Sign up for My Book Boyfriend Blog Hop

Harper A. Brooks and TF Walsh are hosting an awesome bloghop next month. There'll be giveaways with great prizes, and the opportunity to meet your next book boyfriend.

My Book Boyfriend Blog Hop

Because boys in books are just better.

They can be hot-headed, dominant, reckless, or damaged—oh, and let’s not forget SEXY. They know all your deepest desires and fantasies. Vampires, shifters, rock stars, ultimate fighters, young billionaires, military men, or business tycoons—they even have the best occupations! You never have to worry about them leaving dirty clothes on the floor or skipping out on date-night to hang out with the guys. A perfect match!

Now if only they were real…

My Book Boyfriend Blog Hop celebrates the relationships we create while reading! We all have our favorite fictional boyfriends. Introduce us to yours and meet your next obsession!

Sign up here!

You vote for the creature with the most X Factor!

  Today is the X post of the 2014 A to Z Challenge!

Lots of people usually have trouble with X, but I've read so many clever ones over the past couple of years. I can't wait to see what your posts are about this year!

  Today at Untethered Realms, we're inviting you to vote for the creature with the most X Factor. We have some fearsome beasts and a certain snarky stuffed hippo. Come on over and have some fun with this UR group post!

The UR blog is also nearing 100 followers. Woo-hoo!

When we hit 100, we'll be having a massive giveaway. This is one you don't want to miss out on.

Friday Five for April 25, 2014

1. After today, only 4 posts left for the A to Z Challenge! Wow. Where has the month gone? It's been so much fun. I've really enjoyed doing the Challenge as part of a group. Untethered Realms has a huge X group post coming up on Monday. You get to vote which creature has the most X Factor. Don't miss it! (Psssst, there may be a certain stuffed hippo visiting that day!)

2. My son had a fantastic birthday. He's already talking about what he wants to do for his next birthday! I still need to recover from this one. About a third of our guests were out sick, so we had a lot of pizza and cake leftover. This is the first time in my life where I cannot eat any more leftover pizza and cake. Yeah, I never thought it'd happen either.

3. I've been moving right along with my revisions for WIP #1 this week. These are the most difficult revisions I've ever done in my writing career. But, oh, how the manuscript is shining!

4. For the third time this year, I met a book I couldn't finish reading. I stopped at 9% on my Kindle. It was awful. Last year, I had amazing luck with books. I read so many great ones outside my genre. This year, not so much. At least I'm cleaning out my Kindle library!

5. We have no plans for the weekend except to fix the lawnmower (and then mow) and enjoy the wonderful weather before the rain hits us. Have a great weekend!

A to Z and UR

One full week left of the A to Z Challenge!

How are you holding up?

There are only 9 posts left to go. Don't give up!

You can do it!

For fun with fantastical creatures,

head on over to Untethered Realms.

Discover a new creature to gaze at in wonder

or flee from in terror!

Friday Five for April 18, 2014

1. How are you A-to-Zers doing? Having a lot of fun? I've been loving visiting your blogs, and I'm having a blast with fantastical creatures at Untethered Realms. Today I'll be there with the letter P. Come find out what strange being I've been working on with my latest WIP.

2. I had a great visit with my mom this week. She spoiled us all. Am I old because I'm excited she bought me a shoe rack so I could have shoes organized and out of the way by the front door?

3. No writing or revising was done this past week. I still haven't heard from the editors about the majority of my short story submissions nor about my geeky novella. At least I'm not checking my email every fifteen minutes anymore!

4 & 5. Big weekend coming up. There's Easter, of course, but also my little guy is turning four! I can hardly believe it. He's so smart and his feet are nearing my size! We'll be having a party at the park for him. He invited all his friends from his class at school. We'll have about seven kids with their families there. Lots of fun! And sugar. Wish me luck!

Happy 4th birthday, to my favorite guy!

Dragonfly Warrior review

Blurb:

The Mechanica Wars: Savage Machines Are Afoot...

At the age of twenty, Kanze Zenjiro's bloody footprints mark the bodies of those who stood in his way to protect the throne of Nihon. Now, the tyrannical Iberian Empire is bent on destroying his kingdom, and they send their steam-powered giants and iron spiders against him.

Zen embarks on a quest that takes him on the most dangerous journey of his life. To succeed, Zen must live up to his nickname, the Dragonfly Warrior, and kill all his enemies with only a sword and a pair of six-guns and somehow survive a test of faith and loyalty in a world so cruel and merciless, it borders on madness.

 

My review:

The Iberian Empire is slowly making its way across the land, mercilessly defeating one country after another, and Zen's beloved home is in their path. Kanze Zenjiro is the Dragonfly Warrior, his people's best Samurai and prince to the throne. To help win his kingdom allies, Zen goes on a quest to find the mystical Sky Blade. His journey takes him to a wild land that could destroy this young and honorable warrior. Zen believes Fate will direct him to the right path, but does he have enough faith to follow it?

This is the incredible debut novel by Jay Noel. It's a mix of steampunk, western, and adventure with the addition of Samurais. The world building is fantastic. A place of great diversity, history, and mystery. I love how the old traditions are so seamlessly woven in with new technology. Even the machines seem a bit magical.

Zen is an admirable character, a paladin of compassion and honor. He was amazing to watch on this adventure, but I know a harder time is ahead of him. I'm eager to see how he handles what Fate has in store for him. The whole cast of characters is amazing. Enapay and Neva are two of my favorites. And the Machine Boy is fascinating.

Not only is it an amazing story, but the writing is clean and well edited. It was wonderfully formatted too. I can't wait for the next book in Noel's series!

 

Buy the book here:

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords 

Another New Life cover reveal

Title: Another New Life

Author: Sydney Aaliyah Michelle

Publication Date: June 2, 2014

New Adult Contemporary Romance

**This book contains adult subject matter. Not intended for young readers.**

Cover Design by: (C) Arijana Karčić, Cover It! Designs

Miranda Preston is a walking contradiction. Beautiful on the outside, but, insecure, haunted and damaged on the inside. Despite these contradictions, she’s ready to start Another New Life.

When her talent wins her a piano scholarship to the University of Texas at Austin, Miranda arrives on campus determined to experience everything college has to offer and to keep her secrets in the past where they belong.

An easy task, until the first guy who catches her eye happens to be someone, she’s known all her life.

Eight years have passed since the last time Miranda and Troy saw each other. He reminds her of the best and worst times of her life, but she can’t think about one without dwelling on the other. As they grow closer, every day their attraction reminds them they are no longer kids.

The epic romantic love story that is Miranda and Troy seems to be destined for a happy ending, but Miranda knows it's only a matter of time before her secret is discovered. A secret that will not only destroy their relationship, it will destroy Troy, too.

Can Miranda focus on her future with Troy while preventing her past from tearing them apart all over again?

Giveaway

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About The Author

Website   Facebook   Twitter

Pinterest   Goodreads

 Google+   LinkedIn

 

Sydney Aaliyah Michelle is a New Adult Contemporary Romance writer, a voracious reader and movie fanatic who 

Sydney has been blogging at sydneyaaliyah.com for three years, where she interviews people about their tattoos, discusses her favorite movie quotes, reviews books (New Adult & only the ones she loves) and journals about her writing and editing process.hailsfrom Texas. After surviving 5 1/2 years living in China, she had the courage to finally pursue her passion and become a writer.

Sydney’s self-published debut New Adult Novel Another New Life will be available June 2014. An active tweeter, she is also a JuNoWriMo (2x) and NaNoWriMo (2x) winners who notes the sci-fi action flick “The Matrix” as the best representation of her life in the past. She is blessed to be awake now and doing what she loves.

Sidelined now available!

If you haven't heard yet, Kyra Lennon's newest brilliant contemporary romance is now available!

Blurb:

At the age of twenty-one, Bree Collinson has more than she ever dreamed of. A handsome husband, a fancy house, and more shoes than Carrie Bradshaw and Imelda Marcos combined. But having everything handed to her isn’t the way Bree wants to live the rest of her life. When an idea to better herself pops into her head, she doesn’t expect her husband to question her, and keep her tied by her apron strings to the kitchen.

 
Isolated and unsure who to turn to, Bree finds herself falling back into a dangerous friendship, and developing feelings for the only person who really listens to her. Torn between her loyalty to her husband and her attraction to a man who has the perfect family she always wanted, she has some tough choices to make. 

While Bree tries to figure out what she wants, a tragedy rocks the Westberg Warriors, triggering some dark memories, and pushing her to take a look at what’s really important.

Buy SIDELINED here:

Amazon UK
Amazon US
Smashwords

 Don't forget to pop on over to Untethered Realms for our first group A to Z Challenge post: favorite creatures!

Friday Five for April 4, 2014

1. I'm having a lot of fun with the A to Z Challenge this year. I'm getting to visit a lot more new blogs which I haven't done in a while. Don't forget to join me and the other awesome authors at Untethered Realms for our A to Z of fantastical creatures.

2. My fantasy short story, "Summoning Fire" is up on Aurora Wolf - A Literary Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy. It has a dancing summoner, her gorgeous guardian, and a lot of undead.

3. My husband's birthday was yesterday. My son and I baked him a German chocolate cake, and we had pizza for dinner. My husband hurt his shoulder at work, though, and my son wasn't feeling well. It was a quiet afternoon and evening.

4. I haven't had much time to do any writing or revising this week. Again, my balance has been thrown off by other things. So hopefully I can fall back into a good groove next week before my mom comes down to visit the week after.

5. Have I mentioned everything I wanted to? I think so. I'm a bit frazzled this week. Enjoy your weekend!

IWSG for April 2014

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

I know a lot of you are busy with the A to Z Challenge this month. Good luck! It's so much fun.

The first year I did the Challenge, I wrote a story called FEARLESS. I went on to self-publish it and offered it for free. As of this date, there has been over 30,000 downloads. Amazing things come from the Challenge!

I wanted to offer up a cheer, but then I found this awesome quote from Helen Colella. Here are some tips and encouragement to go along with the Challenge: "Appreciate all writers. Believe in yourself. Challenge creativity. Dream of success. Explore fact, fiction, and fantasy. Focus on your writing career. Go the distance. Hold tight to dreams. Invest in classes, workshops, and conferences. Join a critique group. Keep abreast of publishing needs. Live, love, and laugh. Make every word count. Nourish the body, mind and soul. Open your mind to knowledge. Prepare and be positive. Query first. Read, read and read. Set goals. Trust in yourself. Understand the impact of words. Venerate language. Write. Write. Write. X-out all negativity. Yodel and yell over every accomplishment. Zoom in—complete projects."

Finally, come visit Untethered Realms. We're participating in the Challenge as a group. Our theme: fantastical creatures. I have letter B today.

Good luck to everyone doing the A to Z Challenge

It's that time of year again.

The A to Z Challenge is here! Woo-hoo!

If you haven't heard about it, please visit the A to Z blog.

And there's still time to sign up!

Good luck to everyone participating in the Challenge this year. I considered doing it here on my blog, but April is too busy for me.

BUT I will be participating in it with a group effort.

Check out Untethered Realms this month. We'll be featuring mythological creatures. Famous beasts, not so famous ones, and others we created ourselves. It's going to be so much fun!

I will be doing B and P as my letters, and I'm in the group posts. You'll get a little taste from one of my books from the 13th Floor series and another that I'm querying this year.