[Blog Tour - Excerpt, Top 5, & Giveaway] The Song of The Fireflies ~ J.A. Redmerski

THE TRUTH WILL SET THEM FREE
Brayelle Bates has always been a force of nature. Even as a child, Bray's wild and carefree spirit intimidated everyone around her. The only person who's ever truly understood her is her best friend, Elias Kline. Though every fiber of her being wants to stay with Elias forever, Bray can't bear the thought of him discovering her agonizing history. She's done everything she can to keep him at arm's length, including moving away. But their undying bond was too strong a pull to deny, and Bray couldn't survive without him. Now she's back home with Elias, and things have never felt more right-until one night changes everything. 

Elias vowed never to be separated from Bray again. So when she decides to flee in a desperate attempt to escape her fate, Elias knows he must go with her. As the two try to make the most of their circumstance, taking up with a reckless group of new friends, Elias soon realizes there's a darkness driving Bray he can't ignore. Now in order to save her, he'll have to convince Bray to accept the consequences of their reality-even if it means losing her.

First 8 Chapters

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About the author:

J.A. Redmerski, New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author lives in North Little Rock, Arkansas with her three children, two cats and a Maltese. She is a lover of television and books that push boundaries and is a huge fan of AMC's The Walking Dead.

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Top 5 favorite place to visit

1. Italy

2. New Zealand

3. Georgia (United States)

4. Washington

5. The Grand Canyon

Excerpt

When I made my way back to the top, I found Bray wasn’t sitting near the edge of the ridge where I had left her I moved farther out into the clearing with our blankets draped over one shoulder.

“Bray?” I said, looking around.

I brushed it off for a second, thinking she was probably just taking a piss behind a tree somewhere, and I set our blankets on the ground.

But then I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I walked quickly toward the edge and looked over. My heart started to bang against my rib cage. I peered down as far as my sight could penetrate the darkness, but took a step back upon realizing that if she had fallen there was no way I’d be able to see from way up here.

She had to be somewhere around close by. She had to be.

“Bray?” I called out again. “Where the hell did you go?”

Still no answer.

Panic set in quickly. I stood there as still and as quiet as I could for several long seconds in case she was coming through the woods, but I heard nothing. I arranged both hands around my mouth and shouted, “BRAY!” and my voice echoed through the wide-open space. But still nothing. I felt sick to my stomach. She wouldn’t have left like that way out here. And if she did, I would’ve seen her on the path coming down as I was making my way back up.

I ran toward the tree line, searching for any sign of her, for another path she might have taken. I refused to believe that she had fallen off the edge.

Just as I noticed another path through the woods that seemed to head south and I started to go toward it, I heard footfalls in the leaves. I didn’t wait to see if it was her, I ran blindlystraight into the woods. A skinny branch slapped me across the forehead on my way, but I didn’t stop.

Bray and I nearly crashed into each other.

“Shit, baby! Where the hell did you go? Scared the hell out of me!” I started to pull her into a hug, but something about her was off and I stopped. She didn’t respond or even raise her head to look at me.

“Are you all right?”

I took her hands into mine. Hers were shaking. Her whole body was shaking.

I cupped her face in my palms and raised her head so that she’d look at me. She was crying, and something in her eyes…I couldn’t place it, but it haunted me. I wondered if she even knew I was standing right in front of her. Her hair was messy, with pieces of leaves stuck within a mass of strands. Dirt was smeared across her left cheek. She looked like she’d been in a fight.

I touched her split lip, where a thin line of blood glistened near the corner. “Bray, you’re scaring me. What happened to you?” I shook her gently and then more aggressively when she still didn’t respond. “What happened? Talk to me!"

Her lips trembled and more tears seeped from the corners of her eyes. And then as if a floodgate had been opened, she started screaming through her tears, “It was my fault! Elias! Oh my God!”

“What happened?” I roared, scared for her and for myself, my heart about to burst through my chest.

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[Blog Tour - Review & Top 5] Masquerade ~ Nyrae Dawn

A biker. A tattoo artist. A love to last a lifetime.
Maddox Cross has always had to be tough. When his father went to jail for murder, the teenager took care of his sister and mother. Now on his own and working security at a night club, Maddox wants to become a tattoo artist-a dream that comes closer to reality when he falls for the hottest, most tatted woman he's ever seen. She's wild and beautiful, and Maddox will do anything to be with her.

