Book Blitz- SUMMER OF CHANGE by @CarynMahancynk1, @nikibright94, @tootiehead, D. E. Laxton, & Lynn Daniels With An Excerpt & #Giveaway! @RockstarBkTours

 

I am so excited that SUMMER OF CHANGE by Caryn Mahan, D. E. Laxton, Niki Bright, Mary Cook, & Lynn Daniels is available now and that I get to share the news!

If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book by Authors Caryn Mahan, D. E. Laxton, Niki Bright, Mary Cook, Lynn Daniels, be sure to check out all the details below.

This blitz also includes a giveaway for a $10 Amazon GC & a copy of the eBook courtesy of Rockstar Book Tours & the Authors. So if you’d like a chance to win, check out the giveaway info below.

 

About The Book:

Title: SUMMER OF CHANGE

Author: Caryn Mahan, D. E. Laxton, Niki Bright, Mary Cook, Lynn Daniels

Pub. Date: August 31, 2020

Publisher: Caryn Mahan

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 239

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle

 

They’re told they’re just kids. They’re not.They’re facing adult problems and very real consequences.Six authors came together to write eight stories about the passions and fears faced by the toughest, yet most sensitive group. Real issues are brought forward, faced, and then dealt with. Whether the world is real, or imaginary, these characters will pull you in and take you on a ride. You may find yourself sitting in the cab of a pickup, or on the back of a dragon, either way, it’s going to be an amazing ride! Come along and discover how they move away from the darkness of unhappiness, fear, lack of love, and move past life’s tragedy. Can they find the happiness and love each of us desire? The answers are within.The best styles of Stephen King, John Green, Kristin Britain, and Rick Riordan are exemplified in these fast-paced short reads.

Exclusive Excerpts!

 

 

Judges - Niki Bright

"You," she pointed to Lynn, “Witch of Endor, are blind. And you, Seli…You have become an abomination!"  (Fantasy)

 

Jessica's Turn - Mary Cook

Jessica’s mouth hung open for a moment, while she gawked at him. His mop of dark hair dripped water down his shoulders and across his chest, leaving dark spots on his shirt. A shirt that outlined every muscle on his torso. (Contemporary realism/romance)

Hannah's Choice- Lynn Daniels

Mortimis charged in next, he raised his arms high above his head, eyes closed, he muttered a few words. The street beneath his feet filled with a deadly bubbling pool of lava. Green tendrils flowed from his body, poisoning all that wandered too close. (RPG fantasy)

Allie - D. L. Laxton

Will I need to weigh myself down or can I just slide under and not come up? I took a deep breath and sank under the surface.  (Contemporary realism)

Beekeeper- Caryn Mahan

Her hands shook, her lungs struggled to breathe, blood rushed to her head. She faced her mom. “This has to be a hoax. It can’t be real!”

 

“What?”

 

“The news is showing footage of massive things, spaceships! Nearing our moon.” (contemporary dystopian fantasy)

The Searchers- Caryn Mahan

A large brown blur blasted past us and hit Gerry in the chest. The gun went off. Everything became chaos. Screaming and yelling—a helicopter zoomed into view. My only focus was the brown dog attacking the guy called Gerry. I’d recognize that back end any day. Joy blew up through my chest and I screamed, “Joey!”  (Contemporary realism)

 

About The Authors:

Niki:

I was born and raised in a small town in Indiana. I married right out of high school, and we have a beautiful daughter. When I'm not working on my books, you can find me in SimNation, or busting blocks on Minecraft. The inspiration for my books comes from my crazy husband.

 

Formerly known as B. Cook, I now write strictly PG as a personal preference.

 

P.S. I'm adopted. My dad made matter and time and all that good stuff. Thanks Father!

 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon

 

D.E.

D.E., known locally as the old hermit, lives in a 120-year-old one-room schoolhouse with five additions. He is surrounded by farm fields that use enormous amounts of Round-Up every year. Thus, his writing has become weirder over time.

