TBR Tuesday: An AToMR Tours Special!

Our regular TBR Tuesday has a little extra spice added in today. 

The Oasis Sisters are proud to be part of the cover reveal for the YA novel, VENGEANCE BOUND, by Justina Ireland and Simon and Schuster, with an expected release date of April 2, 2013. This tour is hosted by AToMR Tours.

Description: The Goddess Test meets Dexter in an edgy, compelling debut about one teen’s quest for revenge…no matter how far it takes her.

Cory Graff is not alone in her head. Bound to a deal of desperation made when she was a child, Cory’s mind houses the Furies—the hawk and the serpent—lingering always, waiting for her to satisfy their bloodlust. After escaping the asylum where she was trapped for years, Cory knows how to keep the Furies quiet. By day, she lives a normal life, but by night, she tracks down targets the Furies send her way. And she brings down Justice upon them.

Cory’s perfected her system of survival, but when she meets a mysterious boy named Niko at her new school, she can’t figure out how she feels about him. For the first time, the Furies are quiet in her head around a guy. But does this mean that Cory’s finally found someone who she can trust, or are there greater factors at work? 

As Cory’s mind becomes a battlefield, with the Furies fighting for control, Cory will have to put everything on the line to hold on to what she’s worked so hard to build.

Be on the lookout for this one!! I love the purity of the cover, yet the dirt and evil that lies beneath. Just look at those snakes!

Here's where you can find more about this book: Goodreads, Amazon, BN: Not up yet, & Indiebound.

SANCTUM ~ TBR Tuesday

Whenever I'm up on a Tuesday, I'm forced to fan through my mountainous to-be-read pile. I honestly don't believe I'll ever see the bottom of it. However, from the vast variety of my pile, it goes to show the wonderment in young adult literature today.

I've chosen a book from a wonderful writer, blogger, and friend.


Official Description: A week ago, seventeen-year-old Lela Santos's best friend, Nadia, killed herself. Today, thanks to a farewell ritual gone awry, Lela is standing in paradise, looking upon a vast gated city in the distance – hell. No one willingly walks through the Suicide Gates, into a place smothered in darkness and infested with depraved creatures. But Lela isn't just anyone – she's determined to save her best friend's soul, even if it means sacrificing her eternal afterlife. 

As Lela struggles to find Nadia, she's captured by the Guards, enormous, not-quite-human creatures that patrol the dark city's endless streets. Their all-too-human leader, Malachi, is unlike them in every way except one: his deadly efficiency. When he meets Lela, Malachi forms his own plan: get her out of the city, even if it means she must leave Nadia behind. Malachi knows something Lela doesn't – the dark city isn't the worst place Lela could end up, and he will stop at nothing to keep her from that fate.

Author Sarah Fine and I had a conversation a few months back about this book. From the moment she explained the premise, I was hooked. It's approximately 433 pages and has an expected publishing date of October 2012. I am so ansty to get my hands on a copy of this story. Won't you add it to your TBR list??

UNTIL I DIE

I could have gone with a generic title. You know, the whole TBR list and all. But I could not resist using the title of the book I'm highlighting from the mountain of books I long to read.


UNTIL I DIE, by Author Amy Plum


Seriously? It gives me chills, makes me think, and gives me visions. Love it!!

Okay, so now I'm going to gush about the cover! 

It's gorgeous!!

I need to make a confession. I don't choose books for their cover art very often. I read the story blurb and about the author. I usually thumb through the book and then read a chunk of pages here and there. 

I did choose this book, initially, for its cover. TO DIE FOR. 

Description: 

I wish there was only today, just right now, and no forever.

It seems fitting that I fell in love in Paris, the most beautiful city in the world. And if I pretend, I can almost believe that my life is normal and everyone I care about is safe.

But as long as I’m with Vincent, “normal” doesn’t exist. Gorgeous, charming, and witty, he’s everything you could ask for in a boyfriend—but his destiny is so much more.

Even more terrifying than his destiny are his dangerous enemies, enemies who will kill for immortality. How are Vincent and I supposed to be together forever if we’re always in danger?

I know I’ll do whatever it takes—even if it means lying to the people I love—to fight against a fate that is trying to tear us apart.

Yeah. Yummy, right? But you'll have to wait to get it on its Book Birthday, May 8th, 2012; publisher: HarperCollins

Take a better peek over at Barnes and Noble. 

Collection of LOVE & a Winner!

Major round of applause for all our That's YAmore Blogfest participants! There were so many fantastic excerpts. I'm still fanning myself. But alas...one of you must be the winner of a YA read of your choice.

Let's congratulate, KATY UPPERMAN of Musings Of An Aspiring Young Adult Author!!

(Just in need of your mailing addy, Katy.)

For some added spice today, I'd like to give a huge Oasis shout-out for IN HIS EYES Anthology - sixteen short stories, all from the point of view of favored male characters!  The contributors include award winners, frequent "Top 100" placers, and hot 2011 debut authors. Sounds pretty unique!! And guess what? You can download it for FREE. Yup. Just go HERE!

TBR Tuesday: Shifting

Every writer knows that reading others' work stretches our own minds and improves our own writing and techniques. That's why most writers have a To-Be-Read pile to die for...or one so large it just might kill them. 

But as irony sometimes shows up in writing - that's a good thing.

Here's a book I can't wait to get my hands on. The cover is totally glam, and the story sounds unique. Moreover, Bethany Wiggins--the author--is a talent and fabulous person rolled up into one.

After bouncing from foster home to foster home, Magdalene Mae is transferred to what should be her last foster home in the tiny town of Silver City, New Mexico. Now that she's eighteen and has only a year left in high school, she's determined to stay out of trouble and just be normal. Agreeing to go to the prom with Bridger O'Connell is a good first step. Fitting in has never been her strong suit, but it's not for the reasons most people would expect-it all has to do with the deep secret that she is a shape shifter. But even in her new home danger lurks, waiting in the shadows to pounce. They are the Skinwalkers of Navajo legend, who have traded their souls to become the animal whose skin they wear-and Maggie is their next target.

Full of romance, mysticism, and intrigue, this dark take on Navajo legend will haunt readers to the final page.

What do you think? Will you add this to your TBR pile? If you do, why  not tweet it and let Bethany know.

TBR or Reading TUESDAY: The Water Wars

Tuesdays bring us Tunes that motivate and influence our writing, book trailers that move us, and stories or upcoming releases aka TBReads that excite us. 

Today I'm bringing you a newly-released read that has world-building, characters with arc, and even a false antagonist. I'm currently mulling over this story for a review for Sourcebooks but thought it would be a great book to share with you now.

Title: The Water Wars

Author: Cameron Stracher

Genre: YA Dystopian

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Released: January 1, 2011

Pages: 240

Synopsis: (as printed on Teenfire, Sourcebooks Fire)

Lost in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, two teenagers race against time to rescue their friend from the corporations that run the world by controlling the limited water supply…

Vera, 15, and her brother Will, 17, live in the shadow of the Great Panic, in a world that has collapsed from environmental catastrophe and war.  In this world, water is hoarded by governments with access to it, rivers are dammed, polar caps are melted, and clouds sucked from the sky.  Their mother is ill from a nameless disease, and their father barely manages on ration tickets and black market goods.  One morning Vera meets and befriends a mysterious boy named Kai, who seems to have limitless access to fresh water and claims to know an untapped river but is sworn to secrecy.

Vera and Kai become friends, and soon something elusive blossoms between them.  But one afternoon Kai doesn’t show up at their usual meeting place… Vera and Will set off on a dangerous journey in search of their friend and his secret source of life-affirming liquid. The siblings are pursued by pirates, a paramilitary group and greedy corporations hell bent on controlling the world’s water supply – all of whom want to get their hands on Kai and his uncanny ability to find fresh water.

You can find the book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookdepository. I was unable to find a website for the author, but I did locate an interview by one of my fantastic author friends, Dianne Salerni.