Cover reveals for two awesome series-Emma Mills' WITCHHUNT and Laura Lam's SHADOWPLAY

Exciting news for two series that I really love-we have covers for the next books in the series!

First up is Emma Mills' Witchblood series-the final novel in the series, WitchHunt, has a cover.

I like the way all the covers in the series look together-pale face with bright eyes is a nice theme when done with different colours.


Blurb-contains mild spoilers for Witchlove

‘I know it’s selfish, but I don’t want you to go,’ Daniel said, a couple of minutes later.

I looked at him and smiled.

‘I’ll be fine, I will.’

‘You’d better be. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Those months I stupidly spent apart from you… they were torment for me,’ he said.

‘They were torment for me too.’

As the Christmas season is ripped apart by the news that Jess’ old friend Alex has been turned into a vicious killer, festivities are dropped, Jess returns to England and the hunt begins. But Alex isn’t the only one being hunted, for Mary has found a way to extinguish the entire bloodline of Malden witches, and it is Jess’s book of shadows that’s the key. As things hot up, Jess finds she must leave Daniel and the safety of Manchester in a final hunt for her nemesis, Mary. In a fight-off that only one of them can survive, loved ones will fall… daemons will rise… but who will survive?‘I know it’s selfish, but I don’t want you to go,’ Daniel said, a couple of minutes later.

I looked at him and smiled.

‘I’ll be fine, I will.’

‘You’d better be. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Those months I stupidly spent apart from you… they were torment for me,’ he said.

‘They were torment for me too.’

As the Christmas season is ripped apart by the news that Jess’ old friend Alex has been turned into a vicious killer, festivities are dropped, Jess returns to England and the hunt begins. But Alex isn’t the only one being hunted, for Mary has found a way to extinguish the entire bloodline of Malden witches, and it is Jess’s book of shadows that’s the key. As things hot up, Jess finds she must leave Daniel and the safety of Manchester in a final hunt for her nemesis, Mary. In a fight-off that only one of them can survive, loved ones will fall… daemons will rise… but who will survive?

Released 4 November 2013

Emma has a  website, twitter, goodreads, and Facebook.

 There's also a  giveaway to gain likes on Facebook. It's easy to enter, so go for it!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now for Laura Lam's Shadowplay.

Blurb: The circus lies behind Micah Grey in dust and ashes.

He and the white clown, Drystan, take refuge with the once-great
magician, Jasper Maske. When Maske agrees to teach them his trade, his embittered rival challenges them to a duel which could decide all of their fates. People also hunt both Micah and the person he was before the circus--the runaway daughter of a noble family. And Micah discovers there is magic and power in the world, far beyond the card tricks and illusions he's perfecting...
A tale of phantom wings, a clockwork hand, and the delicate unfurling of new love, Shadowplay continues Micah Grey’s extraordinary journey.


IT'S SO PRETTY. I like the little details on the cards and the makeup.
I really can't wait for this.

Laura has a blog, twitter, and facebook.

Tour Spotlight and GIVEAWAY - WitchLove by Emma Mills

WitchLove 

Synopsis (Sequel to WitchCraft – Book 3 in WitchBlood Series)

With the reappearance of a lost love, Jess flees to the only people who can help her control her increasing powers and gain independence – her family’s coven. But with a bruised heart can Jess learn to forgive or will she find new love in the United States? Witchlove, the third installment of the Witchblood series, is a new adventure that takes Jess from New England to Voodoo country in the South.

What others are saying:

“I love this series. I can hardly wait until the 3rd book, WitchLove is released… This is a series that I will look forward to re-reading just as the new book is ready for release.”

—Carrie, book reviewer at OnceUponATwilight.com

“The characters feel real, the world feels authentic, and the story literally throbs with an underlying intensity that builds with each page. In short, Witchblood is an imaginative, satisfying read that still manages to leave the reader hungry for more.

—Thomas Winship, author of Vaempires: Revolution & Vaempires: Zombie Rising

What I say 

This series is really really cool. Vampires, witches and angels? Heck yes. Throw in a strong main character and some romance I'm sure you'll all love and you have nothing to lose!

You can find my full  reviews of WitchBlood and WitchCraft around here too.

Author Bio

Hi I'm Emma. I am happily married with two lovely children. I have always loved reading and writing and published my first novel WitchBlood in Jan 2012 with Witchcraft following in June and WitchLove due in Feb 2013. After acquiring an obsessive love of supernatural teen novels...yes I'm a Twilight fan...I decided to write my own supernatural story based here in Manchester in the UK, near where I live and grew up. It's currently dark, windy, cold and very very wet... and easy to get inspiration.

Find Me- Facebook  |   Blog   |  Twitter   |   Goodreads  |

Buy US - Amazon   |   Barnes and Noble

Buy UK- Amazon   |   Barnes and Noble


GIVEAWAY!

It'll be a PDF, .epub or kindle file, and is therefore open internationally.

Giveaway open to anyone over 13.
Ends 8 March 2013.
Use the rafflecopter.
Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book tour review - WitchCraft by Emma Mills

Title: Witchcraft

 Author: Emma Mills

Series:  Witchblood #2

Published:  15 June 2012

Length:320 pages

Warnings: attempted rape

Source: author

Other info:  This is the second in the Witchblood series. The first was reviewed here.

Summary : Jess is no ordinary vampire. Protected by the Manchester vampire clan, and initiated by her family’s east coast American coven, she is sought after by every dark witch and warring vampire faction. Jess must fight if she wants to keep hold of her friends, her sanity and finally her existence.
As the dead bodies of human girls begin to stack up, and her recently accepted vampire boyfriend, Daniel, finds himself in prison, Jess goes on a crazy, forbidden trip to London, racing against time to save an old friend and solve the mystery behind Daniel’s incarceration. In battling new enemies and finding new friends, Jess’s confidence finds room to grow, but who will she lose along the way?

Review: Jess has just learnt that her heritage includes a family of witches. Then one of the shows up and initiates her into their coven. Now she’s a mix of both witch and vampire and everyone wants a piece of her.

It’s really nice coming back to characters you love. Jess is now vaguely used to being a vampire, but still wants remnants of her old life, leading to a rather amusing scene involving tea.The being a witch makes for a new set of discoveries waiting to be made. Once again, she’s strong, independent and takes it all in her stride.

I really like the supernatural mix of vampires, angels and witches. It’s not your typical mix, but it works really well. Each supernatural subset has their own society/heriarchy/ whatever and I really enjoyed seeing Jess navigate these.

It’s a very quick read, or maybe it’s because I was kept reading it for ages. Or maybe both. The writing is descriptive, and also accurate in the cases of the Wiccan ceremonies. The first bit is mainly grounding the setting with Jess’ witchiness, still with a lot of action there, but the second part is where it builds up and people die and such.  

Wholly shipping Jess and Luke. We definitely get to know him a bit more (after not getting that much of him in Witchblood) and I think they share a deeper connection than her and Daniel, even if both of these boys are annoying to her at times.

THE ENDING. EVIL AUTHOR. There are certain cliffhangers which should not be allowed to exist. This is one of them. Two of the characters who I was starting to really really like....and then.... WE DON’T KNOW. Must read Witchlove sooner rather than later!

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a mustread for any supernatural lover.

Links: Amazon |  Goodreads | Author website |

Cover Reveal-Witchcraft by Emma Mills

Remember I reviewed Witchblood and really wanted to read the sequel? Well, it's a little closer now... and I have some good stuff for you.

First, the cover!


Now, the blurb...
Jess is no ordinary vampire. Protected by the Manchester vampire clan, and initiated by her family’s east coast American coven, she is sought after by every dark witch and warring vampire faction. Jess must fight if she wants to keep hold of her friends, her sanity and finally her existence.
As the dead bodies of human girls begin to stack up, and her recently accepted vampire boyfriend, Daniel, finds himself in prison, Jess goes on a crazy, forbidden trip to London, racing against time to save an old friend and solve the mystery behind Daniel’s incarceration. In battling new enemies and finding new friends, Jess’s confidence finds room to grow, but who will she lose along the way?

It'll be released on the 25 June 2012...so...not too long to wait now.

There's also a countdown widget! It looks like this

and you can use this code to get it.
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.widgetserver.com/syndication/subscriber/InsertWidget.js"></script><script type="text/javascript">if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('2b37148b-2232-42c0-aded-e563940f16ae');</script> <noscript>Get the <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/i/2b37148b-2232-42c0-aded-e563940f16ae">Countdown Creator Pro</a> widget and many other <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/">great free widgets</a> at <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com">Widgetbox</a>! Not seeing a widget? (<a href="http://support.widgetbox.com/">More info</a>)</noscript>

The first book is one of the better indie books I've read...let's hope Witchcraft is just as good!

Book review + GIVEAWAY - Witchblood by Emma Mills

Title: Witchblood  

 Author:  Emma Mills

Series:  Witchblood #1

Published:   9 January 2011

Length: Recieved as e-book, so no idea. Less than 75000 words though. 

Warnings: Vampires, supernatural beings, drink and drug references, violence 13+

Source:  Author, as part of book tour

Other info: Emma lives in Manchester

Summary : When Jess steals a glance at a gorgeous guy in a Manchester nightclub, little does she realise how he is going to change her life…or should that be death? Yet, the vampire clan could never have predicted what they were taking on.
With Luke pronounced ‘off-limits’ and the blood of a vampire simmering in Jess’s body, can she forget the love of her life and move on? If not, she will risk exposing the entire Northern vampire clan to untold dangers, in order to live her life the way she wants.
Can Jess be sure that Luke is all he appears to be? Will she succumb to the attraction she desperately tries not to feel for Daniel? And why does she still crave a packet of crisps more than a tasty teenage boy’s blood?

Review: Jessica is violently attacked by a girl gang, and is then left for dead.  But somehow she is saved. Turns out she's become a vampire, under the care of Daniel and Eva. She has to learn how to deal with her new found status, her place in Vampire society, and of course the new diet. But as well as the powers that come with being a vampire, she has others. She's also a witch, somehow, with no way of formally learning to control these powers. And there may be more to this than she thinks...

This is a book set in England! Yay! Sorry, I just like books set in England, because I can relate a bit more, and understand a few more cultural references and so on. The concept was interesting, and could have gone either terribly, or well. Luckily, this one went the latter way.

From the start, I was hooked. I was promised it would be a quick read owing to the fact it's quite short. But it's not just that. Jessica's narration and the amount of stuff that actually happens mean you can easily speed through it, and still get a good idea of everything that's happening.

The characterisation was good. The older vampires seem to have adjusted well to modern life, and Jessica is adjusting to existance as a vampire as well as you'd expect.

The romance between Jessica and Daniel was inevitable, but quite nice to watch develop. And then there was the introduction of a kind of love triangle, which was also inevitable but I personally could have done without. Nothing against this book in particular, it's just I can do without love triangles in everything.

The final revelation about Luke was quite unexpected, and it made me wish we'd seen a little more of him throughout the bulk of the book  to properly get to know him.

I think that Eva was my favourite character. The way she handled things, and the fact that she survived the French Revolution just made me like her.

Of the supernaturals in this, I have to say that I like the vampires best. That is only because the other two races don't get enough coverage. But I'm sure that I'll love the witches once we get to know them.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a quick read which is setting the stage for some really amazing things to come. Can't wait for the sequel, Witchcraft.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

And now for a giveaway.....

Emma Mills has very kindly said she'll give one lucky winner a free copy of Witchblood.

It'll be a PDF, .epub or kindle file, and is therefore open internationally.
Giveaway open to anyone over 13, or under 13 with parent's permission.
Giveaway closes 21 February 2011, 2359 GMT
Following DB&T is not required (but is nice), but follow Emma's blog for an extra entry (+1)
Spreading the word would also be nice.  Tweet for +2 entries, and leave link to tweet in comment.

To enter, leave a comment with your total amount of entries blog address, or some other way to comment, such as  broken email (like deathbooksandtea at gmail dot com).

Good luck xxx

In My Mailbox 9 And Other Things

Going to have another go at updating the mailbox thing regularly...let’s see how well I do XD

Here’s my library stash... 

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas-The Film, The Art, The Vision by Frank Thompson I love this film. 

Card Games by Collins. Long story, but you know our book club is also an "argue, eat, read, argue" club? Well, it's morphing into an "argue, eat, read, argue, play cards, argue" club. 

Shakespeare Made Easy Hamlet & The Merchant of Venice. No, not studying either. I just love it when people re-write Shakespeare into modern language. 

The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar. Had it on my to read list for a while, saw it in my library, picked it up. 

For Review

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown via Netgalley. Mermaids don't get enough love. 

Witchblood by  Emma Mills. Vampires in Manchester? Sorry, but it's just that I don't think I read enough paranormal books set in England.

News (I'm also going to TRY and update with any news that I can think of. This may or may not work.)

• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (review here) has been shortlisted for the Kitschies Golden Tentacle 2011 award for debut novels. For more de  tails, go here (sorry about the website name. It's not what you think and is perfectly safe for work), or here for info about what it's up against.
• There's an extract of Infamous!!! HERE! And I love our (The UK) cover!

Any other exciting things happen this week?