🌟BOOK BLITZ:🌟 A Bite at the Cherry by Rita Stradling {EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY!}

A Bite at the Cherry by Rita Stradling

Release Date: June 11th 2019

Series: Blackburn Academy

Pages: 316

Genres: Fantasy, New Adult

Three things about Justin Roberts:
1. He’s a bully.
2. Our relationship is toxic.
3. He’s the only one who knows my secret.

A year ago, I woke in the morgue with a note in my hand telling me that I’m a vampire. I need blood or I’ll start killing people. Lucky for me, Justin has been sneaking into my bedroom and feeding me blood for a year, and the only price I have to pay for it is putting up with his cruel snipes and my unwanted feelings for him.

I just can’t figure out why he keeps coming back.

But all that changes when I’m offered a full-ride scholarship to Justin’s mysterious school, the elite Blackburn Academy, where I might finally learn about vampires. About myself. All I have to do is pass the grueling entrance trials, and the scholarship will be mine. Problem is, Justin doesn’t want me anywhere near his elite school and rich friends. He’s vowed to sabotage me.

Justin may have been feeding me blood for a year, but he doesn’t know who he’s up against.

But, Blackburn Academy is more than it seems. I’ll be facing more than what Justin Roberts alone can dish out.

Will competing in the trials be the new beginning I’m hoping for, or will it end my undead existence?

This is a full length 80,000 word novel. Recommended for 16+.

Amazon

{EXCERPT}

I leaned in toward the jerk, giving him what I liked to call my you better get the hell away from my front yard look. If it scared away looting meth heads, it sure as hell should scare away a rich pretty boy. “It’s not an act. I told you, straight out, what we have going, it’s toxic. You are toxic, and I don’t want toxicity in my life.”

Justin lifted a dark brow. “Maybe you should have thought of that before you moved here.”

“Like you own it — like you can decide who lives within the upper 800s block.” Rolling my eyes, I guffawed, picked up a strand of my sopping wet blond hair, and smacked him across the nose with it. It was his fault for leaning in so close. When he stubbornly stayed, his expression only darkening with annoyance, I said, “You’re not going to intimidate me into leaving, Justin. Don’t let the van door hit you on the way out.”

Yet again, he didn’t leave. Instead, he leaned between me and the steering wheel, invading my senses with the scent of his expensive-smelling cologne. My desperate and pathetic butterflies again took flight. If only there were such a thing as an internal butterfly exterminator.

Lowering his voice, he continued, “Please, stop being stubborn for one damn minute. This isn’t a good fit for you.”

I tapped my chin. “Really? And what do you think is a good fit for me? A condemned house?”

He glowered at me. “You are the most frustrating person I have ever met. This conversation isn’t over, but, any minute now, someone is going to come up looking for me, and I’m pretty sure neither of us wants that.”

That last part stung, right deep in my chest. It was probably because of what happened with Char so recently, but having Justin say that he’d be ashamed to be seen talking with me felt a whole lot like another beer poured over my head. Raising my hand, I wiggled my fingers. “Bye, Justin. And, don’t worry about me — don’t even think about me, ever. I’m just going to keep myself to myself. I won’t endanger you or your social life, okay? You won’t even notice I’m here.”

“We need to talk.” He straightened from the van, finally giving me a little breathing room. “I’m going to find you as soon as possible.”

Great.

Knowing that I had this one shot at getting the last word in, I called over, “And I’ll be busy searching for places to hide.”

“Good luck. I know every inch of this property.”

“What?” I demanded, but Justin only shot me an unamused look and then strolled toward the terrace, seeming in no rush to leave.

“What? This isn’t your house — you don’t live here!”

“Yeah, January. It is, and I do. My name is Justin Roberts,” he called back. He glanced at me and then disappeared past the house.

Holy. Freaking. Shit.

That didn’t just happen. That could not have just happened. The universe would not be this cruel.

AUTHOR BIO:

Rita Stradling is a USA Today Bestselling Author with an all consuming addiction to popcorn. The struggle is real, and it's also crunchy, buttery and often salty.

She also writes YA, NA and Adult romances about flawed people who find their perfect together (often these people are dragon-shifters, werewolves or have magical powers).

Rita believes in soulmates, happy endings and that love can overcome any obstacle.

