Sneak Peak: The Man or the Monster

Today, I've got a sneak peak at Aamna Qureshi's THE MAN OR THE MONSTER, provided by Rockstar Book Tours. This is the sequel to Qureshi's THE LADY OR THE LION, and features the continuation of Durkhanai's epic fantasy tale. 

 

About The Book:

Title: THE MAN OR THE MONSTER (The Marghazar Trials #2)

Author: Aamna Qureshi

Pub. Date: August 30, 2022

Publisher: CamCat Books

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 320

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

Order a signed copy directly from Aamna!

She made her decision. Now she has to live with it.

Durkhanai Miangul sealed her lover’s fate when she sent him through a door where either a lady or a lion awaited him. But her decision was only the beginning of her troubles. Durkhanai worries that she might not be the queen her people need or deserve when conflict threatens her kingdom.

Her presumed-dead father comes back with a vengeance and wishes she join him in his cause. But her family’s denial of his revenge forces Durkhanai to take matters into her own hands and she must decide whether to follow the traditions of her forefathers or forge a new path on her own.

Buy Book 1, THE LADY OR THE LION now!

Excerpt from THE MAN OR THE MONSTER: 

Weeks passed. No one came to visit her, and she stopped waiting. As the weather around her chilled, she felt her heart frosting over. Faintly, she felt she had rid her system of him. Perhaps she would never feel a thing again.

But then, he came to her, while she was curled up in bed, crying. 

She didn’t know how he came to be there, just that one moment she was pushing tears back into her eyes, and the next there was a body beside hers. She didn’t need to open her eyes to know that it was him.

“Come, sit up,” he coaxed, and she did as she was told. He kneaded the tension from her shoulders with the hard curves of his palms.

“What worries you?” he asked. She sighed in response.

“I can’t bear it anymore.”

“You can,” he told her. “And you will.”

She turned to look at him and instantly fell into a hug against his chest. She was safe.

They stayed like that for some time. She strained her ear in search of his heartbeat. But he was calm. Sure. Solid.

She pulled back, looked up at him. Gently, his fingers cupped her face like wine—he tipped her chin forward to drink, but paused at the last whisper before skin met skin.

He waited.

And so, soft as sin, she pressed her warm lips against his. He tasted like a thousand stars bursting in her mouth. His fingers murmured across her skin, cold as ice, but everywhere he touched her felt like fire.

She kissed his cold cheek. He tasted like winter: pine-needle and frost, everything that freezes your nose but warms your soul. She was inexplicably warm and closed her eyes in comfort.

Instinctively, she reached for his lips once more—only to find they were not there. He was gone.

When she awoke from the dream, she felt unaligned. As though her soul had been roughly shoved back into her body. She was paralyzed, as she was when she awoke from nightmares, her body frozen with fear—yet this was the opposite, for when she awoke, her reality was the nightmare.

Slowly, the ice burned away. The pain was sudden and swift, knocking the breath from her lungs. Durkhanai began to cry. She loved him. The realization struck her.

She loved him. 

And there was nothing to be done.

 

About Aamna Qureshi:

Aamna Qureshi is a Pakistani, Muslim American who adores words. She grew up in a very loud household, surrounded by English (for school), Urdu (for conversation), and Punjabi (for emotion). Through her writing, she wishes to inspire a love for the beautiful country and rich culture that informed much of her identity. When she's not writing, she loves to travel to new places where she can explore different cultures or to Pakistan where she can revitalize her roots. She also loves baking complicated desserts, drinking fancy teas and coffees, watching sappy rom-coms, and going for walks about the estate (her backyard). She currently lives in New York. Look for her on IG @aamna_qureshi and Twitter @aamnaqureshi_ and at her website aamnaqureshi.com. 

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

 

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of THE MAN OR THE MONSTER, US Only.

