Blog Tour- THE HEARTS WE SOLD by Emily Lloyd-Jones A Playlist & Giveaway!

Hey everyone! I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the blog tour for THE HEARTS WE SOLD by Emily Lloyd-Jones! 

I have Emily's book playlist to share with you today! And make sure to enter the giveaway below!

Haven't heard of THE HEARTS WE SOLD? Check it out!

Title: THE HEARTS WE SOLD 

Author: Emily Lloyd-Jones

Pub. Date: August 8, 2017

Publisher:  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 400

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Find it: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, TBD, Goodreads

When Dee Moreno makes a deal with a demon—her heart in exchange for an escape from a disastrous home life—she finds the trade may have been more than she bargained for. And becoming “heartless” is only the beginning. What lies ahead is a nightmare far bigger, far more monstrous than anything she could have ever imagined.

With reality turned on its head, Dee has only a group of other deal-making teens to keep her grounded, including the charming but secretive James Lancer. And as something grows between them amid an otherworldy ordeal, Dee begins to wonder: Can she give someone her heart when it’s no longer hers to give?

In THE HEARTS WE SOLD, author Lloyd-Jones returns with a complex, thought-provoking Faustian tale for the modern age that will capture your heart. With horror elements and fantasy elements set in a recognizable, semirealistic world, THE HEARTS WE SOLD is a great fit for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Holly Black. The book also
features a diverse breadth of topics, ranging from sexuality, transgender transitions, race, and familial abuse.

“Readers will devour this romantic, Faustian fable. A dark fantasy brimming with passion and peril.” -Kirkus Reviews

Now on to the playlist!

Playlist for The Hearts We Sold

         

One of my favorite things to do is create playlists. I can spend hours puttering around in iTunes and it counts as writing? Right? Right?

Well, even if it’s technically not writing, it’s still part of my process. Music helps me get into the mindset of certain settings or characters. I’ve been known to put the same song on repeat for hours while working on a single scene—I think my record was 240 times on a single song. It’s probably a good thing I don’t have roommates.

When I began sketching out the plot for THE HEARTS WE SOLD, I admit my first impulse was to fill the playlist with songs like “Heartless” or “Heartbreak Hotel.” What if I could create an entire playlist with nothing but songs with “heart” in the title, I thought gleefully. But I ended up restraining myself to only two.

The songs in this particular book’s playlist contain many of my personal favorites. I wanted the songs to celebrate life, while at the same time, acknowledge how difficult growing up can be. It’s a playlist about transition, which I think is one of the main themes of the book.

So, without further ado, here is the playlist for THE HEARTS WE SOLD! I hope you enjoy both the music and the book!

“Pumpin Blood” – NONONO

“Alive” – Sia

“Gold” – Sir Sly

“W.D.Y.W.F.M.?” – The Neighbourhood

“Colors, pt. II” – Halsey

“Youth” – White Apple Tree

“Run” – Daughter

“Tonight You’re Perfect” – New Politics

“Anna Sun” – WALK THE MOON

“Heart Out” – The 1975

“Love” – American Authors

“Beating Heart” – Ellie Goulding

“Wonderful Life” – Hurts

About Emily:

Emily Lloyd-Jones grew up on a vineyard in rural Oregon, where she played in evergreen forests and learned to fear sheep. After graduating from Western Oregon University with an English degree, she enrolled in the publishing program at Rosemont College just outside of Philadelphia. She currently resides in Northern California, working in a bookstore by day and writing by night. Illusive is her debut novel.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a finished copy of THE HEARTS WE SOLD, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

8/7/2017- Owl Always Be Reading- Excerpt

8/8/2017- When Books Defy Gravity- Review

8/9/2017- YA Books Central- Interview

8/10/2017- Take Me Away To A Great Read- Review

8/11/2017- Angelic Book Reviews- Interview

Week Two:

8/14/2017- The Layaway Dragon- Review

8/15/2017- Two Chicks on Books- Guest Post

8/16/2017- Book Briefs- Review

8/17/2017- Adventures of a Book Junkie- Interview

8/18/2017- Stories & Sweeties- Review

Blog Tour: BURIED HEART by Kate Elliott An Interview & Giveaway!

Hey everyone! I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the blog tour for BURIED HEART by Kate Elliott! I freaking love this series! And this ending was beautifully written and so bittersweet but I loved it!

I have an interview with Kate to share with you today! And make sure to enter the giveaway below!

Haven't heard of BURIED HEART? Check it out!

Title: BURIED HEART (Court of Fives #3)

Author: Kate Elliott

Release Date: July 25, 2017

Pages: 448

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iBooks | TBD

The explosive finale to World Fantasy Award finalist Kate Elliott's captivating, New York Times bestselling young adult series

In this third book in the epic Court of Fives series, Jessamy is the crux of a revolution forged by the Commoner class hoping to overthrow their longtime Patron overlords. But enemies from foreign lands have attacked the kingdom, and Jes must find a way to unite the Commoners and Patrons to defend their home and all the people she loves. Will her status as a prominent champion athlete be enough to bring together those who have despised one another since long before her birth? Will she be able to keep her family out of the clutches of the evil Lord Gargaron? And will her relationship with Prince Kalliarkos remain strong when they find themselves on opposite sides of a war? Find all the answers in this beautifully written and exciting conclusion to World Fantasy Award finalist Kate Elliott's debut New York Times bestselling young adult trilogy! 

Now on to the interview!

​Kate Elliott Interview Two Chicks Interview 7/21/2017

Hi Kate! First I want to say welcome back to Two Chicks on Books! I love your COURT OF FIVES series and can’t wait to read BURIED HEART!

I am so happy that you could stop by for a visit!

Thank you for having me! I’m excited to be back--I’ve now done a blog tour post for you for each of the three novels of the trilogy! I really appreciate your support.

For the readers: can you give us a little recap about the series so far and the characters? And what we can expect in BURIED HEART?

From Kirkus Reviews, for Court of Fives: “After the death of the highly placed aristocrat whose patronage ensured their safety, Jessamy’s mixed-race family [Patron father, Commoner mother, and four sisters] is targeted by political enemies; spared thanks to her skill at the game of Fives, she must find a way to save them.”

Beyond this paragraph lie spoilers, so read on at your own risk:

Jes has to make a difficult choice at the end of Court of Fives that involves the young man (and adversary) she cares for, Prince Kalliarkos.

In Poisoned Blade, Jes is running for the Fives stable owned by Kalliarko’s scheming uncle, Gargaron. She has to keep winning in order to save her family from discovery. Events propel her and her younger sister Amaya into a cross country journey in the retinue of Lord Gargaron; the two girls are searching for their missing sister Bettany, but when they find her things don’t go as planned. Meanwhile, after generations of oppression, the conquered people of Efea are threatening to rise up, and Jes’s parents Esladas and Kiya (whom she both loves) are already on opposite sides.

In Buried Heart, foreign invaders threaten an already unstable political situation in Efea. Jes will be caught between both of her heritages--Patron and Commoner--while her greatest enemy, Gargaron, will stop at nothing to defeat her.

So now that the series is over what are you working on now?

Later this year I have a novelette set in the Spiritwalker universe (Cold Magic) coming out in THE BOOK OF SWORDS, edited by Gardner Dozois. It’s called “I Am a Handsome Man,” Said Apollo Crow.  It will be published this October 2017, and I should note that the anthology includes an original Game of Thrones short story by George R. R. Martin as well as stories by fourteen other wonderful writers like Ken Liu, Elizabeth Bear, Scott Lynch, and many more.

I am also working on the second volume of the Black Wolves trilogy, an epic fantasy. I’m about a third done with that at the moment. In addition I’ve been developing a new project on the space opera sub genre that I’m quite excited about: fast paced, operatic, and bold.

Were any of the characters in the book inspired by people from your real life?

No. I don’t normally base characters on real people. But I do use characteristics of people I know when I’m trying to make characters in my stories behave more realistically and dramatically.

Who was your favorite character to write? What about your least favorite?

Jes has been my favorite character to write. I have loved writing about a girl who is competitive and confident, and yet who is also flawed and makes mistakes because she thinks she knows more than she does and because she is determined to win.

I don’t really have a character who was my least favorite to write. The characters I would like least in real life -- the villains -- are in a weird way pretty enjoyable to write because I can go no holds barred with them.

What is your favorite passage/scene in BURIED HEART?

