COVER REVEAL SQUEE!: LOST WITHOUT YOU

Lost Without You
by Liz Hannah
Expected Publication: December 30 2013
Cover Design: CoverIt! Designs

Synopsis:

Grace Young thought she was a survivor - until the day her twin brother died, leaving her parents heartbroken and their relationship with Grace fractured beyond repair. Now all Grace wants is a chance to experience something of a normal life, before it's all too late.

Going to college hundreds of miles from home seems like the right way to embrace her new found freedom, especially after years of homeschooling, but while Grace takes to her classes naturally, it's the other side of college that she's unprepared for.

The parties. The friendships. The boys. Especially one Dean Michaels, the Haven University's star soccer player. Fate throws the pair together, and their friendship starts to turn into something more. But can Grace keep the secrets of her past hidden without hurting those she's come to count on the most?

*New Adult Contemporary Romance, recommended for readers 17+ for mature situations*

 

About the author and wher to find her:

Liz Hannah is a New Adult author that calls both Scotland and Australia home. Currently studying her Bachelor of Arts at university, when she’s not busy reading or writing, Liz can be found procrastinating from her studies indulging in her Pinterest habit or watching too many TV shows. Lost Without You is her debut New Adult novel.

Links: Blog | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE FOR FALL 2013-SUMMER 2014

As an author who has a full-time job, it's imperative for me to plan my schedule way out in advance. I have the next year planned for many book releases. I hope you're as excited about that as I am. I thought I would give you some background for some of the books as I have some series that are continuing and some new series I'm beginning.

Going to the Dogs Series

I am in the revision stage for Book #4, Collared, my last dog park babe, but she will not be the last character that I plan to write. I have another set of books that will constitute Book #5-Book #10. Some of the featured heroes are Ian Lassiter, Callie Lassiter's brother who was first introduced in Book #1, Leashed, but is mentioned in books 2-4 as well; Aiden Sincliar, Harper Sinclair's brother who was first introduced in Book #2, Groomed for Murder and spilled over into Book #3, Hounded and also plays a bit part in Collared; and Nate Taylor, Jared Taylor's bad boy brother who was introduced in Hounded and spilled over into Collared.  Collared is scheduled to be released on October 14th and I'm on track for that. I'm extremely proud of these books. Ian's book, Book #5, Piggy Bank Blues is slated for a June release. Give them a try if you love zany romantic comedy mixed with canine friends. Here's a teaser for Collared.

  A Perfect Secret Series, Hope Parish Novels

These books are set in the deep South, the bayou country of Louisiana. One of my most favorite cities in the U.S. is New Orleans. You may not know, but counties in Louisiana are called parishes and I've named my fictitious county/parish Hope. My characters live in a small town called Suttontowne, named after the lauded founder, Colonel Beauregard Sutton. A Perfect Mess released on August 7th and I'm getting close to beginning the second book in the series, A Perfect Mistake which I'm planning for a December 9th release. The third book, A Perfect Dilemma should be out in April, but I don't have a firm date for it yet.  Just a heads up that I have another set of books I'm planning for this series, but they won't be out until probably 2015.

The 12 NA's of Christmas

Santa is bringing something wonderful this Christmas and you're not only gonna want a bigger stocking, but you're going to want all of these novellas. I was lucky to be invited to be part of the 12 NAs and collaborate with some amazing women writing in the New Adult genre--Sarra Cannon, H.M. Ward, Chelsea Cameron, Addison Moore, Marquita Valentine, Shelly Crane, Magan Vernon, Breena Wilde, Tiffany King, A. Meredith Walters and Sawyer Bennett. This group has been so much fun and so supportive as we each navigate the crazy world of publishing. My novella, Brave, is in the very final stages and we should have a mass cover reveal coming up soon. All of our books will be available on November 1st. If there is enough interest, I could write more characters from this Brave (tehe) new world.

The Starbuck Chronicles Series

I am planning on releasing 2 to 3 books a year with a total of 14 books altogether for my new urban fantasy, reoccurring character, Lily Starbuck. An amnesiatic witch living in a world where reality is broken and anything is possible. I plan to have the first book, AfterLife out in January with the second book, AfterMath out in March and the third book AfterBurn out sometime in the fall.

A New Adult Contemporary Series

Not ready to say much about this series just yet, but I will tell you this much. I'm extremely excited about revealing the series to you when the time is right. The first book will be out in February, the second out in May and the third out in August, so stay tuned to my blog for an announcement sometime in December.


Riders on the Störme

This will be a syfy/fantasy series set on both the fictional planet of Trevia and Earth. An insidious, ravenous horde is held in check by the beautiful, powerful dragons of Trevia called collectively, The Störme and their dragonriders. The dragon's flame is the only force in the universe that can stop these creatures. But their flame is dying and the dragonriders need a miracle to save not only these magnificent beasts, but every living thing on every habitable planet in the universe. Their hope comes to them in the form of American astronaut Jaxon Bailey, who crash lands on their planet at the same time as a black dragon egg is laid--a rare egg which is only clutched every 500 years and without a rider bond, will die unhatched.  But the egg speaks to Jaxon, an offworlder, who is the key to the salvation of not only the human race, but all races. I am both a syfy and fantasy geek and am just so tickled pink to be writing the first book, It Started With a Whisper for release in July.

Here is the tentative schedule (of course, things could change):

Collared, Book #4, Going to the Dogs Series - October 14, 2013
Brave, The 12 NA's of Christmas Novella - November 1, 2013
A Perfect Mistake, Book #2, A Perfect Secret Series - December 9, 2013
AfterLife, Book #1, The Starbuck Chronicles Series - January
New Adult Contemporary, Book #1 - February
AfterMath, Book #2, The Starbuck Chronicles Series - March
A Perfect Dilemma, Book #3, A Perfect Secret Series - April
New Adult Contemporary, Book #2 - May
Piggy Bank Blues, Book #5, Going to the Dogs Series - June
It Started With A Whisper, Riders on the Störme Series - July
New Adult Contemporary, Book #3 - August

Playlist for A Perfect Mess

Have you had a chance to listen to my playlist? Songs are so powerful and my hero and his brothers are all singers and musicians.

The minute I started writing A Perfect Mess set in Louisiana, I knew that music was going to play a role in the book. That my hero was going to be musically inclined. How did I know that about him? Because Booker Outlaw lives in the part of the country that makes wonderful music and he has Cajun relatives on his mother’s side of the family. The ‘let the good times roll’ laid back, fun-loving people of Acadia know how to make some lively music and some very melancholy music.

Blue Bayou by Eccentric Scholar on Flickr

 As soon as I started to assemble a playist, I knew Blue Bayou had to be on there. Not just any rendition of it though. I had to have Linda Ronstadt’s version. It was like greeting an old friend when I heard that song again. Not only is it beautiful but it tells a mini-story that an author can totally appreciate.

We all have songs that are so wrapped around our lives that they stop being just songs and become something else. Something more integral to us, like extra DNA, or special blood.

Sometimes songs make us laugh, sometimes cry and sometimes they really inspire us and make us think. Music really speaks to us, settling into our lives like a good friend. And that's the thing about music, anyway. It's yours. Films and books with their narrative work totally on a different level. It’s totally visual and, although, music adds to the experience, it’s mostly the eyes that absorb the story. But it’s not like the ownership of music. We make a place for ourselves inside music and music has that special place for us to be. It’s up to our individuality to understand a guitar's howl, a plunging bassline, an intake of breath in any way we want. We can take that meaning with us, and let it fill us up.

When we give ourselves over to music, music shapes itself to whatever pattern we need.

With the availability of music it may seem that it has lost some of its power. But I don’t think so. People still listen to music for that power, for the emotions that piece of music evoke. It speaks to who we are fundamentally and I don’t think that will ever change. Music is still as potent as ever. Music can untangle our feelings better than we ever can.

We may wonder often how a vibration of air waves, a combination of lyrics and meaning, reach so deeply into our beings, stir up feelings of fear and fight and remorse and delight and sex. But we still respond to it. Sometimes we wonder how does music do that? And, sometimes we just listen to Josh Groban singing in Italian. Even though we don’t understand the words, he touches us. And, we cry.

Spotlight on Tina Gayle

Please welcome to my blog today Tina Gayle. She's one of my buddies in the NOR Halloween Scavenger Hunt.

Summer’s Growth – 1st Book in the “Family Tree” series

Blurb:

Forced by the family spirits to get a life, Mattie Winston has to train her replacement Amber Harrison to be in charge of all the workings of the Winston estate. Reluctant to make changes in her life, Mattie forms a bond with Amber, when strange accidents start happening which threaten their lives and an unknown ghost makes an appearance.

After being rescued by an old flame, Quincy Miller, Mattie faces old wounds of rejection. As the general contractor for Amber’s redecoration project, Mattie is in constant contact with Quincy and realizes she still in love with her childhood sweetheart.

Amber, learning her new role in the family, wants to discover the identity of the ghost who keeps appearing. After several appearances, Gwen, Amber’s distance grandmother, shifts the book into more of Amber’s struggle to find out why her grandmother disappeared two hundred years ago without a trace. In a fight to claim her position in the family, Amber searches for clues to solve the mystery.

Mattie and Amber are both challenged when the family spirits decides Amber shouldn’t be the keeper. Battling for Amber, Mattie realizes she wants a life with Quincy outside the Winston estate.

Amber realized the importance of her new spiritual family, and she works to discover how Gwen died.

Can these two women achieve their goals?

Read the first chapter

Buy at:

Smashwords

Amazon

Excerpt:

Standing by the bay window in the front room, Mattie watched the car approach. Her new recruit’s arrival had goose bumps popping out on Mattie’s skin, adding to her anxieties.

She wanted to run, but instead glanced at the kindhearted spirit of Opal, her distant grandmother. Dressed in her best early American gown, the many layers of her petticoat swished with a soft hiss when she moved.

“There’s no reason to be nervous. Once you meet Amber, you’ll see she caps the climax,” Opal voiced in a soothing tone. “Your Aunt Rachel is absolutely thrilled to have a descendant from her branch of the family as keeper.”

Looking beyond her at the rest of the room, Mattie searched for the other members of the family council. They always offered her their support when she faced a big decision. Yet, today they were conspicuously absent.

“Don’t worry. The whole family is behind you. We just thought it better if we didn’t all hover.”      
Shifting from foot to foot, she wrung her hands together. A simple process of a changing of the guard for them, Amber’s arrival marked the end of the life Mattie loved.

The beautiful spirits around her didn’t understand how cruel humans could be to each other. What if she screwed up and the girl left? Or the girl hated living with a house full of spirits?

Unease pricked at Mattie’s mind. She had no experience in dealing with strangers. All her business associates understood her likes and didn’t force her to attend any social events.

A quick glance out the window, and a car rounded the fountain. She wasn’t prepared to entertain Amber. How could she be? She never invited guests to the estate.

“Now, Pumpkin, there’s no need to worry. It’s time another branch of the family realize what a pain it is to be keeper.” Opal smiled, offering her special form of reassurance. “We’re all here to help with the transition.”

The high notes of Beethoven’s Fifth sprang from the piano. Mattie jumped in surprise at the sudden noise. She whipped around to see Uncle
Samuel, the artist of the family, standing next to the piano.

“The game is afoot.” He arched his eyebrows and grinned, then disappeared.

“I’d better leave.” Her aunt patted Mattie’s shoulder. “Just remember, the girl is uneasy too.”

Opal disappeared.

With a deep breath, Mattie turned and gripped the cold metal knob in her hand.

Soon her home would belong to a stranger, and then what would she do?

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Cover Reveal Squee!: COLLARED

When I decided to self-publish, I looked at the tons of projects that I had as undeveloped ideas. When, I choose Going to the Dogs as the project I would start my self-publishing career with, I was excited and nervous. Excited because I so loved Sex and the City and my dog books would have that vibe. Nervous because, well these were romantic comedies and I'd never written one in my life.

Now, I'm revealing the cover for the last book in the Going to the Dogs series (At least the first installment of it. More about this at the end of the cover reveal).

So, here is my Collared cover which is Harper's book. She meets her match in Caleb Shaw, an irascible cop.

Thank you so much to Julie at A Tale of Many Reviews Tours for arranging the cover reveal today. If you see it around, please comment, retweet and share so we can get the word out to everyone.

This cover was designed by the fabulous Robin at Robin Ludwig Designs, Inc

Please take a moment to add Collared to your Goodreads Shelf

Genre: Contemporary Romance, light mystery

Release Date:  October 14, 2013

Description:

Diamonds are a dog’s best friend.

Harper Sinclair discovers that her champion, award-winning standard poodle, Ch. Edgewood Sky High Blue is missing her $50,000 diamond dog collar that was given to her by Harper's eccentric, indulging grandmother along with valuable pieces of jewelry. Harper calls the robbery division of the NYPD and reports the thefts. The detective they send is surly and tough with a pair of brown eyes that make even this calm, cool socialite's lungs claw for air.

Rough and tumble Detective Caleb Shaw has better things to do than run over to the penthouse of a frigging socialite to find a frigging collar for a frigging pampered poodle---award winning or not. He has real cases to solve, but when he gets a load of the poodle's owner, his interest in the case...heats up. Satin sheets or not, he wants Harper. But there is more to this robbery than the dog collar. Has someone close to Harper pulled an inside job?

Can a lovely socialite collar a hard-boiled detective or are they worlds apart?

Now for the good news I hinted at. I will be writing another set of dog books. This time six! Their may be some mystery in these, but my theme is rich heroes and poor heroines. So it should be a lot of fun! The first book will feature Ian Lassiter, Callie's brother. Here's the overview:

Going to the Dogs 2:  The Alphas

Ian Lassiter is part of an investment group that he got into in college. One of his frat friends was a whiz at investment. Ian got in on the ground floor along with two other friends, Conner Wentworth and Jesse Malone. They pooled all their money and bought up two empty warehouses in Manhattan and flipped both into high end condos by doing almost all the work themselves. The location went trendy and they made a killing on the market. They all became partners in AlphaGroup Investments and fast friends. When Ian’s frat friend dies from an accident, shortly after Callie’s wedding, they invite Harper’s brother Aiden and Jared's brother Nate into AlphaGroup. (Wait a second! There are only five heroes mentioned here. That's right. You will have to read Collared to discover who the sixth hero is. I'm such a tease.)

First book:

Piggy Bank Blues

Ian Lassiter is living the high life in Manhattan and loving it. He's a successful artist and sculptor and has just adopted an adorable Mantle Great Dane named Ozzie from his sister, Callie. The bachelor life suits him, so he thinks until he gets a load of AlphaGroup's newest client.

Elizabeth "Lizzie" O'Reilly is trying to save her art school for the deaf where she teaches. Thinking her clever Border Collie, Georgia who paints amazing huge abstract flowers could be commercial, she reads about grants available from AlphaGroup Investments that could help out. But, the guy she deals with, Ian, is not only drop-dead gorgeous, but he's a renowned artist and touted as a confirmed bachelor. Lizzie comes from a big family and the man she gets involved with would have to embrace not only a happily ever after with her, but want kids as desperately as she does.

Ian just doesn't fit the bill, or does he?

Here are the other Going to the Dogs series books

Leashed for Callie and Owen's story (Currently free)
Amazon
Nook
Kobo
Smashwords
itunes

Groomed for Murder for Brooke and Drew's story
Amazon
Nook
Kobo
Smashwords
itune

Hounded for Poe and Jared's story.
Amazon
Nook
Kobo
Smashwords
itunes 

And, here's the first book in my New Adult Romance A Perfect Secret series:

A Perfect Mess
Amazon 
Nook
Kobo
Smashwords
itunes