He nurtures four rescued pit bulls. In return, they keep the varmints away. He is addicted to pickles and relishes, which he cans from his prolific cucumber, onion, and pepper garden.

If you find his stories enjoyable, please leave a review on Amazon. It gives him great pleasure and sends him to sleep smiling. Otherwise, he must imbibe some cheap bourbon to accomplish that goal.

D.E. has rejuvenated a long stale writing career and this short story is the launch point. Within a few days, there will be a sequel following Allie and Alex as they tackle their senior year and encounter some very unforeseen challenges.

Amazon

Lynn:

Lynn Daniels was born and raised in Indiana, she traveled around a lot in her youth, spending a great deal of her time in Southern California. She has moved back home, to Indiana, but still the sandy beaches and snowcapped mountains call to her. She lives on the outskirts of town, enjoying the country life, where she lives with her husband, her two birds and a big rambunctious dog named Travino.

Amazon

Mary:

Mary Cook is a retired police detective that lives in a small town right outside a ring of fire, just on the other side of…no wait, that’s a different character.

Actually retired, with hours and hours to write the next great novel, oh wait…nope that’s me. Yes, totally retired. Worlds come alive in my head, characters stand over my shoulder, and sometimes they wake me up at night. All of them want to come alive, to have their stories written. No matter how I think the story should go, it goes according to how the character decides it should. An evil character finds redemption. A beloved character is massacred for no good reason. They all write their own stories.

The ideas come to me, the character develops a personality, and the result is a book. I sincerely hope that everyone will love my books, but what I write isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay. (Is it Mary? You sure you don’t want me to take care of it?) (Get back in the book, Ann!) I love to write stories that make you think, maybe make you a little uncomfortable. I am actually a pretty boring person. Retired, live in a dungeon (my office), two birds and a dog. Every now and then my husband expects me to come out and interact with the world, and I do (begrudgingly). Writing is my hobby, I used to do other things with my hands, crochet, knit…but then I got old(er), and they just don’t work as good as they used to.

On a more personal note, I do have children. I have three grown children, and lots and lots of grandchildren, with a few great-grandchildren. It’s like they’re in a competition on who can produce the most. If any of you read the back of the book, you’ll know that there’s more. But, outside of that, nothing. Boring. So, I bring life and color into the world through the pages of my books. Every time someone buys a book, or gives a review, I’m delightfully surprised. My eternal gratitude to all of you, for reading what I have written, and allowing me to become a small part of your life.

Website |  Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon Page

 

Caryn:

I wrote my first story in third grade. It was about an Oriole family.

I have a love for the written word and have devoured books by great authors over a reading lifetime of sixty years. I firmly believe in the notion that a writer must also be a reader. I also firmly believe I gained a veritable treasure trove of writing skills through my reading. Writers such as James Michener, JR Tolkein, Leon Uris, Robert Jordan, Carol O'Connell, Albert Payson Terhune, Anna Sewell, Edgar Allen Poe, and so many more I could list.

I sincerely hope you enjoy reading my books as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

 

Giveaway Details:

One lucky winner will receive a $10 Amazon gift card, International.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour- BREATHLESS by @jenniferniven With An Excerpt & #Giveaway! @GetUnderlined, @KnopfBFYR, & @RockstarBkTours

 

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the BREATHLESS by Jennifer Niven Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: BREATHLESS

Author: Jennifer Niven

Pub. Date: September 29, 2020

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 400

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

 

From Jennifer Niven, the New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places, comes an unforgettable new novel about a sensitive girl ready to live her bravest life--sex, heartbreak, family dramas, and all.

 

Before: With graduation on the horizon, budding writer Claudine Henry is making plans: college in the fall, become a famous author, and maybe--finally--have sex. She doesn't even need to be in love. Then her dad drops a bombshell: he's leaving Claude's mother. Suddenly, Claude's entire world feels like a lie, and her future anything but under control.

