Release Day Intro & Giveaway- The Saving of Benjamin Chambers (The Uni Files: 1.5) by Anna Bloom

We're excited to announce the release of The Saving of Benjamin Chambers, a Uni Files novella by Anna Bloom.  This tells the story of Ben and when he meets Lilah. You can read it before or after reading The Art of Letting Go.

The Uni-Files novels are NA/Adult British romantic comedies that will make you swoon, laugh and sigh.  The first book, The Art of Letting Go is now available.  The Saving of Benjamin Chambers releases December 4th.

The Art of Letting Go is FREE for December 4th only! 

Excerpt:

Delilah, Lilah or whatever she is called is, standing over on the far side of the room, her back against the wall wearing a figure-hugging red, floor-length dress. Her dark hair and eyes stand out in contrast. She looks like a Forties movie star, all curves and perfect poise, watching everyone with a critical eye. She hates this place and she hates the people that are here, that is clear to me straight away.

I want to jump off the stage to get to her. I can’t tear my eyes away, even though Dave has picked up my guitar and shoved it back into my hands, hissing, “play, you idiot.”

I am walking to the front of the stage still staring when I notice that I am being watched but not by her.

Some guy who looks like a pretentious arsehole is watching me watch her and then he starts to move across the floor to get to her before I can leave the stage. I am stuck like a rabbit in headlights, rooted to the spot as I watch him clearly move towards her like he is proving he has ownership.

When he gets to her he pulls her in close and winds his hands around her waist. I have to physically restrain myself from leaping off the stage and punching him. That’s what I want to do, a deep urge burning inside me. Jump from the stage, bop him on the nose, hopefully causing significant blood loss, and then throw her over my shoulder and march her off with her someplace. Someplace where I can kiss her and talk to her, in no particular order. Then I may well ask her to marry me because I am pretty sure that I want to.

I don’t though, I don’t move from my spot on the edge of the stage. I start to play my guitar instead but not the song the rest of the band are expecting. Luckily it has a long intro so they are able to catch up.

As I start to sing ‘Wonderwall’ I watch as the banker wanker twirls her onto the dance floor.

It’s not a song for twirling, what is he doing the bloody arse?

She has her hands on his shoulders and her back to me but I can clearly see an enormous diamond ring sitting on her left hand from my spot quite a distance away on stage.

Damn it to hell.

I nearly stop singing, but I hold it together and as I head into the second verse my choice of song becomes even more appropriate.

The banker wanker pulls her in even tighter and I get a nasty taste in the back of my mouth. I am just in the middle of the chorus when they take a turn and I catch a glimpse of her face.

That’s what does it. That very moment gives me something completely different to live for.

Her.

She is biting her lower lip and the beautiful eyes are staring far away in the distance, framed by a frown. She looks like she would rather be anywhere then where she is right now. She looks lost, but on top of that she looks lonely and I feel a bubble of something well up inside me, something like joy. Joy at the fact that this guy holding her, who’s obviously bought her the ring, has no idea what she is feeling. I don’t think he has looked at her face once, not to read it the way that I am. This is good. It means that if I can get to talk to her again then I can make sure my words are the right ones, the ones to make her notice me, the ones to make her want to at least talk to me. And, well, if that fails then I will just crinkle my freckles at her, pick her up and throw her over my shoulder and march off with her hoping for the best.

I know that I will do anything to save her from whatever is causing her sadness and by doing that I have a feeling she will save me.

 
About the Book:

Benjamin Chambers needs saving, he just does not know it yet. Bored of his life of repetitive gigs with a band going nowhere fast and one night stands with girls who are only interested in his role as a lead singer, something has got to change. It’s just what do you do when the only life you know involves messing around with guitars and attempting to run away from any female attention that comes your way.
Ben has a New Year’s resolution and one that he is determined to keep, quit the band and get a life of his own. Little does Ben realise that on his last night with his band Sound Box he is going to meet a girl who will turn everything he knows upside down.
As Ben sets himself the challenge to find ‘The Girl’ again, he may be about to learn that in an effort to rescue her, he himself will be the one to be saved.

