#Book Blitz #Double Negative by Susan Marshall #YA #Contemporary Romance @Xpresso Book Tours29/11/2021
Double Negative
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo -- EXCERPT: The atmosphere in the auditorium was near electric. The students were gobbling up the performance, knowing Jamie’s “speech” could be stopped at any second. As he started to lower his swimsuit, DiFran suddenly—finally—stomped onstage. I momentarily covered my eyes with my good hand, and when I peeked through my fingers, I exhaled in relief. His flesh-colored t-shirt was part of a unitard. No frontal nudity today, folks. Fists and jaw tightly clenched, DiFran leaned in and whispered insistently into Jamie’s ear. But like a pole dancer resisting the grand finale, Jamie shook him off. High-bun girl leaned forward as my brother turned ass backward to the audience. Large black letters were written across his butt—Free on the left cheek, Ice Cream on the right. High-bun girl— and pretty much the entire student body—went insane as the dance music morphed into a conga drumbeat. As Jamie thrust out one butt cheek, everyone yelled, “Free!” He pulsed out the other one to a refrain of, “Ice cream!” Even my gym teacher Ms. Walker started shouting along, while Jamie wiggled one cheek and then the other. “Free ice cream!” I gripped the armrest with my good hand. Very presidential. Moving to the speed of Jamie’s bum, the chanting accelerated to a fevered pitch. Riding an ice cream vendor bike, Dean blasted through the backstage curtain, skidding to a stop. He opened the cooler, pulled out a few boxes of cones, and lifted them up high like a trophy. DiFran took center stage, waving his arms furiously, trying but failing to halt the deafening noise. “Are you quite done?” he huffed into the mic. Jamie, who was suddenly in his trunks and at his side, shook his head. “Wrap this up pronto,” DiFran spat. Jamie tilted the microphone toward his mouth as the auditorium quieted down. Here comes the big speech. Despite all the shenanigans, or maybe because of them, everyone seemed ready to listen. It was almost a dead silence when Jamie leaned in and spoke his first words, slowly emphasizing each letter. “For free ice cream, vote Jamie and Dean.” He paused. Everyone sat quietly, waiting for more. But instead, Dean ripped open boxes as Jamie reached over and started firing ice cream cones at the audience. Even though I was way out of range, I ducked. A mad scramble ensued. The bull had been released. 
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Rogue Unbroken
-- EXCERPT: Alec lifted a hand to my face but lowered it again. “But then you came back to me. You fell for me again. I saw it. If you say you’re done with me, then why can’t you just do the honorable thing and stop loving me?” Alec looked down at the floor and he never looked so sheepish and small. A trick. It had to be a trick. But he was so small and broken and careening in his own mind. I knew what that felt like, all too well. “I want to.” I leaned back on the shelves again. “You’re despicable and psychotic. You hurt the people I care about. You tortured me, manipulated me—” “I don’t know.” “That’s not an answer. Why?” Alec moved closer to my face. “Because you won’t let me.” “Ha.” Alec grinned before his eyes turned dark again. “I wish I had that much control over your decisions. Try again.” I shoved him away. “I don’t know, Alec.” “Yes, you do,” he came right back. “Think, Mara.” “Because you’re home to me!” His mouth fell open and the pain created lines around his eyes. I just stared at him for a moment. I saw all the same years of complications that I felt in mine. We weren’t just similar. He and I were mirror images of each other. “No matter what you do, no matter where I go. When I think back on my life, you are all I can see for centuries,” I said. “I get it.” Alec backed off. I caught his arm. “You don’t. You’re a terrible person. You’re the nightmare that just won’t go away.” I looked at the floor. “But you’re also a huge part of my life, whether I hate you or not.” 
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Gauntlet
-- EXCERPT: Joshua’s eyes went to the flames. I waited in silence, wishing I could read his thoughts. He did this often. Was he sifting through versions of the future, or simply deciding whether to trust me? I hoped it wasn’t a trust issue. I’d come to trust him with all my heart, and I needed him to reciprocate. My choices weren’t always wise, but they were made with good intentions. If I’d known Kane would pay for this one, I would have chosen differently. And I wouldn’t have fallen for Reece. He’d have been dismissed—removed from my path, away from the position of influence that had connected us so deeply. He wouldn’t have sat by my bed and held my hand, or risked his life in a no-holds-barred spar. He wouldn’t be my dark knight. The tiger wouldn’t have linked our hearts. Coming out of his reverie, Joshua turned his gaze back to me. “I cannot reveal anything to you, other than what you’re doing will have beneficial results.” I sucked in my breath. “You mean, I’ll save—” “I mean that there will be beneficial results. That is all I’m willing to give you. The rest will unfold as it needs to.” “Great. Thanks a lot.” A harsh, stubborn sigh blew past my lips. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a wee bit stingy with information?” “Many, many times.” His smile—a wide curve of full, generous lips rimmed in blond stubble—was both gracious and heart-stopping. It took my breath away. If I believed him, he’d been smiling like that for nearly two thousand years. “There’s so much you won’t tell me,” I said wistfully. “It’s for your own good, little one.” “Well, what can you tell me? Anything good at all? About my life, or what I’m doing? It feels like I’m flying blind most of the time, and I don’t know—” Joshua pressed his finger to my lips, stopping me. “You’re not flying blind. I am here to guide you, and this skillset, this . . . tiogair of yours is beyond anything I have ever witnessed.” His voice was so thoughtful, so full of sincerity, that I held my breath. The tiger pricked up her ears, and we listened in avid silence. “You are a culmination of events, Willow. There aren’t words in your language to properly explain, but I will try. The world you live in goes through cycles. All is connected by space and time. Who you are is a result of many things coming together.” Intrigued, I waited for him to go on. “Some of those things, I am responsible for.” His hand went up as I opened my mouth. “No, don’t ask about it, because I cannot tell you. The mystery will unravel itself in time. Just understand that this is why I’m here. Now.” He smiled. “By your side.” “Because I’m a Level Four prodigy?” “More than that.” “Because . . . I have a genesis skill?” “More than that, as well.” “Joshua, please.” His green eyes glittered with something I couldn’t quite put into words. It wasn’t Reece’s fathomless glance, or the compassionate way Fenn often looked me. Even Toby’s trance didn’t compare. It was as if he saw me in a way no one else ever could. “What am I?” I whispered. Joshua leaned forward, and when he spoke, the words fell from his lips like soft, sweet music. “The perfect storm.” 
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Terra Nova
-- EXCERPT: A horrible sound was ringing in Evangeline’s ears. She opened her eyes to find Eros standing above her, dangling a large bell. “Stop! Oh my God. You can just tell me to go to my room. I must’ve passed out. I’m sorry. I’ll go sleep in my room. I’m going. I’m going.” “You can go and get dressed and ready in your own room,” Eros said with a sardonic smile. “What?” Evangeline asked, bleary-eyed. “It is the middle of the night, again. We have all had our meal. Yours is waiting for you in the kitchen. Hurry up. The citizens are beginning to think we ate you.” Evangeline sat up and looked at him, “I slept all day? Are you serious?” “Do I jest much?” She looked around his bed and then up at him, “I’m…sorry. You had to sleep on the chair.” “No. I slept on my bed,” Eros said evenly. “Oh,” Evangeline’s eyes went slightly wider and she immediately regretted letting him see her confusion. Eros narrowed his eyes and ran his tongue across his teeth, looking at her. “Do you think I seduced you while you were sleeping?” he said, his lips curling down, “I believe Josepina explained the likelihood of that. I rested on the other side of the bed, wench. On top of the covers. We rarely feel cold, except for in extreme temperatures. The covers are for…nostalgia, I suppose. If you choose to hibernate on my bed do not expect me to sit on the chair all night.” “You could have just woken me up, you know,” Evangeline said, standing up to go. “I considered it. However, you had already slobbered on my book and the option of ringing a large bell in your face this evening appealed to me.” Evangeline gave him a dirty look, which had the effect of bringing a wide smile to his face. She was about to leave the room without a word when a thought came to her head and squinting her eyes at him she began to laugh, “Sorry, I was just imagining you seducing someone.” Eros’ smile began to lower into a confused frown and she burst out laughing harder, “It’s just that, well, how did you do it before? I mean, seduce someone? I can’t imagine you being charming for the life of me.” 
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Crossroads
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GIVEAWAY! Hosted by: #Book Blitz #Your Vileness by R.R.Orange #Fantasy #Mystery #Young Adult @Xpresso Book Tours22/11/2021
Your Vileness
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo -- EXCERPT: The staircase terminated in a heavy wooden door that concealed whatever lay ahead. It looked like an ordinary door, but she sensed foreboding and gloom as if they were etched into its wooden panels. Amandine pushed it open. A rush of cool air caressed her face, bringing the scents of burnt sugar, oranges and gingerbread treats the spectators were enjoying below. She stood in a broad, open-aired gallery just below the belfry—the rope dangled down through an opening in the ceiling, and she could have reached for it to ring the bell. Without wasting another moment, Amandine drew the pistol from her left pocket and fired a bolt of energy behind and above her. The crackle of electricity was brief, but as she turned around and beheld the octopus-like limbs of the Strangler writhe wildly and fade into nothingness, the piercing scream of the ghost went on for quite a while until it too faded along with any traces of its physical existence. “In broad daylight,” she muttered, “the nerve of it.” Then she remembered someone else had quite a nerve. “You knew this was here,” she stated, facing Prince Ivan, who stared at her with his big blue eyes, dumbfounded. “That was impressive,” he finally said, his charming smile returning. “You led me here on purpose,” she continued. Stranglers were not dangerous and technically, being incorporeal, could not really strangle anyone. They did like to wrap their tentacles around a human victim, instilling a sense of dread, misery and damp coldness. No one had ever died from it, but some people had been known to faint from sheer terror. “Damn, Klinghoffer,” Ivan said, evidently forgetting his resolve not to swear and walking into the dark corner where the spectre had been moments ago, “You destroyed it without a trace.” “I should hope so. The electrical charges in this weapon are strong enough to unbind the faint energy keeping ghosts in our physical world. And it’s Mademoiselle Klinghoffer to you. Actually, I don’t even feel like speaking with you after you lured me here, hoping to embarrass me.” “Just another test of your skill,” Ivan said, looking completely unconcerned by her anger. Her face moved of its own volition into a cynical smile. “Your surprise at my success tells me you expected me to fail.” “But how did you know where to aim?” he asked, ignoring the accusation, “You fired the shot without even turning around.” She shrugged, trying not to be softened by his admiration for her skill. “After a while, you develop a sense for these things.” Amandine did not feel hurt exactly but perhaps slightly saddened by the fact that he was just as predictable as her schoolmates had been. Even his ruse of luring her into a haunted church proved fairly weak and pathetic. “I wonder what sort of thing died to create that?” he asked. “It’s not one thing but two or three people whose fates were intertwined in unfortunate ways. If they’re unlucky enough to die at the same time or in fairly close succession, the resulting ghost is a Strangler.” Amandine explained. “Anyway, I shall make my way to the royal palace now. I don’t suppose you actually brought me up here to see the Fairy News.” “Of course I did. Come on!” He made to take hold of her hand, but Amandine dodged his grasp. She had little interest in being led about by this royal manipulator. He looked hurt, or pretended to. “Oh, come now,” he coaxed, “haven’t you ever heard of letting bygones be bygones?” “A very Glamweinian sentiment,” she remarked, standing aloof and folding her arms close to her body. “True, we don’t like to hold on to grudges. We like to say, ‘if you look back, you get a smack.’ Isn’t it a wonderful tradition?” “Sounds a little violent,” Amandine said, “I think it’s wise to look back and learn from your mistakes, especially when the most recent incident only happened a few seconds ago.” Ivan kneeled down on the grey stones, opening his arms dramatically. “I beg your forgiveness, fair Klinghoffer,” he said in a solemn voice, his lips quivering as he suppressed a grin, “and I promise, no more pranks while I show you the Fairy News.” “All right,” Amandine said coldly, “Please rise up. You’re being ridiculous.” He leapt up and rushed to the edge of the gallery where a tall arch framed his dapper figure. “It’s already started!”
GIVEAWAY! Hosted by: #Book Blitz #Blood of the Lily (Clash of Goddesses Book 1) by S.D.Huston @Xpresso Book Tours9/11/2021
Blood of the Lily
-- EXCERPT: “That’s a leprechaun!” Lily raised a skeptical eyebrow at her sister Rose and her wild theory. Then she peered back through the interweaving branches of a blackthorn shrub. A leprechaun? No, just a very small man. But what was he doing in the middle of An Caorthann Coill, the Rowan Woods? “It’s because of Samhain.” Rose’s voice was barely above a whisper, but excitement laced each word. She bounced on her heels where she crouched among the lower branches of a fern tree. “The veil between worlds must be open.” A mid-morning sun sifted through the canopy of rowanberry trees, highlighting the small man in the clearing. Probably no more than two or three feet in height, he hopped up and down, back and forth. What was wrong with him? The sun did little to dispel the gathering cold, which had strengthened over the last few days. A couple of leaves, still untouched by the season’s cool breeze, tickled Lily’s nose, and she swiped at her face before sneezing. Samhain, huh. The celebration to welcome in the harvest and usher in the dark half of the year. Lily smirked. Some believed faeries existed and other nonsense, too. She blew hair out of her eyes. Once, it had been her favorite time of year, but that was before . . . She shook her head. She didn’t need the distraction. “C’mon, Lil, you have to believe.” In what? The stories their mother often told them about the Otherworld. Lily waved a hand and rolled her eyes. Just stories. That’s all they were, and since they were both sixteen years old, they should have grown past believing in such tales. She knew from experience. No good folk had saved Marigold, their other sister who had completed them as triplets. Now there was just the two of them. Drawing in a breath and closing her eyes, she barely held back a grimace. When she opened them, Rose jutted her head toward the diminutive man, a crease deepening between her eyebrows. His dark red coat glinted, finely embroidered in more gold than Lily had ever seen in her life. He yanked his head back, showing his beard stuck fast in the tree crevice of a fallen log. He muttered a string of curses as he pulled against the rough bark. His gray beard would have probably dragged on the ground, it was so long. But what was the small man doing alone in the forest? For that matter, where did he come from? Lily heard of no one so small in any of the surrounding ráths or settlements. These unanswered questions put her on guard. She didn’t like strange things with no answers. Her hands tensed into balled fists. Rose continued to vibrate with excitement, the emotion bright in her blue eyes. “Can you communicate with him?” Really? He’s a man. Not an animal. “No, probably not,” Rose said. “Even if he’s a leprechaun, he’s still not a land animal.” She shrugged her shoulders without looking at her. “We should help him.”
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Photos from Simon_sees, Dmitry Karyshev
