Monday 4 April 2016

New Release Spotlight: Blackbird Summer by Em Shotwell



Blackbird Summer
A Blackbird Summer Series Novel
By: Em Shotwell
Releasing April 5, 2016
City Owl Press


When people fear the unknown, being Gifted is a curse.
In the cornerstone of the rural south, Brooklyn, Mississippi, no one dares make eye contact with the strange Caibre family. Until the rewards are worth the cost. The townsfolk come, cash in hand, always at night, to pay for services only a Gifted can provide.
No matter the Gifts prevalent in her family, at twenty-one, Tallulah is expected to follow the path laid out for her: marriage, babies, and helping her mama teach the family home school program. She’s resigned to live the quiet life and stay out of trouble…until she meets Logan.
An outsider and all around rebel, Logan doesn’t care about her family’s reputation. Yet after a tragic loss wreaks havoc on the crumbling relationship between the Caibres and the townsfolk, Tallulah must decide if love and freedom are worth risking everything.

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Just thinking his name sent a rush of dangerous bliss through me, making me feel things that I had never allowed myself to imagine possible. Romance. Lust. Those were just words on the pages of the paperbacks I read to fill my days working at the produce stand. The married couples in my family loved each other, sure. But their love grew to be. There was no locking eyes and intense feelings. It was all very proper. Planned. Analytical, even. Inquiries sent from one family to another. That’s how it has always been. That is how it has to be, the familiar lecture ran through my mind.
My emotions tore at each other, at war inside of me. Fear that I’d somehow made things harder for my family. Hatred and anger at Myrtle. Unexplainable desire and excitement over Logan. Sadness because nothing could ever come from those feelings. And if I am honest, maybe the tiniest bit of relief that it was out of my hands.
Most of all the unfairness of everything settled over me.
It was just too much. 


Em Shotwell is the author of Blackbird Summer with City Owl Press.  She believes the most interesting characters are the ones who live on the sidelines, and that the smallest towns often hide the biggest secrets.  
Em’s characters will bless your heart between sips of sweet tea- but be warned! There is often more to them than meets the eye.  She loves to craft stories around outcasts and weirdos with a spark of magic and a penchant for finding trouble.
She lives in South Louisiana with a husband who spoils her and two mini-superheroes who call her mom. When she isn’t writing about misfits and oddballs, she enjoys spending time outdoors hiking, and debating Doctor Who facts with her obsessed ten year old.

Link to Follow Tour: Here 



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Release Day: Getting It Back by Elizabeth Harmon

He needs a comeback, but is it in his career, or love?
In this second-chance romance, a former top men’s figure skating champion is willing to risk everything for a comeback – except a new start with his long lost love...



About GETTING IT BACK

An unexpected phone call from the man who broke her heart offers Amy Shepherd an opportunity to return to the work she loves, training elite figure skaters. Except it’s just one figure skater: Him. Can she finally forgive and forget?
Figure skater Mikhail “Misha” Zaikov once had it all: medals, money and the adoration of millions. But a devastating injury put an end to his career and his romance, leaving him with nothing but regret over what could have been. His last chance to re-join the world’s top skaters is now. And there’s only one person who can help him: Her.
On Russia’s unyielding ice, Misha must reclaim what he's lost while facing off against a talented young rival and risking further injury. But Amy soon discovers Misha's much bigger challenges lurk off the ice. And she's determined to keep Misha whole and healthy, even if doing so ends his shot at the gold.


