Blog Tour: Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

 

 

Hi everyone! Today I’m excited to participate in the bookstagram & creative blog tour for SPIN THE DAWN by Elizabeth Lim hosted by MTMC Tours & PRH International! Project Runway meets Mulan, this Silk Road-inspired fantasy is about a tailor who must sew 3 dresses of the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars to save her kingdom! This is the first installment in The Blood of Stars duology released on July 9th, 2019 from Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers. Check below my tour stop and make sure to visit all the bookstagram & creative stops for a chance to win an international edition of this book + swag!

 

About the Book: Title: Spin the Dawn
Series: The Blood of Stars #1
Author: Elizabeth Lim Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publishing Date: July 9th, 2019
ISBN: 9780593118443 Genres: YA Fantasy Buy: PRH International | Amazon | Book Depository
Project Runway meets Mulan in this sweeping YA fantasy about a young girl who poses as a boy to compete for the role of imperial tailor and embarks on an impossible journey to sew three magic dresses, from the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she’ll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There’s just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.

Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia’s task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.

And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor’s reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.

Steeped in Chinese culture, sizzling with forbidden romance, and shimmering with magic, this young adult fantasy is pitch-perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas or Renée Ahdieh.

 

My review:

What if you were a girl in a vast dangerous empire and had to save your family? What if your family’s survival depended on taking on an impossible task?

Make me the dresses of Amana. One woven with the laughter of the sun, another embroidered with the tears of the moon and lastly, one painted with the blood of stars. 

Maia Tamarin is a seamstress and she has to put her life in danger for the future empress of A’landi. Masquerading as a boy, she pretends to be the greatest tailor of the land…when in fact she is the best seamstress of her region. But can a girl serve as the royal tailor? She is about to find out.
In a palace where enchantment and magic is both condemned and celebrated, Maia will risk her future and her heart. Facing the future wife of the Emperor, the Emperor himself and the Emperor’s Enchanter, she will go on an impossible quest!
This was such an empowering read. I absolutely fell in love with the writing and the heroine. Female characters in YA are always a hit or miss for me but in this case, I adored our heroine. A powerful debut that comes to challenge every single theme and trope in YA fantasy. This is the kind of book that clicks all the boxes for me. Magic, strong characters, deep emotion, love and solid writing!
I devoured the book. I was never bored. The characters spoke to me and I felt deeply connected to Maia.
I also loved Edan. He was so unique and not your usual macho, brooding male we see in most fantasies nowadays. He was charming, funny and incredibly swoony.

I would give up the moon and stars if it meant saving him.
Him-the boy with no name and yet a thousand names. The boy whose hands are stained with the blood of stars. 

The book is full of beautiful descriptions!!! One of the best reads of 2019 for me!!! I recommend it!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Stars!

Thank you Penguin Random House International for the free copy.

 

About Elizabeth Lim:
Elizabeth Lim grew up on a hearty staple of fairy tales, myths, and songs. Her passion for storytelling began around age 10, when she started writing fanfics for Sailor Moon, Sweet Valley, and Star Wars, and posted them online to discover, “Wow, people actually read my stuff. And that’s kinda cool!” But after one of her teachers told her she had “too much voice” in her essays, Elizabeth took a break from creative writing to focus on not flunking English.

Over the years, Elizabeth became a film and video game composer, and even went so far as to get a doctorate in music composition. But she always missed writing, and turned to penning stories when she needed a breather from grad school. One day, she decided to write and finish a novel — for kicks, at first, then things became serious — and she hasn’t looked back since.

Elizabeth loves classic film scores, books with a good romance, food (she currently has a soft spot for arepas and Ethiopian food), the color turquoise, overcast skies, English muffins, cycling, and baking. She lives in New York City with her husband.
Website | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter
INTL Tour-Wide Giveaway! Head over to my Instagram account for a chance to win an international edition of Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim + swag! And don’t forget to check all the accounts/blogs participating for extra entries!!!
Tour Schedule:

July 15 @thereaderandthechef – Bookstagram + Blog
July 16 @Bookslovereaders – Bookstagram
July 17 @paperfury – Bookstagram + Blog
July 18 @erhibiscus – Bookstagram
July 19 @book_rambler – Bookstagram + Blog
July 20 @annreads – Bookstagram
July 21 @linathebookaddict – Bookstagram + Blog
July 22 @womanon – Bookstagram
July 23 @paperbacksandpen – Bookstagram + Blog
July 24 @giota_the_reader – Bookstagram
July 25 @Shaked_reads – Bookstagram + Blog

Hosted by:

MTMC TOURS

Blog Tour: Spider Dance

Welcome to my stop for The Spider Dance blog tour!!!

