Sunday, April 12, 2015

Book Blitz Bittersweet by Kimberly Loth


Bittersweet by Kimberly Loth 
Publication date: March 21st 2015
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult



Synopsis:
Every Sunday Savannah Ray gets an email from her dead dad. She doesn’t know how the emails work and she doesn’t mind either as she’s not ready to let go. Now that her mom is fed up of her rebellious behavior, she has to go to the one place she swore she’d never set foot in after he died—Haunted Valley, the amusement park. Once there and bullied by co-workers & customers, she is distracted by the charming Dallas and falls hard for him.  But Savannah and Dallas both hold secrets that threaten their new relationship. Will Haunted Valley help her move on, or will it destroy her from the inside out?

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Excerpt 

Dallas sat on the rock, his face turned up to the sunlight. Damn, he was hot. My head went a little fuzzy. Whoa. Where did the nothing go? Feelings were coming more and more often now. It was crazy that I’d never felt a thing for Zane, but in less than two weeks I was feeling all kinds of crazy things for Dallas.
“I’m still not sure about this,” I said as we walked out into the park. He wore a real polo shirt with a popped collar and loose khaki shorts. Definitely a rich boy. Usually I avoided this type at school, they were cocky and never had the time of day for a girl like me unless I was the butt of a joke.
“Do coasters make you sick?” he asked.
“No, they just hold too many memories,” I kept my eyes trained on my tennis shoes instead of him.
“More cryptic answers. I’ll get them out of you one of these days.” I risked a look and he had that devastating smile plastered on his face again. If he kept looking at me like that, then he was right. I’d spill my guts faster than the Demon Drop plummeted.
All of the rides in Spook Alley were built with dark brown wood, and when I stepped inside I felt like I was in a massive haunted tree house with pictures of little witches and cute ghosts everywhere. The smell of cotton candy was overwhelming. Instead I inhaled deeply and smiled. Amusement parks always smelled like cotton candy. That and corn dogs.
He cocked his head.
“What?” I asked, suddenly self-conscious.
“You’re smiling a real smile. It’s a sight I don’t see very often. It’s much prettier than the fake one.”
I blushed.
“I smell cotton candy. It’s one of my favorite smells.”
He nodded. “I’ll remember that next time I buy cologne. Cotton candy and chocolate.”
I laughed. “Good luck with that one. FYI, chocolate scented things don’t really smell like chocolate. It’s the real stuff or nothing.”
“So if I carry a Hershey bar in my pocket, will that work?”
“No. That’s weak chocolate. Go European.”
He was quiet for a minute as we walked deeper into Spook Alley. The rides got smaller and smaller. I didn’t even know if we were allowed to ride them.
“Do heights bother you?”
            “Not really.” I looked around at the little kid rides. All the lines were empty.
“Then the Sneaking Ghost it is.”
“Sounds scary.” I replied.
He laughed.
            “Oh yeah, real scary.”
We climbed two flights of stairs and into a little ghost car. The girl checking our belts flirted with Dallas. I rolled my eyes. Was there any girl who didn’t want him?
“When are you going to come out with the Spook Alley gang again? We miss you.” She pouted a little. Unfortunately, it just made her look cute. He really could have anyone. No way he actually wanted me. This was either about Grant or chocolate.
He held up his hands in an “I don’t know” gesture.
“My evenings are a little full,” he said and put his arm around me. Some girls would’ve been ecstatic, but I was a little annoyed he used me to put her off. Shame on him to lead me on.
The car jerked a little and off we went. About two miles per hour on an elevated flat track. I shrugged off his arm.
 “My, my, you are in high demand.”
He grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Obviously that was a total lie. Most nights I go home and read a book.”
I didn’t believe that for a second.
“Right and I party every night with a different guy.” I folded my arms in front of my chest. Why was I doing this again?
He sat back and looked out over the kids running around under the track. I thought maybe I’d offended him until he turned back to me, his eyebrows creased.
 “It’s true. But I have an idea. Why don’t we hang out every night? Then I wouldn’t be lying, would I?”
            I looked over at him and he smiled. I replied without thinking.
“Okay.”
He put his arm around me again. This time I let him. The girl was nowhere in sight and so he wasn’t just using me. Plus, it felt nice. Then I immediately felt guilty. What right did I have to feel nice? Never mind that I was feeling again.
“Why are you so concerned with the little white lie?” I asked.
“I don’t like lying to people. Ever. But when she pounced on me like that I didn’t know what else to say.”
“I take it you don’t like her.”
He sighed and tugged me a little closer. My heart beat faster. I took a deep breath, hoping to still my heart. He didn’t seem to notice. A few kids screamed below us and I had to lean closer to him to hear. He had very nice lips. They weren’t cracked like a lot of boys’. He must use Chapstick or something.
“She’s nice enough. But she came with us to the casino last week and I couldn’t shake her off. She followed me around to all the tables. I’d finally found a slot machine deep in the middle of a crowd and I thought I’d lost her but just after I put a twenty into the machine the person next to me left and she sat down. She went on for thirty minutes about why we would be perfect for each other. As soon as she said the M word, I bailed. Left six bucks in the machine and didn’t look back.”
“The M word?”
“Marriage.”
I laughed. “Poor girl.”
He mocked outrage.
“Poor girl? Poor me. Well, not anymore, as my social calendar is now completely full. Thanks to an unsuspecting Savannah.”
The little ghost pulled back into the station and Dallas held out his hand to help me out. Instead of letting go, he adjusted his grip so that our fingers intertwined. His hand was smooth and his fingers swallowed mine.
Butterflies.
Holy crap.
The last time I felt butterflies was the summer before my sophomore year when Eddie kissed me on the Ferris wheel at the fair. So cliché, but I remembered the butterflies because Dad had died the following week. I hadn’t felt that way since. Even now my chest ached, the pain of my dad’s death as raw as it was two years ago. I shook my head. Empty. Go back to the empty.




AUTHOR BIO:
Kimberly Loth can't decide where she wants to settle down. She's lived in Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Utah, California, Oregon, and South Carolina. She finally decided to make the leap and leave the U.S. behind for a few years. Currently, she lives in Cairo, Egypt with her husband and two kids.

She is a high school math teacher by day (please don't hold that against her) and YA author by night. She loves romantic movies, chocolate, roses, and crazy adventures. Kissed is her first novel.

Author links:
https://twitter.com/kimberlyloth
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7787780.Kimberly_Loth


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Character Tour Taste Test by L.B. Dunbar



Taste Test
by L.B. Dunbar
Character Tour

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Synopsis

In a modern twist of fairy tales,

what if the beast is a woman instead of a man?

Ethan Scott
I was about to find out when a mysterious job led to the secluded home of a horror novelist. I’d lost everything: my scholarship, my education, and my way. In denial of my family inheritance, I took the unusual employment as a chance out of a hole, but I found myself buried in the unknown trauma of another situation much deeper. 

Ella Vincentia
I had changed my name and my address to keep myself hidden, but my scars were more than physical. Living as a recluse in the woods, I was used to being alone, so I wasn’t happy when a certain someone was always in my space. Our first encounter was less than pleasant and tension continued at every attempt to tame me. 

Secrets
I knew she was keeping secrets and I wanted to help, but she was cutting me down and cutting me off every time she opened her mouth. Our frustration with one another grew until a misunderstanding changed everything. How can I be the next guy after something so tragic? It was a challenge I wasn’t sure I was willing to take.


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Teasers



  
Ethan Scott and Ella Vincentia Interview

I wake early as I often do in New York. The noises are different here, but it’s also because I’m rather excited to start each day. Ella Vincentia still sleeps next to me, her fall colored hair spilling over the pillow, and I sit up, reaching for my laptop. I have an assignment for my English class to write a personal interview. Seriously, the assignment is interview yourself. I don’t even know where to start and I stare at the spinning icon while the computer comes to life.

Ella, from beside me, mumbling into her pillow: What are you doing up so early? Again.

Ethan: You know I can’t sleep. I’ve got to get this interview paper done this morning before I have to work this afternoon.

I’m working at a restaurant, finally fulfilling my dream to be a chef. It’s a cool set-up as I take classes there during the days in food preparation, and then work at night, learning practical skills in running a restaurant. Unfortunately, when I lost my scholarship and almost flunked out of college before meeting Ella, I failed an English class and I need to make up the credits.

Ella: What are you going to write about? (Her voice is clearer as she’s rolled unto her back and I lose focus as I see her covered in my thin t-shirt. She’s thin as she originally wanted to be a model. I think she’s still the most beautiful girl in the world.)

Ethan: You.

Ella laughs: You can’t write about me. It has to be about you. Here, give me the questions. (She sits up and takes the sheet from me). You can pick any one you want, right?

Ethan: Yep.

Ella: Okay. Start with what was it like to grow up in a small town?

Ethan: It doesn’t say that?

Ella: It doesn’t. It says explain your childhood.
I twist my lips for a minute and begin to answer the question, typing and talking out loud so Ella can hear me.

Ethan: Growing up in a small town was tough. Everyone knows your business. You get in trouble. Everyone knows. It was also hard to live in an older brother’s shadow when he was always so perfect.

Ella: Talk about Gavin.

Ethan: Like what?

Ella: What was it like to have a “perfect” brother?

I blow out air and sigh, running my hands through the wild waves of my own thick hair, before I begin typing and speaking again.

Ethan: Growing up under my brother was difficult, but it took pressure off of me, until he wasn’t so perfect anymore. He was supposed to inherit the family cherry farm. When he left for California and that responsibility fell to me, I resented him at first. I didn’t want to be a farmer. I wanted to be creative in my own way.

Ella: Talk about that. (Here she shifted and leaned over me. As her soft skin brushed up against my arm, I was distracted and I turned to kiss her good morning. I loved waking up next to her. She interrupted my attempts to skip the paper). Ethan, paper. (She can be rather demanding at times).

Ethan, typing: I wanted to be a chef and my father disapproved. I went to school on a scholarship and let things fall apart. When I lost that scholarship I had to come home. The farm seemed destined to be my future, until I met Jacob.

Ella: You’re going to have to explain who Jacob it.

Ethan: Jacob Vincent, is the Jacob Vincent, horror author extraordinaire. He hired me to cook for him and protect his niece.

Ella: I didn’t know you were hired to protect me. Protect me from what? (Her voice was rising in question.)

Teasingly, I answered: Probably him.
Ella: Ha. Seriously? (Her tone softened).

Ethan: You can be a beast at times, Princess.

Ella: I cannot.

Ethan: Yes. You can.

She huffed. Literally, she crossed her arms and pouted. I’d seen it before. She was tough on the outside. She had good reason to be, but I no longer allowed her to be like this with me. I reached for her scarred cheek and traced down one of the gruesome lines, continuing my trail to her neck and inside the t-shirt that slipped off her shoulder. She stilled.

Ethan: You can be difficult, and you know it. But I love you all the same. (I leaned forward and kissed her angry cheek, following the line to her neck. She swallowed hard and I felt it against my lips. I was heading for the inside of that t-shirt when her hands cupped my face).

Ella: Paper, Ethan.

Ethan: What do I get if I finish it?

Ella: Hopefully an A.
I teased again: You’re no fun.

Ella, smiling slowly: Anything you’d like, but you need to finish the paper first.

Ethan: Anything? (I smiled and licked my lips. She knew what I liked to do the most to her).

She looked at me with her best warning glare, but it was lost on her eager face. She liked it when I did those things to her as well and she’d become much better about not denying it.

Ella, pointing at the computer screen: Write about coming to New York.

I sighed again, and began to type: Coming to New York saved me. I wasn’t going to make it in a small town, just like my brother couldn’t take it. I loved my family, but I didn’t plan to spend my life on the farm.

I looked over at Ella who had grown quiet.

Ella spoke softly: Maybe mention your mom?

I swallowed hard myself. My fingers numbing as I typed.

Ethan: My mother has breast cancer. She was in remission, but it struck again, and I felt obligated to help her. We are very close, but she knew I needed to live my dream. She gave me permission to leave, telling me to follow my heart.

Ella smiles weakly at me. She loves my mom, too, and I know she worries that I might be missing out on time with Mum (she’s from England), but I assure Ella that being with her is where I’m meant to be.

Ethan: Hey. Home is here, remember? (I point to her heart beneath the thin shirt and she covers my hand with her own. The bracelet I gave her dangles from her wrist and it amazes me she never takes it off, even when everything else is removed. She nods her head at me, knowing that I mean what I’ve said).

Ethan: What else should I talk about?

Ella: How you have the best girlfriend in the world?

I laugh: You are a princess, Princess.

She laughs as well and moves as if to climb over me like if she’s going to exit the bed.

Ethan: Where do you think you’re going? (I lean over the laptop to stop her once she straddles my knees).

Ella: As long as you’re up, I might as well work on my homework too.

Ethan: Oh I’m up alright, but homework is the last thing on my mind now. (Holding onto one of her hips, I shift to remove the computer from my lap and tug her closer to me).

Ella giggles: Ethan, you need to finish that interview. (Her hands reach for my shoulders to balance her over me).

Ethan: It can wait.

Ella: I’m not giving you anything until that paper is finished.

I tease: Nothing? (I lean forward and take her lips with mine. She fights me as she does at times when she’s not getting her way). Give in. (I mumble against her lips. To prove she’s in control, she takes over and I let her. Suddenly she pulls back).

Ella: Dammit. (She knows she’ll give in).

Smiling in victor, I speak: I’ve told you, quit challenging me, Princess. (My hands slip inside my t-shirt on her).

She whines: Ethan, please. The paper.

I slyly answer: I’d rather please you.

She laughs and it’s the best sound. There was time she hardly laughed or smiled, but now I take pleasure in knowing I can make her do both. She tucks a piece of her brilliant red hair behind her ear, exposing her scars to me, knowing I’m not afraid to kiss her crazy along the lines, which is what I intend to do. Interview over. I have questions to explore on this wonderful girl’s body instead.


Sound Advice (Book One)
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Fragrance Free (Book Three)
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Touch Screen (Book Four)
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Newest Series
The Legend of Arturo King
(Legendary Rock Stars Book One)
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Coming Soon:
The Story of Lansing Lotte
(Legendary Rock Stars Book Two)
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About L.B. Dunbar


I’d like to say I was always a writer. I’d also like to say that I wrote every day of my life since a child. That I took the teaching advice I give my former students because writing every day improves your writing. I’d like to say I have my ten-thousand hours that makes me a proficient writer. But I can’t say any of those things. I did dream of writing the “Great American Novel” until one day a friend said: Why does it have to be great? Why can’t it just be good and tell a story?


As a teenager, I wrote your typical love-angst poetry that did occasionally win me an award and honor me with addressing my senior high school class at our Baccalaureate Mass. I didn't keep a journal because I was too afraid my mom would find it in the mattress where I kept my copy of Judy Blume’s Forever that I wasn't allowed to read as a twelve year old.


I can say that books have been my life. I’m a reader. I loved to read the day I discovered “The Three Bears” as a first grader, and ever since then, the written word has been my friend. Books were an escape for me. An adventure to the unknown. A love affair I’d never know. I could be lost for hours in a book.


So why writing now? I had a story to tell. It haunted me from the moment I decided if I just wrote it down it would go away. But it didn't. Three years after writing the first draft, a sign (yes, I believe in them) told me to fix up that draft and work the process to have it published. That’s what I did. But one story let to another, and another, and another. Then a new idea came into my head and a new story line was created. 


I was accused (that’s the correct word) of having an overactive imagination as a child, as if that was a bad thing. I've also been accused of having the personality of a Jack Russell terrier, full of energy, unable to relax, and always one step ahead. What can I say other than I have stories to tell and I think you’ll like them. If you don’t, that’s okay. We all have our book boyfriends. We all have our favorites. Whatever you do, though, take time for yourself and read a book.

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DOUBLE COVER REVEAL by Kacey Hamford

★~★~★ DOUBLE COVER REVEAL ★~★~★


Title: Taking A Chance & Giving A Chance
Author: Kacey Hamford
Genre: Romance/ NA
Tour organiser: Book-Lover 


Taking A Chance


Synopsis:
Rose has spent her whole life living in her sister’s shadow; boys have always preferred her sister Amelia. Amelia has always achieved the best grades, the boys would flock to her and good luck seem to just follow her around.
When Rose meets Jacob, she feels as though her luck is starting to change. He is everything she could wish for and more; he is not only gorgeous and clever, but he wants her, not her sister.
Jacob and Rose begin dating, but the course of true love never runs smooth and it’s not long before Jacob is hiding things from Rose. Will his secrets destroy their relationship, or will he finally open up to Rose? Or will Amelia destroy them before he has the chance?
Join Rose and Jacob on their rollercoaster journey.
When the highs are so good, does it make it worth enduring the lows?

This is a young adult book that contains some mature content



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Giving A Chance


Synopsis:
A choice between two guys should be every girls dream, but it’s not as easy as you would think.
Bonnie has never struggled to get male attention, in fact quite the opposite. But following a nasty break up she has commitment issues and doesn’t want to tie herself down to one guy.
Happily living the single life, she has been sleeping with Matt and Joseph. Both guys have their good qualities and Bonnie doesn’t see the need to make a choice, that is until Matt demands she chooses one of them. Matt’s idea is clear, she dates each boy for a week then makes her mind up. What sounds like a simple idea soon turns out more complicated than Bonnie could ever have thought. So with both boys pulling out all the stops and playing their ace cards, it’s a fun filled fortnight for Bonnie.
Is it possible to have such strong feelings for two guys? Bonnie has got it bad for both. And at the end of the two weeks will she be able to make a decision?




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Author Bio:
We are two thirty-something females, living in Cornwall, England.
We both have full time jobs and manage to squeeze writing in around very busy lives.
Last year we joked about writing a book, and in December we actually started writing! On 12th March 2014 we pressed the ‘publish’ button and didn’t breathe for a whole several minutes!
We have now written four books, ‘Rocking Esme’, ‘Rocking Scarlett’, ‘Rocking Marcy’ and ‘Rocking Ashton’ and we also have a million other book ideas which we are dying to write!
When we first started writing, we didn’t tell anyone- not even our other halves! We decided to tell them about a month before publishing, then about a week before publishing we told our friends and family.
We both love reading, and since buying Kindles, reading has become much more of an obsession and we have both discovered authors we had never heard of. Some favourites are… Jennifer Foor, Aurora Rose Reynolds, Kirsty Moseley, Kelly Elliot, Terri Anne Browning, Diane Chamberlain… the list is endless!


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