Book Blast: The Canary Club by Sherry D. Ficklin @Sherry_Ficklin

The Canary Club
Sherry D. Ficklin
Published by: Clean Teen Publishing
Publication date: October 16th 2017
Genres: Historical, Romance, Young Adult

“Bad Luck” Benny is a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Recently released from jail, he has vowed to keep his head down and stay out of trouble. But he also needs to care for his ailing sister and the rest of his struggling family, and he’ll do anything to make that happen—even if it means taking a position with a notorious crime boss. He soon finds himself in over his head—and worse still—falling for the one dame on earth he should be staying away from.
Masie is the daughter of a wealthy gangster with the voice of an angel and gun smoke in her veins. Strong-willed but trapped in a life she never wanted, she dreams of flying free from the politics and manipulation of her father. A pawn in her family’s fight for control of the city, and with a killer hot on her heels, she turns to the one person who just might be able to spring her from her gilded cage. But Masie is no angel, and her own dark secrets may come back to burn them both.
Two worlds collide in this compelling story of star-crossed lovers in gritty prohibition-era New York.
Perfect for fans of Beatriz Williams’ A CERTAIN AGE or Libba Bray’s THE DIVINERS, THE CANARY CLUB by Sherry D. Ficklin will entice Historical Romance fans of all ages. This Gatsby-era tale filled with dazzling speakeasies, vicious shoot-outs, gritty gangsters, and iridescent ingenues has also been compared to the television series Z: THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING and BOARDWALK EMPIRE.

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Glitter and Gold (A Canary Club Prequel) is currently FREE!
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EXCERPT:

Lepke.
I roll the name around in my head like a curse.
Glancing back over my shoulder toward my room, toward June, I know what I have to do.
For the most part, it suits me just fine to let people think I’m just some silly girl, some empty-headed dame. Because what it means is that they never see me coming, never suspect me of being capable of doing terrible things.
But I am my father’s daughter.
I was born to violence like a fish is born to water. It’s part of me, part of who I am. All my life I’ve watched the people around me suffer—the women most of all. It’s a fact of this life that more often than not, shots are fired, grievances aired, and warnings sent through the women around the powerful men. They are soft targets. Disposable, but cared for enough to make a point.
In this business, women are nothing more than weaknesses to be guarded and fodder to be thrown when needed. Pawns in a game we aren’t even allowed to play. It’s one of the reasons I was so glad when Mother had sent me off to private school upstate. For a few months, I’d felt normal. Safe.
Being called back to the life after losing her was like suddenly having an axe hanging over my head again. For one dark, dark moment I’d considered running away—and I might have too. But soon enough I realized that this is where I belong, even if I might wish otherwise. I have to do what I can to protect my family, what family I have left. I know my part and I can play it as well as any Hollywood starlet. I know I should be appalled, bereaved that things like this come so easily to me now. But I let that grief, and the dreams of being anything other than what I am, go a long time ago. And so I stay. Cursed to walk the fine line between hero and villain, between vengeance and redemption.
But Lepke isn’t going to get away with this. Not this time.
I drag my hand through the water, mixing in the salts, cementing my plan in my head.
As soon as I deposit June in the tub I steal away to the den to make a call.
“Hello?” Vincent Coll’s groggy answer reverberates through the receiver.
My heart stutters at the sound of his voice. “It’s Masie. I need a favor.”
“What’s up, doll?”
I hesitate, biting my bottom lip. It’s then that I notice the smear of blood on my dress.
“I have blood on me, Vinny,” I say, more to myself than him, but his tone heightens.
“Are you alright?” He’s awake now, alert and sharp.
“It’s not my blood,” I clarify. “It’s the blood of someone I care about, though.”
He calms again, “What do you need?”
“Lepke Brewer,” I spit the name, unable to quite put into words how I want him to suffer. How much I want him to hurt.
On the other end of the line there’s a deep sigh, followed by the sound of a lighter flicking and Vinny taking a long drag. Despite being someone I once cared about greatly, Vinny is a dangerously unstable man on a good day. I know he’ll do what I’m about to ask without breathing a word of it to anyone—not out of loyalty to me or sympathy for June and what had happened to her, but for the sheer opportunity to level some brutality on a rival. Most people call him Mad Dog, thanks to his reputation for being about as well tempered as a rabid animal. But to me, he’s just Vinny, the young boy who’d come to stay with us after being expelled from the Catholic Reform School his mother had abandoned him to. We’d spent our formative years together, thick as thieves and practically family, until he took up the roll as Daddy’s enforcer and hit man. He’d changed after that.
Hell, we’d both changed. And neither of us for the better.
I roll the memory of him around in my head, biting the inside of my cheek as I decide what to say next. We haven’t been close in a very long time, and that’s the way it has to be. It might have been something more once, or maybe I just wanted there to be something there that never was. He’d kissed me exactly once, and it had been enough to sear itself into my memory, only to be buried beneath piles of disappointment and choices neither of us can take back. He has to be hard to do what he does, with no weaknesses for our enemies to exploit. And if I’m being honest, it’s the darkness in him that terrifies me. Not because I don’t understand it, but because I do. I know exactly how easy it would be to allow myself to be consumed by the violence of this life—and how good I would be at it.
But that’s not the person I want to be.
Even so, here I am, about to ask him to do the dirty work for me, just so I can keep my hands just a little bit clean.
“You want him taken care of?” he asks finally.
I suck in a breath before answering. Yes, I want him dead. I want him wiped from the face of the earth so he can’t ever hurt anyone ever again. I imagine myself saying yes. I imagine myself throwing a fistful of dirt onto Lepke’s coffin as it’s lowered into the ground. And then I imagine trying to look myself in the mirror every day after that.
“I want him to hurt,” I say after a moment. “I want him to be broken to the core of him. But leave him breathing.”
Leave it to Vinny to echo my own fears back to me. “You sure about this, Mas?” he asks, taking another drag and exhaling it slowly. “It’s not going to keep you up at night?”
It’s a barb from an accusation I’d leveled at him the last time we spoke, when I’d asked how he slept at night, after all he’d done. His answer had been crude and aimed to hurt me. Mine would be much kinder.
“I suppose I will have to find a way to live with myself,” I answer, keeping my tone indifferent.
He hangs up without even saying goodbye.
I hold the receiver in my hand for a few heartbeats before returning it to its cradle. JD is being groomed to take over the family business and –despite daddy’s constant berating that he’s too soft-hearted or slow-witted or whatever insult he feels like hurling in the moment for the job—I’ve never stepped in and asked for a place in the business. I’m just the girl, after all, to be coddled and protected and mollified. I’d been surprised that he let me worm my way into the club as it’s headline singer rather than being shipped off to wherever. Now, I can’t help but wonder, if Daddy had seen me tonight, if he might rethink the line of ascension.
And I can’t help but wonder what life would be like for me if he did.

