BOOK BLITZ --- Air and Ash by Alex Lidell [Excerpt + Giveaway]

I am very excited to be a part of the Book Blitz for Air and Ash (Tides Book 1) by Alex Lidell!  This book is said to be a great book for Tamora Pierce fans (of which I am most definitely one) but set on the high seas.  I love stories where girls have to go in disguised and end up kicking all the boys butts!  Also, I haven't read many books based on ships that weren't about pirates, so this will be refreashing!

Very excited about getting my hands on this book, and you can enter for a chance to win a finished copy down below (plus a copy of Sarah J. Maas's  A Court of Wings and Ruin)!

About the Book

Title: Air and Ash

Author: Alex Lidell

Pub. Date: May 2, 2017

Publisher: Danger Bearing Press

Pages: 284

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Find it: Amazon, B&N, Goodreads

Master and Commander meets Tamora Pierce in a seafaring adventure of duty, love, magic, and a princess’s quest to protect her kingdom on her own terms.

After a lifetime of training, seventeen-year-old Princess Nile Greysik, a lieutenant on the prestigious Ashing navy flagship, sails into battle with one vital mission—and fails.

Barred from the sea and facing a political marriage, Nile masquerades as a common sailor on the first ship she can find. With a cowardly captain, incompetent crew, and a cruel, too-handsome first officer intent on making her life a living hell, Nile must hide her identity while trying to turn the sorry frigate battle worthy. Worse, a terrifying and forbidden magic now tingles in Nile’s blood. If anyone catches wind of who Nile is or what she can do, her life is over.

But when disaster threatens the ship, Nile may have no choice but to unleash the truth that will curse her future.

Air and Ash is the thrilling first installment of the Tides series. Recommended for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Tamora Pierce, and Naomi Novik.

Excerpt

My breaths come quick, my side vision a blur of sand. The horses rear, showing their bellies and hooves. When Red turns to the beasts, I crash into him. The impact ricochets through me. I drop my rock.

Red staggers but remains standing.

I wrap my arms around Red and draw the other pistol from his waistline even as he throws me to the ground. I land in a heap and breathless, but my hands still clutch the gun.

Inconveniently, the bloody weapon is as much a danger to me as to the men. It bucks in my hand, yielding to the natural pulse of Clay’s uncontrolled magic. Rising to one knee, I move the barrel between Bald and Red. “Stop,” I command. “All of you.”

Three sets of eyes grip me. None give a sign of recognition. I little blame them—having spent most of my life aboard an Ashing ship, the only people who’d reliably recognize me are those I’ve served with. This Felielle trio is unlikely to recognize even Thad outside the throne room, or think twice if they heard my name absent salutation.

My palms are moist, but I know better than to let the fear slip into my voice. “I believe the man has understood your message,” I say.

Clay’s dog chooses that moment to run up beside me and bare its teeth. Its low growl leadens the air between us.

One heartbeat stretches after another, punctuated by the break of waves and the horses’ snorts. My breaths come quick and shallow. I’m unlikely to miss at this range, but the pistol is good for one shot only.

Bald squints. “What’s your stake in this?”

“A broken law and a bound man.” I shake my head. The constant foreign presence in Ashing is a necessary burden for now, but I hope to see it end after the war. “One pistol has fired already, gentlemen. I expect the Ashing patrols are en route to investigate.”

Red scowls at me, likely calculating whether he might knock me to the ground before I squeeze off the trigger or the horses scamper. He probably can.

I scowl back, hoping the thugs’ employer paid them too little to risk their hides so greatly. “I would wager you will pay with your horses and backs if the patrols come upon us now.”

Bald snorts and makes a decision. “Is the lady correct, Domenic? Has the message penetrated?” He lands a vicious knee in the man’s abdomen.

Domenic’s jaw tightens, and he has to draw a breath before he can speak. “I have a debt.” His voice is steadier than I had expected. “I will pay it.”

“Why, that is all we wished to hear in the first place.” Bald pats Domenic’s shoulder and turns away, then twists back and punches Domenic’s jaw as an afterthought. “A pinch of a memory aid.” He chuckles at his joke and, accepting the reins from Red, swings into the saddle. The horses neigh and pick up a gallop, eager to be away, and I raise my free arm to shield my eyes from the flying sand.

