Promotional Post & Giveaway: Deceived by Stephanie Nelson

Teaser from Deceived

He regarded me with a look I’d seen a few other times, an expression I  tried to ignore, but at the moment, I couldn't look away from. I was a woman who noticed attractive men, but I would never act on those feelings. I loved Aiden as  sure as the night is long. But Dorian stirred something deep inside of me, and we  connected on a level I hadn’t with Aiden. It wasn’t easy to ignore something that  profound, especially when it was staring at me like I was the sexiest girl in the world.

Dorian took a step forward. His arms hung limp, but I could tell he was nervous about what was happening between us. The tightness in his jaw and triceps betrayed the cool confidence he was trying to portray. An inch of icy air separated us. I lifted my eyes to his, and we stared at each other. No words were needed; our body language spoke for us. Dorian brought his arm up and with the back of his hand caressed the side of my face with more gentleness than I imagined. My eyes closed against the feel of it. A shuffle of feet enticed my eyes open just in time to see Dorian bending forward and toward my eager lips.

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I am a down to earth sort of girl who believes in Karma. You do good things and good things will be returned to you. I chose to look on the bright side rather than the dark. My love of books came later in life. When i was younger i read a few Goosebump and Fear Street books but they couldn't hold my attention for very long. It wasn't until i heard of sparkly vampires that my curiosity got the better of me. Once i was done with the saga i needed more. I rushed out to the bookstores in search of  more paranomal romance books. After devouring book after book, my own stories began to form in my mind. I never considered myself a writer. The only things i'd wrote were poems and that's a far cry from writing a novel. But i could picture the story in my head so i decided to give it a shot and type it out. It wasn't long before i was scraping it to start another one. I continued on like this for a few years before Gwen Sparks' story came to me. I was almost done with a story but ended up stopping so i could start Craved - Book 1 in the Gwen Sparks Series. Seven months later my book was completed. I didn't intend on publishing, i was merely writing to write. But after being invited into a wonderful writers group, i found my courage and published Craved. It ended up reaching #1 on the Amazon's bestseller's list and #6 on the Barnes & Noble bestseller's list. Since then i have published Deceived, the second book in the Gwen Sparks series and have started on another series. If i can give any aspiring authors advice, it'd be never give up! It took me four years to find my story and it was worth the wait. I am blessed to have supportive fans and friends and a loving family who encourages me to follow my dreams.

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Find Stephanie and her books

Website / Twitter / Facebook

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Deceived
Gwen Sparks #2

The vampire drug, brew, nearly ruined Gwen Sparks’ life. Just when things started to get back to normal between her and Aiden, she is summoned by the North American Witches Council to their central city of Moon. A war is imminent between vampires and witches, and Gwen’s experiences with brew are being used to fuel the fire. She is about to discover just how powerful she is with the help of the ruggedly handsome Angel of Death and just how far some people will go to get what they want. Gwen is going to learn exactly what it means to be Deceived.

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Tour Wide Giveaway

Exclusive Excerpt: Partials by Dan Wells

Visit the above link for an Exclusive Excerpt of PARTIALS by Dan Wells

Interview & Giveaway: Christina Henry

UFI welcomes Christina Henry Author of The Madeline Black Series. Thanks for Joining us!!

This or That

Angels or Demons

Angels, but only if they're fallen.

Vampires or Shifters

Shifters! If there's a love triangle involving a human, a shifter, and a vampire I almost always choose the shifter.

Left or Right

Whatever direction will get me home faster!

Up or Down

Up. I've always wanted to fly.

Pizza or Pasta

I'm Italian, so I don't think I should have to choose.

Coffee or Tea

 Tea, green, unsweetened.

Coke or Pepsi

 I don't drink soda. Too much caffeine makes me CRAZY.

YA or Adult

Adult. Although there are some YA series that I love, like Harry Potter (of course!) and Percy Jackson.

Facebook or Twitter

Facebook, because I haven't yet figured out what all those Twitter symbols mean.

Reading or Writing

 These two activities combined take up most of my day, so like "pizza or pasta", I don't think I can choose!

Book Signing or Panel Speaking

Panel speaking. It's so much fun for me to meet other writers that I admire.

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 CHRISTINA HENRY is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago and enjoys running long distances, reading anything she can get her hands on and watching movies with samurai, zombies and/or subtitles in her spare time.  She lives in Chicago with her husband and son.

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Find Christina and her books

Website / Twitter / Facebook

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Black Howl
Madeline Black #3
Feb 28, 2012

Agent of Death Madeline Black is finding out that some of the spirits of Chicago aren't ready to cross over.

Something is wrong with the souls of Chicago's dead. Ghosts are walking the streets, and Agent of Death Madeline Black's exasperating boss wants her to figure out why. And while work is bad enough, Maddy has a plethora of personal problems too. Now that Gabriel has been assigned as her thrall, their relationship has hit an impasse. At least her sleazy ex-fiancé Nathaniel is out of the picture — or so she thinks...

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US shipping Only

Review: Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

Article 5
Author:Kristen Simmons
Release Date: January 13, 2012
Publisher: Tor Teen
Article 5 Book #1
ISBN:   1429987731
ISBN13: 9781429987738
Genre: Young Adult/ Dystopian
Review Copy Source: Publisher 

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.

The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard for her to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It’s hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.

I am so loving the Dystopian genre. I really didn't know what Dystopian was until the beginning of 2011 but I have not read one yet.

When Ember's mom is arrested for violating Article 5 Ember is taken away to be rehabilitated. The story follows Ember's journey to escape and find her mother at any cost. Chase the one person she loved and lost when he became a soldier has a huge part in helping her along the way.

Ember was erratic, loyal, frustrating and hard headed but easy to root for. The one thing that was super annoying about her was her all out obsession with finding her mom it was a little over the top. I definitely thought she should be worried but it kinda consumed her and the decisions she made because of her obsession made me want to scream at her most of the time. Chase was hard to read but everything he did had a purpose and brought a little more understanding to the inner workings of his character. Their relationship was full of tension and frustration but was worth the struggle to get them together to were they needed to be in the end.

The world building was fantastic. I could not imagine living with the ridiculous rules that Americans have to in Kristen's story. There was a ton of action and suspense throughout ARTICLE 5. The tension was knocked up a peg at every turn and the writing sucked me in. Count book 2 a must have on my wishlist.

I gave it 5/5 stars

Winner: Fated by Benedict Jacka

Thank you to everyone who entered!!

Prize: Print copy of Fated

The Winner chosen by Rafflecopter is.....

Review: Fated by Benedict Jacka

Fated
Author: Benedict Jacka
Release Date: February 28, 2012
Publisher: Ace
Alex Verus Book #1
ISBN:   1937007294
ISBN13: 9781937007294
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher

Alex Verus is part of a world hidden in plain sight, running a magic shop in London. And while Alex's own powers aren't as showy as some mages, he does have the advantage of foreseeing the possible future--allowing him to pull off operations that have a million-to-one-chance of success.

But when Alex is approached by multiple factions to crack open a relic from a long-ago mage war, he knows that whatever's inside must be beyond powerful. And thanks to his abilities, Alex can predict that by taking the job, his odds of survival are about to go from slim to none...

FATED started off a bit slow but ended up picking up speed a little less then halfway through. The idea of the world that Alex lives in was interesting but there wasn't a lot of back story in regards to it. There is a lot of action and mystery. The constant hiding and evading kept me on my toes while reading. I liked the characters they were well written and easy to remember. Alex's gift was pretty neat, he can foresee the future and it helps him in many ways throughout the story with keeping ahead of the people chasing him and Luna as well as adds some suspense to the story.  Luna was my favorite character. I couldn't imagine not being able to get close to someone without pretty much causing their death, she ends up being a pretty strong woman for all that she has been through and is incredibly level headed with all the information she is given. There isn't any romance in FATED but Alex and Luna defiantly have the potential for something great in the future.

I have not read the Dresden files but I have seen many reviews compare the two saying they are similar.. I might end up reading book 2 CURSED but it wont be a must read for me.

I gave it 3/5 stars

New Releases: 2/26-3/3

Tues Feb 28

A Sliver Of Shadow (Abby Sinclair, #2) by Allison Pang
Black Howl (Madeline Black #3) by Christina Henry
By a Thread (Elemental Assassin, #6) by Jennifer Estep
The Darkest Seduction (Lords of the Underworld, #9) by Gena Showalter
Darkness Bound by Stella Cameron
Fever by Joan Swan
How to be Death (Calliope Reaper-Jones, #4) by Amber Benson
My Lord Vampire by Alexandra Ivy
Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors (Jane Jameson, #4) by Molly Harper
Pandemonium (Delirium, #2) by Lauren Oliver
Partials (Partials, #1) by Dan Wells

Happy Reading!!!