Cover Reveal with Giveaway: The Trickster's Totem by HB Bolton + Bonus Art!

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About the Book

Life has returned to normal for fourteen-year-old Evan and his older sister, Claire. That is until Dunkle, a clever but stinky little imp, pays an unexpected visit to their school. He has come to take the siblings back to Sagaas, the mythical realm of the gods. Once again, a Relic from the ancient Mysticus Orb has fallen into the wrong hands. Only Evan and Claire, with their unique mystical abilities, can help find it.

Through the power of the Trickster’s Totem, a coyote trickster has escaped. His laughter echoes throughout the realm, as he spreads mischief and mayhem. He burns an entire crop of popcorn, carves his grinning image into sacred artifacts, and things really get interesting when he shape-shifts into Evan’s friends.

Claire and Evan must capture the Trickster, retrieve the Totem, and be careful not to become sidetracked by robotic Steampunk animals, “sweet” pixie-like Pains, and a problematic mermaid … all while dodging Mothman-like aces. Most surprising, Evan discovers the true reason dragons exist in the Native American Spirit World.

 About Book 1: The Serpent's Ring

Evan and Claire Jones are typical teenagers, forced to go with their parents to yet another boring museum ... that is, until something extraordinary happens to make their day a little more than interesting. After following a strange little creature into a closed exhibit, Evan and his older sister, Claire, discover the Serpent’s Ring, one of the magical relics formed from the shattered Mysticus Orb. Purely by accident, they have awakened its powers and opened a portal to Sagaas, land of ancient gods.

Before the siblings can comprehend what has happened, the Serpent’s Ring is wrenched from Evan’s hand by an enormous fish and flown back to Aegir, the Norse god of the sea. Evan and Claire, accompanied by a band of unlikely heroes, must retrieve the Serpent’s Ring before Aegir uses its immense powers to flood all the lands on Earth.

 

 

Bonus Art from Trickster's Totem

The author is giving away a copy of The Serpent's Ring or The Trickster's Totem (winners choice) open to US addresses and ebooks of both books, open internationally.
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About the Author

A magical part of H.B. Bolton’s childhood was being swept into worlds of enchanting characters, fantastical creatures and extraordinary powers—simply by picking up a book. As a mother and a teacher, she was compelled to create imaginary worlds of her own in order to share them, not just with her children, but with all children. H.B. Bolton lives in Florida with her supportive husband and two highly spirited children. Shh, can you keep a secret? Not only does she write books for the young-at-heart, adventurous sort who yearn to dive into a good young-adult fantasy story, she also writes spellbinding, heart pounding women's fiction. These particular books are written under the name Barbara Brooke, but that's another story, altogether.

Find the Author

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Amazon Author's Link

 

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Early Reader Review: Mouse Guard: The Black Axe #3 by David Petersen

Mouse Guard: The Black Axe by David Petersen
Publisher: Diamond Book Distributors
Available: July 9th, 2013 

 

Format: ebook
Source: Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors

My Rating:

Background: Mouse Guard: The Black Axe #3 is actually a prequel to the Black Axe’s background of how he came to become Black Axe. It chronicles the adventure of finding and retrieving the axe and becoming the wielder.

Review: I requested this graphic novel because it looked like an interesting tale, and being the prequel to a series made it even better, I got to start from the very, very beginning. Mouse Guard was a beautifully drawn and colored novel. The images were vibrant and tapestry like from times of old, which worked well with and for the time the story takes place. Celanawe is the main mouse in the story and he is strong, adventurous, and kind of a loner from what I could tell. The adventure leads us through sea passage, to a great battle, a few deaths and the becoming of the wielder of the legendary and mysterious Black Axe.

I really enjoyed the art more than the story, but the art and imagery really tells the story without the words too. I think this was a beautiful and creative graphic novel and would like to read the other installments.

View all my reviews

Showers of Books Giveaway Hop!

 This amazing giveaway is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Books a la Mode

Hello readers! Happy Spring!

Hopefully it has made it to you already if not you may partake in books anyway : )

THE DETAILS:

The Prize: 1 YA Prize Pack/ 1 Adult Prize Pack

YA pack includes: 

Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith (PB)
Dragon's Tooth (#1) by N.D. Wilson (PB ARC)
Chasers (Alone #1) by James Phelan (PB)
+ Some Swag (Bookmarks, Stickers etc)

YA Pack

 Adult Pack includes:

The Girl Who Played With Fire (#2) by Steig Larsson
Everyone Worth Knowing by Laura Weisberger
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan (#2) by Sophie Kinsella
Shopaholic Ties the Knot (#3)  by Sophie Kinsella

Adult Pack

The Rules: Must be US resident, 13 w/ parent permission or older, Enter below on the Rafflecopter, must respond to prize email within 48 hours or you forfeit the awesomeness (Sad Face!)

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This is a HOP!

Early Reader Review: Courtney Crumrin and the Twilight Kingdom by Ted Naifeh (Vol 3)

Courtney Crumrin Volume 3: The Twilight Kingdom by Ted Naifeh

Publisher: Oni Press
Available: April 23rd, 2013

 

Format: ebook
Source: Diamond Book Distributors and Netgalley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Background: Courtney is at it again, only this time her uncle won't be around to help her. Courtney and her Uncle are on the outs and her powers have only continued to grow. She is now attending weekend school with other witches and warlocks of her age to learn the history of her heritage. When something goes terribly wrong she must lead the group of students to Goblin Town and hope for the best. To make matters worse she is being chased by a deranged lawmen who only wants to lock her up for her 'crimes'.

Review: Volume Three the Twilight Kingdom was wonderful. Courtney develops as a character with knowledge of her past and friendship and the plot was fascinating. The magical world of Goblin Town and the Twilight Kingdom is beautifully conceived and the anti-Disney world. With magical creatures both evil and nice or strangely in between, the reader stays amused by their actions. I really enjoy reading and viewing this series of Graphic Novels, it is one of my favorite sets. Courtney is stoic and interesting.

The end of the novel even has the color covers from series.

Other Books in the Series

Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things Volume 1

Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics Volume 2

click covers to go to Goodreads

Blog Blitz: Excerpt -- Flight by Lindsay Leggett

About the Book

Flight by Lindsay Leggett
Publication date:   April 1st 2013
Genre: YA Science Fiction

 

The first rule of survival in the Underground: When you’re outside, keep your eyes on the skies. Ace Harpy Hunter Piper Madden is used to danger, but the death of her brother slams the brakes on her high-torque lifestyle and leaves her broken and confused.

On the run from the dictating Elder Corporation, she’s eventually found in the quiet undergound city of Ichton and asked to work for the Corp on contract to quell a new and frightening Harpy threat.

Enter the discovery of horrifying Corporation secrets, Harpy attacks, and a new friendship with the strange Asher, and Piper’s days become anything but boring.

Then, a chance encounter leaves Piper privy to a dangerous secret, ad as she and Asher team up in an effort to unravel the truth, the secrets they uncover beneath the ancient walls of the dead city will spark their world into a grand-scale war.

Goodreads

Purchase:

--Amazon

--Barnes & Noble

It always starts like this. My vision starts to blur and the depth of the dirty brick walls plummets into a single plane, like I’m staring into an abyss that never ends. Pins and needles prick their way over my body and I fall backward, sinking through layers of sticky black sludge. I land with a thud and David is before me speaking urgently. His eyes are lined with confusion and anger.

“Piper, I don’t like what you’re doing. Please, for the sake of our mother and our friends, put an end to it now,” he says to me. We’re at our place in the mountains, the stars peering onto us like frail paper lanterns. I look at him seriously, my hand over my mouth, mind reeling at what he’d said.

“You don’t understand, David. I love him,” I reply, feeling tears brim my eyelids.

“… … ….” David’s lips are moving, but the noise coming out of his mouth is like raw static.

“I can’t hear you. What’s going on?” I ask. He looks like I just slapped him in the face.

“I can’t believe how selfish you are! “… … … ” He shouts, then comes the static again.

“David, I think there’s something wrong right now. I haven’t done anything!” I cry frantically, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. He brushes me off and gives me a hard stare.

“People are going to get hurt, Piper. I need you to understand that!” he shouts.

“I don’t understand, David!” I plead, “How are people going to get hurt?”

I hear more static come from his mouth, but he doesn’t seem to notice, he just keeps talking, clearly thinking he’s telling me something important. Frantically, I look around for a clue as to what is going on. When I turn back to him, David’s face starts to deteriorate and his body fades away to dust.

About the Author

Nearly every writer struggles to put together information about themselves, perhaps because we’re so used to detailing the lives and ways of others. For the most part I am a writer, editor, photographer, and all-around artist living in the wilds north of Toronto, Ontario. I thrive on the juxtaposition of beauty and grit, enjoy urban crawls, indie everything, and time well-spent in the woods.

Find the Author

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Building the Book Pile #48

Welcome to Building the Book Pile! 
A Weekly meme inspired by Stacking the Shelves

Happy Saturday Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people!
Another crazy week come and gone. I hope you had a great week in books :) Small stack this week, but I am ok with that, I have loads of reading to do

 

Giveaways Going on NOW!

April  Kindle Fire Giveaway! --Enter NOW 
Earth Day Celebration Giveaway -- Enter NOW!

Others linked on the right sidebar :)
Aberrant Giveaway 
Sworn to Raise Giveaway
Drowning in you Giveaway

  Coming up on the Blog...

Book Blitz: Flight
Early Reader Review: Courtney Crumrin Vol 3.
Showers of Books Giveaway Hop
Art Reveal: Trickster's Totem by HB Bolton
Blog Tour: Blood and Snow series

Things I got this week...

 

Ebooks for Review

  

  

Wacko Academy by Faith Wilkins from Arundel Publishing fore review

Physical Books 

20 copies of Fahrenheit 451 for World Book Night 2013 :)


 

Have you missed anything lately?

Early Review: The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop by Kate Saunders 
Recent Reads: Divergent by Veronica Roth
Earth Day Tour: Featuring Stephanie Lisa Tara
Cover Reveal: Ten Days
Early Reader Review: The Obsidian Mirror
Spotlight: Anomaly by J.C. Emery
Blog Tour: Aberrant by Ruth Silver

Link me up to your piles! Happy Reading!

Blog Tour: Spotlight and Giveaway -- Aberrant by Ruth Silver

About the Book

Ebook Cover

In the future dystopian society of Cabal, the government instills equality for all and offers its citizens the perfect system.  There is food, shelter and jobs for everyone.  The one requirement is to follow the rules without question, including the government's match in marriage and "The Day of the Chosen", a lottery that randomly selects families to conceive children as natural means hasn't existed in generations.  Following her eighteenth birthday, Olivia Parker accepts her requirement to marry her childhood best friend, Joshua Warren, and is eager to start her work assignment and new life when it all comes abruptly to an end as she's arrested and thrown in prison.  The only crime committed, her existence.  Olivia is unlike the rest of the world born not from "The Day of the Chosen."  The truth haunts the government and puts her life in grave danger as one simple fact would destroy the perfect system.  

Paperback Cover

With Joshua's help, Olivia breaks free of prison and is forced on the run.  Together they set out to find the promised rebel town in search of a new home and new life together.  Their situation seems less than promising as they reach the town of Haven.  New rules and customs must be adhered to in order to stay.  Leaving would mean most certain death in the large expanse of the Gravelands.  Time is running out as the government mounts an attack to destroy Olivia and bury her secret with her.  Thrown into a world unlike their own, they must quickly adapt to survive.  

Ebook Available Now! Paperback coming this Summer!

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Barnes and Noble

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About the Author

Ruth Silver attended Northern Illinois University and graduated with a Bachelor's in Communication in the spring of 2005.  While in college, she spent much of her free time writing with friends she met online and penning her first novel, Deuces are Wild, which she self-published in 2004.  Her favorite class was Creative Writing senior year where she often handed in assignments longer than the professor required because she loved to write and always wanted to finish her stories.  Her love of writing led her on an adventure in 2007 to Melbourne, Australia.  Silver enjoys reading, photography, traveling and most of all writing.  She loves dystopian and fantasy young adult stories.  Ruth has been actively writing since she was a teenager.  She currently resides in Plainfield, Illinois. You can find Ruth by following her on Twitter @writeawaybliss, or on Facebook: writeawaybliss

Review Coming to Cover2CoverBlog soon...

Blog Blitz: Spotlight and Excerpt-- Anomaly by JC Emery

Anomaly (The Birthright Series Book One) by JC Emery

Genre: Paranormal YA (small amounts of Romance, History & Mystery)
 

Synopsis

How far would you go to save your sister?

Life as a college senior is stressful enough. Between mid-terms, stupid boys, and a rare blood condition, Eliza Landry is just trying to figure out what normal is—whatever that means—when she discovers that vampires aren’t just a thing of legend.

In a matter of moments, her life changes forever when she and her older sister Kate suffer a vampire attack which leaves Eliza with two puncture wounds on her neck and an allergy to sunlight. But she’s still human, or at least she thinks she is. It doesn’t really matter—her main concern is that her sister is missing.

Sorrow turns to obsession, leading Eliza to piece together the puzzle of that terrifying night. Even stumbling upon a millennia-old vampire assassin named Luke Conrad who either wants to kiss her or kill her (she can't decide) cannot deter her.

When bodies start piling up and one of them is supposedly Kate, Eliza and Luke set out to discover who is behind the attacks. Soon, Eliza is drawn into the dark and dangerous world of the undead, with no guarantee she’ll make it out alive, and no doubt that she won’t like what she finds.
 

Excerpt: Liz’s first fang-out

Luke turned in my direction, his face lacking any expression. That mask of boredom was getting on my nerves. This may have been another day at the office for him, but it was epic—life-changing—for me. If he couldn’t at least acknowledge or respect the magnitude of my sister’s disappearance had on me, I wasn’t sure I wanted his help. Only, it’s not as though he’d given me a choice.

“Something to help you along in this endeavor, Miss Landry, would be for you to get a few things clear in your inefficient human brain—one, I am not a human being, I am a vampire. Don’t expect otherwise—and two, this is just another day at the office for me. It’s unfortunate that you expect for me to care, because I don’t.”

Hurt and confusion settled in my heart, but another emotion far more powerful than either combined coursed through me—rage. My body coiled, ready to strike, but I held whatever foreign monster was inside me back. I couldn’t afford dying here, now, without ever having really helped Kate. Luke continued to stare at me, cold and calculated. I wanted to hurt him as he’d hurt me. Revenge had never been my thing, but in my new reality it looked awfully appealing.

A smile appeared on his lips and my rage boiled over. Before I knew what was happening, my gums swelled painfully in my mouth, bleeding from the sudden pressure. Two canines grew in, seemingly longer than the rest of my teeth. With their arrival came a fresh wash of blood that coated my throat, zeroing my attention in on the pulse point at the base of Luke’s neck. I was angry, but I was also hungry, it seemed.

“Well, this is interesting,” Luke said smiling brightly. I wanted to ask him if he was bipolar or just a dick, but couldn’t bring myself to say anything. The blood coating my throat had overridden my senses and put me in what felt like a comatose state. I could actually feel the small amount of blood sliding down my throat. My head pounded and that strange tingling that happened when I healed miraculously was happening now with the taste of the blood. It was like setting my entire body a flame, but not at the same time. It instantly felt addictive. Nothing had ever tasted this good. Nothing had ever made me feel this powerful.

Luke’s excitement over my reaction to his callous behavior was at once puzzling and disturbing. The realization that he seemed to enjoy my sudden turn to feral animal from sane human brought me down to reality. With a painful throbbing my two new sets of canines retracted. I covered my mouth with my hand as tears sprung to my eyes.

“Well, you become more tolerable as time goes on it seems,” Luke said, his smile barely fading.

 

About the Author

As a child, JC was fascinated by things that went bump in the night. As they say, some things never change. Now, as an adult, she divides her time between the sexy law men, mythical creatures, and kick-ass heroines that live inside her head and pursuing her bachelor's degree in English. As it is for most writers, finding balance is a challenge. JC is a San Francisco Bay Area native, but has also called both Texas and Louisiana home. These days she rocks her flip flops year round in Northern California and can't imagine a climate more beautiful.

With the support and encouragement of her parents and sister, JC set out to figure out what she wanted to do when she grew up. Most days, the jury is still out; however the thing that stuck with her no matter what she pursued was her love of the written word.

JC writes adult, new adult, and young adult fiction. She dabbles in many different genres including science fiction, horror, chick lit, and murder mysteries, yet she is most enthralled by supernatural stories-- and everything has at least a splash of romance.
 

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Early Reader Review: The Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher

The Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher
Publisher: Dial
Available: April 23rd, 2013 

 

Format: Paperback ARC
Source: Dial and Librarything Early Reviewers program

My Rating:  

 

Background: Jake Wilde’s father is missing and there is nothing he can do about it while in boarding school, thanks to his godfather Venn, but he is determined to figure out what happened and to do so he must go to his godfather’s home.

Venn is an eccentric, hermit of a man, who lives by himself, aside from one servant and some cats; here he works on mysterious projects which Jake believes to be the reason for his father’s disappearance. Little does Jake know that Venn has been working on something spectacular; crazy enough even to change history for the worse and some people will stop at nothing to prevent him while others will stop at nothing to steal his prized contraption.

Review:  I have not read anything by Catherine Fisher before this, so I cannot evaluate this series compared to her others.
Catherine Fisher’s Obsidian Mirror is jam packed with characters that all play important roles in the plot of this novel and probably the coming books in the trilogy. Jake your average teenage boy, full of loathing, angst, and revenge for his father’s death/ disappearance, while Venn is just a sad, sad old man, wrapped up in something he cannot change but will stop at nothing to try. These two characters really pull the plot forward, the science fiction and fantasy aspects are all centered on these two and how they react to events.

The elements of fantasy were very confusing at first, there are fae and Wood dwellers and wolves that may be supernatural, and all the while there is science fiction and time travel and a magical mirror that determines the travel. All of these aspects rolled into one book were delightful, mysterious, confusing, intriguing, and entertaining all at once. I was happy to continue to read, the more that was revealed the more I wanted to know and learn more about, the only problem that I had was that with so many characters if was hard to keep track of everyone’s intentions . Another issue was that this is the first in a trilogy, so there was a lot left to the next installment.

Either way, the writing was beautiful; Fisher captured the characters and their emotions, Victorian England and speech, and descriptions of the settling like I could have been there. It was a wonderfully written book.



View all my reviews

Cover Reveal: Ten Days by Olivia Mayfield

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Designed by Jen Naumann

Ten Days  by Olivia Mayfield 

Publication date: May 2013
Genre: New adult/YA crossover sci-fi romance

 

Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Cally isn’t like the others. In her society, the Machine caters to every whim, ensuring people don’t have to leave their pods. But Cally and her best friend Marshal find themselves drawn to how things used to be, when people lived on the surface of the earth and relied upon manpower, not technology. When physical contact wasn’t uncivilized, and love was normal, acceptable, embraced. Cally tries to swallow down her increasing dissatisfaction with the "rules," as well as her rapidly developing feelings for Marshal, a task getting harder each day.

Then, things start going downhill, fast. Food is spoiled. Air grows musty. The population panics about the dysfunction--is it sabotage? Anarchy? But Cally and Marshal discover the truth: The Machine, the answer to all their problems for longer than anyone can remember, is breaking down. Now, these two have to risk it all to save themselves and the people they care about...before their entire world destroys itself.

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17643885-ten-days

 

About the Author

Olivia Mayfield has been an unabashed fan of romance since she was a young teen, secretly devouring her mom’s Harlequins. She has a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing, as well as a Master’s degree in English, and lives with her family in Ohio. In her free time, she loves reading, shopping, wearing absurdly high-heeled boots, cheesecake, singing karaoke, and harassing her friends.

Find the Author

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