Back to Us by Teresa Roman Blog Tour!

Title: Back To Us

Author: Teresa Roman

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Goodreads l Amazon

Abandoned by her parents at fourteen, Jessica knows what it means to struggle. She's vowed that getting her degree is the only thing she has time for, until a summer internship brings Justin into her life.

But Justin has scars of his own. A tour of duty in Afghanistan has left him with wounds. A medical discharge from the Navy leaves Justin struggling to make sense of his new reality. Then he meets Jessica; but can the two of them leave their pain in the past and make a future together?

Here is a story about two broken individuals who met at a place that encourages teens to live better lives.

"You're going to grow up and be a prostitute and die from AIDS."

Jessica Maravic goes by with the regular student fare (noodles) while sharing a dingy apartment with her brother. She endures this for the sake of proving her father wrong. Thus, she focuses on finishing her studies while inspiring the younger ones to do so by spending the summer at the community center.

"You know, Justin's a real good guy. You be good to him." 

Justin suffers from both physical and emotional scars that the war has left on him. Working at the community center helped him deal with these scars. Yet, he still faces trouble when it comes to opening himself to new possibilities and the love of someone that's real and not out of sympathy.

Both characters are mature for their age as they struggle with the trials they are faced with. However, when the two of them come together, there came another set of trials for them. That is why, there were moments into reading that had my mind reveling at the motion of their relationship. At one point they were okay and at the next, they were not. And yet, what matters is that they have both found growth as individuals and as two people who love each other.

Back to Us is not just about Justin and Jessica. It's also about the people in their lives and how it shaped each and every one of the characters into who they are. The story showed the reality of how one may get lost in their problems yet find solace in the people that truly care for them.  

actual rating is 3.5

Teresa Roman is a lover of books, both reading and writing them. She currently resides in Sacramento, CA with her husband, three adorable children and the puppy her son convinced them to adopt. When she isn't at her day job or running around with her kids, you can find her in front of the computer writing or with her head buried in another book.

Links

website: www.teresaromanwrites.com

http://www.amazon.com/Teresa-Roman/e/B011K661DC/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

https://www.facebook.com/teresaromanauthor

https://twitter.com/TRomanauthor

Win a $15 Amazon gift card.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal: America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie

America’s First Daughter

By: Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie

Releasing March 1^st, 2016

William Morrow

 Pre-Order Links:  Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo

In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, bestselling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson’s eldest daughter, Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph—a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy.

From her earliest days, Martha “Patsy” Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson’s oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate in the wake of her mother’s death, traveling with him when he becomes American minister to France. And it is in Paris, at the glittering court and among the first tumultuous days of revolution, that she learns of her father’s liaison with Sally Hemings, a slave girl her own age.

Patsy too has fallen in love—with her father’s protégé, William Short, a staunch abolitionist intent on a career in Europe. Heartbroken at having to decide between being William’s wife or a devoted daughter, she returns to Virginia with her father and marries a man of his choosing, raising eleven children of her own.

Yet as family secrets come to light during her father’s presidency, Patsy must again decide how much she will sacrifice to protect his reputation, in the process defining not just Jefferson’s political legacy, but that of the nation he founded.

                                            

STEPHANIE DRAY is a bestselling and award-nominated author of historical women’s fiction. Her series about Cleopatra’s daughter has been translated into six different languages, was nominated for a RITA Award and won the Golden Leaf. As STEPHANIE DRAVEN, she is a national bestselling author of paranormal romance, contemporary romance, and American-set historical women’s fiction. She is a frequent panelist and presenter at national writing conventions and lives near the nation’s capital. Before she became a novelist, she was a lawyer, a game designer, and a teacher. Now she uses the stories of women in history to inspire the young women of today.

Stephanie’s Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Laura Kamoie has always been fascinated by the people, stories, and physical presence of the past, which led her to a lifetime of historical and archaeological study and training. She holds a doctoral degree in early American history from The College of William and Mary, published two non-fiction books on early America, and most recently held the position of Associate Professor of History at the U.S. Naval Academy before transitioning to a full-time career writing genre fiction as the New York Times bestselling author of over twenty books, Laura Kaye. Her debut historical novel, America's First Daughter, co-authored with Stephanie Dray, allowed her the exciting opportunity to combine her love of history with her passion for storytelling. Laura lives among the colonial charm of Annapolis, Maryland with her husband and two daughters.

Laura’s Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz: Igniting Ash by M.A. Stacie

Igniting Ash

M.A. Stacie

Released August 4^th, 2015

Limitless Publishing

After a terrible start in life, Asher Harris picks himself up and manages to carve out a fairly decent future. Content with living alone in his bookshop, he shies away from relationships and keeps trust to a minimum.

Emma Carnes hasn’t seen Asher in years, though she’s never forgotten him. Their one interaction as teenagers became pivotal to them both. It gave her a career.

