Tour: Stealing Promises by Brina Courtney (Review/Giveaway)

Title: Stealing Promises

Author: Brina Courtney

Genre: New Adult Fiction, Contemporary Fiction

Setting Location: New York, United States

Publisher: Laurelis Press

Format: Kindle Edition

ASIN: B008YKNU0U

Release Date: January 13, 2014

Source: NetGalley

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18366646-stealing-promises

Rating: 5/5

Purchase Here: Amazon

Tagline: ~NONE~ 

Summary: Promises are made to be kept, never stolen. But that’s exactly what happened to Victoria Blane and Levi Manor. Tragedy strikes their perfect relationship leaving Victoria struggling to overcome the darkness that threatens to bury her.

With Victoria’s life in tatters she decides that running away is easier than dealing with her troubles. But when a friend finds her on the floor in her kitchen, she knows it’s time for a change.

Brighton Hanley knows what it’s like to lose someone. He knows what it’s like to be haunted by things that can never change. When he meets Victoria he recognizes the pain she’s trying to bury deep in her eyes. He knows she’s trying to run away, but he also knows that you can’t run forever.

Victoria is drawn to Brighton in ways she never expected. He becomes her champion, her life line… her sunshine in the darkness. But is Victoria ready to let go of the past and grab on to her future? Or will she run away from Brighton before she can be hurt again?

Short Review:

I absolutely LOVED this book! It was so emotional. I was crying for about 60% of the book, and not the pretty kind. My heart broke for Victoria. I felt everything that she did, and it was just so powerful. I did really want to see more with Victoria and Brighton, though. I want to read more of their story.

Excerpt:

The smell reached her nose before she even opened her eyes and Victoria knew where she was. Back in the hospital, the hellhole. It had the distinct smell of cleaning supplies and death. Victoria couldn't understand why she was back here when she had finally made the decision to take care of the pain herself. Why had Kate arrived when she did? Did she expect something like this to happen? Slowly Victoria tried to move her limbs and felt the scratchy sheets beneath her skin. She looked over at the multiple stitches crisscrossing back and forth over her pale skin. This was her life. This what Victoria had done to herself. Her arm would never be the same again. But would anything else? She wasn't sure.

About this Author:

Brina Courtney is a young adult author obsessed with chocolate, crime shows, and fantasy movies. She's spent the last few years as an elementary teacher and a high school cheering coach. She lives in a small town in Pennsylvania with her husband and two very loud, small dogs.  

Author Links:

Website // Goodreads // Facebook // Twitter

GIVEAWAY:

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Promo Blitz: Waterproof by Amber Garr (Excerpt)

Waterproof 
by Amber Garr

Purchase on Amazon on sale for 99¢

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Dying of thirst is the new reality.

Five years after the last drop of clean water disappeared, global societies collapsed and nuclear war shattered all hope of recovery. In a place now only a skeleton of its former self, survivors fight to avoid capture by the government. Forced to work in factories that produce the only drinking water available, those who go in, never come out. 

Zach and Vivienne have lived as deserters since they were teenagers. Fighting amongst their own and scrounging for the necessities of life, they’ve learned to rely on each other in every way. Yet when tragedy strikes and the true objectives of the government facility are revealed, their world is ripped apart. A fate once thought to hold their demise may be the sole answer to their survival. Who can they trust? Who can they believe? 

In this life, it pays to be waterproof. 

Disclaimer: Waterproof is a new adult dystopian with sex, violence, and language that may not be suitable for a younger audience.

TEASER:

Vivienne yelled out and I whipped my head around to see what happened. The last man standing held an impressive hunting knife in his hand, while Vivienne had a fresh cut on her arm. Still, she held steady, sword gripped tightly in front of her, legs in a fighting stance. 

Something stirred inside of me at the sight. Time slowed when I watched her wield the sword like an ancient warrior. It was hard to imagine that just a few years ago we were in high school worrying about football games and which party to go to on the weekend. Now we stayed in abandoned houses, scrounged for water, and spent most of our lives running. If things had been different, Vivienne and I would be graduating college this year. I had plans to go into medicine, and she wanted to be a vet. Funny how those dreams seemed so far away now. 

A loud thump echoed through the now darkened night. She almost fell to the ground with the amount of momentum needed to decapitate the man. He dropped to his knees like a sinner begging for mercy, head rolling further down the hill. My stomach fluttered with admiration and annoyance. 

“I didn’t need your help,” I said to her, getting up on my feet and trying not to wince at my injuries. 

“Sure,” she huffed. Ripping her bandana off her face she tore it in two. “Here, wrap that up.” She nodded toward the tear in my sleeve and I stubbornly yanked the cloth out of her hand. 

“I had everything under control,” I said between clenched teeth. It was the only way to mask the pain. “How did you know where to find me?” 

“I followed the girly shrieks,” she said without missing a beat. I looked down at her in time to see a smirk pull at the corner of her mouth. “Let me do it.” 

Once again, I allowed Vivienne to rescue me. It killed every part of that male ego inside, but I knew she’d let me do the same for her. In fact, I had. We always saved each other. 

“Ow,” I said when she tightened the bandana a little too rough around my arm. 

“Stop being a baby.” 

“Stop showing off your man strength.” 

She pulled even tighter but let a small laugh escape. I sucked in a breath at that sound, realizing how close I’d come to never hearing it again. 

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” she asked, turning me around and patting her hands along my body. I froze, trying to ignore how comforting her touch felt. We’d been friends for years, and she was the only person in this world I trusted. Why had I risked so much for this run? 

I stepped away from her, not liking where my thoughts were headed. “I’m fine,” I mumbled. “Stop mothering me." 

“I wouldn’t have to if you’d listen to me.” She stopped in front of my face and stared me down. I stood a little over six feet tall and she was just a few inches shorter. Together with that glare, almost any man would cower under her. “Was it worth it?” 

“Huh?” 

“The water. How much did you get?" 

I hung my head in embarrassment. “I had eight, but they shot through one. So six, I guess.” 

“Six bottles?” She looked impressed. 

“No, six liters.” Silence. 

“You just made me kill three men for six liters of water?” 

I shuffled my feet. “You only killed two.” 

She reached out so quickly, I couldn’t defend myself. Both hands pushed against my chest and I stumbled back, falling to the ground. 

“I could make it three,” she hissed. “I should kill you for your stupidity alone.”

About this Author:

Amber Garr spends her days as a scientist and nights writing about other worlds. Born in Pennsylvania, she lives in Maryland with her husband and their furry kids. Her childhood imaginary friend was a witch, Halloween is sacred, and she is certain that she has a supernatural sense of smell. Amber is a multiple Royal Palm Literary Award winner, author of Waterproof, The Syrenka Series, The Leila Marx Novels, and the upcoming Death Warden Series. When not obsessing over the unknown, she can be found dancing, reading, or enjoying a good movie.

Website // Facebook // Twitter // Goodreads

Cover Reveal: Unmaking Marchant by Ella James

UNMAKING MARCHANT by Ella James

Love Inc. #3

Expected Release: December 4, 2013

Marchant Radcliffe, owner of the exclusive Love Inc. brothel outside Vegas, is no stranger to darkness. He lost his sister in childhood and his parents in college. Since his best friend helped him finance the Love Inc. ranch almost ten years ago, Marchant has drowned himself in business—and he’s thrived, despite the heavy secret that has plagued him since his parents’ deaths.

Then, after ten years of good fortune, Marchant’s skeletons start to peek out of the closet, tossing him down a trail of ruin that begins with arson and could end with murder. Because he’s kept his struggles private, he has no one to pull him back from the brink.

Except for Suri Dalton.

After a breakup with her longtime fiancé, Suri, the daughter of one of Silicon Valley’s tech tycoons, has nowhere to go except her BFF’s new penthouse in Las Vegas. The last thing Suri is looking for is a man, but after drowning her woes in wine on the flight over, she stumbles into a torrid make out session with a beautiful stranger—who just so happens to be Marchant Radcliffe, a playboy and a literal pimp.

Despite an immediate attraction, Suri writes Marchant off as exactly the sort of guy she should avoid. Until Love Inc. goes up in flames, Marchant winds up at the bottom of a swimming pool, and Suri is the only one around to pull him out.

What happens when what you see isn’t what you get? What do you do when destiny is too alluring to resist and too dangerous to survive? 

Goodreads Link:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18713219-unmaking-marchant 

About this Author:

Ella James is a Colorado author who writes teen and adult romance. She is happily married to a man who knows how to wield a red pen, and together they are raising a feisty two-year-old who will probably grow up believing everyone's parents go to war over the placement of a comma.

Ella's books have been listed on numerous Amazon bestseller lists, including the Movers & Shakers list and the Amazon Top 100; two were listed among Amazon's Top 100 Young Adult Ebooks of 2012.

To find out more about Ella's projects and get dates on upcoming releases, find her on Facebook at facebook.com/ellajamesauthorpage and follow her blog, www.ellajamesbooks.com. Questions or comments? Tweet her at author_ellaj or e-mail her at ella_f_james@ymail.com.

Author Links:

www.ellajamesbooks.com
www.facebook.com/ellajamesauthorpage
https://twitter.com/author_ellaj

Release Day Blitz: Through Glass by Rebecca Ethington (Excerpt)

Title: Through Glass

Author: Rebecca Ethington

Genre: NA Dystopian

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Everyone remembered the day the sky went black. The day the sun was wiped from the sky. They remember the wind as it brought in the darkness; the way the earth shook and everything changed.

Everyone remembered the screams as the darkness ate those who were out in the open, those who had surrounded themselves by light, and those who made noise.

Everyone remembered the voice from the sky and the way food disappeared.

At least, that’s what I hoped. I hoped that there was an ‘everyone’ that would remember because I am not sure how many are left, how many survived. Or if anyone did.

I hoped that I wasn’t alone.

I remembered that day.

I remembered because it was the day I became alone.

It was the day that everything was perfect until the monsters took it away. Then the house went silent and the birds stopped singing. It was the day when everyone disappeared, everyone except the boy, the only person I have seen in two years. The boy I talk to through the glass.

TEASER:

I looked up as the screech of the Ulama ended, as the monster fell to the ground of my room, the dark blood of the two dead creatures spilling over my once white carpet. 

I stared at the monsters as I panted and my heart beat a frantic pulse against my skin. I stared as my pulse slowed until I could pull my eyes away from the thing that tainted my room to look into the eyes I had dreamed about every night for as long as I could remember. 

I couldn’t move, I couldn’t make my tongue work. I just looked at him, knowing that tears were sliding down my cheeks; knowing and not caring. 

I wasn’t sure why I was crying, I wasn’t sure if it was because of the panic that still surged through my body or the joy that I felt at seeing him there. 

“Alexis,” he said, his voice as deep and rumbling as I remembered it. It shot through me and for the first time in years I felt alive. 

It was him. 

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t trust my mouth enough to form coherent words. I just moved. I moved as he moved, our hands meeting for the first time in two years as we hovered over the body of the monsters that had attempted to kill me. 

I grasped his skin, my heart beating so fast I was sure I couldn’t take it. A shaking breath moved out of me, his own breath moving across my skin. He moved closer as his frantic breaths rolled over me—the heat of his breath, of his touch—igniting a fire across the surface of my skin. His fingers trailed their way up my arms, over my face, across my neck… 

I had forgotten how good this felt. I had forgotten what touch was like; what it did to my body. 

Everything felt like it was on fire. I smiled through the tears as he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me toward him. I let him, letting my own arms wrap around him in my desperate attempt to get closer to him, to feel more of him. 

I felt his lips graze against my skin, the touch dry and foreign, but incredibly welcomed. I turned into it, my fingers digging into his tattered shirt and into his shaggy unkempt hair as the scruff on his chin moved against my face. 

I gasped at the prickly sensation that cut into me, the gasp deepening into a groan as his lips made contact with mine. The feeling of ecstasy I was now feeling grew into something I couldn’t ignore. 

I clung to him, I pressed into him. I felt every part of him as he did the same to me. No words had passed between us since he had said my name, but we didn’t need them. I could feel his happiness in the way he clung to me, sensed his relief in the way he breathed and his joy in the taste of his lips. 

I felt it all and I knew he felt it all from me. He pulled away from me slowly; his hands unwilling to leave my body as he moved back to look at me. His cheeks were stained with tears as he moved my hair out of my face and stared into my eyes. 

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” he said again, the same words from all those years ago sounding even more beautiful. 

“Two years, one month, thirteen days and a few hours?” He smiled as I spoke, his fingers running over the skin of my face like he would never let me go. 

“And a few minutes,” he gasped, the sounds of ecstasy heavy in his deep voice. He smiled and I couldn’t help it, I laughed. I laughed loud and deep and let the sound carry around us. 

Cohen smiled as his laugh filtered through mine like a silver ribbon. The happy sounds surrounded us and, for that moment, I was happy. I was free. 

I couldn’t feel the pulse of fear that still beat through me. I didn’t see the monsters that lay lifeless in my room. It was Cohen and me, and everything was perfect. 

Until the sound that would ring in our death rent through the air. 

The screech of the Ulama broke through the sound of our laughter and destroyed the perfect peace we had created. The sound left as quickly as it had come, the warning received. We didn’t have much time. 

They were coming.  

About Rebecca Ethington

Rebecca Ethington has been telling stories since she was small. First, with writing crude scripts, and then in stage with years of theatrical performances. The Imdalind Series is her first stint into the world of literary writing. Rebecca is a mother to two, and wife to her best friend of 14 years. She was born and raised in the mountains of Salt Lake City, and hasn't found the desire to leave yet. Her days are spent writing, running, and enjoying life with her amazing family.

Author Links: Website // Facebook // Twitter // Goodreads

*New* Cover Reveals: Love Inc. Series by Ella James #SellingScarlett #TamingCross #LoveIncSeries

SELLING SCARLETT by Ella James

Love Inc. #1

New Adult Romantic Suspense

Amazon // B&N

Elizabeth DeVille doesn't belong at a party like this--one where the gowns cost more than her Camry and cigars run higher than her grad school utility bills. Dragged out of seclusion by her best friend Suri, Elizabeth is merely playing dress-up, rubbing elbows with a crowd that banished her troubled family years ago.

Hunter West is tired. Tired of parties, tired of pretending, and tired of trying to right a wrong that haunts him every day. Bourbon heir and professional poker player by day, by night Hunter is gambling with his life in a high-stakes game of crime and blackmail.

When Elizabeth stumbles into Hunter's den of vices, she's a light in the darkness, a flame in the void. And, just like everything he touches, Hunter mars her in a record time. To rectify the damage done, Elizabeth needs money she doesn't have, and she's come up with a foolproof way to get it.

Follow Elizabeth--code-named Scarlett--to the lush Nevada brothel where she'll auction her virginity and risk the only thing that's not for sale: her heart. The highest bidder is a familiar face, with wicked hands and the devil's mouth. And a secret so dark that it could cost her life.

**Mature Content Warning** Not recommended for readers under the age of 17 due to mature language, sexual content, and violence.

Selling Scarlett is a full-length novel of 107,000 words. It has a complete happily-ever-after ending with no cliffhanger. It's the first book in the Love Inc. series, featuring a different couple in each novel.

TAMING CROSS by Ella James

Love Inc. #2

New Adult Romantic Suspense

Amazon // B&N

For twenty-three years, Cross Carlson was a playboy. You know the type. Tall, dark, and wealthy. Blue-eyed. Charming. He seemed to have it all so easy. But Cross was harboring a terrible secret - one that helped ruin the life of an innocent girl and almost ended his own.

Finally out of the hospital, Cross is flailing, scarred in both body and mind and stifled by the weight of the secret he still keeps. The only way to absolution lies in a Mexican convent, and going there could cost him everything.

If there's anyone who knows what it's like to screw up big time, it's Meredith Kinsey. Just a few years ago, Merri was an ordinary girl with a job at her college newspaper and white picket fence kind of dreams. Now she's holed up in a Mexican convent, hiding from a drug lord who thinks he owns her.

What happens when the only way out of hell is with the son of the man who put you there? They say love conquers all, but does it really?

NOTE: Cross and Merri's story is a Love Inc. Book. It features some characters from Selling Scarlett, but it follows a completely different story line can be read as a stand-alone.

*Taming Cross is a new adult romance novel and is not intended for young readers due to violence, sexual situations, and mature language.

About this Author:

Ella James is an Colorado author who writes teen and adult romance. She is happily married to a man who knows how to wield a red pen, and together they are raising a feisty two-year-old who will probably grow up believing everyone's parents go to war over the placement of a comma.

Ella's books have been listed on numerous Amazon bestseller lists, including the Amazon Top 100; two were listed among Amazon's Top 100 Young Adult Ebooks of 2012.

Author Links:

ellajamesbooks.blogspot.com 

facebook.com:ellajamesauthorpage 

https://twitter.com/author_ellaj

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1530940.Ella_James