"Shadows in the Water" a New Release by Kory M. Shrum

Happy Book Birthday to Kory M. Shrum! Shadows in the Water is the first book in her new supernatural thriller series, and it's amazing. Oh my gawd. I love this book! It has everything—a kickass heroine with paranormal bite and a dark vendetta, a retired agent who just can't resist one more case, and a mysterious crime boss with a hidden agenda. The story weaves together like magic, and even though it's a healthy length and has a satisfying ending, you're left wanting for more. Which is the definition of a great book, in my book.

Louie Thorne was born with a dangerous gift and a reason to fear the darkness. But when her parents are murdered by the mafia, embracing her power is the only way to exact her revenge. She will destroy the men who destroyed her family—no matter the cost.

Robert King may be a retired agent, but he knows trouble when he sees it. First, his old partner returns with a case. Then an old flame begs a favor. By the time Louie enters the picture, King will be lucky to survive the night. Part urban fantasy, part supernatural crime thriller—and perfect for fans of Dean Koontz.

Pre-Order Now for Just 99¢  |  Available 2.7.2017

Amazon US | Amazon UK

And in case you haven't been properly introduced to Kory...

Kory M. Shrum, consumer of stories and sugar, lives in Michigan with her wife and their ferocious guard pug, Josephine. Kory is a big fan of naps and caffeine. She's a proud member of the Four Horsemen of the Bookocalypse, where she's known as Conquest. She's the author of the Dying for a Living fantasy series and the Shadows in the Water thriller series.

Dying for a Living, Book 1, has over 450 reviews and is FREE on Kindle HERE.

Find Kory all across the interwebs...

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#MondayBlogs #BookReview of Worth Dying For (Dying for a Living book 5) by @KoryShrum #amreading

Guess who has a new book out this week? Well, yes, I do too, but that's not who I'm talking about. Today is the release of Worth Dying For, book 5 in Kory M. Shrum's Dying for a Living series! Squee!!!

I LOVE this series. It's for reals in my top 10. Jesse is so spunky and raw, I just can't help but love her to pieces. Book 5 hits the ground running and doesn't stop. I so can't wait for book 6. Typity type type, Kory! : P Just kidding. lol (but seriously, it's coming soon, right?)
  

My official #review of Worth Dying For: A masterful collection of all the best things—action, suspense, romance, and a dash of humor!

Book 5 of Shrum's Dying for a Living series picks up shortly after the end of book 4. Jesse, Ally, Maisie, and the rest of the gang finally understand that life as they knew it is over, and despite the depressing and terrifying reality that the end is nigh, they are all grasping for some shred of happiness as they stay under the radar and hatch their next plan of action. Jesse and Ally's relationship finally evolves into something more. Maisie begins to understand her true value and the weight of the choices she will soon have to make. Rachel and Gideon make some critical moves toward defeating Caldwell, and Gloria and Monroe shake things up with a soul-wrenching mix of horrifying premonitions and hopeful possibilities.

The story is fast paced with lots of unexpected twists and turns, and the end left me desperately longing for the next book. I’m still holding out hope for a happy ending, even though it seems nearly impossible at this point. A fight this big just doesn’t go down with everyone emerging unscathed… or on the same side where they began.
 

So yeah, 5 stars all the way! If you're new to Kory's series, fret not, you can fall in love with Jesse and company for FREE in book 1 on Amazon HERE.

Kory M. Shrum lives in Michigan with her partner Kim and her ferocious guard pug Josephine. She is very fond of naps and foods made of sugar, which is, as you can imagine, a deadly combination. But she tries to compensate for her extreme physical laziness with her overactive imagination. She's an active member of SFWA, HWA, and the Four Horsemen of the Bookocalypse, where she's known as Conquest. She's the author of five contemporary (and somewhat dark) fantasy novels in the Dying for a Living series: Dying for a Living, Dying by the Hour, Dying for Her: A Companion Novel, Dying Light, and Worth Dying For.

Learn more about her and her work at: 

www.korymshrum.com 

Or connect with her via: 

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon

 

#TuesdayBookBlog #BookReview of Dying Light (Jesse Sullivan book 4) by @KoryShrum #amreading

If you’re not familiar with the Jesse Sullivan series by Kory Shrum, you totally should be! Especially since you can get the first book, Dying for a Living, for FREE on your favorite ereader HERE. 


