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Showing posts with label 12 Day of Great Summer Reads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 12 Day of Great Summer Reads. Show all posts

13 June 2015

12 Days of Great Summer Reads ~ Day 12 ~ Such A Secret Place by Cortney Pearson



 Raids splatter across the news--Arcaian soldiers are stealing magic left and right, using it against the people they steal it from.

When sixteen-year-old Ambry Csille's brother gets taken in one of these raids, her utter fear and panic should be enough to invoke tears in any normal world. But for Ambry, tears are a thing of the past.

Because of a spell, people can no longer feel emotion; not enough to cry, and definitely not enough to defend themselves against the tyrannical soldiers stealing her people’s magic. A rare vial of enchanted tears chooses Ambry to reverse the spell, and soon she finds herself the target not only of the Arcaians, but of battle-scarred Talon Haraway, who wants the tears for his own reasons.

All Ambry wants is to rescue her brother, but when her tears get stolen, Ambry determines to work with Talon to get them back. Any day the Arcaians could drink her tears. Any day they’ll succeed at draining her people's magic completely, and all hope will be gone—not only for her brother, but for her world.





Cortney is a book nerd who studied literature at BYU-Idaho, a music nerd who plays clarinet in her local community orchestra, and a writing nerd who creates stories for young adults. She lives with her husband and three sons in a small Idaho farm town.

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Excerpt

“Who are you, Talon?” I ask, trying our argument once more. “Please, tell me.”

“You’ll know more about me when I’m ready for you to,” he says softly in his peculiar accent and that velvet voice.

“And you’re not ready for me to know more.”

He stares at the flames and stokes the fire with a nearby stick. The silent answer is enough. For now.

Every inch of me senses his skin, his leg kneeling near mine. My heart frolics under my ribs. I don’t get what’s going on. Why he’s suddenly changed so much—toward me, anyway. He’s not any different than he was before, but I like it. And that scares me.

He sinks back onto his foot and rests an arm on his knee. Muscles strain the lines of his brown shirt, roping down his arm.

I’m growing more agitated with him the longer I sit here, and yet I just want to reach out and touch his skin. Nothing’s making sense. I don’t get these rickety moods of his. One minute he’s angry, the next he makes a comment refuting every other remark.

“Can you at least tell me what our immediate plans are?” I ask. We’ve been heading toward the tears, but that can’t be all there is to this whacked-out journey we’re on.

“That’s in your hands, actually,” he says, sliding me a husky look.

“Mine? Why?”

The tears pang at my back, reminding me of their direction. Right. I’m leading him to them.

Talon sighs and frowns into the heat of the fire. “There’s also someone I need to find. I want to know who shed those tears, and I think he has a way of determining that.”

Now we’re getting somewhere. “And you think it’s important, to know whose they are?”

His fire-gleamed eyes hold me still. “Very.”




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09 June 2015

12 Days of Great Summer Reads ~ Day 8 ~ Shattered Dreams (Freedom Trilogy #1) by Brenda Kennedy




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Amazon Best Selling Author

First and foremost I am a wife, mother and grandmother.

I am also a nurse and a new author.

I moved to sunny Florida in 2006 and never looked back. I love fresh squeezed lemonade, crushed ice, teacups, wineglasses, non-franchise restaurants, ice cream cones, boating, picnics, cookouts, throwing parties, lace, white wine, mojitos, strawberry margaritas, white linen tablecloths, fresh flowers and Pinterest. I also love to read and write and to spend time with my family.

My books thus far, have been inspired by the things I love and the people who influence me, every single day to be a better person.







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08 June 2015

12 Days of Great Summer Reads ~ Day 7 ~ Gaia's Secret by Barbara Kloss



Barbara Kloss studied biochemistry at California Polytechnic State University, and after she began working in a clinical lab, found herself daydreaming about far off lands and slightly deranged wizards. 

She, her husband, two boys, and Lhasa currently live in Arizona, where she escapes the heat by writing about lush vegetation and moderate to cold climates. And also by playing too many video games on her PS3. 

Author of Gaia's Secret, The Keeper's Flame, Breath of Dragons, and Heir of Pendel.

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 A young girl travels to a new world in search of her missing father, only to find that she's being hunted by an evil sorcerer.

Daria Jones didn't expect she'd have to chase her missing father through a portal into another, magical world she never knew existed. In order to get to that world, she's forced to rely on Alexander Anderson, her childhood friend who she hasn't seen or heard from in three years. But the truth of who she really is could be the greatest enemy of all. 


