Book Spotlight: Holding Out For Skye by S.R. McKade {Excerpt & Giveaway}

I'm pleased to be spotlighting S.R. McKade's Holding Out For Skye, a New Adult rom-com! Below you can learn more about this fun book, read an Excerpt, and enter the Giveaway...

Holding Out for Skye

by S.R. McKade

2/14/14

Things are finally starting to look up for Skye Fletcher. She’s got a new job with a great salary, she’s finally out of the rat-trap she used to live in and into a decent apartment. She couldn’t be happier. Except for the thorn in her side, a.k.a. Cian Hunter, her arrogant and too good-looking co-worker whom she has the misfortune of being stuck with.

In spite of himself, Cian Hunter fell hard for the surly, unfriendly woman who made no secret of her dislike for him. He knows he and Skye are meant to be. Convincing her of that fact seems like an impossible feat. However, he’s utterly confident he’s up to the task. His future and his happiness depend on it, after all.

When Skye’s one impulsive, uncharacteristic little act changes the status-quo between them, her life gets entangled with Cian’s way more than she’s comfortable with.

That’s when her life really turns upside down…

Goodreads / Amazon / B&N / Kobo

She nervously smoothed down her dress and stood up. Her pulse sped up with each step she took to the door. Uncertainty held her rooted in front of the door. She was going to meet Cian’s family. What if they hated her? Taking a deep breath, she finally opened the door.

The sight of him sent her pulse into overdrive. He was dressed in a dark red shirt and black jeans. He looked absolutely gorgeous. Her heart did a jumpy melty thing in her chest.

Cian took one look at her and his heart flopped out of his chest to land at her feet. If he hadn’t already been in love with her, this would have cinched it. And he’d thought he’d dated beautiful woman before. Any other women before her paled in comparison. She looked…. exquisite. Made for him.

The dress molded her figure and flared around her hips dramatically. She had done something to her eyes to make them look alluring. Instead of her usual ponytail, her hair was loose.

The tone of her skin looked even paler. His fingers itched to touch her. His eyes traced her from head to toe and stopped at her feet. The shoes! His eyes widened at the sexiest pair of shoes he’d ever seen gracing her delicate ankles. He wondered if she could see where his heart had landed. Anxiety and resolve shimmered in her eyes, causing tenderness to well up in him. His Amazon.

Skye could feel a blush rise up her cheeks. Why didn’t he say anything? Why was he staring at her like that? Like she was his favorite cake and ice cream all wrapped up in one giant dessert. Her face turned redder. What was she thinking?

“Aren’t we going to be late?” she blurted out, not knowing how to break this pregnant silence between them.

A slow, enigmatic smile on his face, Cian stepped forward and closed the door with one foot. He advanced slowly towards her, like a stalking panther.

Skye backed away warily. What was the matter with him? He was acting weird.

“Cian?”

“Yes?”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to kiss you.” His voice had deepened, become huskier.

What? “You don’t have to do that,” Skye told him a bit desperately, still backing away.

“Oh, but I do.”

“No, you don’t.”

Then there was nowhere to go as her back hit the breakfast counter. Her hands shot out to clutch at it, confirming she was indeed trapped. Panic flared inside her as he moved in, his hands behind his back and lowered his head. No, no, no, no……

website * goodreads * twitter * facebook

S.R. McKade has always made up stories in her mind ever since she was a child. She has her own world, where her characters live and breathe. She loves reading and will try practically any genre in either fiction or non-fiction, though she has a soft spot for funny romances and paranormal. Addicted to chocolate, she needs a constant fix to feel human. She firmly believes that being able to spin a story, the effort and love that goes into it, is a miracle in itself.

Win an ebook copy of

Holding Out For Skye!

S.R. McKade has generoulsy offered up one e-copy of her book for one winner.

DETAILS

-open to anyone who can read ebooks

-ends 5/23

-must be 13+, one free entry per person

-winner will be emailed and must claim prize within 48 hours

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Subway Love Blog Tour {Interview & Giveaway}

I'm thrilled to have the Subway Love Blog Tour stopping by today with my Interview with author Nora Raleigh Baskin and a book prize pack Giveaway...

Subway Love

by Nora Raleigh Baskin

5/13/14

Candlewick

What if destiny leads you to your soul mate, but the laws of time conspire to keep you apart?

If her parents had never divorced, Laura wouldn’t have to live in the shadow of Bruce, her mom’s unpredictable boyfriend. Her mom wouldn’t say things like "Be groovy," and Laura wouldn’t panic every weekend on the way to Dad’s Manhattan apartment. But when Laura spots a boy on a facing platform, lifting a camera to his face, looking right at her, Laura feels anything but afraid, and she can’t forget him. Jonas, meanwhile, thinks nonstop about the pretty hippie girl he glimpsed on the platform -- trying to comprehend how she vanished, but mostly wondering whether he will see her again in a city of millions -- and whether if he searches, he would have any chance of finding her. In a lyrical meditation on love, Nora Raleigh Baskin explores the soul’s ability to connect, and heal, outside the bounds of time and reason.