I was totally hooked by the first chapter! And I’ve anxiously awaited each new book since. ♥ Book 4 picks up after book 2, since book 3 was actually a different POV of books 1 & 2 mixed with additional flashbacks, all from Brinkley, Jesse’s tough as nails handler. I’m not usually one for retakes from different POVs. I like to know what’s going to happen NEXT. Do not skip over book 3. OMG. It was amazing! There was so much backstory that plays a significant role in book 4, and Kory really did a fantastic job mastering Brinkley’s voice. If you ARE familiar with the first 2 books, you probably understand the bittersweet significance of book 3 as well. T-T 

Anyway, on to book 4, Dying Light. WOW. 
My review: This series just keeps getting better and better! The action and tension have spiked in book 4, and the overall plot has really blossomed, affecting things on a more global level and raising the stakes to that point that leaves you wondering if there's any way this could possibly have a happy ending. It was exciting to see some characters from previous books again, and while the overall mood and ending seemed to promise doom and gloom ahead, I can't wait to read book 5 next year!!! 

I’m biting my tongue to avoid spoilers, but I can at least tell you that there is a sneak peek of book 5, Worth Dying For, at the end of book 4. Squeeee!!! 

A bit about Kory… 

Kory M. Shrum lives in Michigan with her partner and a ferocious guard pug. She has dabbled in everything from fortune telling to martial arts and when not reading or writing, she can be found teaching, traveling, or wearing a gi. She is the author of four books in the Jesse Sullivan contemporary fantasy series. She is also an active member of both SFWA and HWA. 

Learn more about her and her work at: 

www.korymshrum.com 

Or connect with her via: 

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon

 

Badass and the Beast #BlogTour #Giveaway Day 2

For those of you bumming over the long wait until the October release of Death Wish (Lana Harvey book 5) fret not! Lana and the gang make an appearance in the Badass and the Beast anthology—which is now available on Amazon and Kindle. Woot! 

Last year, Kory Shrum and I decided to embark on an epic adventure: co-editing an anthology for charity. We, and many of our fellow authors, have a soft spot for furbabies (or feathered/scaled babies), so theming the short stories around beastly companions was an easy call. Then Kory found the Animal Welfare Institute and checked them out on Charity Watch (A+ rating!) and we were set! The stories we received were fantastic and so very diverse. They also inspired me to redesign the cover several times until it reflected that diversity. 

My contribution to the anthology is a Lana Harvey short story titled “Hair of the Hellhound.” It takes place right after the events of book 4, and it features Saul and Coreen, Lana’s loveable hellhounds. Lana, Gabriel, and the hounds visit the Drunken Dove Brewery in Summerland, where Gabriel’s beer of choice (Ambrosia Ale) is made. I’ll be including the beer glass shown below in the swag giveaway items you can enter to win via the rafflecopter (also below). Be sure to check out all of the badass authors blogging through the tour for more goodies and ways to win! 

xoxo 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Badass and the Beast Blog Tour Schedule

May 5^th            Kory M. Shrum
May 6^th            Angela Roquet
May 7^th            Kathrine Pendleton
May 8^th            Monica LaPorta
May 11^th          Mikel Andrews
May 12^th          Shelly M. Burrows
May 13^th          Liz Schulte
May 14^th          Jason T. Graves 
May 15^th          Jasie Gale

 

#MondayBlogs: Badass and the Beast #CoverReveal

I'm so excited to finally reveal the cover of the anthology I've been co-editing! Badass and the Beast has turned out to be even more amazing than I imagined. Kory Shrum, co-editor of the collection, has been fantastic to work with. Of course, we've been in the same critique group for a year now (shout-out to the Four Horsemen of the Bookocalypse!) so I knew it would be a fun venture. Badass and the Beast will be available for preorder soon, but in the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy this peek at the cover, illustrated by me. Woot!  

I struggled with the design for quite some time. There were several drafts of women with large dogs, which are featured in several of the anthology's short stories, but none of them conveyed the "badass" feel I was shooting for. Plus, the stories turned out to be pretty diverse, and I really wanted a design that would show that. Another factor I hadn't counted on was the YA feel many of the stories have--not all, mind you. But the book overall is definitely YA appropriate. So that seemed important to express through the cover design as well.

We have an amazing lineup of authors with some really interesting stories, all about kickass heroines and the beasts that love them! Including a Lana Harvey short, featuring an adventure with Limbo City's favorite hellhounds.

Stay tuned--FB, Twitter, newsletter--or just poke your head outside. I'll be shouting it to the world! More details coming soon. 

