Wednesday, June 29, 2016

MAGICAL RECIPES to celebrate A TASTE OF DEATH AND HONEY by SHARON BAYLISS


Ann here: WOW! These look AWESOME! I wish someone (hint, hint) would come over and make me some... and then wash out the blender afterwards--I hate that job (makes me sound lazy, I know, but does anyone enjoy that?)

To celebrate the recent release of A Taste of Death and Honey, I've asked some of my spring wizard friends to share some magical cocktail recipes, just in time for your Fourth of July party!

Most Mundanes assume that potions include a long list of obscure ingredients like frog eyeballs. However, that's a common misconception about potion making. Spring wizard potions generally involve only a handful of fresh ingredients, preferably from their home gardens or local farms. A plant grown in an unhappy environment can sometimes cause unpleasant results. So it's best to use plants you know. :) Also look for local, small-batch liquors for the most warm and fuzzy results.

Spring wizard potions are also always sweet, delicious, and inviting, and generally brewed to invoke desirable results, so feel free to dive in!

Our spring wizards have released some of their secret recipes for magic cocktails, just for Ann Noser!


Watermelon Margarita



Ingredients

1/4 of a seedless watermelon

4 limes

tequila



Instructions

This is one my favorite drinks! Scrape the watermelon into a blender and blend into a juice-like consistency. Pour the watermelon juice into ice trays and freeze overnight. Then, place the frozen cubes, the juice from 4 limes, and enough tequila to make for a smooth blend, into the blender. While blending, think about your best memory involving water.



Watermelon Mojito


Ingredients

1/4 of a seedless watermelon

fresh mint

sparkling water

rum



Instructions

Scrape the watermelon into a blender and blend into a juice-like consistency. Pour the watermelon juice into ice trays and freeze overnight. Muddle about 1/4 cup of mint leaves at the bottom of a tall glass and inhale deeply as you muddle. Think about the color green. Fill the glass to the top with watermelon ice cubes. Then pour on the desired amount of rum. Finish off the glass with sparkling water.



The Perfect Peach Daiquiri


Ingredients

24 oz frozen peaches

Deep Eddy Peach Vodka



Instructions

This one is so simple but SOOOO good. Perfect for a lazy summer afternoon when you want to make the easiest drink possible. Fill your blender with peaches then add enough vodka to make a smooth blend. While you blend, remember how it felt to be eight years old and jumping into a swimming pool with a big splash.



A Taste of Peach and Honey


Ingredients

1 cup white wine

1/2 cup Deep Eddy Peach Vodka

juice from 2 oranges

juice from 2 lemons

1 tbsp honey

12 oz frozen peaches



Instructions

You guessed it, I adapted this one from Snappy Gourmet just for A Taste of Death and Honey. Death doesn't make for a very delicious cocktail, so we'll do peach instead. :) Throw all the ingredients into the blender and think about your first kiss (your first good one) ;).


No, this post is not sponsored by Deep Eddy Vodka, I'm just a big fan. :) There aren't many good substitutions for this pure magical genius created by crafty summer wizards in Central Texas, but I don't know about all the wonderful local options in your area. If you can't find Deep Eddy, just follow your heart to the best choice near you.


Now that you've enjoyed some tasty spring magic, try A Taste of Death and Honey!








This book will grab you by the throat, challenge your mind, and turn your heart inside out. Sharon Bayliss delivers a powerful, emotional punch with her third book in the December People series. - Amy Bearce, author of  The World of Aluvia Series

When Samantha’s parents died, she lost everything. Her home. Her friends. Her hope. Then a life-loving spring witch at the children’s shelter fills her life with light and joy once again.

But like the springtime, Samantha’s happiness doesn’t last forever. Her friend dies violently in front of her, the victim of a mysterious killing spell. Furious and grief-stricken, Samantha resents her own weak spring magic. She doesn’t need life and renewal. She wants revenge…and death.

Homeless and alone, Samantha seeks shelter with her old friends, the Vandergraff family, and finds an unexpected ally in the powerful winter solstice witch, Evangeline. The girls’ anger and eagerness lead them to cast a killing spell before knowing the truth behind Samantha’s friend’s death or the identity of her killer. 

Once the spell is cast, they can’t take it back, and they must fight to stop their own curse before it takes away everyone they love.

Monday, June 27, 2016

THE DARKEST LIE by PINTIP DUNN

The Darkest Lie Release Blitz | Pintip Dunn | JenHalliganPR.com

Welcome to the Release Blitz for Pintip Dunn's THE DARKEST LIE!
Check out the book's details and teaser.
Be sure to enter the giveaway below!

The Darkest Lie by Pintip Dunn | A Book and a Latte | bookandlatte.com

Publisher: Kensington YA
Publication: June 28, 2016




“The mother I knew would never do those things.

But maybe I never knew her after all.”

Clothes, jokes, coded messages…Cecilia Brooks and her mom shared everything. At least, CeCe thought they did. Six months ago, her mom killed herself after accusations of having sex with a student, and CeCe’s been the subject of whispers and taunts ever since. Now, at the start of her high school senior year, between dealing with her grieving, distracted father, and the social nightmare that has become her life, CeCe just wants to fly under the radar. Instead, she’s volunteering at the school’s crisis hotline—the same place her mother worked.

As she counsels troubled strangers, CeCe’s lingering suspicions about her mom’s death surface. With the help of Sam, a new student and newspaper intern, she starts to piece together fragmented clues that point to a twisted secret at the heart of her community. Soon, finding the truth isn’t just a matter of restoring her mother’s reputation, it’s about saving lives—including CeCe’s own…


Excerpt from The Darkest Lie

“I’ve been researching the story of her suicide,” Sam says. “And I came across something in my research that nobody could explain.”

“What is it?” I say dully, even though I can probably guess. I mean, there’s lots that’s inexplicable about my mom’s behavior. Tons.

Like: How could a grown woman be sexually attracted to a boy? Or more importantly: Why would she act on it? And my personal favorite: Did she have any kind of moral fiber—even a few lost threads—at all?

But Sam bypasses all the obvious questions and picks up a lock of my hair. I feel the slight tug all the way to my roots.

“Her hair.” He rubs my strands between his fingers, and I suppress a shiver. “It was chopped off, jagged. One article said it looked like it was lopped off with a butcher knife.”

I shrug, but even that simple movement is infused with the awareness of his touch. Still, he doesn’t let go.

“They said she was crazy,” I say. “Out of her mind. Maybe she was disfiguring herself as a sign of her shame. Who knows what motivated her actions?”

But even as I repeat the explanation the detectives gave for just about everything, my dad’s words echo in my mind: I knew your mother. She wasn’t capable of those things. I don’t believe she did any of it.

All of a sudden, my excuses sound exactly like what they are—easy, surface-level assumptions designed to make it easier for the detectives to close the case.

Sam frowns. “I guess I could buy that if I hadn’t seen the interview with her hair stylist in one of the local papers.”

Oh. One of those. Every newspaper in a fifty-mile radius went berserk when my mom committed suicide. Every day, there was a new article, featuring interviews with her fellow teachers, former students, even our lawn guy, for god’s sake. If there was a story on her hair salon, I must’ve missed it.

“The stylist kept saying your mom’s haircut was inconceivable, and I couldn’t understand why. So when I was scooting past Cut & Dry the other day, I stopped to talk to her.”

“Did she confirm my mom was a natural redhead?” I raise my eyebrows. “Reveal the exact color of dye she used to cover her silver sparkles?”

“Not at all,” he says, and something about his tone stops me. The chill begins at the base of my spine and crawls its way up, one long spider leg at a time. “The stylist said she’s been cutting your mom’s hair for two decades. And in all that time, your mother never let her cut more than half an inch. In fact, she came into the salon two days before she died, and they had the exact same argument. The stylist tried to talk her into a bob, and your mom adamantly refused.”

Abruptly, he lets go of my hair, and the strands swing back over my shoulder, loose, unencumbered, and very, very cold.

Sam’s eyes pierce right into me. “So what I want to know is: What could’ve happened in two days that made her change her mind? Unless . . . she didn't.”


Pintip Dunn


About Pintip Dunn

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads


Pintip Dunn graduated from Harvard University, magna cum laude, with an A.B. in English Literature and Language. She received her J.D. at Yale Law School, where she was an editor of the YALE LAW JOURNAL. She also published an article in the YALE LAW JOURNAL, entitled, “How Judges Overrule: Speech Act Theory and the Doctrine of Stare Decisis,”

Pintip is represented by literary agent Beth Miller of Writers House. Her debut novel, FORGET TOMORROW, is a finalist in the Best First Book category of RWA’s RITA® contest. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Washington Romance Writers, YARWA, and The Golden Network.

She lives with her husband and children in Maryland. You can learn more about Pintip and her books at www.pintipdunn.com.



Giveaway

There are 2 prizes! One winner will win a signed copy of THE DARKEST LIE (US only), and another winner will receive a $50 gift card to Amazon or Book Depository (international)!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday, June 25, 2016

VICTORIAN by JORDAN ELIZABETH is NOW AVAILABLE!

VICTORIAN

A young adult novel about ghosts, history,
and two girls who find second chances at life.


Celeste struggles with finding her way from a dark past until she gets a summer volunteer gig at the local historical fair. Enter outrageous actors, dominating psychics, and ghosts stirred by a medium’s presence.

With the help of the psychic’s son, who isn’t at all what her dream date would look like but rather endearing all the same, Celeste uncovers secrets about the village left hidden amongst the dilapidated buildings. Searching deeper will mean opening her heart, a part of her she’s locked up tight and been petrified of freeing.

VICTORIAN is now available on Amazon from CHBB.
Check out early reviews on GoodReads!


Chapter 1:

I rolled my sleeve up and traced the raised white lines on the inside of my wrist. They were like Braille, telling a story of the times I locked myself in my bedroom with the compass from math class. The metal point worked best; it made a neat line, more painful than razor blades.

I dug my fingernail into the flesh beneath my wrist bone, on the underside, where the skin felt the most tender. The prick of pain grew like a blossom, creeping along my arm and up my fingers, like a super power. I closed my eyes, breathing deep through my nose and out through my mouth. A twisted form of yoga for cutters.

Chuckling, I rolled the sleeve of my brown shirt back down. The heater by the window, high up in the cellar wall, hummed like a little kid trying to sing along to pop music. My magnificent Group Counselor, Michelle, did her best with the space she rented under the hair salon. Not my style, but anyone could see she tried.
Oriental carpeting covered the cement floor and bright tiles on cement walls created a swirling pattern. Instead of hard office chairs, Michelle preferred wicker porch furniture, and a sofa. I’d taken the sofa to see who would sit beside me. So far, the two guys had taken single chairs and the only other girl dwelled on the rocking chair. It creaked as she moved despite the carpet under the rockers.

She picked at her black nail polish. How cliché. Black nail polish on the troubled delinquent. She’d dyed her hair blue-black, and wore thick kohl around her eyes. Plastic chains hung off her pants.

Maybe I should try for a look. My plain polo shirt and blue jeans didn’t make much of a statement. Next time – knowing Mama, she’d make me attend every stupid session of the Counseling Circle – I would wear my fairy princess costume left over from Cory’s Halloween party. That would make a great statement.

I opened the front pouch of my purse, the zipper loud and the contents rattling, to remove my purple eyeliner. The boy in a plaid button-up shirt glanced at me, so I grinned and made a show of rolling up my sleeve again. I winked, flashing him a glimpse of my scars, and traced the tip of the eyeliner over them in a macabre connect-the-dots. He didn’t pale, only blinked at me. Good, we were both messed up. Now we could see which of us was the most screwed.

The door opened upstairs and footsteps sounded. Low voices drifted into the sitting room from the waiting room, and another girl entered. She halted just inside the door, her eyes wide and lips parted, clutching her purse against her chest.

Yes, honey, that purse will save your life.

She lowered her gaze and ran to take a seat on the end of the floral sofa - my sofa. She pressed herself into the armrest as though to escape from me.

“Hi,” I said to break up the stillness in the room. “I’m Weronika Rivers. What’s your name?”

She jumped. The chick actually jumped off the sofa seat before sitting back down. The orange and green flowered sofa, by the way, had to have seen the 1970s.

“Celeste.” She breathed the word.

“Hey, Celeste,” I said.

The dude in the plaid shirt looked over at us. Nail Polish Girl kept picking and the other boy played a game on his cell phone.

“Did your parents make you come too?” I asked.

She gulped and leaned harder into the armrest. “Um, no. My grandfather told me it might be helpful. I like to read him the Sunday paper and…the ad was in it.”

“My mom knows Michelle. She’s the counselor. They went to school together.” I finished the drawing on my arm and popped the cap onto the eyeliner. “Mama thinks this will be good for me, but she wants to show off to her friends. ‘See, my daughter can get help. She can be normal again.’ ” I bit the middle of the eyeliner pencil as if it were a rose and I about to dance the tango.

The door opened again, fresh steps on the stairs. This time Michelle entered with another girl. Michelle took the huge, plush armchair and Girl Number Four, who wore a long flowered skirt like a hippie, took one of the white wicker chairs.

“Hello, everyone.” Michelle leaned forward with that smile I’d always hated, all teeth and gums. I tried to mimic it and I could swear Celeste giggled just a little.

“My name is Michelle Smith,” our great leader continued. “I’m glad you could all make it to our little circle. Before we get started, let me tell you all a little about myself. I was born in England to a family of mixed race. My mother had moved there from India. This is actually a Sari sent to me by an aunt who still lives there.”

Michelle smoothed her hands over her bright ensemble. It looked pretty cool, with an intricate gold design. “We moved to the United States when I was five and I’ve lived here in New York ever since. I have my doctorate in psychology, but I’ve always wanted to be a counselor.”

I exaggerated my head nods. This time Celeste giggled for sure.
“Each of you is here because of something troubling that has happened or is happening in your life. I want to help you grow past that. We can do this together. I want you to know we are all on the same team. Everything we discuss in here will remain confidential.”

Yeah right. I almost snorted. Like I would trust anything deep, dark, and secret with these idiots.

“Please share your name and why you are here, but only say what you are comfortable with.” Michelle nodded to Nail Polish Girl. “Please go first.”

She finally looked up, a little blush on her high cheekbones. “Um, hi, everyone. I’m Joanna McFadden. I…um…” She looked down at the carpet. “My brother committed suicide.”

No one moved. I’d known the others here would have issues, but the admission sent prickles across my skin. It shouldn’t rattle me. I should be tough, unbreakable.

“Thank you for sharing,” Michelle said. “Your turn, dear.” She nodded to Celeste.

Celeste stood up, still clutching her purse. “I’m, um, Celeste. On the consent form, it says I’m Aeltye because that’s my real name. Celeste is my middle name. I go by that.”

No wonder she was here. People had to make fun of her like crazy over that name.

“All-Tee,” Michelle murmured. “How beautiful.”

“Thanks. It’s Dutch.” She dropped back onto the couch.

“What else would you like to share, honey?” Michelle had the same verbal-diarrhea of every “medical health professional” I’d ever run across even though they were just supposed to listen. They pushed, pushed, pushed. Just let us wallow.

I dug my thumbnail into my wrist. The sharp nip kept me from jiggling my legs.

Celeste held her purse so tightly her knuckles whitened. “I…um…I have issues. With my dad.”

A vein pulsed in her throat just above her collar and the color drained from her face. Her breathing came in short pants.
I reached across the sofa to squeeze her arm. If she kept it together, I could stay less rattled.

 “Thank you.” Michelle fastened her dark gaze on me. “Your turn.”
No “sweetie” or “honey” for me. “I’m Weronika and I see dead people.” I beamed at Michelle. “There’s a little boy who haunts the field across from my house. He’s always there just watching me. Man it’s creepy.” I swept my gaze over the others; only Celeste looked away. “How about you guys? Do any of you see ghosts?”
Silence.

“I believe I saw one once,” Michelle offered.

“How about you, Aeltye Celeste?” I pumped my fist in the air for her, as if we might be the team Michelle wanted. “Have you ever seen a ghost?”

Crap; she looked ready to pass out or heave. I almost apologized for asking.

The guy in the plaid shirt laughed as if I joked, and the others joined in, save Celeste and Michelle. Fine, let them believe that was why I was there. It was far safer than the truth.





Jordan Elizabeth is known for her odd sense of humor and her outrageous outfits.  Surrounded by bookshelves, she can often be found pounding away at her keyboard – she’s known for breaking keyboards, too.  Jordan’s young adult novels include ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW, COGLING, TREASURE DARKLY, BORN OF TREASURE, and GOAT CHILDREN.  VICTORIAN is her second novel with CHBB.  Check out her website for bonus scenes and contests. 

Her first CHBB novel, GOAT CHILDREN, is free on Amazon for June 24, 25, and 26!  Don’t miss your chance to snatch up that exciting YA contemporary-fantasy. 


Win a $5 Amazon gift card!
All winners will be notified after verification of entry at the end of this promotion.  Prizes have been supplied by and the responsibility of delivery are solely that of the author and/or their representatives. Blogs are not liable for non-delivery on the part of the author. No purchase necessary.


Thursday, June 16, 2016

UNDER A BRASS MOON - ANTHOLOGY - COVER REVEAL

cover by Eugene Teplitsky

UNDER A BRASS MOON
A Steampunk and Science Fiction Anthology

  

UNDER A BRASS MOON releases on July 28th, but in the meantime, check it out on GoodReads. 

Many of the short stories are continuations from GEARS OF BRASS.  The anthology is now on sale for 99 cents!

Help us celebrate the cover reveal with the chance to win a $30 Amazon gift card. 

All winners will be notified after verification of entry at the end of this promotion.  Prizes have been supplied by and the responsibility of delivery are solely that of the author and/or their representatives. Blogs are not liable for non-delivery on the part of the author. No purchase necessary.



Thursday, June 9, 2016

A TASTE OF DEATH AND HONEY by SHARON BAYLISS





When Samantha’s parents died, she lost everything. Her home. Her friends. Her hope. Then a life-loving spring witch at the children’s shelter fills her life with light and joy once again.

But like the springtime, Samantha’s happiness doesn’t last forever. Her friend dies violently in front of her, the victim of a mysterious killing spell. Furious and grief-stricken, Samantha resents her own weak spring magic. She doesn’t need life and renewal. She wants revenge…and death.

Homeless and alone, Samantha seeks shelter with her old friends, the Vandergraff family, and finds an unexpected ally in the powerful winter solstice witch, Evangeline. The girls’ anger and eagerness lead them to cast a killing spell before knowing the truth behind Samantha’s friend’s death or the identity of her killer. 

Once the spell is cast, they can’t take it back, and they must fight to stop their own curse before it takes away everyone they love.




Purchase HERE





Author bio:
As an author and social worker, Sharon has devoted her life to making the lives of real people better and the lives of fictional people much, much worse. When she’s not writing, she enjoys living in her “happily-ever-after” with her husband and two young sons. She can be found eating Tex-Mex on patios, wearing flip-flops, and playing in the mud (which she calls gardening).

Author website: www.sharonbayliss.com
Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorsharonbayliss/
Author Twitter: @SharonBayliss