RELEASE EVENT EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY: Damaged 2 (Damaged #2)

I'm thrilled to be part of the release event for Damaged 2 by H. M. Ward, organized by ATOMR Tours. Read on for an excerpt from Damaged 2 and a giveaway for a Kindle Fire filled with some awesome books, including Damaged 2!

Damaged 2 (Damaged #2), by H. M. Ward
Published June 24, 2013
Publisher:  Laree Bailey Press
Genre:  new adult contemporary romance
To Buy:  Amazon  * Barnes & Noble

(From Goodreads) Home isn't supposed to be dangerous, but for Sidney it is. Returning home means that she has to face her past. It's not just the man who hurt Sidney that makes it horrible, but the family that didn't believe her. They were dead to her, but now that her mom is really dying things seem different. It's a chance to set things right.

What Sidney doesn't realize is that she's dragging Peter into a collision course with his past. Peter must deal with the demons haunting him if he wants to move forward with Sidney. He's willing to give up everything for her, even wade deeper into his past life to help her move forward. But, Peter isn't sure if he can get over what happened to him in New York.

Excerpt From Damaged 2

Tension lines Peter’s neck and shoulders. His jaw shifts from side to side, like the conversation he just had pissed him off. His eyes flick up from the floor and meet mine. “My brother’s an asshole.”

I smile at him. “So is mine.”

Peter watches me for a moment and sighs. He runs his hands through his hair and stretches. The anger that was there washes away, but it’s not totally gone. “I need to tell you something.” The way he says it makes my stomach dip. The tone, and the way he looks away from me, sends a shiver down my spine.

Peter takes my hands and pulls me over to the couch. At first we’re seated next to each other and he’s holding my hand, but it’s like he can’t sit still. Peter is up and on his feet a few moments later, pacing. Every few seconds he tries to tell me something, but can’t choose the right words.

Peter makes an aggravated sound in the back of his throat. When he turns and looks at me, I know there’s something wrong. His dark brows lift and bunch together as his lips part. He stares at me for a moment, and then manages, “I didn’t want to bring this up, not now, but you need to know something about me.” He swallows hard and looks away.

I push off the couch and walk over to him. “You can tell me anything.” When I touch his arm, Peter jumps. It makes me nervous. Why is he acting this way? I grin at him. “You’re not the one who put the squirrel outside the bathroom window, are you?”

Peter snorts a surprised laugh and looks over at me. He takes me in his arms and pulls me to his chest. It feels so good, so safe.

He kisses the top of my head and says, “Do you know anything about the Ferro family?”

About the Author

NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, & WALL STREET JOURNAL Bestselling author H.M. Ward recently appeared in FORBES. Ward was also featured in the Washington Post for her debut novel. Romance series by H.M. Ward include Secrets, Scandalous, The Arrangement, and The Secret Life of Trystan Scott.

Website * Facebook * Twitter

Giveaway

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BLOG TOUR REVIEW & GIVEAWAY - The Space Between

For my New Adult Mondays post today, I'm pleased to be opening the tour for Victoria H. Smith's new adult contemporary romance, The Space Between. Read on for my review, check out the other tour stops, and don't forget to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a signed copy of The Space Between, a The Space Between necklace and a The Space Between keychain (U.S. only)!

The Space Between, by Victoria H. Smith
Published March 2, 2013
Publisher:  Createspace
Format: e-book - provided by author and ATOMR Tours
Genre:  new adult contemporary romance
To Buy:  Amazon

Rating:  3.5 STARS

(From Goodreads) When Drake started the night at his father’s campaign fundraiser, he never imagined he’d end it being conned into buying drugs on the West Side. Losing high-stakes poker has its consequences, but he’d repeatedly face them just to hear Lacey Douglas sing. Drake sees Lacey light up the stage, and he has to have her. But his intentions for being on her side of town turn out to be the reason he can’t.

Chicago native Lacey has dreams of the opera, but life has its obstacles. Lacey has come to know her hardships as part of living in the real world and accepts them fully. When Lacey meets the intense and invigorating Drake, a fire is lit inside her, unleashing those dreams again.

Two paths that should have never crossed prove to create the exact pairing the other needs. But when their worlds take time to catch up, everything they have is tested. Finding the space between the two sides that challenge them will be hard, but it’s the only place that will keep them together.

To date, I've read... well, A LOT of books in the new adult genre. I guess you could say that it's become my new favorite thing. There's a lot of elements that make them all very similar to each other - a "bad boy," a big problem, a fast and furious romance. After reading Victoria H. Smith's The Space Between, I realized something else they all have in common. The main characters are white. In The Space Between, the main characters are not. It was a refreshing and eye-opening change from the norm.

Drake was my favorite character. He's Asian (Korean, to be exact). He was adopted as a baby by a woman who wanted a child and her politically-minded husband. He was raised in a very affluent home, never wanting for anything except for time, attention and affection from his parents. I liked Drake because he was a go-getter. He wasn't happy with the crap hand life dealt him, so he made lemonade out of lemons. He sees something he wants, he goes after it. And, despite lacking a lot of love growing up, when it crosses his path, he knows enough to recognize it for what it is and do all that he can to keep it. Rock on, dude.

Lacey is half black and half white. She lives in the ghetto with her sick mother and works at a theater to make ends meet. She has nothing, but she is loved by her family and her friends. Lacey is the exact opposite of Drake. She's developed pretty thick skin because of her circumstances, which is good since, when she gets a job as an assistant in Drake's home, his family and friends don't make it easy on her.

I really appreciated Victoria Smith's attempt at creating a non-traditional romance. Despite the big differences between Drake and Lacey (and, I'm not just talking about race), I believed their relationship. It was sweet and refreshing and hot and sexy. It was fraught with problems and rife with complications. Would it be a good book without those?

The one thing I would've like to see more of was Lacey's singing. It's what drew Drake to her in the first place, then wasn't mentioned too much after that. I thought it might be a major plot point, but other than Lacey having to decide whether to go to Paris to be in an opera there, and her singing one time for Drake, it wasn't talked about. I thought this aspect of her character could've been exploited a bit more.

The Space Between is a new kind of new adult novel. It's well worth a read!

This blog tour is sponsored by ATOMR Tours. Check out the tour schedule for The Space Between for more reviews, guest posts, and interviews.

About the Author

Victoria H. Smith has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. She puts it to good use writing romance all day. She resides in the Midwest with her Macbook on her lap and a cornfield to her right. She often draws inspiration for her stories from her own life experiences, and the twenty-something characters she writes give her an earful about it.

In her free time, she enjoys extreme couponing, blogging, reading, and sending off a few tweets on Twitter when she can. She writes new adult fiction romance in the sub-genres of science fiction, urban fantasy, and contemporary, but really, anywhere her pen takes her she goes.

Social Media links: Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Giveaway

Now is your chance to enter a giveaway to win:

(1) Signed Print Copy of The Space Between – US Only
(2) The Space Between Necklaces and (5) The Space Between Key Chains – US Only

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Blog Tour Excerpt & Giveaway - Fallen (Guardian Trilogy #1)

Fallen (Guardian Trilogy #1), Laury Falter
YA paranormal romance
Release date - April 1, 2009
Event organized by AToMR Tours

Maggie is unaware of the terrifying fate that awaits her. It isn’t until she lands in New Orleans for a full year at a private high school and her unknown enemies find her does she realize that her life is in danger.

As a mystifying stranger repeatedly intervenes and blocks the attempts on her life, she begins to learn that there is more to him than his need to protect her and that he may be the key to understanding why her enemies have just now arrived.

Praise for Fallen
Best Paranormal Romance Books Of All Time, Books That Should Be Made In to Movies, Books I Became So Obsessed With I Stopped Everything Else In My Life To Finish, Best Break Out Author Novels, Best Unknown Young Adult Books, Books Good Enough To Read Again, Best Inspiring Books, Young Adult Romance. (Goodreads Lists)

"Fast-paced, the story starts off strong and retains a tight rein on the momentum throughout. This book mixes humor, mystery, and the supernatural into a satisfying blend that should appeal to both young and more mature readers." (Coffee Time Romance Review)

"Great flow of interest and most unusual characters (that you will love as I have). I have laughed out loud at some of them. Good, simple, fast read that has a great hook, line and sinker." (Great Minds Think Aloud Review)

"A very good read with interesting characters and a quick pace." (Life Is Better With Books Review)

"While I was given the first book I just bought the 2nd one, Eternity, and plan to start it tonight." (The Book Hookup)

Excerpt

“So you’re warning me away from you?” I was appalled. “Then why are you doing this…guarding me at all? Why the torment? Why watch over me when you know that…that we should be more?” I felt on the verge of tears, which amazed me. How could pain be so sharp in the afterlife? “Answer me, Eran. Why?”

He sighed. “Because it is my job.”

I gasped, more offended than I’d ever been. “I’m a job to you?” I stared at him and waited for his head to rise but he refused to look at me.

“Yes,” he said weakly, defeated. His beautiful, rugged voice released as a whimper and the pain inside me grew. “You are just a job.”

I didn’t think it was possible but the emptiness I’d felt with Eran being gone those many weeks held no comparison to the magnitude of what I was experiencing right now. I felt as if I had been gutted.

“No…” I shook my head. “I don’t believe you because you see, Eran, I can feel your emotions run through me. Whether you want to admit them or not, I know how you feel about me.”

Stunned, his head jerked up, his brilliant blue-green eyes drilling into mine. “You feel me too? How can that be?”

“I don’t know. But I do know that I feel in you the same emotions I have.”

He groaned and turned away. “That’s not possible…” he muttered, pausing. When he spoke again his voice was strained, determined. I drew in a breath as the intensity of these emotions ran through me. “It doesn’t matter. I won’t let this happen. This will not happen…I will not let us be together.”

“Because you are my guardian? Then let me make it easy on us…You’re fired.”

“It doesn’t work that way, Magdalene,” he said, quieter but still resolute.

“I didn’t want you to watch over me, Eran. I never asked for it.”

As if he’d become an entirely new person, his reply was flat and detached. “You’re a messenger. You require a guardian. It’s as simple as that.”

“Then we’ve just solved the issue, didn’t we?” I said causing him to finally look up. “This will be my last message. It’s from me to you…goodbye Eran.”

Turning swiftly, I walked away just before the tears came.

Buy Fallen
To buy in print or on Kindle through Amazon.
To buy on Nook through Barnes & Noble.

Giveaway

Now you have a chance to win a copy of Fallen for your e-reader! The giveaway is open internationally, so good luck!

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About the Author
Laury Falter is the bestselling author of the Guardian Trilogy (Fallen, Eternity, & Reckoning). When she isn't writing, she likes to take her two stray dogs for walks and enjoy date nights with her husband.

Laury's debut novel, Fallen, hit Amazon's Top 100 list in three genres and the remaining two books in the trilogy made showings in the Top 100 of the same genres as well. With a new series available, Residue, about a teenage girl who learns she is a witch and falls in love with a boy from a feuding family, her reader following continues to grow rapidly.

Find out more news and information about Laury and her novels.

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads