Sidney Sinclair was living the dream of any eighteen year-old girl…
A handsome rock star boyfriend, a closet full of designer clothes, a limousine service at her beck and call, and a mansion in the hills of Los Angeles.
Even will all of that glamour and excitement at her fingertips, she still feels as if she’s been missing something in her life so she decides to leave.
While trying her best to put her dysfunctional romantic relationship aside and tend to her beloved Granny, Sidney unexpectedly stumbles upon an intriguing emerald pendant boxed away in her grandmother’s closet.
Soon she learns it once belonged to her long-lost mother who committed suicide when she was just a baby. Suddenly feeling emotionally connected to the woman who had birthed her, Sidney begins to wear the necklace.
This sends her on a whirlwind journey that alternates between fantasy and reality…
Almost immediately, she starts having dreams linked to the mysterious pendant. As danger begins to seep into her life, Sidney refuses to remove the necklace and instead documents each dream to help her further understand them. However, she soon begins to wonder if they are dreams meant to bond her to a mother who she never knew, or a subconscious warning that threatens her very life.
EXCERPT
Then I noticed someone approaching my line.As I turned to greet the new customer my heart stopped as my eyes drank in the sight of pure perfection.I couldn’t breathe. The instant attraction I had felt for this stranger was overwhelming.I just stood there frozen, completely stupefied and unable to move. Our eyes locked on each other as if we were setting up for a fatal duel. We were both frozen in time, waiting on the other to make the first move.
He wasn’t very tall, five feet nine at the most. But his face made up for the height he lacked.
He had a pale, round face that was shaped like a heart with a high forehead and dark eyebrows that cast a shadow over his big green eyes. He had a tiny mouth with perfectly lined white teeth. His hair was straight and jet black. It was messy and slightly long, reaching his neckline, as it defiantly fell in his face. My mind focused on one thing only.
His eyes. They were the same eyes that had been haunting my dreams for the past six months. The pendant eyes.
About Cynthia Austin
Cynthia Austin lives in Northern California with her husband, two boys, and Olde English Bulldogge named Count Dogula. They love all things horror, gothic, and Victorian which prompts her friends to dub them as “The Adams Family.”
She is an avid reader who may be slightly obsessed with music. She hears music in a way that she believes the artist intended it to be heard: visually, with a storyline that follows. Listening to the songs by her favorite artists, she was inspired to write her first series titled “The Pendant.”
Cynthia has been published twice in The Writer’s Monthly Magazine as well as the online news site, Yahoo! Voices. She currently attends Diablo Valley College, in Pleasant Hill, California, where she is working to achieve her degree in English.
One of my fave authors has a new book out today – DARKSIDE SUN. I have been waiting for so long to get this book in my hands. Well, today I purchased it for .99 and so can you. What are you waiting for? This book is just one more fantastic story by Jocelyn Adams. Get your copy. I’m sure you’ll agree.
Back cover: Addison Beckett tries hard to pretend she’s normal, but she’s far from it. Since she was six years old, she’s seen the world around her unraveling, as if someone is pulling a thread from a sweater and it’s all slowly coming undone. When she ignores it, it goes away, so that’s what she does.
Enter her arrogant-but-hot professor Asher Green. He knows all about her special brand of crazy. In fact, he might be just as nuts as she is. Asher insists that the dead from a parallel dimension are trying to possess the living in this one. And since Addison seems to be the only one who can see these “wraiths,” she just might be the key to saving the world.
Addison wants nothing to do with Asher or his secret society, The Mortal Machine. But as their animosity grows, she finds it harder and harder to ignore the chemistry between them. And when she discovers that Machine laws forbid her from touching him, she realizes that’s all she wants to do.
Stop the wraiths. Break the rules. Save the world. All in a day’s work.
Normal was overrated, anyway.
Jocelyn Adams, one of my favorite authors, has a new book coming out in April and I am super stoked. Her writing style and the way she can turn a phrase excites the writer and reader in me. I’m part of a writer’s group that she is in, and I have to tell you folks, every word she writes is a labor of love. She’s dynamic as an individual and an author and is a huge inspiration for me. I am thrilled to see yet another one of her amazing books come to life. It is a must read so make sure you add it to your TBR list today.
Lou Hudson makes a deal with the Isaac to save the Ironhill jinn from execution…and lands on the front line of a war between the vampire and his sire.
Daddy Dearest intends to have Lou for himself to spite Isaac and begins meddling in every corner of her life. Her reputation shatters when people die, her monster-whispering skills shelved by public outcry and vampire politics.
When forced to confront their enemy, she isn’t prepared for the depth of Isaac’s plotting—or her increasing attraction to him—and to end their latest crisis will only cost Lou a piece of her soul.
Jocelyn Adams is an office grunt by day and creator of romance and adventure by night. Born a farmer’s daughter with a vivid imagination, she spent her childhood dreaming up stories. With no formal training, she relied on the honest feedback of her writing group to take her from that first short story all the way to THE END of her first novel. When she isn’t slinging words, you can find her shooting her bow or enjoying the serenity of family life in her little house in the woods.
I don’t know what to tell you. the 19th Year series ends here, on Mac Thorne’s DARKEST DAY. Her time as a changeling is over. She must now make a choice that will change her life and the lives of everyone she knows. It wouldn’t be so difficult if her heart wasn’t in her way.
Darkest Day
The 19th Year
by Emi Gayle
Release Date: January 6, 2014
Target Reader: Young Adult
Keywords: Paranormal Romance
Paperback 978-1-937744-39-7
EPUB 978-1-937744-40-3
Description
Mac Thorne’s time as a Changeling is coming to an end.
It may have taken eighteen years, but Mac did finally manage to do what the Council wanted: she chose a teacher and renounced the in-between.
There’s just one last step. She must say goodbye to her human. Forever.
After being challenged in every way possible, Mac leaves what she thought would be the easiest task for the last possible moment. As midnight on July fourth draws near, though, she hasn’t found a way to give up Winn Thomas.
Nor does she want to.
With time running out, Mac stands at a literal crossroads.
Choose Winn, and she’ll be stripped of the only family she’s ever known—vampires, dragons, and her favorite demon. Even her own mother. Accept her position on the Council and rule as an equal to her twelve peers, and she’ll forget Winn ever existed.
Independence and freedom have never before been so limiting.
In this final chapter of the 19th Year Trilogy, it’s time for Mac to decide.
Responsibility? Or Love?
***
Hey look…there’s a GIVEAWAY
The Group giveaway will include:
– One set of paperback copies of After Dark, Day After AND Darkest Day for the US
only.
– Two sets of ebooks of the complete trilogy – this is for International participants
– Three set of bookmarks of the complete trilogy – also open to international participants GO HERE TO ENTER!
***
This series is one of the best YA paranormal romances I’ve ever read. If you love this genre, you’re going to want to add this series to your collection.
J. Taylor Publishing are giving away FIVE ARCs of Darkest Day by Emi Gayle!
Check it out!
Mac Thorne’s time as a Changeling is coming to an end.
It may have taken eighteen years, but Mac did finally manage to do what the Council wanted: she chose a teacher and renounced the in-between.
There’s just one last step. She must say goodbye to her human. Forever.
After being challenged in every way possible, Mac leaves what she thought would be the easiest task for the last possible moment. As midnight on July fourth draws near, though, she hasn’t found a way to give up Winn Thomas.
Nor does she want to.
With time running out, Mac stands at a literal crossroads. Choose Winn, and she’ll be stripped of the only family she’s ever known — vampires, dragons, and her favorite demon. Even her own mother. Accept her position on the Council and rule as an equal to her twelve peers, and she’ll forget Winn ever existed.
Independence and freedom have never before been so limiting.
In this final chapter of the 19th Year Trilogy, it’s time for Mac to decide.
Responsibility? Or Love?
DARKEST DAY is the third installment in the 19th Year Trilogy, featuring Changeling Mac Thorne and her hot-geeky boyfriend Winn Thomas. And J. Taylor Publishing is giving away FIVE ARC copies.
To YOU!
You don’t even have to be a book blogger!
Nope, so long as you are willing to leave an honest review between the dates December 23rd 2013 – January 6th 2014, you are eligible to enter.
Interested?
Then just fill out the form and keep your fingers crossed.
Emi Gayle just wants to be young again. She lives vicariously through her youthful characters, while simultaneously acting as chief-Mom to her teenaged son and searching for a way to keep her two daughters from ever reaching the dreaded teen years.
Ironically, those years were some of Emi’s favorite times. She met the man of her dreams at 14, was engaged to him at 19, married him at 20 and she’s still in love with him to this day. She’ll never forget what it was like to fall in love at such a young age — emotions she wants everyone to feel.
When I started my YA 101 series a month ago, I put out a request for readers, between the ages of 13 and 20 to take part in a not so scientific poll to find out what they like to read and what is their favorite genre. The results surprised even me. Below are the questions I asked and below that are my results.
Out of the following categories, what is your favorite genre to read:
Adventure (i.e.: Island of the Blue Dolphin; Harry Potter)
Contemporary (i.e.: Sarah Dessen novels; The Fault in our Stars)
Dystopian (i.e.: Hunger Games; Divergent)
Fantasy / Sci Fi (i.e.: Eragon / I am Number Four)
Today I finish up my series, YA 101 with what may be one of the most popular genres among YA fiction – Urban Fantasy.
Urban fantasy in a nutshell is all about mythical, fantastical creatures living in our contemporary times. Writing about a vampire/werewolf romance in Forks, WA? Urban fantasy (though I’d check on this one. I think it’s already been done :-)) Have you got a shapeshifter haunting the streets of NY? Urban fantasy. Does your protagonist in Savannah, Georgia have tons of demons living around her that are all about to go to war and she’s the only one that can stop it? Urban fantasy.
Rules to writing urban fantasy?
almost always written in 1st person.
don’t use magic as an excuse for plots – big or small.
make your ‘monsters’ different. Vampires and werewolves in YA is overdone. They still have an audience but look at other creatures you can use: leprechaun, pixies, gargoyles. The list is vast. Experiment. Be different.
Protagonists/heroes/heroines are usually sexy and there is some romance. There doesn’t have to be a lot of romance but there should be some. Romance sells to young female readers which make up the majority of books sales in the age group. Remember, the romantic partner doesn’t have to be gorgeous, but the reader needs to fall in love with him/her.
What are some of my favorite YA urban fantasy novels?
Today, I have a very interesting guest with me. It wasn’t easy getting this interview as he really doesn’t like to draw attention to himself (not). Normally, I interview my victims guests in a public arena, but this particular interviewee asked I come to his place. Want to know where that is?
Would you believe me if I told you a crypt?
Yep, I arrived a bit ago in the still blackness of night and was greeted outside the mausoleum by two goblin-like creatures. They escorted me inside and down the grey steps to a room that could have come right out of an Austin Powers movie. In the center of the room, perched on a Texas-sized blood-red beanbag chair, sits my host: a seven-foot, creature with green ears, and horns that stick out of his over-sized, orange-brown head. He motions to me with his funky claw-hand thingy to take a seat on a large couch. I do as he says because quite frankly, the dude is scary, even if he is wearing nothing more than a red and blue striped bathrobe that barely covers his behind.
I reach into my bag and pull out my pad and pen when, to my surprise, two teens stroll into the room. I know right away who they are: Mac and Winn. Perfect. All my pre-thought interview questions just got tossed out the window…well, not really since there isn’t a window, but if there was…
Oh, never mind. I clear my throat. “Emm, thank you for granting me the opportunity to meet with you Suze.”
Winn and Mac sit next to me on the couch, one on each side. My insides rattle like a leaf on a tree but I keep my cool. Suze simply nods and puts on a baseball cap backwards.
I can’t help but smile. He looks ridiculous but I’m not going to say anything.
“So Suze, what’s your 411? What’s your ish with Winn?” I glance at the handsome guy to my right. If I was his age, I’d be interested. Just saying.
Suze makes some sort of noise that reminds me of a horse snort. It’s enough to get my attention. “411?” he says. “Whaszat?” He scratches his head. “Is that the number you call for emergencies? Does that mean you’re going to call me for emergencies? Me? Ooh!” His eyes go wide. “Can I be a paramedic and save people?”
“Um,” I chuckle and shake my head. “I don’t think so.”
“So why’d you ask if I wanted to be one?”
“I didn’t ask. I wanted to know what your relationship is with Winn. I mean, are you guys best buds? Have you been friends long?”
“Buds? Well … if I had to pick any flower, I’d call him a rose because a rose of any other name would smell as sweet.”
I’m pretty sure I have a blank stare on my face. Just keep going, Jenny.
“Let’s try a different question. What’ is like being a demon?”
“Demon! Who’s a demon? You?”
I laugh and point to myself. “Me? Oh, no, I’m not a demon, but I have it on good authority you are. Emi said so.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. So, what kind of demon are you?”
“Me? I’m Abbaddon.”
“Ah, a destroyer. Sweet.” My stomach just tied itself into a knot. “Don’t get to see many of you around these parts.”
He shifts positions. “Parts is parts.”
I look away while he adjusts his robe. “Yes, well, let’s talk about something else shall we. What do you like to eat? Being a demon you must like meat. Do you care for fish? Do you like your food raw and wriggly like Gollum. Maybe with lots of garlic?
“Gollum? Oh, I don’t know about that. He’s scary. Ewww.” Suze shivers. I wonder if Gollum would be impressed. “Vampires don’t like garlic, did you know that?” Suze says. “They are the hardest to eat and give me heartburn.” He rubs his chest up the middle.
Ah yes. Vampires. I was wondering when we’d get to that. It’s always about the vampires. Time to change tactics again. “So Suze, tell me about your pad, your crib, your crypt.”
A smile gleams across his basketball head. “It’s soft. And I can … I can …” He motions me forward and leans in. “I can change up my whole crib with a snap of my finger. I have fun gettin’ it ready for Mac. She never knows what to expect. Like … what would you like it to be like? I can make it like that! But none of that modern art stuff.”
“Hmm, how about a cabin in the woods.”
Snap and voila folks. I’ll be doggone if I’m not in a freaking cabin in the woods. Not too bad. Not to bad at all. I sit back and get a little more comfy.
“What’s your favorite article of *clears throat* clothing?”
Suze taps his temple. The finger moves to his nose. To his chin and to his cheek. “My Superman Underoos. Mac said they aren’t in fashion, but they’re comfy, so I like ‘em.”
TMI, Suze. TMI. Change direction again. I look to my left at Mac who’s eyeing me with great interest. I don’t like it. “So, Suze, you’re Mac’s protector. How’d that happen?”
“I dunno exactly. Someone told me I was, and then Winn told me I was, and then I just was.”
“Hmm, interesting. How about you give my readers the scoop about what you and all your fantasy friends are all about.”
“Scoop? I like chocolate. And vanilla. And Mint. And chocolate. Did I say chocolate? Yeah, chocolate and mint. Mac likes chocolate too. Did you know Winn gave her a chocolate diamond and she didn’t even eat it?”
“Suze, can you try to focus for a minute, please? Who and what are all of you and why is Mac so important to you?”
He frowns and crosses his arms over his chest. “Mac’s important ‘cause she’s Mac, but I’m not supposed to say why ‘cause she doesn’t want everyone to know.”
“Okay. I can see that subject is off-limits. Who’s your girlfriend?”
“She’s a Dhamphyr. She’s like a vampire-human-combo person and she’s gorgeous. I really like her. Do you think she likes me?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never met her. Do you floss?”
“Floss?”
“Yeah, you know, string between the teeth thing after you eat?” He looks confused. “Oh never mind. “What do you hate most about your ‘job’ as a guardian demon? Like most?”
“My job? Well, I get to read a lot. My favorite book is the thesaurus and did you know there’s like a different word for every word in the dictionary in there!”
“You don’t say.” I close my notepad as I can see this interview is going nowhere fast. As I put my pen and pad away, I ask, “Is there anything interesting about yourself you want to tell us before I let you get back to your protecting and guarding?
“He flashes a big smile. “I’m absorbing, charismatic, curious, delightful, magnetic, pleasing, striking, suspicious— you get me, right? I’m interesting!”
Yeah, I got you buddy. I stand and grab my things. “Thank you for taking time to talk to me, Suze. It’s been…different. Keep up the good work.” I stop Winn and Mac with my hand. “Please. No need to get up. I can see my way out.”
I exit the mausoleum with laughter at my heels. That’s okay. I just exposed Suze to the world. I wonder if he realizes the true scope of that. Maybe it’s best for me if he never does. He is, after all, an Abbaddon.
Demon crypts. Vampire lairs. Glowing angels. Sexy sirens. The stuff of fiction.
Or so Winn Thomas always thought.
Since being accepted into the fold of the supernatural, he knows better. None of what he imagined is true, but everything he feared is, and binding himself to his Changeling girlfriend until her nineteenth birthday will give him an education far beyond what he’d get at his human high school.
Luckily, Winn’s not giving up, he won’t back down, and he definitely isn’t going to run away with his tail between his legs. After all, only werewolves have tails. Right?
In this, the second of the 19th Year trilogy, Winn’s facing the challenge of one lifetime. If he doesn’t learn the truth about mythological creatures, his girlfriend Mac Thorne won’t either. That means, in six months, when she chooses her final form, she won’t know what to pick.
Winn, though, has his own ideas about Mac’s final selection—plans she knows nothing of.
Emi Gayle just wants to be young again. She lives vicariously through her youthful characters, while simultaneously acting as chief-Mom to her teenaged son and searching for a way to keep her two daughters from ever reaching the dreaded teen years.
Ironically, those years were some of Emi’s favorite times. She met the man of her dreams at 14, was engaged to him at 19, married him at 20 and she’s still in love with him to this day. She’ll never forget what it was like to fall in love at such a young age — emotions she wants everyone to feel.
Want to try to win a copy of After Dark and Day After? All you have to do is go here and enter. Good Luck!
What Stephenie Meyer did with vampires, Katella Stegmann did with werewolves.
Back cover blurb: If you knew you would die tomorrow how would you live today?
Everyone has a destiny, a purpose for being. So when evil threatens to rise up and reign, high school student Cassie Hill and her close-knit community of friends must defend their world from falling into darkness. In the fourth and final installment of “The Barking Mad Tale of a Teenage Werewolf” series the Lupos’ journey comes to a close with a war of epic proportions as the pack meets their destiny.
With a missing leader, a spike in disappearances, and the uprising of a sadistic power-hungry government the Lupos and their allies have a lot to contend with, and the stakes have never been higher. The fate of everyone they hold dear depends on them. Outnumbered and overpowered, they are forced to team up with their former enemies to better the world.
Growing up isn’t easy. It is painful, beautiful, and confusing. It means sacrifice, heartache, and accepting the inevitable. Life changes in a heartbeat. Children become adults as they prepare to fight the battle of their lives. As war wages on the Lupos grow closer while they deal with stress, love, and other bumpy obstacles thrown in their path. Along the way they learn that sometimes you trust those you should not trust, you grow to hate those you have loved, and every now and then you learn to love those you have hated.
With death nipping at their heels all they can do is live their lives a day at a time. Their fates have been building to this battle. Good and evil are going to have it out, and they know that not everyone will survive. Who will be left standing? Who will emerge victorious in the end?
***
The War of the Werewolves is the fourth novel in Stegmann’s The Barking Mad Tale of a Teenage Werewolf series. The others are listed below and are definitely a great read (click on the pictures to be taken to the Goodreads description)..
Who exactly is Katella Stegmann?
My name is Katella Stegmann. I’m a twenty-seven-year old (soon to be twenty-eight-year old) dreamer with a soft heart, a big mouth, and the attention span of a Labrador Retriever puppy. I write all the time. For school, for fun, for work. I write for me, I write to entertain others, and I write just because I can. When I get the urge, nothing can stop my heart and soul from pouring out on to paper. I don’t know life without writing. I was dreaming up stories from inside my mother’s uterus. I was one of those kids that was always getting into some kind of trouble. The only thing that kept me grounded was writing. In one of those corny cliché ways, it saved my life. It is self-healing and freeing…and I love it. The moment I was able to grip my crayons I started painting pictures with words…and I haven’t stopped since. It’s part of who I am. It’s etched into my soul (along with my love for bacon and chocolate).
My series, The Barking Mad Tale of a Teenage Werewolf came to me when I was a bored sixteen-year-old goofing off in my high school classes. While other students my age were taking notes and participating in lectures, I was the weirdo with my head in the clouds, coming up with something magical. I was sixteen, and I believed in anything. A little over ten years later, and I still believe in anything. You can do anything you set your mind to. I’m a believer in dreams. That’s who I am.
(Blog host note: that sweet pooch in the pic is Wyatt, Katella’s shadow. What a love, right??? :-))
Now that you’ve seen the books, met the author and her four-footed baby, head on over to Amazon or B & N and pick up a copy of all of them for your library. You’re going to love them!
You can also find Katella hanging out on Goodreads, Facebook (her book page is here), and every now and then (when she’s got time away from college studies) Twitter and Twitter2.
Back cover: Addison Beckett tries hard to pretend she’s normal, but she’s far from it. Since she was six years old, she’s seen the world around her unraveling, as if someone is pulling a thread from a sweater and it’s all slowly coming undone. When she ignores it, it goes away, so that’s what she does.
About the author:
Darkest Day
Go here—–>
YA Chit Chat 