I honestly have a number of scenes in Buried Heart that I really like. Because it’s the third book in the trilogy it means that many large and small plot threads got to be exploded and/or fulfilled in this volume. Some of them were painful to write and others were really really satisfying to write. There is a passage that surprised me most because it wasn’t planned in advance -- in other words, the idea for it popped into my head as I was writing a scene and needed a certain . . . something to make the scene more gripping and awful. It’s a scene with a barrel. You’ll know it when you get there. (Jaime OMG I know the scene! I killed me)

Who is your ultimate book boyfriend?

Mr Darcy from Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. His emotional journey is appealing and also feels real: His essential nature doesn’t change as much as he learns some humility and endeavors to understand himself better in order to be worthy of Elizabeth. He also does good deeds without asking for credit. And of course, he owns a beautiful house.

What inspired you to write YA?

Wanting to place a girl front and center in an epic fantasy tale of action, adventure, revolution, and family drama. I’ve written girls and women as main characters in adult sff too, but YA as a genre is so enthusiastic toward heroines and I wanted to write a story where the MC’s centrality in the story would never be questioned or seen as odd.

Lightning Round Questions

What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?

DREAD NATION by Justina Ireland (April 2018).  Post Civil War zombies. A fantastic cover. I’m really enjoying this novel (and I don’t like zombies!), and I hope you read it when it comes out.

2017 Movie you’re most looking forward to?

Thor: Ragnarok. I’m not sure how good it’s going to be, but Cate Blanchett looks so great in the trailer. For 2018, Black Panther.

What Hogwarts House would the Sorting Hat place you in?

Gryffinclaw

Twitter or Facebook?

Twitter

Favorite Superhero?

Magneto

Favorite TV show?

Classic: Firefly

Current: Harlots

Sweet or Salty?

Sweet

Any Phobias?

giant centipedes

Song you can’t get enough of right now?

This Is What You Came For (Calvin Harris feat. Rihanna).

I think of this as Jes’s theme song for BURIED HEART.

https://youtu.be/kOkQ4T5WO9E

Thanks so much Kate for answering my questions! I can’t wait for everyone to read BURIED HEART!

About Kate:

Kate Elliott has been writing stories since she was nine years old, which has led her to believe that writing, like breathing, keeps her alive. As a child in rural Oregon, she made up stories because she longed to escape to a world of lurid adventure fiction. She now writes fantasy, steampunk, science fiction, and YA, including recent works Black Wolves, Court of Fives, and Cold Magic.

It should come as no surprise that she met her future husband in a sword fight. When he gave up police work to study archaeology, they and their three children fell into an entirely new set of adventures amid dusty Mexican ruins and mouthwatering European pastry shops. Eventually her spouse’s work forced them to move to Hawaii, where she took up outrigger canoe paddling. With the three children out of the house, they now spoil the schnauzer.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Live Journal | Goodreads | Tumblr

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a finished copy of BURIED HEART, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

7/17/2017- YA Books Central- Interview

7/18/2017- The Eater of Books!- Review

7/19/2017- Novel Novice- Guest Post

7/20/2017- Just Commonly- Review

7/21/2017- Two Chicks on Books- Interview

Week Two:

7/24/2017- My Thoughts Literally- Review

7/25/2017- Sarcasm & Lemons- Review

7/26/2017- Stephanie Plotkin- Review

7/27/2017- PaperTrailYA- Excerpt

7/28/2017- Seeing Double In Neverland- Review

Grab the first two books in the series and the novellas!

Blog Tour- DEFY THE STARS by Claudia Gray A Deleted Scene & A Giveaway!

Hey everyone! I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the blog tour for DEFY THE STARS by Claudia Gray and it's super cool since it's release day wooo hoooo!! I freaking LOVED this book! I have a deleted scene from DEFY THE STARS to share with you today! And make sure to enter the giveaway below!

Haven't heard of DEFY THE STARS? Check it out!

Title: DEFY THE STARS

Author: Claudia Gray

Pub. Date: April 4, 2017

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 512

Formats: Hardcover, paperback, eBook, audiobook

Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Goodreads

Noemi Vidal is a teen soldier from the planet Genesis, once a colony of Earth that's now at war for its independence. The humans of Genesis have fought Earth's robotic "mech" armies for decades with no end in sight.

After a surprise attack, Noemi finds herself stranded in space on an abandoned ship where she meets Abel, the most sophisticated mech prototype ever made. One who should be her enemy. But Abel's programming forces him to obey Noemi as his commander, which means he has to help her save Genesis--even though her plan to win the war will kill him.

Together they embark on a daring voyage through the galaxy. Before long, Noemi begins to realize Abel may be more than a machine, and, for his part, Abel's devotion to Noemi is no longer just a matter of programming.

Now on to the deleted scene!

A note from Claudia. 

This was a hard one for me. For the most part, the stuff deleted from my books was deleted for a reason!  But I found a section of the first draft of DEFY THE STARS that I think might be fun to go over.

As you'll learn when you read the book, when Noemi and Abel go to the Kismet system, they wind up working on a lunar base. Originally, however, they wound up on Kismet itself. That had to be rewritten for a variety of reasons, but I still like this well enough to share it.

(And by the way, Rin Watanabe made it through to the final book, but her name is now Riko!)

When they reach the resort, Abel catches glimpses of the paradise they're here to serve—a long curve of shoreline decorously dotted with white canopies for guests' beach chairs, and an enormous, opalescent structure that must be the resort hotel itself. But the temporary workers are taken to the back, given plastic packets containing uniform clothing (sarongs, T-shirts and shorts, all decorated in scrollwork versions of the resort logo), and assigned jobs.

As their employer promised, they're to work at the bar.

Nobody told the head bartender.

"I'm going to kill Ma," says the supervisor, a woman roughly thirty years of age with cropped-short black hair named Rin Watanabe. "I hire my own bar staff! They've already gone through orientation!"

Harriet shrugs, overdoing the innocent act slightly. "All we know is we were told to come here."

Rin breathes out sharply and rolls her eyes. "It's not your fault. I get that." Squinting, she examines them each in turn. "Here's the situation: You don't ask questions. You don't interfere with my operations. And you don't tell tales outside this bar about anything that happens in it. Understood?"

"Completely," Abel says. The others nod.

Rin doesn't look entirely satisfied, but she stops protesting and starts showing them around the bar. "As you can see, we have three hundred cabanas set up along the beachfront." Pale-blue tents shelter long, luxurious chaises on this stretch of pearly sand. "You'll be assigned specific cabanas to cover. If you're behind the bar—" she points at Abel here. "—you only mix drinks for those patrons. If you're waiting on those patrons, you cover everything they need, everything they want, and go only to the assigned bartender for their drinks. Got it? Fine."

It seems to Abel that Rin is distracted, her mind already on something else. Humans often become inefficient when handling multiple tasks. He sees one element Rin may have neglected to mention. "Do any Dog or Yoke models assist?" They would be ideal at stacking boxes of liquor, or cleaning up after patrons.

"We don't use mechs at the Orchid Riviera." Rin walks over to a newly delivered crate and runs her scanner over it. "People appreciate knowing that human beings take care of everything here."

Abel wants to object. Mechs can outperform humans at most tasks, especially the kinds of things this resort seems to need. But Noemi speaks first. "Because it makes the visitors from Earth feel powerful—being able to order around other people. They wouldn't get the same satisfaction from giving orders to machines."

Does she want to get caught? Abel can't imagine what else Noemi hopes to accomplish by talking like a Genesis propagandist.

"Sounds like you've got a good head on your shoulders." Rin gives Noemi one appraising glance before gesturing toward the exit. "Go on, get changed, and get to work. You'll get your housing assignments later—but don't worry. I'll make sure the two of you get a tent of your own."

Noemi looks thunderstruck. Abel isn't sure why. The assumption that they were a romantic couple may have been what got them this job; they can hardly abandon the ruse now. 

"Great," Noemi finally manages to say. "Just great."

**

In the evening, the delicious scents from the resorts kitchens creep into the back passageways used by the Vagabonds—yet when they queue for their own dinners, served in a sort of makeshift cafeteria outback, the stuff spooned onto their trays is bland nutrient mush.

"They called it bean salad," Noemi says as she frowns at her plate.

"I think we can safely assume that was a euphemism." Abel doesn't care for his own sake; although he can taste the differences in food, he's not programmed to mind. 

This is nutritious enough and will not poison either of them. Therefore it is an acceptable dinner.

Harriet and Zayan seem to agree. As Zayan wolfs his down, Harriet laughs at Noemi's discomfiture. "Come on! Maybe it's not the best meal we've ever had, but—well, it's food, isn't it?"

"If you say so." Noemi takes a bite and winces, but dutifully keeps going.

Their shared quarters that night turn out to be anything but romantic—it's an individual tent, a fairly flimsy one that hardly amounts to more than a piece of fabric pinned down around a pole. The blankets they're given feel scratchy, nor does the pillow provide much support. As Noemi tucks her blanket around her, as far from him as she can get given the tent's close confines, Abel assesses their level of shelter. The warm weather here means sleeping outside should pose no danger of death or shock due to exposure. And the blankets are at least waterproof, should it rain.

"I don't know what you do all night while human beings sleep," Noemi says wearily, "but whatever you do, don't stare at me."

"I sleep."

"You do?" Her curiosity overcomes her distrust. "But—well, why? Doesn't that just make you useless for a few hours a day?"

"I don't need as much sleep as a human, so I would always be able to serve if needed."

"But why sleep at all?"

"The same reasons humans sleep. My bodily functions need time to process, plus my memory capacity requires flushing of irrelevant data. Sleep provides a chance to do this. Did they not teach you this on Genesis?"

"It's not something we specifically went over. We only ever saw Charlies and Queens, and they weren't taking any naps in the middle of a battle."

"Understandable." Abel lies back onto his pallet and folds his blanket neatly atop him.

They lie there for a few long moments, wordless, hearing only the roll and rush of the ocean waves. The view will be beautiful in the morning, Abel decides. He can appreciate beauty; Mansfield gave him that gift.

He should go to sleep now and allow Noemi to do the same. Yet he has to know: 

"What do you think of the Vagabonds? Of Kismet?"

"I think humans who aren't living on Genesis are even worse off than I ever imagined they could be."

Abel hadn't anticipated such a clear answer. "You acknowledge the harm done by your planet's succession?"

"By us? We didn't do this to them. Earth's greed and short-sightedness did all that. If they hadn't ruined their own world for everybody, none of this would be happening." Noemi stirs beneath her blanket, restless in her anger. "What I see is how we would've been treated by Earth. They'd have cheated us, ruined us, turned our world into another monument to selfishness. Thank God we seceded when we did. 

Otherwise, we'd have been dragged down with them. We saved ourselves. We saved a world."

Abel doesn't argue. Partly that's because Noemi remains seriously overtired and must sleep soon. Getting involved in a political argument will only keep her awake.

But he also remains quiet partly because—just a little, on a level he hadn't understood perform—he agrees with her. 

About Claudia:

Claudia Gray is a pseudonym. I would like to say that I chose another name so that no one would ever learn the links between my shadowy, dramatic past and the explosive secrets revealed through my characters. This would be a lie. In truth, I took a pseudonym simply because I thought it would be fun to choose my own name. (And it is.)

I write novels full-time, absolutely love it, and hope to be able to do this forever. My home is in New Orleans, is more than 100 years old, and is painted purple. In my free time I read, travel, hike, cook and listen to music. You can keep up with my latest releases, thoughts on writing and various pop-culture musings via Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Goodreads or (of course) my own home page.

If you want to contact me, you can email me, but your best bet is probably to Tweet me. I don’t do follows on Twitter, but I follow everyone back on Tumblr, Pinterest and Goodreads.

Website | Twitter |Tumblr | Pinterest | Goodreads | Wattpad

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a signed finished copy of DEFY THE STARS, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

3/27/2017- BookHounds YA- Guest Post

3/28/2017- Page Turners Blog- Review

3/29/2017- Adventures of a Book Junkie- Guest Post

3/30/2017- Novel Novice- Review

3/31/2017- Tales of the Ravenous Reader- Guest Post

Week Two:

4/3/2017- NovelKnight- Review

4/4/2017- Two Chicks on Books- Guest Post

4/5/2017- La La in the Library- Review

4/6/2017- Once Upon a Twilight- Guest Post

4/7/2017- Seeing Double In Neverland- Review