Black Sun's Daughter Giveaway 1-4 Books Winner!

                                                       BLACK SUN’S DAUGHTER SERIES
                        Book Five of the Black Sun’s Daughter series will publish in May 2013!

Congratulations!

 Britanny Heister

I'll let Melissa know you won Simon & Schuster's awesome giveaway.

Titles To Look Forward To: Sea Lion Books Releases of Storm Born, Pariah, & Much More!

 

  

Giveaway Hints #7

Giveaway Hints for November!
Hey, to all book lovers it's that time again when yours truly offers a set of hints of giveaways she has come across. Be sure to look for a chance to win. Good luck!

Guest Review + Recommendation: J.D. Field a Book Nut & Author

Review by: J.D Field 

About J.D. Field

I've been a book nut practically since I worked out what the alphabet was for. From the beautiful British West Country, I've lived and worked all over the world, hauling bags and boxes of books with me. I blog about YA and paranormal novels, mainly and this year I wrote my own version of the genre, SONG TO WAKE TO. It's paranormal, but without vampires, angels or werewolves, and set in Somerset, where I grew up.

His latest review is of 'A Scandalous Life' by Mary Lovell.

The life in question is that of Lady Jane Digby, and what a life she leads! Married to a Lord at 17, divorced soon after. Affairs with an Austrian Diplomat, a King, a Greek count and an Albanian robber chief, before she finds the love of her life... a Bedouin sheikh.

In a time when women more or less have to do as they're told, Lady Digby is an amazing free spirit. From her family's massive mansion in the countryside she hits London, aged 16, and snaps up a super rich government minister twice her age. It doesn't take her long, though to fall in love with someone else...

You can read the rest of my review HERE.

Anime Reviews To Come Too!

Being a book lover, movie fanatic, and avid t.v. watcher isn't the only things I'll be taking up this December. I'll also be working on new content for the blog. 

I've decided to up my movie reviews and add anime reviews as well. You can expect in the months to come various Anime series reviews and an increase of Movie reviews. I'll be doing a few video game reviews but not many. Working on The Last Song (2010) movie review. So, expect seeing that in the month of December.

Author Live Chat with Ronald D. Voigts + Giveaway

A while back, book blogger to author Ronald D. Voigts and I chatted about his book Penelope and The Birthday Curse and about himself. Come learn about Ronald and his book through today's Live Chat, author interview. Hope you enjoy!

About The Book
It's on Amazon.com's Kindle for $0.99!
Get the Book?     Amazon.com | Goodreads

THE BIRTHDAY CURSE is set outside the town limits of Dillwood, in a strange old house called the Manor, with a detective who is bold, brassy and only thirteen. Her name is Penelope Amour. 

Her parents invite family and friends to the Manor to celebrate Penelope's birthday, assembling an odd mix of characters that includes fortune tellers, hoodlums, crazy relatives and a real life drama queen. Complications soon arise when a snowstorm knocks out the power, stranding them in the country, fourteen miles from town. On the morning of Penelope's birthday, they find one of the guests dead. Another guest spins a tale of a triple curse, claiming that two more will die in the next two days. While the adults bumble along trying to find the killer, Penelope enlists the help of friends Ruthie, Wendell and Orson to find the murderer. 

THE BIRTHDAY CURSE is a blend of humor, cozy mystery and suspense that is a fun read for adults as well as tweens.

Geek Girl Online Book Tour: Review of Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennet

                                 Overview
Jen's life of rebelling and sneaking out is growing stale. In an effort to combat her boredom, Jen makes a bet to turn Trevor, a nice little geek into a "bad boy". She is immediately pulled into Trevor's world of sci-fi movies, chastity work, and even--ugh--bowling. Unexpectedly Jen discovers that hanging out with Trevor isn't so bad at all. But when Trevor finds out about the wager, all  bets are off. 

Add this to Your Goodreads.com Shelf

         Book Quotes: Pg. 173-174

" I'm glad you came into my life, Jen. I still don't why you did, but I don't care. I'm just glad you did, glad you turned my world upside down, which is really right side up."
I swallow the lump of guilt in my throat. Someday, I think, someday I'll tell him. Just not right now. 
" I am too, Trev. Who knew you would be The One," I smile, which I guess makes me your Trinity." 
" My Amidala."
" Your Zira."
"My Sylvia."
" Your..." I scour my brain trying to remember some other great sci-fi love interest. 
"My what?" he laughs.
 "Ha! I'm your Saphira," I settle back smugly, only for Trevor to start laughing.
" What " I demand.
" Saphira is a dragon."
" I know, but Eragon needed her and she needed him." 

See Full Schedule for Book Tour

Blog Tour: Geek Girl brought to You, thanks to Cedar Fort Book Publishers.

  About Geek Girl

Available as: Paperback, $11.67 from Amazon.com

                                   Recommended Ages: 15 and Up                                     E-book: 281 pgs.

Published: December 6th 2011 by Cedar Fort(first published June 29th 2010)

 For This Review:  *Advance Reader Book Copy Provided Through Book Tour*

Jen is a troubled teen girl in high school. From a young age she's had to grow up fast. That has has made her a bit bitter and destroyed any gentler feelings she has for people. Her only friends are a few goth type kids. They are not really friends if you'd really like to call them that. Without much thought she makes a bet to them on getting a cool geek type boy in her school to be bad. By this she means to give him bad influence. Jen relentlessly pursues the poor kid. You should see poor Trevor or as Jen likes to call him, Trev. 

Being confused is one of his reactions. Smitten is the big one. As Jen and Trevor spend more time she realizes that he is a pretty cool person. He's very understanding and underneath his geeky appearance he is pretty good-looking too. Trying to keep her bet then proves really hard to do. It doesn't help either that her foster parents have decided to adopt her into the family. While being a whole new change of Jen's life it will also bring her face to face with a mother that left her behind into the foster system a long time ago. Now the only person who seems to care is Trevor her pet project. He's the only one who can comfort her and she can't help but love that. 

Jen is such a hilarious girl. She loves to speak her mind but never once while I read did I see a mention of swear words. She does though come off a bit strongly but this has more to do with her passionate nature. Trevor is hard to describe. He's a scifi geek who loves to talk about movies concerning science fiction. The best part though is that he's just really, in fact handsome but chooses his geeky nature. Throughout the story, it becomes really easy to fall in love with Trevor. We also encounter numerous characters that are part of Jen's or Trevor's life which leave us very happy by their presence. 

This is such a bubbly romantic read. On most occasions, there isn't a moment that wont capture your entire attention. Even if you have read various romantic books, you'll want to read Geek Girl. The romance between a geek and a goth type isn't the only thing that will stand out. There is more. It will slowly build this warm thump, thump, in your heart. Now that's what I call real emotion created from reading a book. 

      Overall: Amazing read!

              Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Family Issues  

About the Author

Cindy C. Bennett was born and raised in beautiful Salt Lake City and grew up in the shadows of the majestic Rocky Mountains. She and her husband raised two daughters, two sons, and a plethora of pets. 
In addition to writing young adult fiction, Cindy volunteers her time working with teenage girls, ages twelve to eighteen, all of whom she finds to be beautiful, fascinating creatures that constantly inspire her stories.
Cindy developed a love of writing in high school English, when a teacher introduced her to the joys of escaping reality. 

Geek Girl had been previously released but was taken up by Cedar Fort Book Publishers. Now, containing a new book cover look!

Visit Cindy C. Bennet

Website: www.cindycbennett.com 

Blog: http://cindybennett.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/authorcindycbennett

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/cinbennett

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4116333.Cindy_C_Bennett

Cedar Fort book publishers is the owner of CFi, and Horizon Publishers, Pioneer Plus, Benneville Books, Council Press, and Sweetwater Book imprints. They publish books that are both LDS and non-LDS books. They distribute their products to various places such as: Costco, Deseret Books, Seagull Books, Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, Wal-mart, and much more! They strive to publish books and materials that are clean and uplifting.

