Cover Reveal: Stolen by Keren Hughes

Hi everyone, today I am super excited to be a part of the cover reveal for debut novelist, Keren Hughes. 

Stolen is the first book in the Freedom of Souls series, and Keren is also the owner of Gothic Angels Book Reviews book blog. 

Keren lives in the UK and is an avid bookworm; she has been since she read things like Black Beauty, What Katy Did and The Hobbit as a child. Her first real memories of reading are the summers she used to lie on her bed and re-read What Katy Did and What Katy Did Next.

Over the years she has come to realise that she is a bit OCD about books. They have to be in perfect condition without the slightest bit of damage.

She is a book reviewer and has been for the past 18 months or so.

The idea for Stolen came to her one day but she never thought she’d actually write it let alone publish it. If it wasn’t for her author friend Kira Saito, the idea would still be stuck in her head not on paper. But constant love and support from Kira is why you are now able to read Stolen.

Stolen is her first novel but now that she’s written one, she knows she needs to write more. There will be one sequel, called Freed which will be from Bodhi’s POV. This will be set a couple of years on.

Then, the plan is for her to write either NA or Adult Contemporary Romances. She has a big crush on Lady Antebellum’s music at the moment and their songs have inspired a few book ideas.

Stolen is brought to you by Limitless Publishing

Roshanna O'Dare wakes up in her own home in shock when she discovers part of her memory is missing and her parents are dead…

With no clues of any kind as to what happened to her parents, and no other close family, Roshanna must move to Texas, Austin, to live with her last living relative, Uncle Joe after the funeral. But this means leaving her best friend, Marissa Mason behind.

That’s when she meets Bodhi Vincent, her uncle’s chauffeur, who seems to understand Roshanna in a way no one else has…

Bodhi is her rock after the death of her parents and the longer she stays with her uncle, the closer they become.

But before moving away, Roshanna was confronted with a shocking secret that Marissa had kept from her, a secret that changes how she sees life and the people in it—Marissa is a pure soul and her foster parents are soul drainers who need her pure energy to survive.

More shockingly, her parents’ souls were stolen by their murderer.

When Roshanna and Bodhi try and track down Marissa’s father, Leith Mason, in order to retrieve her parents’ souls back, they find themselves held hostage at gunpoint.

Will Roshanna and Bodhi survive? Will she ever find her parents souls? Or will their souls be the next ones to be taken?

To find out more about Keren and Stolen click on the links below:

Author Keren Hughes Blog

Facebook - Book Page - 'Stolen'

Facebook - Author Profile

Add 'Stolen' on Goodreads

Facebook - Review Page

Gothic Angel Book Reviews

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A little reflection...it's good for the soul - part 1

So there I was, sitting, looking out into the world, thinking about what I could do to make a difference to my life, and low and behold the epiphany hit me like a freight train at rush hour: I would write a book. That is almost nine years ago. Yes, nine whole years have passed and in that time I have been pulled from pillar to post, from one project to the next and finally completing a small batch of published works that I am proud off.

But here's the thing. I didn't just sit there that day and write a stellar novel. No, in fact, it took me another four years to complete a project that I stopped and started over and over again - very draining may I add. Often questioning my ability as a, dare I say it 'novelist'. Yes, I had an education, a drive that had oodles of passion, and the backing of my husband and family, but I was green, and when I say green, I mean I was beyond naive. Yes, even writers start out completely out of the loop, often dreaming, fantasizing about having that number one bestseller, but those are hard to come by.

So there I was, full to the brim with idea's the size of mammoths running through my little head, and I couldn't get them down fast enough. I read, I harnessed, I tweaked and I began gathering up a little black book full of potential contacts. The list grew and the rejections came faster than I could say 'shoot me now'. Yes, when I say rejection, I literally mean being rejected on the basis that I 'couldn't write', or I needed to 'take a creative writing course', right through to the bizarre 'if you pay us x amount of monies'. Yes, those also came with the rejections.

I felt numb and broken the first time I read a rejection. It actually made me cry, and I am not one to sit and cry over trivial things. But to have a complete stranger state that they thought I had idea's and vision, but lacked the capability, well, that hurt me right down to my core. I was shattered and pressed the dreaded delete button on my laptop. I felt jaded and useless and gave up.

Of course, it didn't take long for me to get back on the horse, as some would say I was a glutton for punishment.I continued subbing around the WORLD, yes, there is a whole world out there with potential publishers and agents just waiting for the right novel to land on their lap, but it wasn't mine.

Nope, it took me a further 6 months before I got my break, and when I say break, I mean I got my foot into the door, only a smidgen, but enough to begin what I call now my 'journey'. It was then in the Winter of 2011 that I finally began realizing that I was good enough(If I say that loud enough I might giggle) and found myself the beginning of a nice little following. I couldn't believe it, there were people out there, in the great BIG wide WORLD who wanted to hear my stories, they wanted to take my 'journey' with me and I never felt more blessed.

Now, in hindsight, all I can say is, if I knew then....you get the drift, I wouldn't have signed that first deal. No sirree. Instead, I would have sat back, waited and signed the right deal when the time was right. But I didn't have the power of foresight and therefore signed my life away....yes, I signed a deal that meant all the rights to my work were the property for the 'unnamed' publisher for FIVE years! Gaaaah, what was I thinking?

The 5 months that followed the signing were without a doubt the most bizarre, unbelievable and God awful moments of my writing career.

But you know what, that is a tale for another time.

So there I was in a predicament. More foes than allies and more regret than joy and then the sun came out in the form of another author, a person who I call a true friend. The rainbow that followed put the smile back on my face and the fires of determination went into full throttle.

Wanna what happened next?

Come back next week. ;)

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Within the Shadows

UK:http://amzn.to/14QnztU

US:http://amzn.to/11BJGau

Escaping Shadows

UK:http://amzn.to/18STIWb

US:http://amzn.to/14ueFaf

Cover Reveal: The Shadow World series

Wow, I am just an awful blogger. Maybe I should ought to enroll in Bad Blogger's Anonymous, maybe I will kick the habit of procrastination one and for all, but I seriously doubt that would cure my ails, haha, anyway.

So, it came to my attention a few weeks back that even though I love dark, Gothic and somewhat dark art, that my beautiful Shadow World series had fallen victim to my vision. SO, the hunt began. I searched, I looked, I observed and finally I connected!

Kellie Dennis, aka, artist extraordinaire from Book Cover By Design listened to me, worked with me and created three new covers that have literally pulled my books into the light. Yes, I still have the Gothic, damsel in distress vibe, but to me, the new covers are so beautiful, commercial and viable that I feel like I have just come home.

So without further ado, I introduce to you the newly re-vamped, re-twinked and FANGTASTC covers for The Shadow World series.

The Official Shadow World logo

I don't know about you, but I am super excited to share these with you and really hope you all continue to support me.

Love 'n' huggles to you all.

Ciao :)

Guest Author: Victoria Kinnaird

To kick off the first Monday of September, we are joined by debut author, Victoria Kinnaird, one of the latest additions to the Crushing Hearts & Black Butterfly Publishing family. 

This is a fun post, and an insightful one. I asked Victoria to tell me a few of her darkest secrets, and guess what?

SHE DID!!!

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✽ ✾ ✿  My darkest secrets and “The Red Sun Rises”✽ ✾ ✿ 

1. I spent most of my teenage years feeling like I didn’t fit in.

Like Eren, the protagonist of “The Red Sun Rises”, I spent a lot of time feeling like I didn’t fit in, even when I was among friends. This is something that Eren experiences to a rather severe degree - all of his friends have the power to cast spells and he doesn’t. At the start of “The Red Sun Rises”, Eren’s friends have spent the summer learning how to cast so he feels more left out than ever.

2. I was bullied at school, and took great pleasure in writing a scene where Eren stands up to his bully.
I never physically confronted my bullies but Eren does and it was awesome to write! Eren is a tough character but he’s pretty used to being bullied and usually it doesn’t bother him - he always has a sarcastic and cutting comeback, until one morning he’s just so sick of it that he lets his fist do the talking.

3. Eren is a natural redhead, but I’m not!
 Although there are lots of redheads in my family, it’s not a gene I inherited so I dye my hair red! Eren’s red hair is actually quite important in the book, so it gets talked about a lot. I have ginger envy for sure.

4. I’m a fan of the Twilight books/movies.
While I don’t agree with how vampires are portrayed in the series, I do enjoy it! Eren is a secret fan as well and indirectly references the first film when talking to his vampire boyfriend Corbijn.

5. I never intended for “The Red Sun Rises” to be anything more than a standalone novel.
It took five years of false starts before I actually wrote a complete version of “The Red Sun Rises”, so I always told myself it would just be one book. Now I’m nearly halfway through writing Book 

2 and I’m planning Book 3! 

Author Links:

Author Page: www.facebook.com/victoriakinnairdofficial

Event page: www.facebook.com/events/204681176363539/

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Thank you so much for stopping by, Victoria. We wish you much success with your debut.

Torn Cover Reveal

Today we are doing something VERY special.

From CHBB author Christine Hughes the anticipated cover reveal of her soon to released novel, Torn!

I don't know about you, BUT this cover is gorgeous. The girl: her eyes, her lips, her beautiful hair - the whole thing just draws me in.

The clouds in the background, the hues of black and grey - yes, this cover works on so many levels. 

With the sudden, mysterious death of her father, Samantha discovers her life isn't what it seems. Not only isn't she the normal teenage girl she thought she was, Sam must now take her father’s place in the fight between two groups of fallen angels, the Faithful and the Exiled, in a race to save humanity. In addition to dealing with a devastating betrayal—and having feelings for someone she’s forbidden to love—Sam must also fight the growing darkness within her as she struggles to make a choice between fighting alongside the Faithful or succumbing to the temptation of the Exiled. Both sides require sacrifices Sam isn't sure she can make.

Lumen Blog Tour

Well, today I am super excited to have the gorgeous, the talented, the totally Twitter savvy, the one and only Mr. Joseph Eastwood. 

Who is Mr. Eastwood? 

Let me introduce you to him....

Thank you for joining myself and the host of this wonderful blog to celebrate the re-release of Lumen! So, if it’s not already on your Goodreads to-read list, you should go put it on: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13219801-lumen

Oh, and this blog post is not the only one. If you want more information, don’t forget to log on to Facebook and hit JOIN on the event… what, what event? This one: https://www.facebook.com/events/1374352692785255/ 

I hope to see you there! And don’t forget about the other blogs on this tour for more exclusive content!

JOSEPH EASTWOOD, born 9th June 1993, Lancaster, England, has always been adamant in his dreams of being a published author. Although he has been through the stages of wanting to be in every other profession under the sun, and what better way to live out all of those professions than to be an author and create people with them.

I have a secret… come closer!

What’s the secret? This post is late… oh no (my fault)! No, on a serious note, my secret is that I have the best publishing family in the entire world. No, no, no… that’s still not my secret as everyone knows CHBB is awesome. My secret is that I have an addiction… yes, I’m addicted to TV!

My writing is heavily influenced by television and I watch a lot of it. So, I decided to tell you guys what TV influenced me when I was writing Lumen.

In no particular order, I’ll list off the shows and tell you why they were helpful and how they helped me.

Rizzoli and Isles – I only really got into this TV series last summer, and I watched all the episodes the internet had to offer. Focused on the friendship of a detective and a medical examiner, I was inspired to mould the sarcastic tone they took with each other, and incorporate that into the way Daniel and Jac are with each other.

Charmed – the WHOLE magic aspect, need I go on? I absolutely love Charmed, and I think that with Lumen, what I’m essentially doing is introducing magic to the world because it’s been confined to this one island, and you’ll see as the series progresses the effect that magic has on the world if word of its existence did get out.

Supernatural – this TV programme is basically research. There’s so much in this programme about all the different types of supernatural creatures etc. and while I was creating my own type, this was helpful in terms of thinking about supernatural strengths and weaknesses.

What about you? Has TV influenced you at all? Do you read books that have been made into TV series?

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Links to Stalk Me!

Twitter: @Joe_Eastwood - https://twitter.com/Joe_Eastwood

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jtjeastwood

Google+: https://plus.google.com/104124795382356446702/posts

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MilkSharkxD

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/josepheastwood

Blog: http://josepheastwood.blogspot.co.uk/

Website: http://www.JosephEastwood.co.uk/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/joseph_eastwood

Instagram: http://instagram.com/josepheastwood

That’s a whole bunch of stalking you can do… please, only in moderation.

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Well, wasn't that fun, interesting and totally absorbing? 

I don't know about you, but I am eager to see the cover of Lumen. I am excited as I have come to know Joe over the past couple of years on Facebook and have witnessed him flourish as a novelist.

So from all of us here Joseph, we wish you only success, joy and a never ending supply of coffee.

Thanks again, Joseph for stopping by!

Remember folks to stop by on Friday July 26th for the cover reveal of Christine Hughes new novel TORN.

Summer Swag Giveaway

It's that time of year again - time to treat those who've been supportive and welcoming new fans into my life.

For your chance to win some of the goodies, make sure you enter when the event goes live on 22nd July 2013. The contest runs for a month so there is plenty of time to make sure your entry is counted.

THANK you all for making 2013 a wonderful year  so far, and

GOOD LUCK!!!!

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