Embers & Echoes by Karsten Knight releases today, August 28, 2012, in the U.S. in hardcover and eBook formats. It is currently available to order online in both formats at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, the print edition is 480 pages.

Embers & Echoes is the second book in the Wildefire trilogy by author Karsten Knight. The third book, Afterglow, is slated for release in 2013.

Ashline Wilde wanted nothing more than to leave Blackwood Academy behind and to escape the memories of everything that happened that May. But as she learned when she arrived at Blackwood, you can’t always run from your past.

It will follow you. And ignoring it can have devastating consequences. Consequences she’s still reeling from.

But when her end of year plans take a drastic turn, she decides to face what she’d been trying to avoid and heads to Miami to track down the sister she knows only from visions. Her six-year-old sister Rose.

With barely any information to go on, she only knows that she has to try. Because her latest visions reveal that Rose could be in even more danger than she was before. And returning to Scarsdale without her is not a future Ash is willing to accept.

Being a volcano goddess may have its perks, a fiery temper not always being one of them, but it also means that things can turn deadly. Fast.

So when the search for her sister lands her in the path of a group of gods and goddess that have a bloodthirsty agenda, Ash must decide whether saving her sister is enough or whether she will have to become a hero for all of humanity.

***

Embers & Echoes is the dynamic, riveting, wildly entertaining and action-packed follow-up to Karsten Knight’s powerhouse debut novel Wildefire. This sequel, that brings together gods and goddesses from around the globe, not only packs a punch, but has an easy flow that will make the pages fly.

The author doesn’t just continue this incredibly unique story. He broadens the setting, lengthens the timeline, enlarges the cast of characters and expands the world. And he does all this in a way that feels natural to the story, right for the characters and easy to follow for the reader.

Embers & Echoes picks up where it left off in the first book, just moments after Wildefire’s jaw-dropping conclusion. With no pause in the timeline, the story is able to continue at its break-neck pace and pull readers right back into Ash’s story.

Leaving Blackwood Academy behind her, Ashline Wilde sets off on a quest to find her younger sister. One that will introduce her to new friends and put her face-to-face with old enemies. One that holds the promise of a new love but will make her confront an old one. And one that will put her life at risk time and time again.

Author Karsten Knight has crafted a story that is inventive, exciting, shocking, heartbreaking and utterly spellbinding. With characters that don’t fit a stereotype or behave predictably and a plot that does the same, Embers & Echoes will keep readers on edge, continue to astound and leave them wondering just what happened.

With its beautiful and fluid writing that brings both crushing and heartrending losses and surprising and violent ends, this sequel allows readers to make a stronger emotional connection with the characters and story. It puts the heroine in more dangerous and challenging situations that force her to make difficult life and death decisions with consequences that she’ll have to live with. And it leaves the door open for a number of possible outcomes, many of which couldn’t possibly end happily.

Embers & Echoes is an absolute must read second book in this series for those who enjoy exquisitely crafted stories that have an incredibly strong heroine who never could be – or would allow herself to be – called a damsel in distress, stories that include a diverse mix of mythological gods and goddesses and stories that will transport them into a world that is dark, deadly and filled to the brim with action.

Reviewer gives this book…

Like In-N-Out Burger‘s infamous secret menu this one deserves my off-the-menu 6 star rating.

On a personal note:

If I could give this book as many stars as it would take to fill the night sky I would. Embers & Echoes was so utterly amazing. It grabbed me from the moment I read the start of the first line, “Ashline Wilde lay battered on the side of the Pacific Coast Highway…” and it didn’t let up for one single second.

This book was intense. It was action-packed. It was everything that Wildefire was, but so much more. Where Wildefire was wicked and kick-a** awesome, Embers & Echoes took it to the next level of awesome, the “Oh my gods, oh my goddesses did that just really bleeping happen?” kind of awesome.

I could not believe how packed full of everything this book was. There was nail-biting suspense. There was a lightning fast pace. There were peeks into another time. There were peeks into another place. There were gods and goddesses aplenty. There was romance. There were heaps upon heaps of danger. There were some of the most wicked fight scenes I’ve ever read in YA.

And there were moments of tenderness and heartbreak that stopped my heart from beating, stole my breath and left me utterly devastated. Yes, this author broke my heart in not one, but two centuries.

Oh and of course there was a good boy, a bad boy and a not-so-good girl that took center stage.

And yet it didn’t feel overstuffed. It didn’t feel over the top. It didn’t feel like some kind of superpower convention.

Every single character in this story was important. Every single character was fascinating and interesting and either detestable, lovable, a little bit of both, or just plain terrifying. Every moment was one I wanted to read. Every place that Ash went was one that I wanted to go along with her.

And every heartbreaking moment was one I felt to my very core. Especially with what happened to… No, I wasn’t really going to say who. Okay, maybe I did say who, but that’s what the backspace key is for.

There is so much I want to talk about that I can’t. I want to explain why my heart broke over certain words the author put down on the page. Words that are causing me to tear up again as I think back on them. I want to talk about just what happened to those gods and goddess and what it could mean for the other characters.

I want to talk about the past. I want to know what is going to happen next. I want to know why I am rooting for a character I probably shouldn’t be rooting for. I want to know why certain characters have certain motivations. I want to know whether I should be as terrified of a certain character as I am.

And I want to talk about a certain Hopi Trickster and what I really think about them. But I can’t do that either.

What I can say is that I loved this book both times I read it. That love is not even close to a strong enough word for what I feel about it. That I will be reading this book again and again. That it’s a book that I never will forget. That it’s a book that was able to transport me instantly to this author’s world when nothing else allowed me an escape. And that while there seemed to be so very many pages, the story ended all too quickly.

In the year since I’d first read Wildefire I forgot just a little bit how amazing this author truly is. I forgot how much I loved his writing. I forgot how captivated I was by his characters. I didn’t think it was possible that he could follow up that book with one that was even more spectacular, even more surprising, even more riveting, but he did. And I never expected for him to make me cry. But he did that too.

I never like to use words like “poignant” or “compelling” in my reviews as I feel like those words are above my pay grade and best left to those who do this for a living. But Embers & Echoes was compelling and at times poignant and the way the author crafted each sentence, each paragraph, each scene, each chapter was absolutely masterful.

So…um…yeah…. To say I liked this book just a little bit would be the understatement of the century.

***

Favorite passage:

I have a million-and-a-half favorite passages. Well, maybe not that many, but it’s close. Some were just so meaningful and relevant. Some were fun and snarky. Some were kick-a**. And some were heartbreaking.

After much internal debate I chose this one, in which I have eliminated one of the speaker’s names as it would be spoiler-y.

“Did we . . . Was there ever a happy ending for us?” she asked. “Any of the times?”

[He] wet his lips and gave her the smallest of smiles. “The odd thing about living forever is that the word ‘ending’ doesn’t apply to us. But just because there are no happy endings, doesn’t mean you can’t hope for a ‘happy-for-now.”

Then he was gone.

***

This review is based on an ARC I received from the author and contains my honest opinions about the book.

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Today is the first day of the Authors Are Rockstars Tour and I am so unbelievably excited to be able to welcome Karsten Knight to the blog. He is one of my top five favorite debut authors of 2011 and is one of my favorite authors of all time… and no, it’s not because of his videos.

No, really it’s not.

Wildefire was one of my most anticipated reads of 2011. I was so unbelievably lucky to get the chance to read it early and it was every bit as awesome as I thought it would be. And so much more. Karsten Knight is one seriously talented author. He completely blew me away with his writing. He kinda rocked my world.

And it wasn’t just Wildefire but Embers & Echoes… though I’m not quite ready to talk about that just yet, so I’ll let a brief passage speak for me instead.

Yeah. Wow. A poet with his words. A total rockstar.

As an author, Karsten Knight surprised me. His videos, some of which you will have a chance to watch, below, show a disarming, charming and incredibly humorous side of him. But his writing shows depth, intensity and beauty.

And the way he ends a book? Killer. Absolutely killer.

So, aside from all that, why do I think he’s a rockstar?

He isn’t afraid to take chances with his stories, characters and worlds. He has created a seriously kick-a** heroine that not only doesn’t blend in with the crowd but crushes it.  His writing is beauty. His words bewitching. His characters entertaining. His stories riveting. His series amazing.

And while I love his videos, its his writing that makes him a rockstar. His videos… well… they just make him one heck of an awesome personality.

In case you haven’t “met” him yet, here’s just a little bit about him…

About the Author

… as if he really needs any introduction!

Q. We think authors are amazing. You are our rockstars. Do you have an author or authors that you look up to or are inspired or amazed by?

I think my two favorite YA novels in recent memory have been IMAGINARY GIRLS by Nova Ren Suma and MARCELO AND THE REAL WORLD by Francisco X. Stork. But lately, I’ve been reading a lot of adult literary fiction. Maggie Shipstead’s SEATING ARRANGEMENTS actually made me laugh like a mad man in public while I was listening to the audiobook–I got a lot of weird stares. And Dennis Lehane’s DARKNESS, TAKE MY HAND made me afraid to go out at night for about a month.

