Chasing Luck by Brinda Berry | Book Blitz - Excerpt - Giveaway|

Chasing Luck

(A Serendipity Novel #1)

by Brinda Berry

Publication date: May 2014
Genres: New Adult, Romance, Suspense

SYNOPSIS

Sometimes surviving doesn’t feel lucky. Especially when you’re a sole survivor…At the age of seven, Malerie walked away from a bombing that left hundreds dead—including her mother. When a crazed gunman kills her guardian on her eighteenth birthday, Malerie suspects there may be more to her survival than luck. A mysterious code holds the key to her future, and a reluctant white knight holds the key to her heart.

A loner wearing emotional armor…

Ace is a twenty-year-old entrepreneur focusing on two things in life: financial security and a life without ties. A life that doesn’t risk losing the ones who matter. When Ace is hired to secretly act as a bodyguard for Malerie, he faces an unwanted attraction that threatens to sabotage his heart. Can Ace find the courage to love a girl with a death wish?

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Trailer Book

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOSg3FOC21M?rel=0]

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EXCERPT

"Here." I hand him the charcoal rubbing and he takes it without getting up from the bed.

Sitting, he turns the paper around like a different angle will reveal more. The picture of the dragon is detailed with tiny scales lining its body and spikes decorating the curved neck. Large pointed teeth extend outside the dragon's mouth in a hungry snarl.

"What's this?" Ace says, pointing a finger at the symbols near the dragon's feet. “Moon type again?”

"Yeah.”

"And this is another message for you," he mutters without meeting my eyes.

"I'm positive." I want him to look at me and see how much I believe in this connection.

Then he lifts his head and shakes it slowly. "You're that girl who saves her fortune cookies, doesn't step on cracks, and picks up pennies, aren't you? You think these boxes and the words on the sides are like a bad luck charm."

I continue, despite the fact I want to throw him out of my head, out of my room, out of my house. I didn’t think this would be easy, but I hoped. "So what if I do? That’s exactly why I've noticed this message when someone like you wouldn't."

He shrugs. "And the fortune cookie says…"

"This character is a G, then an R, then I, E, and F," I state matter-of-factly while pointing each one out with my fingertip.

"Grief." Ace nods. He rubs his chin, which has grown flattering stubble. "The Moon type was used on these boxes and a title for each picture was placed on the embossing. Honestly, I’m amazed you’ve figured this out. It’s genius. Really. I’d never see this. But I think you’re reading too much into a drawing.”

I grab the picture from his hands. "If you think I’m a nut, say it. Go ahead." I trace the outline of the box. Then I open the book to a section I've paper clipped. "The UNIX timestamp is on this box as well." My finger caresses the paper.

"And the date is significant?" Ace leans in and he's too close. His fingers splay on top of the page and I stare at his hands instead of his eyes.

"The date is from last week. The night in the restaurant. The night JT was murdered." I glance up into his eyes to gauge his reaction.

His gaze moves from the paper to mine and back to the paper. "All right.” He pauses and stares at the paper. "That’s very odd.”

"I want you to have more than a weird feeling about it. I want you to say you believe me. I want you to open your mind to the possibility that this is more than a coincidence."

He studies me, his finger drumming soundlessly on my desk. "I don't believe in fortune cookies. And you want me to believe you've opened up the largest cookie in the universe. One that tells the story of what has happened in your life. Malerie…" he says. He takes both my hands in his. His strong fingers send a pleasant shiver down my body. "Now if you are about to tell me that this third box, the smaller one," he says as he opens the box I've rubbed, "if it says a word like infatuation, and this is where you finally hit on me, then it's a different story. One I'm totally on board with."

***

GIVEAWAY

 Blitz-wide giveaway

Open INTL - Ends May 20th

--A $25 Sephora gift card and two book swag necklaces

THE AUTHOR

Brinda Berry lives in the southern US with her family and two spunky cairn terriers. She has a BSE in English and French and a MEd in Learning Systems Technology. She's terribly fond of chocolate, coffee, and books that take her away from reality. She doesn't mind being called a geek or "crazy dog lady". When she's not working the day job or writing a novel, she's guilty of surfing the internet for no good reason.

FOLLOW HER:

http://www.brindaberry.com/

https://www.facebook.com/BrindaBerryAuthor

https://twitter.com/Brinda_Berry

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5053831.Brinda_Berry

Lore: Tales of Myth and Legend Retold |Book Blitz - Excerpt - Giveaway |

 

THE BOOK

Lore: Tales of Myth and

Legend Retold

by Brinda Berry, Karen Y.

Bynum, Laura

Diamond, Jayne A.

Knolls, Theresa

DaLayne, Cate Dean

Release Date: 03/2014

Summary from Goodreads:

A collection of six

folklore retellings that will twist your mind and claim your heart.

SHIMMER: A heartbroken boy rescues a mermaid... but is it too late to save her?

BETWEEN is about a girl, a genie, and a ton of bad decisions.

SUNSET MOON: Eloise doesn't believe in Native American magic--until the

dreamcatcher spiders spin her down an unknown path.

THE MAKER: An incapacitated young man bent on revenge builds a creature to do

it for him.

A BEAUTIFUL MOURNING: The story of a Maya goddess torn between duty and love,

and the ultimate sacrifice she must make to achieve true happiness.

THE BARRICADES: When a human girl risks everything to save the life of an

Eternal prince, will their feelings for each other change the world they know,

or tear it apart?

Buy Links:

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THE EXCERPT

The Barricades by Cate Dean:

Daniel Reed fought for his life.

But he knew, even as he ducked the blow meant for his face, that the three boys who dragged him out here wouldn’t stop until he lay bleeding at their feet.

He decided to make it as difficult as possible.

“Is that the best you can do, Mandore?” Tomas Hurdy, the obvious instigator, taunted the tall boy who had just taken the swing at Daniel. “My baby sister can throw a better punch.”

I bet she can. Daniel stumbled backward over ground left ridged by the terra machines.

Hurdy probably came out of the womb punching.

Hurdy barreled toward Daniel, all two hundred plus pounds of him. Daniel waited until the last possible moment and leaped sideways. Hurdy roared past him, tripped on a rock hard ridge and slammed face first into the dirt.

Daniel spun around, knowing that retaliation would be swift, and probably fatal—and ran smack into his third tormentor. Trevor Harp—someone he thought was his friend.

Before he could escape Trevor grabbed his right arm and wrenched it up behind his back. The pain nearly doubled him.

“Good job, Trev.” Hurdy dusted off his shirt as he stood. “Now hold him still.”

Through a blur of pain Daniel saw the long, curved knife appear in Hurdy’s right hand. Panic lent him strength and he struggled to free himself. Trevor tightened his grip, caught Daniel’s left wrist, leaving him completely defenseless.

Hurdy buried the knife in Daniel’s left arm, just below the elbow. He screamed, agony exploding through him. The knife was iron—and would keep him from healing the wound himself.

“Shut him up!” Hurdy hissed. Trevor obeyed and let go of Daniel’s right arm, reaching up to cover his mouth. The returning blood flow was a small pain compared to the fire raging down his left arm. Hurdy followed with the blade, opening his forearm to the wrist.

“That’s a good start.”

Daniel screamed again when Hurdy yanked out the knife. Blood poured down his hand, pooled on the hard packed dirt. What was left of his strength ran out with the blood and he collapsed against Trevor.

“I think that’s enough,” Trevor said, his voice quiet. He let go of Daniel’s mangled arm and caught him around the waist, holding him upright. “We were not told to kill him, Tom.”

“Well, I guess the rabble got carried away. Walk now, Trev, if you don’t have the stomach. I’m going to cut on him a while, make up some for what his dad took from mine.”

Daniel swallowed, heart pounding. Hurdy Senior had stolen from Father, lied about it, and been punished severely. Now he was about to pay for the rash decision to make the older Hurdy an example.

Mandore moved in, clenching and unclenching his fists. “Tom, I don’t think—”

Hurdy turned on him. “You losing your nerve too?” Daniel knew he wasn’t meant to survive this—not with Hurdy using iron on him, and throwing around names. Names Daniel recognized. “Wouldn’t you do the same if you had the chance? Self-righteous bastard had no call—”

“She did not authorize this,” Trevor said.

“Just shut your mouth!” Hurdy raised the bloody knife, the point inches from Trevor’s face. Trevor flinched, but he didn’t pull away. “You hear me, Trev—I’m in charge. She put me in charge—”

“Why?” Daniel’s raw whisper cut through the tirade.

Hurdy smiled, and instead of using the knife again, he flipped the pendant Daniel wore out of the way and dug the sharp edge of his garnet signet ring into the left side of Daniel’s chest.

Daniel tried to jerk away. One hand fisted in his hair, halted his retreat. 

“Since you’ll be dead,” Hurdy tightened his grip, “you don’t need to know.”

 

Author Bios:

Brinda Berry:

Brinda

Berry lives in the southern US with her family and two spunky cairn terriers.

She's terribly fond of chocolate, coffee, and books that take her away from

reality.  She doesn't mind being called a geek or “crazy dog lady”. When

she's not working the day job or writing a novel, she's guilty of surfing the

internet for no good

Find

Brinda at www.brindaberry.com .

Karen Y. Bynum:

Dragons,

unicorns, genies…oh my! NA/YA author, coffee-lover, olive-hater, tea-drinker,

music-listener. Random becomes me. Easily distrac

— Blog

Laura Diamond:

Laura

Diamond is a board certified psychiatrist and multi-published author of all

things young adult paranormal, dystopian, and horror. When she’s not writing,

she is working at the hospital, blogging at Author

Laura Diamond--Lucid Dreamer,

and renovating her 225+ year old fixer-upper mansion.

Jayne A. Knolls:

Jayne

A. Knolls lives and works in New York City.  The Maker is her first

published work of New Adult Fiction. Jayne can reached

at JAKnolls@optonline.net

Theresa DaLayne:

My name is Theresa DaLayne and I’m a new adult

author with Bloomsbury Spark, an amazing digital imprint of Bloomsbury

publishing.

Website

Cate Dean:

Hi

there - thanks for checking in. My name is Cate Dean, and I write romantic

suspense and paranormal, with some action packed YA paranormal and fantasy

thrown in. I love to write, and I have been doing it most of my life. I've made

up stories in my head for as long as I can remember, and I am thrilled to be

able to write them down and share them with you. If you want to be the first to

know when the next book is released, or be in on some fun, exclusive contests

and giveaways, join my list here: http://catedeanwrites.com/join-my-list.

You can learn more about me and

my books at my website: http://catedeanwrites.com

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