Solstic (Promo)

Solstice (The Star-Crossed Saga #3)
by Braxton A. Cosby
Genre: YA Scifi
Release Date: November 25th 2016

Summary:

What You Believe, Can Destroy You!
William and Sydney have sacrificed everything to fortify their love, so much so that William dares to brave the depths of space to find a cure for their deadly Supernova bond, leaving both her and Earth vulnerable to Torrian Alliance attack. But with a full scale rebellion in play on Fabricius, the reality of Sydney’s execution from Torrian hands is diminished, only eclipsed by the certainty of a more threats – The Third Faction and The Dagmas Clan – lead by Dominic and his insurgent recruits. With overwhelming odds mounting against them, William makes a desperate attempt to find the last of the endangered Star-children only to be captured by a new menace, where he is forced to compete in the dreaded Gauntlet of sport. Allies surge to free Fabricius, seeking alliances across the galaxy while Sydney tries to keep her identity hidden and trains to master the third phase of her Star-child evolution: Solstice. With Sarah’s mysterious return home with clues to unlock the future, Noella’s training and Bill’s symbiotic development hope is restored, but will it be enough to unite the galaxy and destroy evil for once and for all?

Book One:

ProtoStar (The Star-Crossed Saga #1) by Braxton A. Cosby
Release Date: September 26th 2014


Summary from Goodreads:


What Would You Choose, love or duty?

On the brink of civil war, the Torrian Alliance continues with its mission to obliterate Star-children across the universe in order to suppress an intergalactic evil. Following the recommendations of his council, King Gregorio Derry reluctantly agrees to send his only son William on a mission to restore honor to his family name. William seeks to complete his assignment, the elimination of a Star-child named Sydney on planet Earth, but when the assassination is delayed he begins to realize an emotional connection with his target. With conspiracy threatening his home planet, and a hidden menace on Earth seeking to secure a vested interest, William finds himself torn between irrevocable duty and sacrificing everything he stands for to defend Sydney. As William and Sydney struggle to overcome their impossible circumstances, they start to wonder if the connection of two Star-Crossed lovers will be enough to save them from certain doom.








Book Two:

Supernova (The Star-Crossed Saga #2) by Braxton A. Cosby
Release Date: June 28th 2015


Summary from Goodreads:


WHAT YOU CHOOSE, BECOMES YOU…
Against everything he had known as truth, William has made the choice to protect Sydney from the forces seeking to destroy her. But just as these two Star-Crossed lovers are beginning to explore their relationship and search for answers to the mysteries of Sydney’s existence, she advances to the next stage of her Star-child evolution—Supernova—and struggles not only to control her new powers, but also the emotions for her new love. William seeks to find the truth behind Sydney's erratic behavior, while overcoming the new threat headed to Earth to destroy them. With new villains and old allies on the horizon, and chaos brewing on William’s home world, will self-sacrifice prove to be the only way for him to achieve victory and defend his love, or is there another way?
The follow-up to the debut Award-winning novel PROTOSTAR!










ENDORSEMENTS FOR THE STAR-CROSSED SAGA:

"The Star-Crossed Saga is daring, exciting and romantic. It's an imaginative science fiction adventure, chock full of memorable characters, including the smart and alluring Sydney, who will inspire girls everywhere as they navigate the tricky waters of teen hood. Braxton Cosby's debut delivers." -Adriana Trigiani -- New York Times bestselling author

"Braxton Cosby's stories feel personal and well thought-out. I'm happy to welcome this entertaining writer to the YA science fiction field. I look forward to more of his work!” -Tananarive Due, author of My Soul to Keep

“Even an eternity of travel may fall to emotion…ProtoStar is a blend of science fiction and romance…a unique spin of the doomed love, very much recommended.” -James A. Cox – Midwest Book Review

"This Young Adult Sci-Fi book has it all: romance, innocence, mystery, intrigue, prophecy and adventure. ...Cosby writes like a seasoned author and I look forward to the next installment in this series." -Anne B. Readers Favorite

"...a magnificent start to an inventive series by a talented debut author...strong prose is appealing, engaging and well-written. His characters glimmer like the sun...a cinematic literary epic adventure." -Blogcritics

"...filled with lots of action and great pacing...very descriptive and vivid." -Jennifer Jabaley, author of Crush Control

“...a really intriguing story that encompasses action, adventure, romance, drama and a measure of science fiction that helps make this multi-faceted book a very engaging read. Ending skillfully with a suspenseful cliffhanger, this book, with its well-developed characters and many surprising twists will leave readers anxiously waiting for the next installment in the Star-Crossed Saga.” -Literary Classsics 5/5 stars








About the Author
Multi-Award Winning and #1 Amazon Bestselling Author Braxton A. Cosby creates vivid, original stories that focus on relationships and world building that brings characters to life. Braxton received a lot of his inspiration from watching the accomplishments and exploits of his famous uncle, comedic legend Bill Cosby. Braxton is the CEO of Cosby Media Productions, a full-service entertainment studio that focuses on producing content in the areas of television, film, and print media. Braxton is also an actor and radio show host. As a writer, Braxton’s novels explore the psychology of human connection, concerning themes of trust, faith and selflessness. He resides in Lawrenceville, Ga with his wife and a scruff Morkie named StarKozy.

Author Links:

End of the Road (Blog Tour) Review & Guest Post

End of the Road

by LS Hawker

on Tour January 30th - February 28, 2017

Synopsis:

Great minds can change the world

or leave it in ruins . . .

When tech prodigy Jade Veverka creates a program to communicate with her autistic sister, she’s tapped by a startup to explore the potential applications of her technology. But Jade quickly begins to notice some strange things about the small Kansas town just beyond the company’s campus—why are there no children anywhere to be seen, and for that matter, anyone over the age of forty? Why do all of the people living here act uncomfortable and jumpy?
On the way home one night, Jade and her co-worker are run off the road, and their lab and living spaces are suddenly overrun with armed guards, purportedly for their safety. Confined to the compound and questioning what her employers might be hiding from her, Jade fears she’s losing control not only of her invention, but of her very life. It soon becomes clear that the threat reaches far beyond Jade and her family, and the real danger is much closer than she’d ever imagined.

Book Details:

Genre: Thriller
Published by: Witness Impulse
Publication Date: January 31st 2017
Number of Pages: 384
ISBN: 006243523X (ISBN13: 9780062435231)
Purchase Links: Amazon  | Barnes & Noble  | Goodreads 

Read an excerpt:

September 7

Jade Veverka unwrapped the frozen bomb pop she'd bought from the gas station on the corner of Main and 3rd and took a bite. She sat gazing at the pile of magazines on the barbershop coffee table while a rhythmic alarm-clock buzz went off in her head. Not an urgent warning, just buzz buzz buzz.
Her friend and coworker Elias Palomo sat in the barber chair, getting his customary fade crew cut, the same one he'd presumably sported since his plebe days at the Naval Academy. So the background to her mental alarm clock was an actual buzzing from the electric razor punctuated now by a sharp yip of pain from Elias.
"Sorry about that," the barber said.
Elias rubbed his ear, and Jade attempted to keep her face neutral, looking at his scowl in the mirror.
Buzz buzz buzz.
She leaned forward and fanned the magazines—Popular Mechanics, Sports Illustrated, ESPN—all this month's issues. Jade took another bite of bomb pop and grinned.
"What are you smiling at?" Elias grumbled, rubbing his nicked ear.
"I don't know how to tell you this," Jade said, "but you are not the center of my universe. I do occasionally react to things outside of you. I know it comes as a shock."
"Shut up," he said, his dark eyes flashing.
Jade stared now in fascination as the razor tracked upwards on Elias's skull, his glossy black hair—or what was left of it—uneven, his scalp an angry pink. This guy was the worst hair dresser Jade had ever seen. And the least talkative. In her experience, growing up in rural Ephesus, Kansas, barbers had always fit the stereotype—gregarious and gossipy.
Elias was the shop's lone customer, and only a few folks walked by outside the window, through which Jade could see the hardware store and the occasional slow passing car.
Buzz buzz buzz.
It struck Jade now that this was less a barbershop than what amounted to a barbershop museum, complete with an actor playing the part of the barber. She wanted to point this out to Elias, but it would mean nothing to him. He'd grown up in Reno, Nevada, a vast metropolis compared to Jade's 1200-population hometown an hour southeast of this one, which was called Miranda, Kansas.
Not only was this man not a barber, he wasn't a Kansan either, Jade would have bet money.
"Hey," she said to him. "What's your name?"
The man went on butchering as if she hadn't spoken. Elias's eyes met Jade's in the mirror, and his dark thick brows met on either side of a vertical crease, his WTF? wrinkle. He leaned his head away from the razor, finally making the barber pay attention.
"The lady asked you a question," Elias said.
Jade had to hold in a guffaw. This never failed to tickle her, him referring to her as a lady. No one other than him had ever done that before. Plus she loved the authoritative rumble of his voice, a trait he'd probably developed at Annapolis.
The barber froze, his eyes locked with Elias's. Weird.
"Need a prompt?" Elias said. "Your name."
The man cleared his throat.
"Is it classified?"
Jade did guffaw this time, and she watched the barber's jaw muscles compress as she clapped a hand over her mouth.
"My name's Richard."
"Hello, Richard, I'm Elias. This is Jade. We work out at SiPraTech."
Jade could see from Richard's face he knew very well where they worked. He nodded and got back to destroying the remains of Elias's hair.
"Whereabouts you from, Richard?" Jade said.
He pulled the razor away from Elias's head and blinked at her.
What in the world was this guy's problem?
Buzz buzz buzz.
Elias emitted a loud sigh, clearly exasperated by the guy's reticence, and waved a hand as if to say, "Carry on, barber-not-barber."
Jade laughed again.
"Here," Richard mumbled. "I'm from here."
Like hell. What was he, in the witness protection program or something?
And then it hit her. The magazines, every last one of them, was a current issue. In a barbershop. The place where back issues of magazines go to die.
She'd worked for SiPraTech just over three months now, and Miranda, the closest town, had always given her an itch. Something about it was slightly off, but she couldn't say what. She'd brought it up to her team members—Elias, Berko Deloatch, and Olivia Harman, and each of them had looked at her like she was schitzy. They all came from big cities, so Miranda struck them as weird in general.
Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz.
As if drawn by static electricity, her eyes tracked to the window where a man in mirrored shades peered into the barbershop. The man had a dark mustache and wore a blue baseball cap pulled low over the sunglasses.
What was he staring at? She glanced behind her, but there was nothing to see but a white wall. When she turned back, the man mouthed something at her, his exaggerated soundless enunciation wringing a sharp intake of breath from her.
"What?" Elias said in response to her gasp.
Was it her imagination, or did this man she'd never seen before say her name?
Jade Veverka.
She looked at Elias, and said, "There's a man out there—"

Author Bio:

LS HAWKER grew up in suburban Denver, indulging her worrisome obsession with true-crime books, and writing stories about anthropomorphic fruit and juvenile delinquents. She wrote her first novel at 14.
Armed with a B.S. in journalism from the University of Kansas, she had a radio show called "People Are So Stupid," edited a trade magazine and worked as a traveling Kmart portrait photographer, but never lost her passion for fiction writing.
She's got a hilarious, supportive husband, two brilliant daughters, and a massive music collection. She lives in Colorado but considers Kansas her spiritual homeland. She is the author of The Drowning Game, a USA Today Bestseller, and Body and Bone.

Visit Ms. Hawker's Website , her Twitter Feed , & her Facebook Page .

 

My Review:

  End of the Road is an exciting adventure, peppered with cool pop culture geeky references. The story is fast paced, and interesting. Jade is a relate-able character, she's not perfect, but she also isn't normal. I am not a huge technology geek, so some of the techno jargon was like klingon to me, but that didn't detract from the story for me.

The biggest draw for me with this book was the plot and how realistic it is. The premise is terrifying in a way because of how realistic it is. The book has so many twists and turns, I have to use the cliched phrase, it really keeps you guessing. I do think that I'll be checking out the writer's other books, especially after this one!