#BookReview of Dying for Her by @KoryShrum + #Giveaway for $100 Amazon GC & More

It's here, it's here, it's HERE!!! The 3rd book in Kory Shrum's Jesse Sullivan series is out TODAY! Can you tell I'm excited? I love this series so hard. The first two books were amazing, and I totally fell for Jesse. So the thought that she wouldn't play a major role in the third book was a little distressing. But from the first page, I was hooked. Brinkley has always been a loveable guy--even though he's a hardass. You'll have a million more reasons to love him (and bawl your eyes out) after reading this book. 

Here's my official review of Dying for Her:

If you’re a fan of Shrum’s Jesse Sullivan series and have read the first two books (Book #1 is now FREE!) you’ll LOVE this! This is the story of James T. Brinkley, Jesse’s handler. In the first two books, we’re only given a glimpse of his mysterious background and his fatherly tough love for Jesse. And while he can be abrasive and demanding at times, the endings of books one and two damn near break the heartstrings—in a lot of ways, because of him. 

Have your tissues ready, because half of Brinkley’s story runs parallel to the second book in the series, showing things from Brinkley’s POV. The other half, consisting of flashback chapters sandwiched between the present, dive way back into Brinkley’s past, when he first started working for the FBRD, the Federal Bureau of Regenerative Death, and when he first met Jesse’s father, the equally mysterious Caldwell. The chapters set in the past hold all kinds of exciting revelations, and we also see more of Gloria—one of my favorite characters! You won’t see too much of Jesse in this book, but don’t be too disappointed. Brinkley can hold his own.


If you're new to Kory Shrum's series, you're in luck. Her first book, Dying for a Living, is now available for FREE!

Kory is also an amazing blogger. Stop by, say hello, and enter her awesome giveaway for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card, signed books, and some super cute swag! http://korymshrum.blogspot.com 

Happy New Year #Giveaway! Enter to #Win 8 signed #Books & #RT14 swag goodies!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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I'll add the Goodreads links here once they're approved too.

Good luck!

♥ 

Giveaway & Review: DYING BY THE HOUR by Kory Shrum

If you missed my first post interviewing and gushing about the talented Kory Shrum, you can catch up by reading it HERE. I adored the first book in Kory's Jesse Sullivan series, DYING FOR A LIVING. And I adore the second book, DYING BY THE HOUR, even more!

After 83 deaths, Jesse Sullivan knows how to die. As a Necronite, she is one of the population’s rare 2% who can serve as a death replacement agent, dying so others don’t have to. But using her NRD to save lives is why she’s being hunted.

For Ally Gallagher, death is permanent. If she fails to protect Jesse again, there will be no third attempt. After a quiet year the signs of serious danger have returned. People connected to Jesse are disappearing. Her home is vandalized and threatening messages are turning up in the safest of places.

Then Jesse is taken and Ally has only hours to get her back. But no salvation comes without its price.

My official review: Sexy, Snarky, & Supernaturally Fantastic! This one has it all! Just as awesome as the first! There was a lot more tension and action in this sequel to Dying for a Living. There was also a second POV, from Ally, Jesse's friend/coworker/love interest. I usually don't care for the alternating views when a book is written in first person, but it really made this story that much better. Ally's adventures were critically insightful, and a very interesting contract to Jesse's. This was much darker and more intense than the first book, but I was glad that Shrum still maintained the snark and humor I so enjoy in her work!

To celebrate the release of her much anticipated sequel, Kory is giving away all kinds of awesome goodies!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can also chat with Kory and win more goodies after her blog tour concludes, at the Facebook Afterparty on September 16th HERE.

Kory M. Shrum lives in Michigan with her partner and a ferocious guard pug. She has dabbled in everything from fortune telling to martial arts and when not reading or writing, she can be found teaching, traveling, and wearing a gi. She is author of the urban fantasy novels Dying for a Living and Dying by the Hour. She'd love to hear from you on Facebook, Twitter, or her blog: www.korymshrum.com 

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads 

 

Giveaway, Review, & Interview: All things Kory Shrum!

I've been DYING to do this giveaway! Kory Shrum is one of my favorite new authors. We began talking online a few months ago, and since then, we've started a critique group together (shout-out to the horsemen!) and we're making plans to take over upcoming book conventions. I LOVE Kory's first novel, and I'm pretty tickled that I've gotten to read quite a bit of book 2 in our crit group! Here's my official review of book 1, DYING FOR A LIVING.

"This book and author are now among my favorites! Wow! I might be a little partial to this story because I love morbid comedy, urban fantasy, and a good mystery. I'm also a big fan of original ideas, since they're so rare anymore. 

Jesse is a Necronite, though people still use the z word (zombie). She dies for a living... literally. She's a death replacement agent. Psychics (another dirty word) find people who are near death, via remote viewing, and Jesse gets paid to take their place. As a Necronite, she reanimates after a few hours, heals after a few days, collects a paycheck, and does it all over again. The world isn't quite ready for this heap of awesome, particularly the Church, who have started petitioning for Necronites to be decapitated after death so they can't come back. After a client tries to off her during a death replacement and her handler goes missing, Jesse soon finds herself in the middle of an investigation. With trust issues off the chart and danger around every bend, her only option is to do a little digging of her own. 

This is a spectacular introduction to a series I'm definitely going to be following all the way through. Jesse is a riot, and yet very complex and lovable. All of the characters are really great, and though it's on the back burner, the love triangle was a refreshing twist too, since Jesse is bisexual. Both of the love interests are exciting and sincere, and it makes it so much harder to decide who to cheer for. I'm so torn, but I can't wait to see how it all unfolds."

I had a lot of questions for Kory after I read her debut...

Q: Dying for a Living is a really original take on zombies. How did you come up with the idea? And what kind of research did you do to evolve the idea?

KS: I actually did not set out to write a zombie story—and many would argue that Jesse isn’t a zombie story at all. I wanted a heroine who discovered and came to term with her powers, but I wasn’t sure what that would look like exactly. I read a craft book about how choosing your protagonist’s occupation is really important and that is when I realized what I was missing. So I started to approach it from the position of what is the most interesting job ever and it sort of evolved from there. And the research evolved naturally. As I tried to solve the questions/complications of Jesse’s occupation and world, I sought to answer those questions. 

Q: Love triangles are pretty common in urban fantasy these days, but it's much rarer to find a bisexual love triangle. What inspired this part of the story?

KS: Apart from my own sexuality, bisexuality is a good fit for Jesse’s personality. Sexuality is a part of a person’s personality and I try to match sexuality and personality for my characters in a realistic way. 

Q: Jesse lives in Tennessee, but you're in Michigan. Have you ever lived in Tennessee? Did you have to do anything special to research setting?

KS: I was born in the Midwest—my father’s family is from Granite City, IL near St. Louis—but I was raised in the South, Tennessee in particular—where my mother’s family is from. I also went to college in Clarksville, and drove into Nashville often to visit family, friends, or visit the good bars. So most of what I describe in the book is from personal experience. 

Q: If you died and woke up to discover you were a Necronite, would you sign up as a death replacement agent? Or would you hide your ability to be safe?

KS: I would sign up for as a death replacement agent. I am not good at “playing it safe” and I would love the challenge that death replacing poses. But I am also a bit of a rule-breaker, so I would probably have a hard time following all the rules and would likely do a few things that would get me into trouble later. 

Q: How long did it take you to write Dying for a Living? And how long did it take to write the second installment, and when can we expect to see it?

KS: I banged out the first draft in about 5-6 months. And then I spent a year revising on and off before I got an agent. But several other revisions happened over the span of four years. It took me about 10 months to write the sequel, which should be out September 2014. 

Q: If Dying for a Living made it to the big screen, who would you love to see play your characters and why?

KS: I’ve answered this one in other interviews, and often my ideas change, but here is a good list: 

Jesse:     Emma Stone 
Ally:       Jennifer Lawrence 
Lane:      Liam Hemsworth 
Gabriel:   Ian Somerhalder 
Herwin:   Tom Hollander 
Rachel:    Jena Malone 
Brinkley:  Mark Ruffalo 
Garrison:  Woody Harrelson 
Caldwell:  Tom Cruise 
Kyra:       Emmy Rossum 
Kirk:        Morgan Freeman

If you haven't read DYING FOR A LIVING yet, you're missing out. But fret not! Here's your chance to win an autographed copy!

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5 Things About Kory:

1) She once spent the night in the trunk of a car
2) She has a BB pellet lodged in her arm
3) She has a black belt in Uechi-Ryu
4) She rescued an epileptic pug
5) She can read fortunes

Learn more about her and her work at: www.korymshrum.com

If you too would like to stalk Kory Shrum, you can find her all over the interwebs:

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon