BOOK SPOTLIGHT: "The Darkness Within" by Nicole Daffrun

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Everyone has a little darkness in them. A small voice that tells them to lie, to steal, to cheat... To kill. Addy Wilson sees and feels that darkness in everything around her. It consumes her, it eats at her, it terrifies her, and it excites her.
Evan Cooper believes he sees spirits. Spirits that protect him, that talk to him... That kill for him. So why is that he is always the one to wake up with blood on his hands?
Addy and Evan meet in Abby House - Asylum for the criminally insane. They do everything together. They will protect each other, they will go anywhere together... Would they kill for each other?
Can they escape the confines before they succumb to their own darkness? Can they find a love to cure each other? Can they save each other before it's too late?

<strong>Meet the Author:</strong>
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Sunshine, surf and family are the corner stone of Nicky’s world. Being born and raised on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland Australia gave her the opportunity to chase her dream of photography and later novel writing. She fell in love with fantasy and dystopian and crafted stories with strong men and powerful women. Her debut novel Destinata was released on October 15, 2014 with several short stories following. Her second novel was released November 6 and is published through Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly. When she is not busy being an author, you will find her walking along the water with her husband or chasing after her two children.

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Find more about Nicole on one of her many social networking sites: </strong>
<strong>Wordpress:</strong> https://nickylouiseloveslife.wordpress.com/
<strong>Facebook:</strong> https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Nicole-L-Daffurn/240965966096004
<strong>Twitter:</strong> https://twitter.com/NickyLouise28
<strong>Website:</strong> http://ndaffurn.wix.com/nicoledaffurn
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You can also find her other works here: </strong>
<strong>Destinata:</strong> http://smarturl.it/Destinata
<strong>Courageous Souls:</strong> http://smarturl.it/CourageousSouls
<strong>Fractured Fairytales:</strong> http://smarturl.it/FracturedFairyTales
<strong>After Tomorrow:</strong> smarturl.it/aftertomorrowa
<strong>Cogs in Time 2:</strong> http://smarturl.it/CogsinTime-Vol2
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Come and join in the fun over at the release event for The Darkness Within:</strong> https://www.facebook.com/events/1553727504874763/?fref=ts

RELEASE DAY: "Phantom 2.0" by Leah D.W. (Blurb, Review & Character Diary Entry)

“I am a phantom. Barely human with the duty to get rid of the possessed. That is why beings like me were created, why we were bred.”
In a dying city filled with a deadly plague and even deadlier creatures, Déjà hides from a past drenched in blood and the only family she has ever known. She hates what she is and her cravings to spill fresh blood drives her away from anyone that gets too close. Living out her life wearing lace corsets and working in an underground nightclub keeps her secret from hurting others, until a bounty is placed on her head by a mystery benefactor.
Now she is stalked by an assassin that threatens to steal her heart and discovering a family of powerful beings that hold the key to her past, Déjà has no choice but to embrace what she truly is in order to battle the secrets that the city holds within its shadows.

As a fan of the paranormal, I'm very familiar with phantoms. A lot of people have different opinions on what phantoms are, exactly, but none of them give them such humanity as Leah D.W. did here in Phantom 2.0.
Right off the bat you care about Déjà, even sympathize with her. She cares about people, doesn't want them to come to harm and is forced to do things she doesn't want to to save herself. I love strong female leads like her.
The story gives you chills, it drags you in from the very first page, and it makes you think. You have to wonder who's good, who's evil and what is going to happen before the end of the story.
I definitely want to read more books with these characters! Another great work from Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing!

5/5--excellent!

Purchase Phantom 2.0 on Amazon and add it on Goodreads!

Character Diary Entry:

I love all of the characters in Phantom 2.0, but there is one whose character and backstory is starting to develop more and more the longer I spend time with this tale and I believe he deserves to become the reader’s favourite. Cael is a club owner, sarcastic bad boy and has his own bucket full of mysteries that even shock me! He will make more of an appearance throughout the series and so here are his thoughts that took place during Phantom 2.0 (book 1) that will spark some interest for what is to come and sheds some light on the main character’s dark past:

That waitress is going to be the death of me!
Why did I ever agree to hire her? Oh yeah, her trainer threatened to turn me inside out if I didn’t give her a job that would keep her in the city instead of allowing her to return home. The girl was going to stay either way. She is keeping a secret that I don’t care of to find out, but I can see it like a shadow within those large eyes. Eyes of blue and violet thunder. Eyes that once belonged to a young girl that almost caused my death. Could she be that same little girl that sang up to a thunder storm and danced around in crimson soaked silk? Then she should be older right now. It can’t be her then. But why does she look exactly like that murdering pre-teen?
Same face. Same eyes. Same voice!
Perhaps she is her younger sister or distant cousin…?
No, that isn’t it. This frustrating woman isn’t as annoying as that doppelganger or as mentally insane. Besides…I killed her almost twenty years ago. Didn’t I? My flames charred her skin and turned her into a pillar of ash before she was able to sink her blade into my heart. So…that waitress can’t be her unless that girl was immortal or…
Could it be? I’ve heard the stories but…they are just stories. Right?
Perhaps Kyra is keeping a secret of her own from me and that is one I intend to find out, before that waitress burns down my club!

Find Leah D.W. online via:

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7031888.Leah_D_W_

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Miss-Leah-D.W./e/B00E7RYP4E

Twitter https://twitter.com/authorleahdw

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/leahdwauthor

Google+ https://plus.google.com/100881211345988951568

Blog http://authorleahdw.blogspot.com/

RELEASE DAY REVIEW: "Unleashed Poems" by Jennifer Raygoza

BLOG TOUR- November 11-17

Author: Jennifer Raygoza

Title: Unleashed Poems

Genre: Poetry

Release Date: 11.13.14

Publishing House: Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly

Blurb: "It’s not always easy to see the light when you’re surrounded by darkness. Sometimes you have to make your own way out of the hole."

A collection of 23 poems, all written in my youth. I wrote a majority of them when I was sixteen to seventeen years old. This was a really hard time in my life. It was a time of heartbreak, pain, love, betrayal, and more. Writing these poems was a dose of sanity when the world around me was corrupting. It was my outlet when I couldn't breathe, and my safety rope when I was drowning. We don't get to pick our story in life. Usually the story picks you. So, with this release I am hoping to show inspiration. You can survive, and you can move on from your dark place. I dedicate this book to all the youth out there going through any type of struggle.

MY REVIEW: Poetry is emotion put into words. What we cannot say or recognize can often be realized in a poem. That was true for author Jennifer Raygoza when she was a teen, dealing with love, loss and hate.
She's now sharing these little pieces of her past with us, in the short book Unleashed Poems, published by Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing.
There are over twenty poems in here, and I think that every reader will find at least one that he or she can relate to. I think I related to them all, but mostly to "Insanity" and "A Distant Lover".
To paraphrase John Green, "That's the thing about poetry, it demands to be felt." These poems were written during the time in her life that science has proved is the most emotional, and these poems are extremely emotional. You can feel her angst, love and hurt as you read these.
She was a teen, and these have a childlike feel to their words, which adds to their authenticity. I enjoyed taking twenty minutes out of my night to read these. I know you will, too!

5/5--beautiful and dark.

Bio: Jennifer Raygoza lives in Corona, California with her husband and children. She majored in Psychology at Fullerton College. She developed a love for writing poetry in her youth, and frequently used it as an outlet. It wasn’t until 2013 that she finally decided to release a novel that she had been working on for five years. To her surprise vampire lovers went crazy for it. Author of The Guardians 1: Feel the Fire, The Guardians II: The Revelation and The Guardians III: Blood Vengeance. She is also set to release her first erotica short story, "Tackle Me" in the upcoming anthology, Naughty Bedtime Stories. A collection of poetry from her youth will be published soon called Unleashed Poems. She is known as the ‘Rebel of Writing’ because of her cross genre style, and writer rule breaking attitude. Keep your eyes open for more work from Jennifer Raygoza. This girl is sure to please the readers with her fast pace writing and creativity.

 

 

Teaser-

Bed of Fire

Whispering words, my ears devour off the sweetness of your lips.

Intensity my body craves when your hands caress my hips.

It is you I need on a lonely night.

You to love me and hold me tight.

Touch me inside, outside now.

Rub it, feel me and tell me how.

My skin is hot, soaked in sweat.

Breathing is deep with no regret.

Volcano between erupts me in joy.

Lady during the day and at dark your toy.

Lay with me forever in a bed of fire

It’s pleasure just to hold you, my object of desire.

 

 

 

Buy Link- smarturl.it/UnleashedPoems

Online Release Event- https://www.facebook.com/events/1496915913925508/

Author page- https://www.facebook.com/jenniferraygoza12

Goodreads- https://www.goodreads.com/Jenniferraygoza