 Find the book: Goodreads 

Find The Art of Letting Go:Goodreads | Amazon US |  Amazon UK

About the Author:

Anna Bloom is a contemporary romance writer who writes about life as it happens.

Combining a busy schedule of looking after two small children whilst working in a local school and completing The Uni Files series she also spends a lot of time imagining kissing hot guys – all in the name of her art.

Find the author: Website/Blog | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Giveaway:

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Blog Tour & Giveaway: Shadows of Asphodel by Karen Kincy- Guest Post

Today I'm hosting a tour stop on the Shadows of Asphodel blog tour. This is an NA/Adult Dieselpunk (like Steampunk, but with diesel) historical paranormal romance.  I loved this book!  You can find my review HERE and the tour post with schedule HERE.

Today I have the author, Karen Kincy, on the blog for a guest post about her characters, which ended up being my favorite part of the book.  

What was my favorite part of writing Shadows of Asphodel? I could say the research, since I was obsessed with the time period, or the action, since I got to learn all sorts of cool things about sword fighting. But that’s not the real reason I fell in love with Shadows of Asphodel. That would be the characters. Ardis and Wendel are more complex and more ambitious than anyone I have ever written about before. Let’s go behind the scenes…

Ardis

With Ardis, I wanted a badass heroine, but I also wanted to subvert some tropes associated with “strong” female characters. Ardis thinks of herself as a stoic mercenary who doesn’t talk much, keeps her head down, and kills because it’s what she has to do. She even thinks of herself as a hero, since she’s working as a peacekeeper for Austria-Hungary. In her mind, fighting rebels to stop a war is the right thing to do, and she’s just doing her job. She plays the part of dumb hired minion when she has to, and never lets her emotions too close to the surface.

But what Ardis believes to be her strengths are also her weaknesses. Her ability to lock away her emotions means she can’t admit how lonely she is. Her dedication to her job means she’s blind to the humanity of her enemies. Her determination to abandon her past in San Francisco means she has no one to talk to about the trauma she tries to forget.

When Ardis meets Wendel on the battlefield, she sees him as a rich gentleman who might bring her ransom money, and as a necromancer who will come back as a monster if she lets him die. She saves his life because she’s afraid, not because she cares about mercy. Or at least that’s what Ardis lets herself believe, until she realizes she has been so wrong about so many things.

(Confession: I deliberately wanted Ardis to be the one who makes the first move with romance. She knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go for it. Confidence is sexy, but surprisingly quite rare among female characters.)

Wendel

I have admitted the truth about Wendel to a handful of readers, though I’m not sure they believed me. Wendel was always meant to be the villain. Or more accurately, he’s a villain who wants out of the villainy business. He’s a necromancer in a world where the ability to raise the dead with a touch makes him an abomination. He’s a Prussian nobleman in an alternate 1913 on the brink of World War One. He’s an assassin who has killed more than he would ever care to admit.

And Wendel knows that he’s good at being bad. Though it was never his choice, he has embraced his necromancy. His family disinherited him and sent him to Constantinople, where the Order of the Asphodel trained him to be ruthless and heartless. Although he admits to no one that this “training” involved torture, and his physical scars aren’t his deepest wounds. Vulnerability isn’t a luxury Wendel can allow himself.

Wendel hides his true self under a tangle of lies. He has a charming bastard persona that allows him to escape even the most serious of situations. He wields his anger like a weapon, to motivate himself to keep fighting, and his bitterness like a shield, to keep his emotions out of reach. Of course, when Wendel tries to convince Ardis that he’s fine with his life as a necromancer, she looks past all the lies and the charm and sees his pain. She knows she has to save him, because then she might be able to save herself.

That’s what I love most about Ardis and Wendel. Both deeply flawed, but determined to survive, they still deserve a chance at love and redemption. Like we all do.

