Blitz & Giveaway for My NOT So Anonymous Best Friend by Elizabeth Arroyo

My NOT So Anonymous Best Friend

Elizabeth Arroyo

Publication date: April 29th 2022

Genres: LGBTQ+, Romance, Young Adult

Noah aka NOS2321: Gamer. Weeb. Up-and-coming rock star. And gay. Encouraged by his anonymous pen pal, XES6969, Noah takes the leap and comes out of the closet—no instructions needed—accidentally sending his father to the hospital during his reveal. Despite his horrible dating track record which included two girls (because it was required that he at least try) and one boy (because he had to start somewhere), Noah believes in happily ever after. That belief gets tested when he falls for Evan Santiago.

Evan aka XES6969, believes in sacrificing yourself for those you love. Learning NOS’s identity hadn’t been his fault. Except he carries the lie which begins to fester, trapping him into silence. When a stray football brings them together, Evan no longer wants to keep silent. And when he learns that Noah is interested too, he takes a chance at love, risking everyone he’s tried to protect, including himself.

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EXCERPT:

Noah

As if the cosmos decided to force me to drool, Evan Santiago rode into the lot on his motorcycle. He wore a helmet with the visor down, hiding his face, but I didn’t need to see to know. The guy was all tight muscles and badness. He parked two spots away from my light blue jalopy with the word WEEBS 2 on the license plates and stickers of Kirito, Asuna, and Zero Two on the windows around my car. He dropped the kickstand and gracefully swung one powerful leg over the seat as he got off the bike. He pulled off his helmet and shook his deep black hair to perfection and crouched to get his satchel out of one of the saddlebags on the bike. His tee lifted, revealing a sliver of pale skin at his back.

Damn. When had I started looking at Evan Santiago this way? I blinked away the moment and turned to the empty seat beside me. I caught sight of Sasha approaching the secret love of my life, having silently crept out of my car. I hadn’t even heard her close the door! Her little skort swayed over toned legs.

The slut.

Was I really thinking she was competition? Was I competition?

Evan acknowledged her and she said something to him. He lifted his eyes in my direction—the color of green flames—forcing me to lose my breath. No. Evan couldn’t see me through the glare of the windshield. Nope. But that look still held me in some sort of trance. As if an invisible line had jettisoned out of his eyeballs and wrapped around my chest, crushing me.

Yeah, too much anime for me.

Then he suddenly looked away, and the crushing sensation lifted. I inhaled sharply, filling my lungs with much-needed oxygen.

Man-whore.

Why was I thinking of someone else when I had Carlos? That was not a good sign.

Sasha took Evan’s arm, and they walked into the school together as if they were a couple. Were they a couple? The idea of them together left me confused. Nothing new, really. Just another normal day in the life of me. Evan was not interested in me. Despite the burning looks he gave me. Certainly, I was misinterpreting them. Maybe the guy had a bad case of acid indigestion. Or I had a bad case of TMI—too much imagination. With an audible sigh, I headed into the school alone.

If I had to draw an abstract version of my high school, it would be a prism of varying stars and stripes. I was a stripe, while people like Evan Santiago were stars.

Author Bio:

Elizabeth is the Latinx author of speculative fiction novels for teens. Her YA contemporary debut, My NOT So Anonymous Best Friend, is slated for release on 4/29 by Evernight Teen.

Before she started writing, Elizabeth got her undergraduate degree in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice. She then went on to work in foster care programs, mental health facilities, and youth organizations within the Latinx Community, providing services to youth and families.

She now spends her time writing romance, binge watching anime, and spending time with her family.

Elizabeth currently resides in Chicago.

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Before Dawn by Elizabeth Arroyo Blitz & Giveaway

Before Dawn

Elizabeth Arroyo

Publication date: June 12th 2018

Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Survival rule number one: eat before being hunted.

In a world infected by violent hybrids, survival comes with its own set of rules. Sixteen-year-old Zoe is an expert at breaking them.

While Zoe has abilities she cannot explain, just getting through another day without being killed is a challenge. She has survived since her mother’s murder with help from an unexpected ally, Morph.

Morph is part of the Arcane, an elite force of teenagers from an Alliance of space stations. After the Arcane are destroyed in an explosion, only Morph and his brother survive. They are sent on a new mission to capture a dangerous hybrid.

Morph is torn between duty and his attraction to Zoe. With threats to the planet from above, Morph knows Zoe’s chances are limited. Trying to save her could be a betrayal to the Alliance.

When Zoe recovers memories of her mother’s death that point straight to the Arcane, she realizes Morph might be the real enemy.

As more mysteries are brought to light, telling friends from foes becomes difficult. For Morph and Zoe, the world is more dangerous than ever. And trusting each other is the key to them living to see another day.

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EXCERPT:

Her concern at the moment stood out in front of her – movement in the shadows. At first glance they looked like children, though when you got closer they were nothing like children. Not even human anymore. Their heads too large for their bodies, their eyes black slits on their ashen faces, their mouths extended and filled with jagged teeth. Bulbous body on stubbly short legs. They weren’t intimidating, but their numbers swelled in the hundreds and they hunted in packs.

They crowded every ridge, waited behind every rock formation, watching her. One of them charged, and the others followed. Zoe pulled out her pistol and fired, catching the leader in the head. It took three steps before it realized it had no head and fell to the ground. The creatures behind it didn’t seem slightly interested in their dead comrade and ran over it to get to her. She flanked the ridge and ran alongside the tracks, feeling the tremble of a hundred little suckers stomping the ground behind her. A train stood off about fifty yards, half of it hung inside a pit. It looked like the tongue of an overzealous monster had rolled out of its maw and choked to death. She slipped between railcars and shot the first critter that followed her through. It fell, blocking the entrance from those behind it, giving her a few precious seconds to scramble out into the open. Though their heads were large, they weren’t that smart. Lucky her.

Hiding gave her the best chance at survival. She couldn’t outrun them. Exhaustion threatened to drop her, and she didn’t have enough spark to light a match. She regretted letting Jace convince her to kill him. She’d have had a better chance at survival had he been beside her.

The ground rolled under her, lifting dirt and rock into the air. It pulsed, forcing her to slow and balance her footing. She stopped when the ground in front of her caved in, expecting to be consumed by the hundreds of creatures behind her. When nothing happened, she risked turning around to find out why.

They too had stopped as if at an invisible wall. All of them. Spread out in a line, they stared past her. A swarm of gray, small, ugly things, eyes almost swallowing their faces. They’d forgotten about her.

Another rumble underground forced Zoe’s attention back to the sink hole in front of her just as a serpent exploded out of the ground and skyrocketed at least a hundred feet into the air before falling in an arc toward the mass of creatures under it. Including her.

She scrambled back, hightailing it toward the little monsters who decided they didn’t want to eat her anymore. They wanted to live, so they ran. She followed suit. The serpent struck the ground, smashing a dozen or so creatures to her left, causing another jolt under her. It slid along the ground, its massive scales cutting a deep path in the dirt. It snatched one of the creatures in its mouth, tearing through muscle and bone, leaving only stubbly legs on the ground. Pitching right, she turned back toward the pit. Anything would be better than remaining out in the open. If those little suckers ended up avoiding or killing the serpent, they’d remember they wanted to eat her. She had to lay low, hide, and wait it out.

But the snake had other ideas. It circled back and slammed into the train initiating its final descent into the pit. The world shimmered for a second and adrenaline fueled her. She had to get to Mecca and find answers about her life. She didn’t intend on dying before she got them. She jumped into the last railcar, clawing at anything she could use as a hold.

She found nothing but air.

Author Bio:

Born and raised in Chicago and the youngest of five, Elizabeth spent most of her younger years as an avid reader with a wild imagination which led her to write her first manuscript at the age of fourteen.

Influenced by the gamers in her household and her love of action adventure, Elizabeth delved into the realm of science fiction and wrote her first full-length science fiction/dystopian YA novel—Before Dawn—acquired by Ellysian Press in 2016.

Elizabeth is the author of the Second Sign and the Second Shadow, a dark YA paranormal romance series, (Sapphire Star Publishing, 2013), and Darkness, a YA paranormal thriller, (Indie-Published, 2014). She has a short story published with SQ Magazine, and advice on her writing journey can be found in The Write Path: A Compilation of Letters, (Amazon Digital Services, Inc.).

Elizabeth enjoys spending time with her family, listening to music, and binge watching her favorite shows.

You can reach Elizabeth at her website www.elizabetharroyo.com, Twitter, and Facebook.

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