CBY Book Club

Friday, 4 August 2017

Blog Tour Review & Giveaway - Kissing Max Holden by Katy Upperman

Kissing Max Holden

Author: Katy Upperman

Published by: Swoon Reads

Publication Date: August 1st, 2017

Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Book Description:

Kissing Max Holden was a terrible idea… After his father has a life-altering stroke, Max Holden isn’t himself. As his long-time friend, Jillian Eldridge only wants to help him, but she doesn’t know how. When Max climbs through her window one night, Jill knows that she shouldn’t let him kiss her. But she can’t resist, and when they’re caught in the act by her dad, Jill swears it’ll never happen again. Because kissing Max Holden is a terrible idea.With a new baby sibling on the way, her parents fighting all the time, and her dream of culinary school up in the air, Jill starts spending more and more time with Max. And even though her father disapproves and Max still has a girlfriend, not kissing Max is easier said than done. Will Jill follow her heart and allow their friendship to blossom into something more, or will she listen to her head and stop kissing Max Holden once and for all?

Buy Links:
Amazon US ¦ UK ¦ Barnes & Noble ¦ iBooks ¦ Kobo

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31145039-kissing-max-holden?ac=1&from_search=true

Pink Lock Picks and Sequined Witch Hats

Author: Carla Rehse

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Date of Publication: 7-24-17

ISBN: 978-1546514534

Number of pages: 286

Word Count: 78k

Fashion. Dead bodies. And magic.

In this fantastical and mysterious tale, seventeen-year-old lock pick Gracie Mason finds herself inadvertently caught up in a world involving witches, bizarre rituals, romance—and murder.

Book Description:

Witches must bond with humans in order to produce children—and once the bond is made, it cannot easily be unmade.

Imagine seventeen-year-old Gracie Mason’s surprise when she accidently bonds with a witch named Asher. Sure, he’s cute, but that’s beside the point. She’s not going to settle for a guy just because she’s magically bound to him.

To dissolve the bond, Gracie must seek out another witch to perform a magical rite. However, matters become considerably more complicated when witches begin turning up dead. Wanting nothing more than to get on with her life, Gracie must now team up with her enchanter and wade deeper into a complex world of enchantment and intrigue.

Pink Lock Picks and Sequined Witch Hats is an enthralling story of magic, mystery, and murder—and each new twist will draw you further under its spell.

Buy Links:
Amazon US ¦ UK

ISAN
Author: Mary Ting
Publication Date: May 1st, 2018
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Blog Tour Excerpt & Giveaway - The Eldritch Heart by Matthew S. Cox

The Eldritch Heart

Matthew S. Cox

Published by: Curiosity Quills Press

Publication Date: August 1st, 2017

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Book Description:

Princess Oona Talomir enjoys the little things that come with her station: a handmaiden, her lavish bedchamber, and scores of fancy dresses―the duty to win a decades’ long war, not so much.

Oh, did I mention assassins?

Seers foretold the conflict would end by her hand. From the moment she drew her first breath, the neighboring kingdom has been trying to kill her so she could not grow powerful enough to destroy them. The king, fearing for his daughter’s life, has kept her confined to the castle grounds for most of her sixteen years. With the tide of war turning against them, the burden of her crown becomes too much to bear, yet one thing lifts her spirits amid the gloom.

Her servant girl, Kitlyn. Alas, in a kingdom obsessed with the god of purity, she is terrified to confess her forbidden love. When her father makes a demand she cannot abide―marry a prince to forge a military alliance―Oona panics. He is handsome and honorable, but he’s not Kitlyn. Unable to admit why she cannot obey, Oona does the only thing she can think of, and runs away.

Alone and unprepared in the wilderness, she prays the gods will let Kitlyn find her—before the assassins do.

Buy Links:
Amazon US ¦ UK

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30067894-the-eldritch-heart?ac=1&from_search=true

The Weather War
Author: Stephanie A. Cain
Publication Date: September 19th, 2017
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Blog Tour Promo & Giveaway - Blood Bank by Zoe Markham

Blood Bank
Author: Zoe Markham
Genre: YA Fantasy / Horror
Release Date: July 2017

Book Description:
Benjamin is a programmer moonlighting as a security guard at Dystopia, a seedy club that caters to the down-and-outs, the desperate, the addicts. He's been building his reputation, saving for a way out - but when he rescues a young woman from the nearby estate, he may just have stepped too far out of line...

Lucy is ordinary; a girl with a deadbeat boyfriend, a normal life and college studies. But when her world takes an odd twist, she starts to wonder about the people she's meeting, the situations she's in, the odd aversions and attacks happening around her. They're just coincidences...aren't they?

And Zack is in deep trouble. He's losing his girlfriend, drowning in debt, and has dwindling job prospects - and that's not the worst of it. His debt is to people who won't ever forget it, and who want the things closest to Zack's heart: his blood - and his life. In the heart of Swindon, an ancient order hides in plain sight, spreading their influence through the streets like a disease. But despite their widespread power they are catching up with the modern world: the vampires are going online, and the Order is about to become more powerful than even they would have dreamed...

Buy Links:
Amazon US ¦ UK

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35154789-blood-bank

Covetous
Series: The Marked Mage Chronicles, Book #2
Author: Victoria Evers
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: July 14, 2017

Book Description:
Heaven Wants Me Dead.
Hell Wants Me As Their Weapon.
And I'm in Bed With A Devil.

I was just your average seventeen-year-old girl, until I was Marked. Some may sell their souls; mine was taken. Not only are angelic hunters out to kill me, but Hell's deadliest Mage—the devilishly charming Crown Prince of Lust—is just as desperate to get his hands on me...again. No, he doesn't want me dead. This seductive trickster only has one thing on his mind: making me his new blushing bride.

He can call me his "mate" all he wants. I'm not about ready to sign my soul away into eternal damnation, no matter how gorgeous he may be. But after two months on the run, I realize I can't escape the ugly truth. If I wish to fight another day, I may just have to make a deal with the worst kind of devil. The kind that loves me.

I thought I knew what rock bottom was, but this is only the beginning. As the great poet once said, "Hell is empty and all the devils are here."

$0.99 Release Sale!

Buy Links:

Amazon US ¦ UK

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35391378-covetous

Beside the Music
Author: BJ Knapp
Genre: Contemporary Women’s Fiction
Date Published: June 2016
Publisher: Lime Green Books

Book Description:
What happens to a marriage when an 80s metal band moves in? Winner of the 2016 Human Relations Indie Book Award, Beside the Music answers the question: can you be one man's wife and another man's muse? Brenda and Tim are dealing with enough chaos in their marriage: a run for public office, threat of getting fired at work, and a snooty meddling mother in law. Things get even more complicated when 80s metal sensation Hydra moves into their home to record their comeback album--and soon they also have screaming fans on the front lawn to contend with. Will Brenda and Tim's marriage survive?

On Sale for $.99 August 1-3

Buy Links:

Amazon US ¦ UK ¦ B&N ¦ Kobo ¦ iTunes

Blog Tour Excerpt & Giveaway - Graveyard Shift by Michael F. Haspil

Graveyard Shift

Author: Michael F. Haspil
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Tor Books (July 18, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765379627
ISBN-13: 978-0765379627

Book Description:

Police procedurals go supernatural in this gritty urban fantasy debut

Alex Menkaure, former pharaoh and mummy, and his vampire partner, Marcus, who was born in ancient Rome, once hunted evil vampires for UMBRA, a super-secret unit of the NSA. That was before the discovery of a blood substitute and a Supreme Court ruling allowed thousands of vampires to integrate into society.

Now, Alex and Marcus are vice cops in a special police unit. They fight to keep the streets safe from criminal vampires, shape-shifters, blood-dealers, and anti-vampire vigilantes.

When someone starts poisoning the artificial blood, race relations between vampires and humans deteriorate to the brink of anarchy. While the city threatens to tear itself apart, Alex and Marcus must form an unnatural alliance with a vigilante gang and a shape-shifter woman in a desperate battle against an ancient vampire conspiracy.

If they succeed, they'll be pariahs, hunted by everyone. If they fail, the result will be a race-war bloodierthan any the world has ever seen.

Buy Links:
Amazon US ¦ UK ¦ B&N ¦ Book Depository

Swept Away

(The Water Rushes #3)
Author: S. McPherson

Publication Date: August 1st, 2017

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Book Description:

Elev nos senaremdos: Live on in memories

Milo is gone and Vladimir and the others plan to go after him before he gets himself killed…if it isn’t already too late. But they have no way of making the gethadrox and they are not all working as together as they think.

Secrets hushed and secrets kept are soon revealed when Dezaray gets a package that leads to her taking matters into her own hands and following a path that leads to the unimaginable.

Only Lexovia and a small band of misfits stay behind in an attempt to save the world and Lexovia soon finds herself in a position of power she never truly wanted.

Dive deeper into worlds & war in this thrilling third installment of an epic fantasy. Loved by fans of Cassandra Clare and Sarah J Maas.

Buy Links:
Amazon US ¦ UK

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35479547-swept-away?ac=1&from_search=true

The Supernatural Pet Sitter: The Curse

Author: Diane Moat

Publisher: Createspace

Pages: 155

Genre: Middle Grade / Fantasy

Book Description:

Pepper Neely is no stranger to dangerous situations. In The Supernatural Pet Sitter: The Magic Thief, the young gnome defeated an evil witch who was stealing magic from the Familiars that Pepper took care of. She wouldn’t have survived without the intervention of a pack of werewolves, who endured painful, fiery spells to save Pepper’s life.

Now Pepper is determined to repay the werewolves for their sacrifice, no matter what it takes. She decides to break the centuries-old curse that keeps them in wolf form. At first she keeps her plans a secret, but it’s not long before Pepper realizes she will need all the help she can get to end this curse. Magic is everywhere as enemy witches cast dangerous spells to stop Pepper.

Pepper and her family must trust the local witches and work together with them to fend off the deadly spells, find the curse, and break it—before the hostile witches get the best of them.

Buy Links:
Amazon US ¦ UK

Because You Loved Me
Author: Christa Allan

Genre: Historical Fiction

Date Published: March 2017

Book Description:

New Orleans 1841

Ever since her parents died of yellow fever when she was a child, Charotte LeClerc has lived with her grandparents, who rarely speak of their son and his wife. They are on the verge of negotiating a marriage contract with a suitor, a man Charlotte loathes, when they discover that she enjoys the company of Gabriel Girod, a young Creole man. Her future hangs in the balance as her grandparents choose between keeping secrets or revealing a truth they've known since before her birth -- a truth that will make the difference between a life of obligation and a life of choice for Charlotte.

(PLEASE NOTE: This novel was originally published as Love Finds You in New Orleans)

Buy Links:
Amazon US ¦ UK

Book Blitz & Giveaway - Beacon (Lantern #2) by Chess Desalls

Beacon
(Lantern #2)
Author: Chess Desalls
Genre: YA Fantasy / Sci-fi
Release Date: January 9th, 2017

Book Description:
When Serah’s life in Havenbrim becomes unbearable, she accepts an apprenticeship with a celestial mechanic and glazier. Her master assigns her the task of opening a globe framed in copper. But the glass and seal are unbreakable. The solution to the puzzle traps Serah inside the globe, and transports her to a world where she longs for home.

Buy Links:

Amazon US ¦ UK ¦ B&N ¦ iTunes