Review: As She Ascends

Title: As She Ascends
Author: Jodi Meadows
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: September 11, 2018

MIRA, THE HOPEBEARER
Mira Minkoba is on the run with her friends after a fiery escape from the Pit, where she’d been imprisoned for defending the dragons she loves. And she wants answers. Where have all the dragons been taken? Why are powerful noorestones being shipped to the mainland? And did the treaty she’s been defending her whole life truly sell out the Fallen Isles to their enemies?

MIRA, THE DRAGONHEARTED
As her connection to the dragons—and their power—grows stronger, so does Mira’s fear that she might lose control and hurt someone she loves. But the only way to find the truth is to go home again, to Damina, to face the people who betrayed her and the parents she’s not sure she can trust.

Home, where she must rise above her fears. Or be consumed.

The second page-turning novel in Jodi Meadows’ Fallen Isles trilogy scorches with mysterious magic and riveting romance as one girl kindles a spark into a flame.

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Blog Tour | Character Interview | Mira Minkoba + Giveaway!

About the series

ACCESSIBLE YA FANTASY AT ITS BEST: The stakes are even higher in the second book in this epic fantasy trilogy, which is complete with a romance to root for, deadly games of deceit and betrayal, and a fiercely imagined world that keeps you guessing until the explosive ending.

COMPLEX FEMALE PROTAGONIST: Facing crippling anxiety and compulsive counting along with her dire circumstances, Mira is a compellingly flawed and refreshingly unique fantasy protagonist.

DEVOTED TO DIVERSITY: Writing inclusive books has always been important to Jodi, and the Fallen Isles series is no exception, with characters of many different backgrounds represented on the page.

Be sure to read all through to learn about the giveaway!

Title: As She Ascends

Author: Jodi Meadows

Publisher: Katherine Tegen

Release Date: September 11, 2018

MIRA, THE HOPEBEARER

Mira Minkoba is on the run with her friends after a fiery escape from the Pit, where she’d been imprisoned for defending the dragons she loves. And she wants answers. Where have all the dragons been taken? Why are powerful noorestones being shipped to the mainland? And did the treaty she’s been defending her whole life truly sell out the Fallen Isles to their enemies?

MIRA, THE DRAGONHEARTED

As her connection to the dragons—and their power—grows stronger, so does Mira’s fear that she might lose control and hurt someone she loves. But the only way to find the truth is to go home again, to Damina, to face the people who betrayed her and the parents she’s not sure she can trust.Home, where she must rise above her fears. Or be consumed.The second page-turning novel in Jodi Meadows’ Fallen Isles trilogy scorches with mysterious magic and riveting romance as one girl kindles a spark into a flame.

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Review: Smoke and Iron

Title: Smoke and Iron
Author: Rachel Caine
Publisher: Berkley Books
Release Date: July 3, 2018

The opening moves of a deadly game have begun. Jess Brightwell has put himself in direct peril, with only his wits and skill to aid him in a game of cat and mouse with the Archivist Magister of the Great Library. With the world catching fire, and words printed on paper the spark that lights rebellion, it falls to smugglers, thieves, and scholars to save a library thousands of years in the making...if they can stay alive long enough to outwit their enemies.

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Review: One Small Thing

Title: One Small Thing
Author: Erin Watt
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: June 26, 2018

Beth’s life hasn’t been the same since her sister died. Her parents try to lock her down, believing they can keep her safe by monitoring her every move. When Beth sneaks out to a party one night and meets the new guy in town, Chase, she’s thrilled to make a secret friend. It seems a small thing, just for her.

Only Beth doesn’t know how big her secret really is…

Fresh out of juvie and determined to start his life over, Chase has demons to face and much to atone for, including his part in the night Beth’s sister died. Beth, who has more reason than anyone to despise him, is willing to give him a second chance. A forbidden romance is the last thing either of them planned for senior year, but the more time they spend together, the deeper their feelings get.

Now Beth has a choice to make—follow the rules, or risk tearing everything apart…again.

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Blog Tour Q/A: Star-Touched Stories by Roshani Chokshi

Guess what! The Star-Touched Stories, by Roshani Chokshi is out now. If you loved The Star-Touched Queen and A Crown of Wishes, you'll definitely want to complete your collection and read these three stories.

Check out below for a Q&A with the author!

Title: Star-Touched Stories

Author: Roshani Chokshi

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Release Date: August 7, 2014

Death and Night
He was Lord of Death, cursed never to love. She was Night incarnate, destined to stay alone. After a chance meeting, they wonder if, perhaps, they could be meant for more. But danger crouches in their paths, and the choices they make will set them on a journey that will span lifetimes.

Poison and Gold
Now that her wish for a choice has come true, Aasha struggles to control her powers. But when an opportunity to help Gauri and Vikram's new reign presents itself, she will have to battle her insecurities and maybe, along the way, find love.

Rose and Sword
There is a tale whispered in the dark of the Empire of Bharat-Jain. A tale of a bride who loses her bridegroom on the eve of her wedding. But is it a tale or a truth?

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Review: A Poison Dark and Drowning

Title: A Poison Dark and Drowning
Author: Jessica Cluess
Publisher: Random House BFYR
Release Date: September 19, 2017

The magicians want her to lead. The sorcerers want her to lie. The demons want her blood. Henrietta wants to save the one she loves. But will his dark magic be her undoing?

Henrietta doesn’t need a prophecy to know that she’s in danger. She came to London to be named the chosen one, the first female sorcerer in centuries, the one who would defeat the bloodthirsty Ancients. Instead, she discovered a city ruled by secrets. And the biggest secret of all: Henrietta is not the chosen one.

Still, she must play the role in order to keep herself and Rook, her best friend and childhood love, safe. But can she truly save him? The poison in Rook’s system is transforming him into something monstrous as he begins to master dark powers of his own.

So when Henrietta finds a clue to the Ancients’ past that could turn the tide of the war, she persuades Blackwood, the mysterious Earl of Sorrow-Fell, to travel up the coast to seek out strange new weapons. And Magnus, the brave, reckless flirt who wants to win back her favor, is assigned to their mission. Together, they will face monsters, meet powerful new allies, and uncover the most devastating weapon of all: the truth.

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Audiobook Review: Nyxia Unleashed

Title: Nyxia Unleashed
Author: Scott Reintgen
Publisher: Crown BFYR
Release Date: July 17, 2018

Emmett Atwater thought Babel’s game sounded easy. Get points. Get paid. Go home. But it didn’t take long for him to learn that Babel’s competition was full of broken promises, none darker or more damaging than the last one.

Now Emmett and the rest of the Genesis survivors must rally and forge their own path through a new world. Their mission from Babel is simple: extract nyxia, the most valuable material in the universe, and play nice with the indigenous Adamite population.

But Emmett and the others quickly realize they are caught between two powerful forces—Babel and the Adamites—with clashing desires. Will the Genesis team make it out alive before it’s too late?

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Review: A Curse So Dark And Lonely

Title: A Curse So Dark And Lonely
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's
Release Date: January 29, 2019

Fall in love, break the curse.

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

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Review: The Wicked King

Title: The Wicked King
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little Brown BFYR
Release Date: January 8, 2019

The enchanting and bloodthirsty sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince.
You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.

The first lesson is to make yourself strong.

After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

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Review: Muse of Nightmares

Title: Muse of Nightmares
Author: Laini Taylor
Publisher: Little Brown BFYR
Release Date: October 2, 2018

In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep.

Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice—save the woman he loves, or everyone else?—while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes, only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the muse of nightmares, has not yet discovered what she's capable of.

As humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel's near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and why? What was done with thousands of children born in the citadel nursery? And most important of all, as forgotten doors are opened and new worlds revealed: Must heroes always slay monsters, or is it possible to save them instead?

Love and hate, revenge and redemption, destruction and salvation all clash in this gorgeous sequel to the New York Timesbestseller, Strange the Dreamer.

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Quick update

Yep, it's that time.

I'm still on a quick hiatus as I try to get some reviews ready to go and figure out what else to post. Mainly because I'm so busy with life that I don't even know what's going on with this blog.

Don't worry, I'll be back very soon. I'm reading and writing reviews. And I'm figuring out what other things to post. It will just be like another week or so before things get back to normal!

Impromptu Hiatus, Whoops!

I know this keeps happening, but I'm sorry!

Between having a full time job and a full time business, it's really tough to keep up. I am trying though!

As far as the business goes, I'm less busy this weekend than I usually am, so I'm taking that time to get ahead on orders. So I'll be able hopefully get back to reading, because I'm behind. As always.

Also on the agenda is ALAAC in NOLA! Omg I'm so excited! Is anyone else going? My sister and I are going together, and I cannot wait. If you're going let me know and we will probably run into each other. I know Tracy from Cornerfolds (aka my business partner) is going. And I've heard Amber from DuLivre is also going, so maybe I will see you there too!

Other news on the horizon...

My friend Erin in Houston is moving and couldn't take her cat with her. She looked for weeks for a home for him and couldn't find one. The shelters are all still full from Hurricane Harvey, plus it's kitten season. And so, because my heart was breaking, I offered to take Kaz from her. I'm picking him up at the airport tomorrow.

I cannot keep him, as my cats are all declawed (I don't want to hear the "don't declaw your cats" argument. I agree with you people. But declawed cats still need homes and I adopted them declawed, so leave it.), and Kaz is not. It wouldn't be fair to them, as if they got in a fight they couldn't defend themselves. But I have multiple homes lined up for him.

I think thats pretty much it for what's going on! I'm gonna try to get back to things on here.

Review: Furyborn

Title: Furyborn

Author: Claire Legrand

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: May 22, 2018

When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchable--until her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world--and of each other.

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Writing Journey - Part 3

In the wake of rejection, I decided to get working on another project to distract myself. 

Now, in case you are unaware, I'm a pantser. Terrible pantser. I've tried planning and it did not work out well, so I will continue what seems to work for me.

That said, I tried to go and write in my gender-swapped Cinderella retelling, and got basically a few sentences. Okay, better than nothing, right? But I'm just not feeling it. I don't know how to approach the story, even though I have plot ideas in my head. So I decided to put it on the backburner again.

Now, the shiniest unfinished project I have is Thorn of Dreams. This was what I was writing for Nanowrimo a few years ago. The reason I stopped? I realized I needed to do more research than I can conceivably do at the moment. I could read plenty of books and online articles, but this is a book that's based in Icelandic culture, and I really feel I should take a trip to Iceland to truly experience it. Sadly, this is something I cannot afford currently.

So of course, that one has stayed on the backburner, much as I want to write about creatures that are the living embodiment of nightmares.

This brings me to a conundrum. Do I write something new? I haven't had much time to think about stories lately, so I don't have any new ideas that I've not started floating around yet (oh but I will soon, just not at the moment. They always come, just when I least expect them). So no, I won't start something new since I've got many already started projects.

But what then?

Well, I have three projects that I wrote a while ago that could definitely use some sprucing up. One is particularly bad, but I'm going to ignore it for the foreseeable future, because dystopia. Lol. And so I have decided to do a full rewrite of Iron Curse.

You may remember this as a) the first book I submitted on Swoon Reads and/or b) the second book I ever finished. Once I'm done with this rewrite (and let's face it, there's plenty I'm going to keep. I've just grown as a writer, so I'd like it to be better), I'll likely begin revising Crash Story. 

Oh my gosh, so much to do! Are you working on a big writing project? 

Review: Caraval

Title: Caraval

Author: Stephanie Garber

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Release Date: January 31, 2017

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over.

But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. And whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over or a dangerous domino effect of consequences will be set off, and her beloved sister will disappear forever.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval…beware of getting swept too far away.

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Cover Reveal: Flirt

Hello all! Today I have for you a cover reveal for Flirt by M.L. Sparrow. This is the second book in the What Happens on Campus series, a NA romance (which duh, I love!). It's out on July 27, and I cannot wait!

~Synopsis~

Flirting never hurt...

Forced to give up her promising gymnastics career due to a devastating injury, Riley Murphy decides to join her twin sister at St Joseph’s University in Texas. Finding a best friend in her roommate, Chloe, she nonetheless finds herself going off the rails as she indulges in drugs, alcohol and boys. However, playing quickly turns into something she can’t control… Too ashamed to confide in her friends or family, and with a boyfriend who does nothing but feed her addictions, the person she turns to is Cameron Lucas, someone she knew as a child. 

Cam’s loved Riley since he used to go to work with his mama at the Murphy estate, but she was always so far out of his liege. Now he’s beginning to realize that he never really knew her in the first place… However, that realization only deepens his feelings. But the question is, how far is he willing to go to help someone who won’t help them self? And can he discover the demons driving her to self-destruct?

Writing Journey Part 2

This seemed like a good time to post, because as I write this, I just received my first ever rejection letter to a query. 

Am I surprised at all to get a rejection letter? Not one bit. But I am surprised one came in so quickly, since I know literary agents have hundreds of queries to go through, and I only sent this one out last week. I'm honestly surprised this agent had even gotten to mine yet. Just shows what I know, right?

And that's fine, because I'm still learning. I did my research, and only sent out a few queries to test the waters. Once I get back at least one more response, I will start looking over my query again and decide what to do from there. 

In the mean time, I haven't done any writing since last week, but I have thought about some stories I've had stewing. And I have some ideas floating around. Here is when I wish I had the money to take a trip to Iceland for research, but alas, I do not. So I shall work on other projects until I can take care of that one (I really want to work on that one, but oh well).

Next up on my writing board, probably my gender-swapped Cinderella?

Review: To Kill A Kingdom

Title: To Kill A Kingdom

Author: Alexandra Christo

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Release Date: March 6, 2018

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

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Writing Journey - Part 1

Hello again! I've decided to start documenting what I'm doing writing-wise.

As many of you might know, I write a lot. What you might not realize is that I haven't written anything since February of this year. Yes, it has been quite a long time. But I've had some ideas stewing now for a while, and I'm almost ready to jump back in to what I had planned.

As for what I had planned already? It's time to start querying Cloak & Dagger. I got really busy, and then I decided if I hardly had time to send an email, I shouldn't be querying. Because if by some miracle I got an agent, I'd need to have time to edit. Which I totally didn't.

But things have changed now. I do have time to edit. I have time to write. Somehow! I need to do a little less reading, but I can do it all. Read, write, make candles, go to my regular job!

So I plan (again) to try and query. Also this is another reminder that my spy fantasy romance story (Cloak & Dagger, duh) is on Swoon Reads. If you're curious, there's a link to it up top in the Extras tab.

That's it for now. Basically an introduction, and a really quick update. Next time, I might share some notes and some of the things I last wrote. Let me know what you think!

Review: The Wicked Deep

Title: The Wicked Deep

Author: Shea Ernshaw

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Release Date: March 6, 2018

Welcome to the cursed town of Sparrow…

Where, two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery. Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding the town.
Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them under.

Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives; unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into.

Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets. The townspeople turn against one another. Penny and Bo suspect each other of hiding secrets. And death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters.

But only Penny sees what others cannot. And she will be forced to choose: save Bo, or save herself.

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