Showing posts with label K.C. Sprayberry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label K.C. Sprayberry. Show all posts

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Short Adventures: Mini Reviews


Mama’s Advice by K.C Sprayberry:



 

Blurb: Lorelei loses what's left of her family close to graduation, but she still has Mama to lean on, or rather she has Mama's ghost. At first, Lorelei ignores the opinion about her boyfriend, Chase, but then she figures out he is acting strangely and has a new tattoo covering a scar he never had before.
Chase, however, isn't one to give up on a girl. He dumps them not the other way around; until Mama's ghost gives Lorelei the strength shut him out of her life.

My thoughts: I really liked this story; I can’t believe how much story she was able to put into those few pages. I couldn’t put it down; found myself gulping it down like a man who has been through the desert without water. I love the way Lorelei stands up for herself, wanted to smack Chase so hard, my hands were itching, altered between wanting to shake and applause his parents. Mama’s Advice kept me bound from first, to last page. Definitely NOT the last book I’ve read by Kathi!
About K.C Sprayberry:
 

KC Sprayberry started writing young, with a diary followed by an interest in English. Her first experience with publication came when she placed third in a Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge contest while in the Air Force, but her dedication to writing came after she had her youngest child, now a in his senior year of high school.
 
Her family lives in Northwest Georgia where she spends her days creating stories about life in the south, and far beyond. More than a dozen of her short stories have appeared in several magazines. Five anthologies feature other short stories, and her young adult novel Softly Say Goodbye, released in 2012. During 2013, more young adult stories have been released: The Ghost Catcher, Who Am I?, Family Curse … Times Two, and Amazon Best Seller, Canoples Investigations Tackles Space Pirates.
 
You can find Kathi here:
 
 

Condemned to Die by Catherine Stovall:

Blurb: Nineteen-year-old Vega Williams is dead by her own hand, and her tormentors still walk the streets. The destroyers of one of the world’s last pure souls even attend her funeral in the guise of grieving loved ones. In fact, her funeral is nothing more than a social engagement to most of Oakdale’s finer society.
With their good intentions painted on their faces, they believe that their secrets and hate filled thoughts are safe behind the veneer of propriety. However, they didn’t count on Zane Allistor’s presence. The young man that not even Vega could have recognized turns out to be the reaper of the fallen girl’s vengeance.
Using his strange ability to read and manipulate minds, Zane tracks down those guilty for pushing the girl he loves past the point of no return and uses their misdeeds against them. In a bloody twist of fate, two hearts are united when death leads to life.

My thoughts: This story was also around the 40ish pages, but felt longer than Mama’s Advice. Following Zane on his quest for vengeance, it was amazing to see how he could manipulate people to do what he wanted them to, make them relive all their cruelty against Vega. I wasn’t sure about this story, couldn’t figure out WHY Zane did what he did – until the very end. Then it became clear, then I understood. And the rest of the story certainly made more sense. The story was very well written, gave me chills, horrified me, and at the same time… They definitely had it coming.
 
About Catherine Stovall:
 
Catherine Stovall is the author of Faire Eve, The Requiem of Humanity Series, and the short story, Fearful Day. Upcoming publications for 2013 include Bloody Freedom (Broken Mirrors, Fractured Minds Anthology) Condemned to Die (short story), Arcana: The Maiden (full length), Eternity: Requiem of Humanity Series: Book Three (full length), and Drift Back Home (short story).

Stovall is a member of the International Thriller Writers & The Fictioneers. She also enjoys working with other independent authors to spread awareness and to build a better indie community.

Catherine is a fearless creature who surrounds herself with the joys of life both in and out of her fictional worlds. She lives in Southeast Missouri with her husband, three children, and pets. When not writing, she spends her time riding motorcycles, wearing elaborate hats, and genuinely enjoying the oddities in life.

You can find Catherine here:
 
 
 
Cat’s First Kiss by Stephanie Julian:

Blurb: Since taking on the powers of the Etruscan Goddess of the Moon, Catene's life has been upended. Her parents don't know how to help her. And Tivr, Etruscan God of the Moon, has seemingly deserted her. Amazing what a first kiss can do.

This story takes place after HOW TO WORSHIP A GODDESS and before GODDESS IN THE MIDDLE.

My thoughts: I enjoyed each and every book in the Forgotten Goddesses Series so far. So finding out that there was a short story about Cat, well…I had to read it. Cat fascinated me from the beginning, and I’m hoping to see (read) much more about her in the future.

This was a short, sweet read. It gives us a little insight into what happened after Cat absorbed Lucy’s powers, and some of the changes that came with it. At the same time, Cat is missing Tivr, who “disappeared” for a while, and how angry and sad she is with him being gone.

It doesn’t have the same level of hot in it, as the rest of the series, but then, it really shouldn’t have. At least not yet. I enjoyed reading Cat’s First Kiss, and I realized how much I missed this universe, and I really should be getting back there again soon!
About Stephanie Julian:
 
I'm a writer with a reading habit, though some days, it's the other way around. I love to read and write erotic romance, paranormal or contemporary, and sometimes with romantic suspense.

Forgotten Goddesses reading order: WHAT A GODDESS WANTS, HOW TO WORSHIP A GODDESS and GODDESS IN THE MIDDLE.

Lucani Lovers reading order: KISS OF MOONLIGHT, MOONLIGHT MENAGES, EDGE OF MOONLIGHT, MOONLIGHT TEMPTATION and GRACE IN MOONLIGHT.

Magical Seduction reading order: SEDUCED BY MAGIC, SEDUCED IN SHADOW, SEDUCED & ENSNARED, SEDUCED & ENCHANTED, SEDUCED BY CHAOS, SEDUCED BY DANGER and SEDUCED BY TWO.

SPELL BOUND is the first in the Darkly Enchanted series...but not the last.

Lovers on the Fringe is a snarky, slightly twisted take on the paranormal. Reading order: SIZE MATTERS and THE BIGGER THEY ARE...

DeMarco Investigations is light romantic suspense, high on the sexy level but not erotic. Reading order: SEX, LIES & SURVEILLANCE, HIS TO KEEP and BLOWN AWAY

Find out why Romantic Times magazine, Simply Romance Reviews, Night Owl Romance and Joyfully Reviewed have called my stories "fascinating," "truly fantastic," "intoxicating," "highly imaginative" and "hot enough to peel paint."
 
Find Stephanie here:
 

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Take Chances Teaser Tour by KC Sprayberry


 
Good Morning! My name is KC Sprayberry. Sabina Bundgaard of Sabina's Adventures in Reading has let me hijack her blog today. The purpose is to tease all of her very dedicated readers with information about my soon-to-be-released YA coming of age novel, Take Chances.
 

Hang on, ladies, we're interviewing Julie's secret crush, Michael Taylor today. I'm told he's a pirate hottie. Let's see.

 

1. Introduce yourself to our readers. What should we know about you?

 

Hey, Michael Taylor here. I'm a photographer – of kids in action. Kind of like I was back in high school. Give me a raging river and a boat, the side of a mountain, hitting a home run, or making an end zone run, and I'm there. Love what I do, but tell you what. You'll never believe this. There's this girl I've loved since I was a senior, and she was a sophomore, but I didn't dare get close to her until she was eighteen.

 

The reason for that? Oh, you really want to know? Well, it was her mom. She caught me watching Julie one day while we were all playing basketball in Tom's driveway. You would have thought Lacey caught me undressing Julie in a public park, the way she went on and on about men like me. I'd just graduated Landry High, didn't have a clue what I wanted to do next, and well, I was just hanging out with my buds.

 

Now, Lacey, she decided that she didn't want me around, so she told me to get out town or go to jail. It took me two years to come back, but I'm glad I did.

 

2. What do you think about the author? Tell us everything. We want to know.

 

Did a fab job. I'm not much of a writer, but this lady is like Julie – just loves writing. And calling me a pirate hottie. Wow! I'm blushing just thinking about that. Never thought of myself that way. But all is good now. Julie called me her pirate guy just last night, while were having steaks at this great place in Wyoming. I guess being a pirate hottie is good.

 

3. What are your feelings about this story?

 

It's about time someone told this story. I really hated abandoning Julie, really hated losing her to Lukas … but well, I guess I never did lose her to Lukas, but that's why Julie is the way she is - being a good friend to everyone but herself. Then there's all the crap Charles and Lacey put on everyone, making them feel like pond scum just 'cause they didn't go around stabbing everyone in the back. I'm so glad those two will never hurt Julie again.

 

4. How do you feel about being a character in this book?

 

There I am, taking pics at the Little League World Series in Pennsylvania, and I got this urge to go home to Landry. The final game had just finished, everyone was celebrating, but not me. I booked onto the first flight to Atlanta, grabbed my SUV from where my folks live, and drove up to Landry. Then I had to come up with this lame story about stopping off to say goodbye to everyone before I went to Germany. That totally freaked Julie. Now that I know why, I'll make sure I don't freak her out again. All this means that I absolutely love being a character in this book. I might not have got a chance to be with Julie if I wasn't.

 

5. What do you see in your future? (No spoilers please!)

 

Going to college with Julie next winter. Sure, it's fun traveling the country, looking for Reboot locations and getting a ton of pictures for a new show with the two of us, but winter is no joy at all. Besides, I'll have time with her all to myself. Don't get me wrong. Lydie is a nice girl, but she's a fifth wheel when I want time with Julie.

 

6. Is there another Take Chances in the future? Will you be part of it?

 

Be kind of hard to do another Take Chances. We took the biggest chance of all, and we beat the odds. Now, I'd rather stick with my photography, some college, and lots of time with Julie.

 

7. Say a movie producer comes knocking. What actor/actress would you want to play you and why?
 
 

 I know just the guy. The guy that plays Silas Botwin on Weeds – Hunter Parrish. He'd be perfect as me!

 

Blurb:

 

Julie Bond grew up in Europe as a military brat. She found her very first permanent home in Landry, GA as a teen going into high school. Almost four years later, she's having pre-graduation jitters and flashing back to an incident of school violence she experienced in Europe. She attempts to convince herself that it can never happen again, but continually finds herself flashing back to that day no matter how hard she tries.

The people around her present any number of problems for Julie, and she's hard put to keep from drowning under all the issues. Then Michael--a cool guy she's had a crush on for the last three years—returns from traveling the US as a photographer, and Julie now has one more thing to distract her as she prepares to leave high school. One thing she firmly believes in: no one will ever invade her classroom with violence again.

Once again, the impossible happens. Once again, she's in a classroom with a madman holding a gun. Once again, she must survive.
 

Teaser Excerpt:

Landry High's walls fade. I again sit at the little table in kindergarten. The door opens. Three men and two women come through it. They have automatic rifles. One shoots into the ceiling. Another shouts.

Achtung!
 

Bio:

 

KC Sprayberry started writing young, with a diary followed by an interest in English. Her first experience with publication came when she placed third in a Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge contest while in the Air Force, but her dedication to writing came after she had her youngest child, now a in his senior year of high school.

Her family lives in Northwest Georgia where she spends her days creating stories about life in the south, and far beyond. More than a dozen of her short stories have appeared in several magazines. Five anthologies feature other short stories, and her young adult novel Softly Say Goodbye, released in 2012. During 2013, more young adult stories have been released: The Ghost Catcher, Who Am I?, Family Curse … Times Two, and Amazon Best Seller, Canoples Investigations Tackles Space Pirates.

You can find her on the web here:










 

 
Hello! Here's the day you were waiting for, through Sunday, September 29. You can pick up my other YA coming of age books, Softly Say Goodbye and Who Am I? free on Amazon:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thank you Sabina Bundgaard of Sabina's Adventures in Reading for hosting me today. Tomorrow you find the next Teaser Tour on K.C. Sprayberry's Out ofControl Characters.