Fated (Soul Seekers): Audiobook

Author: Alyson Noel
Narrator: Brittany Pressley

Title:Fated (Soul Seekers)

Publication: May 22, 2012

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Genre:  Young Adult, Paranormal

Length:10 hours and 44 minutes

Pages: 368

Audience: 17 and up

Rating: 4 out of 5

Source: Public Library

Synopsis (from the cover): Strange things are happening to Daire Santos. Crows mock her, glowing people stalk her, time stops without warning, and a beautiful boy with unearthly blue eyes haunts all her dreams. Fearing for her daughter's sanity, Daire's mother sends her to live with the grandmother she's never met. A women who recognizes the visions for that they truly are- the call to her destiny as a Soul Seeker: one who can navigate between the worlds of the living and dead.  

There, on the dusty plains of Enchantment, New Mexico, Daire sets out to harness her mystical powers. But it's when she meets Dace, the boy from her dreams, that her whole world is shaken to its core. And Daire is forced to discover whether Dace is the one guy she's meant to be with...or if he's allied with the enemy she's destined to destroy.

My thoughts:

 I enjoyed the novel. I have seen reviews where people thought it was missing something or it just wasn't what they expected. I'm just wondering what were they expecting. I believe this book contains a little bit of everything. It takes Latino/Latina culture along with Native American culture and blends it into a story that flows well. I want to share more about this, however, I do not want to ruin any part of the book. I had no idea this book would be so hard to review. As I said, the book has a little bit of everything from romance to gore to paranormal to mythology. I have fascination with Native American culture so I really enjoyed the spirit animals and the journey Daire went on to find her spirit animal. I'm not sure if fits her just yet, but perhaps in the later books it will.
The characters were believable and sometimes they got on my nerves. I think it was more of the narrator's fault than the author's. Daire's mother is just stupid and acts like a 17 year old instead of a mother. I understand her mother is young, but there is a point where you grow up and act like an adult. Sometimes Daire sounded like a whiny teenager. I think characters tend to grind on my nerves when I listen to audiobooks. Ha, but I promise Daire wasn't all bad, she just was confused and unsure of herself.
My favorite character was a background character. Please excuse me because I'm probably about to butcher her name since I listened to the book instead of reading it, Xochitl (pronounced: So-chee), it means flower. Xochitl is a pistol! She is a great character and I hope she plays a bigger role in the next book. Dace is such a hottie and I loved listening to his description.
Brittany Pressley did a great job narrating. She sounds like a preppy high school girl, and it can be a bit annoying. When she did other characters like Xochitl, Daire's grandmother, Shay, etc. she did an excellent job of changing her inflection and tone so each character had distinct voice. It was a bit of a long book, but totally worth it. If you have time you should check it out. I'm starting on Echo, the second book of the series and should have a review on it soon!
 

Excerpt & Giveaway: Debt Collector by Susan Kaye Quinn

Title: Debt Collector 

Author: Susan Kaye Quinn
Series: Debt Collector, Serial 1-3
Publication: 2013
Genre: NA Future-Noir

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Synopsis:

EPISODES 1-3 (Delirium, Agony, Ecstasy) of the Debt Collector serial. Contains mature content and themes. For young-adult-appropriate thrills, see Susan's bestselling Mindjack series.

What's your life worth on the open market? 
A debt collector can tell you precisely.

Lirium plays the part of the grim reaper well, with his dark trenchcoat, jackboots, and the black marks on his soul that every debt collector carries. He's just in it for his cut, the ten percent of the life energy he collects before he transfers it on to the high potentials, the people who will make the world a better place with their brains, their work, and their lives. That hit of life energy, a bottle of vodka, and a visit from one of Madam Anastazja's sex workers keep him alive, stable, and mostly sane... until he collects again. But when his recovery ritual is disrupted by a sex worker who isn't what she seems, he has to choose between doing an illegal hit for a girl whose story has more holes than his soul or facing the bottle alone--a dark pit he's not sure he'll be able to climb out of again.

The first three episodes of the Debt Collector serial are collectively the length of a short novel, or 152 pages. These are the first three of nine episodes in the first season of The Debt Collector serial. This dark and gritty future-noir is about a world where your life-worth is tabulated on the open market and going into debt risks a lot more than your credit rating. Episode 4, Broken, releases 4/17/13. For more about the Debt Collector serial, see DebtCollectorSeries.com

Excerpt: 

My jackboots are new, the latest ultra-light material out of Hong Kong’s synthetics district, and they make a strange squeaking sound against the hospital floor. It’s the kind of sound that might gather snickers or a raised eyebrow, but no one looks at me, at least not on purpose. I stroll past the ICU desk, taking my time, breathing in the antiseptic smell that masks the odor of death held back by machines and drugs and round-the-clock care. The nurses duck their heads and study their charts, ignoring me. As if catching my eye might mean I’m coming to collect their debt, rather than Mr. Henry’s in Room 301.

The floor is so highly polished that I see the reflection of my trenchcoat running ahead of me, black as a midnight grave, a spook that lives on the surface of the oft-scrubbed tiles. It reaches the door to 301 before me and disappears in the dim, flickering light coming from the room. The spook has gone back where he belongs, into the dark recesses of my soul, assuming I still have one. If I was a betting man, I would say the odds of having a soul keep getting longer with every transfer I do. The older debt collectors, the ones who are still alive, don’t have anything shining out of their dull-glass eyes, even when they’re hyped up on a transfer. There’s no telling what my eyes look like.

I stopped looking in the mirror a long time ago.

Mr. Henry’s hooked up in all the usual places—tubes in his arms and monitor patches hovering over his temples and the blue-veined skin of his chest. His knobbed knees and shriveled legs stick out the end of the blanket. I don’t know if he’s tossed the blanket aside or the nurses just forgot to cover him up again after his sponge bath or whatever they do to prepare patients for a debt transfer. Goosebumps raise the hair on what’s left of his legs into a small forest of gray fur. I tug the thin, white-weave blanket over his exposed legs, and Mr. Henry opens his eyes.

They’re pale green and watery—washed out and used up like the rest of him.

“You’ve come for me,” he says.

My jackboots are new, the latest ultra-light material out of Hong Kong’s synthetics district, and they make a strange squeaking sound against the hospital floor. It’s the kind of sound that might gather snickers or a raised eyebrow, but no one looks at me, at least not on purpose. I stroll past the ICU desk, taking my time, breathing in the antiseptic smell that masks the odor of death held back by machines and drugs and round-the-clock care. The nurses duck their heads and study their charts, ignoring me. As if catching my eye might mean I’m coming to collect their debt, rather than Mr. Henry’s in Room 301.

The floor is so highly polished that I see the reflection of my trenchcoat running ahead of me, black as a midnight grave, a spook that lives on the surface of the oft-scrubbed tiles. It reaches the door to 301 before me and disappears in the dim, flickering light coming from the room. The spook has gone back where he belongs, into the dark recesses of my soul, assuming I still have one. If I was a betting man, I would say the odds of having a soul keep getting longer with every transfer I do. The older debt collectors, the ones who are still alive, don’t have anything shining out of their dull-glass eyes, even when they’re hyped up on a transfer. There’s no telling what my eyes look like.

I stopped looking in the mirror a long time ago.

Mr. Henry’s hooked up in all the usual places—tubes in his arms and monitor patches hovering over his temples and the blue-veined skin of his chest. His knobbed knees and shriveled legs stick out the end of the blanket. I don’t know if he’s tossed the blanket aside or the nurses just forgot to cover him up again after his sponge bath or whatever they do to prepare patients for a debt transfer. Goosebumps raise the hair on what’s left of his legs into a small forest of gray fur. I tug the thin, white-weave blanket over his exposed legs, and Mr. Henry opens his eyes.

They’re pale green and watery—washed out and used up like the rest of him.

“You’ve come for me,” he says.

Author Bio:

Susan Kaye Quinn grew up in California, where she wrote snippets of stories and passed them to her friends during class. Her teachers pretended not to notice and only confiscated her stories a couple times.

Susan left writing behind to pursue a bunch of engineering degrees, but she was drawn back to writing by an irresistible urge to share her stories with her niece, her kids, and all the wonderful friends she’s met along the way.

She doesn’t have to sneak her notes anymore, which is too bad.

Susan writes from the Chicago suburbs with her three boys, two cats, and one husband. Which, it turns out, is exactly as a much as she can handle.

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Giveaway: There are two giveaways. The first is for an (1) ebook copy of Delirium (Debt Collector #1) open internationally. The second is the Blitz grand prize, open to US residents only. Kindle and ebook copy of Debt collector 1-3. Please use the rafflecopter forms below to enter. 

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Cover Reveal: Follow the White Rabbit by Kellie Sheridan

Title: Follow the White Rabbit

Author: Kellie Sheridan
Series: Beautiful Madness, #1
Publication: May 21, 2013
Genre: YA Fantasy

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Synopsis:

For centuries, Wonderland thrived as the domain of beautiful bedlam and unapologetic madness. It was a place like no other. All it took was one girl slipping in through the cracks of the universe to start chaos spiraling toward order. In the 150 years since Alice’s visit, the realm has become tainted—almost normal. Rabbits in waistcoats and playing card minions are little more than creatures of myth, and Wonderland is literally falling to pieces.

For Gwen, Rose, and Lucky, Wonderland is home, and yet they know little of its former glory. When the Alice prophecy resurfaces, they’ll have one chance to use Wonderland’s own legends to bring a little mayhem back into their reality. For she who controls Alice controls the fate of Wonderland.

Author Bio:

Kellie Sheridan is a Canadian author and book blogger. When not reading books or writing, she also works with books. She is currently working with two small publishers on the marketing/publicity side of things, and is also Joan of ARCs at Spencer Hill Press. In her spare time Kellie watches way too much television and travels whenever she has the opportunity.

Kellie’s first YA novel, Mortality was released in March, and she is currently hard at work on future writing projects.

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Giveaway:

This giveaway is for one (1) ebook copy of Follow the White Rabbit. Open internationally. Please use the rafflecopter form below to enter.

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Excerpt & Giveaway: Possession by S.K. Falls

Title: Possession
Author: S.K. Falls 
Series: Fevered Souls, #1
Publication: April 22nd 2013
Genre: New Adult Paranormal

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Synopsis:
After I left for college, I thought I’d never see Eden again. But I found myself headed back four years later, destitute and unable to find a job anywhere else. Still, I was adamant nothing would keep me there for long.

Then I met the intoxicating Dax Allard. Copper-colored eyes, skin that emanated an exceptional heat, and a strange “dog” at his side… I was drunk on him.

But Dax’s past was darker than mine, teeming with ancient secrets. Falling for him could cost me my life.

I had two choices: walk away or deal with the perilous consequences.

It was no choice at all.

This is the first episode of a serial novel, and runs around 50 pages or 12,000 words.

Excerpt: 

Blood rushed to my face at his tone. “What…” I swallowed. There was no way I’d ask this if I wasn’t hopped up on whatever they’d given me, but I wanted to know. “Have I offended you in some way?”

For a moment, Dax stared at me, confusion coloring every facial feature. When understanding seeped in, his eyes widened. Seemingly unconsciously, he took a step closer to me. In spite of the giant fireplace roaring just a few feet away, I could feel his body heat waft out toward me. He was like a walking furnace. “You think…you’ve offended me?” He actually sounded astounded.

I stared up into his copper gaze, the effects of the drugs somehow melting away. I was completely hypnotized. There was no way I could’ve lied to him, not even if my life had depended on it right then. Nothing else existed in that moment but the two of us—Oscar, the room, even what had just happened to me in the forest fell away.

In a quiet voice, I said, “You act like I’m the most abhorrent person you’ve ever met. You refuse to come near me. And you don’t want me working for you. Why else would that be?” Ridiculously, I felt a lump in my throat, simply by speaking of his rejection.

A muscle tensed in Dax’s jaw, as if he was physically biting back what he wanted to say. His fists tensed into balls, thick veins standing up on his arms. “Ms. Beaumont,” he finally said. His quiet voice held a hint of a tremor. “Believe me when I tell you I am not in the least… offended by you.” He took a deep breath. “It pains me that you think so.”

“Then…then what is it?” I asked, still gazing into his eyes.

But he shook his head.

“Another secret,” I muttered. “You seem to have so many.”

He smirked, his gorgeous face transforming into something hard and bitter as he looked away, toward the windows and the woods outside. “Yes. And none of them are good. It’d be in your best interests to stay away.”

The fire crackled. I realized that sometime during our conversation, Oscar had slipped away. I looked down at my hands, fisted in the blanket. “What if…what if I don’t want to stay away?”

I couldn’t believe I was saying the words out loud. I had just met this man. But somehow I knew that he felt exactly the way I felt. I was beginning to suspect it was the reason he was so…strange around me. There was something between us that eschewed the traditional hesitant, “play it cool” attitude normal guys and girls our age displayed before they got to know each other.

              I expected him to become furious or stalk away. It surprised me when he sighed deeply instead. “Then we’re in trouble,” he said, his voice barely a rumble. “Because I don’t want you to stay away either.”

Author Bio;

A huge fan of spooky stuff and shoes, I enjoy alternately hitting up the outlet malls and historic graveyards in Charleston, SC where I live and imbibe coffee. My husband and two small children seem not to mind when I hastily scribble novel lines on stray limbs in the absence of notepads. 

Since no writer’s biography is complete without mention of her menagerie of animals, you should know I have one dog that doubles as a footstool, a second that functions as a vacuum cleaner, and a cat that ensures I never forget that my hands are, first and foremost, for pouring cat food.

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Giveaway: This giveaway is for one (1) ebook copy of Possession. Open internationally. Please use the rafflecopter form below to enter.

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Review & Giveaway: Blood and Snow

Title: Blood and Snow: The Complete Set
Author: RaShelle Workman
Publication:  2013 
Genre: YA Paranormal

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Synopsis:
Every thousand years the Vampire Queen selects a new body, always the fairest in the land, and this time she's chosen Snow White.

Snow isn't an ordinary girl. She doesn't know that yet. 

When Snow gets bitten by a Hunter, her life is thrown into a whirlwind of change where instead of worrying about what to eat, she has to fight not to drink the blood of fellow high school students. She becomes a revenant - not quite human, not quite vampire. 

With the help of an eccentric old Professor, his seven adoptive sons, and her best friend, Snow learns to control her blood craving. Sort of.  She drinks a bloodlust tea, but she'd rather drink from her Hunter. 

Or, a human. 

She also discovers a whole other realm, one filled with fairies, dragons, and magic. And not only does the Vampire Queen want her, but there's a pendant called the Seal of Gabriel created for Snow by the Vampire Queen's twin sister. And Snow's supposed to use it to restore balance to all magical creatures. Including vampires. 

My Thoughts: RaShelle has created an incredible story. The characters are interesting and the story is one of a kind. Snow is just a normal girl until her world is turned upside down by a Hunter. If you have never read something by RaShelle this is a great place to start. With this complete set you don't miss a minute of the story. 

Author Bio:

RaShelle Workman is the bestselling author of the Dead Roses series ("Sleeping Roses" is being translated into Turkish, and will be available in print wherever Turkish books are sold in 2014), the Immortal Essence series, and the Blood and Snow series. She's sold over two hundred thousand copies of her novels worldwide in the past year, including Japan, Canada, and Europe. You can find RaShelle all over the web, but the best place to start is on her blog: www.rashelleworkman.com.

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Giveaway: This giveaway is for an ebook copy (gifted from amazon) of Blood and Snow: The Complete set. Please use the rafflecopter form below. 

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Review & Giveaway: Echo by Alicia Wright Brewster

Title: Echo 
Author: Alicia Wright Brewster  
Publication: April 25th 2013
Publisher: Dragonfairy Press 
Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Audience: 14+

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Synopsis:
The countdown clock reads ten days until the end of the world. The citizens are organized. Everyone's been notified and assigned a duty. The problem is... no one knows for sure how it will end.

Energy-hungry Mages are the most likely culprit. They travel toward a single location from every corner of the continent. Fueled by the two suns, each Mage holds the power of an element: air, earth, fire, metal, water, or ether. They harness their powers to draw energy from the most readily available resource: humans.

Ashara has been assigned to the Ethereal task force, made up of human ether manipulators and directed by Loken, a young man with whom she has a complicated past. Loken and Ashara bond over a common goal: to stop the Mages from occupying their home and gaining more energy than they can contain. But soon, they begin to suspect that the future of the world may depend on Ashara's death.

My Thoughts: This story had me interested from the the first sentence. Ashara was supposed to be enjoying time with her family and relaxing until the end of the world came. "Ten days, four hours, twenty-one minutes." Instead she is pulled into a world she had didn't know she belonged to and had not received the proper training for. 

Ashara is the type of female lead that I love. She is strong, values family, and has a haunting past. Ashara is determined to do her part in saving the world. Even if that means she must die. Even though Ashara is not sure she should be apart of the Ethereal task force she works hard to learn her role and harness her power. 

Alicia Wright Brewster has created a fast paced, action packed story that will keep you on pens and needles till the very end. It is easy to connect with the characters and each one is important to the story and very memorable. Sci-fi and YA lovers a like will delight in this read. 

Author Bio:

Alicia Wright Brewster is a mild-mannered lady of average height and above average paranormal obsession. By day, she works in an office. At night she is an author, an electronics junkie, and a secret superhero.

In her virtually non-existent free time, she loves to read, watch movies, and eat food. She is particularly fond of the food-eating and makes a point to perform this task at least three times per day, usually more. 

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Giveaway: There are two giveaways. The first is for an (1) ebook copy of Echo. The second is the Tour grand prize. (1st prize) A print or ebook + $25 bookstore e-gift card; and (2nd prize) A print or ebook + $10 bookstore e-gift card. Both giveaways are open internationally. Please use the rafflecopter forms below to enter. 

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Excerpt & Giveaway: Flight by Lindsay Leggett

Title: Flight
Author: Lindsay Leggett
Publication: April 1, 2013
Genre: YA Science Fiction

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Synopsis: The first rule of survival in the Underground: When you’re outside, keep your eyes on the skies. Ace Harpy Hunter Piper Madden is used to danger, but the death of her brother slams the brakes on her high-torque lifestyle and leaves her broken and confused.

On the run from the dictating Elder Corporation, she’s eventually found in the quiet undergound city of Ichton and asked to work for the Corp on contract to quell a new and frightening Harpy threat.

Enter the discovery of horrifying Corporation secrets, Harpy attacks, and a new friendship with the strange Asher, and Piper’s days become anything but boring.

Then, a chance encounter leaves Piper privy to a dangerous secret, ad as she and Asher team up in an effort to unravel the truth, the secrets they uncover beneath the ancient walls of the dead city will spark their world into a grand-scale war.

Excerpt: 

It always starts like this. My vision starts to blur and the depth of the dirty brick walls plummets into a single plane, like I’m staring into an abyss that never ends. Pins and needles prick their way over my body and I fall backward, sinking through layers of sticky black sludge. I land with a thud and David is before me speaking urgently. His eyes are lined with confusion and anger.

“Piper, I don’t like what you’re doing. Please, for the sake of our mother and our friends, put an end to it now,” he says to me. We’re at our place in the mountains, the stars peering onto us like frail paper lanterns. I look at him seriously, my hand over my mouth, mind reeling at what he’d said.

“You don’t understand, David. I love him,” I reply, feeling tears brim my eyelids.

“… … ….” David’s lips are moving, but the noise coming out of his mouth is like raw static.

“I can’t hear you. What’s going on?” I ask. He looks like I just slapped him in the face.

“I can’t believe how selfish you are! “… … … ” He shouts, then comes the static again.

“David, I think there’s something wrong right now. I haven’t done anything!” I cry frantically, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. He brushes me off and gives me a hard stare.

“People are going to get hurt, Piper. I need you to understand that!” he shouts.

“I don’t understand, David!” I plead, “How are people going to get hurt?”

I hear more static come from his mouth, but he doesn’t seem to notice, he just keeps talking, clearly thinking he’s telling me something important. Frantically, I look around for a clue as to what is going on. When I turn back to him, David’s face starts to deteriorate and his body fades away to dust.

Author Bio: 

Nearly every writer struggles to put together information about themselves, perhaps because we’re so used to detailing the lives and ways of others. For the most part I am a writer, editor, photographer, and all-around artist living in the wilds north of Toronto, Ontario. I thrive on the juxtaposition of beauty and grit, enjoy urban crawls, indie everything, and time well-spent in the woods.

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Giveaway: This giveaway is for one (1) ebook (kindle only) copy of Flight. Open internationally. If you don't have a kindle don't worry you can get the kindle reading app (computer, tablet, and smartphone) here. Please use the rafflecopter form below to enter. 

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Excerpt & Giveaway: Found by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

In celebration of Stacey Wallace Benefiel’s third Indieversary, FOUND (Penny Black #1) is only 99cents April 20-27!

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From Stacey Wallace Benefiel, the author of the Zellie Wells trilogy, comes a new NA trilogy set in the Society world.

Penny Black hasn’t had it easy. Just about everything you’d expect to happen to a harassed foster-kid turned junkie has happened to Penny. Add in the mysterious power to rewind time, conducting events around her, and it’s a wonder she held up on the streets for so many years. Now, at seventeen, the New Society has found her. Finally, Penny is where she belongs. But that doesn’t stop the visions, or the need to protect the victims shown to her.

Wyatt Adams is excited and intrigued when his sister Melody assigns him to be Penny’s Lookout. Being the youngest, and hopelessly ordinary in the family that created the New Society, has left Wyatt feeling like he has a lot to prove -- and Penny is a big deal. She’s got abilities that surpass any he’s seen before…and pretty much every quality he looks for in a girlfriend, but no one needs to know about that, especially Penny.

*The Penny Black trilogy is a companion to the Zellie Wells trilogy and not a continuation of the series. (PBT is set 18 years in the future with a new cast of characters.)

*Due to language and sexuality, FOUND is recommended for older teens (Most of the

characters are out of high school and preparing for college.)*

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Haven't read the Zellie Wells trilogy yet? Pick up all three novels together for $6.99 at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and iTunes. Or get the first novel, Glimpse, for FREE at all e-book retailers.

Excerpt: 

Ben Fontenot fits his Ret-tech onto his head, flips the microscreen down in front of his right eye, and continues cramming all of his and Christopher’s belongings into their suitcases. “Zellie Adams,” he says in a clear and clipped manner. He has two Zellies and a few Adams’ listed in his contacts and half the time his Ret either techs his daughter Zellie or adult Zellie’s husband, Avery. It makes him wonder why he ever got rid of his iPhone 23.

He is bent over, looking under the bed for his shoes – another thing he wonders about, after all of his years spent on the road, is why does he always misplace his shoes in motel rooms? --when Zellie answers.

“Beeeeeen. It’s early.”

He smiles as her image appears before his eye. Is that a pillow behind her head? She hasn’t even bothered to get out of bed. “Hey Doc,” he says, his smile growing wider. She rolls her eyes at him. Zellie hates it when he calls her Doc. He can’t help it. He’s excited. “You might want to sit up for this, I have some news.”

Zellie rocks back and forth, her long red hair working itself into a rat’s nest against the pillow. She is either trying to roll onto her side or fall out of bed…Ben isn’t sure which.

Finally, she says, “Avery, help me.”

Ben hears Avery chuckle and then sees him come into view above Zellie. He’s doing a crappy job of hiding his amusement over his pregnant wife’s predicament.

Zellie swats him on the arm. “Knock it off and help me up. It’s all your fault I’m ginormous, asshat.”

“Can you believe people come to her for advice?” Avery jokes to Ben as his face gets really close to Zellie’s, and then they are moving backward. “There, all better.”

Ben locates his shoes and sits on the bed, slipping his special edition hemp-fiber Chucks on. When he is sure that he has Zellie’s full attention, he takes a deep breath and says, “We’ve found her.”

“Penny Black? In DC?” Zellie asks, her voice going up an octave with each question.

“Yup.” Ben nods enthusiastically. He rights his Ret-tech. “Lookout Command sent us new video a few hours ago.” Ben moves his eyes across the microscreen, focuses on the video icon in the top left corner and blinks once, bringing up the latest clip for Zellie. “You’re not the only one who got a 5:00 a.m. wake up call.”

He waits while Zellie watches the clip of seventeen-year-old Penny Black, a Retroact who has managed to elude capture for the past seven years, as she pauses time and rewinds a twelve-car pile-up on Interstate 66 in Virginia.

Ben shakes his head, in awe. “She collapsed after that display of badassed-ness, which is consistent with all the intel Melody’s gathered. The Highway Patrol picked Penny up off the side of the road an hour later. They were completely unaware of what she’d done and how many lives she’d saved. The cops delivered her to a juvenile detention center twenty miles from here. Christopher’s on his way now to work his mind mojo.”

“Wow,” Zellie says. “She’s just…amazing. I don’t know how she’s made it this far on her own, Lookout-free, maybe not even knowing what she is. You and Christopher will be on a plane with her in the next couple hours, I assume?”

“Our flight for Cali leaves at eleven DC time. I can’t believe we found her right before the term begins. The Universe seems to be goosing me again.”

“You love it,” Zellie teases. “All right…” Ben can practically hear the gears in her shrink mind click into overdrive. “I’ll meet you at the Society School for an intake at three. We can put off the full psych eval for a few days.”

Ben grins, blinking to close the video and send it to its folder. “Hers or mine?”

Zellie snorts. “Dude, like you didn’t fail yours the second we met. I still love you, though.”

“Hey!” Avery says, from Zellie’s left. “Enough with the sweet nothings to Benji while you’re carrying my spawn.”

It’s Ben’s turn to snort. “Your spawn? Nice way to talk about your son, Adams. So, I guess that makes Zel some kind of reptile?”

“Seriously?” Zellie moans, her face moving toward a beaming Avery. She kisses him. “Boys, it’s been eighteen years. Get over it.”

Author Bio: 

Stacey Wallace Benefiel is the author of the Zellie Wells trilogy, FOUND, the Day of Sacrifice Omnibus, The Toilet Business - a collection of humorous essays, and multiple short stories. Look for her upcoming New Adult Contemporary Romance, CROSSING, Spring 2013. She sometimes goes by S.W. Benefiel or Reina Stowe, but knows she's not foolin' anybody. Stacey lives in an orange house in Beaverton, OR with her two kids and their old, smelly dog. When she's not writing, thinking about writing, or driving her kids somewhere, Stacey is at CrossFit lifting heavy things and cursing the inventor of burpees.

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Giveaway: This giveaway is for one (1) signed Zellie Wells Trilogy e-card (Zellie Wells is companion to the Penny Black series and this card allows a download for the complete Zellie Wells trilogy). Open internationally. Please use the rafflecopter form below to enter. 

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