Thursday, December 31, 2015

My Favorite Reads of 2015

Did you do a lot of reading in 2015? I feel like I ingested hundreds of books and there are just a few that have made my list of Favorite Reads of 2015. Are you curious as to what they are?

Well, wait no longer! Here they are (in no particular order):

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover


From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover, a passionate tale of friendship, betrayal, and romance.

At twenty-two years old, Sydney has a great life: She's in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her best friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers Hunter's cheating on her--and she is left trying to decide what to do next.

Sydney becomes captivated by Ridge, her mysterious neighbor. She can't take her eyes off him or stop listening to the passionate way he plays his guitar every evening out on his balcony. And there's something about Sydney that Ridge can't ignore, either. When their inevitable encounter happens, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one...
Original music created for Maybe Someday by musician Griffin Peterson can be accessed through the website listed in the ebook and paperback.

From the author of the New York Times bestsellers Slammed, Point of Retreat, Hopeless, This Girl, and Losing Hope, Maybe Someday is destined to be another bestseller and long-lasting fan favorite.
********
I just have to say Colleen threw me for a loop in like chapter 2 or 3 in this novel of hers...it just...I just...sigh. Just read it, you'll thank me!

November 9 by Colleen Hoover


Beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover returns with an unforgettable love story between a writer and his unexpected muse.

Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.

Can Ben’s relationship with Fallon—and simultaneously his novel—be considered a love story if it ends in heartbreak?

********

I finished November 9 on November 11th and then started reading it again 3 hours later. The first time is was great, the second time it was even better, even though I knew the twists and the ending.

The Consequence of Loving Colton by Rachel Van Dyken


It’s all fun and games…until someone’s heart is broken.

They’re not kids anymore, but Milo Caro is certain that Colton Mathews will only see her as his best friend’s little sister for the rest of their lives. After all, he made that clear the night before she left for college. But four years later, her brother is getting married and Colt’s the best man—and guess who is the best man’s last-minute date?

Milo vows to use the wedding to either claim the smoldering firefighter’s heart or douse this torch for good. When Max—her best friend from college, who may be carrying a torch of his own—crashes the party, they devise a plan to make Colt see what he’s missing. But after Colt catches on, he decides to cook up his own revenge.

Now it’s personal. Colt and Milo are at war, and between Max’s questionable acting methods, an unfortunate trip to jail, and a maniacal fiancĂ©e, what could possibly go right?

********

Oh my, the banter and the tension. So, so good!

Pretend You're Mind by Lucy Score


I only wanted to protect you...

Luke Garrison is a hometown hero, a member of the National Guard ready to deploy again. Strong, sweet, and sexy, he doesn't have a girlfriend and doesn't want one. When the wildly beautiful Harper stumbles into his life, though, he realizes that she's the perfect decoy. A fake girlfriend to keep his family off his back until he's out on another mission.

So what if a single bite of her lip sends his mind to wicked places? He can control himself. Can't he?

Harper was on her way to starting a new life... again. But something about Luke makes her want to settle down in this small town and make Luke's house a home. When his arms wrap around her like steel, she finally knows what it's like to feel safe. Protected.

One night of sleeping in the same bed turns into something much, much more... and soon Luke can't keep his mind off Harper's wide gray eyes, or his hands off of her luscious curves. He never thought he'd feel this way about a woman again. But he knows that he can't tell her the truth about his dark past, and she can't reveal to him what she's running from.

Anyway, this isn't a real relationship. It's only for a month. Only pretend. Until it isn't...
********
I can't think of another book this year that made me FEEL so much. I just can't tell you all the feels I had throughout this book - it was amazing! 

The Air He Breathes by Brittainy C. Cherry


I was warned about Tristan Cole.

“Stay away from him,” people said.
“He’s cruel.”
“He’s cold.”
“He’s damaged.”

It’s easy to judge a man because of his past. To look at Tristan and see a monster.

But I couldn’t do that. I had to accept the wreckage that lived inside of him because it also lived inside of me.

We were both empty.

We were both looking for something else. Something more.

We both wanted to put together the shattered pieces of our yesterdays.

Then perhaps we could finally remember how to breathe.

********

This. Was. Just. That. Book. This book made me want to be a better writer. It made me want to pull the emotions from my readers. I fell in love with the characters, the story and the heart.

********

So...what were your favorite reads of 2015? I'd love to know!!