It saved his life.

Emma saw things about Asher that nobody else did. When she urged him to escape a perilous situation, it turned her toward her purpose in life…and saved Asher. Intrigued by the strong man he’s become, she gently persuades him to open up, but finds his emotional walls hard to climb. She also hopes for his help with a troubled teen, Gabe Dearing, who reminds her very much of Asher himself.

Their relationship and ties to Gabe threaten to reveal things someone wants to keep hidden…

Someone is watching Emma, trying to figure out what she knows, and she soon senses something isn’t right. When the bookshop is vandalized and Gabe disappears, only to return bloody, broken, and refusing to say what happened, Asher and Emma search for the truth as their passion intensifies.

The danger mounts, and Emma and Ash struggle to keep what they’ve fought so hard to gain.

But can he save Emma as she saved him so long ago?

Or will a dark and violent history repeat itself and destroy them all?

She squealed when he grasped her waist and picked her up. His actions came as a shock, his strength too. Her protest hovered on the tip of her tongue, though she never actually said anything. His serious expression and determined strides were enough to keep her mouth closed.

Until he crushed his lips to hers. At that point she knew where it was heading, understood what he meant when he’d shouted. He was sick of holding back. Asher was taking what he wanted and ignoring any possible consequences.

Emma clung to him, their kisses growing deeper and more forceful as he carried her to his bedroom. She kept hold of him as he sat on the edge of his bed, moving her so that she straddled his lap. They’d been here before, only this time the air was electrified, sparks bursting from their touches. He wasn’t going to deny them this time. She could sense from his heated kisses and desperate touches that he was all in.

She blinked, her head spinning when he grabbed her loose T-shirt and pulled it over her head.

He tossed it, not caring to look where it landed. Asher drank her in, his chocolate eyes melting as they perused her chest.

A fire ignited low in her belly, her blood burning through her veins. She’d experienced lust before, however this with Asher was laced with something else. Something deeper.

Slowly, too slowly, he stroked a single finger over the swell of her breast. Her nipples tightened as she silently begged for him to cup them. Her will was enough, because those amazing fingers dipped under the lace of her bra before palming her breast. His eyes never left hers. His touch grew firmer, more demanding. “More,” she whispered. “Asher, more.”

He kissed her long and hard. At the same time she began unbuttoning his shirt, her fingers fumbling so much Asher ended up finishing the job for her. He didn’t stop with his shirt. After rolling her onto his bed, he stood and shucked off his jeans, sliding them down his legs before kicking them across the room. “No more barriers,” he rasped and pulled his underwear off too. His scars were exposed to her, the skin pink and puckered near his navel. There really were no barriers.

Still expecting him to back out, Emma held a bit of herself back. The rejection would sting a little less if she did. However, that became difficult when he hovered over her, pressing his body against hers. His eyes were hooded, and she could feel the heavy thump of his heart when she touched his chest. Hers was as rapid, the thrill of possibility surging in every cell. The connection with Asher was strong, very strong, and much more consuming than anything she’d ever felt before.

M. A. Stacie is never without a book or her eReader. A voracious reader, with a love of sexy, yet angst ridden novels, she loves getting lost in new worlds. Her need to write did not grip her until after her second son was born, when her previous rambles became fully fledged stories.

She describes herself as one huge contradiction, and though not the most conventional of hobbies, she counts getting new tattoos as one of hers. Along with running, knitting, and listening to loud music. However, she is yet to work out how to do them all at the same time.

M. A. Stacie lives in the UK with her husband and three sons.

Author Links

 Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Release Week Blitz: THE MOMENT OF LETTING GO by J.A. Redmerski!

You can follow the rules or you can follow your heart...Sienna Murphy never does anything without a plan. And so far her plans have been working. Right after college, she got a prestigious job and gained the stability she'd always craved-until work takes her to the sun-drenched shores of Oahu and places her in the path of sexy surfer Luke Everett. For the first time, she lets her heart take control. Drawn to his carefree charm, she makes a spontaneous and very un-Sienna-like decision to drop everything and stay in Hawaii for two more weeks.

Luke lives fast and wild. When he meets Sienna, he's convinced that some no-strings-attached fun is just what she needs. As their nights quickly turn from playful to passionate, Luke can't deny the deep connection he feels. But there's a reason Luke doesn't do long-term. He can't promise Sienna forever, when the enormity of his past has shown him just how fragile the future can be . . .

Buy the book!

Amazon

B&N

iBook

GooglePlay

Kobo

BAM

What’s one piece of writing advice you’ve received that has stuck with you?

I read somewhere an author saying how she avoided writer’s block by always stopping in the middle of a sentence or scene. I always do that now; when I start back up the next day, not only is my brain recharged, but I still have something to work with. I think the advice really has helped prevent writer’s block many times.

Which heroine do you think you’re most like? Who would you want to be more like?

I am probably 50/50 Camryn Bennett (THE EDGE OF NEVER/ALWAYS) and Sienna Murphy (THE MOMENT OF LETTING GO); I can’t decide which of them I am, or would want to be more like.

Is there a lot of meaning behind the names of your characters and how do you go about selecting names?

Selecting names is so hard. I spend a lot of time researching them: origin, name meaning, etc. (though I don’t choose names based on these things much). But mostly I try to choose names that just sound right on the tongue. It’s sort of like naming a child, but a lot more complex because with a character, he or she already has a personality and a life story.

In THE MOMENT OF LETTING GO, Luke is into extreme activities like cliff diving and base jumping—what’s the most extreme thing you’ve ever done?

Probably cliff diving – as hard as that might be to believe considering my fear of heights. It took me nearly thirty minutes of running to the edge, stopping because I chickened out, and going back to try again, before I finally jumped. It was high. And it was scary. And I had bruises on my body for a week afterward, but I did it.

J. A. Redmerski, New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, lives in North Little Rock, Arkansas with her three children, two cats and a Maltese. She is a lover of television and books that push boundaries. 

Connect with the author!

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz + Swag Giveaway: Lumière by Jacqueline Garlick!

Lumière by Jacqueline Garlick 

(The Illumination Paradox #1) 

Publication date: December 12th 2013

Genres: Steampunk, Young Adult

Purchase:

Amazon

B&N

Even in a land of eternal twilight, secrets can’t stay hidden forever.

Seventeen-year-old Eyelet Elsworth is no stranger to living in the dark. She’s hidden her secret affliction all of her life—a life that would be in danger if superstitious townspeople ever guessed the truth. After her mother is accused and executed for a crime that she didn’t commit, the now-orphaned Eyelet has no choice but to track down the machine—her last hope for a cure. But Eyelet’s late father’s most prized invention, the Illuminator, has been missing since the day of the mysterious flash—a day that saw the sun wiped out over Brethren forever.

Alone and on the run, she finds the Illuminator—only to witness a young man hauling it away. Determined to follow the thief and recover the machine, she ventures into the deepest, darkest, most dangerous part of her twisted world.

I'm Jacqueline Garlick, author of young adult and new adult fiction. I love strong heroines, despise whiny sidekicks, and adore a good story about a triumphant underdog. (Don't you?)
I love to read, write, paint (walls and paper). I have a love/hate relationship with chocolate, grammar, and technology and would rather hang out with a dog, than a cat. I prefer creating things to cleaning things, and believe laughter is a one-stop-shop solution to all that ails you. You will always find a purple wall (or two) in my house (currently in my writing room), and there may or may not be a hidden passageway that leads to a mystery room. (Okay, so you won't find a hidden passageway, but a girl can dream, can't she?) Oh, and tea. There will always be tea.

My writing style has been described as edgy and rule-breaking, and by some--a touch Tim Burton-esque. Because of this, I am often referred to as the Quentin Tarantino of YA among writing friends.

In my former life, I was a teacher (both grade school and college-don't ask), but more recently I've been a graduate of Ellen Hopkin's Nevada Mentor Program and a student of James Scott Bell, Christopher Vogler and Don Maass. An excerpt from Lumière earned me the 2012 Don Maass Break Out Novel Intensive Scholarship.

Lumière--A Romantic Steampunk Fantasy--my debut novel, is the recipient of an indieBRAG Medallion!!! B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree October 15, 2014) I am so proud! (LUMIERE by Jacqueline E. Garlick is a B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree. This tells a reader that this book is well worth their time and money!) Book II of the ILLUMINATION PARADOX SERIES, is out January 26th, now on pre-order.

Also, check out my young adult contemporary romantic/mystery serial, IF ONLY, where reluctant telepathic sleuth Kyla Cooper must embrace her powers and risks all to solve the mystery of what happened to her boyfriend Denver Munro, becoming his voice of truth, before he has no voice at all...

I love hearing from READERS! Please contact me, either at my website: www.jacquelinegarlick.com, or catch up with me on twitter @garlick books, or on facebook: http://bit.ly/jegarlickfb

I'm open to reviews and interview, requests for skype visits, guest blogs, pod casts and book club meetings! I LOVE TO HEAR FROM READERS!

You can also find me here:
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jackiegp/lumiere-by-jacqueline-garlick/
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/jgarlickgr
Blog: http://garlickbooks.blogspot.ca

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Mythology of Fury's Kiss

The Mythology of Fury’s Kiss

Nicola R. White

When I started writing Fury’s Kiss, I had a scene in mind—a young woman who’d been wronged and was hell-bent on revenge—and I knew I wanted to write about the paranormal. (My husband calls me morbid.)  So it was only natural that I turned to one of the oldest, most badass female revenge stories I could think of—the Furies.

Once I started reading about the Furies (or the Erinyes, as they were called in ancient Greece), I couldn’t get enough. The Fury who bonds with the heroine of Fury’s Kiss, Tara Walker, is my interpretation of how an ancient goddess of vengeance would react to waking up in modern-day America after centuries of being stuck in limbo. And when I learned about Alecto, I knew I’d found my monster.

(Alecto is one of the few Furies identified by name in Greek mythology. She was scary as hell!)

So where did the Furies come from? Some sources say they were created by Nyx, the goddess of night. But my favourite origin story is much more gruesome: some ancient Greek storytellers claimed that the Furies were born from drops of blood that fell into the sea when the Titan Cronos castrated his father. (It turns out Greek gods are always trying to kill and maim each other!)

I used some of the existing mythology to build the world of the New England Furies, but I also had a lot of fun mixing things up and coming up with my own take on the old legends. Want to know how Alecto copes with the strange new world she finds herself in? And how Tara deals with having her whole life turned upside down?

Check out Fury’s Kiss to find out!

Goodreads link

Amazon link (pre-order up now)

Read Chapter 1 here.

Excerpt: Fury's Kiss by Nicola R. White!

Tara Walker dreams of more excitement than slinging plates of seafood for Cape Cod tourists, but as she learns when she is attacked and forced to fight for her life, fate sometimes has a funny way of giving you exactly what you wish for. Faced with strange new powers and embroiled in a murder investigation, Tara must now race to uncover the secrets of the ancient Fury that has woken inside of her – and of the evil that stalks her.

As if Tara’s life hasn’t gotten complicated enough, she is forced to ally herself with Jackson Byrne, witness to her assault and uncle to a pint-sized oracle whose fate is intertwined with hers. Skeptical, stubborn, and oh-so-sexy, Jackson wrestles with demons of his own. He is determined to ignore the attraction rising between them even faster than the body count, but like it or not, he and Tara need each other if they are to unravel the mysteries that surround them.

Goodreads link

Amazon link (pre-order up now)

Read Chapter 1 here.

I got up and stood over the body for a few minutes, trying to think. I didn’t feel even remotely drunk anymore, but I was exhausted and my head and arm were screaming at me. It was hard to think clearly. The situation was majorly freaky and I just wanted to go home and pretend it had never happened. But how could I?

He got what he deserved.

The voice came from inside my head, sharp and sibilant, like when I’d hissed at the guy a few minutes ago.

“Oh, God,” I moaned aloud. “What’s happening to me?” Clearly, I was losing my mind.

No one saw what happened, whispered the freaky- me voice again. No witnesses.

It was hard to focus, but the voice had a point. The longer I stuck around, the more likely it was that someone would come out of the bar, see me standing by the body, and accuse me of...something. I didn’t know what had happened, but I knew it looked bad.

He got what he deserved, freaky-me said again and I propelled myself into action. My split personality— or whatever it was—was right. The unmoving body at my feet was hardly an innocent victim.

I leaned closer to study the...thing lying next to Nora’s truck. It didn’t really resemble a man anymore, and after a few seconds, I had to turn away. Its staring, bulging eyes looked at me accusingly.

Turning my back on it, I walked toward the more brightly lit section of the lot where my car was parked, glancing back over my shoulder every couple of seconds. I half expected the body to lurch up and follow me, but nothing happened. When I reached the car, I debated whether I was sober enough to drive, and finally reached the conclusion that whatever had come over me, it had dissolved the alcohol in my bloodstream.

I let out a desperate laugh—some silver lining. I was panicking, exhausted, and in pain, but at least I didn’t feel drunk anymore.

I got in and put the car in drive, trying not to think about what I’d left behind me. My palms were sweaty on the steering wheel as I drove, fingers curled around it like claws, and I expected to hear the wail of sirens the whole way home. Finally, I pulled into the driveway. After fumbling with my keys for what felt like years, I managed to stagger inside, and made it as far as the couch before I collapsed with my shoes still on.

Before I lost consciousness, I had just enough time to hope I wouldn’t wake to cops banging at the door.

Nicola R. White is no stranger to the fantastic. Although there are no Furies in her family tree (that she knows of), she comes from a small city on the east coast of Canada where ghost stories and superstitions abound. She has worked on movie sets, as a bartender, in a lighthouse, and as a lawyer, and though she’s never been an exotic dancer like her character, Alex Hughes, she does know how to pole dance.

She has always been fascinated by the strange and morbid, and often stays up too late reading books that give her nightmares. She believes truth is stranger than fiction, and just a few of her heroes are Buffy, Dana Scully, and Xena.

Nicola is a member of Romance Writers of America and Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada, and is an active member and supporter of the award-winning Romance Divas website and online forum.