by Julia Ember Genre: YA Fantasy Release Date: April 21st 2016 Harmony Ink Press Summary from Goodreads: After a savage attack drives her from her home, sixteen-year-old Mnemba finds a place in her cousin Tumeloâs successful safari business, where she quickly excels as a guide. Surrounding herself with nature and the mystical animals inhabiting the savannah not only allows Mnembaâs tracking skills to shine, it helps her to hide from the terrible memories that haunt her. Mnemba is employed to guide Mr. Harving and his daughter, Kara, through the wilderness as they study unicorns. The young women are drawn to each other, despite that fact that Kara is betrothed. During their research, they discover a conspiracy by a group of poachers to capture the Unicorns and exploit their supernatural strength to build a railway. Together, they must find a way to protect the creatures Kara adores while resisting the love they know they can never indulge.
About the Author
Originally from Chicago, Julia Ember now resides in Sunny Scotland where she learned to enjoy both haggis and black pudding. She spends her days working as a professional Book Nerd for a large book wholesaler, and her nights writing YA Romantic Fantasy novels. She also spends an inordinate amount of time managing her growing city-based menagerie of pets with Harry Potter themed names.
A world traveller since childhood, Julia has now visited over 60 countries. Her travels inspire the fictional worlds she writes about and she populates those worlds with magic and monsters.
When he reached the baobab tree, the unicorn looked around in confusion. The trance of the moonstone seemed to break with the humans closing in on him. He sniffed the horns around him, squealing and pawing the ground in distress. Three of the riders threw their ropes, catching him around the neck. As he struggled to back away, others advanced. Men taunted the stallion with their whips, making him kick and try to rear. When his feet lifted, they threw more ropes, circling the nooses around his powerful feet. As a group, they wrestled the unicorn to the ground, throwing themselves on top of him the moment his knees touched the grass.
Even with the weight of six on his back, and men all around holding ropes anchoring him to the ground, the stallion kept fighting. His eyes rolled back in his head, his legs thrashed and I could hear his screams from the cliff. Iâd never heard a unicorn make a sound before, and hearing it now sent a chill through my entire body. His screams were different than a horse, higher in pitch, with a vibrating tremor that made him sound almost like a singer at the crescendo of a performance. The leader of the group advanced on the now subdued unicorn, holding what looked like a handsaw. The stallion tried frantically to spear the man with his horn, but three of the followers held the animalâs head in place. Still he tried, snorting and staring his captor in the eye, silver-tipped horn poised like a sword toward the leaderâs heart. Kill him, I found myself praying. Fight them. Kill him and this will all be over. The saw began to tremble in the manâs hand as he swiped again and again across the base of the stallionâs horn. Fragments the size of fingernail clippings covered the earth like snow. Beside me, I felt Kara start to shake. Her whole frame quivered with silent sobs. The horn fell to the ground and all at once, the stallion quit struggling. The men climbed off him and loosened their hold on the ropes that bound him. The groupâs leader reached for one of the ropes around the unicornâs neck. He turned and the stallion followed him, meek as an old broodmare. His eyes seemed to blink back a heavy sadness, the only echo of his proud battle song.
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by Destiny Blake Genre: YA Paranormal Release Date: April 26th 2016 Summary:
Vampire Legend Sinclair has a premonition. He dreams of a grand battle between humans and an elite class, demigods in a contemporary world. Privileged and arrogant, these âEntitled Onesâ plan to hoard natural resources to ensure global longevity for their families and friends. Everyone else is disposable.
As the war of wars is set to unfold, Legend anticipates an uncertain future. He plots against rulers and nations, but soon devises a way to protect average citizens from the forthcoming agenda of destruction. Siring numerous children, Legend leaves his North Carolina home only to return for his daughter and sons in the predawn hours of their eighteenth birthdays. They attend Summer Assembly, a training ritual that will prepare them for the whispering promise of a coming age destined to change the course of history. Meanwhile, a select few hold fast to yesterdayâs corrupt propaganda, an outline for disaster. With an evil plan for global evacuation and the extinction of all common men, the Entitled Ones organize their enforcement of a wicked initiative. But in their defeat, the Legend family will triumphantly rise as true wonders of the reformed world.
A legacy from the grave, legends since birth
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Excerpt
About that time, a hissing noise filled the room. Everyone looked up and their gasps resounded. They were on their feet in record time as spiraling smoke twisted out of the vents and the room temperature hit hell-hot in a matter of seconds.
âOpen this door!â Captive jiggled the knob. âLegend! Are you out there?â
Tole slammed his body against their only means of escape. âLet us out of here!â
They all joined him. Fists pounded in repetition. Everyone pleaded for help.
Gideon rushed to the eye-level window on the far wall. Jamming his fists against the panels, he cried out in agony as he glanced up at the billowing smoke above them. âFire.â
âArenât you the smart one?â Umbrage ran his palms across the walls. âHurry. See if we can find something to trigger a secret passageway.â
âYouâve watched too many movies,â Captive said.
As Gideon and Umbrage tried to find a way out, the air thickened with chemical-like vapors. They coughed, gagged, and suffered as they choked on fumes. Orange and red flames surrounded them. The blaze burned hotter.
âKeep your heads down! Itâs another test!â Captive yelled.
In the middle of a coughing fit, Sin screamed, âThen weâre seconds away from failing!â
âToughen up, sister. Even Legendâs games eventually find an end.â Captive stared into the fire and caught Gideonâs gaze. Perhaps it was then when Captive realized what Gideon had long since accepted.
The past few days had been necessary. They were vampires, damned to an eternal existence on earth but without a soul, their fate was sealed by fire. What theyâd seen and heard, that was what awaited them if they didnât follow Legend and save mankind. By saving the world, they spared themselves as well.
Everything their dadâLegend Sinclairâhad shown them was foretelling in a sense, a grand exhibit of what they would endure if they didnât survive. It served as inspiration, motivation to stay alive.
âHelp!â Tole hammered his fists against the door again. Like the others, he had revealed his greatest fear during Summer Assembly. Legend understood what specific triggers pushed each of them into panic mode.
Now, Tole faced his greatest demonâfire.
âDonât do this!â He gasped, his voice wracked with fear. âIâll do anything! Just let me out!â He collided with the door once more, but that door didnât budge.
Gideon hurried to Sin, offering her limited protection, but comfort nonetheless. Diven and Umbrage reassured Tole while Griffin, Captive, and Saber promised to kill Legend given the opportunity. The more they threatened harm to the one who had turned them, the more swirling smoke filled the confined area.
âWe were supposed to be stronger as a group,â Griffin said, coughing between syllables.
That much had been drilled in their heads and yet their current circumstances almost suggested the opposite. No one would gain the upper hand here.
Their hellish experience lasted several minutes, but it seemed like hours, maybe even days. There was no escape. They had one choice, an alternative that shouldâve resounded as a simple unanimous decision. Instead, only five Legends emerged from the fire ready to dance with the fates and embrace their legacy with complete surrender.
The others were left behind.
Copyright © 2016 Destiny Blake
Excerpt provided for promotional purposes & pending final approval for publication
About the Author
An avid reader and full-time writer, Destiny Blake enjoys YA paranormal, commercial and literary fiction, mysteries, thrillers, and unique fantasy novels. After 15 years of writing for the market, Destiny decided it was time to write what she liked to read. The end goal was to pen stories that readers would love and her grandchildren would later cherish as well.
The author invites all readers to follow her on Twitter @AuthorDestiny and to stay in touch by writing:
[email protected]. To help Destiny celebrate the debuts of Legends and Gatekeepers, readers can send their copy and pasted proof of purchase to the email above. Include a snail mail address to receive a promotional product. Please include âLegends & Gatekeepers Proof of Purchaseâ in the subject line. Offer ends on April 15, 2016. Void where prohibited by law.
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by Norma Hinkens Genre: Young Adult Dystopian/Sci-fi Release Date: December 9th 2015 Dunecadia Publishing Summary:
The world is in ruins. Earth’s end is her beginning ...
Derry lives in perpetual fear of capture. The sixteen-year-old and her brother survive underground on a scorched Earth replete with gangs, clones, and mysterious hoverships. When Derry's brother goes missing, her only chance of getting him back is to strike a deal with a group of murderous subversives.
As she leads her fellow preppers on a dangerous mission to save her brother, Derry discovers the world she knows is a lie. Keeping her brother alive may require trusting her enemy and opening her heart to something she never thought possible.
Immurement is the first book in the Undergrounders saga, a series of sci-fi dystopian thrillers. If you like captivating apocalyptic tales, gritty complex heroines, and twists you won’t see coming, then you’ll love this fast-paced, end-of-the-world adventure.
About the Author
For news and special offers join Norma's VIP Reader List at http://eepurl.com/bDGdIX.
Travel junkie, former professional globetrotter, legend lover, idea wrangler. Norma Hinkens has lived, worked and visited her way across continents, soaking up stories along the way. Her writing is influenced by the resilient characters she met along the way; everyone has a story! Norma grew up among vibrant storytelling traditions in her native Ireland. She's a legend-loving author who takes a fiendish delight in pushing reluctant characters over cliffs to find out what they’re made of. Epic odds, seemingly impossible missions, pasts that haunt, intrigue and misadventure. She’s happiest when wrangling provocative big picture ideas that are never black and white when you turn them inside out. It’s all about the tension in the journey. She currently resides in California with her husband, three children and Chihuahua extraordinaire. She is the author of the YA post-apocalyptic Undergrounders Series: Immurement, Embattlement and Adjudgement. |
About MeI'm a Texas gal with a wonderful husband, an amazing six year old son, and an adorable newborn baby boy! ArchivesCategoriesProud Tour Host For: |