The Goddess Wars Book Blitz Featuring Excerpt & Giveaway!

Of Silver and Beasts (Goddess Wars #1)

by Trisha Wolfe

Release Date:  April 19th 2013
Genre: New Adult Fantasy

Summary:

In the sand-covered queendom of Cavan, the goddess once saved a young Kaliope’s life, preventing the mercury her father attempted to hide in her blood from reaching her heart. Now, a cybernetic clamp filters it, but the silver streaks swirling faintly beneath her skin are a constant reminder that she’s different.When nineteen-year-old Kaliope is chosen as head of the Nactue Guard, she becomes the sworn protector to her empress. In the midst of an invasion on a neighboring land, Kaliope is placed in charge of guarding Prince Caben, the last heir to his kingdom. But when they’re attacked by the feared Otherworlders, Caben and Kaliope are abducted and taken below to a realm where they must fight for their life in a caged arena.

Kaliope struggles to protect her princely charge, keeping him and herself alive while battling inhumanly opponents, and trying to save the stolen, sacred relic that will restore her empress’s life force and all of Cavan. And if she can somehow awaken the goddess within her, she may save what’s most important.

New Adult Dark Fantasy: Intended for readers 17 years of age and older.

Available from:

(FREE on Amazon, Kobo and Smashwords)

   

 

 

 

Of Darkness and Crowns (Goddess Wars #2)

by Trisha Wolfe

Release Date: March 20th, 2014

Genre: New Adult Fantasy

Summary:

***WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T READ BOOK ONE***

The moon goddess has taken up residency within Prince Caben, darkening his mind and soul. Now he hunts the very women he sacrificed his life to save, his conflicting desires for love and power raging a battle within him. Kaliope possesses the key to setting Bale free, and Caben will stop at nothing to see his goddess restored. Even if that means destroying the kingdom he’s sworn to protect, and the infuriating woman who torments his thoughts.

 

Kaliope, now the leader to the newly formed Nactue Guard, has vowed to save Caben. But with a traitor lurking among her people, and powers she’s unable to fully control, Kaliope’s mission becomes shrouded with doubt. Her new role as watcher over Caben’s kingdom brings a burden she’s unable to bear alone, and appointing the right person in charge of the prince’s affairs has turned a kingdom against the Nactue leader. Saving her stubborn, willful prince from the darkness overtaking him will be the battle of her life, and she needs people she can trust by her side. But bad blood between members of the Nactue obscure Kaliope’s journey, while her feelings for Caben cloud her judgment.

When the time comes to do what she must to destroy the goddess of chaos, will she be able to if it means losing Caben forever?

Book two of the Goddess Wars is told in dual point of view from Kaliope and Caben. New Adult Dark Fantasy, intended for readers 17 years of age and older. 

Available from:

   

Now for an excerpt!

OF DARKNESS AND CROWNS: A Goddess Wars Novel, Book 2

Caben’s POV

The Crusher grinds to a halt. I’m propelled forward, and my head smacks the low-hanging ceiling of the front compartment.

“Damn, you fool!” I palm my throbbing forehead, eyeing the driver of the Crusher—the machines I now call by their Otherworlder name.

“Sorry, my liege,” he says, backing against his seat, farther away from the glowing ribbons circling my fingers.

Ignoring him, I study the luminous white—like the surface of the moon—crawling beneath my skin, and marvel at the power. My power. Had I possessed it that day the Cavan Army forced me from my home, they never could have done so easily. But then, I never would have obtained this power. Ironic.

“Just drive,” I tell him. I take a seat on the front bench, away from the foul stench emanating from the back compartment—our diversion tactic that will gain me entry into my palace, where I know she’s being kept.

The glow beneath my skin illuminates brighter, reminding me of her skin. I curl my fingers into a tight ball.

The battle up ahead is only part of my plan, one that I know Kaliope will fall for. I need the reserves away from the palace. My back molars clamp down hard at the thought of her—a mix of something like fire and nausea invading my stomach.

At one time, I felt things for the black-haired beauty. I chuckle to myself. Well, at least my groin did. Just thinking of her body makes me ache, and I have to adjust myself. But that was when I was weak, when I only thought and felt with that weakness. As much as I hated my father for thinking me too feeble to rule, he was right. I was pathetic.

Bale freed me. Released the part of me that I kept buried, locked away deep down, and I no longer fear anything. I think of everything that once made me shudder or quake with dread and laugh. It’s so simple.

Without fear, there is only freedom.

And if I free Bale completely, releasing her from within my being and making her corporeal, she’ll bestow me with even more power. I don’t care what the dark goddess does or where she goes once I restore Empress Iana’s relic. I don’t give a damn what happens to the maggoty Otherworlders or their realm.

I just want her out of my mind. And I want the power.

Then I’ll set my sights on Perinya, and on gaining what’s mine.

A deep cackle fills my head, deep and sultry.

“Quiet, woman.” I roll my eyes. We’ve come to a compromise, the goddess and I, that she may remain within my mind, but she’s to keep silent. I got tired of her constant lectures and angry rants about her sisters. She doesn’t speak too much…for the most part. But the sooner I get her out of my head, the better.

Having a woman fill your thoughts is a weakness in itself. A sudden flash of a smiling, laughing Kal blurs my vision, and I shake my head.

There’s only one way to rid my thoughts of that woman.

Kill her.

“Burrow, leach,” I command the driver. “We’re coming up on the battle. Go underground.”

“Yes, my liege.”

Tonight, I invade. Find a way into the capital of Perinya and into my home. And then take back what’s mine. The goddess can have what she wants. I’m only interested in claiming what belongs to me.

No one will ever take anything away from me again.

Stay away, Kal.

I shake my head harder, trying to quiet the pesky thoughts that always spring up when I think of her. Something left over from before—a residual feeling, an effect she has on me.

It won’t be there much longer. I smile, and Bale laughs.

About the Author

From an early age, Trisha Wolfe
dreamed up fantasy worlds and characters and was accused of talking to herself.
Today, she lives in South Carolina with her family and writes full time, using
her fantasy worlds as an excuse to continue talking to herself. For more
information on Trisha Wolfe and her works, please visit: http://www.TrishaWolfe.com

 

***Author Links***

       

***GIVEAWAY***

1 Caben Flask Necklace (US only)

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Book Blitz Organized by:

Review: The Fracking War by Michael J. Fitzgerald

The Fracking War

by Michael J. Fitzgerald

Genre: Adult Fiction

Series: A sequel is planned.

Source: Provided in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!

Book Summary:

“It was Uncle Tom’s Cabin, not economic data, that turned the page on slavery. It was The Grapes of Wrath, not demographic reports that opened a nation’s eyes to Dust Bowl dislocation. Out of that tradition comes Michael J. Fitzgerald’s The Fracking War. Here, within a smoldering crucible of social crisis, is a tale of power, money, fateful choices, and consciences aroused. If you like your drill rigs served up within the context of a fast-moving plot line, you’ve got what you want right in your hands.”

—Sandra Steingraber, author, Living Downstream and Raising Elijah 

In The Fracking War, veteran investigative reporter Jack Stafford relocates from California to rural Upstate New York to take a job with a small weekly newspaper after the death of his wife, and immediately discovers a citizen rebellion that models itself after Edward Abbey’s 1975 novel The Monkey Wrench Gang. In The Fracking War, activists use sabotage to defend their land and lifestyle against what they perceive as industrial terrorism, perpetrated by multinational corporations’ environmentally damaging practice of hydrofracking for natural gas and oil. 

Set in the pristine Finger Lakes wine country of New York and neighboring Pennsylvania, Stafford and the newspaper staff witness the tragic impacts of fracking on local citizens and their communities—the health risks, water and air pollution, and a rapid increase in crime. 