 

After: Claude's mom whisks them away to the last place Claude could imagine nursing a broken heart: a remote, mosquito-infested island off the coast of Georgia. But then Jeremiah Crew happens. Miah is a local trail guide with a passion for photography--and a past he doesn't like to talk about. He's brash and enigmatic, and even more infuriatingly, he's the only one who seems to see Claude for who she wants to be. So when Claude decides to sleep with Miah, she tells herself it's just sex, nothing more. There's not enough time to fall in love, especially if it means putting her already broken heart at risk.

 

Compulsively readable and impossible to forget, Jennifer Niven's luminous new novel is an insightful portrait of a young woman ready to write her own story.

 

Excerpt (from Edelweiss)

8 days till graduation

I open my eyes and I am tangled in the sheets, books upside down on the floor. I know without looking at the time that I’m late. I leap out of bed, one foot still wrapped in the sheet, and land flat on my face. I lie there a minute. Close my eyes. Wonder if I can pretend I’ve fainted and convince Mom to let me blow off today and stay home.

 

It’s peaceful on the floor.

 

But it also smells a bit. I open an eye and there’s something ground into the rug. One of Dandelion’s cat treats, maybe. I turn my head to the other side and it’s better over here, but then from outside I hear a horn blast, and this is my dad.

 

So now I’m up and on my feet because he will just keep honking and honking the stupid horn until I’m in the car. I can’t find one of my books and one of my shoes, and my hair is wrong and my outfit is wrong, and basically I am wrong in my own skin. I should have been born French. If I were French, everything would be right. I would be chic and cool and ride a bike to school, one with a basket. I would be able to ride a bike in the first place. If I were living in Paris instead of Mary Grove, Ohio, these flats would look better with this skirt, my hair would be less orange red—the color of an heirloom tomato—and I would somehow make more sense.

 

I scramble into my parents’ room dressed in my skirt and bikini top, the black one I bought with Saz last month, the one I plan to live in this summer. All my bras are in the wash. My mom’s closet is neat and tidy, but lacking the order of my dad’s, which is all black, gray, navy, everything organized by color because he’s colorblind and this way he doesn’t have to ask all the time, “Is this green or brown?” I rummage through the shelf above and then his dresser drawers, searching for the shirt I want: vintage 1993 Nirvana. I am always stealing this shirt and he is always stealing it back, but now it’s nowhere.

 

I stand in the doorway and shout down the hall, toward the stairs, toward my mom. “Where’s Dad’s Nirvana shirt?” I’ve decided that this and only this is the thing I want to wear today.

 

I wait two, three, four, five seconds, and my only answer is another blast of the horn. I run to my room and grab the first shirt I see and throw it on, even though I haven’t worn it to school since freshman year. Miss Piggy with sparkles.

 

At the front door, my mom says, “I’ll come get you if Saz can’t bring you home.” My mom is a busy, well-known writer—historical novels, nonfiction, anything to do with history—but she always has time for me. When we moved into this house, we turned the guest room into her office and my dad spent two days building floor-to-ceiling bookcases to hold her hundreds of research books.

 

Something must show on my face because she rests her hands on my shoulders and goes, “Hey. It’s going to be okay.” And she means my best friend, Suzanne Bakshi (better known as Saz), and me, that we’ll always be friends in spite of graduation and college and all the life to come. I feel some of her calm, bright energy settling itself, like a bird in a tree, onto my shoulders, melting down my arms, into my limbs, into my blood. This is one of the many things my mom does best. She makes everyone feel better.

 

In the car, my dad is wearing his Radiohead T-shirt under a suit jacket, which means the Nirvana shirt is in the wash. I make a mental note to snag it when I get home so I can wear it to the party tonight.

 

For the first three or four minutes, we don’t talk, but this is also normal. Unlike my mom, my dad and I are not morning people, and on the drive to school we like to maintain what he calls “companionable silence,” something Saz refuses to respect, which is why I don’t ride with her.

