Book Tour: Ember by Madison Daniels [Author Guest Post]

Tour banner made by Beckie @ Bittersweet Enchantment

Hello my wonderful readers and welcome to my stop on the Ember by Madison Daniel book tour. I hope everyone will enjoy learning more about this amazing novel. Thank you for stopping by. 

Ember

By Madison Daniel

~Book One in the Ember Series~

A touch of fire.
A soul lost to darkness.
A longing to change the past.

Max Valentine is 18, alone and has the power of a thousand suns at his fingertips. The crush of love will haunt him. The promise of normalcy will elude him. With a song in his heart and a guitar in his hand he will discover the painful truth...

...love never dies but it can kill.

Prologue: Nightmares

~Stop Crying Your Heart Out: Oasis~

“Hold on.”

“Hold on. Don’t be scared.”

Please don’t let go. The pain is dizzying. Just do not let go of her. This is my

fault, I’m sure of that now. Look her in the eyes and don’t let go of her. Whatever

happens, don’t let her be scared. Be stronger, for her.

Nothing else matters now. Not the pain. Not my mistake. Not the taste of blood

in my throat. Not the smell of ash all around us. All that matters is her…just her. Hold

on.

“Hold on a little longer!” I scream. I’m starting to panic. Stop it! You know what

happens when you panic. I have to calm down. Just breathe. Stay calm. Do it now, for

her!

“Max I’m slipping!” she screams.

“No! I won’t let it happen!” I say focused. But she was right. I was losing her.

I’m heating up again. Try harder and focus.

“Help me Max! My hands hurt…it burns! Help me! Please!” she cries louder. I’m so dizzy now. It’s too hot. I’m too hot now. I can’t hold her. She slips away and my heart breaks.

“Noooooooo!!!” she wails but her voice sounds so far away now.

Slow motion again. The dark pulls at the sides of my eyes and they burn something awful. Fight it. Fight the darkness. I reach out in front of me as far as I can. My eyes burn and I cannot see through my tears. But I can still see the look of terror on her face. I can still see her tears and her burnt and broken hands.

“Please no!” I beg. The world grows heavy.

“Don’t go…don’t go away…” Now I was screaming. She falls away.

I fade away…blackness. 

~ Only Happy When It Rains ~

“Pour your misery down on me...” - Garbage

Sometimes the best muse...is a dark one.

My name is Madison Daniel and I write the Ember series. In my series there is the constant shadowing of dark over light. The fight for a new dawn, a new day. I’ve found that when looking for inspiration in my writing, the darkness can be a powerful motivator. Why is that? Because you cannot have the light without the dark. 

Angels fall...heroes die...tomorrow can hurt AND our stories are better because of it. Lets be honest, there isn’t a writer out there that doesn’t enjoy writing “the bad guy” more than their beloved protagonist. Some will not admit it but it is true. Our anti-heroes let us experience a form of writing freedom and we love that! The darker your dilemma, the more devastating your environment, the more evil your “big bad” IS, the brighter your hero or heroine will shine.

Call me wicked but I adore my “evil doers”...they are so fun to inhabit. So absolutely cathartic. Bad day at work? Use it. Fight with someone you love/hate? Channel it. Let that horrible character in your latest manuscript free. Abuse his or hers evilness. Do it with a smile. That way, when it is time for your “literary light” to shine...it will burn that much hotter.

On that rare occasion, the hero/heroine IS the “big bad”...the darkness. This has been a new writing challenge for me. I have just recently discovered the absolute joy of penning this phenomenon. I was recently asked to share in an anthology of timeless and foreboding love stories. I had to follow one rule...keep it dark. So, I searched my extensive library of music and found the darkest of the dark playlists. As the many different “moody serenades” filled my head, I wrote on. Little did I know it would unleash a storm inside me. A new muse so dominate, so passionate, that I am still haunted by her. She started as the brightest of lights but quickly became something much more devilish. My evil literary crush! This hurricane is named “Neve” and I will be unleashing her on the literary world soon. You’ve been warned.

Don’t get me wrong...the heroic he-men and the heavenly angels are a blast to write too! Experiencing their trials against “the worst of things” will always be the main reason we lose ourselves in a good book or great series. I just wanted to point the spotlight on the “shadows” for a quick glimpse. 

As my guest blog comes to an end, I’d like to leave you with this...