Goodreads, Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

{GIVEAWAY!}

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping by! ;)

✯BOOK BLITZ:✯ Ensnared by Rita Stradling {EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY!}

Ensnared by Rita Stradling

Release Date: May 23rd 2017 by Kindle Press

Pages: 380

Genres: New Adult, Science Fiction

A Near-Future Retelling of Beauty and the Beast 

Alainn’s father is not a bad man. He’s a genius and an inventor. When he’s hired to create the robot Rose, Alainn knows taking the money is a mistake. 

Rose acts like a human. She looks exactly like Alainn. But, something in her comes out wrong.

To save her father from a five year prison sentence, Alainn takes Rose’s place. She says goodbye to the sun and goes to live in a tower no human is allowed to enter. She becomes the prisoner of a man no human is allowed to see. 

Believing that a life of servitude lies ahead, Alainn finds a very different fate awaits her in the company of the strange, scarred recluse.

Pre-Order: Amazon

{EXCERPT}

December 2, 2026

Alainn woke knowing someone was in her room.

Whoever it was sat behind her. Quiet, even breaths rasped through the air. Alainn’s eyelids peeked open. Moonlight cast a grayish glow, cutting deep shadows into the space around her bed.

“Good morning, Alainn,” Rose said in a quiet voice. When Alainn didn’t respond, Rose said, “I can tell from the change in your breathing pattern that you are awake.”

“Rose?” she whispered, not quite ready to let out a sigh of relief. Alainn twisted to look at her. “What are you doing here? Did you break my lock?”

“I picked it,” she said. “It is now locked again.”

“Oh, uh—” Her heart pounded in her chest; she sat up and faced the robot. “Why—why would you do that?”

The moonlight lit half of Rose’s face as she watched Alainn, expressionless. “Do not be alarmed. You are obviously having a fear reaction, but I was simply waiting for you to wake up.”

“Don’t you need to sleep—recharge?”

Now that Alainn faced Rose, she smelled the faint odor of her exhaust. Rose continuously exhaled the lightest tang of something sweet and acidic. The air in the room felt used, like a plane cabin after a cross-country flight.

“I was not completely forthcoming with you today. While what I said was true, I have for a time now believed that having Father imprisoned would impede my potential. While I have far surpassed his skills in software, there are times when I need assistance. I am limited by my need to stay near my charging station. Your brother is often absent for days at a time—and you, months.”

“Okay, wait—you’re going to go tomorrow?” Alainn scooted forward on the bed. A dormant hope resurged through her. Alainn would do anything—she’d worship at the robot’s feet if Rose agreed to go.

“No, you are going to go tomorrow.”

Alainn froze, staring at Rose. “What?” she whispered.

“I have calculated one way in which all parties can achieve their desires.”

“I’m sorry—I’m not understanding.” Alainn shook her head. A hard knot formed in her stomach.

“I am not surprised.” Rose reached out to pat Alainn’s hand. “You are not as intelligent as the rest of your family.”

“Spell it out in really simple terms, then.” She just managed to not growl the words at Rose.

Slowly, Rose looked up to the ceiling, moonlight slashing up the curve of her neck, her chin, and the line of her nose. “Earlier tonight, I arranged for you to be picked up by Mr. Garbhan through e-mail, writing as if I was Father. In one hour, a car will arrive outside to take you to his building. I have designed and created hardware for your body. If you are scanned, a chip in the hardware will communicate to the scanners that you have an organic circuitry system rather than a human brain.”

Alainn shook her head, hoping to dislodge some of the grogginess there. “I’m still not following—you’re saying you want me to pretend to be you and turn myself over? That you already arranged it?”

“Yes, you are following. That is exactly what I am saying.”

“I—I —” Alainn shook her head again. The air thinned around her.

“I have a working plan for the transplanting. You can assimilate easily into a life of servitude as you are already accustomed to the labor you will be asked to perform.” Rose lifted a hand, ghostly gray in the low light, and ticked off the chores on her fingers. “Cooking, housekeeping, and bookkeeping. Unless . . . is your concern that he might use you for sexual gratification?”

“What? No.”

“I believe that this would be a particular concern of yours.”

“I never even considered that he would do that to you—I, of all people, would never have tried to push you into going if I thought you’d be used that way.” Alainn blinked furiously. “Rose, do you really think that I would have let myself be the model when my dad printed your face and body if I thought Mr. Garbhan was going to do that to you?”

“It is highly unlikely that I was designed for this function. I have also been assured that there were documents signed to that effect addressed to Father.”

Alainn held out her palms to Rose. “Rose, it’s not just that. I can’t take your place. There’s no way that would work . . . and I can’t live in that tower for the rest of my life. I’m a human. I know that probably sounds callous to you, but you were created to not need sunshine and fresh air. And you don’t need exercise. Humans need those things, me especially. Everything I am,” she touched her chest, “is centered on being in the outdoors.”

“The duration will be seven to fourteen days, no longer.” Her head swung down, causing shadows to swallow her eyes. Two black hollows focused on Alainn. “When Mr. Garbhan pays Father, he and I will make the Rosette model; this process should only take a week, unless there are complications. And then I will devise a way to switch you with the new model.”

AUTHOR BIO:

Rita Stradling is the author of The Deception Dance series, the Dakota Kekoa series and The Fourteen Day Soul Detox Novella Serial. She has a BA in Art History and a particular love for modern and medieval art. Rita lives with her husband and son in Northern California. She has an insatiable novel addiction and mostly reads young adult and adult: romance, paranormal, urban fantasy and high fantasy. 

Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads

{GIVEAWAY!}

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping by! :)

✯BOOK BLITZ:✯ Making Bad Choices by Rita Stradling {EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY!}

Making Bad Choices by Rita Stradling

Release Date: January 10th 2017

Pages: 404

Genres: New Adult, Romance

Culter Fuller came back into my life on the day my mother died, as if losing my mother wasn't bad enough.

We hated each other since childhood. Well, I hated him. He had a very different story. 

When I moved to my dad's house to finish my last semester of high school, we went from bitter enemies to. . . something else. He was suddenly everywhere, occupying my space, determined to pull me into his life, filling me with thoughts I knew were wrong. 

I knew that soon we would cross a line that should never be crossed. 

I knew crossing that line could have very serious consequences; because Culter Fuller wasn't just any irresistible boy, Culter Fuller was my stepbrother. 

But, I was always very bad at making the right choices.

Purchase: Amazon

{EXCERPT}

“If I think you might disappear on me, I’ll just be thinking about that all night, and I don’t want to have to deal with that shit. Just not worth going for me,” Culter said.

Wow, he made me feel like I was his odious chore, that was nice. I found it ridiculous that he was giving me a hard time about going off with people.

“Just go do your thing, Culter, I’ll be fine.” I might have put a fair dose of insinuation into my words, but the whole conversation was bugging me. I stood, gathering my makeup from the floor as I did.

“What’s my thing?”

“Like I know,” I mumbled.

“Sounds like you think you know,” he said. He stood too, stepping a little closer.

“It doesn’t matter.” I threw my stuff onto my bed.

He stepped in even closer, way too close, and smirked down at me. “Come on, I want to know. What’s my thing, Cassie?”

I licked my lips, before saying, “Threesomes.”

His smirk only grew. “Is that your thing, too?”

“What do you think?” I rolled my eyes, but I felt embarrassed.

He looked like he was going to laugh at me. “I’m not going to Spencer’s party for a threesome.”

“I wasn’t saying that.” I felt my face flushing as I talked to him and I wanted to step away, but at the same time, I didn’t.

He reached up and wound a lock of my hair around his finger. “That was my first threesome, and it wasn’t really one. And it wasn’t my thing. Spooning later, though, that was my thing.”

I looked up into his blue gaze, wondering if he was saying what I thought he was saying. Or had he spooned those girls? I looked away, deciding that I didn’t want to know. Well, I wanted to know, but I shouldn’t know. I was all tangled up in my thoughts, thoughts I shouldn’t even be having in the first place.

Culter’s phone rang, puncturing the tension building between us, and I was very glad for it. Culter flirted as easily as he breathed, and I had to remember that. I had to constantly remind myself of that. I liked flirting, but this didn’t feel just like innocent flirting, this felt dangerous.

I stepped away, grabbing his phone off the floor and handing it to him. Looking at the screen, I said, “It’s Spencer.” Then I walked out and left him alone in my bedroom.

AUTHOR BIO:

Rita Stradling is the author of The Deception Dance series, the Dakota Kekoa series and The Fourteen Day Soul Detox Novella Serial. She has a BA in Art History and a particular love for modern and medieval art. Rita lives with her husband and son in Northern California. She has an insatiable novel addiction and mostly reads young adult and adult: romance, paranormal, urban fantasy and high fantasy. 

Goodreads, Twitter, Website, Facebook

{GIVEAWAY!}

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping by! :)