Bea Reviews A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire

Series: October Daye #14
Read As A Stand Alone: No
Publisher: 
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books | Kobo | * affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

When October is informed that Simon Torquill—legally her father, due to Faerie's archaic marriage traditions—must be invited to her wedding or risk the ceremony throwing the Kingdom in the Mists into political turmoil, she finds herself setting out on a quest she was not yet prepared to undertake for the sake of her future.... and the man who represents her family's past.

Bea Reviews I'm A Gnome! by Jessica Peill-Meininghaus and illustrated by Poly Bernatene

Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: August 13th, 2019
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository*  | * affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Fans of Mo Willems and Dev Petty's I Don't Want to Be a Frog will love this humorous tale about one gnome's journey to prove he is unlike the other magical creatures in the forest.

Join Gnome (that's spelled G-N-O-M-E--don't ask why the G is silent!) as he travels through the magical forest to attend the annual Gnome Festival.

Along the way he encounters elves, dwarves, trolls, and fairies. But don't be mistaken. He is NOTHING like those magical creatures. Well, maybe he is . . . but only a little bit!

When Gnome finally arrives at the festival, he realizes that all the traits he thought made gnomes different from the others actually made them alike--and that's just fine.

Bea Reviews The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O'Neill

Publisher: Oni Press 
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 31st, 2017 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Barnes & Noble | web comic | Comixology
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

From the award-winning author of Princess Princess Ever After comes The Tea Dragon Society, a charming all-ages book that follows the story of Greta, a blacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as she becomes entwined in the enchanting world of tea dragons.

After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon care-taking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives—and eventually her own.

Bea Reviews Beauty and the Beast: Classic Tales about Animal Brides and Grooms from Around the World, edited by Maria Tatar

Series: Penguin Classics
Publisher: Penguin
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: March 7th, 2017
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Perhaps no fairy tale is as widely known as 'Beauty and the Beast' - and perhaps no fairy tale exists in as many variations. Nearly every culture tells the story in one fashion or another - such cultural phenomena as The Fault in Our Stars and Me Before You are recent examples - and it is impossible to find one version that laid the foundation for the rest. From Cupid and Psyche, India's Snake Bride to South Africa's 'Story of Five Heads', the partnering of beast and beauties has beguiled us for thousands of years.

In this fascinating volume preeminent fairy tale scholar Maria Tatar brings together tales from ancient times to the present and from a wide variety of cultures.

Mini Reviews: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman & From A High Tower by Mercedes Lackey

Series: The Invisible Library #1
Publisher: Roc
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: June 14, 2016
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit*  | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Collecting books can be a dangerous prospect in this fun, time-traveling, fantasy adventure from a spectacular debut author.
 
One thing any Librarian will tell you: the truth is much stranger than fiction...

Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, a shadowy organization that collects important works of fiction from all of the different realities. Most recently, she and her enigmatic assistant Kai have been sent to an alternative London. Their mission: Retrieve a particularly dangerous book. The problem: By the time they arrive, it's already been stolen.

London's underground factions are prepared to fight to the death to find the tome before Irene and Kai do, a problem compounded by the fact that this world is chaos-infested—the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic to run rampant. To make matters worse, Kai is hiding something—secrets that could be just as volatile as the chaos-filled world itself.

Now Irene is caught in a puzzling web of deadly danger, conflicting clues, and sinister secret societies. And failure is not an option—because it isn’t just Irene’s reputation at stake, it’s the nature of reality itself...

FEATURING BONUS MATERIAL: including an interview with the author, a legend from the Library, and more!

Bea Reviews The Raven Queen by Che Golden

Publisher: Quercus
Series: Feral Child #3
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: March 6, 2014
Challenges: Finishing the Series
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit*  | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Maddy and her cousins are ready for battle.

War in the faerie realm threatens to spill into the human world. The three cousins are determined to protect all they love from the Tuatha, the fearsome faerie leaders.

As the Morrighan, the supreme monarch of the Tuatha, awakes, Maddy realises she's going to need more than just physical strength and luck to survive.

The Tuath are notorious tricksters, and Maddy will have to outsmart them for good - or else plunge two whole worlds into the darkest chaos.

Excerpt from A Rose By Any Other Name by Landra Graf

Do you like zombies? Fairy tales? How about love stories? You're in luck! I have an excerpt from a fairy tale romance that has a zombie for sleeping beauty! for you today! Ignore the cobwebs, push aside the cats, put up your feet, and enjoy!

Landra Graf consumes at least one book a day, and has always been a sucker for stories where true love conquers all. She believes in the power of the written word, and the joy such words can bring. In between spending time with her family and having book adventures, she writes romance with the goal of giving everyone, fictional or not, their own happily ever after.

Find Landra Online:

website
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pinterest
goodreads

TEASERS & GIVEAWAY: Fairy Tale Confessions, an anthology

I'm a sucker for fairy tales and always have been so I was happy to sign up for this tour. I've got the book on my wish list and I'm looking forward to the day I can get it and read it. Today I've got some teasers to share and there's a tour-wide giveaway.

Make yourself comfy, move the cats out of your way, and enjoy!

Audio Excerpt from A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire

It's no secret that I love Seanan McGuire's urban fantasy series, October Daye. But I've only read it, not listened to it. The publisher contacted me and offered an audio excerpt for my readers. I hope you enjoy it!

Find Seanan Online:

website
blog
facebook
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goodreads

Bea Reviews A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire

Publisher: Daw Books
Series: October Daye #9
Source: Purchased by the reviewer
Release Date: September 1, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit*   | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Things are looking up.

For the first time in what feels like years, October “Toby” Daye has been able to pause long enough to take a breath and look at her life—and she likes what she sees. She has friends. She has allies. She has a squire to train and a King of Cats to love, and maybe, just maybe, she can let her guard down for a change.

Or not. When Queen Windermere’s seneschal is elf-shot and thrown into an enchanted sleep by agents from the neighboring Kingdom of Silences, Toby finds herself in a role she never expected to play: that of a diplomat. She must travel to Portland, Oregon, to convince King Rhys of Silences not to go to war against the Mists. But nothing is that simple, and what October finds in Silences is worse than she would ever have imagined.

How far will Toby go when lives are on the line, and when allies both old and new are threatened by a force she had never expected to face again? How much is October willing to give up, and how much is she willing to change? In Faerie, what’s past is never really gone.

It’s just waiting for an opportunity to pounce.

Bea Reviews A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

Publisher: Disney
Series: Twisted Tales #1
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 1, 2015
Challenges: NetGalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Kobo  | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Welcome to a new YA series that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways. Each book asks the question: What if one key moment from a familiar Disney film was changed? This dark and daring version of Aladdin twists the original story with the question: What if Jafar was the first one to summon the Genie?

When Jafar steals the Genie’s lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.

What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.

Jax Reviews Ten Fingers Touching by Ellen A Roth

Publisher: Getting to the Point, Inc
Format Read: hardcover
Source: Publisher, in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: December 10, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon*
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Evil plots his return to power and Good fights to defeat Evil's sinister plan. Caught between them in this epic struggle are two young lovers - Martak, master of the forest, and Marianna, a beautiful maiden and governess to Rosy, the impetuous, young princess. Evil's desperate scheme to outwit Good and rule the Kingdom puts Martak, Marianna and the Princess at risk as they are drawn into the conflict.

Will the soulmates realize their "happily ever after?" Martak must first unravel the curse and destroy evil. In this land where magical forces vie for dominance, could true love be the most powerful weapon of all?

A beautifully illustrated tale for women of all ages, Ten Fingers Touching explores the complex nature of love and fate. It is an enchanting journey of romance, mystery and adventure. Ellen A. Roth's debut novella is an imaginative take on a classic genre-and a treat for the romantic soul.

Bea Reviews The Emperor, His Bride and the Dragon Robe by Lisa Sankar-Zhu

Publisher: Golden Mushroom 
Format Read: eGalley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: February 3, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords*
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

“The Emperor, His Bride and the Dragon Robe” is a wonderful fairy tale set in ancient China. It tells the story of a brave young emperor and two beautiful young women, who are suddenly thrust the incredible, once-in-a-life-time opportunity of marrying the emperor and becoming the next empress of China. Their journeys take them from their humble homes to the grand palace where their lives are forever changed for the better, and, at times, even for the worse as the competition to win the emperor’s heart intensifies. The young women meet their unexpected challenges in very different ways. But their struggle is the depiction of the fight between good and evil.

The author was inspired by her two sons, who were born in China, to write the story. She also credits writing the book to having lived in China for many years and being warmly embraced by the Chinese people who have willingly shared their rich culture with her.

“The Emperor, His Bride and the Dragon Robe” (limited print edition) was launched at Expo 2010 Shanghai, the largest World Expo ever. In 2013, English and Chinese copies were presented as state gifts to the President of China by the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.

Bea Reviews The Unicorn Hunter by Che Golden

Publisher: Quercus
Series: Feral Child Trilogy #2
Format Read: eGalley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Challenges: NetGalley and Edelweiss ARCs,  Winter 2014-2015 COYER
Release Date: January 6, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | Barnes & Noble | 
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

"Gripping, mystical and adventurous, young readers will be as hooked as Maddy was the minute she set foot inside that creepy as hell old castle," raved Irish World said of The Feral Child.
Maddy's adventures continue in The Unicorn Hunter. The adults of Blarney have always lived in fear. The faeries of Tir na nOg exist on their doorstep, and they could unleash terror on the mortal realm at any time.
But eleven-year-old Maddy is not afraid. The unicorn that holds the key to balance and peace in both worlds is injured, and Maddy knows she is the only one who can track down whoever hurt her.
Can Maddy survive the force and cunning of the Tuatha, who rule Tir na nOg? Or will she end up a mere pawn in their own power games?
Readers will enjoy the frank and bold heroine of Maddy, and will be dazzled by The Unicorn Hunter's evocative rendering of Irish folklore and richly imagined alternate worlds.

Free Kindle Books for Halloween!

I've read the first two anthologies, reviewed the first one, and have the third on my Kindle, waiting it's turn. The Kindle books are FREE for 4 days only so get yours now!

Steph Reviews Free Agent By J.C. Nelson

Publisher: Ace
Series: Grimm Agency #1
Format Read: Paperback
Source: From the publisher for an honest review
Release Date: July 29, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe*/OmniLit | Barnes & Noble | 
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

When it comes to crafting happily-ever-afters, the Agency is the best in the land of Kingdom. The Fairy Godfather Grimm can solve any problem—from eliminating imps to finding prince charming—as long as you can pay the price…

Working for Grimm isn’t Marissa Locks’s dream job. But when your parents trade you to a Fairy Godfather for a miracle, you don’t have many career options. To pay off her parents’ debt and earn her freedom, Marissa must do whatever Grimm asks, no matter what fairy-tale fiasco she’s called on to deal with.

Setting up a second-rate princess with a first-class prince is just another day at the office. But when the matchmaking goes wrong, Marissa and Grimm find themselves in a bigger magical muddle than ever before. Not only has the prince gone missing, but the Fae are gearing up to attack Kingdom, and a new Fairy Godmother is sniffing around Grimm’s turf, threatening Marissa with the one thing she can’t resist: her heart’s wishes.

Now Marissa will have to take on Fairies, Fae, dragons, and princesses to save the realm—or give up any hope of ever getting her happy ending…

Quote-Tastic and Review of The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire

Publisher: DAW Fantasy
Series:October Daye #8
Format Read: paperback
Source:  the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 2, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Toby thought she understood her own past; she thought she knew the score.

She was wrong.

It's time to learn the truth.

Bea Reviews The Feral Child by Che Golden

Publisher: Quercus
Series: Feral Child Trilogy #1
Format Read: egalley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: June 3, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

"Gripping, mystical and adventurous, young readers will be as hooked as Maddy was the minute she set foot inside that creepy as hell old castle," Irish World said of The Feral Child.

Maddy, an orphan, is sick of her Irish town, and sick of her cousin Danny, one of the nastiest people you could meet. Mad as hell one evening, she crawls inside the grounds of the castle, the one place she has always been forbidden to go. Once inside, she is chased by a strange feral boy, who she suspects is one of the faerie: cruel, fantastical people who live among humans and exchange local children for their own.

When the boy returns to steal her neighbor Stephen into his world, Maddy and her cousins set off on a terrifying journey into a magical wilderness, determined to bring him back home. To do so, they must face an evil as old as the earth itself.

Che Golden has created a gripping adventure that interweaves Maddy's modern Irish experience with the vivid fantasy of the region's ancient folklore. Readers will enjoy the frank and bold heroine of Maddy, and will be dazzled by The Feral Child's evocative rendering of Irish folklore and richly imagined alternate worlds.

Bea Reviews Little Roja Riding Hood by Susan Middleton Elya

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile 
Format Read: epub
Source: We Give Books free read
Release Date: April 10, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

While Roja picks flowers on the way to her grandma's, a mean wolf sneaks away with her cape to surprise Abuelita. But Grandma's no fool and Roja's no ordinary chica. They send that hungry lobo packing with a caliente surprise!
This sassy retelling of Little Red Riding Hood has accessible Spanish rhymes and fresh illustrations, with hip cultural details throughout.

The Friday 56 #35 The Feral Child by Che Golden

This is a fun meme to do hosted by Freda's Voice. If you'd like to join in the fun go to The Friday 56.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

I'm reading a middle grade urban fantasy set in Ireland,  "The Feral Child" by Che Golden. The quote is from 56%  in the eARC.

"Why do the trees behave like that?" asked Roisin as they stopped for what must have been the sixth time to watch the old trees groan and bed their creaking trunks slowly as Fionn talked to them.

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