Monday, February 29, 2016

Release Day for Nora & Kettle by Lauren Nicolle Taylor!!


Nora & Kettle
Lauren Nicolle Taylor
Published by: Clean Teen Publishing
Publication date: February 29th 2016
Genres: Historical, Young Adult
What if Peter Pan was a homeless kid just trying to survive, and Wendy flew away for a really good reason?
Seventeen-year-old Kettle has had his share of adversity. As an orphaned Japanese American struggling to make a life in the aftermath of an event in history not often referred to—the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the removal of children from orphanages for having “one drop of Japanese blood in them”—things are finally looking up. He has his hideout in an abandoned subway tunnel, a job, and his gang of Lost Boys.
Desperate to run away, the world outside her oppressive brownstone calls to naïve, eighteen-year-old Nora—the privileged daughter of a controlling and violent civil rights lawyer who is building a compensation case for the interned Japanese Americans. But she is trapped, enduring abuse to protect her younger sister Frankie and wishing on the stars every night for things to change.
For months, they’ve lived side by side, their paths crossing yet never meeting. But when Nora is nearly killed and her sister taken away, their worlds collide as Kettle, grief stricken at the loss of a friend, angrily pulls Nora from her window.
In her honeyed eyes, Kettle sees sadness and suffering. In his, Nora sees the chance to take to the window and fly away.
Set in 1953, NORA AND KETTLE explores the collision of two teenagers facing extraordinary hardship. Their meeting is inevitable, devastating, and ultimately healing. Their stories, a collection of events, are each on their own harmless. But together, one after the other, they change the world.
EXCERPT:
I snort, push my sleeves up, and lean back on my forearms. She watches me, her eyes on my bare skin, and I wonder what she’s thinking. “Dances. Really? What’s to miss?” My experience with dances was one forced event in the camps where we watched the grownups awkwardly shift in lines to scratchy music. It didn’t look very enjoyable.
She releases the button she’s been playing with and smirks. “Says someone who’s clearly never been to one.”
“How do you know that?” I say, raising an eyebrow and touching my chest, mock offended.
She laughs. It’s starlight in a jar. I blink slowly. “Oh, I can tell just by looking at you, the way you move. You,” she says, pointing at me accusingly. “Can’t dance.”
The candlelight twinkles like it’s chuckling at me. “I can dance,” I say, not sure why I’m lying to defend myself. I’ve never danced in my life.
She stands up and beckons me with her finger, and I think there’s something wrong with my heart. It’s hurting… but the pain feels good.
She looks like a pirate’s cabin boy, shirt billowing around her small waist, ill-fitting pants rolled over at her hips to stop them from falling down. She points her bare foot at me. “Prove it!”
Shit!
I cough and stand nervously. I don’t know what to do with my hands, so I put them behind my back. She giggles. Touches me. Runs her fingers lightly down my arms until she finds my hands. She grasps my wrists and I gulp as she places one on the small dip between her hips and her ribs, extending the other out like the bow of a boat. Her hand in mine.
I follow her small steps and we wind in circles, avoiding the clumps of debris, painting patterns in the dust.
I stare at my socks and her narrow bare feet, listening to the swish of them across the dirt. “You know, this is pretty weird without music,” I mutter, looking up for a moment and suddenly losing my balance.
She exhales and brings us back to equilibrium. She starts humming softly. It’s a song I’ve heard before, but I pretend it’s the first time. Her voice is sweet, cracked and croaky, but in tune as she gazes at the ground and leads us up and down the back of the tunnel.
This moment is killing me. I don’t want it, but I do. Because I know it won’t be enough and it’s all I’ll get.
The end of the song is coming. It rises and rises and then softly peters out. We look at each other, understanding that something is changing between us, and we have to decide whether to let it. Please, let it.
She sings the last few bars. “And if you sing this melody, you’ll be pretending just like me. The world is mine. It can be yours, my friend. So why don’t you pretend?”
Her voice is like the dust of a comet’s tail. Full of a thousand things I don’t understand but want to.
She stops and starts to step away. She’s so fragile. Not on the outside. On the outside, her body is strong, tougher than it should have to be. It’s inside that’s very breakable. I’m scared to touch her, but I don’t want to avoid touching her because of what she’s been through. That seems worse.
So I do it, because I want to and I don’t think she doesn’t want me to. Her breath catches as I pull her closer. I just want to press my cheek to hers, feel her skin against mine. There is no music, just the rhythm of two barely functioning hearts trying to reach each other through miles of scar tissue.
She presses her ear to my chest and listens, then she pulls back to meet my eyes, her expression a mixture of confusion and comfort. She breathes out, her lips not wanting to close but not wanting to speak. She settles on a nervous smile and puts her arms around my neck. I inhale and look up at the ceiling, counting the stars I know are up there somewhere, and then rest my cheek in her hair.
I don’t know how she is here. I don’t know when she’ll disappear.
We sway back and forth, and it feels like we might break. That we will break if we step apart from each other.
I can’t let her go.
I think I love dancing.


