Pack Your 4th of July Getaway!

Pack your 4th of July getaway bag with these fantastic YA books that came out in June! 

1. The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes: the gut-wrenching but ultimately hope-inspiring story about a 17-year-old who lost 12 years of her life – as well as her hands, to a cult.

2. The Glass Sentence by S. E. Grove: the type of fantasy that changes your life at any age about Sophia’s adventures in the New World, in which all the continents have been flung into different time periods.

3. Skyscraping by Cordelia Jensen: a heartrending novel in verse about Mira, who redefines what family means after she discovers her father with his male lover.

4. Wings by Elizabeth Richards: The pulse-pounding conclusion to the Black City trilogy.

5. A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller: A romantic historical drama about how much Victoria Darling will sacrifice for her dream of becoming an artist when society has different ideas for her.

6. Like it Never Happened by Emily Adrian: Rebecca Rivers’ experience landing the lead in her school’s production of The Crucible challenges stereotypes, sexuality, and destructive rumors.

7. Children of the Earth by Anna Schumacher: The sequel to the adrenaline-packed and steamy End Times, set in Carbon City, Wyoming, where the townspeople believe the End Times have arrived.

8. The Merciless by Danielle Vega: Mean Girls meets The Exorcist in this horror story packed with attitude that proves the last people you want to be locked in a basement with are teen girls.

9. Deadly Design by Debra Dockter: A page-turning thriller about genetically engineered Kyle, who finds his life in danger when his twin brother drops dead at 18.

10. Conversion by Katherine Howe: A chilling read about the girls at St. Joan’s, who seem to be suffering the same epidemic that a group of girls had when their town was Salem Village long ago.

11. A Book of Spirits and Thieves by Morgan Rhodes: Fantasy and contemporary readers alike will love this blend of two worlds: one in modern-day Toronto and one in Morgan Rhode’s bestselling Gathering Darkness series!

12. Nearly Found by Elle Cosimano: The suspenseful sequel to Nearly Gone, an urban mystery interlaced with secrets, crime labs and serial killers.

13. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson: Laurie Halse Anderson’s award-winning look at family, secrets, and PTSD through the lives of nomadic Hayley Kincaid and her veteran father Andy.

14. The Secret Sky by Atia Abawi: An eye-opening tale of love, honor and betrayal following Fatima and Samiullah, who fight their families, cultures, and the Taliban to stay together in Afghanistan.

15. Inland by Kat Rosenfield: An eerie, psychological dive into the mind of Callie Morgan, who hears something beckoning her into the dark waves of the sea, filling her with doubt, and revealing family secrets.

Cover Reveal: Wings by Elizabeth Richards

Today we are super excited to share the cover to WINGS, the third and final book in author's Elizabeth Richard's BLACK CITY series!

Check out this beauty! 

Wings (Black City #3) by Elizabeth Richards

Get the first two books in the series! 

OPEN INTERNATIONAL!!!

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Blog Tour: Phoenix | Elizabeth Richards | The Fleet Arrives | Giveaway

Welcome to our stop on the Phoenix blog tour for Elizabeth Richards. This tour is hosted by Good Choice Reading. 

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THE FLEET ARRIVES

I’ve always been fascinated (and somewhat terrified) by sharks, ever since I was a little girl. Not only are they beautiful and powerful, but they’re the perfect killing machine, and so when I stumbled across this picture of a shoal of sharks, backlit by the moonlight, it inspired this scene in PHOENIX, where a fleet of Destroyer Ships enter Black City…

(Source: N4 Nostradamus Experiment)

EXCERPT

“Well, this is a cause for celebration,” Dad says, going to the kitchen and returning with the bottle of Shine, which I know he stashes behind the boxes of cereal. “To new friends.”
      “To new friends,” we reply, raising our glasses.
      The liquid begins to vibrate.
      I don’t have much time to wonder about this before a low, terrifying rumble above us makes everyone freeze.
      “What is it?” Natalie asks.
      I stand up. “Only one way to find out.”
      We all rush outside to see what’s going on. The streets are already filled with citizens, their faces fearful as they stare up at the night sky. Unnatural shadows swim across the ocean of stars like a shiver of sharks, blocking out the moonlight.
      Destroyer Ships.

- from Phoenix (A Black City Novel), page 82

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Weeks after his crucifixion and rebirth as Phoenix, Ash Fisher believes his troubles are far behind him. He and Natalie are engaged and life seems good. But his happiness is short-lived when he receives a threatening visit from Purian Rose, who gives Ash an ultimatum: vote in favor of Rose’s Law permanently relegating Darklings to the wrong side of the wall or Natalie will be killed.

The decision seems obvious to Ash; he must save Natalie. But when Ash learns about The Tenth, a new and deadly concentration camp where the Darklings would be sent, the choice doesn’t seem so simple. Unable to ignore his conscience, Ash votes against Rose’s Law, signing Natalie’s death warrant and putting a troubled nation back into the throes of bloody battle.

Available on: Amazon| Barnes & Noble

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Book Review: Black City by Elizabeth Richards

Black City
Black City #1
Author: Elizabeth Richards
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Dystopian/Paranormal/Post-Apocalyptic
Release Date: November 13th 2012
Review Source: Penguin/Putnam Juvenile
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war

In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable—they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed—but their feelings are too strong.

When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.

Black City is a fusion of genres that worked well together. Books are usually a specific genre, so when I read a story that brings so many flavors to my reading palette, I definitely enjoy it. Black City has so much going on but at no time do I feel that's its to much or I can't follow. On the contrary, the story flows at a perfect pace. The highs and the lows are well balanced for all the dramatic effects they entail.  Elizabeth created such a vivid world that when your reading you feel as you are there. 

Black City is told in 2 point of views. You have Natalie, she is human and daughter to a very import ranking government official. She is the daughter of the Emissary. Then you have Ash, he is a twin-blood Darkling. One of the very few left of his kind. Both these characters are so different and from such different upbringings, yet they share one thing in common. The war that is going on between humans and Darklings. 

Natalie has recently had to move back to Black City after being in hide out. Black City is part of the United Sentry States and in Black City a wall has been put up to separate Darklings from Humans. Natalie lost her father while he was trying to help and bring the Darklings and Humans together. This is not the first time though that their family has been attacked. Natalie sister Polly was sacrificed so that they could be spared, she was tortured after being picked by their own mother. So you can say Natalie and her mother have a conflicting relationship. Natalie has never understood why her mother did that. So now Natalie is in Black City and thanks to her mother has been enrolled in a lower class school, that requires security following her at all times. 

Ash is a twin-blood meaning he has a human and Darkling parent. So this has given Ash the privilege to stay on the human side of Black City. Ash misses his Darkling side of the family every day, especially when he walks by the wall. He can here the Darklings song of misery and grief. Ash is wanted by most for a few reasons. First is being a Darkling, humans can get high off him when he bites them and injects his haze or venom. So he is really popular amongst the Hazers. Second are those that hate him for being a "Nipper" and living on the human side, they feel he should be with his kind. All Ash wants is to be able to make the little bit of money he gets from selling haze so he can provide for his family, as his mother dies. Not an easy task to do when everything you do, he has to look over his shoulders. 

The things about war and conflict, sometimes something strange and magical does happen from such an awful time or place. Ash is shocked to find one day when he passes a human, that his heart begins to beat. This is surprising since Ash is a twin-blood and doesn't need a normal heart beat. His genetics, keep him alive without one. Now that person Ash walked by happened to be Natalie. Even stranger thing is Natalie can tell when Ash is around its like she can feel his heart beat, which is strange to her since she know he doesn't have one. Natalie and Ash will eventually come to find out what jump started a dead heart and what will they do after the flood gates have been open literally. 

You will be deeply immersed in this story. Its like Romeo and Juliette meet Hunger Games. The amount of intrigue, suspense and mystery keep you turning page after page. Then just when you think you have handled it all, the ending will make your heart skip a few beats. I can't wait till the sequel is out. 

p.s. How captivating is that cover. After reading the story, I can see how the shattering of the rose represents the book.

Until Friday 9/28 - I am giving away a ARC copy of Black City over in Instagram HERE.