The Demon's Deadline by Tori Centanni ~ Blog Tour: #BookReview & #Giveaway

Hey Donnie Darlings! Welcome to my stop on the tour for The Demon’s Deadline by Tori Centanni! This is a young adult paranormal novel for ages 14+ and releases April 2nd from OddRocket.

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The Demon’s Deadline 
by Tori Centanni

 

Nicki almost died in the car accident. Instead she was offered a deal.

 

Now she works for the demon Azmos, delivering his mysterious envelopes all over town. Only her boyfriend Cam knows the truth about her after-school job—Cam, who’s (thankfully) as understanding as he is gorgeous and smart. Nicki’s never had Cam’s bold ambitions; her only talent is guessing the killer in a horror movie. All she wants is to graduate high school, marry Cam someday, and live happily ever after… but lately her work for the demon’s pulling her into deeper danger. Danger that threatens her life and also the bonds that matter most to her. Her best friend Melissa, whom she’s forced to lie to. Her grieving father. And Cam.

 

But is it even possible to free herself from the contract that saved her life?

 

And what if she did manage to untangle herself from the arcane world forever — without it, what kind of life does Nicki have left? Once you’ve seen death and darkness, once you know that magic is real, how can you ever go back to being a normal teenager?

 

It’s finally time Nicki faced her own demons….

 

Goodreads | Amazon

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In The Demon's Deadline, a teen girl named Nicki survives a car accident by making a deal with a demon, Azmos. He can show up anywhere, anytime, and she has to deliver the envelopes he gives her to their recipients. After several months of delivering these envelopes, Nicki starts to wonder exactly what she's doing and why she seems to be different from the others who've made deals with Azmos.   

Cam is the kind of boyfriend I'd like to see more of in YA books. He's a straight A student and very likable. He *gasp* communicates with his girlfriend! I think he's mature for his age, and I liked that he knew Nicki's secret - it was great that she had at least one person she could confide in, especially when her job as errand girl becomes dangerous. 

Nicki decided not to tell her father or her best friend, Melissa, and so she lies to them. That would have to be frustrating to lie to people you love and feel like there's nothing you can do about it because you made a deal with a demon. She's afraid they won't believe her and think she suffered brain injuries from the accident. 

I related with Nicki because she lost her mom in the accident. I know what it's like to have a dull ache in my chest from the loss, and when Nicki would think about her mom and how much she misses her and feels guilty she survived when her mom didn't, I knew what she was feeling. I totally got it. I felt for Nicki's father and his grief, too. 

Azmos is cunning, mysterious, annoying... everything I imagine a demon to be. I couldn't stop reading for the need to know what it was about Nicki that was different from the others. Why did he let her sign a deal with him before she turned sixteen? I couldn't wait to find out. I didn't have my own theories, not really. It was something I couldn't figure out. 

The Demon's Deadline is a quick read with likable characters and a terrific plot. I'd love to see more characters like Nicki and Cam in YA books - they're smart, relatable, and strong on their own. Nicki doesn't rely on Cam, and their relationship is relatively drama-free (with the exception of a demon's demands). I recommend this book to anyone who loves YA paranormal with smart characters.  

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tori Centanni is a nerd girl and a recovering goth. She likes dark, quirky stories with elements of humor. When not reading or writing, she can be found baking, watching too much television, and wrangling cats. She lives in Seattle, WA.

AUTHOR ONLINE: Website | Twitter | Tumblr | Goodreads | Instagram

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GIVEAWAY

Tori will be giving away $20 Amazon Gift Card (INT) to a winner of the below Rafflecopter.
  a Rafflecopter giveaway

This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.

Out of Control by Sarah Alderson ~ Book Blitz & #Giveaway

Hey Donnie Darlings! Welcome to the Book Blitz for Out of Control by Sarah Alderson! I'm really excited to read this one, and I think you will be, too. There's an excerpt and info on the book for you to check out plus a giveaway! 

I read Sarah's novel, Fated, which is her third published novel. I really enjoyed it and have always wanted to read her other books, especially Hunting Lila. I've heard all sorts of great things about that one. I think it might have to wait though because Out of Control sounds way too awesome! 

Out of Control

by Sarah Alderson

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication date: May 12th 2015

Genres: Thriller, Young Adult 

Synopsis

A girl looking to escape her past in New York City ends up on the run from a dangerous conspiracy in this sizzling, high-stakes novel. 

When seventeen-year-old Liva came to New York City, all she wanted was to escape the painful memories of her past and finally find a fresh start. Her hopes for a new future were dashed the moment she became the sole witness to a brutal murder. When she's taken into police custody - supposedly for her own protection - she realizes something isn't right, but it's too late. Soon, bullets start flying, and Liva realizes that she is not just a witness, but the target - and she needs to escape before it's too late.

With the help of a sexy car thief that she met at the station, Liva manages to get away from the massacre unharmed, but now the two of them are alone in New York, trying to outrun and outwit the two killers who will stop at nothing to find them. Liva and Jay are living on the edge, but when you're on the edge, there's a long way to fall.  

Amazon | B&N 

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Excerpt 

My heart is hammering hard and sweat trickles down my back. I strain to listen. Are they following?

Just then we hear footsteps pounding the sidewalk. They come to a halt right by the entrance to the alleyway and Jay presses further against me, the buttons of his jeans cutting into my waist, my forehead against his collarbone. Neither of us breathes. My hand slides down Jay’s back and closes around the butt of the gun. He hadn’t thought to draw it. I ease it out as he tenses and pulls back enough that I can see the whites of his eyes. He gives a tiny shake of his head and puts a finger to his lips.

I stare up at him and we wait, listening, me with the gun still in my hand, my finger sliding the safety free, Jay still pressing me tight up against the wall. The voices start arguing about which direction we’ve gone in. Someone takes a few steps into the alleyway but stops just an inch or so shy of seeing us. I hear the sound of a zipper and then the sprinkle of urine spraying against metal. I wrinkle my nose and press my face into Jay’s T-shirt.

If he takes one more step he’ll see us. I picture what I’ll need to do. If I can push Jay aside I can aim the gun and we can hopefully hold them off until we’re far enough away to make a run for it.

We listen in absolute silence as the guy re-zips himself and heads back out towards the street. The three of them talk some more – though I can’t make out what they’re saying – and then finally, after what feels like an eternity, they walk away. Jay’s shoulders drop fractionally, but he doesn’t take a step back. No, he keeps me pressed up against the wall. And I notice that we’re both breathing fast again – as though we’re still sprinting. I tip my head back against the brick behind me so I can see his face. He’s looking down at me, and in the shadow all I can make out is the strong line of his jaw, the soft curve of his lips. I can’t read his expression. But I can guess at it.

He shifts his weight slightly and his thigh presses against my hip. I draw in a breath. My free hand – the one not holding the gun, rests on his upper chest. I slide it up and over his shoulder and with my eyes still on him I pull him even closer, until he’s pressed completely against me and I can feel the hardness of muscle through his T-shirt and his jeans. My heart explodes in my chest as I tilt my head back further, reaching on tiptoe, and his mouth finds mine in the darkness.

His kiss is hard, full of heat, uncontrolled.

The earth doesn't just spin, it shatters into a million pieces. Lights burst lightning bright behind my eyes as Jay’s hands run the length of me, and I have to grip hold of his shoulder to keep from sliding down the wall.

His hand settles behind my waist, pinning me to him, and the other holds the back of my head. And I don’t fight it because I want him to hold me tighter, to kiss me deeper. I want to melt into him and I’m grasping at him even more frantically than he is at me. It’s as though all the pent-up energy and frustration and emotion of the day is spilling out of one and into the other, and the desperation in our kisses becomes a wild hunger for more, for touch, for connection, for closeness stripped bare.

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About the Author 

Having spent most of her life in London, Sarah quit her job in the non profit sector in 2009 and took off on a round the world trip with her husband and princess-obsessed daughter on a mission to find a new place to call home. After several months in India, Singapore, Australia and the US, they settled in Bali where Sarah now spends her days writing by the pool and trying to machete open coconuts without severing a limb.

She finished her first novel, Hunting Lila (winner of the Kingston Book Award), just before they left the UK, wrote the sequel on the beach in India and had signed a two book deal with Simon & Schuster by the time they had reached Bali. 

A third book, Fated, about a teenage demon slayer, was published in January 2012.

The Sound, a thriller romance set in Nantucket, was published in August 2013 and this was followed by the critically acclaimed Out of Control in May 2014. 

She also writes New Adult romance for Pan Macmillan (UK) / Simon & Schuster (US) under the pen name Mila Gray. 

You can find Sarah on Facebook and at www.sarahalderson.com or follow her blog at www.canwelivhere.com. 

Connect with Sarah Alderson

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

      

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Book Blitz organized by:

Life Unaware by Cole Gibsen ~ Blog Tour: #bookreview & #giveaway @colegibsen @entangledteen

Welcome to my stop on the Life Unaware Blog Tour hosted by YA Bound Blog Tours. Click here to follow along with the full tour schedule. 

Title: Life Unaware
Author: Cole Gibsen
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Source: Copy for review 

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | 
B-A-M | IndieBound | Powells

Synopsis

Regan Flay has been talking about you.

Regan Flay is on the cusp of achieving her control-freak mother's "plan" for high school success - cheerleading, student council, the Honor Society - until her life gets turned horribly, horribly upside down. Every bitchy text. Every bitchy email. Every lie, manipulation, and insult she's ever said have been printed out and taped to all the lockers in school.

Now Regan has gone from popular princess to total pariah. 

The only person who even speaks to her is her former best friend's hot but socially miscreant brother, Nolan Letner. Nolan thinks he knows what Regan's going through, but what nobody knows is that Regan isn't really Little Miss Perfect. In fact, she's barely holding it together under her mom's pressure. But the consequences of Regan's fall from grace are only just beginning. Once the chain reaction starts, no one will remain untouched...

Especially Regan Flay.    

Whenever I finish a book that I feel really passionate about, it's bittersweet. On the one hand, I'm happy to have had the experience, but on the other hand, I'm sad it's over. And then I want everyone to read it, too, so the awesomeness can be shared. That's what makes reading as essential to me as breathing, and that's what Life Unaware has given me. Now that I'm finished, I want to spread its awesomeness. 

Life Unaware tackles the topic of bullying - done not only in person but also on social media. There's a moment when Regan discovers a Facebook page where people can write nasty things about her, it was devastating not only for her but for me as well as a parent. It would be one of my worst nightmares if the things that had been done to Regan were done to one of my kids. 

And it was devastating that Regan's own mother, who to me is supposed to protect and love her daughter, shared a large portion of the bullying, just in a subtler form. It saddened me when only a couple of adults recognized something major was going on with Regan, but even they didn't really do anything about it. They didn't delve far enough in besides asking if she was okay, and of course she said she was even though she was anything but.   

I found myself liking Regan even though I know I wouldn't have if I were in high school with her. I think she had a poor role model in her mother, and having an anxiety disorder is hard enough without the pressure from her mom and the fact that high school can be hell. It really is a battlefield. 

Nolan became a light in Regan's life - not as a knight in shining armor kind of way but as a beacon of hope. I really liked how their relationship unfolded and took its time developing. Nolan had secrets of his own, too, and I was impatient to find out what those were.  

I think Life Unaware is a book every teen and every parent should read. I couldn't put this book down - I read it in one night and lost a lot of sleep, but it was worth it. Definitely. Tackling bullying and psychological disorders in one novel was a huge undertaking, but Gibsen nailed it. 

About the Author

Cole Gibsen first realized she was different when, in high school, she was still reading comic books while the other girls were reading fashion magazines. 

It was her love of superheroes that first inspired her to pick up a pen. Her favorite things to write about are ordinary girls who find themselves in extraordinary situations. 

Connect with the Author

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook 

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Blog Tour organized by:

Stolen Art by Ruth Silver ~ Book Release Blast

Hi Donnie Darlings! Welcome to the book release blast for Stolen Art by Ruth Silver. I have a copy of this book for review, so a review will be coming your way very soon. :D 

Title - Stolen Art
Author - Ruth Silver
Genre - YA Sci Fi Adventure
Expected Publication Date - May 4th 2015
Publisher - Lazy Day Publishing

Purchase - Amazon | B&N

Synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Madeline has been living on teh streets, biding her time until she's eighteen. With little to no money, she takes on a heist in hopes of making ends meet. What could possibly go wrong? 

Everything.

Getting caught is just the beginning of Madeline's adventure as she meets Weston and discovers the secret of where she came from.

Fans of Orphan Black, The X-Files, and Fringe will fall head over heels for Stolen Art. 

Recommended: 15+

About the Author

Ruth Silver is the best-selling author of the Aberrant trilogy. With a passion for writing and a love of storytelling, Ruth is actively writing two series: Royal Reaper and Orenda. She also writes The Federal Agent Chronicles, an adult romance series under the name Ravyn Rayne for Blushing Books. Her interests include traveling, reading, and photography. Her favorite vacation destination is Australia. Ruth currently resides in Plainfield, Illinois. 

Follow Ruth here

Blog | Facebook | Twitter 

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