FLEDGLING Blog Tour & Giveaway

The Book

Fledgling by Nicole Conway
Book 1 of The Dragonrider Chronicles series
Genre: fantasy

About Fledgling:

Can one boy stand between two kingdoms at war?

Jaevid Broadfeather has grown up as a wartime refugee, hiding from the world because of his mixed racial heritage. He feels his future is hopeless, until a chance encounter with a wild dragon lands him in Blybrig Academy—a place usually forbidden to anyone but the rich and royal. But Jaevid’s case is special; no dragon has voluntarily chosen a rider in decades, so the proud riders of Blybrig must begrudgingly let him join their brotherhood despite his bloodline. Lieutenant Sile Derrick, a sternly tempered man with a mysterious past, becomes his instructor and immediately takes a peculiar interest in Jaevid’s future.

While struggling through the rigorous physical demands of training, things begin to go awry. Jaevid witnesses the king’s private guards kidnapping Sile in the dead of night. When none of the elder riders are willing to help him, Jaevid begins a dangerous adventure to save his instructor.

Everything Jaevid learned at the academy will now be put to the ultimate test.

Source: Info in the About Fledgling was from the press kit from the publicity team.

Buy Link(s):
         

Books In The Dragonrider Chronicles:
   

Meet The Author

About Nicole:

My name is Ashley Nicole Conway, though I only write under my middle name. I'm originally from North Alabama, though at present I am living in Valdosta, Georgia. I attended Auburn University and earned a BA in English with a concentration in Classics and Mythology. I'm happily married to a USAF fighter pilot, so we move fairly frequently. We have two cats, Love Nugget and Mr. Darcy, and a dog named Phoebe.

In the past I have written and published paranormal romance novels, but my heart is in children's literature, specifically middle-grade fantasy. I'm currently working on a MG fantasy series titled THE DRAGONRIDER CHRONICLES, which is represented by Jennifer Mishler of Literary Council.

I enjoy hiking, camping, jogging, and thrift shopping, cooking, and spending time with family and friends. I frequently participate in 5k runs and am training for my first half-marathon. I am definitely a coffee-addict, and I love catching up on my favorite TV shows like The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, and Dr. Who.

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Giveaway

• Four (4) winners will receive an ebook copy of Fledgling by Nicole Conway (INT)
• Five (5) winners will receive a paperback copy of Fledgling by Nicole Conway (US/Canada)
• One (1) winner will receive an ebook copy of Fledgling by Nicole Conway AND a $10 Amazon Gift Card or B&N Gift Card – Winner’s Choice (INT)

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THE PRINCESS FABLES Book Blast & Giveaway

The Book

The Princess Fables by Marc Clark
Genre: kid lit

About The Princess Fables:

The Origins of THE PRINCESS FABLES: When the author’s daughter was just beginning the first grade, she was not happy about school. So when he would wake her each morning, whatever she would say to get out of going became the subject for a PRINCESS FABLE. If she’d say, “I don’t want to,” he’d make up a tale about The Princess Who Always Said, “I Don’t Wanna”. If she pulled the covers over her head, he’d tell her the story of The Princess Who Hid Under The Covers. By the end of each Fable he’d have her dressed and ready for school, with her eyes wide open and full of hope…

THE PRINCESS FABLES are eleven inspirational stories for young girls who may still dream of being a Princess. Each Princess embarks on an adventure of self discovery and along the way, learns about the importance of trust, devotion, courage and the power of love. These classic tales transport little girls to a time and place where they are the heroines and can create their own happy endings.

Every delicate pen and ink illustration reflects the classic fairy tale drawings of the late 19th century.

Award: The Princess Fables was just awarded an Honorable Mention at the 2014 Los Angeles Book Festival.

Source: Info in the About The Princess Fables was from the press kit from the publicity team.

Buy Link(s):


The Buzz

In a recent review by the Island Waves publication, Trey Seal wrote, “The Princess Fables is a book that brings back the nostalgia of the classic fairytales from our youth and is highly recommended for young children.”

Excerpts From Amazon Reviews:
“Marvelously original, soulful, and witty tales! Modern fables with funny and moving twists. I hope these stories make their way to kids everywhere!”

“What a beautifully illustrated and well-written book.”

“A charming and witty read, with stunning illustrations. The Princess is adorable and the book conveys a very positive image for little girls.”

“Great read for the little princess in us all!”

Meet The Author

About Marc:

Marc Clark is the author of several plays and screenplays, a writer and producer of commercials, promos and television content. Marc is the father of two and currently resides in Manhattan.

www.princessfables.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | google+ | goodreads

Giveaway

* $50 Book Blast Giveaway *

Prize: One winner will receive a $50 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal cash (winner’s choice)

Contest ends: May 27, 11:59 pm, 2014

Open: 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 the author, Marc Clark 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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GODDESS SERIES BOOK BUNDLE Sale Blast & Giveaway

Goddess Series Bundle Special: Books 1-4 in the Bestselling Teen Romance Series Plus a Bonus Story Special by M.W. Muse

About Goddess Series Bundle Special:

*Get the first FOUR books in the #1 Bestselling Teen Romance series for one incredibly low price starting April 21, 2014! PLUS, a never before released bonus story as a special thank-you for all the readers who've expressed their love of this series! This limited time special includes the following:

Goddess Legacy: Legacy Kore believes she's just an average seventeen year old with your basic insane crush on the hottest guy in school, Adin Shepard, until she learns her mother is a Greek Goddess and that Legacy is changing into one, too! When Adin asks Legacy out on a date, she is thrilled her fantasy is becoming a reality, regardless of the Greek Goddess nonsense, but when she meets a new guy in town, River, she discovers everything isn't always as it seems, and the legacy she wants just might not be the legacy she is destined to have.

Goddess Secret: Legacy only thought she had this goddess thing under control. Well, as much as any other chick could have given the crazy circumstances. But when she learns the truth about her abilities, she is forced to keep a secret so powerful that she and the people closest to her could get hurt if it falls into the wrong hands.

Goddess Sacrifice: Legacy wouldn't let a little thing like changing into a goddess distract her from the joys of her senior year in high school, hanging with her friends, or getting closer to Adin. She's ready to take their relationship to the next level, regardless of any bonds they have with other people. But the prophecy is still there, lurking in the background. And while Legacy is wrapped up with living her life in the now, forces are at work solidifying her future.

Goddess Revenge: Hell hath no fury like a goddess scorned... at least that's the way Legacy sees it. Her dreams collide into a message she did not want to acknowledge, but the implication ignites within her hotter than the knowledge of the betrayal itself. The only thing to do to cure getting mad? Getting even. Legacy dives into a betrayal of her own making as she teaches her lesson. But can she deliver her punishment without loosing her true self in the process, or will the bitter feeling of keeping her enemy close backfire and propel her down a road she never dreamed she'd travel? One thing's for certain--revenge doesn't come without a price.

Goddess Dream (Bonus Special): Legacy's sacrifice hasn't gone unnoticed by others of her kind. Morpheus visits her, allowing her to relive a specific day with another outcome. It isn't real, but the reunion is just as sweet.

Source: Info in the About Goddess Series Bundle Special was from the press kit from the publicity team.

SPECIAL SALE PRICE OF $0.99 BEGINNING 4/21 THROUGH 5/5

Buy Link(s):

M.W. Muse is the bestselling author of the Goddess Series with book one, Goddess Legacy, reaching number one in Teen Romance. Her alter-ego, Mandy Harbin, is not only bestselling but award-winning, writing in adult genres for multiple publishers, but her love of younger stories made her seek a new outlet for those characters swimming around in her head. She still spends most of her time living in her other reality, but enjoys spending more time focusing on the younger side of love.

www.mwmuse.com | blog | twitter | facebook | google+ | goodreads

4/21 - 5/16 M.W. Muse's GODDESS SERIES BOOK BUNDLE SALE BLAST

Eligibility: Contest does not seem to have any geographical restrictions (may be subject to the winner's ability to receive and use Amazon products in his/her locale).

Ends: 7 May 2014

Prize(s): $50.00 gift card to Amazon

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Review: KILL THE DEAD

Kill The Dead by Richard Kadrey
Book 2 of the Sandman Slim series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: hardback

About Kill The Dead:

What do you do after you’ve crawled out of Hell to wreak bloody revenge? If you’re Stark you turn to bounty hunting, tracking and decimating whatever rogue monsters you’re paid to kill. Stark hates the work, but he needs the money, especially the big bucks Lucifer is offering. In town as an adviser on a biopic of his life, Lucifer needs protection, and he wants Stark as his bodyguard. But the gig isn’t all bad; there is the very sexy, very hot French porn star Brigitte Bardo, a friend of Lucifer’s in LA to remake her reputation as a legit actress. While it isn’t love, it’s pretty damn good, and after 11 years of demonic chastity, it’s enough for now.

Stark has enough trouble juggling a diva devil and a scorching French bombshell without a zombie plague to complicate matters. And just what happens when a human-angel half-breed is bitten by the living dead? His human side begins to die, transforming him into an unstoppable angel of death—a killing machine devoid of emotion or thought, with no regrets or future to worry about. Not a bad way to be when your choices are limited. Now, Stark has to decide . . . if he does finds a cure for the zombie infection, will he take it?

Source: Info in the About Kill The Dead was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7778609-kill-the-dead on 12/09/2013.

[Image Credit: Wes-Talbott]

My Thoughts:

It hasn't really been properly explained in Book 1 who exactly gave Stark his nickname, Sandman Slim. And why. I was kinda hoping that an explaination would be presented here in Book 2, and I wasn't disappointed. Which made me a happy reader and brought the rating of this book up a notch. Now, let's talk cover arts. This is an urban fantasy book. Therefore targeting urban fantasy readers. So we are obviously dealing with a group of people who likes fantasy and fantastical elements. And this fantasies and fantastical elements is better appreciated by the senses if it is in technicolor. So I presume that the publishers would understand this. So why give an obviuosly urban fantasy book a dull cover such as this book has? The book cover being it's first line of marketing tool to sell the book has immediately failed right then and there! If you want to sell something to urban fantasy geeks, show them something fantastical! This series' cover arts would never ping my book buying radar, never mind reading it, if Kdawg91 hasn't doggedly recommended Kill City Blues to me!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 1
Pace = 4
Plot = 4

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Sandman Slim Series:

Guest Post: WRITTEN IN HELL by Jason Helford

“Psst,” hisses a balding, rotund man from an alley to your right. “Oi, oi! Oi, mate! Commere fer a sec. I got somethin’ ta show yah.”

You warily stop, peek over at the man, and look back up the street. The insistent man sidles over while you are paused for a moment with indecision, and puts his hand on your arm, leaving a slight brown smudge on the tan fabric. The hand stays there, and you look at the dirty smear as he presses closer, his breath hitting you with a wash of sour pine. You flinch away from his mouth, which feels much too close to your ear.

“I’m a shop-keep, mate. Best in Hell,” he says, rummaging through a satchel at his waist with his free hand. “I ain’t gonna hurtcha. Nah, mate. Relax. I got somethin’ ta show yah.”

The sky is dimming, purple darkness spreading over the sky like blood on a linoleum floor, and the crowds walking down the dirt causeway look increasingly furtive as night descends. You pull away from the man, but he holds tight while he fumbles with his satchel and peers in, looking for something.

“Jus one minnit, mate. Alllllmmmmoooossst have ‘er,” says the man casually, while he grips your arm. “Ah. Here tis. You’ll be wantin’ ta see this’n, mate.”

The man pulls out a rectangular bundle, wrapped in cloth. He lets go of your arm to unwrap the bundle, and you inch away, looking up the street. It’s growing dimmer, and you want to be inside before dark. You see your opening, and you make a move back towards the path to home.

“Yah, mate. Itsa book. ‘Written in Hell,’” he says with a flourish, pulling out a bundle of papers, with a neatly typed cover page. You freeze and turn around.

“A book?!” you ask, amazed, snatching it out of his hand, your anxiety forgotten. “And it’s typed! How the he…oh, uh, I mean to say, how is this possible?”

“She…” he whispers, pointing up, and you both flinch as if just the mention of her could cause her to come swooping out of the skies. “…made ‘er possible. She wanted ‘er done, an, mate, well, there it is.”

You turn the book over in your hands and flip the pages, watching the neatly typed words whir by your vision.

“I never thought I would see another book down here,” you mutter, letting the last part trail off. “What is it about?”

“Some writer named Nathaniel Blovey is brought down here ta write. He called it ‘Written in Hell.’ Don’t really want me tellin’ ya too much, do yah, mate? Not if yer gonna be readin’ it…”

The man smiles knowingly at you, as you run your hands along the outside of the book. You look at the book with a stunned expression, longing plain in your eyes. He knows he has you.

The Book

Written In Hell by Jason Helford
Genre: urban fantasy

About Written In Hell:

Written in Hell follows writer Nathanial Blovey on his strange and perilous adventures through Hell. Nathaniel’s book, a collection of lewd tales set in the old west, failed miserably, prematurely ending his career; however, unbeknownst to him, his stories had become a huge success in Hell. The Devil decides to send him a one-way invitation to her realm, to write for her, and to keep his damned fans happy. There is only one problem: he has writer’s block. With a firm deadline imposed by the Devil herself, Nate has to find a way to keep the most terrible of bosses happy, and survive his trip through Hell. While there is no fire and brimstone, and a burgeoning civilization is growing, Hell is still a very dangerous place for a soft man like Nathaniel.

Written in Hell is a creepy, fun and thought-provoking journey through Hell, with a guide who can’t help but anger people everywhere he goes. It takes you through a new and creative re-imagining of Hell.

Source: Info in the About Written In Hell was from the press kit from the publicity team.

Buy Link(s):

Meet The Author

About Jason:

Jason Helford has written two books: Written in Hell and From a Killer’s Mind. He’s a devoted husband and father, an avid comic book collector and an enthusiastic craft beer drinker. Prizing originality and creativity more than anything else, some of his favorite authors are Hunter S. Thompson, Chuck Palahniuk, Ray Bradbury, Terry Brooks, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Robert Asprin and Albert Camus. Please don’t be offended if you are an author and your name wasn’t mentioned, he probably likes you, too. He lives in Maryland with his wife, Bella, his daughter, Maddie, and his goofy dog, Sunset.

www.jasonhelford.com | twitter | goodreads