Showing posts with label Blog Feature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blog Feature. Show all posts

September 24, 2015

Nefarious 9 Introduces ☆ Psiren ☆ Plus Giveaways!



Penguin Teen has come up with an excitingly fun way to celebrate the paperback release of New York Times bestselling series THE YOUNG ELITES, and the upcoming release of THE ROSE SOCIETY by Marie Lu! As said before in the announcement of my awesome villain crew, we have each been releasing a villain we have created to celebrate. And today I'm proud to introduce you to the mysterious Psiren!

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☆ Now Reporting ☆


Psiren
Prefers to be called “Ren”

Legal age 19
Actual age is 17

$67M Net Worth

Ability:
Mental Manipulation


Psiren Joining Nefarious Nine
Ren (Psiren) had previously worked with each of the other Nefarious Nine (the villainous squad officially formed after the death of Ren’s mother) in many different illicit activities. Not only are Ren's abilities and connections valuable to the NN9 crew; it is suspected that Ren uses her wealth to invest in the squad's notorious efforts.

Psiren's Abilities
Ren (Psiren) is the older of two daughters by the recently deceased and politically infamous Psibyll. Each female born in Ren’s blood-line has had some form of the ability to control other minds. Psibyll's (Ren's mother's) gift was the power to influence dreams, but her ability also included the aptitude to influence day-dreaming.

Ren’s gift is even more powerful; she has the gift to heavily influence the thoughts and actions of others. Although she doesn’t initially have the capability to control someone completely, she can use seduction to fully succeed in her controlling influences.

Ren learned her skills of manipulating others at a very young age when her mother started training Ren on how to seduce the boys, and even many girls, into doing things for her. Many times Ren could accomplish manipulation without even using her mental manipulation. And then, a year ago, Psibyll acquired a fake identity for Ren so Ren could go under the knife and have breast augmentation surgery as a minor.

Rumor has it that Psibyll was losing favors in politics, so she started grooming Ren to get into the political field. Ren’s first “political” assignment was to seduce Jason West, the Secretary of State’s most recent political advisor, and it was shortly after this assignment that Psibyll was found dead in a Bethesda hotel.

The family fortune worth more than $130M is now split between Psibyll’s two daughters, Ren and Psienna. Due to Psibyll's many scandalous affairs, the fathers for both Ren or Psienna are unknown.

Psiren's Mother's Death
Many suspect Ren (Psiren) to be the mastermind in Psibyll’s demise, but there is no substantial proof. Psibyll was last seen alive with Jason West, and sources close to Jason West have confirmed his obsessive affection toward Ren. Jason West is the primary suspect in Psibyll’s mysterious death, but he is now missing and listed as one of America’s Top Ten Most Wanted.

Psiren's Sister
Ren (Psiren) is now the legal guardian of her 9 year old sister, Psienna. Ren is extremely protective of her little sister and we have yet to obtain information on Psienna’s abilities. She is just really well known as a sweet and likable little girl.

We also have obtained proof that Psibyll (Ren's mother) had been pregnant 7 other times and all 7 pregnancies resulted in an abortion once Psibyll learned they were male.

Psiren's Late Best Friend
We interviewed Ren’s previous best friend, Jared.

Jared and Ren had been inseparable all throughout their youth. It was well known that, other than Psienna, Jared was the only other person Ren would never use her gift on, but Jared distanced himself from Ren over the last year when Ren was starting to do her mother’s bidding.

Jared expressed to us that the last straw was when Ren joined the Nefarious Nine. He can’t imagine that their relationship can be repaired after her choice to join the villainous squad. Before now, it was easier for Jared to put the blame of Ren’s actions on her mother, but her choices are her own now and he’s chosen to not associate with it.

Conclusion
Ren has refused to allow us to interview her. Her only response was that she had better things to do than answer our “stupid questions.”

No one knows her motivation to join the Nefarious Nine or what she’s up to, but it can’t be good!

And there you have it folks! That’s the background on Psiren. Just remember, if you ever cross her path…run…very far away…and very fast…before she pulls you into her manipulation.




Check Them Out
Fiktshun: Fiammata
Owl Always Be Reading: Xana and Deadly Dolly
Books With Bite: Rewind
Once Upon A Twilight: Kenesis
Two Chicks on Books: Lahettaa
Me My Shelf And I: Chaotica
Tales of a Ravenous Reader: Radioaktiva
Magical Urban Fantasy Reads: Psiren
Mundie Moms: Elemental




About The Book




From New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu comes the second book in the exhilarating Young Elites series

Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends. Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all.

Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she and her sister flee Kenettra to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers who nearly killed her.

But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good, when her very existence depends on darkness?

Bestselling author Marie Lu delivers another heart-pounding adventure in this exhilarating sequel to The Young Elites.


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This is a publisher hosted giveaway!
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Giveaway donated by several awesome peeps in the Nefarious Nine Crew
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY
13 or older to enter and that cheaters will be disqualified

a Rafflecopter giveaway

September 14, 2015

My AWESOME Villain Crew: Featuring The Rose Society + Giveaway!



About The Book




From New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu comes the second book in the exhilarating Young Elites series

Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends. Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all.

Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she and her sister flee Kenettra to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers who nearly killed her.

But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good, when her very existence depends on darkness?

Bestselling author Marie Lu delivers another heart-pounding adventure in this exhilarating sequel to The Young Elites.


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About the Author


Marie Lu (www.marielu.org) is the author of the New York Times bestselling novels Legend, Prodigy, and Champion, as well as The Young Elites. She graduated from the University of Southern California and jumped into the video game industry, working for Disney Interactive Studios as a Flash artist. Now a full-time writer, she spends her spare time reading, drawing, playing Assassin’s Creed, and getting stuck in traffic. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with one husband, one Chihuahua mix, and two Pembroke Welsh corgis.

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Our Wicked Villain Crew!


Greetings mortals! We have partnered with Penguin Teen and Marie Lu to celebrate Marie’s evilicious book THE ROSE SOCIETY and we are here to announce our villain crew! Be prepared to tremble with fear each day for 2 weeks as we reveal a new crew member, their backstory, and their secret abilities!

Introducing Nefarious Nine Schedule

September 15 Fiktshun
September 16 Owl Always Be Reading
September 17 Books With Bite
September 18 Once Upon A Twilight

September 21 Two Chicks on Books
September 22 Me My Shelf And I
September 23 Tales of a Ravenous Reader
September 24 Magical Urban Fantasy Reads
September 25 Mundie Moms





This is a publisher hosted giveaway!
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Giveaway donated by several awesome peeps in the Nefarious Nine Crew
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY
13 or older to enter and that cheaters will be disqualified

a Rafflecopter giveaway

March 6, 2014

Anomaly by K.A. Tucker Released TODAY!


I'm extremely excited to be able to participate in the Release Day Launch for K.A. Tucker's ANOMALY! ANOMALY is a Young Adult Paranormal and is the final book in the Causal Enchantments Series. I am one of her beta readers and was very lucky to read this a few weeks ago it's the perfect ending to the series! Go out and grab your copy today!!

And if you haven't started the series yet book 1 ANATHEMA is free!!! Grab your copy at AmazonBarnes & NobleKoboiBooks



Title: ANOMALY (Causal Enchantment series #4)
Author: K.A. Tucker
Release Date: March 6, 2014

Goodreads
AmazonBarnes & NobleiTunes
She was merely a pawn in their game. And then something happened. Once the fragile, naïve human, Evangeline has become altogether … different. A being who holds formidable power, she may be the key to changing the course of fate. Or she could be the final nail in the world’s coffin. But Evangeline doesn’t know exactly what she is, what she can do. She knows only that she has to stop an enemy far worse than the Sentinel and the sorceresses—one driven by revenge. And he’s hunting the man she loves. As Evangeline fights to keep Caden alive and the human population from eradication, she can’t help but sense the imminent doom. Find out if fate will prevail in the harrowing conclusion to the Causal Enchantment series.



Exclusive Excerpt


“So …” One of his fingers tucked a strand of blond hair behind my ear. “How are you feeling?”

I didn’t know how to answer that question. “Completely uneven, though my balance is better than ever,” I admitted. How long would it take to get used to the new me? Would I ever? Drawing breaths out of habit rather than necessity? The air still pulled in and out of my lungs, though I no longer needed it to survive. If I made a conscious effort to stop the repetitive act, no pressure built in my chest, no dizziness threatened my consciousness.

I would never grow old or die by natural means. My face, my hair, my body would never change. Not again anyway.

“Is it a good feeling?” Caden’s fingers clasped my hand, his thumb rubbing over the meaty part of my palm. I closed my eyes and tipped my head back, reveling in the sensation, like an all-consuming itch finally scratched. Since waking, the urge to be in constant physical contact with Caden had been almost overwhelming. It was as if my skin had been stripped back, exposing every nerve ending. Only it didn’t hurt.

Far from it.

It was a euphoria I’d never experienced and I couldn’t get enough. 

Cracking an eyelid to peek at him, I caught a smirk that told me he could sense my reaction to his touch, though I knew that’s not what his question referred to. “I don’t know. How am I supposed to feel?” My new life had begun mere hours ago, when I woke on a dank dirt floor to a world of possibilities. And unpleasant anticipation. “I guess I’m just … waiting for the inevitable.” For the uncontrollable urge to kill to hit me.

Despite other distractions competing for my attention, that anxiety lingered like a vicious thorn. Sofie promised me that it was only a matter of time until the first human crossed my path and tested my control. And she also promised me that I would have none.

I dreaded that.

I desperately wanted to skip over that part. Heck, I wanted to not need any blood to survive at all. I wanted to be immune to it.

But nothing I wanted had ever come easy so there was no reason to believe it would be different now.

“Yeah, so am I,” Caden whispered under his breath, a hint of wariness in his tenor. He followed it quickly with, “But how do you feel?”

How did I describe this? “Alive? I guess? Like I’m bursting with energy? Like I could run forever.” This strange bubble of something had taken up residence in the pit of my stomach. A ball of energy or thrill or eagerness. Or all three. I didn’t know what it was exactly but I was keenly aware of its presence, almost a tangible force inside, ready to explode. Perhaps that was the impending hunger?





About the Author





Born in small-town Ontario, Kathleen published her first book at the age of six with the help of her elementary school librarian and a box of crayons. She is a voracious reader and the farthest thing from a genre-snob, loving everything from High Fantasy to Chick Lit. Kathleen currently resides in a quaint small town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures.


☆ How to find K.A. ☆
BlogWebsiteFacebookTwitterGoodreads



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This is a author hosted giveaway!
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY
Void where prohibited by law
a Rafflecopter giveaway

October 9, 2013

Special Feature! Author Rachel Clarke! ...I'm so excited!



About Rachel




Rachel Clarke has loved writing stories since the moment she figured out how to pick up a crayon and form letters and turn them into words and then sentences. While she has tried out many different career paths, writing has been and will always be her passion. And every so often, when she’s not working, reading or blogging about books, she tries to turn those ideas rattling around in her head into stories. Some of which can be found on her website.


☆ How to find Rachel ☆
Author WebsiteFiktshunRockstar Book Tours
FacebookFiktshun FacebookTwitter


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Her Awesomeness Stories!


The Cop and the...
Kilt, Stripper, Ex-Con & More


Author Summary: The Cop and the... is a series of fun and flirty short stories that chronicle the misadventures of Officer Mindy Harding. This first volume contains: The Cop and the Kilt - an introduction to Mindy, her sexy-but-disapproving partner Maxwell Stone and a rather memorable encounter with a drunk and disorderly on her first day as a police officer; The Cop and the Stripper - a story of revenge gone wrong as Mindy attempts to get payback but finds that getting one over on Stone isn't so easy; and The Cop and the Ex-Con – a stranded Mindy goes looking for a ride, but when a hot ex-con shows up willing to give her one, she's not entirely sure what kind of ride he's offering.


What I have to say: There are so many reasons why these stories are so special to me! But, first off, the thing I’m super excited about is that the main character’s name is “Mindy.” And it’s not a coincidence! Rachel named her after me!!! I’d also like to believe the main character’s physical attributes (like her blonde hair and blue eyes) are based after me too . . . but I’m not quite so sure about those parts so I’ll just have to quietly keep giving myself that bit of credit in my own head.

And speaking about taking credit, the only other thing I can take credit for is a twitter chat that Rachel and I had with Jaime (Two Chicks on Books) when the first story started to take shape. After Rachel wrote this totally hilarious story about Demon Ryder and her Ab-man Aximander, she asked us for another sexy, physical, dude-attribute that she could write about. And I said, “Rock. Hard. Thighs.” Yep, she took that and totally rolled with it! So, in the first story in The Cop and the Kilt Mindy has this serious problem with drooling over dudes’ Rock. Hard. Thighs. One of the dudes is her total douche-bag partner (Mindy's a cop) and the other is the dude in a kilt (best part). It’s a totally brilliant story and I can’t help myself from reading it over and over again!

After Rachel wrote The Cop and the Kilt, she later gave me a heads up whenever she had another short story she was finishing up that told us more about Mindy’s unfortunate (or not so unfortunate!) escapades in these amazing short stories! And the best part about every single one of these stories is that every single time Rachel would send one of them to me, it always seemed to arrive just when I was going through a difficult time in my life and I needed something to brighten up my week/month/year/lifetime. (I’d like to think it wasn’t just a coincidence that I’d get one of these stories just when I needed it the most, if you get my meaning. Or, if it WAS only a coincidence, then it was the MOST awesome coincidence ever!) And each story is just fabulous! So unbelievably awesome! Some of the moments in the stories had me laughing so much and so hard that I was actually crying! And, even though some of the stories had me feeling really bad for the main character and the situations she got herself into (because “things” kept happening in ways she totally did not intend!), I loved it! And I just loved Mindy more for them and I just couldn’t help but admire her. She is so very different from me, that I feel like she could be my slightly rebellious twin . . . the twin who I always wanted to be like even though SHE’s always getting herself into trouble (yep I was putting myself in Mindy’s shoes while I was reading because, well, because she’s Mindy!) OK . . . maybe not quite! Mindy does take quite the extreme leap in The Cop and the Ex-Con, but I love it! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it all!

I’m more than a little excited to see there’s a brilliant new cover for this book! And that chick on the cover is HOT! Which means, once again, I’m jealous of my rebellious twin-Mindy! LOL! And I’m even more excited that I now have the eBook on my Kindle and on my phone so I can re-read them forever and ever and ever! Rachel’s still working on The Cop and the Tattoo Artist, and I can hardly wait to read it! But since I know she puts a lot of pressure on herself to work on her other “works” during NANOWRIMO, I’ll just have to be patiently waiting!

To top all this awesomeness off, Rachel is an absolutely fabulous writer! I’m in awe by how amazing her writing is, and I hope one of these days I get to read a full on novel by Rachel Clarke.

Rachel says she plans make these awesome short stories available on Amazon, and I think that’ll be awesome because you all will get the chance to put them on your eReaders too!

But, for now, you can read them on her website
rachel-clarke.com/stories.


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Love Stinks!
by Douglas Rees, Vivi Barnes, Marni Bates, Eldritch Black, Karice Bolton, Naomi Canale, Cecily Chase, Rachel Clarke, Shanyn Day, Tara Gonzalez, Laurie McLean, Lynda K. Scott, Linda Wisdom, Carol Wolf


Description: Love is magical. Love is amazing. But every once in a while love stinks! We’ve all been there. Heartbreak spawning crafty ideas of revenge. The “It’s not you, it’s me,” syndrome. Well, this book celebrates all those love-bumps along the great highway of life. Fourteen YA authors have come together to reveal the truth about the dark side of love that few people talk about. But with a lot of humor and a bit of mystery, you might not mind too much that LOVE STINKS!

Love Bites
(Chapter 6 in Love Stinks!)
by Rachel Clarke



My take: I don’t read Anthologies very often, more like, almost never! But when I heard that Rachel was writing a short story for an Anthology, I knew that I’d read it the moment I got it in my hands, and I did! I have yet to read the other stories in Love Stinks!, so I’m only writing a small review of Love Bites by Rachel Clarke.

I don’t want to say too much to prevent from spoiling, so I’ll try really hard to be careful. And, I don’t want to judge the main character, Shelby, too harshly from this story because this story takes place on her least favorite day of the year…Valentine’s Day…so she was pretty much in a sour mood right from the beginning of the story. But I absolutely love her best friend, Brie! She’s upbeat and quirky and loves and supports her friend as she tries to make the day good for Shelby. But I really don’t care too much for Brie’s boyfriend, Dan...in my opinion, he’s a jerk. Anyways, in the process of trying to make Shelby’s day better, Brie takes Shelby to a party and what happens in the party makes the whole story so much fun. The ending totally rocks! It makes the story phenomenal. But I really wish we could find out what happens with Shelby! And find out if THAT Valentine’s Day ended up being her absolute best or worst day ever. Pure brilliance!

☆ Where to Buy ☆
AmazonBarnes & NobleSmashWordsKobo





May 28, 2011

The Bookish Babes - *Blog Feature*

I am featuring Andrea and Melissa from The Bookish Babes as my next Blog Feature!

I just love reading the reviews on their blog AND they share similar interest in books as I do!  We share the same favorite series as I am sure pretty much most of you share as well.  Vampire Academy, Mortal Instruments and Nightshade!  So give it up for Andrea and Melissa!

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May 24, 2011

Two Chicks On Books - *Blog Feature*

Two Chicks On Books


So I am going to have Jaime and Patricia of Two Chicks on Books as one of my featured bloggers this week!  I am featuring this blog because they have amazing reviews!  When I read a couple of their reviews of several books they rate highly, I wanted to set all books I'm currently reading aside, run to the store and purchase the books they reviewed!  I am also a little biased here because Jaime totally rocks and Jaime and Patricia are two of my local blogger friends here in Sac Town, Cali that I just met on Twitter a short time ago!

So give it up to Jamie and Patricia!

And this is to all blogger/reviewers, come join my Book Club!

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Dear followers, fans and peeps! Some of the books I review on Magical Urban Fantasy Reads are provided to me for free by either the publisher or author in exchange for my honest review. Please know that I am in NO WAY compensated for my reviews. All opinions are mine and I am not required to give a positive review in exchange for a free book! But some of the purchase links on my blog are monetized through places like Amazon, Book Depository or Barnes & Noble.