Blog Tour: Into the Light by L.B. Simmons

Title: Into the Light (Chosen Paths Book One)

Author: L.B. Simmons

Release Date: April 25, 2017

Publisher: Spencer Hill Contemporary

 

 

Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32171373-into-the-light

 

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Into-Light-Chosen-Paths-Simmons/dp/1633920976/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491419033&sr=8-1&keywords=9781633920972

 

Barnes & Noble link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/into-the-light-lb-simmons/1124781171?ean=9781633920972

 

 

When Aubrey Miller begins her education at Titan University, she is no longer the beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl of her youth. In fact, she’s no longer even Aubrey Miller. Now with jet-black hair, multiple sets of eccentric contact lenses, and several facial piercings, she’s veiled herself in complete darkness as a form of protection for herself, as well as others. 

 

As she enters her first year of college, her goal is simple: earn a degree with the least amount of social interaction as possible. What she never anticipates is the formation of very unlikely relationships with two people who will change her life in ways she never believed possible: Quinn Matthews, the overtly cheerful pageant queen, and Kaeleb McMadden, a childhood friend who never really let her go.
Over the years, as their connections intertwine and strengthen, a seemingly indestructible bond is formed between the three. And eventually, the ties of friendship and discovery of first love begin to coax her from her darkened path as they slowly bring Aubrey back to life.
Spanning the course of four years, this is the story of a young woman’s plight to finally  reemerge,finding strength within unbreakable bonds as she delivers herself from her own manufactured darkness and safely back . . . Into the Light

 

EXCERPT

The seconds pass between us as I try to figure out the exact meaning of that statement, when there’s a sudden knock at the door. A wide grin spreads across her face, and her eyes light up with unadulterated glee. “YAY! Our first official visitor.”

Quinn bounces herself off the bed to answer the door, and I take the opportunity to regain control of my private realm as I step onto the bare mattress, dispensing a piece of tape while grabbing my favorite poster. A deep, masculine voice comes from the doorway. I keep my attention solely on the task at hand, not wanting to intrude in case it’s her boyfriend. Using the adhesive, I tack a piece to each of the top corners and adhere the left side of the poster to the wall at the head of my bed, making sure my back is turned to Quinn and her male visitor.

Just as I extend my arm to attach the other side, Quinn calls, “Raven! You have to meet my boarding buddy!”

Great.

Boarding buddy.

The whole reason I skipped freshman orientation. Who needs to be paired up with some random person just to find your way around campus?

I can do that shit alone, as I intend to.

I abort my avoidance mission, turning my head barely over my shoulder, but as soon as I see the person to whom she’s referring, I lose the hold on my poster. The scraping sound it makes swinging back and forth along the wall hardly registers due to my dumbfounded state of shock. Blood quickly drains from my face, and my legs feel as though they’ve been dragged through cement before reattaching to my body.

I pray these reactions comprise the typical response when you see the one person in your life that you never, ever, expected to see again. Otherwise, I’m sure I’m having a heart attack and will be struck dead where I stand within approximately two and a half seconds.

But with one more look into those familiar hazel-brown eyes, with a tinge of green so undeniably familiar, my possibly failing heart is revitalized as a jarring shock spurs throughout my entire body, immediately transporting me to my past.

You see, when I was a little girl, I spent a lot of time alone—Linda worked nights as a nurse, so I became a victim of a lot of television, and most wasn’t child friendly. One night, I was fully immersed in a crime show marathon where they were explaining how some trauma victims store their memories by way of compartmentalization. I then created and defined my compartments, sealing away certain memories where no one, not even me, could access some of them. It’s a very intricate system. For example:

Level 1 memory bin: Very easily accessible. Like an open door, memories flow in and out, allowing my day-to-day function. Items that would fall into this category would be things such as exam schedules, dental appointments, and the name of my new roommate, Quinn.

Level 2 memory bin: A little more difficult to gain entry than Level 1. More like a closed door, where it takes some actual effort to recall these memories. Examples include the time Linda fell down the stairs and broke her collarbone, when I accidentally washed her favorite cashmere sweater in hot water and dried it on high heat, the unfortunate time she attempted to make chicken pot pie, and the death of all the animals Linda brought home. Not necessarily the most terrifying of my memories, but definitely not the best.

