Of books, writing, and life in general
Today we’re featuring author David M. Brown’s fantasy novel A World Apart. I won an ebook copy of this book from a blog giveaway some time back and I wanted to do a review for the blog tour, but I wasn’t confident I’d be able to read it in time. I still have loads in my review pile!
Enjoy this guest post by Samantha Durante, author of the book Stitch (YA paranormal/dystopian romance). Here she talks about bad reviews. I’m sure many readers wonder how authors feel when their books receive negative reviews. I, for one, hate giving bad reviews and I always try to be diplomatic and fair whenever a book falls below my expectations. I always try to make it balanced and fair and I make sure to say the review is only from my point of view and others may not share it. Anyway, here’s our chance to hear it from an author who’s had her share of negative reviews. :)
The Sullivans by Bella Andre is a romantic series about a family whose love know no bounds. There are currently seven books in this series and I read them all in about a week, not in order, mind you. The series can be read out of order as each book is a different love story about a Sullivan family member.
After reading all seven books one after the other, I learned three things.
Okay, I think I’m just suffering from romance novel overload and that’s likely the reason for the rambling below.
When I heard about Novel Publicity’s biggest blog tour in history, I knew I just couldn’t pass it up even if the tour was for a romance series. I mean, I don’t hate romance novels, but I would prefer a fantasy or sci-fi book over one any time. Romantic novels are full of eye-roll and cringe worthy scenes, but sometimes it’s nice to just turn off the brain and get into the emotional mush and sexy banter.
Anyway, I read the first few books on The Sullivans and I will be posting quickie reviews sometime this week, but for today, please enjoy this guest post by Bella Andre, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of the contemporary romance series, The Sullivans. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including special romantic swag baskets for each book, an iPad Mini, Kindle Fire, Nook Color, and Kobo eReader, and Amazon and iTunes gift cards!
Hullo! Happy New Year, folks! Welcome to my first blog tour of 2013 (cue: fireworks)! This here’s a review of The Silver Sphere by Michael Dadich. Will you look at that awesome cover? It was the cover that reeled me in, I tell you. Look at that pout. Now, go have a look-see at my review and check out the tour-wide giveaway at the end of this post! Woot.
I’ve read a lot of good things about this book and it did not disappoint. In fact, it just blew me away. I have to say, Cephrael’s Hand (A Pattern of Shadow and Light, Book One) by Melissa McPhail is one of the most amazing epic fantasies I’ve read so far. I loved this book so much that as part of this tour I’ve decided to also publish a guest post by the author. In her guest post, Melissa talks about the fascinating magic system she designed for Cephrael’s Hand. It’s super cool, folks. Trust me.
Check out my review of this amazing book as well as Melissa’s guest post on magic systems. There’s also a tour-wide giveaway, so don’t forget to enter. Enjoy! ;)
Nope, this is not that Shades of Gray. This is a different kind of book and I’ll be doing a review of this next year. In the meantime, read more about it and see if this is something that interests you! Download a preview by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post. :)
About the book
In inner-city New York, horrors lurk in the unruly hallways of Malcolm High School. As in-school riots and gang violence consistently envelop the classroom, Olivia Dalton attempts to teach her students while simultaneously directing a drop-out prevention program that embraces an ever-increasing group of at-risk students. Left with little hope she will ever have children of her own, Olivia becomes entrenched in her students’ lives, partly out of love, but also out of an unconscious desire to avoid her own internal anguish.
Meanwhile, Olivia’s devoted husband, Tom, is having trouble facing his own disappointments in not being able to create a family. In an effort to protect Olivia, he attempts to hold her back from the one place she feels useful and fulfilled-her career. But despite her husband’s efforts to quell her desire to help the troubled and confused, Olivia presses on and believes in change, even in the face of her students’ continual mistakes and poor choices. Neither Tom nor Olivia have any idea that everything is about to change when an unassuming gift is left at their door.
Shades of Gray is the profound story of one woman’s unpredictable journey to the truth, new beginnings, and a kind of love she never knew before.
SUSANNE JACOBY HALE, a former drop-out prevention teacher in a New York City high school, earned a master’s degree from New York University in education and creative writing. Although, when she began teaching in the real ACE program, depicted in Shades of Gray, she had no idea that it would change her life forever. Having been out of the classroom for a few years, Jacoby Hale still felt the need to make a difference in the lives of students.
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Download a preview of Shades of Gray here.
Hello! This here’s my tour stop for Lethal Inheritance by Tahlia Newland! Yay!
Title: Lethal Inheritance (Book one of the Diamond Peak Series)
Author: Tahlia Newland
Publisher: Catapult Press
Genre: Young adult contemporary fantasySynopsis
If last night was real, Ariel should be dead. She’s not, but her mother has disappeared, there are bruises on her neck and the hideous beast in the photo looks frighteningly familiar.You can’t send police into a tunnel that doesn’t exist after a villain they can’t see, so when shadow demons kidnap her mother, Ariel has to mount the rescue mission herself. Hot on the trail, she enters a hidden layer of reality only to find that the demons are hunting her, and they feed on fear. Ariel must defeat them before they kill her and enslave her mother. But how do you kill terrifying demons when your fear makes them stronger?
A quirky old guide teaches her how to locate and unleash her inner power, and while battling hallucinogenic mist, treacherous terrain, murderous earth spirits and self-doubt, she falls in love with Nick, a Warrior whose power is more than either of them can handle.
Ariel’s journey challenges her perception, tests her awareness and takes her deep into her heart and mind to confront, and ultimately transcend, her fear and anger.
This is my second stop for Book Club Bash and I have here a review of X-It by author Jane George. :)
LOVE IS A DRUG.
In 1980 NYC, eighteen-year-old J.J. Buckingham is an uptight trendoid. Working as a mannequin painter and a counter girl, she moonlights as a creature of the nightclubs. J.J. falls for aloof, crazy-talented artist and bicycle messenger X-It. In order to win his love, she succumbs to the dark machinations of drug dealer Marko Voodoo. X-It will love her if she’s the queen of underground Manhattan, right? Her plan backfires with horrendous consequences. J.J. must scrap her way out of a maze of drugs, clubs, and danger before she realizes she’s worthy of a better life. And true love might just come in the form of a clean-cut geek in Buddy Holly glasses.
