WELCOME TO THE HALLOWEEN BOOK BLAST!
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Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Book Tour ~ Gobbledy - A Novel by Lis Anna-Langston
Middle-Grade / Holiday
Date Published: 10-20-2023
Publisher: Mapleton Press
Ever since Dexter and Dougal’s mom passed away, life has been different—but things take a whole new turn when a shooting star turns out to be a creature from outer space! Gobbledy is a fun-filled holiday story that adds up to two brothers, three friends, unlimited jars of peanut butter, a ketchup factory, and one little alien far, far from home.
Praise for Gobbledy
“Hugely entertaining as well as emotionally moving.”
―Kirkus Reviews
“This charming alien-in-the-attic story boasts engaging characters, witty storytelling, and a furry little beast that will eat anything, all wrapped up in a warm holiday package.”
―Booklife
“A delightfully entertaining novel by an author with a genuine flair for originality ..."
―Midwest Book Review
“This novel’s generous heart won me over from the get-go.”
―John Gregory Brown, acclaimed author of A Thousand Miles from Nowhere
“The Wonder Years meets A Christmas Story meets E.T. in this magical novel with dialogue that snaps, crackles, and pops, and a narrative that skips, jumps, and hops from one delightful surprise after the other. Young adults and old adults alike will love the adventures that await inside these pages.”
―Cathy Smith Bowers, former Poet Laureate of North Carolina, and South Carolina Authors’ Hall of Fame Inductee
“Gobbledy is a novel for the ages. If I were you, I’d gather the family and read it together.”
―My Bookish Bliss
Excerpt:
“What do you think these things are?”
she asks.
A
loud wail comes from the new jar full of dirt.
Slowly,
I lift the jar off the work table and unscrew the lid.
Fi
and I look down at the strange bug. The little thing wails. It's not much
bigger than the two crickets standing on the sidelines, staring.
Fi
looks at me with a wild look in her eyes. “Does your dad know?”
I
shake my head. “Absolutely not. No. Dad will just make me take him back to the
forest.”
I
pull the lid off. The strange little bug opens his mouth really big.
“Okay,
okay,” I whisper. “I’ll feed you, but you have to be quiet.”
He
closes his mouth and blinks. For a second, I think he might actually understand
what I’m saying.
There's
a bag of potato chips on the counter in the kitchen. I drop chips into the jar
one by one, avoiding the crickets.
Chomp.
Chomp. Chomp.
“Where’s
the rock?” Fi asks.
Chomp.
Chomp. Chomp.
The back door
opens. Startled, Fi jerks upright
abruptly, smacking her head on the slanted ceiling. I try to grab her hand as
it flies past my face. Her arms flap
wildly as she falls in a woozy, slow motion out into the hall.
“Fi?”
I say loudly.
Ka-thunk.
“Fi?” I drop to the floor next to her and check her
pulse, like I've seen people do in movies.
“Can you hear me?”
She
undoubtedly cannot. She does not move or
answer.
The
jar wobbles on the wooden table.
“Excuse
me,” I quickly step over her limp body and grab the jar. I tighten my grip as it jerks around in my
arms. Hurky-jerky, it shifts against my
shirt. I hold tight and screw the lid
back on.
“Dexter?”
Huh? “What are you
doing home, Dougal?” I yell.
“I
live here.”
“I
know that, but you're early.”
“Not
really. School is out. Dad asked Fran to pick me up because you got in trouble
again, and he couldn't leave work twice.”
“Umm...”
Fran
walks into the hall and says, “Oh my gosh, what happened?”
I
look left, then right. Up, then
down. Over, then under. My eyes settle on my backpack next to my work
table. I shove the jar inside quick, listening to the hurky-jerky sound of
glass tapping against my notebooks. I
cover the jar with my jacket and step quickly into the hall.
Fran
pulls her hand to her mouth. “What
happened to Fi?”
Fi is
on the floor where I left her.
“She
was, ummm, we were doing our science projects and then she fainted.”
“I
thought you had to turn those in today?”
“We
did, but mine got loose and she was ...”
I
stare at her limp, oddly twisted body.
“Do
you want me to perform CPR until the emergency workers arrive?” Dougal asks.
Fran
rolls Fiona over on her back. “They'll
be no emergency workers. I got this,” she says quietly, tapping Fi’s cheeks.
“Fiona?”
Fi's
eyes pop open. “Wha?”
“You
passed out, girl. Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
Fran
helps Fi to her feet. She sways, woozy,
reaching for the wall.
Their
cat, Sir Shreds-A-Lot, scratches and howls at the back door.
“Don't
let that cat in,” Dougal says. “He's
been sneaking up to the attic and eating the villagers in Mom's village.”
“What's
the last thing you remember?” I ask Fi.
She
rubs her forehead. “Let me get an ice
pack. I'll answer that in a minute.”
***
From
my bedroom window I watch Fran walk Fi across the driveway. Cool, gray light fans out across the dark
outline of branches, highlighting the occasional dry leaf still hanging
on. Bats screech on their way down to
the boulevard. On the other side of the
glass, silvery light glints off an abandoned spider web. As soon as they turn
the corner, I go for the jar.
Dougal
stands in the doorway, giving me the silent-but-deadly stare. “What are you doing?”
It
takes a second to manufacture a convincing lie.
“Looking at a spider web.”
Dougal
studies me, his brow pinched tight. He's
two years younger than me, but matures in dog years. He clears his throat and announces, “We've
got a family meeting tonight.”
I
step away from the window.
Clunk clunk clunk.
Starting
with the closet, Dougal's eyes trail around the room, stopping on my
backpack. “What's that noise?”
I'm
about to say I don't hear anything when —
Clunk clunk clunk.
He
points. “It's in your backpack.”
“It's
a pack of Mexican Jumping Beans I bought today.”
Dougal
tilts his head sideways like he always does when he doesn't believe me. “Can I see them?”
“I
thought you wanted to talk about the meeting,” I blurt out.
He
patiently lays his hand on the dresser and taps with his index finger. “Mexican
Jumping Beans first.”
Clank clank clunk.
My
eyes jerk to the backpack.
Clank clank clunk.
The
sound is louder, more insistent.
Clunk clunk clunk.
I
walk over to my closet and pretend to look for something. Anything.
Dougal
clears his throat.
I
ignore him.
More
throat clearing.
I
have a pretty good idea how stubborn he can be.
More than that, I’m worried he'll tell Dad. I can't afford any more trouble. Whatever is
in that jar could send me into Code Red.
“What?”
I hiss, glancing back over my shoulder.
He
points. “You're stalling. I'm giving you one chance to tell me what
you're hiding.”
“Or
what?”
“Or
I'm calling the Humane Society and telling them you're endangering the lives of
Mexican Jumping Beans by keeping them trapped in a backpack.”
“They're
not trapped.”
“Prove
it.”
I huff.
“Why won't you drop the beans?”
“Because
I know you. Anything worth hiding is
worth seeing.”
Okay. He's got me there.
Clunk clunk clunk.
Dougal
looks back at me. “If you haven't
unzipped that backpack in ten seconds then I'm doing it. One.
Two…”
“Okay. Okay.” I stomp over.
He
stops counting and stares at me instead.
I can do this. I place my hand on the zipper and jerk it to
the side. The jar is exactly where I
left it. Air holes poked in the top look
like prehistoric code. Lamplight
glimmers off the metal.
Clunk clunk clunk.
Dougal
reaches down, but I snatch it up quick.
I
pause, listening. “Close the door and lock it,” I whisper.My normally
uncooperative little brother runs over, closes the door without a sound, and
flips the lock. My eyes squeeze shut for
a second. I carefully set the jar on the
floor. It wobbles. Dougal walks over and kneels down. I sit down on the floor and unscrew the lid.
Sucking in a huge breath, I lean over and look inside. Two glowing eyes stare back at me. Dougal gasps and falls backwards on his
heels. The glowing eyes are attached to
a small, furry body that's grown to the size of a silver dollar. A strange little bug. The little furry thing opens his mouth and
shrieks. I put the lid back on. A low wail emerges from the jar.
“What
is that thing?” Dougal whispers.
I
shrug. “I don't know exactly, but he's
getting bigger. I picked up a rock in the forest. I think he must have been
stuck to it and I didn't notice.”
“That’s
definitely not a bug,” he says, matter-of-factly. “I spent all last summer studying insects,
and that's not one of them.”
“It
has to be a bug,” I insist.
The
thing wails again.
I
look down into the jar, suddenly realizing its empty. “He ATE my crickets! My
last two crickets.”
Dougal crinkles his nose,
“Eww.”
Everything
inside the jar is gone, including the dirt. The bug opens his mouth wide and
yowls.
“I
think it's hungry,” Dougal observes.
“It
ate my grade.”
About the Author
Hailed as “an author with a genuine flair for originality” by Midwest Book Review and “a loveable, engaging, original voice…” by Publishers Weekly, Lis Anna-Langston was raised along the winding current of the Mississippi River on a steady diet of dog-eared books.
You can find her any day of the week in the wilds of South Carolina plucking stories out of thin air.
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Release Blitz ~ Blackloop by Sarah Holding
YA Sci-Fi Romance
Date Published: 10-31-2023
Publisher: Firehorse
A freak electro-magnetic pulse leaves 17-year-old Bo and six other teenagers trapped inside a building in the British seaside resort of Blackpool, desperately trying to work out what just happened, why they can’t get out, and how to survive the weirdest weekend of their lives.
Dealing with each other’s egos and issues is nothing compared to the fallout unleashed by the solar event, because hidden beneath the building they discover it has activated a powerful energy device called blackloop.
As blackloop starts affecting everyone and everything in its vicinity, can Bo, who’s still grieving the loss of her mum, summon the courage to confront her fears, realise she’s falling in love, and make a move on Karim before it’s too late?
About the Author
Sarah Holding is a children's and YA author and poet, known primarily as a climate fiction writer. She is the author of six books: SeaBEAN (2013), SeaWAR (2014) and SeaRISE (2014), Chameleon (2020), How to Write a Poem (2021) and blackloop (forthcoming, 2023). She has been featured on Guardian Children’s Books, BBC Radio Scotland and given over 500 talks and creative writing workshops. Her books are now being taught in primary schools across the UK.
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Book Blitz ~ Magic Medicine - Amber Legends by Olena Nikitin
Magic Medicine
Olena Nikitin
(Amber Legends, #1)
Publication date: October 27th 2023
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Danger doesn’t lurk in the shadows. It barges in and smacks you in the face.
After years of working in the Emergency Department, Sara thought nothing could surprise her, but when the deceased victim of a stabbing opened his eyes and demanded his knife back, she knew her life had taken a bizarre turn.
Leszek had guarded the magic of the Nether before the first human set foot in his lands. His power was absolute, his authority unchallenged. The world might change, but even ruling from the shadow, no one, not even hardened criminals, dared to question his judgment.
When he was called to clean up the mess an unruly vampire caused in the hospital, Leszek barely contained his irritation when his power couldn’t make the stubborn doctor forget his existence. Instead, she looked him in the eye, challenging him to leave, and he listened.
Sara’s courage and audacity were intriguing, but her magic captivated him with its beauty. The magic she was unaware of. She may be human, but even humans have their uses, and Sara will soon learn there are consequences to capturing the undivided attention of the Tricity Mafia’s boss.
This fascinating woman might haunt his dreams, but Sara’s magic made her a target for a dangerous, emerging power, and Leszek has to decide if he will sacrifice her to save his domain.
.
AMBER LEGENDS IS A SERIES OF STANDALONE BOOKS INSPIRED ON SLAVIC MYTHOLOGY AND THE LEGENDS OF POMERANIA. DARK PARANORMAL FANTASY WITH MATURE THEMES, INCLUDING GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, SWEAR WORDS, AND ON-PAGE INTIMACY. FOR MATURE 18+ AUDIENCE.
—
EXCERPT:
The knife had penetrated his chest to its hilt, and while the paramedics were desperately trying to save him, I knew this one was long gone. The grey cloud of death covered him, the soulless body bouncing rhythmically during the chest compressions. He had no chance, but I couldn’t tell my team their efforts were pointless. There was no science to back up my claim, so medical training kicked in and, taking a deep breath, I issued the order.
‘Stop chest compressions.’
‘No, he has no pulse.’ The paramedic tried to argue, instantly making me wish Damian and Rysiek were here, but one look at my face and his voice faltered.
‘He’s running on empty. How do you plan on restarting an engine without fuel?’ I said and turned to the team. ‘Secure the airway, prepare O neg and get me a thoracotomy set. We need to crack him open to plug this hole in his heart.’
Like a Formula One pit crew, my team was ready in less than a minute. Pride surged at their response as I bent over to start the incision when the patient’s bright blue eyes snapped open in surprise, and a cold, male hand grabbed my wrist in a vice-like grip.
‘Oh, hell no, you are not doing that.’ His voice was cold and commanding, and the man, about to be opened up like a giant clamshell, sat up, the dagger still fully embedded in his chest. What the actual fuck, I thought, looking at him in shock. It is one thing to feel like there is more to the world than science can explain and a whole other one to stare at this discovery in its smugly amused face.
‘Did you just pull a Lazarus on me?’ I heard myself saying, despite my voice being drowned out by screams of terror and the clattering of fallen medical equipment. I didn’t care. Why would my attention be anywhere other than the talking corpse before me? Maybe years of conditioning, medical missions to war-torn countries and stories my grandmother told me; stories that had suddenly become very real prepared me for it because I was as calm as he was dead. I will never break a fucking mirror on the full moon again, I thought, observing him as he looked around, his gaze eventually falling on me.
‘Pulled a what?’ He asked, still holding tight to my wrist, and for no apparent reason, I reached out with my free hand, pulling the knife from his chest. Some say emergency people are built differently, and while I still could barely believe what just happened, part of me methodically analysed the situation. This man was definitely alive, yet no blood escaped the wound, and I bit my lip, trying to comprehend the insanity. He didn’t even wince when I examined the gaping hole, poking it with an inquisitive finger. He just looked on with impatient annoyance, utterly unphased, before asking again.
‘I pulled a what?’
The knife in my hand looked odd. I’d seen my fair share of weapons, combat, folding, and kitchen knives, but this was different. It was vibrating… no. Looking carefully, it didn’t move, but something felt… tension. That was it. It felt as if it were under tension, like the cable on a bridge or, more accurately, a string on a bow, ready to release its murderous power, aimed at this man before me. In fact, it refused to be pointed anywhere else. Nothing about this blade was normal. Ornate Slavic engravings adorned the metal that, whilst bright and clean, felt like it belonged in a museum. I had to resist the urge to stab it back into the gaping hole in the man’s chest. I wasn’t sure whether the knife was driving the desire or my curiosity at seeing the strange man’s reaction. Then, the real, screaming, noisy world crashed into my consciousness, and I focused on answering his question.
‘Did you just resurrect on me, like Lazarus, or maybe Jesus would be more accurate as nobody here helped you? What the fuck are you, a zombie, vampire, or something else that sparkles?’ My rambling question made the very alive man laugh.
‘Yeah, or something. Now, be a darling and give me the dagger. It still wants my life, and I see you are keen to give in to the temptation.’ He commanded, looking into my eyes as if trying to reach into the depths of my soul, but his five minutes were gone. My anger broke through the shock of the situation. Now he faced a very focused woman with a powerful urge to tear him a new one… newer than the one that brought him here, anyway.
‘Pack it in, Romeo. First, the dagger is evidence, and second, I’m not your darling, so you can stop trying to make puppy eyes at me. I’ve seen this constipated look far too many times. That is borderline creepy. Who, or should I say, what, are you?’
Author Bio:
Olena Nikitin is our pen name. We are an enthusiastic couple of writers who are fascinated by the fantasy/paranormal romance genre and decided to write a book we would love to read
Behind the Pen name:
Olga - is Polish, armed with a wicked sense of humour and typical Slavic pessimism she is the wicked witch from the East. She has written stories since childhood, initially mostly about her work. As an emergency physician, she always has a story to tell and often not much time to write.
Mark is a typical English gentleman whose charm, refined taste and an impressive collection of books were tempting enough to make Olga leave her homeland. Don't tease him too much; this man has an impressive sword collection and he knows how to use it. He also can fix everything, including Polish syntax in English writing.
See more on our website: www.olenanikitin.uk
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—
Monday, October 30, 2023
Release Blitz ~ Christmas in Kentbury by Claudia Burgoa
CHRISTMAS IN KENTBURY
Claudia Burgoa
Release Date: October 30
ONLY .99 ¢ FOR A LIMITED TIME
From USA Today bestselling author Claudia Burgoa comes holiday single dad, best friends romance.
I spent all my life being in love with Landon Miller.
I’m tired of pretending to be immune to that wide jaw, taut body, and woodsy scent.
Am I in love with him?
Sure, but he’s happy being a single dad and treating me like one of the guys.
Me on the other hand…
I’m getting ready to leave Kentbury for a new life.
A fresh start: it’s my Christmas present to myself.
That is until my best friend and his adorable daughter decide that they can’t let me go...
Now I have to choose between a new promising life and the two people I’ve been yearning for my entire life.
Grab Your Copy!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3PWdq0a
Apple: https://apple.co/46y1FTj
Kobo: https://bit.ly/46unsuV
B&N: https://bit.ly/470TNtB
Google Play: https://bit.ly/40ek99s
Meet Claudia Burgoa:
Claudia is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author.
She writes alluring, thrilling stories about complicated women and the men who take their breaths away. Her books are the perfect blend of steamy and heartfelt, filled with emotional characters and explosive chemistry. Her writing takes readers to new heights, providing a variety of tears, laughs, and shocking moments that leave fans on the edge of their seats.
She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, her youngest two children, and three fluffy dogs.
When Claudia is not writing, you can find her reading, knitting, or just hanging out with her family. At nights, she likes to binge watch shows or movies with her equally geeky husband.
Keep up with Claudia Burgoa and subscribe to her newsletter: https://bit.ly/NwsletterCB%20%20
To learn more about Claudia Burgoa & her books, visit here!
Connect with Claudia Burgoa:
https://claudiayburgoa.com/wp/contact/
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Book Tour ~ Twiggy and the Lost Socks - A Rhyming Backyard Adventure - Written & Illustrated by Renee DeVincent
A Rhyming Backyard Adventure
Children's Book
Date Published: September 2023
Meet Twiggy! He loves to explore with his family finding treasures to store before winter. Fall is ending, and Twiggy finds a soft and fuzzy treasure to keep him warm during colder days. Unknown to him, it belongs to a girl searching for her favorite lost sock. Find out what happens when Twiggy and the girl come face to face. How will they cope with their complex emotions about the situation and each other?
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About the Author
Renée DeVincent was born on an Army Base in Savannah GA. Her passion for reading and creativity developed at a young age. Growing up in a military family and moving frequently, books and art became a source of comfort and escape. Later in life, she embarked on her writing career, grant and technical writing, shortly after receiving her M.Ed. in Counseling. At the same time, she continued to develop her passion for fictional short stories, literature, and art, leading her to get an AAS degree in Graphic Design.
Reading books to her daughters inspired her to write and illustrate her first Children's Book, Twiggy and the Lost Socks. Renée believes reading and storytelling are powerful ways to connect with others and foster a love of learning. Using a lighthearted rhyming style, inspired by nature, Renée uses her colorful illustrations and writing to encourage self-awareness, responsibility, positive relationships, and a solid character.
Currently, Renée resides in the heart of Kansas with her two children and supportive husband of 30 years. When not writing or creating art, Renée loves to spend time with her garden, nature, the outdoors, and her many fur babies. Hazel the Doberman and Milo the Ragdoll cat, provide many hours of writing inspiration.
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