Publisher Blog: http://www.cedarfortbooks.com/

Farsighted Online Book Tour: Review of Farsighted (Farsighted #1) by Emlyn Chand

                                                              

                                              Overview
Alex Kosmitoras’s life has never been easy. The only other student who will talk to him is the school bully, his parents are dead-broke and insanely overprotective, and to complicate matters even more, he's blind. Just when he thinks he'll never have a shot at a normal life, a new girl from India moves into town. Simmi is smart, nice, and actually wants to be friends with Alex. Plus she smells like an Almond Joy bar. Yes, sophomore year might not be so bad after all. Unfortunately, Alex is in store for another new arrival—an unexpected and often embarrassing ability to “see” the future. Try as he may, Alex is unable to ignore his visions, especially when they begin to suggest that Simmi is in danger. With the help of the mysterious psychic next door and new friends who come bearing gifts of their own, Alex must embark on a journey to change his future. 

 Add this to Your Goodreads.com Shelf

Recommended: Yes.

See the Full Book Tour: Official Farsighted Blog Tour Page

About Farsighted

Available as: Hardcover, $12.95 from Amazon.com

E-book, $10.98 from Amazon.com's Kindle Edition

Recommended Ages: 15 and Up                                                                   

E-book: 218 pgs.

Published: October 24th 2011 by Blue Crown Press (first published October 17th 2011)

For this Review: *E-book Copy Provided Through Book Tour*

My Star Review 

Buy Options 

What there is first off that really set a nice tone was Farsighted contains a "Note to Readers". Helps to bring us along the story much more closely and found intimate.

A Note To Readers

You are about to embark on a journey along with the characters in this novel. At the beginning of each chapter, you'll find a rune and a corresponding prophecy. Put your powers of divination to the test by trying to predict what each chapter holds based on the hints provided. Or you may choose to ignore the runic prophecies altogether and dive right into the story. Either way, happy travels.

Nobody really likes Alex. His own dad doesn't much. Only his mother just because he happens to be blind. Beginning high school this year, he expects it to be another awful year but along comes a new friend. It's Simmi. While quiet and reserved Alex finds her intriguing. Just as Alex is starting to feel a romance blooming as he hoped he starts to develop crazy powers that suggest he can see the future and more. At first he's skeptical what with a new psychic and the psychic's daughter moving into town too. It quickly becomes apparent he just has to believe before Simmi becomes entangled in a danger, Alex can actually prevent. Alex finds all the more frustrating as he realizes it's all connected to his powers that are attracting powerful but obviously dangerous psychic kids. 

The thing most impressive is that the story has solid characters. Alex is likable enough but can aggravate you making him somewhat more real. While Ms. Teak, the new psychic who is a sort of guide to Alex and seems very mysterious. Let's hope we see more of Ms. Teak and her background since going that way could be interesting. Shapri, Ms. Teak's daughter, it seems is a psychic as well and it becomes apparent that as Alex and her grow closer there is a sort of potential for romance. She's really more prone to be louder than Alex or Simmi which I like a lot since she's really a more overly lively type of girl. While, Simmi is a contrast to Shapri who's sweet and a calm presence.  She's also Alex's main biggest love interest.  Even, Alex's dad however small the role plays a pivotal role in the book towards the later events in it.

Farsighted is by far easy to get into. The characters are involved in various  situations sometimes immensely important in the dangerous zone or sometimes just friendship problems but all fit together well. The story has some very subtle suspense in both situations and romance. It's unique in many ways from the perspective and how character complexity is developed through the use of plot. Since, this is the first in a series, once read you'll be wanting to reach for the next one soon after. Proving that there is something in, Farsighted, that makes for a unique story that has big potential in more books to come even.

Overall: Good read

Genre: Paranormal Young Adult, Romance, Psychic Kids

                                                       About the Author

Emlyn Chand has always loved to hear and tell stories, having emerged from the womb with a fountain pen grasped firmly in her left hand (true story). When she's not writing, she runs a large book club in Ann Arbor, and is the president of author PR firm, Novel Publicity. Emlyn loves to connect with readers and is available throughout the social media interweb. Visit http://emlynchand.com for more info. Don't forget to say "hi" to her sun conure Ducky!

How Hard is Character Development When Writing? Ask An Author!

By: Rachel Forde, Author of Lastborn

In writing, character development can be a tricky thing.  I've found that as a reader, I'm much more likely to overlook minor flaws in a book if I can relate to the characters and get emotionally invested in their struggles.  As I writer, I also know first hand how difficult it is to get character development right, and how you can learn some interesting things about yourself in the process.

One of the two protagonists in Lastborn is Nara-Ya, a sixteen year-old girl who recently escaped from a life of slavery under an evil sorceress.  I wrote the early drafts of the story in high school, and at that time, Nara-Ya was your typical "Mary Sue" stock protagonist that always pops up in bad fantasy.  She was heroic, invincible, brilliant for her age, and everyone loved her except for the bad guys, which, as I learned, made her incredibly boring.

Winner of The Twelfth Paladin by Nora Weston!

Congratulations!

Kayla27 from  Bee's Knees Reviews blog.

~I have just emailed the author for your prize. 

                                                         Thank you to everyone who entered.~

See Giveaway & Author Interview: 

                 Interview & Giveaway with Nora Weston author of "The Twelfth Paladin"

Shelf Candy (6)

Shelf Candy is Hosted by Five Alarm Book Reviews.

          The concept is if other bloggers share their favorite covers of the week. Showcasing some of your favorite covers while giving some much deserved recognition to the illustrators, photographers and designers who are responsible, if you can. If not post about your favorite book cover of that week, newly released or, not, talk about what you like on the cover. 
Great way to socialize  with either other bloggers and readers. See new books and blogs as well.
                 

In My Mailbox (14)- Different Range of Books and The Hunger Games Movie Trailer!

In My Mail­box« is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi – The Story Siren.
 In this meme, we share the books we received for review, purchased, got from the library, traded/swapped, etc. Great way to network your blog with other bloggers and readers. 
Readers if you don't participate in In My Mailbox will still love to hear from you!
              What's In Your Mailbox?
Books Received:

Won In Giveaways:
Signed Book Copy of Between The Sea and Sky by Jacylyn Dolamore
Thanks to Mary at Bookhounds YA blog.
For as long as Esmerine can remember, she has longed to join her older sister, Dosinia, as a siren--the highest calling a mermaid can have. When Dosinia runs away to the mainland, Esmerine is sent to retrieve her. Using magic to transform her tail into legs, she makes her way unsteadily to the capital city. There she comes upon a friend she hasn't seen since childhood--a dashing young man named Alandare, who belongs to a winged race of people. As Esmerine and Alandare band together to search for Dosinia, they rekindle a friendship . . . and ignite the emotions for a love so great, it cannot be bound by sea, land, or air.


Schoolgirl by Osamu Dazai
Thanks to Man of la Book blog!

The novella that first propelled Dazai into the literary elite of post-war Japan. Essentially the start of Dazai's career, Schoolgirl gained notoriety for its ironic and inventive use of language. Now it illuminates the prevalent social structures of a lost time, as well as the struggle of the individual against them--a theme that occupied Dazai's life both personally and professionally. This new translation preserves the playful language of the original and offers the reader a new window into the mind of one of the greatest Japanese authors of the 20th century.

Reading and Thinking: In The Iron Knight, What Ash is Shown

Please read the new installment in the Iron Fey series before reading this blog post.

Get the book?  

Reading and Thinking because I love words... reading ...

                                                             Reading & Thinking Mind Wanderings

1. Was what Ash was shown in his future going to happen? Concerning him aging and Puck (Robin Goodfellow) ending up with Meghan Chase. 

My Opinion: I think it's possible that Ash might age but will Puck really do that to Ash.

What do you think?

2. Do you think Ash and Meghan would really have a child that in some way was never mentioned disappoints them. In what way can he/she disappoint them?

My Opinion: About Ash and Meghan having children. Of course, it's possible they are in love after all. Yet, it's very mysterious why their child would cause them heartache. Again, it's

never completely mentioned.

3. If Ash dies? If he really died that will be terrible but couldn't he just get healed?

My opinion: I don't really remember if he could die, I mean, if he's said to be mortal but somehow still a feary ice prince at his core. Then, how could he die?

What do you think?

The Iron Fey

Soulless, Banished, But Never Forgotten!

There are lots of new turns in The Iron knight (The Iron Fey #4) by Julie Kagawa. You should definitely read, if you haven't yet. If your still not convinced then read, a review, right here: Review of The Iron knight (The Iron Fey #4) by Julie Kagawa

Happy Friday, readers!