...don’t be afraid of the DARK.

Embrace it. 

M.

“I only smile in the dark...” 

Music is LIFE and the written word is our SOUL. Music and writing have been my true ambition since I was a child. I have used music in every form possible; writing it, performing it, healing with it, etc. I call it my "life's soundtrack." I have always written in some form, from comic books to screenplays to short stories and now the new series "Ember." I have spent my writing life inspired by all the music of the universe, 80's movies and eye candy. When not writing I enjoy dreaming out loud, challenging the real world and inspiring the ones I love. I have found a true passion for my stories and characters and am eager to share them with the world. See you on the next book tour...M.D.

Blog: http://madisondaniel13.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/MadisonDaniel13

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5098993.Madison_Daniel

Tumblr: http://maddanauthor.tumblr.com/

Facebook Author: http://www.facebook.com/Madison.Daniel.Author

Facebook Book Series: http://www.facebook.com/EmberSeries

Amazon Author: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005DMSAIO

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/MadisonDaniel

Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read more about Author Madison Daniel's new novel, Ember. Be sure to add the book to your TBR List. I know I have and I adore the cover of the book. Isn't is awesome? 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and Thank you Madison Daniel for the lovely guest-post. :)

The Review Copy Cleanup: Love Will Find a Way | Challenge 5

The Review Copy Cleanup Challenge is hosted by 

Vicky @ Books, Biscuits & Tea and Celine @ Nyx Book Reviews!

This is the last challenge for this wonderful event and while I missed doing a few of the other challenges I knew I had to do this one. So with that said here is what we are said to do:

In the Love Will Find a Way Challenge we're sharing our all-time favourite books. If you were stuck on an island, or in a cave, which books would you bring? We're not limiting you to bring a certain amount of books, so give us your best!

Below are the books I would bring if I myself was in this situation - 

The complete seires of "The Iron Fey" by Julie Kagawa 

The Complete series of "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

A Classic | Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

The Bible | A Must :)

So here is my list and I know I could think of a lot more books in which I would bring but these are the main ones. So what about everyone else? What books would you take if you were stuck on an island, or in a cave, ect? 

Follow Friday #20

Follow Friday hosted by Parajunkee & alisoncanread

Featured Bloggers:
Jenni @  Alluring Reads
Justin @ Justin's Book Blog

Q: Do you read one book at a time or do you switch back and forth between two or more?

My Answer: I prefer to read one book at a time. I feel otherwise I somehow get the stories mixed up when I read 2 or more. Sometime I do read 2 books at once, but only because one book is for a review on my blog and the other one is just my personal choice of book. Like today I am reading Lies Beneath but I am thinking about starting a book I recently got from the library; The Fault in our Stars by John Green. I don't think I could ever do more than 2 books at a time. 0_o

How about YOU? Do you like to read more than one book at a time? And how many? I would love to know. :)

{Book Review} / The Dark Fae by Terry Spear

Title: The Dark Fae

Author: Terry Spear

Number of Pages: 152

Published: October 30th 2011 by Createspace

Source: Given to read by Author (e-book)

Reading Level: YA and Up

Star Rating: ★★★1/2

Goodreads | Purchase

Alicia's always known she's different--that she can recognize the mischievous fae when they show up to "play" with the humans. Only now she's faced with one highly annoyed dark fae and she's certain he knows the truth about her. She can see him, which means her life is forfeit.
Add to that, his sister arrives, who wants to play, too. And their mother, the queen of the Denkar, will want Alicia's head, once she learns what Alicia can do.
And all because Alicia was attempting to rescue her friend, Cassie, on their beach excursion at South Padre Island, from the wicked fae. Now, Alicia has really gone and done it--and she's thinking she should have let the fae have his fun. Her friend's broken heart would be a lot easier to deal with, than Alicia losing her life.
But it is too late for regrets. As soon as she threw the soda at the dark fae's chest, she had declared war on the fae. And he is happy to take up the challenge.

 First Impressions: I was given a copy of Terry Spear's novel The Dark Fae back in January to read for review. The cover alone had me very intrigued to read her novel. I really love how it looks so dark and mysteries. It has been a while since I have read a story about fairies and these mythological creatures are one of my favorites. After reading more about the book from the synopsis, I figured why not give it a chance. 


Review: First you must know that this book is not very long; with only 152 pages the story is tightly packed and makes for a short but captivating read. In the beginning of the book it take place in the here and now; present day. Within a short amount of time the story diverts and the reader is taken into the fae world. I really enjoyed the way the author describes this "hidden" fairy world and the fae living in it. There are divided parts of the world in which different fae kingdoms rule. Deveron a dark fae from the kingdom of Denkar where he is the crowned prince.  Deveron decides to go into the human world one day and comes upon a girl who can see these fae when no other humans can. But why? Deveron must now find out what and who she really is. 


Alicia has always been able to see fairies and does not completely understand why. On a vacation with her friend Cassie, Alicia see a gorgeous dark fae speaking with her friend and becomes worried. She knows he is not the good type of faerie. When she purposely spills some drinks on Deveron to try and make him leave, Deveron becomes very interested in Alicia only to later find out she is somehow able to see his kind. A plot turning event happens and Deveron will need to take Alicia into his world for her safety. From here the story plot advances with a exciting transformation which takes the reader into a magical world of fairies where both Deveron and Alicia soon come to learn who she really is. All the while forming a bond between both main character's. I felt that the love between Alicia and Deveron was quite romantic but for me a little to insta-love. Being a short novel I can understand why the author somewhat rushed the love between the character's but I would have liked the novel more if they had time to fall in love gradually and get to know each other better. 


The story in itself was pretty good and well written with only a few typos but nothing so bad that I would have felt inclined to stop reading. I felt that some parts of the book where slower than others. I did really love how descriptive the author was about the world in which she created in the book. The Dark Fae is definitely full of plot twists and turns; mystery and romance. If you enjoy a good fantasy with fairies within the YA-Adult age groups. Then this book is perfect for you and is short novel to read but not withing a Happy Ending!

Final Thoughts:  While I did not totally love this book I did enjoy it more than I thought I would. I really adore books about faeries and I knew I wanted to read Terry's novel as soon as I saw the cover. The lore in the book was very impressive but I felt a lacking in the character development. It would have been nice to know more in detail about each Royal fae kingdom and there traits. But otherwise the book "The Dark Fae" is a great fantasy novel and should definitely be given a chance to anyone who loves these type of books. 

WWW Wednesdays (#10)

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading. 


To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My answers:

What are you currently reading?  I am reading Perception. I got the book from my library. I started reading it yesterday and I am almost done. I love this series. Kim Harrington is a wonderful author and her writing style rocks! The pace of her books moves fast and each chapter has you wanting more.

What did you recently finish reading? The Dark Fae was a novel I just finished reading for author Terry Spear. I am hoping to work on my review for her book today or tomorrow. It is a short story but was a pretty good read. 

What do you think you’ll read next?  I am really excited about reading Lies Beneath. I got the book from Netgalley for a review copy. I keep hearing wonderful thing about it and I can't wait any longer to read it. I hope it meets up to my expiations.

If anyone would like please leave a comment with the link to your own WWW Wednesdays post so I can check it out. :)

Book Tour: Eve Eden vs. the Zombie Horde by Suz Korb [ Promo + GIVEAWAY! ]

Thank you for stopping by my blog for a Tour Stop for 

Eve Eden vs. the Zombie Horde by Suz Korb!  

Make sure to enter my giveaway to win an e-copy of the book at the end of the post!

 Book Description:

Kidnapped by a vampire, epically farted on by a pug and dragged through the pits of Hell. Welcome to Eve Eden’s world in the small and strange town of Twin Forest.

Eve has goals. She has dreams and ambitions that don’t involve staying in this weird, podunk town. When supernatural forces collide, dropping her into the heart of England, she’s not pleased. When Eve said she wanted to get the heck out of dodge, she didn’t mean getting transported into a castle dungeon.

A hellish incident turns Eve’s hair white. She can’t explain a slight attraction to a vampire who’s been sent to kill her. Can life get any worse? Apparently it can, because just around the corner at Twin Forest’s cemetery… waits the zombie horde.

Purchase at:

Amazon 

Amazon UK 

Smashwords

B&N

Author Suz Korb writes supernatural comedy-horror novels with a splash of paranormal romance. The first novel in her Bedeviled trilogy, Eve Eden vs. the Zombie Horde, is a young adult adventure tale of hellish proportions.

Visit Suz at: http://www.suzkorb.com

An excerpt from Eve Eden vs. the Zombie Horde starring 

Thunderbug: the epic farting pug.

After everything I've seen. After everything I've been subjected to over the past...

however many days, this has got to be the most confounding experience of all.

As Nathan's lips gently (gently!) touch my own, my face burns. My eyes start to

water and I don't have a clue what I should do. So I just shut my heavy lids.

I've never been kissed.

Least of all by a blood-sucking vampire!

I'm so panicked and confused my brain wanders off to the random thought of dogs.

In fact, I can actually hear a dog barking in my imagination right now.

Nathan pulls away from me.

There's a rush of air between our faces now, it immediately cools my cheeks.

"Bark! Bark! Bark!"

Bark, bark, bark?

"Where did that dog come from?" Nathan says.

My eyes fly open. I whip my head around to see none other than Thunderbug

bounding towards us on his little pug paws.

"That pup belongs to Bubbles!" I say with a smile. I've never been more happy to

see someone else's dog in my entire life.

Turning my whole body toward the racing pug, I go down on one knee and reach

my arms forward. I'm ready to catch him. At the rate he's running though, he might

succeed in knocking me back.

Thunderbug leaps over a stalagmite on the floor of the cave. Then he jumps over

an even higher one. Impossibly, the flat faced little scamp next flies over a ten foot

stalagmite. He heads toward me, jumps in an arch over my head and I watch as if

in slow motion as he crashes into Nathan's chest.

If I expected the pug to bounce off and crash to the floor, I'd be wrong.

Thunderbug totally takes Nathan down.

I barely have time to register the look of surprise on his face, before he vanishes.

What's more is, Thunderbug disappears too.

No wait! Nathan's over there, in the far corner of the cave. There's Thunderbug

too! How is it possible for a doggy to move as fast as a vampire? I don't know, but

Thunderbug is doing so.

Actually, the pug is now flashing around the room in locations different to where

Nathan is appearing. During the last flash of re-appearance, Nathan blinks into the

place just behind Thunderbug's rear end.

Uh oh...

Yep. Thunderbug, lets out a gaseous explosion from his butt that is so epic, I swear

I see a mushroom-cloud blast into Nathan.

He goes down. The vampire has just been farted into submission by a super

flatulent pug.

Now is your chance to win a copy of this book!  Just fill out the Rafflecopter below and good luck to everyone! 

As of right now, this book is being unpublished due to formatting errors.  It will be republished very soon! The winner from this giveaway will win a copy of Eve Eden vs The Zombie Horde once it is republished AND also a copy of Eve 2!  So please do enter to win, but keep in mind the prize will be delayed some. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In My Mailbox (#18)

A weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren, where we post about all the books we have received whether in the mail, if we purchased it, or got it from our local library. 

Here is my IMM for this week:

Book I have bought:

[ All book were bought on Amazon.com and in Kindle format. ]

The Fate of Destiny by Danielle Bourdon

Glimpse by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

Awakening by Karice Bolton 

Books I have won:

 

 The Dark Rose by Erin Kelly
Angel Burn by L.A Weatherly (signed)
Soul Thief by Jana Oliver (signed)
Black City by Elizabeth Richards (ARC)
Cold Fury by T.M. Goeglein (ARC)
The Right The Real by Joëlle Anthony (ARC)
The Waiting Sky by Lara Zielin (ARC)
The Implosion of Aggie Winchester by Lara Zielin (ARC)

Books I have borrowed from the library:

Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

Took back the book a couple days ago so I will just show the cover. (from Goodreads)

Books I have received for Review:


None this week. 

What books are in your mailbox this week? I would love to know. :)

Leave a link so I may check it out / for non-bloggers just leave a comment with your books. 

Book Tour: Mark of the Seer by Jenna Kay [Promo]

Tour banner made by Beckie @ Bittersweet Enchantment

Hello and welcome to my stop on the Mark of the Seer book tour. I hope everyone will enjoy learning more about this amazing novel. Thank you for stopping by.

Mark of the Seer

By Jenna Kay

Blurb:

Clarity Miller always thought of her life as semi-normal. She had friends that would do anything for her, a boyfriend madly in love with her, and a roof over her head that she shared with her aunt. Everything seemed to be falling into place. That is, until the day she met Sam.

When Sam informs her that he's her guardian angel and that she has been given the gifts of a Seer, her life starts spiraling out of control. She wants nothing to do with the spiritual realm. All she wants is to have a normal life as a teenager, but when a tragedy occurs that causes the whole town of Garlandton to fall to its knees she realizes that she has a very important decision to make. Should she embrace the life of a Seer? Only time will tell...

Excerpt from Chapter Twelve, Mark of the Seer

“What do they mean, Sam?”  I asked urgently.  “Why do I have tattoos on my hands?”

His eyes fell to my hands.  He flipped them over, lovingly stroking the crosses.  I winced at the sight of them.

“They are not tattoos,”  he answered in a bare whisper, still admiring them.  “They are marks that have appeared on millions since the fall.”

“Why do I have them?”  I asked again.

His gaze eventually drifted back to me.  “They are the marks of the Seer.  You are a Seer, Clarity.”

I stared at him in paralyzed shock.  “That's what Lukus called me!  But I. . .I don't. . .”

I was totally floored and speechless.  His proclamation had hit me like a thunderbolt falling from the sky, striking me and then leaving me numb from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

Seer.  Lukus's voice echoed in my head—the demons had called me a Seer.  The problem was that I had no idea what a Seer was.

As if reading my mind Sam leaned closer to me, just inches away from my face, his eyes burning with fired-up serenity.  The smell of lavender circulated around us with a calming intoxication of pure love.

“You can see into the spirit realm.  Not only can you see what's in front of you, but you can also see what other humans can't.  As your gift matures you'll be able to fight the forces of the wicked alongside me.”

“How is that even possible?”  I challenged.  “Out of all the billions of people on the planet, why am I the only one who can see supernatural. . .things?”

“You're not the only one,”  he confessed.  “In Garlandton you are, but not the only one in the world.”

I looked at him, blatantly puzzled.  My head pounded as I tried to grasp his words that sounded like they had been blended together in a glass of absolute disarray.  I was still trying to wrap my mind around angels and demons existing, and to add Seer to the whole mix was just plain irritating.

“What does Ra'ah and Chozeh mean?”  I inquired, knowing very well I was butchering the pronunciations of the strange words.  The way they came from my mouth didn't sound at all like how the demons had sounded them.

Sam chose not to point out my brutal massacre of the words.  “Those are just other ways to say Seer.  Ra'ah basically means that you are able to see.  Chozeh means you're an observer of visions.”

“Visions?”

He nodded.  “Most visions come to you through dreams, but sometimes they can happen while you're wide awake.  Being a Seer you may be able to see something that will happen years down the road, or you will be able to see something just moments before they happen.”

Stupefied I asked,  “I'll be able to see the future?  How crazy is that?!”

“No, no, no,”  he replied ruefully.  “Don't get your gift from above confused with fortune telling—those are two very different subjects.  Your visions will come directly from the Father, whenever and wherever you are.”

Amazement infused my nerves as I digested everything he was saying, and I tried really hard to keep an opened mind.  Just sixty some-odd days ago my life had presumably been normal, but now I was sitting in my room having a conversation with my guardian angel about me being a Seer who not only could see into the spiritual world, but also could receive visions from God.

My life was so far from normal it was pathetic.

Jenna Kay has always had a vivid imagination and decided at 30 years old that it was time to bring the real supernatural to life. Jenna's heart is to impact the lives of young adults that are going through the hardships of this life with a hope that there is way more out there than just the pains of the world.

Jenna grew up with three older brothers which made her one tough cookie. She was blessed with two loving parents, both that encouraged her to follow her dreams and always made sure that she was in Church. Jenna graduated from high school in Georgia, where she played varsity basketball. Later, Jenna obtained a cosmetology license from the State of Georgia and practiced cosmetology for 8 years before becoming a full time author.

Jenna currently resides in North Georgia where, when not writing, she spends time with her three young children and her loving husband.

Jenna works to help those who need guidance and love that is far greater than we can provide. There IS hope.

http://www.facebook.com/ClaritybyJennaKay

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenna-Kay/156741071050573

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Seer-Society/112358532173215

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4700629.Jenna_Kay

http://seersociety.com/

http://blog.seersociety.com/?ci=22763

Twitter: ClarityJennaKay

Skype: jenna.kay3