Giveaway – Ice Floe by Melissa Birling @melissabirling @XpressoTours

Ice Floe
Melissa Birling
Publication date: April 28th 2022
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult

SECRECY IS SAFETY. SISTERHOOD IS EVERYTHING.

Seventeen-year-old Glacia didn’t plan to track a kidnapper, stick a middle finger to the government, and fall into a forbidden summer fling. This is simply what happens when you’re the resident odd girl out, in a shoal of all-female mermaids whose values are a little cracked. Or a lot cracked, if you consider government-endorsed murder and the seizure of male infants to be an issue.

When society rules, family, and romance collide, Glacia fights back the best way she knows how: by taking the matter into her own combat-trained hands and kicking some tail. The problem is, no amount of training can prepare Glacia for the crime circle she discovers, secrets she unveils, and human guy she can’t get out of her head. Glacia finds herself at a crossroads where she must decide whose rules to follow. Who she can trust. And ultimately…who lives and who dies.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

We’ve been sitting on the ledge a while now, mostly staring at the view. I steal occasional glances at Tucker. I can’t shake the feeling that there’s a force between us. Energy. A pulse. A magnet. Something. Every time I focus my thoughts elsewhere, he pulls me back in. It’s distracting.

“You ready to head down?” he asks.
“You might as well get started. I can’t climb down with all your equipment in the way.” “I have an extra harness. You should come down with me.” He reaches for his pack and stands up.

I jump up to join him. “No way. I’m not hooking myself into that death trap.” “Glacia, come on. This cliff is super challenging, and it’s way more difficult to climb down than up,” he says, his voice growing louder. Here we go again.
“I’ll be fine once you get your stuff out of the way.” I raise my volume to match his. “It’s not safe. I would feel horrible if I let you climb down and you got hurt.”
“Let me?”
“Not let you. It’s your choice.”
“I choose NO.”
He clenches his jaw tightly and grinds his teeth. I take a few steps back in preparation.

There’s enough room up here to land a solid kick to the face. That should knock him out, then I’ll have to figure out a way to climb down his cat’s cradle setup. Tucker crosses one arm over his chest and raises a hand to cover his mouth. We glare at each other – at an impasse.

“Let’s make a deal,” he offers. “You climb down with me using a harness and rope, and I’ll take you on a boat ride.”

This catches my attention.

“That’s right, I saw you light up when I mentioned my dad’s boat shop,” he continues with a cocky air.

He’s more perceptive than I gave him credit for. Volatile and perceptive. A hefty combination.

“Have you ever been on a boat?” he asks.

I shake my head. I would love to go on a boat. Tucker knows how to fix them and can teach me everything a trainer could, plus more. What am I thinking? This is crazy. I can’t go on a boat with a human. What excuse would I give if I got caught? I can’t pretend I’m seducing. Everyone knows that’s not high on my priority list, and you’re not supposed to seduce alone. Maybe I could say that I’m collecting information to share with the girls I teach… Hmm. That’s almost believable, given my dedication to the studio.

Tucker can tell I’m on the fence about it and ups the ante. “I’ll teach you to drive the boat.”

Unfair. Of course, I want to learn how to drive a boat. That’s a beyond useful skill in my back pocket. I peek down the cliff face to assess the reliability of Tucker’s wedge-rope system. Stupid. Like I know what I’m looking for.

“Fine,” I agree. “We need to be hooked together, so if I die, you die.”
“Seems reasonable.”
“AND I get to drive the boat.”
“Deal. Let’s see, today is Monday, and I already have plans tomorrow. Wednesday?” “What time?”
“Eleven a.m. on the Ula pier.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
Tucker flips his pack around, unclips a belt, and offers it to me. “Do you know how to wear a harness?”
I snatch it from him, compare it to his gear, and step into the leg holes. When I have it all clipped in, I throw my hands on my hips. “Now what?” I ask.

Tucker leans in toward me, rope in hand, then pulls back and reconsiders. “That’s not quite right,” he says haltingly. “Can I fix your harness?”

“I already agreed to this mess, didn’t I?”

He rolls his eyes. “I think that’s a yes. Pull the harness up – it has to sit higher on your hips.”

I follow his instructions, and he flops the rope over one arm. He moves in closer and bends down to reposition the harness. His fingers wrap around the loop against my leg as he pulls it up below my hip. My heart beats faster and my insides twists. I evaluate the top of Tucker’s head in an effort to distinguish these sensations from other emotions. He secures the loop and raises his gaze to meet mine.

“Is that too tight?” he asks. His hazel eyes penetrate mine. The edges are a deep brown that blend into a murky green with an amber starburst around the pupil.

I shake my head and look away. I hope he can’t tell how disoriented this is making me. “Pull the tabs on your waist tighter,” he instructs.
I cinch the waist while he rearranges the other loop on my leg. Why is this making me so agitated? He’s only fixing my gear so I don’t fall to my death. Tucker gathers the rope into his hand and reaches out to tie it to the front belt loop. As he does, his fingers brush my skin just below my belly button. A jolt of electricity shoots through my body. I take in a small gasp of air and hold my breath. He freezes, his fingers lingering on my stomach. Did he feel that too?

Author Bio:

Melissa Birling strives to experience life from a “both and” rather than “either or” perspective. She enjoys living in metropolitan cities and on a small farm. She appreciates burn-your-tongue Mexican cuisine and delicious London pub food. Lately, Melissa spends her time engaging with cyber security professionals and mermaids. Not actual mermaids, although if you know any, she’d love to meet them.

The revelation that one can be both a successful corporate consultant and a fantasy author who writes about mermaids, encouraged Melissa to finish her debut novel, Ice Floe. The emotional high of typing “The End” at the completion of her first draft, triggered a writing spree that hasn’t stopped since. On any given Saturday or Sunday, you will find Melissa writing. She won’t respond to any attempts at human engagement, because she’s “at a good part,” but you’ll find her typing away, nevertheless.

Melissa lives with a ceaselessly supportive husband and their dog who enjoys hunting neighborhood skunks.

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter


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Free Book – Choosy Bookworm Holiday Extravaganza Giveaway

 


Choosy Bookworm has partnered with eNovel Authors at Work to bring you a month long celebration with great books, great book deals, and let’s not forget the great giveaways! 

Check out today’s featured authors and books, then head on over to the event page and enter to win one of two $250 Amazon Gift Cards or Paypal Cash!

Be sure to check out the featured books and the awesome author sponsored giveaway below!
 

 

 

Grand Master’s Pawn
by Aurora Springer
Series: Grand Master’s Trilogy, Book 1
Genre:  Science Fiction/Fantasy

One young woman challenges the super psychics ruling the galaxy, and finds an impossible love.

Young empath, Violet Hunter, travels to strange planets on missions for her mysterious Grand Master. Life-threatening cracks appear in the vast web of portals and Violet agrees to investigate the disruptions. When she discovers the perpetrator comes from within the ranks of the Twelve Grand Masters, she must penetrate their curtain of secrecy to fulfill her task. Armed with only her erratic powers and a mishmash of allies, she must tackle the most powerful beings in the galaxy.

Goodreads ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon UK

Free
November 16-17 & 28-29
On sale for 99¢
November 18 – 27

 

Meet Aurora Springer

Aurora Springer is a scientist morphing into a novelist. Her works are character-driven adventures set in weird worlds with romance and a sprinkle of humor.

 

Just Add Water
by Jinx Schwartz
Series: Hetta Coffey Mystery, #1
Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction

Hetta Coffey is a sassy Texan with a snazzy yacht and and she’s not afraid to use it. She’s a globe-trotting civil engineer with swath of failed multi-national affairs in her jet stream. Plying the San Francisco waterfront, trolling for triceps, her attention is snagged by a parade of passing yachts–especially their predominantly male skippers–and experiences a champagne-induced epiphany: If she had a boat, she could get a man. In spite of a spectacular ignorance of all things nautical, Hetta buys her dream boat, but shadowy stalker, an inconvenient body, and Hetta’s own self-destructive foibles, give a whole new meaning to the phrase “sink or swim!”

Goodreads ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon UK
FREE
November 14 – 18

 

Meet Jinx Schwartz

Jinx is the author of ten books, including the award-winning Hetta Coffey series. She spends her time between her boat and her home.

 

Escape From Zandell
by Dale Furse
Series: GodSword Chronicles, Book 1
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Hankley is a brown-robed servant of the Inner Realm God. His job is to discover why the wall is stuck and his viewing screen is set to the Kingdom of Zandell. His god has warned him not to interfere with the goings on of humans, no matter what world they inhabit. But Hankley loves the people of Zandell and more especially the royal family. And he knows the queen is up to no good.

Eva is married to Prince Micah and she is carrying their first child, a baby she must protect in her battle against her own frailties and a power mad queen in an effort to bring her unborn child through betrayal and deceit into a safe world.

Goodreads ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon UK

On sale for 99¢
November 1 – 30

 

Meet Dale Furse

Dale Furse lives in North Queensland, Australia.

Dale has enjoyed many creative pursuits including playing guitar and singing in a band, acting and directing in theatre, written novels, short stories, plays, songs and poems. She also reads any genre so long as it is a good story.

After over thirty years of writing, she still loves her journeys to unknown places, meeting unheard-of peoples.

Head on over to the
Choosy Bookworm
Holiday Extravaganza
event page to learn more and enter to win one of two $250 Amazon Gift Cards or Paypal Cash!

 

 

 

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Choosy Bookworm Holiday Extravaganza Giveaway

 


Choosy Bookworm has partnered with eNovel Authors at Work to bring you a month long celebration with great books, great book deals, and let’s not forget the great giveaways! 

Check out today’s featured authors and books, then head on over to the event page and enter to win one of two $250 Amazon Gift Cards or Paypal Cash!

Be sure to check out the featured books and the awesome author sponsored giveaway below!
 

 

 

Fooling Around With Cinderella
by Stacy Juba
Series: Storybook Valley, #1
Genre:  Chick Lit/Romantic Comedy

What happens when the glass slippers pinch Cinderella’s toes? When Jaine Andersen proposes a new marketing role to the local amusement park, general manager Dylan Callahan charms her into filling Cinderella’s glass slippers for the summer. Her reign transforms Jaine’s ordinary life into chaos that would bewilder a fairy godmother. Secretly dating her bad boy boss, running wedding errands for her ungrateful sisters, and defending herself from the park’s resident villain means Jaine needs lots more than a comfy pair of shoes to restore order in her kingdom.

Goodreads ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble ~ iBooks ~ Kobo

On sale for $0.99
November 1 – 30

 

Meet Stacy Juba

Stacy Juba has written books about ice hockey, teen psychics, U.S. flag etiquette, and determined women sleuths.  She has had a novel ranked as #5 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List.  She is currently writing the second book in the Storybook Valley series.

 

No More Mulberries
by Mary Smith
Genre: Women’s Fiction/Romance

Scottish-born midwife, Miriam loves working at a health clinic in rural Afghanistan but she can no longer ignore the cracks appearing in her marriage. Her doctor husband has changed from the loving, easy-going man she married. When an old friend appears, urging her to visit the village where once she was and her first husband had been so happy. Miriam finds herself travelling on a journey into her past, searching for answers to why her marriage is going so wrong.

 

Meet Mary Smith

Author, poet and journalist, Mary Smith lives in Scotland. She spent ten years in Pakistan and Afghanistan and, wanting to share those experiences, picked up her pen and wrote about them. As well as her novel, No More Mulberries she has written a memoir Drunk Chickens and Burnt Macaroni.

 

Deadly Misfortune
by Dianne Greenlay
Series: Quintspinner Trilogy, #2
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Tess and William have survived a vicious pirate attack and a shipwreck, managing to stay together, drawing strength from each other in this fierce new world that they find themselves in.

However, one false step in the dark does what the other calamities have not been able to do, and they are torn from each other’s grasp. Before they can find one another, frightening circumstances spin out of control, and devastated by such a turn of events, each believes that the other is likely to be dead. Unknowingly, the only thing that they now have in common is that, in their quest for proof, they are about to be thrown into the path of a psychotic killer.

 

Meet Dianne Greenlay

Born and raised on the Canadian prairies, Dianne Greenlay is the author of multiple award winning novels QUINTSPINNER – A PIRATE’S QUEST and DEADLY MISFORTUNE, Books One and Two in a fast-paced adventure series, set in the 1700’s, in the pirate-infested waters of the West Indies. Straying into the genre of humor/comedy, Dianne is also the author of THE CAMPING GUY, (Winner of Best One Act – Theatrefest) which is available as both a one act comedy (live theater script) and a short story.

Greenlay is also a playwright, producer, and Creative Director of the long-running community theater group, Darkhorse Theatre. She is fluent in at least her mother tongue and she thanks her fierce English teachers for that. More of her thoughts on life can be found at www.diannegreenlay.com.

Head on over to the
Choosy Bookworm
Holiday Extravaganza
event page to learn more and enter to win one of two $250 Amazon Gift Cards or Paypal Cash!

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

To see all my Reviews, go HERE.
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Cover Reveal for the new YA fantasy Bound in Blue by Heather Hamilton-Senter

Bound_In_Blue_by_Heather_Hamilton-Senter.I am so excited to be able to share this beautiful cover for

Bound in Blue by Heather Hamilton-Senter.

Be sure and follow the link below to enter the giveaway.

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(Sword of Elements #1)
Publication date: June 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis

Gods walk among us—all you have to do is See.

High school senior Rhiannon Lynne couldn’t get noticed even if she walked stark naked into the cafeteria and started playing the banjo. While tap dancing. As if that weren’t strange enough, Rhi has synesthesia—she feels in color. It takes being almost drowned by a Celtic river goddess for her to discover she’s been bound by a spell that has hidden her from the world and her own mysterious heritage.

As Rhi starts to see that her colors are connected to magic, she finds herself at the center of a conflict between gods, humans, and the lost world of Avalon. She’ll need to figure things out fast if she wants to be a player in the coming conflict and not a pawn. Each side has a claim on her loyalty, but each one could decide she’s the real threat.

Hopelessly in love with a god of thunder; deeply connected to a boy with no memory of his past; irresistibly drawn to a creature with a taste for flesh—Rhi’s choices could decide the fate of worlds, but their choices could decide hers.

Maybe not being seen wasn’t so bad after all.

AUTHOR LINKS
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