Friday, August 28, 2015

Book Review: The Frost Series by Liz DeJesus



Review

First Frost
The Frost Series Book # 1
By-Liz DeJesus
Publication Date- June 22nd, 2015
Published By - Indie Gypsy

Fairytales aren’t real…yeah…that’s exactly what Bianca thought. She was wrong.

For generations, the Frost family has run the Museum of Magical and Rare Artifacts, handing down guardianship from mother to daughter, always keeping their secrets to “family only.”

Gathered within museum’s walls is a collection dedicated to the Grimm fairy tales and to the rare items the family has acquired: Cinderella’s glass slipper, Snow White’s poisoned apple, the evil queen’s magic mirror, Sleeping Beauty’s enchanted spinning wheel…

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Frost wants none of it, dreaming instead of a career in art or photography or…well, anything except working in the family’s museum. She knows the items in the glass display cases are fakes because, of course, magic doesn’t really exist.


She’s about to find out how wrong she is.


MINOR SPOILERS

Friday, August 21, 2015

Book Review: Summer’s Sweet Embrace (Anthology) + Excerpt + Giveaway




Title:  Summer’s Sweet Embrace, a sweet romance anthology
Author:  Various
Publisher:  Roane Publishing
Release Date:  August 19, 2015
Keywords:  Summer, Beach, Ocean, romance, contemporary, Summertime Romance, short stories
Description: Summertime love is always the sweetest. These eight sweet tales of summer romance are the perfect companion for a day at the lake or the beach. 


Purchase Links:

Link for Summer’s Sweet Embrace on Goodreads:



Review

SPOILER-FREE

Saturday, August 15, 2015

PPL YA Festival 2015 with Pictures

Here's my post for the PPL YA Festival 2015! Sorry for the extreme delay. So many things happening in life that I haven't been able to write anything up. Now quickly, on to the pics!

I arrived a bit late to the opening ceremonies and got a little turned around, as did a few others. Wish there were more signs that pointed towards the auditorium for those of us who have never been in the school. Had to ask and get redirected to the right place but we didn't wander too much. Here's a photo of Cinda Williams Chima who gave a lovely speech.


After that we had a little break to disperse to the first part of panels or workshops. I went to Jody Casella's Revision and Editing Workshop. It was interesting and informative. Loved seeing the various plotting methods other authors used.


Then we had an hour or so break for lunch and walking around the different tables for local events and groups. It was interesting. There also was an author signing for some time where you can bring or purchase your books (From Half Price Books or the authors themselves) and have them signed by the authors! I picked up a few. I wanted more but I don't have the funds nor the book shelf space so I limited myself to only 3. Of course, I had them sign them all. :D

My first was Paul Melko who I hadn't heard of before but his book interested me so I decided to pick it up to try. Thanks for being a sport and for taking a photo with your table helper!


Then I got one from Cinda Williams Chima. I met her once before at a different book festival and she was kind. I meant to try her books from the library before but didn't get around to it so decided to buy one so I would actually try to read it. lol


Lastly, I got one from Vicki Leigh who I had found online and was interested in her book so I wanted to meet her. She was friendly and joked that she never had people come up to her to ask for photos before. lol The other person is a volunteen for the event who was funny.



More photos of the event! Sorry I wasn't able to catch pics of lunch but it was mainly food trucks which I couldn't eat since I have Celiacs disease so I have to eat gluten free. I brought my own dinner but it was hot outside. I was sweating by the time I finished. I should have brought it in but that'd be weird, right? I guess no more weird than eating it in your car. lol I need to bring some friends.












Lastly, here's Vicki Leigh, Mindee Arnett and Cinda Williams Chima in the Fantasy Fiction Part 2 panel. It was informative and entertaining. I found myself laughing quite a bit. This pic wasn't very good, it was a bit difficult to get them all in the shot but it must have been good because Vicki Leigh ended up sharing it on her Twitter! LOL


Overall, I think it was an enjoyable all day event but there was a lot of down time. While I think lunch could have been shortened I still had fun. I'll need to read these books before next year's event! Hope this peaked your curiosity into coming next year! Let me know if you are and maybe we can meet up! If you went, let me know what you thought!



Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Book Promo: The Story’s End (The Wilderhark Tales #7) by Danielle Shipley Cover Reveal

Everyone! I can't believe this series is about to end! I've been with the author and the characters since their debut! It'll be a bitter sweet departure to this world and characters.

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The Story’s End
Book Seven of The Wilderhark Tales
Genre = fairytale novella
Release date = October 13, 2015
Future availability = Paperback (Amazon and CreateSpace) and e-Book (Kindle and Nook)

- Back-of-book blurb:
For Gant-o’-the-Lute, “ever after” has been less than happy. With the last of Carillon’s charm over him gone, the minstrel-king puts royalty behind him in pursuit of the music he once knew and the lifelong dream he let slip through his fingers. But dark whispers on the wind warn that time is running out – not only for Lute and the apprentice in his shadow, but the whole of earth and Sky.

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An enchantress’s curse turns a spoiled royal into a beast; a princess’s pricked finger places her under a hundred-year spell; bales of straw are spun as golden as the singing harp whisked down a giant beanstalk – all within sight of Wilderhark, the forest that’s seen it all.

You’ve heard the stories – of young men scaling rope-like braids to assist the tower-bound damsel; of gorgeous gowns appearing just in time for a midnight ball; of frog princes, and swan princes, and princes saved from drowning by maidens of the sea. Tales of magic. Tales of adventure. Most of all, tales of true love.
Once upon a time, you knew them as fairytales. Know them now as Wilderhark’s.

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Ready to see the cover? Here you go!

Monday, August 3, 2015

Book Promo: Pick Your Pages by Erica Crouch - Vote now to be heard!

Pick Your Pages is a Patchwork Press feature that puts readers in control of the publishing process. With PWP PYP, two titles will compete for your vote. You'll see the cover and have access to the first chapter. Both books will eventually be published, but your vote will decide which book hits shelves first. So take a look, read a sample, and pick your pages!



PWP PYP 
Today for Pick Your Pages, two of Erica Crouch's new adult novels will be competing for votes, both from very different genres: Mostly Marceline and Lovely Dark & Deep. Check out the blurbs below, and make sure to read the first chapter of each story before you vote. Then let me know which book you want to see published first! (Click the image above to see the covers BIGGER!)

About Mostly Marceline

PWP MMGenre: New Adult Contemporary/Romance

Blurb:
Marceline has this whole “adult” thing under control… mostly.

Even after carving out a decent career for herself as a young author, she still has trouble remembering to feed her cat—who she’s sure is plotting her death—pay her bills, do the dishes, or cook anything more complicated than pasta. But most unnervingly, Marceline is having trouble writing.

Just months after a catastrophic breakdown, Marceline’s not sure she’ll be able to put pen to paper again, and it terrifies her. Critics once called her writing dark, haunting, and poignant, but now they’re only wondering if she’ll publish anything else ever again, or if her previous successes were flukes.

Post-breakdown Marceline can’t seem to fit in the same headspace as pre-breakdown Marceline, and her awkward on-again/off-again relationship with her once serious boyfriend Cyrus isn’t helping to clear her mind, especially since he’s become more on-again as of late.

With a deadline looming and her apartment quickly turning in to a blanket fort kingdom of garbage, Marceline must let go of who she once was if there’s any hope of the new Marceline shining through the mess.

Read Chapter 1 of Mostly Marceline here.


About Lovely Dark & Deep

PWP LDDGenre: New Adult Dark Fantasy

 Blurb:

Here's a dilemma: how do you destroy a witch without incurring her wrath? Sending one into the wintry woods to die didn't work. After all, the woods loves witches, and it loves silvirn even more.

Aysel was the first girl to disappear into the woods and become a silvirn, a siren of the forest. Luring hunters deep into the dark woods to die, her and her three adopted sisters are responsible for repaying nature for its shelter by protecting it from the greed of man. But before the hunters she catches are strung up in her tree, Aysel delights in syphoning their stories.

When she snares a victim that manages to hold her attention rapt with magnificent tales, she finds herself hesitant to tie the hunter’s noose. Her fascination with Cadence puts her life in peril, especially since he’s harboring a dangerous secret and Valeria, Aysel’s vengeful mother, grows hungry for flesh. With a kingdom hellbent on destroying magic and search parties rallying to find their missing hunters, the rope is tightening—for the first time—on Aysel’s neck.

Read Chapter 1 of Lovely Dark & Deep here.



Well, what do you think? Make sure to vote below to have your voice heard in deciding which book Erica will be writing next! If the poll isn't working below, you can vote at this link. The poll will be open until 8/28. Let me know in the comments how you voted, and why!

Which pages are you picking?
Mostly Marceline
Lovely Dark & Deep
Poll Maker


About Erica Crouch

11412214_10203693908223186_8044098458315904319_nErica Crouch is a young adult and new adult author from Baltimore, Maryland. She has a strange blended aesthetic of cute and spooky, and her books reflect her ever changing mood. (You may find romance, you may find gore—sometimes both in the same book, but probably not at the same time. Probably.)

Erica is the cofounder of Patchwork Press — an indie publishing collective that produces middle grade, young adult, and new adult titles in all genres — and Weapenry — a resource for writers. She is the head of editorial services and design, with over fifty projects to her name.