Jen McConnel's Blog, page 47
January 6, 2013
Scottish Sundays: Getaway Pack
Have you been dreaming of far off lands? Maybe a trip to Scotland isn’t in the cards for you this month, but I’ve got the next best thing:
The Scottish Sundays Getaway Pack!
Enter a Rafflecopter giveaway to win the gift pack!
Prize pack includes:
A signed copy of The Burning of Isobel Key
Scone mix
Shortbread Scottie Dogs
A collector’s tin of black tea
*Giveaway open to US and Canada only, please!
What are you waiting for? Enter every day for a chance to win, and spread the word! Giveaway runs from 1/6/13-1/27/13. Enter the giveaway now!
January 2, 2013
Review and Promo:The Gatekeeper’s Challenge by Eva Pohler
REVIEW:
This is a fun series for anyone who loves mythology (guilty!) and craves a little impossible romance. In the first book in the series, Therese met and fell in love with Than, god of death and son of Hades and Persephone. She almost won the right to become his queen, but a moment of charity cost her everything. This tale picks up ten months later, and despite their separation, Than and Therese are still determined to be together. Than uncovers a way that he can defy his father and have Therese turned into a goddess, but Therese would rather accept Hades’ second bargain and win the right to be with her love in an honorable way. The challenges that are set for her would test even Hercules, but Therese is determined to join her love. But will her love be enough to give her superhuman strength?
Feeling like a mythic blend of Twilight and The Goddess Test, The Gatekeeper’s Challenge is a wonderful installment in a fun series. You’ll get lost in this world, and like Therese, you might not want to come out.
Ya Fantasy
Title: The Gatekeepers Challenge (Gatekeepers Trilogy Book 2)
Author: Eva Pohler
Date Published: 11/29/12
Ten agonizing months have gone by since Therese faced off against her parents’ murderer at Mount Olympus, and she suspects Thanatos’s absence is meant to send her a message: go on with your life. In cahoots with her new friend, who’s gotten in with the Demon Druggies at school, Therese takes a drug that simulates a near-death experience, planning to tell Than off so she can have closure and move on, but things go very, very wrong.
Than has been busy searching for a way to make her a god, and he’s found it, but it requires her to complete a set of impossible challenges designed by Hades, who hopes to see her fail.
Check Out the Virtual Book Tour January 1 – January 31
January 1 – Reading Addiction Blog Tours- Meet and Greet
January 2 – Jen McConnel - Review
January 3 - Mom With a Kindle - Interview/PROMO
January 4 – Lov Liv Life Reviews – Guest Post/PROMO
January 5 – Marked by Books – Review/interview
January 6 – Andi’s YA Books - Guest Post/PROMO
January 7 – The Stuff of Success -Review
January 9 – Let’s Get Booked - Guest Post/PROMO
January 10 – The Library Haunt – Review/Interview
January 12 – Impressions of a Princess – Review/Interview
January 13 – Book Lovin Mamas - Guest Post/PROMO
January 14 – Lovely Reads – PROMO
January 15 - My Cozie Corner – Review
January 16 - I Have Lived a Thousand Lives - Review/Guest Post
January 18 – YA Reviews and News - PROMO
January 19 – Book and Appointment with Wisdom Books – Review/Guest Post
January 20 – Magical Manuscripts – Review/Interview
January 21 – Bibliophile’s Thoughts - Guest Post/PROMO
January 22 – Inside BJ’s Head - Review/Guest Post
January 23 – Enchanting Reads - Guest Post/PROMO
January 24 – Love in a Book - Review
January 26 – Reading With Anacrasia – Review/Interview
January 27 – Books, Books, and More Books – Review
January 28 – Beloved Books – Review/Guest Post
January 29 – The Avid Reader - Review/Guest Post
January 30 – Jody’s Book Reviews - PROMO
January 31 – My Reading Addiction – PROMO
Eva Pohler
Author Bio:
Eva Pohler teaches writing at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she lives with her husband, three children, two dogs, two rats, and her very large collection of books.
Twitter: @EvaPohler
Blog
Other Blog
Buy Link
Amazon
Smashwords
January 1, 2013
Out with the old, in with the new: Farewell, 2012, hello, 2013!
I thought I would blog about the highs of 2012, but once I opened this post, I realized…there’s no need.
Know why?
Because it isn’t 2012 anymore.
It’s a new year, filled with possibilities.
I started my year with yoga in a packed, blissful studio. I offered the practice as my gift to myself for the coming year.
With arms, heart, and mind open, I am ready for 2013.
What a wonderful time –so many possibilities!
To each and every one of you: thank you for wandering this winding road with me!
Brightest blessings and Happy New Year!
December 31, 2012
Cover Reveal: The Reading Lessons by Carole Lanham
The Reading Lessons
by Carole Lanham
Mississippi 1920: Nine year old servant, Hadley Crump, finds himself drawn into a secret world when he is invited to join wealthy Lucinda Browning’s dirty book club. No one suspects that the bi-racial son of the cook is anything more to Lucinda than a charitable obligation, but behind closed doors, O! she doth teach the torches to burn bright. What begins as a breathless investigation into the more juicy parts of literature quickly becomes a consuming and life-long habit for two people who would not otherwise be left alone together. As lynchings erupt across the South and the serving staff is slowly cut to make way for new mechanical household conveniences, Hadley begins to understand how dangerous and precarious his situation is.
The Reading Lessons follows the lives of two people born into a world that is unforgiving as a Hangman’s knot. Divided by skin color and joined by books, Hadley and Lucinda are forced to come together in the only place that will allow it, a land of printed words and dark secrets.
** Coming May 2013 **
December 30, 2012
Cover reveal: Lesser Evils by Christi Goddard
Lesser Evils
by Christi Goddard
When young Jakorus is hurled twenty years into his future, he’s confronted with a horrifying truth—the world has changed for the worse, and it’s his fault.
Now in the twenty-first century, the hidden island of Cybraxas teeters at the brink of civil war. Paranormals of all races have secretly coexisted with humans for centuries, but the illusion of peace crumbles when a rebellious faction fights to overturn their primary law: humans are not food. They assert the human herd needs thinning if the planet is to endure.
In his youth, an angry and embittered Jakorus believed in the rebellion’s rhetoric and joined its ranks. Repentant of his sins when he is older, a young Jakorus sent from the past seemed the perfect solution to fix his mistakes. But each Jakorus trapped in this time loop only makes things more perilous. In order to restore the original timeline, the newest Jakorus learns he must murder innocents, betray friends, and repeat the same immoral choices the original Jakorus made. If he fails, the rebellion will blossom into civil war.
But through it all, Jakorus has his own problem—both he and his future self are in love with the same girl.
** Coming March 2013 **
December 24, 2012
12 Authors of Christmas, Day 12: Me!
I’ve teamed up with 11 other authors to bring you a bit of holiday cheer. We all know about the partridge in the pear tree, but if you’ve been really good this year, maybe your true love will give you books, instead! And today, as we wrap up the hop, I’m happy to feature…myself! Thanks for spending the holidays hopping with the dozen of us. May your days be merry and bright, and may magic fill your lives through this season and beyond.
Jen McConnel
The Burning of Isobel Key
When Lou travels to Scotland, she’s a mess. She’s twenty-six, unemployed, and unsure of herself. It doesn’t help that she’s traveling with Tammy, her best friend, who is everything Lou is not.
At first, the trip pushes Lou towards the brink of depression, but then she meets Brian, a handsome local tour guide. When Brian tells the tourists about the countless witches burned in Scotland, Lou starts to listen. And when she discovers information about Isobel Key, one of the victims of the seventeenth century, Lou finds renewed purpose.
She sets out to learn the truth of the condemned witch, but she isn’t prepared for the knowledge that waits for her. Lou must face her demons if she has any hope of righting the wrongs of the past.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Burning-Isobel-Key-ebook/dp/B009DP4WXE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1354490460&sr=1-1&keywords=Jen+McConnel Show More
December 23, 2012
12 Authors of Christmas, Day 11: N.R. Wick
I’ve teamed up with 11 other authors to bring you a bit of holiday cheer. We all know about the partridge in the pear tree, but if you’ve been really good this year, maybe your true love will give you books, instead!
N.R. Wick
Land of No Angels
http://www.amazon.com/Land-Angels-Dark-Ascension-ebook/dp/B0054E2F32
The Ascension marked a demon apocalypse that decimated the human race and forced survivors into hiding. Sixteen year old Rebecca Ashford and her younger sister, Errol, have spent the last year hidden in their family’s tornado bunker. When the sound of a screaming baby wakes them in the middle of the night, they attempt to save the infant and Errol is poisoned by a demon.
With only a week until the poison consumes her, Rebecca must trust a mysterious survivor named Fox to help her find a cure. Together, they confront demons and other monsters while Rebecca struggles to learn magic that will help them locate the ingredients needed to save her sister.
Land of No Mortals
Seventeen year old Rebecca Ashford and her younger sister Errol have finally found safe refuge at Crown Haven, a witch-led survivor colony. Rebecca should be thrilled by the secure place to live and the human contact after spending a year hiding in their family tornado bunker, but ever since her friend Fox left she’s been plagued by guilt strong enough to mess with her newfound witch powers.
When demons destroy Crown Haven, Rebecca uses her power to locate the only person who may know how to fight back. Instead, she discovers that Fox is in danger. She and Errol must rescue him and enlist his help in their quest to learn what caused the demon apocalypse and find a way to take back their world. As Rebecca struggles with her feelings for Fox and with controlling her power, she fights to stay alive and defy the demonic oppressors to protect the people she loves.
http://www.amazon.com/Land-Mortals-Dark-Ascension-ebook/dp/B0081RLGBQ/ref=sr_1_7?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1354490412&sr=1-7&keywords=N.R.+Wick Show More
December 22, 2012
12 Authors of Christmas, Day 10: A.D. Trosper
I’ve teamed up with 11 other authors to bring you a bit of holiday cheer. We all know about the partridge in the pear tree, but if you’ve been really good this year, maybe your true love will give you books, instead!
A.D. Trosper
Embers at Galdrilene
*Newly updated, redesigned and professionally edited. Re-released as of 11/17/2012*
“A ray of light, a stain of shadow, shall endure to breathe life and death into the future”
The war between the Guardians and the Shadow Riders ended in total devastation. The final battle killed all the dragons and left nothing but fields of ash. A small clutch of dragon eggs was all that remained to provide hope for the future.
Five hundred years later, the ability to use magic is a death sentence and dragons are remembered as a curse. But the unhatched dragons sing for their riders…and soon six lives will be changed forever.
The elements of magic are drawn together as the dragons’ call leads them on an epic and dangerous journey of discovery. They soon learn everything they’ve been taught to believe about magic and dragons is wrong.
With the last of the dragons and the world at stake, they will risk everything to heed the call.
But an evil from the past soon threatens their discovery and new found joy. Shadow Dragons ride the dawn once more…
December 21, 2012
Free Book Alert: The Burning of Isobel Key
Download The Burning of Isobel Key for free today (12/21/12).
The Burning of Isobel Key
When Lou travels to Scotland, she’s a mess. She’s twenty-six, unemployed, and unsure of herself. It doesn’t help that she’s traveling with Tammy, her best friend, who is everything Lou is not.
At first, the trip pushes Lou towards the brink of depression, but then she meets Brian, a handsome local tour guide. When Brian tells the tourists about the countless witches burned in Scotland, Lou starts to listen. And when she discovers information about Isobel Key, one of the victims of the seventeenth century, Lou finds renewed purpose.
She sets out to learn the truth of the condemned witch, but she isn’t prepared for the knowledge that waits for her. Lou must face her demons if she has any hope of righting the wrongs of the past.
THE BURNING OF ISOBEL KEY, available from Amazon Fall 2012.
Book Extras
Official Book Website | Book Trailer | Reading Guide
Grab Your Copy
Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Goodreads
The Key Inheritance
Release date January 15, 2013
Ten years after the trip to Scotland that changed her life, Lou is back in the misty, magical country. This time, however, she’s not on vacation: Lou is there to settle some distasteful and depressing family business. When Brian, her old Highland fling, turns up, Lou is forced to wrestle with a past that she thought was dead and buried. As tension between the former lovers mounts, something wicked is stirring in Scotland. Lou must use all her strength to handle the increasingly desperate situation, but will she be strong enough to battle both a vengeful ghost and her heart?
The Key Inheritance is a novella that takes place a decade after the events of The Burning of Isobel Key. This contemporary story crosses into the supernatural as Lou discovers evidence of a long-dead spirit who refuses to rest in peace. Lou may have thought that she was finished with the witch Isobel Key, but her inheritance is more than the young woman can handle alone.
12 Authors of Christmas, Day 9: S.M. Boyce
I’ve teamed up with 11 other authors to bring you a bit of holiday cheer. We all know about the partridge in the pear tree, but if you’ve been really good this year, maybe your true love will give you books, instead!
S.M. Boyce
Lichgates
The Grimoire turns its own pages and can answer any question asked of it, and Kara Magari is its next target.
Kara has no idea what she’s getting herself into when she stumbles across the old book while hiking a hidden trail. Once she opens it, she’s thrown into Ourea: a beautiful world full of terrifying things that want the Grimoire’s secrets. Everyone in this new world is trying to find her, and most want to control the new-found power the book bestows upon her. Even if Kara does escape, Ourea will only drag her back.
Braeden Drakonin grew up in Ourea, and all he’s ever known of life is lying. The Grimoire is his one chance at redemption, and it lands in his lap when Kara Magari comes into his life. He has one question to ask the book—one question that can fix everything in his broken world—and he’s not letting Kara out of his sight until he gets an answer.
There’s no going back now.
Treason
Ourea has always been a deadly place. The lichgates tying the hidden world to Earth keep its creatures at bay—for now.
Kara Magari ignited a war when she stumbled into Ourea and found the Grimoire: a powerful artifact filled with secrets. To protect the one person she has left, she strikes a deal that goes against everything she believes in. But things don’t go as planned.
Braeden Drakonin can no longer run from who—and what—he is. He has to face the facts. He’s a prince. He’s a murderer. He’s a wanted man. And after a betrayal that leaves him heartbroken, he’s out for blood.
To survive, both Kara and Braeden must become the evil each has grown to hate.