 

I stare out the window at the low black clouds that are gathering like mourners in the direction of the college, where my dad works as an administrator. It’s not supposed to rain, but it looks like rain, and it makes me worry for Trent Dugan’s party. My weekends are usually spent with Saz, driving around town, searching for something to do, but this one is going to be different. Last official party of senior year and all.

 

My dad sails past the high school, over Main Street Bridge, into downtown Mary Grove, which is approximately ten blocks of stores lining the bricked-paved streets, better known as the Promenade. He roars to a stop at the westernmost corner, where the street gives way to cobbled brick and fountains. He gets out and jogs into the Joy Ann Cake Shop while I text Saz a photo of the sign over the door. Who’s your favorite person?

 

In a second she replies: You are.

 

Two minutes later my dad is jogging back to the car, arms raised overhead in some sort of ridiculous victory dance, white paper bag in one hand. He gets in, slams the door, and tosses me the bag filled with our usual—one chocolate cupcake for Saz and a pound of thumbprint cookies for Dad and me, which we devour on the way to the high school. Our secret morning ritual since I was twelve.

 

As I eat, I stare at the cloudy, cloudy sky. “It might rain.”

 

My dad says, “It won’t rain,” like he once said, “He won’t hit you,” about Damian Green, who threatened to punch me in the mouth in third grade because I wouldn’t let him cheat off me. He won’t hit you, which implied that if necessary my dad would come over to the school and punch Damian himself, because no one was going to mess with his daughter, not even an eight-year-old boy.

 

“It might,” I say, just so I can hear it again, the protectiveness in his voice. It’s a protectiveness that reminds me of being five, six, seven, back when I rode everywhere on his shoulders.

 

He says, “It won’t.”

 

In first-period creative writing, my teacher, Mr. Russo, keeps me after class to say, “If you really want to write, and I believe you do, you’re going to have to put it all out there so that we can feel what you feel. You always seem to be holding back, Claudine.”

 

He says some good things too, but this will be what I remember—that he doesn’t think I can feel. It’s funny how the bad things stay with you and the good things sometimes get lost. I leave his classroom and tell myself he doesn’t begin to know me or what I can do. He doesn’t know that I’m already working on my first novel and that I’m going to be a famous writer one day, that my mom has let me help her with research projects since I was ten, the same year I started writing stories. He doesn’t know that I actually do put myself out there.

 

On my way to third period, Shane Waller, the boy I’ve been seeing for almost two months, corners me at my locker and says, “Should I pick you up for Trent’s party?”

 

Shane smells good and can be funny when he puts his mind to it, which—along with my raging hormones—are the main reasons I’m with him. I say, “I’m going with Saz. But I’ll see you there.” Which is fine with Shane, because ever since I was fifteen, my dad has notoriously made all my dates wait outside, even in the dead of Ohio winter. This is because he was once a teenage boy and knows what they’re thinking. And because he likes to make sure they know he knows exactly what they’re thinking.

 

Shane says, “See you there, babe.” And then, to prove to myself and Mr. Russo and everyone else at Mary Grove High that I am an actual living, feeling person, I do something I never do—I kiss him, right there in the school hallway.

 

When we break apart, he leans in and I feel his breath in my ear. “I can’t wait.” And I know he thinks—hopes—we’re going to have sex. The same way he’s been hoping for the past two months that I’ll finally decide my days of being a virgin are over and “give it up to him.” (His words, not mine. As if somehow my virginity belongs to him.)

About Jennifer:

Jennifer Niven is the New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places and Holding Up the Universe, as well as the popular Velva Jean series. She is also the author of several non-fiction books, including Ada Blackjack, The Aqua-Net Diaries, and The Ice Master, which was named a top non-fiction book by Entertainment Weekly. Her New York Times bestseller All the Bright Places is soon to be a major motion picture starring Elle Fanning. Although she grew up in Indiana, she now lives with her fiancé and literary cats in Los Angeles, which remains her favorite place to wander.

Photo: Justin Conway

 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

 

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a Finished Copy of BREATHLESS, US Only.