Author Bio:
Sherry is the author of over a dozen novels for teens and young adults including the best selling Stolen Empire series. She can often be found browsing her local bookstore with a large white hot chocolate in one hand and a towering stack of books in the other. That is, unless she's on deadline at which time she, like the Loch Ness monster, is only seen in blurry photographs.
Sherry also writes contemporary romance under the pen name SJ Noble. You can find her at her official website, www.sherryficklin.com, or stalk her on her Facebook page www.facebook.com/sherry.ficklin.

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Book Blast: Extracted by Sherry D. Ficklin and Tyler Jolley @AuthorSherry @DocJolley

Extracted
Sherry D. Ficklin & Tyler Jolley
Published by: Clean Teen Publishing
Publication date: August 15th 2016
Genres: Steampunk, Young Adult

Two opposing factions of time travelers vie for control of the future in this thrilling steampunk series opener dubbed “Interesting” and “Unexpected” by Kirkus Reviews.
Lex and Ember—two time travelers with no memories of their lives before being recruited into the time war—are torn between the factions. When Lex accepts a mission that lands him deep within the heart of the Telsa Institute, he meets Ember, and the past that was stolen from them comes flooding back. Now armed with the truth of who they were, Lex and Ember must work together to save the future before the battle for time destroys them once again.

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EXCERPT:

My breath comes in short, shallow bursts. I can feel the warmth of Ethan’s body radiating like a tuning fork against my back. In front of me, there is only darkness. I strain, listening, waiting for the next wave of attack. The leather straps holding up my suede harness dig into the skin of my shoulders, but the ache only sharpens my focus. The urge to turn around is strong, though I know better. Months of training have taught me exactly what happens when I turn my back to the darkness. So I listen, honing my senses until I catch the sound of Ethan taking a small step forward, away from me. My eyes are useless, so I close them. Knowing my attackers are well paid for their ability to move in silence, there is little hope that they will give themselves away. We need another strategy. As if reading my mind, Ethan picks up the conversation we were having earlier.
“All I’m saying is, maybe you need the extra practice,” Ethan says, his tone mocking. Even without being able to see him, I can sense him moving, beginning to circle counterclockwise. I know he’s trying to draw them out, to bring the fight to him. It seems like a sound strategy, so I jump on board.
“Oh, yes, because it isn’t like she turned around and kicked the crap out of you, too.” I’m mimicking his movements now. My voice is flat, free from emotion, and my words are empty. I can’t see him moving, but I can feel him, as if we’re connected by a million invisible threads.
“How am I supposed to just punch a girl?” Ethan asks. “And I was tired from taking the guy out like five seconds earlier.”
“She isn’t a girl. She’s more like a pissed-off kangaroo in a top hat. She has a nasty right hook, I’ll give you that.”
I hear the sharp whip of air as a bamboo pole cuts through the darkness, headed toward my face. Even with our phony argument going on, I’m able to hear it coming before it lands. I bring up my hands and block the blow with my forearms. The impact stings, bruising the bones there, but better my arms than my face. With a movement perfected after one too many blows to the head, I grab the pole and pull it aside, dragging my attacker with it. As he closes in, I drop the pole and lock arms with Ethan. I flip over his back and kick out, knocking my attacker to the mat. As he struggles back to his feet, Ethan spins into my place, delivering a secondary kick that sends the man flying into the wall with a dull thud. “Yeah, but she’s scrappy,” he says.
“Scrappy? Is that boy code for you couldn’t stop staring at her rack?”
Behind me, I feel Ethan duck a blow, and then land one of his own before pressing his back against mine. “I… that’s not… I didn’t even… I mean…” he sputters.
I smirk. Busted.
Footsteps approach, but we keep sparring. I bend over, using my attacker’s own momentum against him as I put my shoulder into his gut and stand, propelling him over my head and onto his back on the mat. I don’t need to see my victory to realize what the maneuver has cost me. A muscle in my lower back seizes, and it’s all I can do not to drop to my knees in agony. I clench my fists until I feel my fingernails cut bloody crescents in my palms. There is no way I’m going to be the weak link—no way I’m going to let Ethan fight alone. Back to back, that’s how Rifters are trained to fight. And Ethan always has my back.
“Don’t feel too bad. She was pretty scrappy after all.”
Ethan mumbles, “It’s a girl thing.”
“Hold up, what’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, stiffly regaining my footing as my back screams in protest.
As usual, Ethan turns to check on me. “Nothing personal, Ember.”
Not wanting him to get slammed for it again, I grab him by the shoulder and pull, revolving us to our starting positions just as the first attacker flips back onto his feet and lunges. He would have taken me in the stomach, but I bring up my knee just in time to block his advance before kicking him in the face. There is a loud crunch that sounds like breaking bone. I hear him hit the mat with a groan. The lights flick back on, and Mistress Catherine blows her whistle.
Normally we spar with off-duty guards, since most of them have military training of some kind. They know how to take a hit and how to deliver one without doing too much damage. We might be lowly recruits, but Rifters are rare, and our lives are precious.
But as the man whose nose I have just broken pulls off his black ski mask, my heart falls into my shoes. Flynn is staring up at me, and his face is covered in blood.
“Nice hit, Ember,” he says as blood drips from his nose and onto his white shirt. Mistress Catherine hands him his horn-rimmed glasses and shoots me an amused smirk. Behind me, Ethan snickers.
Great. And here I was thinking this day couldn’t get any worse.
Reaching down, I offer Flynn a hand up, which he accepts with a smile.
“I’m so sorry,” I mutter, but he waves it off.
“Catherine told me you were really coming along. I wanted to see for myself.”
The others are shuffling out, so I turn to grab a towel and follow them, but Mistress Catherine closes the door behind a worried-looking Ethan, presses her back against it, and narrows her eyes at me. I used to think it was hard to look menacing in a knee-length pencil skirt and beige brocade top, but she radiates power. It might be the stern pucker of her thin lips, or the way her graying hair is knotted tightly at the nape of her neck. She resembles a librarian except for the long, jagged scar that runs from her left temple to the cleft in her chin. Well, that and the spider-shaped, iron shoulder harness permanently affixed to her upper arm.
Not sure what’s going on, I freeze, yellow towel in hand. Before I can say anything, I feel something moving behind me. I manage to move to the side just as a wooden staff comes slamming down against the spot where I’d stood a heartbeat earlier. I turn and see Flynn grinning, blood still dripping off his chin. He spits before whirling the staff like a windmill in front of him. “What I don’t understand,” he says, circling to my left, “is how that Hollow got the best of you. According to Ethan’s report, Kara had no problem with her. And Catherine here tells me that you mat Kara at almost every practice now.”
I have no idea what to say. Does he think I let her beat up on me? Just then, my legs are swept out from under me. I fall to the mat, but, rolling swiftly backward, I bounce up onto my feet. Catherine has a staff, too, and comes toward me from the right. I hold up my hands and back up slowly. In the corner of the room, a vent erupts in a cloud of steam, and Tesla’s image appears but says nothing.
“Look, I didn’t let her get away,” I say. “If that’s what you’re implying. She was strong. And fast.”
Catherine shakes her head. “You are strong. And fast. And clever.”
“I’m sorry!” I blurt out when my back hits the corner and they are still coming at me.
I don’t think Flynn would ever hurt me, not really, but Catherine, well…
Without another word, they both attack. I manage to duck one blow but take another in the ribs before I decide to make a break for it. Jumping as high as possible, I’m able to get a hand on the chain attaching one of the punching bags to the ceiling and hoist myself up. I leap over Flynn and roll as I hit the ground behind him. They’re quick, though, and have me surrounded again in seconds.
It’s easy to forget that they are trained Rifters, too. Catherine doesn’t rift anymore, but Flynn is still active and in really good shape. They aren’t holding anything back either. Flynn lands a blow to my lower back, but when Catherine moves in, I’m able to grab her staff and force it from her bad arm. Suddenly, time is moving in a blur. I’m not thinking about my next move anymore. My body is reacting of its own accord. I’m not sure how it happens, but I blink and Catherine is on her knees. Flynn is standing in front of me, and I have the two staffs crossed at his neck. He’s holding up his hands and saying my name.
I drop the sticks and step back. The muscles in my arms and legs are twitching like I’ve just run ten miles.
“That’s what we mean,” Catherine says, climbing stiffly to her feet. “You could have taken the Hollow girl. So, why did you hesitate?”
I close my eyes, calling the fight to the front of my memory. There was something about the girl. She was beautiful, for sure, but that wasn’t it. There was something else, too. Something I can’t put into words. I look up to find they’re staring at me, waiting for some kind of answer. I can feel Tesla glaring holes into my back, watching me like one of his little science experiments. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
Flynn sighs and holds his hands out to me. I take them without hesitation. “Ember, I know it’s hard. I know you don’t like hurting people. It’s against your very nature to harm someone or let someone suffer. But you are too important to risk losing. Understand? Sometimes, you have to put someone down, let someone get hurt or even die, to save yourself and your team. You can’t hold anything back.”
I take a deep breath. “And what if someone dies because of me? Because, for some reason, my life is worth more than theirs?”
Flynn lowers his head, looking me in the eye. “That is a burden you will have to learn to carry.”

Author Bio:
Sherry D. Ficklin is a full time writer from Colorado where she lives with her husband, four kids, two dogs, and a fluctuating number of chickens and house guests. A former military brat, she loves to travel and meet new people. She can often be found browsing her local bookstore with a large white hot chocolate in one hand and a towering stack of books in the other. That is, unless she’s on deadline at which time she, like the Loch Ness monster, is only seen in blurry photographs.

Author links:
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

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Tyler H. Jolley is a sci-fi/fantasy author and full-time orthodontist, periodontist (see: Overachiever). He divides his spare time between writing, reading, mountain biking, and camping with his family.

Author links:
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Cover Reveal: Digital Horizon (Hacker #3) by Sherry D. Ficklin @AuthorSherr @CleanTeenPub

The #Hacker Novels by Sherry D. Ficklin have gotten a lot of attention since the first book Playing With Fire released in October. Clean Teen Publishing also announced the release of In Too Deep at the end of November. Now, we are excited to share the official cover reveal for Digital Horizon, the third book in the #Hacker Series that will release in February 2016. Take a look at this awesome new cover and leave us a line or two with your thoughts on it. Also, if you haven't started reading this young adult mystery series, you can start today with a free digital copy of Playing With Fire.

DIGITAL HORIZON

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No spoilers here. If you wish to see the synopsis for Digital Horizon start click your mouse and start highlighting here:

One wants justice. One wants redemption. One just wants revenge. Still reeling from her devastating loss, Farris is barely holding it together when she’s approached by a covert government agency. The IDC is recruiting the best hackers in the country to form a team capable of tracking down and thwarting cyber terrorists. When they make her an offer she can’t refuse—a shot at catching the people responsible for the death of her father—she’s all in. But success will mean forging new alliances, betraying the people she loves, and trusting an old enemy. If she succeeds, she might finally get the closure she needs. If she fails, the digital world will crumble at her feet, putting thousands of lives at risk and exposing the world’s most dangerous secrets. In the dark web, where anything can be bought and sold, this talented young hacker just might have to sell her soul to get what she’s after. The question is, who’s buying?

End highlight. Did you see the text?

PLAYING WITH FIRE IS FREE!

AMAZON / BARNES & NOBLE / iBOOKS / KOBO / SMASHWORDS

One brilliant young hacker. One experimental government aircraft. One chance to keep it all from going up in flames. Still recovering from her troubled past, Farris is no stranger to change. But when the military transfers her father across the country to an experimental aircraft squadron, settling in to a new life is the least of her problems. As a series of apparent computer glitches threaten the security of the fleet and the blame falls on her father, she decides to put her computer skills to use digging up the truth. Soon she's drawn into the perilous world of a hacker who is determined to ground the fleet—at any cost. When all signs lead to someone close to her as the mastermind, Farris will have to burn more than bridges to get to the truth. She will have to risk her fragile new life to uncover the identity of the cyber criminal before they can escalate from harmless tampering… to all out murder.

IN TOO DEEP

AMAZON / NOOK / iBOOKS / KOBO / SMASHWORDS

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ABOUT SHERRY D. FICKLIN:

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Sherry is a full time writer from Colorado and the author of over a dozen novels for teens and young adults including the best selling Stolen Empire series. She can often be found browsing her local bookstore with a large white hot chocolate in one hand and a towering stack of books in the other. That is, unless she's on deadline at which time she, like the Loch Ness monster, is only seen in blurry photographs. Sherry also writes New Adult fiction under the pen name Ranae Glass and is a contributing writer for fangirlish.com.

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ARC Review: Playing With Fire (HACKER #1) by Sherry D. Ficklin @AuthorSherry @CleanTeenPub

One brilliant young hacker.
One experimental government aircraft.
One chance to keep it all from going up in flames.

Still recovering from her troubled past, Farris is no stranger to change. But when the military transfers her father across the country to an experimental aircraft squadron, settling in to a new life is the least of her problems. As a series of apparent computer glitches threaten the security of the fleet and the blame falls on her father, she decides to put her computer skills to use digging up the truth. Soon she’s drawn into the perilous world of a hacker who is determined to ground the fleet—at any cost.

When all signs lead to someone close to her as the mastermind, Farris will have to burn more than bridges to get to the truth. She will have to risk her fragile new life to uncover the identity of the cyber criminal before they can escalate from harmless tampering… to all out murder.

Title: Playing With Fire (HACKER #1)

Author: Sherry D. Ficklin

Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing

Expected Publication Date: October 27, 2015

Brooke's Review:

I'd like to thank Clean Teen Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give an honest review. Receiving this book for free has in no way altered my opinion or review.

I have long been a fan of Sherry Ficklin's writing. I truly have enjoyed her Extracted series and The Stolen Empire. So, of course, given the opportunity to read more of her work, I jumped on board.

I haven't ever read a hacker type novel before. So I was interested to see where this one went. I thought there would be more computer stuff in it, but it wasn't as much as I thought and I was happy about that. I'm not completely technical and didn't want to be lost.

I like how Ficklin did the world building in this one. I'm not very familiar with the military and how they live. I've heard bout families moving around a lot, so it was interested to see it from the perspective of a teen. I guess you would call Farris a military brat, from what I understand. She's moved around a bit during her life, with her father being a high ranking officer and all. And Farris has known tragedy in her life: losing her mother at a young age and also being a victim of some bullying. So she has some baggage that she carries with her.

I love the friends she makes at school. Such a large range from cheerleaders and football players, to goth dressers and geeks. She doesn't care who her friends are as long as they are her friends.

I will say that I figured out early on who the person causing the glitches was. But it didn't stop me from wanting to see how things played out. And I liked the way Farris pieced the puzzle together.

Of course this wouldn't be a teen book without some romance.  I will say I felt like the romance jumped in a bit too fast. I would have liked a bit more of a slow burn. And there is the hint of a love triangle, which I'm not really a fan of. Overall, the romance was really more of a side bar for me. If it hadn't been present and the guys had just been her friends, I would have been ok with that.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It's a short and quick read (I finished in less than 24 hours). Even those who don't understand the technologies of the computer world will appreciate Farris' abilities with the computer, and the friendships she forms during this book.

Sherry D. Ficklin is a full time writer from Colorado where she lives with her husband, four kids, two dogs, and a fluctuating number of chickens and house guests. A former military brat, she loves to travel and meet new people. She can often be found browsing her local bookstore with a large white hot chocolate in one hand and a towering stack of books in the other. That is, unless she’s on deadline at which time she, like the Loch Ness monster, is only seen in blurry photographs.

Cover Reveal: In Too Deep (#Hacker #2) by Sherry D. Ficklin @AuthorSherry @CleanTeenPub

TROUBLE IS ONLY A KEYSTROKE AWAY...

I'm very excited to reveal the cover for book 2 in the #HACKER series,

IN TOO DEEP.

 

About the book:

One talented hacker.

One dead body.

One explosive secret.

When one reckless night leads Farris Barnett to the dead body of a classmate, she’s as willing as everyone else to write it off as a suicide. That is, until cryptic messages start coming in from someone who knows the truth, and they want Ferris on the case. Putting her hacker skills to work, she begins to unravel the life of a victim who might just have been the guiltiest of them all.

Her personal life in turmoil, Farris turns to the only person she can trust to help her get to the bottom of things—a friend on the verge of becoming much more. Together, they confront a killer with a secret not even she could have decoded.

The biggest bombs, the ones that do the most damage, are the ones you never see coming.

You can find the first chapter of IN TOO DEEP inside the first book of the #HACKER series, PLAYING WITH FIRE releasing October 27th!

Grab your copy of Playing With Fire HERE

About the author:

Sherry is a full time writer from Colorado and the author of over a dozen novels for teens and young adults including the best selling Stolen Empire series. She can often be found browsing her local bookstore with a large white hot chocolate in one hand and a towering stack of books in the other. That is, unless she's on deadline at which time she, like the Loch Ness monster, is only seen in blurry photographs. Sherry also writes New Adult fiction under the pen name Ranae Glass and is a contributing writer for fangirlish.com. You can find her at her official website, www.sherryficklin.com, or stalk her on her Facebook page www.facebook.com/sherry.ficklin.

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Book Blast: The Queen of Always (Stolen Empires #3) by Sherry D. Ficklin @AuthorSherry

Queen of Always by Sherry D. Ficklin 

(Stolen Empire #3)
Published by: Clean Teen Publishing
Publication date: September 15th 2015
Genres: Historical, Young Adult

Synopsis:

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN

If her time at court has taught Catherine anything, it’s that there is no room for weakness in Imperial Russia. With the Empress’ health failing and rumors of a change in the line of succession, her place in the royal line is once more in jeopardy. Tormented by her sadistic husband and his venomous mistress, Catherine must once more walk the fine line between pleasure and politics—between scandal and survival.

When her young son becomes the target of those rebelling against Peter’s reign, Catherine will have to rise up to protect herself, her child, and her nation from his unstable and potentially catastrophic rule. This means putting herself at odds with the most dangerous man she’s ever known, trusting those who once proved to be her enemies, and turning a nation against its sovereign. In the ultimate battle for the crown, new alliances will be forged, loyalties will be tested, and blood will be shed.

Don’t miss this breathtaking conclusion to the Stolen Empire series!

Queen of Always is a YA historical fiction based on the life of young Catherine the Great. Fans of the hit TV show REIGN will devour this scandalous glimpse into the life of one of the most dynamic women in history.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Queen-Always-Stolen-Empire-Novel/dp/1634221419/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1441981711&sr=1-1&keywords=Queen+of+Always

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/queen-of-always-sherry-d-ficklin/1122360699?ean=2940152043785

Excerpt:

“I have done dreadful things, Dash. I have made mistakes that I will never be able to atone for, and I have allowed myself to be selfish in ways you might never understand.” The bitter memory of sprinkling the poison in the Empress’ tea floats into my mind. I think of every lie I’ve told, of every misstep I’ve made. “I’m not proud of my choices, but neither would I retract a single one,” I say finally.

“Sometimes, the only choices you have are horrible choices,” she says. “But you must still choose.”

I glance at her, admiring her quiet fortitude. She is, in so many ways, like Rina. So wise for her years. Wise and kind and good.

“You are a good soul, Dashka. I wish I were as good.”

She shakes her head, “Don’t say that, Your Grace. You are a good soul as well. Not innocent as or naive as I, but nevertheless good. You will be a good queen.”

“I hope so,” I mutter around another bite. There’s a cup of what looks like pitch black tea. I pick it up, examining the contents. It smells burnt somehow. “What on earth is this?”

She nods to it, “That’s a new drink the cook thought you might enjoy. It’s called coffee. It can be bitter so there is cream you can add to it. She says it’s all the rage at French Court.”

“Coffee? Odd.” I take a sip and nearly gag. It’s strong, so much more bitter and heavy than tea, but, still…

I take another sip.

“It’s quite good, I think.” I say, admiring the warmth of the cup in my hand.

Dashka beams. “I thought you’d enjoy it.”

As we begin the tedious process of dressing and grooming, I sip on the beverage, asking for a second cup soon after the first. Soon I feel my heart speed up, my face flushes, and I feel more awake and alive than I’ve felt in weeks. I let my mind drift. Someday, sooner than later, I will be queen. What sort of queen do I want to be? I know I will have to decide. Will I be loyal? Faithful? Will I be kind or courageous? Will I be content sitting quietly, or will I stand boldly against those who oppose me?

Suddenly, things seem very clear.

“It’s the coffee,” Dashka smirks.

Somehow, I think it’s more than just that.

Sherry D. Ficklin is a full time writer from Colorado. She can often be found browsing her local bookstore with a large white hot chocolate in one hand and a towering stack of books in the other. That is, unless she's on deadline at which time she, like the Loch Ness monster, is only seen in blurry photographs. She is the author of over a dozen novels ranging from contemporary romance to science fiction. In her spare time she co-hosts the Pop Lit Divas radio show and is a contributor for Fangirlish.com. 

You can see more about Sherry and her books at her official website, sherryficklin.com

Author links:

http://sherryficklin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/sherry.ficklin

https://twitter.com/authorsherry

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4153170.Sherry_D_Ficklin

Blog Tour: Queen of Tomorrow (The Stolen Empire #2) by Sherry D. Ficklin @AuthorSherry

Queen of Tomorrow (Stolen Empire #2)

by Sherry D. Ficklin

Release Date: 07/14/15

Clean Teen Publishing

280 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

Sophie—now Catherine, Grand Duchess of Russia—had a tough first year at Imperial Court. Married at sixteen to Grand Duke Peter, heir to the throne, and settled in their own palace, things are finally looking up. As a new day dawns, she thinks only of securing her future, and the future of their country, during one of the greatest political upheavals of her time. Fighting desperately against forces trying to depose the Empress Elizabeth and put the young Prince Ivan on her throne, Sophie soon finds herself in the middle of a war brewing between her beloved Prussia, and her new empire. But even as she navigates the fragile political landscape, she quickly realizes that she has only begun to discover the tangled web of deceit and infidelity woven over the lavish court of Oranienbaum Palace.

When a strange and delicate alliance forms between the young couple, she glimpses a future of happiness, only to see it lost in a moment at the hands of those who still seek to end her life—and prevent her reign. Out of favor with the empress and running out of options, Sophie will have to sacrifice her own innocence on the altar of Russia if she is to save the nation, and herself. To survive, she will have to do the unthinkable, betray those closest to her and become something greater and more dangerous than she ever imagined she could be… a queen.

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Crystal's Review:

This review has more spoilers than I usually toss in to my review, but I couldn’t help it. The storyline and the characters are just so good! If you haven’t read the book yet just know this: It’s awesome and you need to read it.

Without “dumbing it down”, Ficklin has been able to portray events during a very tumultuous time in history in such a captivating way. She has given a new voice to a powerful female figure, shedding new light on the events that helped shape her into one of the most renowned rulers in Russian history.

Ok so here she is: The Catherine we glimpsed at the end of Book 1. She is intelligent and cunning, unafraid of what must be done, and she knows what she wants: She wants love. And she wants the throne. Boom.

Married to Peter, who parades his mistress in front of her at every possible chance, Catherine finds love and solace in Sergei’s arms. Seriously, they’ll make you swoon. When Elizabeth demands an heir for Peter, Catherine is happy to announce that she is with child – but only her and Sergei know the baby’s true paternity. The Empress is elated. Surprisingly, so is Peter who is suddenly appreciative and doting.

Catherine finds herself envisioning a happy future for her and Peter until tragedy strikes and Catherine finds herself sailing down a flight of stairs – after being pushed by a jealous mistress? – and loses the baby. Catherine, Peter, and Sergei are heartbroken. Elizabeth is irate.

When Peter falls deathly ill, Elizabeth sends Catherine away to Oranienbaum Palace with orders to produce an heir, no matter how. With Sergei by her side – and in her bed - Catherine knows she needs make the most of this situation. The clock is ticking. Yes she needs to produce and heir, and quickly, but she also needs to prove her ability to rule independently and to secure allies. Game on.

Always more available and leagues more intelligent than Peter, Catherine was the one who the nobles went to for advice or audience. Proving to be a just ruler, she quickly gained the love and respect of her subjects and has no trouble forming alliances to secure her place on the throne. All she needs to do now is wait and she’ll have everything she wanted.

Or so she thought.

An unexpected change of events violently rips everything she has accomplished away from her, and places Catherine in a heart wrenching and impossible situation. (You think you hated Peter? No. NOW you hate Peter). True to her nature, she refuses to give up or back down.

A desperate plan gone too far goes wrong and Elizabeth takes her revenge, showing how powerless Catherine really is against her. But Catherine’s fire refuses to go out. She refuses to be defeated and there is so much more at stake now.

Excerpt:

As soon as I turn the corner into the great hall I know something is terribly wrong. The stewards are watching from around the corner and a line of red and blue guard uniforms obscure Peter from my view. In the chair nearest the wall, the court physician is tending a guard who has a long wooden arrow protruding from his shoulder. I can tell he’s trying not to make a sound even as the doctor pushes on the shaft, driving it through the wound so it can be removed from the other side. As I pass by they both give me a look that’s a mixture of relief and pity.

I pass the line and nod to the valet who stands and loudly announces me.

“Her Grace, The Grand Duchess Catherine.”

The guards shift, allowing me to pass. Peter is standing several paces away, resplendent as always in a deep blue tunic adorned with diamonds and sapphires, while one of the uniformed men stands in front of the hay target, a bright red apple on his head. The poor boy can’t be more than fourteen and he looks like he’s about to vomit.

“Husband,” I offer warmly, gliding over to him. “What interesting amusement you’ve discovered.”

I pause, waiting for him to acknowledge me. But he releases the arrow before answering, narrowly missing the boy’s neck. Behind me the guards clap half-heartedly and the young boy shuffles back into line.

“A test of wills,” he says, turning to face me with a wide smile. “If a man can stand without fear before death, only then is he worthy to be in my service.”

Licking my lips I try to think of a solution.

“Of course, but surely this is not such a test. I mean, your skill with the bow is legendary. They must know you would not purposely shoot them, and so there is no risk.” He looks at me and blinks in confusion. I continue, “I mean, there’s no way you would hit them deliberately, so it seems there is no danger at all.”

I swallow. Truthfully, Peter’s aim leaves a great deal to be desired and most of his guards are well aware of the fact.

I clap my hands. “I know! What if I take the shot? Surely there is a good chance I might miss, then the risk of death would be much higher. What say you, Husband?”

I try to keep my expression playful. Finally, he nods.

“Yes, you are quite right. Who among you is brave enough to allow the Duchess to take a shot at them?”

In the line of men, a few raise their hands. Peter hands me the bow and moves to select my target. He chooses the tallest of the men and walks him to the target. Then he digs around in the basket for the smallest apple he can find, only half the size of my fist. He takes a bite before setting it upon the guard’s head and making his way back to me, a merry jaunt in his step.

Taking one of the arrows from the basket, I take a deep breath. Beside me Peter clutches his hands to his chest, giddy with the prospect of me missing and accidently shooting the poor guard in the face. I draw the bow slowly until I feel my hand almost touch my cheek. I exhale, closing one eye to focus on the small, red target, and release the arrow. It flies true and in less than a heartbeat there’s a thud as the impaled apple lodges itself into the wall behind my target.

This time the applause is genuine. Everyone looks elated and impressed.

Everyone, that is, except Peter, whose face falls into a disappointed frown.

I hold up my hands for silence, “How fortunate for you that The Grand Duke taught me how to shoot!” I say with a laugh, then I curtsey to Peter who looks only slightly mollified.

“True, true,” he says to the crowd. “But I tire of this. How about a new challenge?”

The guards clap again, probably in relief.

Peter takes the bow from me and glares at me with his ice blue eyes.

“Go stand in front of the target,” he demands.

I hesitate for a heartbeat only, knowing that to refuse would incur his wrath. So I nod and slowly glide down the hall, replacing the guard whom I have just spared. I clasp my hands behind my back and hold my chin high. Even at this distance I can see Peter’s mind churning. He could kill me, here in front of all these people. An accident.  A game gone terribly wrong. It would leave him free to marry his mistress Elizavetta who—much to her credit—is nowhere to be seen at the moment.

A shocked murmur ripples through the onlookers. I smile widely and take an apple from the basket, resting it on my head, just behind my diamond tiara.

“Calm down, you silly people. The Grand Duke would never hurt me. What kind of king accidentally shoots his queen? He would be a laughingstock! Have faith in your future king!”

A nervous laugh reverberates through the crowd at my words.

Peter glares at me as he considers my words. When he draws the bow, I see something flicker in his eyes, and I wonder if he cares what people would think, or if being rid of me might just be worth it to him.

 

Queen of Someday (Stolen Empire #1) Links:

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Sherry D. Ficklin is a full time writer from Colorado where she lives with her husband, four kids, two dogs, and a fluctuating number of chickens and house guests. A former military brat, she loves to travel and meet new people. She can often be found browsing her local bookstore with a large white hot chocolate in one hand and a towering stack of books in the other. That is, unless she’s on deadline at which time she, like the Loch Ness monster, is only seen in blurry photographs.

She is the author of several YA novels and in her spare time she co-hosts Curvy Writer Radio.

Author Links:

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