Spotlight: Mer Chronicles Books by Tobie Easton + giveaway

Emerge (Mer Chronicles Book One)

by Tobie Easton
April 19th, 2016
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Month9Books
ISBN: 978-1-944816-32-2
ASIN: B01CC3C47E
Number of pages: 312
Cover Artist: Beetiful Book Covers
Lia Nautilus may be a Mermaid, but she’s never lived in the ocean. Ever since the infamous Little Mermaid unleashed a curse that stripped Mer of their immortality, war has ravaged the Seven Seas.

So Lia has grown up in a secret community of land-dwelling Mer hidden among Malibu’s seaside mansions. Her biggest problems are surviving P.E. and keeping her feelings for Clay Ericson in check. Sure, he’s gorgeous in that cocky, leather jacket sort of way and makes her feel like there’s a school of fish swimming in her stomach, but getting involved with a human could put Lia's entire community at risk. So it’s for the best that he’s dating that new girl, right?

That is, until Lia finds out she isn't the only one at school keeping a potentially deadly secret. And this new girl? Her eyes are dead set on Clay, who doesn't realize the danger he's in. If Lia hopes to save him, she’ll have to get closer to Clay than ever. Lia’s parents would totally flip if they found out she was falling for a human boy, but the more time she spends with Clay, the harder it is for Lia to deny her feelings. After making a horrible mistake, Lia will risk everything to stop Clay from falling in love with the wrong girl.

Amazon

Teaser Excerpt Book 1: 

As I swim back up, I angle my face just right. When I hit the surface, I flick my head back so my hair flips in a perfect cascade, sparkling with thousands of water droplets that catch the sunlight at every angle. Maybe it’s unfair to use a classic Mermaid move against Clay.

Submerge (Mer Chronicles Book Two)

by Tobie Easton
September 12th, 2017
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Month9Books
ISBN: 978-1-945107-84-9
ASIN: B071SFBG13
Number of pages: 392
Cover Artist: Beetiful Book Covers
Lia and Clay's love has broken the Little Mermaid's curse, but their ever after may not be as happy as they planned. Lia is adamant about staying on land with Clay for her senior year despite her family's opportunity to move to the new, sparkling capital city below the waves. Before any decision about the future can be made, her family must endure Melusine and her father's trial, where new revelations will have far-reaching consequences that threaten what Lia holds most dear.

The verdict will shake Lia's whole world, calling into question her future with Clay, her feelings for Caspian, and the fate of all Merkind. As she wonders whom to trust, Lia sets out on a treacherous path that will lead her away from her sheltered Malibu home to a remote and mysterious school for Mermaids—Mermaids who may hold the secret to ancient magic Lia can use to either get back all she's lost or embark on a thrilling and dangerous journey where only she can define her fate.

Amazon

About the Author:

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Tobie Easton was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, where she’s grown from a little girl who dreamed about magic to a twenty-something who writes about it. A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Southern California, Tobie hosts book clubs for tweens and teens (so she’s lucky enough to spend her days gabbing about books). She and her very kissable husband enjoy traveling the globe and fostering packs of rescue puppies. 

Tour Giveaway 

Starbucks or amazon gift card (winner choice) plus one eBook of reader choice

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Cover Reveal and Pre-order: Immerse (Mer Chronicles Book 3) by Tobie Easton

Immerse (Mer Chronicles Book 3)

by Tobie EastonMarch 19, 2019
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Month9Books
ISBN: 978-1-948671-23-1
ASIN: 1948671239
Number of pages: 396
Cover Artist: Beetiful Book Covers
Immerse is the spellbinding and breathless final installment of the Mer Chronicles series where descendants of the Little Mermaid must face deadly magic, shifting alliances, and the dangers of forbidden love.

Lia can’t wait for her parents’ coronation. Now living in the sparkling palace beneath the waves, she sneaks off to Malibu whenever possible to see Clay. Tucked away in an abandoned seaside mansion, Lia and Clay devise a plan to ensure they can stay together forever.

But when an old enemy resurfaces and Lia is restricted to the palace for the safety of all Merkind, she and Clay are ripped apart once more.

She fears not only for Clay, but for her best friend Caspian, who seems to be swimming down a dangerous path. He has invited the conniving Melusine to the coronation ball, convinced she’s capable of change. And no matter how hard Lia fights it, showing up on Caspian’s arm is just the start of Melusine’s insidious return to her life.

With threats Below growing more ominous by the day and a powerful ancient ritual looming, soon the two girls can’t escape each other. As their fates grow increasingly intertwined, Melusine might be the only one who can help Lia find the answers she desperately needs to save everyone she loves and to achieve her happily ever after. But can Lia trust her?

About the Author:
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Tobie Easton was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, where she’s grown from a little girl who dreamed about magic to a twenty-something who writes about it. A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Southern California, Tobie hosts book clubs for tweens and teens (so she’s lucky enough to spend her days gabbing about books). She and her very kissable husband enjoy traveling the globe and fostering packs of rescue puppies.

Excerpt: Siren's Curse (The Sea King's Daughters Book 3) by Katee Robert + giveaway

SIREN'S CURSE, a dark and haunting standalone novel in the multi-author series, The Sea King's Daughters is LIVE!

Siren's Curse (The Sea King's Daughters Book 3)
by Katee Robert
August 13, 2018 
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Page Count: 76 pages
Format: Digital
ASIN: B07DJK2HQR
Lorelei Fischer is cursed. A mermaid who can’t shapeshift, can’t create portals, and is no longer fully who she was meant to be. Too ashamed to admit how badly she failed to her sisters, she takes refuge in a small town in northern California and opens a used bookstore. With no way to regain what she’s lost, she resigns herself to a life half-lived.

After nearly drowning under the dark of the new moon, there’s no escaping the truth. She’s being hunted, and this enemy will stop at nothing to take her.

Lorelei must find a way to reclaim her birthright and her abilities before it's too late. Because the sea holds more monsters than she could have dreamed—and one of them wants her dead.

Look for other stories in this exciting Urban Fantasy series from Philippa Ballantine, Stacia D. Kelly, Lauren Harris, and Asa Maria Bradley.

Amazon 

Siren’s Curse Excerpt
Copyright © 2018 Katee Robert
I start for home, the wind and water turning my hair into blond snakes that whip around my head. Less than a quarter mile to my house and it might as well be on the moon. I pull my jacket tighter around my body and pick up my pace. Each harsh breath makes my chest ache, reminding me about the way this morning started.

I shouldn’t be alive.

There’s no other way to say it. When I closed my eyes, parted my lips, and inhaled… I made my choice. That I hadn’t died. That I woke up on the beach… Someone put me there, though I can’t begin to guess their purpose.

Lorelei.

I jump and spin in a circle, searching for the source of the voice. There’s no one in sight. There isn’t even a single pair of headlights on the road. Just the trees whipping back and forth in front of me and the beach at my back. I turn slowly to face the beach—the water—and squint into the driving rain. No part of me is dry at this point, so I might as well investigate.

Lorelei.

There it is again, barely more than a whisper on the wind. Calling me back to the water.

I take a step before what’s left of my self-preservation kicks in. “No.” I don’t mean to say the word aloud, but it settles something inside me. I am not some weak-willed creature to be drawn in by curiosity. Whatever has the power to reach me here on dry land is something I want no part of. “Get the fuck out of my head.” That’s where I must be hearing him. There’s no way he’s actually speaking to me on the wind.

Whoever he is.

I have something you want.

I freeze. The faintest tugging in my stomach dials it up a notch. It never really goes away, even when I’m sequestered in the bookstore and surrounded by earth instead of sea. That tug tells me the exact direction my necklace—my powers—lay. I never get more than a hint of water that’s such a dark blue, it might as well be black, or an intense pressure that conveys exactly how far from the surface my necklace is kept. Too deep for humans and their machines.

Too deep for me.

I start for the beach before I can think better of it. For over two years, I’ve been missing a vital piece of myself, walking around as only half of a whole. I might not be completely helpless in my current state, but I’m easy pickings for any supernatural creature who decides to gun for me. Last night more than proved that the sea will take me, one way or another

It might as well be on my terms.

Lightning flashes, bright enough that spots dance over my vision for the several seconds of silence before thunder rattles my bones. The storm isn’t directly overhead yet, but it will be soon. I’m a damn fool if I’m still out by that point.

I yank off my boots and socks and toss them onto the beach just out of reach of the waves coming faster and faster. One step, maybe two, and I’ll be submerged up to my ankles. My finding power will spiral out of me, instinctively seeking the one item I want more than anything in this goddamn world.

Not my sisters.

Not even the portal home.

No, what I want more than anything is to be whole again.

I should just turn around and go home. Whoever this voice belongs to, they mean nothing good for me. There’s a proper way to reach out, and it’s not by drawing a finless one of the merfolk into the ocean and nearly drowning her human body. Stepping into the ocean will boost what little magic I have left, and it will create a clear channel for him to speak to me.

I take that first step, and then the second. My power streaks out into the deep and then rebounds, slamming me with a vision of my necklace. It’s different than it’s been in the past. Barely any pressure to speak of. Blue-gray water that stretches for miles and miles and miles around without encountering land. A vaguely fishy taste on my tongue.

Tentacles.

And then his voice is in my head, curling through me in a way that’s just shy of being invasive. Hello, pretty.

Telepathy isn’t one of my skills, but apparently his is so strong that it allows me to fire off a reply. Tell me what you want and get out of my head.

His chuckle is pure predator. More like I have something you want.

Surely not. The Deep Dwellers, sworn enemy to my people, wouldn’t be so foolish as to lose a coup like my necklace. In the endless history of wars between our kind, I can’t think of a single instance when they’ve managed to steal the very essence of what one of the merfolk is—to sever one of us from our power. It’s priceless. They wouldn’t have traded it—would have, in fact, guarded it with their lives. So why does this monster in my head have access to it?

I cross my arms over my chest and tell myself that the shiver racking my body is from the cold. I’m listening.

Come to me.

That surprises a laugh out of me. Pass.

You’d turn down a chance to regain yourself?

I’d turn down a chance to walk into a trap like an idiot. I shake my head. This is a waste of time. I turn for the shore when power slams into me, sending me to my knees. The water rushes in—or maybe I rush out—and the next thing I know, I’m up to my chest.

Don’t be a fool.

This deep, I finally have a sense of him. He must have held himself back up to this point, because he’s positively ancient. Older than anything I’ve ever felt—even my father—and so powerful that pain lances through my head. It would be so easy to give him what he wants, to stop fighting, to…

“Get the fuck out of my head!” I sprint for dry land. This deep, it’s more of a fast wade, but I curse and spit and fight the pull of the magic current trying to yank me off my feet. “No, no, no, no, get your stupid magic off me!”

He releases me all at once and I fly the last few feet and land in a heap just past the now-normal waves. I sit up and scrub sand from my face. Even without the water connection, his dark amusement slithers through me. Another time, pretty. His presence recedes faster than any tide, leaving the storm just a normal storm.

It’s official—I’m in even worse trouble than I could have imagined.

About the Author:
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New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Katee Robert learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. Her 2015 title, The Marriage Contract, was a RITA finalist, and RT Book Reviews named it 'a compulsively readable book with just the right amount of suspense and tension." When not writing sexy contemporary and romantic suspense, she spends her time playing imaginary games with her children, driving her husband batty with what-if questions, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

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Story behind the cover with Dianne Lynn Gardner (Pouraka Book Tour) + giveaway

Thank you Sharon for hosting me on your blog!

Sharon asked me why I painted Pouraka’s cover as I did. There is a story behind it. In fact there’s a story behind the whole concept of Pouraka and it stems from my love of nature and the sea. No matter what I’ve written, I always seem to come back to the coast. Having been raised in southern CA. I honestly believe there’s a ‘homing instinct’ inside of me that yearns for that great Pacific. 

Pouraka is more than a romance between two mer people. One reviewer suggested the romance was more an extra to the story, and indeed I meant it to be. The true romance of Pouraka is the love between the ocean and its inhabitants. 

The image of the two mers on Pouraka’s cover are symbolic of the beauty, mystery and love that graces the depths of the sea.

I’ve always been entranced by mermaids. I think they are one of legend’s most haunting characters. I can imagine how lonely sailors of the seventeenth century rode the rocky waters in ships that were mere toothpicks compared to the vast and horrendous seas, half starved for food and a woman’s companionship. I can hear them calling out to one another at the sight of a large fish, a dolphin perhaps, a whale - in hopes they were seeing a phantom mistress of the swells. I hear their laughter, elated, yet fearful should they reach out knowing that she’d lure them to their death beds.

Pouraka moves from the surface of the splashing white caps, into deeper waters and explores what a mermaid’s life might be like today. Mermaids, the last of a species whose truths are violently discovered and brought to extinction, as so many other creatures have faded from existence.

The image of merman and a mermaid sharing a tender moment in this painting, knowing their species cannot and will not continue, is a final impression of love and loyalty. Neptune’s seal, if you will, of two beings remaining true to each other regardless of what dim future lies ahead.

Pouraka

Book One
Dianne Lynn Gardner
Genre: Fantasy romance
Publisher: Dianne Lynn Gardner
ASIN: B00T0PED40
Number of pages: 242
Word Count: 75369
Cover Artist: Dianne Lynn Gardner
Pouraka is a magical sea cavern tucked under the rocky cliffs near Barnacle Bay. Cora, a Pouraka mer, is torn between her friends in the seaside town, and her true love Tas, a foreign mer whose people fled when men invaded their waters.

Life becomes difficult for all mers when an arrogant oil rigger's son, Tom, finds the bay and the rich aquatic life it harbors. When Tas attempts to rescue a pod of dolphins from Tom's gill net, he is captured and taken away as a prize to be sold to a theme park. When Cora hears of his capture she changes into human form and travels south to find him, risking her life to free him.

Time away from Pouraka leaves the cavern vulnerable, and a new threat arises when tourists discover its magic.

Available at Amazon

Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/EkSwqips0D0

Excerpt:

The sand was cool, the shells sharp and prickly, making her toes itch. She strolled to the wet sand where the foam still bubbled into clam holes and the remnants of waves frothed over her feet. Seagulls clustered, pecking at shellfish and welcoming the end of day. Farther out the ocean throbbed, constant and carefree. Ever faithful, the sea rocked back and forth over the earth as it harbored its creatures, protecting them from the sun’s vicious heat, feeding them, nourishing them and cradling them. Cora should be in its belly, accepting its nurturing. She was the oceans’ charge and yet here she was, walking the land as though she were human. She’d been denying her heritage all this time.

A surge of shame swept over her. Why did she even want to be human? Merpeople were so much kinder to each other, and to the animals they lived among. Why did she ever doubt that she should live as a mermaid?

Cora took the basket off of her back and unfastened the lid. The water inside was so clear she could see the interior weave of kelp even in the fading sunlight. Scooting closer to the surf so that the waves rolled over her, she held the basket above her head.

Pouraka’s water dripped over her hair, onto her shoulders and her face. She lifted her chin and let it run down her neck, her chest, her belly. Cora poured the water over her hips, her legs, and her toes as the sea rumbled and came to her, a white roll of salt water rushing to immerse her. Cora leaned back and let the ocean swallow her human body. The sea wanted her home, grabbing her form and pulling her far away from shore. She tumbled in the breakers until she was saturated and far from land. Cora came to the surface and viewed the vanishing shoreline one last time. Sunset shined its face on her scales as golden fragments of evening glitter. She hadn’t felt so alive in a long time. She felt good, and somehow she would bring this freedom to Tas. She had to.

About the Author:

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Amazing Stories Magazine
Dianne is an author and illustrator of YA adventure fantasy with a dab of historical content thrown in. Building worlds that might resemble the forests of her home in the Pacific Northwest, or the shimmering deserts of Arizona, add to that a pinch of magic dust and a few million stars and you just might find the portal to another Realm.

Happily married to a man that puts up with her celestial wanderings and wonderings, she is the mother of seven lovely adult children and grandmother to sixteen gorgeous boys and girls.

Dianne loves writing, painting in oils and living in other dimensions. She finds life much more colorful that way! Her books are middle grade to young adult adventure fantasies with dragons and wizards and sorcery and battles on the high seas. Her grandchildren are a big inspiration for her stories. There’s a shared camaraderie, something akin to what C.S. Lewis said about someday being old enough to enjoy fairy tales again.

Dianne’s newest series Pouraka dives into the depths to explore life as a mer. She also has a series that is being re released by PDMI publishing called the Ian’s Realm Saga.

Stretching her tent stakes, she is working on an Indie Film production of her V book Cassandra’s Castle.

GIVEAWAY

1 ebook copy of Sasha which introduces the story.

5 8 X 10 prints of Pouraka's cover without the text, authographed by the author
1 digital copy of dystopia novel Altered
1 pair of earrings open to US Shipping

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Book Review: Mermaid by Kate O’Connor

Mermaid
by Kate O'Connor
ebook
Published March 22nd 2013

by Musa Publishing 

How far would you go for freedom?

Harvesting seaweed for World Food Co. is the only life genetically engineered sea drone Coral has ever known. Nothing in her short, monotonous life prepared her for a chance meeting with a boatful of strangers who force her to question everything she is. When the opportunity arises to change her place in the world, Coral finds herself caught between a powerful company and the family she was so desperate to leave. Struggling to unravel the tangle of politics and love, time is running out as she fights to learn the hardest lesson of all – what it means to be truly human.

Corey, the main character became curious about humans the day she saved two from drowning. Even though Corey wasn't human, she felt she was not that much different from them but they were free where she was not. She was being forced to perform the mundane job of harvesting seaweed. Corey felt she was better than that. She had a brain and wanted to show she could use it but no one would listen. So, she set out to find answers and to try and fit into the human world, but not without a cost.

The book although slightly altered started out very similar to the Little Mermaid. Once you were able to get past that, the story really developed into its own and became enjoyable. The new twist in an otherwise familiar story made me want to know more. It did, however, leave out certain details about what they were harvesting seaweed for or what happens to them when they die. There was a great deal of emphasis around both but with no explanations. In the end it seemed to be fine because it did not really matter why, however they were so human like it did make you curious.

As for the romance, I can’t say it was similar to the Little Mermaid. In fact I am not sure I can even call it a romance. Without giving it away, it was more of a crush. Maybe even a first time crush. It was cute but hardly what I would consider a romance.

Even though it was similar to little mermaid which caused for a slow start. I still gave it 4 sheep because once it did change into its own story it became a fun easy read. All in all this was a decent book that I think young adults would enjoy

4 Mermaid Sheep

Guest Reviewer: TammyK

About the Author:

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Kate O’Connor was born in Virginia in 1982. She graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott in 2009 and now lives (and occasionally works) in the New York area.

Kate has been writing science fiction and fantasy since 2011. In between telling stories, she flies airplanes, digs up artifacts, and manages a kennel full of Airedales.