On Sale in Digital: April 4, 2016



The call in the middle of the night jolted Amy awake.
She grabbed the buzzing phone from her nightstand, and when she looked at the display, it took a moment for her sleep-muddled mind to grasp the name. Then she sat up. Her palms felt prickly and her heart began to pound. Was she dreaming? She had to be. She hadn’t heard from Mikhail Zaikov in twenty-two months. .
Before she could answer, the ringing stopped. The glowing face of her alarm clock showed that it was a little after three-thirty on Sunday…no, Monday morning. The first week of spring break. Fully awake now, she switched on the lamp and stared down at the phone. The blinking red light signaled a message. This was no dream. Misha had called her.
Why?
By mistake, of course. Butt-dials happened all the time. He must be somewhere, doing what one did at 3:30 in the morning, and had bumped his phone, causing it to accidently dial her number. A miracle he still had it, really. She would have thought he’d deleted it long ago. Her curiosity was piqued, but at the foot of her bed, her sleeping cat Milo stirred, a reminder that curiosity was bad for felines, and in this case, for females, too. Misha’s message would probably turn out to be noise and voices from some far-away nightclub, or worse, a bedroom. She reached for the light when the phone buzzed again. A text, this time.
She laughed harshly, thinking of the last text he’d sent. The one that came on the morning of her college graduation and said he was taking a job in Chicago, and leaving town pronto. Good-bye, good luck, thanks for the good times. The text that confirmed while she’d been serious about Misha, he didn’t feel the same. But the need to know why he was texting in the middle of the night was too strong. She opened the message.


Check out other books in the Red Hot Russians series!

PAIRING OFF



2016 RITA® Award Finalist...Best First Book!
American figure skater Carrie Parker's Winter Games dreams were dashed when her philandering partner caused one of the greatest scandals in skating history. Blacklisted from competing in the United States, her career is over…until she receives a mysterious invitation and is paired with the most infuriating, talented—and handsome—skater she's ever met.

Russian champion Anton Belikov knows sacrifice. He gave up a normal life and any hope of a meaningful relationship to pursue his dream. And he's come close—with a silver medal already under his belt, the next stop is the gold. All he needs is a partner. While he's never forgotten the young American skater he seduced one long-ago night in Amsterdam, he never expected to be confronted with their past…never mind share the ice with her.

When what starts as a publicity stunt grows into something real, Carrie and Anton's partnership will test their loyalties to family, country and each other. With only a few months to train for the competition of a lifetime, can they master technique and their emotions, or will they lose their footing and fall victim to the heartaches of their pasts?



TURNING IT ON



Book editor Hannah Levinson couldn't be happier. This "Nice Jewish Girl" is ready to marry the man she's longed after for half her life. When her fiancé suggests they audition for Last Fling, a steamy new reality show for engaged couples, she lets herself be swayed. Maybe she'll learn a thing or two.

Vlad Shustov's fall from a once-bright career as a competitive figure skater was swift. Now trapped by a shameful past and an uncertain future, "Vlad the Bad" strips for cash. Joining the cast of Last Fling could earn him a fortune—or at least enough to finally leave stripping. But to win the show's prize, he must seduce an engaged woman, something he can't even bear the thought of.

Hannah's not like any woman Vlad's met before. Betrayed by the man she thought she loved and relegated to the ugly-duckling role she'd worked so hard to shed, can she trust there's more to Vlad than meets the eye? With sleazy TV tactics shattering the last shreds of the contestants' confidence, they'll have to believe true happiness is not only possible...it may be looking right at them.




Elizabeth Harmon loves to read and write romances with a dash of different.
A graduate of the University of Illinois, she has worked in advertising, community journalism and as a freelance magazine writer. She feels incredibly blessed to have a career that allows her to spend her days imagining “what if?” and a loving family that keeps her grounded in the real world. Her debut novel, Pairing Off is a 2016 RITA Award Finalist.
An adventurous cook, vintage home enthusiast, occasional actress, and entry-level figure skater, Elizabeth makes her home in the Midwest, where life is good, but the sports teams aren’t. She loves to hang out on her front porch, or at her favorite local establishments, enjoy good food and wine, and talk writing with anyone who will listen.

Follow Elizabeth
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CELEBRATE THE RELEASE WITH A GIVEAWAY!
Grand Prize: $30 Amazon gift card 
2 Runner-up Prizes: Digital copies of any one (1) book by Elizabeth Harmon from her backlist