Ends September 20^th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

8/22/2022	BookHounds YA	Guest Post/IG Post
8/23/2022	A Dream Within A Dream	GuestPost
8/24/2022	Sadie's Spotlight	Excerpt/IG Post
8/25/2022	Lisa-Queen of Random	Excerpt/IG Post
8/26/2022	Ya Books Central	Guest Post/IG Post
8/27/2022	Author Z. Knight’s Guild	Excerpt

Week Two:

8/28/2022	The Erudite Labyrinth	Review
8/29/2022	Epic Book Society	Review/IG Post
8/30/2022	Books and Kats	Excerpt
8/31/2022	Fire and Ice	Review
9/1/2022	@allyluvsbooksalatte	IG Spotlight
9/2/2022	Writer of Wrongs	Excerpt
9/3/2022	The Reading Life	Review/IG Post

Week Three:

9/4/2022	The Underground	Excerpt
9/5/2022	Rajiv's Reviews	Review/IG Post
9/6/2022	@jodieangell_author	IG Review
9/7/2022	Laurenreads._	Review/IG Post
9/8/2022	@meetcuteromancebooks	IG Review
9/9/2022	Locks, Hooks and Books	Review
9/10/2022	Nagma | TakeALookAtMyBookshelf	IG Review

Week Four:

9/11/2022	One More Exclamation	Review/IG Post
9/12/2022	Book-Keeping	Review/IG Post
9/13/2022	@jacleomik33	IG Review
9/14/2022	The Momma Spot	Review/IG Post
9/15/2022	More Books Please blog	Review/IG Post
9/16/2022	GryffindorBookishNerd	IG Review
9/17/2022	@jypsylynn	IG Review

Excerpt: Tracing Shadows

Today, in partnership with Rockstar Book Tours, I'm stoked to bring you an excerpt from Tracing Shadows, a YA fantasy by Alex Lidell which released on April 8, 2018. There's also a giveaway below where 3 winners will receive a box set of Alex Lidell's Tide Series, as well as an ebook of Tracing Shadows. Don't forget to check out all the other reviews, interviews, and excerpts from the other blogs in the tour.

About the Book:

Title: TRACING SHADOWS (Scout #1)

Author: Alex Lidell

Pub. Date: April 8, 2018

Publisher: Alex Lidell

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 312

Find it: Amazon, Goodreads

To protect the throne, seventeen-year-old spy Kali must play a male guardsman trainee by day and royal lady by night. 

Orphaned and trained on a spymaster’s remote estate, Kali is a scout who works alone in the shadows. But when a terror group threatens the Dansil throne, the king forces Kali to accept a mission at the palace or forfeit her sister’s life. 

Suddenly thrust into the light, Kali must infiltrate high society as the royal Lady Lianna while penetrating the servant ranks as Kal, a male guardsman trainee. It doesn’t help that Trace, the harsh and enigmatic captain of the king’s guard, is soon assigned as both Lady Lianna’s palace escort and Kal’s commanding officer. 

As Kali edges closer to the truth behind the violent group’s identity, she uncovers dangerous secrets that could bring her mission to a brutal end. A scout’s job is to observe and report, never to engage . . . but if it means saving her sister and kingdom, Kali may have no choice. 

TRACING SHADOWS, by Amazon bestselling author Alex Lidell, is the first novel in the Scout series. Perfect for fans of Tamora Pierce, Leigh Bardugo, and Sarah J. Maas. 

“Not so fast.” Trace’s voice jerks me short. “You’ve made yourself a part of this as well. Full name?”

My stomach tightens, but I step forward and touch my fist to my chest. “Kal Cassidy, sir.” My voice is even, respectful but undaunted.

“Well, Kal,” Trace’s body fills the entirety of my vision. “I would not presume to question His Highness’s word that you were, in fact, on duty as his personal protection this evening. I must thus conclude that your lack of weapons, report of activity, and basic safety considerations are a delinquency. Have you anything to say for yourself?”

A fair accusation. And a smart one. Trace cannot discipline the prince directly, but he certainly can punish Kal. Conveniently, it would send a message of consequences to the prince while discouraging a trainee from trying similar antics again. If Trace hadn’t attempted to scare me into submission earlier, I’d even grant him a bow.

“It’s not Kal’s fault!” The thread of desperation in Wil’s voice makes me swallow a groan. The prince might think he’s helping, but his obvious discomfort only serves to make Kal a more valuable whipping boy.

“On the contrary,” Trace says. “It appears Kal is the only one at fault.” He shifts his attention back to me, lowering his voice. “Unless . . .”

My chest tightens. Unless? There is an “unless”?

Trace’s shoulders spread, that subtle shift of weight designed to frighten me, and his voice drops even further. “Unless the trainee has a different version of events to share before I decide on his punishment?”

About Alex:

Alex Lidell is the Amazon Breakout Novel Awards finalist author of THE CADET OF TILDOR (Penguin, 2013). She is an avid horseback rider, a (bad) hockey player, and an ice-cream addict. Born in Russia, Alex learned English in elementary school, where a thoughtful librarian placed a copy of Tamora Pierce’s ALANNA in Alex’s hands. In addition to becoming the first English book Alex read for fun, ALANNA started Alex’s life long love for YA fantasy books. Alex is represented by Leigh Feldman of Leigh Feldman Literary. She lives in Washington, DC.

Join Alex's newsletter for news, bonus content and sneak peeks: www.subscribepage.com/TIDES

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive an eBook set of Alex’s TIDES SERIES & an eBook of TRACING SHADOWS, INTERNATIONAL.

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Rafflecopter link:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba2724/?

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

April 9, 2018: A Backwards Story - Review

April 9, 2018: Confessions of a YA Reader- Excerpt

April 10, 2018: Zach's YA Reviews - Review

April 10, 2018: Reese's Reviews - Review

April 11, 2018: Book-Keeping - Review

April 11, 2018: History from a Woman’s Perspective - Review

April 12, 2018: Myth and Magic Book Club - Review

April 12, 2018: BookHounds YA - Excerpt

April 13, 2018: Smada's Book Smack - Review

April 13, 2018: Paulette's Papers - Excerpt

Week Two:

April 16, 2018: Read. Eat. Love. - Review

April 16, 2018: Zooloo Book Blog - Excerpt

April 17, 2018: Lauren is Reading - Review

April 17, 2018: Book Briefs - Review

Today: The Underground - Excerpt

Today: Don't Judge, Read - Review

April 19, 2018: Adventures Thru Wonderland - Review

April 19, 2018: A Dream Within A Dream - Excerpt

April 20, 2018: The BookWorm Drinketh - Review

April 20, 2018: TwoChicks on Books - Excerpt

Book Blitz: A Skin of a Dragon

Hey all! Today I'm excited to turn my spotlight onto A Skin of a Dragon by Frances Jones, a YA fantasy that released on March 17th. We've got an excerpt from the first chapter and a giveaway for a $20 Amazon gift card. The new cover for the ebook is below as well, which means DOUBLE the cover beauties in this post. So, without further adieu, let's take a peak at A Skin of a Dragon.

A Skin of a Dragon
by Frances Jones
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release date: March 17, 2018

After a chance find in a smugglers’ cave, Tom Wild is kidnapped by a stranger and whisked away to London to face a secretive and ancient group of magicians. He is presented with an agonising choice: join them and forsake his old life and family forever or face a grisly death. Tom quickly realises that all is not as it seems and that the group’s leader is engaged in a dangerous game of magic, power and war. At stake is the future of England, her King, and the very existence of magic.

Add to Goodreads   Buy on Amazon!

Chapter 1

My mother believed I possessed the gift of foresight. I was born at the stroke of midnight under a full moon, a curious time bestowing special abilities upon newborns, or so the midwife assured my parents. Yet, despite my mother’s belief, I had no sense of the shift my life was poised to take one rainy day in mid-September 1648 as I peered into a rock pool in search of crabs.

I wrinkled my nose and dangled my line into the water. The grey sea sloshed around the rock on which I stood, met by the rainwater that trickled down in rivulets from the cliffs above. Summer wasn’t yet a distant memory, but the storm of the previous day had been a sharp reminder that autumn had arrived. Peggy, my wiry-haired mongrel, watched the gulls scavenging amongst the rocks but had yet to summon the energy to chase them. Beside me my sister, Lizzie, shivered and looked forlornly back to the beach.

'To think the fields were ploughed but a fortnight ago,' she muttered.

I felt a tug on my line and lifted an enormous crab out of the rock pool, but Lizzie was distracted. She glanced up at the sky as a finger of sunlight broke through the clouds overhead. 

‘Zooks! Look at the sun, Tom! Mother will be starting supper.’ She grabbed her bucket of crabs and scrambled back across the rocks. ‘Don't forget the tobacco for Father,’ she called over her shoulder as she crossed the beach towards the lights that were beginning to twinkle in the windows of the cottages that made up the tiny hamlet of Osmington Mills.  

I replied with a wave as I set my bucket on a ledge out of the wind and began the slippery climb to the smugglers’ cave. It was a precarious route in wet weather, with fissures into which one could quite easily slip and become stuck, but in an hour's time the tide would be in, cutting the cave off from the beach entirely. 

The rocks were slick beneath my feet, and the drizzling rain soaked right through to my skin as I clambered from one to the next. This exposure to every extreme of weather that the Dorset coast endured had weathered my complexion into a freckled ruddiness. My usual mop of sandy curls now lay plastered against my forehead, and my eyes squinted against the rainwater that dripped from my brow.

As I set my feet on sand once more, I stooped to pick up a small wooden box nestled between two rocks at the mouth of the cave. It was perfectly plain, cylindrical in shape, with an elaborate lock formed of tiny brass cogs, dials and pulleys, some of which were clearly missing or broken. I looked back to the beach. Only the smugglers ever came here. Perhaps it belonged to one of them- except that all the smugglers in Osmington Mills were far too careful to leave anything out in the open. There were crevices and tunnels that wound right into the heart of the cliffs where contraband was cleverly concealed from the prying eyes of the customs men. There was no need to leave anything in plain sight. Besides, the little drift of sand piled up against the box seemed to indicate it had been deposited there by the sea.

'I bet it's from that shipwreck yesterday,' I muttered to Peggy as I tucked it under my arm and ducked into the cave. The entrance was just a few feet in height and submerged at high tide, but inside it widened and rose steadily above the tide’s reach, opening out into several passageways and crevices scooped out by the sea in ancient times. It was a perfect smugglers’ cave.

I selected one pack of tobacco from a pile of goods stuffed into a cleft in the wall and tucked it into my belt. With the crabbing line, I lashed the box to my back. I would need both hands to scale the rocks back to the beach.

Outside, the wind had picked up, and the drizzle was replaced with great spots of rain. Across the beach, a flicker of firelight glowed in the mouth of another smaller cave beyond a rocky outcrop. 

''Tis a fool who ventures out with a storm about to break,' I thought to myself.

Thunder rumbled overhead, and the foamy white tips of the waves collapsed against the rocks with an intensity that had become a familiar sight over the past week. The few fishing boats that had braved the rain were now gone, safely moored in the harbour. Everyone was braced for another mighty storm.

About the Author

Frances lives in Shropshire, England with her husband and two pet rabbits. She started writing to fill her evenings while her husband, a former Grenadier Guard in the British Army, was away. A Skin of a Dragon was inspired by the Tower of London ravens which her husband told her about after one of his guard duties at the Tower. Folklore and the history of magic are also a continual source of inspiration.

Aside from writing, Frances’ other passion is rabbits, and she spends far too much time watching videos of the furry critters online!

Author Links:

Website | Goodreads | Twitter

As an exciting extra, the new cover for the ebook!

GIVEAWAY: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway