Tag: ya lit

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Blog Tour: The Reunion – Kit Frick

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Thereunion copy

We are thrilled to share Kit Frick’s latest release with you all. It’s called The Reunion and it sounds amazing!

the-reunion_CV

The Reunion

Publication Date: August 29, 2023

Genre: YA Thriller

Publisher:  Margaret K. McElderry Books/ Simon & Schuster

From the author of I Killed Zoe Spanos comes a YA thriller in the vein of The White Lotus and Karen M. McManus’s The Cousins following a doomed family reunion at a posh Caribbean resort, where old grudges and dangerous secrets culminate in murder.

Eleven Mayweathers went on vacation. Ten came home.

It’s been years since the fragmented Mayweather clan was all in one place, but the engagement of Addison and Mason’s mom to the dad of their future stepbrother, Theo, brings the whole family to sunny Cancún, Mexico, for winter break. Add cousin Natalia to the mix, and it doesn’t take long for tempers to fray and tensions to rise. A week of forced family “fun” reveals that everyone has something to hide, and as secrets bubble to the surface, no one is safe from the fallout. By the end of the week, one member of the reunion party will be dead—and everyone’s a suspect:
The peacekeeper: Addison needs a better hiding place.
The outsider: Theo just wants to mend fences.
The romantic: Natalia doesn’t want to talk about the past.
The hothead: Mason needs to keep his temper under control.

It started as a week in paradise meant to bring them together. But the Mayweathers are about to learn the hard way that family bonding can be deadly.

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About the Author

Kit Frick_Author Photo

Kit Frick is a MacDowell Fellow and International Thriller Writers Award finalist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA from Syracuse University. The author of The Split, the young adult thrillers Before We Were Sorry (originally published as See All the Stars), All Eyes on Us, I Killed Zoe Spanos, Very Bad People, and The Reunion, as well as the poetry collection A Small Rising Up in the Lungs, Kit loves a good mystery but has only ever killed her characters. Honest. Visit Kit online at KitFrick.com and on Twitter and Instagram @KitFrick.

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Book Blitz: Jemma and the Raven – B.D. Reeves

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Jemmaandtheraven copy

Happy publication day to B.D. Reeves! How amazing does this sound? And this cover? Beautiful!

Jemma and the Raven - Paperback

Jemma and the Raven

Publication Date: August 26th, 2023

Genre: YA Epic Fantasy

A girl. A raven. A luminous adventure.

To everyone else, Jemma is nothing but a Wharf-thief. She scavenges for tokens in the wrestling dens and parades along the market lanes with a raven, Edgar, on her shoulder.

But she and Edgar have a secret. In a land where memories fade into the Shadows without the love of a Keeper, they scour the ruins of ancient memory palaces, searching for treasure that will buy them a passage to the great city of Adocentyn.

When Jemma steals a map and a golden blade, she sets in motion a chain of events that will tie her destiny to the survival of all who live in the light of Memory.

Can Jemma defeat the darkness she has unleashed, without losing herself? And who is the voice she hears, guiding her along the way? I am with you. Follow the lights.

Can Jemma defeat the darkness she has unleashed, without losing herself? And who is the voice she hears, guiding her along the way? I am with you. Follow the lights.

Jemma and the Raven is a massive feat of storytelling, a work of fabulous imagination, a fantasy inspired by historical realities. It will convey its readers on an epic journey that will both captivate and exhilarate them. ARNOLD ZABLE, storyteller and novelist. Author of The Watermill, Sea of Many Returns and Cafe Scheherazade.

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About the Author

B. D. Reeves Bio Pic 2

B. D. Reeves is a Melbourne-based writer. His first novel “Jemma and the Raven” was published in 2023. When he is not reading and writing, B. D. Reeves teaches philosophy and literature, conducts educational research and is currently completing his PhD at the University of Melbourne. Loving to travel, he once camped in an old shepherd’s hut on a remote Greek island where he discovered the remnants of ancient frescos, the secrets of bees, and the friendship of a goat who followed him wherever he went. He has since adored the concept of animals in fiction.

B.D. Reeves

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Blog Tour: Last Girls Standing – Jennifer Dugan

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In this queer YA psychological thriller from the author of Some Girls Do and Hot Dog Girl, the sole surviving counselors of a summer camp massacre search to uncover the truth of what happened that fateful night, but what they find out might just get them killed. 

Sloan and Cherry. Cherry and Sloan. They met only a few days before masked men with machetes attacked the summer camp where they worked, a massacre that left the rest of their fellow counselors dead. Now, months later, the two are inseparable, their traumatic experience bonding them in ways no one else can understand. 

But as new evidence comes to light and Sloan learns more about the motives behind the ritual killing that brought them together, she begins to suspect that her girlfriend may be more than just a survivor―she may actually have been a part of it. Cherry tries to reassure her, but Sloan only becomes more distraught. Is this gaslighting or reality? Is Cherry a victim or a perpetrator? Is Sloan confused, or is she seeing things clearly for the very first time? Against all odds, Sloan survived that hot summer night. But will she survive what comes next?

Jennifer Dugan is a writer, a geek, and a romantic who writes the kinds of stories she wishes she’d had growing up. She’s the author of the graphic novel Coven, as well as the young adult novels Melt With You, Some Girls Do, Verona Comics, and Hot Dog Girl, which was called “a great, fizzy rom-com” by Entertainment Weekly and “one of the best reads of the year, hands down” by Paste magazine. She lives in upstate New York with her family, their dog, a strange kitten who enjoys wearing sweaters, and an evil cat who is no doubt planning to take over the world.

My thoughts: Surviving a terrible crime, the murder of multiple camp counsellors at the camp where they were due to work has left Sloan and Cherry with emotional, and physical, scars. Especially Sloan. Her work with a hypnotherapist is bringing confusing memories of the events out and she’s not sure who to trust anymore.

Is Cherry, her fellow final girl, involved with the dangerous cult that killed everyone else and would have killed them too? Is Cherry’s mum? And what did Sloan’s biological parents have to do with it, if anything?

As Sloan starts to spiral, unable to trust her family, her friends, Cherry, diving into the cult’s deranged beliefs and theories, she starts to believe there’s something else going on.

A startling and shocking depiction of PTSD, survivor’s guilt and the mental impact of living a life with too many questions and not enough answers.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

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Book Blitz: Rubicons – Brett Riley

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Rubicon copy

For fans of Stranger Things and X-Men, the Freaks series is full of action, teenage drama, and suspense. Grab a copy today!

Rubicons_JH_CV

Rubicons (A Freaks Novel)

Publication Date: August 1, 2023

Genre: YA Horror/ Superheroes

Finding themselves. Fighting together. Growing apart.

It’s junior year in Quapaw City, Arkansas. With it comes a new foe that even the Freaks cannot thwart–adulthood. As they ponder what the future will be like with college and careers looming, they must contend with the ever-more-perilous threat of The Team, the shadowy government agency bent on saving the world from supernatural menaces. At the same time, they must face their most dangerous adversary yet, a creature of scales and wings that threatens every life in town—just for starters. New questions arise: can the Freaks achieve a common goal when they no longer agree on precisely what that goal should be? And what happens when they realize they just might be the villains in someone else’s story?

For fans of Stranger Things and X-Men, the Freaks series is full of action, teenage drama, and suspense. A fast-paced ending to the saga filled with anticipation, suspense and young adult whit, Rubicons sets out to overcome obstacles like bullies at school and other-worldly monstrous villains – like an evil killing rabbit – will only make you stronger and more confident to keep going.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

Brett Riley is a professor of English at the College of Southern Nevada. He grew up in southeastern Arkansas and earned his Ph.D. in contemporary American fiction and film at Louisiana State University. His short fiction has appeared in numerous publications including Folio, The Wisconsin Review, and The Baltimore Review. He has also won numerous awards for screenwriting. Riley’s debut novel, Comanche, was released in September 2020. Lord of Order, a dystopian novel set in New Orleans was published in April 2021. Freaks, a superhero thriller featuring dangerous aliens and badass high school kids is now available. The third novel in the Freaks series, Rubicons, will be released August 1, 2023. Riley lives in Henderson, Nevada.

Brett Riley

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Blog Tour: The Exiled – Sarah Daniels

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Trust no one.

It is six months since the Arcadia set sail for the first time in forty years. But this wasn’t the freedom the inhabitants were hoping for. Esther Crossland did what she had to do, but it has left a trail of destruction in her wake. Now the wrecked ship is abandoned. Its inhabitants are in exile, trapped in sprawling make-shift shelters made up of warehouse, tents, shipping containers.

Esther and Nik, architects of the rebellion, are on the run. Esther is in hiding, desperate to do something to help her people, and Nik seems to have abandoned all hope, on a journey taking him further and further from home. And neither of them want to face up to their true feelings about one another . . .

Not only that, there is a new villain in town. With the fall of Commander Hadley, it’s left to the ruthless Admiral Janek to deal with the traitors, and her own past is beginning to catch-up with her.

Then the shaky ceasefire negotiated by General Lall, Nik’s mum, falls apart. Nik and Esther find themselves in a world of betrayals and double crossings – a game of power, with no one to trust but themselves.

It’s time for the final showdown.

Amazon Goodreads

Sarah Daniels is an ex-archaeologist who escaped academia and now writes stories from her home in rural Lincolnshire. Her work has been published in various online magazines and has been nominated for best British and Irish Flash Fiction and Best Small Fictions. 

If you want to contact her, you can do so at the following locations: Website Instagram TikTok Twitter

My thoughts: it’s been 6 months since Esther crashed the Arcadia into the Federated States and the ship’s residents are now housed in a hastily built fenced in refugee camp, complete with poor sanitation, disease and grim rations. Maine, not part of the Fed, has offered them refuge, but first they have to get there.

Nik’s escaped and is hiding out in Florida under an assumed name, except that someone knows where he is and is trying to kill him.

Esther and Corp are trying their best to help people with medical treatment, while staying off the radar as the Fed has branded them terrorists and wants to execute them, which doesn’t help the refugees’ plight at all. General Lall, Nik’s mum, is supposedly negotiating with the Fed’s government but Esther smells a rat. Could she really be planning to sell everyone into a form of slavery?

As events start to unravel, Esther and Nik are brought back together and after discovering what’s been negotiated, must work together to stop it and rescue the ship folk for good. If they can stop bickering for five minutes.

Another fast paced and skillful teen thriller, no teenagers should have this much responsibility dumped on them, but no one else seems to be trying.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: The Stranded – Sarah Daniels

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Welcome to the Arcadia.

Once a luxurious cruise ship, it became a refugee camp after being driven from Europe by an apocalyptic war. Now it floats near the coastline of the Federated States – a leftover piece of a fractured USA.

For forty years, residents of the Arcadia have been prohibited from making landfall. It is a world of extreme haves and have nots, gangs and make-shift shelters.

Esther is a loyal citizen, working flat-out to have the rare chance to live a normal life as a medic on dry land. Nik is a rebel, planning something big to liberate the Arcadia once and for all.

When events throw them both together, their lives, and the lives of everyone on the ship, will change forever . . .

Amazon Goodreads

Sarah Daniels is an ex-archaeologist who escaped academia and now writes stories from her home in rural Lincolnshire. Her work has been published in various online magazines and has been nominated for best British and Irish Flash Fiction and Best Small Fictions. 

If you want to contact her, you can do so at the following locations:

Website Instagram TikTok Twitter

My thoughts: I’ve never really fancied a cruise, and now I really don’t. Cruise liner turned essentially a prison, Arcadia, holds far more people than it was designed for. Descendants of its original passengers and crew, these are desperate, angry and resourceful. Generations after the mysterious Virus that saw them marooned off the coast of the Federated States, the refugees are tired of rations and regulations. And a rebellion has begun.

With the cruel and dictatorial Hadley making life even tougher for the inhabitants, the rebels are bringing their plan closer to fruition. When Esther, a trainee medic, gets swept up in it, thanks to her sister May, she forgets all the brainwashing and signs up. There has to be something better out there, even if it is dangerous. Teaming up with rebel Nik, she prepares to take on the Fed, Hadley and their other enemies, she has to, there’s nothing else left.

A gripping action adventure set aboard a ship, where there’s only so many places to hide, a reminder of the cruise ships at the start of the pandemic, who weren’t allowed to dock anywhere, but were eventually rescued, this is a brutal and desperate world, one I’d rather not see become any kind of reality. Definitely no cruise holidays for me.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: My Summer With the Hermit King – William Todd

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A Summer with Hermit copy

Welcome to the tour for A Summer with the Hermit King by William Todd. Read on for more details!

hermit ebook cover 1

A Summer with the Hermit King

Publication Date: December 2022

Genre: YA/ Cozy Mystery

Year: 1888. Diminutive sixteen-year-old Auggie Rose decides he can no longer take the physical and mental abuse at the hands of other boys living at the orphanage. He decides to leave and cast his lot living as a recluse on the nearby beautiful Presque Isle, a peninsula on the shores of Lake Erie. After sneaking out in the middle of the night, on his way to the peninsula, he witnesses a murder at the hands of ‘the man with a limp’.The murderer initially does not know he was witnessed. Not knowing what else to do that wouldn’t jeopardize him being sent back to the orphanage, Auggie tries as best he can to put the incident out of his head and so begins his new life adjusting to the wilds of Presque Isle. To that end, Auggie is helped along by Joe Root, a hermit himself and a curiosity among the locals, who has been living on the beaches of Presque Isle for decades. He is also befriended by kitchen help, Maisy, who works at a resort at the entrance to the peninsula. Over time, his relationship with Maisy blossoms into more than just friendship as he adjusts to his new life. During this time, he also slowly begins to realize that the murder he had witnessed is part of a larger plan that has something to do with the peninsula itself. Auggie inadvertently inserts himself into the investigation and is befriended by Will Weston, the detective investigating the murder. As businesses around Presque Isle are being bought then shuttered by a mysterious businessman, one of these owners is murdered. It is then that Auggie begins to realize that whatever nefarious plan ‘the man with the limp’ has, it is putting his life and the lives of those closest to him in mortal danger.

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About the Author

William Todd has been writing for over 20 years, primarily gothic horror stories in the style of Lovecraft, Poe, and Shelley. Loving all things Victorian, he was inspired to read (and later to write) by Arthur Conan Doyle. The first book he ever read cover to cover was Hound of the Baskervilles, which also fed his appetite for horror. William Todd has written two short story compilations of gothic horror, Dead of Night and Beyond the Gossamer Veil and one sci-fi/horror hybrid genre Something Wicked This Way Comes. He has also written multiple Sherlock Holmes pastiches, Murder in Keswick, A Reflection of Evil, Mystery of the Broken Window, and Elementary—a short story compilation, which were picked up for republish by Spellbound Publishing, LTD. Three of his short stories were part of MX Publishing’s New Sherlock Holmes Stories with proceeds going to a charity for special needs children housed in Undershaw, the very home Conan Doyle penned Hound of the Baskervilles. Writing for the books was a special privilege because his daughter, Alina, has Down Syndrome. In 2022, he published his first YA/historical novel A Summer with the Hermit King, which was an Amazon #1 New Release, and he has started yet another Sherlock Holmes compilation. When not writing (which isn’t often!) William spends his time walking the trails and beaches of Presque Isle in his home of Erie, Pennsylvania, and spending time with his family.

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Book Tour Schedule

May 22nd

http://rrbooktours.com – Kick-Off

https://aubreywynne.com/ – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/brandikaedesigns/ – Feature

https://bookwormbunnyreviews.blogspot.com/ – Feature

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May 23rd

https://www.instagram.com/louturnspages/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/caffeinatedbookowl/ – Review

https://lshadowlynauthor.com/ – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/okuta.otherside/?hl=id – Feature

http://ramblingmads.com – Feature

May 24th

http://www.thefaeriereview.com – Review

https://www.tiktok.com/@bratzlibrary?_t=8YgzeawOzHu&_r=1 – Review

http://readsandreels.com  – Feature

May 25th

https://www.instagram.com/countrymamaswithkids/ – Review

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May 26th

https://www.instagram.com/amanda_coffee_books/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/books_coffee_and_pao/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D – Review

https://www.instagram.com/bingingbooksandcoffee/ – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/read.em.if.you.got.em/ – Feature

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Cover Reveal: Twisted Bond – Katlyn DeRourn

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We are so excited to share this GORGEOUS cover with all of you today. Twisted Bond by Katlyn DeRouen is available for pre-order now and is due for release in October!

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Twisted Bond (Twisted Series #1)

Expected Publication Date: October 18, 2023

Genre: YA Fantasy

✨Found Family

✨Hidden Royalty

✨Friends to Lovers

✨Chosen One

Three Girls.

Three Lives.

One Bond.

After almost a decade apart, Cammie, Hannah, and Sabina never expected their paths to cross again so suddenly. But when Cammie is plagued by memories of a person she has never met, she has no choice but to reach out to the friends she lost touch with years ago.

A charismatic stranger—by the name of Caelan—claims he holds the answers to her mounting list of questions. Instead, Cammie winds up in a comatose state. With Caelan’s help, Sabina races against time to find the man in Cammie’s memories who holds the key to an unseen world… before her friend is lost within her own mind forever.

Meanwhile, Hannah finds herself fighting for her life after being thrust into the middle of a war between beings rumored to be myth. In the midst of the chaos, one element holds true… fate pulled them back together for a reason. Will the trio uncover the truth they seek? Or run from an answer they fear will shatter their world as they know it?

Pre-Order Here

About the Author

Author

Katlyn DeRouen is a multi-genre author who dabbles in science fiction, fantasy, and romance. Driven by her love of the written word, she penned her debut book of poetry in 2019, which received an outpouring of glowing reviews. Encouraged by the support of her readers, she allowed her imagination to take her to the stars and back with countless new engaging characters and compelling novels. She lives in Kansas with her husband and two fur babies where she can always be found getting lost in a story.

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Blog Tour: Where The Lightning Goes – Jackary Salem

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After a powerful wizard tears Elle’s soul apart and steals her memories, she’s locked in a house to rot. Her only remaining memory is of falling from the sky, though even that raises more questions than it answers. Upon her escape, she falls into a world that’s equal parts vicious and beautiful. Magic is everywhere, everyone is out for themselves, and every truth is accompanied by a lie. Her lack of memories grows maddening and painful. She’s positive that the key to recovering her memories is in the sky-castle from her dreams, but getting there will require magic she doesn’t have. Traversing an enchanted painting, stealing a sword from a dragon’s den, and outwitting a demon are only the beginning. And this time, she’s got more than freedom and memories on the line.

Without magic, there is no survival.

Goodreads Storygraph

Jackary Salem is a fantasy author from Kingsport, Tennessee. She majored in neuroscience at Berea College with equal emphasis in biology and psychology. Her passions are writing, editing, and her cat, Chihiro. She’s currently working as a full-time author and developmental editor. To connect with Jack, you can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, email her at , or sign up for her newsletter at http://www.jackarysalem.com.

My thoughts: This was an interesting read, I liked Elle, her determination to get answers and find her memories, learn magic and find out where “home” was. Her bickering accomplices – wizard Adair and his heart turned person Leslie, who teach her magic and try to encourage her, were also fun. A lot happens very quickly and you have to keep up as Elle escapes various obstacles and prisons, aiming to reach the castle in the sky, while being pursued by a demon who serves the castle’s master.

A fun adventure fantasy story for younger teen readers who liked Percy Jackson or similar books.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

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Book review: When We Collided – Emery Lord

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This brightly coloured book was at the bottom of my first Illumincrate (review coming soon) and at a loose end for something to read, despite my endless TBR pile, I picked it up.

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I was hooked on the story of Vivi and Jonah’s summer in the idyllic Californian coastal town of Verona Cove.

Jonah’s dad died six months ago and his mum’s not coping, while he and his siblings try to pull together despite their own grief.

Vivi and her artist mum have moved to the town for the summer following Vivi’s own annus horribilis.

When they meet one morning sparks fly and Vivi’s vibrant brand of fun lights up Jonah’s life.

This book has a lot of heart and more going on underneath than the rainbow cover suggests.

Despite my age, YA lit is something I often dip into, there’s some fantastic writing going on in there.

Have you read When We Collided? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.