Lean and Mean, we’re TEAM GREEN! Fall 2017 YA Scavenger Hunt is on, people.

** The Fall 2017 YA Scavenger Hunt is over. **

Thank you so much for hanging out with us.

Winner announced soon!

Hey! I am Julie Reece (the one with the “hair”)

I’m your hostess for this leg of the hunt.

About Me

I love vintage muscle cars.

My favorite month is Summer.

I’ll arm wrestle you for the last piece of dark chocolate.

I adore my cat Hemingway.

Congrats, you are currently hunting on

Looking for my exclusive bonus content? You’ll have to keep searching …

Somewhere on this blog, I’ve hidden three things; bonus content from the author that I’m hosting, the secret number you’ll need for the scavenger hunt highlighted in green, and a personal prize contest—in addition to the main scavenger hunt prizes. Before you go looking for them, check out the amazing author I’m hosting.

But, first, a few rules.

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE RULES

DIRECTIONS: Somewhere below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on TEAM GREEN, and then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!)

REMEMBER: THE SECRET NUMBER IS HIGHLIGHTED IN GREEN!

ENTRY FORM: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

RULES: The  YA Scavenger Hunt goes live on Tuesday, Oct 3rd at 12 pm Pacific Time. Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by October, 8th at noon Pacific time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered. 

On this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each participating YA author, you also get a secret number. Add up the numbers, and enter it for a chance to win a major prize–one lucky winner will receive at least one book from each author on my team in the hunt! But play fast. This contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online until October, 8th at noon Pacific time.

There are seven contests going on simultaneously as well as a bonus contest and you can enter one or all!

I am a part of the GREEN TEAM but there is also a RED, BLUE, ORANGE, GOLD, PINK, & PURPLE team — each with 20 authors! Check out each team for a chance to win different prizes!

If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.

Now that all the technical stuff is out of the way, I’ll introduce the author I am hosting on this hunt.

I am super excited to be hosting the awesome and amazing

 HEATHER DAVIS!

About the Author :

Heather Davis is the author of The Clearing, a RITA Award finalist for Best Young Adult Romance. A CURSE SO DARK is the first book in her new Pioneer Falls series. Her other books include Never Cry Werewolf and its two novella sequels, Sometimes by Moonlight and Always in Shadow, as well as Wherever You Go. She lives and writes in the Pacific Northwest, where she is obsessed with coffee, books, indie bands, and perfect chocolate chip cookies.

It’s Julie, your hostess again: I counted all the chocolate chips in just one of Heather’s delicious cookies, and, if I’m right, there are 22!

That’s riiiight …

 You can find out even more about HEATHER here …  

Twitter    Facebook   Goodreads   Website 

HEATHER  is showcasing her book:

Cool right? And in case you’re as curious about the story as I am, you’re in luck!

ABOUT THE BOOK 

“A blood curse. Deadly secrets. A dark stranger.

When her deputy sheriff father goes missing, Lily Turner learns the quaint logging town of Pioneer Falls harbors terrible secrets—an unspeakable past connected to her family and a blood curse her father has hidden from his three daughters.

When Morgan McAllister arrives in town, Lily can’t deny their mutual attraction. But falling for Morgan may derail Lily’s efforts to find her father and to save her younger sisters from the family fate.

Searching for answers deep in the shadowy forests that surround the town, Lily will risk everything to uncover the truth. As hunters are exposed and rivals for the territory circle the Turner sisters, no one in Pioneer Falls is safe– especially with the full moon rising.

From the author of Never Cry Werewolf comes this suspenseful new series full of dark secrets and heartfelt romance.”

 Add A Curse So Dark (Pioneer Falls Book 1) to your TBR list on Goodreads here!

TOP SECRET BONUS MATERIAL STRAIGHT AHEAD!

An exclusive Sneak Preview from Heather—just for you!!!

Opening Scene of A CURSE SO DARK 

No secret can stay hidden forever. The best ones—crushes, surprise parties, special gifts—are revealed and everyone smiles or laughs. But then, there’s the other kind. Dark truths that break apart families, destroy reputations, ruin lives. Nothing can prepare you for the reveal of a reality-imploding secret like that. Trust me.

