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Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Blog Tour- THE TRUTH ABOUT MARTIANS by Melissa Savage An Excerpt & Giveaway!



I am happy to be hosting a stop on the blog tour for THE TRUTH ABOUT MARTIANS by Melissa Savage! I have an excerpt to share with you today check it out and enter to win the giveaway below!

About The Book:



Author: Melissa Savage
Pub. Date: October 2, 2018
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook
Pages: 336
Find it: GoodreadsAmazonAudibleB&NiBooksTBD



A boy and his best friends set out to discover the aliens who crash-landed next to their Roswell, New Mexico, farm in this charming novel packed with adventure and heart, perfect for fans of Ali Benjamin's The Thing About Jellyfish and Jennifer L. Holm's The Fourteenth Goldfish.

Mylo never really believed in Martians, unless they had a starring role in one of his comic books. But then a flying saucer crash-lands next to his Roswell, New Mexico, ranch, and he starts to hear voices--like someone is asking for his help.


With his best friend Dibs and crush Gracie by his side, and his Cracker Jack superhero membership card, a slingshot, and a small American flag--for peace--in tow, Mylo sets out on an epic adventure to investigate the crash and find the Martians. But he and his friends end up discovering more about the universe than they ever could have imagined.





Now on to the excerpt!


I can’t sleep.
The clock on the nightstand reads 1:00 a.m.
“Dibs,” I whisper down at him. “You awake?”
“Yep,” he whispers back.
“Where do you think they’re from?” I ask him.
He doesn’t hesitate. “Mars,” he says. “Probably they were on some kind of mission to take over our planet . . . our minds . . . you know, that sort of thing.”
I snort. “Where did you get that?” I ask him.
Dibs gives me a look like my brains really were sucked clean out of my head by the Martians out at the ship last night. “Where do you think? The Planet Comics series.”
I scoff. “Oh, the Planet Comics series,” I mock him. “The real-life guide to Martians.”
“What we really need to worry about is the second shift that might come down angry and level us with their Martian weapons,” Dibs says. “What do they want with us? And are they a hostile entity?”
I lean on my elbow. “What do you mean?”
“Like Martian mind control . . . or like what kinds of weapons do they have? Ray guns, phasers, stuff like that. What superpowers do they possess? Do they want to destroy mankind? Bring the human race to the very brink of extinction with a rampage of destruction and all that?”
I don’t say anything.
“God made good and God made evil,” he goes on. “Whether you’re talking about Adam and Eve or Martians. The only difference is Martians are one million times smarter than us and they have powers far beyond what we can even imagine. If they want to take over Earth, believe me, they can do it.”
“That’s your comic books talking,” I tell him. “You don’t know it’s true for real life.”
“Yeah, well, that’s what you said about the disk and you were wrong about that, too,” he says. “You don’t want to believe anything is true ’cause you’re scared and that’s a fact.”
“And you’re not?”
He doesn’t answer me that time.
We lie there for a long while with no one saying anything until Dibs punches at the pillow again and turns over.
“There’s something else I have to tell you,” I say.
“Yeah?” He yawns.
“I hear something,” I say. “Sometimes I think I do. I mean, not like with my ears. But it’s something. Or it’s . . . someone.”
Silence.
“I don’t hear anything,” he says.
“No, I mean, not right now. I have been hearing someone calling for help and no one else seems to hear it.”
Dibs’s head pops off his pillow and I can feel his laser-beam gaze bore a hole straight through me. What do you mean? Who?” he finally asks.
“I think it might be . . . them,” I say without looking at him. “It’s someone or something . . . asking for help. My help.”
“Help?”
“I think it could be them. . . . Th-the Martians.” I whisper the last word. “I mean, I don’t know who it is. ’Cause I don’t see anything. Except sometimes I see these outlines on the backs of my eyelids. Does that sound weird?”
“Very weird,” he says.
I sigh and flop back down on my pillow. “Forget it.”
He stays sitting up, staring at me.
“Are you messing with me?” he finally says.
“No,” I say.
“Swear?”
I sit up then, too, and look him straight in the eyes. “Swear.”
Silence.
He’s still staring.
“I’m telling you, I hear them. It’s like . . . it’s like it’s my own voice but it’s . . . it’s their message, and they’re asking for help . . . my help. I mean, I don’t know . . . I haven’t heard anything since we left yesterday . . . maybe they are talking to someone else by now. I hope they are, because I’m afraid that . . . you know . . . well . . . if they’re not talking to someone else, then . . . then maybe they’re not talking at all.” I swallow the lump pushing its way up my throat from my gut. “You know what I mean by that?”
Silence. I fold and unfold my fingers, waiting for him to say something else.
“You’re not lying?”
I shake my head. “Nuh-uh,” I say. “I’m telling you the truth. Cross my heart I am.”




About Melissa:
Melissa D. Savage’s first book, The Lost Pony, premiered in her second grade classroom, winning high praise from critics such as her mom. Although the book was hand written and self-illustrated in Crayola Crayons, it was this experience that began her love of writing and to this day she still believes was one of her best works. Melissa continued to create stories growing up, writing different adventures for friends to read and later completed a Master’s Degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Hamline University in Minnesota. She was privileged to be able to receive guidance from amazing authors, educators, and fellow writers who shared their wisdom, experience, and support. Most recently, Melissa’s debut book, Lemons has been recognized by the American Booksellers Association on their Independent Booksellers’ debut picks of the season list, Indies Introduce Winter/Spring 2017.  Additionally, Bigfoot, Tobin & Me (The UK/Commonwealth version of Lemons published by Chicken House Books) has been recognized as Children’s Book of the Month with WHSmith.

Melissa is a writer and a child and family therapist. She has worked with families struggling with issues of abuse, trauma and loss/bereavement. She believes that expressing oneself through writing can be a very healing process when struggling with difficulties in life.  In addition it can be a vehicle in which to honor, celebrate and continue to share the spirits of the special people who have left us too soon. Melissa lives in Minneapolis with her family. You can follow her on Twitter at @melissadsavage.



Giveaway Details:


3 winners will receive a finished copy of THE TRUTH ABOUT MARTIANS, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Tour Schedule:
Week One:
10/29/2018- BookHounds YAReview
10/30/2018- YA Books CentralInterview
10/31/2018- Two Chicks on BooksExcerpt
11/1/2018- Mythical BooksExcerpt
11/2/2018- Here's to Happy EndingsReview

Week Two:
11/5/2018- The Desert BibliophileReview
11/6/2018- Good Choice ReadingExcerpt
11/7/2018- Jaime's WorldExcerpt
11/8/2018- ParajunkeeExcerpt
11/9/2018- Two Points of InterestReview

Sunday, October 28, 2018

New Series & Cover Reveal- SURVIVE by Gillian Zane


What everyone has been begging and pleading for...Gillian Does the Zombie Apocalypse Again!


Introducing the Cajun Zombie Series. Set in the world of Zane’s debut series, the NOLA Zombies, experience the zombie apocalypse again...in Cajun country.



BOOK INFO:

Title: Survive
Series: Cajun Zombies Book 1 (NOLA Zombie Spin-off)
Author: Gillian Zane
Releasing: 11/12/18
More Info: books2read.com/cajunzombie


Blurb:

Gillian Zane brings zombies back! Set in the same world as her NOLA Zombies, you’ll go back to day 1 of the apocalypse with the Cajun Zombies…


What do you do when the U.S. military starts gunning down infected civilians in the streets? You…BUG OUT.

Captain Samantha Smith of the United States Army is on a mission to transition out of the military and get a real job. As a mercenary. The problem is, there’s a virus messing with her ability to get to Southern Louisiana and interview for the job. Flights are grounded, there’s rumors about New York being under quarantine, and now she’s forced to drive from Colorado Springs to the Godforsaken environment that is the Louisiana coastline.