Author Bio:
Lauren Nicolle Taylor lives in the lush Adelaide Hills. The daughter of a Malaysian nuclear physicist and an Australian scientist, she was expected to follow a science career path, attending Adelaide University and completing a Health Science degree with Honours in obstetrics and gynaecology.
She then worked in health research for a short time before having her first child. Due to their extensive health issues, Lauren spent her twenties as a full-time mother/carer to her three children. When her family life settled down, she turned to writing.
She is a 2014 Kindle Book Awards Semi-finalist and a USA Best Book Awards Finalist.

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Friday, February 26, 2016

Cover Reveal: A Long Way Home by Becky Doughty

**COVER REVEAL**

Clean Teen Publishing is excited to share the official cover reveal of A Long way home by Becky Doughty. This new book in the Fallout Series can be read as a stand-alone or as part of the series. A Long Way Home releases May 23, 2016 and is available for pre-order today. Also, scroll down to find out more about the first 2 books in the series - One of which is FREE!!!
Long Way Home

A LONG WAY HOME

On the run, Savannah Clark lives her life as a modern-day bohemian, hiding her identity behind her beaded scarves and swirling skirts. Marek and the Gypsies, a troupe of dancers and musicians, follow the Renaissance and Medieval Faire circuits, never staying in one place for very long. Her disguise, however, doesn't fool those who know and love her best, nor does it completely hide the evidence of how difficult living in fear can be. But an unexpected encounter with Jordan Ransome, her first love, tears open old wounds, and tragic news from home brings Savannah face to face with her worst fears. Will she run again, tethered to the lies she's come to believe about herself and those she left behind, or can she trust her heart enough to embrace the girl she once was as the woman she has become?
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The Fallout Series

A LIGHT IN THE DARK

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On stage, Tish Ransome sings about heartache and passion, betrayal, and about love gone wrong… but she knows very little about any of it in real life. The rockstar princess who swears like a pirate—literally—is loved and adored by family, friends, and fans alike, and her world is filled with good things, her future bright.
Behind the scenes, however, trouble is brewing. When Tom, her best friend and co-founder of the Marauders, tells her he's leaving the band after graduation, Tish must find a new wingman to step into Tom's hard-to-fill shoes. The moment she hears Sebastian Jeffries play, she knows he's the one.
Yet with Sebastian comes a taste of the things Tish only writes about, and she can't resist the lure of the tortured artist. Sebastian, likewise, is drawn to Tish's brilliance, but like a moth that hovers too close to the flames, is he killing himself just to be near her? Can Tish save Sebastian before it's too late, or will he pull her down into the darkness with him?

ALL THE WAY TO HEAVEN

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NOW AVAILABLE! FREE!!!!
AMAZON / NOOK / KOBO / iBOOKS / SMASHWORDS / GOODREADS
Anica Tomlin, business major, has just learned that the man she’s been planning her future around, her Global Finance professor, already has a beautiful wife and family. Ani cashes in her graduation gift to herself a little early—a trip to Tuscany—but from the moment she boards the wrong train in Pisa, her plans for solitude and self-indulgence begin to unravel around her.
When a bicycle accident thrusts Ani into the skilled hands of the dashing Dr. Cosimo Lazzaro, she reluctantly accepts his invitation to recover in his family’s country villa, perched on a hilltop surrounded by the Lazzaro olive groves. But it’s been a black year for olive growers all over Italy, and generations of tradition are being put to the test like never before.
Ani is swept up in the drama of life in Tuscany, the convergence of old and new, and the passions that drive people to pursue the desires of their hearts. Just as Ani begins to get her feet under her again, an unexpected turn of events leaves her doubting the very existence of happily-ever-after, unless she can learn to trust the desires of her own heart.
Although All the Way to Heaven is a stand-alone novel, it is the first book in The Fallout Series, a collection of sweet contemporary romances that follow characters featured in the first book.

ABOUT BECKY DOUGHTY:

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Becky Doughty is the author of the award-winning Elderberry Croft series and the voice behind BraveHeart Audiobooks. "I write fiction, mainly because nonfiction is hard! Yes, I've tried. Let's just say I like to color outside the lines when it comes to sticking to facts...or anything else, for that matter. I write Women's Fiction with strong elements of romance and Young Adult/New Adult Fiction. Some of my fiction is written from a Christian worldview (and labeled as such), and some of it is not. My stories, however, are all categorically "clean" or "sweet" (light on language, violence, and sex), so if you're looking for a book you don't have to shove under the couch cushion when visitors stop by, you've come to the right place!" You can learn more about Becky and her books on her website: www.BeckyDoughty.com Becky is married to her champion of more than 25 years. They have three children, two of whom are grown and starting families of their own, and they all live within a few miles of each other in Southern California. They share their lives with too many animals, a large vegetable garden, and a strange underground concrete room they're certain was built for dark and sinister purposes...

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Lightning Sealed is Now Available!

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Clean Teen Publishing is excited to share the new release of LIGHTNING SEALED by Lila Felix. LIGHTNING SEALED is the second book in The Lucent Series. The first novel— LIGHTNING KISSED— hit best-seller lists right away. This new adult paranormal romance series is a must-read!

LIGHTNING SEALED IS NOW AVAILABLE!

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(No Spoilers Here! Check out the full blurb here.)

Read LIGHTNING KISSED by Lila Felix

Ebook - Lightning Kissed
Colby Evans can leap from one country to the next in a heartbeat. She can see every sunset in every time zone in the same day. She can travel across the world in a flash. She defies gravity and physics with every breath she takes. She's tested her abilities and found them limitless.
She is the lightning. She is Lucent. And nothing can stop her.
Except him.
Theodore Ramsey isn't supposed to be able to flash like Colby. The power of travel is passed on from mother to daughter in their people. Except once in every hundred generations.
Theo is the one.
He can flash like Colby. And it makes him a target to their enemies and to himself. His abilities change everything he knows about life and throws his future into an uncertain tangent. In fact, the only thing certain in his life is the love he feels for Colby.
Their love defies time and space and has been the only constant thing in their lives since childhood. But even their infallible love will be stretched to its limits.
She will risk her life to protect him. But he will risk everything to protect them all.
Lightning Kissed is the first book in The Lucent Series by Lila Felix.

ABOUT LILA FELIX:

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Lila Felix is full of antics and stories. She refused to go to Kindergarten after the teacher made her take a nap on the first day. She staged her first protest in middle school. She almost flunked out of her first semester at Pepperdine University because she was enthralled with their library and frequently was locked in. Now her husband and three children have to put up with her rebel nature in Louisiana where her days are filled with cypress trees, crawfish, and of course her books and writing. She writes about the ordinary rebels who fall extraordinarily in wild, true love. For more visit www.lilafelix.com

One Day Sale on the Stolen Empire Box Set!!

Stolen Empire Box Set
Hello Royals! I'm excited to announce that the digital box set of the Stolen Empire Series will be on a very special limited time sale on 2/2. Normally the box set, which contains all three Stolen Empire novels, runs 9.99. But on 2/2, we are dropping the price for one day only. You will be able to get Queen of Someday, Queen of Tomorrow, and Queen of Always for the bargain price of just $0.99!
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Don’t miss the series dubbed a “must-read romance” by the USA Today and “An entertaining and racy read” by School Library Journal. Fans of the hit TV show REIGN will devour this scandalous glimpse into the life of one of the most vibrant women in history.
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The Stolen Empire series is a decedent look at one of history's most scandalous queens, Catherine the Great of Russia. Beginning with her humble origins and culminating with her coronation, this series offers a fanciful glimpse inside the life of the dynamic, strong young woman who won the hand of a king, the heart of a nation, and, ultimately, sacrificed her own innocence on the throne of an empire. The trials and tribulations of court life left their scars on young Sophie—the girl who would be Catherine, but she faced down every obstacle with the courage and grace of a queen.