It’s pretty hard to keep any secret in a small town like mine. And when I say small, I mean one-stoplight-everyone-knows-your-business small. Pioneer Falls is barely a map dot in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in Washington state. It’s pretty and green—so green—surrounded by endless trees and cut by a river, which long ago, starving settlers miraculously found full of fish. Couples love to take engagement and wedding pictures in front of the falls, and tourists come from miles around just to watch the leaves turn colors. Basically, our town is the fantasy of every suburbanite who longs for a simple life. A safe community where people move to raise kids and earn an honest living, a place where you know every neighbor.

But the folks in town don’t know the truth about my family, and I hope they never find out. We’re hiding a terrible secret, a mark that will never fade, a gnawed branch on our family tree.

And I didn’t learn the truth myself until my father went missing.

That night I was working my usual Monday shift at the coffee shop––the only one for twenty miles. Business at Pioneer Perk always slowed to a trickle after seven, but Maggie, the owner, insisted on staying open a few more hours for the folks heading to work graveyard over at the lumber mill. I gladly filled travel mugs and sold the scratch-baked muffins and scones, but the tip jar never counted out to more than a few limp dollars and a handful of coins. After pocketing that night’s skimpy proceeds, I adjusted my College Fund sign, wondering if I needed to put a few more glittery stickers on it to attract more contributions. At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to afford community college tuition, let alone the cost of the university next year.

Just before nine, the last customers finally cleared out. I closed the copy of Wuthering Heights I’d been reading behind the counter and locked the front door. Out on Main Street, antique lampposts illuminated the emptiness. The rain had stopped an hour earlier, but the pavement glistened, reflecting the sliver of moonlight. A raven perched on a telephone wire swaying in the night breeze, not seeming to care it should be nested in for the night. A few lonely leaves skittered down the sidewalk, runaways from the maple saplings that’d been planted recently in the square. I definitely wouldn’t miss this kind of excitement when I left town for good.

After straightening the couches near the front, I wiped down the tables, and then closed out the till. My last task was gathering up the garbage, compost, and recycling to take out back. Though we were two hours from Seattle, Maggie insisted the shop observe the city’s progressive sustainability standards. Pioneer Falls may have been founded by loggers and miners using the natural resources of the area, but there was a surprising number of conservationists like Maggie around. I emptied the first container of recyclables into the bin, hearing the satisfying clunk of glass hitting glass.

That’s when I saw them.

Four wolves edging the woods near the parking lot.

They’d heard me, because they stood motionless, staring in my direction. A chill slithered down my neck as I realized they were standing over something. Another creature, down on the ground. The wolf closest to me lifted its nose in my direction. Viscous dark liquid dripped from its graying muzzle, illuminated by the light of the quarter moon.

My heart hammered. I hoped they were some of the hybrids bred by the eccentric man Ivan, who lived across the river. Locals saw the half-wolf, half-dogs occasionally sniffing around livestock pens when they escaped his kennels. But these canines seemed larger, as though they might actually be more wolf than dog. They reminded me of the violent creatures from my nightmares, predators that chased me unrelentingly. Dreams that I’d been having since I was little.

Countering my lengthy stare, the animal flashed its teeth and issued a low growl. Horrified, I stepped backward, right into someone standing behind me. I was almost too startled to scream.

“Easy now,” a familiar voice said.

I whirled around and found myself face-to-face with my boyfriend, Kyle. “You jerk! What are you doing?”

“Protecting you from mutts who might want to eat your muffins,” he said, grinning. “I hear they’re delicious.”

“Very funny.” I punched him on the arm, and then tossed the biodegradable bag into the compost bin. “Lucky for you I don’t scare easily.”

“That’s one of your best qualities, Lily. Among other things.” He slid his hands around my waist and kissed my neck. I winced. I hadn’t seen him since Friday night after the football game, and we’d left things in a weird place.

“What?” Kyle asked, lifting his head.

“You didn’t answer my texts again today. Were you even at school?”

“Sorry,” he whispered in my ear as he turned me around. “I was distracted. Coach kept me after gym, so I missed lunch.”

“Okay.” I managed a half-smile. A football player like Kyle Robbins wasn’t my typical pick, but working together as biology lab partners last year I’d found there was more to the guy than his athletic body and his deep brown eyes. He knew the names of everyone at Pioneer Falls High, from the freshmen to the custodian, and his happy-go-lucky attitude was contagious. He made me feel anything was possible.

