Monday, September 30, 2013

Crimson Tree NEW Release @CrimsonTreePub - Secrets (Bionics #3) by Alicia Michaels @fantasybyalicia


New Release 

in 

The Bionics Series by Alicia Michaels


We are so excited to announce the official release of the newest book in The Bionics Series by 
Alicia Michaels! All three books are released through Crimson Tree Publishing (The Adult Imprint of Clean teen Publishing) in September 2013. 

SECRETS (Book 3 in The Bionics Series)




*These books are New Adult and rated Young Adult Mature for mature content. 

The Bionics (Book 1) 
FREE
(New Adult or YA Mature) 




The year is 4010.
Nuclear war and the wasteful nature of humans have all but destroyed the United States. A new government regime rules the day with strict laws, rationed food, and careful control. When those injured in the nuclear blasts that rocked many of the nations largest cities are offered another chance by the Restoration Project, how could they refuse?

Little do they know that the robotic additions to their body will paint targets on their backs once the government decides that they are dangerous. At the forefront of the resistance is a girl with a bionic eye, Blythe Sol, who wants nothing more than to be a normal girl. Blythe has yet to realize that normal will never exist again for her, or anyone else.

The Revolution has begun...



All I ever wanted was to be a normal girl. I had dreams of joining the ranks of the Military Police and making my family proud. But the nuclear war that laid waste to our country destroyed any hope I had of being normal ever again. They took everything away from me, including my humanity. I am now half-human, half-machine, part of the never-ending freak show that is the Restoration Project.

They hate what they created and they fear us for being powerful.


And so they hunt us, destroying our lives so that they can bury what they built. What they don’t know is this: there is a Resistance out there and The Bionics aren’t going down without a fight.

Titanium (Book 2) 
$2.99
(New Adult or YA Mature) 
We stand on the brink of a double rescue mission, a plan so foolhardy that even our bravest men are quaking inside with fear. Storm the capitol, free the prisoners, don’t get killed. It seems like a suicide mission, but not a single one of us has anything to lose.

In my past life, I was a scoundrel; a drug peddling street thug who cared nothing for anyone because I had no one to care for me. The nuclear blasts of 4006 reminded me of the value of life, and a girl with the saddest eyes I’ve ever gazed into gave me someone to care for. Now, as we embark on our most dangerous enterprise, I can only hope that we make it out alive and that those we have lost can be recovered.

Foolishness … fear … hope … These are the elements that threw our revolution into motion. As the momentum of the Resistance continues to build, we can only pray that hope continues grow larger than our fear.


Secrets (Book 3) 
$2.99
(New Adult or YA Mature) 




Before The Resistance, my life was one of privilege and comfort. Before The Resistance, mine was a mindset of naiveté and blind trust in a broken and corrupt government. Before The Resistance, I’d never stood up or fought for anything in my life.

Now, there is everything to fight for and everything to lose. All for a glimmer of hope in our future. It may seem a small thing but with the smallest bit of hope, men have risen against their oppressors with fists raised, even when they knew they stared into the face of death. Now that I have found something to fight for, I can only hope that my past will not become a roadblock to my future and that the secrets I've kept from those whose trust I've gained will not come back to ruin the new life I've made. If they do, I fear that I will not only lose my place as part of the Resistance, but the heart of the girl I am slowly coming to love. 



About Alicia Michaels:


Ever since she first read books like Chronicles of Narnia or Goosebumps, Alicia has been a lover of mind-bending fiction. Wherever imagination takes her, she is more than happy to call that place her home. The mother of two and wife to an Army sergeant loves chocolate, coffee, and of course good books. When not writing, you can usually find her with her nose in a book, shopping for shoes and fabulous jewelry, or spending time with her loving family.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Review - Rising by Holly Kelly @hollyk94



Rising
by Holly Kelly

Goodreads blurb:  In a war between the humans and the inhabitants of the sea—humans will lose. Xanthus Dimitriou—the most lethal Dagonian to rise from the ocean—is on a mission to save mankind from annihilation. But first there’s one small thing he needs to do. Kill a young woman in a wheelchair.
Killing her doesn’t start out as part of his plan. He entrenches himself deep in the human world. Aligning himself with his enemies, he prepares to send them to Triton to face their punishment. Then Sara Taylor rolls onto the scene. Xanthus knows at once she’s a criminal. And her crime? Being born. She’s a human/Dagonian half-breed, an abomination. Killing her should be an easy job. All he has to do is break into her apartment, slit her throat, and feed her body to the sharks. Simple, right? Wrong. If only she weren’t so beautiful, so innocent, so sweet... Saving the world may have to wait. It appears he has a woman to save. But protecting her may cost him his own life.


About the Author:  Holly Kelly is a mom who writes books in her spare time: translation-She hides in the bathroom with her laptop and locks the door while the kids destroy the house and smear peanut butter on the walls.

Holly was born in Utah but lived in Salina, Kansas until she was 13 and in Garland, Texas until she was 18. She's now back in Utah--"happy valley". Holly is married to her wonderful husband, James, and the two of them are currently raising 6 rambunctious children. Her interests are reading, writing (or course), martial arts, visual arts, and spending time with family.

Holly Kelly's first published book is: Rising. Rising was published by Clean Teen Publishing on September 6, 2013.

Connect with Holly:

My Thoughts - 5 out of 5 unicorns - I loved it!!
**Received an ebook copy from Clean Teen Publishing for an honest review

The cover is absolutely beautiful!!  I was intrigued from the first moment I saw it!  Marya did a fantastic job!

