Standalones of November 2012

November 13th
Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill
Goodreads
Sacred by Alana K. Arnold
Goodreads

As you can see, it's not a very busy month in the standalone area.

NEW YORK TIMES CHILDREN'S BESTSELLERS (Oct 28, 2012)

1. LINCOLN’S LAST DAYS, by Bill O'Reilly and Dwight Jon Zimmerman. (Holt, $19.99.) An account of the 16th president’s assassination. (Ages 10 to 15)
2. THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, by John Green. (Dutton, $17.99.) A 16-year-old heroine faces the medical realities of cancer. (Ages 14 and up)
3. LAUREN CONRAD BEAUTY, by Lauren Conrad with Elise Loehnen. (Harper/HarperCollins, $21.99.) A guide with personal anecdotes and step-by-step lessons in makeup. (Ages 14 to 17)
4. WONDER, by R.J. Palacio. (Knopf, $15.99.) A boy with a facial deformity enters a mainstream school. (Ages 8 to 12)
5. CONFESSIONS OF A MURDER SUSPECT, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. (Little, Brown, $19.99.) A girl seeking to bring her parents’ killer to justice disturbs family secrets. (Ages 12 to 17)
6. INSURGENT, by Veronica Roth. (Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins, $17.99.) In this “Divergent” follow-up, a faction war looms. (Ages 14 and up)
7. THE DEMIGOD DIARIES, by Rick Riordan. (Hyperion/Disney, $12.99.) Lore on the Heroes of Olympus and Percy Jackson books. (Ages 10 to 14)
8. THE LEGO IDEAS BOOK, by Daniel Lipkowitz. (DK, $24.99.) Projects with plastic bricks. (Ages 7 and up)
9. LEGO BATMAN, by Daniel Lipkowitz. (DK, $21.99.) A visual dictionary of the superhero, his foes, their weapons and vehicles, and more. (Ages 6 to 12)
10. STARSTRUCK, by Lauren Conrad. (Harper/HarperCollins, $18.99.) Friendships are tested, lines are crossed and fashion crimes are committed in this sequel to “The Fame Game.” (Ages 14 to 17)

New Series and Sequels of November 2012

November 1st
Drink Deep (Chicagoland Vampires #5) by Chloe Neill
Goodreads

November 6th
Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2) by Laini Taylor
Goodreads
The Lies That Bind (The Liar Society #2) by Lisa Roecker
Goodreads
Deity (Convenant #3) by Jessia L. Armentrout
Goodreads

November 13th
Reached (Matched #3) by Ally Condie
Goodreads
Luminosity (Raven Chronicles #1) by Stephanie Thomas
Goodreads
Ashes of Twilight (Ashes Trilogy #1) by Kassy Tayler
Goodreads
Speed of Light (Fenestra #3) by Amber Kizer
Goodreads
Black City (Black City #1) by Elizabeth Richards
Goodreads
Renegade (The Elysium Chronicles #1) by J.A. Souders
Goodreads

November 20th
Middle Ground (Awaken #2) by Katie Kacvinsky
Goodreads
Undeadly (The Reaper Diaries #1) by Michele Vail
Goodreads

BLOG TOUR: Affinity

Affinity -  Bird in a Gilded Cage Synopsis

The crows followed Talon around everywhere. When he graduated from high school, Talon moved to Sacramento to work with his uncle, and the birds followed. He recognized the same straggly-tailed old crow that had followed him around since junior high. Iris Yorita lived in his old neighborhood in Modesto. Snakes were drawn to her as the big, black birds were drawn to him. She called their ability an AFFINITY and claimed it was a gift from God, and they should use it to help people. Talon thought she was out of her mind. How could a bunch of mangy crows or slimy snakes help anyone?

When a thief targeted the people in his uncle's neighborhood, all fingers pointed at the new kid, Talon. He decided it was time to put this strange ability to the test. Find out who was robbing their neighbors and clear his name. As Talon learned to communicate with his crows, the thievery heated up. Something more sinister than mere robbery was going on, and it would take Talon, Iris, and their new found friends, to discover what really was going on in this up-scale neighborhood.

Author Bio

Mary E. Merrell lives in the Central Valley of California with her husband, two dogs and four cats. She has two grown sons, Everette Merrell and Richard Mickelson who is married to a great girl, Brooke. Mary has worked at various jobs, selling furniture, a meat company and a manufacturing company. It wasn’t until she started selling real estate that her Real Estate Paranormal Mystery Series came to life in that old, vacant home. She enjoys reading all types of genres and writes Paranormal Mysteries and YA Urban Fantasies. When she’s not writing, she’s working on her decorative planter business www.LivingCreations.org with her husband, gardening and playing soccer. Please visit her website to see what she’s working on next. www.maryemerrell.com, or contact her through Facebook and Twitter.

Author’s website:   www.maryemerrell.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10227711-mary-merrell         

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryMerrell7

BLOG TOUR: Forbidden Forest

Title: The Legends of Regia: Forbidden Forest

Author: Tenaya Jayne

Pages: 236

Genre: YA Fantasy Romance

Book Blurb

Born in shame. Cast from society. Shape Shifter/Elf hybrid, Forest must fight for any respect she can get. Targeted in her youth by a vampire noble who placed an illegal slave mark on her, she is forced to obey him, no matter what.

Slipping the grip of her master and abandoning the prejudice of Regia, her native world, Forest takes a job on Earth, guarding the portal, using her skills as a warrior to enforce Regia's laws. Now, called home for a black ops mission, Forest must put aside her own prejudice to transport the vampire prince, Syrus, through enemy territory in a time of war.  

Prince Syrus, mage and master of the Blood Kata, wants Forest more than he's ever wanted anything. In spite of their mutual mistrust, their attraction cannot be denied. Through the danger of their mission, and the secrets they both keep, it doesn't matter what they feel. Forest is forbidden.  

About Tenaya Jayne

Hello. My name's Tenaya and I'm an addict. I mean author. When I was growing up, writing was just something I played at from time to time. I knew I wanted to be a writer, but I was one of those people who could never finish anything. When my eldest son was diagnosed with Autism, I began to write seriously. Writing became a necessity for me in the midst of my heartbreak. It was either that or take up drinking. I 'm thankful I chose writing as my escape because I discovered it truly is my thing. I want to be swept away when I read. That's what I want my books to do for you.The main goal of my writing is to entertain you. I want to help you escape everyday life for a little while. I hope you enjoy my stories as much as I enjoy sharing them with you!

I have a wonderful husband and two beautiful sons. I'm an advocate for Autism awareness, and women trapped in abusive relationships. I try to always look on the bright side and help others do so too. I've lived many places but I currently reside in Missouri. I love reading, indie and foreign films, gardening, and moody music.

Author Links

Purchase on Amazon

Website

Book Trailer

Excerpt:

The Forest pressed her back against the cool concrete wall, wanting to remain aloof from the entity of the crowd. She chose her position in the shadows, out of the paths of the roving, multi-colored spotlights. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the undulating human pheromones flying around on the air. At the beginning of every shift, she allowed herself a few minutes of this alien/human experience, though she didn't fully comprehend the combination of dancing, drinking, and ear-breaking sound waves. They loved it, however, and never seemed to deviate from the recipe.

 These were the people she was sworn to protect. She had developed a light affection for the human race and considered them a benign, if not slightly silly, bunch of creatures. Her religious passion for her job was rooted in hatred of that which harmed the humans, not a superhero tendency to protect the weak.

Forest opened her eyes and focused all her senses to sniff out the illegal suckers that tried to sneak through the portal. She was in the zone tonight, and not for the first time did she feel that hers was the best job in existence. It was a shame she couldn’t legally kill suckers in her native world.

 Over the next two hours, Forest didn’t move from the wall. She monitored the light traffic through the portal: two shifters and one elf, each of which nodded to her respectfully as they passed. Yawn. The shifters left the club to enjoy the delights of Austin’s nightlife elsewhere.

The elf would have been breaking Regia’s law had he left the club, but he dutifully seated himself at the bar and ordered a fuzzy navel. He wore a plaid, porkpie hat, pulled down over the tops of his pointed ears. Forest didn’t know him personally, but she had seen him in here before. The bartender surveyed him with narrowed eyes as the elf nervously tugged his hat down further and ordered a few more girly cocktails.

Intent on making sure that not one sucker was able to sneak past her, Forest was blindsided by the drunk bubba who had been trying to catch her eye for the last twenty minutes. He had finally decided to stagger over to hit on her.

“Hey babe, you’re too beautiful to look so lonely. How’s ‘bout I buy you a drink?”

“How’s ‘bout I call you a cab instead?” Forest mimicked his drawl.

“Only if you share it with me, Darlin.” He leaned in closer, and Forest’s throat began to sting from the noxious fume of booze mixed with his natural musk.

“While I appreciate the offer, Jethro, It seems only right to inform you that I’m not actually attractive at all. If you leaned in a little closer, you’d see that you’ve fallen victim to the effect of beer goggles. A hag like me can’t take advantage of a stud like you.”

As he leaned in, Forest instantly enlarged her nose, pockmarked her skin, evaporated her front teeth, and added a large black mole with a long hair sprouting from it for good measure.

 “You’re no hag, baby! You’re the sexiest little thing in…I…uh… ” He stumbled backward. “Good grief! Sorry, sorry…” he stammered, retreating. “I’ve gotta quit drinking,” he mumbled as he turned away.

Forest chuckled to herself once he absorbed back into the crowd. Being a shape shifter sometimes had unusual perks.

REVIEW: Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Title: Forgotten

Author: Cat Patrick

Publication Date: June 1^st 2011

Publisher: Hardie Grant Books

Format: Paperback

Pages: 277

Rating: 4/5
Blurb: I remember forwards. I remember forwards, and forget backwards. My memories, bad, boring, or good, haven't happened yet. So I will remember standing in the fresh-cut grass with the black-clad figures surrounded by stone until I do it for real. I will remember the funeral until it happens - until someone dies. And after that, it will be forgotten. Here's the thing about me: I can see my future, but my past is blank. I see the future in flashes, like memories. I remember what I'll wear tomorrow, and a car crash that won't happen till this afternoon. But yesterday has evaporated from my mind - just like the boy I love. I can't see him in my future. I can't remember him from my past. But today, I love him. And I never want to forget how much

Review: This book was mind-blowing. 

The central idea of the novel itself is extremely different- something I have never seen done before or heard about but Cat Patrick manages it exceptionally well and manages to make it very believable and even heart-aching in places. 

On top of this, the characters are lovable, the writing style is wonderful and the main guy is quickly on his way to becoming yet another one of my fictional boyfriends. It was quick read and completely impossible to put down. I am incredibly excited to get around to reading Cat’s second novel ‘Revived’, especially if it’s anything like this one. I would definitely recommend ‘Forgotten’ to everyone.

GUEST POST: Mia Hoddell

Book Descriptions:

The Sheol - the first book in The Wanderer Trilogy

Can a killer ever truly quit?

Being a trained killer, Kala can handle most things the world throws at her. However, when she murders her fiance, Kala's life is thrown into chaos. Forced to leave everything behind, she runs from city to city, in fear of her psychotic boss who is seeking her death. If that wasn't enough, she also has to cope with the re-appearance of her dead fiance who is struggling to keep a hold on his sanity as he strives for revenge.

Book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROCvv4FqfCQ 

The Flawless – the second book in The Wanderer Trilogy

Once a killer, always a killer

A battle is going to arise soon; The Sheol and The Flawless will come together but only one can survive to continue their manipulation of humankind. The Wanderers have to decide whether to summon the courage to fight so they can save themselves from eternal unrest or whether they like being lost, immortal souls. Nachtmahr is upgrading his Sturmmen to create more ruthless and efficient killers due to interference from The Sheol, while Kala is becoming darker; her rage consuming her as she strives to fulfill her own personal mission...Kill Nachtmahr.

Hi everyone! Here’s a little about me, my writing and influences.

I suppose I have always loved writing and creating things in my head, it just took me awhile to realize how seriously I wanted to take it. Also I must admit that although I loved to write, until about 2009 I hated reading and I even made up books I had ‘read’ in English lessons to avoid being found out when it came to monthly reviews.

Any way I started out writing poetry and had my first poem published in an anthology when I was 12. Later on I got another two plus a short story published in different books as well. However I soon found that I was bored of poetry and I wasn’t able to include enough detail in a short story so I began writing my first novel (The Sheol).The idea of The Wanderers originally developed from one of my short stories I had written for GCSE coursework about a WW1 soldier who came back to life. I knew I wanted to write a book about lost souls and because I am interested in the dark sides of books the afterlife they were stuck in wasn’t going to be very pleasant.

The rest of the story started when I was bored one summer and was listening to the song SomewhereNowhere by Ciniephile. The lyrics in this song gave me an image of a silhouetted woman standing on a cliff at sunset and from there I just began writing. It took me three years to finish the first draft as I was balancing it with exams but after I finally got the book out I was able to write the sequel in just over a month.

For my characters I found Kala’s name when searching for names that had a meaning of darkness, evil etc and it just fitted really well. From then on all the other characters just seemed to name themselves, well accept Nachtmahr anyway. I had written the whole book before giving him a name, just using a few dashes instead (something I later regretted when I had to go back and edit it all). Three days were spent trying to find a suitable name for him before finally settling on Nachtmahr - meaning nightmare in German. I am incredibly picky with names and if I have even the slightest doubt, I don’t use it.

Currently I am in the process of writing The Hunted (The Wanderer Trilogy #3) and I want it to be available late December/early January. Also I am working on a new romance series that has paranormal aspects in it, which should hopefully be out October/November, with cover reveals etc coming soon.

Some Quotes from Reviews of The Sheol

"Different and nail biting:  The story line was well thought and intriguing! The Sheol had a good pace through out the book and it was kind of hard to put it down."

"A unique and original story that took me on an un-predictable journey as the story keeps you guessing all the way to the end."

"It’s a good piece of action and I could almost picture it like a movie."

"The supernatural part to the story gave me a unique spin on a story that I thought I knew before I read it." Adriana

“A stimulating and emotional experience.”

For more information about me, my books, giveaways or anything else visit:

Website/blog: http://miahoddell.blogspot.co.uk

Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mia-Hoddell-Author/421368247889610?ref=hl

Twitter: @MiaHoddell - https://twitter.com/MiaHoddell

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=mia+hoddell

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=mia+hoddell

Also available at Barnes & Nobel and iBooks

Print Books available at Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=mia+hoddell&x=0&y=0&sitesearch=lulu.com&q=