Here's a bonus for you too.  Character inspiration boards!  LOTS for Wendel! ;)

Ardis: http://www.pinterest.com/karenkincy/ardis/

Wendel: http://www.pinterest.com/karenkincy/wendel/

About Shadows of Asphodel:

When Ardis discovers a man bleeding to death on the battlefield, she knows she has to walk away.

1913. In her work as a mercenary for Austria-Hungary, Ardis has killed many men without hesitation. One more man shouldn’t matter, even if he manages to be a charming bastard while he stands dying in the snow.

But when he raises the dead to fight for him, she realizes she must save his life.

If a necromancer like Wendel dies, he will return as a monster—or so the rumors say. Ardis decides to play it safe and rescues him. What she doesn’t expect is Wendel falling to one knee and swearing fealty. Ardis never asked for the undying loyalty of a necromancer, but it’s too late now.

Ardis and Wendel forge an uneasy alliance underscored with sexual tension. Together, they confront rebels, assassins, and a conspiracy involving a military secret: robotically-enhanced soldiers for a world on the brink of war. But as Ardis starts to fall for Wendel, she realizes the scars from his past run more deeply than she ever imagined. Can Ardis stop Wendel before his thirst for revenge destroys him and everyone else around him?

Find the book:
Goodreads | Amazon  | Barnes & Noble

About the Author:
Karen Kincy (Redmond, Washington) can be found lurking in her writing cave, though sunshine will lure her outside. When not writing, she stays busy gardening, tinkering with aquariums, or running just one more mile. Karen has a BA in Linguistics and Literature from The Evergreen State College. 

Find the author:
Website | Twitter | Facebook 

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Young Adult Review: Dead Dreams by Emma Right

I realized I hadn't yet posted this review even though I read the book back in August.  I had something planned to post today and it fell through so I dug this one up to finally post!

 Dead Dreams by Emma Right

Published: August, 2013

Source: Author

Eighteen-year-old Brie O’Mara has so much going for her: a loving family in the sidelines, an heiress for a roommate, and dreams that might just come true. Big dreams--of going to acting school, finishing college and making a name for herself. She is about to be the envy of everyone she knew. What more could she hope for? Except her dreams are about to lead her down the road to nightmares. Nightmares that could turn into a deadly reality.

Dead Dreams, Book 1, a young adult psychological thriller and mystery.

I've been all over the mysteries lately so I was really excited to read this one.  It turned out to be a super fast read, easy to read in one or two sittings.  Once you start on it it's hard to put down, I wanted to keep reading to see what happens, but it wasn't stressful.  Like I didn't feel like I'd die of suspense, but it was still suspenseful, make sense?  I guess as far as thrillers and mysteries go, it was a pretty easy read.  Though that last quarter of the book, I did NOT put it down. That was super suspenseful.

A few things that I wish are that the secondary characters had been more fleshed out. This is just the first in a series, and it had quite a lot to set up, so this is something that might change in the next book.  I also would have liked more depth.  Gotten to know more about Brie's dreams, for example.  However these things were pretty minor and as I was reading I was just eager to keep reading.  I wasn't feeling any urge to nit pick it apart like I do so often these days.  I tend to notice the small details.  In this book I knew it wasn't perfect, but I didn't care, I was loving it anyway.  (I also read the ARC version, the final could change a bit.)

The twists and turns often surprised me and I found it hard to predict where things would go.  I didn't always understand why something would happen but as I continued to read it made sense of why we were told that particular thing (foreshadowing).  I also feel like this is just barely the beginning of this stories, there's so much more to come and it's going to get even more intense.

I labeled this as YA but it could be NA as well.  Brie is 18 and lives on her own, but it's a clean read and totally appropriate for YA readers.

I definitely recommend this to those who enjoy a quick thriller/mystery and are seeking a twisty ride.  Just be prepared, there's a bit of a cliffie!  (And that's an understatement!)