#BookTour: Food Stamp Warrior by John Deaton @brassknuxbooks @RABTBookTours

Memoir

Date Published: September 19, 2023

Publisher: ‎Brass Knuckle Books

 

JOHN DEATON'S RAW AND COMPELLING MEMOIR

 

From brass knuckle beatdowns on the schoolyard to showdowns with the SEC on the national news, every second of Deaton’s life has been a fight for survival. This book is the raw, wild John Deaton story, straight from the source. Born in one of the worst neighborhoods in Detroit — the kind of place the city cordoned off with warning signs and growing up surrounded by hustlers, addicts, abusers, gang bangers, and the downtrodden, Deaton became a fighter, with violence becoming second nature.

Deep down however, all he wanted was to escape. Deaton’s escape would take him to law school, where he starved and battled cancer, while his peers lived off privilege. He became a marine, an attorney, a millionaire, a father — but the unexamined trauma from his past haunted and nearly broke him. This memoir is Deaton’s confession, his exorcism, his proclamation to fellow survivors: Don’t give up. Our birth is not our fate. We make our own fate.

Food Stamp Warrior is written with the depth of setting found in Hillbilly Elegy and the razor-sharp, unpretentious voice of Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. In a time of uncertainty and economic instability, Deaton's story is one of perseverance, resilience and empowerment.

#BookReview: War Girls (War Girls, #1) by Tochi Onyebuchi

Synopsis: The year is 2172. Climate change and nuclear disasters have rendered much of earth unlivable. Only the lucky ones have escaped to space colonies in the sky. 

In a war-torn Nigeria, battles are fought using flying, deadly mechs and soldiers are outfitted with bionic limbs and artificial organs meant to protect them from the harsh, radiation-heavy climate. Across the nation, as the years-long civil war wages on, survival becomes the only way of life. 

Two sisters, Onyii and Ify, dream of more. Their lives have been marked by violence and political unrest. Still, they dream of peace, of hope, of a future together.

And they're willing to fight an entire war to get there.

#BookReview: The Never Tilting World (The Never Tilting World, #1) by Ron Chupeco

Synopsis: Frozen meets Mad Max in this epic teen fantasy duology bursting with star-crossed romance, immortal heroines, and elemental magic, perfect for fans of Furyborn.

Generations of twin goddesses have long ruled Aeon. But seventeen years ago, one sister’s betrayal defied an ancient prophecy and split their world in two. The planet ceased to spin, and a Great Abyss now divides two realms: one cloaked in perpetual night, the other scorched by an unrelenting sun. 

While one sister rules Aranth—a frozen city surrounded by a storm-wracked sea —her twin inhabits the sand-locked Golden City. Each goddess has raised a daughter, and each keeps her own secrets about her sister’s betrayal. 

But when shadowy forces begin to call their daughters, Odessa and Haidee, back to the site of the Breaking, the two young goddesses —along with a powerful healer from Aranth, and a mouthy desert scavenger —set out on separate journeys across treacherous wastelands, desperate to heal their broken world. No matter the sacrifice it demands.

#BookReview: The End and Other Beginnings: Stories from the Future by Veronica Roth

Synopsis: A collection of novella-length stories set in the future, illustrated with black-and-white artwork.

No world is like the other. Within this collection, each setting is more strange and wonderful than the last, brimming with new technologies and beings. And yet, for all the advances in these futuristic lands, the people still must confront deeply human problems.

With tales of friendship and revenge, plus two new stories from the Carve the Mark universe. Each story begins with a hope for a better end, but always end with a better understanding of the beginning.

#BookReview: Crier's War (Crier's War, #1) by @ninavarelas

Synopsis: Impossible love between two girls —one human, one Made. 
A love that could birth a revolution.

After the War of Kinds ravaged the kingdom of Rabu, the Automae, Designed to be the playthings of royals, took over the estates of their owners and bent the human race to their will.

Now, Ayla, a human servant rising the ranks at the House of the Sovereign, dreams of avenging the death of her family… by killing the Sovereign’s daughter, Lady Crier. Crier, who was Made to be beautiful, to be flawless. And to take over the work of her father. 

Crier had been preparing to do just that—to inherit her father’s rule over the land. But that was before she was betrothed to Scyre Kinok, who seems to have a thousand secrets. That was before she discovered her father isn’t as benevolent as she thought. That was before she met Ayla.

Set in a richly-imagined fantasy world, Nina Varela’s debut novel is a sweepingly romantic tale of love, loss and revenge, that challenges what it really means to be human.

#BookReview: Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

Synopsis: In the faux-documentary style of The Blair Witch Project comes the campfire story of a missing girl, a vengeful ghost, and the girl who is determined to find her sister—at all costs.

Once a year, the path appears in the forest and Lucy Gallows beckons. Who is brave enough to find her—and who won't make it out of the woods?

It's been exactly one year since Sara's sister, Becca, disappeared, and high school life has far from settled back to normal. With her sister gone, Sara doesn't know whether her former friends no longer like her... or are scared of her, and the days of eating alone at lunch have started to blend together. When a mysterious text message invites Sara and her estranged friends to "play the game" and find local ghost legend Lucy Gallows, Sara is sure this is the only way to find Becca—before she's lost forever. And even though she's hardly spoken with them for a year, Sara finds herself deep in the darkness of the forest, her friends—and their cameras—following her down the path. Together, they will have to draw on all of their strengths to survive. The road is rarely forgiving, and no one will be the same on the other side.

#BookReview: Verify (Verify, #1) by Joelle Charbonneau

Synopsis: Meri Beckley lives in a world without lies. When she turns on the news, she hears only the facts. When she swipes the pages of her online textbooks, she reads only the truth. When she looks at the peaceful Chicago streets, she feels the pride everyone in the country feels about the era of unprecedented hope and prosperity over which the government presides.

But when Meri’s mother is killed, Meri suddenly has questions that no one else seems to be asking. And when she tries to uncover her mother’s state of mind in her last weeks, she finds herself drawn into a secret world full of facts she’s never heard and a history she didn’t know existed.

Suddenly, Meri is faced with a choice between accepting the “truth” she has been taught or embracing a world the government doesn’t want anyone to see—a world where words have the power to change the course of a country, and the wrong word can get Meri killed.

#BookReview: A Treason of Thorns by Laura E. Weymouth

Synopsis: Violet Sterling has spent the last seven years in exile, longing to return to Burleigh House. One of the six great houses of England, Burleigh’s magic always kept the countryside well. And as a child, this magic kept Violet happy, draping her in flowers while she slept, fashioning secret hiding places for her, and lighting fires on the coldest nights to keep her warm.

Everything shattered, though, when her father committed high treason trying to free Burleigh from the king’s oppressive control. He was killed, and Vi was forced into hiding.

When she’s given a chance to go back, she discovers Burleigh has run wild with grief. Vines and briars are crumbling the walls. Magic that once enriched the surrounding countryside has turned dark and deadly, twisting lush blooms into thorns, poisoning livestock and destroying crops. Burleigh’s very soul is crying out in pain.

Vi would do anything to help, and soon she finds herself walking the same deadly path as her father all those years before. Vi must decide how far she’s willing to go to save her house—before her house destroys everything she’s ever known.

Content warnings are available via the author's website.

#PreorderBlitz for Love Honor Betray by @LKnight_Author and @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Love Honor Betray

Series: Tightrope #1

Author: L. Knight

Genre: Billionaire Contemporary Romance

Tropes: Secret Baby/Accidental Pregnancy

One Night Stand/Second Chance

Re-release Date: December 29, 2023

BLURB

I promised to love.

I swore to obey.

I was compelled to betray.

Married to my college sweetheart, I thought I knew my path. We were forging our perfect future, everything falling into place. Until the man I promised my life to changed into a cruel, cold shadow of the man I loved.

With everything I thought I knew in tatters, I find myself in a bar, face to face with a sexy stranger who unlocks things about myself I’d long forgotten.

Just one night. Wild and passionate. A balm for my bruised and lonely heart. Now I can’t stop thinking about him, wishing I knew the name of the man who has set me free and stolen my heart.

But happiness is never easy. Now caught between a twisted and dangerous past that won’t let me go, and the hope for a future that once seemed so far out of my reach. I face the ultimate price as I’m left fighting for everything I want.

Love that will last a lifetime.

Duty or desire, what would you choose?

Please note this title was previously published as the Tightrope Duet by MADDIE WADE.

#BookBlitz: Conall the Strong by Wendy L. Anderson @wendyan99642302 @RRBookTours1 #RRBookTours

Another tale in the Legends of Everclearing Series is coming out this week! Be sure to get Conall the Strong by Wendy L. Anderson on December 22nd!

Conall the Strong (The Legends of Everclearing Series) Publication Date: December 22, 2023 Genre: Romantic Fantasy When courage is not enough...Conall the Strong is a gripping tale of love, sacrifice, and resilience, where two indomitable souls journey through darkness and adversity in search of the light that will forever free them. In the shadowed depths of a brutal and unforgiving world, a tale of unyielding love and harrowing escape unfolds. Conall the Strong, whose physical strength knows no bounds, is held captive by ruthless slavers. Though he possesses the power to shatter his bonds at any moment, his heart is chained by a cruel twist of fate – the slavers have also imprisoned his twin sister and the woman he loves. Their lives are shackled to his failure, entwined within the merciless walls of a gold mine, where they toil endlessly. Yearning for escape, Conall’s heart pulses with a relentless determination to right his past wrongs. Undertaking a heroic rebellion, they flee into the treacherous land of the Dark Waters, but evading their relentless pursuers proves to be a journey fraught with danger, where not all may emerge unscathed. Kala, Conall's twin sister, possesses a hidden power as a Dream Walker, wielding magic to transcend her enslaved existence. Unbeknownst to her, the man of her dreams is not a mere phantom but a flesh-and-blood reality waiting for her beyond the confines of captivity. To secure the freedom she craves and to find love, Kala must summon the strength to break free from the chains that bind her and survive the search to find him. Amidst the challenges of their perilous journey is the mystical allure of the Ny-Failen, and the beckoning promise of the City of Everclearing. Conall's unparalleled physical strength is put to the test, but it is his wounded spirit that threatens to shackle him once more. Get it Here! 

#BookReview: Pretty Reckless (All Saints, #1) by L.J. Shen

Synopsis: They say revenge is a dish best served cold… 

Penn Scully has had four years to stew on what Daria Followhill did to him, and now his heart is completely iced over. 

He took her first kiss, and she took away the only person he ever loved. 

He asked her to save the rest of her firsts for him, and she walked all over his heart in stiletto heels and left it bleeding out on a bright summer day. 

Now, everything has changed. 

When circumstances leave Penn homeless in his senior year, the Followhills take him in as their latest shiny project. That means, for the time being, he's Daria's housemate, living right across the hall. 

And once he sees her again, he's determined to make this spoiled princess pay for ruining the only good thing in his life. 

But Daria is used to being misunderstood. Being slammed for every snarky comment, cynical eye roll, and foot she puts in the way of the people who hurt her. 

Being the girl everyone wants to see cry, and keeping her tears hidden. Penn wanted her firsts, but she wants to be his last everything. 

The problem is, once they see past each other's cutting barbs and wounded hearts, the truths they uncover might just start something new altogether.