COVER REVEAL: Unknown by Wendy Higgins

We are very pleased to share with you this Cover Reveal for Wendy Higgins's Unknown, the first book in the Unknown series! This is her first New Adult series!

Genre:

New Adult

Post-Apocalyptic/Science Fiction

Romance

Series:

Unknown, #1

Publish Date:

August 16, 2016

Synopsis:

Amber Tate believes the worst thing she’ll suffer in life is dealing with the unrequited love she feels for her brother’s best friend, Rylen Fite. She also believes war is something unfortunate that happens places far, far away from her rural Nevada town. She’s wrong on both counts.

When an unknown organization meticulously bombs major cities in the United States and across the globe, a trickle-down effect spreads to remaining towns at an alarming speed—everything from food and water sources to technological communications are compromised. Without leadership, the nation is split between paralysis and panic, but Amber isn’t one to hide or watch helplessly. She’s determined to put her nursing skills to use, despite the danger, even if it means working alongside the man she can never have. 

In this first installment of NY Times bestselling author, Wendy Higgins’s debut New Adult series, a frighteningly realistic apocalyptic America is brought to life, entwined with searing romantic tension that will leave you eager for more.

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*IMPORTANT*

Wendy will be uploading unedited chapters of Unknown on her Wattpad account for readers to preview! Here is the link to her Wattpad account:
https://www.wattpad.com/user/WendyHigginsWrites

Learn about the origins of the story, HERE!

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**About the Author**

Wendy Higgins is the USA Today and NYT bestselling author of the Sweet Evil series from HarperTeen, the high fantasy duology The Great Hunt, and her independently published Irish fantasy, See Me. She is a former high school English teacher who now writes full time, and lives on the Eastern Shore of Virginia with her veterinarian husband, daughter, son, and doggie Rue.

Wendy earned a bachelor's in Creative Writing from George Mason University and a master's in Curriculum and Instruction from Radford University. 

Stay connected with Wendy Higgins

     

BLOG TOUR: Lying, Cheating Heart by Mindy Ruiz

We are so thrilled to be a part of exciting Blog Tour for Mindy Ruiz's Lying, Cheating Heart, the second book in the Game of Hearts sereies! On our tour stop, we will share an excerpt from the book!

Genre:

Young Adult

Paranormal/Fantasy Romance

Mythology

Series:

The Game of Hearts, #2

Publish Date:

April 7, 2016

Synopsis:

No More Lies!

Cassie Vera thought the biggest threat to her life disappeared the night her boyfriend, A.J. Vasillios, uses his one-time-use power and saved her from certain death.

She was wrong.

The mythological hit list she was on is nothing compared to her freshman year at the University of Las Vegas. Rooming with Vegas's future female royalty has pushed her estrogen tolerance to its limit. Worse, Cassie must take place in a time-honored tradition that tests her faith, while her boyfriend's new job threatens to shatter her heart.

When age-old traditions change...

Cassie's school year is interrupted when the future queens are ordered to represent their Houses in an annual high-stakes competition. While at her ancestral home in Malaga, Spain. Cassie discovers the Greek gods have gifted her with new abilities. Cassie takes matters of righting an eighteen-year-old wrong into her hands. However, actions have consequences, and Cassie's may very well end up costing her and the House of Hearts everything.

With her family's future at stake and the love of her life choosing sides, Cassie must cheat death one more time.

When duty requires you to do the unthinkable, where will your loyalties lie?

Only a Lying, Cheating Heart Knows.

   

*Excerpt*

Beaux & Cassie

I walked Beaux down the hallway to his dorm. I hadn’t been wrong about the cut above his eye getting some friends. Despite the you’re-a-chicken taunts, I’d watched Beaux’s ride from the staging area on the closed circuit TV. The announcers were just as enamored with Beaux as Amber the busty bimbo was. When the camera zoomed in on Beaux, I had to admit, I could see where the luck and charm came from. Muscles undulated under his skin, and when he smiled at the camera, my heart may have fluttered.

It was ridiculous, but the stupid organ really fluttered.

It fluttered and then filled with guilt. I didn’t have too much time to wallow, because the moment the guilt made its way to my gut, the shoot opened and Beaux flew around on the back of a terrifying beast. Revolution bucked to the left, the right, reared up, slammed down, and then lifted its hind legs to send Beaux sailing through the air. I screamed as he crashed down to the floor of the arena. Three clowns rushed in, one stopped to check on Beaux. Nonchalantly, he picked up his black cowboy hat, dusted off his chaps, and waved to the crowd, all as if there wasn’t a deadly side of beef wanting to avenge the invention of hamburgers.

“You’re sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?”

“This is nothing.” Beaux smiled down at me, deepening the cut around his eye. “I’ll wash it off, and we’ll head out for dinner.”

“You sure?” I questioned. His muscular arm, draped around my neck, made another attempt to pull me closer to him.

“You could have a concussion.” I pressed. We stopped in front of his door, that mischievous smile pulled at the cut from earlier this morning.

“Come to think of it, I could use some help with my sponge bath,” his Australian accent mixed with a slight Southern twang.

“Never mind, you’re not concussed,” I chuckled. “Where are your keys?”

“Front pocket.” He waggled his eyebrows before adding, “Mind the flashlight, once you turn it on, it’s hard to contain the light.”

I giggled and slipped out from under Beaux’s arm, steadying him as I let go. I was getting good at dodging the one-liners. By the end of the semester, I’d have ninja skills to combat his come-ons.

“I think you can handle finding your own keys and flashlight from here, cowboy.” I turned to walk down the hall, but Beaux snagged the waistband of my skirt and pulled me back into him. The warmth of his body washed through me as he rested his chin on my shoulder, making parts of my body come to life. Parts of me that had no business becoming aware of anybody but A.J.

I shouldn’t feel this.

Not for him.

I had a boyfriend, and Beaux was in love with another girl. This had disaster written all over it, which was probably why Midas thought it was such a damned good idea. Beaux spun me around, my hands splayed against his chest, but that didn’t stop him from resting his forehead on mine. Every inch of the front of me pressed into every inch of him. I’m certain he could feel my heart pounding against his chest.

“Thanks for coming with me,” he finally whispered. The scent of hard alcohol one of the rodeo clowns had given him after he stumbled out of the main arena still clung to his breath.

“I wasn’t sure I had a choice.” I watched the light in his eyes dull just a fraction and immediately wanted the words back. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you got it out of your system.”

The glimmer returned; so did the mischievous smile.

“Who says I’ve gotten you out of my system?”

My pulse kick-started.

“I was talking about the bull riding.”

“Sheila, there’s no difference between you and the bulls. You’re both in my system and you’re both deadly as sin. But I will admit, I’m looking forward to kissing you more than I am the bulls.”

I stepped away from Beaux and turned so he could see how serious I was when I said, “Flirt with me all you want, but you and I will never happen. I love A.J.”

~~~

Sequel to:

(book cover is link to Goodreads)

     

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**About the Author**

Mindy Ruiz lives in a sleepy Beach Town in Southern California. When she's not writing, she spends her time chasing after three boys, making flirty eyes at her hunky husband, watching fantasy television shows, cheering for the Dallas Cowboys, and hanging out at the beach with her very large and loud Italian family.

Her career in publishing started in the 4th grade with a story about a magic, museum-hopping chair. Now, Mindy writes young adult, new adult and adult paranormal romance. Her books always include tormented heroes, snarky heroines and lots of swoon-y moments that will put a smile on your face of make your heart race Mindy is the lover of a good romance, the underdog and John Hugh's 80's teen movies.

When her toes aren't in the sand or her mind isn't in the clouds, Mindy loves hearing from readers.

Stay connected with Mindy Ruiz

       

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***The Giveaway***

Prizes:

 

Pandora Heart Bangle                                       Vegas Inspired Swag

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour Organized by

RELEAST BLITZ: Surviving High School by Lele Pons & Melissa de la Cruz

We are totally psyched to celebrate the release of Surviving High School by Lele Pons and Melissa de la Cruz!

Genre:

Young Adult

Contemporary Fiction

Publish Date:

April 5, 2016

Publisher:

Gallery Books

Synonyms:

Vine superstar Lele Pons—"one of the coolest girls on the web" (Teen Vogue)—teams up with #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz (The Isle of the Lost) in this lovable debut novel about the wilds and wonders of high school that's as laugh-out-loud addictive as Lele's popular videos.

Ten million followers and I still sit alone at lunch. Lele is a bulls-eye target at her new school in Miami until, overnight, her digital fame catapults the girl with cheerleader looks, a seriously silly personality, and a self-deprecating funny bone into the popular crowd. Now she’s facing a whole new set of challenges—the relentless drama, the ruthless cliques, the unexpected internet celebrity—all while trying to keep her grades up and make her parents proud.

Filled with the zany enthusiasm that has made Lele into Vine’s most viewed star, this charming novel is proof that high school is a trip. From crushing your crushes (what’s up with that hot transfer student Alexei??) to throwing Insta-fake parties with your BFFs and moaning over homework (GAH) with your frenemies, high school is a rollercoaster of exhilarating highs and totally embarrassing lows. Leave it to Lele to reassure us that falling flat on your face is definitely not the end of the world. Fans of Mean Girls will love this fun and heartwarming fish-out-of-water story.

      

*Excerpt*

PROLOGUE

To my lovely and beautiful readers. Before I tell you the story of how I vowed to survive high school, I’d like to talk about something near and dear to my heart.

See, every human being (and most animals, I find) have their own unique essence, an essence comprised of deeply rooted qualities that make them who they are. Ancient Greek philosophers would refer to this as the “soul”—but I am not an ancient Greek philosopher, I am a teenage girl, and so I will call it Lele-ness. Of course, you wouldn’t call it Lele-ness, you would call it Sara-ness or Jason-ness, or whatever your name might be.

My point is: I believe that YOU-ness is something very special, no matter who you are, and it ought to be celebrated. So I shall now tell you how I came to be truly Lele, a person I love for better or for worse.

Of course, part of your essence comes into this world with you at birth, but it’s really what happens next that starts to shape you into you. I was born in Caracas, a major city in Venezuela, but quickly moved to the countryside where I—get this—lived in a barn. I mean, can you even? Picture this: baby Lele running barefoot through cornfields miles and miles away from civilization.

I didn’t have dogs or cats as pets, instead I had baby tigers and monkeys as close friends. My whole childhood I knew nothing of shopping malls or (gasp!) the internet. For entertainment I had only nature—bird-watching and berry picking and, best of all, stargazing.

For as long as I can remember, language has been a struggle for me. Words didn’t come to me as a child, so I used my body to communicate. It felt so much more natural to express my- self that way. I felt comfortable drawing out my thoughts and feelings, instead of verbalizing them, so I’d often draw out storyboards—sometimes eight pages long—to explain to my parents or teachers what it was that I wanted. Everyone has their strengths and their weaknesses: for me, artwork and movement were strengths, while speaking to others using words was a weakness.

Now take all of that and add immigrating to the United States, and you have a potential disaster on your hands. I knew nothing about American culture, and my differences paralyzed me with anxiety. For comfort and peace of mind, I turned to entertainment. I found I was embraced by my peers for being physically dramatic and, well, funny. I found that I knew how to make people laugh, and so I held on to that as a life raft in the sea of the most confusing and alienating time in my life.

I believe it was my wild upbringing plus my verbal disadvantages that led me to be the performer and one-of-a-kind weirdo with a heart of gold that I am today. It’s not always easy being Lele, but every morning when I wake up I say, “Bring it on,” and that attitude is what has taken me on this incredible journey.

I encourage you to think about the life events and circumstances that have made you truly YOU, and to celebrate every single part of yourself—the strong, the weak, the good, the bad, and the ugly— because each part contributes to making you special and AMAZING. Trust me.

So that is the story of how I developed my Lele essence. What follows is the story of how I survived my first year at Miami High and how I got to share my message with almost ten million followers. I hope you enjoy it!

XO Lele

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**About the Authors**

Joe Scarnici—WireImage/Getty Images

Lele Pons is the nineteen-year-old Vine phenomenon from Florida who recently reached ten million followers and 7.6 billion loops, making her the #1 most watched person on Vine. She has been nominated for three Teen Choice Awards, a People's Choice Award, and a Streamy Award and featured in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, Teen Vogue, Time magazine, and more. In 2015, she was invited to the White House to create Vines to support the First Lady's campaign for disadvantaged kids to go to college.

Lele graduated from high school in 2015 and moved from Miami to Los Angeles.

Stay connected with Lele Pons

     

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Melissa dela Cruz is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens including The Au Pairs series, the Blue Bloods series, the Ashleys series, the Angels on Sunset Boulevard series and the semi-autobiographical novel Fresh Off the Boat.

Her books for adults include the novel Cat's Meow, the anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys and the tongue-in-chic handbooks How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less and The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-inch Heels and Faux-Pas.

She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney's, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews.

Melissa grew up in Manila and moved to San Francisco with her family, where she graduated high school salutatorian from The Convent of the Sacred Heart. She majored in art history and English at Columbia University (and minored in nightclubs and shopping!)

She now divides her time between New York and Los Angeles, where she lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband and daughter.

Stay connected with Melissa de la Cruz

    

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***The Giveaway***

Giveaway Open to U.S. & Canada Only

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