[Fiktshun: Loved IMAGINARY GIRLS! And I will definitely have to check out DARKNESS, TAKE MY HAND if it's that chilling.]

Q. For those who don’t already know, your series’ main character, Ashline Wilde, is a Polynesian Volcano Goddess – I don’t think I’m spoiling anything as it is in your brief bio. I don’t know if it would be possible to create a character more different from yourself than Ash is from you… unless you are really a Polynesian Volcano Goddess and you haven’t been forthcoming with your fans. Hmmm… What’s been the most difficult part of sharing a brain with this particular character over the course of the series?

I joke a lot about how writing from a female POV is easy, because I grew up with two sisters…but honestly, the biggest challenge in writing Ashline Wilde has been the reincarnation issue. The central premise of the WILDEFIRE trilogy is that all the gods and goddesses from every pantheon around the world–Polynesian, Aztec, Mayan, Shinto, Roman, Norse, etc–are reincarnated on Earth every century with no memories of their previous lives. And yet, lifetime after lifetime, they still find each other, and the sparks fly…romantically and violently.

In Ash’s case, by the time you finish the trilogy, you’ll get to see her in four lifetimes: as a modern-day American teenager; as a bank robber in 1920s New Orleans; as a protector of the Hawaiian islands in the 1830s; …and a time period I can’t divulge right now. So each lifetime, Ash might have the same face and the same fiery, volcanic powers, but the novels explore how different cultures, time periods, and environments can shape us. Essentially, I had to write four variations of the same character–you know, since Prohibition-era outlaws are probably just a *teensy* bit different from a 21st Century teenager raised by attorneys in Upstate New York.

[Fiktshun: I really can't see how writing a Prohibition-era outlaw would be any different from writing a teen raised in Upstate New York.... But seriously, I think it's amazing that you have been able to take your characters on such journeys, not only geographically but through time and lifetimes. So far - as I haven't yet had a peek at AFTERGLOW - you have done such an amazingly brilliant job.]

Q. Your books offer the YA market something a little bit different than the norm. Your characters are diverse and your female main character is stronger, fiercer, and more independent than most. How did you “pitch” the story to publishers? And how would you best describe your books to someone who hasn’t yet read them?

I wrote most of this series while I was getting a Master’s degree in Writing for Children at Simmons College, which is where I began to study a lot of trends and conventions that are overused in YA…particularly paranormal and dystopian fiction. My main goal while writing this trilogy was to try not to lean on any of those crutches, at all costs.

You’ll notice just from the table of contents in each book that even the story structure is kind of weird–each section is a single day, instead of a short chapter. As I mentioned before, the stories also jump from century to century without much warning. Some people are going to love Ashline’s story, while some people will inevitably hate it; but I’ll call it a success as long as you turn the last page of AFTERGLOW when it comes out next year and say, “Well…that was different.”

[Fiktshun: I have no doubt in my mind that I will turn to that last page and think it was different. I also have no doubt that it will have been an entirely exciting adventure. Ash may not be the most lovable - and probably not much of a hug-able - character, but she is incredibly unique and, to me, has such an appealing personality. I also have no doubt that I will turn to that last page of that last book and wish there were more.]

Q. Without revealing too much, which of the three books in your series was your favorite to write? Which was the most challenging? What was your favorite scene to write? And if you have finished writing the series, how tough has it been to say goodbye to your characters? Is killing them off easier than saying goodbye or are both just as tough?

That’s like asking a mother to pick her favorite child…though I’m sure my mother would, without hesitation, answer, “Karsten.” All three books are so different that sometimes they almost don’t seem like they belong in the same series. EMBERS & ECHOES (which comes out August 28th) is the darkest of the three books, so it was really challenging to balance the grimness and violence with Ashline’s sense of humor. AFTERGLOW was probably my favorite to write, because I finally got to bring the story to my hometown: Boston!

The epilogue of AFTERGLOW was easily my favorite scene to write…ever. There’s no non-spoilery way to describe it, but I will say a) it brings the story “full circle,” b) it will mess with your head, and c) if it leaves you feeling chilled but chuckling darkly to yourself, then you probably read it correctly.

As for killing off characters, the good news: when you write a book about reincarnation, they never stay dead for long…

[Fiktshun: I'd forgotten how modest you were. Though, if I recall, your mother helped you choose a winner in an ARC contest of yours last year and she seemed incredibly proud of you, so maybe she would in fact pick you. And yes, EMBERS & ECHOES was dark. Deliciously dark. Wonderfully dark. Perfectly... okay, I'll stop. I hadn't realized just what a tease you could be. Now I'm even more desperate to find out what happens in AFTERGLOW and especially in that epilogue. These next thirteen or so months will be incredibly long....]

About Wildefire

About Embers & Echoes

 And, if an interview weren’t enough, this spectacular, rockstar author shared his…

“Why You Shouldn’t Divorce a Polynesian Volcano Goddess”

This is the video I filmed at Simon & Schuster’s author studio in NYC. One of the reasons I love my publisher is that they’ve been completely supportive of my weirdness. Evidence: typically authors take these interviews very seriously, discussing the inspiration for their work, why it’s important to them, etc. I asked my publisher, “how about we just film three minutes of me saying random nonsense?” They obliged.

[Fiktshun: Gotta say it - Best. Publisher produced video. Ever.]

“Why You Shouldn’t Write Your Novel on an Etch-a-Sketch”

A retrospective look at some of my earliest written fiction. I was a very prolific six-years-old. Also, my cat Maverick makes a cameo.

[Fiktshun: Prolific indeed. You can easily see what a talent this author will become from his earlier works.]

“The Top 10 Things That May Surprise You About WILDEFIRE”

Probably the first and last time I will ever use the phrases “fire-breathing dolphin” and “I’m a sassy unicorn.”

[Fiktshun: I'd love to put a wager down on whether those two phrases will be repeated. I was glad to learn the characters don't wear "brightly-colored spandex." I am surprised not surprised to learn the author does.... I am curious as to whether that priceless My Little Pony collection ended up on eBay. And, for the record, I have not once misspelled the title for the author's book. I have, however, misspelled "wildfire" on numerous occasions ever since. ]

“Karsten Summarizes Seven Years in Two Minutes”

This is one of the only vlogs I’ve taken semi-seriously. I was having a nostalgic, reflective week a few summers ago while working on EMBERS & ECHOES, so I made a video scrapbook of the last 7 years of my life, leading up to WILDEFIRE’s publication.

[Fiktshun: I did not know the author was a talented singer, too. Loved the personal photo slideshow and the author's wistful stare into the distance just before the end shots. Made me just a bit reflective, too.]

“The Karsten Knight Holiday Spectacular”

I think I spent most of this vlog discussing why I should be the next Bachelor on ABC. I stand by this assertion.

[Fiktshun: While I think the author might make an excellent candidate for ABC's The Bachelor, I'd be a little afraid of just what it would do to his writing....]

Wow! I am just so unbelievably thrilled to have had the opportunity to interview you here on the blog and to have you share five of your favorite vlogs. While I might have added “Sunday Runs a Risky Business” to list, I have to agree that they are some of your best vlog moments.

So, thank you so much for participating in the Authors Are Rockstars Tour. Thank you for being such an amazing writer. Thanks for creating stories that I will never forget, characters I will love and hate for all time and endings that continue to shock and surprise me.

You have been such a rockstar to me long before this event and you will continue to be one long after.

There is no requirement to like or follow. But there is an extra entry opportunity for following the author on Twitter!

And if you’d like to spread the word that would be awesome!

To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter form:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Today is day four of Top 10 of 2011.

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Today is the first day of Top 10 of 2011.

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Yes we’re back with this month’s “Extras” post. As some of you may already know…

Whenever I find either a legal free download, an excerpt or sneak peek of a book online, I try to link to it in a related post or include the link in my sidebar (to your right).

But once a month I’ll pop them into a post for a “one-stop shop” with a brief description. You may have previously seen some of these in my sidebar and one or two may still be lingering, well here they are once more in case you missed them. (My sidebar tends to have a LOT of info.)

We have a few peeks at upcoming releases, just released books and some of them are just items that have been offered for free for awhile but you might have missed.

I know I’m a little late this month, but better late than never. Especially for free stuff! And since I am a little late, I’ve included a peek at an October release I can’t wait for.

***

Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl will be released in the U.S. on October 18, 2011.

Beautiful Chaos is the third book in the Beautiful Creatures series. The title really says it all. According to the description, when Ethan Wate returns home, Gatlin has gone haywire and is in complete chaos. If that wasn’t enough, his dreams, which are haunted, don’t seem to be staying dreams anymore.

But the worst thing of all is that the description promises, “this time there won’t be a happy ending.”

Oh. No.

To get a look at the first thirteen pages, CLICK HERE.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson will be released in the U.S. on September 20, 2011.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns is the first book in a new series of the same name. The second book, Crown of Embers is slated for publication in 2012 and the third book, The Bitter Kingdom in 2013.

This is the story of a girl who is meant to fulfill a prophecy, who is secretly married to a king and whose enemies hunt her. It’s a story of a princess who meets a man who sees her differently from everyone else and to whom she may just fall in love.

I’m intrigued.

To get a long look inside courtesy of the publisher, CLICK HERE.

Enthralled by Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Vincent and many, many more, will be released in the U.S. on September 20, 2011.

Enthralled is an awesome collection of paranormal stories written by some of the top authors in the genre, including Rachel Vincent, Claudia Gray, Melissa Marr, Rachel Caine, Kelley Armstrong, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, with the common thread of “journeying” to tie them together.

This has been a book I’ve been dying to get my hands on for months. I’m glad the wait is now less than two weeks.

To get a nice long look inside, courtesy of HarperTeen, CLICK HERE.

Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey will be released in the U.S. on September 20, 2011.

Cold Kiss is author Amy Garvey’s young adult debut and it sounds absolutely heartbreaking. Wren loses her boyfriend in a car accident. She brings him back from the dead, but it sounds as if Danny isn’t quite who he used to be and she begins to fall for someone else.

No matter what she chooses to do, I can’t imagine any of those choices being easy or being painless, and I do expect there might be some tears involved with this read.

Once again HarperTeen is giving readers a long look inside, HERE.

Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen will be released in the U.S. on September 20, 2011.

Beautiful Days is the second book in the Bright Young Things series. If you haven’t yet read the first book in the series, Bright Young Things is currently being offered as a free eBook download at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. (See the very next Extra in this post.)

This series is set in 1929 during the Jazz Age in New York and follows Cordelia Grey, Letty Larkspur and Astrid Donal. This sequel continues their story during an age when the nights are filled with parties and excitement.

And with a description that hints at even more danger, heartbreak and romance, this is a new series I can’t wait to discover.

To get a sneak peek courtesy of the publisher, CLICK HERE.

Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen was released in the U.S. on October 12, 2010.

This is the first book in a series set during the Jazz Age in 1929 New York. Two small town girls, Cordelia and Letty, head to the big city, one seeking stardom and the other trying to track down her father. And when they arrive, they discover a world that is opulent, exciting and dangerous.

The story also introduces Astrid, a beautiful and wealthy flapper, who comes from a family with much to hide. Bright Young Things is just the beginning of each of their stories.

Bright Young Things is currently being offered as a free eBook download at Amazon and Barnes & Noble and includes Bonus Material.

To download the eBook from Amazon, CLICK HERE.

To download the eBook from Barnes & Noble, CLICK HERE.

Fateful by Claudia Gray will be released in the U.S. on September 13, 2011.

This new book, with its beautiful cover, by author Claudia Gray is set aboard the Titanic where the passengers consist not only of humans, but of werewolves. While the future of the ship is certain, the fates of Tess, the main character, and Alec, the boy she falls in love with, are not.

Whether it’s Alec’s dark past or the ship’s tragic end, things do not look promising for the future of these two characters, who have the odds seriously stacked against them.

HarperTeen is giving readers a long look inside, HERE.

Drink Slay Love by Sarah Beth Durst will be released in the U.S. on September 13, 2011.

Drink Slay Love sounds like it will be a whole lot of fun and a story filled with all sorts of sarcastic goodness. The main character is a teenage vampire who happens to develop a conscience after being stabbed by a unicorn. A unicorn! And since she is able to see her reflection and walk around during the day, she may just be becoming human.

As someone who is now straddling both worlds, she’ll eventually have to make a choice who to side with.

And according to the description there will also be a few “gorgeous vampires,” and “handsome were-unicorns.” Yum?

To take a peek inside on the author’s website, CLICK HERE.

***

And for another chance to take a peek at some of the books that are available now, check them out, below.

Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey was released in the U.S. today, September 8, 2011.

This story had me hooked from its opening lines, which coincidentally can be found in the long look inside provided by the publisher. Braden Michaels leaves for Belle Dam in an attempt to protect his Uncle. What he finds there, aside from the utterly gorgeous Trey, is a town that is in the middle of a feud.

The line has been drawn between two families of powerful witches. Jason Thorpe on the one side and Catherine Lansing on the other.

And caught somewhere in the middle of it all is Braden, with an incredible power that is important that he hide. Witch eyes. Which give him ability to see the world as it actually exists and to unravel any magic spell he encounters.

To get a look at the first five chapters of Witch Eyes, which released today, CLICK HERE.

Vanish by Sophie Jordan was released in the U.S. on September 6, 2011.

This is the second book in the Firelight series by author Sophie Jordan. As I haven’t yet read the first book, I’ve been hiding from all conversation about this sequel and have refused to look at the description for fear of spoilers.

But if this sequel is anything like Firelight is described, then this story will be just as magical and heartbreaking as the first and will continue the story for Jacinda, a girl descended from dragons, and Will, a hunter and enemy of her kind.

The publisher, HarperTeen, is giving readers a long look inside, HERE.

Pitch Dark’s Dark Days Sampler features excerpts from Supernaturally, Fateful, Cold Kiss, A Beautiful Dark and Eve. It was released on September 6, 2011.

When I noticed this on Amazon last week I had to pre-order it. Although I have all the upcoming books pre-ordered, own a few of the ARCs, and have already read one of them, I just couldn’t pass up this free eBook sampler.

While I have links in this post to excerpts of a couple of the books in the sampler, those links are to online reads, and by downloading the sampler you can take it with you almost anywhere.

It is currently available as a free Kindle eBook download at Amazon, HERE.

The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle was released in the U.S. on September 6, 2011.

This book’s description tells a rather heartbreaking tale. It is the story of a teenage girl who loses her parents and her brother in a car accident. Her life in turmoil, she develops a connection with the boy whose mother also died in the accident and whose father is in a coma.

While this book sounds like it will be so terribly, terribly sad, I am hopeful that the connection these two characters make will bring a spark of joy to this tragic story.

The publisher, HarperTeen, is giving readers a long look inside, HERE.

Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent was released in the U.S. on August 23, 2011.

Blood Bound is an utterly addicting new series by author Rachel Vincent, aimed at an adult audience. This new world she created in the Unbound series is dark, gritty and electrifying.

In this world, filled with the Skilled who have the ability to track you down with something as simple as a name, the danger of being found and bound to one of the two crime families that control the city is always present.

This first book is Liv and Cam’s story and is definitely one not to be missed.

To take a peek at the first chapter of this book on the author’s website, CLICK HERE.

The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore was released in the U.S. on August 23, 2011.

This sequel to I Am Number Four in the Lorien Legacies is Seven’s story. The six that remain of the original nine who escaped from the Mogadorians are still in hiding. But Seven is ready to fight and has just been waiting for a sign.

And John Smith’s escape may be just that.

To check out the first five chapters on the book’s Facebook page, CLICK HERE.

Dream Dark by Karmi Garci and Margaret Stohl was released in the U.S. on August 2, 2011.

This short eBook novella, which also includes a peek at the first five chapters of Beautiful Chaos, is the story of Link’s transformation and is set before the events in the upcoming third book in the series.

So as not to spoil anything for those who haven’t met Link, I have been purposely vague about just what kind of transformation Link’s going through.

But for those who want to know more, a quick peek at this novella is available, HERE.

Haunting the Night by Mara Purnhagen was released in the U.S. on August 1, 2011.

This novella in the Past Midnight series is set before Beyond the Grave, the third full-length book. According to the description, instead of going to Prom and spending time with her boyfriend Noah, Charlotte Silver is looking for answers about everything that happened to her and her family.

And it seems she may just get some.

It is currently available as a free eBook download from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Wildefire by Karsten Knight was released in the U.S. on July 26, 2011.

Really, what more can I say. Anyone who’s stopped by the blog knows just how much I love this book about these incredibly unique gods and goddesses and especially Ashline Wilde, a Polynesian volcano goddess with a serious kick-butt attitude.

And for anyone looking for an ending that will absolutely rock your world, Wildefire is a book not to be missed.

In case you haven’t yet decided to grab a copy, the publisher, Simon & Schuster, is still offering a nice peek inside, HERE.

***

I have read a few, but not all of the books in the above list. And I have grabbed all the free eBooks for both my nook and my Kindle – which at the moment is DOA – but that’s what the Kindle App is for.

I am super excited about these upcoming releases, and for those that have already released, well, they are some of my favorites. Most of these books I either own or I have pre-ordered, but for the ones I haven’t yet have a chance to discover, getting a free download or being able to take a long look inside is such a great thing.

So, for your reading pleasure, I’ve included them here. Happy reading!

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