In My Mailbox 54 + Weekly Wrap Up

Hey all! I hope your having an awesome day today! I know this is going up a little late but I'm kind of busy with all the studying I've been doing! But anyways here's what I got this week and be sure to check out my Weekly wrap up below!

Fall Ambuzzador:
Mystic City by Theo Lawrence 

Won:
City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles


Weekly Wrap Up:

Reviews:
Going Under Tour: Review

Memes/Posts:
September Wrap Up
October TBR

Blog Tours/Hops:
Nine Lives by Shari Richardson Promo Event
Her Loving Husbands Curse Tour: Author Interview
Cover Reveal: Lauren by Julia Crane
Vipers Creed Tour: Author Interview
Griffin Rising Tour: Excerpt
My Merlin Series Tour: Excerpt
Going Under Tour: Review

Giveaways:
None

My Merlin Series Tour: Excerpt

Guess what? today Comfort Books is apart of the My Merlin Series by Priya Ardis hosted by AToMR tours & our tour host is the awesome Autumn @ The Autumn Review so be sure to check her blog out too! Before we get started here's a little about the books.

My Boyfriend Merlin by Priya Ardis
Synopsis: He was a little older than he was letting on. By a few eons...

In this modern Arthurian, 17 year-old Boston high schooler Arriane, aka Ryan, DuLac just found out the guy she's been crushing on, hot biker Matt, is a little older than he was letting on. In fact, he is really Merlin—the Merlin, King Arthur's Merlin, the greatest wizard who ever lived. Frozen in a cave for over fifteen hundred years, he's woken for a purpose. But Ryan's not impressed. Tired of being a relationship loser, she'd rather kick his legendary behind.

Sure, the world has been crazy ever since the sword and the stone fell out of the sky like a meteor. But despite gruesome gargoyles, a deadly new world of magic, and the guy driving her crazy, Ryan knows that family is everything. Will Merlin sacrifice hers to save the world? Will she be able to stop him?

My Merlin Awakening by Priya Ardis
Synopsis: If you haven't broken the rules, have you really lived?

Excalibur has been pulled from the stone, but what does it mean? Arriane (aka Ryan) DuLac's got bigger problems—as student president, she's got to put on the Prom. While the Wizard Council debates their next move, she leaves the craziness behind and heads home. But she can’t hide forever. Sooner than she’d like Merlin (aka Matt) has her chasing mermaids on the trail of the Fisher King in Greece. The wounded King, defeated by Merlin’s brother, Vane, in the past holds the key to save the future.

On the journey, Ryan begins to realize the friends she thought she knew, she may not know at all. At a time of shifting alliances, she must decide whose side she’s on—the brother who struggles to do right or the brother who dares to break the rules? And Ryan must decide who she is—a regular or a champion?

One wrong decision and her family falls apart. One wrong decision and the world falls apart. No pressure.


Excerpt from My Merlin Awakening

Chapter: A Haunted House
Setup: Vane & Ryan on her balcony

“I’ve got to go.” Vane leapt on top of the balcony ledge.

I caught his elbow and pulled him back, using one of the grappling techniques he’d taught me. “I’m going too.”

His eyes narrowed. “Not a good time to test me.”

“If it’s about the sword, it’s about me,” I retorted. “Is it?”

Vane opened his mouth, but I slapped my hand over it.

My amulet glowed. I gave him a look. “Do you really want to try magic on me?”

Vane pushed my hand away.

“You know where he’s going,” I declared.

“What part of ‘there are gargoyles running around and it’s not safe anywhere but here’ are you unable to grasp?”

I scowled. “What part of ‘you can’t bully me’ are you not getting? I’m going.”

The moonlight left his lean face shadowed and sinister. His eyes glittered with a dangerous light. Little butterflies in my stomach fluttered. I shoved them down.

“You have no idea where to go,” he said.

I touched my amulet. “I can find out.”

Vane ran a hand through his hair and I knew he’d bought my bluff. Without a cataclysmic trigger like the last vision, I was pretty sure there was no way I could read Matt when he wasn’t around. But Vane didn’t know that.

He muttered, “You’re going to drive me mad.”

Griffin Rising Tour: Excerpt

Hey! long time no see! again today Comfort Books is apart of the Griffin Rising by Darby Karchut tour which is an AToMR Tour and our host is Leisha! Anyways let's get on with the post down below you'll find a little about the book and

Griffin Rising by Darby Karchut
Synopsis: For centuries, rumors have abounded of a lowly caste of supernatural beings known as the Terrae Angeli. Armed with the power to control Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water, these warriors secretly serve as guardians for mortals in danger.But for one young angel-in-training, Griffin, life is hell as a cruel master makes his apprenticeship a nightmare. On the verge of failing, a new mentor, Basil, enters his life and changes it forever.Taking on the identity of father and son, Griffin and Basil forge a special bond where honesty and trust go hand in hand to secure Griffin's destiny as a Terrae Angeli. Griffin's belief in himself and the love of a mortal girl are the perfect combination in overcoming the darkest days of his life. But will it be enough for him to succeed?For Griffin, it's time to angel up.




Excerpt:

“Poor Carlee. She was so jazzed about this party,” Katie said as they hurried up the block, their breaths billowing in the freezing air. “I can’t believe Nash!”

“I can,” said Griffin, then stopped and cocked his head for a moment. A dog barked once, then silenced. Tugging on her hand, he picked up the pace. “Let’s move. I don’t want you to get cold,” he lied. 

“What’s wrong,” she asked in a low voice, biting her lip as she peeked over her shoulder at the quiet neighborhood. 

“I thought I heard …something.” He scanned the street as he pulled her along. Reaching the edge of the dirt lot, they both sighed with relief at the sight of the Saab a few yards away.

Behind them, doors creaked as four figures stepped out of a nearby parked car and began heading toward them.

Griffin dropped Katie’s hand and twisted around, facing the threat. Cursing under his breath, he fumbling for the remote in his pocket, then grabbed her hand and pressed the keys into it. “Run to the car. Get in and lock the doors.” Grabbing her shoulders, he spun her around, ignoring her protests. “Go now!” He pushed her toward the vehicle, and then whirled back on guard, listening with one ear as her footsteps faded away. As the Saab’s door slammed, he nodded to himself. “‘First rule,’” he quoted, murmuring under his breath, “‘see to their safety. Second rule, see to their safety. Third rule, see rules one and two.’”

He watched as Nash and his friends sauntered over, forming a loose pack in front of him. For a moment, no one moved. 

Then Griffin laughed. “You’ve gotta’ be kidding! This is the best you could come up with?” He shook his head. “I don’t think this is such a good idea—someone’s going to get hurt. I’m pretty sure, it won’t be me.” 

“What the …,” began Nash.

“Come on, Baylor. Just leave it, man,” cautioned one of the other players. “We’ve got playoffs and a fight would get us suspended from it. Last thing we need right now.”

“That only applies on school grounds,” said Nash, lifting his chin. He took a step closer, crowding Griffin. “And even though this isn’t school, it’s time you learned a lesson. You won’t be such a smart mouth after we’re done with you.” He snorted and added, “But don’t worry about Katie. I’ll make sure she gets home. Eventually.”

Griffin’s smile never reached his eyes. “I don’t think she’s that into you, dude,” he said, bracing his feet. “And, by the way, your battle tactics suck. If you guys were really going to fight me, you would have ambushed me back there. By the car.” He gestured with his head. “Two in front to stop my advance and two behind as rear guards. Then you could have effectively used your superior numbers to advantage.” Basil would be so proud, he thought.

“I’m gonna’ …,” began Nash.

“Now, with all this yakking,” Griffin continued, “I’m on guard and the element of surprise is gone.” He checked his watch. “Look. I really need to get Katie home. It’s cold out here and she’s got an eleven o’clock curfew, so we either go our separate ways or get this over with.” Adding fuel to the flame, he couldn’t resist one final jab. “I hope you guys play football better than you strategize.”

Nash snapped. With a growl, he swung wildly. Griffin stumbled back, flinging up his hand. Nash howled as his fist collided against an invisible wall; he crumpled to the ground rocking in pain as he cradled his broken wrist. Eyes watering, he looked up at his friends. “Kill him!” he rasped.

Griffin dove to one side, skidding to his knees, then cocked back an arm and punched his fist into the ground in front of him. The earth split with a groan, the crack racing toward the other players. He scrambled to his feet watching as two of them teetered on the edge of the crevasse, then tumbled in. Three down, one to go, he thought, then spun around as the remaining attacker sprinted forward. Flicking a finger, he launched a fireball, skipping it off the player’s head with a soft sizzle. As the boy cursed and slapped at his singed hair, Griffin sneezed. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand, then stepped back, eyeing Nash and his buddy as they dragged the trapped players up and over the lip of the trench. Yelling at each other in confusion over what had just happened, the four fled back to their vehicle.

“That’s it? Two minutes and it’s all over?” called Griffin, unaware of Katie climbing out of the Saab behind him. “That’s all you guys got?”  

Reaching his car, Nash stopped, panting as he hunched against the back fender, his injured arm tucked inside his jacket. He looked past Griffin and glared at Katie.

“Your boyfriend’s a freak,” he screeched, spittle flying from his lips. He snarled in pain as his friends dragged him inside; the motor roared to life a second later. “A freak,” he screamed once more before the door slammed shut.

The words hung in the air as they gunned away.

Griffin blinked, watching with unseeing eyes at the car squealed around the corner. Oh, Fire, what did I just do? And right in front of Katie? He swallowed and forced himself to turn and face her.

Katie stood beside the Saab’s open door, the dome light casting half her face in shadow. Eyes wide, she gawked at Griffin, her mouth working silently as she shook her head from side to side. “What are you?” she finally whispered.

“Okay,” he said, easing toward her and patting the air with his hands. “That was weird, I know. But I can explain ….” He stopped a few feet away when she lurched backwards.

“Get away from me,” she cried, wrapping her arms around herself, shivering with fright and cold.

He tried again. “Can I at least say something? Please?” He took another step, than froze when she shook her head, her teeth chattering. “Let me drive you home, then. You’re freezing. That’s all I’ll do. Drive you home. Or you can take the car yourself. Just leave it in our driveway. I’ll walk.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you! Not until you tell me what’s going on. The truth, Griffin!”

“The truth about what?”

“About what I saw you do!”

“What do you think you saw?”

“You did … something … creepy,” said Katie, starting to tremble again.

“Nah—it was just a fight, Katie. Guys get in fights all the time and …”

“Stop lying!” she screamed. “Tell me!”

What the heck do I do? I know Katie. She won’t budge until I tell her. And I want to tell her. Let her know the real me. “You really want to know the truth?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

He looked up the star-frosted sky, searching for courage, a bubble of dread pressing against his heart. Closing his eyes, he took a leap of faith. “Do you remember when I asked if you believed in angels?”

Vipers Creed Tour: Author Interview

Good morning peoples! It's time for Comfort Books to partcipate in yet another tour! and that tour is the Viper's Creed by T.L. Shreffler tour hosted by These Paper Worlds Book Tours! and I have an author interview for you guys today but first heres a little about the book.

Viper's Creed by T.L. Shreffler
Synopsis: Sora is having visions. Strange, terrifying visions brought on by her Cat's Eye necklace, an ancient and magical device. Spurred to action, she leaves her mother's cabin to find Crash, the mysterious assassin who once changed her life. She is certain that together, they can discover what the necklace is trying to tell her.

Crash is still on the run from the dark sorcerer, Volcrian, but now a plague is spreading across the land. Volcrian's quest for vengeance has awakened something far more evil than himself; a force that could destroy the entire kingdom. Together, he and Sora must harness the power of the Cat's Eye and kill the sorcerer before it's too late....




Meet The Author:

T. L. Shreffler lives in Los Angeles, CA. She loves diversity, fantasy, romance, iced tea, long walks, philosophy, and thrift store shopping. She recently graduated with a BA in Badass (Creative Writing) and her poetry has been published consecutively in Eclipse: A Literary Journal and The Northridge Review. She works as the assistant editor for the funky and fantastic Tinsel Tokyo Magazine!










Interview:

1. Have you always wanted to be a writer?Absolutely not! I’ve always wanted to be a rich noblewoman, a warlock, a crazy assassin or a sexy werewolf... but seeing as I can’t be any of these things, I became a writer. ;)

2. Where is your favorite place to write?
On my patio... it’s like being indoors and outside all at the same time!

3. Ay advice for other aspiring writers?
Don’t let bad critiques get you down! There’s no author in the world that’s above a bad review. Don’t take it personally, and it’s good advice, try to listen. :)

4. The name of my blog is Comfort Books so what is your favorite 'Comfort Book'?
I’d have to say the first book of Harry Potter... I know, I know, everyone has read that book a thousand times... but I just love that moment when Harry is first entering into the wizard world and everyone knows his name. How cool is that?

5. What can we expect from you in the future?
Lots of fantastical worlds, potential love stories, a few grand adventures and a broken heroine or two. My stories appear in my head like Spirited Away or Howl’s Moving Castle... so anything that’s absolutely gorgeous and off the wall, that’s where I want to go. 

**speed round**

1. Chicken or Tacos?
TACOS (how did you know that’s all I eat???)

2. Paper back or hardback?
Paperback... hardcovers are so “hard” to carry around, lol! *cracks up*

3. Night or Morning?
Morning... my boyfriend hates me for waking up at 7am every morning.

4. Vampires or Werewolfs?
Werewolves... woof... because they’re vicious.

5. Ice cream or Cheesecake?Ice cream! I’m not a big fan of sweets, actually. I have a lot more to say about this, but I’ll end it with OMG ROCKY ROAD.

Thanks for stopping by everybody! Have a great day!

Cover Reveal: Lauren by Julia Crane

Hello again! Today is the cover reveal for Lauren by Julia Crane! I'm sorry this is going up really late but I was exhausted last night. So anyways the cover reveal is hosted by the ever so lovely AToMR Tours which I love being apart of! Here's the cover!

Lauren by Julia Crane

Synopsis: A girl with a second chance. A boy with a terrible secret. When the truth is revealed, Lauren's world comes crashing down.

For once, seventeen year old lauren's life is going right. She's attending the college of her dreams, has what appears to be the perfect boyfriend, and is surrounded by her childhood friends.

But her boyfriend, Tristan, grows more possessive by the day, and his temper is getting harder to keep in check. When lauren realizes Tristan is using her for her power, she has to make a choice: Tristan or her world.

 

You can check out the author here:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

 

Thanks for stopping by everybody!



Her Loving Husbands Curse Tour: Author Interview

Hello everyone! Today Comfort Books is participating in the Her Loving Husband's Curse by Meredith Allard tour hosted by Bewitching Book Tours! and today I have an interview for you! But first here's a little about the book.

Her Loving Husband's Curse by Meredith Allard
Synopsis: How far will you go to protect the one you love?

Finally, after many long and lonely years, James Wentworth’s life is falling into place. Together with his wife, Sarah, the only woman he has ever loved, he has found the meaning behind her nightmares about the Salem Witch Trials, and now they are rebuilding the life they began together so long ago.

But the past is never far behind for the Wentworths. While Sarah is haunted by new visions, now about the baby she carried over three hundred years before, James is confronted with painful memories from his time with the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears. Through it all, the persistent reporter Kenneth Hempel reappears, still determined to prove that the undead walk the earth. If Hempel succeeds in his quest, James and Sarah will suffer. Will the curse of the vampire prevent James and Sarah from living their happily ever after?

Author Interview:

P: I live in Salem, NH but when I say Salem people always ask about witches until I correct them. So I have to ask what made you want to write about the Salem Witch Trials?

M: I decided to write about the Salem Witch Trials by accident, actually. I was deciding on a setting for my vampire story, and I thought a northeastern setting would be nice. I pulled up a map of the U.S., looked over the northeastern states and saw Massachusetts. I already knew my main character, James Wentworth, was going to be a college professor, so my thoughts turned to Cambridge, MA and Harvard. But as I was looking at a map of Massachusetts I saw Salem, and being the historical fiction person I am, my thoughts turned to the Salem Witch Trials. Immediately, I could see how adding the background of the witch hunts would add a depth to the story I hadn’t thought of before. Fortunately, Salem, Massachusetts comes complete with its own college—now Salem State University—so the location worked in more ways than one.

P: When did you figure out you wanted to be an author?

M: I’ve loved to write for as long as I can remember, but I started writing with the intention of being published after I finished my M.A. in English. I had a head full of wonderful stories from all the reading I did in college, and I wanted to write stories of my own.

P: How long did your characters live in your head before you put them on paper?

M: I kicked the idea for Her Dear & Loving Husband around for six months before I ever sat down at the computer to start writing the story. I’ve written five going on six novels now, so I know the commitment it takes to write a novel, especially since I write historical fiction where there’s a lot of research involved. Because of that, I won’t start writing any little idea that occurs to me. I like to live with it for a while and see if it’s something I’m genuinely intrigued by. If I begin to imagine characters and scenes, as I did with Her Dear & Loving Husband, and I’m dying to know what happens next, then it’s a keeper and I make the decision to turn it into a novel.

P: Considering the name of my blog is "Comfort Books" what is your favorite comfort book?

M: Anything by Charles Dickens. No one can make me laugh, cry, or think the way he does. If I had to choose a favorite novel of his, it would be David Copperfield.

P: Can we expect any more books from you in the future?

M: Absolutely. I have a lot more stories to tell. Right now, I’m working on the last book in the Loving Husband Trilogy, and then I already know what I’m going to write when that’s over.

*Speed Round*

1. Chocolate or Vanilla? Love, love chocolate.
2. Sneakers or Flip Flops? Love them both. Sneakers (Chucks) in winter and flip flops in summer.
3. Pens or Pencils? Pencils, actually. I like to be able to erase, and I don’t like erasable pens.
4. Night or Day? Night. I seem to get my best writing done then.
5. Standalones or Series? Whatever I’m writing at the time!

Thanks, Paige!

 

 

October TBR

That was my October TBR! If you have read any of those books let me know what you thought of them also if you did an October TBR of any kind leave me a link in the comments! Happy Reading!