The Damned Society: Smoke and Mirrors Blitz & Giveaway

The Damned Society: Smoke and Mirrors

L. J. Elliott

Published by: Wallace Publishing

Publication date: November 17th, 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Lexia Luccen is a seventeen-year-old girl with a fiery power that is slowly destroying the last fragments of her sanity. Having lost her abusive father, Lexia is left scarred from the way he treated her and by the grief of his death. When she accidentally uses her ability to create a devastating explosion that takes many lives, she is moved from her life of solitude into the hectic youth facility that is Lucida.

Lucida is no ordinary youth facility. It is a secretly run technological agency for supernatural wayward youth, set up to teach them how to control their abilities after they have caused disturbances in society. These youths think that once they have been reformed, they will be freed. However, the truth is a very different story.

Lies, love, and more death await Lexia at Lucida, and she soon realizes that this facility is not quite what it seems. Now she knows she must make a choice: does she finally give up to the darkness that slowly consumes her—like her father did—or does she follow the firestorm that runs through her veins and for once in her life, battle for something?

Time is running out. Lexia needs to make her decision fast, before Lucida makes it for her.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

Prologue

The smoke built around me with speed, carrying a taste of destruction as it vaped through my senses. The air gushed past my skin, getting heavier in pace with each breath I took. The smell is of burnt paper lingering as it flowed around in the destructive zone that I was creating. I had never lost control like this before, yet at the same time, had never felt so happy about it. My mind was not instantly filled with regret or sadness at the fact I had let my power control me. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I was glad because it was the thing that ultimately helped me out in the end. For once, we had partnered up and were working together. I had never felt such strength from it before. It didn’t hurt, it just felt like it was a part of me now and like my power had momentarily become one with my soul. I closed my eyes and let the solidarity marinate in every moment we bonded together as I knew the feeling would not last forever and so, as I clenched my fists and the energy poured out of my body, for once in my life, I had no regret about harming something or about letting go of control. My mind and soul were finally free.

One

“Here we go again.” The words flew out of my mouth effortlessly as I heard my bedroom door crash open. My aunt entering the space with another look of determination to get me out of bed, crinkling her aged face. It was another episode of, Do What I Think Is Best For My Niece, Even If It Is Not. I threw my blanket over my head just as the morning sunlight bathed my room with a pool of golden radiance as my Aunt Sylvia stormed her way in and drew back the curtains almost viciously. Something she had begun doing every morning this past week to try and finally get me out of my self-created blanket cocoon. Instead of being happy another morning had dawned upon me, I dreaded entering the real world. As the golden shimmer poured through the cracks of my blanket, I wanted to hide further under my white cotton shield and just dissolve away into my mattress. “Aunt, get out. I want to sleep,” I grumbled from under the covers, even though I had a feeling it was going to be a waste of words today. I had pulled this trick too many times already. The game that was hiding away from my problems. “Come on,” Sylvia groaned back in her familiar stressed tone as I heard her feet shuffle across the wooden flooring and stop beside my bed. I dug further under as she suddenly tried to tug away from my blanket and the sunlight spilled in even brighter around the space, projecting her shadow onto the floor with its illumination as my eyes started to peek through the cracks. “You are going to college today whether you like it or not. Now come on, you can’t afford to miss another day.” Silence lingered for a few moments before I felt a hand latch around the fabric above my head. The Damned Society 12 “Lexia, you are seventeen, not seven. I’m not playing this game anymore.” She tugged at the blanket edges even harder to try and snatch it away and after a few more annoying moments of fighting to stay hidden, she sadly succeeded and my barrier flew to the ground. I hissed like a vampire as the brightness that surrounded the room hit my eyes. I sure felt like one of late, seeing as neither my skin nor my eyes had seen the light of day since I had locked myself in my room for so long. Three weeks now and counting. The only time during that period that I did leave was when Sylvia left for work, after giving up on trying to get me out of bed. I would scuttle to the bathroom and then the kitchen to stock up on some food, with my blanket wrapped around me, continuing to be the shield that repelled away my reality. And it had been working—I wasn’t thinking of anything. However, given how oddly stern she seemed this morning compared to other attempts this week, I really did have a feeling my time of hiding from reality was up.

Author Bio:

Lotté Jean Elliott is an author from North-Eastern England. She began as an avid reader before she picked up a pen one day and started to use her imagination to create a new universe, just like her favourite fictional ones.

Through literature, she saw a whole new world open up, and she has not stopped diving into the deepest parts of her mind ever since.

When she isn't writing novels, poetry, or screenplays with her sister Francesca, Lotté loves nothing more than to find inspiration for life through art films, music, exploring museums, and language learning. She loves to explore the deepest meaning behind things and gain new perspectives of the world in which we inhabit.

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Smoke and Mirrors Book Blitz and Giveaway

Smoke and Mirrors 

Susan Harris

(The Ever Chace Chronicles, #3)

Published by: Crimson Tree Publishing

Publication date: May 29th 2017

Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Ever Chace is a Valkyrie, but not just any Valkyrie—she’s a Valkyrie queen in the making.

Torn between the past and present, love and obligation, Ever is terrified of saying the words that would break the curse she is bound to. Pushing Derek away hasn’t simplified things; it has only made her miserable. With her father waking, and her and Derek’s lives on the line, can she really shy away from who and what she is becoming? How long can Ever keep her past lives a secret?

Pushing thoughts of his mate aside, Derek tries to focus on the task at hand—tracking down a monster that leaves nothing but a husk behind. But Ever is never truly off his mind, even as two of his own become targets of the unsub. Can he set his personal distractions aside to keep his team alive?

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

Caitlyn bade Derek farewell and left him staring out at the stars. Making her way outside, she inhaled the night air, tasting the frost in the air before it quickly evaporated, her lungs no longer functional. Her heels clicked against the concrete as she hurried towards her car, the sound of her name being called as she reached the car hasting her movement.

“You heading home?”

Donnie had sensed when she’d left the station and would, of course, make sure she was alright before he continued on with his duties.

“I am. Are you staying here for a while?”

Folding his arms across his chest, Donnie tilted his head and narrowed his gaze. “Yeah, I have one or two leads to follow up before I head out. I should get home just after sunrise.”

“Okay, I shall see you then.” Caitlyn turned around as she heard Donnie swear. A hand on her waist caused her to pause, and she turned back to face him.

He never spoke, never made a sound, but the look in his eyes told her exactly what was about to happen. Donnie crushed his lips to hers, pushing her back against the car so that she was trapped between the metal and his overwhelming mass, ensuring that she could not escape.

It was not a gentle kiss, but a claiming of sorts—a strong, bruising meeting of lips that told Caitlyn that Donnie was done waiting and intended to take what he considered his. He nipped her bottom lip, drawing blood, the copper taste mingling with Donnie’s own unique taste. He gave a little groan, and with a little more pressure on her lips, Caitlyn opened up as Donnie tasted, sucked on, and devoured her mouth. And when Caitlyn felt her control slip, eager to succumb to the passion that this man excited from her, Donnie pulled back, finally allowing her space.

“I had to do that. I needed you to know what my intentions are, Cait. I don’t care who claims you are theirs; you are mine, and I plan to seduce you into agreeing with me. I’m the only man you need worry about, Caitlyn Hardi. Because I am yours—now, forever, and always.”

Author Bio:

Susan Harris is a writer from Cork in Ireland.

An avid reader, she quickly grew to love books in the supernatural/fantasy and Dystopian genre. She writes books for young adults and adults alike.

When she is not writing or reading, she loves music, oriental cultures, tattoos, creepy snow globes, DC shoes, stationary, anything Disney, Marvel movies, psychology and far too many TV shows. If she wasn't a writer, she would love to be a FBI profiler or a PA for Dave Grohl or Jared Leto.

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