Blog Tour: Bai Tide by Erika Mitchell

Bai Tide by Erika Mitchell

Publisher: Champagne Books

Release Date: April 6th 2015

Genre: Thriller

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US

Synopsis:

After the events of Blood Money, CIA case officer Bai Hsu is assigned to a high-security private school for what he’s told is an easy assignment. Just a few months after he arrives, a hostile operative with ties to North Korea tries to break in to a school event, with motives unknown.
As his investigation progresses, he unravels a plot that, if not stopped, will result in the untimely and murderous deaths of tens of millions of people.
Bai Tide is Bai’s greatest challenge yet. A mission that will take him from the windswept beaches of San Diego to a whiteout blizzard in the foothills of Pyongyang, and make him question everything he thought he knew about working in the field…and about himself.

Excerpt:

I hadn’t dressed for a foot pursuit across the beach and was losing ground fast. My shiny black dress shoes burrowed into the dry sand with every step and my tuxedo jacket flapped open as I pumped my arms and tried to gain on the man I’d chased away from the Hotel Coronado a minute ago. The San Diego evening was cooler than you’d expect. Brisk gusts of wind bounced off the sea at sporadic intervals beneath a full moon blazing out of a cloudless, star-spattered sky.

Rolling breakers hurled salty spray into my face as I tore the jacket off and dropped it behind me. My quarry raced ahead, undeterred by the crappy footing. Under five and a half feet tall, with a body fat percentage that had to be in the low teens, he wore a baggy all-black ensemble, complete with a matching ski mask, bulky infrared goggles, and combat boots that kicked up little spits of sand with each stride.

Whoever he was, his speed was impressive; he widened the gap between us by almost two paces for each one I took. Something in the way he was running made me think he knew where he was going. Unless he planned on running south all the way to Mexico, the most likely place was the parking lot of a condo complex a quarter mile ahead. I had to assume he’d prepared a contingency plan in that parking lot somewhere. Guns, explosives, sharp rocks, something painful of that nature. If I didn’t catch up with him before he reached his defense cache, I had the feeling I wouldn’t like the welcome.

“Enough of this crap,” I said as I stopped just long enough to pry off my shoes. A daily barefoot run on the beach routine has some advantages, not the least of which is being able to keep up with Splinter Cell rejects during nighttime sand chases.

Author Bio:

Erika Mitchell was born in Orange County, California to a published author and an Anarchist's Cookbook aficionado. She moved to Seattle, Washington as a freshman in high school, where she promptly realized she owned just one pair of pants and that was going to be a problem in a place with an actual winter.

She graduated from Northwest University in 2003 with a degree in Psychology, which she has yet to use. After a brief foray into technical recruiting (a disaster), she found her calling as a writer and, wonder of wonders, was actually able to find a job where someone paid her to do just that as a blogger.

Blogging turned into writing novels, where Erika has found her niche in the espionage and thriller genre.

Erika currently resides in a small suburb outside Seattle with her husband and two children.

Author Links: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

Book Blitz: Ink (A Mermaid Romance)

Ink (A Mermaid Romance) by Melanie Karsak

Publisher: Not available

Release Date: June 2nd 2015

Genre: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | B&N

Synopsis:

A mermaid princess destined to wed a handsome king…

It sounds like a fairy tale, but the reality is far murkier.

Ink, Princess of the Florida Atlantic mers, is slated to wed the ancient enemy of her tribe, the King of the Gulfs. After years of war that led to countless mer deaths, as well as the genocide of aquatic shapeshifters and the freshwater mers of Florida, Ink’s marriage will bring lasting peace.

Or so it seems.

Mere hours before she’s supposed to leave the ocean for her customary year as a drywalker, Ink meets Hal, an alligator shifter who warns her that a storm is brewing. There is malicious intent behind Ink’s marriage—and worse, meeting Hal has also caused a storm to rage in Ink’s heart. Nevertheless, loyal to her tribe, Ink will put aside her feelings and journey to Miami to marry the decadent King Manx.

Ink soon learns that her only hope of surviving the crashing force swelling around her is to tap into a power deep inside—a forbidden power that might destroy them all.

Excerpt:

As I jerked my knife, I stared at the boat motoring overhead. Seaton was right.
Everything about this fishing practice was illegal. The purse-seine fishing method they
were using had been outlawed years ago. Disgusting. At least merpeople honored their
laws, even when we didn’t like it.

The torn net wagged with the motion of the waves. As I worked, anger welling up in
me. If it hadn’t meant having their refuse in my waters, I could just sink their boat and
drown them all. It was, after all, instinctual for me to want their death. While our law
forbad using siren song, which was nothing more than tuning of sound resonance, I still
felt the ancestral tug in me. I would have loved to purr a sweet song and pull them down
into a murky death. I could almost hear the tune in the back of my head, humming from
an ancient source. The song of the siren was nearly lost now, its banishment causing it
to fade from common use or knowledge. I closed my eyes. With just a few notes, it
would all be done.

“Ink?” Seaton called.

I opened my eyes. Careful, Ink. “Good. Almost there.” I glanced back at Indigo.
She’d moved the mother dolphin deeper into the water, away from the surface, and had
shifted back into mermaid form. Her blueish hair, befitting her name, made a halo
around her. She was using merdolphin magic to dazzle the creature, talking in low
melodious tones that echoed softly through the water.

Seaton stopped just above me.

“Got it,” I said, then slid my blade upward. The net broke in half, wagging like
seaweed in the waves.

Seaton and I swam to Indigo who was guiding the mother dolphin, holding her
gently by the flipper. From above, there was a terrible groan, then a screech as the
gears on the winch sprang to life. The net wall moved like it was alive, the tentacles of a
great sea monster closing in on us.

“We must hurry,” Seaton said.

Moving quickly, we swam through the tear and out of the net, back into the safety of
the open ocean.

The gears on the winch lurched. Water pressure pulled the tear, causing the net to
rip wide open. The tuna rushed free. I tread for a moment, stopping to watch the sight
as Indigo guided the mother dolphin into the dark water below us.

“The pup is coming,” Indigo called from the blackness below.

Above, the bottom of the boat rocked, unsteadied by the broken net. The winch
slowly reeled the mesh out of the water. It looked like a dead thing, a man-made
monster fished out of the living ocean. As the fishermen moved along the rail of the
ship, their images were weirdly distorted against the surface of the water. With all my
willpower, I sucked in the death-dealing note that wanted to escape from my lips. The
massive swirling tribal mark on my back started to feel prickly and warm. Harnessing
myself in, I reminded myself that it was forbidden. I turned and swam into the shadowy
deep.

Q & A with Author 
1. What is your favorite mermaid story or myth?

When I was a teen, I fell in love with the Slavic/Russian novels written by C. J. Cherryh,
including her work Rusulka. Rusulka is the story about a drowned girl who becomes a
haunted spirit. Rusulka are prevalent in Slavic myth. They are often depicted as spirits,
but sometimes they appear as nymphs or water sprites. I was really inspired by
Cherryh’s Rusulka character.

You can catch the paperback for a penny on Amazon! http://amzn.com/0345359534

2. What was the inspiration for your mermaid novella?

     

I moved to Florida about five years ago, and I was really inspired by all the sights on the
coast. We’ve taken trips to Miami on a few occasions. I enjoy the architecture, but
dislike the vibe of the city. It’s the same vibe Ink feels when she is there (sorry, Miami). I
live on the Space Coast, not far from NASA, and I love this area. We are close to Cocoa
Beach which has the feel of a “once-happening” place. There is a quaint charm to its
faded, sea-side glory. I adore Cocoa Village, a quaint downtown area. There are lovely
little shops and old oak trees with Spanish moss. It was the perfect setting for Ink’s
eventual rendezvous with a good friend.

3.    Cast your characters. If your novella was made into a movie, who would play your
main characters?


Ink is hard to cast, but I would probably choose someone like Megan Fox.

For Hal, I would definitely cast Jason Momoa. Because, well, Jason Momoa.

4.    What was most challenging thing writing about mermaids?

The world building! Oh my gosh, it took me forever to figure out just how “under the sea”
functioned in terms of a society. There was nothing to go from so I just made it all up! It
took a lot more time and brain-power than I expected.

5.    Ursula or Ariel?

Ursula’s attitude with Ariel’s looks. Ariel is too “I need a man” for me. Ursula is too “I
need power” for Ink. But they both have good qualities.
I actually really love cecaelia, mer-octopus like Ursula. They play an important role in
Ink.

6.    What else should we know about your novella?

There are alligator shifters and nyotaimori (Google it). I now know way more about
alligator mating calls than a normal person would find useful. Don’t judge me by my
Google searches. :)

Author Bio:

Melanie Karsak is the author of the Amazon best-selling steampunk series The Airship Racing Chronicles (Chasing the Star Garden and Chasing the Green Fairy) and the award-wining horror/dark fantasy Harvesting Series. She grew up in rural northwestern Pennsylvania and earned a Master’s degree in English from Gannon University. A steampunk connoisseur, white elephant collector, and zombie whisperer, the author currently lives in Florida with her husband and two children. She is an Instructor of English at Eastern Florida State College.

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Giveaway:

Blitz-wide giveaway (OPEN INTERNATIONALLY)
1. Mermaid Mega-Gift pack (Mermaid necklace, Mermaid bracelet, Alligator Necklace, Shell necklace, a 7-year mermaid pen, Cocoa Beach photo album, Mermaid christmas tree ornament, pack mermaid buttons, Ariel car decal, Cocoa Beach tote)

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Book Blitz: The Tour (Phoenix Rising #2) by Shelby Rebecca (Excerpt + Giveaway)

The Tour (Phoenix Rising #2) by Shelby Rebecca

Publisher: Not available

Release Date: April 20th 2015

Genre: New Adult, Romance

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon UK

Synopsis:

Mia, the saint
Kolton, the sinner

The Tour is the conclusion to The Stage: a Phoenix Rising Novel

After the finale of The Stage, Mia comes to terms with where she’s placed in the competition. But that night, Kolton and Mia come face-to-face with both of their biggest fears: fire and loss. Not everyone will survive, and the challenges that their relationship cause won’t end when the show does.

Kolton needs Mia’s trust, and he’ll do anything to get it—even exposing himself and what makes him vulnerable. He’ll do anything to keep her. Knowing the choice is hers to make doesn’t make it any easier. The secret about the night of the finale, about the choices made in a moment of survival can’t stay hidden when a celebrity’s life is fodder for the masses.

In the midst of this chaos and loss, Mia has to balance her love for Kolton and the future of her career. Will she sign with him, letting him be her boss with control over her future? Or will she go out on her own, with a sup par record contract so that she stands on her own equal to Kolton in her own right?

When there are so many questions and decisions to be made, going on tour could either make things clearer or make all the weaknesses in their relationship pull to the surface. Those fissures either get stronger, or break so permanently nothing can repair them.

When loves burns so bright, is it sustainable?

Excerpt:

Rules

My breath comes out in puffs, and I watch it because it’s the only diverting thing I can do while I pout outside. I’m shivering but I’m not going in the house, not yet. My plan is to remain stubborn until I can’t take it any longer then I’m going to sleep on the floor in Riley and Deloris’ room. He won’t go in there because of Deloris. At least he has some boundaries.
The door opens behind me and he sticks his head out. “What if I take one of those off the agenda tonight?” he asks, his voice slow.
“What?”
“Talking, spanking, fucking. I’ll take one off the agenda,” he clarifies, coming to stand, in all his glory, forearm pressed against the doorjamb, “if you’ll come inside.” He blinks again for a long time, sways a little, and then stares right into me like he’d done the first time he’d ever laid eyes on me.
“I’m not doing any of that shit,” I tell him, breaking the trance by staring out toward the trees. I’m shaking so hard from the chilled air that my voice sounds like a vibration.
“Fine, you win. Just come inside. My only demand is that you sleep in my bed, where you belong.”
“No.”
“This is my final offer. I’m willing to bend on all the other stuff, even though it would do you some good to get a good spanking. You’d probably like it, which would lead to…you know, the other two in a different order than I’d previously offered.” For whatever reason, he actually makes me smile. It’s a cold-face smile—my lips are numb and my hands are getting stiff.
“Just the sleeping. No talking. No—other stuff.” He nods, smiling, and puts his hand out for me. As I walk toward him, I put my arm out to meet him half way. His hand is as warm as a Christmas evening by the fire. Once I’m inside, he puts his arm around me, his hand sliding down to rest at the small of my back, and walks me down the hall and into his room. Slowly, he pulls down the covers and helps me in like a gentleman helping a lady into a carriage—except he’s in sweats and I’m in mix-matched jammies.
I watch him walk around to his side, and my stomach does a little butterfly flip when he slides in next to me. I cross my legs at the ankle. Off limits.
At first he’s looking up at the ceiling, but then he tilts his head to the side. “You can’t do this, Mia.”
“What can’t I do?”
“What I’m trying to say is you can be mad at me, and I can be really fucking mad at you,” I try not to giggle when he slurs the word ‘fucking,’ “but you can’t shut me out like that,” he whispers and rolls over so he’s facing me. “I’m not even gonna say that you can’t go to bed angry. I’m just going to ask that you sleep with me every night, even if you’re mad. Can you agree to that?”
“I felt weird coming in here after you yelled at me.” He nods, and looks down acknowledging that he hurt me. He looks up, and tunes into me, looking through me, and runs his finger along my jawline.
“Your place is with me. What’s mine is yours. End of story.” He hums a little, the drugs making him melodious.
I want to protest for the sake of protesting, my immaturity peeking out its little baby head. Instead, I swallow and nod. “Okay.” Take that, immaturity.
“Hmmm. That wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be,” his mouth bends into the side smirk he gives only me. I move on to my side and wrap my leg over his.
“So I get my way after all,” he laughs as he smacks me hard on the ass, grabbing it and pulling me on top of him.
“No, you didn’t,” I laugh.
“Even in the order I wanted it. Talking, spanking, fu—” he says, before I take his mouth with mine and pull my shirt over my head. As I look down at him, his face is all soft angles. “You dazzle me,” he says.
“Dazzle, who says that anymore?” I laugh and he stills me with his hands on my hips.
“Well, I’m on all kinds of drugs right now,” he says. “Can’t be responsible for what I say or do.”
“You have to be kidding.”
“Take off your pants. I’ll show you some dazzle,” he adds, and I giggle as his finger runs a soft line up my thigh. He knows that I need this just as much as he does. I sit up straight and unstrap my bra. When he sees my breasts, he swallows hard and his jaw tenses.
I push my pajama pants over the curve of my hips, slowly pulling them down. I’m hesitating because I know this is wrong, he’s wounded, and he probably shouldn’t exert himself. “Take them off,” he demands.
I nod and look him in the eye as I push my pants over my hips, move backward so I’m sitting between his legs, and let him take them off one leg at a time. I can see how ready he is, as I climb over him. My heart is aching as he fists his hand in my hair, running his other hand up my outer thigh, and kisses my lips, flicking my tongue once like I am life and he’s ready to live. I rub my panties against his length as it’s pressing into his stomach. The friction is both exciting and breaking my heart. We almost died. What if I’d lost him?
He fingers my nipple, hardening it before he takes it in his mouth. It’s like a direct line to my core as his tongue moves back and forth before he sucks and squeezes me. I feel my heart constricting, pumping the blood through my veins. I feel like I’m glowing.
I know this is what he needs after the fire, after his fear that we were hurt at the mall. But it’s because he’s never known real love. He lost his mother before he could form a real memory about her. In this moment, I’m grateful that our physical closeness eases his anxiety. But, it makes me move my mouth away from his to catch my breath. When I do, I think too much. I see the wound over his heart and remind myself that he’s a human man—not a rock god. “This could hurt you.”
His fingers travel between us and he moves my panties to the side. I bite my lip as his fingers slide into my soft, wet folds. “Does this hurt?” he murmurs, as my mouth opens and my hips start to move in time with his hand.
“No.” I shake my head, and I can feel my chin start to tremble.

Author Bio:

Shelby grew up between two mountains and a lake in Wasilla, Alaska. She used to run around in the tall grass, catch frogs, rescue dragonflies, ride horses, and ice-skate during recess. She still likes adventures and has even gone skydiving. Today she lives in Northern California with her husband, John and their daughter, Elise, their two dogs, and a fish named Jade.

Sign up here for Shelby's mailing list to get all the latest info on new releases, giveaways, and more.

Giveaway:

Individual giveaway (OPEN INTERNATIONALLY) ENDS MAY 17th 2015

1. eBook copy of The Tour

Leave you name, email, blog website (if you have one) and number starting from 1 below in the comment section.

Thank you for participating.

Book Blitz: Ropes and Revenge (Lonesome Point Texas #6) by Jessie Evans (Excerpt + Interview + Giveaway)

Ropes and Revenge (Lonesome Point Texas #6) by Jessie Evans

Publisher: Michael Fedele

Release Date: 14th April 2015

Genre: Adult, Suspense

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon UK | B&N | Book Depository

Synopsis:

Eight months ago, John Lawson lost his wife and best friend in a tragic accident on his family’s ranch. In the time since, he’s devoted himself to two things—taking care of his two newly motherless sons and proving that Lily’s accident was no accident. Now, he finally has hard evidence that his wife was murdered and he won’t rest until he has the killer’s blood on his hands. He doesn’t have time for anything but vengeance, especially not a crazy ghost hunter wanting to poke around the old spring on his family’s ranch.

Persephone Styles—Percy to her friends—learned about ghosts the hard way, when she was orphaned by a violent crime at the age of seven. Ever since, she’s seen spirits and been obsessed with studying souls beyond the grave. She’s in Lonesome Point to document the town’s spectral activity, but finds herself powerfully drawn to widower John Lawson and empathizing with his grieving children. For the first time in years, Percy is as riveted by the living as she’s always been by the dead and longs to be a part of John’s life.

But when one night of passion becomes something more, Percy realizes John is as haunted as she is and that the man she’s coming to love is walking a dangerous road that may end with him becoming a murderer’s next victim.

Excerpt:

asdf“I’m not good with people,” Persephone said, holding his gaze for a long beat before she continued. “I don’t know what to say to help them feel better when they’re hurting, but sometimes I can help them by helping the people they loved. I know you don’t believe in ghosts, but I do and I care about them and I want to help them find peace. That’s all. I believe everyone deserves peace, don’t you?”
“I believe people don’t get what they deserve,” John said, his voice rough. “Now leave. Please.”
She had to leave before the earnest look on her beautiful face or the empathy shining in her eyes broke him and he started spilling his guts to a total stranger. This woman didn’t deserve to know that his wife was dead or that he still mourned her like it had happened yesterday, not seven months ago. She didn’t deserve to know that a weak, pathetic part of him almost wanted to believe in ghosts, just so he might have some hope of communicating with Lily, of being able to tell her how much he loved her one more time.
But that’s what people like this woman counted on.
“John, please,” Persephone whispered in her feather soft voice. “Let me help if I can.”
His stomach went sour. Persephone probably already knew that Lily had died last spring. She would have done her research before coming here to prey on his grief the way charlatans like her had preyed on the suffering for centuries. If he gave her another ten minutes, he had little doubt she would be offering to help him contact Lily on the other side.
For a fee, of course. A fee he was sure dozens of sad fools had paid her through the years, but he wasn’t going to be one of them.
“Get off my land,” he repeated in a firmer voice. “I have nothing to say to you and I don’t want, or need, your kind of help.”
Her thin shoulders slumped and a defeated expression tightened her delicate features. “All right. Well, I… I guess I should know better by now,” she mumbled as she turned to walk toward the four-wheeler.




“Know better than to try to scam people?”
She slid one leg over the four-wheeler before turning to face him, giving him a moment to register how out of place this elegant person looked on the dusty red machine before she spoke. “I should know better than to reach out to people like you, but I can’t help myself. I keep hoping…” She shook her head wistfully. “But I suppose I’ll grow out of that, sooner or later.”
She reached for the ignition. “Good luck, John. I hope things get better for you soon.”
John crossed his arms and watched her go, determined to keep his expression impassive. He didn’t want her to know how shitty the seemingly genuine concern in her voice made him feel. He didn’t want to think about being part of the reason someone stopped hoping to forge connections with people different than themselves.
Lily had been totally different than the girls he’d dated before her. Until he’d met his freckle-faced, sass-talking, no-bullshit wife, he’d dated women who took far better care of their outsides than their insides. He’d been a sucker for a pretty face and a nice rack and hadn’t looked too far beneath the surface.
And then he’d met Lily and learned what a difference a heart made. She had taught him how to love, pushed him out of his emotional comfort zone, and refused to settle for less than everything he had to give. He’d fought her at first—determined to hold her at the same distance he’d held other girls—but with a mixture of stubbornness, humor, and kisses that took his breath away, she’d worn him down until he was putty in her hands.
On the day they were married, he’d been certain he would never love anyone more than he loved her that afternoon. But their love had grown deeper and stronger with every passing year. By the time they celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary, John had felt like she was a part of him, so deeply ingrained in his heart and dear to his soul nothing could tear them apart.
But death had ripped her away and taken the best parts of him along with her.
“Jesus, Lily.” John bowed his head, his breath rushing out with a defeated sound. “See what an asshole I am without you?”
He waited, a pathetic part of him hoping he might hear her voice in his head again, the way he had Halloween night. But there was nothing but the sound of some critter digging in the ground on the far side of the stream, the gentle burble of water over stones from farther up the mountain, and Darcy snuffling as she sniffed the ground where Persephone Styles had stood a few moments before.




Q & A with author:
Tell us something about yourself, both as a writer and as a person?
As a writer I am dedicated, reliable, passionate, and determined to tell the best story I can possibly tell. As a person I am loyal, silly, and always looking for a reason to laugh.

When did you realise you wanted to become a writer?
I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was little. Playing pretend for a living seemed like the most wonderful thing ever.

How did you come up with the idea and how did you create the characters?
Honestly, I have no idea! My brain is a mystery to me. Stuff just pops up. These people come to life on the page and then I go back and flesh them out with more specific characteristics during my second and third drafts. Now that I’ve finished the series, however, the town is populated by people that feel real to me. I talk to my husband about them all the time and he thinks I’m crazy, lol.




If you should describe your books in three words, what would you pick?
Fast-paced, entertaining, written-from-a-loving-place

What else do you enjoy doing, when you’re not writing?
Playing with my family, surfing, and working on getting my fixer-upper house fixed up ( a never ending battle).

Where can readers find you?
Everywhere! Lol. Hope to see you all around the web.

Author Bio:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Jessie Evans, gave up a career as an international woman of mystery to write the sexy, contemporary romances she loves to read.

She's married to the man of her dreams, and together they're raising a few adorable, mischievous children in a cottage in the jungle. She grew up in rural Arkansas, spending summers running wild, being chewed by chiggers, and now appreciates her home in a chigger-free part of the world even more.

When she's not writing, Jessie enjoys playing her dulcimer (badly), sewing the worlds ugliest quilts to give to her friends, going for bike rides with her house full of boys, and drifting in and out on th

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | 
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Giveaway:

Individual giveaway (OPEN INTERNATIONALLY) ENDS 12th May 2015
1. eBook copy of Ropes and Revenge

Leave name, email, blog website and number starting from 1 in comments section below

Blitz-wide giveaway (OPEN INTERNATIONALLY) ENDS 23rd APRIL 2015
1. $10 Amazon gift card

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