 

 

 

The book was released on July 16th (yesterday) by Titan Books.

Let’s see the cover and blurb together!

The Spider Dance

by

Nick Setchfield

A genre-defying page turner that fuses thriller and speculative fiction with dark fantasy in a hidden world in the heart of Cold War Europe.

It’s 1965 and Christopher Winter is trying to carve a new life, a new identity, beyond his days in British Intelligence. Recruited by London’s gangland he now finds himself on the wrong side of the law – and about to discover that the secret service has a way of claiming back its own. Who is the fatally alluring succubus working honeytraps for foreign paymasters? What is the true secret of the Shadowless, a fabled criminal cabal deadlier than the Mafia? And why do both parties covet long-buried caskets said to hold the hearts of kings? Winter must confront the buried knowledge of his own past to survive – but is he ready to embrace the magic that created the darkness of Tobias Hart?

 

Read an excerpt below:

 

The woman strode towards the station entrance, the driver a discreet number of paces behind. There was a trim black attaché case in her hand, swinging on a leather handle.
The pair entered the waiting room, prompting Creadley and his men to step from the shadows. The two parties exchanged nods. There were no introductions, no pleasantries, but the edges of the woman’s mouth danced as Tommy emerged from the gloom. She put a hand to the young gangster’s face and let it glide across his cheek, the motion unmistakably sensual.
‘Such an exquisite boy.’ The accent was impossible to place but the words rippled like silk.
Tommy gave a forgivably smug grin, relishing the attention. And then the smile became a grimace, as if the woman had just trailed thorns across his face. Curious, Winter peered at Tommy’s skin but it was unmarked.
He let his gaze skip to Spanish, who was stood next to Tommy. There was a fine sweat on the Italian’s forehead. He didn’t meet Winter’s eyes.
‘Let’s see the money,’ said Creadley, prioritising.
‘Of course.’ She unlocked the latches of the case and raised the lid, revealing tight clumps of banknotes, stacked against baize lining. ‘Ten thousand, as we agreed. Now you show us the heart.’
Creadley gave the nod. Winter took a step forward, the parcel in his hand. The woman regarded him, a glitter of fascination in her pupils. They had expanded to almost eclipse her irises but Winter had the feeling they were hungry for more than just light. It was as though they were absorbing everything in the room, every potential stimulus. Her eyes were cool but they craved.
She raised her hand again, her lean, almond-nailed fingers eager for Winter’s skin. He caught her by the wrist and gave a polite shake of his head. She let her hand fall, disappointed but amused.
Winter delved into Karina’s parcel. His hand emerged holding a small, plump bundle of wax paper. He cradled it in his palm, almost tenderly, and began to peel away the semi-translucent layers, as if unwrapping a butcher’s cut. There, in the centre, was a leathery, blood-blackened heart, the mound of veins and tissue shrivelled by age but recognisably human. Perched on Winter’s hand it began to beat in the stillness of the room.
‘This is Frontenac’s heart?’ the woman challenged, watching as it throbbed, the ventricles quivering almost imperceptibly in the half-light.
Winter nodded. ‘Guaranteed.’
‘What do you want with it?’ asked Sparkling White, an ill-concealed note of disgust in his voice. Tonight was beyond both his experience and his understanding. This deal clearly didn’t sit well with him.
The woman kept her gaze on the heart. ‘We just want to keep it safe. Such a precious object.’ She almost purred, a kitten with a wounded bird.
‘No more talk,’ said Creadley. ‘We trade now.’
Winter prepared to exchange, motioning for the woman to hand him the money. She moved the attaché case closer, keeping her right arm parallel to his. For a moment they were synched in perfect mutual distrust.
There was a sudden flurry of dust on Winter’s face. It had come from directly above him.
He stared up, blinking the soot from his eyes. Something had disturbed the rafters of the old station. There was a shape there – but barely there, almost indistinguishable from the darkness that hid the rotted joists. A coiled, compact mass of shadow, as if the dark had contorted itself into something solid.
The darkness uncurled and dropped from the rafters as a man.
Winter barely had time to register a midnight-blue suit and wormy white skin before the heart was snatched from his hand.
As one the gangsters pulled their guns.

