and Crush cross paths for the third time in Terminal B, neither has any idea who the other person is; until they slowly piece together their history and realize that fate has more in store for them than just another love story.


My Comments:
I have to admit that I wasn't a huge fan of Relentless. However, this book sounds so fucking good that I really, really want to get my hands on it asap! So, yes, this is definitely one of the books on my to-be-read list.

What are YOUR choices this week? Let me know in the comments below!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

BLOG TOUR: Masked Innocence (Innocence #2) – Alessandra Torre + Review, giveaway & excerpt!

Released: February 25th, 2014

The man was sinful. It wasn't just the looks that made him dangerous, it was the cocky confidence that dominated every move, every touch. And the frustrating yet ecstatic fact about the whole package was that he could back it all up…

Julia Campbell never knows what to expect with win-at-all-costs Brad De Luca. And she's starting to like it that way. She gave up safe, conventional relationships when she let the elite divorce attorney seduce her into his world. Now that he's determined to strip her naked of every inhibition, she's in danger of falling too deep and too fast.

But their affair begins to feel even more dangerous when a murder leaves a trail of suspicion that points straight to the mob…and Brad. Trusting a man with a bad reputation and a past full of secrets seems like a mistake. But when she's forced to make a choice, the consequences will take her further than she could ever have imagined.
"True love seems as if it would be a hell of a lot harder to get over. With Brad I just knew it was real, that this was what love was really all about."
**ARC PROVIDED BY AUTHOR**


Alessandra Torre has once again blown me away with her fantastic masterpiece! Masked Innocence was exhilarating, thrilling, suspenseful, undeniably schmexy, and super romantic. I was already sucked into the story from the very first page up until the last and I fell in love with the characters over and over again. FUCKING GREAT!!!

Honestly, GOOOOD. I loved this book so much. I REALLY LOVED IT. The characters were perfection and the plot itself? As always, a major A+++.

Alessandra Torre has wowed me since I read The Girl in 6E. She plays with different and unique ideas, stories that would make you want to bury those books underneath your bed just so your mother doesn't see. Or try to steal it from you ;)

So, the sequel to the wonderful Blindfolded Innocence was amazing!

Let's begin with Julia Campbell, shall we? Julia is the type of strong heroine in novels that I absolutely adore. They're rationalists but they're also romantics. Yes, she fell in love with the super hot Brad De Luca so quickly (but who wouldn't?) yet I can somehow rationalize her feelings. It's so fucking sweet ughhh.
"I was unguarded and unprotected and my heart latched on to you and made every pore in me yours."
I really liked how Julia didn't wait around for Brad to say "I love you" first and instead went ahead and say it. But she also said:
"Just because I love you doesn't mean I won't leave you."
You tell him, girl. I love love loooove Julia. She isn't weak. She's absolutely independent and in the beginning, when she's slowly exploring her sexuality and her desires and needs with Brad, she isn't that afraid of the change although embarrassed, because it is after all her first time.

She's really independent in a way that she doesn't want to work under Brad. She's slowly working her way in the company so that she can succeed on her own. She isn't into Brad because of his charisma but his sense of humor, his charisma, etc etc.

But damn if I wasn't into the orgy in the beginning. HOLY CRAP. So. Fucking. Hot. I think I came in my pants just reading it.

And then there's Brad de Luca.


This man is walking sex on a stick. CHRIST. This man. I JSUT. I don't even have words to describe him awlekrjawlerjk.

First, he's a dirty talker.
"You are pure sex. When you are in your element, which is typically when you are stuffed full of cock, I've never seen a more sexually perfect being in my life."
 AND HIM ON LOVE IS JUST [sounds of my heart breaking]
A concept he had avoided for so long, and which now felt so right in his heart.
But then even their relationship. I like how it's not the typical dom/sub kind of thing or like how the male is more dominant because they kind of keep reversing roles. Sometimes one has the upper hand, then the other does. But in the end, they can still joke around with each other and tease each other, which is so fucking adorable.

Brad: "As I'm sure you have figured out by now, I have a very healthy self-esteem, bordering on egotism."
Julia: "Bordering on?"
Brad: "Shut up."
HAHHAHA. Of course, he says this jokingly. God, these two are best.

Plus, the intensity and the suspense in the book just made it all better because I'm a sucker for thrillers too! Not only is the book filled with steamy sex scenes and heart-melting romance, it's oozing with mystery and high tension.

MY RATING:

4.5 - 5 APPLES!!!!!



✭ BUY LINKS ✭
  
(Click book cover for Goodreads link)

♕ Blindfolded Innocence (Innocence #1) 
Amazon | Barnes&Noble | My Review

♕ The Diary of Brad De Luca (Innocence #1.5) 
Amazon | Barnes&Noble

♕ Masked Innocence (Innocence #2) 
Whew, I've got a smoking excerpt for you all today. Read it below!

Having two men at one time is a strange experience. My first time in a threesome, I was blindfolded, my senses heightened and restricted to touch, scent, sounds, and taste. Touch. The feeling of their hands on my bare skin, caresses, grips, slaps, and fucks. God, those long strokes of pure animal ownership. Scent. Fresh linen, candles, Brad’s unmistakable combination of godknowswhat that drove me absolutely crazy, my own sweat, the strange new scent of the stranger in the room. Sounds. Their ragged breaths, my own heartbeat pounding in my head, a primal groan, whispered words of reverence, the sound of flesh on flesh, of my own wetness. Taste. Tight, stretched skin in my mouth, Brad’s mouth on me, my own taste on their tongues, the eroticism of it all. And finally, the taste of completion when I milked them dry, the flavor of victory and carnal satisfaction. I had done it. I had gone there. And I had loved every minute of it.
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Alessandra Torre is a new author who focuses on contemporary erotica. Her first book, Blindfolded Innocence, was published in July 2012, and was an Erotica #1 Bestseller for two weeks. The sequel to Blindfolded, Masked Innocence, will be released in February 2014.

Alessandra lives in the Southern United States and is married, with one young child. She enjoys reading, spending time with her family, and playing with her dogs. Her favorite authors include Lisa Gardner, Gillian Flynn, and Jennifer Crusie.

Learn more about Alessandra on her website at www.alessandratorre.com, or you can find her on Twitter (@ReadAlessandra) or her Facebook fanpage.

Check her out in these sites:
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