New Release: The Color of Water by Lisa Cresswell

The Color of Water by Lisa Cresswell

Paperback Release Date: August 28, 2015
Kindle Pre-orders for September 22, 2015 now available
 
Some time ago, I beta read The Color of Water, though it didn't yet have a name. I remember it as an excellent story: sweet, sad and scary. There's action, mystery and a touch of romance, all very well done. This is a ghost story with heart.

I'm a big fan of Lisa Cresswell's work, such as her other recent releases, Vessel, which I had the pleasure of reading for review, and Hush Puppy, another one I beta read (though I don't think I've actually reviewed it yet).

I highly recommend The Color of Water and look forward to pretty much anything new the author has to offer. I still have my eyes open for her Storyteller trilogy to pop up on Amazon.
 
Read more for some words from the author, a excerpt of Chapter One, and a Rafflecopter Giveaway.

 

*~*~*~*

 

~From Lisa Cresswell~

 

The cure for anything is saltwater –

sweat, tears, or the sea.

~Isak Dinesen



 

I love the sea. I've always loved it, although I haven't always lived near it. I once thought I'd grow up to be an oceanographer or a marine biologist, but fate had other plans for me. And truth be told, the ocean can be a frightening thing. I'm always in awe of the men and women who are brave enough to sail it. I enjoy riding in boats, but I'm always glad to get back to dry land. I'm truly happiest on a beach.

 

My latest southern gothic novella, The Color of Water, was inspired by a trip to the North Carolina coast a few years back and a visit to the historic town of Beaufort. Beaufort is just about as old as a town gets in North America, founded in 1709. It's seen the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and everything since. With all that history, you can imagine what a great graveyard it had. And ghosts. Lots of places in North Carolina have ghosts, but Beaufort has the best in my opinion. Pirates, merchants, soldiers, and little girls - there's just about any type of ghost you might want there.

 

So Beaufort combines two things I adore - the ocean and history. When I visited, I knew immediately it would be the setting for my next book. The Color of Water is a novella, so it's the perfect length for a rainy, fall afternoon, cozying up on the couch with a ghost story. Fans of love triangles and super sweet teen romance may be disappointed. The story is very much about the ebbs and flows of life and death, about holding on and letting go. It's also about the connection of a parent to a child, so while there are some elements of a first love, it's also about much more. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

 

~About the Book~

Life is unpredictable. Why would death be any different?

Sixteen year old Samantha’s Dad died in a sailing accident and her Mom’s moving them to the sleepy, backwater town of Beaufort, North Carolina, so they can make a new start. Afraid to sail again, Samantha takes her mind off the past by trying to solve the mystery of who's killing young women on the island, only the killer is way more than your ordinary psychopath.

Turns out, the blood-thirsty ghost of Blackbeard returns to Beaufort on the high tide to collect the souls of beautiful young women and now he wants her mom. With only the help of a two-bit psychic and the ghost of a young, drowned sailor she might be falling in love with, Samantha struggles to save her mother. But Sam has some demons of her own to conquer first.

 

 

  ~ From Chapter One ~

   It’s funny what you notice when you’re dying. It’s not your breath or your heartbeat, or the ripple of your mind slowly coming undone. It’s what you love. For me, it’s the color of the water. First, it’s green like bottle glass. Then it’s deep, dark blue-black, like a midnight sky.

   The water seeps into my ears blocking everything else out. It creeps into my clothes, through the strands of my hair. It invades my nose, my mouth, and slides into my lungs, into my stomach. It envelopes me, claims me as its own. I’m going with it.

   And then something jerks me back. In the murky water, I can barely see what it is through my salt-blinded eyes. It’s Dad. He’s got me. He’s tugging on my vest, trying to unhitch the tether and I wonder why. Something breaks free and he pulls me up with him. The vest I’m wearing pops me up to the surface like a cork.

   On the surface, my lungs vomit out searing salt water, even as more angry waves bash us against the hull of the sloop. She’s completely upside down. Dad’s pushing my limp arms up on The Tempest, trying to make me grab a hold of something, anything to keep my head above water.

~***~

 

To celebrate the release, two lucky winners will win a free copy of the print book or e-book - your choice! Be sure to enter :)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can always find The Color of Water on Amazon :) and Goodreads! and if you'd like to learn more about me, Lisa Cresswell, please visit my web site. Enjoy!

 

 
 

 

 

On Amazon.com:

 



M9B Two for Thursday Book Blitz: Nicole Conway's The Dragonrider Chronicles with Giveaway #T4T

Welcome to this week’s Two for Thursday Book Blitz #T4T
presented by Month9books/Tantrum Books!

 

Today, we will be showcasing two titles that may tickle your fancy,
and we’ll share what readers have to say about these titles!

 

You just might find your next read!

 

This week, #T4T presents to you:

The Dragonrider Chronicles by Nicole Conway!

 

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

Can one boy stand between two kingdoms at war? 

Jaevid Broadfeather has grown up as a wartime refugee, hiding from the world because of his mixed racial heritage. He feels his future is hopeless, until a chance encounter with a wild dragon lands him in Blybrig Academy—a place usually forbidden to anyone but the rich and royal. But Jaevid’s case is special; no dragon has voluntarily chosen a rider in decades, so the proud riders of Blybrig must begrudgingly let him join their brotherhood despite his bloodline. Lieutenant Sile Derrick, a sternly tempered man with a mysterious past, becomes his instructor and immediately takes a peculiar interest in Jaevid’s future. 

While struggling through the rigorous physical demands of training, things begin to go awry. Jaevid witnesses the king’s private guards kidnapping Sile in the dead of night. When none of the elder riders are willing to help him, Jaevid begins a dangerous adventure to save his instructor. 

Everything Jaevid learned at the academy will now be put to the ultimate test.

AMAZON | B&N | KOBO | INDIEBOUND | TBD | GOOGLE PLAY | BAM | CHAPTERS | iBOOKS

WHAT READER’S ARE SAYING:

“The author has taken the dragon concept putting her own unique spin and creating a captivating new series that spark the imagination.” – Mandy, The Reading Diaries

"Nicole Conway does a fantastic job creating her world and describing it in a way that the images fill my head while reading.” – Cassandra – Lost in Books

“It was a nice, fast read and I’m really hoping that we learn more about the Grey Elves, the war and the Dragons in future books because this series has the potential to be really great.” – Natalie – Book Lovers Life

What kind of power is lurking inside him? After a year of training to become a dragonrider, Jaevid Broadfeather has been sent home to rest during a three-month interlude. But when he returns to find the king drake has chosen Beckah Derrick as his new rider, Jaevid realizes something big is about to happen. Every fiber of his being is pushed to the breaking point as Jaevid battles through his avian year, preparing for the final graduation test of the battle scenario. But there is more standing in his way than a few pushups and fancy sword moves. Jaevid must face a new fear as he is tormented by a gruesome nightmare of a mysterious gray elf warrior murdering the royal family of Maldobar. It seems obvious to him that this is some kind of message about how the war started long ago—until Felix assures him the king is very much alive. With his strange powers growing stronger by the day, and that violent dream replaying in his mind every night, Jaevid no longer wonders if he will pass his avian year or not—he wonders if he will even survive it. The truth will soon be set loose.

AMAZON | B&N | KOBO | INDIEBOUND | TBD | GOOGLE PLAY | BAM | CHAPTERS | iBOOKS

WHAT READER’S ARE SAYING:

“I highly recommend this series to fans of Eragon and Lord of the Rings because those movies jump to mind a lot when I’m reading this series.” – Cassandra –Lost in Books

“This was a very exciting book two that kept me turning the pages as fast as I could to see what would happen next.” – Jasmyn – Bitten by Romance

“This is a sequel of pure perfection!” – Nay – Nay’s Pink Bookshelf

Nicole is the author of the children’s fantasy series, THE DRAGONRIDER CHRONICLES, about a young boy’s journey into manhood as he trains to become a dragonrider. She has completed the first two books in the series, and is now working on the third and final book. 

