Alicia Michaels's Blog, page 2
April 16, 2015
The Shadeborn Series by KC Finn
Presented by: Sparkle Book Tours
The Book Of Shade – Shadeborn #1
by K.C. Finn
Audience: General, 13+ – Genre: Urban Fantasy, Adventure and Romance – Formats: E-book and Paperback – Publisher: Starstorm – Pages: 513 – ISBN: 1505677556 – ASIN: B00RD7SGK4 – Date Published: 21 March 2015
Lily Coltrane’s to-do list for starting university life is pretty simple:
1. Make friends
2. Meet a cute guy
3. Survive her first year in Modern History
In the little English town of Piketon this seems more than achievable, so much so that Lily even joins The Illustrious Minds Literary Society, an extra-curricular club that promises a truly unique social experience. What Lily doesn’t bank on are the society’s monthly visits to the mysterious Theatre Imaginique at the edge of town, a dark venue that houses the most obscure cavalcade of carnival performers she has ever laid eyes on.
Stranger still is the emergence of the theatre’s enigmatic proprietor Lemarick Novel, a stupendous showman with a frosty wit who never seems to smile, and who raises a plethora of questions in Lily’s fearful mind. How does he levitate with no sign of wires or mirrors? Why do the lightning bolts that shoot from his hands look so real? And why, of all the people in the theatre, do his pale eyes keep locking on hers?
The answers to this and more lie buried in heritage and blood. The Book of Shade is opening, and Lily Coltrane will read it, whether she wants to or not.
Amazon / Goodreads
“Ladies and gentlemen, your raucous applause, if you please, for the sensational Monsieur Novel!”
The audience obeyed the MC’s command, but when Baptiste had vacated the spotlight, nobody came to the stage. It wasn’t until the last clap died, some moments later, that Lily heard footsteps clicking along the old theatre boards. The illusionist stepped from total blackness into the shadow at the edge of the stage, and even craning her head only afforded Lily the frame of a man in a long Victorian coat. The tense air in the dated theatre was thick enough to be sliceable, and every spectator breathed in their portion of that heavy air, in anticipation of the moment when the odd Monsieur would step into the spotlight.
Novel did not disappoint them. A shock of lightning appeared from nowhere at all and in the split-second that it flashed he appeared for the waiting patrons to see. It seemed as though the contents of the theatre gasped as a single being, even those who must have seen him before were transfixed in shock. His eyes were cast into black, shadowy sockets by the bright white spotlight pouring down from above. Skin pale as a spectre’s was exaggerated by the darkly drawn eyebrows arching into points above those gloomy hollows. His lips too were black as coal, a superb effort in stage makeup that reminded Lily of a haunting cross between a French mime and a black-and-white movie serial killer. She didn’t know which to be more afraid of.
Perhaps more astonishing still was Monsieur Novel’s hair. It was long enough to be combed behind his ears, though it did not grace his neck, and in the dusty spotlight it appeared to be totally white. It was a strange whiteness, for even through his make-up, Lily thought that the gentlemen couldn’t be more than ten years her senior. The illusionist’s black mouth stretched into a serious sneer as he surveyed the awestruck crowd. He held out one pale hand with a slow and deliberate grace. Tiny blue sparks grew in his palm as he swept the hand from left to right in welcome.
“Good evening,” he purred in the darkest of tones.
And this time the lightning came straight from his palm when it exploded into life.
The dumbstruck crowd suddenly applauded in a blast of appreciation, but Lily’s hands remained still, clutching the sides of her chair. Novel stalked the very edge of the stage like a patient predator, the invisible orchestra striking up as the beams of lightning shot about the cavernous space in time to the music. He appeared to be controlling them, but his thin frame and well-fitted suit left no space in which to hide any apparatus on his body. Occasionally, he seemed to lose control of the larger forks of electricity which shot out towards the audience in frighteningly loud snaps. The patrons flinched as the whip of energy crackled above them.
All the while Monsieur Novel’s expression remained dark and thoughtful. Not once did his lips rise into a smile. They simply sneered continually at the power he was controlling, parting for him to suck in precisely choreographed breaths when he turned in his display of perfect grace, avoiding every spot the forks could hit. A few patrons in the front row, perhaps those who had never seen him before, were starting to panic at the multitude of power growing rapidly on the stage before them, with no reasonable explanation in sight. It looked like a major fire hazard for sure. One of them tried to get up.
“I would kindly recommend you stay in your seat for this performance, good sir,” Novel said loudly over the buzz of the lightning strikes. “It could be rather nasty for you, if you don’t.”
There was something foreign lurking in the shadows of his accent. Perhaps he had been living in England a long time, but he definitely wasn’t from around these parts. His voice had an amused kind of youth in it that didn’t suit his skeletal pre-modern look, and though he gazed upon the terrified patron as he sat back down in his chair, he still didn’t let the mirth in his warning show on his face.
