Book 1 in the Heller Park Series focuses on Ellie Stanton.
An
imperfect, unremarkable girl makes a hero’s journey. Ellie Stanton
needed to have a good day. The universe had something else in store.
Getting caught shoplifting. Check. Dumping her lame boyfriend. Check.
Expulsion from school. Check. Getting kicked out of her house and then
stealing her mother’s car while she’s in a New Jersey turnpike rest stop
Cinnabon? Check. The only sensible option is to run as fast as she can
and never look back. Now Ellie is running going cross country to raise a
little hell and maybe along the way learn everything she needs to know
about life.
"Yes, Hilary. Your uniform makes you look like a brown Power Ranger."
Hilary rolled her eyes all the way back and gave Ellie a "ha ha ha" through clenched teeth. A couple wearing matching tracksuits walked in and Hil gave them menus before returning her attention to Ellie.
"Eleanor, I'm being serious. Answer me one question and I won't give you any more crap about school. Deal?"
Ellie pointed at Hilary. "Shoot, Megazord."
"Why, oh why do you have to turn every confrontation with an authority figure into World War Four?"
"Wait, you want to know, essentially, why I can't deal?" Hilary nodded emphatically, and Ellie continued. "Oh, that's easy peezy. We can all thank Mrs. Richards."
"Who the hell is Mrs. Richards?" Hilary asked.
"My kindergarten teacher. I will never forgive or forget that bitch."
"Why? What did she do?"
"I'm glad you asked. See, the first day of school, Mrs. Richards gave us a note to give to our parents, letting them know that parents were responsible for their own kid's snacks and drinks." A security guard and two Chickentown employees joined the audience. "So, Tammy, that's my mom's name for those who are new to the show here, she reads the first part of the note but not the second. That would be the part which gives examples of what appropriate healthy snacks and drinks are recommended. The word 'healthy' was underlined and in bold print. You can see where this is going, right?" She motioned toward Hilary, who smiled and nodded. "So Mommy Dearest stops off at Quick Chek on the way to school and grabs me a Mountain Dew and Twinkies."
There was a collective groan from the peanut gallery. Hilary used the pause in the story to take some orders before allowing Ellie to go on.
"Anyway, snack time rolls around, I open my Lion King lunch box and start digging in. Bitch Richards sees my Twinkies and comes flying at me like a hawk. She screams at me, throws away my Twinkies, and then walks me around the room pointing out examples of healthy snacks."
"You're kidding me." Hilary laughed, picturing little Ellie being tortured by this teacher.
"I would not kid you about snacks. It was like five full minutes of 'See, Ellie, that's a banana. Bananas are an example of a healthy snack.' Finally I snapped."
"What did you do?"
"I cried and smashed my lunch box against the chalkboard. When Mrs. Richards said she was calling my mom, I called her a big green bitch."
The entire congregation in the restaurant giggled at once.
"Why is that so funny? What the hell does that even mean?"
"I dunno. She was standing next to a Statue of Liberty poster. It didn't make sense, but it was very effective as an insult. That was the first class I was ever kicked out of, and I've been a pain in the collective ass of the world ever since."
Hehe. World ass. That's funny.
About the Author:
Aurora Zahni is a former rebel who’s trying to bring a little bit of
Judy Blume and Sylvia Plath to the Twilight Generation. Over the years
she
has given half-assed / full throttle contributions to numerous zines
and blogs, written a web movie and done significantly well in countless
competitive eating events.
When she was in the 8th grade she was on the local evening news. A dead
body was being lifted out of the water at a marina by the Meadowlands
and you could clearly see her standing in the background watching,
looking a bit excited for the camera. Looking back it may have been the
highlight of her entire childhood.
until she found out what the aftermath of love was capable of causing.
Doing her best to stay afloat amidst the sh!t storm that has become her life, Elle is hanging on by a thread. Between worrying about Fernie’s precarious future, an incident with a Shemar Moore look-alike gone terribly wrong, and an inability to let go of her feelings for J, Elle just can’t seem to get her head straight.
Deciding a change of atmosphere is what she needs, Elle heads to Mexico to study abroad for a semester.
She has no idea that she is walking into an even worse storm.
One that involves a pissed off MC President, a ruthless drug cartel, and a man willing to die to have her light.
***This is the 2nd book in the series L&J – cannot be read as a stand-alone***
“I came here, baby, to tell you I love
you. I love you. I love you. I love you.”
He inhaled sharply, but said in an even voice. “And I can’t lose you
before the greatest fight I will ever wage.”
Redemption. Could I absolve him? I lay in
a hospital bed for two weeks. All of it at his hands. I’d been marred, though
the scar on my skin was not the worst damage. It was a reminder of the scar I’d
carried inside. Could he erase that scar? Could he heal a wound one could not
see?
There was silence, deafening silence. I
tried to keep it together. I used every ounce of energy I had to keep the fire
at a low flame, but it blazed through me. He would’ve shot my kid, and I
couldn’t let that happen. These kids, they’d become my lifeline. My light.
“Without those kids, I’m just as dark as
you.” I said emotionlessly, empty. These last few weeks of pretending during
the day, only to come home and sob until sleep graced me was maddening. “I’ve
got nothing left to give you, J. Nothing.”
I hung
my head, losing the fight with the tears that had been threatening to erupt
since J arrived. “I can’t be your light, when I have none.”
We lay on the floor, two damaged bodies
searching for the light. J pulled my head into his hands, bringing us face to
face. I could feel his breath against my lips. “You were a comet that bust into
my life out of no where” he whispered. “I begged for you. On my knees in the
dirt, I groveled to the sky to bring me light. And there you were, at Eight Oh
Eight, staring up at me, even though I knew you couldn’t see through the
window. I saw you, though. Elle, I saw you long before you saw me.”
“How could I love a killer?”
“How much pain was worth loving this man?
“Please, baby.
Please. I need you. I love you. I can’t go into this without knowing you’ll be
here when I return.”
“I’m not sure what
to say. I want to tell you I’ll wait. That I’ll be here, waiting like a good
girl for you. I want to because I love you. Fuck, I love you.” I turned,
finally ready to look him in the eye. “I don’t know where I’ll be. I can’t tell
you that. But I can tell you that I love the fuck out of you, and no matter how
much I try to stop,” I paused. Fuck this mother fucker. Fuck! God, why was he
doing this to me? Angry tears, sad tears, hopeless tears, tears filled with
longing fell from my eyes. J caught then with his thumb, but there were too
many. They ran over his fingers like a waterfall.
“Fuck, J. I don’t
want you to die.”
He pulled me to him,
and I inhaled his scent. I’d never be able to smell Acqua di mother fucking Gio
again and not think of him. Today it was mixed with the smell of exhaust, like
he’d been riding around all night. For what felt like the gazillionth time, I
crumbled into his arms. How did two times come to be a number exponentially
higher?
“I don’t want to
die, baby. I want to fall asleep next to you. I want to wake up next to you.
I’m fighting this war for you. To be with you.”
Teasers
Author Bio
Emily is a Midwestern Gal, but could be anywhere as you read this. She gypsy's the country, as well as south of the border. Adventure feeds her soul, and offers great writing material.
She loves kids and working with kids, but can only handle caring for four-legged furry friends. A crazy dog and laid back cat have trained her to be their partner in life.
Vices include Swedish Fish, ignoring chores in favor of reading, and caring too much for people in her life. She chose to write this bio in third person as she is an Aries, and found writing in first person ended up with her writing an excessively long life story.
Aries like to talk about themselves. It is something Emily is working on being more mindful of.
Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!
Sixteen-year-old Caitlyn Foster never believed in the legend of the Redeemers. That was before the trees started to whisper her name. Before a murder of crows attacked the town. Before she and her family came home to find a bloody handprint on their front door, marking one of them as a sacrifice. As Caitlyn’s friends are ripped from their homes, she knows it’s only a matter of time before the Redeemers come for her. Caitlyn has the power to stop the terror, but she’ll have to decide if she’s willing to sacrifice herself to save those she loves.
Fingers in the Mist by O’Dell Hutchison Publisher: Month9Books
O’Dell was born in a small rural town in Idaho. There were no Redeemers living there (that he knows of). After attending college in the Pacific Northwest, he found his way to the Houston area. By day, he is a Business Systems Analyst and at night you can either find him sitting at home, dreaming of random super powers he wishes he had, or directing plays and musicals at various theaters around Houston.
Time doesn't always heal old wounds. Often time makes them worse. Especially when you push those wounds to the back of your mind and focus on the life you want to lead.Then the day comes when you finally have everything.
It is then, you realize that nothing ever goes away.
In order to put years of heartache and abuse behind her, Ren learned to bury the past deep down inside herself and focus on one thing; raising her daughter Sophia. As the years passed, she found peace in the daily routine of her job and becomes content with being a mom.
On the night of her daughter's wedding, Ren takes a risk and strays from the predictable world she has set up for herself when her longtime friend Jackson rekindles a loving promise he made to her long ago.
Ren cannot keep her past buried, and the two struggle when old problems start to creep back into their lives. She cannot get her world back in order and her instinct is to shut everyone out. In the midst of it all Ren is coerced into helping Charlotte, an adopted teenager of her close friends the Roberts'. Reluctantly agreeing, Ren finds Charlotte is in dire need of self control and direction. Upon discovering they share a similar upbringing Ren feels she can advise Charlotte and keep her from repeating her own mistakes. Taking steps to ensure Charlotte's recovery, her new found purpose causes a rift in the family she has come to know and love as her own.
Battling issues, both new and old, will Ren & Jacks be able to endure everything life has thrown at them or will Ren give up everything and isolate herself from the inevitable pain that will follow when all her secrets are revealed?
When her home is
attacked by murderous vampires, 17-year-old Alexa is forced to leave her mother
for dead in order to save her sister. She soon learns that she is the last
known member of an elite race of supernatural Warriors, and is thrust into a
world full of vampires and werewolves who all seem to regard her as some sort
of savior. Meanwhile, Alexa battles a monster within herself that seeks to gain
control; a monster that seeks blood.
The hidden city
she finds herself in appears perfect, but Alexa's instincts tell her that all
is not right within its walls. When she is asked to attend a school of
fighters, whose exams consist of gladiator-style competitions, she must decide
who she can trust among the smiling faces. And, when she meets Kayden, a
vampire she feels undeniably drawn to, she must decide if she can trust
herself.
About the Author:
H. D. Gordon is
the author of The Alexa Montgomery Saga. Blood Warrior, the first book of the
Alexa series was her debut novel and has held a spot in the top 100 fantasy
bestsellers for over a month. Half Black Soul is the second book in this series
and H. D. plans to complete Alexa's tales by the end of 2012. In June of 2012,
Joe, a fantasy novel about a young clairvoyant, was released as well. H. D. is
a lifelong reader and writer, a true lover of words. When she is not reading or
writing she is raising her two daughters, playing a little guitar, and spending
time with her family. She is twenty three years old and lives in the
northeastern United States.
Unfathomable forces have always contested Genevieve Indiana Falcon,
known as Indie. The curse of her cold touch entraps her just as the grief
ignited in her past torments her. Yet, her mysterious ability to dream while
awake saturates her in the belief that she was not always anguished. There is
hope that one day a true peace in her soul can be found.
Foolishly, Indie assumes she has contained her
life in an odd balance, and she cherishes the visions she sees of the enigmatic
boy that held her in a lost time, but can never reach. She grieves for a life
she fears she'll never possess, and that grief is a weapon she uses against her
aunt who stands between her and her inheritance.
Weeks away from her twenty-first birthday, the
date where she would assume control over her family legacy, a night terror robs
Indie of the balance she was clinging to. Like the dream she had before she
lost her family, it predicts a fatal catastrophe on the horizon. The fight
between life and death, good and evil, began the moment her thundering heart
awoke her.
Everything changed after that dream. The one
thing that keeps her curse at bay is stolen, and then the enigmatic boy arrives
in the flesh. Face to face with her fiery born-again lover Indie realizes that
the only way she can prevent the tragedy before her is to surrender everything
she was, is, and could be.
Can she bend the laws of nature and fight the
improbability that fire and ice could ever be one? As far as Indie is
concerned, there is not a myth, spoken fate, or curse that is stronger than her
stubborn desire to have it all ... including him.
The Rivulet series can be read on its own or as
#11 in the Web of Hearts and Souls Series.
About the Author:
Jamie Magee has
always believed that each of us have a defining gift that sets us apart from
the rest of the world, she has always envied those who have known from their
first breath what their gift was. Not knowing hers, she began a career in the
fast paced world of business. Raising a young family, and competing to rise
higher in that field would drive some to the point of insanity, but she always
found a moment of escape in a passing daydream. Her imagination would take her
to places she’d never been, introduce her to people she’s never known. Insight,
her debuting novel, is a result of that powerful imagination. Today, she is
grateful that not knowing what defined her, led her on a path of discovery that
would always be a part of her.
Two thirds of the world's population has been
wiped out, devastated by the worst war earth has ever seen. Still standing
amongst the ruins is a mind reader who finds herself on the wrong side of the
war. Everyone does what they must to survive. When the rebels bent on bringing
down the New World leader start to rise up, it is her job to make sure they
stay down where they belong. That is, until one rebel sneaks past her defences
and into her heart. Love will blossom from the ashes, but will it be enough to save
them, or will it mean the end of them both?
*This book is for mature audiences due to sexual
situations, violence and strong language. NA
About the Author:
I am an author
of YA novels, as well as, and most importantly, a mother to my two beautiful children!
Life or Death? Not many people would choose death. But what if death
chooses you? What if death doesn’t mean the end of your life, but the beginning?
For a Death Escort, death is life. Death is your
paycheck. Death is your job.
And Charming is the best Escort the Grim Reaper
has ever had.
But when you piss off the Reaper, being the best
doesn’t matter. So Charming is assigned a Target who is practically impossible
to kill. He knows the Reaper hopes he fails—that he’s counting on it. So
Charming vows to prove him wrong. He vows to make the kill.
But someone else vows to get in his way. Someone
with a big mouth, a sugar habit, and blond hair. Someone who makes his heart
start beating again.
And so Charming is left holding more than one
person’s fate in the palm of his hand. He thought the choice would be easy,
that there really wasn’t a question at all.
He was wrong.
Life or Death?
About the Author:
Cambria Hebert
is a latte sipping author of the Heven & Hell series, the Death Escorts
series, and the Take It Off series. She loves a caramel latte, hates math and
is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens). She went to college for a bachelor’s degree,
couldn’t pick a major and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest
assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently lives in North
Carolina with her husband and children (both human and furry) where she is
plotting her next book. You can find out more about Cambria and her work by
visiting http://www.cambriahebert.com
Dark Waltz--A
sizzling legend of loss, lust and love.
It’s the year
2030 and the human population has been annihilated by a virulent form of small
pox. Liasare Davidson is desperately searching for her brother, who has been
missing for three months. It’s been eighteen years since she was evacuated from
Earth and she is horrified to see it’s become a cesspool of unimaginable
things.
In her quest to
find her brother, she meets Jurek, a powerful and enigmatic being that
frightens her, yet she is unable to resist. When things begin to unfold between
them, they both discover a paralyzing truth that puts Liasare at grave risk.
She must make a choice to join Jurek and find her brother or fulfill a role she
believes she is ill equipped to undertake.
About the Author:
One day, on her
way home from work as a sales manager, A. M. Hargrove, realized her life was on
fast forward and if she didn't do something soon, it would quickly be too late
to write that work of fiction she had been dreaming of her whole life. So, she
rolled down the passenger window of her fabulous (not) company car and tossed
out her leather briefcase. Luckily, the pedestrian in the direct line of fire
was a dodge ball pro and had über quick reflexes enabling him to avoid getting
bashed in the head. Feeling a tad guilty about the near miss, A. M. made a
speedy turn down a deserted side street before tossing her crummy, outdated piece-of-you-know-what
lap top out the window. She breathed a liberating sigh of relief, picked up her
cell phone, called her boss and quit her job. Grinning, she made another call
to her hubs and told him of her new adventure (after making sure his heart was
beating properly again).
So began A. M.
Hargrove's career as a YA/NA and Adult Romance writer. Her books include
Kissing Fire, Edge of Disaster, Shattered Edge, the series the Guardians of
Vesturon (Survival, Resurrection, Determinant, Beginnings and reEmergent), Dark
Waltz, Tragically Flawed, Tragic Desires and Exquisite Betrayal.
Other than being
in love with being in love, she loves chocolate, ice cream and coffee and is
positive they should be added as part of the USDA food groups.
(If you're
wondering, it didn't happen EXACTLY that way, but….)
There are some
beings in this world, long thought to be extinct. Some seek to protect them,
others want control, but some . . . some are hell bent on their destruction.
Audrey was taken
from her father, hidden away from the world, and tortured for five years. She
was rescued, but is she really safe, or is there someone else waiting to betray
her? Can she trust those who saved her? Can she learn to accept who she really
is?
Stone was on a
routine mission to extract valuable information from a rival clan of
paranormals. Instead, he and his team find something much more valuable: a
scarred, damaged young woman who holds many secrets, and whose power is beyond
anything they could ever have imagined.There is much more to Audrey than meets
the eye and Stone is determined to protect her.
Audrey and Stone
are about to find out it’s hard to know who to trust.
(New Adult,
contains language and sexual content. 18+)
About the Author:
Head Reviewer @
The Violet Hour Book Reviews
Oh jeez…do you
know how many people I told I didn’t want to write this? So here is the one my
friend made me:
Becca Vincenza
lives in wonderful Michigan. She has a love for Skittles, rainbows, Star Wars,
*giggles* and Hot Men. She spends time in her basement with Airicka… Apparently
that’s where the best ideas come from.
Any who….she
loves meeting new people, so feel free to message her on Facebook and friend
her on Goodreads!
Although her
phone number will not be given out because, well…she doesn’t like heavy
breathing.
So a sort of
serious one: For real, I am a geek. I grew up watching Star Wars, and my father
read Lord of the Rings to us, along with the C. S. Lewis series. I love to
write. In all honesty, it took me a lot of work to get where I am today and I
don’t regret a moment of it. Reading and writing are honestly the best things
ever. I couldn’t be happier that my parents put me through so much extra help.
Anyways! Me, me, me…. Huh…I love paranormal stuff…Love it.
Aurora Zahni is a former rebel who’s trying to bring a little bit of
Judy Blume and Sylvia Plath to the Twilight Generation. Over the years
she
has given half-assed / full throttle contributions to numerous zines
and blogs, written a web movie and done significantly well in countless
competitive eating events.
