Guest Blog & Giveaway: Tortured Souls by Kimber Leigh Wheaton

Kacie Ramsey’s Bookshelves
 
Hi! My name is Kacie Ramsey, and I’m the star of the novel Tortured Souls. After my mom walked out on us, I turned to reading as a way to escape reality. It worked better than movies or TV since I could completely immerse myself into the story. Because of my abilities, I’m both drawn to and repulsed by the paranormal. Sometimes that’s all I want to read about. It’s not like I had anyone to relate to in real life before the Orion Circle. I also read a lot of non-fiction ghost stories. Of course most people I know would probably call them fiction. I have two bookshelves in my room. One is completely full, the other only half-full.

Non-Fiction Picks:
 
Time-Life put out a series of books about the supernatural, and I have the entire set. The series is called Mysteries of the Unknown, and my favorite books are Hauntings & Phantom Encounters. Would you believe there are 33 books in this series? My brother bought the set for me several years ago. He got it on ebay. Best birthday gift ever!

Another non-fiction book I really enjoyed was The Haunting of America: From the Salem Witch Trials to Harry Houdini. This book explores how the paranormal has affected events in American History.

Fiction Picks:
 
Yes, you’ll find Twilight on my bookshelf, but I didn’t like it all that much. In some ways I felt it just candy-coated real life supernatural. I mean, glittering vampires? Just not my thing.

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White is one of my favorite books. In fact, I love all three books in that series.

Angelfall by Susan Ee is another favorite. I haven’t read the second book yet—been too busy.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll sits in a place of honor on my top shelf. As far as classics go, this is one wild story.

The Complete Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson: Complete Fairy Tales also sit on the top shelf. I have a soft spot for fairy tales.

Bunnicula by Deborah & James Howe is one from my younger days. It reminds me of happier times when my mom was still in the picture. What could be better than a vampire rabbit??

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was a great book. Unfortunately I didn’t like books 2 & 3 as much. They were too sad.

Well, that’s just a small sampling of my books. I’ve learned that I need my books to have happy endings. I don’t mind if a book makes me cry, but I’d better be smiling at the end. Life is full of strife (mine anyway), I don’t need that in the books I read to escape. I remember reading the Dragon Prince series by Melanie Rawn—one of the books was so sad that I felt like tearing it into little shreds. I could never destroy a book like that, so I hid it in my brother’s disaster of a room. That was two years ago. He still hasn’t found it…

So, what are some of your favorite books? Books you think are overrated?

 Tortured Souls
The Orion Circle #1

Kimber Leigh Wheaton

YA Paranormal Romance
June 29. 2014
Sea Dragon Press

Amazon * Goodreads

Sometimes Rest in Peace isn't an option.

Kacie Ramsey sees ghosts—and it's ruining her life. Her mother left, her father blames her, and no matter how hard she tries, she can't keep the ghosts away. Now a new power has emerged. Nightly visions of grisly murders and a relentless predator draw her to the brink of insanity.

When the phantom appears at a party, Kacie's longtime crush, Logan, saves her. He invites her to join the Orion Circle, a group of supernatural hunters with chapters in schools all over the country. Through the Circle, Kacie learns to embrace her spiritual powers, and for the first time in her life she feels in control rather than a victim.

But the Foxblood Demon will not give up so easily. A demented serial killer in life who trapped the souls of the thirteen children he murdered, imprisoning them within the walls of his mansion. Now in death, he plots his return while drawing power from the pure souls of the children. He recognizes something in Kacie he's never seen before—a medium powerful enough to provide a vessel for his tainted soul.

Kacie can't ignore the tortured souls of the children crying out to her every night. With Logan at her side, she will fight the Foxblood Demon. But can they banish this powerful phantom, or will Kacie lose not only her body, but her eternal soul to the monster.

About the Author

Kimber Leigh Wheaton is a bestselling YA/NA author with a soft spot for sweet romance. She is married to her soul mate, has a teenage son, and shares her home with three dogs, four cats, and lots of dragons. No, she doesn’t live on a farm, she just loves animals. Kimber Leigh is addicted to romance, videogames, superheroes, villains, and chocolate—not necessarily in that order. (If she has to choose, she’ll take a chocolate covered superhero!) She currently lives in San Antonio, TX but has been somewhat a rolling stone in life, having resided in several different cities and states.

Website * Twitter * Goodreads Author Page
Facebook * Pinterest

Tour-Wide Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card

1 Signed Print Copy - US Only

5 sets of signed bookmarks - US only

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Cursed Moon by Jaye Wells

Cursed Moon

Author: Jaye Wells

Release Date: August 12, 2014

Publisher: Orbit

The Prospero's War Book #2

ISBN:  031622846X

ISBN13: 9780316228466

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Publisher via NetGalley

When a rare Blue Moon upsets the magical balance in the city, Detective Kate Prospero and her Magical Enforcement colleagues pitch in to help Babylon PD keep the peace. Between potions going haywire and everyone's emotions running high, every cop in the city is on edge. But the moon's impact is especially strong for Kate who's wrestling with guilt over falling off the magic wagon.

After a rogue wizard steals dangerous potions from the local covens, Kate worries their suspect is building a dirty magic bomb. Her team must find the anarchist rogue before the covens catch him, and make sure they defuse the bomb before the Blue Moon deadline. Failure is never an option, but success will require Kate to come clean about her secrets.

With a ton of action, plenty angst, lots of drama and a little romantic tension, CURSED MOON was a great continuation of The Prospero's War series.

Kate is dealing with quite a bit in CURSED MOON. She performed dirty magic to save Danny in book 1 and no one knows. She has a lot of guilt over it and seems to be looking over her shoulder at every turn afraid of who will find out. She also doesn't like lying to her friends who already think she is changing too much with her new job. On top of that Danny thinks that John Volos saved him so he is doubly obsessed with him and is sneaking around talking to him behind her back while being a teenage pain in the butt to Kate thinking she didn't care enough about him to save him herself. He causes a lot of hurt feelings and I just wanted to give him a time out in just about every chapter.

We get to witness Kate come face to face with her Uncle. I think she handled it really well and their last meeting together in CURSED MOON really showed how much Kate has grown since she was under his control. He seems to have his hands in a lot of pockets so I'm positive we will be seeing him again soon.

I very much enjoyed the progress of Kate and her partners *fingers crossed* relationship. I like them together and by the end it looks like there might actually be some romance in the next book. John is fine and all but he causes so much trouble for Kate and I don't know why she would ever contemplate a relationship with him again.

As soon as CURSED MOON was over I went in search of when book 3 would be out. DEADLY SPELLS is set to release in March 2015 and is already on my wishlist.

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Release Day Blitz: Keeper vs. Reaper by Jennifer Malone Wright

UFI welcomes Jennifer Malone Wright Author of Keeper vs. Reaper. Thanks for Joining us!!

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Jennifer Malone Wright is best known for her short story series, The Vampire Hunter's Daughter. Other works include the follow up to The Vampire Hunter's Daughter series called The Arcadia Falls Chronicles and her vampire novel called The Birth of Jaiden. Jennifer also co-authors a series called Once Upon A Zombie Apocalypse.

She resides in the beautiful mountains of northern Idaho with her husband and five children where she practices preparing for the zombie apocalypse. Just kidding!

But seriously, between the craziness of taking care of her children, Jennifer has little time left for herself. The time she does have left, usually leading far into the night, is spent working on her beloved fiction or chatting with her equally crazy friends.

Jennifer also loves coffee, has a passionate affair with red bull, wishes the sushi were better where she lives and dances while she cleans.

Find Jennifer and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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Keeper vs. Reaper
PreOrder at Apple and BN

When her father died, Lucy Mae Estmond inherited the family business. She has known all of her life that she would be in line to watch over the souls of the recently passed, keeping them safe from the Reapers.

The soul eating Reapers have been a plague upon the Earth, stealing souls and leaving the Keepers as the only thing that stands between Heaven and Hell. The factions despise each other and have warred for generations.

Then Lucy discovers an ancient legend predicting the arrival of the Chosen One, destined to bring forth an end to the Reapers. The surprises continue when she realizes she is that person. For Lucy, being the Chosen One doesn’t change much. Fighting Reapers is just another day in the life of a Keeper.

When she meets Jack Walker, they both realize they have an insane, mutual attraction. Too bad that he’s been sent to prevent the prophecy from coming true. His only mission: to kill the Chosen One.

Excerpt: 
 

“Yeah, I get that.” He took a swig of his beer and cringed. “Ugh. Can I get a shot of Jameson with this too?” 

“I thought you tried to stay away from the hard stuff.” Her dark eyes penetrated him, looking for a reason that he would want to be drinking the hard A. 

“Not tonight I don’t.” 

“Fine. But, because I’m your friend I’m only allowing you one shot then it’s back to the hangover beer for you.” 

Friend. What a fucked up word. The F word for sure. 

He gave her a twisted smile as she handed him the shot of amber colored liquid. “I don’t have any friends. Not anymore.” 

She shot him a concerned look and put the Jameson bottle back on the shelf. “You do now. I think we hit it off as far as friends go. See, I’m going to help you out right now, just like a dude would. There’s Janette.” 

“Who?” 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” 

Jack raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders, then tilted his head back and slammed his shot. 

Reese had her hands on her hips. “Janette. The girl you took home the other night.” She explained. 

“Oh! You mean Janice.” He turned around to see who she was talking about.

“No, I mean Janette. That is her name, asshole.” 

“Oh shit, really?” 

Reese shook her head and laughed. “You may be good looking, but you are the poster child for guys women shouldn’t date. I have no idea why I like you at all.” 

With a smile, Jack turned around and wiggled his eyebrows, “maybe we should take that to the next level.” He was totally joking and she knew it. The two of them seemed to have a mutual no touchy code. 

“Not a chance in hell, Casanova.” 

Jack laughed and then once again looked over his shoulder at Janette. Now, that was exactly what he needed right now. Nothing calms the nerves after an attempted murder and a fight with your friend like a good night of fucking out the frustration. He grabbed his beer and got up off the stool.

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Tour Wide

Details for the Keeper vs. Reaper pre-order giveaway

 

-Entries will be accepted until September 1st.
- Winner will be chosen on Sept 5th.
-To qualify for the B&B stay you must live in the United States.
-You must be 21 years of age to enter and winner must be able to verify their age.
- Date of B&B stay is February 2015. The actual date will set by Jack and Lucy who will discuss it with the winner to see which days would be best for them.
- The custom wine and chocolate will be waiting for the lucky winner at the B&B
- The only items covered in this win are the cost of ONE night stay in the bed & breakfast, the wine and the chocolate, which will be waiting for the winner at the B&B when they arrive. Winner is responsible for getting to the location, spending money, meals, ect.
-Winner is responsible for any damages or incurred costs during their stay at the B&B.

How to Enter

 

To make this super easy, we are just going to do a rafflecopter, so click the link to enter. Again, I am going to state that you must be 21 years of age to enter and winner must be able to verify their age.

There are several ways to enter, however one is to pre order or purchase (after release on Aug 12th) Keeper vs. Reaper. Unfortunately, there is no pre-order for Amazon, but the iTunes / iBooks app and the Nook app are free to download. These apps can be used on devices like tablets, phones, and computers.
  a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Releases: 8/10-8/16

Tue. Aug. 12th

 Black Ice (Midgard #2) by Susan Krinard

 Cursed Moon (The Prospero's War #2) by Jaye Wells

 Fortune's Favors (Nyx Fortuna #3) by Marlene Perez

Thur. Aug. 14th

 Between the Spark and the Burn (Between #2) by April Genevieve Tucholke

 Sisters' Fate (The Cahill Witch Chronicles #3) by Jessica Spotswood

Happy Reading!

FLASH GIVEAWAY! Aces Wild by Amanda Carlson

Don't worry, if you don't win ACES WILD is currently on sale for .99!

Welcome to Vegas. Home of the Sin City Collectors. The job description is easy: Bring the offending supernatural in to the Boss and don’t ask any questions.

Nevada Hamilton has learned a few things since becoming a Sin City Collector, and staying away from vampires is one of them. After botching her first Collection, the vamp getting away after causing as much damage as possible, she hasn’t been assigned to another one since.

But when she receives her next playing card, she’s in for a surprise. Not only is a vampire her next target, but they’ve paired her up to make sure she gets the job done right. Refusing a Collection is not an option, but when she discovers who she’s working with, making the mission as difficult as possible for her new partner becomes her top priority…

Being a hellhound isn’t enough to protect Jake Troubadour from Nevada Hamilton, no matter how thick his skin is. Finding out he has to work with the beautiful dhampir, after not seeing her for three years, is a low blow—but Jake is a professional. He takes his Collections as seriously as he does running his bar. He’ll do whatever it takes to get the job done, but after that, he’s out. No more chances for the girl who wrecked his bike and scarred his soul so long ago. But even with his heart dead set against it, this hellhound quickly finds he’s not immune to love after all.

What’s Collected in Vegas, stays in Vegas...

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Amanda is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, with a BA in both Speech and Hearing Science & Child Development. She went on to get an A.A.S in Sign Language Interpreting and worked as an interpreter until her first child was born. She enjoys playing Scrabble to an unhealthy degree, shopping trips to Ikea and has a great weakness for tropical beaches. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and three kids.


Find Amanda and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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International

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Week in Review: 8/3-8/9

Books I've Bought/received

- Shifting Shadows by Patricia Briggs- eARC- Publisher via Netgalley

- A Human Element by Donna Galanti- eCopy- Author

- Ante Up by Amanda Carlson- eARC- Author

- Fading Light by Angela Dennis- eARC- Author via Publisher

- A Vault of Sins by Sarah Harian- eARC- Publisher via Netgalley

- Accession by Terah Edun- eCopy- NetGalley

- Betting on Julia by Nina Croft- eARC- Publisher

- His Secret Superheroine by Patricia Eimer- eARC- Publisher

- The Witch With No Name by Kim Harrison- Publisher via Edelweiss

- Her Lone Wolf by Paige Tyler- eARC- NetGalley

- Saving the Hero by Sabrina Sumsion- eARC- Author

Books I've Read

Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Betting on Julia by Nina Croft
The Witch With No Name by Kim Harrison
Dangerous Calling by A.J. Larrieu
Shadow Cursed by N.L. Hoffmann

Reviews Posted

Silver Wolf Clan by Tera Shanley
Guarded by Mary Behre
Blood Games by Chloe Neill

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* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?

* Monday- Release Day Blitz for Silver Wolf Clan by Tera Shanley

* Tuesday- Promo for Caressed by Shadows by Amanda J. Greene

* Wednesday- Guest Post & Giveaway for So I Married a Werewolf by Kristin Miller

* Friday- Interview & Giveaway for Down the Rabbit Hole by Monica Corwin

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* Did you know you can follow UFI on these other sites?

BlogLovin

Networked Blogs

Facebook
Pinterest Board

You can also add me (as in Stacy) to your friends on these sites if you're on them.

Twitter

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 * I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.

Review: Silver Wolf Clan by Tera Shanley

Silver Wolf Clan

Author: Tera Shanley

Release Date: August 4, 2014

Publisher:  Lyrical Press

Silver Wolf Clan Book #1

ISBN:   1616505427

ISBN13: 9781616505424

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Review Copy Source: NetGalley

Loving him will be legendary...if she can survive it.

What happens when monsters turn out to be real? One summer night while camping in the woods, Morgan Carter finds out in a big way. A tall mysterious stranger, Greyson Crawford, risks his life to try and save her sister from the vicious wolf attacking their camp. When he’s bitten and disappears into the night, Morgan can only assume the worst.

Greyson shows up a year later, and he’s a different animal altogether. His eye color shifts constantly and the rumble in his throat sounds more animal than human. She hasn’t any idea where he’s been all this time, but a good guess as to what he’s become.
Grey is determined not to let the darkness of his new existence affect Morgan and the little girl in her care. He hasn’t been able to stop thinking about Morgan but knows he should stay away and let her live a normal life. That’s easier said than done, though. A new danger pulls him from the shadows to keep her safe, and he’s no wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Can she accept what lurks just below his surface? More importantly, can she survive him?

SILVER WOLF CLAN is a quick paranormal read with romance, werewolves and an easy to fall into storyline. Greyson was bitten while trying to save Morgan and her sister from a werewolf attack in the woods. He is able to save Morgan, but injured he disappears. Neither of them can of course forget about the other, but Morgan is told he doesn't exist by people that found her after the attack and he refuses to put her in danger because he thinks he's a monster. Fate jumps in and a year later they find each other again.

I enjoyed both characters. I think the author did a good job of helping us get to know the characters but I would have loved to dive even deeper into them. Their romance was a bit rushed and I think adding some more would have made it feel more natural.

I wasn't ready for SILVER WOLF CLAN to be over. Just as it was getting better after a bit of a slow point it ended. It was a huge bummer and it left it feeling unfinished. I know there will be more books in the series, but book 1 could have used a little more. I am honestly interested in seeing what comes next so I will continue reading when book 2 comes out.

I have it 3/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.