Book Review: The Harvesters by Ashley Hill

The Harvesters (Harvesting Series #1) By Ashley Hill

Publication Date: November 28th 2012

Genre: Young Adult/ New Adult Horror

BLURB:

When she finds her boyfriend shackled to a white metal table Ashley feared for the worse.

On a small trip of dropping off a package for Jason’s father, the young couple never thought they would be running for their lives. Running away from supposedly friends whom in turned to be a family of harvesters.

Human harvesters and they are looking for something specific. And Ashley just might be the perfect match for that something.

EXCERPTS: 

Excerpt #1
“Jason…” I whisper down into the cold, dark basement.
Listening but I hear nothing in response. Turning, I then look up to the basement door making sure no one comes up from behind.
Taking the last few wooden steps down, I call out his name again, “Jason?”
This time I caught someone murmuring my name.

Excerpt #2
Moving onto the metal shackles around his wrists I ask him, “Anything hurt? How’d they get you? Where are they? How many? I lost count,” in one big mumble. I am trying not to fumble over my words when the shackles start to tear at my fingertips, causing them to bleed.

Excerpt #3
Looking over my shoulder, the swift of my movement causes the scarred man behind us to throw his axe towards my face.
Quickly ducking, I fall to the ground while taking grip on the table. I hear the axe get stuck into the wall on the other side and I slyly crane my neck to see what he was going to do next.

Excerpt #4

He laughs out. He waters his lips and continues “I love it when they try to escape. It really,” he gestures with his hands, “gets the blood…..pumping. Which works well. It’s keeping the organs fresh.”

Excerpt #5
Arm laying across the back of the seat, I look out the back window and spot the father standing there with a shotgun pointing right at us. He pulls the trigger before I can even process what is going on.
I push Jason back against the door, aiming my hand for the release to open it so we can fall completely away from the spread of the pellets.

Excerpt #6

I look to the stairs then back to him. Then move my legs to go up the steps. From the corner of my eye I see the living room get swallowed up by the angry flames. Also the flames from the kitchen start traveling along the walls of the foyer, on the other side of me.

MY REVIEW:

This book was way out of my comfort zone. I don’t usually read horror stories but The Harvesters had me intrigued.  Just the thought of running into people that “harvest humans” sets my blood curdling.  The Harvesters was an extremely quick read, not just because it frightened the hell out of me but because I couldn’t read it fast enough to find out what happens to Jason and Ashley.  The Harvesters is not for the faint of heart, it’s scary as hell, bloody, gory, and so full of suspense it will have you gripping the edge of your seat the entire time. The ending left a huge cliff hanger and I can’t wait to read the next book, The Gatherers, and learn much more about Ashley and Jason.  If you like sinister, graphic, and gripping tales, The Harvesters will not disappoint you one bit.  And whoa, that cover for The Harvesters is PERFECT! Scary perfect!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I’m a college student still trying to get a handle of the adult world. When I need to get away from it I lose myself in books, my own writing, and in spending time with my amazing boyfriend which he supports me to no end.

Finding my passion in books has led me to finding a passion in writing my own fictional stories back in 2009, I have turned this into a dream career and going one step further I would love to open up my own book store.

Goodreads

 Purchase Links:   Amazon Barnes & Noble Smashwords

Ashley’s Blog ||Twitter ||Goodreads  ||Facebook

RAFFELCOPTER GIVEAWAY

Trailer:

9/22 audio promo: Carrots by Colleen Helme

 

BOOK BLURB:
Shelby Nichols is an average woman who is married to the only guy she ever fell for. Her life is organized and predictable, revolving around her husband and two children. All that changes the day she stops at the grocery store for some carrots. As the cashier rings up her purchases, a gunman is busy robbing the bank inside the store. When a customer grabs the robber’s mask, he is shot and everyone runs for cover. Everyone except Shelby, who finds herself face to face with the killer. The next thing she knows, she’s lying on the floor with a bullet wound to her head. Luckily, the bullet only grazes her scalp, and she doesn’t suspect any lasting affects until later, when she suddenly ‘hears’ what people are thinking. With this uncanny ability, her life takes on a whole new dimension. Her kids think she’s bossy and too old to understand them, but that’s nothing compared to her husband. He says he loves her, but what is it about the redhead at work that he doesn’t want her to know? As if that isn’t enough, the gunman knows she can identify him, and he’s out to silence her forever. In her fight to stay alive, she is saved from certain death by a handsome hit-man with ties to organized crime. This pulls Shelby even deeper into danger, where knowing someone’s thoughts can not only hurt her feelings, but get her killed.

THE AUTHOR:

A long career as a wife and mother while juggling several part-time jobs gave Colleen the ambition to dream of being a published writer, where she could put her imagination to good use. Now instead of making up stories to tell her children, she writes books that they love to read. Hopefully you will too. She is the author of three romantic fantasy novels, Songbird, Flame of Destiny and The Relic. Her Shelby Nichols Adventures include Carrots, Fast Money, Lie or Die, and Secrets That Kill, with more to come.

FACEBOOK||AMAZON||WEBSITE||GOODREADS|

|SHELBY NICHOLS CONSULTING|| AUDIBLE||TWITTER

Giveaway:
One copy of  “Carrots”  (A Shelby Nichols Adventure)

by Colleen Helme

Audio Book

(open internationally)

****RAFFELCOPTER GIVEAWAY****

CLICK ABOVE

Blog Tour: The Emblazoned Red, by Dawn McCullough White

Synopsis:

Once, in another world—a dark world, the world of Faetta—there lived paladins and pirates, tyrants and scallywags, vampires and the undead. In this world a revolution is brewing. The royalty of Sieunes are in chains, and those priests and paladins who follow the holy word of the gods are under attack. In the west, the kingdom of Kellerhald receives the fleeing priests in their temples of the paladins of Silvius, god of the Sky.

Here, a young woman has just passed her tests to become a paladin. A pirate crew raids along the Azez Sea. An undead creature, wielding great power, roams the graveyard of Yetta. And a lost soul, crying out from beyond the veil, seeks out a pure hearted warrior to hear its plea.

Amid the turmoil of the revolution, Ilka’s mettle is tested. Rescued by pirates, she ends up with an unlikely ally: the pirate captain himself. The newly trained paladin finds herself collaborating with the undead, working with a vampire, and worst of all, longing for revenge against the man who has ignited the revolution in Sieunes: Francois Mond…

“Death of an Innocent. Rise of a Paladin.”
Excerpt:  

          “Beautiful Rhiannon …” he sighed, and sank his fangs into her neck, pressing her body down onto the pile of dead flowers atop her son’s grave.  

He had been following her around the streets of Lockenwood for a good month.  He had begun following the moment he had caught sight of her lithe body and her bright red hair.  Sometimes he’d sit on top of a roof and just watch as she shopped or left work at night.  As he got more daring, he’d slip inside the tavern where she worked, losing himself in the hot, dirty crowd within.  His cold, hard body was shoved along through the crowd: peasants, villains, beggars.  The poor and the evildoers all jam-packed within the smoke-stained tavern.  And there was Rhiannon, fetching swill for each of them.

All of his efforts in the last month were now at their end.  They reached the final climax with her death.

          Augustine released her limp form and laid her down to rest with her dead baby, and then he sighed because it had come too soon.  He had been longing to talk to her, that’s where this generally went.  He wanted to get to know her a little before her inevitable death.  Wanted to know who she was, what she thought, and what she thought of him.  Perhaps he could’ve eased her sorrows for a time … but then, of course, the lust for her blood would’ve gotten the better of him, and he’d have had to kill her.  But still, this was basically a wasted month
 

About the Author:

 

     Dawn McCullough White is known for her strong female protagonists, and gritty dark fantasy.

Ms. McCullough-White has lived the majority of her life in and around Rochester, NY with a brief stint in Tucson, AZ. She is pursuing a degree in psychology at R.I.T. Dawn is a history buff and was a member of the Society of Creative Anachronism for years, active as a heavy weapons fighter. She currently resides with her husband and son in a quaint neighborhood next to an old cemetery. 

Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dawn-McCullough-White/125763474137312
Website: http://dawnmccullough-white.com/

 
Giveaway 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

SOUL TAKEN Trailer reveal, by Katlyn Duncan

Thanks to Rockstar Book Tours I get to reveal an awesome trailer for author, Katlyn Duncan.  The book sounds amazing and one I can’t wait to read!

SOUL TAKEN (The Life After #1) by Katlyn Duncan
Release date: June 4, 2013
Publisher: Carina UK

Description:

After-life just got a lot more complicated

Maggie is a Soul Collector. It’s her job to transport souls from the Living Realm to the After – but during a mission to find a stolen soul, she ends up stuck in a teen mean girl’s body.

Trapped, Maggie’s soul is catapulted into Ally’s life – and the human world she hasn’t experienced for one hundred years. But, as a descendant of the most powerful beings in the After, Maggie must rescue Ally before the girl’s soul dies…

To survive, Maggie must uncover devastating secrets – because with one soul taken by a terrifying enemy, Maggie’s could be next!

GOODREADS | AMAZON US | AMAZON UK | NOOK UK | KOBO |iTunes US|  iTunes UK | CARINA UK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katlyn Duncan was born and raised in a small town in western Massachusetts. Her overactive imagination involved invisible friends, wanting to be a Disney Princess and making up her own stories. Her bibliophile mom always encouraged her love of reading and that stayed with her since. Even though she works full time in the medical field Katlyn has always made time for books, whether she is reading or writing them.

Katlyn now lives in southern Connecticut with her husband and adorable Wheaten Terrier and she is thrilled to finally share her stories with the world.

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS | GOOGLE+ | PINTEREST | TUMBLR

THE EXCERPT

A suffocating heat pressed all points of my soul. Even though I hadn’t breathed in a hundred years, I felt the need to inhale, yet I couldn’t. A fire burned in my chest.
I attempted to open my eyes, to move one finger, a toe maybe, but the pressure immobilized my body. The burning sensation tore through me over and over until I had just about given up the fight.
But, just as quickly as the pressure came, it lifted, bringing a seemingly endless barrage of images. I was experiencing someone else’s memories, as if I took a back seat in her mind and watched her life flash before our eyes. I caught her image in a mirror, a small golden-haired girl.

Ally?

I tried to slow the images or possibly make sense of them but, just as I grabbed a hold on one of them, it slipped through my fingers and moved onto the next. I followed this girl through all the moments of her life as her memories flashed before my eyes.

Darker emotions overlapped the girl’s happy memories. I saw a young red-haired girl in an old-fashioned dress; her demure eyes looked back at me. Jealousy flared through me. My heart squeezed, watching this girl who was not part of Ally’s memories. A rush of energy pumped through my body; the power touched every fiber of my soul. Then the vision dissolved and I was forced back to experiencing

Ally.

Was I dreaming?

Souls didn’t dream. I told myself firmly.

The visions started to slow and I was able to focus on one.
I had to tell them, even though Dad said I couldn’t. But in a week I wouldn’t be the same girl. Or would I? I still wasn’t clear on everything. Becoming a Guard: it was my life’s mission, he had said. A life that was no longer my own. Would it be easier to let this life slip away? I would regret each day if I didn’t. Maybe I would start with Seth. Sweet Seth. He’d be crushed, but someone would take my place. Dad had said something about people—humans— was I not human? Humans were drawn to those like me. Maybe Seth only liked me because I was different, unexplainably different.

I ripped the paper off the coffee sleeve. It was now or never.

THE TRAILER

THE GIVEAWAY

The giveaway is for one Kindle eBook copy of SOUL TAKEN to anyone who can accept Kindle eBook gifts from the Amazon US store.