About Alex

Alex Lidell is an avid horseback rider, paramedic and ice cream addict. Born in Russia, Alex learned English in elementary school, where a thoughtful librarian placed a copy of Tamora Pierce’s Alanna in Alex’s hands. In addition to becoming the first English book Alex read for fun, Alanna started Alex’s lifelong love for YA fantasy books. Alex’s debut novel, The Cadet of Tildor, was an Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards finalist. Her second book Air and Ash releases in May 2017.

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Giveaway Details

1 winner will receive a finished copy of Air and Ash & a hardcover of A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas, International.

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The Foxglove Killings Release Day Blitz (+ Giveaway)

The Foxglove Killings

by Tara Kelly 

Release Date: 09/01/15

Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads
Gramps always said that when the crickets were quiet, something bad was coming. And the crickets have been as silent as the dead. It started with the murdered deer in the playground with the unmistakable purple of a foxglove in its mouth. But in the dying boondock town of Emerald Cove, life goes on.

I work at Gramps's diner, and the cakes―the entitled rich kids who vacation here―make our lives hell. My best friend, Alex Pace, is the one person who gets me. Only Alex has changed. He's almost like a stranger now. I can't figure it out...or why I'm having distinctly more-than-friend feelings for him. Ones I shouldn't be having.

Then one of the cakes disappears.


When she turns up murdered, a foxglove in her mouth, a rumor goes around that Alex was the last person seen with her—and everyone but me believes it. Well, everyone except my worst enemy, Jenika Shaw. When Alex goes missing, it's up to us to prove his innocence and uncover the true killer. But the truth will shatter everything I've ever known about myself—and Alex.

Buy the Book

Amazon :::: Barnes & Noble :::: Book Depository

Excerpt

Chapter One

Alex saw it first.

We were cutting through Neahkahnie Park, the morning sun warm on our backs. I was telling him we should take his grandpa’s El Camino SS and drive down the coast to California for the summer.

“He left that car to you,” I said. “You know he did.” I reached over to muss his light brown hair. It always stood straight up afterward, as if he’d been electrocuted.

“We can’t, Nova. I—” He stopped walking, his eyes widening at the playground.

Clumps of fur blew across the grass, like the cotton blooms did in July. I didn’t think it was real at first. Some kid’s stuffed animal, maybe.

But the stench was unmistakable. I’d practically been raised in my grandpa’s diner. I knew the smell of meat past its prime. Raw. Metallic. Even a little sweet.

A deer’s carcass was a twisted heap in the playground, its legs jutting out like winter branches. Bits of flesh, ranging in color from pink to dark red, were strewn across the wood chips. The head of the deer sat on the middle bucket swing. A misty film covered its eyes, and its mouth was open, as if it were gasping for air.

My stomach muscles began to knot.

I saw a dog get hit by a semi once. The scene replayed in my mind for months. The thud of the impact, the way he’d yelped. The last second of that dog’s life seemed to echo forever.

This was worse. Someone planned this. Put it on display, like it was entertainment.

About the Author

Tara Kelly adores variety in her life. She’s an author, one-girl-band, graphic designer, editor, and photographer. She lives in Sin City with her beloved guitars, sound design master husband, and a fluffy cat named Maestro.

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INVADED Release Week Blitz (+Giveaway)

I am so thrilled to help Melissa Landers with her release week launch party for INVADED! See a note from Melissa below and make sure to enter the giveaway!

Hey, fiction lovers. I’m Melissa Landers, author of the Alienated series (YA sci-fi from Disney-Hyperion), and today I’m bouncing with excitement because THE SEQUEL IS FINALLY HERE!

It’s been a year since we left Aelyx and Cara onboard the intergalactic transport, and INVADED begins with an emotional goodbye as they part ways—Aelyx returning to Earth to salvage the alliance, and Cara continuing to L’eihr to serve out her part of the student exchange. While they’re apart, our star-crossed lovers will face assassination attempts, betrayal, crippling self-doubt, and a sadistic alien Phys Ed class. (Because there’s no escaping PE, even in another galaxy.) When Aelyx and Cara finally reunite…well, let’s just say it’s combustive. ;-)

What do reviewers think? I’m glad you asked!

“Readers will love the seamless blend of suspense, humor, and romance set against an interstellar landscape. Dual narratives and a tightly plotted mystery keep the suspense running high, and the chemistry between Aelyx and Cara smolders.” –Booklist

“Excellent character development and integration between modern reality and science fiction. Teens will be rooting for the galactic couple while enjoying the action and suspense that runs through the two volumes.” –School Library Journal 

“The protagonists' forced separation gives greater depth to their romance. Each learns to turn a critical eye upon the flaws of their native societies while confronting genuine obstacles to a future together. These complications only underscore the growing sense of menace that propels the narrative to an action-packed climax.” –Kirkus

I hope you’ll make tracks to the nearest bookstore and pick up a copy of INVADED! If you’re snowed in, here are some easy links to bring the sequel right to you:

Amazon/Barnes & Noble/iBooks/Book Depository/Indie Bound/Indigo/Books-A-Million

Melissa Landers is a former teacher who left the classroom to pursue other worlds. A proud sci-fi geek, she isn’t afraid to wear her Princess Leia costume in public—just ask her husband and three kids. She lives outside Cincinnati in the small town of Loveland, “Sweetheart of Ohio.” For more information, or just to say hello, visit www.melissa-landers.com.

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GIVEAWAY

To celebrate my book birthday, I’m offering one lucky winner a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble and an autographed swag pack, complete with mini posters of BOTH books! This giveaway is open internationally, and due to sweepstakes laws, entrants must be 18 years or older to participate.

Best of luck, and happy reading!

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A COLD LEGACY Release Day Blast! (+Giveaway)

I am so excited that A COLD LEGACY by Megan Shepherd releases today and that I get to share the news, along with an excerpt from the book!

If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book by Author Megan Shepherd, be sure to check out all the details below.

This blast also includes a giveaway for a signed copy of the book and swag courtesy of Megan and Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

Title: A COLD LEGACY

Author: Megan Shepherd

Pub. Date: January 27, 2015

Publisher: Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins

Pages: 400

Find it: Amazon, Barnes& Noble, Goodreads

After killing the men who tried to steal her father’s research, Juliet—along with Montgomery, Lucy, Balthazar, and a deathly ill Edward—has escaped to a remote estate on the Scottish moors. Owned by the enigmatic Elizabeth von Stein, the mansion is full of mysteries and unexplained oddities: dead bodies in the basement, secret passages, and fortune-tellers who seem to know Juliet’s secrets. Though it appears to be a safe haven, Juliet fears new dangers may be present within the manor’s own walls. 

Then Juliet uncovers the truth about the manor’s long history of scientific experimentation—and her own intended role in it—forcing her to determine where the line falls between right and wrong, life and death, magic and science, and promises and secrets. And she must decide if she’ll follow her father’s dark footsteps or her mother’s tragic ones, or whether she’ll make her own. 

With inspiration from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, this breathless conclusion to the Madman’s Daughter trilogy is about the things we’ll sacrifice to save those we love—even our own humanity. 

A COLD LEGACY excerpt

p.21-24

Montgomery stopped the horses outside a tavern. He came to the carriage door, opening it just a crack to keep the rain from drenching us. “I’m going to ask directions. We can’t be far now.”

We watched him saunter over the muddy street as though he didn’t even feel the bite of freezing rain. A face appeared in the tavern window. The door opened and he spoke to a woman in a wool dress for a few moments, then stomped back through the mud. “This village is called Quick,” he told us. “The manor’s only five miles from here.”

“Did you hear that?” Lucy murmured to Edward, still stroking his hair. “We’re almost there. Just hold on. Everything will be all right once we arrive.”

Montgomery’s eyes shifted to me. Neither of us wanted to remind Lucy that the prospect of Edward’s fever breaking—and the Beast’s reappearance—was almost more frightening than the fever itself. Delirious, he was less of a threat.

“Let’s go then,” I whispered to Montgomery. “And quickly.”

He closed the door and in another moment we were moving again, passing through the rest of Quick. Then all too soon the village was nothing but fading lights. The storm grew and the road became rougher, and all the while Edward’s eyes rolled back and forth beneath shuttered lids.

Thunder struck close by, and Lucy shrieked. Montgomery whipped the horses harder, pulling us along the uneven road impossibly fast, trying to outrun the storm. I twisted in the seat to look out the back window at the pelting rain. A stone fence ran alongside us.

“We must be getting close,” I said.

“Not soon enough,” Lucy breathed. “We’re going to crash if he keeps driving like this!”

The road widened, straightening, letting us travel even faster. Lightning struck close by, blinding me. The horses bolted. Lucy screamed and covered her eyes, but I couldn’t tear mine away. The lightning had struck an enormous oak tree, twisted from centuries of wind. The oak took flame, blazing despite the rain. A smoking gash ran down the trunk—the lightning’s death mark. I watched until the rain put out most of the flames, but it still smoldered, billowing hot ash into the night.

The horses pawed the earth, and I grabbed the window to steady myself. At this wild speed, just hitting a single rock at the wrong angle would send the carriage shattering to the ground. It was madness to go so fast. Couldn’t Montgomery calm the horses?

Just when I feared the carriage would careen out of control, it stopped short, throwing me against the opposite wall. I tangled in Lucy’s limbs as the chains around Edward’s body clinked. Balthazar grunted, jerking awake at last. We scrambled in the bottom of the carriage until the door flew open.

Montgomery stood in the pelting rain. I feared he’d say we’d broken another strut or the horses had gone lame or we’d have to spend the night in the harsh storm.

But then I saw the lights behind him, and the night took shape into a turreted stone manor with bright lamps blazing and gargoyles on the roof vomiting rain into a stone courtyard.

Montgomery’s eyes met mine beneath the low brim of his hat.

“We’ve arrived,” he said.

About Megan:

Author Photo by Kristi Hedberg Photography

Hello! 

I’ve been many things, like a professional exchange student, park ranger in Montana, and LOST enthusiast, but what I am now is a writer.

I think it’s fair to say I was born into it. I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, raised behind the counter of my parents’ independent bookstore, Highland Books in Brevard. Ah, so many free books. But I never thought being a writer could be a real career. After college I thought I’d end up as a foreign service officer somewhere dashing and exotic, like Canada. I studied French, Spanish, German, and Russian and still speak a few of those. Then I joined the Peace Corps and spent two years in Senegal, where I learned a few more languages I’ll never speak again and lived in a mud hut with no electricity or running water. You can probably imagine how that experience went, but if you’re curious, here are the dirty details. 

It wasn't until a chance aquaintance read something I wrote and said, "have you ever considered being a writer?" that something clicked and I realized it was possible. My husband encouraged me, and I quickly fell head-over-heels in love with writing and children's literature in particular. I started out writing articles, which have appeared in Faces, Appleseeds, and Calliope magazines, and stories for younger children. I soon realized I wasn’t sweet enough to write fiction for that age and found myself writing young adult literature instead, which doesn’t require nearly as many tender moments and includes a lot more cursing.

When I'm not writing, I can usually be found horseback riding, day dreaming at coffee shops, or hiking in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina. I love to hear from readers, so please drop me a line!

I am represented by Josh Adams of Adams Literary.

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Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a signed copy of A COLD LEGACY and swag! US Only.

Ends on February 6^th at Midnight EST!

AND check out the Twitter Party Megan is hosting:

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LOVE, LUCY Release Day Blast (+Giveaway!)

I am so excited that LOVE, LUCY by April Lindner releases today and that I get to share the news, along with an awesome guest post from the author in which she shares “Some Rules of the Road” for traveling abroad, as Lucy did in the book.

If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful new book by Author April Linder, be sure to check out all the details below.

This blast also includes a giveaway for a copy of the book courtesy of Rockstar Book Tours and 3 signed JANE posters courtesy of the author. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

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About LOVE, LUCY

Title: LOVE, LUCY

Author: April Lindner

Release date: January 27, 2015

Publisher: Poppy

Pages: 304

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

While backpacking through Florence, Italy, during the summer before she heads off to college, Lucy Sommersworth finds herself falling in love with the culture, the architecture, the food...and Jesse Palladino, a handsome street musician. After a whirlwind romance, Lucy returns home, determined to move on from her "vacation flirtation." But just because summer is over doesn't mean Lucy and Jesse are over, too.

In this coming-of-age romance, April Lindner perfectly captures the highs and lows of a summer love that might just be meant to last beyond the season.

Find it: AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | THE BOOK DEPOSITORY 

| INDIEBOUND | GOODREADS

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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, releasing January 27, 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.

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The Guest Post

SOME RULES OF THE ROAD

Like Lucy Sommersworth, the heroine of Love, Lucy, my parents gave me the gift of a lifetime: a backpacking trip to Europe. I was a bit older than Lucy—22, and just out of college—but when I arrived in Milan, Italy with a Eurail pass, a copy of Let’s Go: Europe, and a seventy-pound backpack I could barely lift, I was a wee bit terrified. Like Lucy, I spoke only a little bit of Italian, just barely enough to get by, and I wasn’t particularly good at reading maps or train schedules. Unlike Lucy, I was travelling solo.

Luckily, my journey began with training wheels. I’d just taken a college Italian class, and my professor had offered a safe crash pad for the first few days of my trip—in her family home in the Alps. Less luckily, when I reached Malpensa airport, nobody was there to pick me up. Giddy with excitement and jet lag, I wandered around the airport, eavesdropping on Italians as they hugged each other hello and goodbye, and had noisy arguments. I’d never felt more alone in my life. Where would I sleep that night if my ride didn’t show up?


Luckily, my professor’s brother arrived at last to whisk me away to the family home in Domodossola. The extended family welcomed and fed me, gave me tours of their city with its charming medieval center, helped me practice my Italian, and, when the time was right, brought me to the train station where my solo travels began for real. It was time to take off the training wheels.

If I’d felt alone back in the airport, I was even more so on that train to Verona, a city where I didn’t know a soul. In those pre-internet days, I could disappear into thin air and nobody would even notice I was gone. The thought was chilling, but oddly exciting.

By nightfall, I’d made it to Verona. I’d figured out the public transportation, found a youth hostel, and booked myself a bed. Best of all, I had introduced myself to a handful of other backpackers. We hung out together in the hostel’s common area, sharing bread and cheese, exchanging stories, discussing the rules of the road—those bits of practical wisdom our travels were teaching us. Here are a few:

Time passes differently on the road.  Spend a few very intense hours seeing the sites with strangers and by the end of the day, those strangers have become a part of your story. Years later you’ll see their faces in your photo album and still remember stray details of the adventures you shared together, even if you can’t quite recall their names.

Spontaneity is key.  There are few things as magical as showing up at a train station with no idea where you’re headed next, picking a random train, and hopping on.

Janis Joplin said it best: Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.  When you’re carrying all your possessions on your back in a city where you don’t know a soul, you’re absolutely free. You can go anywhere, do anything. That freedom has its lonely moments—but it can be the doorway to all kinds of adventures.

Embrace misadventure.  As carefully as you plan there will be crazy mistakes: wrong turns, slept-through train stops, multilingual misunderstandings, and all kinds of other blunders—and these will make the best stories. My misadventures are some of my favorite memories. The time I missed curfew and had to climb into my hostel through a second-story window. The morning when, hanging out my recently washed clothes to dry, I dropped my wet underthings out the window, onto a stranger’s head. The night when, with no room to stay in, I slept on Venice’s train station steps with about a hundred other backpackers, the stars above us and the Grand Canal stretched out before us. Would I trade that last memory for a safe, comfy night in an actual bed?  Not on your life.

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The Giveaway

There is a blast-wide giveaway, ending February 6th at 11:59 p.m. Pacific, for:

• 1 copy of LOVE, LUCY to be ordered from Amazon or The Book Depository – Int’l

• 3 JANE posters (signed) – US only

Enter in the Rafflecopter below...

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BOOK BLITZ for Anomaly by Tonya Kuper (+Giveaway)

Anomaly (Schrodinger's Consortium #1)
by Tonya Kuper
Release Date: 11/25/14
Publisher: Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:

Reality is only an illusion.
Except for those who can control it…

Worst. Birthday. Ever.
My first boyfriend dumped me – happy birthday, Josie!- my dad is who knows where, I have some weird virus that makes me want to hurl, and now my ex is licking another girl’s tonsils. Oh, and I’m officially the same age as my brother was when he died. Yeah, today is about as fun-filled as the swamps of Dagobah. But then weird things start happening…

Like I make something materialize just by thinking about it.
When hot badass Reid Wentworth shows up on a motorcycle, everything changes. Like, everything. Who I am. My family. What really happened to my brother. Existence. I am Oculi, and I have the ability to change reality with my thoughts. Now Reid, in all his hotness, is charged with guiding and protecting me as I begin learning how to bend reality. And he’s the only thing standing between me and the secret organization that wants me dead…

Buy Links:

Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Kobo Books│The Book Depository│iBooks

Chapter Excerpt:

I approached the mat. I’d never done any extensive sparring, but I wasn’t a total newb when it came to self-defense. The tae kwon do I’d practiced for years with Eli had to count for something. I hoped.

A heavy footfall pulled my attention back to Reid.

            An arm came at me from the side. Without thinking, I ducked, punched under the incoming arm, and swung my shin at the ankles in my sights. Reid’s legs swept out from under him, and his hands shot out to catch himself. He landed on all fours.

            I gasped for a breath of air, my chest heaving. Evidently I held my breath whenever I was attacked. Reid’s eyes locked on mine. Finally some eye contact. And then he gave me a shitty smile.

            “What the hell?” I snapped. Reid stood and didn’t stop moving until he was in my face. I didn’t let myself flinch. “Just because you’re pissed at me, did you really need to try and take me out? I know you think insta-immersion works best, but maybe it doesn’t for me. Maybe, just maybe—”

            “Will you shut up?”

            I hitched my hands on my hips. “So rude.”

            “Five days, Josie.”

That shut me up in a heartbeat. What the hell was wrong with me? I hadn’t lost sight of the goal. The awards ceremony was—I glanced at the wall clock in the living room—125 hours and fourteen minutes away. Reid shouldn’t take it easy on me. He couldn’t afford to.

“I’m sorry,” I began.

“Stop.” Reid didn’t budge, but he crossed his arms, too. “I was going to give you a compliment, but you won’t stop thinking or talking long enough for me to get a word in edgewise.”

            Oh, oops. “Proceed.”

            He shook his head, closing his clear eyes for a moment. “You are a piece of work.”

            “That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”

            Reid barked a short laugh. “Because it wasn’t. I was going to tell you that you did a good job earlier, you know, with the whole Pushing Pictionary thing. And this?” He pointed behind him, where I’d taken him down. “How did you know what to do?”

            “My parents made us take tae kwon do. Like, for years and years. I guess it just kind of comes naturally.” A hint of pride fluttered through my muscles. And with that pride, just a smidgen of hope. Like maybe I could do this. Maybe I could actually pull this off.

            “Mmm.”

            Reid stood so close that I had to angle my head up to him. My shirt was already sticking to my sweaty stomach. And he still didn’t have a shirt on. I had to make a conscious effort not to look at his body. I could barely focus on what he’d said.

            In no way, shape, or form had I lost sight—no pun intended—of the big picture. I remained focused on the end goal. Reid was just, well, a wee bit distracting, that’s all. And perhaps that was a good thing. Yes. If I could focus around Reid, then that would only better serve me in a real-world environment, when I faced other distractions.

            Yep, that was my story. And I was sticking to it.

            “Let’s work more on hand-to-hand combat. See what comes not-so-naturally, natural.”

            Giving him a nod, I pivoted toward the mats. Feeling his presence behind me and hearing the swish of his jeans as he moved, I stopped short. I twisted, throwing a punch toward his lower jaw. He shifted out of the way, grabbed my wrist in midair, and twisted it around my back. Thank the moon of Endor I was pretty flexible.

            He yanked my arm farther up my back. His opposite arm wrapped around my waist and tugged me into him, his bare chest pressing into my back.

Pain and exhilaration shot into my nervous system. I was stuck. My heart beat wildly, but I wasn’t scared. It had to be the rush of adrenaline into my bloodstream and the fact that a half-naked guy held me in a death grip.

            Reid’s exhale tickled the back of my neck as he steadied his breath. “Nice try.” His voice came out in a rough whisper. His arm tightened around my waist again, his fingertips singeing my skin through my tank as they dug through the material, drawing me in to his body.

            “What’s the matter, Josie? Can’t move?”

A chill danced down my spine when he pulled in a deep breath and his chest expanded against my back. I should’ve been shrugging out of his hold, but I didn’t. My body had locked up in response to his presence. And it pissed me off, because even though he could be an underwear model, I would’ve rather made out with a Romulan. Similar personalities.

About the Author:  Tonya Kuper's debut, Anomaly, the first in the Schrodinger's Consortium young adult scifi trilogy, releases November 2014 by Entangled Teen. She lives in Omaha, NE with her two rad boys and husband, is a music junkie, a chocolate addict, and a Star Wars & Sherlock fan.

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