Wendi L. Wilson's Blog, page 5

Movin’ on up!

I just had to share this with you guys. I am so excited! Shadowed Strength made the iBooks bestsellers list in the YA category!!!!

I’m so excited and I’d like to thank all the readers out there for making this happen!

I’d also like to announce a new giveaway! Fellow YA author Kat Stiles is hosting a giveaway of Shadowed Strength on her website where you can win a free copy of Shadowed Strength!

So head on over to enter HERE!

Thanks for reading!

(You can also get it on Amazon, NOOK, and Kobo!)

Title Reveal and Giveaway

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to take a moment to announce the title for third and final book of the Shadowed Series. The trilogy started with Shadowed Strength, which was followed by Shadowed Instincts.

So without further ado, the tile is:

Shadowed Ascension

Shadowed Ascension picks up right where Shadowed Instincts left off and will wrap up Melanie and Jeremy’s story. I don’t have a release date yet, but am hoping to have it ready by the end of the year (if not sooner!).

I’ll be revealing the cover here at a later date.

In celebration of the title release, I am hosting a  giveaway on Amazon for a kindle copy of Shadowed Strength!

Click here to enter! Good luck and happy reading!

Cheerleading Can Be Murder by Carissa Ann Lynch

Carissa Ann Lynch has done it again: tied me up in knots and left me eagerly anticipating the next book! My love affair with her writing began with the Flocksdale Files series- a group of three darkly twisted suspense thrillers that left me on edge and screaming at the duplicitous and downright evil characters. I stepped out of my comfort zone to give those a try and I’m so glad I did. You can see my reviews here: Have You Seen This Girl?, House of the Lost Girls and Carnival of Dead Girls.

Cheerleading Can Be Murder is a little different in that the story is set in a high school environment with characters that lead a typical high school life- until someone starts terrorizing the newly-formed cheerleading squad. The writing is so intricate with hints sprinkled in to keep you guessing. I seriously had no less than 3 suspects in my mind at any given time- and those 3 revolved and changed repeatedly throughout the book. The characters are well developed and their relationships ebb and flow just like real teenagers. There are boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, but they are there more to add tension between the female characters rather than add romance to the book (though there is a little of that too!).

I love a story that can keep me guessing and this author never fails me in that regard. The Sociopath could have been anyone and I would have believed it. That’s how great this story is. I am very eagerly anticipating the next book, Cutting Up the Competition, which is being released on May 24th!!

Go. Read this now. And please, whatever you do, don’t skim or skip the last chapter. Seriously.

Buy the book.

Five very enthusiastic stars!!

Fearless by April Wilson

Fearless picks up where Vulnerable left off- with Shane McIntyre tirelessly loving and protecting Beth. I love him so much!

There are a few hiccups as their relationship grows, with Beth trying to recover and learn to stand on her own two feet while Shane attempts to keep her huddled under the umbrella of his protective nature. Beth comes into her own, navigating through her fear while attempting to conquer it.

We see more character development of the McIntyre clan through highly entertaining and sometimes hilarious scenes. Their family dynamic is amazing.

Romance, suspense, humor and kick-butt action- this books has it all. Throw in some uber-sexy alone time and you have the full package. This book kept me fully immersed until the very end where, with misty eyes, I read the satisfying and heart warming conclusion.

Great writing, fully developed plot, and likable characters all make Fearless a five-star read. Don’t pass this one up folks!

99 cent sale: Cheerleading Can Be Murder

Cheerleading Can Be Murder is only 99 cents for a limited time! 11 girls. 6 spots on the Varsity cheer team. 1 killer among them… Cheerleading has become a game of life or death. Purchase lin…

Source: 99 cent sale: Cheerleading Can Be Murder

New Book Covers!

I would like to send many thanks to Derek Murphy over at Creativindie for helping me out and making these gorgeous covers! I hope everyone loves them as much as I do!

 

Get the books!

 

My books are now available through multiple retailers!

Hey everyone!

I recently made the decision to expand the availability of my books! After several delays and many emails, Shadowed Strength and Shadowed Instincts are now available through iTunes, Kobo and NOOK in addition to Amazon! I’m so excited to share Melanie and Jeremy’s story with more readers!

Check them out on your favorite retailer:

Amazon

iTunes

Kobo

NOOK

I will also be revealing new covers soon, so keep an eye out for that!

Happy reading,

Wendi

 

Sneak Peek at Book 3 of the Shadowed Series

Hello wonderful readers!

I’ve finally recovered enough from the Bell’s palsy that I can sit in front of a computer screen for more than a few minutes without pain! I’m very excited to get back to work on the as yet untitled finale to the Shadowed Series, which started with Shadowed Strength and continued with Shadowed Instincts.

In honor of my progress, both physically and mentally (Bell’s palsy can be very depressing), I’ve decided to share part of the first chapter of Book 3 with you- my patient and understanding readers! Please keep in mind that this is a rough draft and could change before the book is published (but I doubt it will change much other than some polishing).

I hope this will give you your fix of Melanie and the rest of the group while I continue to finish this story! Thank you all for your support and understanding!

Chapter 1

The air was thick with tension as Melanie pushed her plate away in disgust. Her hamburger had long gone cold and just the sight of the greasy fries made her stomach turn. She almost snickered at the thought of fries making her sick. Almost.

She snuck at peek at Jeremy beneath her lashes. He sat next to her, his back bowed as he stared at his plate without eating. The look on his face nearly broke Melanie’s heart. His eyes were glassy as his lip curled into some kind of mix between a frown and a snarl. As much as she wanted to reach out and comfort him, fear of his reaction kept her hands firmly in her lap.

Melanie flicked her eyes across the table to her best friend. She watched as Tara slowly lifted a fry to her mouth and bit the end off, letting the other half drop back to her plate. It was mechanical, an unconscious effort to appear normal, as she stared into space with unfocused eyes. As if she felt Melanie’s stare, her brown eyes flicked into focus and met Melanie’s. She attempted a smile, which came out more like a comical grimace. Realizing her failure, she dropped her gaze to her plate and sighed.

“Hey.”

Melanie’s body jerked at the sound. Her eyes shot to the doorway, where Declan stood with one hand rubbing his temple. Guilt and shame shot through Melanie’s body as her face heated in embarrassment. She took on all the blame for his current discomfort. She had suspected and accused him of horrible deeds. Tried to convince her father, as well as Declan’s, he was an attempted murderer. Her eyes dropped back to her plate before his glance around the room could make it to her. She didn’t want to look him in the eyes.

“Declan,” Darren said with a nod. “Come. Sit and eat. How are you feeling, son?”

Melanie flinched at her father’s words. She waited for the calming presence of Jeremy’s hand on her knee, but it never came. She looked over at his hands, moving only her eyes, to find them clenched tightly on his own thighs. A small shiver ran down her spine at the emotional distance between them.

“I’m okay,” Declan said, responding to Darren’s question as he took a seat next to Tara, directly in front of Melanie. “My heads hurts a little but other than that, everything seems to be in working order.”

His attempt at levity fell flat and a hush fell over the room once more. Someone brought Declan a plate, but he seemed just as disinclined to eat as the rest of them. After glancing around the table, Declan broke the silence, his voice again causing Melanie to cringe.

“I thought my parents would be here,” he muttered, not really speaking to anyone on particular.

“They are out dealing with…Chris,” Darren answered, seeming to change his words at the last second.

Melanie had a feeling he was going to say “the body.” At the thought, her body convulsed and curled in on itself. Grief mixed in with the guilt and shame, making it almost unbearable. She shuddered and caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Jeremy’s hand started to reach for her, almost out of reflex, but he stopped himself and put his hand back in his lap.

A tortured howl fought its way up Melanie’s throat and she attempted to push it back down. It came out as a high-pitched whine that brought everyone’s eyes but Jeremy’s shooting towards her. She shook her head vigorously and forced a breathless “I’m okay,” through her tight lips.

Golden Son by Pierce Brown

Holy cow. I am at a bit of a loss for words, so I am just going to post my Amazon review here. I’m still reeling and too devastated to think clearly. This book is the bee’s knees. Just sayin’.

Golden Son throws you right back into the action with no delay. I was swept back into Darrow’s world immediately and it never let me go. This book is amazing and really drags a lot of emotion out of you. I’m not usually a huge fan of books that involve war and military strategy, but the way in which the book is written really keeps you on your toes.

Darrow is imaginative and surprising, always (well, usually) one step ahead of the competition. Sometimes, his plans fail. That’s the beauty of it. He doesn’t always win, but manages to somehow always pull himself back up from rock bottom and keep going.

The end…ah, the ending. I found myself screaming at the betrayal and injustice of it all. I waited a couple of days to write this review and I’m still devastated. I am going out to get Morning Star today because I can’t bear the suspense any longer. I have no idea how Darrow is going to get out of this one.

Five very emphatic stars.

And there it is.

Read this book. Seriously.

Cover Reveal! Cheerleading Can Be Murder by Carissa Ann Lynch

|||||| COVER REVEAL ||||||

CHEERLEADING CAN BE MURDER

Horror High Series #1 by Carissa Ann Lynch

Coming April 5th from Limitless Publishing!

||| SYNOPSIS |||

Getting on the cheerleading squad is hard enough without a psycho on the loose…

For Harrow High freshman Dakota Densford, life should be easy. All she has to worry about is talking to cute boys and remembering her locker combination. But when cheerleading tryouts draw near, she learns the cards are stacked against her—spots on the varsity team are limited. Dakota faces her competition head-on, but when her life is threatened, that takes the competition to a whole new level.

 

High school is never easy, and freshman year is off to a rough start…

Between Dakota’s uniform being ripped up and masked vandals trashing another girl’s house, everyone is suspect. To complicate matters further, Dakota has a thing for Andy McGraw, but she finds him locking lips with another girl.

The harassment continues, and when Dakota finds suspicious flyers inside her best friend’s locker, she doesn’t know what to think. The principal’s unfeeling, overachiever daughter, Brittani Barlow, will do anything to secure her place on the team. But Dakota’s neighbor, on the other hand, definitely fits the profile of a sociopath.

 

Cheerleading has become a game of life and death.

 ||| COVER DESIGNER |||

Redbird Designs

||| CARISSA ANN LYNCH |||

Besides my family, my greatest love in life is books. Reading them, writing them, holding them, smelling them…well, you get the idea. I’ve always loved to read, and some of my earliest childhood memories are me, tucked away in my room, lost in a good book. I received a five dollar allowance each week, and I always — always — spent it on books. My love affair with writing started early, but it mostly involved journaling and writing silly poems. Several years ago, I didn’t have a book to read so I decided on a whim to write my own story, something I’d like to read. It turned out to be harder than I thought, but from that point on I was hooked. My first and second books were released by Sarah Book Publishing: This Is Not About Love and Grayson’s Ridge. I’m a total genre-hopper. Basically, I like to write what I like to read: a little bit of everything! I reside in Floyds Knobs, Indiana with my husband, three children, and massive collection of books. I have a degree in psychology and worked as a counselor.

 

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1J8uk2Y

Twitter: https://twitter.com/carissaannlynch

Blog: https://carissaannlynch.wordpress.com

Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/1MFqBf9

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

Limitless Publishing:

http://www.limitlesspublishing.net/authors/carissa-lynch/