Friday, August 28, 2015

11 Books Coming This Fall I Want To Read (and You Will Too!)

          There are a lot of great books coming out this fall, both by indie authors and traditional authors. Maybe it's the fact that September 1st's arrival means we're that much closer to Halloween or I'm just ready to get into fall clothes and drink Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks but I am so ready for fall this year. And I'm so excited to get into all the fantastic looking books hitting bookstores this fall! 

         Here are 11 of this fall's upcoming releases that I'm dying to get my hands on:

1. Catacomb (Asylum #3) by Madeleine Roux 
September 1, 2015
   Official Summary (from Goodreads):
           Sometimes the past is better off buried.

          Senior year is finally over. After all they’ve been through, Dan, Abby, and Jordan are excited to take one last road trip together, and they’re just not going to think about what will happen when the summer ends. But on their way to visit Jordan’s uncle in New Orleans, the three friends notice that they are apparently being followed.. And Dan starts receiving phone messages from someone he didn’t expect to hear from again—someone who died last Halloween.

          As the strange occurrences escalate, Dan is forced to accept that everything that has happened to him in the past year may not be a coincidence, but fate—a fate that ties Dan to a group called the Bone Artists, who have a sinister connection with a notorious killer from the past. Now, Dan’s only hope is that he will make it out of his senior trip alive.

     Why I Want To Read It: 
              I have been addicted to the Asylum books from the very beginning. They're creepy and awesome and they remind me of an episode of Ghost Adventures, except frighteningly real. The books also include found photographs to help with the scary vibe. I can't wait to see how the trilogy ends! 

Buy Links for Catacomb

2. Truest by Jackie Lea Sommers 
September 1, 2015
     Official Summary (from Amazon):
            A breathtaking debut brings us the unforgettable story of a small-town love, big dreams, and family drama.

Silas Hart has seriously shaken up Westlin Beck's small-town life. Brand-new to town, Silas is different from the guys in Green Lake. He's curious, poetic, philosophical, maddening—and really, really cute. But Silas has a sister—and she has a secret. And West has a boyfriend. And life in Green Lake is about to change forever.

      Why I Want To Read It: 
              I'm intrigued by Silas's sister's secret. What is it? I've also lately been very into books set in small towns. It's something different from the books that are set in New York or L.A. or futuristic novels set in places you can't even pronounce. And of course Silas Hart sounds really promising, especially when West's boyfriend and best friend get wrapped up in their own lives leaving West all alone. 

Buy Links for Truest: 

3. Sweet Temptation (Sweet Trilogy #4) by Wendy Higgins
September 8, 2015 
         Official Summary (from Goodreads): 
               Bad boy Kaidan Rowe has never wanted for anything—money, popularity, musical talent…hot girls—but seducing them is part of his duty as a Nephilim, slave to the demon Dukes. As the son of the Duke of Lust, Kaidan has learned his father’s ways, becoming a master of passion, a manipulator of chemistry. Disobeying his father would mean certain death. Thankfully for Kaidan, he’s good at his job. And he enjoys it. 

              Until he meets Anna Whitt—sweet, smart, feisty, and inexplicably good—the one girl seemingly immune to his charms. The daughter of a guardian angel and a fallen one, she has a certain power over him, one that makes him wish for more than he could ever deserve. 

             Determined to save all the Neph from their dark lives as the influencers of sin, Anna joins forces with Kaidan to overcome the demons’ oppressive ways. In the light of her affections, Kaidan must undergo his toughest test of all, a battle of the heart.

          Why I Want To Read It: 
                I followed the Sweet Trilogy from the beginning and I'm anxious to read the story from Kaidan's perspective. I loved the character as the reader saw him through Anna's eyes now I'm ready to hear what's going through his head. 

Buy Links for Sweet Temptation: 

4. The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich
September 15, 2015
        Official Summary (from Goodreads):
               Over two decades have passed since the fire at Elmbridge High, an inferno that took the lives of three teenagers. Not much was known about the events leading up to the tragedy - only that one student, Carly Johnson, vanished without a trace...

            ...until a diary is found hidden in the ruins.

          But the diary, badly scorched, does not belong to Carly Johnson. It belongs to Kaitlyn Johnson, a girl who shouldn't exist Who was Kaitlyn? Why did she come out only at night? What is her connection to Carly?

         The case has been reopened. Police records are being reexamined: psychiatric reports, video footage, text messages, e-mails. And the diary.

         The diary that paints a much more sinister version of events than was ever made publicly known.

         Why I Want To Read It: 
                Quite honestly after that blurb who wouldn't want to read it?? I first read about this book on Katie's Book Blog and I got really excited about reading the book. The cover is pretty cool too. 