Originally from a small town in North Alabama, Nicole moves frequently due to her husband’s career as a pilot for the United States Air Force. She received a B.A. in English with a concentration in Classics from Auburn University, and will soon attend graduate school. 

She has previously worked as a freelance and graphic artist for promotional companies, but has now embraced writing as a full-time occupation. 

Nicole enjoys hiking, camping, shopping, cooking, and spending time with her family and friends. She also loves watching children’s movies and collecting books. She lives at home with her husband, two cats, and dog.

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sci Fi Review: The Harvest (The Heartland Trilogy, #3) by Chuck Wendig

The Harvest by Chuck Wendig

Description:
Blood will water the corn...
It’s been a year since the Saranyu flotilla fell from the sky, and life in the Heartland has changed. Gone are the Obligations and the Harvest Home festivals. In their place is a spate of dead towns, the former inhabitants forced into mechanical bodies to serve the Empyrean—and crush the Heartland.
When Cael awakens from a Blightborn sleep, miles away from the world he remembers, he sets out across the Heartland to gather his friends for one last mission. As the mechanicals, a war flotilla, and a pack of feral Empyrean girls begin to close in on the Heartland, there isn’t much time to make their next move. But if they can uncover a secret weapon in time, Cael and his friends might just find themselves with the power to save the world—or destroy it—resting in their hands.

My Review:
The Harvest is the third book in The Heartlands Trilogy. Cael and his friends and family are scattered all over the Heartlands, and over the course of the book, their paths slowly re-converge as everyone makes their separate way to the new city that rose from the ashes of book two. The ultimate goal is stopping the terrible Initiative and gaining freedom for the Heartland, but there are other dangers the friends face, new ones, old ones, and hidden ones.

So first off, I love the world building, the tension, and the villains. This book is multi-dimensional, not just a single bad guy or good guy. Each character has a unique voice and purpose. I still have favorites among the team, but I think Gwennie and Cael, individually, are the ones I most enjoyed in this book. Gwennie because she’s everyone’s love interest, and Cael because he’s central to the story. Both of them because they are likeable, but not perfect. I wanted them to succeed, to live, and to end up together. So, of course, any time the story shifted to one of their perspectives, I was excited about it.

That being said, I didn’t feel a connection with all of the characters, not enough to hope for them or mourn them. The girls on the flotilla, well, they got no sympathy from me. Wanda, while growing significantly in this story and having taken an interesting life path, is still rather clingy and manipulative. I mostly enjoyed the way she physically changes, but I still couldn’t bring myself to really root for her. Mer is barely mentioned. Just a blip on a screen here or there. I guess she was only really important in book two.

Lots of folks like to know whether a book will be a happily ever after or not. I don’t want to spoil that. I will say that this one ends similarly in overall approach to the Harry Potter series. The plots and characters are vastly different from each other, but the feel was very, very similar. Goes out with a bang and then, several years later, a murmur. An ok ending with everything answered, but going from let’s do this to it’s done and now it’s up to my kids to carry the torch.

All that said, I really enjoyed this book and loved the series as a whole. The story is epic in scope, if not in length. Not too daunting for folks who don’t want to spend all their time reading, but a real page turner and enough meat for those who do. The sci fi elements are really well done, so folks who dig plausible sci fi will really like that about this trilogy. The realism of the relationships and their outcomes will be refreshing to those who are tired of the same old formula; they’ll keep you guessing to the end. And, finally, the world itself is fantastic, and the corner of it in which the characters love, live and perish is incredibly detailed without overboard description.

I receive the review copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.


View all my reviews

Intrigued? Check out all three books on Amazon.