BLOG TOUR: Chasing Starlight by Teri Bailey Black

Welcome to the Official Blog Tour for Award-winning Author Teri Bailey Black's Chasing Starlight, coming from Tor Teen! Today, on our tour stop, we have an exclusive excerpt AND a tour-wide giveaway to share! Be sure to check it out and grab your copy now! Follow the tour, HERE!

Genre:

Young Adult

Historical Fiction/Mystery

Publish Date:

August 11, 2020

Publisher:

Tor Teen

Synopsis:

Movies, mansions, and murder in the Golden Age of Hollywood! Teri Bailey Black's Chasing Starlight is a historical mystery from the award-winning author of the Thriller Award for Best Young Adult Novel.

1938. The Golden Age of Hollywood. Palm trees and movie stars. Film studios pumping out musicals, westerns, and gangster films at a furious pace. Everyone wants to be a star―except society girl and aspiring astronomer Kate Hildebrand, who’d rather study them in the night sky. She’s already famous after a childhood tragedy turned her into a newspaper headline. What she craves is stability.

But when Kate has to move to Hollywood to live with her washed-up silent film star grandfather, she walks into a murder scene and finds herself on the front page again. She suspects one of the young men boarding in her grandfather’s run-down mansion is the killer―maybe even her grandfather. She searches for clues.

Now, Kate must discover the killer while working on the set of a musical―and falling in love. Will her stars align so she can catch the murderer and live the dream in Old Hollywood? Or will she find that she's just chasing starlight?

       

  

*Excerpt*

Chapter 1

1938 California

When Kate Hildebrand had pictured stepping off the train in Hollywood, she’d imagined palm trees and sunshine, not this inky-black night and strange, warm wind. A loose sign banged in the restless air and leaves rustled.

She stood in the shaft of light spilling from the train, her heart thumping harder than it should have, wishing she’d taken an earlier train to arrive in daylight.

Kate hated the dark.

Behind her, the Santa Fe Super Chief screamed a warning whistle and chugged into motion, moving on to San Diego. In front of her, the other teenaged girl who’d disembarked was greeted by a large family, everyone hugging and talking at once, and the man who’d dozed most of the day dropped his suitcase to embrace a woman holding a baby. Farther away, a cluster of men in suits and hats shook hands. 

No one approached Kate.

She lifted her chin to see better below the brim of her stylish blue fedora, but didn’t find her grandfather.

Not that his face was all that familiar to her.

He’d come to San Francisco for Thanksgiving when Kate was eight—an attempt at reconciliation with her mother that hadn’t gone so well—and he’d returned for her mother’s funeral a few years after that, but Kate hadn’t seen him because she hadn’t attended. Since then, there’d been a few birthday cards and awkward phone calls, but Kate knew more about her grandfather from movie magazines than memories, and those magazines were a decade old, from his heyday in the 1920s.

No one had written about silent film star Oliver Banks in a very long time.

The station wasn’t as grand as she’d expected, just a wide stretch of concrete with a stucco building and two lanterns casting more shadow than light. No movie stars arriving to swarms of fans, like she’d seen in magazines. But then, this wasn’t actually Hollywood, just the neighboring town where her grandfather lived—Pasadena.

The other travelers drifted into the dark, taking their cheerful voices with them, leaving Kate alone with her luggage—two enormous trunks, a small suitcase, a cosmetic case, and three hat boxes. Her entire life packed into a few square feet of space.

“He’s expecting you,” Aunt Lorna had insisted yesterday as she’d packed for her own trip in another direction—which for Aunt Lorna meant tossing clothes on the bed for their housekeeper Hattie to pack. “I sent a telegram and it’s all set. I hope you’ve finished packing.”

“You know I have.” Lists written. Tasks crossed off. Everything Kate owned neatly folded and organized, her telescope tucked between sweaters.

“Which outfit for boarding the ship?” Aunt Lorna had asked. “Something pretty?” She’d held up an apricot-colored dress. “Or the expected nautical?” In her other hand, she’d held up navy with gold buttons.

“Nautical,” Kate had advised without much thought because Aunt Lorna looked chic in everything. She had the same lean figure as all the Hildebrands—including Kate—and the same red hair, cut chin length, carefully curled and tucked into place. Aunt Lorna’s shade was bright copper, helped by a bottle; Kate’s, auburn.

Copyright © 2020 by Teri Bailey Black

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Praise for CHASING STARLIGHT

"Chasing Starlight dazzles with richly drawn characters, a breathtaking mystery, and a vivid 1930s Hollywood setting. Black masterfully evokes the glamour and darkness of a mesmerizing era steeped in secrets, lies, and dreams." ―Cat Winters author of The Raven's Tale

"Miss Fisher meets Tinseltown in this addictive mystery full of Old Hollywood glamour and slow-burn secrets. Chasing Starlight is the journey of aspiring-astronomer-turned-reluctant-sleuth Kate as she works not only to solve a murder but find her place in the world after a tumultuous past. Come for the gossipy glam of old Hollywood; stay for a cast of charmingly quirky characters and a mystery that will have you guessing until the end." ―McKelle George, author of Speak Easy, Speak Love

"Chasing Starlight is a mystery as alluring as old Hollywood itself―and fun! Teri Bailey Black’s story has a historical-yet-modern feel, and the setting is so creative and cinematic you’ll feel as if you’re sitting on a film set. With a cast of dream-chasers who showcase both the glamour and the grit, Chasing Starlight is delightful from the first scene to the last." ―Jodie Lynn Zdrok, author of Spectacle

“Black delivers an atmospheric mystery with cinematic flair that’s chock full of period detail, highlighting women’s roles in front of, and behind, the camera during Hollywood’s golden age. A captivating crowd pleaser.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“This complex tale featuring blossoming romance, an edge-of-your-seat murder, and a host of characters to love and hate is recommended for collections where mysteries are popular.” ―School Library Journal

“Entertainingly conveying the glitz of Kate’s Hollywood life and romantic interests, this breezy whodunit is a fun historical escape with satisfactory twists.” ― Publishers Weekly

“A thrillingly romantic dive into Old Hollywood that will appeal to cinema and history buffs alike.” ―Booklist 

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**About the Author**

Photo Content from Teri Bailey Black

Teri Bailey Black is happiest when she's creating things, whether it's with words, fabric, or digging in the garden. Her debut novel, Girl at the Grave, won the Thriller Award for Best Young Adult Novel, and the Whitney Award for Best Debut and Best Young Adult Novel. Her second novel, Chasing Starlight, was published June 2020. She and her husband have four children and live in Orange County, California.

Stay connected with Teri Bailey Black

     

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***The Giveaway***

Giveaway Open Internationally | Must be 13+ to Enter

Note: Not Responsible for Lost & Damaged Prizes in Your Mail Box

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Blog Tour Organized by

BLOG TOUR: Universe of Two by Stephen P. Kiernan

Welcome to the Official Blog Tour for Award-winning Author Stephen P. Kiernan's Universe of Two! Today, on our tour stop, we have an exclusive excerpt to share! Not only that, we have a tour-wide giveaway to share, too! Be sure to check it out and grab your copy now! Follow the tour, HERE!

Genre:

Adult

Historical Fiction

Publish Date:

August 4, 2020

Publisher:

William Morrow

(imprint of HarperCollins)

Synopsis:

From the critically acclaimed author of The Baker’s Secret and The Curiosity comes a novel of conscience, love, and redemption—a fascinating fictionalized account of the life of Charlie Fisk, a gifted mathematician who was drafted into Manhattan Project and ordered against his morals to build the detonator for the atomic bomb. With his musician wife, he spends his postwar life seeking redemption—and they find it together.

Graduating from Harvard at the height of World War II, brilliant mathematician Charlie Fish is assigned to the Manhattan Project. Working with some of the age’s greatest scientific minds, including J. Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Leo Szilard, Charlie is assigned the task of designing and building the detonator of the atomic bomb.

As he performs that work Charlie suffers a crisis of conscience, which his wife, Brenda—unaware of the true nature of Charlie’s top-secret task—mistakes as self-doubt. She urges him to set aside his qualms and continue. Once the bombs strike Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the feelings of culpability devastate him and Brenda.

At the war’s end, Charlie receives a scholarship to pursue a PhD in physics at Stanford—an opportunity he and Brenda hope will allow them a fresh start. But the past proves inescapable. All any of his new colleagues can talk about is the bomb, and what greater atomic weapons might be on the horizon. Haunted by guilt, Charlie and Brenda leave Stanford and decide to dedicate the rest of their lives to making amends for the evil he helped to birth into the world.

Based on the life of the actual mathematician Charles B. Fisk, Universe of Two combines riveting historical drama with a poignant love story. Stephen P. Kiernan has conjured a remarkable account of two people struggling to heal their consciences and find peace in a world forever changed.

       

  

*Excerpt*

Brenda’s Feelings Page 142-144

The afternoon was quiet as the week before, spring advancing, but this year without graduation-present customers and wedding-gift parents. My first anniversary at Dubie’s Music approached, and a job I’d been loving had turned to mud.

Where was Charlie? What was he doing? Why had I sent such a trivial reply?

On the way home, I saw a couple kissing against a building. Some kids chased each other around a tree. A pigeon trotted along with its head bobbing, staying in my path without flying away for a full block. But nothing could make the sun come out.

At home I went straight to my room, fishing out the stationery that I saved for thank-you notes and special occasions. I parked myself at the little desk and began.

Dear Charlie, Please forgive my last letter. It was terrible and petty. This is all new to me. As it is to you too, of course. So I will make dumb mistakes until I learn better.

Since you left Chicago, the music is gone. No one pops into the store. There’s no you to learn new pieces for. Spring is happening all around me but I do not feel it. In your letter you used the word alchemy and I do not know what it means. This is a secret I have kept from you: Sometimes you use words I don’t understand. I do not want to pretend any more.

I sat back, astonished. Every sentence contained a confession. Reading this note after the last one, and think I had gone stark crazy. I slid the paper into a drawer, and went downstairs.

My mother was in the kitchen. Feeling like I’d be terrible company, I went to the living room – where the piano sat with the cover open like an invitation. I slid onto the bench, fiddled with classical pieces, started a ragtime tune that made me feel like an imposter, and finally gave in to what I wanted to play.

Two chords from my left hand, while that mournful D wafted high above. Back and forth, that one note as my mooring, I let myself drift.

Maybe I had never really felt anything before. I didn’t remember being upset when Frank and my father went away, though I sure missed them now. Charlie seemed to have opened a door in my heart, and behind it was a room full of melancholy.

I cannot say how long I sat there, repeating myself on those keys. As evening came on, the room grew dark and eventually the reverie broke. When I stopped playing, the immediate sensation was not of relief or catharsis, but embarrassment: My mother had been in the next room that whole time, listening to me carry on with my two chords.

I marched into the kitchen, ready to say I don’t know what. She was sitting at the table, the newspaper crumpled in her lap, tears streaming down her face.

It stopped me like a crossing guard with his hand up. “Are you all right?”

She shook her head. “No. I’m not all right, and neither are you.” “What do you mean?” She wiped her face roughly on her sleeve. “Little girl, we need to change some things around here. Both of us. We can’t keep on like this.”

Copyright © 2020 by Stephen P. Kiernan

Praise for UNIVERSE OF TWO

“Rarely does historical fiction get everything so right as Universe of Two: compelling characters, faithful detail, a story packed with unexpected twists, and a sure, authentic voice that never wavers. In this novel of the dawn of the atomic age and its profound consequences, Stephen Kiernan leads us along a journey of conscience as complex and infinite as the science itself.” —Beatriz Williams, New York Times bestselling author of The Golden Hour

“Stephen Kiernan has pulled off the nearly impossible, reminding us by wrapping a war story in a love story that although we hold the power for our own extinction, we also have the power to redeem, heal, and save. The most tender, terrifying, relevant book you’ll read this year.” —Jenna Blum, New York Times bestselling author of Those Who Save Us and The Lost Family

“Based loosely on the life of mathematician and organ-maker Charles B. Fisk, this fascinating novel delves into the guilt and remorse that wracked him for his part in the development of the atomic bomb. . . . The two main characters are complex and flawed, but when they come together, their world is in harmony.” —Library Journal

“Kiernan recreates the zeitgeist of America leading up to the atomic bomb on a national and personal level: the eager anticipation of wartime’s end, the grimly fascinating science, and the growing sense of guilt and dread. Simultaneously tender and hard-hitting, this riveting story offers much to reflect upon.” —Booklist

"Universe of Two skillfully educates, entertains and enlightens as great historical fiction should . . . . Masterfully researched and exquisitely told." —The Patriot Ledger

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**About the Author**

Photo Content from Beowolf Sheehan

As a journalist and novelist, Stephen P. Kiernan has published nearly four million words. His newspaper work garnered more than forty awards — including the George Polk Award and the Scripps Howard Award for Distinguished Service to the First Amendment.

Stephen’s newest novel, UNIVERSE OF TWO, will be out May 5, 2020. He is also author of the novels THE CURIOSITY (now in television series development), THE BAKER'S SECRET (a regional Indie bestseller), and THE HUMMINGBIRD. He has also written two nonfiction books, LAST RIGHTS and AUTHENTIC PATRIOTISM. His work has been translated into many languages.

Stephen was born in Newtonville, NY the sixth of seven children. A graduate of Middlebury College, he received a Master of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He has chaired the board of the Young Writers Project, served on the Vermont Legislative Committee on Pain and Palliative Care, and served on the advisory board of the New Hampshire Palliative Care Initiative. He has spoken and consulted around the country about hospice, palliative care and advance directives.

A performer on the guitar since he was ten years old, Stephen has recorded 3 CDs of solo instrumentals, and composed music for dance, the stage and documentary films.

He lives in Vermont with his two amazing sons.

Stay connected with Stephen P. Kiernan

      

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***The Giveaway***

Giveaway Open Internationally | Must be 13+ to Enter

- ends August 24, 2020

Note: Not Responsible for Lost & Damaged Prizes in Your Mail Box

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Blog Tour Organized by

SALE BLITZ: Of The Blood by Cameo Renae

Today, we have a Sale Blitz for Cameo Renae's Of The Blood, the first title in the Heir of Blood and Fire series! For a limited time only, download the ebook for only USD 99¢... Only on Amazon! So... Be sure to check it out and grab your ecopy now!

Genre:

Young Adult

Dark Fantasy

Series:

Heir of Blood and Fire, #1

Publish Date:

May 15, 2020

Synopsis:

One malicious prince. Two rival kingdoms. And an innocent girl caught in the crossfire.

Raised in a war-ravaged continent, temptation comes to Calla Caldwell in the form of a charming and mysterious stranger. Giving in to his intimate seduction, her world is forever changed by a single bite.

Calla quickly learns the handsome stranger is vampire prince, Trystan Vladu. His bite was an attempt to claim and save her from a plot of vengeance generations in the making. However, the claws of that ancient vendetta are scraping ever closer.

Thrust into a new nightmare by the Prince of the corrupt kingdom of Morbeth, Calla is captured, tortured, and starved in the dank confines of his dungeon. While in captivity, she takes part in a séance with a witch of light where she contacts a departed relative—a Princess of Incendia—who bequeaths a gift to Calla that will tip the scales of good and evil . . . if she can learn to harness it.

With a dark tapestry of secrets, lies, and murder unraveling around her, Calla must learn to embrace the power roiling through her veins, or be snuffed out by the strangling fist of a malevolent darkness.

       

*FREE on Kindle Unlimited*

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Praise for Of the Blood

"Swoon-worthy and action packed, Of the Blood is a wonderful start to a dark and dangerous new series." - #1 NY Times Bestselling Author, Jennifer L. Armentrout

"Fast paced and fantastical! This magical and blood thirsty tale of a seemingly ordinary girl with a destiny greater than she could have imagined will have you turning the pages long after the bathwater has gone cold. 5 stars!” ~ Tara Brown International Bestselling Author

"A vibrant quest twisting deeper with each turned page, Cameo Renae has weaved a romantic story full of heart and rich characters!" ~ Kelly St. Clare, USA Today Bestseller

"This is a beautifully written tale set against a rich tapestry of mystery and intrigue where battles are fought and won not only with the sword but the heart and mind. Excellent world-building, intriguing characters, smoldering romance, and a solid plot all make this one of my favorite books of the year." ~ Rue Volley, USA Today Bestselling author of 13 Ways to Midnight

"Magic, villains, romance, adventure - this book has it all! I can't wait to see where Calla's journey takes her next." ~ Karen Lynch, NYT Bestselling author

"Magic, mystery, and mayhem make up this marvelously twisting tale. Renae shines a fresh light on some old favorites. Vampires, witches, and even merfolk take on new life as their intriguing story unfolds in this unique dark fantasy." ~ #1 Bestselling Author of the Witches of Blackbrook Series, Tish Thawer

"A bold new fantasy romance steeped with thrilling adventure and lush lore." - Casey L. Bond, author of When Wishes Bleed

"A dark, tantalizing fantasy with unforgettable characters and captivating plot, Cameo will have you on the edge of your seat and enthralled from start to finish." - Mary Ting, International bestselling, award-winning author

source

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**About the Author**

Cameo Renae, was born in San Francisco, raised in Maui, Hawaii, and now resides with her husband and children in Las Vegas.

She's a daydreamer, caffeine and peppermint addict, who loves to laugh, and loves to read to escape reality.

One of her greatest joys is creating fantasy worlds filled with adventure and romance and sharing it with others. It is the love of her family and amazing support of her fans that keeps her going.

One day she hopes to find her own magic wardrobe and ride away on her magical unicorn. Until then...she'll keep writing!

Stay connected with Cameo Renae

      

  

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