Cover Reveal - Poison Blood, Book 2: Absolution

Right, PB2 is set to release next week, yay :) 

As with PB1, the second book in the Poison Blood series will be published via Smashwords and Amazon, and then become available at the other e-book retailers in the following few weeks.

So.... pop on over to the PB2 book page to view the cover!

Book Review - Poison Blood, Book 1: Revelation

Today's guest book review was posted on Amazon.co.uk and Smashwords.com

Book: Poison Blood, Book 1: Revelation

Author: Neha Yazmin

Reviewer: Smashwords/Amazon customer

Rating: 5 stars
Download for Free: Apple iBookstore US and UK, Smashwords, Diesel  

"I don't know what blood tastes like to a human.  I'd never even licked a tiny drop of it from a pricked finger, let alone suck on a bleeding cut.  The shedding of blood, my own, or anyone else's, always made me scream or panic in fear and revulsion.  Now it's my only food source."

Elisia Dalton, more commonly known as Ellie, is not a typical teenaged vampire.  She still has her humanity and conscience.  Her human memories and growing pains.  And the same distaste for blood.

Still reeling from the secrets she uncovered before she was turned into a vampire by the mysterious immortal Christian, Ellie is also finding it hard to come to terms with what she has become.  And the revelations keep coming.

Book one of the Poison Blood series reveals why Ellie is not like others of her kind.

Coming to terms with her new life is hard for Ellie.  She is a moody seventeen year old, living rough on the streets of London.  Still hurt from the revelation of her mother’s secret, Ellie longs for a childhood that she never had. Oh yeah, and did I mention she is a vampire?

I have to admit I was sceptical at first.  Being a novel about vampires, my first thought was ‘I hope it’s not another Twilight knock-off!’  But actually I was pleasantly surprised.  This is definitely not a soppy vampire romance novel!  If anything, it is a coming-of-age story.  It is her past that Ellie finds difficult to come to terms with, not her present.  But if she wants to move on in her new life, her past is the very thing that she has to accept…

I don’t want to give too much away, but as usual with Neha Yazmin’s novels, things are never as they seem.  Just as Ellie comes to terms with one secret, she finds out that her mother was hiding so much more.  Much much more!

I really enjoyed reading this novel.  I loved the way the puzzle pieces of Ellie’s life unfold.  Just as you think you have a grip on what’s happening, Neha drops more bombshells to keep you guessing (and the pages turning!).  If I have one complaint, it is that Book 1 ended just as I was really getting into it.  I hope that Book 2 is released soon.   I have a taste for blood - Poison Blood that is!  Please publish the next book soon!

Arranged Book Review #1

Rewind back a couple of months, back to my July 21 post on how book reviews can form an important marketing tool for your books.  If you remember, I said arranging a few reviews is definitely a task worth doing.  I still stand by that.  Well, I would, wouldn’t I, since the first arranged review for Chasing Pavements was posted today on A Novel Review, and I couldn’t be happier with it?  I want to thank Charlotte the reviewer at this great book review blog for agreeing to read and review my book, and am delighted that she enjoyed it and wrote a lovely review for it.

Whether this leads to a bucket-load of sales or not, it has definitely given me a sense of satisfaction.  Authors write for their readers, and if their stories are received well, then it goes a long way in boosting our morale, inspires us further.  What really moved me were the lovely words Charlotte wrote in her e-mail a few days earlier, when she informed me the review would be posted today.  It was truly amazing to read the e-mail, thank you Charlotte!  Its messages like these that make me glad I published Chasing Pavements.

Here’s the link to A Novel Review’s review of Chasing Pavements: http://anovelreview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/chasing-pavements-by-neha-yazmin.html?showComment=1347102794435#c480327772168877853

As always, here are my favourite parts from it: 

"This is not your typical chic lit book.  There is no sloppy romance and no mushy words.  This is truly a one of a kind book...  Little by little the story was told to me and it was told perfectly...  I cannot believe this is Neha’s first book.  It is perfect.  This is definitely a must read."

Chasing Pavements is available to purchase from Amazon Kindle Store US and UK, as well as Apple iBookStore US and UK, Barnes & Noble Nook Store, and other e-book retailers.

Book Review - The Pineville Heist

Today's book review was submitted by Tara Clare

Book: The Pineville Heist

Author: Lee Chambers

Reviewer: Tara Clare

Available via: Amazon

Seventeen year old Aaron stumbles into the aftermath of a five million dollar bank heist gone wrong. Hiding under a canoe, Aaron partially catches the murder of one of the robbers. In the chaos he sneaks away with the money and heads straight for the closest place of safety, his high school. Terrified, Aaron tells his shocking tale to Amanda Becker, his drama teacher, but it doesn't take long for one of the psychotic robbers to show up. In the locked down school the pair are relentlessly pursued in a quest to get the money back and wipe out the evidence.

The Pineville Heist is based on the award-winning screenplay by Lee Chambers and Todd Gordon. Script consultants included a (former) Senior VP of Production at Universal Pictures and the author of the Screenwriter's Bible.

Intrigue… murder… an adrenaline filled fight for survival. The Pineville Heist is a #1 Best Selling Thriller for young adults by award-winning writer and director Lee Chambers. An action packed novel that young adult readers will find hard to resist, as they identify with the protagonist, Aaron. Your average, every day boy on that transverse journey from childhood to adulthood.

A journey that also incorporates the difficulties experienced between child and parent, as painfully illustrated between Aaron and his father; Aaron having no real understanding of his father’s business dealings; and his father having no understanding of his son’s interest in the ‘softer’ appreciation of the arts that his mother instilled in him; a fact that is magnified even more acutely following the death of his mother.

Aaron also suffers the difficulties of fitting in, as every school kid experiences; however in Aaron’s case, this is exemplified by the difference of Aaron having a wealthy and privileged upbringing, while his school friends’ families are at the mercy of the Pineville Mill surviving, the mill owned by Aaron’s father.

During a school visit, Aaron overhears the Sheriff and Deputy discuss a bank robbery that occurred in the small town of Pineville that morning. Aaron realises he may have seen the robbers and their van after being thrown out of the car, by his father, following a heated argument. Aaron divulges this information to his two closest friends and they decide to skip class to search for the stolen money.

Having been provided this opportunity of proving himself to his father, Aaron is determined to return the money from the bank robbery; money he has no hesitation in believing is his father’s, money that will go towards saving the town’s mill and keep the towns folk employed.

The boys come across the robbers’ hiding place in the woods, however are quickly disturbed by their return. The boys flee. Aaron finds safety under an upturned canoe, where he witnesses the first of a series of murders and discovers one of the satchels of money. Escaping the scene, Aaron frantically heads for the safety of his school where he confides in his young drama teacher, Amanda Becker. The safe sanctity of school doesn’t last long as one of the psychotic robbers hunts him and the money down.

The fight for survival that ensues facilitates the development of Aaron’s character further as he has to make decisions to save his own life and that of Miss Becker, who it is alluded he has (as every school boy experiences) a slight crush on.

The clever use and astute poignancy of the fighting scene using Hamlet props: a scene showing the “softer” arts turn into testosterone battle for survival, the turning point perhaps of child becoming a man!  Just one of the many heart riveting scenes of this fast paced novel.

Also for movie lovers, The Pineville Heist is currently in the process of being made into a movie, starring Booboo Stewart (Seth Clearwater), from Twilight.

Already receiving rave reviews and recently being honoured as a finalist in the 2012 International Book Awards (in the Young Adult Fiction category), The Pineville Heist is sure to reach cult status among the young adult audience it is intended.

Poison Blood, Book 1: Revelation

I do like to surprise people, and sometimes the best way to do that is to sneak up on them.  When they least expect it.  Like publishing my first paranormal romance novel this month – Poison Blood, Book 1: Revelation.  It was never a secret that I was hoping to release the first instalment of the Poison Blood series by the end of this year, but I brought forward the release date because I really want to know what people think about it.  Especially since my debut novel Chasing Pavements is a contemporary romance and therefore at the other end of the reading spectrum.

The Poison Blood series revolves around Ellie, a newborn vampire who is clearly not what she seems.  The first few sentences she said to me actually form the beginning of the blurb of Book 1:

"I don't know what blood tastes like to a human.  I'd never even licked a tiny drop of it from a pricked finger, let alone suck on a bleeding cut.  The shedding of blood, my own, or anyone else's, always made me scream or panic in fear and revulsion.  
Now it's my only food source."

Elisia Dalton, more commonly known as Ellie, is not a typical teenaged vampire.  She still has her humanity and conscience.  Her human memories and growing pains.  

And the same distaste for blood.

Still reeling from the secrets she uncovered before she was turned into a vampire by the mysterious immortal Christian, Ellie is also finding it hard to come to terms with what she has become.  And the revelations keep coming.

Book 1 of the Poison Blood series reveals why Ellie is not like others of her kind.

So why follow-up Chasing Pavements with a vampire romance?  Well, why not?  If we enjoy reading an eclectic mix of books, I see no harm in exploring different genres when we write, provided we apply the same level of dedication, effort and enthusiasm for each story.  As authors, we should do that for every book we write.

Growing up, my favourite genre to read was paranormal/fantasy and I was a huge fan of TV shows such as Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Unfortunately, like so many others I knew, I stopped reading when I was at college and Uni.  Upon rediscovering my love for books, I found myself reading contemporary fiction, crime, comedy/satire; the only fantasy novels I’d read in recent years were the Twilight and Harry Potter books.  These I loved so much that I wanted to write for this genre, particularly about vampires.

I considered the idea of writing a series of short stories about vampires living on the London Underground.  These characters wouldn’t necessarily be friends or hang out together, but have their own tale to tell.  One of the characters I thought up was Ellie.  However, I didn’t start writing anything until Ellie started talking me through her life one Sunday morning.  This was a few days after I listened to the band Linkin Park for the first time in years so I think it was their songs that triggered the instinct to write Ellie’s story.  Music has that effect on me!

Quickly, it became clear that Ellie’s story wasn’t as short and sweet as I initially planned.  She had a lot more potential than I expected, which was great, though it meant I had to put my Vampires on the Underground collection on the backburner.  It also became apparent that Ellie’s story lent itself well to a book series, rather than one big book, and so it was I began my first paranormal romance series.

Poison Blood, Book 1: Revelation is currently free to download from Smashwords for most e-book reading devices, including Kindle, Nook, Kobo and iPad/iPhone/iPod.  The book is also free at Apple iBookstore (US) and Apple iBookstore (UK), as well as Diesel.  I hope it goes down well and look forward to hearing your thoughts.