All at once the lightning stopped. Novel stood in the dead centre of the stage, looking down at his feet with his shadowed eyes. Lily caught her breath as the flicker of hot white energy grew beneath his feet, sparking and growing into a ball of buzzing power. He thrust out his pale hands, raising them upwards as he slowly began to levitate into the air. Lily could see no wires to hoist him, and his clothes didn’t move as though they were under any strain. He simply rose up in a slow, straight line as the lightning ball grew larger and larger in the space where he’d been standing. In his ascent, his face was lit from under his chin and Lily finally saw a pair of pale blue eyes glowing out of the black sockets on his face.
And they glowed directly at her.
She started in her seat, shocked to find his gaze so blatantly fixed. She would have sworn the floating man had raised one of his black eyebrows at her, but a moment later the lightning ball exploded with a deafening crack that made the entire contents of the theatre sink down into their seats and clutch their heads in wild panic. When Lily looked up again, Monsieur Novel was gone. Someone behind Lily broke the shocked silence of the audience by starting to applaud. Gasps erupted as some of them looked beyond her to the source of the clap, then suddenly everyone was giving an ovation.
Lily craned her head around, almost jumping out of her skin when she realised it was Monsieur Novel sitting in the seat directly behind her. He had started his own applause. He sat with a casual grace, an elegant hand accepting the praise as he slowly got back to his feet and straightened out his beautiful clothes. Once more his frosty blue eyes snapped to Lily. She wanted to look away, but it just didn’t happen. Novel inclined his head to the rapt audience without breaking his stare, then swiftly retreated up the theatre aisle, his long coat billowing in another invisible gust of air. 
Play it at: http://8tracks.com/kim-finn-986/the-book-of-shade-romance-mix
Track List and Key Lyrics:
1. E.T. – Katy Perry
You’re so supersonic
Wanna feel your powers, stun me with your lasers
Your kiss is cosmic
Every move is magic
2. Gravity – John Mayer
Oh I’ll never know what makes this man
With all the love that his heart can stand
Dream of ways to throw it all away
3. Everybody Talks – Neon Trees
It started with a whisper
And that was when I kissed her
And then she made my lips hurt
4. Somewhere Only We Know – Keane
And if you have a minute, why don’t we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don’t we go somewhere only we know?
5. Butterflies – Lucy Spraggan
Cause there’s nowhere else I’d rather be
No one else I’d rather see
Controlling every part of me
I love skipping a beat every time you speak
6. Safe and Sound – Me Vs Gravity
Don’t you dare look out your window, darling,
Everything’s on fire
The war outside our door keeps raging on
Hold on to this lullaby
Even when music’s gone
7. Kiss From A Rose – Seal
You remain,
My power, my pleasure, my pain, baby
To me you’re like a growing addiction that I can’t deny.
Won’t you tell me is that healthy, baby?
8. True Love – Pink
Sometimes I hate every single stupid word you say,
Sometimes I wanna slap you in your whole face.
There’s no one quite like you, you push all my buttons down,
I know life would suck without you.
9. Still Into You – Paramore
It’s not a walk in the park
To love each other
But when our fingers interlock,
Can’t deny, can’t deny you’re worth it
10. Loved Me Back To Life – Celine Dion
Strong hands, thick skin, and an open heart
You saw through the pain, saw through the mask
You never gave up on me
The Bloodshade Encounters & The Songspinner – Shadeborn Series # 2
Pages: 300 – ASIN: B00RQMB5MW – Date Published: April 4, 2015
Shadeborn: Volume Two provides a unique insight into the past of some of your favourite Book Of Shade characters, through two spine-tingling novellas:
The Bloodshade Encounters shows readers where present and past collide, as they learn the dark history of how the charming and enigmatic Baptiste Du Nord came to know Lemarick Novel. Prepare for vampires on the streets of revolutionary Paris, and the day when Novel first laid eyes on the Theatre Imaginique. Amidst all this, a dark secret about Novel is unearthed, one which may threaten his relationship with Lily in the future.
The Songspinner begins with the present-day Salem Cross, now weak and powerless, as the old shade looks back on his life, and the dirty deals he made to try to make a success of himself. Witch-trials loom in Salem’s murky past, and werewolves roam the streets of Victorian London, not to mention a certain dark lady who would one day become the mother of the heroic Novel. Can Salem face the demons of his past, or bear the thought of a future with no magic? Or will he decide that the end of his time has come?
Amazon / Goodreads
The Potioneer – Shadeborn Series # 3
Pages: 500 pages – Expected Publishing Date: Late May
When humans break a mirror, the idea of seven years of bad luck is little more than superstition. But, when it happens to a magical being like a shade, that quaint old saying takes on a terrifying new reality. As Lily Coltrane looks down at the smashed remains of Lemarick Novel’s mirror, she can already feel that her luck is about to run dry, even though her illusionist boyfriend is certain that he can protect her. With a suicidal Salem Cross on red alert and newly-disabled best friend Jazzy to look after, Lily’s not so sure that Novel is right.
Lily’s suspicions will be confirmed in this, her second year of university, as the quiet English town of Piketon is flooded with a new array of supernatural beings, including Jeronomie Parnell, a gifted potioneer who seems to have solutions for Salem and Jazzy’s conditions. Suspicion fills the air at the old Theatre Imaginique, as Lily uncovers yet more secrets about the people she thought she knew. The question of who to really trust will bombard Lily’s mind, especially after she is introduced to the horror that is the House of Novel, and is forced to question the bloodline that her new true love comes from.