Goodreads / Amazon / B&N 

What three words best describe Subway Love?

Love

Art

Timelessness

Can you give us your best one sentence pitch to convince readers, especially reluctant readers, to give Subway Love a try?

“What if destiny leads you to your soul mates, but the laws of time conspire to keep you apart?”

I just can’t say it any better than my editor did! She’s amazing and it’s a perfect description. I love it so much I used it on my book trailer video – watch it here.

Grab a copy of Subway Love and answer the following…

Favorite chapter?

Well, of course they all are…but I am fond of chapter nine when we first start to really learn about the underground art of graffiti writers in New York City in the early 1970’s, and at the same time Laura and Jonas are figuring out the magic that is happening and falling in love.

Favorite page?

Favorite page??! Well, I kinda really like my last page...a faux author’s note that is historical information woven into the fictional story or maybe it’s the other way around. In any case, I really enjoyed learning and making it up.

Hardest chapter and/or page to write?

Chapter fourteen was the hardest to write. It is the scene where Max (Spike) and Jonas sneak into the yards to spray paint a whole subway, a burner. I had of course done a ton of research on graffiti art and the techniques, the colors, the methods, and then I had to write it. The police come and Jonas and Max have to outrun them, through the underground tunnels and up onto the street. These are all things, I must admit, I have never done myself.

Flip to a random page and give us a 1-2 sentences teaser:

Jonas said he had a plan, somewhere he could take her, somewhere they could be together and be alone. Suddenly, nothing else mattered but the union of their time, the union of their memories.

“You have to trust me,” Jonas told her. “And you can’t be afraid of rats.

What inspired Subway Love? How did the story come to be?

This story actually came about after a school visit and presentation and during lunch I was just talking with some kids about ideas. And we batted around an idea I was working on about two people that could only see each when they sat on this bench. Someone suggested the bench be in a graveyard. And then someone else said it could be a ghost story. And then we decided a time travel story would be cool. And eventually when I got home, the bench morphed into a subway and the ghost story morphed into a love story.  And Subway Love started to take form. I also really wanted to explore a true romance that didn’t have a happily ever after story but also wasn’t a complete tragedy. That was the challenge I gave myself. And I think I did it.

Out of all the characters in Subway Love, did you have an absolute favorite to write and explore? What do you love about him/her? Did any of your characters end up surprising you?

I don’t have a favorite. I really do love all of them. But it was the character of Max Lowenbein, a.k.a Spike the underground street artist, who surprised me the most. He grew into a fully developed character, not just a go-between for Jonas and Laura to travel through time. He is a deeply intelligent, sensitive historian, and in many ways a pure artist with a strong connection to his mixed cultural background. I love him.

Subway Love takes place in NYC, and obviously its subways...how important is this setting to the story? Did the setting(s) become its own kind of character?

Well, in this case...most definitely yes. Not only is the subway the conduit for the time travel, but it serves as a metaphor for Jonas and Laura’s love and for the art of the underground artist: both are fleeting and ephemeral.  Both are created from great passion but neither can exist for more than a moment and that understanding informs their urgency.

What do you hope readers learn or walk away with from Subway Love?

Hmm, well I never seek to teach anyone anything, except maybe myself. But I want my readers to feel deeply when they read this story. I hope that my metaphors of art and rebellion and love come through. I hope people come away with an interest in graffiti, New York City, hip-hop, and street art in general.

I suppose I also wanted to paint a different picture of the 1970’s hippie scene which is often depicted as free loving and musical and just far out and terrific, but that’s not all it was. There was another side to that changing time and it wasn’t so terrific for everyone.

If you weren’t limited by the boundaries of time, what time period and/or historical person would you love to connect with?

That’s easy. Isadora Duncan. For so many reasons. She was the bravest, most artistic, most humanitarian woman in her time (the 1920’s) or any time. I would give almost anything to have seen her dance and to talk with her or be in her presence. She is one of my greatest heroes. I’ve read everything I can buy about her, and I wish I owned one of those original old photos of her. They are available on eBay but they’re really expensive. One day! 

Fill in the blanks:

I’m really awesome at yoga.

I’m really embarrassed to admit I watch a lot of TV.

The last great book I read was Alice Munro’s Runaway.

If you were to create and bake a cupcake inspired by Subway Love, what would it look and taste like, and what would you call it?

Well, I am not a very good baker since I never measure…I am a bit rebellious, like an underground artist. Like Spike the subway writer.   Sooooo....my cupcake might be called Graffiti. It would be insanely colorful with bubble letters and writing all over it, and probably crumble as soon as you picked it up so you’d only see it, fall in love, but never get to eat it.

website * goodreads * twitter * facebook

Nora Raleigh Baskin is the acclaimed author of several novels for young readers, including Surfacing and All We Know of Love. She lives in Connecticut.

Win a prize pack of three of Nora's young adult books, including Subway Love, Surfacing, and All We Know Of Love!

Candlewick has generously provided one prize pack, containing all three books, for one winner.

DETAILS

-US only

-ends 5/23

-one winner will get all three books

-must be 13+

-winner will be emailed and must claim prize within 48 hours

-prize is not being shipped by Word Spelunking and we are not responsible for lost, damaged, or stolen prizes

Fill out Rafflecopter form:

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CHECK OUT ALL THE BLOG TOUR STOPS

5/12/14 Who R U Blog

      5/13/14 Great Imaginations

    5/14/14 Word Spelunking

          5/15/14 Once Upon a Twilight

      5/16/14 A Leisure Moment 

       5/17/14 Random Chalk Talk

 5/18/14 The Story Siren

5/19/14 Book Chic Club

The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw Blog Tour {Character Reveal & Giveaway}

I'm so excited to have The Hero's Guide To Being An Outlaw Blog Tour stopping by today! This is one of my favorite middle-grade series!!! Today I have the honor of introducing you to Periwinkle Pete, a new character in The Hero's Guide To Being An Outlaw, plus you can win a signed hardcover copy below...

The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw

(The League of Princes #3)

by Christopher Healy

4/29/14

Walden Pond Press

The League of Princes returns in the hilariously epic conclusion to the hit series that began with Christopher Healy's The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, which the Los Angeles Times called "one of the more clever, hilariously successful incarnations of the current literary rage to rip apart and rewrite fairy tales."

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You think you know those guys pretty well by now, don't you? Well, think again. Posters plastered across the thirteen kingdoms are saying that Briar Rose has been murdered—and the four Princes Charming are the prime suspects. Now they're on the run in a desperate attempt to clear their names. Along the way, however, they discover that Briar's murder is just one part of a nefarious plot to take control of all thirteen kingdoms—a plot that will lead to the doorstep of an eerily familiar fortress for a final showdown with an eerily familiar enemy.

Goodreads / Read My Review

Amazon / B&N 

Meet Periwinkle Pete

Occupation: Bounty Hunter

Affiliation: Gang Greenfang

Kingdom of Origin: Avondell

Current Residence: The gilded tree village of Sycamoria, Avondell’s Elvish Quarter

Parents: Floracloudwillow and Gossamerdewbeam

Known Partners: Greenfang, Erik the Mauve, Orangebeard, Corin Silversword, Norin Black-Ax

Longtime Foes: A grumpy group of Sylvarian dwarfs (whose names we shall not mention here)

Likes: Archery; genealogy; bragging

Dislikes: Disrespect for the noble lineage of the Avondellian elves; insincere apologies; those toy-making, pointy-shoe-wearing Sylvarian elves

Signature Move: The Thousand-Yard Pinpoint Bullseye

Quote: “There is no creature in this worldly realm more elegant, more distinguished, more erudite, more supple of mind and body than the Elf. I am speaking only of Avondellian elves, of course. Svenlandian elves are cretins.”

Little Known Fact: Avondellian elves claim that the Svenlandian elves are not true elves at all, but merely gnomes who have discovered razors.

website * goodreads * twitter * facebook

Christopher Healy is the author of the Hero's Guide trilogy: The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle, and coming in spring 2014, The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw. The series is a comedic adventure that follows the exploits of four different Prince Charmings in the aftermath of their not-quite-accurate fairy-tale fame. It is published on May 1st, 2012, by Walden Pond Press, an imprint of HarperCollins. A film version is currently in development at Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios.

Chris lives in New Jersey with his wife, two children, and a dog named Duncan. Visit him at ChristopherHealy.com. And learn more about the Hero's Guide universe at OfficialHerosGuide.com.

Walden Pond Press

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Win a signed hardcover copy of

The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw!

Walden Pond Press has generously offered up one signed finished copy for one winner.

DETAILS

-US only

-ends 5/23

-must be 13+,one free entry per person

-winner will be emailed and must claim prize within 48 hours

-Word Spelunking is NOT responsible for lost, damaged, or stolen prizes

Fill out Rafflecopter form:

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CHECK THE OTHER STOPS ON THIS TOUR

5/1 - The Book Rat

5/5 – Icey Books

5/6 - Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

5/7 - The Book Monsters

5/8 - The Book Rat

5/9 - A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust

5/12 - Word Spelunking Book Blog

5/15 - Buried in Books

5/16 - KidLit Frenzy

5/19 - Mundie Kids

5/20 - The Flashlight Reader

5/21 - Bunbury In the Stacks

5/22 - The Hiding Spot

5/23 - Novel Novice

5/24 - Paigeintraining

5/26 - Mundie Kids

5/26 - This Kid Reviews Books

5/27 - This Kid Reviews Books

5/28 - Small Review

5/29 - Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

5/30 - The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia