Book Blitz & Excerpt: The Stars Forgot Us + Giveaway

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We’re celebrating the release of The Stars Forgot Us, by bestselling author R.J. Garcia. This beauty will be available on March 30th. Read on for details and a chance to enter a fantastic giveaway – A paperback copy & a $10 Amazon e-gift card (US only) and an e-book edition if the winner lives outside the US!

21-438 RJ Garcia The Stars Forgot Us (1)

The Stars Forgot Us

by R.J. Garcia

Publication Date: March 30th, 2022

Genre: YA Paranormal

Publisher: Midnight Tide Publishing

Fifteen-year-old Jacob Kelly would love to go back to simpler times. Before his parents’ divorce and the onset of his older brother’s schizophrenia. But when he returns to his hometown, things feel off. After a series of strange occurrences in his new house, Jacob fears the house is haunted, or even worse, he is losing his mind.

To his surprise, Jacob discovers a mysterious teenage runaway, Sanctuary Daniels, living in the house. She reveals she has been kept by a figure known only as Mother, in a place where downstairs children are languishing prisoners, and upstairs children do Mother’s bidding.

Both Jacob’s investigation into Sanctuary’s allegations and their budding romance are cut short when she is reclaimed by evil beings. Beings who unleash terror upon Jacob and his family. Now he must journey to a real haunted house to save his first love and fight for his life.

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Excerpt

My eyes snapped open as three words surfaced in my sleepy brain. You’re not alone. A cold settled into my flesh, making the fine hairs on my arm stand up. I sat up in bed, sucking in a deep breath, and stared into the darkness, unsure what had woken me. My lights were off. It was pitch black. Then the distinct pitter-patter of footsteps sounded down the hall.     

“Mom?” When I got no answer, I jumped out of bed and scrambled for the light switch. The overhead fluorescent light blinked on, and I immediately noticed the closet door was partway opened again. This time, I was sure I’d closed it, so I started off with slow, measured steps to investigate. I yanked the door open the rest of the way and hit the closet light. I scoured the walls to discover more writing. The single word, HELP, was written in the same marker on the wall. My pulse skyrocketed. It freaked me out. 

I crept back over to the bed and grabbed the blanket, swinging it around my shoulders like a cape, settling down on the drafty hardwood floor. With a shiver of anticipation, I kept my eyes pinned to the door, and strained to hear the slightest noise. It was eerily quiet. Even the wind had died down.     

Unexpectedly, I heard a girl’s voice, so soft it was hardly audible, as it drifted up from the floor. It was only the word, “I’m.”       

I scooted over to the vent and whispered, “Um…hello?” There was no reply. It could have been a ringing or humming in my ear. Yeah, I’d only imagined it was a voice. Yet, I hadn’t imagined the writing on the wall. I mean, what the hell? I got up and decided to have a look around. If someone was in the house, I had to know. I exited my room and began my search.       

I stood face to face with a long and quiet hallway—doors on the left and right. My mind was a hot blank space as a thread of fear tugged me along. My mom’s bedroom was kitty-corner to my room, so I stepped in just far enough to take in the visual of her tucked in bed. Her sleeping sounds were somewhere between wheezes and moans.

“Mom?” I whispered, but she didn’t wake up, and I decided to just let her sleep.

I crossed over to the spare bedroom, smacking on the lights. There was only a desk and Mom’s old computer in the corner. Determined, I was now on a serious hunt and rushed to the closet, flinging the door open. There wasn’t anything. Not even writing on the wall.     

Next on the list was Michael’s room. I found him sitting up in bed with a vacant stare. The lights were off, but the blinds were open. Moonlight flitted in, creating shadowy outlines above the chest of drawers that appeared incompatible and menacing.

My gaze returned to my brother as I cleared my throat. “Were you just walking around?”

“No.”

“Did you hear a girl’s voice, Mike?”     

He came to life. “Yeah. I heard her.”     

My mouth dropped. “Holy shit, I hoped I imagined it.”     

Michael stared at me with an unsettling intensity. “I heard her in the vents, the drainpipes, and in the walls. If you listen closely enough, you’ll hear them all.”     

Oh great, I’m losing it too.      

My brother nodded approvingly. Tension slid from his features, softening his mouth and jaw muscles. Misery loves company, I guess.     

Be sure to get your copy HERE on March 30th!


About the Author

Balck and white author pic

R.J. Garcia is a wife, and proud mom of two smart teens and a chorkie, Zoey. She earned her MSW and worked with foster children and as a school social worker. Writing has been her other great love. She has been writing short stories for as long as she can remember. To her amazement, those short stories became novels!

RJ Garcia | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook


Giveaway:

Click the link below to enter the giveaway. This will run from today and close at 12 AM EST on March 31st. Good luck!

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Book Blitz & Excerpt: Frostbite + Giveaway

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Frostbite
by Lynn Rush
(Touch of Frost, #1)
Publication date: September 11th 2013
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult

Amanda gives a whole new meaning to cool…

Amanda Smith is sick of getting chased from town-to-town. So when she lands in tiny Trifle, Arizona, she hopes it’s her last move for a long time. Despite hating the smallness of the town, she settles in and finds a best friend, and even a boyfriend. Normality at its finest.

But for a girl who can shoot snow from her hands and lift a two-ton truck over her head like a bag of feathers—normal is not an option.

The scientists who murdered her mother come barreling into Amanda’s quiet life. She must decide if she’ll run again or stay and fight. The price of either choice might be her life or the lives of those she’s come to love…

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frostbite

EXCERPT:

“You barely know me, Zach.” And I was so the wrong girl. He just didn’t know it.

“I’m trying to get to know you. You won’t let me.” His dark eyebrow quirked up, and his dimple flared as he offered me his totally addicting half-smile.

He was right, though. So trained to stay protected I’ve pretty much forgotten how to…be. So controlled. So…

I inched closer, which probably looked ridiculous as I scooted across the sand, but if I was going to take a chance, Zach was going to be that chance.

His eyes widened, and he leaned forward as his grip on my hand tightened. Despite the sand mixed in with our hands, his warmth still crept up my arm. But it also left a trail of goosebumps.

Do. Not. Freeze. Him.

I drew in a breath, then pushed that last inch separating us. My reward was the softest pair of lips. The contact, as light as it was, sent a shockwave through my chest, rattling down my spine. The warmth of the sun toasting us, and his now familiar scent, swarmed around my body, filling me with him.

All Zach.

I turned my head a fraction and that angle offered me even more of him. That pouty bottom lip I’d been eyeing since I’d first seen him was all mine to taste. To nibble. And I took full advantage.

Author Bio:

New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author, Lynn Rush, is a full-time writer, wife, and trail runner living in the Sonoran Desert, despite her fear of rattlesnakes. Known as #TheRunningWriter, Lynn can’t resist posting epic sunrise pictures while running in the desert with her trail sisters, even if she has to occasionally hop a scorpion.

When she’s not running or writing, she’s watching movies that fuel her everlasting love of superheroes, vampires, and all things Supernatural. The books she reads usually carry the same theme, but this former college athlete loves reading sweet sports romances as well.

She’s madly in love with her Ironman husband of 20+ years who is the inspiration for what true love is. You can find her on social media as @LynnRushWrites and her website is: www.lynnrush.com

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Book Blitz & Excerpt: Lost In Nowhere + Giveaway

Lost in No Where

Lost in Nowhere
by Barbara Pietron
(Legacy in Legend, #3)
Publication date: April 20th 2021
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult

Jeni has fully accepted her spiritual ability, and yet she’s unnerved by the apparition of Marielle, the ghost of a pioneer girl asking for help. As the ghost’s tragic love story unfolds in her dreams, Jeni’s resistance melts and she resolves to save the soul of Marielle’s lost love. When she discovers her own impulses cause Marielle to act uncharacteristically, Jeni believes she can change the past. Despite warnings against meddling with time, Jeni’s convinced she can save the soul of Marielle’s lover. Deep inside a dream and intent on her quest, Jeni is lured into a trap that binds her soul to Marielle’s. With no allies, no knowledge about crossing through time and with limited 18th century resources, Jeni is terrified: failure will leave her soul trapped in the past, or worse . . . lost in nowhere.

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Lost in Nowhere

EXCERPT:

Ice reached for the teardrop-shaped planchette. It was about the size of his palm and had a hole in the middle. When Jeni’s fingers rested across from his, they stared at each other, waiting for something to happen.

“Since you haven’t done this before, you might want to circle around the Ouija board allowing the momentum to take on a life of its own,” the medium prompted. “Use a very light touch.”

They followed her advice, gliding the wooden piece smoothly over the board.

A few moments later, the medium said, “Go ahead and ask if she’s here.”

Jeni closed her eyes, presumably thinking about the girl in the legend, since that was their theory on how and why the spirit appeared to her. After a minute or so, remembering the instruction sheet, Ice said, “We invite only good spirits to talk with us.” Then he asked, “Is there a spirit here?”

The planchette moved immediately, nearly jerking from beneath their fingers, startling Ice when it moved to the alphabet.

Scraping sounds filled the small room as the wooden piece trundled across the heavy cardboard. “H… E… L… P.”

Jeni’s eyes had snapped open when the planchette began moving, and Ice could feel the weight of her stare.

“What is your name?” he asked.

Again, the disc glided over the alphabet. “M,” Ice said. “A… R… I… E.” It continued to move. “L… L… E.”

“Marielle?” He exchanged a glance with Jeni as the planchette slid to “Yes.” Then he asked, “Are you the girl from the Kaskaskia legend?”

The piece twitched, but remained on the Yes.

Checking on Jeni, Ice was glad to see she looked more fascinated than freaked out. He felt no animosity from the presence and his rapidly beating heart was beginning to calm. “What do you need help with?”

A long scrape brought the planchette back to the alphabet. “S… A… V… E… M… Y… L… O… V… E.”

“Who is your love?” Ice asked.

“A… M… A… K… A… P… A.”

Feeling confident that they knew who they were actually talking to, Ice asked, “Do you need help crossing to the other side?”

The planchette slid toward the moon on the right corner of the board and rested briefly on “No.” Then it went back to the alphabet: “H… E… I… S… N… O… W… H… E… R… E.”

Frowning, Ice looked first at Jeni, then at the medium. “He’s not on the other side?”

The disc returned to “No.”

“Is that why you haven’t crossed over?”

Their fingers followed the shuffle of the wooden piece to “Yes.”

Ice thought for a moment about his next question and came up with, “Why do you think we can help you?”

This time the planchette moved to the center of the board, between the Yes and No. It twisted under their fingers causing Ice and Jeni to hold their arms in a contorted position. When it stopped, the narrow end of the teardrop pointed at Jeni.

Her eyes widened. In the smallest voice, Jeni asked, “Is it pointing at me?”

Ice asked, “You think Jeni can help you?”

The indicator shifted left to “Yes,” then continued to spell out: “S… H… E… K… N… O… W… S.”

Jeni flinched, deep creases forming on her brow. She drew her lips into a pucker.

Reading her confusion, Ice asked, “What does she know that will help you?”

“F… I… N… D… H… I… M.”

Author Bio:

Having a love for witches and vampires before they were trendy, Barbara gravitates toward stories with supernatural elements both when she reads and when she writes. Although classified as young adult, her books are enjoyed by a wide audience–pre-teen through adult.

Barbara’s novel Thunderstone was awarded 2013 Book of the Year Finalist status by Forward Reviews and before it was published, Thunderstone was a quarter-finalist in the 2012 Amazon Breakout Novel Award contest, winning a review by Publisher’s Weekly.

When she’s not writing, Barbara works in a library where she’s tortured by all the books she has yet to read. She’s a cult fan of the movies Labyrinth and Nightmare Before Christmas and a fan of all things Tim Burton. Barbara lives in Royal Oak, Michigan with her husband, daughter and a cat that often acts like a dog.

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