Blog Tour...Last Ashes by Racquel Kechagias

Today I am excited to bring Last Ashes, by Racquel Kechagias, to you. It is book two in The Fire Of Soul series.

Chaos has descended on the Underworld, as promised. Anna is un-resigned to her fate as Christian's ideal wife. She refuses to be weak and submissive but she knows the power he holds over her; if she denies him, everyone she loves will die. However, when dismembered corpses start appearing on the castle grounds, Anna finds her courage to fight against the evil in the world, starting with the Overlord.

Published June 29, 2014

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Racquel Kechagias was born in Sydney, Australia in 1991. She is the oldest of seven children and although they drive her a little mad she loves them to bits. Racquel spent her childhood nose deep in a book, preferring their company to that offered by the outside world. At the age of 8 she had grown past the children’s section of the literary world and began to grow up with company of the greats such as Shelly, Stoker, King, Tolkien and Poe. From that moment she was inspired by the intricate worlds. She longed to share the knowledge and passion that it took those authors to create their worlds and from that moment on her life was transformed. Racquel Kechagias is the author ‘Last Ashes’ the second book in the ‘Fire of the Soul’ series.

You can find Racquel here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RLKechagias

Twitter: www.twitter.com/R_L_Kechagias

Pintrest: http://www.pinterest.com/rkechagias/

Website: rkechagias.wordpress.com

Recently Read...Sleep No More and The Taking

First up, The Taking by Kimberly Derting.

The Taking was a little different of a read for me. I understand that it is a story about a girl that was abducted by aliens and returned to earth five years later. But besides that, I did not really get a sense of an actual plot.

Mostly we get a day by day account of Kyra's life and how she is coping with changes that took place while she was away. I kept waiting for something to happen, but nothing major did till act three.

But to tell you the truth, I still really liked this story. Even though the plot was not super engaging, the character development is fantastic. We really get to know Kyra and we feel everything she does. So by the time all of the excitement begins I really cared about everyone and was worried about what was happening to them.

I will definitely be reading book two.

Next up, Sleep No More by Aprilyne Pike.

Since I don't write negative reviews I do not have much to say. But I will say this. The writing itself was good, I loved the plot and I really like the characters. But the ending...it ruined the whole story for me.

It's weird, because both The Taking and Sleep No More had very abrupt endings. Where The Taking  left me wanting more, Sleep No More left me irritated. It made me feel like everything was a waste. I am assuming the ending we got was to entice us to read book two, but I did not get any satisfaction from the way it closed.

Cover Reveal...Beyond Time by Laura N. Anile

Time Shifters by Laura N. Anile
(Beyond Time #1)
Publication date: June 2014
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult

Synopsis:

‘My blood runs cold, and I see the horror etched in the boy’s reflection. Anxiety seeps into my chest, making my heart hammer. I don’t know where I am. I don’t know how I got here. But what worries me most is: I don't know who the hell is looking back at me in the mirror."

When you wake up in the wrong body within a futuristic world, being yourself can get you killed.
17-year-old Ryder is on his way to school when he experiences a pain like he has never felt before. He awakes in a mysterious lab to discover that, as a victim of an unauthorized transfer, he has been pulled into the year 2127.
Now Ryder’s life depends on him succeeding in making everyone believe that he is Ziron, the boy that swapped places with him in 2015. If he fails, he will be captured, imprisoned, or worse. Ryder only has to survive two weeks in this futuristic world he doesn’t understand. But two weeks is a long time when you don’t know who to trust, and when you have to keep away from a girl you have sworn to protect.
Kira refuses to stay away, so how can he prevent her from discovering his secret? And how can he be with her when she thinks he’s someone else?
Time is running out for Ryder to unravel the conspiracy and uncover the answer to the biggest question of all: Just why did Ziron risk everything to change places with him? And what exactly has Ryder been pulled into?
In a desperate quest to find his way home, Ryder will stop at nothing to protect the girl of his dreams, and the secret that could destroy everything.

The expected release date is June 16 (Amazon), with iTunes, Kobo and B&N to follow. For further information, please go to www.LauraAnile.com
View the book trailer: www.LauraAnile.com/trailer.html
Read the first chapter: www.LauraAnile.com/sneakpeek.html

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22238675-time-shifters

AUTHOR BIO:

Laura has had a lifelong love of writing, which she explored in a successful marketing career before penning her first novel. She is fascinated by the ideas of fate and interconnectedness, central themes in her story. She loves all things humorous, laughs too loudly and finds her own jokes amusing. She has a passion for traveling and exploring the world but has a phobia of suspect hotel rooms with questionable hygiene. And, oh yeah, she isn't clairvoyant and doesn't own any crystal balls.

In addition to 'Visions', she has also written a collection of short stories, entitled 'Unmasked Secrets'.
For more information, please go to www.lauraanile.com.