 

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Tour Schedule:

Week One:

9/21/2020	Two Chicks on Books	Review
9/22/2020	YA Books Central	Excerpt
9/23/2020	@ChristenKrumm	Review
9/24/2020	onemused	Review
9/25/2020	notinjersey	Review

 

Week Two:

9/28/2020	Kait Plus Books	Excerpt
9/28/2020	Word Spelunking	Review
9/30/2020	What A Nerd Girl Says	Review
10/1/2020	Eli to the nth	Review
10/2/2020	Becky on Books	Review

 

Week Three:

10/5/2020	Rajiv's Reviews	Review
10/6/2020	Do You Dog-ear?	Review
10/7/2020	Book-Keeping	Review
10/8/2020	Gimme The Scoop Reviews	Review
10/9/2020	Books Beans and Botany	Review

 

Week Four:

10/12/2020	BookHounds Ya	Review
10/13/2020	biancabuysbooks	Review
10/14/2020	Momfluenster	Review
10/15/2020	A Gingerly Review	Review
10/16/2020	two points of interest	Review

Blog Tour- THE MAGIC MISFITS: THE FOURTH SUIT by @ActuallyNPH With An Excerpt & #Giveaway! @LittleBrownYR, & @RockstarBkTours

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the THE MAGIC MISFITS: THE FOURTH SUIT by Neil Patrick Harris Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About The Book:

Title: THE MAGIC MISFITS: THE FOURTH SUIT

Author: Neil Patrick Harris

Pub. Date: September 15, 2020

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 224

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

The magical finale of the #1 New York Times bestselling Magic Misfits series from acclaimed and wildly popular celebrity Neil Patrick Harris!

Ridley Larsen is everything you want in a friend. She's tough as nails, she's fiercely loyal, and she's smart as a whip. But she can be a harsh critic, which has put her position with the Magic Misfits on the rocks, even as the threat of the group's longtime enemy Kalagan looms large. Ever since his recent appearance in Mineral Wells, the kids know that a showdown with the vicious magician is imminent.

They must first deal with a series of odd instances and random attacks, though, all of which they use to bring themselves closer to discovering where Kalagan may be hiding, and the nature of his true identity. But can Ridley finally master her temper and put her essential magical skills to good use? She'll do anything to protect her friends, and when the time comes, she'll find that the Magic Misfits are strongest when they all work together.

Join the Magic Misfits as they discover adventure, friendship, and more than a few hidden secrets in this finale of the unique and always surprising series. Whether you're a long-time expert at illusion or simply a new fan of stage magic, hold on to your top hat!

Grab the First 3 Books in the series!

The Magic Misfits (Magic Misfits #1)

The Magic Misfits: The Second Story (The Magic Misfits #2)

The Magic Misfits: The Minor Third (The Magic Misfits #3)

Excerpt

MM4 Chapter 1 by Jaime Arnold on Scribd

About Neil:

Neil Patrick Harris is a Tony and Emmy award-winning stage and screen performer, famous for his roles as Barney Stinson in the popular CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and as the iconic and beloved Doogie Howser, M.D. He’s been in many movies, hosted both the Tony and the Emmy Awards multiple times, performed in several Broadway shows, and enjoys the Twitter (follow him at @actuallyNPH). Oh, and he is an accomplished amateur magician on the side. And the father of twins. And he’s Dr. Horrible.

Website | Magic Misfits Page | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a Finished Copy of THE MAGIC MISFITS: THE FOURTH SUIT US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

9/14/2020	BookHounds YA	Excerpt
9/14/2020	For the Love of KidLit	Excerpt
9/15/2020	Books A-Brewin'	Excerpt
9/15/2020	jypsylynn	Review
9/16/2020	onemused	Review
9/16/2020	She Just Loves Books	Review
9/17/2020	Nay's Pink Bookshelf	Review
9/17/2020	Kait Plus Books	Review
9/18/2020	Rajiv's Reviews	Review
9/18/2020	Momfluenster	Instagram Post