2013 Wrap-Up

Crazy year behind, so my wrap-up's gonna be pretty short! But can you blame me; we started building our house last summer, no break ever since. Now all the walls are up, soon we should start painting and putting up wallpapers etc., crazy I tell you!
I also had my second kid, my beautiful baby boy, who keeps me insanely busy. He's a happy baby, but he loves company. In the beginning it was at least possible to read while nursing, but not anymore, since this baby stops eating and starts reading with me. So no books allowed if I want to keep wellfed baby.

But let's wrap this thing up!

Best Books read 2013

Books read 2013

Monaliz's favorite books »

My goal was to read 105 books in 2013, and I totally failed! I only read 47 books, which is 45%. But I can live with that, hopefully this year is better! :)

Days Gone Bad Blitz

Days Gone Bad
(Vesik #1)
by Eric R. Asher



Published: August 18th 2013
















My name is Damian Valdis Vesik.

I am a necromancer, an ability feared and hated as much as the powers my master and I set ourselves against.
We've vanquished many evils, but now something is releasing an old darkness, forcing us to hunt an enemy beyond anything I’ve faced before.

I was already busy enough with vampires, fairies, witches, Watchers, weddings, and … damn, I need a vacation.



GOODREADS | AMAZON

Wolves and the River of Stone
(Vesik #2)
by Eric R. Asher



Published: October 25th 2013














Philip, Zola's boyfriend from one hundred and fifty years ago, is not nearly as dead as we thought. I really wish he was.

Not only has he kidnapped Zola, but he's raising an army to scour humanity from the earth.
Hopefully the local werewolf pack will help.

What could possibly go wrong?



GOODREADS | AMAZON

Heartbeat Promo Blitz Tour + Giveaway

Awesome day, since I was able to participate in the promo blitz tour hosted by Kismet Book Touring for Elizabeth Scott’s upcoming novel Heartbeat, which will be released on January 28th by Harlequin Teen!
Hope you're as excited as I am!

Heartbeat
by Elizabeth Scott



Publication: January 28 2014
by
Harlequin Teen













Emma would give anything to talk to her mother one last time. Tell her about her slipping grades, her anger with her stepfather, and the boy with the bad reputation who might be the only one Emma can be herself with.

But Emma can’t tell her mother anything. Because her mother is brain-dead and being kept alive by machines for the baby growing inside her.

Meeting bad-boy Caleb Harrison wouldn’t have interested Old Emma. But New Emma — the one who exists in a fog of grief, who no longer cares about school, whose only social outlet is her best friend Olivia — New Emma is startled by the connection she and Caleb forge.

Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death — and maybe, for love?



GOODREADS | AMAZON | B&N | INDIEBOUND

“An intense examination of a family coping with grief, this absorbing character study easily keeps pages turning.”

— Kirkus on Heartbeat

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Cover Reveal: The Romeo Club by Rebekah L Purdy

The Romeo Club
by Rebekah L Purdy




Expected release:
03/25/14















THE ROMEO CLUB is Hitch meets The Secret of My Success

What happens when you agree to help your brother “de-nerdify” so he can catch the attention of the popular Chloe Anders, and to everyone's surprise, he actually lands her?

And what if his equally geeky friends come running with girl wish lists of their own, offering money for your services?

Well, if you’re sixteen-year-old, Delyla Denson, then you start The Romeo Club. A secret club where she’ll teach these guys how talk, act, and be cool around girls. It’s a win-win situation.

She’ll get enough money for the awesome prom dress she’s had her eye on, and the guys, well, they’ll get dates and maybe learn how to do something other than beat the next level on their video games.

There are only two problems with this plan. One, her quarterback/track star boyfriend is getting jealous of how much time she’s spending away from him and decides to try and figure out what’s going on. And two, Delyla is kind of falling for her brother’s BFF, Trey who she’s been hanging out with a lot more. And who thanks to her help, has caught the attention of the beautiful, perfect, and popular, Portia Rickard. With Portia and Trey heating up, Delyla realizes that maybe the person she’s meant to be with has been in front of her all this time.

But falling for Trey means she’ll have to take drastic measures including sabotage, with a capital S.

Cover Reveal: Unrequited by Emily Shaffer

Unrequited
by Emily Shaffer




Expected release:
2014
















UNREQUITED is An Interview with a Vampire meets Meet Joe Black.

In the town of Belle Ridge there are doctors, lawyers and teachers... but there is only one vampire. Will Leighton has become an expert in making a life for himself amongst the unsuspecting small-town inhabitants, as the high school history teacher. He has spent hundreds of years crafting an identity and routine that make him feel almost human, but he is always missing that important final element, love.

Ashton Wallace is beautiful, smart, and angry. She was forced into an eternal existence, and now her family has moved her away from everything and everyone she knows. In Belle Ridge she is supposed to finish high school and start her life again, but how do you make plans for the next several centuries?

Will has never met another of his kind, and is immediately intrigued by Ashton. He longs to show her that the perceived vampire lifestyle, so popular in storybooks, is far from reality...but will she let him be a friend and guide in this new existence? Can Ashton accept Will into her life, or will she be led astray by a dark stranger with whom she shares an unknown connection?

Cover Reveal: Dovetailed by RaShelle Workman

Dovetailed
by RaShelle Workman




Expected release:
December 2013














World’s divided them. Chance brought them together. Only love will save them.

In the final installment of the Immortal Essence series questions are answered, alliances are ripped apart, and the war on Kelari rages between more than just the factions.

There are those who want to take over planet Earth as well. Venus must find a way to bring peace to both worlds and do so without destroying the one person she’s ever truly loved.

Buy book 1 | Buy book 2

Break You Blitz + Giveaway!

Break You
by Jennifer Snyder



Publication
date:
November 8th 2013












Blaire Hayes enjoys a quiet life, spending her days as a CNA at the local nursing home and nights studying for exams. She prefers things to be as uncomplicated as possible — but when her friends drag her to a party and she bumps into her high school crush, the path of Blaire’s life veers in an entirely different direction than what she had planned for herself.

Jason Bryant created a nice life away from his hometown, putting distance between himself and the suffocating sadness of his father’s death. But when he finds out his grandfather’s health is deteriorating, he decides he must return home. Partying was not on his agenda while in town, but it’s how he bumps into Blaire Hayes—the girl he’d always thought of in high school as an unobtainable pass.

Together the two learn there are moments in life that hold within them all the power to break you…

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Guest Author: Connie L. Smith

Essenced
by Connie L. Smith



Publication
date:
July 29th 2013












Years ago, demons were forced out of the earth’s realm by a band of supernatural fighters, banished from the place and its people in the aftermath of a horrific war. It should’ve ended there – would’ve – if not for the final demon’s claw snagging on the open portal. What felt like victory became only a reprieve, the winning warriors understanding that the tear would spread, and the demons eventually would escape exile. It was only a matter of time, and a need for future defense – a question of genetics and essences, magic and power.

Now, centuries later, a new army must bind together – one of teenagers with inhuman potentials and abilities…

AJ went to bed Sunday night an average teenage girl, clumsy and athletically lacking. So when she wakes up Monday morning with super-strength, she does what any rational person would do: She goes into denial. When a smoking hot guy in a suit shows up, rambling about the end of the war and demons spilling through some kind of rift, she refuses to listen, telling herself he’s insane. Except weird things just won’t quit happening, and the guy keeps popping up in her life, trying to explain the changes suddenly happening within her. Is she crazy, or is this guy… not so crazy after all?

Guest post by Connie L. Smith

There are a few things that I absolutely stink at:

1) Folding a fitted sheet.

2) Driving.

3) Writing a guest blog post.


Luckily I didn’t have to drive anywhere or fold a fitted sheet to have this come to pass. Still, it’s a complex situation. I want to write something that will snag your interest, but not something so ridiculous that you’re basically thinking, ‘Why in the world would she write that???’

So where exactly do I draw the line? Can I tell you about the tiny vampires that lived in my dorm at college? Would it be a bit too much to ramble about my interest in Julio-Claudian emperors and their… quirks? Is it too bland to just tell you about my favorite breakfast cereal?

This, I think, is one of the overlooked complications of an author’s life. Being on blogs helps you get exposure, and hopefully gets people to consider reading the book you’ve spent a good chunk of time on, but it leaves you with an overwhelming sense of impeding doom. You know. Looking at your calendar, realizing you have four days until it posts, noting that you have nothing important to say, and preparing yourself for the meteor that will no doubt crash into your house if you miss that deadline. Okay, so maybe that won’t happen. But a bunch of people will be reading it, experiencing your writing for the first time, and you want it to be good.

Well, maybe not good, but memorable. Persuadable. Different.

Like the rest of writing, I think the key might be in finding your own techniques and preferences, and going with them. Writing is not a mathematic equation, or a structured fortification that you have to build with exact guidelines so the whole thing doesn’t fall to pieces. You might love writing with strong vocabulary, while another reader/author thinks simpler is better. One publisher might want limited omniscience from the narrator, while another wants to know what’s in everyone’s head. Some things contradict, and some are open for approval. You might agree, or you might have other inclinations.

Any tips that others give you could very well be helpful, but they’re to be used at your discretion. It is your work, after all. It should be something you’d want to read, regardless of whether or not the authors you follow on Twitter agree with your preferences.

That, to me, is one of the most important ingredients in being the author of books you can be proud of. Write what you want, what you like, and do it to your best ability. Read and read and read some more until you discover what you do like, and hold to that as you journey through your works. Ideally you’ll grow, but don’t lose sight of who you are as an author by concentrating on who other people say you need to be.

Maybe the same thing can be said for blogging. I had a livejournal for years, and I had so many updates on that thing. But my readers were mostly friends who knew me enough to make the experience personal. Switching from personal updates about my life to a more general line of topics is an odd transition, but one that I’m attempting to learn to do. Maybe the secret in learning that is to read and read and read other blogs, discover what I like, and grow as a guest blogger.

Until then, I’ll just let a blank page guide me, and hopefully I’ll type something worth reading.

This post hasn’t been shocking or revealing, but it’s been honest. I hope you can appreciate that.



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Dark Winter Blitz

Dark Winter
by John Hennessy



Publication
date:
October 9, 2013












Romilly Winter is no ordinary heroine, just a reluctant one.

She has a gift. She can see the future. But can she see far enough? The world in which she lives is under attack – the dead are rising, and evil follows her at every turn.

Will she be able to save herself – and the world?

From the Diary of Romilly Winter, October 14th

"I’ve had two years to prepare for this. In that time, I have never told a soul. Of course, my Nan knew. She’d bequeathed me the mirror, after all. Now, maybe tonight, tomorrow, in a few days, the event that I don’t want to happen with all my heart, will come to pass. I’m not ready. I know I’m not ready, and yet, it will happen nonetheless.

Nan had this thing in her possession for nearly seventy years. She had told me I simply had to be at Rosewinter, prior to my sixteenth birthday no matter what objections my parents raised. She said I was ‘special’, and was the only one equipped to deal with what was coming.

The problem is, I don’t feel special, I just feel…different, and in all probability, that isn't going to be good enough.

In just two days time, I will be sixteen years old, and if anything my Nan said is remotely true, I will be lucky to survive that long…."