Saturday 24 October 2015

ONCE UPON A TIME UNIVERSITY Tour


The Book

Once Upon A Time University by Savannah Ostler
Genre: YA fantasy


About Once Upon A Time University:
The enchanting sequel to “Happily Ever After High School”

After graduating Happily Ever High, eighteen year old Albany French was living the perfect fairy tale. She had her very own fairy godmother, a delightfully eccentric grandmother, and her boyfriend was her dream knight in shining armor.

At first, it seemed like a flawless freshman year for her at Once Upon A Time University. The campus was magical and enchanted, her classes were extraordinary, and she made surprising new friends.

A chain of unsettling events followed by a twist of fate sends Albany spinning. She is forced to make the most difficult decision of her life- one that could potentially break her heart. The perfect happily ever after was still within Albany’s grasp… or so she thought.
Source: Info in the About Once Upon A Time University was from the press kit from the publicity team.

Buy Link(s):
  iBook Buy       Buy from Google Play  

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Meet The Author

About Savannah Ostler:
Savannah Ostler was born in Alpine, Utah. Since childhood, she has enjoyed many forms of the arts. It was from her love of performing that she decided to attend East Hollywood High, a school in Salt Lake City dedicated to film, television, and writing.

In addition to acting for both stage and film, Savannah is also a singer, having released several original pop singles, and performing at well known venues in Hollywood such as The House Of Blues, and the Roxy theater.

Although Savannah is incredibly diverse with her talents, her first love is, and has always been writing. She has been writing ever since she learned how to read and write. She enjoys many different forms of writing: poetry, lyrics, fiction, and screenplays. To date, Miss Ostler has written hundreds of original poems, six original songs produced and performed by Savannah herself, hundreds of lyrics not yet produced, over a dozen produced short films, five feature film screenplays, two television pilots, and of course, her first novel Happily Ever After High School.

Savannah has always been a day dreamer and a true kid at heart. When she is not buried in her writing projects, she can be found at Disneyland, living out all of her fairy tale dreams.

She lives in Los Angeles, CA with her husband Steve and their two mixed Chihuahua pups.



Thursday 15 October 2015

LONELY PLANET KIDS: ADVENTURES AROUND THE GLOBE Blog Tour & Giveaway

Lonely Planet Blog Tour Button

Adventures Around The Globe
Genre: kid lit


About Adventures Around The Globe:
Come and explore some of the world’s most amazing places with Adventures Around the Globe, a special edition sticker atlas from the ‘Adventures in…’ activity book series. Young explorers (ages 4+) will discover fun facts, interact with maps and puzzles, decorate real-life locations with over 250 reusable stickers – even create a fold-out 3D model of the globe.
Source: Info in the About Adventures Around The Globe was from the press kit from the publicity team.

Buy Link(s):
 



About Lonely Planet Kids:
From the world’s leading travel media company comes Lonely Planet Kids, a children’s imprint that brings the world to life for young explorers everywhere. We’re kickstarting the travel bug and showing kids just how amazing our planet can be.

We will inspire and delight curious kids, showing them the rich diversity of people, places and cultures that surrounds us. We promise to share our enthusiasm and love of the world, our sense of humour and continual fascination for what it is that makes the world we live in the diverse and magnificent place it is. It’s going to be a big adventure! Come explore.



Giveaway

Blog Tour Giveaway

Prize: One winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card or $25 PayPal cash prize, winner's choice

Giveaway ends: November 8, 11:59 pm, 2015

Open to: Internationally

How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.

Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by Lonely Planet Kids and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com.


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Tuesday 13 October 2015

WISHING FOR YOU Book Blast & Giveaway



The Book

Wishing For You by Elizabeth Langston
Book 2 in the I Wish series
Genre: urban fantasy


About Wishing For You:
She’s a girl who can’t remember. He’s the guy she can’t forget…

It’s her final semester of high school, and Kimberley Rey is curious to discover what will come next. She needs to pick a college, but her memory disability complicates the choice. Will her struggles to remember make it impossible to leave home?

Help arrives through an unexpected and supernatural gift. Grant is a “genie” with rules. He can give her thirty wishes (one per day for a month) as long as the tasks are humanly possible. Kimberley knows just what to ask for–lessons in how to live on her own.

But her wishes change when a friend receives a devastating diagnosis. As she joins forces with Grant to help her friend, Kimberley learns that the ability to live in the moment–to forget–may be more valuable than she ever knew.
Source: Info in the About Wishing For You was from the press kit from the publicity team.

Buy Link(s):
   

Excerpt:
There was a pounding on the bedroom door. My eyes fluttered open to find sunlight streaming into the attic.

Lacey groaned. "What is it, Henry?"

The door creaked and then banged against the wall. "Did Kimberley sleep over?"

"Does it look like she's in this room?"

"Yes."

"Then she did sleep over."

"Cool." Lacey's younger brother ran over to my side of the bed and plopped cross-legged on the floor. "Do you want breakfast?"

I turned my head toward him, trying to focus. "Yes, I do."

"Mom is making pancakes. Do you like them?"

"Yes, I do."

"Bacon?"

"One of my favorites." I could smell it in the air.

"Good. It's one of mine too. Will you be ready to eat soon?"

I clapped a hand over my mouth to keep from snorting. Lacey had the most adorable little brother ever. "Is your mom making you wait until we come down?"

"Yes, she is."

"Give us ten minutes to get dressed."

"Ten? That sounds like a lot."

"Seven, then," I said in a firm voice.

He rose and ran from the room.

Beside me, Lacey laughed. "You handled that very well."

"How do you keep from laughing every time you talk to him?"

"Practice."

We were ready in six minutes and were about to head down the stairs when Lacey caught my arm. "Do you know where Sean went for Christmas?"

"I don't think so." I grabbed my phone and opened my notes. "What made you think of that?"

"It's been puzzling me. Mrs. Tucker and Sara kept their consignment shop open until Christmas Eve. Did his father go with him?"

"Yes." Lacey was right. It had felt strange when Sean mentioned it. But if I'd asked other questions, he hadn't answered because my notes only had the one detail. "Maybe he was visiting colleges."

"Someone like Sean would already have that decision made. Has he said where he's applying?"

I shook my head helplessly. It seemed like the kind of information a friend should know, but nothing was emerging from the recesses of my brain.

"Hey, guys," Henry called up the stairs. "It's been seven minutes."

Lacey called back, "On our way, little man."

We smiled at each other. There were pancakes waiting. We'd have to solve the Sean puzzle later.


The Other Book In The Series

I Wish by Elizabeth Langston
Book 1 in the I Wish series
Genre: urban fantasy


About I Wish:
What Lacey needs is a miracle. What she gets is a genie with rules.

Lacey Linden is hiding the truth of her life—a depressed mom, a crumbling house, and bills too big to pay. While her high school classmates see a girl with a ready smile and good grades, Lacey spends her evenings seeking ways to save her family. On a get-cash-quick trip to the flea market, Lacey stumbles over a music box that seemingly begs her to take it home. She does, only to find it is inhabited by a gorgeous “genie.” He offers her a month of wishes, one per day, but there’s a catch. Each wish must be humanly possible.

Grant belongs to a league of supernatural beings, dedicated to serving humans in need. After two years of fulfilling the boring wishes of conventional teens, he is one assignment away from promotion to a challenging new role with more daring cases. Yet his month with Lacey is everything that he expects and nothing like he imagines. Lacey and Grant soon discover that the most difficult task of all might be saying goodbye.
Source: Info in the About I Wish was from the press kit from the publicity team.

Buy Link(s):
   

Praise for I Wish
From School Library Journal (I Wish #1)
Langston wisely limits the power of wishes, so there can be no easy fixes to complex problems. [The story] is all the better for it, putting the focus on the compelling and sympathetic characters.

… the denouement offers enough twists and unresolved questions to have readers wishing the next book was already available.

From K-books blog:
I Wish is a fantastic storyline, with a dash of romance that is perfect for any YA fan. I can't recommend it enough.

From Reese’s Reviews blog:
This is definitely one of the most beautiful and amazingly written books I’ve ever read. Elizabeth Langston has written a fantastic story that drew me in from the first page.


Meet The Author

About Elizabeth Langston:
Elizabeth Langston lives in North Carolina, halfway between the beaches and the mountains. She has two college-age daughters and one old husband. When she's not writing software or stories, Elizabeth loves to travel with her family, watch shows on dance or Sherlock Holmes, and dream about which restaurant ought to get her business that night.


Giveaway

BookBlast Giveaway

$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 11/1/15

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.



Monday 12 October 2015

Review: DEVOTED IN DEATH

DEVOTED IN DEATH by JD Robb ebook
Devoted In Death by JD Robb
Book 41 of the In Death series
Read by Susan Ericksen
Genre: scifi crime fiction
Format: ebook & audiobookAudible Books


About Devoted In Death:
Eve Dallas tracks a couple whose passion is fueled by cold brutalityin the newest crime thriller from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Obsession in Death and Festive in Death.

When Lieutenant Eve Dallas examines a body in a downtown Manhattan alleyway, the victim’s injuries are so extensive that she almost misses the clue. Carved into the skin is the shape of a heart—and initials inside reading E and D . . .

Ella-Loo and her boyfriend, Darryl, had been separated while Darryl was a guest of the state of Oklahoma, and now that his sentence has been served they don’t ever intend to part again. Ella-Loo’s got dreams. And Darryl believes there are better ways to achieve your dreams than working for them. So they hit the road, and when their car breaks down in Arkansas, they make plans to take someone else’s. Then things get messy and they wind up killing someone—an experience that stokes a fierce, wild desire in Ella-Loo. A desire for Darryl. And a desire to kill again.

As they cross state lines on their way to New York to find the life they think they deserve, they will leave a trail of evil behind them. But now they’ve landed in the jurisdiction of Lieutenant Dallas and her team at the New York Police and Security Department. And with her husband, Roarke, at her side, she has every intention of hunting them down and giving them what they truly deserve . . .
Source: Info in the About Devoted In Death was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22571696-obsession-in-death on 13/02/2015.

DEVOTED IN DEATH by JD Robb audiobook
My Thoughts:
This book showcases to us that there really are sick fucks out there! But I guess that's what crime fiction books does. But what makes this book stands out from the million other crime fic books out there is the fact that JD Robb can spin a tired old tale into something new and exciting! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what I call a masterful story telling quality! As evidenced by the fact that this is now book 41 down the line and the staying power of the series is still going strong and true. As if compelling story telling quality is not enough, this book also have a substantial plot (like the rest of the books in this series), contributes to it's magnetic pull on the reader... Okay, so I am an old die-hard fan... so I tend to "fan rave". But that does not make what I said any less true.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 5
Writing Style = 5
Ending = 5
World building = 5
Cover art = 5
Pace = 5
Plot = 5
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 cherries



FTC Disclosure:
Ebook and audiobook copies of the book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.