Promo: Excerpt and Giveaway- Shifting Selves

Today's Headline News Feature:

Keep reading for an excerpt and a chance to win a copy of both books and some awesome swag!

Shifting selves by Mia Marshall

Elements #2 

342 pages - Fiction, Urban Fantasy 

April 16,2013 - Match Books

http://miamarshall.com/

Facebook: Yes

Twitter: @miamarshalled

From Goodreads: Aidan Brook's world was shattered when the actions of a brutal murderer revealed long-buried secrets about her past--secrets even she didn't know. A powerful elemental, Aidan discovered she possesses the wrong kind of magic. It's a secret that could cost her sanity—or even her life. What she needs is some peace and quiet. What she gets is a phone call from a division of the FBI so secret it doesn’t even have a name, asking for her help with a series of shifter disappearances.

Before Aidan can settle into a new routine of pancakes and evenings by the fire, the case develops claws. She quickly finds herself caught between uptight bears, deadly mountain lions, overprotective parents, and unhappy federal agents. Throw in a stalled romance with an enigmatic shifter and the slow dissolution of her chosen family, and it’s hard to say which will drive her mad first: her magic, or her chaotic life.

Excerpt: 

I moved my magic through the water that undulated at the end of James’s trail, seeking an explanation for its abrupt disappearance.

There it was. It was the smallest hint, the quickest dip of human flesh reaching out to help another. “He got into a boat, and he wasn't alone.”

Will nodded at me once, a short acknowledgement of gratitude, then rounded on his other son. “Brandon, let’s have some words.” He stalked far away from the rest of us, leaving his son to follow dismally behind him.

Above me, I caught a flicker of movement as Simon shifted back into cat form and raced silently along the branches, looking for a good spot downwind to eavesdrop. He might lack any skill with weaponry beyond his own sharp claws, but there was a reason we called him our ninja.

I sat on the shore and waited. Mac, I realized, was watching me, might have been watching me the entire time. “I didn't know you could do that,” he said quietly.

I should have ignored him. I should have offered a polite answer. I should have done a whole lot of things other than flirt with the man who’d spent the last several weeks avoiding the crazy half-fire chick. I should have accepted that he didn't want me and my bonfire full of baggage, and it was time to move on.

I've never been very good with shoulds.

Instead of letting him go, I smiled and let my eyes fill with vague, silent promises. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

I swore his breath hitched in his chest for just a moment. It was enough. I felt warmth thread through my body, heating my cheeks, dropping through the core where the magic lived and heading even lower.

“Aidan.” Brandon’s voice snapped me back to the present. He walked toward us slowly, his father’s disappointed gaze on him the entire time. Brandon looked dejected and, for a moment, far younger than his years. I imagined that whatever his father had wanted to know, the interrogation hadn't been pleasant. “There’s no one around. Could you make it rain now?”

I was unable to resist his pathetic expression, the face of a kid who just wanted something pleasant to wash away his doubt and pain. I quickly wrapped my magic around the water hovering in the air and, for good measure, pulled some from the lake as well. I let it circle above us before dropping slowly, drenching the three of us in a cold shower I knew at least one of us desperately needed.

This is what you could win: 

(plus and aluminum water bottle -not pictured)!

How to enter:

It's easy, leave your answer in the comments with an email address!

What kind of magical power would you want, if you could choose? What would be a perk and a drawback?

Contest will close at 8:00 pm on Wednesday April 23, 2013

Good luck!!!

Always Shine, 

Starr K