Cover Canary: Born of Deception, Where Silence Gathers & More + Giveaways

I've been seeing some pretty great covers for some of the books which I'm anticipating, so I decided to post them up here all at one go. Links to the blurbs are on the cover, so click right away! 

AND, one more thing before I launch off into cover madness: I'm almost done with my exams, and I will be back soon with a bunch of reviews for books such as Just One Day, Skulk, Fangirl, Seven Deadlies etc. Hope you guys are excited!

Feather Bound

A Cinderella story about paparazzi and wealth... And human swans.

Maid of Secrets (Paperback cover)

Y'all know that I'm a HUGE fan of Jenn McGowan and this book since I organized a tour for it, and the new cover for the paperback release is beautiful!

This is one of the books which I read and loved so badly and I will be getting down to writing a review when I have the time to give it the best praise it deserves. 

The One (The Selection, #3)

Having to live up to the high expectations built up after the first two breathtakingly gorgeous covers in series, the third doesn't disappoint at all.

Blue, red then white. Ha, why does this remind me of the US flag?

What I Thought Was True

Not the best of this bunch, but it has had some tough competition. This cover would definitely stand on its own since the color scheme of violet and dusky yellow is perfect. 

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Thanks to Book Nerd Tours, I have a special cover reveal for BORN OF DECEPTION by Teri Brown. 

Budding illusionist Anna Van Housen is on top of the world: after scoring a spot on a prestigious European vaudeville tour, she has moved to London to chase her dream and to join an underground society for people like her with psychic abilities. Along with her handsome beau, Cole Archer, Anna is prepared to take the city by storm.

But when Anna arrives in London, she finds the group in turmoil. Sensitives are disappearing and, without a suspect, the group’s members are turning on one another. Could the kidnapper be someone within the society itself—or has the nefarious Dr. Boyle followed them to London?

As Cole and Anna begin to unravel the case and secrets about the society are revealed, they find themselves at odds, their plans for romance in London having vanished. Her life in danger and her relationship fizzling, can Anna find a way to track down the killer before he makes her his next victim—or will she have to pay the ultimate price for her powers?

Set in Jazz-Age London, this alluring sequel to Born of Illusion comes alive with sparkling romance, deadly intrigue, and daring magic.

Teri Brown

I’m not sure who to tell you about here because I’m actually two people rolled into one. As a responsible mother of teens, I show one persona to the world. That person is driven, conservative and level headed. But the other part of me just never grew up. She is rebellious, impulsive and curious.

It’s hard being both these people. They’re often at odds.

The mother part of me knows I should put a cap on how many animals we take in. The teen part of me wants to save them all. We have five cats and two dogs. Who do you think is winning?

Even now. The mother part wants to make a meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and a tossed salad. The teen part wants to order a pizza, work on my website and check my Facebook.

Luckily, though my two halves don’t always agree, both of us live happily in Portland, Oregon, with a husband and too many animals. And we both love to write and write and write..

Twitter: https://twitter.com/teribrownwrites

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/teri.foremanbrown

Website: http://www.teribrownbooks.com/

(US Only Giveaway)

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And courtesy of The Mod Podge Bookshelf and Mod Podge Blog Tours, I have for you Kelsey Sutton’s exclusive WHERE SILENCE GATHERS cover reveal!

I adore the grayish hue of the cover where the word "silence" stands out to grab our tension due to the impending sense of doom and destruction. Reminds me of an apocalypse, but no, this is more of a story about revenge and forgiveness.

Enter to win a pre-order of WHERE SILENCE GATHERS below!

(This giveaway is international.)

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Phew, that's quite a post! Have fun adding these books to your TBR-list and looking at all the cover goodness :)

That's all, folks!

I will be back soon. Promise.

Lots of love,

Sel

Cover Canary: The Secret Diamond Sisters

Hi guys!

I popped back before my exams to share with you the front cover of Michelle Madow's upcoming novel, The Secret Diamond Sisters, which will be published by Harlequin TEEN on February 25, 2014.

(I'm so sorry for being missing in action for such a long time, but bear with me!)

And, meanwhile...

PRE-ORDER: [ Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A Million | Book Depository ]

MY TWO CENTS WORTH

I've been reading Michelle Madow's books since her self-published debut novel Remembrance and you can find my past reviews of her books in The Chronicle. It's always quite amazing to see another aspiring writer succeed, especially one who you've been supporting from the beginning. I really can't wait to read her book, which has a Gossip Girl-esque cover that bespeaks glamor, secrets and lots of juicy scandals. It's truly gorgeous! So excited to see her name hit the shelves in bookstores :) This will be the first book in a YA trilogy, so keep your eyes peeled for more!

Savannah. Courtney. Peyton.

The three sisters grew up not knowing their father and not quite catching a break. But it looks like their luck is about to change when they find out the secret identity of their long-lost dad—a billionaire Las Vegas hotel owner who wants them to come live in a gorgeous penthouse hotel suite. Suddenly the Strip's most exclusive clubs are all-access, and with an unlimited credit card each, it should be easier than ever to fit right in. But in a town full of secrets and illusion, fitting in is nothing compared to finding out the truth about their past.

Add The Secret Diamond Sisters on Goodreads

The Facebook event page for the book release party at Books & Books in Coral Gables, FL on March 1, 2014: The Secret Diamond Sisters Book Release Party!

Visit Michelle on Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Pinterest | Twitter | www.michellemadow.com

GIVEAWAY

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Blog Tour Review: Fairest of Them All

Thank you to the awesome ladies at The Fantastic Flying Book Club for hosting this tour. This book was a gem :) 

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Fairest Of Them All

Author: Carolyn Turgeon

288 pages

Publisher: Touchstone 

What if Rapunzel was Snow White’s evil stepmother? From the author of Godmother and Mermaid, The Fairest of Them All explores what happens when fairy tale heroines grow up and don’t live happily ever after.

Living in an enchanted forest, Rapunzel spends her days tending a mystical garden with her adoptive mother, Mathena. A witch, Mathena was banished from court because of her magic powers, though the women from the kingdom still seek her advice and herbal remedies. She waits, biding her time to exact revenge against those who betrayed her.

One day Rapunzel’s beautiful voice and long golden locks captivate a young prince hunting in the forest nearby. Overcome, he climbs her hair up to her chamber and they fall into each other’s arms. But their afternoon of passion is fleeting, and the prince must return to his kingdom, as he is betrothed to another.

Now king, he marries his intended to bring peace to his kingdom. They have a stunning daughter named Snow White. Yet the king is haunted by his memories of Rapunzel, and after the mysterious death of his wife, realizes he is free to marry the woman he never stopped longing for. In hopes of also replacing the mother of his beloved daughter, the king makes Rapunzel his queen.

But when Mathena’s wedding gift of an ancient mirror begins speaking to her, Rapunzel falls under its evil spell, and the king begins to realize that Rapunzel is not the beautiful, kind woman he dreamed of.

Published on 6th August 2013.

A unique spin on the original tales of Rapunzel and Snow White, Fairest of Them All breathes life into two otherwise old school stories that are so well-known that we can hardly expect to be surprised.

The front part of the story touches on Rapunzel's initial encounter with the Prince and gives a new facet to this iconic fairytale protagonist-- she has magical powers, making her either a witch or euphemistically speaking, a herb healer. Even though we are warned from the very first page that she is going to end up as one of fairytale's most timeless villains-- Snow White's stepmother, the evil queen-- over the first part of the book, we come to care for her. A lot. 

Rapunzel begins as a innocent young woman and from the moment she meets the young prince who would later become king, the wheels of fate starts to turn, propelling her onto the path leading to her eventual rise and downfall as an antagonist. We can fully understand her motivations as she begins to value the influence of beauty and is slowly changed by the fickleness of love and the corrupting nature of wealth and power.

However, though several of the main plot-lines in the original Snow White tale do unfold, Rapunzel does not disappoint us faithful readers who are rooting for her, redeeming herself near the end of the book, in a resolution that was wholly unexpected but delightfully satisfying.

This book was one of the most creative retellings that I've read, taking liberties with the crossover storyline but also staying true to the magic and romance that comes with every fairytale. Wonderfully rendered, this book has a protagonist which has much more finesse and character than the original Rapunzel.

Source: From Touchstone (Publisher) for the blog tour
Via Netgalley. 

Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository | B&N

DREAM CAST

Drew Barrymore as Rapunzel

Eric Bana as Josef

Lily Collins as Snow White (of course)

A younger-looking Meryl Steep as Mathena

ABOUT CAROLYN

Carolyn Turgeon is the author of five novels: Rain Village (2006), Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story (2009), Mermaid (2011), which is being developed for film by Sony Pictures, and The Next Full Moon (2012), her first and only book for middle-grade readers. Her latest novel, The Fairest of Them All, comes out in August 2013 from Touchstone/Simon & Schuster and is about Rapunzel growing up to be Snow White's stepmother. She lives in Pennsylvania and New York and teaches fiction writing at the University of Alaska at Anchorage's Low-Residency MFA program. She's currently at work on a new novel about Dante's Beatrice, set in thirteenth-century Florence.

Visit Carolyn's website at http://carolynturgeon.com

Visit Carolyn's mermaid blog at http://iamamermaid.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/carolynturgeon

GIVEAWAY (Opened Internationally, aw yeah!)

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xoxo,
Sel