The story was phenomenal and I loved every moment of reading it!  I couldn’t put it down in fact I read it straight through much to my son’s chagrin. 

I totally fell in love with Xanthus and Sara.  Sara is strong, independent, and doesn’t just cower and hide when something bad happens.  I couldn’t imagine being confined to a wheel chair or people thinking you were an abomination.  She is very strong and a great role model for not giving up.  Xanthus is a fierce and protective warrior with a soft spot for Sara.  He also sounds very dreamy :)

This is a awesome combination of mythology, sea creatures, and the real world.  Can you imagine if Dagonians or mermaids were real?  What if they lived among us?  Do you think they would appreciate what we do to the world?  I think it would be cool to swim the oceans and not fear for your life from sharks and everything else that lives in the ocean especially if Xanthus was by your side.  

Okay the ending frustrated me, but you have to read it to see what I mean!!  I can't wait to read more about this awesome world!!  Holly totally rocks!!  :)

I will definitely be adding this book to my library in paperback.  If you like mermaid adventures, you will love this one!!

Interested in Reading???

Review - The Keeper and the Rune Stone by Paige W. Pendleton @pwpendleton


The Keeper and the Rune Stone
Black Ledge book #1
by Paige W. Pendleton

Goodreads blurb:  An unholy ritual, a ticking clock. Four children discover there are things that go bump in the night ...
Centuries ago a group of Elves committed an unholy ritual. But the ritual was a spectacular failure. It transformed the Elves into the Noctivagi - the beings we know as vampires.

Striving to maintain a fragile peace, the ancient Elves and Dwarves negotiated an Accord, which they've renewed every year on the Summer Solstice. The ceremony depends on the magical Rune Stone, but it's missing. If it is not found—and quickly—the consequences could be dire, and not just for Elves and Dwarves.

Four children, Rob, Jack, Eleanor, and Flora, stumble into a world of magic and mayhem when they move into Black Ledge, the old estate on the Maine coast, and discover they aren’t the only ones who live there.


About The Black Ledge Series and Paige W. Pendleton:

Growing up, I discovered the natural world from my pony's saddle. The fields, woods, and rambling stone walls of Southern New England were my world to explore, and a better one could not be found.

Later, my education in the dental field took me into the laboratory, and I was captivated by microbiological microcosms -- entire realms of inhabitants of which most of us are unaware.

All of these worlds collide in The Black Ledge adventures, as well as my love of spooky stuff, and all things old.

I hope this work will encourage more kids to read under the covers with a flashlight.

Connect with Paige:


My Thoughts - 4 out of 5 unicorns - I really liked it!! 

**Received ebook from the author for an honest review, but I actually already had it on my kindle as a hidden treasure :)

I like to start with the cover, and this cover doesn’t really grab my attention.  I know you are not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but some covers really intrigue me to read them.  Don’t judge this book by its cover because you will miss out on a great adventure!

The book started slowly, but you needed the background and learn about all the characters and the setting.  I really enjoyed this story, and I’m glad I read it and can’t wait to read book 2.

My favorite characters are Eleanor because she is feisty but protective and caring.  I also really liked Gunnr.  He is a hero but also misunderstood.  I really hope to see more of him in book 2.  Gunnr and Eleanor have chemistry together, but it is mysterious too.  Camedon is funny, and I’m sure I will see more of him POPPING in and out in book 2.

The world that Paige creates is wonderful, and I wish I could be aware and have magically adventures like the Driscolls and Charlotte.  I can only imagine the conversations I would have with my trouble making cat Twister when he is in the mood to cause trouble.

I really think if you are into adventures in magical realms with Elves, Dwarves, and other mystical creatures that you will enjoy this story.  I can’t wait to read book 2, but I have to read a few other books before I can get to it. 

Thank you for sharing your wonderful story with me Paige!!

Interested in reading??

~ Amazon ~ AmazonUK ~ B&N

Saturday, September 21, 2013

New Release Spotlight - Hunted by Cerys du Lys @cerysdulys 18+ (Adults Only)




Hunted: An Exotic Retelling
of Beauty and the Beast
Hunted by the Beast #1-5
by Cerys du Lys



Goodreads blurb:  When the beast-cursed man of legends comes for her, desiring her as his mate, can Danya tame his savage ways and show him love, or will she unwittingly become some plaything for a monster, existing solely for his pleasure?

(A Cerys du Lys erotic fairy tale novel)

Hidden in the woods sits a mansion. Rumors say it's commanded by a beast-cursed man who crossed a witch nearly a century ago.

Danya has no time for rumors and fantasies, though. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, now trapped by her father's constant debt, she struggles just to care for her family. She's shamed herself, sold her body, all to make some coin and ward the debtors away for a little while longer.

One day someone will find her and love her and offer her a better life. Right?

The one who comes for her is nothing like what she expects, though. The beast-cursed man of legends knows her scent and he hunts for her lust like a wolf pursuing a rabbit through the underbrush. He wants her, needs her, desires her body, and yet...

There's a reason the witch cursed him in the first place, isn't there? The lord's son, Everett, trapped as a man in wolf's clothing, bound to the witch's whim. Can Danya hope to tame his wild ways, undo his curse, and find love in the process, or is she merely a pleasure toy to him, some sexual prey meant to be Hunted?

Impassioned, steamy, and haunting. This evocative fairy tale of obsession, lust, and erotic thrill will enchant you, romance you, and leave you feeling bewitched.

This book is intended for mature audiences.


Interested??
~ Amazon ~
**Note there will be a 99 cent promo this week as soon as the ebook is live on Amazon :)

About the Author:  ~If you like a story, I’d love if you rate and review it. It lets me know what you like best and helps me decide what to write next~

Cerys lives in the Greater Boston area in a small town in New Hampshire. She spends her days writing, reading, learning, and working. Some of her most favorite activities involve understanding and learning about the human psychology.
She enjoys pondering sexuality and human response to it. Most of her writing delves into this in some way, exploring reactions and relationships between different people. While she enjoys writing erotica, her goal is to also keep a certain literary appeal to the writing instead of something purely pornographic.
She prefers fantasy settings, with magic, monsters, intrigue, and epic adventures. Her secret kinks include blackmail/coercion, reluctance/dubious consent, and prostitution. She loves writing about all of these things, though very strongly acknowledges they are simply exciting fantasies and nothing more.

Connect with Cerys:



Friday, September 20, 2013

Juniper Grove Book Blitz & Giveaway - World Aflame Series by Jon Messenger @JonMessenger



Wind Warrior
World Aflame series, book 1
by Jon Messenger

Published:  September 13th, 2013 by Clean Teen Publishing
Word Count:  approx. 47,000

Genre:  New Adult Paranormal Romance

Synopsis: THE EARTH GIVES WAY TO THE SEA, THE SEA BOWS BEFORE THE WIND, THE WIND FEEDS THE FLAME, THE FLAME BURNS THE WORLD OF MAN DOWN TO THE EARTH.

The sleepy town of White Halls harbors a dangerous secret. On a picturesque street, two houses down from a lovely little park, in a quaint little home with a wraparound porch, lives a family that seems rather normal. Sure, their twenty-year-old son, Xander, still lives at home, but he's going to college and dating the leader of the schools top sorority. It's all very... normal.  However, when a man is miraculously saved from being hit by a bus, Xander's life turns in to the living embodiment of the tornadoes he can suddenly create with a flick of his wrist. Whether he wants this gift or not, Xander must learn to use his new 'super power' quickly if he wants to survive.  For his kind is a dying race, and when this sleepy town has a sudden influx of new, blonde, fire wielders, no one is safe, especially Xander. It doesn't help that one of these blondes happens to be the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. Xander can't deny the instant connection he feels to her so, when she tries to kill him, it certainly makes things complicated.





Flame Caller
World Aflame series, book 2
by Jon Messenger

Published:  September 13th, 2013 by Clean Teen Publishing
Word Count:  approx. 75,000

Genre:  New Adult Paranormal Romance

Synopsis: THE EARTH GIVES WAY TO THE SEA, THE SEA BOWS BEFORE THE WIND, THE WIND FEEDS THE FLAME, THE FLAME BURNS THE WORLD OF MAN DOWN TO THE EARTH.

White Halls is no longer a sleepy little town. Its houses lie smoldering on their foundations. The residents take refuge in their homes, afraid to leave. And the town’s prodigal son and newest Wind Warrior, Xander Sirocco, has fled.

Xander has lost his family, his grandfather is in a coma, and now the fate of the world is in his hands. He has no time to figure out his feelings for Sammy—the Fire Wielder who saved his life after first trying to take it—because he has a world to save. But how do seven Wind Warriors fight off an army of Flame Callers… who are determined to burn the world of man down to the earth?

When a whispered word gives Xander newfound hope, he sets off to find the very thing that could save them all. They say that Elementals—embodiments of the elemental powers that the different castes wield—are only a myth. Even so, the hope of finding an Elemental is his only chance to save not only the Wind Warriors and Sammy, but also the world itself.

Little does Xander know that while he is out chasing the Wind Elemental, the Fire Elemental is closing in quickly behind him. It has nefarious plans for Sammy… and it will not stop until Xander is dead.


Grab your copy of Wind Warrior – The Novella for FREE on Amazon!

Author the Author:

Jon Messenger (Born 1979 in London, England) serves as an United States Army Captain in the Medical Service Corps. Since graduating from the University of Southern California in 2002, writing Science Fiction has remained his passion, a passion that has continued through two deployments to Iraq, a humanitarian relief mission to Haiti, and an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. Jon wrote the "Brink of Distinction" trilogy, of which "Burden of Sisyphus" is the first book, while serving a 16-month deployment in Baghdad, Iraq.  Wind Warrior is Jon Messenger's break through novel published through Clean Teen Publishing. Jon Messenger has won a readers choice award as well as the Clean Teen Publishing writing contest for his Novella of Wind Warrior, which is also featured in Wonderstruck.






Excerpt from Flame Caller (Book Two in World Aflame Series) by Jon Messenger:

“I’m trying to hold onto sand. I’m clenching my fists as hard as I can to keep it all together but it’s not just the responsibilities of a Wind Warrior that are slipping away. I’m slipping away, too. This hole in my chest is getting bigger every day. At first, it was losing Sammy the first time, despite the fact that she tried to kill me. Then Mom and Dad—when they died it was like someone took a shovel to the sides of that hole and dug it as wide as the Grand Canyon.
“Then you, Grandpa. I don’t know if I ever really told you how I felt about you. It always seemed silly to tell your grandpa that you loved him but I really did. I thought I was going to shatter when you died. If losing my parents was like a shovel digging out the hole in my heart, losing you was like someone taking an axe and chopping to pieces whatever was left.”
Xander threw himself back and savored the cool, damp grass soaking through his shirt. A strong wind coursed through the labyrinth of remaining structures on the island and rolled over Xander as he lay prone.
“Now there’s Sammy again, like we’ve come full circle and every point on that circle was another layer of crap in my life. I sent her away. I don’t even know where; I couldn’t bring myself to ask Alicia when she got back. I should be happy about it, right? But I’m not. I know she’s the dynamite that’s going to blow apart everything I have left. But she was also my anchor and I just willingly cut the line and now I’m adrift in an ocean that just doesn’t make any sense anymore.”
A cloud passed between Xander and the sun, casting the island in a gratifying shadow. Covering his eyes, he looked up at the sky and noticed the dark edges to the cloud. In the distance, it was joined by more of its kind, filling the horizon with a brewing summer storm.
“If you’re up there, Grandpa,” he muttered as the cloud blew away and the sun beat down on him once again, “I could use a sign. Anything you can send my way would really help me out.”
The first raindrop struck Xander between the eyes. He blinked away the water as it rolled over his eye and down his cheek. By the time he was able to push himself into a seated position, the sky darkened as the fast-moving clouds blotted out the sun.
With a single crack of thunder, the clouds released their burden over the island. The rain came down in driving sheets, soaking Xander to the bone and leaving his tunic and pants stuck to his skin. Sputtering away the rivulet of water running over his mouth, he stood and looked over at the grave.
“Yup, it could always get worse,” he nodded to the stones. “Message received, Grandpa.”
With a sigh, he walked toward what remained of his house.


Clean Teen Publishing Links:


Giveaway Details:
There is an international tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
A Clean Teen Publishing eBook of the reader’s choice, a $10 Amazon gift card, and a Wind Warrior book mark. 


Wednesday, September 18, 2013

High School Advice #12 - Guest post by blogger Misha Gericke @MishaMFB, Ten Things to Know When Getting Through Life!!!

I have another fabulous guest post, but this one is slightly different because she is a blogger but is in the process of publishing a YA Epic Fantasy series.  Again, thank you to Misha and all of the other wonderful people who have participated in my vision.  :)

On to Misha's awesomeness :)

Hey all! I’m super excited to be writing this, since I was a teen quite recently. Okay. I’m turning twenty-five this year, but hey, I still remember what it was like. Still remember the smell of a classroom.
Anyway. Today, I’m thinking I’m going to change things up. I’m going to list ten things I wish I realized when I was in High School.
And with that said, let’s start.
1)    Never choose a life direction because of money. Yeah, I know it’s awesome to make money. But making it at a job you absolutely hate, sucks.
2)    Never expect support before you do something. Yeah… probably what you didn’t expect to hear. Still, I stand by this. If you really want to do something that in your gut you know you need to do, and no one else gets it: find a way to do it anyway.
3)    Pick your battles. Fighting everyone every day just tires you out when you should be enjoying life.
4)    Happiness doesn’t come from having the perfect life. It comes from doing things that add meaning to your life and that you enjoy. Which, incidentally is a big reason why #1 and #2 are where they are.
5)    Never listen to people when they categorize you in a certain way. I learnt lessons #1 and #2 because of this one. You’re not just the smart kid, or the airhead or the class clown. You’re a person of unlimited potential. So if that’s what it takes, break those narrow minded people’s expectations. Or exceed them. But because it’s what you want to do.
6)    Confidence doesn’t come from being pretty or smart or being good at something. It’s from knowing you’re talented in ways you haven’t even discovered yet.
7)    Discover those ways. For the rest of your life. It really is never too late to start.
8)    Never give up unless you know you’re doing something stupid. At the same time, always test your actions and choices for stupidity. Happens to the best of us.
9)    That person you wish you dated but didn’t, usually turns out not to be the person you should have wanted. Move on, and find the person who’s meant for you.
10)           Never, ever, settle for okay when you’re doing something you want to exceed at. Never force yourself to exceed at something you hate.

About Misha:
Misha grew up in South Africa and now live a few stones thrown from Table Mountain. After brief stints of following the money and almost becoming an actuary, then an investment manager, she now owns a family business in the day and writes at night.
Since fruit exporting usually gets her blank stares at parties, she just says she’s a writer.
She’s currently in the process of publishing the first book in YA Epic Fantasy series.
You can find her at her writing blog, her life blog, twitter, google plus and goodreads

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Review - How To Be A Goddess by Sarah Nestler @tnestler




How to be a Goddess
by Sarah Nestler

Goodreads blurb:  As Katla races her long time best friend Riley to class, she runs into an odd man in a black cloak. When she wakes up from the impact of the hard hallway floor, she finds herself in a different worldthe underworld. Katla soon finds out who the odd man is. He's Hades: god of the underworld, god of the dead.




About the Author:  Hey everybody! I'm Sarah, I'm a 15 year old author from Illinois! I wrote my first book "How To Be A Goddess" when I was 12, and ended when I was 13. 
I love cats and horses, I'm a total goof, and I'm not distant like most authors. I'm not usually on goodreads, but you can chat me up on my Facebook page! ^_^

Connect with Sarah:

My Thoughts - 4 out of 5 unicorns - I really liked it!!
**Received the book from the author’s mom for an honest review.

The frosty cover is beautiful.  I have a few things to say before I talk about the book.  I love that Tena, Sarah’s mom, supports her fully.  I see kids everyday and that’s all they want is the full support of their parents.  Kids, who get the full support of their parents, succeed more, and this is backed up with all sorts of data.  I will let you look this up if you do not believe me.  ;) 

I am also amazed because this story was written when Sarah was 12 and 13.  It is well written because I know my 12 year old can’t write like this at all.  She is now in high school, and I try to support any high school student whether mine or not :)  You did a fantastic job Sarah!!

I really like mythology so from the start I liked the idea of this story.  It is sort of how mythology changes a real world girl who fights it kicking and screaming the whole way because she wants to keep her normal ordinary life.  How would you feel if you were kidnapped from high school by Hades, Lord of the Underworld??  Katla handles it much better than me because I would have freaked out. 

I really like Katla’s character because she is a spit fire, and I love when the main character can kick butt and take names.  She doesn’t let anyone push her around even Zeus.  I also really like several of the other Gods’ personalities like Zeus, Apollo, and Hephaestus.  There are a few who were very arrogant and thought they were better than everybody which reminds me of a few high school kids.  In fact, everything that happened at Mount Olympus reminded me of high school drama which always makes me chuckle.  I wish it had more action.  This is the only thing that I think would make it better.  There is a lot of action at the end which was great. 

I will definitely be following Sarah to see how she continues to grow as an author. 

I recommend this book to all those readers who love mythology and love supporting young authors.

Interested in Reading??

Monday, September 16, 2013

IO Book Tours Cover Reveal - Enhanced by Courtney Farrell @CAFarrell @Vickie_IO_Tours

Welcome to the Cover Reveal for "Enhanced" by Courtney Farrell.  Enjoy the first chapter provided for your pleasure. 


Michelle was born into the Institute’s eugenics program, where doctors breed people like livestock. One powerful man decides which children grow up, and which disappear. Culls are dumped in the slum outside Institute walls, and those kids never come back. Michelle has survived every purge, and she’s about to win a luxurious life as a breeder. When her brother and her boyfriend are both mysteriously culled, despite their high scores, she goes over the wall to find them. Alone in the ghetto, she’s in trouble until handsome, streetwise Dillon stakes a claim to her. She’s mortified because the Enhanced see Norms as little more than animals. But the doctor is using the missing boys in a twisted experiment, and she needs Dillon’s help to stop him. Michelle must rescue the boys, but a plague is spreading, the doctor is after her, and Dillon isn’t thrilled to help her find her lost boyfriend.
Enhanced: Chapter 1 

     The door slammed open and a team of white-coated technicians filed grimly into the classroom. Michelle Atherton automatically relaxed her face into the expressionless mask Enhanced offspring used to greet any bad news, but under her desk, her fingers gripped each other hard enough to hurt. The techs lined up against the wall, arms folded and jaws set in identical hard lines. They stared over her head, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Doctor Williams came in last, rolling a gurney outfitted with sturdy nylon straps. He parked it behind the last row of chairs, and teenagers twisted in their seats to stare. Pressure rose in Michelle’s throat like a scream, but she didn’t dare make a sound.
     Williams dismissed Professor Cole with a perfunctory twitch of his jowly chin. In agonizingly slow motion, the old teacher set the stack of standardized tests down on her desk and walked stiffly from the room. Williams closed the door after her. The click of the latch made Michelle flinch.
    “Seth Atherton,” Doctor Williams said.
     Blood rushed from Michelle’s head.
     Michelle’s seventeen-year-old brother stood up. “Sir?”
    “You have been selected for a…procedure.” Williams motioned Seth to the gurney. “Come with us.”
    “What procedure?” Seth’s voice sounded calm and polite, as always, but everyone knew what he was thinking. People selected for procedures didn’t always come back.
     Williams didn’t answer–not that anyone expected him to. At the doctor’s gesture, a couple of male technicians stepped up and locked eyes with the rangy dark-haired boy. The bigger one, a swarthy young man with thighs like tree trunks, pointed Michelle’s brother toward the gurney. Seth stood his ground.
     He turned to Doctor Williams. “I’ll cooperate, sir. You don’t need the stretcher, I can walk.”
     Technicians drifted from the wall like wraiths, slowly surrounding him. Michelle’s head felt like it floated a little way above her body, as if somehow it wasn’t quite connected. Objects in the room had bright edges, and the coats of the technicians gleamed in brilliant, painful white. Her brother’s strong hand gripped her shoulder, but she didn’t remember getting out of her chair. He pulled her close and leaned down to whisper.
   “Michelle.” Seth’s eyes were so dilated that they almost looked black. Narrow rings of indigo surrounded the reflective pools of darkness. “Don’t do this. You have a chance to grow up here, become a breeder. I…I just can’t watch you walk out the gate alone.”
    She stared at him with wide eyes, and slowly nodded. Seth inclined his head in that unconsciously noble way of his, and the technicians fell back, making room. His fingers gripped Michelle’s arm. Pain dimly penetrated her nightmare, so she let her brother walk her a couple of steps and press her back down in her chair.
    “Stay here, Michelle. I’ll be fine.”
     Michelle blinked hard at the tears that threatened to shame them both. “Sure. You’ll…be fine.”
     Seth nodded once and turned away. He strode to the gurney, climbed aboard and stretched out on his back. With sharp metallic clicks, technicians ratcheted down the straps.
     They rolled him away.
     The teens sat for a moment in stunned silence before the whispering began. “I can’t believe they’re culling him!” Sylvia blurted.
    “That’s not how it’s done,” Jeanette said disdainfully. “They didn’t line us up at the gate, and besides, with his scores, that’s not going to happen.”
    “Maybe they don’t like his attitude,” said Seth’s best friend Brian. “The way he plays the system.”
     Michelle glanced sharply at the big blond-haired senior. “You mean the way you both—”
    The door opened again and the technicians came back in with a second wheeled stretcher.
    Carissa’s face blanched as the technicians marched toward her. “It’s me, I knew it.”       The tawny-haired girl stumbled out of her chair and squeezed behind Brian’s broad back, like that could save her. He murmured to her softly and reached up to cover her hand with his.
    “Brian Halstead,” the swarthy tech said, flexing his thick shoulders in an unspoken challenge. Carissa’s breath caught audibly in her throat.
     Brian stood up slowly, with the oiled grace of a predator. “Yes, sir.”
     He emphasized the word a little and the tech’s eyes narrowed. Nobody called technicians sir. A little smirk played along the corners of Brian’s mouth. He took a step or two toward the gurney, but hesitated by Michelle’s chair until she looked up.
    “For Seth,” Brian whispered, giving her a wicked little smile.
     Michelle sat up straight and scanned the white-coats. Doctor Williams had gone, leaving a bunch of low ranking techs to deal with Brian alone. Big mistake. What’s he going to do?
     As Brian sauntered down the aisle, people in the back of the classroom scooted out of their chairs and clustered in front by Professor Cole’s desk. That should have alerted the technicians, but it didn’t.
    “Clearly, there’s a reason that they’re only technicians,” Jeanette Morley said, right out loud, and her girlfriends giggled.
    “Get on the stretcher,” the burly technician growled at Brian.
     Brian grinned. “Thanks, but I’m not interested in participating.”
    “It’s not optional.”
    “That’s not the way I see it.” Brian cocked his head and waited until the tech made the mistake of grabbing his arm.
     “I turned eighteen last fall,” Brian said, and the guy let go fast. It was too late.
      With both hands, Brian lifted the stretcher off its wheels and slammed its edge into the man’s stomach. The swarthy one went down, along with another white-coat with the bad luck to be standing next to him. Techs swarmed the big blond-haired teenager, trying to overcome him by sheer numbers. Michelle cheered along with the rest of the class when Brian made a hole in the drywall with some guy’s head, but a petite female nurse snuck up behind him with a syringe.
     “Look out, behind you!” screamed Carissa.
      Brian slumped horribly to the floor, and four white-coated men lifted his body onto the stretcher. They rolled him away while Michelle wrapped her arms around herself and shook. After the last technician filed out, Doctor Williams stuck his head in, surveyed the damaged wall with a slightly sick expression, and then closed the door like a dog owner making sure his pets didn’t get out.
      Jeanette laughed until her face turned pink. “Did you see how Brian set that up? The Conclave can’t touch him for that!”
     “What!” Michelle snapped.
     “Don’t you get anything, Michelle?” Jeanette rolled her eyes. “Brian’s eighteen. Technically that makes him an adult, whether he’s finished high school or not. With the scores he gets, he outranks every technician at the Institute. He doesn’t have to follow their orders.”
      “So when he wakes up from whatever sick experiment they’re doing on him, they can’t punish him any worse. Sure, that’s just hysterical, Jeanette. I’m glad you enjoyed it so much.” Michelle abruptly fell silent when the door opened once again.
     This time, when they came, they came for her.
     Michelle trembled on the exam table in the Genetics Clinic. A puncture wound in her leg slowly dripped blood onto the polished floor, but she ignored it. Technicians were testing the biopsied muscle segment, and Norms existed to clean up the mess. A child sobbed softly on the other side of the wall.
      Don’t go. Doctor Salomon could walk in any second, Michelle told herself, crumpling her disposable hospital shift in sweaty hands. But he won’t, another part of her mind whispered, the buried part that knew exactly what Salomon was doing in the room next door. He’s not finished with her yet. Michelle fidgeted on the paper-covered bench, trying to repress the thought. She smoothed away the telltale wrinkles in the horrible white paper poncho, but they’d be able to tell. They could always tell.
     Michelle tucked her chin and wrapped her arms across her flat stomach, as though she could hide under her veil of long dark hair. The antiseptic scent of the clinic always twisted her guts into a knot. Suddenly she pushed off the table, landing barefoot on the freezing cold tiles. Crimson droplets of blood marked her passage toward the door, but the bleeding quickly stopped. In another hour the wound would be completely healed. She hesitated, calculating the odds. Can I go find Seth and get back before Salomon does? Not likely. But if I don’t, I’ll go crazy.
      Michelle eyed the closed door, considering escape. But escape was only for the losers who got culled. Brian claimed that would be a relief, but he tried as hard as anyone to avoid it. No one knew what happened to the culls after they were dumped in the slum. They probably live out there like kings, ruling over the Norms. Even a cull could out compete them.
      In a savage motion Michelle tore off her paper shift and let the fragments drift to the floor. Glaring surgical light reflected off her sleek muscles, golden skin, and the flawless features of her face. She snatched up her clothes as fast as she could. A child’s shrill scream paralyzed her with one leg in her pants.
      Doctor Salomon’s voice rumbled through the wall, taking that quietly insistent tone he used with little girls. “Be quiet, Jennifer, or I’ll bring one of your sisters in here instead. Is that what you want?”
     Michelle took a ragged gasp as everything she’d tried so hard to forget flooded to the surface. She yanked on her clothes and skidded across the floor in her socks. The door had been locked from outside. She rattled the doorknob frantically, but no one came. The child next door got louder, and something in there crashed to the floor. The little girl’s hysterical pleading shifted into a high-pitched scream. A man bellowed, followed by the unmistakable sound of someone being slapped hard with an open hand.
      “Help, help!” Michelle pounded on the door and twisted the doorknob so hard that the metal itself sheared and broke off in her hand.
       She half expected to hear nurses’ running feet, but no one came. Without thinking, she kicked the door open, bolted into the hall and slammed a shoulder into the closed door of the next room. It unexpectedly flew open, and Michelle tripped over an overturned chair just inside. She crashed to the floor and whipped her head around, but the doctor was already gone. A red-haired girl about nine years old peered over the edge of the exam table. A sore pink handprint stood up across the child’s face. Blood speckled the front of her little paper poncho.
     Michelle scrambled to her feet, feeling stupid. She reached gently for the child, who flinched away. “Jennie? Sara? Which one are you? Um, sorry,” Michelle trailed off, embarrassed. Everyone else seemed to be able to tell the triplets apart.
     “I’m Jennie.”
     “Easy, Jennie. I won’t hurt you. You’re bleeding.”
     “It’s not my blood,” the little redhead said, her blue eyes flashing defiantly. “I bit him.”
      Michelle couldn’t help laughing, but she stifled the sound behind her hands. Around here, anyone could be listening. “Good. He had it coming, I’m sure.”
      The child slid off the table, clutching her paper shift tightly to her chest with both tiny fists. “He told me he had to check and see if I had cancer, you know, inside.”
     “Oh, that’s--” Michelle cut herself off before blurting, “just what he used to tell me.” Instead she said, “That’s not true. The Enhanced can’t get cancer, sweetie. That flaw got bred out generations ago.”
     Jennie bit her lip, trying not to cry. “He lied.”
     Michelle squatted down to get on eye level with the little girl. “Yeah, he did. So tell your mom right away.”
    “They showed her the gate when I was a baby.” An angry tear escaped down Jennie’s cheek, but she flushed and quickly wiped it away. Michelle politely pretended not to notice.
      The little redhead crept in to whisper. “You shouldn’t try to help me. You know what he’ll do.”
      Michelle went cold, imagining the consequences. “I know, but I heard you scream, and…”
      Jennie surprised her by giving her a hug. “Don’t be stupid, Michelle. It’s bad here, but it’s worse Outside.”
      Michelle walked down the hall alone, feeling like a prisoner about to face the firing squad. A couple of young male technicians chatted outside the surgical suite. They’d know she had no business in there, and with her genetically enhanced IQ, getting lost wasn’t an excuse. She smiled a little, trying not to look guilty as her heart pounded. Their eyes roamed over her body, but they stepped aside to let her pass. Michelle was an Atherton, after all, the daughter of not only one, but two members of the Conclave. That made her royalty here. At least until my first citation for noncompliance.  
      Michelle glanced over her shoulder at the men, pretending to check them out. They winked and leered, and laughed when she blushed. She bent her head over her papers as though double-checking a room number and pushed through the double doors. She held her breath, expecting them to stop her. They didn’t. Michelle slowed her stride at the receptionist’s desk, hoping Seth’s mysterious procedure would be listed on the computer there. A young female receptionist sat behind the clear plastic counter. The brunette’s short legs and pudgy body gave her away as an Augment, a Norm enhanced only enough to qualify her for a job. Augments instinctively obeyed orders from Enhanced adults, but not from the kids. Am I old enough? Will she tell me?
     Salomon’s petulant voice came from an office opposite the receptionist’s desk, making Michelle forget all about the little brunette. “You’re worthless, Williams! I can’t leave you alone for a minute. That’s why you’re still a technician, so stop asking.”
      The door opened and Michelle ducked around a corner, but caved in to the temptation to peek. Doctor Salomon emerged, trailed by Doctor Williams, the eternal technician. The unfortunate man took shallow breaths, sucking in his tubby stomach, but it still made him look like a Norm.
      The small white-haired director poked a bandaged finger at Williams’ face. “All you had to do was remain in the room, but apparently that was too complicated for you. Those damages are coming out of your paycheck. Now I’m late for surgery, and you’re assisting.”
     “Thank you for the opportunity, sir,” the balding technician said. His eyes remained downcast, but a note of hope crept into his voice.
      Salomon’s overpowering cologne drifted around the corner and stung Michelle’s throat. It smelled like pain. She pushed off the wall and hurried away. Ahead, a line of Enhanced offspring waited for Augment security guards to inspect their documents. She abruptly changed direction and rushed down another corridor, fighting down panic. Sweat began to soak through her blouse, and her breath came in rapid gasps. Orderlies scooted out of her way, and one of them flicked his wrist, activating his implanted cell chip. Is he calling security? Michelle fought against the wave of irrational terror, but had no hope. She dodged a couple of white-uniformed nurses and gave in to the impulse to run.
       Anxiety disorders sometimes manifested in kids selected for extremely high IQs, and doctors doggedly rooted out the flaw. Most of the other carriers had already been selected for procedures. Speaking their names was forbidden, so it felt safer to forget them. Michelle brought their faces to mind in a desperate bid for self-control. The little brown-haired girl who used to cry on the high ropes course–that one never made it past fifth grade. The freckle-faced seventh-grade boy who got eliminated when he refused a two-on-one sparring match in karate class. The images of the lost slowed her headlong rush, but not quickly enough.
     A group of students crowded the hall around the corner. Michelle careened sideways, slammed a hand loudly against the wall, and plowed right into Jeanette Morley, of all people. Beauty wasn't the goal at the Institute, but Jeanette sure acted like it was. The team that designed her pulled out all the stops, giving her a slender, sculpted body, large breasts, and blonde hair that cascaded down her back. Looks weren’t supposed to count here, but they did, especially when it came to influencing people.
      The blonde shoved Michelle away and then started ripping her a new spleen. “Yeah, instead of arriving on time, go ahead and run us all over, you cull. God, Michelle, you’re so…Normal. No wonder you have no friends.”
      “I’m her friend,” Carissa said softly, stepping between Jeanette and Michelle with a visible effort.
      “Thanks, Carissa,” Michelle told the mousy girl, trying to be kind. “I’m your friend too.”
      “Low-ranks and recruits.” Jeanette gave Carissa a critical once-over and rolled her eyes. “Like they count. I guess, if that’s the best you can do.”
      Jeanette’s younger brother Todd wove through the crowd, slipping easily between the muscular boys. On him, the genes that gave Jeanette her delicate beauty just looked scrawny. “Hey, Michelle. Worried you’d be late?”
      “Um, yeah.” Michelle peeled a sweaty curl off her forehead and looked back down the hall. No one followed, and she felt like an idiot for losing control.
      Todd took her by the elbow and guided her to the wall. His touch calmed her pounding heart. “This test isn’t for freshmen,” he murmured, almost inaudibly, but she heard him through her bones. “What are you doing here?”
      She didn’t answer. His eyes searched hers as he lightly lifted the truth from her mind. “Oh. Living dangerously.”
      “Get out of my head, witch!” Michelle snapped, way too loud, but Todd only laughed in that wheezing nerdy way of his.
       He put his mouth to her ear and whispered. “They’re in outpatient surgery, room seven.”
      “Thanks! I’ve got to go, I’m not supposed to…” Michelle faltered and fell silent.
      “Obviously,” Todd smirked. “Get going before the wrong people notice.” He shot a fast glance at his sister, who clustered with her followers.
       Michelle turned away and stepped on someone’s foot. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, and then saw who she’d crunched. A green-uniformed Norm hurriedly pulled his laundry cart out of her way. Sniggers broke out among the teens and Michelle blushed. One didn’t speak to Norms, except to give instructions. Apologizing to them was unheard of. They were little more than animals, and they wouldn’t understand.
       “My fault, Miss,” the small black-haired Norm mumbled, eyes respectfully downcast. A muscle on the young man’s jaw clenched and released, and he cast a glance of veiled hatred toward the smirking crowd of kids. Michelle wouldn’t have thought a Norm would know when he was being laughed at, but this one obviously did. A flush of anger rose to her cheeks, but her glare didn’t stop her classmates’ giggles. Suddenly she hated them too.
       “It wasn’t your fault!” Michelle blurted, startling the pimple-faced boy into meeting her eyes for a second. “I ran into you.”
       The entire hallway fell silent as the Normal teenager flushed under the scrutiny of dozens of impossibly beautiful Enhanced. Michelle shrugged apologetically, and the worker surprised her with a wry grin. Mentally kicking herself for attracting attention, she slipped around a corner and walked away.
       One advantage of breaking rules when no one else did was that authorities never expected it. In the outpatient surgery wing, nurses and orderlies bustled everywhere, but no one noticed one girl standing against the wall. Michelle peeked through the tiny window in the door of room seven. Her brother sat rigidly on an exam table. Seth’s handsome face remained impassive, but he kept running a hand through his hair, making it stand on end. He stopped when Salomon walked in. Williams followed, carrying a tray shrouded under a blue surgical cloth. Instead of asking, the chubby technician just put a hand on Seth’s chest and shoved him down on the table. Two thick nylon straps pinned the boy on his back. Salomon chose a gleaming silver scalpel from his tray.
       Seth averted his eyes from the scalpel and spotted his sister standing in the doorway. A flicker of fear crossed his face, quickly masked. The doctor bent over the boy’s arm and made a quick incision without bothering to numb it first. Seth’s night-blue eyes glazed with pain, but he didn’t even twitch when the doctor pulled the edges of the incision wide and used a couple of stainless-steel clamps to hold it open. Michelle couldn’t look at the blood dripping down her brother’s arm, and focused on his dark eyes instead. They looked strange to her, too old for his young face.
       When Salomon turned away to open an incubator, Seth mouthed something at her. It took Michelle a moment to make out her brother’s words. “Go! Before you get one too!”    
 “One what?” she mouthed back, just as Salomon returned to Seth’s side. The petite gray-haired man now wore a surgical mask, and he cradled something carefully in his gloved hands. He glanced up and Michelle recoiled just in time, jerking back around the corner. That did it. A suspicious middle-aged nurse strode toward her, elbowing aside some low-ranking aids and a Normal janitor. Clutching her fake documents to her chest, Michelle fled.
Courtney Farrell was once a molecular biologist, but her habit of daydreaming destroyed far too many experiments. As it turned out, writing down the movies behind her eyes was a lot more fun than lab work. Courtney is the author of fourteen nonfiction books for young people, mostly on social and environmental topics. She lives with her family on a Colorado ranch where they support a barn full of freeloading animals, including a fat draft horse and a bunch of crazy chickens. Enhanced is her first novel.
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My Thoughts - Okay this cover looks very intriguing, and the blurb sounds awesome.  I am definitely adding this book to read in the future.