Once upon a time, there was something called the sun…In a kingdom ruled by an evil witch, the sun is just part of a legend about light-filled days of old. Luckily for everybody in the kingdom, Siria Nightingale is headed to the heart of the darkness to try and restore the light–or she will lose everything trying.
Sixteen year-old Siria Nightingale has never seen the sun. The light is dangerous, according to Queen Iyzabel, an evil witch who has shrouded the kingdom in shadow.
Siria has always hated the darkness and revels in the stories of the light-filled old days that she hears from her best friend and his grandfather. Besides them, nobody else understands her fascination with the sun, especially not her strict and demanding parents. Siria’s need to please them is greater even than her fear of the dark. So she heads to the royal city–the very center of the darkness–for a chance at a place in Queen Iyzabel’s court.
But what Siria discovers at the Choosing Ball sends her on a quest toward the last vestiges of the sun with a ragtag group of rebels who could help her bring back the Light … or doom the kingdom to shadow forever.
Hanna C. Howard spent most of her childhood wondering how she might avoid growing up, and eventually solved the conundrum by becoming an artist and a writer. She considers tea an essential food group, has more books than shelf space, and thinks the ultimate geek triumvirate is Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Doctor Who. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with her husband and son, their Disreputable Dog, and a cat skilled in the martial arts.
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TBR and Beyond Tours is happy to present a cover reveal of Born at Dawn. Before revealing the cover, lets talk about the author and the book!
ABOUT CHRISTINA DAVIS
Christina Davis was raised in the Santa Cruz Mountains and is a California girl at heart. She spent much of her childhood in and out of hospitals and embraced reading as an escape. After being home-schooled through high school, she graduated summa cum laude from San Jose State University and attended NYU’s Summer Publishing Institute before embarking on a decade-long career in journalism. She enjoys chocolate, cosplay, coffee, and board games, but not necessarily in that order. She now lives in beautiful Monterey County with her husband and daughter.
Title: Born at Dawn Author: Christina Davis Series: Da’Valia Trilogy Publishing Date: November 15, 2020 Genre: Fantasy Age Range: YA/NA
Synopsis: When a heist goes terribly wrong and the binding spell holding 17-year-old Neva’s powers at bay is shattered, the half-human thief knows she’s in trouble.
Neva has always hidden her Da’Valian heritage while working risky jobs to make a name for herself and serving at her family’s tavern, but she won’t be able to hide much longer. She can either risk the safety of those she cares about or seek out her mother’s people to gain control over her emerging powers.
The Da’Valia are beautiful, brutal creatures created by the god of war, and the austere Da’Valian soldier Astiand reluctantly agrees to take Neva to his clan under his protection. She makes unexpected friends, including the handsome fighter Emiliand, and a new enemy in the clan’s ruthless leader.
Spying on her guardian, the sly heroine quickly discovers just how deep she has stumbled into a dangerous, developing clan feud.
Will she be able to embrace who she is in time to keep her loved ones safe?
For fans of Sorcery of Thorns and Furyborn comes a thrilling new fantasy about a kingdom ravaged by war, and the princess who might be the key to saving not only those closest to her, but the kingdom itself, if she reveals the very secret that could destroy her.
The kingdom of Hálendi is in trouble. It’s losing the war at its borders, and rumors of a new, deadlier threat on the horizon have surfaced. Princess Jennesara knows her skills on the battlefield would make her an asset and wants to help, but her father has other plans.
As the second-born heir to the throne, Jenna lacks the firstborn’s–her brother’s–magical abilities, so the king promises her hand in marriage to the prince of neighboring Turia in exchange for resources Hálendi needs. Jenna must leave behind everything she has ever known if she is to give her people a chance at peace.
Only, on the journey to reach her betrothed and new home, the royal caravan is ambushed, and Jenna realizes the rumors were wrong–the new threat is worse than anyone imagined. Now Jenna must decide if revealing a dangerous secret is worth the cost before it’s too late–for her and for her entire kingdom.
KayLynn Flanders is a graduate of Brigham Young University, with a degree in English Language and a minor in editing. When she’s not writing, she spends her time playing volleyball, reading, and traveling. She lives in Utah with her family, and thinks there’s nothing better than a spur-of-the-moment road trip. Her debut novel is Shielded.
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina meets The Craft when modern witches must save teens stolen by an ancient demon in this YA fantasy-thriller debut.
Dan and Liss are witches. The Black Book granted them that power. Harnessing that power feels good, especially when everything in their lives makes them feel powerless.
During a spell gone wrong, Liss’s boyfriend is snatched away by an evil entity and presumed dead. Dan and Liss’s friendship dies that night, too. How can they practice magic after the darkness that they conjured?
Months later, Liss discovers that her boyfriend is alive, trapped underground in the grips of an ancient force. She must save him, and she needs Dan and the power of The Black Book to do so. Dan is quickly sucked back into Liss’s orbit and pushes away her best friend, Alexa. But Alexa has some big secrets she’s hiding and her own unique magical disaster to deal with.
When another teenager disappears, the girls know it’s no coincidence. What greedy magic have they awakened? And what does it want with these teens it has stolen?
Set in the atmospheric wilds of California’s northern coast, Sasha Laurens’s thrilling debut novel is about the complications of friendship, how to take back power, and how to embrace the darkness that lives within us all.
Sasha Laurens grew up in Northern California, where she learned to drive on Highway 1’s switchback turns and got accustomed to the best weather in the world. After studying creative writing and Russian literature at Columbia University, she lived in New York for years and, at various times, in Russia. She currently resides in Michigan, where she is pursuing a PhD in political science.
I’ve been meaning to make this post for a week or so now and honestly kept forgetting with just how much is going on. TBR and Beyond, the amazing Facebook group I moderate for, has expanded and we now run tours for book releases! I’m so excited that I’m able to also be a part of this new endeavor.
I honestly have been reading quite a lot less that I typically would because I been working my butt off to help out in every way I can when it comes to TBR and Beyond Tours. If you are interested in joining us, please sign up for the masterlist to get the first look at all of our tour sign ups!
I’m so excited to be back with another author interview! This time I was able to interview Erin Hahn, the author of You’d Be Mine and More Than Maybe. You’d Be Mine was released in 2019 and quickly became one of my favorite contemporaries. More Than Maybe definitely became one that I was excited about even before I knew what it was going to be about.
Congratulations on the publication of your second book! How has your publication journey been? How has this past year been in relation to your debut year?
Thank you! My journey to publication has been wild. It was three years of writing book after book and getting something like 300 rejections from agents before hitting home with my debut, “You’d Be Mine” and publishing it in 2019 with Wednesday Books. Writing sophomore books is always tricky… so many more expectations and opinions rattling around in your creative brain, but I’m so pleased with how “More Thank Maybe” turned out. It’s the music nerd book of my heart. Publishing amidst a pandemic has been something else! I think on every level of publication, from author to agent to editor to marketing… we’re all trying to figure out how this new normal looks. So much has been moved online and done remotely.
What inspiration did you have for More Than Maybe?
I’ve always wanted to write a YA about working teens. Obviously, the story is so much more than that. It’s a romance and it’s got gobs and gobs of music in it, but also, at its heart, this is a book about two kids who are trying to save their workplace (a beloved dive bar) and figure out their futures after high school. Additionally, I’ve always been an enormous fan of the 90’s cult classic “Empire Records” and have dreamed about writing a book that had its own soundtrack throughout.
How was your experience writing More Than Maybe? Did it differ any from that of your time writing You’d Be Mine?
Hahahaha. YES. So different! “You’d Be Mine” was such a joy to write and it just flew out of me. It was really the story I wanted to read, myself. I had zero expectations or concerns (maybe foolishly) while I drafted that book.
I was far more hesitant about “More Than Maybe”. I wrote and sold it before “You’d Be Mine” released, so I wasn’t yet sure how my stories would be received by readers. I had all this built up-pressure to please my new readers and was just getting accustomed to strangers reviewing and commenting on my words and characters. I expected people to critique my writing, I was less prepared for them to critique my characters! I’ve come a long way since then, but that journey of writing “More Than Maybe” was a LOT. ☺
I personally feel that your stories deal with some tougher topics in the midst of amazing romances. How do you balance it all while writing your books?
I work at being as true as possible. The fact of the matter is real life is especially messy. No one who falls in love is perfect or unblemished by their past. We all have scars and sharp edges and I’ve always been committed to reflecting that in my stories. I’ve joked with my editor that my stories aren’t so much rom-coms as rom-mads. Just like in real life, my characters have their own self-growth to face on their way to being ready to love someone else in a healthy way.
Music is such a huge part of both You’d Be Mine and More Than Maybe. Can you share about your relationship with music and why you chose to have it heavily be a part of your books?
Music nurtured me. The honest truth is that I didn’t need to look up a single song or lyric for this story because I’ve been collecting them in my brain for decades. I’ve just always been obsessed with music. As a teen, I spent hours in my bedroom, making mix CDs (because I’m old) and writing lyrics in notebooks. I worked multiple jobs in high school and college and spent all my money on CDs and concerts. I wanted to write a love story for the teens who are like I was.
The playlist for You’d Be Mine is amazing in my opinion! Is there one for More Than Maybe as well?
Sure is! It’s up on Spotify for anyone to listen along as they read. If an artist or song is mentioned in the book, I put them in the playlist. Look up “More Than Maybe” a novel by Erin Hahn!
Do you know from the beginning how your books will end or do you let your characters decide their journey?
I always know the ending AND the characters have to figure out how they’ll get there. ☺
With your books being dual perspective, did one give you more trouble over the other?
Vada was a little quiet early on. It took me a few drafts to get her to completely come out of her shell. Actually, once I got to know her best friend, Meg, Vada really started talking.
Without any spoilers, can you share a favorite scene from More Than Maybe?
My very favorite scene is the end, but since that is a total spoiler, I will say I love, love, LOVE the silent disco “not-date”. It’s the first time Luke and Vada really have a chance to recognize their attraction for each other and it’s super adorable and awkward.
I personally think your characters are some of the most relatable ones that I’ve ever read. Do you think you’ll ever revisit characters from your stories in future books?
That’s very kind! Thank you! You will definitely get to know Meg Hennessey more in my third book “Never Saw You Coming”. She gets her own spin off and love story and I can’t wait for you to read it!
What 2020 releases are you excited for and think we should have on our radar?
Oh jeez. So many. I’ll just focus on my favorite coming of age romances I’ve been reading…
“Date Me, Bryson Keller” by Kevin Van Whye “More Than Just a Pretty Face” by Syed Masood “My Eyes Are Up Here” by Laura Zimmermann “A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow” by Laura T. Namey
What’s next for you? Can you spill anything about your next book?
Like I mentioned a few questions ago, my next book is Meg’s story. Meg finds out that her entire ultra conservative childhood has been based on an epic lie. Rather than taking a gap year to find herself, she decides to travel north to meet the family she never knew existed. While there, she meets Micah Allen, a former Pastor’s kid who has his own conflicted feelings about the Church, as his dad is in prison for swindling his congregation. The two battle their fuzzy and complicated pasts while trying to forge a solid future together. With kissing. Lots of kissing. ☺
Thank you so much to Erin Hahn for allowing me to interview her! Her book, More Than Maybe, is out on July 21, 2021 and I can’t recommend it enough.
Hey everyone! After much consideration, we have decided to overhaul our blog and go with a new name. Both of us feel strongly in our love for the LGBTQ+ community and after recent events, we will no longer be going by Bookishly Slytherclaw. We will now be going by Stocked Up on Starbooks! We hope you continue to join us on our blogging journey and we can’t wait to share our thoughts on books with you all.
Last year I was able to read an advanced copy of Meet Me at Midnight and instantly fell in love like I have done with both of Jessica Pennington’s previous books. I am so excited to have been able to interview Jessica Pennington for the blog tour to celebrate her book!
What inspired Meet Me at Midnight?
This book was inspired by my own summer vacations! From the time I was 10, my family has rented a lake house, and the layout in Meet Me At Midnight is almost identical: two small rental houses on a hill, with a large house behind them, where the owners live. Unlike in Meet Me at Midnight, I didn’t have a cute, snarky boy living next door, I just had my aunt, uncle, and cousins. Not nearly as much fun!
All three of your current releases feature some similar locations. With any future releases, do you think you’ll carry on that trend of them being centered in similar locations or do you think you’ll venture elsewhere?
I’m honestly not sure. As far as contemporary romance goes, I do really love writing beachy summer stories. But I also have some ideas that take place during the school year, so who knows! But my current work in progress is actually a romantic fantasy, so that setting is VERY different, and it’s been a fun change of pace!
There are many pranks in Meet Me at Midnight. Were you a prankster when you were younger? What was your favorite prank in the book?
Oh my goodness, I wish I had been bold enough as a teen to pull pranks like Sidney and Asher, but I definitely wasn’t. They were so fun to write, though! It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I think it’s probably when Sid makes Asher think he’s wet the bed, and that’s mostly because I love the scenes leading up to that prank and what caused her to do it. But the cherry Kool-Aid would be a close second!
Your books feature a variety of commonly used tropes. Is there a trope that you haven’t used yet that you want to write about?
I love tropes, and I think the one I haven’t done yet that I definitely will in the future is “fake dating.” It’s one of my favorites, it’s actually hard to believe I haven’t used it yet!
Where did you vacation when you were younger? Did you have a favorite location?
My family’s lake vacations were definitely my favorite, and a lot of the locations in both Meet Me At Midnight and When Summer Ends are inspired by actual locations in that area. The cherry-themed restaurant and River Depot in When Summer Ends, and the old-school drive-in movie theater in Meet Me At Midnight are all based on some of my favorite places in northern Michigan (there’s a little tour in my saved IG stories!)
Were you a swimmer? If so, did you compete?
I swam for a few years in early middle school, but that’s it. I grew up down the street from Lake Michigan, though, so swimming was a big part of my life growing up, which is why lakes and lake towns tend to play such a big role in my books. The morning swims in Meet Me At Midnight were actually inspired by a fellow vacationer I met one summer when I was about thirteen—she was a competitive swimmer and her dad would take her out in the mornings to swim across the lake.
How has releasing Meet Me at Midnight been compared to your prior releases?
It’s been strange, since this book released just a few weeks after Covid-19 really started shutting things down. I had to cancel my launch party, and a few book festivals and conventions I was scheduled to attend in March and April. It’s been sad not getting to visit bookstores and see readers like I’d usually get to, but sometimes life is just weird and you have to roll with it, and this is definitely one of those times!
COVER REVEAL Title: It’s Only Temporary Author: Lisa Suzanne Genre: Contemporary Rock Star Romance Cover Design: Najla Qamber Designs Photo: Wander Aguiar Release Date: June 11, 2020
BLURB
It all started because of a bachelor auction.
My girlfriend was supposed to win me, but she issued an ultimatum that resulted in the end of our relationship seconds before I took the stage.
Instead, the singer of the band I’m temporarily playing with won. I’ve been fighting my attraction since the day I met her, and now I’m forced to take her on a romantic date. She may be mysterious and impulsive, but our date proves we’re more alike than I realized.
It may not matter. The woman I was with for seven years wants me back, and I have to decide whether I want to rely on security or take a risk.
Just when I think I have it all figured out, one of them hits me with a secret I never saw coming.
AUTHOR BIO Lisa Suzanne is a romance author who resides in Arizona with her husband and two kids. She’s a former high school English teacher and college composition instructor. When she’s not chasing or cuddling her kids, she can be found working on her latest book or watching reruns of Friends.
If opposites attract, my brother’s best friend and I are perfect for
each other.
I’m a balanced, ambitious ER nurse. He’s the immature guy in a successful band
who’s basically along for this ride called life.
Everything’s going great between us until the night he makes a stupid mistake
that changes everything. When I can’t see a future with him, I end it.
But the two of us are contractually obligated to go on a road trip across the
country, and since his reality show will be filming us, we have to act like
we’re a couple.
He blasts music I can’t stand, stops at strange roadside attractions, and
chooses my least favorite restaurants. Despite all that, I still see the sides
of him that I was starting to fall in love with.
Can we find our way back to each other, or will he just keep driving me crazy?
Lisa Suzanne is a romance author who resides in Arizona with
her husband and two kids. She’s a former high school English teacher and
college composition instructor. When she’s not chasing her toddler or cuddling
her newborn, she can be found working on her latest book or watching reruns of Friends.
Stuck in Fiction 