Indie Spotlight: The Travelers Series by Claudia Lefeve

Today’s Indie Spotlight features Claudia Lefeve.  Claudia is an author from Texas.  Her series (which she calls young adult speculative fiction), The Travelers Series, follows a young girl who has special abilities (including crossing through parallel/alernate universes.  The best part –book one (Parallel) is now FREE on Amazon!

The Books

Parallel (1)

Destiny has a way of catching up.

Saddled with powers she doesn’t understand, Etta Fleming’s world is turned upside-down the day she meets Cooper Everett, the man who transports her to an alternate reality. A reality she was meant to be a part of.

One minute, she’s an orphan living at Dominion House for Girls, an institution for delinquent foster kids, then finds herself attending the exclusive Dominion Hall Academy.

Plucked from the only world she’s ever known, Etta now has to deal with an aunt she never knew, a boyfriend she doesn’t know, and a best friend who can’t know. (Goodreads.com)

Paradox (2)

Everything is predestined.

Etta is slowly readjusting to life in her new reality, while still recovering from the shock over the news regarding her relationship with Cooper.

While learning more about her role as leader of the Council, she soon discovers that her future is linked to the five extraordinary individuals she must recruit in order to ensure her destiny.

Nothing is as it seems, as rivals become allies and friends become the enemy. (Goodreads.com)

Paradigm (3)

Take hold of your destiny.

Etta Fleming doesn’t know she was meant to return to her true reality four years ago. After years of being the “orphan girl” in the alternate world she grew up in, she’s finally carved a niche for herself with a great job, a steady boyfriend, and a best friend by her side. 

Undeterred by the shift in the timeline, it is up to Cooper Everett and his friends to convince Etta that she is still destined to become their leader, fighting against their post-apocalyptic future.

Will meeting the ghosts of her past convince Etta that she’s part of a grander destiny? Or will her past, present, and future worlds collide? (Goodreads.com)

Hitched (Short Story)

After the events of PARALLEL and PARADOX, in a timeline shift prior to the reality of PARADIGM, comes HITCHED, a Travelers Series short story. Coming soon! (Goodreads.com)

About the Author

Claudia Lefeve was born and raised in the Gulf Coast border town of Brownsville, Texas; a curious place where folks see curanderas in lieu of shrinks, tortillas are served at every meal, and even gringos speak Spanish. PARALLEL, the first book in The Travelers series, is her debut YA speculative novel. She currently resides in Northern Virginia with her husband and one precocious pug.respond to all emails.

Connect with Claudia

    

Buy Her Books

The Travelers Series

   
*NOTE* Click cover for more information.  Book ONE (Parallel) is free now on Amazon!

I hope you enjoy this series as much as I have!

Book Blitz & GIVEAWAY — Shine Not Burn by Elle Casey

Shine Not Burn by Elle Casey
Publication date: June 30th 2013
Genre: NA Romance

Synopsis:
IT HAPPENED IN VEGAS. I can’t be held responsible. Things that happen there are supposed to stay there, right? Right? Yeeeah. Not so much. … Andie’s just days away from tying the knot, but there’s just ooooone little glitch. Apparently, she’s already married. Or someone with her name is married to a guy out in Oregon of all places, and the courthouse won’t issue her a marriage license until it’s all cleared up. Tripping her way through cow pies and country songs to meet up with a man who gets around places on horseback is her very last idea of how to have a good time, but if she’s going to get married, make partner at the firm, and have two point five kids before she’s thirty-five, she needs to get to the bottom of this snafu and fix it quick … before her fiance finds out and everything she’s been working toward goes up in flames.

Buy on Amazon
*ON SALE NOW: Pre-Order this book for 99c!*

Add to Goodreads:

About the Author

Elle Casey is a full-time writer of New Adult and Young Adult titles in several genres, including romance, urban fantasy, sci-fi dystopian, and action-adventure. She’s an American girl who’s been living in southern France with her husband and three children since 2010. She loves chatting with her readers, so feel free to drop her a line.

Connect with Elle

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Inside the Author’s Head

1. You started out writing in YA. What brought you over to New Adult?

I’ve been a reader of new adult titles even before they were called ‘new adult’. And I love the age group it covers. 18-30 years old is such a great time in life, isn’t it? I mean, it’s when you sow your wild oats, learn about yourself in the context of the whole world and not just your family and friends; it’s where you figure out who you’re going to be. The adult-formative years I guess you could call it. And the sex part is awesome too, I won’t lie. You can only get so sexy with a YA book, so as a writer, I have to hold back. In NA, I don’t have to do that. It can be passionate, raw, sometimes awkward and full of bad decisions, but it can be REAL. I guess that’s what I love about NA most … it’s raw and real.

2. You have a lot of novels in the urban fantasy genre. What interested you in writing romances?

Romances were my first love. Well … aside from Disney fairy tales. But then again, those are all romances aren’t they? They’ve got misunderstood heroines – beaten down by others – who are looking for love and understanding, finally finding it in the hands of a guy on horseback. I’ve read hundreds of romances in my time, from every publisher out there, including indie authors of course. It doesn’t matter how many I read, I always want more. Since I love them as a reader, I really wanted to try my hand as a writer in the genre. I have so many romance stories simmering in my brain right now, at this point, it’s like therapy just getting them out of there. I have 6 romances planned for the rest of the year and lots more for 2014. I’m going to be very busy. But I’m happy being busy because it’s very important to me that I keep hunger readers fed. I live to write for voracious readers.

3. What’s your favorite part of being a writer?

My readers. Hands down, it’s the readers. I get emails and messages every day from devoted fans, and I can’t express how much that means to me. There are readers out there who’ve set up book blogs just because they were so excited about my books, people who make it a point to promote my books on their Facebook pages and Twitter just because they want to share the reader-love, and whole families who are reading my series and discussing them at dinner. It just blows my mind that people would be so generous and so involved in my made-up worlds. Recently I had a fan dress as one of my characters at a comic con event. I also occasionally get a very heart-warming message about how my writing has changed someone’s life – caused them to finally start reading or to go to college. To me, that’s the sign of a life well-lived – that I’ve somehow inspired another person to reach for something they want in life that they thought they didn’t have a chance at having before.

4. Why do you live in France?

I came here for a vacation with my husband in 2007 and we both fell in love with it. After the economy took a downturn and my husband lost his job, we started talking about simplifying our lives and focusing on different things. That’s when the idea of living in a foreign country came up. We wanted to do it for one year, to give our three kids the opportunity to experience another culture and learn another language while also refocusing our grown-up lives to get away from the rampant materialism that had kind of taken over everything. And we loved France, so it seemed like the logical place to go. Once we were here, we fell in love more deeply and decided to stay indefinitely. We still love our home country of course, but for now, we’re content with a very laid back life in the south of France. What can I say … we love wine and cheese A LOT!

 

Now comes the fun part!  Today’s giveaway is for a copy of Shine Not Burn, thanks to the author and Xpresso Book Tours.  Please be sure to complete each item on the list BEFORE you click it, as they will be checked prior to giving out the prizes.  Good luck!

Click HERE to win
a Rafflecopter giveaway

This contest will be open June 30 through July 12 (12 a.m. eastern time).  There is no purchase necessary and the contest is void where prohibited.  Open to & US/Int!  

∞

This promotional post is affiliated with Xpresso Book Tours

Book Review — Red Threads

The Deets

author: Stacey J. Mitchell

released: June 3, 2013

format: e-book

pages: 230 pages

publisher: Stacey J. Mitchell

Read: June 20-21, 2013

Book Pages: Amazon.com  • Goodreads.com •  Author’s Website

Book Type: New Adult, Paranormal Romance, Contemporary Fantasy

The Down-low

Twenty-six-year-old Lily Robinson has her dream job in a museum, a great boyfriend, and is happy with her life – until the day she starts seeing red threads growing out of the chests of those around her.

That same day Lily meets a stranger who seems to know her and understand what she is seeing. Lily doesn’t believe him when he says she has a special ability, and it’s only when he saves her life that she accepts something very strange is happening to her.

Lily’s life is rapidly turned upside-down when she gets thrown into the world of fate and meets the beings who influence it.

Can she learn to control her ability to help herself and those around her who need it most?

Will she actually want to when she finds out what she has to do?

The first novel in the Fateliner series, Red Threads is a contemporary fantasy that looks at how fate can change lives and relationships in an instant.(From Goodreads.com)

Why You Should Buy It

The red-thread theory isn’t something new, but Mitchell provides a unique spin on the idea that we are all connected.  And the romance in the book isn’t cliche — it is something real and heart-wrenchingly beautiful.

My Thoughts

*I received this e-book in exchange for an honest review.*

When I promoted the cover reveal for this book, I knew it was something I was going to want to read.  When Stacey J. Mitchell asked me to review to book, I was so excited!  The book takes place in the UK, and focuses on Lily, a 26 year old girl who appears to have it all: nice family, live-in boyfriend of six years, great job at a museum, and a best friend who she can share a pint of Ben & Jerry’s with.  However, quickly in the story the facade of that perfect life starts to dull: her parents are fighting and Lily isn’t sure if they will stay together.  Her best friend is strangely aloof and seems to be going through something without confiding in Lily.  Her boyfriend has admitted he doesn’t want to get married – ever. And her beloved museum is in danger of closing because it isn’t bringing in enough revenue.

Beyond that, Lily has a frightening experience on the train: in a flash of a migraine, she begins seeing red lines running through everyone she sees.  Soon after, she is attacked by a demon and meets a man named Aver who says she has a special ability.  I loved how Mitchell explained the ability and how Lily had to work hard to control the ability; it wasn’t something that came easily.

I would have loved to learn more about Aver and the other Fateliners.  We were left a lot of foreshadowing that I’m hoping will be further developed in the coming books.

This book was so different than other books I’ve read recently.  The typical cliche things you would expect to happen don’t.  I found myself wondering “Why did she (Mitchell) do that?” and then realizing that it was the perfect solution.  It wasn’t what I expected, but that made it all the better.

Overall, I highly enjoyed this book.  I can’t wait to learn more about the world of Fateliners.  The book was well written, well paced, and had me up all night reading!

Overall

Four out of Five Stars

∞