YA Scavenger Hunt: Lea Nolan

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This tri-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors…and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize—one lucky winner will receive one signed book from each author on the hunt in my team!But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are TWO contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the BLUE TEAM—but there is also a red team for a chance to win a whole different set of twenty-five signed books!
If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage.
SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE
Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the blue team, and then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!).
Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.
Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
SCAVENGER HUNT POST

Today, I am hosting Lea Nolan for the YA Scavenger Hunt!
Lea Nolan writes the kinds of stories she sought as a teen—smart paranormals with bright heroines, crazy-hot heroes, diabolical plot twists, plus a dose of magic, a draft of romance, and a sprinkle of history. She also writes smart, witty contemporary stories filled with head-swooning, heart-throbbing, sweep-you-off-your-feet romance. She lives in Maryland with her heroically supportive husband and three clever children.
Find out more information by checking out the author website!
CONJURE LINKS:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indie Bound | Goodreads
ALLURE LINKS:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indie Bound | Goodreads
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

Worst. Summer. Ever.
Emma Guthrie races to learn the hoodoo magic needed to break The Beaumont Curse before her marked boyfriend Cooper’s sixteenth birthday. But deep in the South Carolina Lowcountry, dark, mysterious forces encroach, conspiring to separate Emma and Cooper forever. When Cooper starts to change, turning cold and indifferent, Emma discovers that both his heart and body are marked for possession by competing but equally powerful adversaries. Desperate to save him, Emma and her twin brother, Jack, risk their lives to uncover the source of the black magic that has allured Cooper and holds him in its grip. Face with the horror of a soul-eating boohag, Emma and Jack must fight to resist its fiendish power to free Cooper long enough to join their strengths and face it together, before it destroys them all.
And now, exclusive content from Lea herself!
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My book, Allure, the second installment in The Hoodoo Apprentice series features three teens who use Gullah hoodoo magic to battle an ancient-soul sucking curse and a hideous monster that will stop at nothing to consume its prey.
Hoodoo magic is an African American folk healing and magical art, not to be confused with voodoo, which is a religion. Hoodoo originated among enslaved Africans in the South Carolina and Georgia Lowcountry and is largely based on African traditions, but has also been influenced by Native American, European and other practices.
In Allure, Emma Guthrie uses many hoodoo spells to protect her twin brother Jack, and their best friend (and Emma’s boyfriend), Cooper Beaumont. She’s also called upon to break some of the jinxes laid by her enemies. To give you an idea of the kind of hoodoo charms Emma might use, I thought I’d share a few with you today. These come directly from one of my favorite spell books, Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic by Catherine Yronwode.
Love Potion Number Nine
The original Love Potion Number nine is an herb tea drank for nine days (not the commercially available dressing oil). To brew your own Love Potion, select any nine non-toxic love herbs, being sure to include Rose Petals, Red Clover, and Catnip. Other love herbs include: apple, caraway, cardamom, cherry, cinnamon, coffee, coriander, dill, ginger, ginseng, lemon grass, licorice, mace, mint, mustard seed, orange, parsley, raspberry, saffron, sage, and vanilla. Steep the herbs in hot water for nine minutes as you pray.
To Confuse Someone’s Mind
Write the person’s name nine times, alternating black and red ink (start and finish with black), wrap and tie Ten Bark in the paper, put it in a Vinegar Bottle, and keep the bottle upside down in a dark place.
To Contact the Dead
Dip Acacia leaves in holy water and sprinkle an alter with the water, or burn Acacia as incense to communicate with or memorialize the dead.
I hope you enjoyed this introduction to hoodoo magic. Though these spells seem simple, may people believe in their power and rely on them to offer protection or grant their most fervent desires. For more information about hoodoo magic and more examples of spells, I highly recommend that you check out Catherine Yronwode’s Lucky Mojo Curio Company at www.luckymojo.com Ms. Yronwode has painstakingly recorded the history of hoodoo, collected oral histories of spells, and is a well respected manufacturer of authentic charms.
So what do you think? Would you ever brew your own batch of Love Potion Number Nine? Or would you wait to see if your crush came to you on his own?
~Lea
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And don’t forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books by me, Lea Nolan, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is

Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the blue team and you’ll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!
CONTINUE THE HUNT
To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author, Lucy Connors!