Blog Tour + Reveal: Tied by Laney McMann

Tied

Laney McMann

(Fire Born #1)

Publication date: Revised book with new content coming September 2016

Genres: YA Fantasy/Paranormal Romance

Are some truths worth risking your life for?

What if it meant admitting your nightmares were real—and so were your delusions?

Seventeen year-old Layla Labelle’s hallucinations have driven her to the brink—and she isn’t telling anyone. But when her dreams walk into her life in the form of Max MacLarnon, she is forced to rethink everything she thought she knew. Including whether or not Max actually exists.

Learning the truth will mean fighting an arsenal of demons, and being with Max will put her on a path toward her own destruction. When Layla’s world erupts into a dangerous reality, and every fact of her life forsakes her, she must remember who, and what, she is if she’s going to stay alive.

In a world where nightmares walk the earth, an ancient curse lives in an age-old legend the supernatural aren’t prepared to reveal. Layla will have to uncover the secret her ancestors are hiding, and make the biggest decision of her life—embrace who she is and follow the one she loves into a world of deadly myth and legend, or turn her back on her history, her destiny, and her love.

In TIED, Book One of The Fire Born Novels, what Layla and Max don’t know could kill them both. And unless they can find a way to stop the curse—the truth might tear them apart forever.
How far would you go … to protect the one you love?

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Young Adult Dark Fantasy Writer, Myths and Legends Believer, Voracious Reader, Music Snob, World Builder, Poet, Quote Junkie. My thoughts on Writing, Social Media, Reading, Books, Publishing, and Music. Generally. Author of The Fire Born Novels TIED, TORN & TRUE Author of The Primordial Principles CRYSTALLUM 2015, DAEMONEUM 2016 Author of The CrossWorld Chronicles CROSSROADS (2016) Pub'd by J. Taylor Publishing, Jagged Lane Books, and formerly by Booktrope Editions Publishing.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Blog Tour + Book Blitz: Wicka by Christy Deveaux

Wicka
Christy Deveaux

Publication date: May 28th 2014
Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult

While mourning the loss of a mother figure, Elizabeth Blake, a smart but socially introverted seventeen year old girl from Ann Arbor Michigan, thinks she’s enrolling in an international school in the south of France to finish her final year of high school. Instead, she falls in love; finds out that she is a witch from an ancient family –– who weren’t thought to exist anymore; and discovers that her life is in danger, as the Elders believe that she is the heir to a legend they fear above all else.

Wicka, the debut novel by Christy Deveaux, has been compared to other fantasy paranormal tales such as Twilight, written by Stephanie Meyer and Harry Potter, written by J.K. Rowling. Young adults and grown ups alike are sure to love this adventure filled magical romance.

Goodreads / Amazon

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Book Trailer:

Christy Deveaux is the author of The Chronicles of Elizabeth Blake series. Her highly anticipated first book in the series, Wicka, was just released this spring (2014). Inspired by traveling across Europe solo at a very young age, and many travel adventures since, the character and story line behind Elizabeth Blake was born. Christy majored in political science and earned a cross-disciplinary degree from the University of Western Ontario. She lives in Toronto, Ontario with her husband, three children and a fish named Cow.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

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Waiting on Wednesday #12: Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

Hello everyone! "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, that is hosted by Breaking the Spine and the purpose of this event is that we spotlight upcoming releases of books that we are excited for! 

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Furthermore

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Expected Publication Date: August 30th, 2016

 

 

 

The bestselling author of the Shatter Me series takes readers beyond the limits of their imagination in this captivating new middle grade adventure where color is currency, adventure is inevitable, and friendship is found in the most unexpected places.

There are only three things that matter to twelve-year-old Alice Alexis Queensmeadow: Mother, who wouldn't miss her; magic and color, which seem to elude her; and Father, who always loved her. The day Father disappears from Ferenwood he takes nothing but a ruler with him. But it's been almost three years since then, and Alice is determined to find him. She loves her father even more than she loves adventure, and she's about to embark on one to find the other.

But bringing Father home is no small matter. In order to find him she'll have to travel through the mythical, dangerous land of Furthermore, where down can be up, paper is alive, and left can be both right and very, very wrong. Her only companion is a boy named Oliver whose own magical ability is based in lies and deceit--and with a liar by her side in a land where nothing is as it seems, it will take all of Alice's wits (and every limb she's got) to find Father and return home to Ferenwood in one piece. On her quest to find Father, Alice must first find herself--and hold fast to the magic of love in the face of loss.

 
Not only does this story sound interesting, but the cover is just so gorgeous!

So, what upcoming books are you looking forward to?  Please respond below!

[BOOK REVIEW] Ms. Marvel: No Normal Volume 1 by G. Willow Wilson

Title:  Ms. Marvel: No Normal Volume 1

Author: G. Willow Wilson

Artist: Adrian Alphona

Genre:  Action / Superheroes / Comedy / Drama / Crime

Year Published: 2014

Year Read:  8/19/2016

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Series: Ms. Marvel #1 (Marvel NOW!)

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 15+ (Some Language)

 

Introduction:

Now I must admit.  I have heard about Ms. Marvel or Captain Marvel a couple of times from fellow comic book readers, but I had never really read a comic book about Captain Marvel before and therefore, I do not know much about her character (other than the fact that she had a rivalry with Rogue from the X-Men, due to Rogue stealing her powers and putting her in a coma). So, when I heard that Marvel was making a “Ms. Marvel” series that would have a protagonist who was of Muslim background, I was seriously excited at the prospect of having a diverse superhero in the Marvel Universe!

What is this story about?

Kamala Khan was your average teenage girl who happens to live in Jersey City and comes from a Muslim family.  One day however, a mysterious mist overcomes Jersey City and Kamala soon finds herself obtaining powers such as stretching her limbs out to unbelievable lengths and shapeshifting into different forms.  Unfortunately, not only does Kamala have a hard time controlling her newfound powers, but she suffers from an identity crisis as she tries to figure out what kind of superhero she wants to be: a superhero that is exactly like Captain Marvel or a superhero where she can express her true personality and beliefs through her newfound powers?

What I loved about this story:

G. Willow Wilson’s writing: I will admit that this is the first time that I had ever read a comic book by G. Willow Wilson (or this could possibly be her first comic book), so I was interested to see what kind of new storylines G. Willow Wilson could bring to the Marvel Universe.  Lo and behold, I was pleasantly surprised by G. Willow Wilson’s witty and emotional writing of Kamala Khan, the new Ms. Marvel!  I loved the way that G. Willow Wilson wrote Kamala Khan’s character as Kamala is shown as being a spunky girl who wants to be a superhero, but she is not sure of what kind of superhero she should be and I loved the fact that this issue is explored and how it affects Kamala throughout the story.  I also loved the fact that this story is extremely lighthearted with some intense moments here and there as it gives the story so much depth regarding the characters and it is nice to have a superhero series that has a light tone that could resonate with the readers.  I also think that G. Willow Wilson did an excellent job at not making Kamala’s Muslim background into something stereotypical, but into something that makes Kamala unique in her own way and it was great seeing what Muslim culture is like within a superhero community as it gives more diversity to the story since it is rare that we see Middle Eastern superheroes being portrayed in superhero comic books.

Adrian Alphona’s artwork:  Adrian Alphona’s artwork is both gorgeous and hilarious to look at as the characters are drawn realistically and there are some panels where the characters’ skins glow against sunlight and moonlight and gives their appearances a mesmerizing feel.  I also loved the way that Adrian Alphona drew the humorous expressions on the characters whenever they are shocked or scared as it made the artwork into something unique as you have both comedic and dramatic artwork within the same story.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like language in comic books, this graphic novel does have some language such as the constant use of the “p” word, but other than that, this graphic novel is pretty tame compared to some of the darker and grittier superhero comic books.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Ms. Marvel Volume One: No Normal” is truly one of the most creative and inspiring stories I had ever read from Marvel NOW and I am definitely looking forward to reading more adventures from the new and different “Ms. Marvel!”

* 2014 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Graphic Novels & Comics 

* 2015 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story

* 2015 Harvey Awards Nominee for Best New Series, Best Writer (for G. Willow Wilson)

* 2015 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Nominee for Best New Series, Best Writer (for G. Willow Wilson), Best Penciller/Inker (for Adrian Alphona), Best Lettering (for Joe Caramagna), Best Cover Artist (for Jamie McKelvie & Matthew Wilson)

Fit Readers Weekly August Check In Update #3

Hello everyone! I'm going to do something a little different for the Fit Readers challenge since I seem to have a difficult time trying to keep up with this challenge. So, I'll update it every week or so to keep up to date with my exercising activities!

Weekly Check-in Aug 19th, 2016

Saturday, August 13th, 2016: No exercising

Sunday, August 14th, 2016: No exercising

Monday, August 15th, 2016:  No exercising

Tuesday, August 16th, 2016:  Walking in Place - 10 minutes

Wednesday, August 17th, 2016:  Walking in Place - 20 minutes

Thursday, August 18th, 2016:  No exercising

Friday, August 19th, 2016:  No exercising

Total minutes: 30 minutes

NOTES: I haven't really done much this week, although I had planned on walking more days than just two.  Hopefully, I can shake things up next week by having a different exercising technique each day just to make this even more interesting!

Book Blogger Hop #5: August 19th - August 25th

Hello everyone! I'm participating in another book meme called the Book Blogger Hop which is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer!  Basically, you just answer weekly questions and then post up your link on the question's page.

This week's question is: 

Do you read via eBook and if so which one/ones and why?   Submitted byTeri @ Sportochick's Musings!

 

I actually prefer reading through physical copies of books, although the closest I've ever read to ebooks are the books given to me through Netgalley and even then, I don't read as many books as I should from Netgalley due to still being new to all this.

 

Blog Tour + Book Blitz: Shadow Born by Jasmine Walt & Rebecca Hamilton

 

 

Shadow Born 
 
Jasmine Walt & Rebecca Hamilton
 
(Shadows of Salem #1)

Publication date: August 16th 2016
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

Chicago Police Detective Brooke Chandler is keeping a secret… and if she’s not careful, it could get her killed.

Brooke is no stranger to the supernatural. In Chicago, vampires are just as prevalent as drug lords, and infinitely more bloodthirsty. So when her partner and fiancé dies in a mysterious fire while chasing down a lead in Salem, she suspects something dark and otherworldly is at play.

Blessed with the ability to see into the past by touching inanimate objects, Brooke transfers to the Salem PD, hoping her talent will help her get to the bottom of things. Between dodging assassination attempts and being stonewalled at every turn, the going is tough. Add in a mysterious fae club owner with secrets of his own and a personal grudge against her, and it becomes nearly impossible.
If Brooke wants to play in the supernatural sandbox, she’s going to have to roll up her sleeves and get dirty. But how many people will have to die for Brooke to discover the truth about her fiance? And is she even ready to know?

Find out what lurks in the SHADOWS OF SALEM by pre-ordering SHADOW BORN, the latest Urban Fantasy hit readers are comparing to Karen Marie Moning and Patricia Briggs.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / iTunes / Website

—

“They’re conniving, manipulative, and take things that don’t belong to them.” Maddock hissed, then shoved to his feet. “Such as the fae that have been going missing recently.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that,” I muttered, eyeing him warily. He was glaring at me, as if this were somehow my fault. “But how do you know it’s the witches doing this? A symbol on a wall isn’t what I call concrete evidence.”

Maddock crossed his arms and glared down at me, making my heart jump into my throat. “So yer defending them now? Somehow I’m not surprised.”

His sarcastic tone was so accusatory that his behavior suddenly made sense. All the animosity, the condemning glares…

“You think I’m a witch, don’t you?” I jabbed a finger at him. “That’s why you don’t like me, and why you always look at me like I’m a piece of shit stuck to your shoe.”

“I dinnae know what ye are,” Maddock growled, clamping his hand around my forearm. “Aside from a heaping of trouble. But right now, I need ye, which is why I’m tolerating yer presence in this city. Now let’s get going already. I’ve something to show ye.”

Rebecca Hamilton writes Paranormal Fantasy, Horror, and Literary Fiction. She lives in Florida with her husband and four kids, along with multiple writing personalities that range from morbid to literary. Having a child diagnosed with autism has inspired her to illuminate the world through the eyes of characters who see things differently.
Rebecca Hamilton is represented by the ever-more-amazing Rossano Trentin of TZLA.

Author links:

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Jasmine Walt: I'm obsessed with books, chocolate, and sharp, pointy objects. Somehow, those three things melded together in my head and transformed into a desire to write. Usually fantastical stuff, with a healthy dose of action and romance. My characters are a little (okay, a lot) on the snarky side, and they swear, but they mean well. Even the villains sometimes.

When I'm not working on my next book, you can find me working on my dao sword form, spending time with my family, or binge-watching superhero shows on Netflix. I love to hear from my readers, so if you've got a question or just want to say hi, feel free to contact me via my website at www.jasminewalt.com.

Author links:

Website / Facebook / Twitter

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