Friday, October 31, 2014

Be Among Monsters this Halloween!


Travel back to Red Hill on Halloween!
AMONG MONSTERS IS NOW AVAILABLE!


Title: Among Monsters (A Red Hill Novella)
Author: Jamie McGuire

Among Monsters is now available in ebook
and paperback on Amazon!
*Amazon Exclusive
Overview

Being thirteen has pitfalls of its own, but growing up has never been this hard.
Jenna had promised her mother that if the worst happened during her dad’s weekend, they would meet at Red Hill Ranch. When she finds seven words spray-painted on her dad’s wall the morning after a deadly outbreak, she makes a promise to herself: to get to the ranch with her seven-year-old sister, Halle, and to get them both there alive.

Among Monsters is the companion novella to Red Hill, both exploring from different perspectives what many broken families experience every other weekend: What if your children aren't with you when the world ends? What would you do to get to them? What would they go through to get to you?

For Jenna, seeing her mother again is worth everything. Determined to keep her promise, she is faced with experiences and decisions that force her to leave her childhood behind.


Excerpt

“You’re scared. You’re too scared to keep going.”

“Honey,” Dad began.

“You had to walk one day, and you’re scared? You killed a dozen infected and walked away without a scratch. We hit a parked truck at fifty miles an hour and barely noticed. Why are you suddenly opposed to Red Hill?” I was trying to remain calm, but with every point, my tone got higher.

Tavia clasped her hands together. “We’re all scared—”

“Then, stay!” I said, my voice transitioning to a weird chuckle even though I found none of what they were saying funny. “You don’t have to come with us. But our mom is waiting for us at Red Hill, and that is where Halle and I are going.”

“Not today,” Dad said.

“Then, when?” I asked again, emphasizing each word.

“When I say,” he said, sounding final.

I laughed once without humor. “I’m not asking to go to the mall. We’re talking about Mom being alone without us! She’s waiting for us! Do you honestly think I care that you’re”—I used my fingers to make quotation marks in the air—“the dad right now?”

He stomped over to me and leaned into my face, taking me back to a time when my parents had still been married. “You’d better start caring. Just because it’s the end of the world doesn’t mean I won’t whip your ass!”

Tavia pulled him back, and he flipped around, picking up a pillow and throwing it against the wall.

She eyed Dad warily. She was now seeing the side of him that Halle and I were used to, a side that I had been waiting for since this began.

“Andrew, maybe you should take a walk and see if you can do anything more to secure the house.”

Dad turned to her, his face severe. The skin between his brows had formed a crevice, as deep and as dark as his anger in that moment. His hazel-green eyes burned bright against his olive skin. Just when I thought he would start yelling again, he left the room.

Tavia took a deep breath and held her hand to her heart. “That was—”

“Typical,” I grumbled.

“You fight like that with him a lot?”

“We used to but not lately.”

“He gets pretty mad, huh?” she asked, glancing at the closed door.

“He has a temper. He’s working on it—allegedly.”

“Is that why you want to get to your mom so bad?”

My eyebrows pulled in. “What would you do if you were separated from Tobin?”

She blinked.

“She’s my mom. If I scrape my knee, I call for her. If I’m sick, I ask for her. If I’m scared, I cry for her. If there’s an apocalypse, I’m going to the ends of the earth for her.” My eyes and nose burned. The sudden emotion surprised me. I wiped my cheek and sniffed, staring at the floor. “It’s forty miles. We can make it.”

“We…we don’t know if Tobin can make forty miles. Who knows how long that would take on foot?”

“It doesn’t matter if we waste time here. What were you two talking about? How to convince me to stay? For a few days? For a week? Forever?”

“No.” She shook her head. “We’re just worried about the little ones being able to make it that far. We need a car—or at the very least, a way to carry the supplies. I can’t hold Tobin all day long. I can’t run with him. It’s too dangerous to try.”

“I like you, Tavia. I’m not trying to be mean, but no one’s asking you to come with us. If you want to stay here, stay here.”

She was taken aback. “I know, but we can’t do this alone. We need one another.”

“Brad will leave eventually for Shallot. You need my dad to stay.”

“It’s not so different. You need him to leave.”

“But he’s my dad. I’m not going to give up on seeing my mom again because you can’t travel with Tobin.”

Tavia’s sweet smile fell away. She wasn’t being confrontational, but she did have the look of a mother bear protecting her cub. “Halle can’t make the trip either. You would be risking her life if you go, especially if you try something as ridiculous as leaving without your dad. We’re the adults, Jenna. He’ll listen to me.”

I took a deep breath and lowered my chin. Tavia was pretty intimidating. I thought about what Mom would say when I told her about this conversation later. She would want me to fight. She would want me to do anything I could to get Halle and me to Red Hill.

“My dad and I have had our ups and downs,” I said, keeping my voice low and steady. “But if you try to make him pick between you or me, you’ll lose.”




Giveaway
Go to Jamie's Facebook Page for a chance to win a 
signed hardback of Red Hill AND a signed paperback 
of the new novella, Among Monsters! 


Amazon | BN | iTunes

About the Author:
Jamie McGuire was born in Tulsa, OK. She attended the Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Autry Technology Center where she graduated with a degree in Radiography.

Jamie paved the way for the New Adult genre with international bestseller, Beautiful Disaster. Her follow-up novel Walking Disaster debuted at #1 on the New York TimesUSA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. She has also written apocalyptic thriller Red Hill, a novella titled A Beautiful Wedding, and the Providence series, a young adult paranormal romance trilogy.

Jamie lives on a ranch just outside Enid, OK with husband Jeff and their three children. They share their 30 acres with cattle, six horses, three dogs, and Rooster the cat.

Connect with Jamie:


Saturday, October 25, 2014

Among Monsters is Coming!


Travel back to Red Hill on Halloween!
AMONG MONSTERS will be here on October 31st!


Title: Among Monsters (A Red Hill Novella)
Author: Jamie McGuire
Add to Goodreads 
Pre-Order on Amazon

Among Monsters will be available in eBook and paperback
EXCLUSIVELY on Amazon!

Overview

Being thirteen has pitfalls of its own, but growing up has never been this hard.
Jenna had promised her mother that if the worst happened during her dad’s weekend, they would meet at Red Hill Ranch. When she finds seven words spray-painted on her dad’s wall the morning after a deadly outbreak, she makes a promise to herself: to get to the ranch with her seven-year-old sister, Halle, and to get them both there alive.

Among Monsters is the companion novella to Red Hill, both exploring from different perspectives what many broken families experience every other weekend: What if your children aren't with you when the world ends? What would you do to get to them? What would they go through to get to you?

For Jenna, seeing her mother again is worth everything. Determined to keep her promise, she is faced with experiences and decisions that force her to leave her childhood behind.


Photo Credit: Heather Summers
- Excerpt -

The governor was elevated above the crowd on a make-shift stage in the center of the room, speaking comforting words into a microphone, as people yelled questions and concerns.

“I hear what you’re saying. I’m not saying not to worry. With words like epidemic and now pandemic being thrown around…it’s a worrisome situation. But we’re safe here, and that’s what we need to focus on now. Panic won’t solve anything.”

“Is it the terrorists?” someone yelled.

“No,” the governor said, amused. “I’ve been told it’s a virus.”

“What kind of virus?” someone else asked.

“We’re not exactly sure yet,” Governor Bellmon said.

He was being honest. I’d give him that.

“There are reports in Mississippi!” a man said, holding up his phone.

The crowd erupted, and the governor leaned over to whisper something in a man’s ear. He was dressed in a suit, and he nodded before leaving the stage immediately. He walked over to Tom, the fire chief, just feet away from where we stood. Tom listened intently to the man in the suit and then waved to his men to come closer.

“The governor has ordered we gather water and supplies. We’re going into disaster mode, guys. I know most of you came in for the photo op, but you’re getting called in. Let’s get going.”

The men gave a nod and turned for the back door. Dad looked around and caught Tom as he was making his way toward the police chief and the mayor.

“Tom, I’ve got my little girls here,” Dad said.

Tom looked down at Halle and me and then nodded, giving Dad an unspoken pass, before he continued on.

“Now what?” I asked.

“We wait for the guys to get back and help as best as we can.” He leaned in, whispering in my ear. “Do me a favor, Jenna. Stay off your phone. I don’t want any of the stuff on the news to scare your sister.”

I felt a small hand grip mine. I knelt down beside Halle. Her stringy blonde hair was a ratty mess as it always was after school. Her clothes were mismatched, and her heather-gray hoodie jacket was tied around her waist. She pushed up her black-rimmed glasses, her ice-blue eyes glistening.

We couldn’t look more different—Halle with her light-blue eyes and tiny frame and me with my honey-brown irises and chestnut hair. I was always athletic, always pushing against boundaries, vying for independence, even when I was little. Halle just always seemed so fragile.

As if she could hear my thoughts and personify them, she squeaked her next words, “I want Mom.”

“I bet she’ll head this way as soon as she gets off work. She’ll want to be here with us,” I said.

Halle shook her head. “She won’t come here, Jenna. She’ll go to our place.”

“Red Hill? That’s just if something bad happens, silly.”

Halle looked around at the roomful of frightened people. “This is bad, Jenna.”

I stood and squeezed her to my side.


Photo Credit: Heather Summers
Giveaway
5 AMONG MONSTERS ebooks

About the Author:
Jamie McGuire was born in Tulsa, OK. She attended the Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Autry Technology Center where she graduated with a degree in Radiography.

Jamie paved the way for the New Adult genre with international bestseller, Beautiful Disaster. Her follow-up novel Walking Disaster debuted at #1 on the New York TimesUSA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. She has also written apocalyptic thriller Red Hill, a novella titled A Beautiful Wedding, and the Providence series, a young adult paranormal romance trilogy.

Jamie lives on a ranch just outside Enid, OK with husband Jeff and their three children. They share their 30 acres with cattle, six horses, three dogs, and Rooster the cat.


Connect with Jamie:



Saturday, October 11, 2014

*Review* Apolonia by Jamie McGuire



My Review for the newly released novel,
APOLONIA
by New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street
Journal bestselling author Jamie McGuire!


TitleAPOLONIA
Author: Jamie McGuire
Age: NA
Genre: Sci-Fi Romance
Publisher: Jamie McGuire LLC (October 6, 2014)
Cover Design: Okay Creations, Sarah Hansen
Add to Goodreads
Purchase Now:
Kindle | Nook | iBooks Kobo Paperback

Overview:
“They killed me, but I survived.”

Three years after Rory Riordan foiled her own murder, she still trusts no one. Not Dr. Z, the eccentric college professor who has taken her under his wing, not Benji, the endearing, attractive classmate who insists on following her around, and certainly not Cy, the beautifully dark and mysterious boy who sits on the first row in Dr. Z’s Astrobiology class and asks far too many questions.

When Rory witnesses Cy being abducted by soldiers in the middle of the night, she finds herself submersed in a world that holds even more secrets than she could imagine--even darker secrets than her own.

From #1 New York Times Bestseller Jamie McGuire, experience the perfect combination of her bestselling books Providence & Beautiful Disaster. This New Adult Sci-Fi Romance is an action-packed, whiplash-inducing roller coaster ride. Page after page, this unpredictable, dark and sexy nail biter will keep readers guessing until the very end!
"I loved Rory, Benji & Cy!"


I really enjoyed the story and the main character Rory. I enjoyed the developing of her relationships with Benji and with Cy. Each one started off as a friendship. One a little more weird and awkward in the beginning but it made it interesting. I liked Rory with Benji and I was intrigued by Cy and why they were drawn to each other. I was also very curious about Cy and couldn't figure out who he was but knew there was something more to him.

I am usually a romance novel reader and this was the first Sci-Fi novel. I especially loved the beginning and the end and I would definitely recommend it if you enjoy Sci-Fi. I am happy that Jamie went outside of her own comfort zone to write this. I absolutely believe you should follow your dreams and explore them no matter where they take you. As always I can't wait to see where Jamie's imagination takes us next.

- EXCERPT -

Halloween night, while everyone was dressing up and attending parties, Cy and I were in the basement, punching numbers. The Fitz was one of the oldest buildings on campus, and it struggled to keep itself comfortably heated in the winter and cooled in the summer. The basement was particularly miserable and felt like an icebox on very cold nights.

I sipped my water and pulled the sleeves of my sweater further down my hands.

Cy cleared his throat and, for the first time in weeks, spoke to me first. “I can talk to Dr. Zorba about a space heater.”

“He’ll never go for it,” I said, putting down my water and wiping my lips with the cuff of my sweater. “He wouldn’t risk a fire or a significant temperature change affecting the specimen.”

“It won’t affect the specimen. It came from space.”

“Exactly. Where it’s cold.”

“Who says the planet it originated from wasn’t able to retain higher temperatures?”

“Like Venus?”

“Exactly like Venus. I mean . . . I’m sure that it’s possible. I’ll look into a space heater.” I watched him expectantly. “What?”

“No Uranus jokes? I’m disappointed.”

“What do you mean?”

I chuckled. “Never mind.” My fingers began clicking against the keyboard again, and I was sure that I’d caught Cy staring at me from the corner of my eye. I glanced over at him. “What?”

“You’re much more attractive when you smile. And your laugh is lovely.”

“Uh . . . thank you.”

“You’re—”

“I’m welcome. It’s okay. I say thank you to you a lot, apparently.”

“I just want you to . . . I don’t know what I want.”

He stared at me for a few moments more then continued with his work. My face caught fire as the blood pooled under my cheeks. My fingers wouldn’t work after that, and I couldn’t concentrate on the numbers.

Cy stood up and left the room without a word. Right about the time I’d decided to get up and look for him, he returned, setting a Butterfinger on my desk.

“Trick or treat, right?” he said.

“Is that a Halloween joke? I mean that’s cool. I just didn’t know you had a sense of humor.”

“I’m surprised you’re here. There are costume parties all over campus.”

I shook my head. “I don’t really do parties. Just once in a while when I’m bored out of my mind, but I avoid Halloween parties at all costs.”

“Why is that?”

“Fake blood. Dead people. Slutty costumes. None of it screams fun to me.”

Cy grinned. “I suppose not. We still have an hour or so of work to do. Would you mind if I walk you home when we’re finished?”

“Why?”

My response took Cy off guard. He blinked a few times and then cleared his throat. “I think that maybe my insistence not to form attachments here was incorrect. We spend a lot of time together down here, and I’d like to get to know you better.”

“So that’s why you’ve been ignoring me? Because you know you’re leaving?”

He hesitated. “In part, yes.”

“What’s the other part?”

He squirmed in his chair. “You . . . intrigue me.”

I wanted to high-five myself. The few times we’d interacted before I thought he was being nice in spite of feeling an extreme loathing towards me. Instead, it was the opposite. To Cy, I was intriguing. I shrugged, trying to pretend I wasn’t irrationally pleased. “If you want.”

He smiled then continued with his work. Despite the difficulty I had focusing, I forced myself to get through the pages of data on my desk. My mind kept wandering off, questioning why I felt so drawn to him. Cy wasn’t my type. He was leaving. His lack of concert T’s told me that we likely had nothing in common. But even then, I had a strong feeling that there was a reason life had thrown us together.


Apolonia is NOW AVAILABLE!
Kindle | Nook | iBooks Kobo Paperback
APOLONIA GIVEAWAY
3 Prints & 5 ebooks



About the Author:
Jamie McGuire was born in Tulsa, OK. She attended the Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Autry Technology Center where she graduated with a degree in Radiography.

Jamie paved the way for the New Adult genre with international bestseller, Beautiful Disaster. Her follow-up novel Walking Disaster debuted at #1 on the New York TimesUSA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. She has also written apocalyptic thriller Red Hill, a novella titled A Beautiful Wedding, and the Providence series, a young adult paranormal romance trilogy.

Jamie lives on a ranch just outside Enid, OK with husband Jeff and their three children. They share their 30 acres with cattle, six horses, three dogs, and Rooster the cat.

Connect with Jamie:



Monday, October 6, 2014

*Release Day* Apolonia by Jamie McGuire


Today I'm celebrating the release of
APOLONIA
by New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street
Journal bestselling author Jamie McGuire!

Photo Credit: Kelli Spear

Excerpt, Teasers and GIVEAWAY below!!!


TitleAPOLONIA
Author: Jamie McGuire
Age: NA
Genre: Sci-Fi Romance
Publisher: Jamie McGuire LLC (October 6, 2014)
Cover Design: Okay Creations, Sarah Hansen
Add to Goodreads
Purchase & Download Now:
Kindle | Nook | iBooks Kobo Paperback

Overview:
“They killed me, but I survived.”

Three years after Rory Riordan foiled her own murder, she still trusts no one. Not Dr. Z, the eccentric college professor who has taken her under his wing, not Benji, the endearing, attractive classmate who insists on following her around, and certainly not Cy, the beautifully dark and mysterious boy who sits on the first row in Dr. Z’s Astrobiology class and asks far too many questions.

When Rory witnesses Cy being abducted by soldiers in the middle of the night, she finds herself submersed in a world that holds even more secrets than she could imagine--even darker secrets than her own.

From #1 New York Times Bestseller Jamie McGuire, experience the perfect combination of her bestselling books Providence & Beautiful Disaster. This New Adult Sci-Fi Romance is an action-packed, whiplash-inducing roller coaster ride. Page after page, this unpredictable, dark and sexy nail biter will keep readers guessing until the very end!
- EXCERPT -

Halloween night, while everyone was dressing up and attending parties, Cy and I were in the basement, punching numbers. The Fitz was one of the oldest buildings on campus, and it struggled to keep itself comfortably heated in the winter and cooled in the summer. The basement was particularly miserable and felt like an icebox on very cold nights.

I sipped my water and pulled the sleeves of my sweater further down my hands.

Cy cleared his throat and, for the first time in weeks, spoke to me first. “I can talk to Dr. Zorba about a space heater.”

“He’ll never go for it,” I said, putting down my water and wiping my lips with the cuff of my sweater. “He wouldn’t risk a fire or a significant temperature change affecting the specimen.”

“It won’t affect the specimen. It came from space.”

“Exactly. Where it’s cold.”

“Who says the planet it originated from wasn’t able to retain higher temperatures?”

“Like Venus?”

“Exactly like Venus. I mean . . . I’m sure that it’s possible. I’ll look into a space heater.” I watched him expectantly. “What?”

“No Uranus jokes? I’m disappointed.”

“What do you mean?”

I chuckled. “Never mind.” My fingers began clicking against the keyboard again, and I was sure that I’d caught Cy staring at me from the corner of my eye. I glanced over at him. “What?”

“You’re much more attractive when you smile. And your laugh is lovely.”

“Uh . . . thank you.”

“You’re—”

“I’m welcome. It’s okay. I say thank you to you a lot, apparently.”

“I just want you to . . . I don’t know what I want.”

He stared at me for a few moments more then continued with his work. My face caught fire as the blood pooled under my cheeks. My fingers wouldn’t work after that, and I couldn’t concentrate on the numbers.

Cy stood up and left the room without a word. Right about the time I’d decided to get up and look for him, he returned, setting a Butterfinger on my desk.

“Trick or treat, right?” he said.

“Is that a Halloween joke? I mean that’s cool. I just didn’t know you had a sense of humor.”

“I’m surprised you’re here. There are costume parties all over campus.”

I shook my head. “I don’t really do parties. Just once in a while when I’m bored out of my mind, but I avoid Halloween parties at all costs.”

“Why is that?”

“Fake blood. Dead people. Slutty costumes. None of it screams fun to me.”

Cy grinned. “I suppose not. We still have an hour or so of work to do. Would you mind if I walk you home when we’re finished?”

“Why?”

My response took Cy off guard. He blinked a few times and then cleared his throat. “I think that maybe my insistence not to form attachments here was incorrect. We spend a lot of time together down here, and I’d like to get to know you better.”

“So that’s why you’ve been ignoring me? Because you know you’re leaving?”

He hesitated. “In part, yes.”

“What’s the other part?”

He squirmed in his chair. “You . . . intrigue me.”

I wanted to high-five myself. The few times we’d interacted before I thought he was being nice in spite of feeling an extreme loathing towards me. Instead, it was the opposite. To Cy, I was intriguing. I shrugged, trying to pretend I wasn’t irrationally pleased. “If you want.”

He smiled then continued with his work. Despite the difficulty I had focusing, I forced myself to get through the pages of data on my desk. My mind kept wandering off, questioning why I felt so drawn to him. Cy wasn’t my type. He was leaving. His lack of concert T’s told me that we likely had nothing in common. But even then, I had a strong feeling that there was a reason life had thrown us together.








DOWNLOAD APOLONIA NOW!
Kindle | Nook | iBooks Kobo Paperback
APOLONIA GIVEAWAY
3 Prints & 5 ebooks




About the Author:
Jamie McGuire was born in Tulsa, OK. She attended the Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Autry Technology Center where she graduated with a degree in Radiography.

Jamie paved the way for the New Adult genre with international bestseller, Beautiful Disaster. Her follow-up novel Walking Disaster debuted at #1 on the New York TimesUSA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. She has also written apocalyptic thriller Red Hill, a novella titled A Beautiful Wedding, and the Providence series, a young adult paranormal romance trilogy.

Jamie lives on a ranch just outside Enid, OK with husband Jeff and their three children. They share their 30 acres with cattle, six horses, three dogs, and Rooster the cat.

Connect with Jamie: