Blog Tour Review & Giveaway: The Story Book Knight by Helen Docherty and Thomas Docherty

Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 6th, 2016
Challenges: I Love Picture Books
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository*  | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Even dragons can’t resist a good story…

Even though Leo would rather sit at home and read, his parents send him out into the world in the hopes that Leo will become a famous knight. But when Leo comes up against the land’s most fearsome beasts, he soon discovers that scary monsters enjoy a good book as much as anyone…

Excerpt from Evolution Revolution: Simple Machines by Charlotte Bennardo

Today I have an excerpt from a middle grade fantasy by an author whose books I've enjoyed for about 5 years now. 

Until Hollywood calls, Charlotte lives in NJ with her husband, three children, two needy cats and sometimes a deranged squirrel. Evolution Revolution: Simple Machines is her first solo book. She is also the co-author of Blonde Ops (St. Martin’s/Dunne) and the Sirenz series (Sirenz, Sirenz Back In Fashion, Flux), and is one of 13 authors in the Beware the Little White Rabbit anthology (Leap). She’s written for magazines and newspapers. Currently she’s working on an historical fiction, sci fi, and time travel novels. She loves to hear from fans on Twitter (@charbennardo) or through her blog, http://charlotteebennardo.blogspot.com/

Steph Reviews Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children By Ransom Riggs

Publisher: Quirk Books
Series: Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #1
Format Read: E-book
Source: Purchased
Release Date: June 7, 2011
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:

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs.

A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

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 Demons We See by Krista D. Ball

Series: The Dark Abyss of Our Sins #1
Publisher: Krista D. Ball
Source: the author in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: June 10, 2016 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Kobo | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Society was rocked when the Cathedral appointed Allegra, Contessa of Marsina, to negotiate the delicate peace talks between the rebelling mage slaves and the various states. Not only was she a highborn mage, she was a nonbeliever and a vocal objector against the supposed demonic origins of witchcraft. Demons weren’t real, she’d argued, and therefore the subjection of mages was unlawful.

That was all before the first assassination attempt. That was before Allegra heard the demonic shrieks. All before everything changed. Now Allegra and her personal guards race to stabilize the peace before the entire known world explodes into war with not just itself, but with the abyss from beyond.

So much for demons not being real.

Bea Reviews Fury (Tranquility #3) & Schemes (Tranquility #4) by Krista D.Ball

Series: Tranquility #3
Publisher: Krista D. Ball
Source: the author in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 10, 2015
Challenges:  Finishing the Series
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:

As Lady Champion, Bethany has always made the big sacrifices, the ones that plague her with nightmares so that others can sleep. Trapped behind enemy lines and powerless to take down the barrier surrounding the Magi army, Bethany struggles to keep herself and her small team of soldiers alive – no matter the cost.

However, when Apexia’s daughters discover the true source of Magic, Bethany is forced to make the biggest sacrifice imaginable in the name of peace: the death of the Gentle Goddess herself.

Bea Reviews The Finisher by David Baldacci

Series: Vega Jane #1 
Publisher: Scholastic Press 
Source: a publicist in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: March 4, 2014 
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:

Welcome to Wormwood: a place where curiosity is discouraged and no one has ever left.

Until one girl, Vega Jane, discovers a map that suggests a mysterious world beyond the walls. A world with possibilities and creatures beyond her imagining.

But she will be forced to fight for her freedom. And unravelling the truth may cost Vega her life.

Bea Reviews Interlude: Stories from Tranquility by Krista D Ball

Publisher: Krista D. Ball
Series: Tales of Tranquility #2.5
Source: the author/pr firm/publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: February 28, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series
Buying Links: Amazon*  | Kobo  | iTunes* |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

INTERLUDE is a collection of short stories from the TRANQUILITY series. These stories are intended for those who have read the previous books and contains huge spoilers for both Blaze and Grief.

Love Notes is about Bethany and Arrago’s first month working together.

Knight’s Day Off is a story my Facebook people will have seen before. This one also takes place during those early days between Arrago and Bethany. Only this time, poor Bethany tries to take a day off work. Things don’t go according to plan. At all.

First Day on the Job is set after the events of GRIEF and is set about a week before the events of FURY. Myra, a Knight apprentice, is assigned a simple task: get Arrago, Edmund, Bethany, and the rest of the senior staff to attend a party hosted by Queen Celeste. However, it’s soon obvious that there’s more than just a party in the works and none of the main players are following the rules.

INTERLUDE is 20,000 words (about 75 pages).

Bea Reviews A Murder of Mages by Marshall Ryan Maresca

Series: The Maradaine Constabulary #1 
Publisher: DAW 
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: July 7, 2015
Challenges: NetGalley and Edelweiss ARCs
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:

A Murder of Mages marks the debut of Marshall Ryan Maresca’s novels of The Maradaine Constabulary, his second series set amid the bustling streets and crime-ridden districts of the exotic city called Maradaine. A Murder of Mages introduces us to this spellbinding port city as seen through the eyes of the people who strive to maintain law and order, the hardworking men and women of the Maradaine Constabulary.

Satrine Rainey—former street rat, ex-spy, mother of two, and wife to a Constabulary Inspector who lies on the edge of death, injured in the line of duty—has been forced to fake her way into the post of Constabulary Inspector to support her family.

Minox Welling is a brilliant, unorthodox Inspector and an Uncircled mage—almost a crime in itself. Nicknamed “the jinx” because of the misfortunes that seem to befall anyone around him, Minox has been partnered with Satrine because no one else will work with either of them.

Their first case together—the ritual murder of a Circled mage— sends Satrine back to the streets she grew up on and brings Minox face-to-face with mage politics he’s desperate to avoid. As the body count rises, Satrine and Minox must race to catch the killer before their own secrets are exposed and they, too, become targets.

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.

Review & Giveaway: Silver on the Road by Laura Anne Gilman

Publisher: Saga Press
Series: The Devil's West #1
Source: the author in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 6, 2015
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:

A heroic fantasy by an award-winning author about a young woman who is trained in the art of the sinister hand of magic, but at what price?

Isobelle, upon her sixteenth birthday, makes the choice to work for the devil in his territory west of the Mississippi. But this is not the devil you know. This is a being who deals fairly with immense—but not unlimited—power, who offers opportunities to people who want to make a deal, and they always get what they deserve. But his land is a wild west that needs a human touch, and that’s where Izzy comes in. Inadvertently trained by him to see the clues in and manipulations of human desire, Izzy is raised to be his left hand and travel circuit through the territory. As we all know, where there is magic there is chaos…and death.

Interview with Laura Anne Gilman & A Giveaway

I am delighted to have author Laura Anne Gilman here today. She kindly sat down and answered some questions for me and she's giving away an ARC of her forthcoming book, "Silver on the Road". I've been reading her for years, enjoying her epic fantasy, her urban fantasy, her PNR (under the name Anna Leonard), and her mysteries (under the name L.A. Kornestsky).

By the time she was fourteen, Laura Anne Gilman knew she would be an editor, a teacher, or a writer.

By thirty, she was all three. She's a little focused that way (when not being distracted by -oooh shiny!).

After fifteen years working in NY publishing, Laura Anne became a full-time writer, with more than twenty novels under her various bylines, including the SILVER ON THE ROAD, the Nebula Award-nominated Vineart War trilogy, and the 10-book, 4-novella Cosa Nostradamus series. She is also a serial short fiction writer, but her friends seem to like her anyway...

She's also the mystery writer L.A. Kornetsky.

Bea Reviews Grief by Krista D. Ball

Publisher: Krista D. Ball
Series: Tales of Tranquility #2
Source: gift from the author
Release Date: April 21, 2014
Challenges: Finishing the Series
Buying Links: Amazon* | Kobo | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

As the bodies of her father and her sister burned, Bethany refused to say good-bye. She would say it only when she saw the release of their spirits and the burning of every person connected to their deaths.

Only then would they rest in peace.

***

Thousands are dead. Lady Champion Bethany's tainted sister is slain. Her home lost forever. And Magic yet survives. Bethany thought she'd given everything in the fight against Magic. She was wrong. When the deaths of those closest to her shake her already crumbled world, she doesn't wilt and die. She still has one thing left to gain even now: revenge.

Prophecy or no, half-goddess or not, Bethany vows to bring order back to the world with the edge of her blade. No matter who she must defy. No matter what stands in her way. No matter who must die.

For what they've done to her, all will pay.


Book 2 of the Tales of Tranquility Series.

465 KB

EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY: Saga by J.A. Campbell

I'm thrilled to be part of the release for another adventure by J.A. Campbell. Saga—Legends of the Travelers is the first book in this new series and is sure to excite fantasy fans of all ages with its action and suspense. To find more books by J.A. Campbell stop by Untold Press.

About the Author ~ 

J.A. Campbell Julie has been many things over the last few years, from college student, to bookstore clerk and an over the road trucker. She’s worked as a 911 dispatcher and in computer tech support, but through it all she’s been a writer and when she’s not out riding horses, she can usually be found sitting in front of her computer. She lives in Colorado with her three cats, her vampire-hunting dog Kira, her new horse and Traveler-in training, Triska, and her Irish Sailor.She is the author of many Vampire and Ghost-Hunting Dog stories and the young adult fantasy series Tales of the Travelers. She’s a member of the Horror Writers Association and the Dog Writers of America Association and the editor for Steampunk Trails fiction magazine.

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.

The Friday 56: Grief by Krista D Ball

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 an epic fantasy, "Grief", by one of my favorite authors, Krista D. Ball. The quote is from 56% in the ebook.

"What? Just because I can kill a man and sleep well at night doesn't mean I can't appreciate another man's legs." (The speaker is a man, known for being a player with women.)

Audio Book Review: Nifty Reviews Radiance by Grace Draven

Publisher: Grace Draven/CreateSpace
Series: Wraith Kings #1
Source: purchased by the reviewer
Release Date: July 11, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Kobo | Smashwords*  | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

~THE PRINCE OF NO VALUE~

Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.

~THE NOBLEWOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE~

Ildiko, niece of the Gauri king, has always known her only worth to the royal family lay in a strategic marriage. Resigned to her fate, she is horrified to learn that her intended groom isn't just a foreign aristocrat but the younger prince of a people neither familiar nor human. Bound to her new husband, Ildiko will leave behind all she's known to embrace a man shrouded in darkness but with a soul forged by light. Two people brought together by the trappings of duty and politics will discover they are destined for each other, even as the powers of a hostile kingdom scheme to tear them apart.

Review & Giveaway of Wolfskin by W.R. Gingell

Publisher: W.R. Gingell
Source: Blog tour company in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 1, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon*
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Synopsis:

‘If you want adventure, you have to march right up to it and kick it in the shins . . .’

At fourteen, barefoot and running wild, Rose is delighted to be apprenticed to Akiva, the witch of the forest. She thinks it will be all enchantment and excitement, and not so much fuss about baths. The reality is much more sober and practical- that is, until she meets a mysterious wolf in the forest and is tricked into stepping off the path . . .
In young, naive Rose, Bastian sees a way of escape. Cursed to remain in the shape of a wolf after running afoul of a powerful enchantress, he has lived many decades under a spell, and now he is both desperate and ruthless. But by breaking part of Bastian’s curse, Rose has caught the attention of Cassandra, the enchantress who cursed him: and Cassandra is by no means ready to forgive and forget.
Meanwhile, wardens have been disappearing from the forest, one by one. Rose is certain that Cassandra is behind the disappearances, but can she and Bastian get to the bottom of the matter before Akiva disappears as well? And are Bastian’s motives entirely to be trusted?

Sometimes the little girl in the red hood doesn’t get eaten, and sometimes the wolf isn’t the most frightening thing in the forest.

Review & Quote-Tastic: Bayou Magic by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 
Format Read: eGalley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 12, 2015
Challenges:  May 2015 Clean Sweep ARC Challenge | NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge
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:

If only Maddy sees the mermaid, can it be real?
It's Maddy's turn to have a bayou summer. At first she misses life back home in the city, but soon she grows to love everything about her new surroundings -- the glimmering fireflies, the glorious landscape, and something else, deep within the water, that only Maddy sees. Could it be a mermaid? As her grandmother shares wisdom about sayings and signs, Maddy realizes she may be only the sibling to carry on her family's magical legacy. And when a disastrous oil leak threatens the bayou, she knows she may also be the only one who can help. Does she have what it takes to be a hero?
A coming-of-age tale rich with folk magic, set in the wake of the Gulf oil spill, Bayou Magic celebrates hope, friendship, and family, and captures the wonder of life in the Deep South.

EXCERPT And GIVEAWAY: The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

On May 26th, all three All Souls Trilogy novels were released in an elegantly designed paperback boxed set that’s perfect for fans and newcomers alike (Penguin Books; On-sale: May 26, 2015; $51.00).

Deborah Harkness is the number one New York Times bestselling author of A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life. A history professor at the University of Southern California, Harkness has received Fulbright, Guggenheim, and National Humanities Center fellowships. Her publications include works on the history of science, magic, and alchemy.  Her most recent scholarly book is The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution.  She lives in Los Angeles.

Deborah Harkness will be touring to:

 New Orleans * Asheville, NC * Nashville * Washington, D.C. * Pittsburgh * Dallas

Wichita * Boulder * Ann Arbor * Petoskey, MI * Chicago * Santa Fe * Albuquerque

Los Angeles * Seattle