“Are you finished with your shift yet?” he asked.

“Almost.”

“I can’t wait until we’re done with this place,” he said, kissing me lightly.

“It’s not that bad.”

“What? Making cappuccinos or this town?”

I smiled. “Well, the coffee’s fine.” I glanced back toward the fence. The wolves had taken off, but their prey, whatever it was, was still on the ground.

“Whoa! What is that?” Kyle asked, tracking my gaze.

We walked over to what I realized was a downed buck. His head lolled to one side, velvet-covered antlers touching the earth. Blood spatters shimmered on the dirt near him.

“He’s probably in shock. Don’t get too close.”

I ignored Kyle’s warning and inched closer to examine the damage anyway. The deer’s upper chest bled from a massive wound, and there was a wide gash near his neck. The buck snorted, try to rouse itself from the ground.

“No, no, no…” I knelt alongside the animal. Dangerous or not, I put a hand on its quivering shoulder. “It’s okay.”

“What are you doing? Don’t touch it.”

My breathing slowed. The deer’s eyes were filled with so much fear. My heart ached for the beast dying in front of me.

“C’mon, leave it,” Kyle said behind me. “There’s nothing you can do.”

“I just… I want to stay with him for his last moments.”

“That shouldn’t be long,” Kyle said under his breath.

“Seriously?”

The deer made a huffing sound. Blood gurgled in the gash near his throat, and little clouds of steam drifted up from his mouth. I moved back a little, my stomach churning.

“It’s in shock. I told you,” Kyle said.

“Those disgusting wolves got you,” I whispered. “You didn’t deserve this cruelty.” The buck’s dark eyes reflected the slice of moon overhead. This was the way the creature’s life would end. A savage attack. A mortal wound.

I felt my eyes start to water. Trembling, I reached for the stone pendant around my neck, a gift from Dad a couple years ago on my sixteenth birthday. I turned the cool white disk over and over in my fingers, as I often did. The smooth surface of the stone never failed to calm my nerves.

“Maybe we should call this in,” Kyle said, trying to get my attention with a wave. “I’ll try the non-emergency number at the station.”

I nodded, and then focused again on the buck’s pleading dark eyes. “I’m sorry you had such a painful death.” Shivering now, I looked toward the edge of the pavement to where it met the treeline, wondering if there were other deer out there.

As if in answer, a dark flash of something moved in the bushes. I held my breath. There was a definite rustling. The dying buck heard it, too. It stirred, struggling to pull itself up, but then collapsed again.

“No, no. It’s okay.” I stepped back. “Don’t run.”

“Look out!” Kyle called, putting his hand over his phone for a second.

In a burst of desperate movement, the deer wobbled to his feet and staggered into the woods. My eyes filled with tears as the brush rippled and the buck vanished. Something was shaking the brush, advancing toward the break where the deer had disappeared. Multiple things.

A howl rose from the woods. And then another. My skin rippled with goose bumps. The wolves were circling for the kill.

***

(C) Heather Davis 2017 –– excerpted from A CURSE SO DARK with permission from the author.

Awesome, right?

If you want to know more about this book, here’s how you can get your hands on it!

Guys, don’t forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books by me and many more! Just check out all these unforgettable books on the GREEN TEAM!

To enter, you need to write down my favorite number (hidden in the post above in green), find all the other numbers on TEAM GREEN, add them up, and you’ll have the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

Good luck everyone, and thank you so much for visiting my website.

Before you go, don’t forget to enter my personal bonus contest  …

Exclusively during the YA Scavenger Hunt, one lucky winner will receive both the first and second paperback book in my YA Southern Gothic, fairy tale retelling—THE ARTISANS series. AND a signed paperback of my contemporary romance, ONE SUMMER WITH AUTUMN. All 3 books!

Just leave a comment below with a way to contact you in case you win …

winners posted by Monday, Oct 9th on YASH website!

Click on any cover for more information on my books!

“THE ARTISANS is a quick and enjoyable read for fans of Marissa Meyer, with an unpretentious narrator and quirky characters.” —Teenreads

Ready to move on to the next link in the hunt?

Then head on over to visit awe inspiring author SARA FUJIMURA’s page here:

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sarafujimura