Thursday, September 18, 2014

Behold--SACRIFICED by Courtney Farrell

I'm so happy to announce Courtney Farrell has followed up her YA novel ENHANCED with its sequel, SACRIFICED. I can't wait to read it! But until then, let me share a little about Courtney and her latest novel.

Courtney Farrell was once a molecular biologist, but her habit of daydreaming destroyed far too
many experiments. Writing down the movies in her head turned out to be a lot more fun than lab work. Courtney is the author of three novels and fourteen nonfiction books for young people, mostly on social and environmental topics. She lives with her family on a Colorado ranch where they support a barn full of freeloading animals, including a fat draft horse and a bunch of crazy chickens.

You can say hello to Courtney at her hang-outs:

Blog www.courtneyfarrell.com


Sacrificed-- the exciting sequel to Enhanced
By Courtney Farrell 

At the Institute, they breed the best and kill the rest. Sixteen-year-old Michelle is a survivor, but she’s a pawn in their game. A remote arctic military base mysteriously goes silent. The Institute’s founder needles his old enemy, the colonel, by sending teenagers to help. Michelle’s half-breed boyfriend Dillon makes the team, along with her hot ex, who won’t give her up. At the base, Norms attack. The rebels capture Michelle, but they’re not the brutal savages she imagined. Their cause is a just one. Will she take up arms against her own kind?
Meanwhile, Dillon faces his own temptations. As a half-breed, he’d never succeed at Headquarters, but military doctors think he’s special. The colonel offers him a sweet deal, with money, status, and beautiful girls. All Dillon has to do is wipe out the Norms who are harboring Michelle. 

You can check out SACRIFICED here on Amazon.


Off to read my copy of  SACRIFICED but before I do, here is a bit of a teaser/excerpt from Courtney Farrell's, SACRIFICED:


Sunshine beamed down on a flower-filled meadow. Dillon sat cross-legged on the grass, the focal point in a circle of teenage girls and young women. Most of them were beauties, and Dillon was the only man there. Under the circumstances, he couldn’t enjoy it much.
“Dillon, tell them what you told me,” Tina said. “About my little sister and the other missing girls.”
Dillon tried to talk but his throat tightened up. He managed to choke out a few words. “They…aren’t coming back.”
Tina only waited a couple of heartbeats before she got impatient and told the story herself. “The same thing happens to all the missing girls. Creepy doctors get them pregnant with more of those . . . those . . .”
“Enhanced,” Dillon supplied.
“Enhanced babies. They’re transferred from women who think they’re too perfect,” Tina spat the word, “for pregnancy.”
“Eeuw,” a girl murmured. “They can do that?”
“That is jus’ wrong,” another girl said, shaking her head.
Dillon interrupted the cross talk. “After the babies are born, they don’t need the mothers any more. We don’t know for sure, but we think they probably kill them.”
A collective gasp rose up from the circle of women. A few of the younger ones began to cry.
Dillon squirmed under the pressure of a dozen pairs of eyes. They’re expecting me to have all the answers, and I don’t. “I’ve got a plan, though. It’s scary as hell, but if you help me, we might be able make it work.”
“Scary as hell?” Tina repeated, with a trace of her old abrasive manner.
Dillon wilted under the women’s dubious stares. “Well, um, yeah. This might be kind of half-baked, but it’s all I can think of. I have two ideas, and they both start the same way. A bunch of girls, all alone in the woods—except for the men hiding all around them.”
“Oh, shit!” Tina exclaimed. “We’re the bait.”
Dillon nodded. “Yeah. So, like I said, we can do this one of two ways. The first way’s less scary, but also less likely to be successful.”
“Just tell us what it is, Dillon,” Tina snapped.
“Okay. I need you girls to go off in the woods. Light a big fire. Sing and drum, make yourselves real obvious out there. I’m betting Enhanced soldiers will show up and try to grab you.” Dillon waited for the moans to die down before continuing. “They’ll dart you from the trees with tranquilizer guns. If you get hit, you’ll pass out. Then they haul you off. We can try and prevent that, shooting ‘em as they arrive. But they’ll scatter and run, and it’ll be hard to see them in the dark. Besides, they have night-vision goggles and fully automatic rifles, and we don’t. A bunch of us could die.”
 “Probably will, you mean. What’s your other plan?” Tina asked. “Because I don’t care what it is, I’ll take it. Just about anything would be better than that.”
Dillon winced. “My other plan is…we let them dart you.”
All the girls cried out at once. “What! Why?”
“A man’s a lot easier to catch with a girl over his shoulder.”
Tina swore. “I hate you, Dillon.”
 “Yeah, I know. Sorry.” Dillon got to his feet, shoulders slumped. “You don’t have to do this, you know. Talk it over. Find me once you decide.”
Tina spoke slowly through clenched jaws, her words clipped. “Sit down. I already decided. I’ll take the fucking dart.” 





Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Introducing Images Eternal by Toni Decker

The great thing about being an author is the family of other authors in our network and getting to introduce them. I am proud to announce the long awaited, debut release of an exciting book, Images Eternal by good friend(s), Toni Decker.

Who is Toni Decker?

Two authors telling one sizzling story after another about twenty-somethings getting along in their own crazy, fantastical worlds. Both women are wives and mothers, sharing brain cells and characters as if they only exist with the other.
Toni, one half of the Toni Decker brain, is an avid reader of all things Young and New Adult while Kira, the Decker half of Toni Decker brain, devours fantasy for midnight snacks.

Co-writing together, we leave it up to the readers to guess who writes which character *grin*



Images Eternal is available now on Amazon, Kobo and Barnes & Noble as of September 15th.



If Images are worth a thousand words, hers sing a thousand Eternal songs

The Blurb:
The blood of a Guardian, the heart of an artist, no one can hide the truth from Amanda Hayworth. Focusing her visions through her camera lens, she reveals secrets no one plans to expose, even her own. To protect herself, Mandy hides her ability in plain sight, photographing local bands and showcasing the dramatic images on her website. Most bands beg for a feature article. But the new lead singer of one particular up and coming band isn’t like anyone she’s ever met. Lucien entangles her with his mystery and makes Mandy want things she’s never wanted before—strings.
Lucien Solvak has to impress an influential music blogger whose promotion could skyrocket his new band to stardom or flush them straight into the gutters. But the moment Mandy aims her camera his direction, he fears the images will expose his ties to the immortal he’s sworn to protect and destroy his one chance to live out his musical dream. Hiding from her camera is tough enough. Denying his growing feelings becomes an impossible feat, forcing Lucien to choose between oaths as a Guardian, his rock-star dreams, and the girl he wants.

Secrets define them. Lucien’s bind him to silence; Mandy’s bring her nothing but pain and disappointment. Only when they focus on what’s behind the images can they embrace their secrets for what they are—truth.

I loved this excerpt from Images Eternal:




Free Book Giveaway:

Toni Decker is also giving away 1 signed print copy and 1 ebook copy of Images Eternal to two lucky winners.  The giveaway will run from 9/15/2014 through 9/19/2014. Winners will be announced on September 21st


http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/9af017c31/

Here are the links to purchase Images Eternal:

eBook available at:  Amazon/ Barnes & Noble / Kobo
Print version available after September 20, 2014 at Amazon