Level 3 memory bin: These remain safely behind a locked door, for which only I have the key, and are mostly a lump sum of some pretty painful memories from my past. Some happy, some sad, but all memories that are guaranteed to bring heartbreak over and over again. So they remain locked safely in Level 3.

Level 4 memory bin: Steel door, passcode, and retinal scan required for entry. Some of the most painful of my recollections. The death of my mother, the death of my sister, and the pain associated with both will forever stay hidden in this place.

Level 5 memory bin: Top secret military clearance required. Titanium encases a steel vault buried approximately thirty feet underground. It’s booby-trapped with C4 and other deadly explosives that will be detonated if anyone comes within ten feet. Only one memory resides here, never to be freed again.

Like I said, I had a lot of time on my hands.

But now, as I eye the person in front of me cautiously, it becomes painfully obvious that my Level 3 memory bin has been compromised.

Either that or somehow I unknowingly relinquished a key to the one and only . . . Kaeleb Kristopher McMadden.

 

About the Author

 After graduating from Texas A&M University, L.B. Simmons did what any biomedical science major could do. She entered the workforce as a full-time chemist. Years later, never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined herself a USA Today Bestselling contemporary romance author as well.
 
L.B. Simmons doesn’t just write books. With each new work, she attempts to compose journeys of love and self-discovery so she may impart life lessons to readers. Several novels later, she’s tackled suicide, depression, bullying, eating disorders, as well as physical and sexual abuse, all the while weaving elements of humor into the storylines in effort to balance the difficult topics. Often described as roller coaster rides, her novels  are known for eliciting a wide range of emotions in each story she tells.
 
 
Author Social Media Links:
 
Website: www.lbsimmons.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lbsimmonsauthor
Twitter: www.twitter.com/lbsimmons33
Instagram: www.instagram.com/lbsimmons33

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Release Day Launch: Away from the Dark by Aleatha Romig

     

 

 

Women are disappearing. What is happening when they step into The Light?

Nine months ago, Sara Adams awoke with no memory. The man holding her hand told her she's a member of The Light, a tight-knit religious group led by the terrifying and charismatic Father Gabriel. As a woman in the community of The Light, her duty is to be unquestionably obedient and to submit to the will of her husband. But as Sara's memory starts to return and she remembers her past, she sees that everything she's been told is a lie. The Light is an insidious and dangerous organization, and its corrupting influence reaches well beyond the confines of the remote campus where Sara is being held. With everything at stake, Sara struggles to sort out her true memories from her indoctrination. The desire to escape consumes her, but who can she trust? And what other followers of The Light were forced into this life, brainwashed to believe they belonged? The more she remembers, the mort it becomes clear that Jacob, the man who calls himself her husband, is keeping shattering secrets of his own. But Sara cannot flee alone, leaving innocents behind. She must fight to extinguish The Light.

AMAZON US / AMAZON UK / AUDIBLE / B&N

 

EXCERPT

 

Sara

 

Shrill screams echoed throughout our dimly lit bedroom, accelerating my heartbeat and pulling me from the terrible nightmare. I waited for more, until the realization struck. The screams were my own. “Jacob?” I called, my voice shaking with dread as I reached for my husband. Instead of reassurance, my fingers met cold empty sheets. He was gone—still away at another campus. What just happened? Was it a dream? I clung to the covers as I puffed my cheeks and slowly exhaled. While each breath helped to still the chaos, the exercise wasn’t enough. Who am I? Who is he? Jacob’s questions from months ago came back. They were my security. They’d worked before. I am Sara Adams and my husband is Jacob Adams. Pushing the images from my dream, or nightmare, away, I imagined Jacob’s comforting embrace. Slowly I threw back the down comforter and willed the cool air to soothe my perspiration-drenched skin. From the way my heart galloped in my chest, I might have been running a marathon, not sleeping. In my sleep I’d been battling to escape a vehicle, and then an explosion of heat. It had been a dream, I reassured myself—a nightmare. The accident I’d had, nearly nine months before, had been different. I couldn’t remember it, but I’d been told that I’d been injured and gone unconscious. In the nightmare I had been out and away from the wreckage. I shook my head. It seemed so real. In my dream I hadn’t been able to see past the darkness, yet I’d known I wasn’t injured. My arms surrounded my midsection as the memories replayed like pictures in my mind. Someone was hurting me—purposely harming me, and there was a voice—a deep voice. Jacob’s voice? No. He wouldn’t hurt me. My entire body shuddered as goose bumps peppered my skin. Sitting upright, I reached for the bedside lamp. With trembling fingers I turned the knob and my eyes adjusted as the soft light combined with the sun’s perpetual summer glow. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on Jacob’s questions. Who am I? Who is he? This time I said the words aloud, praying that if I spoke the truth, the images would disappear. “I am Sara Adams. He is my husband, Jacob Adams.” I pulled myself from the bed and walked to the bathroom. Turning on the light and the faucet, I cupped the cool water and splashed my face. As I reached for the cup and began to fill it, a metaphoric dam that had been constructed to hold back my past burst. My mind was flooded—no longer with simple images, but with scene after scene. For the first time since I could recall, I knew the woman in the mirror.

I knew me.

Book 1: Into the Light

 

An investigator’s search for a friend draws her into a world darker than she could have imagined.

 

Sara Adams awakes blind, unable to remember the most basic details of her life, but her darkness seems a blessing when she discovers the terrors of The Light.

Stella Montgomery investigates the news on the mean streets of Detroit, where she’s noticed a disturbing trend: young women are vanishing. When her best friend disappears, Stella investigates—despite warnings from her police detective boyfriend—following a twisted trail that leads her through the city’s most dangerous and forsaken precincts. There she uncovers something more sinister than she could have imagined: a shadowy organization known as The Light, led by the enigmatic Father Gabriel.

As Sara struggles to understand her place in these strange world she’s awakened to—an oppressive cult demanding unquestioning obedience—and her feelings for Jacob, the husband she can’t recall and whose harsh and tender attentions confuse and beguile her, Stella risks all to discover the truth. But enlightenment always comes with a price…

AMAZON US / AMAZON UK / AUDIBLE / B&N

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aleatha Romig is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who lives in Indiana. She grew up in Mishawaka, graduated from Indiana University, and is currently living south of Indianapolis. Aleatha has raise three children with her high school sweetheart and husband or nearly thirty years. Before she became a full-time author, she worked days as a dental hygienist and spent her nights writing. Now, when she’s not imagining mind-blowing twists and turns, she likes to spend her time with her family and friends. Her other pastimes include reading and creating heroes/anti-heroes who haunt your dreams!

 

Aleatha released her first novel, CONSEQUENCES, in August 2011. CONSEQUENCES became a bestselling series with five novels and two companions released from 2011 through 2015. The compelling and epic story of Anthony and Claire Rawlings has graced more than half a million e-readers. Aleatha released the first of her series TALES FROM THE DARK SIDE, INSIDIOUS, in the fall of 2014. The standalone thrillers continue Aleatha’s twisted style with an increase in heat.

In the fall of 2015, Aleatha moved head first into the world of dark romance with the release of BETRAYAL, the first of her five novel INFIDELITY series. She also began her traditional publishing career with Thomas and Mercer. Her books INTO THE LIGHT and AWAY FROM THE DARK will be published through this mystery/thriller publisher in 2016.

Aleatha is a “Published Author’s Network” member of the Romance Writers of America and represented by Danielle Egan-Miller of Browne & Miller Literary Associates.

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Blog Tour: Excerpt: Admiral's Elite Series by H.K. Savage

Second Sight

Admiral’s Elite # 1

By- H.K. Savage

Genre- Adult Paranormal Romance

Rebecca Sauter is a proud military police officer with a secret; she’s clairvoyant. Her ex-Marine father can’t understand why she won’t try harder for a commission but for Becca, hiding among the greater mass of enlisted men and women is safer.

One night on a run she encounters a terrifying man and his beastly dogs; in her attempts to defend herself she hits her head and passes out. When she wakes up in the hospital she’s being collected by a handsome but rude officer.

Humans are fragile. That has been Captain Michael Rossi’s mantra since his first days as a vampire in 1944. Now Admiral Black has given a post within his elite unit to a human woman solely because she has “the sight”. Michael’s fears that she will bring harm to his men are soon eclipsed by his realization that it is her who might suffer should the admiral decide she is a poor fit.