It is a blast-wide giveaway via shared Rafflecopter.

There will be ONE winner.

Only a mandatory entry is to leave a comment. Extra entry opportunities to follow the author on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway, which can be done daily.

CLICK HERE FOR RAFFLECOPTER ENTRY

Fantastic Flying Book Club Event: Review and Dream Cast for Uniquely Unwelcome by Brandy Nacole

Blurb:

Racquel is unique. The bloodlines of four of the most powerful beings in the Shadow World are intertwined within her DNA.  She has never craved attention. She just wants to be able to live as normal life as she can. But she’s about to find that even though she’s uniquely unwelcome wherever she goes, her abilities also make her the best chance the Shadow World has to stop a threat to all the Shadow races.

Once arriving home, Racquel finds that greater evils exist and that the person she cares for most in this world, her half-sister Addie, has been kidnapped along with other Shadow World beings.  Racquel finds herself facing horrible odds with those who would rather see her dead than alive.

As her journey continues, Racquel learns more about herself, what she is capable of, and that not every being looks at her as an abomination.  Coy, a human captive that Racquel saves from the Vampires, starts showing kindness toward her.  Racquel tries putting distance between her and the human boy but as they spend more time together it becomes harder and harder for Racquel to fight the affection she wants and needs.

But will Coy’s friendship and her new found discoveries be enough to help Racquel unravel the strangest mystery that has ever plagued the Shadow World?  AMAZON      BOOK DEPOSITORY

My Review:

I love this book cover and the name of the book.  This story is chock full of vampires, witches, shape shifters, fairies, werewolves and even a leprechaun or two.  This is also book One in the Shadow World Series.  I was instantly connected to the heroine, Raquel.  Have you ever felt like you haven’t belonged? Isolated from your peers for whatever reason?  Well Raquel has been shunned by her peers and even complete strangers her whole life.  Learning of the horrible life she’s had to endure being shunned by the whole paranormal community and the isolation she’s been forced into was heart breaking.  She has no one to talk to, can trust no one, and the vampire community only wants to conduct painful experiments on her.  Such a sad life and yet when her half sister and others of the paranormal community come up missing, she’s thrust into an unwanted leadership role to search for the missing and bring down the kidnappers.  Raquel has to decide if she can start to trust the very people that have shunned her, her whole life. Or will she turn her back on the help offered and enter this terrifying mission alone?   She’s also plagued by gut wrenching nightmares.  I loved the vivid images that Brandy Nacole paints whether describing a fight scene, nightmares, or characters in the book.  The action and mystery surrounding the story kept me turning the pages.  There’s also plenty of love connections too.  Maybe even a love triangle *grins*.  I couldn’t put the book down and can’t wait for the next installment.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Brandy Nacole resides in Arkansas where her imagination runs wild. Her obsession is reading but her passion is writing. She put her dream of becoming a writer on the back burner and went to college to become a psychologist. Three years after endless classes in a field she only felt half satisfied with, Brandy picked up her pen once again and wrote the outline to Uniquely Unwelcome. She finished out her degree in psychology, but traded her dream of writing for the degree and put psychology on the back burner. Whenever she’s not reading or writing, Brandy is spending time with her family and friends, throwing around crazy ideas, teaching , and singing like a rock star at a concert for no one else but herself. She loves plants, but unfortunately is a killer of anything that requires water but can’t voice (scream) their needs.

She is the author of The Shadow World Series and The Spiritual Discord Series.

 Website  Facebook  Twitter  Goodreads:  Pinterest  BrandyNacole’s blog

MY DREAM CAST:

1. Grey Damon as Ethan – werewolf and love interest to Dayana

2. Julia Voth as Racquel-heroine, part witch, were, vampire, and shapeshifter.

3.  Alexandra Daddario as Dayana witch and love interest to Ethan.

4. Xavier Samuel as Coy – human and vampire blood slave.

6. Ariel Winter as Addie – Racquel’s sister/witch.

   

QUESTION OF THE DAY:  What did you think of the dream cast?

GIVEAWAY 

Details: (1) signed paperback of Uniquely Unwelcome, (2) ebooks of Uniquely Unwelcome and the sequel Blood Burdens (2) ebooks of Broken Faith.

There’ll be 5 winners. 1st place: (1) signed paperback of Uniquely Unwelcome. 2nd and 3rd place: (1) ebook of Uniquely Unwelcome and the sequel Blood Burdens. 4th and 5th place: (1) ebook of Broken Faith.

THE GIVEAWAY IS INTERNATIONAL

CLICK LINK BELOW TO ENTER THIS CONTEST
a Rafflecopter giveaway

HERE IS THE REST OF THE BRANDY NACOLE TOUR:

UNIQUELY UNWELCOME

July 22nd:

Wicca Witch 4 BookBlog -> Review + Interview

Shelves Of Books Blog -> Review

July 23rd:

After Dark Rendezvous -> Review + Dream Cast

Read Books and Live Green -> Review

Peace, Love and Fangirl -> Review + Q&A

July 24th:

Ladybug Literature -> Review + Excerpt

A Reading Nurse -> Review
Lili Lost In A Book -> Review

July 25th:

Home Of A Book Lover -> Review + Dream Cast

Mary Had a Little Book Blog -> Review + Excerpt

The UnofficialAddiction Book Fan Club -> Review + Guest Post

Book2Buzz -> Review + Dream Cast

BROKEN FAITH

July 26th:

Wicca Witch 4 BookBlog -> Review + Q&A  (Spotlight)

July 29th:

Mary Had a Little Book Blog -> Review + Dream Cast

Peace, Love and Fangirl -> Review + Interview

The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club -> Review

July 30th:

Book2Buzz -> Review + Excerpt

Shelves Of Books Blog -> Review

A Reading Nurse -> Review + Guest Post
Young Adult BookAddict -> Excerpt

July 31th:

Home Of A Book Lover -> Review + Dream Cast

All In One Place -> Double Review
Lili Lost In A Book -> Review + Guest Post

Blogger Summer Circus

Welcome to the Blogger Summer Circus Giveaway Hop hosted by Coffee and Characters, please visit their page to see more great blogs and hosts for their own giveaways.

Here at my blog I am the MC for the cage of death motorcyclists. And to honor these skilled cyclists my book giveaway will feature a heroine that is quite the skilled cyclist too, Evalle Kincaid from the Belador series by Dianna Love and Sherrilyn Kenyon.  Evalle not only kicks demon ass but rides a GSX-R motorcycle like nobody’s business.

From July 1-12 I am accepting entries.  You only have to do 3 things to be entered:

1.  Follow My Blog. You can do so by clicking on the right sidebar, via Facebook, Twitter, or WordPress.

2. Fill out the contact form info here so we can contact you via email if you are the winner YOU  MUST PUT IN THE COMMENT LINE “BLOGGER SUMMER CIRCUS CONTEST“: 

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ

3. Comment here telling us your favorite visit to the circus.  If you have never been to the circus then share what kind you’d like to go to and what you’d like to see.   That’s it!

The more ways you follow me the more entries you have, and you can get up to 3 entries via Facebook, WordPress, or Twitter. Each valid entry will be entered and a winner will be chosen at random.  You must be age 13 or older. You’ll have 48 hours to respond to prize notification via valid email. If no response then another winner will be picked at random.

The prize pack is  3 books that are all autographed by Dianna Love:

 Blood Trinity, The Curse, and Alterant

These amazing books are from the Urban Fantasy series about BELADOR warriors.  Written by Dianna love and Sherrilyn Kenyon. 

PRIZE PRIZE PRIZE PRIZE PRIZE PRIZE PRIZE

And what’s even cooler is the fourth book in the Belador series,

RISE OF THE GRYPHON

will be released on July 30, 2013!!!