It seems like having a soul mate isn’t quite the ideal that Lily dreamed it would be, and she can only hope that The Book Of Shade will give her the power to get through the trials that she’s about to face. And as for the even greater darkness, slowly rising in the depths of that ruined mirror? Well, that’s quite another story for Lily to unfold. 
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K. C. Finn was born and raised in Cardiff, South Wales, where her love for storytelling grew at a precociously young age. After developing the medical condition M.E. / C.F.S., Kim turned to writing to escape the pressures of disabled living, only to become hooked on the incredible world of publishing.
As an author for Clean Teen Publishing and Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Press, Kim spends most of her time locked in the writing cave with an obscenely large mug of tea. When not writing, she can be found studying for her MA in Linguistics, watching classic British comedy, or concocting evil schemes in the secret laboratory in her attic.
Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Amazon / Pinterest / Instagram / Google +
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April 14, 2015
The Nines by Dakota Madison & Sierra Avalon
Presented by: Sparkle Book Tours
The Nines – Series: The Nines # 1
by Dakota Madison & Sierra Avalon
Audience: New Adult/ Adult – Genre: Romantic Suspense – Format: eBook – Publisher: Short on Time Books – Cover by: http://coveryourdreams.net/ – Editor: Shirley Pearson – Pages: 202 – ASIN: B00UXJUMQ0 -Date Published: April 13, 2015
USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR Dakota Madison and Sierra Avalon team up to bring readers a new breed of antiheroes…THE NINES.
Vengeance is mine not the Lord’s. It’s what I breathe for. It’s what I’m still living for. I live for the moment when I will literally have his eye for mine. It’s been two years. Two long and difficult years, but my plan is nearly complete. When I’m not in a hospital having doctors try to repair my ravaged body I spend my time on the computer, doing hacking jobs for large corporations and governments who don’t want to get their hands dirty or be associated with a job if things go sideways. But they don’t have any reason to worry. I’m meticulous, so I’ll never get caught. Just one thing stands in my way: The mysterious young woman without a past who desperately wants to be part of my future. I just need to figure out why…
THE NINES is an ongoing romantic suspense series. Each book can be read as a STAND ALONE NOVEL or as PART OF THE SERIES.
Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Itunes / Kobo / Smashwords
Vengeance is mine not the Lord’s. It’s what I breathe for. It’s what I’m still living for. I live for the moment when I will literally have his eye for mine. It’s been two years. Two long and difficult years, but my plan is nearly complete. When I’m not in a hospital having doctors try to repair my ravaged body I spend my time on the computer, doing hacking jobs for large corporations and governments who don’t want to get their hands dirty, or be associated with a job if things go sideways. But they don’t have any reason to worry. I’m meticulous, so I’ll never get caught.
I have the one thing that most people don’t.
Time.
After I was burned it was difficult for people to look at me and when they did, it was with pity or disgust, often both.
Even my own mother.
I don’t want anyone’s pity. And I have enough disgust towards myself to last five lifetimes.
So I left everything I’ve ever known and started over on my own.
Now I spend my days and nights in the small home I inherited from my aunt when she died. I would never have chosen to live next door to a large state university. It’s often loud and there are young people everywhere. It’s a constant reminder of everything I lost. I don’t feel young anymore. I feel like an old man trapped in a twenty-year-old body. If wisdom is the gift of tragedy I’d rather be ignorant.
I rarely leave home. It’s amazing what you can have delivered to your door these days. When I do need to go outside, it’s always at night and I always wear a mask. Not like the ones kids wear on Halloween. It’s more like the one that the Phantom of the Opera wore, but my mask is black and was specially designed to cover the burn scars on the left side of my face.
My latest job is for an Eastern European mob family. Modern day computer espionage has given a whole new meaning to the term “mob hit.” There’s no blood, no violence, just five million dollars vanished from several off-shore accounts in the blink of an eye. And I get fifteen percent. Not bad for a few weeks’ work.
Is it wrong to steal from criminals? I call it karmic justice. I don’t take jobs that could hurt innocent people. I only wrong people who have wronged others.
I have the luxury of a hefty bank account and very few needs. I don’t need to work another day my entire life and I wouldn’t want for a thing. But I need to keep my mind occupied. So I take hacking jobs that interest me and I take university classes online.
Having online discussions with my virtual classmates gives me the illusion of having friends and a social life. I realize it’s a poor substitute, but it’s the best I can do given my situation.
I try not to dwell on the past. The person I was, Mr. Popularity, the Class President, the Homecoming King, died the day my body burned like a barbeque on the Fourth of July.
My life now is in the shadows. Living with the fringe dwellers on the edge of humanity. I often feel like a man whose body has died, but his mind hasn’t caught up to that fact yet.
When my computer roars I know I have an incoming message. It’s from one of my contacts in China. I get a lot of work from the Chinese. I don’t speak Chinese and don’t have the patience to learn, so I use an intermediary to broker the deals. He gets fifteen percent of every deal he mediates.
I hear the familiar buzz of SKYPE and when I click on the icon Xiang Yuan appears on the screen. He’s young, probably just a few years older than me, but much better dressed. He always wears five hundred dollar suits and I’ve never seen him wear the same one twice.
“I can get you eight hundred thousand,” he says.
I don’t reply right away. I like to play things cool.
He continues. “With your skills this job won’t take more than one week. Who else will pay close to a million for one week’s work?”
“The Russians immediately come to mind,” I reply.
“And they’ll slit your throat if you don’t deliver on time. We have much more patience than that.”
I give a hearty laugh. “You guys are saints. You’d never slit a hacker’s throat. Maybe I should tell that to Jenks. Oh, wait. I can’t. You killed him.”
“Jenks got sloppy. That’s one concern I never have with you. You’re too meticulous.”
I shake my head. “You’re just saying that because you need me to take the job.”
“You’re the best person for the job,” he corrects.
“I’m the only guy you’ve got left.”
“Nine hundred thousand. But that is the final offer. Do we have a deal?”
I nod. “We have a deal.”
“Good. Let me know when the job is completed.”
“Don’t I always?”
Xiang Yuan doesn’t bother with a reply. He simply disappears from the screen.
I don’t need the money, but it’s an easy job that will probably only take a few days’ work. They’re offering close to a million for it. It’s not something I can refuse.
I rise and take a stretch away from my laptop. Sometimes it starts to feel like an appendage and that’s when I know I need a little time away from it. I step into the kitchen and make a fresh pot of coffee. While it’s brewing I glance out my kitchen window. My aunt liked to garden and the backyard is like a small sanctuary. I like to look at the plants and flowers, but I can’t be bothered with the maintenance. I have a gardener who comes by once a week to trim and weed and do whatever else needs to be done to keep it looking nice. I’ve never actually met the man, but I leave a check in an envelope for him under a mat on the back porch.
From my kitchen window I also have a slightly obstructed view of the small street I live on. The fact that it’s Macedonia Boulevard and my name is Alexander is a coincidence that is not lost on me.
The house is one block removed from one of the major thoroughfares the students frequent, so it’s not as noisy as it could be for being so close to campus. I’m still just a few blocks away from some of the dorms and much of the off-campus housing.
I’m surprised to see a beautiful girl, carrying a backpack, stop right next to my house. I have no idea who she is, or why she’s stopped there, but she looks lost.
Her long, dark hair moves slightly in the breeze and when it finally blows away from her face I can see her magnificent brown eyes and perfect pink lips. If my wishes came true and I was finally dead I know I’d be looking at the face of an angel.
I shouldn’t be standing in front of my window in the daylight staring at her. If she turned at just the right angle she could see me, and that wouldn’t be pretty. It would probably traumatize her. I need to move away from the window, but I can’t. I’m completely mesmerized by her.
When she looks at the street sign then looks up and down the block again there’s little doubt in my mind that she’s lost. I want to tell her that she’s just a block from campus. She hasn’t wandered too far afield. But I can’t leave the house, especially not in the daylight. I know as soon as she took one good look at me she’d probably run away screaming before I even had a chance to utter a word.
As she heaves a large sigh my gaze is immediately drawn to her chest. She’s wearing a pale pink sundress that fits like a glove and accentuates all of the lovely curves of her petite body. For a few moments I think about what it would be like to have my hands on her body. To touch her in the most intimate of ways. To run my fingers along her perfect, unblemished skin.
Then I chide myself for even giving in to those thoughts. There’s no use in imagining what I can never have again. Access to a woman’s body is something I lost forever. No woman would ever consider being with someone as damaged and disfigured as I am.
I considered my life over the day that half of my flesh was burned off of my body. The doctors working on me didn’t think I would live. They called it a miracle that I didn’t die. I call it a life sentence with no chance of parole.
I realized pretty quickly that my life had irrevocably changed. What I didn’t really understand until much later was the impact my injuries would have on the other people in my life.
It wasn’t until my high school girlfriend, Sara, was finally allowed to visit me that reality punched me in the face and knocked my teeth out. Sara and I had been together for over a year when it happened. She would have been burned just like me if she didn’t have a doctor’s appointment that morning and arrived late to school.
Her allergy shots kept her from dying in the blaze, or even worse, surviving it like I did.
She told me that she loved me nearly every day we were together. She was supposed to be my soul mate. We were supposed to spend our lives together.
But when she saw me in the hospital for the first time after the school bombing it was like she didn’t know me. When she looked at me all the love vanished from her beautiful brown eyes. It was like she was looking at a complete stranger.
That was the moment I knew my life as I had known it was over. Sara never came back to visit me and I never saw her again.
I spent my senior year of high school being homeschooled because I was in and out of the hospital so much. I’m smart and was always a good student so I finished all of my work early and started taking college classes in January of what was supposed to be my senior year of high school.
I traded in my high school prom and senior graduation parties for a life of worldwide hacking jobs and built my reputation as one of the best in the field of cyber espionage.
For a brief moment I panic because the girl standing outside my house turns to face me and for a second it’s almost like she can see inside of my house and she’s watching me.
But I know it’s not possible. If she really had caught a glimpse of me she would have already backed away in horror, wouldn’t she?
The girl just looks puzzled. Her head is cocked like she’s trying to figure something out. Then I see her walk towards the front of my house.
I hurry out of the kitchen and into the living room. I move the curtains on the front windows the slightest bit so that I can just make out what she’s doing. She’s standing right outside on the front walk way, staring at my front entrance.
What in the world could she possibly want with me?
Then it occurs to me. Maybe it’s not me she wants at all. Maybe she’s one of my aunt’s former students.
She looks down at a small piece of paper in her hands and then looks back up at the house. It’s almost as if she’s trying to decide whether or not she should walk up to the front door and knock.
I’m not sure what I’ll do if she does decide to knock on the door. It’s broad daylight. I only have deliveries come at night, when it’s difficult to see me, and I always leave the lights off, obscuring their view of me even further.
I hold my breath waiting to see what the girl will do. Just when I think she might make her way up to the door she takes off down the road instead.
I breathe a small sigh of relief that I don’t have to deal with her at the door. But in a small way I also feel a twinge of disappointment.
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USA TODAY Bestselling author Dakota Madison is known for writing New Adult and contemporary romance with a little spice and lots of heart. She likes to explore current social issues in her work. Dakota is a winner of the prestigious RONE Award for Excellence in the Indie and Small Publishing Industry. When she’s not at her computer creating spicy stories Dakota likes to spend time with her husband and their bloodhounds at their home outside Phoenix, Arizona. Dakota also writes under the pen names SAVANNAH YOUNG, SIERRA AVALON and REN MONTERREY.
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Amazon – Dakota / Amazon – Sierra
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April 15
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April 13, 2015
#SELFIE by Cambria Hebert ~ Cover Reveal
Title: #Selfie
Series: Hashtag Series #4
This is not a standalone
Release date: May 18, 2015
Genre: New adult college romance
Author: Cambria Hebert
Format: Ebook and Paperback
It’s all about the #Selfie.
She was the one girl I never wanted.
Until I had her.
One night.
One mistake.
Something we both wanted to forget.
I got rid of the proof. The one piece of evidence that could remind us both.
At least, I thought I did.
When it shows up on the school Buzzfeed, rumors fly. Friendships are tested and the feels get real.
I don’t do relationships. I don’t open my heart.
Especially for a girl everyone knows I hate.
What happens during spring break, stays in spring break.
Until it follows you home.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25210301-selfie
March 16, 2015
Happy Release Day to Christy Sloat
Slumber
By Christy Sloat
Published March 16, 2015
with anchor Group Publishing
~~~BLURB~~~
Not all princesses get their happily ever after…
They tell me I killed my boyfriend Phillip in cold blood. I stabbed him twenty one times. I’m only seventeen years old, and I am serving life in Spindle Ridge Asylum for the Criminally Insane.
I don’t remember killing him, so it’s really hard to believe I’m capable of murder. In fact I don’t remember anything before I came to Spindle Ridge, not even my boyfriend.
I can only grasp onto my realistic dreams while the madness of the asylum threatens to pull me under. I dream I’m a beautiful princess and there is an evil faerie named Maleficent who is bent on my destruction. The dreams are the closest thing I have to memories of my life, except they aren’t real.
I’m crazy. I’m not a princess.
They’re the mad illusions of an irrational teenage girl, right?
They’ve assigned me a new doctor, and she says I can trust her, and that she’ll help me see the truth of who I really am.
When she arrived she brought a new patient, Sawyer, who is everything Spindle Ridge isn’t: exciting, mysterious and beautiful. He promises he’s here to rescue me. Trusting either of them frightens me.
Could it be possible that my dreams are more than just the imaginings of a delusional girl? Could they be truth?
~~~Buy Links~~~
Amazon US- http://amzn.to/1bawaCP
Amazon UK- http://amzn.to/1C9ns1W
Amazon CA- http://amzn.to/1HLuw5m
Smashwords- http://bit.ly/1Cauntm
iTunes-http://apple.co/1DaUGQ3
March 9, 2015
Double Release: The Resistance by Alicia Michaels + Wolves of the Northern Rift by Jon Messenger
Help us wish a happy release day to two amazing authors: Jon Messenger and Alicia Michaels. Both authors have exciting Crimson Tree Publishing novels that hit the shelves and e-readers today! Check out more information on each book below. Also, don’t forget to join the release party fun this Friday, March 13th during our TRIPLE THREAT RELEASE PARTY where we will not only celebrate the two books releasing today, but another book that’s releasing next Tuesday. Make sure to stop into the party to play games with the authors, win amazing prizes and more.
NEW RELEASES TO GET TODAY:
Wolves of the Northern Rift by Jon Messenger:
Science Fiction – Steam Punk – Paranormal
Magic is an abomination. It spread from the Rift, a great chasm hundreds of miles long that nearly split the southern continent in two. The Rift was a portal, a gateway between their world of science and the mythological world of magic.
On the northern continent of Ocker, King Godwin declared that no magical monstrosity would be allowed within their borders. The Royal Inquisitors were formed to investigate reports of mystical occurrences and, should they be found, to destroy them.
Inquisitor Simon Whitlock knows his responsibilities all too well. Along with the apothecary, Luthor Strong, they’ve spent two years inquiring into such reports of magical abominations, though they’ve discovered far more charlatans than true magical creatures. When assigned to investigate Haversham and its reports of werewolves, Simon remains unconvinced that the rumors are true. What he discovers in the frozen little hamlet is that the werewolves are far more real than he believed; yet they’re hardly the most dangerous monster in the city.
The Resistance by Alicia Michaels:
Science Fiction – New Adult – Dystopian – Action – Romance
All it takes is a spark…
Blythe Sol never would have thought she would become the face of the Restoration Resistance. Yet, that is just what has happened now that the battle lines have been drawn. With the movement sweeping the United States, the stakes are higher than ever as President Drummond continues to prove his dedication to the destruction of the Bionics and all who stand with them.
The flame has been ignited…
As anger and frustration among the American people reaches the boiling point, citizens begin to fight back, many showing their support for the Bionics… despite the personal costs to themselves. As protests turn violent, and people who once cowered in silence begin to fight back, the government continues its practices that fly in the face of the very principles the nation was founded upon.
The time has come to revolt …
Despite the many losses it has sustained, the Resistance stands strong, leading America into revolution and onward toward change. With an unlikely, ragtag family of misfits at its forefront, the Resistance stands, while a girl who lost everything continues to fight for a future that was once impossible, but may now be within her reach.
See where it all began …
Sign up for Alicia’s mailing list, and receive a FREE copy of the prequel novella to the Lost Kingdom of Fallada Series: Beyond the Iron Gate
February 27, 2015
New Release: Tempest’s Fury (The Lost Kingdom of Fallada book 4) + Giveaway
Release Spotlight + Giveaway
Title: Tempest’s Fury (The Lost Kingdom of Fallada Book Four)
Release Date: February 28, 2015
Genre: YA Paranormal/Fantasy
Publisher: Marion Press
Blurb: Gretchen Thomas isn’t exactly princess material. She’s not thin, perky, graceful, or refined. So, when a mysterious man claiming to be from another world appears, telling her that she’s royalty, her first instinct is to laugh in his face. However, his assertion that she’s from this strange parallel realm rings true—especially given the freakish abilities she’s had since childhood.
Yet, with that knowledge comes a set of expectations Gretchen isn’t sure she can live up to. With an entire kingdom relying on her to fight for them against an evil queen, and a long lost family hoping to reunite with her, being a princess doesn’t seem like all it’s cracked up to be. One thing is for sure; when the war between good and evil spills over from one realm into another, disrupting her life and threatening the brother who raised her, Gretchen will not hesitate to unleash the powerful storm brewing inside of her.
*A fairytale reboot of Hansel & Gretel*
Add to your list on Goodreads
Download your copy:
Excerpt:
Brooklyn, New York
Moisture coated the air, steam from the showers lingering on the air along with the chorus of Miley Cyrus’ “We Won’t Stop”. Gretchen Thomas scowled. She hated the song with a passion, almost as much as she hated the girl who sang it.
To add insult to injury, the locker room echoed with the constant chatter of high-pitched voices. They sounded like a flock of birds … a flock of tall, leggy, blonde birds with perfect bodies and daddies who gave them everything they wanted.
The goddesses of high school. The banes of Gretchen’s existence.
They giggled together and danced to the music, not at all shy about their various states of half-nakedness.
Turning her back to them, she peeled off the sweatshirt she’d worn to gym class. Beneath it was her not-so-skinny body and nondescript black sports bra.
She tried to be quick about covering herself. Unfortunately, she wasn’t fast enough.
“Whale, ho!” one of the high-pitched voices said from behind her.
She stiffened, her face growing hot as the insult washed over her. Refusing to turn around, she pulled on her long-sleeved black and white striped tee, before layering it with a shorter-sleeved purple one.
“Want some butter for those rolls, porky?” a second voice asked.
Ariana Smith and Jessica Simmons … she recognized the voices as two of her most dedicated tormentors. Their insults sent giggles through the locker room, and now she could feel the stares … the eyes of the other girls boring into her.
Determined to ignore them, she slid out of her sweats and into her jeans as fast as she could. One of the girls muttered something else, but she couldn’t hear it through the anger causing her heart to pound, filling her ears with the sound.
Gritting her teeth, she shoved everything into her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. Not bothering to put her shoes on, she carried them, making a quick escape.
“Watch out, wide load!” wailed Ariana, giggling and backing out of her path in a dramatic motion.
She glared over her shoulder at both of them, then retreated. She could still hear the laughter as she paused, leaning against the wall outside the locker room and closing her eyes.
Ignore them. They’re just a couple of mean girls who put other people down to make themselves feel better. Be the bigger person. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Fitting in is for losers.
Yeah, none of that worked. The more she fought against her anger, the worse her need to lash out became until she felt a familiar heat beginning in her palms. The air around her shifted and moved like a gust of wind, and a bluish-white spark flashed in one hand.
Taking a deep breath, she swallowed past the lump of rage in her throat. She could hear Hayden’s voice in her head, telling her not to act out, not to use her abilities in public. But, her big brother wasn’t here, and her anger won out.
Releasing the emotion on a wave of energy, she grinned as the sound of screams and curses filled the locker room. The staccato pitter-patter of raindrops wasn’t enough to satisfy her, though. Fighting back laughter, she peeked around the corner for a glimpse of her handiwork.
Girls ducked and covered their heads, wailing their distress over the soaked clothes strewn across the locker room floor. Water rained down on them from overhead, drenching them all. Ariana and Jessica stood in their midst, screaming as their ruined hair fell around their heads, and water streamed down their faces, ruining their makeup.
Gretchen grinned, turning away from the locker room. She slid into her Converse sneakers, then reached into her backpack to retrieve her phone. Jamming her earbuds in, she cranked up the volume as Aerosmith crooned “Janie’s Got a Gun”.
Laughter burning in her chest, she made her way to lunch, practically skipping the entire way.
Check out the rest of the Lost Kingdom of Fallada books, a series of YA fairytale reboots!
Book 1: Daughter of the Red Dawn
A FREE Read!
Blurb: On the outside, seventeen year-old Selena McKinley is like any other teenage girl. Yet Selena has always felt as if she doesn’t belong and is counting the days to graduation and her freedom from the small town that makes her feel so out of place, when the arrival of a stranger turns her world upside down. Selena will learn just how different she is and the truth of where she comes from.
A lost princess, they call her, the catalyst for a war involving a world that Selena was taken from as a child. An evil queen obsessed with her own beauty with a plan to enslave the human race.…the notion seems so silly, yet Selena knows in her heart that it is true. Then there is Titus, the shape shifter whose blue eyes and claims of destiny hold her heart captive. Can Selena find the strength to do what she must while following her heart?
*A fairytale reboot of Little Red Riding Hood*
Book 2: Child of the Sacred Earth
Blurb: Get a degree, get a job, save adorable foster siblings from the clutches of the evil foster mom …
These are Jocylene Sanders’ top priorities as she enters her sophomore year of college. The last thing she expects is to find herself the champion of an entire kingdom. However, that is just what happens when the mysterious Faerie, Rothatin Longspear, appears to her, tasking her with saving a parallel world full of creatures from her wildest dreams.
Jocylene journeys with him into the world of Fallada, hoping for answers about her birth parents and background. What she finds is a mystifying past, and an even more uncertain future, as her heart becomes entangled with the stoic, battle-hardened Rothatin, as well as Eli, the untroubled Panther Shifter with no loyalties and no home. With her heart and soul pulled in so many directions, can Jocylene find the strength needed to become the savior one nation so desperately needs?
*A fairytale reboot of Rose Red*
Book 3: Rise of the Tide
Phaedra Jones’ life is perfect. She loves her small coastal town and the beach, graduation is just a year away, and she’s in love with the boy of her dreams. Unfortunately, everything changes when Phaedra’s boat goes down in a storm. Luckily, Phaedra survives, finding herself in a world beyond anything she could ever imagine. Not only does she discover that she is a Mermaid shifter of the underwater kingdom of Zenun, but the kingdom of Fallada—where fairytale creatures live and breathe—is depending on her. Phaedra risks losing everything: her perfect life, her family, even the boy she loves … all for a cause she has no stake in.
Arrian Riverleaf, Elf prince of the Riverleaf Clan, has been shunned by his people for over a century. After his arrogance caused him to be cursed, he became a hideous creature, only a shadow of his former self. When Princess Phaedra arrives in Fallada, he does not intend her to steal his heart. With her lost love to compete with and his own insecurities over his unattractive face, Arrian fights his feelings, knowing she could never look beyond his curse to love him.
As the two fight together to save Phaedra’s people, the realm of Fallada and the world of men will both hang in the balance as the battle between good and evil rages on.
*A fairytale reboot of The Princess and the Frog*
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iTunes
Smashwords
Prequel: Beyond the Iron Gate (Zara’s Journey)
In the year 1845, before the mystical land of Fallada was separated from the realm of men forever, the two worlds coexisted in harmony. Man could mingle freely in the world of the Elves and Faeries at will and peace reigned.
In the hills of Shropshire, England, just miles from the gate separating the village of Ludlow from the world of mystical creatures, farmer’s daughter Zara Wells longs for answers. It is not only the golden hair that trail feet behind her, or the strange hue of her violet eyes that separates her from the other girls her village. There is something inside of her, something touched by magic that longs to know more about what lies on the other side of the gate.
In Fallada, darkness has begun to spread. As the youngest and most beautiful girls of her village begin to disappear, Zara comes closer to discovering the true circumstances surrounding her birth. Little does she know, that the closer she comes to the answers she so desperately desires, the closer she will come to being ensnared in the dark queen’s web of growing treachery.
*A fairytale reboot of Rapunzel*
Download now:
*GIVEAWAY*
Enter to win these awesome items:
Gray, hand-crocheted infinity scarf
Read More Books silver bracelet
Set of signed postcards, bookmarks, and vanilla-honey lip balm
Giveaway ends March 14th!
US, UK, and Canada residents only.
February 10, 2015
The Bionics Novels, book 1, is now available!
Today is the day! I’m so excited about the re-launch of The Bionics series in novel format. The first novel, The Bionics, was released today! You can get your copy for only $0.99! Get the info below.
All Blythe Sol ever wanted was to be a normal girl. Yet, her dreams of following in her father’s footsteps by joining the military after graduation are crushed when nuclear war comes to the United States in the year 4006. Tens of thousands are killed in a series of attacks on many major cities, while thousands more are left injured from the devastation of the blasts, or terminally ill from the effects of radiation.
When the government offers the sick and injured a second chance as part of the Restoration Project, how could they refuse? Hoping to put her life back together after the blasts take both her arm and her eye, Blythe enrolls in the program filled with hope. She never expects that the bionic additions will change her life so drastically. When it is discovered that those outfitted with the robotic parts have become enhanced beyond the limits of ordinary human ability, normal can never exist for her again.
The Bionics become targets of the government, as fear of them spreads across the nation, further enflamed by media propaganda and political conspiracy. Forced to go into hiding or face execution, society’s outcasts band together to form the Restoration Resistance—an underground rebellion which Blythe becomes a part of in order to survive. She could never imagine that joining them would thrust her at the forefront of an imminent revolution, or that it would put her in a confusing tug-of-war between two of her fellow soldiers—Gage Bronson, the mysterious new addition to the Resistance, and Dax Janner, her best friend. Even though Gage is rapidly capturing her heart, she is forced to face the possibility that her feelings for Dax might just go beyond friendship. However, with impending war and the threat of death hanging over her head, Blythe hardly has time to worry about anything as trivial as a love life.
Download for only $0.99:
Coming soon to Barnes & Noble, iBooks, and Kobo stores!
February 6, 2015
Tempest’s Fury (The Lost Kingdom of Fallada Book 4) Now available for Pre-order!
I am so excited to announce that book 4 in the Lost Kingdom of Fallada series will be releasing on February 28, 2015. I am so thankful to my readers for letting me know how much they anticipate this book, and being patient during the wait time. That wait is almost over, and Tempest’s Fury is coming! I can’t wait for you all to meet Gretchen, the next princess to be found and reunited with her family. While you’re waiting and anticipating, be sure to pre-order your copy. Ebooks can be reserved through your favorite online retailer, and I am now also taking pre-orders for PAPERBACK! My website is the only place this will be available, and aside from having the book delivered to your doorstep on, or possibly even before release day, you will also get it personally signed! See below to place your orders!
Gretchen Thomas isn’t exactly princess material. She’s not thin, perky, graceful, or refined. So, when a mysterious man claiming to be from another world appears, telling her that she’s royalty, her first instinct is to laugh in his face. However, his assertion that she’s from this strange parallel realm rings true—especially given the freakish abilities she’s had since childhood.
Yet, with that knowledge comes a set of expectations Gretchen isn’t sure she can live up to. With an entire kingdom relying on her to fight for them against an evil queen, and a long lost family hoping to reunite with her, being a princess doesn’t seem like all it’s cracked up to be. One thing is for sure; when the war between good and evil spills over from one realm into another, disrupting her life and threatening the brother who raised her, Gretchen will not hesitate to unleash the powerful storm brewing inside of her.
Release date: February 28,2015
Now available for pre-order:
Using this drop down menu pre-order your paperbacks by selecting your country of residence. For pricing in countries not listed, please email me at fantasybyaliciamichaels@gmail.com. Paperbacks are $10.00 apiece plus the cost of flat rate priority shipping. Shipping rates have already been calculated and added to the price of the book in the drop down menu below. Your book will be shipped to arrive on or before February 28. All payments are processed securely using PayPal. As part of the checkout process, you will be asked for your address and what name you would like your book personally made out to.
Price + Shipping (Select your country)
United States $15.95 USDCanada $30.55 USDUnited Kingdom, England, & Australia $34.75 USD
February 1, 2015
Cover Reveal: Slumber by Christy Sloat
Slumber by Christy Sloat
Slumber Duology #1
Release date: March 16, 2015
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Not all princesses get their happily ever after…
They tell me I killed my boyfriend Phillip in cold blood. I stabbed him twenty one times. I’m only seventeen years old, and I am serving life in Spindle Ridge Asylum for the Criminally Insane.
I don’t remember killing him, so it’s really hard to believe I’m capable of murder. In fact I don’t remember anything before I came to Spindle Ridge, not even my boyfriend.
I can only grasp onto my realistic dreams while the madness of the asylum threatens to pull me under. I dream I’m a beautiful princess and there is an evil faerie named Maleficent who is bent on my destruction. The dreams are the closest thing I have to memories of my life, except they aren’t real.
I’m crazy. I’m not a princess.
They’re the mad illusions of an irrational teenage girl, right?
They’ve assigned me a new doctor, and she says I can trust her, and that she’ll help me see the truth of who I really am.
When she arrived she brought a new patient, Sawyer, who is everything Spindle Ridge isn’t: exciting, mysterious and beautiful. He promises he’s here to rescue me. Trusting either of them frightens me.
Could it be possible that my dreams are more than just the imaginings of a delusional girl? Could they be truth?
Add it on Goodreads!
Visit the author: www.christysloat.com
