Monday, February 3, 2014

Always and Forever

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Twin sisters Ava and Hannah were ripped from their peaceful seeming lives into a whirlwind of attacks and war only to learn the real truth about their existence. Nothing was as it seemed anymore and may never be again. They had already lost their father in childhood now they have to cope with their mother’s kidnapping as they watch those sworn to protect them risk their lives.
















Excerpt
I stood motionless watching her as she lay peacefully, giggling quietly to herself as she dreamed. I noticed for the first time the delicate dimples she had when she smiled. The sun was beginning to set and the air had more of a chill than when we got here. The time had melted away.
My thoughts were quickly interrupted by a loud growling sound. It went from sounding human to a deep, foul terrifying rumble of excitement. I knew instantly that was our enemy. I wondered what form they had taken to capture Ava. The Sabatinos rarely did anything in their human form. They thrived on the fear they instilled in their victims by changing forms.
Ava sat up quickly, ripping her earphones off and threw them an inch from where I was hiding. Her eyes were full of fear.
Suddenly an enormous creature emerged from the clearing charging straight to Ava. My heart raced as I quickly ran from the opposite side of the clearing as fast as I could to get there before the creature had. Although I could run much faster than a mortal, so could this creature if it were truly a member of the Sabatino coven. This was going to make for a much more difficult fight.
The creature was closing in on Ava quickly with evil red eyes fixated on its prey. I wasn’t sure if I could make it in time. Overwhelming fear shot through my entire body. I wasn’t just failing Connor, I was failing our coven.
Ava stood frozen. I started to yell for her to run when she suddenly lifted her shaking arms and yelled at the creature. Right then the creature was frozen in midair and Ava fell to the ground unconscious.


S.P Cervantes lives in Orange County, California with her husband and three children, where she is a teacher. She enjoys spending time with her family, writing, reading, and running, but is always thinking of an idea for her next novel. S.P. Cervantes is currently working on a new contemporary romance, while finishing the final novel of the Secrets of Shadow Hill series. S.P. Cervantes has a B.S. in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Cross Cultural Education.
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You Can Call Me Miranda

You Can Call Me Miranda
3 of 5 stars false
I was born to dance. I may have even become the best ballerina this country has ever seen. But when you have no one to guide you as a young person, you become very lost. I craved love and attention, and I found it in men.
I’ve always had a certain allure that draws men to me. I worked that out at a very young age. At first it was fun teasing them, then a thrill … then it was just easy. Men were just too easy.
I loved the way they looked at me when I danced for them, the way they stared at my body. I danced for men who paid to watch. Then he found me. I was the next desperate girl, ripe for the picking. If only I knew what I was being picked for.
This is my story. This is how I lost the girl I once was. Now, you can call me Miranda.

Review

***The author provided me with an ARC of this novella for my honest review***
Mia is on her way to the top. She has gained the attention of all the right people and won the lead role in her schools next production of Giselle.
A rare night out to let her hair down leads to disaster in the form of an accident that takes away her dream.
This is a prequel to Buying Thyme, a book that I read and reviewed recently. It is a short introduction to the main character "Miranda" and gives us an explanation of how she ended up being a prostitute. I really liked it; the previous book was a real winner for me and a lot of the questions I had were answered.
I felt sorry for Mia/Miranda at how a series of events robbed her of her future. I did, however, feel like she just accepted things to quickly and was very naive. I was very excited about seeing who her very first "customer" was as he was someone that held my fascination in the first book.
All in all, I think this author has a knack for writing an interesting story, something different from the norm. I am looking forward to seeing more from TJ Hamilton in the future.
 
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Into the Darkness



Title: Into the Darkness
Author: K.F. Breene
Genre: New Adult Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Publication: January 23, 2014

I’d always been different. I saw objects in the night where others saw emptiness. Large, human shaped shadows, fierce yet beautiful, melting into the darkness. I collected secrets like other women collected bells; afraid to fully trust lest my oddities be exposed.

Until I saw him. He’d been gliding down the street, unshakable confidence in every step. It wasn’t just that he was breathtakingly handsome with perfect features. Something about him drew me. Sucked my focus to him and then tugged at my body. As his eyes met mine, I was entrapped.

No one had noticed him. He’d been right there, just beyond the light, but only I had perceived.

I had to know if he was real. Or maybe I really was crazy. And even when my secret box was blasted wide open, dangers hurled at me like throwing knives, I couldn’t stop until I unraveled his true identity.

I just had to know.

“She was fated to live.”
“Then why must you save her?”
“Often Fate is struck down by dumb luck.”



Into the Darkness is currently FREE on Amazon, along with these other books by K.F. Breene!

 

       As I met his black eyes, his puzzled expression deepened. “You’re human…”
      “We established that, yes. What I want to know is, if I am human, what does that make you? And why do I notice you when others usually don’t?”
      His head cocked to the side. His easy balance, his lethal edge; he was like a blade resting on billowing silk. “Very few humans are able to withstand our pheromones. Fewer still to break a Kolma once it has been placed. You’ve not been trained, that’s obvious; so how is this possible when you’re definitely human? Do you possess the blood of another species?”
       I could barely think past the pounding ache of my body, begging to touch him. I needed to get a grip! He was revealing some very interesting factoids I needed to jot down in my mental notebook.
      His nostrils flared. “Charles was right; your arousal is a unique scent. Like a spicy, warm drink on a mid-winter’s night. It rises above other smells, entrancing the mind.”
      “Umm,” charged with questions, determination, anger, and demands, I thrust forward, “Listen, what did you mean about withstanding the…pher-thing? Or breaking the other thing? How can you trap someone’s head with pleasure? Because I’m pretty sure—not positive, but pretty sure—that Jared is straight. And also, I really think we should circle back to what the hell you are, and why nobody knows that you exist? Because this whole people scattering thing is not normal, and I think an explanation is probably in order.”
      He stepped closer, not hearing me, or not caring that I spoke. His eyes looked at me like I was a life-sized riddle. They delved, searching. He took another step, forcing me to retreat two steps to keep distance between our bodies. Another step back had my back to the wall. 
      A small smile curved his lips. “I exude pleasure, you run. I exude fear, you come calling. You want me, I can smell it. I can feel it, almost like a palpable thing. Give in to it. Yield to me.”
      Oh God I wanted to. His body was mere inches from mine, his intense eyes looking down into my soul from a face out of a Renaissance painting. The power of him, the sheer strength, had strange, primal fantasies running amok through my head. My core tingled, my chest surged, and my nipples were so hard they could cut this stone wall. 
      Why had I come here, again?


A wine country native, K.F. Breene moved to San Francisco for college just shy of a decade ago to pursue a lifelong interest in film. As she settled into the vibrant city, it quickly became apparent that, while she thought making and editing films was great fun, she lacked cinematic genius. For that reason, her career path quickly changed direction. Her next goal was a strange childhood interest, conjured at the dining room table while filling out a form. For some reason, her young self wanted to be an accountant. Thinking on it now, she often wonders how she had any friends. Regardless, it was the direction she finally took.

While she could wrangle numbers with the best of 'em, and even though she wore the crown as the most outspoken, belligerent accountant in the world, her mind got as stuffy as her daily routine. It was here that she dusted off her creative hat and began writing. Now she makes movies in her head, not worried about lighting, shutter speed or editing equipment. Turns out, a computer is much easier to manage than a crowd of actors. She should know, she was an actor at one time.