Saturday, March 8, 2014

EM's Review - Journey to Landaran by Judy Goodwin

Run...run...RUN! This is what I think when I think about Journey to Landaran. Twins, Tavish and Aidah are on the run for their lives throughout the book. Ms. Goodwin takes us through a familiar, yet not, world of magic and war. I love the details of the creatures and magics in the book. I had to crawl under a blanket to read her descriptions of a snow storm they were so vivid! I also loved learning about the different peoples in this world and hints of lands to come.

I do have a huge caution for readers though. This book is listed as YA, and while the protagonists are both 14, there are some heavy duty issues they face. Death and war are the least of them. While blood and gore are kept to a minimum, they are there.

The biggest caution is the themes of rape, torture, and grooming of a child. This is ongoing and a major part of the story. I think Ms. Goodwin handles the topic well with not too much visual to the reader. She handles the emotions well and this story could be a boon for those who are dealing with similar hurts in their lives, but readers should be aware of the graphic nature in order to discuss with younger YA, or limit reading to older YA.

Overall this was an extremely fulling read, that was intense both in action and emotion that any fantasy reader will enjoy. Then ending tied up this first book but left much to be discovered in the next and I can't wait!

Friday, March 7, 2014

Promo - Taken by Choice by Jessica Frances




About the Book


New Adult Paranormal Romance
Date Published: 3/6/2014

Taken By Choice (Taken Trilogy #3)

They failed. They have been taken by P.A.G.E. again and this time Stan and Martha are prepared for them. They've made it impossible to escape. They have no choice but to stay in line and behave.

New friendships are made, relationships are put to the test and answers about their abilities are revealed.

Is it possible that they can still take down P.A.G.E. but this time trying from within?

Or will the choices they make endanger the future they were tasked with protecting?

Only time will tell. Unfortunately, it might mean having to give up everything for the chance of ending this once and for all.



EXCERPT


“I know we failed getting out of here. I don’t know what happened, but it was our best shot and we failed.”

“I know. I know this will kill Rose, but I think we need to stop fighting this place, at least for a while. We can’t risk them breaking us up. I thought for sure we would be split up after this.”

His statement breaks my heart because that’s exactly what is happening to us. “That’s not what I meant. I just think we need to have that talk, the one where we talk about if one of us makes it out of here and the other one doesn't.”

“Don’t say that. We leave here together, got it?” Charlie pulls on my arm to stop me walking and grips my face so that I see the certainty in his eyes. It takes every bit of mental power to not cry or break down and tell him that it isn't going to happen that way.

“I know, but being in that room for so long, I realized that, if you got out and were free, I’d want you to do something for me.”

“Do what?” he asks me cautiously, biting his tongue on arguing his point that we will get out together again.

“I’d want you to check on my mom and Drew. Make sure they’re coping okay. Tell them how sorry I am over Dana and how much I love them.”

“Did you have a dream I should know about?” He narrows his eyes at me, sensing I’m hiding something. I blink away more tears, knowing the only way I can get out of this is to lie. I have to lie to him. I’m a horrible person.

“I haven’t dreamt since the hospital. I just had a lot of time to think. I thought that if I was to die in that room, what would happen to my mom and to Drew? I know I can trust you to look in on them. I just needed to say those words, to know that if something happened to me, that they’ll be okay.”

“Nothing is happening to you, I promise.” He brings me forward, hugging me to his chest.

My heart must be completely shattered now. There can’t be anything left, and yet, I can still feel it breaking. I can’t have him making a promise there is no way he can keep. I can’t do that to him.

“Don’t promise me that. Sometimes, things are just out of your power. Fate put us together and it could just as easily pull us apart if it wants to.”

“I’m not going to—”

“Just promise to love me forever. That’s what I need to hear from you.”

Without any reluctance, he answers me, “I promise to love you forever.”

“And I promise that I will love you forever, too.” I finally make a promise I know I’ll keep.


About the Author

Born and raised in South Australia, Jessica spends her days working in a bakery, afternoons catching up on lost sleep, and nights reading and writing. Writing has always been a passion of hers, however it wasn't until Zoe appeared into her head and wouldn't leave that she finally was able to put a story down and finish it. After writing three books, she is wondering if she should start charging Zoe and her friends rent.






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Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Review and Interview - Journey to Landaran by Judy Goodwin



About the Book

Young Adult Fantasy
Date Published: 

Aidah begins seeing visions through her brother’s eyes. He’s a Firestarter, gifted with the Talent to control light and heat, destined to become a Sun Mage in the great city of Landaran. But he doesn’t want to leave without his sister. As storm clouds gather, Aidah dreams of a beautiful man, a frightening man, calling to her. 

She fears the truth. That she may developing a Talent of her own, one that will change their lives forever. 
The power to read minds. To possess bodies. To travel inside dreams. In the world of Ernid, Spirit is the ultimate power. 

Nations will go to war over them. 


About the Author

Judy Goodwin has been writing since she was a child, when her fourth grade English instructor told her, ‘You should be a writer.” She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona, and a Master’s in Education from Argosy University. Over the last ten years she has appeared in several small press magazines and anthologies with her fantasy and science fiction short stories and poetry. Her first novel was published in January 2013, entitled Heart of the Witch. 



When not working on her fiction, Judy works as a technical writer in a healthcare services firm. She enjoys bullying the sheriff at the local renaissance festival, volunteering at local charities, and catching up on the latest movies. She lives in Gilbert, Arizona with her partner and teenage daughter, four cats, and three small dogs. 



Twitter: @judygoodwin6



Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Judy-Goodwin/282580281866578


Interview

EM: Judy, tell us a little about yourself.

Judy: Well, I'm an Arizona native (meaning I was born in Arizona, which around here seems to be abnormal), I've always loved fantasy books, and over my lifetime I've had WAY too many pets. Dogs, cats, rats, fish, chickens, horses, sheep, rabbits, finches, parakeet, cockatiel, an iguana, newt, gecko, snake, turtle . . . pretty much if you can own it, I've had one! And here's the sad thing. I'm allergic to dogs, horses, and rodents. But not cats, happily.

In terms of writing, I've been doing it for a long time. I personally think my pets are much more exciting than talking about my writing career. 

EM: I love talking about my animals too! But I won't because then we would never get back to the book! Do you try and incorporate some of your pets into the stories you write?

Judy: I actually did. I've always loved the idea of the "Companions" in Mercedes Lackey's books--intelligent spirit guides in the forms of horses. My world had mages who could control life energies, both physical and metaphysical. So I could see these mages using their magic to create fantastic creatures, basically through genetic mutations. One of the creatures they invented was the Lupas, an intelligent dog who looks like a large greyhound with long toes on its paws to be able to grasp things. The Lupas started out as companions to mages but eventually formed their own society.

In the book, there is a Lupas who has been assigned as a guardian and sort of nanny to the twins, named Derg. He's very formal and frets a lot. 


EM: Yeah, Derg cracks me up. Such a worry wort. I love all your descriptions of magical creatures in both books of yours I've read. Your a very vivid writer. Where do you get the inspiration for these grand things and places?

Judy: I've always been something of a history buff. I grew up reading a lot of the classics, and then wanted to know more about the time periods where they came from, so I studied everything from the history of England going back to Anglo Saxon times to ancient India and Japan. I've always been fascinated by different cultures and languages. (I speak German fairly well, and understand some French and Japanese.)

I also have made it a point to travel. I was an exchange student in Germany in high school, then in college my last class I took an archaeological tour of England, Ireland, and France. I've been to Japan, Scotland, Italy, Canada, and to the Mayan ruins in Mexico. I think having these experiences has enriched me and allowed me to think of greater possibilities when I'm writing.

As far as the magical creatures go, that goes back to all those pets. I just try to come up with things that are different than what's already been done.

EM: Wow! That sounds so exciting. I'm a little jealous. LOL! But I see now where much of the realism in your fantasy stories comes from. What part of the world and which era is Landaran supposed to come from?

Judy: Well, Journey To Landaran is the first of what I plan to be a five book series. While this book focuses on the Doane Republic, there are other lands all around that eventually are all going to become part of the series.

The Doane Republic is reminiscent of Europe in the Renaissance, but with some important differences. In the book, Jardan Thorne, a Sun Mage, alludes to a much older civilization that was destroyed centuries ago, that had technology beyond what is currently known. So there is this mixture of a pre-industrial civilization with hints of other things.

Most of the countryside is inhabited by simple peasants--farmers, herders, miners, etc. There is a lot of wilderness, including a great mountain range to the north, a forest to the south and west, and the Krimean Sea, formed by a major earthquake long ago. Towns have both nobility as well as mayors and city councils. There are primitive guns, but they aren't used much because a Sun Mage can instantly set fire to the gunpowder, so they're pretty useless near mages.

Some of the other cultures in the book include the Gedar, who resemble Gypsies in that they dress colorfully, are tinkers and entertainers, and suspicious of strangers. There is also mention of the Innis Empire, a vast collection of territories stretching all the way south to the "Spice Lands."


EM: Very detailed! That's what I love about your stories. Okay, one more question. Do you remember that you were one of the first people ever to read the first chapter ever of my first book ever?

Judy: Lol! I was, wasn't I!  It pulled me in right away--I loved the combination of steam punk and romance. I have a few friends who are really into steam punk as well. It's something I may toy with in the future.

Thanks for having me!

EM: Thanks for taking time to chat with me, but...Ummm....no, my story didn't pull you in right away. In your first review of my writing, you quit less than have way through the first chapter because it was so poorly written. Lol! You were very honest and very tough with me and I'd like to thank you for that. You've been such a great teacher to me and have helped make me a better writer.  So, readers, if you liked Fate War, know that it is that good because of guidance from Judy Goodwin and others like her. So go check out Journey to Landaran and her other works! They are phenomenal! 

Review
Run...run...RUN! This is what I think when I think about Journey to Landaran. Twins, Tavish and Aidah are on the run for their lives throughout the book. Ms. Goodwin takes us through a familiar, yet not, world of magic and war. I love the details of the creatures and magics in the book. I had to crawl under a blanket to read her descriptions of a snow storm they were so vivid! I also loved learning about the different peoples in this world and hints of lands to come. 

I do have a huge caution for readers though. This book is listed as YA, and while the protagonists are both 14, there are some heavy duty issues they face. Death and war are the least of them. While blood and gore are kept to a minimum, they are there. 

The biggest caution is the themes of rape, torture, and grooming of a child. This is ongoing and a major part of the story. I think Ms. Goodwin handles the topic well with not too much visual to the reader. She handles the emotions well and this story could be a boon for those who are dealing with similar hurts in their lives, but readers should be aware of the graphic nature in order to discuss with younger YA, or limit reading to older YA.

Overall this was an extremely fulling read, that was intense both in action and emotion that any fantasy reader will enjoy. Then ending tied up this first book but left much to be discovered in the next and I can't wait!




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Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Promo - My Name is Rapunzel by K.C. Hilton



About the Book



Young Adult Fantasy / Fairytale / Folklore
Date Published: 11/23/2013

My tale has been told again and again, and I've heard each one. Except for my hair, I barely recognize the pitiful renditions. Muddled versions, crafted to entertain laughing children...but the children wouldn't have laughed if they'd known the real story. It wasn't their fault. They didn't know the truth. Nobody did. My name is Rapunzel. I will tell you my story. I will tell you the truth.




Book Trailer



Excerpt


Just go, Henry. Save yourself. I tried to shout, but my mouth wouldn’t give way to sound. I was paralyzed. Was it with fear, or something else? The cackling witch at the tree line convinced me it was her doing.

I heard Henry continue to shout for me to flee, but I didn’t respond. I didn’t move. I didn’t run. I was frozen like a lifeless statue in a cold museum. With only the movement of my eyes, I pleaded with him to help me. A tear escaped one of my eyes then rolled down my cheek. That single tear managed to do what my heart and body could not. Escape.

Fear, like unseen hands, gripped my lungs and tried to crush them slowly. My stomach churned and threatened to empty. Would we die here?

The gentle chill of night had turned into a mid-winter’s frost. Tiny bumps rose on my arms and the small hairs prickled to attention. I opened my mouth to speak, but the words remained trapped in my throat.




About the Author

Born and raised in Aurora, Illinois I spent my childhood playing street games with the neighborhood kids. When I wasn't outside, I spent much of my time reading and getting lost in adventurous worlds and whirlwind courtships. At the age of seventeen, I moved to Kentucky and eventually began to raise a family of my own. I have always been entranced by stories of magical adventure and I have discovered that writing is an entirely new, exciting adventure all on its own! In my spare time, I can be found updating my website or blog, finding great books to read or watching videos. Most days I crave Diet Coke, pizza and chocolate, in no particular order. I have my own pink toolbox with pink tools and secretly want to be a mechanic! I grew up a tomboy. But, when I didn't want to climb a hill, to walk through the graveyard, the boys said I turned into a girl.



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Saturday, March 1, 2014

Promo - Rivulet by Jamie Maagee




About the Book

YA/NA Crossover Paranormal
Date Published:  November 2012

Unfathomable forces have always contested Genevieve Indiana Falcon, known as Indie. The curse of her cold touch entraps her just as the grief ignited in her past torments her. Yet, her mysterious ability to dream while awake saturates her in the belief that she was not always anguished. There is hope that one day a true peace in her soul can be found. 

Foolishly, Indie assumes she has contained her life in an odd balance, and she cherishes the visions she sees of the enigmatic boy that held her in a lost time, but can never reach. She grieves for a life she fears she'll never possess, and that grief is a weapon she uses against her aunt who stands between her and her inheritance. 

Weeks away from her twenty-first birthday, the date where she would assume control over her family legacy, a night terror robs Indie of the balance she was clinging to. Like the dream she had before she lost her family, it predicts a fatal catastrophe on the horizon. The fight between life and death, good and evil, began the moment her thundering heart awoke her. 

Everything changed after that dream. The one thing that keeps her curse at bay is stolen, and then the enigmatic boy arrives in the flesh. Face to face with her fiery born-again lover Indie realizes that the only way she can prevent the tragedy before her is to surrender everything she was, is, and could be. 

Can she bend the laws of nature and fight the improbability that fire and ice could ever be one? As far as Indie is concerned, there is not a myth, spoken fate, or curse that is stronger than her stubborn desire to have it all ... including him.




EXCERPT

“Who has you bothered?” I pushed.

“A few. But there is someone that is not thrilled that I've kept our friendship a secret.”

“Who?”

I glanced around the bar, noticing Wilder displaying the same disdainful glare as Cadence. Gavin had already decided she was nothing to worry about. He had pulled his laptop to him and was typing at the speed of light.

Skylynn returned their glare before she caught my stare. “You’ll see in...” she held up her hand and then slowly let her fingers count down to zero, then knocked her fist on the bar. At that moment, the chime on the door went off.

Time stopped.

I could not comprehend the warm, dominant energy that flowed through me as my eyes met this flawless being.

In the North Wing, he was never completely corporeal. None of the memories I had been able to unlock were. But now, right now, he was in the flesh. Sebastian Falcon was either standing feet from me or he had been reincarnated looking hotter than he was the first go around on the wheel of life.

His black, long sleeve T-shirt hinted to the perfection that it surely must be hiding. My eyes wanted to travel further down him, but they were pulled back to his intoxicating stare. His eyes were still a deep gray, but in the centers I could see unfathomable orange freckles, which mocked flames. He tilted his head slightly, allowing his somewhat long, dark auburn hair to fall over his high cheekbones. There was agony in his stare. It pulled me in. This. Could. Not. Be. Real.

I could swear his body relaxed all at once as his lips, perfectly shaped lips, echoed a wounded smile.
Our uncalled for stare may have relaxed him, but it had the opposite effect on me. Two beats—no, maybe three or four in one second followed by a thousand more. I had been staring at his image for years, and for some reason he was finally seeing me, too.

Almost immediately, he glanced down at the guards. 

He turned to them and said something I could not hear, and as they passed what looked like short words shot back and forth. Skylynn gripped my arm. “If that doesn't make you feel two beats, there is no hope for you,” she whispered.

I swallowed nervously as my eyes moved back to him. A flaming burn spread through my soul. I almost wanted to cry in relief, but that was foolish. In this life, right now, we were strangers. It didn't matter that I felt like I had lived side by side with him for the past five years.

About the Author

Jamie Magee

I'm an obsessive daydreamer. Lover of loud alternative music. Addicted to Red Bull. I love to laugh until it hurts. Fall is my favorite season. Black is my favorite 'shade.' Strong believer in the saying: there is a reason for everything, therefore I search for 'marked moments' every moment of everyday...and I find them. Life is beautiful!



Twitter: @Jamie_Magee_



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Friday, February 28, 2014

Promo - See by Jamie Magee





About the Book

YA/NA Crossover Paranormal
Date Published:  May 2012

Forgetting who you are, your ambitions, your lover is crippling. Remembering, embracing your purpose with a new sense of determination is more than empowering. It's soul seizing. Charlie Myers is embarking on a life-altering path that will cause the damned to humble in silence… 

One night, just a few friends how could it go so wrong? That was the question Charlie was asking herself when she awoke in the ER. Outwardly nothing was wrong with Charlie, she was a vision of perfect health, but Charlie knew something else was wrong, wickedly wrong. That fearful notion became even more gripping when her mind began to parade haunting visions of entrancing emerald green eyes, laced in black, before her. When she felt a hole in her heart, when the music she drowned her fears in began to amplify the ache in her soul, and caused her to crave an embrace she thought she never knew. 

Charlie knew then that part of her was stolen. She was missing memories. Those memories were sacred. They held the key to her sanity. They told her that the sinister whispers, and the shadows that came to life before her, were not as ominous as she felt they were. They caused her to forget the one talent that allowed her to face the darkness that haunted her every waking hour. They also masked a much deeper bond, the face of the one that had stolen her heart, long before that tragically blinding night. 

Charlie wanted to stay in NY, fight her demons where she found them, and ensure that her true home remained a sanctuary. Fate had a different plan in mind. Against her will, Charlie was sent to Salem to live with her sister. Within that small town Charlie found her memories…and so much more.

Her story begins now.






EXCERPT

“What’s going on?” I asked nervously, hitting ‘Pause’ on my phone as I watched him push the seat back so his legs could have more room.

“I told you I’d tell you how to get back,” he said, smiling faintly.

Every part of me was tingling. Yet, I was frozen in place. I had no idea how I was going to focus well enough to drive. 

What would I do if I had to fight these shadows in front of him? I was horrified.

“Yeah, but I thought you meant follow you,” I said, trying to take in a breath after I said the words.

“I wanted to ride with you,” he said, pulling his belt on.

As he leaned closer to me to fasten it, I could smell the addictive aroma of his cologne. I knew that scent. My mind was firing off images of him at warp speed. His scent, his eyes, his energy, every ounce of him was magnifying fantasies I could not comprehend in the state I was in. 

“Just for the record, you’re only my second passenger. Third, if you count my teacher,” I said, putting the car in drive.

“Duly noted.”

I caught myself staring into his enchanting eyes. His dark lashes framed the most alluring color I’d ever seen. It was like they were intended to be black, but a shade of the most perfect green had shattered the black canvas that they were.

Eyes that had haunted me for days... 

He stared back at me with almost the same wonder, then he quirked a slight grin. “That way,” he said, pointing to the left.

Obviously I was alone in my fascination. Surely if we were anything like my minds eye was telling me we were in some forgotten past he would have said something.

Unless. Unless it was a bad past. 

The tinge of pain in my heart let that dark thought enter my mind.

I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment. I tried to smile through it as I turned the wheel. I crept down the gravel driveway, fighting the glare of the headlights coming from his Hummer. Just before I reached the road, he reached up and moved my rearview mirror, taking the torture of the lights away. He then gently grasped my ear buds and pulled them out. His warm fingertips brushed against my skin, and it took everything I had not to faint. I thought I heard him sigh, just after he took in a deep breath. Those long fingertips of his lingered a little longer, more than likely a second or two, but it felt like hours, then they slid down my neck taking the cords from my ear buds with them.

 I angled my eyes at him to see if I had the same effect on him that he clearly had on me.

 “You have to be able to see and hear if you’re going to get us home,” he explained, relaxing into his seat. He bit his bottom lip as he bathed me in his smoldering gaze. We said a thousand words at that moment. Words I could not hear, but wanted to. 

About the Author

Jamie Magee

I'm an obsessive daydreamer. Lover of loud alternative music. Addicted to Red Bull. I love to laugh until it hurts. Fall is my favorite season. Black is my favorite 'shade.' Strong believer in the saying: there is a reason for everything, therefore I search for 'marked moments' every moment of everyday...and I find them. Life is beautiful!

Twitter: @Jamie_Magee_



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Thursday, February 27, 2014

Promo - Insight by Jamie Magee




About the Book

YA/NA Crossover Paranormal
Date Published:  June 2010

BOOK ONE INSIGHT SERIES 

Willow Haywood has always been trapped between the worlds of the Light and the Dark. Her waking hours are plagued by her ability to feel the emotions of those around her. No matter how inward she draws, she cannot shut out the feelings of others. Sometimes she will see images - echoes of other people and places - that she can enter to influence the emotions of people she has never met. 

By night, Willow experiences her only escape from this terrible insight - entering into the world of dreams. Most of these dreams are shared in blissful silence with a stunning blue-eyed boy. But every new moon she lives through something much darker: a horrific nightmare shared by another mysterious boy who is always shrouded by shadows. 

One night, this shadowy figure invades her dreams outside of his appointed time. In this new nightmare, Willow is marked; a mark which follows her into the waking world and sets her on a momentous path through light and darkness, through fragmented myth and half-truths, through past lives and disturbing family secrets, all in the face of the ever-dominant Zodiac. What she finds will endanger the lives of those closest to her and will force her to make a decision that will change her world forever.





EXCERPT

I felt a blanket of peaceful love with a sense of urgency. The night air in front of me began to move; it looked like a wave gently swaying with a current. A thin light began to emerge then Landen stepped through the wave. I felt the air leave my lungs and adrenaline rush through every part of my body as my heart violently hammered in my chest.

“Landen…” I breathed.

In the darkness, I could see his haunting blue eyes widen, we were both soaked in the emotion of disbelief, along with the fear that this wasn’t real. 

In that beat of my heart he’d reached my side. His hands were trembling ever so slightly as they cradled my face, and his thumbs graze the flesh of my cheekbones. He was staring at me like I was a forbidden fruit, like I was every sin in the book, desire washed over that lasting look as he leaned in and let his lips frame mine. When we melded the flesh of our lips together, his hands fell from my face and slowly waved down my body, embracing my flesh, I was doing the same to him. He was warm, he was on fire, I could hear his breaths, hear the sweet sound of our kiss, the way our clothes were moving under our touch. He was real. He was in my arms, and he was driving me wild. That first kiss was nothing compared to this, that was a dream, it was fleeting, it was something that could end at any second, this—this touch, this emotion, this pulsing of my soul was eternal. 

He pressed our bodies together and held me with more strength than he had ever displayed. We both sought air more than once, but the other moved closer as soon as that gasp was taken. His warm tongue was uninhabited yet sensual as it danced with mine. I was devouring every sensation he was giving me and wanting more, so much more. 

I was trembling with passion, I think he misunderstood that, he slowed our kiss, as one arm went around me and the other cradled my face. His thumb reached to my lips just as his kiss ended, he tenderly caressed the moist, swollen flesh he found there.

 “I found you,” he said with the lips of an angel. His voice was deep and entrancing, those three simple words sounded like poetry as he spoke them.  

 His eyes danced over my image, “I love you.” he said as he leaned in and kissed me once more, this was a sweet kiss, only lips, only warm sensual lips.



About the Author

Jamie Magee

I'm an obsessive daydreamer. Lover of loud alternative music. Addicted to Red Bull. I love to laugh until it hurts. Fall is my favorite season. Black is my favorite 'shade.' Strong believer in the saying: there is a reason for everything, therefore I search for 'marked moments' every moment of everyday...and I find them. Life is beautiful!

Twitter: @Jamie_Magee_



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