Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Bitter Angel Sneak Peek + Giveaway

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Today on Xpresso Reads I’m showing you a sneak peek at Bitter Angel and you can enter to win a copy! Let’s see what this pretty is all about:

Bitter Angel
Megan Hand
Genre: NA Contemporary/Thriller
Publication date: April 1st 2013

Torn between two realities.
A choice that will mean life or death.
But she won’t know anything… until she wakes up.

College sophomore, Lila Spencer lived Friday night twice. She doesn’t know how or why, just that she did. As if she split in half and went in two different directions.

Out clubbing with her friends, Heather and Nilah, the girls rock it out and party hard. What begins as an innocent night will lead to a deadly fight for their lives, and Lila might be their only chance for survival.

In bed with her boyfriend, Jay, Lila is safe and warm as she drifts to sleep in the arms of the man she loves. Until she is sucked into a horrifying nightmare of her friends’ deaths.

As the sunlight warms her face on Saturday morning, the two scenarios collide. But there can be only one outcome. Will she wake up in her warm bed with Jay by her side, devastated and grieving for her friends? Or was she there to save them?

The answer is just the beginning.

Bitter Angel Sneak Peek


Unfortunately, my words didn’t faze him. He just laughed and wiped his hands on a dry piece of his shirt. “Oh man. We haven’t had one as feisty as you in…” He rested his chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Well, a long time.”

My heart hammered, but I put venom in my tone. “Where are my friends? I want to see them.” I strained forward, listening for anything that would tell me they were okay and alive.
I could hear music, loud and vulgar. Voices, all male. Laughter. Bottles clinking. I could smell the crusty scent of cigarette smoke.
He pointed to the closed door. “They’re out there, being taken care of. Don’t worry. They’ll be fine. It’s you that I’m not so sure about.”
“You sick son of a bitch. My friend could be on the brink of death, and you’re just gonna do nothing? If she dies on your hands, I swear—”
“Relax,” he cut me off. “She’s still breathing. Enough. We’ll drop her somewhere when everyone’s done. She’ll be fine.”
As I had kicked the driver’s seat earlier, I just as frantically pulled on my arms. “Let me out!” I screamed, hoping beyond hope that someone, inside or out, upstairs or down, could hear me in this hellhole. I had no idea if we were in a house or apartment building, if this was the only bedroom, or if there were others. From the looks of it and guessing the age of these guys, my bet was that this was their place of business where they brought all the girls just for this purpose. I highly doubted that they lived here, but I had nothing to back up my theory.
He rounded the bed. It creaked as he sat on the clean side. He caressed my jaw, my bloody lip. I cringed, ripping away from him, and he gripped me harder. From his pocket, he retrieved a knife. The blade winked at me in the dim light. I swallowed.
He grinned. “Still wanna scream?”

About the Author


At twelve, Megan decided to write a novel. A month later, she quit. A reading junkie by nature, she started writing again in her twenties as a way to get the voices out, because who wouldn’t want to create a Real Living Person out of thin air? Megan also plays the piano and sings. She teaches little kids and takes pictures of pretty butterflies. She eats way too much chocolate, is sort of a mad scientist with her blender, and spends an unhealthy amount of time LOLing on Facebook and Twitter. She lives in Ohio with her husband and very smiley son. Bitter Angel is her first published novel.

Giveaway
Megan has generously offered one copy of Bitter Angel for giveaway. This will be gifted either from Amazon or Barnes and noble.

Open internationally
Giveaway ends April 10th
Use the Rafflecopter below to enter
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Posted by on 04/02/2013 • 35 Comments

Ready Player OneErnest Cline Genre: YA Dystopian Publication date: April 2nd 2013by Poppy

It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune–and remarkable power–to whoever can…

Review: That Time I Joined the Circus by J.J. Howard

Posted by on 04/01/2013 • 30 Comments

That Time I Joined the Circus J.J. Howard Genre: YA Contemporary Publication date: April 1st 2013by Point

Lexi Ryan just ran away to join the circus, but not on purpose.

A music-obsessed, slightly snarky New York City girl, Lexi is on her own. After making a huge mistake–and facing a terrible tragedy–Lexi has no choice but to track down her long-absent mother. Rumor has it that Lexi’s mom is somewhere in Florida with a traveling circus.

When Lexi arrives at her new, three-ring reality, her mom isn’t there . . . but her destiny might be. Surrounded by tigers, elephants, and trapeze artists, Lexi finds some surprising friends and an even more surprising chance at true love. She even lucks into a spot as the circus’s fortune teller, reading…

Xpresso Weekly: Stacking the Shelves (49)

Posted by on 03/31/2013 • 43 Comments

Xpresso Weekly is my edition of Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga’s Reviews featuring the books I got this week, and I also mention blog news/happenings of the past week. This week at Xpresso Reads

HAPPY EASTER! Yay! I’m so excited to be doing an egg hunt with my kid this year for the first time–even though he has bronchitis, but he’s a trouper. So this week I had the If You Find Me blog tour drop by which is a book I loved, and you can enter to win a copy of your own, here! I also went over two of my favorite Google Reader alternatives on this week’s Book Girls Don’t Cry post!

Reviews on the blog this week:

Xpresso Book Tours

New tours open for…

Vengeance Bound Tour Stop: Guest Post + Giveaway

Posted by on 03/30/2013 • 12 Comments

Today I’ve got the Vengeance Bound blog tour dropping by Xpresso Reads! I’ve got a guest post by Justina, as well as a fab giveaway! Thanks to AToMR Tours for having me on this tour!

Vengeance Bound Justina Ireland Publication date: April 2nd 2013by Simon & Schuster BFYR

The Goddess Test meets Dexter in an edgy, compelling debut about one teen’s quest for revenge… no matter how far it takes her.

Cory Graff is not alone in her head. Bound to a deal of desperation made when she was a child, Cory’s mind houses the Furies—the hawk and the serpent—lingering always, waiting for her to satisfy their bloodlust. After escaping the asylum where she was trapped for years, Cory knows how to keep the Furies quiet. By…

Fresh Batch (March 31st – April 6th)

Posted by on 03/30/2013 • 13 Comments

Exclusively titled for Xpresso Reads, Fresh Batch features the hottest releases of this upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

In the Shadow of Blackbirds Cat Winters  Publication date: April 2nd 2013by Amulet Books

In 1918, the world seems on the verge of apocalypse. Americans roam the streets in gauze masks to ward off the deadly Spanish influenza, and the government ships young men to the front lines of a brutal war, creating an atmosphere of fear and confusion. Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches as desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort, but she herself has never believed in ghosts. During her bleakest moment, however, she’s forced to rethink her entire way of looking at life and death, for her first love—a boy who died…

Review: This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

Posted by on 03/29/2013 • 30 Comments

This Is What Happy Looks LikeJennifer E. Smith Genre: YA Contemporary Publication date: April 2nd 2013by Poppy

If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O’Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.

Then Graham finds out that Ellie’s Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media’s spotlight at all costs?

–A copy…

Book Girls Don’t Cry, They RSS!

Posted by on 03/28/2013 • 37 Comments

Inspired by Book Buzzers, Book Girls Don’t Cry is a weekly feature where we each discuss/vent/advise on the chosen weekly bookish topic. Don’t miss Jenni on Mondays, and Amy on Saturdays:  

Goodbye Google Reader, Hello Something Better!

You heard me! Google Reader leaving is not exactly the end of the world, nor is it even bad at all. There are tons of other readers out there, some free, others that require a fee but give out a little something extra for it.Today I will feature two of my favorite alternatives which also seems to be the ones most liked by the majority so you might learn some tips and tricks if you’re new to these, or it may help you choose!

BLOGLOVIN Bloglovin’ is close to being the same…