The fictional events in The Fracking War were pulled from newspaper headlines and other documented occurrences not only in the Northeast United States but also across the globe. The fast-paced novel offers a glimpse into an escalating conflict between citizens who want to protect their communities and the nearly out-of-control expansion of the natural gas industry’s controversial method of hydrofracking to extract natural gas, affecting homes and communities in uncharted ways. 

Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, said of The Fracking War: “If you’ve thought the debate over energy policy was a tad dry, this novel might change your mind. God hopes it never comes to this!”

I spent five years living in Pennsylvania, so I’ve seen first-hand how hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) can contaminate drinking water. Mine never caught on fire, but we tested it every few months just to make sure and no one drank it. No one I knew even let their pets drink tap water. So I was familiar with the issue when I picked up the book. And considering the recent accident at the Marcellus Shale natural gas well in southwestern Pennsylvania, this book could not be more timely.

You can definitely tell that Michael J. Fitzgerald has worked as a journalist. His prose is rich and attentive to detail, with meticulous effort used to set the scene. This style definitely served to give the reader a better sense of the atmosphere of the Finger Lakes, anchoring the story in this lush setting, and with the people who inhabit it. At the same time, the setting feels universal, which I’m sure was intentional, as fracking is occurring all over the country.

The events of the book feel ripped from the headlines, and it’s easy while reading to forget that the book is fiction. I think this was an effective technique. A lot of nonfiction has been penned and filmed on the subject of fracking, but with the exception of Gasland, not much of it has hit home with most people. Ficti0n helps us connect, and if that was the author’s intention – to connect the reader to the characters, and therefore to their situation, then he has definitely succeeded.

 

Review: Mesmerized by Julia Crane & Talia Jager

Mesmerized

by Julia Crane & Talia Jager

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal

Series: Standalone

Source: Purchased

Book Summary:

Seventeen-year-old succubus Lily Anderson can’t have a normal life: She isn’t allowed a boyfriend, she has no friends, and school is just one mess-up after another.

Lily’s parents send her away to the prestigious Emerson Academy. It doesn’t appear to be any different from the others. That is, until she meets her roommate, Hannah, and a blue-eyed boy named Jake.

Lily makes an almost deadly mistake, and Jake has a mysterious past that has come back to haunt him. Together, they must go on the run from things neither of them understand in order to save the people they love—and each other. But, Jake’s foe is more dangerous than they realized, and it will take the help of friends and family to save the man Lily loves.

She must learn to use her powers for good before it’s too late.

Let me begin by saying that I’m posting this review now because this month Mesmerized is being re-released with an additional 15,000 words. I read the original release ,and since most of the issues I had with the book involved lack of detail and world-building, I am hopeful that the re-released address these. The review below is for the original release. But first, check out the new cover:

 

I wanted to try a paranormal YA with more adult themes, and the cover, name and blurb were enticing, so I used some of my Christmas book money and ordered this one.

So we meet Lily, who is highly attractive and hates it. This aspect is done very well. The angst of being a succubus, hated by all females and desired by men for all the wrong reasons. Lily’s struggle is well-executed. She meets her new roommate Hannah, an awkward girl who manages to see past her inevitable envy of Lily and be her friend. Hannah was a nice character we didn’t see nearly enough of. I felt the insertion of the cliche Mean Girl Samantha was a bit unnecessary to the plot and didn’t add anything.

Jake is a nice love interest. Not too perfect. At first, his relationship with Lily was sweet, and I liked being in his head and seeing Lily through his eyes. Of course, they end up on the run due to an accident involving Lily’s powers, and it doesn’t take long for them to get down to it. A lot. Which is fine – she’s a succubus, after all, and the rating is mature YA. Plus, there’s real love there and I don’t have a problem with that. It was the constant “our relationship can’t be all about sex” angst, and then not a whole lot of showing of their non-sex relationship, which grated me a bit.

But what really killed the rating for me was the second half of the book. Lily’a problems can be taken care of solely by her mother, like an afterthought, which really took away from the sense of conflict in the story. Jake’s problems are a bit harder to solve, but again, the issue is left to Lily’s parents. I suppose that this might be more realistic and perhaps more moral, since most YA has teenager saving the world while their parents do God-knows-what, but it did make it harder for me to connect to Lily and Jake’s struggle.

So Lily’s mom – powerful succubus, enlists the help of her friend Camille, a powerful witch. Lily looks up to Camille as a powerful woman, but her character is really too mysterious. I’m sure that’s what the author was going for, but it is overdone. I just don’t understand who she is or what her powers really are or what makes her tick. And when Camille simply disposes of an antagonist because “he was too evil to live” it is done more as an afterthought. This is unfortunate. That could have been a serious source of conflict and rumination between the characters, but instead the character is just conveniently killed of so the plot can breeze on into Lily and Jake’s relationship. Lily’s mortal father also helps out, through his super-secret job, that is never remotely explained, though it does conveniently advance the plot. Which would have been fine, if it had been explained.

But my biggest problem was definitely the lack of explanation of Lily and her mother’s powers. The entire plot hinges on what these succubi can do, but it is basically brushed off – Lily never asked much, and her mother never told much. How old is her mother? From where did her mother get her succubus powers? What other supernatural creatures are out there and how do they get along? These issues are never really dealt with and that didn’t work for me.

All in all, I think this book just wasn’t for me. I don’t read straight romance, entirely BECAUSE I need conflict, depth and high stakes to make me care about the characters and feel invested in their relationships. Lily mentions several times how much she likes romance novels, so maybe that is more what this is intended to be. I felt like everything that wasn’t immediately concerned with their relationship was considered afterthought and throwaway. But this made me LESS invested in their relationship, not more. I don’t have a problem with romance AS AN ASPECT, but as I said, I need high stakes and a multi-layered plot and a well-formed paranormal world to back it up. So fans of straight romance will probably like this more than people who need solid paranormal world-building.

 

 

Cover Reveal: Fingers In The Mist by O’Dell Hutchison + Giveaway

Welcome to the Cover Reveal for

Fingers in the Mist by O’Dell Hutchison

presented by Month9Books!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

Sixteen-year-old Caitlyn Foster never believed in the legend of the Redeemers. That was before the trees started to whisper her name. Before a murder of crows attacked the town. Before she and her family came home to find a bloody handprint on their front door, marking one of them as a sacrifice. As Caitlyn’s friends are ripped from their homes, she knows it’s only a matter of time before the Redeemers come for her. Caitlyn has the power to stop the terror, but she’ll have to decide if she’s willing to sacrifice herself to save those she loves.

Fingers in the Mist by O’Dell Hutchison
Publisher: Month9Books

O’Dell was born in a small rural town in Idaho. There were no Redeemers living there (that he knows of). After attending college in the Pacific Northwest, he found his way to the Houston area. By day, he is a Business Systems Analyst and at night you can either find him sitting at home, dreaming of random super powers he wishes he had, or directing plays and musicals at various theaters around Houston.

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent

by Veronica Roth

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian

Series: Divergent #1

Source: Gifted

Book Summary:

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue–Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is–she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are–and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Okay, so I knew I had to read this before the movie came out, and I loved the Hunger Games, so I had high hopes. Did I love it as much as I loved The Hunger Games? No. (Though I still gave two books to go!) Was it a really good story? Yes. The Chicago setting was excellent. I spent an accidental five hours in Chicago once (thankfully not during winter) and it is a beautiful, interesting place. I was constantly curious about the world outside the city, and hopefully we’ ll get more of that in the next two books. I also want to know why the lakes dried up. Having seen them in person, the imagery of empty marshland being all that’s left was haunting.

I was lucky enough to read the special edition paperback, which had all sorts of fun extra features like author interviews and a playlist, but the best feature was definitely the Faction Manifestos. I read these before I started the novel for some background and was glad I did. Unfortunately, the faction I would fit in best, Amity, was the one mentioned least in Divergent. Probably because Tris would never pick it. Early in the book, she irritatingly says something like “but I could never be Amity”. Like it should be obvious. Later on, you realize that given her personality, Tris would never fit in there, but at the time the brush-off bothered me. I wish my favorite faction wasn’t dismissed so easily.

Of course, Tris herself drove me nuts because we are absolutely nothing alike. At one point she says “I could never be attracted to someone so weak” and I just wanted to shake her. Like wow, who are you to judge? Dauntless is absolutely the last faction I’d ever chose, and of course that’s the one whose initiation process we get to see up close. I could understand the comradeship that would form, and I acknowledge that once Dauntless was more about protecting people and less about suicidally stupid, pointless risks, but still. Not my favorite faction. Thankfully I did like that character of Four. At one point, Tris expresses that she likes him even though he isn’t particularly gentle or kind (another line that had me rolling my eyes at her), but I think she got it wrong. At least Four has legitimate reasons for his hardness, and beneath it he was a really good person.

I found the world of Divergent rich and fascinating, but I kind of wish I could have explored it though a different character, in a different faction. I never really clicked with Dauntless and Tris got on my nerves repeatedly. She IS selfish, and even arrogant. Thankfully she does acknowledge her mistakes and grows a bit especially after the events towards the end of the book. I hope we see lots more growth to come. All in all, a promising start to a series that explores complex issues of identity and virtue.

Grabby Paws: The Ring & The Crown by Melissa de la Cruz

“Grabby Paws” is my version of the Waiting on Wednesday meme hosted by Breaking The Spine that highlights upcoming releases that I can’t wait to get my paws on. 🙂

Today I have grabby paws for…

Princess Marie-Victoria, heir to the Lily Throne, and Aelwyn Myrddn, bastard daughter of the Mage of England, grew up together. But who will rule, and who will serve? 

Quiet and gentle, Marie has never lived up to the ambitions of her mother, Queen Eleanor the Second, Supreme Ruler of the Franco-British Empire. With the help of her Head Merlin, Emrys, Eleanor has maintained her stranglehold on the world’s only source of magic. She rules the most powerful empire the world has ever seen. 

But even with the aid of Emrys’ magic, Eleanor’s extended lifespan is nearing its end. The princess must marry and produce an heir or the Empire will be vulnerable to its greatest enemy, Prussia. The two kingdoms must unite to end the war, and the only solution is a match between Marie and Prince Leopold VII, heir to the Prussian throne. But Marie has always loved Gill, her childhood friend and soldier of the Queen’s Guard. 

Together, Marie and Aelwyn, a powerful magician in her own right, come up with a plan. Aelwyn will take on Marie’s face, allowing the princess to escape with Gill and live the quiet life she’s always wanted. And Aelwyn will get what she’s always dreamed of–the chance to rule. But the court intrigue and hunger for power in Lenoran England run deeper than anyone could imagine. In the end, there is only rule that matters in Eleanor’s court: trust no one.

Why I have grabby paws…

Alternate history. Magic. Royal intrigue. Arthurian elements. Forbidden love. Strong friendship. Basically a book written just for me. I need this now.

Releases April 1st

Cover Reveal: My Tethered Soul (Reaper’s Rite #2) by Dorothy Dreyer + Giveaway!

Welcome to the Cover Reveal for

My Tethered Soul (Reaper’s Rite #2) by Dorothy Dreyer

presented by Month9Books!

It’s been months since Zadie faced her sister’s Reaper, months during which she’s been under her mentor’s magical protection. But now that she’s turning seventeen, that protection is about to run out.

When dark forces lure Zadie to wander at night, she’s manipulated into committing unspeakable acts. With her friends and family at risk, Zadie must try to use her powers to break free from the Reaper’s grasp, or surrender to the Reaper’s Rite, which can only lead to death.

My Tethered Soul (Reaper’s Rite #2)
by Dorothy Dreyer
Publication Date: June 2014
Publisher: Month9Books

My Sister’s Reaper, book one in the Reaper Rite’s series, also got a make over!

Check it out!

Dorothy Dreyer has always believed in magic. She loves reading, writing, movies, and spending time with her family and friends. Half-American and half-Filipino, Dorothy lives in Germany with her husband and two children.

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Grabby Paws: Starling by Fiona Paul

“Grabby Paws” is my version of the Waiting on Wednesday meme hosted by Breaking The Spine that highlights upcoming releases that I can’t wait to get my paws on. 🙂

Today I have grabby paws for…

In the stunning conclusion to the Secrets of the Eternal Rose trilogy, there is nothing more dangerous that a secret closely kept… Cass and Luca are fugitives, on the run from the law and the deadly Order of the Eternal Rose. As they separate to pursue the only evidence that could save them, their worlds-and their romance-are torn apart by spiteful friends and murderous enemies. When Cass finds herself ensnared in the Order’s twisted plot, Falco emerges once again as her only hope for freedom. But it turns out Luca has a shocking scheme of his own. From ancient mercenaries to sly magicians, from clever courtesans to vengeful killers, no one can be trusted. In the breathtaking conclusion to the Secrets of the Eternal Rose trilogy, Cass must confront the Order and once and for all decide her destiny. Who will fly beside her when she finally finds her wings? This historical romantic thriller is perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl, Anna Godberson’s The Luxe, and Libba Bray’s A Great and Terrible Beauty and The Diviners.

Why I have grabby paws…

I know, I know, but I like this cover better, okay? The other one makes it look too much like Contemporary Romance.

Anyway! I haven’t started this series yet because I have the second book and not the first, but wow it sounds amazing! Paranormal Historical in Venice with secret societies and magic and forbidden romance. *sigh* I can’t wait to dive in and read the whole series! Also, Fiona Paul is just awesome. It’s because of her that I found the picture I use for Grabby Paws. She shared it during a Twitter Party. And she’s really nice.

Releases March 20th

Catherine Cover Buzz & Author Guest Post + Giveaway!

I am super excited to be able to help spread the word about the new cover for the paperback edition of CATHERINE by April Lindner which will be available this August.

Both covers are amazing but convey something very different with the image and colors. And I’m thrilled to be able to welcome April Lindner to the blog with a post discussing them both.

There is also a giveaway for an Amazon eGift Card. Just scroll to the bottom of this post for details and to enter. 🙂

(I haven’t read this one yet (I KNOW!) but Wuthering Heights is probably my all-time favorite book, so I’m happy to promote a book that pays homage to it!)

While CATHERINE’s paperback release is still a few months away, if you purchase the eBook edition now, it comes with the new cover. And if you’re a fan of the first cover, the hardback copy is still available to purchase.

Both covers rock, but which one is your favorite?

About CATHERINE

Title: CATHERINE

Author: April Lindner

Publisher: Poppy

Release date: January 1, 2013 | August 19, 2014 (paperback)

Formats: Hardcover, paperback, eBook

Catherine is tired of struggling musicians befriending her just so they can get a gig at her Dad’s famous Manhattan club, The Underground. Then she meets mysterious Hence, an unbelievably passionate and talented musician on the brink of success. As their relationship grows, both are swept away in a fiery romance. But when their love is tested by a cruel whim of fate, will pride keep them apart?

Chelsea has always believed that her mom died of a sudden illness, until she finds a letter her dad has kept from her for years — a letter from her mom, Catherine, who didn’t die: She disappeared. Driven by unanswered questions, Chelsea sets out to look for her — starting with the return address on the letter: The Underground.

Told in two voices, twenty years apart, Catherine delivers a fresh retelling of the Emily Brontë classic Wuthering Heights, interweaving a timeless forbidden romance with a captivating modern mystery.

GOODREADS | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | THE BOOK DEPOSITORY

***

The Guest Post

Promises, Promises: Judging a Book by Its Cover

By April Lindner

We’ve all been told that you can’t judge a book by its cover. And yet some of us book lovers can’t help ourselves; there’s nothing like a gorgeous cover to lure us in. More often than not, an enticing cover is the main thing that moves me to pick up a book I’ve never heard of, to start paging through it, giving the first few paragraphs a chance to seal the deal—or not.

So for me the most exciting moment in the whole bookmaking occurs when a book’s future cover appears in my inbox. I click on the thumbnail, and wait breathlessly as the image blooms onto my computer screen. Only then can I imagine my manuscript as a book—on a shelf, or, better still, in the hands of a reader. I know the cover will set the book’s tone. And it will make promises—hopefully the right ones.

All of this explains why I’m so thrilled by the new cover of Catherine’s paperback edition, due out in August. Don’t get me wrong: I love the original Catherine cover. Lush and dramatic, it makes certain promises—ones I believe the book keeps. The elegant model in her kickass stance promises a strong female protagonist. (Actually, the book has two alternating strong female narrators—Catherine and her daughter Chelsea.) And the background, with the iconic Flatiron Building rising up through the mist, promises the book’s Lower Manhattan setting will be as important as its characters. The title typeface—bold and purple—promises a confident, free-spirited heroine—exactly how I see Catherine herself.

But the new paperback cover—already available to readers who download the Ebook– makes a different set of promises. On it, a boy and a girl hold each other in the shadows of a graffiti-covered underpass. They gaze at each other in rapt wonder, their shoulders, neck and heads echoing the shape of a heart. Secret romance, this cover says. It promises love against the odds. The scene is gritty—less glamorous than the cityscape on the original—but this grittiness befits the book’s main setting, a post punk night club on the Bowery. The title’s typeface is still bold, but its peachy color underscores the sweet and optimistic innocence of this couple’s embrace.

Inspired by the classic romance Wuthering Heights, Catherine is a story of star-crossed love interwoven with mystery. Its soundtrack is the post-punk music played by Catherine’s boyfriend, Hence. And the new paperback cover captures that complex mood exactly, I think. In fact, when it popped up on my computer screen for the first time, I almost swooned. There it was, in front of me: almost exactly the picture I saw in my imagination as I wrote the book.

An author can hope for nothing more than that.

***

About April Lindner

April Lindner is the author of three novels: Catherine, a modernization of Wuthering Heights; Jane, an update of Jane Eyre; and Love, Lucy, due out in January, 2015. She also has published two poetry collections, Skin and This Bed Our Bodies Shaped. She plays acoustic guitar badly, sees more rock concerts than she’d care to admit, travels whenever she can, cooks Italian food, and lavishes attention on her pets—two Labrador retriever mixes and two excitable guinea pigs. A professor of English at Saint Joseph’s University, April lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons.

BLOG | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS

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The Giveaway

The Cover Buzz Blast includes a blast-wide giveaway for a $15 Amazon eGift Card to one winner.

• Must be 13 or older to enter
• Giveaway is open to anyone who can accept eGift Cards from Amazon’s US online store
• Giveaway ends on March 25th at 11:59 p.m. Pacific

Enter in the Rafflecopter below…

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Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop!

Welcome to my stop on the 4th Annual Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop, hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Books Complete Me . I love it when I get to do giveaways!

I’m offering up a brand new ARC of Independent Study (The Testing, #2) by Joelle Charbonneau.

(Adorable kitties not included)

Can you guess why I chose this one to give away?

Because it’s GREEN. 😉

So did you know that St. Patrick is associated with the ancient Celtic God Dagda?  Just like St. Brigid is based on the Celtic Goddess Brigid? Cool, huh?

To enter, click on the rafflecopter link below. Then click here to enter the other giveaways!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

PS: Because I have to pay for shipping myself, I have to limit this giveaway to US only (sorry!) unless you’re International and can cover shipping.