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

CATCHING FOX Release Day Blitz!



CATCHING FOX Is Now Available!

A new adult, contemporary romance
By Aimee McNeil
Limitless Publishing http://www.limitlesspublishing.net/
Cover Designed by TOJ Publishing Services

"You remind me of a fox because you are quick, quiet, and...beautiful."

Find It On Amazon>> 
AMAZON CAN http://amzn.to/1Yhm8RN

FREE on Kindle Unlimited!


GOODREADS http://bit.ly/1NQfErs

A chance meeting between two young souls is all it took...

When Adalynne Fairweather was just a child, her entire life had already been planned. From Ivy League schools to a career in law, adventure was the one thing out of her reach. That was until a boy with bright green eyes and a monster truck t-shirt wandered into her back yard, giving the adventure she longed for.

Refuge can be found in the most unlikely places…
Damon Knight’s abusive home life left him longing for a childhood he never had—until he wandered into Adalynne’s yard. She took his hand, smiled at him, and even gave him a nickname. Fox. The woods became their escape—a place to flee from reality. He discovered music through Adalynne’s piano, and not long after that, she gave him a guitar. Little did he know that gift would change his life forever.

Years later, their age is not the only thing that’s changed...

Adalynne’s love for Fox took on a life of its own. As they begin to build their lives, her heart aches for him in ways she can’t understand. As they slowly begin to drift apart, Adalynne becomes more desperate to cling to their secret romance.

But Fox is no longer the bright-eyed child from the woods. Her shy, beautiful Fox has grown into a dark, troubled man with a guitar. And when her last attempt to salvage their relationship breaks Adalynne’s heart, catching Fox a second time seems just out of her reach.




Tuesday, December 15, 2015

A note from my editor


This morning bright and early at 6:20am, sitting in my email inbox was THE email. You know the big one...the editing email.

Dun
Dun
Duunnnn!

Let me say, I was pretty worried that she would come back and say something along the lines of:
  1. You need to add 10,000 words, or
  2. You need to delete these X amount of chapters

She didn't say either of those, so I wiped the sweat from my brow! But here is a little of what she did say:
Hi BK!

First of all let me say that you made me cry and that's not nice! But honestly, I really enjoyed your book and I could really connect with Jemma (especially the grandma story line) and that was cool. You also did the love triangle in a really cool way. A lot of times triangles seem overdone but this was interesting because it was a rock star and who hasn't fancied themselves in love with a rock star who's spoken to their soul? So glad I'm the one getting to work with you!!
Did you catch what she said?!?! She CRIED!!! Seriously, as a writer, having your readers cry is one of the biggest compliments and one you strive for...okay, well, not every writer strives for that. But as a contemporary writer, yes, I do strive for pulling the emotional strings.

So, one of my author goals has already been achieved even before RAINING DOWN RULES has been released, and I am so very flattered!

I'm still waiting on my final cover, and hopefully I can reveal it soon.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Book Review: Eerie

From author C.M. McCoy, comes a story about love, loss and creepy things all rolled up into one amazing package that you'll have a really hard time putting down.

EERIE is the debut novel for C.M. McCoy who is an Irish dancer and former Air Force officer living in the Great White North. Though B.S.'d in Chemical Engineering and German, she’s far happier writing stories involving Alaska and a body bag (with an awkward kiss in the mix.) While working emergency dispatch for Alaska State Troopers, she learned to speak in 10-codes, which she still does...but only to annoy her family.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Book Blurb:

Being a ParaScience freshman is a nightmare come true...

Hailey’s dreams have always been, well...vivid. As in monsters from her nightmares follow her into her waking life vivid. When her big sister goes missing, eighteen-year-old Hailey finds the only thing keeping her safe from a murderous 3,000-year old beast is an equally terrifying creature who’s fallen “madly” in love with her. Competing to win her affection, the Dream Creature, Asher, lures her to the one place that offers safety—a ParaScience university in Alaska he calls home. There, she studies the science of the supernatural and must learn to live with a roommate from Hell, survive a tunneling earworm, extract a carnivorous splinter, evade the campus poltergeists, and hope the only creature who can save her from an evil immortal doesn’t decide to kill her himself.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Review:
5 / 5 stars


Sex: Nope.  There's is some steamy lip-locking, though.

Language: Is fairly mild, however there are a few sh*t's and only one f-bomb.

Violence: There is the mention of dismemberment a couple times, along with a few good punches thrown in. There is also the tying of souls which is quite painful to the one it's inflicted upon.

Drugs/Alcohol: The main character takes a few drinks of whiskey or wine.

Nudity: Yes, there is nudity but only because of poltergeists and the pranks they play.

What I Loved:  First and foremost, I loved the world building at Beartown University in Middle of Nowhere, Alaska. I mean there are yetis, bookworms who drink tea and blow up like balloons, and not to mention the carnivorous splinters and the 30 types of misquitos! The world is so well built, you'll want to journey up north and tour this strange, magical place. The next best thing is Hailey's roommate from Hell, Giselle. She is the complete and total opposite of Hailey: grumpy, dark, brooding, creepy and oh, NOT human. I love that I LOL'd literally a dozen times and that I had that tingly neck pulling feeling at other times (you know the one where you're reading something heartbreaking but you don't cry, you just FEEL the pain? Yeah, that one). I just plain LOVED this book!

Why 5 Stars?  This was an easy 5 stars for me because I just simply loved this book! I don't easily give out 5 stars because I do tend to pick out little things like language or cliche endings, but with Eerie, I was so pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the story and the world!

What I want more of: The rest of the story, obviously! Without giving the ending away, I want to know what happens between Hailey and Fin and even Asher, I have so many things I want to know...like when will book 2 be released?!?!

Who Would Like This? Fans of Harry Potter will remember why they fell in love with Harry Potter because of EERIE. C.M. McCoy has created a fantastical world within EERIE at Beartown University and Middle of Nowhere, Alaska. You'll love the carnivorous splinters and Giselle, Hailey's roommate from Hell. You'll love Hailey's draw to Asher and the sneaky feelings she feels towards Fin. Seriously, what won't you like?

Where Can I Buy EERIE?

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0176M19RM
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eerie-C-M-McCoy-ebook/dp/B0176M6MA6
Amazon Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/Eerie-C-M-McCoy-ebook/dp/B0176M19RM
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9781623422332
Apple iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/eerie/id1052918810
BAM: http://www.booksamillion.com/search?query=9781623422332
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/eerie-17
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/C_M_McCoy_Eerie?id=yfDPCgAAQBAJ







>>>>SPOILER ZONE—DO NOT read past this if you don't want to know what happens in the book!<<<<





Seriously...stop reading if you haven't read the book!!







So here is where we discuss more of "the book". And I don't just mean more summary or equivilant, I mean we're going to go into the nitty gritty (does anyone really still say that?) Alright, lets begin with the creatures called Envoys. So, Asher, he's one of the Envoys who is longing to go back home to the Aether, one of the three worlds/dimensions in EERIE (you have earth, Heaven and the Aether, a kind of in-between where energy is the Envoys) Being an Envoy, you can take any shape you want, and of course, Asher chooses to look somewhat like James Dean, because...James Dean. And Hailey met him in her dreams when she was young and kinda developed a crush on him, because...JAMES DEAN!

But then we're introduced to Fin who is a little older than Hailey and has girls dripping off of him because he's Hottie McFly. Hailey had a little crush on him for a short while too, but decided he was more like a big brother the way he looked out for her.

So then Holly, Hailey's sister up and gets her foot chopped off in the alley and...wait for it...DIES! She dies and we're like...wait! She and Hailey were going to go to this obscure college in Middle of Nowhere, Alaska and study Parascience. While she's grieving Holly, Fin, who's been there helping her through the funeral, just up and leaves and she doesn't see him again for almost six months! Way to be dependable, Fin...

Insert college now and the trip to Alaska is crazy! Fin AND Asher are both there and she's like..."Wait, what are you two doing here? You go to Beartown?" And Fin's all..."Yeah, something like that." And Asher's all...."I'm ignoring you..."

And then there's all this crazy stuff about don't get hurt because if you go the hospital on campus you might die because sometimes that happens...but hey! You won't be dead long. Oh, and don't forget your Yeti spray, because...YETI'S.

Let's not forget Giselle and her crazy sleeping cocoon on the ceiling or how she hates Hailey, but secretly doesn't. I just love her and her transformation and how Hailey is always trying to befriend her. It's such a great part of EERIE and makes it real.

So we're back to Asher and Fin and how they grapple over Hailey and I have to say, I am Team Fin, all the way. I kinda love that he tries to tell Hailey how he feels about her by being obscure. Sure, pushing her away as his did gave me the whole tingly neck pulling thing (remember from above??), but it added so much to her realization later on how he felt.

And then that rotten Cobon and his nasty trick at the end...I really didn't see that coming, oh, Cobon is an Envoy who has kind of gone insane and isn't too nice. Like at all (remember Holly from above? He orchestrated that whole deal - see...not nice!) I did, however, think that what happened in the very end, was going to happen...but I'm not really going to discuss that...if you really want to know how EERIE ends, you're just going to have to buy yourself a copy, because...EERIE.


>>>>EERIE and C.M. McCoy will soon be a household name, I am sure!!<<<<

Monday, December 7, 2015

Upcoming new YA release: EERIE by CM McCoy

Eerie by C.M. McCoy

Release Date: 15 Dec 2015
Omnific Publishing with distribution through Simon & Schuster

Summary: Being a ParaScience freshman is a nightmare come true Hailey’s dreams have always been, well...vivid. As in monsters from her nightmares follow her into her waking life vivid. When her big sister goes missing, eighteen- year-old Hailey finds the only thing keeping her safe from a murderous 3,000-year old beast is an equally terrifying creature who’s fallen “madly” in love with her. Competing to win her affection, the Dream Creature, Asher, lures her to the one place that offers safety—a ParaScience university in Alaska he calls home. There, she studies the science of the supernatural and must learn to live with a roommate from Hell, survive a tunneling earworm, extract a carnivorous splinter, evade the campus poltergeists, and hope the only creature who can save her from an evil immortal doesn’t decide to kill her himself.

Watch the awesome book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPx4FELVxH4

Early praise for EERIE:

“EERIE, full of voice and romance, is a thrilling and beautifully crafted story that had me up late, racing through the pages to get to the end.” - Author Brenda Drake

“5 stars! I felt there was a mash-up between Hogwarts, Xavier Institute for Exceptional Youngsters, and Beauty and the Beast, AND I LOVED IT! The creatures, the classes, the college, the Middle of Nowhere! How awesome!”  - Truth About Books by A. Fae on EERIE

“I would definitely buy this series. I really loved these characters. It read very quickly, and the Alaska jokes really got me giggling.  - Confessions of a Book Whore, Jamie S. on EERIE

“EERIE is Harry Potter meets Twilight meets the Bible with a little bit of the abusive/controlling 50 Shades male mixed in. This is a really fast-paced, exciting novel. There is plenty of drama, romance, mystical beings and mystery to keep you flipping the pages and promising yourself "just one more chapter" before bed. And then before you know it, ten o'clock turns into two in the morning...again.”  - Amanda's Own Little Corner Book Reviews

About C.M. McCoy:

C.M. McCoy is an Irish dancer and former Air Force officer living in the Great White North. Though B.S.'d in Chemical Engineering and German, she’s far happier writing stories involving Alaska and a body bag (with an awkward kiss in the mix.) While working emergency dispatch for Alaska State Troopers, she learned to speak in 10- codes, which she still does...but only to annoy her family.

Social Media Links

Website: http://www.cmmccoy.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eeriesaga
Twitter: https://twitter.com/eerie_o
★ Add to GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27274308-eerie

✔ PRE-ORDER EERIE for $2.99:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0176M19RM
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eerie-C-M-McCoy-ebook/dp/B0176M6MA6
Amazon Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/Eerie-C-M-McCoy-ebook/dp/B0176M19RM
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9781623422332
Apple iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/eerie/id1052918810
BAM: http://www.booksamillion.com/search?query=9781623422332
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/eerie-17
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/C_M_McCoy_Eerie?id=yfDPCgAAQBAJ

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Wednesday, December 2, 2015

NaNoWriMo 2015


Yes. Yes I did!

Okay, so I kinda worked on three different novels during Nano...but most of the 50k went into On Darkened Wing. Only about 1500 went into The Phoenix, and the rest went into Raining Down Redemption. which I'll be focusing on over the next month or so.

Raining Down Redemption is the companion novel to RAINING DOWN RULES (coming out Feb. 9, 2016 from Limitless Publishing). This companion novel is all about the rock star and what happens when he runs into his high school girlfriend while the band is back home in Phoenix working on a new album. He has a lot to deal with, relationships to repair, secrets to learn all while keeping himself on the right path. I'm excited to write and finish Jordan's story and then move onto the edits on RAINING DOWN RULES from my publisher.