ECHO Blog Tour - Alicia Wright Brewster's TOP FIVE AUTHORS + Giveaway

I have the absolute pleasure of welcoming Alicia Wright Brewster, author of ECHO, on my blog today. Before getting to her guest post, here is a little bit more about her.

About the Author: 

Alicia Wright Brewster is a mild-mannered lady of average height and above average paranormal obsession. By day, she works in an office. At night she is an author, an electronics junkie, and a secret superhero. (Please don't ask what her superpower is; that's not very polite.)

In her virtually non-existent free time, she loves to read, watch movies, and eat food. She is particularly fond of the food-eating and makes a point to perform this task at least three times per day, usually more.

Where to stalk her:

Website              Facebook              Twitter

*****

GUEST POST

~*~ Alicia's Top Ten (FIVE) Favorite Authors ~*~

This is actually a Top Five list. I hope that’s okay. If I write about ten authors, I could ramble on for ages! And my “top” five probably change on a daily basis, so let’s call it a Top-ish Five list.

Now that I’ve completely changed your post topic (I know, I know: I’m the worst guest ever; it’s like I came into your house and propped my dirty shoes on your coffee table), here are my top-ish five authors in no particular order:

Laini Taylor: This woman makes me swoon with her words. Each word is the carefully placed stroke of a master painter. She makes me see not only her settings, but also the feelings, with just the way she crafts her words. Daughter of Smoke in Bone may be my all-time favorite young adult paranormal romance.

Brandon Sanderson: He builds worlds and magic systems that are completely unique and original. On top of that, he can craft the most amazing action scenes that utilize his unique settings. This man is a genius. Sometimes, I consider dropping by his house to sing him a special selection of my favorite songs. He deserves it! Of course, I wouldn’t want him to have to take out a restraining order…

J.K. Rowling: Speaking of world building, I must give a shout-out to the queen, Ms. Rowling. She created a magical world that could so easily fit into our world. Who’s to say whether there are magical creatures, witches, and wizards hiding among us, and we mere muggles are ignorant of it all?

Michael Crichton: My freshman year in high school, Crichton introduced me to speculative fiction in the book medium. His novel Sphere was perhaps the first science fiction book I ever read that wasn’t assigned to me at school. Crichton will always have a special place in my heart. Rest in peace.

Ilona Andrews: The Ilona Andrews writing team authored one of the first urban fantasy books I ever read, Magic Bites. Although I was on the fence about this first book in the Kate Daniels series, I’ve continued to read and each book amazes me more than the last. The way Andrews took Atlanta and morphed it into a destroyed, magic-ridden version of itself awes me—especially since Atlanta is my home.

See how much I wrote about just five authors? Now aren’t you glad I didn’t do a Top Ten list? Thank you so much for having me on your blog today.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

For the record, you definitely are NOT the worst guest ever!!! I am almost embarrassed to admit I haven't read a single book by J.K. Rowling, and right now I feel like I should go and hide in a corner somewhere. I have read a few of Michael Crichton's books, however, and have thoroughly enjoyed them.

Thank you so much for sharing your Top Five Authors with us today, and I would be more than happy to welcome you back on my blog any time.

*****

About the Book:

Goodreads Description:

The countdown clock reads ten days until the end of the world. The citizens are organized. Everyone's been notified and assigned a duty. The problem is . . . no one knows for sure how it will end.

Energy-hungry Mages are the most likely culprit. They travel toward a single location from every corner of the continent. Fueled by the two suns, each Mage holds the power of an element: air, earth, fire, metal, water, or ether. They harness their powers to draw energy from the most readily available resource: humans.

Ashara has been assigned to the Ethereal task force, made up of human ether manipulators and directed by Loken, a young man with whom she has a complicated past. Loken and Ashara bond over a common goal: to stop the Mages from occupying their home and gaining more energy than they can contain. But soon, they begin to suspect that the future of the world may depend on Ashara's death.

ECHO is available NOW:

Amazon                        Barnes & Noble

*****

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*****

Check out the tour schedule below for all the other stops:

April 29^th

Good Choice Reading - www.goodchoicereading.com Character Highlight

Curling Up with a Good Book, http://curling-up-with-a-good-book.blogspot.com: Interview

April 30^th

Must Read Faster, http://mustreadfaster.blogspot.com: Review

A Dream Within a Dream, http://adreamwithindream.blogspot.com: Excerpt

May 1^st

Paulette’s Papers, http://paulettespapers.com: Guest Post

Frankie Blooding’s Bookshelf, http://frankieblooding.wordpress.com: Character Highlight

Zach’s YA Reviews, http://zachsyareviews.com: Guest Post

A Book Lovers Review - Teaser

May 2^nd

Reads and Thoughts, http://karlaamaemaglaoy.wordpress.com: Review

Bookish Things & More, www.bookishthingsandmore.com: Teaser

May 3^rd

Finding Bliss, http://www.laurahoward78.blogspot.com,: Interview

A Bibliophile’s Thoughts on Books, http://bibliophilesthoughtsonbooks.blogspot.com: Review

May 6^th

Cherie Reads, http://cheriereads.blogspot.com: Character Highlight

Reading Under the Stars, http://readingunderthestars.blogspot.co.uk: Review

May 7^th

The Solitary Bookworm, http://thesolitarybookworm.com: Teaser

Smiling_Ina’s Bookish Corner, http://smiling-ina.blogspot.ca: Guest Post

May 8^th

Deal Sharing Aunt, www.dealsharingaunt.blogspot.com: Review

Shortie Says, www.shortie-says.com: Excerpt

May 9^th

Turner’s Antics, http://turnersantics.blogspot.com: Guest Post

Good Choice Reading: Interview

May 10^th

Turning the Pages, http://www.turningthepagesx.blogspot.com: Review

I’m Luvin’ Books, http://ya-im-lovin-books.blogspot.co.uk: Character Interview

Musings of a Blodger, www.novacritiquesebooks.blogspot.com: Interview

Books and their Worldly Realm, http://booksandtheirwordlyrealm.blogspot.com: Excerpt

Cover Reveal: ENDURE by M.R. Merrick

I am so, so excited about today's cover reveal!!! M.R. Merrick's THE PROTECTOR series is amazing, and I just know that ENDURE will be just as incredible as the previous three books in this series. Just look at this cover! Isn't it stunning?! I LOVE it!!!

Do you want to know another awesome thing??? EXILED, the first book in the series, is available FREE right now!!! 

For links check below.

*****

Available June 5th 

Endure (The Protector, #4) by M.R. Merrick

Cover by Parajunkee Design

YA Urban Fantasy

Final book in The Protector Series

Wrapped in darkness and woven with defeat, every action Chase has taken since being exiled from the Circle has been met with a devastating response. Now heÕs been burdened with a quest that seems impossible, and he needs to evolve into something moreÑsomething greater than he ever thought he could be.



Armed with magic, friendship, and an unbreakable will, Chase must build an army and find a weapon capable of defeating the ultimate evil. But he knows that nothing great comes without sacrifice. Blessed by the very gods who have abandoned him and carrying the fate of all the worlds on his shoulders, Chase Williams is about find out just how much one man can endure.

 Book 1 - Exiled is FREE!

Amazon | B&N | Kobo

About the author:



M.R. Merrick is a Canadian
writer, and author of Exiled, the first installment in The Protector
Series. Having never traveled, he adventures to far off lands through
his imagination and in between cups of coffee. As a music lover and
proud breakfast enthusiast, he's usually found at the computer, between a
pair of headphones and in front of a large bowl of cereal.

M.R. Merrick | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

Review: WITH ALL MY SOUL by Rachel Vincent

Goodreads description:

What does it mean when your school is voted the most dangerous in America? It's time to kick some hellion butt...

After not really surviving her junior year (does "undead" count as survival?), Kaylee Cavanaugh has vowed to take back her school from the hellions causing all the trouble. She's going to find a way to turn the incarnations of Avarice, Envy and Vanity against one another in order to protect her friends and finish this war, once and forever.

But then she meets Wrath and understands that she's closer to the edge than she's ever been. And when one more person close to her is taken, Kaylee realizes she can't save everyone she loves without risking everything she has....

*****

I am writing this with somewhat of a heavy heart since I still can't seem to be able to wrap my head around the fact that my favorite series has come to an end - that I won't be able to escape into this world again (unless it is during a re-read). I can never again pick up another novel in this series with the same first time anxiousness and excitement and with adrenaline pumping through my veins at the pure thought of what Rachel Vincent could have possibly done to/with my favorite characters.

Having said this, I couldn't be happier with the way she ended Kaylee, Tod, and everybody else's story. Not surprisingly, this is another gripping book full of action, surprise, twists and turns. You cannot miss the, sometimes subtle, humor we have all come to love. Those snarky and cheeky comments from the people I have become so attached to, as well as those vicious and vile remarks from the hellions I love to hate.

Rachel Vincent is a master at drawing such vivid images with her words, you can't help but feel like your standing right there next to Kaylee, Tod, and everyone, staring straight into the eyes of the evil that is Avari and all other creatures of the Netherworld.

After BEFORE I WAKE had been so devastating for me that I hadn't been able to pick up another book for about six months, I was very, very scared what WAMS might do to me. Luckily for me, I never felt as devastated as I did during BIW, but that doesn't mean that this book wasn't intense on all sorts of levels - not at all! I went from happiness to pure terror in a matter of a few pages. I felt all the emotions anyone could possibly feel. There was never a dull or quiet moment because you never knew what would come next. I was sitting at the end of my seat until the very end.

Since I don't like giving anything away, I will stop myself here before I accidentally spill the beans about one thing or another. The only other thing I just have to add is I LOVE LOVE LOVE the new character!!! I would definitely want to read more about them.

*****

Now to my favorite passages, and there a lot of them. It is really hard for me to just pick a few, but I will try my best. Unfortunately, I won't be able to share one my absolute favorites, since I believe that it's too spoiler-y.

Avari

 "I want your anguish, both mental and physical. I want to take you apart and see what biological pumps and vessels make you bleed and what psychological gears and levers make you tick. Then I want to put you back together and begin again. I want to hear you scream. I want to see you writhe. I want to taste your flesh, and your blood, and your fears. I want to savor your ill-fated dreams as they burst like berries between my teeth, then melt like sugar on my tongue."

*****

Kaylee

Tod blinked at me. His arms rested against his legs, his hands hanging between his knees, and his eyes were so still. Still like true death. And for the first time since I'd met him, he looked like I might have expected a reaper to look. Like death itself, he was both the object that could not be moved and the force that could not be resisted, and the longer he stared at me without reacting -- without showing a single ripple of emotion beneath his frozen-lake eyes -- the deeper my heart ached, until I thought it would split open and fall apart.

***

That damn mara was an emotional ninja, sneaking up on your heart when you least expected it.

*****

Tod

"I may be physically younger, but -- much like a sweet, golden apricot -- I was plucked from life at the peak of perfection."

***

"Some decades from now, when you and Sabine are hobbling around in your old-people pants and orthopedic shoes, yelling at grandchildren and reminiscing about the days when you could still see your feet, unimpeded by the view of your gut, I will still be basking in the glow of eternal youth, forever young, forever golden, forever-"

*****

Reading WITH ALL MY SOUL has made me want to read all seven books, three novellas, and two short stories all over again, and as soon as I have a little free time on my hands, I intend to do just that.

My Rating: Glorious 5 out of 5 Stars

Book Blast: ECHO by Alicia Wright Brewster + Giveaway

The countdown clock reads ten days until the end of the world. The citizens are organized. Everyone's been notified and assigned a duty. The problem is . . . no one knows for sure how it will end.



Energy-hungry Mages are the most likely culprit. They travel toward a single location from every corner of the continent. Fueled by the two suns, each Mage holds the power of an element: air, earth, fire, metal, water, or ether. They harness their powers to draw energy from the most readily available resource: humans.



Ashara has been assigned to the Ethereal task force, made up of human ether manipulators and directed by Loken, a young man with whom she has a complicated past. Loken and Ashara bond over a common goal: to stop the Mages from occupying their home and gaining more energy than they can contain. But soon, they begin to suspect that the future of the world may depend on Ashara's death.

Purchase

Amazon - Barnes & Noble

About Alicia Wright Brewster

Alicia Wright Brewster is a mild-mannered lady of average height and above average paranormal obsession. By day, she works in an office. At night she is an author, an electronics junkie, and a secret superhero. (Please don't ask what her superpower is; that's not very polite.)

In her virtually non-existent free time, she loves to read, watch movies, and eat food. She is particularly fond of the food-eating and makes a point to perform this task at least three times per day, usually more.

Home | Facebook | Twitter

Make sure to check out the blog tour kicking off on Monday! You could win an awesome prize pack!

http://gcrpromotions.blogspot.com

SNEAK PEEK of ECHO...

A metal plate occupied the wall to the right of the door. Loken pressed his hand to it. The door slid away and disappeared into the left side of the doorway. Loken stepped through and down the stairs on the other side. His footsteps clanged against the metal steps as he descended.



Unlike in the overly bright training room on the other side of the building, dim lights filled this room with shadows. The team clustered at the bottom of the steps, blocking my view. As they shuffled slowly out of the way, I caught sight of what had stopped everyone else in their tracks.



A glass wall separated us from what looked like a large cell. The only entry point into the cell was another thick metal door with a security pad next to it. Behind the glass, three people stood as far away from one another as they could possibly get within the enclosed space: a hugely tall man, a woman with blond hair that hung past her waist, and a smaller man. All three were nude.



They looked human but . . . wrong somehow. Despite their lack of clothing, they made no effort to cover themselves. The larger man’s muscles bulged in odd places. While the woman wasn’t as massive, her body was more toned than any woman I’d ever met, more so than even Elder Ethereal.



From across the room, their black eyes cut through the darkness. A chill raced up and down my back like icy fingertips.



I stared at the smaller man. His eyes bore through me. I wondered if he saw me at all, or if he just happened to be looking where I was standing. At first glance, I’d thought him to be relatively slight. Although the other man dwarfed him, his thin arms were as tight as a predator’s, coiled to strike. The sharp planes of his face only emphasized the eerie black of his eyes, sunken into their sockets.



Loken’s voice startled me from the man’s hypnotic gaze. “In case you haven’t guessed it, these three are—”



“Mages,” I whispered.

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Cover Reveal: BROKEN GATES by D.T. Dyllin

(P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy #2)

by D.T. Dyllin

Paperback

Expected publication: May 24th 2013 by Dragonfairy Press 

 ***Genre - New Adult Paranormal Romance

P.J. Stone is a Seer who saw too little, too late.
In the past, her biggest worries were boys and school—but war has a way of changing things. Now, the alien Riders are trying to overrun the world. As the last of their kind, P.J. and her friends must find a way to save humanity before there’s nothing left to save.
After choosing a mate, P.J. hoped she'd have time to enjoy her love life. But with everything changing so quickly and major secrets revealed, who knows what the future will bring?

First Book in this series

Click on the photo above to learn more.

Cover Reveal: FRIGID by J. Lynn

For twenty-one-year-old Sydney, being in love with Kyler isn't anything new. They'd been best friends ever since he pushed her down on the playground and she made him eat a mud pie. Somewhere over the years, she fell for him and fell hard. The big problem with that? Kyler puts the 'man' in man-whore. He's never stayed with a girl longer than a few nights, and with it being their last year in college, Syd doesn't want to risk their friendship by declaring her love.

Kyler has always put Syd on a pedestal that was too high for him to reach. To him, she's perfect and she's everything. But the feelings he has for her, he's always hidden away or focused on any other female. After all, Kyler will always be the poor boy from the wrong side of tracks, and Syd will always be the one girl he can never have.

But when they're stranded together at a posh ski resort due to a massive Nor'easter, there's nothing stopping their red-hot feelings for each other from coming to the surface. Can their friendship survive the attraction? Better yet, can they survive at all? Because as the snow falls, someone is stalking them, and this ski trip may be a life-changer in more ways than one.

Frigid will be available in digital formats on July 30^th 2013

Print release of Frigid will be November 5^th 2012

Goodreads

*****

About the author

J. Lynn, also known as Jennifer L. Armentrout, is a # 1 New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author. She lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russel Loki.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen.

She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Places to stalk the author:

Twitter                              Facebook                               Website 

Book Blast: MOONSET by Scott Tracey + GIVEAWAY

Wow, I cannot tell you enough how excited I am to be a part of this book blast. I absolutely adore Scott Tracey and his work. I LOVE his WITCH EYES series, and this new series sounds so incredibly amazing, I wish I could dive into MOONSET right this second. As soon as I can get my hands on it, I'm going to devour it in no time.

*****

With one month to go until MOONSET hits the shelves, we want to make sure you are all ready for it. Be sure to add MOONSET to your TBR piles, and don’t forget to check out the giveaway below for $25.00 gift cards to iTunes and B&N!

Moonset
Legacy of Moonset #1
Author: Scott Tracey


Release Date: April 8th 2013


Publisher: Flux

Justin Daggett, his trouble-making sister, and their three orphan-witch friends have gotten themselves kicked out of high school. Again. Now they’ve ended up in Carrow Mills, New York, the town where their parents—members of the terrorist witch organization known as Moonset—began their evil experiments with the dark arts one generation ago.

When the siblings are accused of unleashing black magic on the town, Justin fights to prove their innocence. But tracking down the true culprit leads him to a terrifying discovery about Moonset’s past . . . and its deadly future

PRE-ORDER NOW FOR ONLY $5.55
AMAZON | B&N

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THE GIVEAWAY

 

The Prizes!
1- $25.00 Barnes & Noble Gift Card


1- $25.00 iTunes Gift Card

Open Internationally

Gift Card to be delivered Electronically

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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THE AUTHOR

Scott Tracey is a YA author who lived on a Greyhound for a month, wrote his illustrated autobiography at the age of six, and barely survived Catholic school (and definitely not for the reasons you might think).

He is the author of WITCH EYES, chosen as one of Amazon’s Best LGBT Books of 2011, as well as an ALA Popular Paperback in the Forbidden Romance category.  The final book in the WITCH EYES trilogy, PHANTOM EYES, will be released in the fall of 2013.

He is also the author of MOONSET, a new series which will be released April 8, 2013, as well as a contributor to the SHADOWHUNTERS & DOWNWORLDERS anthology, edited by Cassandra Clare.

His career highlights include: accidentally tripping a panic alarm which led to nearly being shot by the police; attacked in a drive-thru window by a woman wielding a baked potato, and once moving cross country for a job only to quit on the second day.

His gifts can be used for good or evil, but rather than picking a side, he strives for BOTH (in alternating capacity) for his own amusement.

STALK SCOTT

TWITTER | FACEBOOK | TUMBLR