 

 

Goodreads

Book Depository

Review for Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

Happy July, everyone!!! I cannot believe we are already in the middle of the summer. And I realized that I hadn’t posted a review for a while and I have been busy reading! So, here we go.

Today I am featuring a book that I loved!

Do you like fantasy? Spicy romance? Have you been interested to know about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse! Then this book is for you!

Let’s read the synopsis, shall we?

 

Pestilence

(The Four Horsemen #1)

They came to earth—Pestilence, War, Famine, Death—four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all.

When Pestilence comes for Sara Burn’s town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed.

Too bad no one told her Pestilence can’t be killed.

Now the horseman, very much alive and very pissed off, has taken her prisoner, and he’s eager to make her suffer. Only, the longer she’s with him, the more uncertain she is about his true feelings towards her … and hers towards him.

And now, well, Sara might still be able to save the world, but in order to do so, she’ll have to sacrifice her heart in the process.

 

My thoughts: 

 

Such a wonderful idea for a book. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse arrive on earth to wreck havoc upon mankind. The first that comes is Pestilence, the Conqueror. He intends to cleanse the human race by unleashing the plague upon it. There is a girl who is given the task to end the Horseman and put an end in people’s suffering . There is a catch; Pestilence cannot be defeated and so she ends up his prisoner. The book explores humanity; its vanity, cruelty but also its greatness. Sara is forced to watch as people die. She is forced to watch this immortal man spread death wherever he goes. And she is forced to make peace with the fact that he keeps alive to punish her. The book has its flaws but it is a great take on the Apocalypse. There is steam, humor and emotion. I loved it. I would have loved a different ending but those last sentences make me so very eager for the next book, War. I cannot wait!!!    🌟🌟🌟🌟  Stars! Goodreads Book Depository Amazon Kindle

Cover Reveal: Glow of the Fireflies by Lindsey Duga

 

Hi everyone! Today I’m excited to participate in the cover reveal for GLOW OF THE FIREFLIES by Lindsey Duga! This is a YA Fantasy novel coming out on October 1st, 2019 from Entangled Teen! Check below the beautiful cover (art by L.J. Anderson of Mayhem Cover Creations) and make sure to add this book to your TBR!

About the Book:

Title: Glow of the Fireflies
Author: Lindsey Duga

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Publishing Date: October 1st, 2019 Genres: YA Fantasy

Goodreads
Preorder: Entangled Teen | Amazon | B&N
Briony never planned to go back to the place she lost everything.
Firefly Valley, nestled deep within the Smoky Mountains, is better kept in her past. After an unexplained fire gave Briony amnesia, her mother disappeared and her dad moved them to Knoxville.
But now her grandmother needs a caretaker and Briony’s dad volunteers her to help. The moment she returns, her whole world shifts. She feels a magical connection to this valley, as if it’s literally part of her somehow.
And when she meets a hot guy who claims he was her childhood friend but now mysteriously keeps his distance, Briony starts piecing together her missing past…and discovers her mother didn’t leave to start a new life somewhere. She’s trapped in the hidden world within the valley.
Now, Briony will do whatever it takes to rescue her, even if it means standing up against dangerously powerful nature spirits. Even if it means giving up her first love.

Author’s Note: “I can’t think of a more perfect way to capture the book’s central themes than this imagery. There’s something truly nostalgic, and ethereal, about catching fireflies and watching them illuminate grandma’s mason jar. I absolutely love it.”

 

 

 

About Lindsey Duga:
Lindsey Duga is a middle grade and young adult writer with a passion for fantasy, science fiction, and basically any genre that takes you away from the real world. She wrote her first novel in college while she was getting her bachelor’s in Mass Communication from Louisiana State University.
Other than writing and cuddling with her morkie puppy, Delphi, Lindsey loves catching up on the latest superhero TV show and practicing yoga.
Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram

Hosted by: MTMC Tours

Now live: Drop Dead Dirty by Jade West

 

Title: Drop Dead Dirty

A Dirty Gorgeous Series Standalone

Author: Jade West

Genre: Erotic Romance

Release Date: June 12, 2019

Blurb

Oliver Kent isn’t just drop dead gorgeous…

He’s drop dead dirty too.

I haven’t seen him in a decade. Ten whole years since Oliver
Kent broke my heart and we said goodbye to our teenage dreams forever.

They say he’s a crazy successful businessman now, living
wild in London with a huge bank balance.

And me? Well, I’m still here living the same old small-town
life, pretty sure I’ll never see him again.

Until rumour has it that he’s going to be at our high school
reunion…

How the damn hell is a girl supposed to cope with the Oliver
Kent effect all over again?

It’s a whole fresh round of want. Filthy, dirty want for the
boy who drove me wild with his filthy, dirty fantasies. So many memories aching
for more.

Just as well life sometimes gives out second chances, isn’t
it?

One thing’s for sure, I’ll be jumping in to take mine.

ADD TO GOODREADS

Purchase Links

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

Free in Kindle Unlimited

Author Bio

 

Jade has
increasingly little to say about herself as time goes on, other than the fact
she is an author, but she’s plenty happy with this. Living in imaginary
realities and having a legitimate excuse for it is really all she’s ever
wanted.

Jade is as dirty as you’d expect from her novels, and talking smut makes her
smile.

Author Links

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

WEBSITE

NEWSLETTER

BOOKBUB

Cover Reveal: Drop Dead Dirty by Jade West

 

Title: Drop Dead Dirty

A Dirty Gorgeous Series Standalone

Author: Jade West

Genre: Erotic Romance

Cover Design: Letitia Hasser, RBA Designs

Release Date: June 12, 2019

Blurb

Oliver Kent isn’t just drop dead gorgeous…

He’s drop dead dirty too.

I haven’t seen him in a decade. Ten whole years since Oliver
Kent broke my heart and we said goodbye to our teenage dreams forever.

They say he’s a crazy successful businessman now, living
wild in London with a huge bank balance.

And me? Well, I’m still here living the same old small-town
life, pretty sure I’ll never see him again.

Until rumour has it that he’s going to be at our high school
reunion…

How the damn hell is a girl supposed to cope with the Oliver
Kent effect all over again?

It’s a whole fresh round of want. Filthy, dirty want for the
boy who drove me wild with his filthy, dirty fantasies. So many memories aching
for more.

Just as well life sometimes gives out second chances, isn’t
it?

One thing’s for sure, I’ll be jumping in to take mine.

ADD TO GOODREADS

Author Bio

 

Jade has
increasingly little to say about herself as time goes on, other than the fact
she is an author, but she’s plenty happy with this. Living in imaginary
realities and having a legitimate excuse for it is really all she’s ever
wanted.

Jade is as dirty as you’d expect from her novels, and talking smut makes her
smile.

Author Links

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

WEBSITE

NEWSLETTER

BOOKBUB

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Cover Reveal: Manipulate by Pam Godwin

 

MANIPULATE is book 6 in the DELIVER Series

Dark Romance – Anti-heroes – Sex Trafficking – Cartel

Release Date: Jun 25, 2019

Amazon | Other Retailers | Goodreads

Tula Gomez is in the most ruthless prison in South America.

She only drove to Mexico to help her sister. She did nothing wrong.

But her quiet life changed in an instant.

To survive the violent, cartel-controlled prison where men blend with women, she pledges her loyalty to the notorious leader in exchange for the one thing she needs most.

Protection.

When she agrees to seduce the suspicious new inmates, Martin Lockwood and Ricky Saldivar, she doesn’t expect to enjoy it. Sure, they’re gorgeous, irresistibly alpha, and insanely talented with their hands and mouths. But they’re the enemy. She can’t fall for them.

Torn between her cartel loyalties and two men who want her as deeply as they want each other, she questions who is manipulating whom. Her search for answers leads to a passionate ménage, a soul-crushing secret, and an impossible choice.

---

DELIVER SERIES

Each book is a different couple. No cliffhangers. Must be read in order.

DELIVER (#1) – FREE

VANQUISH (#2)

DISCLAIM (#3)

DEVASTATE (#4)

TAKE (#5)

MANIPULATE (#6)

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DELIVER, Book 1: FREE on all retailers

His name was Joshua Carter. Now it’s whatever she wants it to be.

She is a Deliverer.

