New Release Spotlight: "The Nameless Soldier," a Young Adult Fantasy by Annie Douglass Lima

The Nameless Soldier is book 4 in the Annals of Alasia young adult fantasy series. Haven't read all (or any) of the others? That's okay! The books can be read in any order, and each one can stand on its own.

Blurb:

What do you do when you’re the only survivor?

Nineteen-year-old Tarvic bears the name of a mighty hero from Alasia’s past. However, the young soldier feels anything but heroic when he regains consciousness to find himself the lone survivor of a brutal attack by invaders from the neighboring kingdom.

Forced to leave his identity behind, Tarvic is thrust into civilian life in the role of protector to three war orphans. When the four of them encounter a mysterious stranger, he must choose between keeping the young girls safe and taking on a mission that could help free his kingdom. Can Tarvic live up to his noble name and find a way to balance his duty and his dreams?

New Release Spotlight: "Chasing Love," YA Fiction by Kayla Tirrell

Professional wallflower Nicole Andrews can’t wait to get out of Marlowe Junction. With only one year to go, she is eager to become the best college applicant at Rosemark High.

There’s only one problem: she still hasn’t found a niche to make her appear more well-rounded.

When a chance encounter with hottie-extraordinaire Chase Saunders pushes her in the direction of cross country, Nicole thinks she’s finally found her answer. If only she could focus on her race times, and stop getting distracted by Chase.

Will joining the team be enough to make Nicole stand out from the crowd? Or will she lose her heart in the process?

New Release Spotlight: Rafferty Lincoln Loves...Young Adult Fiction by Emily Williams

Rafferty Lincoln doesn't like horses. Not one bit. But when the popular high school girl of his dreams, Liberty Ashburn, pulls him into a world of lead ropes and horse brushes, who is he to say no?

Except this isn't any old horse. This is the missing racehorse, Profits Red Ridge. The horse Rafferty and three of his friends are hiding from the world. And Liberty Ashburn isn’t just any ordinary high school girl. How far will Rafferty go to win her over?

An intense, witty, and powerful coming of age story with startling consequences.

New Release Spotlight: Annie Douglass Lima's "The Student and the Slave," Dystopian Young Adult Fiction

Take a look at this exciting new young adult action and adventure novel, The Student and the Slave, now available for purchase! This is the third book in the Krillonian Chronicles, after The Collar and the Cavvarach and The Gladiator and the Guard.

The series is set in an alternate world that is very much like our own, with just a few major differences. One is that slavery is legal. Slaves must wear metal collars that lock around their neck, making their enslaved status obvious to everyone. Another difference is the popularity of a martial art called cavvara shil. It is fought with a cavvarach (rhymes with "have a rack"), a weapon similar to a sword but with a steel hook protruding from partway down its top edge. Competitors can strike at each other with their feet as well as with the blades. You win in one of two ways: disarming your opponent (hooking or knocking their cavvarach out of their hands) or pinning their shoulders to the mat for five seconds.

First, a Little Information about Books 1 and 2:

Book 1: The Collar and the Cavvarach

Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is desperate to see his little sister freed. But only victory in the Krillonian Empire's most prestigious tournament will allow him to secretly arrange for Ellie's escape. Dangerous people are closing in on her, however, and Bensin is running out of time. With his one hope fading quickly away, how can Bensin save Ellie from a life of slavery and abuse?

Click here to read chapter 1 of The Collar and the Cavvarach.

Click here to read about life in the Krillonian Empire, where the series is set.

Book 2: The Gladiator and the Guard

Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is just one victory away from freedom. But after he is accused of a crime he didn’t commit, he is condemned to the violent life and early death of a gladiator. While his loved ones seek desperately for a way to rescue him, Bensin struggles to stay alive and forge an identity in an environment designed to strip it from him. When he infuriates the authorities with his choices, he knows he is running out of time. Can he stand against the cruelty of the arena system and seize his freedom before that system crushes him?

Click here to read about life in the arena where Bensin and other gladiators are forced to live and train.

And now, The Student and the Slave, with another awesome cover by the talented Jack Lin!

Book 3: The Student and the Slave

Is this what freedom is supposed to be like? Desperate to provide for himself and his sister Ellie, Bensin searches fruitlessly for work like all the other former slaves in Tarnestra. He needs the money for an even more important purpose, though: to rescue Coach Steene, who sacrificed himself for Bensin’s freedom. When members of two rival street gangs express interest in Bensin’s martial arts skills, he realizes he may have a chance to save his father figure after all … at a cost.

Meanwhile, Steene struggles with his new life of slavery in far-away Neliria. Raymond, his young owner, seizes any opportunity to make his life miserable. But while Steene longs to escape and rejoin Bensin and Ellie, he starts to realize that Raymond needs him too. His choices will affect not only his own future, but that of everyone he cares about. Can he make the right ones … and live with the consequences?

Click here to order The Student and the Slave from Amazon for $2.99 a discounted price of just 99 cents through November 31st!

9 Reasons Why YA Fiction Still Gets Me

photo by BillionPhotos.com via AdobeStock

There's something about YA fiction. Although I've been an adult for decades, I love it. I love to read it and I love to write it. 

Maybe it's because it pulls me back to my teenage years, when everything was all wrong, and gives me a chance to view life from a different lens, to a life where I wasn't gawky, awkward, and insecure, where money wasn't an issue and I had the right jeans and the right sneakers, where my father didn't pass away and leave me rudderless. 

Or maybe it's because I have my own young adult (now a perfect 22) and lived through her much happier teen years, seeing that she had everything I lacked. 

My love of books and reading solidified when I was a teen, providing a much needed escape. YA spans a variety of genres - historical, fantasy, paranormal, romance, social - and brought me places I could only dream of seeing or didn't know existed. 

It introduced me to cultures and worlds beyond my own. 

I met important and famous people, and time traveled throughout the ages.

I learned about dark things in life while never leaving my comfort zone. 

I fell in love with heroes and heroines. 

I read and reread many books that touched my soul.

I still need to escape sometimes and a YA novel is often the best transporter. Some favorites: John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, Suzanne Collins' Hunger Game series, the Harry Potters, Cynthia Toney's Bird Face series, Ruta Sepetys' Between Shades of Gray, and Alyssa Sheinmel's R.I.P. Eliza Hart. 

How about you? Are you a YA fan? What's moved you lately?

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Here's a collection of 14 YA books currently free to download in the Discoveries promo sponsored by My Book Cave.  Multi authors, multi genres, rated all ages to moderate+ for language, sexuality, and violence. A sample of my novel Swim Season is included. Download now! Offer ends October 31st.