The virus isn’t supposed to be a big deal, though. Or so the news says. As Sam gets closer and closer to the city, things get steadily worse. The iKPV virus might be running rampant in New Orleans. As chaos takes hold of the world around her, Sam steps up to command. She teams up with two soldiers who bring loyalty and stability to an uncomfortable mission that no one prepared them for as the military breaks down around them. Their new mission: Survive.

About Gillian Zane:

Gillian Zane is an Amazon bestselling author that specializes in genre fiction for adults. At the age of ten, she decided she would be a writer and has been determined ever since. Between that decision and when she actually finished a book, she’s served in the military, became a cog in the corporate marketing wheel as a person “that makes things pretty” and has been laid-off too many times to count. She writes full-time, but still continues to “make things pretty” by designing book covers and websites for her fellow authors and bloggers.

Thursday, October 25, 2018

Double Cover & Excerpt Reveal- WITHER & WAYWARD by Jadie Jones With A Giveaway!



Today Jadie Jones, The Parliament House, and Rockstar Book Tours are revealing the cover and an exclusive content for WITHER & WAYWARD, the prequel and book 3 of her Young Adult Time Travel Fantasy Romance which both release in 2019! Check out the awesome covers and enter the giveaway!

On to the reveals! 


Title: WITHER (The Hightower Trilogy 0.5)
Author: Jadie Jones
Pub. Date: 2019
Publisher: The Parliament House
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: ?
Find it: Goodreads


For nearly a thousand years, Lucas, an immortal shapeshifter, has waited for Spera, his murdered human lover, to reincarnate. He has no way of knowing when or where she will return, or if she will even look the same in her new life. He must rely on his ability to recognize the actions of her fiery soul and her knack for attracting a killer king’s attention.

After his search leads him to a quiet Norwegian harbor town, a surreal encounter with his own kind leads to devastating consequences, causing Lucas to question his belief in himself and his quest. With his will and options quickly fading, Lucas is offered help from an old enemy who claims to have knowledge of Spera’s return. But it comes at a price: the assassination of the immortal king who took Spera’s life.

With an army raised and a strategy in place, Lucas is ready to attack, until the sudden appearance of a ghost from his past appears, forcing Lucas to take an even bigger risk than attempting to kill a malicious king…letting him live.

WITHER – Prequel to the Hightower Trilogy

Spera’s amber eyes appear first, burning two holes in the dark of my sleeping mind. She’s inches from my face, but she doesn’t see me. No matter how many times this happens, the utter lack of recognition is a knife in my chest.

“Spera,” I hear my voice rasp, her name echoing in my skull as she turns away, her black hair blending into the night that surrounds her.

Another dream. Always the same. Chasing this dead woman through the dark.

I know how it will end: I’ll wake up calling for her, begging her to stop, to turn around, to give me any sign she knows I’m there. She won’t. She never does. But I have to follow her. The ache in my chest grows deeper the farther she goes from me. So, I follow after her, Spera navigating shadows like a ship through still water. I follow in her wake, always trailing, always two steps behind.
She startles me by breaking into a run. She’s never run before. Her bare foot touches the ground, and the black surface turns white. In an instant, snow is falling, blanketing the ground at an incredible rate and speckling her hair with tiny white dots. Another step, and the world around us pulses as the snow gives way to the greens and browns of a forest, trees thick as houses. Another step and the shadows return. The side of her face appears. Her lips part and air rushes out. Her elbows pump as she strides faster, harder.

“Wait!” I bolt after her. My conscious wrestles with the dream, threatening to roust me from this place. My focus clings to the outline of her bare shoulders, to the glint of light from sources unknown playing off her dancing hair. I want to stay where I can see her.

Before my eyes, the color of her hair shifts from black to brown, and then to red. The length shortens, and then spills long down her back again, now changing to blonde.

“Spera! It’s me! It’s Lucas! What’s happening to you? What does this mean? Let me help you!” I cry out.

She veers hard to the left and a ray of light pierces the dark, illuminating her side. She runs toward it. Her image is reduced to an outline as she eclipses the glow. I scramble to keep up. We turn again and the light fades, revealing an inky blue backdrop. The ground turns cool and damp on my bare feet. A roar grows overhead. The scent of salt fills my nose. The sensations are so vivid I have to remind myself I’m asleep.

I force my gaze away from her for a moment and look up at the blue walls, which quiver with instability. Water. We’re standing between two bodies of water that stretch so high I can’t discern where the water ends and the sky begins. A single bead of ocean water trickles down the left side to the black sand at my feet and my heart begins to pound.



Title: WAYWARD (The Hightower Trilogy #3)
Author: Jadie Jones
Pub. Date: 2019
Publisher: The Parliament House
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: ?
Find it: Goodreads

Tanzy’s journey races toward an explosive end in Wayward, the third book of the Hightower Trilogy.

Tanzy Hightower has crossed the veil between the Seen and Unseen worlds. She is now the only mortal in a land teeming with creatures who want her dead. To stay alive long enough to stop Asher and seal the door between worlds, she is forced to accept his marriage proposal and seek refuge inside his fortress. Tanzy is certain she can withstand any offers he makes to tempt her into opening the door, but he possesses a bargaining chip she could never have imagined.

On the Seen side of the veil, Tanzy’s allies are fragmented, lost, and leaderless. They must learn to work together as they gather more candidates and begin training to defend their world against unfathomable predators poised to strike should the veil holding them at bay dissolve. While Tanzy has accepted her own inevitable death in fulfilling her destiny, her closest friends refuse to stop searching for the impossible: a way to save Tanzy’s life.

A choice will be made. The veil will change. The worlds as Tanzy knows them will never be the same.


WAYWARD – Book 3 in the Hightower Trilogy

 (Told from Tanzy’s point of view)

Asher’s realm stretches in front of me: a diamond tundra, the air a series of rainbows as light is refracted from the prismatic ground and reflected a million times over. The sight is impossible, glorious, breathtaking…

But my mind, my focus, my every nerve ending is centered on what—on who—is behind me; the king of this realm—Asher. His breath warms the base of my neck, and the heat from his body is near enough to send shivers up my spine. He baited me into a third kill by sending a phony candidate to attack Jayce. Jayce—who fought for me, and fought like hell for the truth—always the truth. Jayce, who might be dead, whose blood covered Reese’s shirt when she was forced through the veil with me after I killed Genesis.

In this moment, I have two truths: One—I must kill Asher, even though I have no idea how. Two—if I lose ground to Asher, I will not regain it.

My body explodes into motion. My heel aims for the dip between his thigh and his knee. Asher is faster, dropping his leg back. My momentum carries me too far forward. I stumble sideways and brace for the blow I’ve left myself open to receive.

It doesn’t come.

I fight the urge to back away. I can’t run from him—there’s no point, and I swore I would never again back down in his presence. A stupid oath, in hindsight, but it sounded good at the time, and I am roughly ninety-five percent certain he won’t kill me here and now. I also vowed to live long enough to seal the veil between our two worlds. In this moment, with that five percent feeling bigger by the second, I’m not sure I can keep both promises.

In white linen pants and a fitted t-shirt, Asher doesn’t look dressed for a fight. He puts his hands in his pockets and saunters closer, a smile on his white lips, sunlight gleaming in his black hair. “We both know you can’t kill me on my side of the veil, Tanzy. And if I wanted you dead, I’d simply leave you for the Taigo,” he says. “Any of them would be very eager to collect the bounty their leader has placed on your head.”

“I’m an Unseen now. No one can kill me here but you,” I retort, clenching my hands so he won’t see them tremble. I wonder if they’re still stained with Genesis’s blood.

Asher’s brow lifts in amusement at my misinformation. “You’re not Unseen. You are very capable of dying.”


About Jadie:


Young-adult author. Equine professional. Southern gal. Pacific Northwest Transplant. Especially fond of family, sunlight, and cookie dough.​​
I wrote my first book in seventh grade, filling one hundred and four pages of a black and white Mead notebook. Back then I lived for two things: horses and R.L. Stine books. Fast forward nearly twenty years, and I still work with horses, and hoard books like most women my age collect shoes. It's amazing how much changes... and how much stays the same.

​The dream of publishing a novel has hitch-hiked with me down every other path I've taken (and there have been many.) Waitress, farm manager, road manager, bank teller, speech writer, retail, and more. But that need to bring pen to paper refused to quiet. Finally, in 2009, I sat down, pulled out a brand new notebook, and once again let the pictures in my head become words on paper.

​As a child, my grandfather would sit me in his lap and weave tales about the Cherokee nation, and a girl who belonged with horses. His words painted a whole new world, and my mind would take flight. My hope - my dream - is that Tanzy's journey does the same for you.




Giveaway Details:
One lucky winner will win a $10 Amazon Gift Card, International.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Blog Tour- SALT & VENOM by Amy McNulty With An Excerpt & Giveaway!



I am happy to be hosting a stop on the blog tour for SALT & VENOM by Amy McNulty! I have an excerpt to share with you today check it out and enter to win the giveaway below!

About The Book:



Title: SALT & VENOM (Blood, Bloom, & Water #2)
Author: Amy McNulty
Pub. Date: October 16, 2018
Publisher: Snowy Wings Publishing 
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 227
Find it: GoodreadsAmazon



An emboldened merman. The daring girl who agreed to be his champion. The upcoming battle that threatens to change everything they believe in.

Ivy Sheppard never wanted the ability to turn into a mermaid
though her wicked ice powers are nothing to sneeze at. Now her step-sister is her enemy, the fairy she once trusted may not be the ally she hoped for, and her new boyfriend wants her to transfer schools to avoid the vampires taking over Union High. Between dodging parents’ concerns, pretending she can stand to even look at the step-sister who sided with the bloodsuckers, and still aiming to end it all without violence, Ivy is in over her head. Unfortunately, these ancient enemies are itching to get the conflict started and Ivy may have no choice but to become the warrior the merfolk need her to be.


The second book in the Blood, Bloom, & Water series starts the war between fangs and fins in earnest as the merfolk plan their assault to bring down the unnatural undead vampires once and for all.


Title: FANGS & FINS A Paranormal Romance (Blood, Bloom, & Water Book 1)
Author: Amy McNulty
Pub. Date: May 1, 2018
Publisher: Snowy Wings Publishing
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 330
Find it: AmazonGoodreads




A dapper vampire. A sullen merman. Two heirs to a great conflictand each needs to claim a beloved to become his kindreds champion.
High school senior Ember Goodwin never had a sister, but after her mom’s remarriage, she now has two. The eldest is no stranger to herIvy is a witty girl in her grade whos almost never spoken to the shy bookworm beforebut shes surprised to find the popular girl quite amiable. Their burgeoning friendship is tested, however, when Dean Horne, a pale, besuited charmer, shows interest in them both and plans to reveal his appetite for blood to the one who’ll stand by his side.
Seventeen-year-old Ivy Sheppard is tired of splitting her time between her dad’s and her mom’s, particularly when her dad uproots their lives to move them in with his new wife and step-daughter. Used to rolling with her parents’ whims, she tries to make the best of it and befriend her nerdy new step-sister. Her hectic life grows more unwieldy when she catches the eye of junior Calder Poole, whom she swears she sees swap well-toned legs for a pair of fins during a dip in a lake. Now she’s fending off suitors left and right, all while trying to get to the bottom of the strange happenings in her town.
The first book in the Blood, Bloom, & Water series sets family against family and friend against friend as an epic, ancient war comes to a head in a supposedly sleepy suburb.


Now on to the excerpt!



CHAPTER ONE

Blossom didn’t often have time for me when Autumn was around. Though the cat was no spring chicken, she still had a youthful spring in her step, and only an eight-year-old with mountains of extra energy was up to the task of satiating the calico’s thirst for prey. Usually in the form of a shoestring or curled-up ball of paper.

But Blossom poked her head up beside my bed and mewed, tapping her paw against my shoulder until I couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. As I lifted the comforter higher, Blossom snuggled right in against my side.

“At least someone won’t ask what’s wrong with me,” I whispered. “She just knows something is.” My fingers traced circles around one of her soft ears.

Why couldn’t I just tell everyone the truth? Hashtag ImAMermaid. Jokes aside, I was seventeenalbeit almost eighteenand I didnt know how to handle this on my own.
I had three parents. Why couldn’t I kick and scream and have a tantrum and wind up coddled in my mom’s or dad’s arms?

My phone buzzed on the nightstand. Shifting so as not to bother Blossom, I grabbed it and saw the message from Calder:

Feeling better? I know last night was A lot. Ive got you, though. I promise. I need you more than Ive ever needed anyone. Ill try to be a worthy prince, my champion.

A tear slipped down one cheek as I felt my face warming. I put down the phone and wiped the moisture away. Why was I crying? It wasn’t like I was madly in love with the guy.

But apparently, the champion of water was kind of the prince’s fiancée. So I had a boyfriend now. I’d never had one who’d lasted more than a few dates.

Now I was tied to onecute, kind of shy though he might bepossibly for the rest of my life. We could one day lay our merbaby eggs in the blood of my fallen step-sister.

No and no. I still wasn’t planning on either happening.

My phone buzzed again and I swiped away another notification from Paisley. The bits of messages I’d read from her and Lyric asked everything I expected them to, like what in the world had happened last night, was it true that Calder had lost his pants in the Homecoming fire, was I feeling all right and how was Ember, and also, back to the second point, was it true Calder had walked around brazenly with his elephant trunk swinging freely?

I tried not to think about that part. My face was flushing at the memory. I bet the vampires didn’t have cause to go pantsless around their champion. At least not a supernatural one. I wasn’t sure if that was a pro or a con, honestly. Dirty Ivy.

Blossom’s purrs grew louder and louder as she snuggled up beside my cheek, nudging the top of her head against my chin.

“I love you too, Furbaby,” I said, rubbing the back of her neck and being reminded how different the cat at my new place wasEmbers cat was a scaredy-cat if ever there was one.

The thought of going back there now with how things stood between Ember and me I couldnt. But I couldnt very well explain why I couldnt to Mom and Dad.

Even if Mom apparently had been hypnotized into accepting Orin as a family friend.

That traitorous faery.

“There she is!” screeched a voice from my partially-open door. Autumn came trotting inthe girl had yet to learn boundaries. Thankfully for her, I was an amazing big sister. If I do say so myself.

“Leave us alone,” I said, just a touch of my grumpy side evident in my voice. Okay, not always an amazing sister.

Autumn flicked on the light switch and padded over to the side of my bed. “Are you cramping?” she asked, twirling a strand of her long, brown hair around her finger. She had on a tie-dyed T-shirt and bright purple zebra pants. The girl could clearly not dress herself, but she was too old for my parents to be picking out outfits for her regardless.

I pushed at her gently, my arm jostling and upsetting the cat. “I’m not on my period every time I’m feeling tired,” I said, grunting. “Geez, you’d have me bleeding twenty-nine days out of thirty.”

“Gross.” She scooped the cat out from beside me, carrying her in her arms like a big, fragile bag of groceries. My sister bounced her up and down and Blossom dug her claws into her human captor’s shoulders, her yellow irises like saucers, but Autumn didn’t even flinch. “Are you still sick from last night?”

“Yes,” I muttered, pulling the cover over my head entirely. “Now go away. And don’t forget to shut off the light.”

“How did you create steam?” she asked. “When you touched that warm blanket they gave you, your hand glowed blue and steam rose out

“You were seeing things,” I mumbled. “Now go away.”

“Fine,” she snapped. The pounding of her bare feet against the floor was loud even muffled by the threadbare carpet that ran most of the length of Mom’s townhouse. “Keep your secrets.”

“And stay away from Orin!” I snapped.

“Who?”

“Orin! My boss. My date to Homecoming.” I poked my head out from under the blanket. Mom was hovering behind Autumn in the doorway. Great.

Autumn grinned and Blossom saw her chance to jump down, scattering off into the hallway, my little sister hot on her literal tail.

“How are you feeling?” asked Mom, her fist hovering over the open bedroom door as if it weren’t too late to knock and not be invited in at this point.

“Fine,” I lied, burying my head underneath the blanket once more.

She took that as an invitation because I felt her sit down on the edge of the bed. Her hand touched my shoulder through my barrier of cotton and synthetic fibers keeping me from facing reality and the fact that said reality included faeries, vampires, and merpeople. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.

Yes. “No.”

She kept stroking my shoulder in silence.

“Don’t you have work today?” I asked. She always had work and it was supposed to be a Dad day anyway. She’d been a homemaker when she and Dad had been together and though she got some “maintenance,” as they called alimony for some reason, she’d had to take on a minimum-wage job at a superstore to make ends meet. Luckily, she and Dad got along well enough that he pretty much paid any and everything related to Autumn’s or my expenses.

I just didn’t get why they couldn’t have gotten along while they’d been married, then.
Sighing, I buried myself deeper in the blankets, barely hearing Mom’s response. Something about swapping shifts.

She tugged the blanket off my head and I groaned. “Hey, listen to me,” she said.

“I am.” Not true.

She stared hard at me until I was forced to look away.

“Did anyone hurt you last night?”

“No,” I lied again. Not like she was thinking. Not who she was thinking.

“Or Ember?”

“No,” I said again, my nails digging into my palm beneath the blanket. Well, I had hurt her.

“Things just got hectic in the chaos.”

“So hectic that boy lost his pants?” Her eyebrow arched.

“They were wet,” I said. “And on fire,” I added. I supposed the latter would excuse it where the former wouldn’t. Even if that was just a little white lie to add to the mountain of them.

“Wet and on fire? Mom asked, her neck bending forward even more.

Don’t test me, woman, I thought. You have no idea Wet after being on fire.”

Mom took in a deep, audible breath. “Who was that boy, Ivy?”

“Calder Poole,” I said, the name coming out like a petulant toddler forced to reveal the fact that she’d dug her hand into the cookie jar. “He’s on the swim team. Or he was He just transferred.”

“Okay Mom said. And is he Do you know him well? I dont remember you ever hanging out with him before.

“That’s because I hang with the baseball team, owing to Paisley’s boyfriend being captain of it. Doesn’t mean I don’t know him.” An itch took over the tip of my nose and I rubbed it into my pillow.

Mom kept patting my shoulder. “He was there with someone else and he just happened to help you and Emberafter his pants caught on fire?

“He was there with me,” I said, not wanting to get into the debate about why someone from a different school was there without a date from Union High. It wasn’t like he’d transferred that long ago anyway.

“But I thought you and Orin? Normally, Mom would be having a fit that Id dated an older guy. Ha, try older than dirt, not a couple of years older. But Orin had made her think he was a dear friend of ours somehow. For some reason.

“He’s just a friend,” I said. “Was a friend. And I’m not working for him anymore.”

Not the right thing to say. “Ivy, I know you might need time off, but I told you it’s important to start working as soon as possible. Look at what happened to me. When your father left Her phone rang, playing the Jurassic Park theme song, which I knew meant Dad. Theyd gone on their first date to see that movie as freshmen in high school. I didn’t know why Mom would want to be reminded of that.

“Take some time off,” she said, letting the phone continue to ring a moment. “Just keep what happened to me in mind. A part-time job would be good for you even throughout college.” Her lips pinched as she stared straight at me, and I flinched. She turned away and answered the call. “Yes?”

I ran a finger over the edge of my nightstand, ignoring the buzz that came from my own phone as I picked up half a conversation between my parents.

“That’s great!” said Mom, a smile on her face. She lowered the phone to whisper to me, “Ember got the all-clear. She’s home and feels fine.”

I flinched. Not that I wanted her to be ill, of course, but But She was the enemy now. She’d sealed the deal before I had.

I’d missed some of Mom’s side of the conversation. “He wants you and Autumn to still come over tonight,” she told me, Dad clearly on hold. “They’re going to order in.”

“No!” I shouted, sitting up and practically whapping my poor mother across the face with my blankets.

I could hear the muffled sound of Dad’s voicehed probably heard that.

Mom shrank back. “Sunday is usually spent with your dad

“Right. Oh, right.” Covering my face with my hands, I winced. My throat was dry. “It’s just Mom, I barely feel like moving. Maybe Autumn can go and I I didnt say anything more.
Mom turned back to her conversation and spoke in a hushed voice. Then she held the phone out to me. “Your father wants to speak to you.”

“Tell him I’m sick or something,” I said.

“I heard that, young lady,” came Dad’s voice from the speaker.

“Ugh,” I said, bringing my knees up and resting my forehead atop them.

Mom spoke to him again and then hung up a few moments later. “We agreed both you and Autumn can stay here an extra night,” she said. “Ember’s dad is in town anyway. I get the feeling things are tense between him and Noelle. They thought maybe having a crowd would make things less awkward.

“They’re inviting him to dinner with them?” I asked. All the more reason not to bother going. Like I needed another awkward thing happening inside my own home when all I wanted to do was sleep for the rest of my life.

“He’s staying at a motel, but yes, he’s coming over for dinner.” Mom sighed as a crash echoed from downstairsthe townhouse was cramped, but there was a kitchen, living room, and half-bath on the first floor. Autumn? she called out.

Autumn’s giggling rang out even from a floor and several rooms away.

“We’ll talk more later,” said Mom, patting my shoulder again. She stopped when she reached the hallway, looking back at me over her shoulder. “And you’re at least eating dinner with your sister and me,” she said sternly. “I’m not letting you sleep the whole day away.” She flicked the lights off.


Groaning, I rolled onto my side, nestling myself beneath the covers again. My phone buzzed on the stand beside my head and I reached over, holding the power button and confirming I wanted it turned off so the thing would finally go quiet.






About Amy:
Amy McNulty is an editor and author of books that run the gamut from YA speculative fiction to contemporary romance. A lifelong fiction fanatic, she fangirls over books, anime, manga, comics, movies, games, and TV shows from her home state of Wisconsin. When not reviewing anime professionally or editing her clients’ novels, she’s busy fulfilling her dream by crafting fantastical worlds of her own.





Giveaway Details:


1 winner will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card, International.

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Tour Schedule:

Week One:
10/22/2018- BookHounds YAInterview
10/23/2018- Writer of WrongsExcerpt
10/24/2018- Two Chicks on BooksExcerpt
10/25/2018- K.L. Knovitzke AuthorExcerpt
10/26/2018- A Dream Within A DreamExcerpt

Week Two:
10/29/2018- Patriotic BookaholicExcerpt
10/30/2018- Oh Hey! Books.Interview
10/31/2018- Lilly's Book WorldReview
11/1/2018- Book Bite ReviewsReview
11/2/2018- Don't Judge, ReadInterview

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