I enjoyed it very much, and DO recommend it if you like techno-thrillers with a nice heaping dose of realism. 

Guest Post:

Characters and Their Humans by LS Hawker

Unlike a lot of authors, I often base my characters on people I know. The most fun, naturally, is using real people as the basis for bad guys. One of THE DROWNING GAME's bad guys, Randy, is based on a friend's ex-boyfriend, right down to his monster pickup truck. When she and I would go out, he would take a fifth of Jack Daniel's with him to drive around and hunt us down. One night he finished bottle by the time he found us, and he was enraged. We tried to get his car keys from him, and he grabbed me by the face and shoved me down into the street. So you can see why he was a great model for an antagonist. 

On the other end of the spectrum is my second novel BODY AND BONE's Isabeau, who's based on my friend Liz. She was the perfect level-headed foil for my protag, but one with loads of personality and surprising secrets. 

Sometimes I model a character on a real person without even knowing it. That was the case with Petty from THE DROWNING GAME. Petty has been a virtual prisoner in her own home, a captive of a paranoid father hell-bent on protecting her from a dangerous world by training her in combat while restricting contact with the outside world. 

When he dies unexpectedly, she believes she's finally going to be free. But the people around her ignore her needs, talk about her as if she isn't there, and regard her as a means to their own ends. She must escape. Thus begins a journey of self-discovery while navigating a terrifying and unfamiliar outside world, made more complicated and perilous by her social awkwardness, guilelessness, and obsessive fears.

When I first shared a chapter, a friend commented, “Your main character is really interesting, really unique. She seems—what’s the word? Autistic?”

I was stunned by this observation, because unbeknownst to my friend, my youngest daughter Layla had just been diagnosed with autism. All the characteristics of autism as demonstrated by Layla showed up in Petty without any conscious agency on my part. Petty's situation—living as a prisoner in her own home—was much like Layla's, who'd been a prisoner in her own mind before her diagnosis and treatment. 

Typically, though, I'm aware of it when I base a character on a real person. I'll use their physical characteristics, mannerisms, and speech patterns as a jumping-off point. Then I summon the emotions the real person arouses in me, and build from that emotional center. 

Without fail, these characters become their own people, assert their own personalities. None of the characters I've written who started out as replicas of real people end up exactly like their original models. This is, of course, because the characters experience situations the real people never have. But I imagine how the real person would react in those situations.

I also write a full life story for each my characters, although most of it doesn't show up on the page. Their backstories inform how they act and react in the circumstances they find themselves in. In the files I keep on my characters, I include "face claims," photos from the internet I use as a physical models for characters. 

Only one character in my latest release, END OF THE ROAD, is based on a real person, and he's a bad guy (sorry-not-sorry—you'll have to read it to find out who it is). But the group of people my protagonist, Jade, works with is based on my oldest daughter Chloe's group of overachieving friends. The group dynamic is the model more than the individual characters—none of them is based on a real person.

Bringing realism to the page is never easy, but it's a lot more fun when you're surrounded by friends—both real and imagined.

 

Check Out This Awesome Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours for LS Hawker and William Morrow. There will be 3 US winners of one (1) eBook Coupon for End of the Road by LS Hawker. The giveaway begins on January 24th and runs through March 2nd, 2017.

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Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

 

Secrets of Artemis (Blog Tour) Review

Secrets of Artemis (Teen Goddess #1)
by C.K. Brooke
Genre: YA Romantic Mythology
Release Date: October 29th 2015

Summary from Goodreads:

Not even the god of gods could command my heart not to love…

In Ancient Greece, the goddess Artemis was venerated as a maiden huntress, swift with her bow and arrows, and eternally chaste. But could there be more to her story? Perhaps Lady Artemis had envisioned quite a different destiny than the one her father, Zeus, had chosen for her. What if she hadn’t merely pined after the giant huntsman, Orion, but had secretly partaken of a forbidden romance with him?

From prolific fantasy writer C.K. Brooke comes an original divine novel, in which Artemis’s classic myths are retold as never before, in her own voice, as the young goddess sets the record straight and reveals the true account of her immortal life – and love.

About the Author

C.K. Brooke is a 2015 Shelf Unbound Notable Indie author with a five-star rating by Readers' Favorite. She holds numerous fantasy and romance publications with 48fourteen, Limitless Publishing, and Elphame Press. Her lifelong passion is books - reading, writing, editing, publishing and blogging about them. When not blissing out in literary land, she enjoys info-tainment podcasts, singing, songwriting and playing the piano. She lives in Washington, Michigan with her husband and young son. There's tons to check out at the new CKBrooke.com, so come and see what she's up to! Check out her VIP Newsletter (Subscribers get a free eBook!)

Author Links:

    

 

 

 

My Review: 

Wow! I wasn't sure what this book would be like, I knew it sounded very interesting though. It's the story of the Goddess Artemis. From her beginnings, to the end of the book, she was a vividly written character. Other Gods and mythological creatures are present in this book, which really was quite a lovely surprise. I enjoyed those bits woven into the book. I do like Mythology, but I am no expert, so I can't really claim to be familiar with the tale of Artemis. I think that the writer definitely brought the story to life, and it kept me reading (quickly too!) from start to finish. 

The Secrets of Artemis is a fun, interesting and entertaining read that I think anyone with a liking of mythology would enjoy!

Jadeite's Journey #BlogTour #Review and #Giveaway

Jadeite’s Journey
by Lucinda Stein
Genre: YA Scifi
Release date: January 24th 2017
Inkspell Publishing

Summary:
When romance turns deadly…

Jadeite’s perfect world comes crashing down on her. In the futuristic world of United Society, her only problem has been how to act around the cute boy on the air shuttle. But Jadeite’s world changes when she comes across a man who looks alarmingly like her father. Clones were declared illegal years ago. When she sees her father, a robotic engineer, headed to the Dark Edge of United Society, she follows him and uncovers her father’s secret life.

Jadeite shadows her father past the boundary of United Society and into a primitive world of canyons and high deserts. She learns her father is a Ridge Runner passing between the two worlds. Even more alarming, she discovers her younger brother, Malachite, is sick and requires medicine only available from over the Ridge. After her father is arrested, Jadeite takes his place in order to save her brother’s life.

But her world turns even more precarious after she breaks up with her obsessive boyfriend, Mattie. Jadeite soon learns his threats are more than words, and she finds her life is in jeopardy.

Add to Goodreads

Buy Link: Amazon

A school librarian for over twenty years, Stein now writes full time. Sanctuary: Family, Friends, & Strangers was a 2015 Colorado Book Award finalist. Three Threads Woven, was a 2010 WILLA Finalist. Her story, Sulfur Springs, won First Place in the 2011 LAURA Short Fiction competition. Her stories have appeared in Pooled Ink, The South Dakota Review, Fine Lines, and Women Writing the West online.
When not writing, she hikes desert canyons and alpine trails. She loves anything vintage, her shelter-rescued dog, Opie, and, most of all, her husband, Rob.

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter

My Review: 

This book was pretty awesome! The society that Jadeite and her family lives in is one that on the surface seems perfect, but hidden deep underneath that surface lies swirl. Jadeite finds out that her family isn't what it seems, and her life changes quite suddenly!


This book was a fun read from the start. The plot progresses very nicely and kept me reading. At one point, my kindle died and I immediately switched to my ipad so I could keep reading. THAT is how engrossed I was!

What kept me reading was the story itself. Yes, Jadeite is a great character and her actions throughout were smart and logical, but it was the story that got me. Two different societies, not necessarily at war with each other but so starkly different. On one side you have what looks to be a perfect society, and on the other what at first glance appears to be primitive. Why would someone choose to life a life of uncertainty and danger? Freedom. That was the underlying theme of this book. Would you give up everything that makes you, you just to have peace and security?

Those themes, great writing, and well developed characters make this book so much fun! I do recommend it!

Giveaway:

 

 Enter Here: (Rafflecopter)