Author Links:

Website: http://www.lauraanile.com/index.html

Twitter: www.twitter.com/LauraAnile

Facebook: Laura N. Anile, Author

Cover Reveal...The Scandinavian Santa

The Scandinavian Santa, written by Victoria Lindstrom, paintings by Michael Lindstrom

    Journey to the enchanted land of Scandinavia, where, nestled in the Nordic Forest, lives Santa Swanson. Each winter, this nephew of St. Nicholas has his own Christmas Eve delivery to make - but what that is, and to whom, has long been hidden. With the help of two mischievous flying polar bears, Gunnar and Ludvig; a rescued golden eagle, Lars; and a host of other whimsical creatures; Santa Swanson prepares for his annual sleigh ride down Viking Valley!
     Delight in this yuletide adventure, complete with a fanciful ice skating party, a rustic holiday feast, and an unexpected reunion with Santa Swanson's famous uncle. In the midst of all this wonder, the forest friends learn a heartwarming secret from a Christmas angel revealing the magic of generosity.

I love this cover and I am extremely excited to get my hands on this book! 

You can learn more about the author here http://writofwhimsy.blogspot.com/ 
You can learn more about the artist here http://michaellindstromartist.com/

The Scandinavian Santa will be available in September 2014 in hardcover and ebook (Amazon, B&N, Apple) from Deeds Publishing.

New To My Shelf / Cover Love

My name is Kriston, and I am addicted to beautiful book covers.

Yes, I admit, I am a cover whore. And yes, I bought these two books based strictly on the fact that I love the covers.

"But Kriston, that's pretty shallow."

*ponders statement* Whatever.

I have always loved the Splintered cover, and then when I saw the Unhinged cover I knew I wanted these books on my shelf. I love the artwork, the colors, the facial expressions, all of it. Plus, I am a sucker for a good Alice In Wonderland retelling. I hope they're good.

Maybe I will showcase the books I am glad I did not judge by their cover.  I have a list of books that I love with covers that do not appeal to me at all. So see. I'm not all bad.

Book Subscription Services...Are They Worth It?

With the every changing book industry I am amazed at the new opportunities that keep presenting themselves. Today I am going to talk about book subscription sites. Well, one subscription site in-particular, Scribd.

Book subscription services may not be new to you, but they are to me. But I love the idea. For $8.99 a month you can read unlimited ebooks!

I was given a one year subscription, and so far I have read two books. What I like about Scribd is that I am given the opportunity to read books that I have been interested in, but was not really sure if I would like them enough to spend money on. With Scribd, you can test drive as many as you like for one flat fee.

With over 400,000 books available—both traditional and independantly published—I bet there are many books that you will find to your liking. If you are interested I suggest you take advantage of the free trial.

And as luck would have it, Awakened is available for download!

Visit Scribd

* Scribd offered every Smashwords author that was willing to add their book the the Scribd library a one year subscription for free. But now that I have used the service myself, I will definitely continue on with it even after my free subscription ends. I was not compensated for this recomenedation. Scribd is a service that I like and wanted to make people aware of.*

I Want To Format Your Ebook For Free!

I am one step closer to becoming a Freelance Book Designer! But I need to do one more thing, and that is format a book, other than my own practice books. This is where you come in.

I am looking for two authors who are ready to publish their ebook in the very near future. I have formatted several books and tested them in previewers, but I have yet to pass the final test…and that is uploading the ebook to Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

As of now I am offering to make a mobi (Amazon) and epub (Barnes & Noble) for you for free. In return I would like to be informed to make sure the upload is successful. If some reason the upload is not successful I will fix any necessary issues until everything is corrected.

I have run several tests on my practice books by uploading them into previewers and by sending the files to my Kindle, the Kindle app, and the Nook app on my computer, iPad, and iPhone. Everything seems to work perfect. Like I said, the only things I have not been able to do up upload the book to Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

I am not sure how many authors will respond to this, but I will offer the free ebook design to the first two people who respond or who is available the soonest. I would like to begin formatting this week. I would have the book back to you with one week of receiving it.

I am very confident in my work and I promise to format your book to the highest standard. I just do not feel right collecting money for a service that has not been 100% tested.

***For anyone beyond the initial two recipients I will offer a 25% discount on a future service. I am still finalizing prices at this time.***

Email me at KristonMJohnson(at)gmail.com or click on email icon above.

New To My Shelf

The newest editions to my ever growing TBR shelf...The Taking by Kimberly Derting, and Sleep No More by Aprilynne Pike.

The Body Finder series and the Wings series are some of my all time faves. So even though I do not automatically buy everything by these authors, I definitely take the time to look into whatever they release. As luck would have it, both of these books tickled my fancy so I thought I would give them a try.

I started reading Sleep No More first and so far I'm really into it. I'll keep you updated.