TGIF (17)

TGIF at GReads- This Feature is for Fridays to re-cap the week's post & to answer a question from GReads.


Question: Issue Books: Which books have you found to be very rewarding when it comes to tackling tougher issues?

The book that popped out in my mind when I read this question was Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. It deals around the issue of rape which is definitely a tough to write about especially in a Young Adult book. This was a required reading for me in my freshman year of high school. I loved reading it and even read it again a few years later. I think the author did a remarkable job with the book and it is a book at least every female young adult should read. This is a fantastic read with a difficult topic to talk about.


What you may have missed on my blog recently:
Features:

• Top Ten Tuesday (24)
• Waiting on Wednesday (24)

Blog Tours:

• Spectral by Shannon Duffy Blog tour [Review]
• Night Sky by Jolene B. Perry Blog Tour [Review]
• Charade by Cambria Hebert Blog Tour [Guest Post]

Spectral by Shannon Duffy Blog Tour [Review]

Today I am very excited to introduce you all to Spectral by Shannon Duffy by being a part of the blog tour. I have been excited to share this book with all of you since I finished it. I really loved the world that Shannon Duffy created. I think she made her mark for being a debut author. I hope you all enjoy my review and add this book to your to be read list. 


Thank you Tribute books for having me on this tour. I was excited when i got the request and now that I have read the book I am even more excited to be a part of this tour.


Everyone please give a warm welcome to Tribute books, everything I have read by them has been fantastic. Without further ado, the reason you are reading this post, give another warm welcome to Spectral.

Spectral by Shannon Duffy

★★★★★

Jewel had moved her entire life, being told that her family was in the witness protection program and bad people were after her dad. After their last move, she discovered things were not what they seemed. She met Roman, who started school the day after her and seemed to know more about her and her family than she did herself. She discovered she was something called a Spectral, which was a very unique, powerful witch. Roman told her that he was there to protect her, but she didn’t know who to trust or believe anymore. The more time she spent with Roman, the more she was drawn to him, while, at the same time, another guy named Chase fought for her attention.impressed. It was not what I expected at all! Not only was the plot interesting, but also, surprising in some parts. The book was darker than I expected, which I liked. It wasn't super dark, but the main scheme of things was much more intriguing than Jewel just finding out she has powers, learning how to use them, and everything turning out fine. There is a ton of bad she must go through first, but the good and the bad balance out nicely. The plot, characters, and action kept me very interested until I finished the novel.

The characters were relatable and memorable. It was easy for me to put myself in Jewel’s place, not that I’m a super powerful witch or anything, but in the sense of putting myself into an awesome fantasy story. There were also two great guys in this book, but, of course, I personally fell for the darker bad boy, Roman. He was also a part of her new world, but he also wasn’t supposed to date her. Oh, forbidden love, it is always the best. I liked Chase a lot also; he was super sweet, respectful, and there for Jewel when she needed it.

This debut author did a great job keeping the story interesting and connecting everything really well. I got to know the world and characters on a level that made them feel very real to me. The author’s writing style flowed nicely, making it a very enjoyable, fast-paced read. I look forward to reading more of the author's work when she comes out with new books. I could see this turning into a series and would love to read more of Jewel’s story.

I received this book from Tribute Books for review.

Find Tribute Books:

| Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog Tours |

Buy Spectral Now:

No Really, Buy this book NOW!

Shannon Duffy's Bio:

Shannon Duffy writes young adult and middle grade fiction. She grew up on the beautiful east coast of Canada and now lives in Ontario, Canada. She is the mom of one boy, Gabriel, her angel. She loves writing, reading, working out, soccer, and the sport of champions-shopping. She is the author of the young adult paranormal romance, SPECTRAL. Her upcoming middle grade fantasy novel, GABRIEL STONE AND THE DIVINITY OF VALTA is scheduled for a January 2013 release.

Follow Shannon:

| Website | Spectral Website | Blog | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter |

Waiting on Wednesday (24)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Between the Line by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer
Expected Release Date: June 26, 2012


What happens when happily ever after…isn’t?

Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah.

And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.

Delilah and Oliver work together to attempt to get Oliver out of his book, a challenging task that forces them to examine their perceptions of fate, the world, and their places in it. And as their attraction to each other grows along the way, a romance blossoms that is anything but a fairy tale. (Goodreads)


I have yet to read a Jodi Picoult book but this sounds really good! I do need to read some of her other books also! I have heard great things from my blogger friend Mickey from I'm A Book Shark along with many other people.

Top Ten Tuesday (24)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created  at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they will post a new Top Ten list  that one of their bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish will answer.


Top Ten Books Written In The Past 10 Years That I Hope People Are Still Reading In 30 Years

1. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (series)
2. Divergent by Veronica Roth (series)
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (series)
4. Delirium by Lauren Oliver (series)
5. Significance by Shelly Crane (series)
6. Remembrance by MIchelle Madow
7. Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sargara (series)
8. Red Heart Tattoo  by Lurlene McDaniel and any of her books!
9. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
10. Kissed by an Angel series by Elizabeth Chandler. Technically this one began being released longer than 10 years ago and then they reprinted the first three books in one book before the author began releasing more books in the series more recently.

Night Sky by Jolene B. Perry Blog Tour [Review]

I am so happy to be  part of the Night Sky Blog Tour today! I was really excited when Tribute Books contacted me to be a part of this blog tour since I had read The Next Door Boys and loved it. I was more than happy to read this book and review it for the blog tour. Everyone I hope you will give a big welcome to Jolene B. Perry because she is fantastic.

Review:

Night Sky by Jolene B. Perry

★★★★☆  

Jameson’s heart was broken by his best friend Sarah, who he had been in love with for years, but never had the courage to tell her.  That same night, he met Sky, a beautiful, seemingly carefree college girl. Her rule was honesty, and Jameson abided, finding honesty invigorating and addictive, but he was shocked when he discovered she had been breaking her biggest rule. Sky’s secret was so big, it changed everything, but Jameson couldn’t just forget about her because he was already in love with her.

This was the second book I have read by Jolene B. Perry, and I enjoyed it just as much as the first, Next Door Boys. This was a fantastic, fast-paced read, and I had to keep turning the pages for more. I was captured by the story, which was narrated by Jameson, the lead male character. This is the first book I have read fully in a male’s perspective, and I didn’t mind it at all.

The characters felt very real to me, and I really liked Jameson. It was really nice being in the guy's head this time instead of the girl's; it was different and a nice change from the normal, especially being a contemporary romance. Jameson is a genuinely nice guy that gets a lot of stuff thrown at him his senior year, and I thought this made him easy to relate to, even as a girl. He seemed very real and the issues he struggled with could happen to anyone.

The author is wonderful at making the words flow in her books. In both books, I found it easy to get lost in her writing and to become so entranced in her story that I found myself done with the book before I knew it.  When this happens, then the author is doing something right, and I hope she keeps doing it. I really look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

I received this book from Tribute Books for review. Thank you very much, Tribute Books; I really enjoyed Night Sky.

Buy Now:

Jolene Perry's Bio:

Jolene grew up in Wasilla, Alaska. She graduated from Southern Utah University with a degree in political science and French, which she used to teach math to middle schoolers.

After living in Washington, Utah and Las Vegas, she now resides in Alaska with her husband, and two children. Aside from writing, Jolene sews, plays the guitar, sings when forced, and spends as much time outside as possible.

She is also the author of The Next Door Boys and the upcoming Knee Deep.

Find Jolene:

| Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Night Sky Site | 

Charade by Cambria Hebert [Guest Post]

Today I would like to welcome Cambria Hebert to my blog for the Heven and Hell blog tour. She is the author of Masquerade, the first book in the Heven and Hell series. Cambria has welcomed me to her blog tour and today she will be doing a guest post on demons in honor of Charade, the next book in the series. I hope you all enjoy this post and give a warm welcome to Cambria Hebert.

Post on Demons – Charade Tour

Throughout time demons have been a source of fear, curiosity and myth. I cannot be sure if demons actually exist but really, I tend to think that they probably do somewhere. I’m going to go way out on a limb and say that they probably exist in hell. Lol.

So what better kind of beings to add to the Heven and Hell series?? I mean it seemed perfect to add a bunch of limb chewing, skin scratching, creepy crawly killers to the book.  Charade (Heven and Hell #2) is home to many types of demons – many of which I just made up. LOL. I would ask myself, what could show up in the middle of my room (or whatever) and scare the panties off of me? But, there are also some demons that are in Charade that I did not make up or were inspired by others that I read about on the internet.

Leave it to Google to show me the light on demons!!       

So, I thought it would be fun to talk about some of the demons that I have learned about and I might even throw one or two in the list that made it into Charade!

Geryon – Is said to be a giant centaur who guards Hell (This is who was called in to guard the gate after the hellhounds were cast out and no longer guarding the gate)

~There is a centaur in Charade though it is not Geryon. But my centaur is NOT nice. J

Shabriri- A demon who makes people blind.

Zaebos- one of the many animal-human combinations of demons.

~ This is a type of demon that shows up in Charade. Very early on in the book… my demon is part human part crocodile and I call him “the crocodile man”.  His body is part crocodile (from the waist down) and human from the waist up. He has a very long tail that stretches like Gumby (remember him?? Lol) so he can grab you and pull you in….

~There is also another demon in Charade that could fall under this category… you saw him in Masquerade as well. Remember the big bird who turned into a man and could release some sort of weird mist from his mouth? I think of this demon as “The Mist Thrower”

Samael- Angel of death, Prince of the air.

Jezebeth- Demon of falsehoods

So where do demons come from?? In Charade it is said that demons are born from people like you and me – except these are bad people – sinners. When they die they get sent to hell. Their souls are then twisted by the evil, empty place (Hell) and they are formed into demons. They can take on many different forms but they are all terrifying.

Other traits of Demons (from the Heven and Hell Series)

~Demons like to bite. Their bites are very painful after the fact. They have saliva that when gets into the bite marks burns and hurts and causes you to become very ill.

~Demons are strong and can toss you around.

~Demons are not very bright.

~Demons have “man parts” –See Charade for further clarification. J

~Demons like to scratch – the scratches are also very painful

~Demon’s have white auras

Demon Hierarchy?

Of course there is a hierarchy for demons just like everything else! Lol. There are your regular demons that are like those I described above. BUT there are other demons who are more powerful like the seven princes of Hell. These are much more powerful and have abilities that are very difficult to beat.

So that concludes today’s demon lesson! I hope you enjoyed my take on the big scary and remember a lot of my demon ideas were made up and some were found on the internet (so of course that means they are SO true! Not.)

Is there anything you can add to this demon lesson?

Thank you all for being here today as part of the Heven and Hell Tour: Charade!!! 

Charade Blurb

Dying at the hands of a psycho was a shock. Having my life returned to me by an angel was incredible. Being named a Supernatural Treasure and being given Sam as my guard was pretty darn awesome. Acquiring a debt for it all—well, I should have seen it coming.

Now here we are, fighting demons from Hell, caring for a boy that I just don’t trust, and traveling to faraway places to return a treasure to its rightful place. Nothing is as it seems. Everyone wears a mask; everyone puts on a charade. It’s up to us to separate the truth from the lies and reality from fiction. A hard task when my new reality involves fallen angels, witches and dragons… and did I mention Hell?

Anchoring me down through it all is Sam. Sam, who must face tragedies of his own and is put to the test again and again.

If we fail in our task, life as we know it—life as you know it—will end. Forever.

Cambria Hebert Bio

Cambria Hebert grew up in a small town in rural Maryland. She is married to a United States Marine and has lived in South Carolina, Pennsylvania and her current state of North Carolina. She is the mother of two young children with big personalities, is in love with Starbucks (give the girl a latte!) and she is obsessed with werewolves. Cambria also has an irrational fear of chickens (Ewww! Gross) and she loves to read and review books for her blog. Her favorite book genre is YA paranormal, and she can be found stalking that section at her local Barnes and Nobles (which happens to be her favorite place ever!).

Masquerade is her first published novel, but she also has a short story prequel to Masquerade available in Ebook titled, Before. In addition, she has another short story published titled Whiteout.

Cambria also co-hosts a live, internet blog radio talk show, JournalJabber, (www.blogtalkradio.com/journaljabber) where she dishes about books, publishing and everything in between: hair in a can, toilet snakes, chicken phobias, etc..

You can find Cambria on Facebook, Good Reads (she is a moderator of the Creative Reviews group and the Creative Reviews Book Club) and her blog/website http://www.cambriahebert.com for her latest crazy antics and the scoop on Masquerade.

Find Cambria:

| Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads |

Waiting on Wednesday (23)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Of Poseidon by Anna BanksExpected Release Date: May 22, 2012

Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he’s heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma’s gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom . . .

Told from both Emma and Galen’s points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance. (Goodreads)