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 Author Top 10

1. Anything with The Hubs.
2. Kissing and holding my babies.
3. Spending time with family and close friends, lounging and chatting, and oftentimes accompanied by a glass of red wine.
4. Books, books, and more books! Oh, did I mention books?
5. Writing…most of the time. When the words don't flow, writing quickly becomes my LEAST favorite thing.
6. Listening to music and dreaming.
7. Going to the gym. Because that usually means I'm doing #6.
8. Hiking in the Sierra's. (But really, hiking anywhere with mountains and pines.)
9. Campfires and early morning coffee, preferably together.
10. Traveling to new places to experience new people and cultures and FOOD.
11. I know I'm only supposed to name ten, but Skyrim absolutely must be included in this list. So, there. :D


Snippet

A transparent shape floated above the yard. It took me a second to realize that it was a reflection in the glass. There was something behind me. Someone. I turned my head toward its source and my breath caught in my chest. It was Alex.

 

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06 June 2015

12 Days of Great Summer Reads ~ Day 6 ~ Water So Deep by Nichole Giles



Seventeen-year-old Emma Harris is drowning on dry land.

No one knows what’s happening to her, and she’d like to keep her evolution from human to mermaid a secret, but the truth is getting harder and harder to hide. From her adoptive family, from her friends, and especially from the irresistible James Phelps.

Her time in the ocean is spent dodging a possessive merman, while her time on land is split between caring for her special-needs brother and squeezing in every last possible moment of human life. She soon realizes falling for James is unavoidable when he constantly comes to Emma’s rescue and somehow manages to see through her carefully constructed icy facade to the vulnerability she lives with every day. Everything about James makes Emma yearn for a life on land she just can't have.

When Emma’s brother disappears on her watch, James is the only person she trusts to help her save him. But even if they can save her brother, nothing can prevent her return to the sea. Whether she likes it or not, Emma is changing—unable to breathe without yielding to the tide—and it's only a matter of time before she's forced to surrender forever.

 
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Nichole Giles, the author of the Descendant trilogy, has lived in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and Texas. She loves to spend time with her husband and four children, travel to tropical and exotic destinations, drive in the rain with the convertible top down, and play music at full volume so she can sing along.   


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Excerpt
 
“It’s okay, Emma. It’s just school.” 
 
“Yep. And Everest is just a mountain.” She glanced at her younger brother, Keith, wondering again if it was a mistake for her parents to enroll him in regular high school. The district classified him as “special needs,” and Emma agreed with that label.  He was special, and for whatever reason, he thought he needed to attend school with her. 
 
What if people were mean to him because he was different? What if bullies picked on him? What if he came away traumatized for life? Hoping he was still this excited about school at the end of the day, she nudged him with her bag. “Let’s go, you grown-up high schooler.”
 
Keith’s grin split his face, lighting his eyes with excitement and pressing a wrinkle into his prominent forehead. The look melted Emma’s heart. If they were mean to him, she’d destroy them. Destroy them completely. 
 
“You’ll find me at lunch, right?” He started toward the building, twisting the bottom of his T-shirt into a ball. The first nervous gesture he’d shown since they’d left the house. 
 
“Yep. And we can eat outside on the grass if you want.” 
 
“Okay, ’cause I know I’m going to be hungry. It’s my first day of high school, and Gran says teenage boys are always hungry.”
 
Smiling at his eagerness, Emma saw Keith to his first class, where a petite woman with dark, spiked hair introduced herself. “Hello, Keith,” she said. “I’m Mrs. Long, the aide. I’m here to help you learn everything you need to know about high school.”
 
“Hi, Mrs. Long.” Obviously embarrassed, Keith pulled the collar of his shirt over his face, hiding his pink-tinted cheeks.  
 
“Is this your sister?” Mrs. Long asked, trying to force him to engage. “Are you going to introduce us?”
 
Hesitant to leave until she was sure Keith would be okay, Emma said, “Why don’t you be a gentleman and introduce me to your teacher?” Nothing. She kept her voice light, despite the nerves buzzing along her skin. “Keith, I’m going to be late to class. You don’t want me to get in trouble, do you?” 
 
“No.” He shook his head, still hiding.
 
“Remember what we talked about?” she asked, tugging on the wrinkled bottom of his shirt and trying not to curse her parents. “How it’s polite to look at people when you talk to them?”
 
He nodded. 
 
“How if you’re going to high school, you have to have manners and pay attention to what your teacher says?”
 
This time, he let the shirt down enough that his eyes peeked over the top. “Yes.”
 
“And do you still want to go to high school, or have you changed your mind? Because if you’d rather go home, I can take you.” And she would, even if it meant missing her entire first-period class. 
He let go of his shirt and smoothed it over his torso, biting his lip. “No, I’m big. I want to stay.”
Pride filled the empty spaces in her chest. Keith was so much stronger than she would ever be. “Then hurry and introduce me before I’m late.”
 
Scuffing his shoe on the ground, he muttered, “This is my sister, Emma.”
 


 
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