Showing posts with label blog tour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog tour. Show all posts

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Review & Scavenger Hunt: Eternal Hope by Frankie Rose

Title: Eternal Hope
Author: Frankie Rose
Publisher: self-published
Publication date: October 10, 2012
Genre: YA, paranormal
Pages: 273 (ebook)
Source: From author for review
Series: The Hope Series
1. Sovereign Hope (review)
2. Eternal Hope
3. Lost Hope (coming soon)

**WARNING: SPOILERS**
Synopsis:
He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me.

When your friends go missing and you don’t know if they’re dead or alive; when you tie your soul to the one you love; when you kill to protect and your family suffers, there’s only one thing you can do:

Move to Montana.

Farley Hope is special. She was prophesied to kill the forebears of her bloodline- a race of cold-blooded Reavers, men who steal the souls of the living to gain power. The Quorum had counted on Farley ending her own life in the process, but when Kayden came to her aid and helped save both her and Daniel, he undid their plans. Now the Quorum are displeased, not only with Kayden, but with Farley and Daniel too. Though her father is now dead, Farley’s troubles with the Reavers are far from over. An ancient Immortal, trapped for a thousand years, wants Farley for himself, and he will stop at nothing to claim her.

With secrets that lead to anger and pain, that turn friendship to dust, the group must overcome the problems within their own circle before they have a hope of fighting off the powers that threaten their lives.


How much do I love Frankie Rose and her Hope series?!? I just finished reading book 2 and it was just as awesome as the first!

The number one thing that I really like about Frankie’s writing is the simplicity and to-the-point-ness of it. Some of the indie authors I read put too much in the story, whether it’s too many words or scenes that seem irrelevant. Frankie doesn’t do that at all. Every scene, every dialogue, even every steamy moment, has a purpose within the grand scheme of things. And that just adds to the experience of reading the book; knowing that everything matters.

I think I liked the plot of this book more than the first. There’s an established relationship, not without its problems; they travel around the country a bit; there are new characters, both good and bad; and the storyline is exciting and full of suspense. There were a lot of things that surprised me, too. There’s nothing not to like!

I found that Daniel was the character that changed the most from the first book to this one. He was emotionally reserved and hard-headed throughout the first book. In Eternal Hope we got to see a softer, more romantic, side of Daniel. He still had moments of emotional withdrawal and other moments where he really kicked some ass, but overall he seemed to have many more sides than before.

I feel like this review is very vague, but there are so many things that happen and I don’t want to give anything away. I just want you to read it! And I just want to read the next book in the series. Frankie! When does Lost Hope come out?!?

Thanks to Frankie for the ebook review copy!




I'm also participating in the Scavenger Hunt for Eternal Hope! What you've got to do as a participant is visit all the other blogs and collect the words in GREEN. Once you've done that you can use them to complete the passage below, which was written solely for the purpose of the Blog Tour & Scavenger Hunt! (Hint: you can find my word in my review!)

On the last stop of the tour, there will be a form for you to submit your finished excerpt, and enter for a chance to win awesome prizes. There will be 5 winners of various prizes, available internationally!

For all the information about the scavenger hunt, including the full schedule, go here.

Also, don't forgot to visit the other two stops on the tour today. They'll each have a different word for you! Lori @ Lori's Book Blog and Bianca @ Bianca2b

Excerpt

Farley felt her face redden, which was _________ inappropriate. Daniel and Kayden were _______ she was watching, and for once their sparring lacked the flashy showmanship they usually employed to _______ her. For the two of them, nothing _______ beyond the dimly lit parameters of the hangar. Beyond the lunge, beyond the parry, beyond the block.

This was how it would really go down, if they ever meant to do serious harm to one _______. Movements fluid and graceful, there was _________ primal about their circling. Quick _______ of calculating eyes, green and blue, preempting the other’s next move. Kayden’s hair was darkened with sweat, but both their chests rose and fell with __________ regularity. In and out. Slow and steady. The stern, focused expressions on their faces said ____ were in total control.

Farley let the darkness wash over her and kept her presence hidden. The confrontation was too ___________ to interrupt. Bare chests, muscled and tanned; silver flashes of metal as their blades sang through the air. Even Cliff would have been impressed. Farley bit her ______ lip as Kayden darted _______ in a sure leap, thrusting out with deadly precision towards Daniel’s throat.

The ______ would have been a killing blow. Would have been, if it had even ______. Daniel sprang back and duck-rolled over the dusty floor, crouching into a defensive pose. With his knife ________, his eyes lifted to fix on Kayden, but they _____ quite made it.

Farley’s heart leapt to her throat. Those eyes, piercing and sharp, fixed on her _______. She swallowed and braced against the wall behind her, trying to camouflage with the _______. Kayden shifted forward, ready to take _________ of Daniel’s distracted position, but the dark-haired boy simply lifted his hand. A wordless gesture:

____.

Kayden stopped.

Robotically, Daniel rose, his _____ suddenly vanished, and dropped the knife into the dirt. Kayden’s apparent confusion only lasted a second; the moment he ________ it - that she was there - was _______. One second he was ________ Daniel’s creased brow, the next he had spun around impossibly quickly and was staring, too. Blue and Green. Farley felt her throat closing up. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Daniel brushed a hand back through his slightly curling hair, his face trained into a nothing __________. There was ______ he could do to hide the war in his eyes, ______. “So you’re back.”

Silence flooded the hangar. Farley took a moment to _______, pretending not to ______ Kayden’s fist clenching repeatedly ______ the handle of his knife.

“Yes,” she whispered, her voice _______. “I guess I am.”


About the Author


As a child, I was always accused of being bookish because I wore glasses- big, horrible, ugly ones with too-thick lenses. Those kids, the super smart ones who always know which tender insecurities to poke at in order to provoke

life-long complexes, used to accuse me of reading too many books and that my eyes were going to rot out of my head (their words, not mine!)

The truth of the matter was a little more embarrassing: I used to sit too close to the T.V. That was the reason why I had to wear glasses, but kids don’t really care about small, insignificant details like the truth, and so I was labelled a nerd. The label kinda stuck, and after some sage advice from my awesome nana (nana, you rock!) I decided that if I was going to be abused for my supposed literary obsession, I might as well develop one.

I guess that’s how I got into books and reading at an early age. Since then, I’ve been ripping through books like they’re going out of fashion, which, thankfully, they’re not. Good thing, too, because I’m a writer now, and books are my business!

Thank you to everyone who has supported and encouraged me on my journey- look for your names in the acknowledgements! And a big thank you to you, the reader. I hope you’ve fallen in love with Farley and Daniel just like I have, and that you’ll join them in the next book, Eternal Hope!

Find Frankie and her books on the web:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | YouTube | Amazon

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Blog Tour: Excerpt from Eternal Hope by Frankie Rose


I'm so happy to be a part of the Blog Tour for Frankie Rose's second book, and sequel to her first, Eternal Hope! I fell in love with her story and her characters when I read Sovereign Hope in the summer.

You are in for a treat today, my friends. Frankie has offered up an excerpt from Eternal Hope for your reading pleasure, and let me tell you, it's a good one.

Unbelievable. Totally unbelievable. He was a nightmare. Farley charged over to the view of the city below, surging and throbbing to a rhythm that could only be heard on the other side of the glass. The metropolis, like any other night, was a living, breathing, ugly, beautiful thing. “Coward,” she whispered.

Daniel’s reflection approached her quietly from behind, his face serious and sharp. He wound his arms around her waist and rested his chin gently on her shoulder. “I am a coward. But only when it comes to you.”

“Well, don’t be. The thought of you with someone else makes me feel physically sick but I’m not a child. I’m not stupid. You’re ancient. Of course there have been people before me, Cassie included.” Farley re-focused her eyes, not wanting to look at the intense expression on his face; instead, she concentrated on the dark outlines of the high rises, lit sporadically against the darkness. Daniel’s arms fell slack from around her, and his hands came to rest on her hips.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he murmured, pressing his face into her hair. He hooked his thumbs under her shirt and rubbed them in slow circles over the base of her spine. She shivered, fighting with herself. It was hard to be angry when he was so close, when the smell of him flooded her senses.

“Then tell me,” she demanded, placing her hands behind her over his. His thumbs stopped working over her skin.

“There was someone. Once,” he whispered.

Farley narrowed her eyes, intending to zero in on the Daniel in the glass again. Before she could see what his face was doing, though- whether he looked awkward or uncomfortable- she caught sight of her own reflection. Backlit from the room behind, she looked pallid and washed out. Her clenched jaw made her look tired and hard. Suddenly she wished she hadn’t pushed it. There was no way she wanted to hear about this. “Stop. Don’t. It...it doesn’t matter.”

“No.” He shook his head, softly brushing her hair back over her shoulder to expose her bare neck. “It doesn’t matter. This matters.” He leaned forward and slowly lowered his lips to her skin, his eyes still locked on hers in the glass. The heat from his kiss was explosive, wracking through her body. She twisted in his arms, turning to face him. He rolled with it, slouching down to continue kissing her neck, gently grazing his teeth across her skin in a way that made her legs go weak. It felt like he was holding her up, his hands rough against her back, her hips, her thighs. He shoved her against the glass, hard, and she slapped her palms against the cold surface, momentarily scared. The whole world was at her back. It felt like with one heady heartbeat they would topple back into it, lost in the dizzying sensation of the fall and the kiss and the way everything felt like it had stopped moving.

Daniel brought his hands up to cradle her face, kissing her like didn’t need oxygen to breathe, couldn’t bear the space between them. A low crackle ripped through the air, and Farley felt the sweet burn of his light biting at the skin on her neck. Her whole body tremored involuntarily. She gasped, low and shocked. Daniel sucked in a deep breath and jumped back, clenching his fists by his sides. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

Farley slid down the glass as her knees buckled. Her breathing matched his, ragged and uneven. “What?”

He raked his hands back through his hair in a motion that gave away his frustration, and shot her a pained look. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t do that. It’s... it’s kinda weird.”

She looked up at him in a daze, feeling slightly flushed and embarrassed. There was no way her cheeks weren’t fuchsia right now. “It’s not kinda weird,” she said in a breathy voice that barely sounded like her own. “It’s kinda hot.”

Whoa. And I mean, WHOA. Hot is right, my dear Farley!

Big thanks go out to Frankie for sharing this with us! If you've as-of-yet been missing out on these books, what are you waiting for?!? Go get them now!


Visit Frankie's website to see all the other stops on the tour!

***************



Frankie Rose was born in the United Kingdom, but now lives with her husband in sunny Australia.

She officially makes things up for a living, and when she's not doing that, she is generally making paper birds out of receipts and old lists or taking photographs that make her smile.



Find Frankie and her books on the web:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | YouTube | Amazon

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Blog Tour: Excerpt from The Legion of Nothing by Jim Zoetewey

Welcome to my stop on the Legion of Nothing Blog Tour! This really looks like a great book, so even though I knew I wouldn’t have the time to read it before this tour, I still wanted to participate. It’s about superheroes, for goodness sake. So for that reason, I have an excerpt from The Legion of Nothing for you!


At the end of the hall, the final painting showed a man sitting in a chair. Golden light surrounded his head and people were bowing before him. He bore a resemblance to pictures I’d seen of Vaughn’s grandfather.

“These paintings are really weird,” Haley said.

“No kidding.” I stared up at the ceiling.

“Oh yeah,” Vaughn said. “I shot up in here once. You would not believe the stuff that went on in my head.”

We followed him into a room. Except for the bookshelves and desk, it looked like the hall. Red Lightning appeared to share reading tastes with Martin Magnus. The bookshelves held books in languages I didn’t recognize, books on translating ancient languages, and a long line of handwritten journals (organized by date).

“This is where I got the stuff I gave to Magnus’ people,” he said. “I didn’t give them much. You’re welcome to the rest.”

“I’ll need to come back with a bag or something.”

Haley picked the first journal off the shelf and started flipping through it. “If we were in Harry Potter,” she said, “I’d end up possessed by this book.”

“Which would make me what?” Vaughn asked. “Malfoy?”

“Have you read the journals?” I asked Vaughn. “Do you have any idea why he did any of it?”

“Not really. I’ve read bits. They’re all pretty normal up till about two years before he got zapped with the Power Impregnator. After that they just get batshit insane.”

“So there’s no reason?” I said. “He just goes crazy? That’s dumb.”

“Ever read Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut?” Vaughn asked. “There’s a character in there that goes crazy and starts killing people. Vonnegut blames it on bad chemicals in his brain. In the book, it’s funny.”

“That doesn’t sound very funny,” Haley said.

“But see,” Vaughn said, “it’s Vonnegut. He’s funny as hell.”

I know I’m interested to read more! And I hope you are, too!

The book was published by 1889 Labs on July 22, 2012. They’re the ones who are hosting this blog tour, and they’re also having a giveaway! Make sure you fill out the Rafflecopter form below to enter to win some awesome prizes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here’s a bit more information about the author:

Jim Zoetewey grew up in Holland, Michigan, near where L Frank Baum wrote The Wizard of Oz and other books in that series. Admittedly, Baum moved away more than sixty years before Jim was even born, but it's still kind of cool. He's a web developer, a religion and sociology major, and the author of the superhero series The Legion of Nothing. He's also not sure why he's writing this in the third person, but he's never seen an author bio written in first person and doesn't want to rock the boat.

You can find more information about Jim and The Legion of Nothing here:
Website | Facebook | Amazon

You can also find 1889 Labs on Facebook.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Giveaway: Sovereign Hope by Frankie Rose

I hope you had a chance to stop by yesterday for my interview with Frankie Rose! Definitely check it out. Frankie is a down-to-earth, funny person, and she writes pretty well, also ;).

And today you have a chance to win a copy of her book! Frankie is offering up THREE copies of her debut novel, Sovereign Hope. It's pretty fantastic. If you don't believe me now, check out my review. Then you'll be convinced. You can also ask any one of the 39 participants of the Sovereign Hope Blog Tour! Find links to all the participants posts on Frankie's website.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Blog Tour: Interview with Frankie Rose


Welcome to my stop on the Sovereign Hope blog tour! I'm so excited to be a part of it, as I absolutely loved that I got the opportunity to read and review this book. Feel free to check out my review of Sovereign Hope here!

I'm really happy to have Frankie Rose on the blog today for an interview! I hope you enjoy her answers as much as I did, and I encourage you to check out her book!

Interview

Tell us in one sentence, why we should read your book.
Because I know Kung Fu. Ha ha! No, seriously.

Which of your characters surprised you the most in terms of how much they changed from when you first started writing Sovereign Hope to when you finished the book?
Well, I suppose that would be Aldan. He was very much a secondary character in my story plotting when I started out on Sovereign Hope. Yet as I progressed with my writing, I realised that he was really important to the plot and to all of the characters.He wasn't going to have a very large part originally, and I definitely wasn't going to have him as a pivotal character, but that's what he ended up being. I've been blown away by how much people have loved Aldan, and I actually plan on writing a spin off based on his backstory, with a healthy dose of Agatha, too.

If you couldn’t write anymore, what would you be doing?
Jet pilot, for sure. I'm not even joking. My grandfather was in the RAF, and I grew up around all kinds of aircraft. He took us to so many air shows, they all kind of blur together. It was always a massive rush watching the fighter jet displays. I was seriously considering joining up when I left school. I almost regret not doing it, but at the time they weren't letting women fly jets, and on top of that I didn't have great eyesight, and I was too tall already.
It's a shame- I think it would have been a really educational, gratifying experience as a young adult. I wouldn't necessarily have stayed in forever, but I think I would have enjoyed it.

Do you have a song playlist for the book you would be willing to share with readers?
No, I can't believe how many authors do. I get so distracted by music. I love listening to music, and I end up staring into space, singing or imagining the things that my favourite songs always conjure up in my mind. That, or I type the lyrics into my manuscripts without even noticing. It's only when I went back over Sovereign Hope the first time that I realised I did that. Now I have to work in a silent room! I definitely like listening to music when I'm thinking up my scenes, though, especially if they're action or romance scenes. Music helps those types of events really consolidate in my head, helping me picture the moment.

Interestingly, I was listening to my ipod on shuffle the other day and a song came up called, Daniel. I hadn't heard it before, and I immediately dashed to my sound system to find out who it was by. The artist was Bat For Lashes, and I listened to it about eight times on repeat, because I couldn't believe how relevant the lyrics were to Sovereign Hope. The song itself maybe isn't something I would have in the soundtrack, but readers should definitely check it out!!

This or That?

Night owl or early bird? Night owl, without a doubt. I stay up really late writing. I find a get a lot more done when everyone's asleep. I still get up at some ridiculously early hour, though.

Harry Potter or Twilight? Twilight. I've not read any of the Harry Potter books. I know that might make me a part of the minority, but I just couldn't ever force myself to get into it. It was just never my thing, sorry if that offends anybody! I think J K Rowling is a genius of a woman, and I respect her brand. I know she's writing adult books at the moment. Maybe I'll be able to get into that instead.

Warm weather or cold weather? This is a tricky one because I live in Australia now, and the beautiful beaches here have definitely given me a new appreciation for warm weather. But I have always had  a love for winter, mainly because of my obsession with mountains and snow sports. I think I'll have to say cold.

Paper books or eBooks? Paperbacks! I always refused to buy ebooks, but after a while I caved in. Now I'd say my reading is split 50/50 over hardcopy and electronic. If I really love a book, I have to have a physical copy of it. It's very materialistic of me, but I love the texture of the pages, the smell, the weight of it... books are my most prized possessions.

Coffee or tea? Iced coffeeeeee!!!

**********

Thanks so much for stopping by and answering my questions, Frankie!



Frankie Rose was born in the United Kingdom, but now lives with her husband in sunny Australia.

She officially makes things up for a living, and when she's not doing that, she is generally making paper birds out of receipts and old lists or taking photographs that make her smile.



Find Frankie and her books on the web:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | YouTube | Amazon

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Blog Tour: Guest Post/Giveaway - Ted Saves the World by Bryan Cohen

Today, I'm happy to have author Bryan Cohen on my blog, talking a bit about his novella, Ted Saves the World. This is the last stop on the tour, so make sure you check out the rest of the tour here to increase your chances of winning one of four $25 Amazon gift cards! More details of the giveaway to follow.

Description of Ted Saves the World (Available for just $0.99):
A possessed cheerleader. A cursed gang of criminals. Mysterious telekinetic powers. An angry ex-girlfriend in gym class? One second, sophomore in high school Ted endures his first breakup in his favorite place in town. The next, a mysterious blue light turns him into a worldwide superhero sensation for taking down a posse of grisly murderers. As his views on YouTube increase and his friend Dhiraj tries to capitalize on the marketing potential, his dangers increase as well when a presumed-dead cheerleader begins taking a personal interest. Can Ted survive his first week as a superhero in the public eye? This novella is the first taste in a series of full-length novels about the adventures of Ted Finley and Erica LaPlante. The book is also available on Barnes & Noble and Smashwords for $0.99. Click here to add it to your Goodreads shelf.

Gratefulness
By Bryan Cohen

I've been very fortunate in my career as a writer. On this last stop on my Ted Saves the World tour, I think it's important to remember to be thankful of all the positive things I have going for me in this strange, creative endeavor that I've made a major part of my life.

Throughout all of college, I came up with a ton of ideas for writing and producing and I wasn't afraid to put those concepts up on stage in front of my peers and the community. That being said, I never even dreamed of releasing those ideas to a public at large and having thousands of people buy a book with my name on it. Heck, I didn't even know that such a thing was possible without a publisher. I am grateful for all the people who have written about self-publishing who have found success and shared their strategies with the world in the form of blog or forum posts.

I've always liked the concept of superheroes and I'd alternately watched Saturday morning cartoons and read comic books as a kid. It wasn't until watching the show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as a teenager that I realized that heroes could have major flaws and that they could have witty banter with their friends just like I did. By relating so much to the characters and situations presented, years later I was able to create my own high school superhero yarn in Ted Saves the World. I'm grateful to Joss Whedon and all the other writers, crew and actors who brought the show to life and helped to inspire me to create this project.

For a long time in life, I thought that I was dealt the short end of the stick. I wasn't particularly athletic growing up and I was made fun of for being a little pudgy around the edges. In high school, the other kids quickly grew taller than me and were more socially adjusted as well. Toward the end of my time at Upper Dublin High, I combined my intelligence with a desire to be involved in the social scene and thus was born my sense of humor. While originally a coping mechanism, I have cultivated this humor into a career as a writer and a comedian. I realize now that the things I wanted in life, to be a tall, muscular, girl-getting dude, weren't meant to be, but the traits I've gotten and worked with are really amazing in their own way. I'm grateful for becoming this wacky, funny guy who is able to write up a storm when necessary.

I also want to show appreciation all of the people who let me be a part of their blogs for this four-week stretch. I am grateful to be included and I'm so happy to be able to share my ideas with your readers. While writers go through thousands of words every week to create something incredible, today's post could have been summed up easily with the two most important words of the English language. Thank you.

**********

Biography:
Bryan Cohen is a writer, actor and comedian from Dresher, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005 with degrees in English and Dramatic Art and a minor in Creative Writing. He has written seven books including 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More. Contact Bryan through his Ted Saves the World blog, his Build Creative Writing Ideas site or Twitter.


Giveaway!
Bryan Cohen is giving away four $25 Amazon gift cards, one for each week of his month long blog tour. To enter, simply comment with your e-mail address. Bryan will draw the four names at the end of the tour, picking one entrant at random from each week’s set of blog posts. Entries will be counted through Monday, August 15th, 2011. Enter on as many sites as you want, follow the tour at Build Creative Writing Ideas. If Ted reaches the Top 100 on Amazon at any point during the tour, a fifth $25 card will be added to the giveaway.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Blog Tour: Review of Shades of Atlantis by Carol Oates


Hello all and welcome to my blog for the Shades of Atlantis Blog Tour! I'm so excited to be part of this tour since it's the first that I've ever participated in! I hope you are having as much fun as I am. Read on to learn more about the book and the author, and to read my review!

About the author
Carol was introduced to the world of supernatural books when, as a child, her family moved to a coastal suburb on the northern border of Dublin known as Clontarf, famous as the birthplace of Bram Stoker, the prolific author responsible for breathing life into the legendary story Dracula. This stirred in Carol an early passion for reading about all things supernatural. Combine that passion with a deep interest in the history and folklore of Ireland, as well as an active and vivid imagination, and Carol Oates the author was born. Carol's love of writing about anything not entirely "human" emerged, and the premise for her debut novel, Shades of Atlantis, was born.

Carol still lives in Dublin, but spends a great deal of time traveling though the counties of Ireland and Northern Ireland with her partner and son. When not travelling through the countryside, Carol spends her days at the office and her evenings immersed in the world of Legends and Mythical Creatures.

About the book
Title: Shades of Atlantis
Author: Carol Oates
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Publish Date: 2010
Genre: YA, paranormal, romance
Pages: 308
Source: From publisher for review

Synopsis:
Since the death of their parents, Triona Pryor and her brother, Ben, have lived with their aunt and uncle in Camden, Maine. Now in her senior year of high school, Triona loves her family and friends, but she has always felt that she didn't quite fit in...in Camden, or anywhere else.

Enter Caleb Wallace, the devilishly handsome man who has recently moved to Triona's small town. While their attraction to each other is instantaneous, it also proves to be dangerous...and deadly.

When tragedy strikes, Triona flees to London for solace and to start her life anew. It's there she discovers from an unlikely source that her family has been keeping secrets from her - secrets about not only her birthright, but her ultimate destiny as well. Armed with this knowledge, Triona finds herself thrown into a whole new world and into a battle to save the lives of everyone she loves.


Review:
I have to say that there is a lot that happens in this book. It starts out with Triona finishing up her senior year of high school, working as a waitress to make enough money to jet off to London after graduation. But then she meets Caleb, one of the young, drop-dead gorgeous new owners of the restaurant where she works. Neither of them know what’s going on, but there’s this undeniable pull of attraction between the two of them. When Triona’s life falls apart around her, she pulls herself together and moves to London. While in London, she tries to recover from the horrible memories she tried to leave behind in Camden. But eventually, stuff starts getting weird and Triona finds out she’s not who she thought she was, nor is Caleb’s family.

This book could almost easily be split into two books: Camden and London. The tone of the book changes completely between when Triona is living at home and finishing high school, and when she finally travels to London. They’re so different that I actually felt like I had finished one book and picked up the next. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, though, it totally works for the book.

I honestly don’t know anything about Irish myths. Like, totally clueless. So I really can’t compare the parts of Irish history that Carol used to create this world for Triona and her characters. However, I did recognize a few things: she integrated the stories of the lost city of Atlantis, and also incorporated Excalibur, King Arthur’s “Sword in the Stone.” The part that was really interesting for me was how she used these stories and the Irish myths and put them together to create this awesome, paranormal world.

The romance in this story is very prominent and very strong. Triona and Caleb are undeniably attracted to each other, an attraction so strong that she can sense when he’s in the room and feels incomplete without him. Their relationship is sexy and heartfelt, but also littered with mystery because of all the secrets Caleb keeps from Triona. I don’t want to say more because if I do, I will ruin a lot of things. So you’ll just have to read it in order to see what their secrets are and how Triona and Caleb try to make their relationship work.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Like I said, there is a lot going on, but it’s not too overwhelming because of the way it splits in the middle. It’s a fresh start. It allows for a great balance. This story is very imaginative, romantic, sexy, and exciting. I definitely recommend it.

And because I love book trailers, here's the one for SHADES OF ATLANTIS:


Giveaway:
Here's the rules:
- You must leave one comment on each blog participating in the tour. Please do not leave your email in the comments.
- You will have to complete the form on A Tale of Many Reviews on April 19, the last tour stop.
- Winners will be chosen by Random.org from the final form
- Giveaway is open internationally
- You do not have to be a follower of any participating blogs

Here's what you can win:
There will be 4 winners total: one will win this awesome prize pack, a second will win this prize pack minus the mug, and two more will win an ebook copy of SHADES OF ATLANTIS.

Check out my post from before the tour to get the full list of blogs participating, with direct links to their posts, and go comment away! Remember, you need to comment on each blog post in the tour to be eligible to win those awesome prizes.

Next Stop: Books and Shtuff.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Shades of Atlantis Blog Tour!



I wanted to give all my lovely followers a heads up about this blog tour! It's the first blog tour that I'll ever be a part of and I'm super duper excited. The tour doesn't stop here until April 11, but it starts on Friday (April 1st). So for that reason, I wanted to let you know in advance so you can follow along with the tour each day rather than have to flip back through the other blogs. I know, I'm so considerate ;).

Here's the tour schedule:
(all links go directly to blog tour posts)

April 1: Mundie Moms

April 2: Once Upon a Twilight - Guest Post

April 3: Good Choice Reading

April 4: Frenzy of Noise - Character Interview

April 5: Girls Just Reading

April 6: Books, Movies, Reviews. Oh my

April 7: CSI: Librarian

April 8: YA Bound

April 9: YA Booklover Blog

April 10: The Reading Fever

April 11: At Home Between the Pages (here)

April 12: Books and Shtuff

April 13: Bookworm Lisa

April 14: Moonlight Book Reviews

April 15: One Book Shy of a Full Shelf

April 16: Diva's Bookcase

April 17: Ticket to Anywhere

April 18: The Crazy Bookworm

April 19: A Trail of Books Left Behind

April 20: A Tale of Many Reviews (host) - Video interview with author

So make sure you follow along! The book is really awesome, I enjoyed it a lot. I'll be posting my review on my tour date (April 11) and also putting up information on how you can win awesome stuff. Yes of course there's a giveaway! And it's BIG. So make sure you check back and follow along! It'll be lots of fun :)