Buy Links for The Dead House: 


5. Blood and Salt by Kim Liggett
September 22, 2015
        Official Summary (from Goodreads): 
              Romeo and Juliet meets Children of the Corn in this one-of-a-kind romantic horror.

“When you fall in love, you will carve out your heart and throw it into the deepest ocean. You will be all in—blood and salt.”

These are the last words Ash Larkin hears before her mother returns to the spiritual commune she escaped long ago. But when Ash follows her to Quivira, Kansas, something sinister and ancient waits among the rustling cornstalks of this village lost to time.

Ash is plagued by memories of her ancestor, Katia, which harken back to the town’s history of unrequited love and murder, alchemy and immortality. Charming traditions soon give way to a string of gruesome deaths, and Ash feels drawn to Dane, a forbidden boy with secrets of his own.

As the community prepares for a ceremony five hundred years in the making, Ash must fight not only to save her mother, but herself—and discover the truth about Quivira before it’s too late. Before she’s all in—blood and salt.

        Why I Want To Read It: 
              This is another horror story, which seems to be the popular genre this fall, that sounds too interesting to pass up. I'm glad that horror seems to be coming back to the forefront over all the "dystopian" novels that have been popular as of late. 

Buy Links for Blood and Salt: 

6. Daughters Unto Devils by Amy Lukavics
September 29, 2015
        Official Summary (from Goodreads): 
              When sixteen-year-old Amanda Verner's family decides to move from their small mountain cabin to the vast prairie, she hopes it is her chance for a fresh start. She can leave behind the memory of the past winter; of her sickly Ma giving birth to a baby sister who cries endlessly; of the terrifying visions she saw as her sanity began to slip, the victim of cabin fever; and most of all, the memories of the boy she has been secretly meeting with as a distraction from her pain. The boy whose baby she now carries. 

When the Verners arrive at their new home, a large cabin abandoned by its previous owners, they discover the inside covered in blood. And as the days pass, it is obvious to Amanda that something isn't right on the prairie. She's heard stories of lands being tainted by evil, of men losing their minds and killing their families, and there is something strange about the doctor and his son who live in the woods on the edge of the prairie. But with the guilt and shame of her sins weighing on her, Amanda can't be sure if the true evil lies in the land, or deep within her soul.
        Why I Want To Read It: 
              I love period novels, so a horror novel set in the prairie sounds refreshing. I'm interested to read this book because teen pregnancy, or sex in young adult novels, is usually so taboo I have to see how this book plays out. 

Buy Links for Daughters Unto Devils: 

7. The House by Christina Lauren
October 6, 2015
        Official Summary (from Goodreads):
              Gavin tells Delilah he’s hers—completely—but whatever lives inside that house with him disagrees.

After seven years tucked away at an East coast boarding school, Delilah Blue returns to her small Kansas hometown to find that not much has changed. Her parents are still uptight and disinterested, her bedroom is exactly the way she left it, and the outcast Gavin Timothy still looks like he’s crawled out of one of her dark, twisted drawings.

Delilah is instantly smitten.

Gavin has always lived in the strange house: an odd building isolated in a stand of trees where the town gives in to mild wilderness. The house is an irresistible lure for Delilah, but the tall fence surrounding it exists for good reason, and Gavin urges Delilah to be careful. Whatever lives with him there isn’t human, and isn’t afraid of hurting her to keep her away. 
        Why I Want To Read It: 
              Gavin strongly reminds me of Varen Nethers from Kelly Creagh's Nevermore trilogy. Now that I've finished Oblivion I need something to fill the void that Oblivion left behind. 

Preorder Links for The House:

8. A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis
October 6, 2015
       Official Summary (from Goodreads):
             Grace Mae knows madness.

She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.
        Why I Want To Read It:  
               I have a morbid fascination with old abandoned asylums (see entry 1, the Asylum trilogy). This love began partially when I first saw the old VA home in Marquette, MI which closely resembles something you might see in Shutter Island. The love for all that is creepy continued when I first started watching Ghost Adventures on the Travel channel. So to say the least this book really appeals to me. Added bonus: this is a historical novel! 

Preorder Links for A Madness So Discreet:

9. A Song For Ella Grey by David Almond
October 13, 2015
       Official Summary (from Goodreads): 
             Written in lyrical prose, this novel for fans of epic romances and mythology retellings explores themes of love, loss, fate, and destiny set against the dramatic and diverse backdrop of Northern England.

Claire and Ella and their friends are bound by ties so strong they seem unbreakable. Then the strange and handsome Orpheus strolls onto the beach, and he sings them all into an astonishing new understanding of themselves. Ella is caught the hardest, fastest, deepest—and Claire feels the pain of looking on.

Raw, emotional, lyrical, funny, and true, A Song for Ella Grey is a tale of modern teenagers and their joys, troubles, and desires. It’s a story of first love, a love that draws on ancient mythic forces. A love that leads Ella, Orpheus, and Claire to the gates of Death and beyond.
         Why I Want To Read It: 
               I love re-tellings and re-imaginings of Greek myths. I'm not really sure what lyrical prose is so I'm interested to see what it's like. 

Preorder Links for A Song For Ella Grey:

10. Soundless by Richelle Mead
November 10, 2015
         Official Summary (from Goodreads):
               For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village, where rocky terrain and frequent avalanches prevent residents from self-sustaining. Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom. 

When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink and many go hungry. Fei’s home, the people she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.

But soon Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her weapon.

Richelle Mead takes readers on a triumphant journey from the peak of Fei’s jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiugo, where a startling truth and an unlikely romance will change her life forever... 
            Why I Want To Read It: 
                  At first I wasn't sure if this book would appeal to me but I'm interested in giving it a chance. 

Preorder Links for Soundless:

11. Unearthed After Sunset by Lauryn April
Fall 2015
        Official Summary (from Goodreads):
              When Greg Erickson is killed by sultry and seductive vampire Lila, he wakes up cold and alone in a wooden box. After clawing his way out he finds himself thrust into a vampire turf war, unsure of exactly what he’s fighting for. Greg discovers that it’s not easy to be human one day and hunting humans the next, and while his new vampire cohorts try to get him to accept his newfound existence there’s one girl from his human life he’s unable to forget.

Caroline Christensen lived a normal life once. Then her brother was killed by vampires and her family legacy as a vampire hunter was handed down to her. When she meets Greg out at the bar one night they both feel a connection. Then Greg discovers Caroline’s secret and she worries he’ll never talk to her again, but soon she finds out that he has a very different reason for not calling – he’s dead. 

Now Greg has become the thing Caroline is supposed to hunt, but can she bring herself to kill him? Greg, however, isn’t Caroline’s only concern. There’s something going on with the vampires. They’re fighting over something and she’s determined to find out what it is.
        Why I Want To Read It: 
               Lauryn April is a indie author from Wisconsin like myself. I started following her posts after she followed me on twitter and I immediately took interest in her newest book Unearthed After Sunset. After reading the first chapter on her blog I'm really looking forward to reading the complete novel. I don't have an exact release date for the novel but I know she is planning to publish it sometime this fall. 

 Links for Unearthed After Sunset: 
*****Update October 4, 2015: According to the author publication of this book has been pushed until Spring at least*****

And a little shameless self-promotion; a book I hope everyone reads this fall:
12. Finding Elizabeth by Taylor Fenner (that's me!)
September 15, 2015
          Official Summary (from Goodreads): 
                Prepare to fall into a love that is powerful enough to prevail over tragedy, death, and multiple lifetimes...
         
 When eighteen-year-old Nate meets Elizabeth by chance during the height of the French Revolution he has no idea that his entire life is about to change. They quickly fall in love only to be tragically torn apart during the September Massacre of 1792.

Nate reincarnates more than two hundred years later in Brookfield, Wisconsin with the sole purpose of finding his lost love, Elizabeth. He soon realizes that finding her is the easy part, but keeping her is a whole other story. Elizabeth has no memory of their past life together until she begins being tormented by vivid dreams. Soon they both become swept up in the past and each other. Their happiness is once more threatened by Elizabeth’s mobster ex-boyfriend and Nate’s disapproving friends Darcy and Jake. They must stick together to overcome the obstacles trying to rip them apart with the help of Elizabeth’s friends Luciana, Surewood, and Belinda.

Things get messier when Elizabeth begins to remember a dark new past life she shared with Nate; as well as with her ex, Anton, who refuses to let her go without a fight. But Nate and Elizabeth must ask is there someone else pulling the strings with Anton? Someone who is more sinister and dangerous than they can even imagine? Will Nate and Elizabeth ever get their happy ending?
     Why YOU Should Read It: 
           Finding Elizabeth is a young adult paranormal romance filled with Reincarnation, Witches, Vengeful Ghosts, and A Mob Prince; not to mention True Love! Fans of Kristen Miller's The Eternal Ones and anyone who loves a good paranormal romance will love this book! 
Buy Links for Finding Elizabeth: 

*Note: I have not been paid to promote or endorse the books on this list. They are solely books that I personally am interested in reading. I have not received any free copies of the books. The only book I guarantee and endorse is my upcoming release, Finding Elizabeth. 

I hope that some of these books have piqued your interest as they have mine and I hope you give my novel, Finding Elizabeth, a chance! 








Friday, August 21, 2015

TEASER: Finding Elizabeth

Three and a half weeks until Finding Elizabeth's release date! This week's blogpost is part two of my four part blog series ahead of Finding Elizabeth's September 15th release and it's...


TEASER TIME!!! 

You have several preorder options for this book. All preorder information will be at the end of this post. 


This teaser is in modern day Elizabeth's perspective after Nate's friends Darcy and Jake play a cruel trick on her at Nate's family's Christmas Party... 
Enjoy! :)


          I turn to face him. “Go to Hell!” I say harshly as I brush past him.
      
        “I’ve been there,” he says quietly. “Every second away from you is Hell for me.”

           I roll my eyes then begin to turn away. Nate grabs my shoulders and makes me face him again. 

        “How do you explain it then?” He asks; his green-eyed stare boring into me.  “How do you explain our connection to each other despite the fact that we’ve only known each other a short time? How do you explain your weird dreams? Or what about my crystal clear memory of things that happened two hundred years ago? Because I know that it was us back then; that we were in love. Elizabeth, losing you destroyed me.”

         “You’re crazy…” I begin.

        “Then look me in the eye and tell me that you don’t believe. Tell me that you don’t love me.  Because I meant what I said; our love will last for all eternity.
         
         That struck a nerve with me. “Where did you hear that?” I ask quietly.

         “I’m trying to tell you, Lizzie, I’m not making this up.” He replies. 

Add Finding Elizabeth on Goodreads

PREORDER LINKS: 


       

Friday, August 7, 2015

Finding Elizabeth Character Profile: NATE

       This week’s blog begins a four-part blog series to get everyone ready for the upcoming release of Finding Elizabeth. Today we take a look at one of the main characters of Finding Elizabeth, Nate Levine.

Basics:

Name: Nathan “Nate” Levine

Age: Eighteen

Current Residence: Brookfield, Wisconsin

Grade in School: 12th (Senior)

Social Class: Upper Middle Class

Date of Birth (DOB): October 31, 1990



Physical Characteristics and Emotions:

Height: Tall – 6’1”

Eye Color: Bright Green

Hair Color / Style: Shaggy Dark Brown / Black Hair

Build: Muscular, Athletic

Clothing Style: Trendy, Casual

Personality: Kind, Friendly, Loyal, Well-liked among his peers

Fears: Elevators, Not being able to find Elizabeth, losing Elizabeth again

Dislikes: Catacombs, Snails (the edible kind), Halloween 


Goals / Backstory:

Backstory:

       Nate was born “Nate Meritan” in France on May 13, 1774. He grew up in a wealthy aristocratic family where his parents were Lord and Lady to the Royal Court. When Nate is fifteen the Bastille falls and the early days of the French Revolution bring changes to the Meritan estate. The servants that help tend the manor abandon the family and the bulk of the manual labor falls on Nate’s shoulders. His father is delusional and believes that the revolution will just “blow over” any day while his mother slowly begins losing her mind.

      Three years later it is 1792 and the Revolution is still going on around them. Nate’s father refuses to stop spending money on frivolous things and his mother sits around all day cowering in fear that the Sans-Culottes (Revolutionaries, people in favor of the upheaval and dethroning of the royal family and those of aristocratic bloodlines) will come to take her away.

       Then one day, as Nate (now eighteen) is working in the fields, he sees a girl not much younger than himself darting in and out of the trees at the edge of the property. He offers the girl, named Elizabeth, a place to stay for the night and so begins a connection and a love story that will transcend death and multiple reincarnations.

       Nate and Elizabeth fall deeply in love only to be torn apart during the September Massacre of 1792.



Goal:

     When Nate reincarnates more than two hundred years later and is reborn into the world in 1990 with full knowledge of his past life with Elizabeth he vows to spend his life looking for Elizabeth so he can change the course of fate.

      It’s the year 2008 when Nate finally finds his lost love living in the same city as himself; Brookfield, Wisconsin. Once again he is eighteen years old and she is sixteen. Nate is happy to have found his Elizabeth but he will soon learn that finding Elizabeth was the easy part, keeping her will be a whole other story.



Obstacles:

· Elizabeth’s lack of memory of their past life together

· Elizabeth’s mobster ex-boyfriend Anton, who refuses to let her go

· The difference in their social circles, his friends Darcy and Jake dislike Elizabeth

· Elizabeth’s disapproving parents



         I hope this gives you a little better look at Nate, one of the main characters in Finding Elizabeth. You can preorder a copy of Finding Elizabeth in the following places:




Finding Elizabeth will be available in all formats on Tuesday September 15, 2015!

Read NIGHT OF TERROR