Monday Moonings: Stitch by Samantha Durante [with excerpt]

Monday Moonings is a weekly meme here on my blog featuring new books or authors, but mostly self-published authors. :) 

Hi guys! Happy Monday to all. Today, we have author Samantha Durante and her book entitled “Stitch” for a feature. Check out the blurbs and the excerpt. :)

Title: Stitch

Author: Samantha Durante

Genre/Keywords: Paranormal Romance, Ghost, Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult, New Adult

Release date: August 1st, 2012

Purchase links: Amazon ($2.99 Kindle or $9.99 paperback) 

Her heart races, her muscles coil, and every impulse in Alessa's body screams at her to run... but yet she's powerless to move.
Still struggling to find her footing after the sudden death of her parents, the last thing college freshman Alessa has the strength to deal with is the inexplicable visceral pull drawing her to a handsome ghostly presence.  In between grappling with exams and sorority soirees - and disturbing recurring dreams of being captive in a futuristic prison hell - Alessa is determined to unravel the mystery of the apparition who leaves her breathless.  But the terrifying secret she uncovers will find her groping desperately through her nightmares for answers.
Because what Alessa hasn't figured out yet is that she's not really a student, the object of her obsession is no ghost, and her sneaking suspicions that something sinister is lurking behind the walls of her university's idyllic campus are only just scratching the surface...
The opening installment in a twist-laden trilogy, Stitch spans the genres of paranormal romance and dystopian sci-fi to explore the challenges of a society in transition, where morality, vision, and pragmatism collide leaving the average citizen to suffer the results.

Below is an excerpt from Stitch – it’s from a dream Alessa has earlier in the book (before she recognizes who the males in the dream are, which is revealed later – for now all she knows is that one of them is the ghost she’s been seeing around her sorority).  Enjoy!

Excerpt from Stitch by Samantha Durante

Alessa didn’t like the sound of this.  She wished – not for the first time – that he hadn’t gotten involved with these people, regardless of how righteous their mission may be.

“Who’s we?” she asked, wondering who would be accompanying him during this harebrained scheme.

He motioned over his shoulder at another young man.  This one she recognized – it was her ghost.

“Him?”

“Yeah, why not?  He’s perfectly capable, and he’s been dying to get more involved.”

“But you’re supposed to be looking out for him!” she heard herself say.  “How can you put him in this kind of danger?”

He shot her a warning look.   Alessa lowered her voice before continuing.

“Has he done anything remotely this challenging before?”

Alessa could see the flash of doubt in his eyes, but only for a moment before he set his jaw.  “Listen, he needs to learn sometime.  I can’t hold him off anymore – he wants a part in this, and I can’t protect him forever.”

Alessa’s head thrummed with apprehension – she had a very bad feeling about this – but she knew she couldn’t change his mind.  She stepped forward and grabbed hold of his shovel, locking her eyes with his.  “Just be careful.”

He smiled brightly, suddenly cocksure.  “You know I’ve got this.  Don’t even worry about it.”

His grin was meant to be reassuring, but Alessa knew better.  If there was one thing she’d learned here, it was that nothing was ever as it seemed – and there were no sure bets.

“Be careful,” she reiterated, the undercurrent of fear sharpening her voice.

“I’ll see you tonight,” he replied, intrepid as ever.  “Bring your appetite.”

About the Author:

Samantha Durante lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband, Sudeep, and her cat, Gio.  Formerly an engineer at Microsoft, Samantha left the world of software in 2010 to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams and a lifelong love of writing.  A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology, Samantha is currently working full time for her company Medley Media Associates as a freelance business writer and communications consultant.  Stitch is her first novel.  Learn more about Samantha at www.samanthadurante.com.