BLOG TOUR - FORBIDDEN BY KIMBERLEY GRIFFITHS LITTLE

Forbidden by Kimberley Griffiths Little

In the unforgiving Mesopotamian desert where Jayden’s tribe lives, betrothal celebrations abound, and tonight it is Jayden’s turn to be honored. But while this union with Horeb, the son of her tribe’s leader, will bring a life of riches and restore her family’s position within the tribe, it will come at the price of Jayden’s heart. Then a shadowy boy from the Southern Lands appears. Handsome and mysterious, Kadesh fills Jayden’s heart with a passion she never knew possible. But with Horeb’s increasingly violent threats haunting Jayden’s every move, she knows she must find a way to escape—or die trying. With a forbidden romance blossoming in her heart and her family’s survival on the line, Jayden must embark on a deadly journey to save the ones she loves—and find a true love for herself. Set against the brilliant backdrop of the sprawling desert, the story of Jayden and Kadesh will leave readers absolutely breathless as they defy the odds and risk it all to be together.

AMAZON * Barnes & Noble

  Praise for Forbidden

*STARRED* Review, ALA BOOKLIST ". . . At its core, this is a romance, with all the push and pull that goes along with impossible love, and Little elevates the story by creating a perilous landscape, both outward and inward, as Jayden must deal with the hardship of desert life as well as her own desires." 

THE RIPPLE EFFECT BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY - SECOND CHANCES 101 BY DONNA K. WEAVER

  

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Second Chances 101 by Donna K. Weaver

Thirty seven year old Francie Davis, a recent widow and empty nester, gets to attend college at last. She’s sure her luck has changed when she also lands a job on campus that will pay her tuition, as administrative assistant to a history professor. When her handsome new boss yells at her on the first day of work, Francie worries she will never be good enough. For Professor Alex Diederik, life is going downhill fast. Not only is his bitter ex-wife trying to poison their only daughter against him, but now his one place of solace—his work environment—is being complicated by his attractive new administrative assistant. She drives home his feelings of failure as a husband and father, and Alex wonders if hiring her was the right thing to do. Francie will have to put aside her hurt and insecurities or risk her dreams, while Alex must look outside himself if he’s to mend the breach with his daughter. And, perhaps, find someone who can help heal his pain.

Read an excerpt

The door burst open and a pretty girl with long strawberry blond hair stomped out. Her headlong rush drove her right at Francie, who squeezed against the wall, almost out of the way. Their shoulders hit, and they both stumbled. As Francie steadied herself, she could see tears in the girl’s heavily made up eyes. Staggering for a couple of paces, she managed to stay on her feet and then ran down the hallway.

BLOG TOUR - THE VERONA TRILOGY BY LORY S. KAUFMAN: INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY

The Verona Trilogy is an adventurous series that takes readers along on the life-changing journey of three 24th century teens. Travel in time to 14th century Verona Italy with them and get lost in this exciting sci-fi, historical fiction tale. It's a pleasure to feature this incredible series here at FLY HIGH! and I'm really happy to share with you my interview with author Lory S. Kaufman. There's a giveaway contest for you! Take your chances in the rafflecopter form below this post. It is open internationally, you can win the 3 book in the trilogy either in ebook form or in print (winner will choose). The deadline is May 15. Enjoy the interview and good luck in the contest.

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Maria Grazia:  Welcome to FLY HIGH! Lory. My first question for you is: Time travelling and artificial intelligence are among the main features in your YA series, The Verona Trilogy.  What age would you like to travel back to if you could? And what special wish would you make come true if advanced artificial intelligence was at your service?

Lory: Where would I go to?  When would I go to? I love history, so I want to go everywhere, to see how people lived, thought, and to understand their motivations. But with my love of art and arcitecture, I think my choice of 14th century Verona was at the top of my list, and that’s one of the reasons I set my first series there. Now that I have travelled back in time to there, the place I am visiting in my own personal time machine is ancient Akkad, in Messopotamia. It’s the research for my next stories. So glad I have my own, personal time machine.

THE RIPPLE EFFECT ROMANCE NOVELLA SERIES: LOST AND FOUND BY KAREN WHITE + GIVEAWAY

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Lost and Found by Karey White

Lydia was supposed to have an adventurous and exciting summer. Instead she's done nothing more than read and eat takeout. Now it's time to go home, and what does she have to show for it? A big fat nothing. Unless, of course, her trip to the airport somehow turns into something more than just a flight home. Blake feels like he's been sent on a wild goose chase. While work is piling up back in Denver, he's on the other side of the country, hunting for some mysterious box that his grandfather left him. Well, no more. Nothing inside that box could possibly be more important than the opportunity to make it as the youngest partner at his firm. So he's going home, and that's that. But that's before he discovers his flight has been cancelled. When these two strangers meet at the airport, they make a split-second decision to search for the box together. Maybe with both of them on the hunt, Lydia can have her adventure and Blake can find the box. And maybe, if they’re lucky, they’ll even find some romance.

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo

M.L. LEGETTE, FAIRY-TALES & MEMORIES - THE ORPHAN & THE THIEF BLOG TOUR + GIVEAWAY

I don’t wear make-up. I hate high heels. I positively detest dressing up. So it’s probably a bit of a shock that all I wanted to be when I was little was a princess in a poofy pink dress. I actually owned many versions of said poofy pink dress in matching plastic shoes. If you met me when I was seven and asked ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ I would have promptly answered ‘Cinderella!’

So what is it that makes children love fairy-tales so much? I don’t really know. My enjoyment of them in my youth obviously did not have a lasting impression on my wardrobe, so what is it? Generally speaking, boys make their own suits of armor out of cardboard and pretend to slay dragons and goblins in the backyard, while girls wear glittering, plastic crowns and run about with fairy wands.

This was my childhood, by the way.

WARRIOR'S MOON BLOG TOUR - READ AN EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY

Excerpt from Warrior’s Moon

Prologue 

 Isabella Kincraig knelt before a patch of mushrooms, reached to gather them and then was still.  The forest had suddenly become silent around her and the total absence of sound was a warning in itself.  Anxiousness held her as motionless as the deer she sometimes came upon as she gathered her herbs here in this wildest tangle of trees.  Completely still, she listened while she tried to sense what was wrong. 

Something was in the woods with her. The prickle on the back of her neck made her look around anxiously, but she saw nothing among the thickness of the understory.  Worried, she turned to wake her small daughter, Chantaya, who slept on a blanket on the moss while Isabella gathered her herbs, but Isabella was caught roughly from behind before she could reach her. 

Knowing instantly who it was, she stilled, worried she’d harm her unborn child if she fought him.  When he finally moved his hand from her mouth and turned her toward him, she wanted to slap his smiling face as she hissed quietly, “Let me go!  My husband will be furious!”

Young Lord Rosskeene simply smiled unconcernedly again.  “He wouldn’t dare try to challenge me and it’s well you know it.  I would see him hang.  Then you would be only more available to the admiration of a benevolent landlord like myself.”  His voice changed to an almost amiable cajoling sound.  “If you would only agree to be with me, Isabella, you’d find that I can be quite pleasant.  Even your husband would appreciate my generosity.  If you’d come work right in the manor house, I’d see to it that you made a much greater wage.” 

ROOK BLOG TOUR - INTERVIEW WITH STELLA MAC DONALD & GIVEAWAY

Hello and welcome to my corner of the blogosphere, Stella.  Congratulations on your amazing book, Rook, and thanks for accepting to answer my questions. Since I used to dream of becoming a writer myself, my first  one will be: Have you always wanted to become a writer? When did you start writing?

Yes and no.  I always wrote, but never planned to be a writer.  It seemed to big, too hard.  I thought I should do more traditional jobs, like be a doctor or something – even went pre-med for awhile.  But, ultimately, writing keeps me sane, and I love it, so that’s what I’m going to do.

What did you like to read as a child or a teenager?  

I loved Christopher Pike, and moved on pretty young to Dean Koontz.  I read grown up books for a long time before returning to YA.

What do you like most of being a writer?  

Most of the time you don’t get to control anything major about your life.  Add to that being so busy that you don’t have a chance to really discover yourself.  Writing, I get to pick everything that happens to everyone, as well as the reasons why. When I wax the most philosophical, it doesn’t take long before I realize I’m really just talking about myself.  I learn tons about myself that way.

LET THE MUSIC COME ALIVE - MERCY RIVER BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY

On the heels of their hit album Higher, Mercy River is back with mesmerizing harmonies and upbeat vocal arrangements. Their new album features inspirational favorites and original songs that highlight the talents of this singing sisterhood. Sing It Out,  Speak Life, How Deep the Father's Love For Us, Walk You Through the Night, Who I Am, Holy Ground, Restless Reason, For the World,  Walking On Sunshine.

BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY - SPARKS THE MATCHMAKER BY RUSSEL ELKINS

 

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Sparks the Matchmaker by Russell Elkins

 Ollie just wants one thing. The girl. Things haven’t been going so well with Anne lately, though; their relationship has become a perpetual study date, and Ollie’s roommates are starting to worry about him. How to fix things? Why, with a marriage proposal, of course. Unfortunately for Ollie, his relationship with Anne has run out of gas. Life feels like it’s counting down to one. And that one is the only person in Ollie’s life he really cares about: Ollie. Perhaps, then, he should get over himself. But first he has to deal with Sparks, the irritating little Yankees fan who invades his life in order to “help” him. And while Keith, his best friend, is doing all he can to help, Ollie’s other friend Richie never fails to show up and threaten to ruin everything just by being himself. Never mind all the drama Sparks brings to the party by forcing Ollie to take a job actually helping people in need. Will Ollie meet the girl? Will it be in history class? On a road trip to Colorado? Can he get over Anne, or should he try to mend the relationship? Should he pursue the new girl Sparks is trying to set him up with? As the strings of the puppeteer tangle with the strings of the heart, only one person can sort out the mess Ollie has made. It seems that the harder he tries, the more Ollie messes things up. Is Sparks a cruel manipulator, or is he really going to help Ollie find his match?

THE CHRISTMAS TRAIN BLOG TOUR + GIVEAWAY

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  The Christmas Train

In this children’s picture book, President Thomas S. Monson recounts a Christmas memory from his childhood. As a boy, he yearned for an electric train. To his delight, on Christmas morning he got exactly that a train that operated through the miracle of electricity. Then he noticed a second train that his mother had purchased for the boy down the street whose family was struggling. Although it was only a wind-up train, it had an beautiful oil tanker car, which little Tommy wanted for his own. Soon after, Tommy s mother invited him to accompany her to the neighbor s home to deliver the gift. Young Mark was thrilled with his new train and, of course, didn t notice the missing train car. However, a remorseful Tommy did. What happened next will bring the spirit of Christmas into every heart and home. Illustrated by renowned artist Dan Burr, The Christmas Train is sure to be a classic Christmas story and a beautiful addition to every Christmas library.

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Deseret Book

SPELL FIRE BLOG TOUR - MY FASCINATION WITH YA FICTION GUEST POST BY AUTHOR ARIELLA MOON

“You can tell what age an author got stuck in by what genre he or she writes.”

I think it was Lin Oliver who said the above quote, right after she had introduced an author who had skateboarded up to the podium at a Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators conference. I remember thinking at the time, Uh oh. Then I’m still reliving high school!

The Do-Over Aspect

Although my teen years are but tiny specs in the rearview mirror, I love reading and writing Young Adult fiction. Maybe it is the Do-Over fantasy aspect. YA stories allow readers to recapture the deep emotions they felt in high school. Friendships, betrayals, first love, peer pressure — the highs and lows play out on the page. Adding paranormal elements — angels, demons, witches, vampires, werewolves, gods and goddesses, amps up the stakes. Those who thought high school was tough, can read a paranormal YA and think, at least the Mean Girls at my school weren’t vampires.

Paranormal YA stories intoxicate with What if? I was well into adulthood before I became a shaman. But what if I could have commanded shamanic skills in high school? Would I have misused my magic? It would have been tempting to use spirit flight to spy on my secret crush. My high moral code might have justified my placing a binding spell on a bully, instead of placing a protection spell on myself. Then who would have had the karmic lesson to work on?

EGYPT RISING BLOG TOUR - AUTHOR INTERVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

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First of all, Mr Schatt,  welcome to FLY HIGH! How would you introduce your “Egypt Rising”  to our readers in, let’s say, about 50 words?

An American archeologist's teenaged daughter finds herself caught up in the Egyptian revolution of 2011 and the target of Islamic extremists. She discovers hidden passages under the Sphinx that lead her to a secret that has been buried for centuries. She also discovers a frightening weapon that makes her a target for people willing to do anything, including murder, to possess it.

 YA fiction is a very  popular genre with several interesting series out there who have sold and go on selling millions of copies. A few of them have female heroines, just like your “Egypt Rising”.  What is your personal approach to the genre?

I deliberately created a female heroine because I think young women can always benefit from them. I wanted to create a teen who considers herself very ordinary in an extraordinary situation that would force her to use the intelligence and courage she didn't know she had. Rather than fantasy, I wanted to have my heroine deal with some very real situations such as growing fundamentalism in Egypt.