Random Review: Tracker Hacker by Jeff Adams #Review #Giveaway

Author: Jeff Adams
Book: Tracker Hacker
Series: Code Name: Winger #1
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Cover Artist: Aaron Anderson
Publication date: October 17, 2017
Length: 192 pages

Reviewed by Erin

Synopsis

Theo Reese is just an average high school student with a passion for hockey and an uncanny talent when it comes to computers… at least on the surface.

What his teammates, fellow students, and even his boyfriend don’t realize is that Theo leads a double life. When he’s not putting up his facade of normal, Theo is working as an agent for Tactical Operational Support, where his technical genius is more than just a hobby. At sixteen he is responsible for helping agents in the field and keeping the TOS network secure.

It’s a secret he has to keep—from everyone.

But secrecy becomes even harder when a hacker compromises the system TOS uses to track its agents and Theo’s dad goes missing. Theo must find him and stop the hacker, which means leaving the comfort of his computer screen and venturing into a very real and very deadly world.

And if that’s not enough to deal with, all the secrecy is really putting a strain on Theo’s love life.

Buy Links

Harmony Ink Press

Amazon

Review

I'm a HUGE fan of YA (Young Adult) books ... it's where my heart truly is. I love everything about it--the awkwardness and sometimes painful self-discoveries, the ups and downs of being a teenager, the way the characters look at the world around them. Combine that with some Jason Bourne spy stuff and hockey and man, I'm 100% in. When I saw the blurb for Tracker Hacker by Jeff Adams, I knew this was going to be a book I had to have in my life. And let me tell you guys, I was not wrong. Wow! Talk about a wild ride from beginning to end! I could not stop reading and was completely enthralled from the first page until the last. 

Theo Reese is your typical teenager. He hangs out with his friends, plays hockey, and likes to make-out with his boyfriend, Eddie. He has a pretty decent relationship with his parents, school's not so bad ... he's even so smart that he takes a few classes at MIT. Yes, THAT MIT. Oh and on the side he just so happens to work for a super secret organization called Tactical Operation Support as a computer wiz and even has a cool codename--Winger. His parents work for the same organization, and together they secretly help keep people safe. It's not such a bad gig, though Theo has to lie to his friends and to Eddie, something that's getting harder and harder to manage the longer he has to do it. Theo loves helping people and he's pretty stoked at being able to use his brilliant brain to solve complex technical computer problems. When things start getting dangerous, for not only Theo but his family and the agents of TOS, Theo begins to understand exactly how much his double life might cost him. 

Guys, Tracker Hacker was tons of fun! Fast paced, witty, and exciting, it's everything a fantastic YA book (well, any book I suppose) should be. Theo was equal parts sarcastic and sweet. He has a huge, important job and he's brilliant, but he also has responsibilities to his hockey teammates and to Eddie. It's not always easy to balance and he makes mistakes, but he tries his best. I really liked his relationship with Eddie. They were fantastic together and you could definitely tell they love one another. I enjoyed the conflict here, of Theo having to hide this super secret part of his life, but wanting and trying to make time to spend with Eddie. The whole plot really grabbed my attention and didn't let go though the tech speak got a bit hard to follow at times and seemed to slow the story down in a few spots. All in all though, Tracker Hacker was a roller coaster of a ride and I can't wait to see where Jeff Adams takes the series next. Be sure to check it out, you won't be sorry! 

Giveaway

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Blog Tour: Finding Home by Garrett Leigh #Review #Giveaway

Author: Garrett Leigh
Book: Finding Home
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist: G.D. Leigh
Publication date: October 9, 2017
Length: 200 pages


Reviewed by Erin


Synopsis

How do you find a home when your heart is in ashes?

With their mum dead and their father on remand for her murder, Leo Hendry and his little sister, Lila, have nothing in the world but each other. Broken and burned, they’re thrust into the foster care system. Leo shields Lila from the fake families and forced affection, until the Poulton household is the only place left to go.

Charlie de Sousa is used to other kids passing through the Poulton home, but there’s never been anyone like his new foster brother. Leo’s physical injuries are plain to see, but it’s the pain in his eyes that draws Charlie in the most.

Day by day, they grow closer, but the darkness inside Leo consumes him. He rejects his foster parents, and when Charlie gets into trouble, Leo’s attempt to protect him turns violent. When Leo loses control, no one can reach him — except Charlie. He desperately needs a family—a home—and only Charlie can show him the way.

Buy Links

Riptide Publishing

Amazon

Review

It should come as a surprise to exactly no one that Garrett Leigh can write the hell out of a YA (Young Adult) book. After all, the woman can do anything ... and do it brilliantly. Her YA book, Finding Home is no different and everything you'd expect from such a talented writer. Though the plot isn't anything that hasn't been done before, we are treated to Garrett's unique and emotional writing at it's best and you will fall in love with Leo and Charlie right away and root for them to find happiness. Finding Home is angsty and painful at times, but there is happiness and joy and love as with all of Leigh's books. 

At the young age of fifteen, Leo Hendry has seen and suffered more than people two and three times his age. Abused for much of his life, Leo then watches as his father brutally murders his mother, and tries to burn the house down ... with he and his young sister still inside. Leo has no one besides his baby sister, Lila, and the two are placed in foster home after foster home until they wind up with the Poulton family. Distrustful and angry, Leo isn't prepared for them, especially not their son, Charlie. He has no idea how to live in a house where he doesn't have to watch over his shoulder every moment or be afraid to go to sleep at night. He's Lila's fierce protector, especially since Lila is deaf, and it takes him some time to get used to not having to be so vigilant. The more he's surrounded by the love and peace of the Poulton family, the more unsettled he gets ... except when he's with Charlie. 

Charlie de Sousa, adopted by Reg and Kate, is used to children coming into and out of their home for as long as can remember. What he can't remember is ever feeling a connection to anyone the way he does with Leo. Sure Leo is prickly and sometimes downright mean, but Charlie being the sensitive boy he is, can see through all of Leo's walls. He's drawn to Leo in a way that confuses him, but it also gives him purpose and a sense of rightness he can't ignore. Neither can he resist going to Leo anytime Leo's nightmares become too much for his young soul to take. 

As you'd expect with the subject matter, there is a sense of melancholy and heaviness to the book, but this is offset by the beautiful, fragile relationship between Leo and Charlie. These two boys need one another so desperately that you can't help but want to hold them close and protect them from all the world's hurts. In true YA fashion, Finding Home is more about the emotional connection and intimacy than anything physical, and here, it really fits the theme and atmosphere of the book. Finding Home is about the journey to find peace and safety and ultimately love. I loved the entire family dynamics in the Poulton home. Reg and Kate are amazing people and Fliss and Andy rounded out the family nicely. I loved how Lila's deafness was shown as just a part of who she is, not as a hindrance of any kind. And the growth of both Charlie and especially Leo was so achingly lovely. 

I'm so impressed by Finding Home and I surely hope this is not the last YA offering Garrett Leigh gives us readers. I'm a HUGE YA fan, these are the books that speak so much to my heart. Be sure to check this book out guys, it's excellent and everything you've come to expect from a super talented author.

About Garrett Leigh

Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Fox Love Press.

Garrett's debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards.

When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.

Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with renowned LGBTQA+ photographer Dan Burgess.

Social media:

Website: http://garrettleigh.com

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Garrett_Leigh

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/garrettleighbooks

Cover art enquiries: blackjazzdesign@gmail.com

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Finding Home, one lucky winner will receive a $20 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on October 14, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Random Review: Leo Loves Aries by Anyta Sunday #Review #Giveaway

Author: Anyta Sunday
Book: Leo Loves Aries
Series: Signs of Love #1
Self Published
Publication date: December 4, 2016
Length: 278 pages

Reviewed by Meredith


Synopsis

A new person will enter your life in the early year, Leo. Look past any moments of frustration they might bring and laugh—this could be the start of a thriving friendship.

Theo Wallace usually laughs at the horoscopes his mom sends. Still hung up on his ex-girlfriend and practically friendless, this one begs him to reconsider. Because a friendship that stuck, that thrived…

Well, that would be a reason to leave past pains behind and look to the Bright Future.

When his sister Leone challenges him to find her the perfect date for a spring wedding, Theo uses it as a chance to make new friends. Theo’s ex economics tutor and newest roommate Mr Jamie Cooper seems to be a possible and convenient match. Real convenient. Like written in the stars, convenient.

All he has to do is make sure this Jamie is good enough. Could really be the one for her, and the friend for him.

But watch out, Leo, the stars have a surprise in store…

Purchase Exclusively On Amazon

Review

Leo Loves Aries? Yeah, how about Meredith Loves Anyta! For like ever! I have yet to read a book by this author that doesn’t end with me in a book hangover. I want to eat her words for real. She just gets how moments should be written, how characters should be, and how emotion is truly felt.

I fell in love with this book one page in. It was so easy to adore these characters. Let’s talk about them, shall we.

Theo and Leone are twins (brother and sister) their relationship is the kind of sibling relationship we all want. Leone is legally blind and to watch Theo make sure her life is easier and organized made me smile. I hope this isn’t giving anything away but it will show you the picture of their relationship. He asks her what book her book club is reading next and she says it’s one that’s not on audiobook yet so she’s going to pass on it. And what does he do? He says, “I’ll read it to you.” Yep… swoon! His personality is outstanding. He’s witty, funny, and like a cool breeze on a warm day.

Jamie. He’s a smarty. He’s the reliable guy who cares about people and loves them through his actions. He becomes their roommate and it’s like life was never better without him. He makes sure they eat well, take care of themselves and not because he’s older or wiser but because he’s a genuinely AMAZING person.

When Theo tries to pair up his sister and Jamie… Well, that is when it gets even more interesting and fun.

I don’t want to give away this book but oh my god, read it. It’s a light read but it will make you smile and tear up in the best way. Your heart will burst with the love. The dialog is off the charts amazing. I can’t recommend this book enough!

Giveaway

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Contest ends on August 31st!

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Blog Tour: Assassins: Discord by Erica Cameron #Excerpt #Giveaway

Author: Erica Cameron
Book: Assassins: Discord
Series: Assassins #1
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Publication date: September 5, 2016
Length: 411 pages

About Assassins: Discord

Kindra’s moral compass has never pointed north, but that’s what happens when you’re raised as an assassin and a thief. At sixteen, she’s fantastic with a blade, an expert at slipping through the world unnoticed, and trapped in a life she didn’t chose. But nothing in her training prepares her for what happens when her father misses a target.

In the week-long aftermath, Kindra breaks ranks for the first time in her life. She steals documents, starts questioning who their client is and why the target needs to die, botches a second hit on her father’s target, and is nearly killed. And that’s before she’s kidnapped by a green-eyed stranger connected to a part of her childhood she’d almost forgotten.

Kindra has to decide who to trust and which side of the battle to fight for. She has to do it fast and she has to be right, because the wrong choice will kill her just when she’s finally found something worth living for.

 Purchase at Riptide

Excerpt

Chapter One

Tuesday, February 16 – 0531
For the first time since she was ten, Kindra almost dropped her knife.
Breath catching in her throat, she stared at her hand and willed herself to calm the hell down. Sure, this had been an effing weird week, but what she had to do here today wasn’t anything new. She knew the drill. Get in, get done, get out, get gone.
The slip had happened in less than a blink, her fingers sliding on the ribbed handle of the blade. Anyone skilled with knives would’ve noticed the near-miss. And there was no reason, not in anything Atropos held holy, for Kindra to have almost dropped the knife.
The guy strapped to the chair in front of her wasn’t skilled. Even if he had been, Kindra was pretty sure Mr. Bernard Gasper had other things on his mind right now. Like figuring out how to not die in the next sixty seconds.
Tightening her grip, Kindra strode forward. The chill crept through her thin gloves, numbing her fingers, but that was the downside of abandoned warehouses in winter—people noticed if you turned on the heat. She ignored the biting air, the smell of old fish, and the annoyingly loud creaks the roof made as the wind battered it. Instead, she concentrated on her assignment. Her target. The one her father had missed.
Kindra refused to acknowledge that tonight, for the first time in her life, her hands were shaking. She refused to even consider the possibility that her father’s affliction had hit her.
There was, however, another possible cause that she couldn’t discount: Bernard shouldn’t be here. It was possible that Kindra’s hands were shaking because she shouldn’t kill him. Because doing this would permanently damn her already bloodstained soul to Hades.
She cataloged the sprinkling of gray in his otherwise dark-brown hair, and the sheen of sweat on his copper skin—sweat, in a room that couldn’t be above thirty degrees, because he was still struggling.
Bernard Gasper fought the thin ties binding him to the chair bolted to the floor. The gag kept him mostly quiet, but he battled his bonds so fiercely that they were cutting into his skin. Blood dripped off his wrist and into small puddles on the stained concrete.
Kindra eyed the growing patches of evidence with distaste. Guns had never been her favorite weapon, but there was definitely something to be said for death by sniper rifle: a lot less cleanup for the assassins.
The gag would have to go, because she needed information, but for a moment she stared into his dark eyes. There was terror there, but he also seemed to be pleading for her to listen. To hear him. But he didn’t want to talk, he wanted to beg. For his life and for the protection of his cause.
And because this job had, for the first time in her life, given her a reason to think maybe disobedience would be worth the risk, she was actually contemplating listening.
Oh, bad idea.
Ripping the gag out but holding the knife to his throat—hoping it’d be just enough of a threat to keep him from screaming—Kindra watched Bernard suck in air and try to speak.
“If I—I tell you what I know, they’ll kill you too,” he wheezed, his voice so raw Kindra could barely make out the words.
“They could try.” Kindra pressed her knife harder. Whoever “they” are.
Bernard opened his mouth—to argue? To plead? To scream?
The door blew off its hinges. Brutal heat filled the once-freezing warehouse. Debris flew across the room, and Kindra wasn’t quick enough to dodge it. Not all of it. Something heavy slammed into her shoulder, and her head cracked against the cement floor. The air carried a blast of burning clay.
Shit. Was that C-4? The ringing in her ears and the darkness encroaching on the edges of her vision swamped her thoughts. She fought against the dizziness, trying to push it back. It took far longer than she liked to open her eyes.
When her eyes focused, a familiar face hovered above hers. One that shouldn’t have been anywhere near here.
“Baby, we’ve really got to stop meeting like this,” said a girl with dyed-black hair—her brown roots peeking through—and teasing moss-green eyes. A familiar endearment on the wrong tongue, and familiar eyes in the wrong face.
Finally, the aha moment she’d been waiting for but never thought she’d get.
He was in disguise.
It was her last coherent thought before everything went black.

About Erica Cameron

After a lifelong obsession with books, Erica Cameron spent her college years getting credit for reading and learning how to make stories of her own. Erica graduated with a double major in psychology and creative writing from Florida State University and began pursuing a career as an author.

Erica is many things but most notably the following: writer, reader, editor, dance fan, choreographer, singer, lover of musical theater, movie obsessed, sucker for romance, ex-Florida resident, and quasi-recluse. She loves the beach but hates the heat, has equal passion for the art of Salvador Dali and Venetian Carnival masks, has a penchant for unique jewelry and sun/moon décor pieces, and a desire to travel the entire world on a cruise ship. Or a private yacht. You know, whatever works.

Connect with Erica:

• Website  http://byericacameron.com
• Twitter  http://twitter.com/byericacameron
• Tumblr  http://byericacameron.tumblr.com
• Facebook  http://facebook.com/byericacameron
• Instagram http://instagram.com/byericacameron
• Email erica@byericacameron.com

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Assassins: Discord, one lucky winner will receive $30 in Riptide Publishing credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on September 10, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!