Heir of Lies Blog Tour feat. a Guest Post by Author Mallory McCartney on Her Love for the Cover!

Heir of Lies (Black Dawn #1) by Mallory McCartney

Publication Date: April 21, 2020

“Hope was a dangerous thing. It could consume every dream and make them take flight, becoming wild daydreams in one’s heart and mind. Or hope could incinerate everything you thought you knew, burning you down to your core, leaving you raw and exposed for the world.”

Emory Fae has only known one thing—life at The Academy, a school for those who have special abilities. Following in her parents’ footsteps, the pressure to uphold their dream falls on her and one of her best friends—Adair Stratton. An outcast and feared by most, Adair longs to break away from the expectations dictating his future. With whispers of dark magic spreading across Kiero, Adair starts to doubt The Academy is all it seems.

An unexpected visit ignites new tensions as the roguish king from across the Black Sea, Tadeas Maher of the Shattered Isles, and his heir, Marquis Maher, sail to Kiero. Notorious for their pirating and wrath, for the first time in years, they demand the Faes listen to their proposition for a new treaty. Caught in the middle of politics, Adair and Emory, with the help of their best friends Brokk and Memphis, search for the one thing that matters the most—the truth.

Their world is tipped upside down as unlikely alliances are made, and war ravages Kiero. Through the throes of betrayal, lies, hidden magic, and love, Adair is faced with a life changing decision. Will he fight or bow to the darkness within?

But, Adair’s decision will change the course of Kiero forever, setting in motion irreversible destinies for everyone at The Academy as Emory Fae rises as heir.

Heir of Lies is the first book in the bestselling Black Dawn series.

---

Cover Love by Mallory McCartney

Out Now Blog Tour (Feat. an Excerpt!)

Out Now: Queer We Go Again!
By Saundra Mitchell
On Sale: May 26, 2020
Inkyard Press
YOUNG ADULT FICTION/Diversity & Multicultural | YOUNG ADULT FICTION/Romance/LGBT
9781335018267; 1335018263
$18.99 USD
 416 pages

About the Book
A follow-up to the critically acclaimed All Out anthology, Out Now features seventeen new short stories from amazing queer YA authors. Vampires crash prom…aliens run from the
government…a president’s daughter comes into her own…a true romantic tries to soften the
heart of a cynical social media influencer…a selkie and the sea call out to a lost soul. Teapots
and barbershops…skateboards and VW vans…Street Fighter and Ares’s sword: Out Now has a story for every reader and surprises with each turn of the page!
This essential and beautifully written modern-day collection features an intersectional and
inclusive slate of authors and stories.

---

Excerpt

KICK. PUSH. COAST. By Candice Montgomery 

Excerpted from OUT NOW: Queer We Go Again! Edited by Saundra Mitchell, used with permission by Inkyard Press, © 2020 by Inkyard Press.

Every day, same time, same place, she appears and doesn’t say a word.

Well, she doesn’t just appear. She takes a bus. You know she takes a bus because you see her get off the bus right in front of 56th Street, just in front of the park where you skate.

You know she takes a bus and gets off right in front of the park at 56th Street because you are always at the park, wait-ing to catch a glance of her.

Breath Like Water Blog Tour + Check Out the Prologue in this Exclusive Excerpt!

Breath Like Water  

Anna Jarzab

On Sale Date: May 19, 2020

9781335050236, 133505023X

Hardcover

$18.99 USD, $23.99 CAD

Young Adult Fiction / Sports & Recreation / Water Sports 

Ages 13 And Up

416 pages

ABOUT THE BOOK:

This beautifully lyrical contemporary novel features an elite teen swimmer with Olympic dreams, plagued by injury and startled by unexpected romance, who struggles to balance training with family and having a life. For fans of Sarah Dessen, Julie Murphy and Miranda Kenneally.

Susannah Ramos has always loved the water. A swimmer whose early talent made her a world champion, Susannah was poised for greatness in a sport that demands so much of its young. But an inexplicable slowdown has put her Olympic dream in jeopardy, and Susannah is fighting to keep her career afloat when two important people enter her life: a new coach with a revolutionary training strategy, and a charming fellow swimmer named Harry Matthews.

As Susannah begins her long and painful climb back to the top, her friendship with Harry blossoms into passionate and supportive love. But Harry is facing challenges of his own, and even as their bond draws them closer together, other forces work to tear them apart. As she struggles to balance her needs with those of the people who matter most to her, Susannah will learn the cost–and the beauty–of trying to achieve something extraordinary.

---

Prologue

1,063 days until US Olympic Team Trials

FINA World Aquatics Championships

Budapest, Hungary

Women’s 200m Intermediate Medley Finals

The water is breathing. At least, that’s how it seems. I’ve always imagined it as a living thing, benevolent and obedient and faithful. A gentle beast at first, like a pony, but over time something faster. A thoroughbred, maybe. A cheetah sprinting across a flat, grassy plain.

But, of course, the water isn’t breathing—it’s rippling, with the echoing wakes of eight elite swimmers as they poured themselves into one last swim, one final chance to grab the golden ring. Now they’re gone, and in half a minute, I’ll be right where they were, reaching for my own shot at glory.

Alpha Erased by Aileen Erin Read-Along Playlist! (Feat. a giveaway!)

Alpha Erased
by Aileen Erin
(Alpha Girls #9)
Published by: Ink Monster LLC
Publication date: May 12th 2020
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult
Synopsis:

Tessa—part witch, part werewolf, raised human and now the unofficial leader of a newly minted supernatural alliance—thinks nothing of her brother, Axel, texting her and Dastien to meet up. The location pin is in a weird spot, but maybe he found a magical anomaly? But when Tessa steps into the darkened warehouse, she doesn’t expect to see her brother laying in a pool of his own blood, smell the sulfuric scent of black magic, or feel the pain of her mate being shot full of silver.

Tessa has seconds to make a choice, but there’s only one thing she can do to save the two most important men in her life—sacrifice herself.

The last thing Dastien hears from Tessa is her plea—help Axel. Then their bond goes silent. He can’t hear her. He can’t feel her. And there’s no sign of the attackers who took her.

Dastien does everything he can to save Axel before calling his friends in a panic. It takes all of them to find Tessa, but when Dastien’s finally reunited with her, there’s no sign of recognition in her eyes.

No magic in her touch.

No wolf beneath the surface.

Everything that made Tessa who she was…has been erased.

---

Follow along with this exclusive playlist as you enjoy Alpha Erased!:

Imagine Me (Shatter Me #6) by Tahereh Mafi Review *Spoilers!*

Last summer was a struggle for me and one of the things that helped get me through was books 4 + 5. I’m not big one messing the next book right after the other for most books bc I don’t wanna be sick of the series but I made an exception for 4 + 5. I read all of the release books for the latter half of the series right after one another and I loveddd them, which was a huge shock to me considering that I didn’t like any of the previous books and especially hated Warner (someday I need to write out why but alas that requires a re-read). Somehow I just kind of ignored Warner and also found a story that felt much less rushed or too easy, things felt right.

Unfortunately things went out the window when I finished this one. Once again everything became too easy and felt rushed. 

*spoilers below the tag*

WWW: 4/15/20

WWW is hosted by Taking On a World of Words and is a weekly meme where bloggers can respond to a few questions about what they are currently reading and what they’d like to read in the future.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

5 Disney+ Recommendations While You’re Staying Safe at Home

If you’re stuck inside like I am for the foreseeable future and looking for something to watch, I’ve got a few Disney+ recommendations for Disney and non-Disney fans alike!

Interview with Sydney Faith, author of The Delinquent Crown!

Synopsis:

Title: The Delinquent Crown

Series: Olexia Legends Book One

Release Date: 9/9/2019

Genre: Fantasy Adventure

Category: Young Adult

Olexia is a wild and dangerous world filled with magic.

Miri and Nick find Olexia by chance but choose their fate when they step through the portal. A shard of glass and a hastily-written letter from their mother are all they have to solve their puzzling past.

In Olexia Miri and Nick find danger and unlikely allies, and with their help, they learn to wield their newfound powers and find out the truth about Olexia’s buried secrets. When the ruthless Council leader learns the siblings harbor a powerful artifact, he sends his bloodthirsty LaKaio soldiers to hunt them down at any cost.

With time running out and secrets about their past being revealed around every corner, Miri and Nick must decide if they’re going to hide away or rise up against the sinister leaders of Olexia.

---

• Hi Sydney, how are you?

○       Hey Madi! I’m great, thanks!

• What inspired you to write The Delinquent Crown?

○       I’ve always had a love for fantasy. When I was a kid, my favorite story was Alice in Wonderland (the books, and the Disney animated film.) I love the idea of people from Earth traveling to another world with magic and mayhem. Once I knew I wanted to be a writer, I was sure a portal fantasy series was in my future.

• What was the writing process like for TDC?

○       It was kind of wild, as in, all over the place. When I started writing it, I was actually working on another book, but the idea for TDC came to me late one night and I literally jumped out of bed to start writing the ideas down. Writing this book taught me about my writing methods, so there was a lot of experimenting with my process to learn what was right for me (half a dozen outlining methods, writing at different times, drafting speed, how much to plan and how much to leave to in-the-moment ideas, etc.)

• How long did it take you to write TDC?

○       Just the other day I figured out that from the time I made my first notes on the story to the day it was released was exactly 3 years. September 9^th, 2016 – September 9^th, 2019. I didn’t plan that! As for the actual writing, I think I spent about a year and a half on the first draft, and the rest was editing, editing, editing.

• Do you have a favorite scene that you wrote?

Review: Together We Caught Fire by Eva V. Gibson

Together We Caught Fire by Eva V. Gibson

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Simon Pulse

A forbidden attraction grows even more complicated when the guy Lane Jamison has crushed on for years suddenly becomes her step-brother in this sexy and gorgeously written debut novel about the lines between love, desire, and obsession.

What happens when the boy you want most becomes the one person you can’t have?

Lane Jamison’s life is turned upside down the week before her senior year when her father introduces her to his new fiancée: mother of Grey McIntyre, Lane’s secret, longtime crush. Now with Grey living in Lane’s house, there’s only a thin wall separating their rooms, making it harder and harder to deny their growing mutual attraction—an attraction made all the more forbidden by Grey’s long-term girlfriend Sadie Hall, who also happens to be Lane’s friend.

Torn between her feelings for Grey and her friendship with Sadie—not to mention her desire to keep the peace at home—Lane befriends Sadie’s older brother, Connor, the black sheep of the strict, evangelical Hall family. Connor, a metal working artist who is all sharp edges, challenges Lane in ways no one else ever has. As the two become closer and start to open up about the traumas in their respective pasts, Lane begins to question her conviction that Connor is just a distraction.

Tensions come to a head after a tragic incident at a party, forcing Lane to untangle her feelings for both boys and face the truth of what—and who—she wants, in this gripping and stunningly romantic debut novel.

---

I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and this has in no way affected my thoughts.

I’m gonna be honest: when I was first approached about reading and reviewing this one, I was kind of iffy on it. My first impression was a sort of incesty (step-siblings)romance novel, but as I started to get into it I realized that this wasn’t really the case and it became less uncomfortable. I also hadn’t really read any books of a similar fashion because of said incesty concerns so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

Why You Should Pick The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow up + feat. a Giveaway!

The Sound of the Stars

by Alechia Dow

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Release Date: February 25, 2020

Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Fantasy

Synopsis:

Can a girl who risks her life for books and an alien who loves forbidden pop music work together to save humanity?

Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the deaths of one-third of the world’s population.

Seventeen-year-old Janelle “Ellie” Baker survives in an Ilori-controlled center in New York City. Deemed dangerously volatile because of their initial reaction to the invasion, humanity’s emotional transgressions are now grounds for execution. All art, books and creative expression are illegal, but Ellie breaks the rules by keeping a secret library. When a book goes missing, Ellie is terrified that the Ilori will track it back to her and kill her.

Born in a lab, M0Rr1S (Morris) was raised to be emotionless. When he finds Ellie’s illegal library, he’s duty-bound to deliver her for execution. The trouble is, he finds himself drawn to human music and in desperate need of more. They’re both breaking the rules for love of art—and Ellie inspires the same feelings in him that music does.

Ellie’s—and humanity’s—fate rests in the hands of an alien she should fear. M0Rr1S has a lot of secrets, but also a potential solution—thousands of miles away. The two embark on a wild and dangerous road trip with a bag of books and their favorite albums, all the while making a story and a song of their own that just might save them both.

Why you should pick this one up (Especially if you’re a YA lover!)!: