Monday, 4 November 2013

Tour and Book Review: Straight to Hell by Michelle Scott

The moment Lilith Straight dies, the Devil appears to claim her soul and cash in on a family curse. Now, Lilith has no choice but to work for him. The job is bad, the boss is worse and she can’t imagine how she’ll explain her new reincarnation to her eight-year-old daughter. But then an arrogant, yet oh so yummy, incubus shows up…and hell heats up just a little more.

Where can I buy this book?
 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Straight-to-Hell-ebook/dp/B00F462CNS/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383573561&sr=1-1&keywords=Straight+to+Hell

 http://www.amazon.com/Straight-to-Hell-ebook/dp/B00F462CNS/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383573612&sr=1-2&keywords=straight+to+hell

StH Blog Tour Badge
My Review:
*I received a free copy of this book from the author through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Lilith is having a proper family crisis-divorcing her cheating husband, loss of rich secure lifestyle, sponging relatives in her home, bills to pay, no job, no love life...oh and she suddenly dies and finds she has no choice but to be a succubus for the Devil like previous female members of her family.

I don't read chicklit at all EVER. I don't read paranormal humour as I normally don't find anything funny in it. I signed up to do a book tour slot as a promo and ended up with a review copy. Erk, awkward much! I decided to give it a go anyway-and I actually enjoyed it! I did laugh at some stuff as well, which is new for me!

I liked Lilith a lot. She was amusing and entertaining, her life was a mess and you were rooting for her to pull things together and sort out the ungrateful relatives living in her house without paying their way. Her demonic employer and fellow employees were a lot of fun as well. Haven't we all thought that our boss was the Bitch from Hell? Well check out the ACTUAL Bitch from Hell that Lilith has to deal with! Our heroine lurches from one crisis to another, screwing up the most simple of tasks given to her every time. It made for an entertaining plot and a light, quick read to keep you amused. As a character Lilith changed through the book, in surprising ways that I certainly wasn't expecting. The other surprise for me is the type of succubus Lilith turns out to be. She is not having sex with victims all through the book-she is a succubus who tries to tempt people into all sorts of bad behaviour-cheating, suicide, drugs etc, anything that will damage their soul. I much preferred this to sex every two minutes.

The humour was great. How anyone can screw up the task of dropping a bag of drugs and urging a junkie to pick it up is a mystery to me but Lilith manages it beautifully. Her attempts at seduction, persuasion and even shopping without paying are equally inept. Her death scene and the reason why she died was very funny and I won't spoil it by telling you anything about it! She also has varied success with trying to coerce the people she knows into doing things to help her and it made me wonder what I'd do with demonic powers of persuasion...

This book was certainly a big surprise to me and I think it could appeal to a wide range of readers. It has humour, a sprinkling of romance, real life situations we can all relate to and a nice dose of demons to add to the fun. Readers of paranormal humour/romance, chicklit, women's fiction, humour, and light paranormal reads would probably like this book as it offers something for everyone. I will probably read on with the series to see what Lilith does next.

3.5 out of 5.

star rating photo: 35 star rating 3-5-stars.jpg

Maybe it’s because of my Halloween birthday, but I’ve always been attracted to scary stories. On the other hand, I love romances as well. Once I discovered that these two genres existed side-by-side in urban fantasy novels, I was in heaven! Urban fantasy is like chocolate and peanut butter: a perfect, to-die-for combination that I can never get enough of.

I’ve been writing since childhood, but earned my bachelor’s degree in psychology and my master’s in English literature.

When I’m not writing, I’m a straight-laced English teacher at a two-year college in Detroit. I’ve been married to Mr. Right for over twenty-five years. I also have three teenaged children: a boy and two girls, all of whom have threatened to never speak to me again if I turn them into characters and put them into my books.

Just for fun, here is a fun interview that I did with Michelle. Thanks for coming to the Book Cave and talking to Chuckles!

 What are your favourite films?
When it comes to movies, I am *not* a lover of chick flicks. I'm more of a tomboy who likes explosions, car chases, and special FX. Some of my favorites include Raiders of the Lost Ark, Inception, and Pirates of the Caribbean. The only girlie movies I truly like are Shakespeare in Love and Say Anything. That boombox scene gets me every time.

What TV shows do you try not to miss?
Because I love zombies and the supernatural, I'm hooked on The Walking Dead and American Horror Story. I also loved Being Human (the UK version) and Breaking Bad. I like TV shows with complex characters and story lines. My guilty pleasure, though, is reality TV. I can't help but watch Dance Moms; Dirty, Pretty Moms; and Cheer Perfection.

Which book characters would you most love to be, or hang out with for a day? 
Harry Potter all the way! I would love to be a professor at Hogwarts (those staff meetings must be very entertaining) or have coffee with Molly Weasley! Likewise with Jane Eyre (who I would lecture about women's rights). I also like to hang with Rachel Morgan from the 'Hollows' series. Especially if she were to bring Jenks along. We could all go out for pizza or something.

If you could have a superpower what would it be and why?
If you could have a superpower what would it be and why?I would want to be invisible. I'm a curious (some might say nosy) person by nature, and to be able to spy would be amazing. Of course, I would only use my power for good, and not for checking what the neighbors are saying about me. Well, maybe just once...

Which paranormal creature would you most want to be and why? I'd go for guardian angel. They are (usually) on the side of good, and they are all pretty kick-ass.

Where can I find Michelle?  

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2896599.Michelle_Scott 
http://www.mscottfiction.com/ 
http://www.mscottfiction.com/UrbanFae/ 

https://www.facebook.com/MichelleScottsFiction
https://twitter.com/urban_fae  
https://plus.google.com/100675721794428606877/posts 
http://www.pinterest.com/urbanfae/ 
http://instagram.com/urban_fae# 
http://mscottwriter.tumblr.com/ 

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I am Just Junco omnibus book blitz



Book & Author Details:

I Am Just Junco Omnibus by J.A. Huss
(I Am Just Junco Books 1-3)
Publication date: November 4th 2013
Genres: Dystopia, New Adult, Science Fiction

Synopsis:
Clutch~Fledge~Flight (1,152 pages) – the first three books in the epic science fiction fantasy saga that spans five full length novels and one novella.  The final book, RETURN, will be released on December 2, 2013.

Nineteen year old Rural Republic sniper, Junco Coot, has been lied to. Not once or twice, but pretty much everyone she ever trusted is totally full of sh*t. And now her father is dead, she’s on the run, and everyone wants a piece of her—including one winged alien warrior named Tier.

But the truth always catches up and Junco has to choose who she should trust. The people who have lied and trained her to kill since she was a small child? Or the warriors who want to steal her away and use her as the catalyst in a plot to fight the final battle in an ancient war?

It’s a choice that will change her fate forever. And once it’s made—there’s no turning back. Life becomes nothing but brutal killing in the name of vengeance. But everything requires sacrifice—everything has a price. And Junco is about to find out what it means to dedicate herself to saving someone else.

Junco is not young adult. She has a foul mouth and violent tendencies.

The bitch leaves me waiting, of course. One second it's critical for the sake of humanity that I clean up, put on a dress, and rush to her quarters for breakfast. The next I'm left sitting in this completely inappropriate and ridiculous gown, so fucking hungry I'm about to eat my fingers.
"Can I get some fucking food here, please!" My patience is over.
I watch a guard leave and then reappear with a tray of pastries. My stomach experiences a futile peristaltic wave and I begin to salivate. He sets the tray down and I grab a sweet roll and take several bites before surfacing for air. Gideon sits across from me with his eyebrows raised. "I was not kidding. I told you I was hungry. Jasus fuck, quit looking at me."
He puts his hands up and looks away.
"Junco, you don't have to be so rude. When did you get so unruly?"
My mother's voice pulls me back to attention and I stare at her with my mouth open, a wad of food sitting on my tongue. I chew a few more times and swallow before talking. "You left when I was six, so don't pretend you know me. I went through with this little reunion so I could eat, and I don't eat much, so you've got about ten minutes before I'm done here. Start fucking talking."
"This is a social call, Junco. I'm not here for your business matters. Your father–"
"He's not my father and you're not my mother. What world do you guys all live in?" I look over at Gid for help but his face is blank. I squint my eyes at him. "I won't forget this, Gideon, and I want my armor back today." I stuff the rest of my roll in my mouth and grab another, then push back from the table and head for the door. "If someone could just point me in the direction of Moju I'll be going now."
The guard stops me with a rifle to the temple.
"Sit down now, Junco." My mother's words are stern. "The rifles are on stun, but I'm sure you know firsthand how badly that hurts."


AUTHOR BIO
J. A. Huss likes to write new adult books that make you think and keep you guessing. Her favorite genre to read is space opera, but since practically no one reads those books, she writes new adult science fiction, paranormal romance, contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and books about Junco (who refuses to be saddled with a label).

She has an undergraduate degree in horses, (yes, really–Thank you, Colorado State University) and a master’s degree in forensic toxicology from the University of Florida. She used to have a job driving around Colorado doing pretty much nothing but shooting the breeze with farmers, but now she just writes, runs the New Adult Addiction and Clean Teen Reads Book Blogs, and runs an online science classroom for homeschoolers.

Author Links:
Omnibus Trailer 

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Sunday, 3 November 2013

My Date From Hell book blitz


My Date From Hell
Tellulah Darling
(The Blooming Goddess Trilogy #2)
Publication date: October 31st 2013
Genres: Comedy, Mythology, Young Adult

Synopsis:
Sophie Bloom’s junior year has been a bit of a train wreck. After the world’s greatest kiss re-awakened Sophie’s true identity as Persephone (Goddess of Spring and Savior of Humanity), she fought her dragon-lady guidance counselor to the death, navigated mean girl Bethany’s bitchy troublemaking, and dealt with the betrayal of her backstabbing ex, Kai (sexy Prince of Darkness). You’d think a girl could catch a break.

Yeah, right.

With Zeus stepping things up, it’s vital that Sophie retrieve Persephone’s memories and discover the location of the ritual to stop Zeus and Hades. So when Aphrodite strikes a deal that can unlock Sophie’s pre-mortal past, what choice does the teen goddess have but to accept?

The mission: stop media mogul Hermes from turning Bethany into a global mega-celebrity. The catch? Aphrodite partners Sophie and Kai to work together … and treat this suicide mission as a date. Which could work out for Sophie’s plan to force Kai to admit his feelings for her–if she doesn’t kill him first.

Add to that the fact that BFF Theo’s love life and other BFF Hannah’s actual life are in Sophie’s hands, and suddenly being a teenager—even a godlike one—seems a bit like … well, hell. Whatever happened to dinner and a movie?

The YA romantic comedy/Greek mythology fireworks continue to fly in My Date From Hell. Love meets comedy with a whole lot of sass in book two of this teen fantasy romance series. Breaking up is easy; dating is deadly.

Purchase:
 Excerpt #2
Aphrodite pointed her gun at me again, kind of casually. “Your problem is you’re too hung up on the past. You gotta move forward with yer life.”
I heard Hannah give a smothered laugh.
“You got this cutie pie in love with ya, and instead of enjoying his company, all you do is whine.” With a quick flick, Aphrodite opened the cylinder to reload.
“He’s not in love,” I said.
She peered at Kai. “Whattya talkin’ about? Sure he is. Everyone knows Kyrillos loves Persephone.”
“I’m Sophie,” I ground out.
She waved the gun around. “Ya ya. That too.”
That too? I took a deep breath, folded my fingers over my palms and looked
slightly to the left of her in case I accidentally started blasting. Didn’t want to go down in history as the girl who killed the Goddess of Love.
“Nope. It’s just desire,” I said with faked calm. “Kai is so resistant to the idea of being in love with me that your arrows don’t work. Besides which, when he actually does fall so hard for me that he doesn’t know which way is up, I want him to know he chose that of his own free will. That he chose me.” I threw him a sweet smile.
“Chose you?” Kai got this look of “have we had this conversation before?” on his face. My smile got tight.
Aphrodite scooped up a saclike pink purse laying on the ground. She rooted
around in it. “Desire is part of romantic love, silly,” she said to me.
She pulled out a handful of bullets and dumped them in Festos’ hurriedly outstretched hands before turning back to Kai. She gestured with the still-open chambered revolver toward him. “Your body knows what’s what. Stop fighting
it.”
Kai glowered at her.
She laughed it off, reloading. “And you,” Aphrodite said to me, as she
plucked more bullets from Festos’ hand to load into the chamber. “Yer just as bad with your own issues.”
She couldn’t know about my insecurities around Persephone could she? Aphrodite narrowed her eyes at me.
I gulped.
Aphrodite shot me a look of disgust and popped the final bullets into the
chambers. She gestured at each of us in turn with one pink, sparkly manicured finger. “I’m gonna start gettin’ real mad about how youse is all dealin’ with love.”
“There’s a whole bunch of drags around here where love is concerned,” Festos agreed.
“Thanks so much for inviting him along,” Theo said to me.
I grimaced an apology at Theo, then shot back at Festos, “Seems there’s a whole bunch of dogs here, too.” I looked between him and Kai.
“Oh don’t forget Pierce,” Festos replied cheerfully. “He’s a total mimbo.” “He is not,” Hannah defended. “He’s pure love.”
Aphrodite threw her a fond smile. “I like you, girlie.”
“Love in name, hormones in game,” Theo countered.
“Look at us all in agreement,” Festos replied.
“No, because you’re talking about lust,” I protested.
“Lust is pretty good too,” Aphrodite said, “but it ain’t nothin’ like the real
thing.” She clicked the cylinder into place and looked at me. “We got a deal? You’ll get Jack to kill the campaign?”
“You’ll undo the love thing?” I asked.
“Nope. You could do with a little love in your life. Kyrillos is obviously brimming with love for ya now,” she ignored Kai’s snort, “so you’re gonna enjoy it.”
“Meaning what?” I asked.
“A date,” Kai piped up. “I’d say I’m ready now.” He arched an eyebrow as if to say “ball’s in your court.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” I slid my arm around his waist and pressed myself
up against his side.
A look of surprise flashed across his face. “Perfect.”
I could outdate him any place, any time. I brightened. This was going to be
fun. The touching part wasn’t a downside either.
“The fate of the world does dee-pend on you loving each other,” Aphrodite
said. “So, good. We’ll start with a date.”
“Still say it’s a euphemism,” Festos burst out. “And Kai doesn’t date.”
Kai snaked his arm around my waist before pressing his fingertips into my
hip. “Never wanted to before. Sophie’s the exception.”
“The euphemistic exception?” Festos asked.
“Shut up,” Kai and I fired at him in tandem.
Festos took it in stride, waggling his eyebrows cheerfully at Theo who
pretended to look disapproving but totally wasn’t. Even Hannah didn’t bother to hide her smile.
“Only thing is,” I told Aphrodite, “I have to be back at school by Sunday morning. I have a meeting I can’t miss. So I’ll have to get this thing with Jack done quickly to have time for the date.”
“Going together to find Hermes is the date.” Aphrodite looked at me like I was an idiot. “You two need as much together time as possible.”
No way. I needed all my wits about me to handle Kai. Something that couldn’t happen if I had to track down Hermes at the same time. I tried a new tactic. “A date involves dinner and a movie. Something romantic. Finding Hermes hardly counts.”
She pinned me in her gaze. “Had so miny of them, Miz Expert? All a date is, is two people spendin’ time to deepen their attraction.”
“Or kill it,” Hannah piped up.
Aphrodite scrunched up her nose. “Huh?”
“There are far more first dates than second,” Hannah explained. “Which
means that after spending time, those people realized they were not a match.” “What she said,” I seconded.
Aphrodite narrowed her eyes at Hannah. “I don’t get ya. You talk like that
but you’re so brim up with love.”
“I’m a confounding enigma,” Hannah replied cheerfully.
Aphrodite threw her hands up. “Enough’a this nonsense. You’ll go together
to find Hermes. And you’ll be date-like doin’ it.”
That sounded like a threat.
“Almost like you planned it that way,” I said to Kai.
His smile grew wider as he gave my waist a squeeze. “Told you I get what I want. Feel free to let that sink in.”
AUTHOR BIO
Tellulah Darling
noun
1. YA Novelist
2. Alter ego of former screenwriter and instructor
3. Sassy minx

Geeks out over: cool tech.
Squees for: great storytelling.
Delights in: fabulous conversation.
Writes about: where love meets comedy. Awkwardness ensues.

Author Links:



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Saturday, 2 November 2013

Taken by Surprise blog tour


Taken By Surprise (Taken Trilogy #1)

Five strangers scattered across America have three things in common with each other.

One: They each have special abilities that shouldn’t be possible.
Two: They’ve all just had people try to kill them.
Three: They’ve all just been kidnapped and taken away from their home, families and friends.

Their lives will never be the same as they’re taken to a government facility and told that their abilities mean that they must train to become soldiers and fight. But are they being told the truth? Or is something more sinister going on? They must learn to trust each other and decide if they should stay on this path or run away from it. Either way there is no going back.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18375303-taken-by-surprise 


Born and raised in South Australia, Jessica spends her days working in a bakery, afternoons catching up on lost sleep, and nights reading and writing. Writing has always been a passion of hers, however it wasn’t until Zoe appeared into her head and wouldn’t leave that she finally was able to put a story down and finish it. After writing three books, she is wondering if she should start charging Zoe and her friends rent.


Update on TBS and TBF
Taken By Surprise has been released on Amazon and is going well. It's available on Amazon right now, and thank you to everyone who has already gotten a copy.

Taken By Force is the second book in the trilogy, and I've gotten great feedback from my editors (C&D Editing, amazing!). I'm hoping to release this title December 2013.

I'm currently going back over the third and final book of the trilogy, and can't wait to have all three out. The final book is expected to be released early 2014.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F...
 
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Stacking the Shelves/Sunday Post #14

The Sunday Post  








Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews
Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! The Sunday Post is a chance to tell everyone what happened at The Book Cave last week and what will be coming next week. The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba @ http://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/

It hasn't been the best 10 days in the world as my mum has been in and out of hospital for tests. She has anaemia which is now being treated thankfully so she is on the mend. I haven't had a great deal of time online this week so I'm in a bit of chaos with unanswered emails/PMs, I'm behind on my features and my reviews and I barely got to visit a blog last week at all. But I am getting there slowly and hope to visit some of you during this week if all goes to plan! Details of the ways you can follow me are at the bottom of this post.

 All my books in the download section were obtained FREE from Smashwords!

 A lot of the books I get aren't my normal reads but if it is free I will give it a try and see what I like and don't like.
   

LAST WEEK AT THE BOOK CAVE:

Featured Authors:
Ivan Amberlake
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6907727.Ivan_Amberlake 
Mike Lee
http://www.breakwaterharborbooks.com/mike-lee.html 
Claire C Riley
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6982197.Claire_C_Riley 
Melissa Simonson
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6959145.Melissa_Simonson 
Mindy Haig
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7065704.Mindy_Haig 
Dee Harrison
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7176896.Dee_Harrison


 Book Tour Events:
Breaking the Storm book blitz:
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/breaking-storm-book-blitz.html 
Peaceful Genocide Cover Reveal:
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/cover-reveal-peaceful-genocide.html
Dream Slayer book blast:
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/dream-slayer-book-blast.html 
Wasteland Cover Reveal:
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/wasteland-cover-reveal.html 
The Unseen book blitz:
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/the-unseen-book-blitz.html 
Lessons Learned book blitz:
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/lessons-learned-book-blitz.html 

Weekly Memes:
Cover Mania Monday:
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/cover-mania-monday-7.html 
Wishlist Wednesday:
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/wishlist-wednesday-6.html 
Throwback Thursday:
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/throwback-thursday-8.html 
Friday Favourites:
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/friday-favourites-5.html 

READ AND REVIEW RECEIVED:
 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18625805-a-dead-horse-named-caleb

PROOFREADING:
Isabella Modra-Embers and Ice(Rouge #2)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18489512-embers-ice 

READ THIS WEEK:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12900806-lichgates

 DOWNLOADS:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18089196-sapphire
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13560376-ember
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18171350-see-how-she-runs
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17155449-marked
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16003090-the-seventh-sense
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13077293-survival

 EBOOK GIFTS!
 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16160797-the-cuckoo-s-calling
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16130549-doctor-sleep 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10644930-11-22-63 

 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15729539-nos4a2
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13606449-throttle 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43615.The_Gunslinger 

BOUGHT:
 

  






 
 
NEXT WEEK AT THE BOOK CAVE!
Weekly Meme posts
Taken by Surprise book promo
My date from Hell book blitz
I am Just Junco book blitz
Straight to Hell book tour
Straight to Hell book review
Dead Dreams book blast
Infinity Unleashed Cover Reveal
Featured Authors! 
 
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