Blog Tour: The Master's Book by Philip Coleman

About The Master’s Book:

Sean moves to Brussels to a house that is a crime scene...

In 1482 Mary, the last Duchess of Burgundy, lies on her deathbed in a castle in Flanders. She is only 25. In her final moments she makes a wish that, 500 years later, will threaten the lives of a boy and a girl living in Brussels.

The Master’s Book is the story of Sean, an Irish teenager, just arrived in Brussels to a house that is also a crime scene. Together with Stephanie, his classmate, he finds an illuminated manuscript, only for it to be stolen almost at once.

Where did this manuscript come from? Who was it originally made for? Is there a connection with the beautiful tomb Sean has seen in Bruges? Above all, why does someone want this book so badly that they are prepared to kill for it?

Part thriller and part paper-chase, this book is aimed at boys and girls of twelve and over.

Book can be found at: GoodReads | Amazon

$20 Amazon Gift Card (INT)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read on for the Excerpt! or  Follow the Tour!

Recent Reads: Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill

Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers/ Listening Libaray Random House Audio
Available: Now! November 2012

Format: E-audiobook
Source: Random House Audio for review

My rating: 


Goodreads Synopsis:

Meant to be or not meant to be . . . that is the question.

It's one thing to fall head over heels into a puddle of hazelnut coffee, and quite another to fall for the—gasp—wrong guy. Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she's queen of following rules and being prepared. That's why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her, well, pocket. And that's also why she's chosen Mark Bixford, her childhood crush, as her MTB ("meant to be").

But this spring break, Julia's rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: to be thrown from a window) when she's partnered with her personal nemesis, class-clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts . . . from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to break a few rules along the way. And thus begins a wild goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love.

Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be.

"If you're into swoony romances with a little bit of history thrown in, you'll love Meant to Be."--HelloGiggles.com

"Fun, fresh and irresistibly romantic. STB (SURE to be) loved!"--Sarah Mlynowski

"Readers of Jennifer E. Smith and Stephanie Perkins will revel in this debate about love ruled by the stars or as a matter of the heart."--Shelf Awareness

Review:
I can’t believe I have waited this long to listen to and/or read this book. Meant To Be is a beautiful love story set in London about a teenage girl on a class trip. She has a secret crush, an annoying travel buddy, and a mystery guy texting her and her whole world is topsy turvy over these guys.

Julie is your typical teenage girl, in this case the nerdy kind, straight A’s, doesn’t break rules, doesn’t get involved with trouble. She is also shy and nervous and confused about her love life. On her class trip she is forced to rethink her values of love and what is ‘meant to be’ and it may not be her ideal outcome.

The story was witty and entertaining. Julia and Jason are hilarious to encounter, they play off of each other in both good ways and bad and their snarky picking at one another is so funny. I found myself laughing along with the jokes and out of place actions of Jason.

The love element in this plot was very staggered, as a reader you can kind of see where it is going, then second-guess yourself, and maybe come back again. I think that is an example of some awesome writing and character building if any.

Lauren Morrill did a great job expressing all of the fears, happiness, nervousness, and crazy that comes with having feelings for someone. This was a very fun read.


Want to listen to some? Do it here!


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Blitz & Giveaway!: Backwards Compatible by Sarah Daltry and Pete Clark

Welcome to the Official Release Day Celebration Blast for
BACKWARD COMPATIBLE: A Geek Romance
by Sarah Daltry & Pete Clark

 

About the Book

Not too long ago,
in a town that,
depending on your current location,
is either not super far
or actually quite close…

It is a time of chaotic hormones.
Two nerdy gents
home for winter break
have discovered a female gamer
at a midnight release.

During the break,
the gamer trio manages
to reveal the game’s secret boss,
a hidden enemy
with enough power to destroy
anything in its path.

Pursued by other gamers
who want to be the first
to beat this boss,
George and Katie race to level up,
and, in so doing, restore decency
and sexual activity to their personal galaxy…

Amazon

Amazon UK

Smashwords

Kobo

Barnes and Noble

All Romance

Blog Tour: Review and Giveaway -- The Godsland Series by Brian Rathbone

 

Welcome to my stop on the Godsland series blog tour!  This is a YA epic/high fantasy adventure series by Brian Rathbone.  The tour consists of reviews of all of the books and the audiobook, as well as guest posts, interviews and more. Be sure to check out the tour page with all the tour information and additional tour stops.

The books in the Godsland series:

Call of the Herald (Book One) - FREE

Inherited Danger (Book Two) - FREE

Dragon Ore (Book Three)

You can also find it in one bind up called The Dawning of Power Trilogy Omnibus.

Find the full list of titles and links at http://brianrathbone.com/ As this is only the first trilogy in the World of Godsland series.

Godsland Book One - Call of the Herald

243 pages  

Echoes of the ancients' power are distant memories, tattered and faded by the passage of eons, but that is about to change. A new dawn has arrived. Latent abilities, harbored in mankind's deepest fibers, wait to be unleashed. Ancient evils awaken, and old fears ignite the fires of war. When a Catrin Volker, a teenage horse trainer, inadvertently fulfills the prophecy of the destroyer, she becomes the most feared and hunted person on all of Godsland. With the help of her friends, she must convince the world that she wants only peace.

Call of the Herald (Book 1: The Dawning of Power Trilogy/ Godsland Series) 

My Rating:

Catrin is just an ordinary girl, working the farm with her father, going to lessons, and just surviving in her age group. One day something crazy happens and she is scorned from the community and dubbed the Herald of ancient lore. Her community is eventually taken by another race in search of her and she much flee all while learning who and what exactly the Herald is and her importance.

From the beginning this book is very detailed and you are thrown into an epic story, with a slight Tolkien feel, the characters are whisked away from their homeland to help the greater good and survive an oncoming war.

Catrin is a teenage girl, coming to acceptance with her new identity and in this first book in the series that is made very evident. She constantly questions what is going on, if she is strong enough to accept it, and if others will be safe with her. She is strong and a very deep character to follow on her journey.

The other characters are just as entertaining but there are some jumps in the story where I found it a little confusing remember the person taking over the point of view. Once you get a better grasp on the characters and where they are it becomes easier but for me it took a few transitions back and forth.

The book has a map so that the reader can follow the journey better than just in their head and that helps a little bit, but it wasn’t overly detailed so it leaves a lot to the imagination.

Rathbone does a wonderful job moving the story along will smaller plot themes and moving into the larger ones. I found it very enjoyable to read, although VERY detailed so it does take some time to read through. It adds to the overall ambiance of the story.

I am already reading the next book in the omnibus and will be sharing the review for that very soon.

Immagica Illustrated Map Reveal!

Immagica by K. A. Last
Genre: YA Fantasy/Adventure
Publication: January 31st 2014
Map Illustration: Lawrence Mann 

About the Book

Immagica

Where anything is possible.

Enter at your own risk.

The night before her fifteenth birthday, Rosaline Clayton uncovers a deep family secret. She receives an amulet from her deranged father, and he tells her she must find the book in order to save him. Rosaline is used to her dad not making any sense, so she dismisses their conversation as another of his crazy rants.

When Rosaline’s brother, Elliot, drags her to their Nana’s attic to explore, they find the old leather-bound book tucked away in a chest. It sucks them into its pages, transporting them to a magical world. Along the way Rosaline and Elliot are separated, and the only thing she wants is to find her brother and go home.

The creatures of Immagica have other ideas. After years of war their land lies in ruin. Using the amulet’s power, they want Rosaline to defeat the dragon and restore Immagica to its former glory. But Rosaline is bound to Immagica in ways she doesn’t understand, and when she discovers the truth about her family, she must follow her heart to save them all.

And the map reveal.... its so pretty!

Recent Reads: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Publisher: Random House Audio/ St. Martin's Press

Released: September 2013

 

Format: Audiobook

Source: Random House Audio for Review

My Rating:
 

Goodreads Synopsis:

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Eleanor & Park.

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Review:

I have heard such wonderful things about this book so I was SO excited to start the audiobook, sadly it took forever for me to get through it due to carpooling and lack of time in the car to listen to it (that is where I listen to most audiobooks, on the long drive to and from work).

I think that the reasons for all the book-love is because it resonates with us book lovers. It is about a girl who is a bit awkward trying to learn about herself while going to college, but also while continuing her teen life as a fan-fiction author online.  Cath is shy, anti-social (most of the time), engulfed in a fantasy world, and desperately trying to survive her first year of college. As a character, she is so down to earth, except for some of her school issues – which I found sad more than anything.

The plot focuses on Cath, but she also has a twin, a standoffish roommate and classmates that play an important role in the story, although much of the story is about Cath’s acceptance of herself. This intertwines with the wonderful fantasy world of Simon Snow and Cath’s love for the characters, story, and environment.

I loved this book; I honestly wanted it to keep going. I am curious about Cath and her life after this the ending, there were so many things about her that I found relatable. College is a scary hectic time and the characters do a good job showing that.

Recent Reads: Harley Quinn #0 - Comics!

Harley Quinn #0
Genre: Comic
Released on: November 20, 2013
Publisher: DC Comics

Written By: Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti

Artists: Amanda Conner, Becky Cloonan, Tony S. Daniel & Sandu Florea, Stephanie Roux, Dan Panosian, Walter Simonson, Jim Lee & Scott Williams, Bruce Timm, Charlie Adland, Adam Hughes, Art Baltazar, Tradd Moore, Dave Johnson, Jeremy Roberts, Sam Keith, Darwyn Cooke, and Chad Hardin

Colors by: Paul Mounts, Tomeu Morey, John Lalisz, Lovern Kindxierski, Alex Sinclair, Lee Loughridge, Dave Stewart, and Alex Sollazzo

My Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis:

This bombastic debut issue features art by award-winning illustrators including Darwyn Cooke, Sam Kieth, Tony S. Daniel, Paul Pope, Walter Simonson, Art Baltazar and others—but will any of them measure up to the exacting standards of the Clown Princess of Crime? Don’t miss the thrilling return of Harley Quinn in her own monthly series!

Review:

It has been a long time since I have been involved in the comic world, the most recent had to be Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and Lenore from high school and college days when those series fell into my lap. I was excited to hear/ read online that with the New 52 a new series would emerge featuring one of my favorite quirky villainesses, Harley Quinn.


Since my husband is awesome sauce, he grabbed me the first issue, #0 with one of the variant covers (above, blank variant of the normal cover on the right–>) and I was super excited to see the madness within. This was a wonderfully conceived prequel to Harley Quinn’s new comic series.
Breaking the fourth wall, the writer’s play with various artists throughout the comic to appease Harley in her new self-titled installments to the New 52 and it is funny, sarcastic, and all sorts of crazy. I cannot wait to see what is in store for the rest of the series. Harley is just as manic, crazy, interesting as normal and the artists did an amazing job with their pages. If you want to start a new series, grab this one, it is sure to be entertaining.

This review was first written for the Weekly Hubbub.

Happy Reading!

Stephanie

Recent Reads: Randi Rhodes Ninja Detective and the Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit by Octavia Spencer

The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit by Octavia Spencer
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Available: Now! October 15th, 2013

 

 
Format: Paperback ARC
Source: Publisher at BEA 2013

My Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis:

Meet Randi Rhodes, the world's first ninja detective! Mystery abounds in this delightful new middle grade series from Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer.

Deer Creek is a small town whose only hope for survival is the success of their Founder's Day Festival. But the festival's main attraction, a time capsule that many people believe hold the town's treasure, has gone missing.

Randi Rhodes and her best friend, D.C., are Bruce Lee-inspired ninjas and local detectives determined to solve the case. Even if it means investigating in a haunted cabin and facing mean old Angus McCarthy, prime suspect.

They have three days to find the treasure the future of their whole town is at stake! Will these kids be able to save the day?

Review:
Randi Rhodes is the only child of author Herb Rhodes, the mastermind behind the great detective series staring Glenn Street; so it isn’t surprising that Randi herself aspires to be a great detective.

After the passing of her mother, and her father giving up his writing for a while; they move to the small town of Deer Creek where a mystery has occurred, the time-capsule has gone missing. Randi is determined to show her father that she is no longer a baby and that she can help the town solve this crazy misdeed.

I have to say, this middle grade book pleasantly surprised me. It was full of adventure, a great strong female character who likes having a black belt and doesn’t want to be pink and frilly, and a great cast of characters overall. The plot was fun and fast paced and a middle grade reader would definitely enjoy this book. To make it even more awesome there is an appendix of Ninja Detective things to do along with the book: like how to spy, make a casting of a footprint, and there is even a place to login on a computer and become part of the ninja detective team. This interactive aspect is really building on what middle grade readers like with their books.

Overall, I found the book easy to read and enjoyable. I think both boys and girls in the middle grade range would also love it!


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Monthly Re-Cap: November

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people! 

 

Another month down, here's another wrap-up- complete with Goodreads and Review links. 

 

 

What did you read or listen to in November? Link me up in the comments section!

~~Books Read in November~~

Click the book covers to go to Goodreads

~~Links to Reviews ~~
Fallout by Todd Strasser (5 Stars) -- YA
Randi Rhides Ninja Detective and the Time Capsule Bandit by Octavia Spencer (4 Stars) -- MG -- Review coming soon
Forever Evil #1 (4 Stars) -- Comic - short review on Goodreads
Harley Quinn #0 (5 Stars) -- Comic - short review on Goodreads
Afterlife with Archie #1 (3 Stars) -- Comic - short review on Goodreads
Diary of A Dancing Drama Queen by Louise Lintvelt (5 Stars) -- MG
Memory's Wake by Selina Fenech (3 Stars) -- YA

~Audiobooks in November~

Click the book covers to go to Goodreads

~~Links to Reviews ~~

Will in Scarlet by Matthew Cody (4 Stars) -- MG 
Lethal Circuit by Lars Guignard (4 Stars) - Adult

Early Reader Review: Will O' the Wisp by Tom Hammock

Will O' the Wisp by Tom Hammock
Publisher: Archaia Entertainment 
Available: December 10, 2013

 

Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley and Archaia Entertainment

My rating: 


Goodreads Synopsis:

After her parents' accidental death by mushroom poisoning, young Aurora Grimeon is sent to live with her estranged grandfather on Ossuary Isle, deep in the southern swamps. Joined by her grandfather's pet raccoon Missy, Aurora explores the fog-covered island of graves. Along the way she meets its sinister residents who care for the tombstones and mausoleums, living out their lives by the strange rules of Hoodoo magic. When ghostly things start happening out in the swamp and island residents start disappearing, Aurora thrusts herself into the middle of the mystery, uncovering secrets that might be better left buried.

 
Review:
Will O’ the Wisp is a graphic novel about a girl who looses her parents to mushroom poisoning and is told that she must move into the swamp with her recluse grandfather who studies bones and oddities. While there she learns about her family, the swamp and the graveyard surrounding her, all while coming to terms with herself and being part of this new and strange community.

I love the dark and macabre and this definitely fits that description Aurora, the girl we follow, is bored and displeased with her new situation but through the chapters learns more about the superstitions surrounding the swamp isle and wants to be more like the community. At first her grandfather is distant and kind of a jerk but he starts acting more like family as the book drew to a close.

I think the drawings were interesting. I liked the scenery and the characters were weird and quirky, but the plot sometimes seemed to jump from one scene to another without much explanation between them and sometimes I felt myself wondering where Aurora ran off to and how she ended up where she was and how she came to conclusions that the reader seemed to be left out on.

Over I liked this book, but there was some things left to be desired so not one of the best. I do recommend this book of those interested in the strange and unusual, hoodoo as the book called it, and superstitions.


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