Bee Malone came to town to open up her new tattoo parlor, Masquerade. Since being kidnapped as a young girl, Bee has had trouble getting close to anyone. But when she meets Maddox, she sees that under his hard biker's body is the sensitive soul of an artist. What starts out as a sizzling one-night stand soon becomes so much more.

Bee wants Maddox to join her tattoo business, but letting him into her life means revealing all her most intimate secrets. And as the past begins to intertwine with her present, Bee fears their love may not be as permanent as their ink . . . 

Top 5 Favorite Tats

AWESOME question. I have a tattoo of a quill with the quote “It’s never too late to be what you might have been” which I got for my writing. That will always be one of my favorites.

I am a fan of quotes so I like a lot of quote tattoos.

I like the tattoo Bee gets in MASQUERADE because it’s a tattoo that really means something to her.

I just think a tattoo should be from the heart. Something that has a meaning for person. That’s what makes it special so any tattoo like that is incredible in my book.

Jasmine's Review

Masquerade is one of the best book I have ever read. Even if the spelling is really hard. Yes, I have spelling problems I get most of the correct spellings from autocorrect.:) I don't know what I'll do without autocorrect. Anyway!! Back to the topic. This book really touched me. I don't know why, but it did. I just couldn't put this book down even if I still have tons of HW (26 pages). I just read for the whole day, I literally couldn't make myself put it down, I had to hide in the bathroom for like an hour to avoid getting caught.

Bee is a really cool chic. It seems that recently I have taken a liking to tattoo artists. Anyway who chooses what they should be called is really awesome. If I could choose my name I'd name myself Sky (it may or may not have anything to do with Sky from Hopeless.) 

Anyway, let's talk about Bee. Her background is really complicated which makes her views on love,well, complicated too. (Read the book so you'll know why it's she has a complicated background.) She doesn't really understand what love is and that's why she doesn't love anyone back. It's not like she never received love, in fact she received a lot but because of her said complicated background, it messed with her views on love.

Aside form all that serious stuff. She's seriously cool, she stands up for herself. She knows what she wants. And she doesn't let anyone talk shit to her. 

Maddox is a really hot guy, just look at the cover! Anyway, he runs away from EvERYTHING! The ones he love and hates. I can totally relate to that though I just usually run from the ones I hate, like tutor. Anyway he holds this really big guilt over his fathers sin and because of that guilt I think he feels like he deserves not having the thing he loves which is Tattoos. I think a lot of people can relate to that guilt. Or maybe not. 

This book had A LOT of denying between the two characters and I'm just really happy they had their HEA. I also want to ride Maddox's motorcycle (not the dirty kind).:) 

Overall, one of the best books I have read. Tears were falling from my eyes at the ending and all the words got kinda blurry. And I love it!! Crying is good once in a while. And it seems that I can only cry over fictional characters.:)

5 Awesome Tats!

[Blog Tour - Review, Top 5, Giveaway & many more!] Elect ~ Rachel Van Dyken

Looks like it's my stop!:)

Would you die for the one you love?

Nixon Abandonato made his choice. And now he has to pay the price. Tracey is the love of his life, but being with him has made her a target of his family's enemies. The only way to keep Trace alive is convince the world she means nothing to him. 

Trace Rooks has fallen irrevocably in love with the son of her family's sworn rival, and she knows in her bones nothing can tear them apart. Until Nix suddenly pushes her away and into the arms of his best friend... But Trace isn't ready to give up on a future with Nix--and if he won't fight for them, she will. 

In the end, a sacrifice must be made. A life for a life. For what better way to cover a multitude of sins than with the blood of a sinner . . . 

Buy Links

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Author Bio

Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor. She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband and their snoring Boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers! You can follow her writing journey at http://rachelvandykenauthor.com/

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Top 5 things Trace loves about Nixon

1.His protective streak and loyalty

2.The way he holds her

3.His sense of humor

4.His code of honor and yes even his rules

5.The way he kisses her like she’s the most precious thing in the world.

Excerpt

“Let’s make a pact.” Chase put his hand on my shoulder.

“A pact?” I sniffled and turned to him. “What kind of pact?”

“One that’s forever. One that protects people rather than hurts them.”

“How do we do that?” I was suddenly interested. What if I could make all the hurt go away? What if I could save everyone!

“We do this.” Chase pulled out his pocketknife and cut open his hand, then nodded to me to do the same thing. Without pausing I cut open my hand and handed back the knife. “Blood brothers. We’re never gonna hurt each other and we’re gonna save those like your ma, Nixon. Ones who can’t save themselves. We’re going to protect them.”

“How?” I watched as the blood dripped from my open palm.

“Rules.” Chase shrugged. “They keep people safe, right? At least that’s what my mom says.” He smiled. “We make rules and we start our own club. That way, we don’t have to listen to anyone but us.”

I liked it. I chewed on my lower lip. “What do we call ourselves?”

“The chosen?” Chase offered.

“No, that sounds lame. We have to sound… more powerful than that.”

My eyes flickered to the road, and a sign poked into the ground. It said election. “Elect.” I pointed. “Let’s call ourselves The Elect.” It made sense; after all, the president was elected, wasn’t he? We weren’t exactly chosen, but we were making the choice, we were electing ourselves protectors. That’s what we were.

“Who else can join?” Chase asked.

“Tex and Phoenix. They’ll want to.” A weight suddenly felt like it was being lifted off my twelve-year-old shoulders. “Should we shake on it?”

“Yeah.” Chase smashed his hand against mine as our blood mixed. “No going back, Nixon.”

“No.” I shook my head. “No going back.”

I pressed my fingers to my temples and watched, replaying that moment over and over again in my head as the outline of Chase and Tracey flickered in the moonlight. Would he really do this to me? After all the shit we’d been through?

I gauged her reaction, hoping that I would be wrong. Praying to God that Trace would just this once listen to me. Her eyes flickered with interest for a few brief seconds before she looked down at the ground.

“Shit.” I waited in the shadows. A part of me knew this would happen. The part that told me to damn my feelings to hell and ignore all the warning signs that I’d been seeing. But now it seemed like it was too late. I stayed, planted where I was, watching, waiting.

“Chase, you can’t…” Trace shook her head. “You can’t be like this. We can’t do this!”

“We aren’t doing anything,” Chase said in low tones, reaching for Trace’s hand. “Don’t you?” He looked directly at me, although all he saw was a shadow. I knew I was well hidden. “Don’t you feel the same way?”

Trace jerked her hand away from Chase’s. “It doesn’t matter what I feel. It’s not about me, Chase.”

“But it is.” Chase reached for her again. This time her hand grasped his in such an intimate embrace I thought I was going to vomit all over the ground. The outside air was cold as hell as little pieces of ice tried to find their way into my wool coat.

“It isn’t.” Trace sighed. “It never was.”

Chase jerked her toward him. She fell against his chest and looked up into his eyes. “What are you doing?”

Chase sighed. “What I should have done a long time ago.” He grabbed the back of her head and pulled her in for a kiss. Their lips touched.

I had to look away.

The only sound in the night was that of my soft footsteps as I walked away… leaving my heart in broken pieces where I’d last stood. She was lost to me; it wasn’t even the Sicilians that had taken her, but my best friend.

A gunshot rang out loud and clear in the night air. I turned back around just in time to see Trace collapse into Chase’s arms.

Jasmine's Review

I'm usually not a fan of triangles because most of them aren't greatly written, but this book is just amazing! Usually in love triangles the guys are total opposites, the good boy and the bad boy. But in the book, they're both bad boys, so the same yet so different. Besides two bad boys are sooo much better.

Starting this book, I was confused 'cause. I didn't expect two guys POV. I was like I'm pretty sure the summary was about a guy and a girl. It took my quite a while to figure it out. IKR. I'm soooo slow.

I've been reading lotsa mafia books lately, and I just love them! But I really love this book , especially Nixon. He has perfected the mixture of bad boy with that sensitive side. He has become one of my many book boyfriends.:)

I CALL DIBS!!!!

This story has a lot of twists and turns. Secrets I never expected and I just love not knowing what's gonna happen. Everything is just greatly written!

The ending! OMG! Love the ending!! Can't wait for the next book!! It's kinda a cliffy but not horrible cliffy. More like OMG! Where's the next freaking page?? Just love the way it ended. I usually hate endings but this is just awesome!!!

Now I gotta look for the first book 'cause I haven't read it yet. I only knew that this was the second book after I finished reading it.:)

5 cows

'Cause Tracey loved cows.:D

GAME Time!

Mine is
Weapon: Throwing Knives
Occupation : "Made" Person ( No idea what that is)
Family Crest: Abandantos

What's yours?:) 
Tell me over in the comments.:)

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