The Battle of the Brains
The Misadventures of Maggie Moore #2
Publication Date: April 29, 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Humor
About Michelle Graves
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Friday, April 29, 2016
Release Blitz for The Battle of the Brains by Michelle Graves
Cover Reveal for Irrefutable (Apprehensive Duet #2) by Kimberly Bracco
Title: Irrefutable
Series: Apprehensive Duet, Book 2
Author: Kimberly Bracco
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Release Date: May 20, 2016
Pre Order
Amazon: http://goo.gl/lLtjv9
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Amazon UK: http://goo.gl/fALuKC
Amazon AU: http://goo.gl/Ob1Yl4
Kimberly is a stay at mom of four crazy beautiful children. She lives in New Jersey with her husband of ten years and enjoys every minute of her never dull life. She loves a good book that is impossible to put down and you will mostly likely find her reading in her downtime, unless of course, there is a football game on.
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Release Boost for Playing the Game by Shawnte Borris
Playing the Game, Derek Backhard by Shawnte Borris
Release Date: March 30, 2016
Genre: Romance, Sports Romance
Tour Dates: April 29, 2016
Since being drafted by the NHL to play for his home team at age nineteen, Derek Backhard has had everything he's ever dreamed of - unrivaled MVP mentions, countless goals and assists, even being compared to the great one. Holding the power to control his future in the palm of his hands, nothing stood in his way.
Until the unthinkable happened, and everything about his life shifted. Past priorities fell away the moment he held baby Ryder in his arms mere moments after losing his close friend, and Ryder's father, Brad.
After weeks of watching Liz fall apart over the loss of her husband as she struggled to adjust to life as a single parent, Derek vows to give her and Ryder everything they deserve, creating a life he never knew he always wanted.
Rocked to her core by her changing feelings for him, Liz doesn’t know what to do with Derek or his offer. Uncertainty swirls within her as she leans on her lifelong friend during the hard times, but how much of his attention is real, and how much is pity?
Is she strong enough to let him in and let him take care of her, or will she force him away and back into the life she thinks he really wants?
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Interview:
Can you tell us a little about Playing the Game?
PTG wasn’t supposed to happen at first. *spoiler* I had no plan to write a series until Brad died in book one and as I grieved him, yes I grieved him too as it was also a shock to me that he died. Brad kept talking and talking that he wanted his scene to be written, he wanted his own book but I had to figure out a way to make that happen. Yes the book is about Derek but that is why Brad shadows the book so much.
Playing the Game is actually the second book in The Game series, do readers need to read the first book in order to completely understand and enjoy Playing the Game?
Absolutely you need to read book one. You need to get to know each character first and why they say and do the stuff that they do. Yes in book two they’ve grown, but I still feel it’s very important that you understand the development and bond they all have together.
What can you tell us about the first book, The Game?
The Game was written all in fun. Kirsten is my other half really, I’m very straight-shooting and I don’t give anything away when I make a business deal. I am often told I am a very hard person to read which sometimes comes off that I am a b*tch, just like Kirsten. If I changed professions and went into business, Kirsten is exactly how I want to be. I also have a strong bond with my high school friend twenty years later so it was important to me that Kirsten had that too.
What was the inspiration for Playing the Game?
Easy, I wrote a book about my ultra-ego. LOL
What about hockey and the NFL draws you in?
I’m not sure what draws me to hockey, besides that I’m Canadian and it’s a passion we share. When I watch the games at home, I’m loud. I talked to the players, give the coach my coaching opinions and I yell when stupid moves are made. Yet, when I go to a live game I sit and front of my seat never taking my eyes off the ice and I’m as quiet as a mouse. I really am the most boring person to take to a game. As for the NFL, I don’t watch and when I do, I’m lost because it different rules then the CFL.
Do you have a favorite hockey player or team?
My favorite team is the Oilers, there are my home team (you don’t cheer for another team other than your home team, that is just wrong) and don’t make fun of my team either because what you are going to poke fun at me with, I make the same statements. LOL! I don’t have a favorite player because it’s a team effort, not one play is better than another.
While writing Playing the Game plot and outline? If so did you follow it, or did it go off track and turn out differently than excepted?
I write an outline plot for every book and character, however when I start writing and developing each character they start to take over. I have yet to actually write a book that looks anything like my plot and outline. My books always turn out different when what’s in my head when I start to write.
How much control do your characters have over the outcome of the book? Did they throw any curve balls balls at you in Playing the Game?
Yes, the characters have a lot of control over my work, apparently. I find they all become bossy. Definitely curve balls are thrown in, such as Brad- he was not to die and Derek was to finish out his playing career due to an injury, not by choice.
Describe Derek in five words.
Dominate, Fierce, Loving, Caretaker and HOT
Describe Liz in five words.
Soft, Outgoing, Quiet, Nurturing and Passionate
What was going through Derek’s mind when he first held Liz’s son, Ryder?
I think tons of emotions were running through his head at one time. It’s hard to pin point which one to really focus on, a lot was happening at his point in time of the book.
Do you have a favorite scene/moment in Playing the Game?
Chapter twelve is one of my favorites because it’s real life. My favorite line is “Press Cougar Claudia.” LOL it still makes me laugh.
Do you identify with any of the characters in Playing the Game?
I have Kirsten work ethic but I also am entune to Liz’s nurturing.
Do you plan to write more about any of the characters in Playing the Game? Maybe one of Derek’s team members?
Adam and Caroline’s story is next followed by Logan and Steve’s. So far I have no plan to write another hockey book but if I was, I think Jonesy would get a book.
Do you aim for a certain number of pages or words each day?
No, I’m an erratic writer. With so much going on, on the farm at different times of the year it’s hard to sit and write some days. One day I will write eight pages, the next three days nothing then fifteen pages. My goal is to get two books out a year… maybe three.
When did you know you wanted to be an author?
I didn’t know I wanted to become an author, it wasn’t my intent at all. I have my schooling to teach special needs children and when I stopped teaching to have my family, writing found me when my youngest started kindergarten full time.
You have a number of books released, do you have a favorite?
Currently I have six books published with hopefully two more on the way this year and two more covers complete after that… with another one being developed in August.
When you’re not writing, what can you be found doing?
Reading, traveling, farming, 4H and of course chilling with my family and friends.
What are you writing now? Anything you can tell us about it?
When I come back from A Weekend With The Authors, in Nashville in May I am going to be starting an MC (motorcycle series) Waking Up In Leather. It’s not going to be your traditional MC book, it will focus more on romance but of course there will be crude things involved.
What is something that you find particularly challenging about writing or being an author in general?
The most challenging for me is to stick to deadlines, I absolutely SUCK at them. The other is reaching out to my readers, I wish there was additional ways to meet more of them, find out their story. I love book signings for this reason I don’t necessarily sell myself, I’d much rather meet the readers.
What advice would you give to writers just starting out?
Write for you and no one else! You will not please everyone and nor should you. Write because it’s a passion for you, not for another way to make an income- because it’s that’s the case you will be eating mac and cheese forever.
Do you have any writing rituals? Anything you must have while writing? Coffee? Candy? etc.
Candy, I eat so much candy it’s sickening really and when I edit I binge eat everything.
Who influenced your writing/life the most?
No one influences my writing because I write for me and what I want to read. But I will say this journey all started when I was thirty and I read my first ever book beginning to cover, then the entire series in three days. Thanks to Twilight.
Is there anything you’d like to say to your readers?
I truly can’t thank my readers and bloggers enough. This past year was a nightmare and each and every reader and blogger stuck by me till the bitter end and for that they will always have my gratitude.
What are the names of your published books and where can we purchase them?
With Love
The Game
Playing The Game
Falling For Bentley
Catching Haley
Haley & Bentley
All my books are available where most e-books are sold
What is next for you?
Waking Up In Leather (MC Series) 2016
He’s My Home (spin off to Falling For Bentley Series) Travis & Whitney 2016
Strings (YA) 2017
Fear (MMA) 2017
Breakaway (YA) 2018
Fighting The Game (??) Adam & Caroline
Negotiating The Game (??) Steve & Logan
All about the Author:
Shawnte is an international bestselling romance author with her Falling for Bentley series. She hales from central Alberta, Canada. Where she is a mother of two and co-owns a cow/calf operation with her husband of twelve years. As much as she fusses about farming, she enjoys the rural living lifestyle it offers.
When Shawnté is not sitting at her kitchen table hammering away on her laptop while watching the moose chase her cows across the yard, yes this really happens. Then she is busy attend school activities, community events and chauffeuring children here and there. She is big on playing softball and watching hockey.
When the time comes to relax, you will find her snuggled underneath her down comforter reading on her Ipad. Wait…who are we kidding, if the dishes, vacuuming, laundry or the bathrooms needs a hose down, you’ll always hear her say, “Just after this chapter.” She doesn’t have a favorite author or best story because everyday she falls in love with someone new.
You will find Shawnte on Facebook, Twitter and TSU. Please go like her page and leave a review/star rating on the books she’s wrote that you fell in love with.
Facebook - Website - Twitter
Blog Tour for Layers of Her by Prescott Lane
A Letter to my Readers
Rape. Just typing that word makes my gut tie up in knots. And that’s part of the problem.
Because it’s so uncomfortable, we don’t want to talk about it. So it gets buried at the bottom the newsfeed or forgotten altogether, like the backlog of untested rape kits.
Last March, I released Quiet Angel in which the heroine is a survivor of childhood sexual assault. A few weeks later, my husband became gravely ill, and we spent the rest of the year (5 long hospital stays and 4 long surgeries) fighting to regain his health. As I sat in the hospital chair next to his bed night after night, I got messages from women about how my book touched them. Some shared their reasons, and others didn’t.
I came to learn that April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. How could I not know that? just released a book on the very topic. Yet I didn’t see one post about it on any of my social media accounts.
Early this year, I began writing Layers of Her with the intent to spread awareness and donate of April's profits to charity. I was nervous when I started, and I still am. I mean, how much the profits be? Will readers assume I’m a survivor or I know one? Will I do the topic justice?
Why am I doing this? It’s a whole lot easier to stay silent. But that’s the whole problem, isn’t I work in a field, in the genre of fiction, that is mostly comprised of women, where sexual assault is one of the most common tropes. And with each passing page, we pull for our broken heroes and heroines to heal, find love, forge a new path. That's all we want for them. We need to do same for the real life heroes and heroines, those brave souls who fight the real fight every single day. So join me this April in making some noise to raise awareness, not only for the survivors but for those who love them.
Prescott
People always say it’s what’s on the inside that matters. If that’s the case, I’m screwed. On the outside, everything looks put together — blonde hair, blue eyes, tall and lean. By society’s standards, I’d be considered attractive. But f*ck society, I know what I am. I know what I’m made of. The recessive genes that reared their heads and created a decent looking package on the outside don’t make me who I am. What about all the evil lurking inside? What about all the other parts of me that aren’t so easy to see? Some of the most beautiful animals are also the deadliest. Take the polar bear, for example. Cute and cuddly on the outside, but it’s really a predator that will bite your f*cking head off. That’s a dangerous combination.
And that’s exactly like me, exactly who I am. Bad — and once you go bad, you can never go back.
WARNING: This book deals with the harsh reality of rape that could be upsetting for some readers.
“What made you come for me?” she asks. I tell her my theory about men making decisions based on one of three body parts — head, heart, dick. “So which led you to my house tonight?” she asks.
“Let’s just say two out of three ain’t bad.”
Her giggle fills up the room. “Stone?”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t let me forget.”
“Forget what?”
“How good I feel right now,” she says.
I know exactly what she’s feeling. She doesn’t think she deserves to be happy. It’s a constant waiting on the other shoe to drop so you can prove to yourself that all the bad shit you fill your head with is true. That you’re bad, and that’s why bad things happen around you, or to those you love. Dealt with that myself when Tate got her diagnosis. Who am I kidding? I still fight those demons, knowing she’s suffering because of my mistakes. Self-blame is a bitch. Self-hatred is even worse. Guess I’ll just have to teach Campbell to love herself as much as I love her.
Yeah, yeah, it’s fast. But how long does it really take to fall in love with someone? A minute? An hour? A day? A year? For me, it took exactly one kiss. The moment her lips touched mine in that hospital room, I was gone.
Besides, what do you really have to know about a person to love them? Not a damn thing other than how they make you feel when you close your eyes at the end of the day with them wrapped in your arms.
Review by Gia:
Layers of Her is a quick short read. Even though is not long in pages it's full of storyline and touches on some heavy topics. After reading the blurb and the warning I knew that rape would some how be involved in the story but how it was involved was surprising to me.
Campbell had a differnt type of childhood. Her aunt raised her and she finds out secrets her mother is keeping from her. She's on a bad path when she meets Stone. She takes classes at Stone's gym. Stone's live has no always been perfect either. He's a single dad and is pretty awesome. Campbell has walls up but Stone does a good job sneaking pass her walls. Both Stone and Campbell are pretty amazing characters. Their story pulled me in and I didn't want to put it down until I was done.
Layers of Her is a quick short read. Even though is not long in pages it's full of storyline and touches on some heavy topics. After reading the blurb and the warning I knew that rape would some how be involved in the story but how it was involved was surprising to me.
Campbell had a differnt type of childhood. Her aunt raised her and she finds out secrets her mother is keeping from her. She's on a bad path when she meets Stone. She takes classes at Stone's gym. Stone's live has no always been perfect either. He's a single dad and is pretty awesome. Campbell has walls up but Stone does a good job sneaking pass her walls. Both Stone and Campbell are pretty amazing characters. Their story pulled me in and I didn't want to put it down until I was done.
Prescott Lane is the author of First Position, Perfectly Broken, and her new release, Quiet Angel. She is originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, and graduated from Centenary College with a degree in sociology. She went on to receive her MSW from Tulane University, after which she worked with developmentally delayed and disabled children. She married her college sweetheart, and they currently live in New Orleans with their two children and two crazy dogs. Prescott started writing at the age of five, and sold her first story about a talking turtle to her father for a quarter. She later turned to writing romance novels because there aren't enough happily ever afters in real life.
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Release Blitz for Made For Him by Rae Lynn Blaise
Release Blitz
Title: Made for Him: A Mafia Baby Romance
Author: Rae Lynn Blaise
Release Date: April 28, 2016
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