Thank You Giveaway for Tour Hosts! Win $50 Worth of Books from Book Depository!

February 17, 2020Reads & Reels 1 Comment

Hey Tour Hosts! Sorry I’m late announcing this, but better late than never?

Thank you all so much for entering! I’m so happy for programs that choose entries at random because I could never decide lol!

So without further ado, the winner of the $50 Book Depository shopping spree is Scarlett from Scarlett Readz & Runz 🎉🎉🎉

I wish I could gift you all with this because you deserve it! Until next time ❤❤❤

R&R Book Tours

Hey Tour Hosts!

It’s time I show my appreciation to all of you by doing another thank you giveaway!

This time, one of you will win $50 to spend on books of your choice from Book Depository!

I have said it before but I will say it again, I COULD NOT do any of this without you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

The giveaway will run from January 28th to February 4th and is only open to active hosts!

Click the link below to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Best of luck everyone! I wish I could give you all a prize!

View original post

Blog Tour: The Celestial Assignment by Theresa Braun @TBraun_Author @RRBookTours #WiHM #Paranormal #ShortStory #Books

February 17, 2020Reads & Reels Leave a comment

It’s Women in Horror Month, and what better way to celebrate it than to share a new release by a wonderful author! Theresa Braun’s new short story, The Celestial Assignment is available now! Check it out!

The Celestial Assignment

Publication Date: February 14th, 2020

Genre: Short Story/ Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal

After a sudden death, Will, a misguided angel, is tasked with protecting a baby girl. Watching over her as she grows up and navigates the world appears a harsh punishment for his past failings. Can he redeem himself, or will he fall further from grace?

“I devoured this phenomenal sorrow-filled piece in one sitting, but Braun left me with so many questions I had to think about. She creates a world that’s vivid, lush and visceral, while setting the reader up for heartbreak and despair. Amazing read, can’t recommend ‘The Celestial Assignment’ enough.” –Steve Stred, author of Ritual

Add to Goodreads

Excerpt

With a jolt, my feet landed on slick linoleum, the burning odor of disinfectant and stale medicine in the air. A woman screamed in a hospital bed, her legs pried open with a sheet over them. Ugh. I’d never liked babies and had zero fatherly instincts. As the infant cried and was handed to the mother, the dad busy snapping Polaroids, I heard a whisper: “She’s your responsibility now.”

As my questions flooded in, that damned manual appeared in my hand. Annoyed the heavenly head honchos hadn’t downloaded the content into my brain, I held onto it, lest I be struck by lightning.

“Hello, Celeste,” the mother cooed to the baby.

I tapped my foot.

The irony of the name irked the shit out of me.

As a reluctant guardian angel, I figured my job involved keeping this pipsqueak’s hand off the hot stove, and her mouth away from poisons in the cabinets. Most of the time, I yawned in the periphery, especially since I was trapped in this fucking hick town somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin. Countless Crayon doodles and finger paintings were the extent of my excitement. Eventually, I rejoiced when of a few close calls at the wheel of her parents’ car gave me something to do. But then there was her painfully awkward discovery of boys. Once she inadvertently brushed this dude’s junk at a dance. Her first kiss was lame as shit. It was like being tuned into the Nickelodeon Channel. Her interactions with a new boy made me gag—they’d finish each other’s sentences and giggle like idiots. What did I do to deserve this?

Available on Amazon!

About the Author

Hmmm. What’s this? Looks like Ms. Braun left her computer on and her Goodreads bio open.

This should be fun.

What can we say about Theresa? I mean other than the fact that she’s weirdly obsessed with smiley faces :-). Like, seriously obsessed >:-*. It’s kinda scary :-O.

I think she thinks she’s from Renaissance England or Venice or something. I never could figure out which one it was. (She’s really bad at doing accents.)

She likes romance novels and crime TV, which are pretty much the same thing when you think about it. Ha! Am I right?

She has a hell of a singing voice. Seriously. It’s, like, seventh circle of hell bad.

She likes editing. A lot. Just wait till she get’s a load a this.

Cats. Shoes. Chips and salsa. In that order.

Yeah, that last part didn’t make sense to me either.

Theresa Braun | Twitter | Facebook| Instagram

Blog Tour Schedule

February 17^th

Reads & Reels (Spotlight) http://readsandreels.com

Banshee Irish Horror Blog (Spotlight) http://www.bansheeirishhorrorblog.com

Sophril Reads (Review) http://sophrilreads.wordpress.com

February 18^th

The Magic of Wor(l)ds (Spotlight) http://themagicofworlds.wordpress.com

Tales of a Natural Spoonie (Review) https://talesofanaturalspoonie.com/

The Faerie Review (Review) http://www.thefaeriereview.com

February 19^th

Didi Oviatt (Review) https://didioviatt.wordpress.com

Jessica Belmont (Review) https://jessicabelmont.wordpress.com/

Vick’s Bookish Writing Blog (Review) https://vicksblogcom.home.blog/

February 20^th

Ity Reads Books (Review) http://www.ityreadsbooks.home.blog

Cup of Books (Review) https://cupofbooksblog.wordpress.com/

My Bookish Bliss (Review) http://www.mybookishbliss.com

February 21^st

Scarlett Readz & Runz (Review) https://scarlettreadzandrunz.com/

Phantom of the Library (Review) https://phantomofthelibrary.com/

Cup of Toast (Review) https://cupoftoast.co.uk

Jaunts & Haunts (Review) https://jonathanpongratz.com/

Entertainingly Nerdy (Review) https://www.entertaininglynerdy.com

Blog Tour Organized By:

R&R Book Tours

Blog Tour: When Stars Are Bright by Amber R. Duell @AmberR_Duell @RRBookTours1 #WhenStarsAreBright #YABooks #YAReads #FairyTale #BlogTour #RRBookTours

February 17, 2020Reads & Reels Leave a comment

Welcome to the blog tour for When Stars Are Bright!

When Stars Are Bright is a YA Fairy Tale retelling of “Thumbelina” by award-winning author, Amber R. Duell. Read on for an exclusive excerpt and a chance to win a paperback copy of the book!

When Stars Are Bright

Publication Date: January 7th, 2020

Genre: Young Adult/ Fairy Tale Retelling

Publisher: Crescent Sea Publishing

For Lina Holt, a Dutch seventeen-year-old with a flair for singing, 1930 is going to be her year. Her long-time boyfriend is about to propose and her mother will finally realize their relationship isn’t a passing phase. But when a stranger snatches her from her backyard, everything changes.

Lina is thrust into the spotlight of a New York vaudeville show where she’s paired with Nik, a mysterious pianist. The two bond during rehearsals and it doesn’t take long before Nik puts himself at risk to confess a hidden truth. Without Lina, the show is in its last season and there’s no way she’ll be allowed to slip through the owner’s fingers. Not when she carries fairy magic in her blood—an gift that turns her song into a dangerously addictive drug.

If Lina ever wants to return home, she must learn who to trust before she’s forced to remain a prisoner on stage forever.

WHEN STARS ARE BRIGHT is a historical Thumbelina retelling with a touch of magic.

Add to Goodreads

Excerpt

There’s a certain thrill in doing something forbidden. Sneaking out past curfew, dancing freely to a jazz band, stealing kisses in a dark corner. Any one of those things will send my mother into hysterics. I’m not sure what she’ll do if she finds out I’m doing them all at once. When she finds out, because she always does.

But, if I want to see Christian, it’s my only choice.

The band electrifies the air with each note they play. At least fifty strangers twist and turn around us in the empty barn, and the lingering scent of hay tickles my nose. Christian doesn’t seem to notice the lack of marble floors or fancy wall sconces. His eyes haven’t left my face since we got here, except for the kissing.

His arms cocoon me near the wall, and I lean into his chest. He’s warm and sturdy against me, and I close my eyes. The soft thump of his heartbeat beneath my palm dulls the sharp edge of missing him, but it never stops cutting. It won’t as long as we’re forced to sneak around behind our parents’ backs.

“Are you tired, Lina?” Christian twists one of my curls around his finger. “We can go.”

“We’ve only been here an hour.” And there’s no telling how long until we can meet again. I stretch up on my toes, the hem of my yellow skirt tickling the back of my knees, and kiss the fine stubble on his cheek. “Come on. I love this song.”

Pulling Christian behind me, I find a free spot in the middle of the barn. Dozens of worn, dusty boots and Mary Jane’s slam down on the planked floor, sending bits of straw and dirt into the air. The music vibrates against my body, and we join the rhythm.

The band wears worn slacks and checkered shirts like the rest of the crowd. Christian’s the only one here without patched clothes or any idea of the work that will go into filling this barn with hay tomorrow. No one will have the energy for dancing after a day of haying. They’ll be lucky to drag themselves to bed before collapsing, my mother and I included, though it will be a different field we work in the morning.

Sweat trickles down Christian’s temple as we kick up dust of our own, and a wide grin breaks out on my face. I’m not the best swing dancer, far from it, but I don’t care. Giving myself over to the music makes me feel weightless. Free. No one pays attention except Christian, and he’s not much better. When the trombone sounds its last note, I laugh and collapse into his arms, breathless.

“Want to get something to drink?” I ask over the start of the next song.

He nods and leads me back through the crowd. His cotton shirt clings to his skin, showing off the muscles in his arms and back, and gray suspenders hang down from his waist. After more than a year together, it’s the most I’ve seen of him, and it would be a lie to say I’m not enjoying it. If we didn’t have to sneak around, I’d make him go dancing every weekend for the view alone.

“Wait here.” He slips under a slanted support beam at the back of the barn, and kisses me. When he steps away, he keeps hold of my hand until he’s too far to reach. “I’ll be right back.”

I scoot farther under the protection of the beam until it grazes my hair, and watch his head bob above everyone else. A lantern burns beside me, casting a warm glow, and the band plays their own version of Puttin’ on the Ritz. There’s no singer tonight, without a microphone it would be impossible to hear one anyway, but I know the words. I hum along with the smooth sound of the saxophone, my foot tapping in time with the bass and, before I realize it, I’m singing.

It’s a cheery tune, but I keep my voice quiet. My mother is the only one who’s heard me sing since I was little, and she insists I keep it that way. Being known as the infant abandoned in a tulip field, I’m used to whispers behind my back. Going steady with the heir to the Van Buren petroleum fortune only makes things worse. I don’t mind being thought of as an unlovable gold digger—not much anyway—but I’m tired of standing out. I especially have no interest in drawing a crowd tonight like I did when I was five. Twelve years later, I still get chills thinking about the people that closed in on me as I hummed in the marketplace.

A heavy man inches along the wall, hunching over to fit beside me. His eyelids droop over dark eyes, and his round face is close enough that I can count the pockmarks. His breath wheezes over the music. “You have a lovely voice. Where did you get it?”

I slam my mouth shut on the last line of the song. Naturally, the one time I sing in public someone’s listening. Though it’s only one person, this is somehow equally unnerving.

“Have you thought about a career?” The strange man leans closer. From his dialect, it’s obvious he’s from a different part of Holland.

“A career?” I shift away, and scan the crowd for Christian. When I don’t see him between here and the water barrel, I step away from the wall.

The man bobs his head up and down, his jowls shaking, swallowing the yellow-stained Marlboro collar. “In show business. With that delicate face of yours, the blond hair and blue eyes, it would be easy to make a name for yourself. I’ve never felt an addictive quality as strong as yours either. Of course it’s rare. Where did you get it?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Keep your secrets, little Symric. Fairy folk always do.” He inches closer still. “But what do you say? You want to make it big in America with me?”

My laugh is quick and high-pitched. Where are you, Christian? “No.”

“You should.”

“She should what?” Christian asks from the opposite direction. He steps up beside me without refreshments and wraps an arm around my shoulders. I lean closer.

Now Available!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Win a paperback copy of When Stars Are Bright! Click the link below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author

Amber R. Duell is an award-winning young adult author, Navy wife, and mom of 2 awesome boys. She has been a #WriteMentor mentor since 2018 and is a co-host on the live broadcast show Young Adult Edition. Red Bull keeps her kicking.

Amber Duell| Twitter | Facebook | Instagram