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| Going to a séance was supposed to be a harmless diversion in Victorian England, but for Delia Spencer, it was life altering. Since that day, she has been plagued by fainting spells, while her consciousness visits Elle Thomas more than a century in the future. In modern-day New York, Elle has kept secret the dream-like memories of Delia’s life. As the visits have become more frequent, Elle is confused about what is her life and what is not. Back in England, Delia’s father is determined to marry her off to any marginally suitable man before her illness becomes known to society. But will Delia consent, now that she’s had a taste of Elle’s independence? Goodreads About the Author:
Jo Noelle grew up in Colorado and Utah but also spent time in Idaho and California. She has two adult children and three small kids. She teaches teachers and students about reading and writing, grows freakishly large tomatoes, enjoys cooking especially for desserts, builds furniture, sews beautiful dresses, and likes to go hiking in the nearby mountains.
Oh, and by the way, she's two people--Canda Mortensen and Deanna Henderson, a mother/daughter writing team. We write sweet romance stories with contemporary, paranormal, fantasy or time-travel twists. Visit Jo's site at https://sites.google.com/site/authorjonoelle/books
Follow her on Twitter!
Excerpt #1
Moth holes in the threadbare velvet curtains wink with the last western rays of sunlight as Mrs. Aggret, a medium from America, excuses herself to prepare the chamber.
“Delia, we’ll go to hell for this, won’t we?” Madeline whispers terribly close to my bonnet. The image of a fly buzzing in my ear comes to mind, but I acknowledge her comment instead of shooing her away. She’s sure we’re consorting with the devil—or at least his minions—and has mumbled a constant sermon into my ear from the time we sat in the carriage, crossed town, and climbed the stairs to this upper apartment.
But there’s no such thing as divination, and mediums are just actresses with a steady income. Instead of announcing my opinion aloud, I press my lips together so I don’t ruin the outing for my friends. Really, it’s kind of a brilliant trade for a woman who has to live independently and doesn’t have a conscience about stealing. They probably think they sell entertainment, and tonight, I’d agree. Any diversion would be better than sitting at the academy or packing to return home in a few days. Though the other girls seem excited to return to their families and be presented to society, Saint Helena’s Academy for Girls has been a godsend to me.
Who would have thought that this group of debutants would sit in a shabby apartment, bubbling with fascination at the prospect of visiting with spirits? Truthfully, each face carries its own level of comfort, from Janey’s look of amusement to Charlotte’s expression of boredom, and Madeline looking a little sick. My expectations are low—if this distracts me from thinking more on my family, I’ll call tonight a success.
Ruth leans closer to the group. “Could we contact my grandmother? Does our spiritual guide take requests for which ghosts will visit?”
“We didn’t come all this way to talk to your senile grandmother.” Charlotte doesn’t even notice the shock on Ruth face. “I’m hoping for a murderer or his victim—someone who died in this very building, maybe.”
“Do you suppose the spirit of the victim will be battered and bloody?” I ask, trying to look sincere, but a secret smile passes my lips and calls Charlotte’s attention.
“Of course they are,” she answers with a serious countenance. I jab her lightly with my elbow, but she continues, “Well, what do you expect from someone living on Marylebone Lane? I’m sure our medium contacts only the seedy types for our enjoyment. Perhaps on the way home we can stop off at a fistfight or a bear mauling.” Though her voice is dull with mock nonchalance, I have no doubt she hopes to see one or the other—maybe she already has.
Madeline takes a deep breath and whispers again. “This is sacrilegious. I know it is. We should leave before we’re possessed by demons.” She bites the corner of her lip, her eyes scanning the room as if a ghost will pop through the wall right into her body.
Janey removes her gloves and drops them into her reticule. “It isn’t sacrilegious, and we’re not going to get possessed. It’s spiritual. They are spirits. We have spirits. And we’re just going to chat. Now take off your gloves so we can get a better connection with the table.”
Obeying Janey’s suggestion, Ruth tugs on her calf-skin gloves. “It isn’t spiritual. It’s science—another part of the world science is discovering. I suppose that the spirits still maintain their ability to choose. If they are present tonight, it’s because they choose to contact us.”
I wish it were magic. Then I’d have the medium transport me anywhere else and as someone else who wouldn’t have to go home next week.
Our medium parts a curtain and reenters the parlor, candlelight flickering behind her. Silently, she makes eye contact with each of us, her gestures bidding us into the next room, arranging us around a wooden table, seating herself between Janey and me. The night is clear, but the air smells of dust with the static charge of a lightning storm, though it didn’t feel like this a minute ago. If this isn’t a well-staged theatrical as I’m expecting, then I hope Janey has the right of it and not Madeline. I survey the faces of my friends, smiling or grimacing, as Mrs. Aggret begins snuffing the tapers in the center of the table. It takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dimming light.
“Many spirits linger near tonight. Keep your palms against the wood to thwart the malevolent souls seeking entrance.” She presses her own hands to the table, nodding to us to do the same. Madeline’s hands press the table hard enough for her fingernails to whiten.
With only one small candle lit and glowing red embers in the fireplace, the room is nearly dark. The medium begins to hum, her head lolling from shoulder to shoulder, her eyes closed. A flicker of anticipation courses through me, part excitement, part fear. When the table shifts back and forth under our hands, I’m close enough to see our medium’s palms resting lightly atop of it, and I realize she isn’t moving it. The feeling of icy sparks wraps around my arms and spills down my spine. I want to shake them out, but I dare not remove my hands from the wood.
The table rocks sharply to the side and drops back, then tips away again. The hair in my clip rises in a breeze. When I peek around the table, no one else’s hair is moving. A cold presence brushes across my back and neck, and my eyes fully open, looking for whoever was touching me, but there is no one in the room with us. I feel it again and gasp, then raise my hand to rub the sensation from my skin. A warning voice whispers fear to my mind. “There’s nothing there. You’re imagining it.” I tell myself with much less confidence than I wish, my warning voice whispers fear to my mind.
Mrs. Aggret’s voice sounds shaky and frightened. “Who’s there? What do you want?” Then she moans, slumping toward her hands, convulsing then stiffening, her head skewing to the side and her chin rising. When she grabs my hand, lightning riots through my body, scorching through my blood, blasting across my skin, and writhing against my heart in palpitations. Though I try to rip my fingers from the table, they don’t respond, and neither does my voice. I’m frozen in place from an electric charge gnawing through me. Gray shadows of myself convulse in and out of my body. I feel as if my flesh, my mind, my very spirit were fighting to remain together. Panic swells in my chest.
The medium’s mouth opens for each word, but it is not her voice I hear. “An altered creature you have become—two lives, a time-ripped soul, from one.” As she finishes, two things happen at once—an arctic breath of wind chokes out the final candle, and the embers in the fireplace explode with life.
My friends leap from their chairs and back away from the fire, their mouths wide with shock, but I hear nothing. The sound in the room is completely white and blank. And it appears that I am the only one incapable of escaping my chair.
Looking down, I will my hands to move, but they stay firmly attached to the tabletop, my thumbs anchored to the edge with ghostly white knuckles. Crimson drops splatter the front of my dress, falling from my nose. Janey’s eyes are wide as she rushes to my side. From deep within my chest, a rip travels up my body, bisecting me, burning away the cold, scalding my heart, searing reality from my sight.
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 4/30/15
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am a Reader Not a Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
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Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M. Lee
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| Goodreads In the Labyrinth, we had a saying: keep silent, keep still, keep safe. In a city of walls and secrets, where only one man is supposed to possess magic, seventeen-year-old Kai struggles to keep hidden her own secret—she can manipulate the threads of time. When Kai was eight, she was found by Reev on the riverbank, and her “brother” has taken care of her ever since. Kai doesn’t know where her ability comes from—or where she came from. All that matters is that she and Reev stay together, and maybe one day move out of the freight container they call home, away from the metal walls of the Labyrinth. Kai’s only friend is Avan, the shopkeeper’s son with the scandalous reputation that both frightens and intrigues her. Then Reev disappears. When keeping silent and safe means losing him forever, Kai vows to do whatever it takes to find him. She will leave the only home she’s ever known and risk getting caught up in a revolution centuries in the making. But to save Reev, Kai must unravel the threads of her past and face shocking truths about her brother, her friendship with Avan, and her unique power. About this author |
Review:
I've always been a huge fan of action books, and Gates of Thread and Stone's synopsis sounded like it was going to have a lot of kickass action. Actually, the part of the summary stating "In the Labyrinth, we had a saying: keep silent, keep still, keep safe." made me have high expectations for the action. It's similar to the summary of The Walled City by Ryan Graudin-"There are three rules in the Walled City: Run fast. Trust no one. Always carry your knife."; (which had GREAT action scenes) so I was extremely excited to see awesome action scenes. However, the action in the book didn't really live up to my expectations. They were well written, but they left me feeling kinda "meh", instead of "OMG ASDFHJKL WHAT IS THIS I'M SO EXCITED AND SCARED". So because of that, I had to dock off a star for my rating.But besides that qualm, everything else was very well-written. The book flowed smoothly, the characters were independent and strong, and the world-building was phenomenal. Most of all, Kai was not a pathetic, dependent-on-men kind of heroine. The romance between Avan and Kai was pretty slow (in the way that they took a LONG time to admit their feelings for one another) and it was written painfully and beautifully because the whole time I just wanted to scream and bash their heads together so they would kiss. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I think other people will as well. On a side note, I was really surprised by the ending and frustrated by the cliffhanger- and now I'll have to wait a long time for the sequel.
Four Chocolates!
About the Author:
Author's WebsiteFollow her on Facebook! Follow her blog! Follow her on Twitter!
Kimberley Griffiths Little was born in San Francisco, but now lives in New Mexico with her husband and their three sons.
For such award-winning middle grade novels as When the Butterflies Came, The Last Snake Runner, The Healing Spell, and Circle of Secrets, her writing has been praised as "fast-paced and dramatic," with "characters painted in memorable detail" and "beautifully realized settings."
Kimberley adores anything old and musty with a secret story to tell and makes way too many cookies while writing.
She's stayed in the haunted tower room at Borthwick Castle in Scotland; sailed on the Seine in Paris; ridden a camel in Petra, Jordan; shopped the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul; and spent the night in an old Communist hotel in Bulgaria.
Her amazing, filmed-on-location book trailers are right here on Goodreads.https://www.goodreads.com/videos/list...
Awards: Southwest Book Award, Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel, Bank Street College Best Books of 2011 & 2014, Crystal Kite Finalist, and New Mexico Book Award Finalist.
Watch the Trailer!
Praise for Forbidden
*STARRED* Review, ALA BOOKLIST
". . . At its core, this is a romance, with all the push and pull that goes along with impossible love, and Little elevates the story by creating a perilous landscape, both outward and inward, as Jayden must deal with the hardship of desert life as well as her own desires."
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
"This is a fast-paced, entertaining choice which will appeal to fans of historical fiction and romance."
"Lush, lyrical, romantic. Forbidden transports readers into a vividly imagined place and time."
--Claudia Gray, New York Times bestselling author
"The harsh beauty of the deserts of ancient Mesopotamia come to life in Forbidden, with beautiful descriptions that will make you crave water and check for sand in your clothes. Your heart will break as you root for Jayden to triumph over the many struggles that threaten to tear her world apart, and the ending will leave you thirsting for more!"
--Sara B. Larson, author of Defy
"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."
Review:
What I loved best about Forbidden would definitely be the descriptions. The setting was so vivid, and all of the characters were described really well. The world-building was fairly strong, but it was hard to keep track of all the settings. Scenes would transition so quickly that I'd be blinking and asking myself how Jayden even got there. Honestly, some of these scene transitions were too quick, and there really was no flow. Some of the scenes could be sluggishly slow while other scenes would jump from one event to another I didn't know where I was going.
Despite the uneven pace, I enjoyed the plot- it was fresh and interesting; especially since I've barely read any books taking place in a desert. And the culture and traditions in Forbidden was detailed and wonderfully written.
This book mostly focused on Jayden and her growth as time passed. Although I would have liked a little more on other characters (especially her sister), I really enjoyed how Jayden found herself and her strength as the story progressed.
Despite the uneven pace, I enjoyed the plot- it was fresh and interesting; especially since I've barely read any books taking place in a desert. And the culture and traditions in Forbidden was detailed and wonderfully written.
This book mostly focused on Jayden and her growth as time passed. Although I would have liked a little more on other characters (especially her sister), I really enjoyed how Jayden found herself and her strength as the story progressed.
Some of the things that happened to her was terrifying, and I think some of the events were downplayed a bit.
The romance was not the best part of the book, but it wasn't terribly written. I just didn't like how Griffiths tried to portray it as "forbidden"- it didn't really have that feel- and it was insta-love (one of my biggest pet peeves). The love interest, Kadesh, also seemed like a cardboard cutout character with not much uniqueness of his own. Thankfully, Jayden's character was able to compensate for that and the romance was scattered throughout the book so that it wasn't tiring to read.
The romance was not the best part of the book, but it wasn't terribly written. I just didn't like how Griffiths tried to portray it as "forbidden"- it didn't really have that feel- and it was insta-love (one of my biggest pet peeves). The love interest, Kadesh, also seemed like a cardboard cutout character with not much uniqueness of his own. Thankfully, Jayden's character was able to compensate for that and the romance was scattered throughout the book so that it wasn't tiring to read.
Overall Forbidden was a glittering, unique read with lots of descriptive dances (which I loved) and a strong main character. I would recommend this for fantasy lovers who like books with a distinctive setting.
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 1/4/15
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am a Reader Not a Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
Division spy Christy Hadden can't wait for her latest assignment posing as a student at a prestigious New York City academy and car thief extraordinaire.
The best part of the mission is her attractive handler, Jeremy, and her new team. The worst part? The sociopath masquerading as the academy's most popular guy.
But soon she realizes the car thieves are much more than they seem. Her simple spying mission becomes more dangerous than anyone imagined. If the organization discovers her true identity, they won't hesitate to kill her, and if she fails, others will suffer the same fate.
Young Adults, teens and adults will love this exciting suspenseful adventure with a dash of romance. You won't want to put it down.
About the Author:
Cindy M. Hogan graduated with a BA in education and is inspired by the unpredictable teenagers she teaches. More than anything she loves the time she has with her own teenage daughters and wishes she could freeze them at this fun age. If she's not reading or writing, you'll find her snuggled up with the love of her life watching a great movie or planning their next party. Most of all, she loves to laugh. She is the bestselling and award winning author of the Watched trilogy, a YA suspense series with a dash of romance. She has since branched off to write a mystery, Gravediggers, that won Best YA novel of 2013, a contemporary romance, Confessions of a 16-Year-Old Virgin Lips, and two in a spy series, Adrenaline Rush and Hotwire.
"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."
Review:
I must admit, I didn't read this first book, Adrenaline Rush, before reading Hotwire. In fact, I still haven't read it- and now I really want. Hotwire is a very enjoyable young adult mystery/thriller novel with a spunky main character and unique side characters. It's also able to be read as a standalone novel so no worries about Adrenaline Rush!
This is a rather fun and light mystery that keeps you guessing throughout the story. I think my main problem with Hotwire was simply that it was too light for me. It doesn't mean that Hotwire was bad; it's mostly just a matter or preference. Hotwire isn't necessarily detailed in its descriptions of settings or characters, but it makes up for that in the plot. It's fast-paced and exciting to the end.
The romance is not the main focus of the story but Christy's relationship and interactions with Jeremy is an important part of Hotwire. Since Jeremy is Christy's handler (they interact a lot because of this), their romance is "forbidden". The romance didn't really have that "forbidden" taste going on for me, and it seemed kind of silly to add that there. And I just didn't find Jeremy to be an attractive or likable character. Maybe it's because I didn't read the first book, but I just wasn't really able to understand the full scope of their relationship and who Jeremy was.
Overall though, I really enjoyed Hotwire and I'll be adding Adrenaline Rush to my to-read list- it looks like it's going to be a fun read and it'll be nice to get more background on Christy. This book is definitely recommended for YA mystery lovers.
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 12/26/14
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am a Reader Not a Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
Rumble Young Man Rumble is a modern coming of age story. I wrote it because as a young man I did not identify with any of the iconic coming of age stories people gave me. I don’t think any of my peers did either. It’s 2014, hand your average American 20 year old a copy of Catcher in the Rye and see if they get past the first couple pages… they won’t. It’s sad, because Catcher is a great book, but it just doesn’t speak to the experience of growing up now. There aren’t too many books that do. When I taught high school English, it became glaringly apparent that my students were suffering from a similar lack of literature they could identify with. When I taught undergrads in college, I found the same thing to be true. In America, we no longer come of age in our teenage years: we come of age in our mid twenties with far more access and danger around us. I wrote Rumble Young Man Rumble to renew the dialogue of the genre.
I wrote it to reach out to the young men and women who, unfortunately, look at books like they are things that belong on a dusty library shelf.
On a more personal note, I wanted Rumble to be a story about love, loss, and prizefighting, all things I find to be infinitely fascinating and quite similar to each other.
Who do you think would be most affected by or touched by this work?
It is my hope that this book finds its way into the hands of sensitive and angry young men who are learning to become adults. I think that they would be the most touched by this story. I also think people who’ve never given ring fighting a second thought but had the courage to pick up this book will be incredibly surprised at the complexity and emotion portrayed in this story with regard to fighting. It is a book that, if you can look past some of the raw grit, can transcend age and gender variables.