She lures young men and delivers them to be sold. She delivers the strikes that enforce their obedience. She delivers the sexual training that determines their purchase price.

As long as she delivers, the arrangement that protects her family will hold.

Delivering is all she knows.

The one thing she can’t deliver is a captive from slavery.

Until him.

And her stubborn slave thinks he can deliver her…from herself.

---

VANQUISH, Book 2

Her life is like a prison cell.

A self-made, to-hell-with-the-free-world existence that locks from the inside.

Stop judging. Her agoraphobia doesn’t define her. It simply keeps her safe.

He belongs in a prison cell.

The 6×8, make-me-your-bitch variety that locks from the outside.

But he’s free. To hunt. To take. To break.

And he just found a sexy new toy.

Capturing her is the easy part. Her fucked-up mind, however, makes him question everything he does next.

But he’s a determined bastard. If all goes his way, this will hurt like hell.

---

DISCLAIM, Book 3

Camila was seventeen when Van Quiso kidnapped her. Ten years after her escape, the shackles refuse to release her. Not while there are still slave traders preying on her city.

She will stop at nothing to end them.

Even if that means becoming a slave again.

Returning to chains is her worst fear—and only option. They won’t know who she is or what she intends to do. She’s prepared for every complication.

Except him.

The one who decimated her sixteen-year-old heart.

Matias is charming, gorgeous, and dangerously seductive. He’s also untrustworthy and enshrouded in secrets. After years of no contact, he finds her—on her knees, wrists bound, in the clutches of her enemy.

Will he sabotage her mission by needlessly saving her?

Or will he keep her in chains and never let her go?

---

DEVASTATE, Book 4

“What is the price you’re willing to pay?”

“Money isn’t an issue.”

“I’m not talking about money.”

Tate is on the hunt to find his best friend’s sister.

Eleven years ago, Lucia Dias was abducted. Presumed dead. He never met her, so why does he care?

Some might call his efforts noble, but his motivation is more perverse, bordering on obsession.

When he follows a chilling lead to Venezuela’s Kidnap Alley, what he finds is neither a corpse nor a captive.

Amid poisonous lies and crippling depravity, the price of love is devastation.

And he pays.

With his body, his blood, and her life.

---

TAKE, Book 5

He’s a notorious crime lord, a kidnapper, and an artist.

Scarification is his outlet, and he just captured a new canvas.

Kate refuses to surrender beneath his blade or the cruelty in his beautiful eyes.

But she’s drawn to the man inside the monster. A man who makes her ache with his touch. Who owns her with his kiss.

A man who worships her as deeply as he hurts her.

She can run, but there’s no escape from a bond carved in scars.

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DELIVER #1: Narrated by Teddy Hamilton (Josh) and Abby Crayden (Liv)

VANQUISH #2: Narrated by Ryan West (Van) and Jo Raylan (Amber)

DISCLAIM #3: Narrated by Christian Fox (Matias) and Emma Wilder (Camila)

DEVASTATE #4: Narrated by J.F. Harding (Tate) and Tracy Marks (Lucia)

Books 5-9 TBA

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Pam Godwin

 

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, Pam Godwin, lives in the Midwest with her husband, their two children, and a foulmouthed parrot. When she ran away, she traveled fourteen countries across five continents, attended three universities, and married the vocalist of her favorite rock band.

.

Java, tobacco, and dark romance novels are her favorite indulgences, and might be considered more unhealthy than her aversion to sleeping, eating meat, and dolls with blinking eyes.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon page | Goodreads | Instagram | Bookbub

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Books by Pam Godwin

Trails of Sin Series

KNOTTED (#1) – FREE

BUCKLED (#2)

BOOTED (#3)

Tangled Lies Series

ONE IS A PROMISE (#1) – FREE

TWO IS A LIE (#2)

THREE IS A WAR (#3)

Deliver Series

DELIVER (#1) – FREE

VANQUISH (#2)

DISCLAIM (#3)

DEVASTATE (#4)

TAKE (#5)

MANIPULATE (#6)

Trilogy of Eve

HEART OF EVE – FREE

DEAD OF EVE (#1)

BLOOD OF EVE (#2)

DAWN OF EVE (#3)

Stand-alones

DARK NOTES

BENEATH THE BURN

DIRTY TIES

INCENTIVE