TSK, TSK, What to Read?: RELEASE DAY BLAST for Frostbite by Lynn Rush

We are so excited to help celebrate Lynn Rush's new Touch of Frost series with the release of the first book FROSTBITE! We can't wait to learn all about Amanda and how she deals with her powers and those that murdered mother. Will she share the same fate?

Check out the excerpt below and be sure to enter the FROSTBITE Release Day GIVEAWAY.

Also watch for a review of this chilling tale on the blog soon!

Book Details:

Title: Frostbite (Touch of Frost Trilogy #1)

Buy Link: http://amzn.to/17S3I2X

Word count: 72,000

Release Date: 9/17/13

Publisher: Lynn Rush, LLC

Genre: Paranormal Romance – New Adult/Upper YA

Amanda gives a whole new meaning to cool…

Amanda Smith is sick of getting chased from town-to-town. So when she lands in tiny Trifle, Arizona, she hopes it’s her last move for a long time. Despite hating the smallness of the town, she settles in and finds a best friend, and even a boyfriend. Normality at its finest.

But for a girl who can shoot snow from her hands and lift a two-ton truck over her head like a bag of feathers—normal is not an option.

The scientists who murdered her mother come barreling into Amanda’s quiet life. She must decide if she’ll run again or stay and fight. The price of either choice might be her life or the lives of those she’s come to love…

“I will not freeze anyone today.” I wiggled my fingers. Not that they ever listened to my command, but I had to try something. I’d made it three months at this school without accidentally freezing someone.

Just needed to keep it that way for one more week until graduation.

I clomped out of my bedroom, backpack in tow, chanting my no-freezing-allowed mantra in my head. A steaming travel mug sitting on top of the breakfast bar caught my attention. A note taped to it read: Morning. I’m in the garage.

Despite his tendency to nag, my big brother had one or two redeeming qualities. I brought the coffee to my nose and flipped the sip-hole open. “Mmm.” Vanilla flavored. My fave.

I hustled to the door and yanked it open, ready to face another day. Dry, desert air greeted my skin with a gentle caress when I stepped onto the porch. The yard littered with cactus and rocks reminded me of the stark contrast between Arizona and Minnesota. Despite my icy tendencies and ability to withstand extreme cold, I’d rather have the sun shining down and warming me.

I started down the flight of stairs to the sidewalk leading toward the garage still repeating my mantra. A daily ritual, crazy by anyone’s standards but mine, considering I had to work pretty hard to not accidentally freeze something.

Clanking metal and a slew of curse words streamed out from the garage. My trot down the stairs morphed into a mad dash.

The Coats found us again!

My quick motion sent dark liquid splashing through the lid and onto my shirt. Coffee soaked the cotton, scorching my skin. I hurled the cup to the gravel yard. Please let Scott be okay. If I had to witness another relative—my last living relative—lying in a pool of blood, dead…I’d crack. Literally crack.

I kicked the side door open, my hand already chilled and ready to freeze anyone who wasn’t my brother. “Scott.” I screamed so loud, razors slicing my throat would have hurt less.

Oh my God. Did they get him?

Scott popped up from behind the car. He lifted his arms in surrender. “Whoa.” His gaze fixed on my hand.

Fanned open and aimed directly at him, my arctic-blue digits shimmered with a layer of frost. Panic squeezed my lungs. Tremors traveled up my legs and vibrated my gut. When I was scared, my power always exploded. Sometimes to the extent that I left a trail of dead people…

The crowbar Scott held clanked to the cement and rang like a tower bell within my skull.

I drew in a stuttered breath and scanned the single-car garage. “Scott? Are you okay? I heard—”

“Pull it back, Mandy. Calm down.” He inched toward me. White puffs of breath leaked from his mouth. “You can do it. Pull it back.”

“I thought—” I swallowed hard. My tongue turned as dry as cotton. I lowered my arm, and my bag slid off my shoulder to the floor. Damn those Coats for turning me into a paranoid freak.

More of a freak than I already was.

“Mandy?”

“I heard a crash and you cursing up a storm. I thought the Coats—” My jaw clenched. The mere thought of them triggered my gag reflex. They’d slaughtered my parents four years ago, and I’d been on edge every day since.

The fact that they’d captured me a few times didn’t help with the paranoia either.

I peeked behind me. Our tiny apartment above my brother’s smoothie shop remained dark and quiet. No jerks dressed in white doctor-type outfits or army fatigues stomping around, shooting their pointy little tranquilizer darts.

It’d been a while since we’d seen them, but I wouldn’t ever relax. How could I? They’d been chasing us for so long. And we’d had more close calls with them than I’d like to remember.

Scott grabbed my shoulder. “I’m sorry. They haven’t found us. We’re safe, Mandy. We’re safe.”

Thank God. I couldn’t lose Scott. Couldn’t see him hurt again. “What’s going on? I almost turned you into an ice sculpture.”

“I’d make a totally hot sculpture though, right?” He fingered his chestnut curls. “Can you turn down the cold first? It’s freezing in here.”

“Well, whose fault is that? You can’t go around cussing and clanging metal together, I thought someone was attacking you again.” Besides, I didn’t particularly feel like killing anyone this morning.

I shook out my hands. Back off. I didn’t have a great way of getting this ice-thing under control, so telling it to settle down seemed to work for now. If only I knew how this happened to me.

And why the hell didn’t Scott have any powers if Mom had this, too?

“Good job. I can feel it warming up.” If Scott’s indigo eyes got any bigger, they’d pop out of their sockets. “I’m sorry, Mandy. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

My heart finally slowed to a jog. I felt like I’d sprinted a marathon in record time. The thought of Scott getting hurt by those crazy scientists totally freaked me out. Although he told lame jokes and was kind of a nerd, he was all I had left.

I had to keep him safe. He was in danger because of me. Not to mention he was pretty wimpy.

“What the heck are you doing in here?”

He gestured his blackened thumb to the car. “Flat tire.”

“Again?”

“Must have a slow leak.”

I shuffled to the rear of the car, and the scent of rubber, grease and gasoline sent my nose tingling. “I’ll give you a hand. We have to hurry. Principal Nimrod will be ticked if I’m late again.”

“Don’t call him that.” Scott snatched his crowbar. “He could keep you from graduating.”

Whatever. I curled my fingers around the hitch connection. “Here?”

“That’s good.”

I pulled, and the metal groaned under my grip. The end of the Mustang rose. Scott squatted beside the rear wheel and went to work on whatever he was doing to the tire.

“Much better than that jack. I couldn’t get it to work.” He winked at me. “You’re kind of handy to have around.”

“I’m a great car jack.”

“You’re good at other things, too. Don’t forget the new fridge you carried up to the kitchen last weekend.”

I snickered. If only I could have gotten a picture of that. A tiny chick like me carrying the massive appliance up the flight of stairs would have gotten a few views online for sure.

But there were no pictures allowed in our lives. Couldn’t afford to leave any trails. I so despised this nomadic lifestyle.

I blew the dust off the trunk of the classic car. “At least we’re not on the side of the road for Toni to see this and ruin everything for us.”

“True. I’m thinking we chose the right town this time. That we’ve finally found a place to settle down.”

“Really? No more Coats?” Settling down sure had its appeal, but I didn’t dare get my hopes up. Been there, done that. Totally crushed.

Scott nodded. “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a Coat. I think we’ve finally lost them.”

I didn’t share his optimism, but I kept that to myself. Skepticism became my middle name four years ago when my parents were slaughtered and all this running-shit started. I wasn’t sure it’d ever change. ~Frostbite, by @LynnRush http://amzn.to/17S3I2X

Lynn Rush is a pen name that is a combination of two sources – Lynn, the first name of her mother-in-law, who passed away and Rush – since the author is a former inline speed skater and mountain biker. All of Rush’s books are dedicated to Lynn, her namesake, and a portion of the proceeds benefits cancer research and treatment.

Rush holds a degree in psychology from Southwest Minnesota State University and a master's degree from the University of Iowa. Originally from Minneapolis, Rush currently enjoys living in the Arizona desert with her husband of 17 years and her loveable Shetland Sheep dog. When she’s not busy writing her next trilogy, she can be found pounding the pavement, training to run her first marathon.