It's that time again :) Welcome to this weeks Owl Post! Check out the fab books I've received this week!
What did the owls bring YOU this week?
In many ways life is a story and you are the author. Each and every day you write another paragraph, another page, another chapter. The story, the plot….even the ending, are all up to you and often when you first set out, you yourself have no clue where you’re going to end up....
Monday, May 18, 2015
Owl Post #62
What did the owls bring YOU this week?
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Free Ebooks
Hi everyone and happy Sunday!
To kick start a new week I've got some Amazon freebie's to share. Enjoy!
To kick start a new week I've got some Amazon freebie's to share. Enjoy!
Hope everyone managed to snag something good!
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Book Shelf: Betrothed (Betrothed #1) by Wanda Wiltshire
When Amy starts having strange dreams, everything changes. Night after night, she becomes trapped in a shroud of black - a void of silence but for a male voice calling for a girl named ‘Marla’.
One night, the darkness clears, Leif is revealed and Amy discovers that she is the girl he has been searching for.
Immediately the two are swept up in a passionate yet forbidden love. Leif isn’t like the other boys Amy knows. Breathtakingly gorgeous, he speaks with her telepathically … not to mention, he can fly …
Desperate to find a way to be with her, Leif tells Amy of the terrifying threat to his Fae homeland, the danger to the people, and of an unforgivable betrayal to his King. He urges her to seek her true identity…. But Amy is confused... isn't it all just a dream?
More info on Goodreads......
Review:
Betrothed is Wanda Wiltshire’s debut novel and introduces readers to a lush and imaginative world of Fae where the bonds of love are stronger than anything else.
Betrothed is told through the eyes of seventeen year old Amy Smith, a teenage girl who is quite literally allergic to the whole world. As someone who has to watch what kind of foods she eats, fragrances she inhales and chemicals she is exposed to, Amy has always known she was different. In Betrothed, Amy finds herself dreaming of an alluring young man who seems too perfect to be real, and is shocked when she discovers that Leif not only is real, but has been searching for her for a long time. Amy is really Marla, a member of the Fae who has grown up in the human world with her adopted family. As Amy and Leif fall for one another, they begin looking into Marla’s family and must soon face the truth that their journey together will never be an easy one….
I want to be really honest here; Betrothed is a really hard novel for me to review. In a lot of ways it wasn’t a bad book, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I struggled an awful lot whilst reading Betrothed. I’m going to try very hard not to be negative but I’m still going to be brutally honest.
Wanda Wiltshire has written a very enticing world in Faera and the concepts throughout the story were quite unique. Her writing was beautifully descriptive and paints a lush world heroine Marla discovers. However I truly struggled to connect with the characters in this story and the romance completely fell flat for me. As a hopeless romantic, who enjoys chemistry and growth, the instant-love between Marla and Leif felt me feeling dissatisfied. I didn’t feel these two at all.
The idea of two betrothed was really fantastic; the idea that upon birth, a piece of the soul of a male baby is sent out and joins with his betrothed—a kind of soul mate—at her conception and then when these two find each other in adulthood they connect like no other and normally have a long life together. As two betrothed, Marla and Leif were always destined to be together, but their "romance" was too tedious.
They were instantly "in love" with each other, and Marla’s obsession with Leif too much to read about at times. Personally I didn’t think him too great and after a while her constantly yearning, desire and obsession with him grated. It was too much, too in-your-face and I felt the author tried too hard to emphasize their connection and due to this the subtly was lacking. There was no spark between them, and even though he had a supposedly old worldly charm, I couldn’t connect with him as a love interest.
I struggled too much to connect with Marla in the story too as an individual. Obsession with Leif aside, she didn’t have much going for her. I wanted to like her, I did, and though I felt bad, I just couldn’t make myself like her. Sometimes a simple heroine who is a part of an epic romance can really shine for her simplicity when she makes tough choices, but with her romance with Leif lacking for me, all Marla was left with was to be someone who seemed too caught up in "her man".
The plotline of Betrothed had real potential but I feel like it fell flat; lost amongst the tiresome romance and lackluster characters. I think if the characters had have been more likable and personable, the storyline could have really shone but unfortunately this wasn’t the case for me personally.
Overall Betrothed had plenty of potential but lost me when the unbelievable romance between Marla and her betrothed Leif became such a focal point and the instant-love shared between them failed to win a fan in me.
Rating:
Source: Sent for review by Pantera Press (Thank you guys!)
Format: Paperback
Buy it: Bookworld | The Nile | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
My Recommendation: Fae fans may enjoy this one.
Cover: Simple but pretty.
Will I read sequel/continue with series: No. Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me....
Friday, May 15, 2015
Blog Tour: Through Fire & Sea by Nicole Luiken- Guest Post & Giveaway
After posting my review of Through Fire & Sea by Nicole Luiken yesterday I'm excited to be taking parting in the tour today :) Please enjoy the guest post I have from author Nicole Luiken below and enter the tour wide giveaway for your chance to win goodies!
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In the Fire world, seventeen-year-old Leah is the illegitimate daughter of one of the realm's most powerful lords. She's hot-blooded—able to communicate with the tempestuous volcano gods that either bless a civilization or destroy it. But then Leah discovers she's a Caller, gifted with the unique—and dangerous—ability to “call” her Otherselves in mirror worlds. And her father will do anything to use her powers for his own purposes.
In the Water world, Holly nearly drowns when she sees—and interacts with—Leah, a mirror image of herself. She’s rescued by Ryan, a boy from school with a secret he’d die to protect. Little do they know, his Otherself is the son of a powerful volcano god at war in the Fire world…and he’s about to fall.
As Leah and Holly's lives intersect, the Fire and Water worlds descend into darkness. The only way to protect the mirror worlds is to break every rule they've ever known. If they don’t, the evil seeping through the mirrors will destroy everything—and everyone—they love…
Purchase:
On the Other Side of the Mirror
Have you ever looked in a mirror, perhaps after going through a big change like from long to short hai r or from glasses to contacts, and just for a second not recognized yourself? That happened to me once. It’s where my idea of otherselves came from, that second of disorientation. What if, I asked myself, the reflection really was a different you, an otherself living in a Mirror World?
My fascination with mirror probably dates from watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarves as a young child and shivering/loving the scenes with the magic mirror. (Obscure fact: when I was fourteen I wrote a novel titled Mirror rorriM. Never published —and that’s probably a good thing.)
When researching mirrors, I was intrigued to discov er that, while glass mirrors with a silver backing are the standard today, many different types of mirrors were used throughout history. Mirrors of silver. Mirrors of gold. Mirrors of obsidian.
According to my invented mythology, the True World was created first by the god Aesok. Then his bumbling brother Besok came along and tried to copy Aesok’s creation, but each time he made a different mistake, adding too much water to one, to o much fire to another, etc, and ended up creating the Mirror Worlds. In copying the worlds, Besok also made copies of the people living on the True World.
Because the populations on the Mirror Worlds have diverged over the centuries as people died in childhood accidents or married different people on one world than another, few people have otherselves. Fewer still have otherselves on all fi ve worlds. These rare people are known as Callers. By placing their hand on one of the mirrors and Callin g Look into a mirror, they can contact their otherselves. See out of their otherself’s eyes, speak to them, or in extreme cases, even switch places with them.
What would you do if you had an otherself?
She is the author of nine published books for young adults, including Violet Eyes and its sequels Silver Eyes and Angels Eyes, Frost, Unlocking the Doors, The Catalyst, Escape to the Overworld, Dreamfire and the sequel Dreamline. She also has an adult thriller, Running on Instinct, under the name N.M. Luiken and a fantasy romance series, Gate to Kandrith and Soul of Kandrith. Nicole lives with her family in Edmonton, AB. It is physically impossible for her to go more than three days in a row without writing.
Visit Nicole:
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Thursday, May 14, 2015
Book Shelf: Through Fire & Sea by Nicole Luiken
Mirror mirror, hear my call…
In the Fire world, seventeen-year-old Leah is the illegitimate daughter of one of the realm's most powerful lords. She's hot-blooded—able to communicate with the tempestuous volcano gods that either bless a civilization or destroy it. But then Leah discovers she's a Caller, gifted with the unique—and dangerous—ability to “call” her Otherselves in mirror worlds. And her father will do anything to use her powers for his own purposes.
In the Water world, Holly nearly drowns when she sees—and interacts with—Leah, a mirror image of herself. She’s rescued by Ryan, a boy from school with a secret he’d die to protect. Little do they know, his Otherself is the son of a powerful volcano god at war in the Fire world…and he’s about to fall.
As Leah and Holly's lives intersect, the Fire and Water worlds descend into darkness. The only way to protect the mirror worlds is to break every rule they've ever known. If they don’t, the evil seeping through the mirrors will destroy everything—and everyone—they love…
More info on Goodreads......
Review:
I want to be honest here; Through Fire & Sea is in no way a bad book. It’s well depicted and entails all the classic fantasy elements I enjoy, but there was just something that kept me from really connecting with the story and the characters. Personally I very much enjoyed the concept within this novel and think Nicole Luiken does a great job attempting to explore something different, but Through Fire & Sea feel flat as far as I’m concerned.
Through Fire & Sea is told through the eyes of two very different girls; mirror images of one another, but from very different worlds and who have experienced very different lives. There’s Leah, a scullery maid who lives within a fantasy/medieval style world of fire where dragons exist and magic is possible, and Holly the daughter of a famous movie director who exists in a modern, everyday world much like ours and who is surprised to discover the person looking back in the mirror isn’t just a reflection.
This really is a story about worlds colliding with Luiken weaving her two focal worlds together. At its base there are more than two mirror worlds, but Fire and Water are the only two we have explored so far. There’s a complexity to the theology in Luiken’s mirror worlds that is both intriguing and confusing to me. For the most part I did enjoy this novel but I kept waiting for it to blow me away, like some fantasy tales do but this just wasn’t the case.
Both of the heroines were easy enough to follow, but I certainly preferred Holly over Leah. There was just something about Leah that irked me at times, whereas Holly, even as a generic teenage girl in a modern world was more likable and fighting. Holly was actually the kind of heroine I would happily follow throughout a series as she’s intelligent and though she makes mistakes, learns and then fights for what she cares about.
The different romances between Leah and Holly and the two boys they date who are also mirror imagines of each other were sweet. Once more Holly’s romance won me over more so than her counterpart, but I did like Leah’s too. Hers wasn’t always an easy journey and I felt sorry for her upon occasion.
Overall Through Fire & Sea features a unique concept that could have soared but just failed to win me over as I initially hoped it would heading into the novel. Whether I decide to read the next instalment remains to be seen, but give this novel a go if you think it’s something you might enjoy; you never know…..
Rating:
Source: Sent for review by YA Bound Book Tours and the author (Thank you ladies!)
Format: Kindle ebook
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks
My Recommendation: Fantasy fans might enjoy this.
Cover: I think the cover is really beautiful
Will I read sequel/continue with series: Probably not.....
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Waiting on Wednesday #93
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine where you can spotlight an upcoming release that you're eagerly anticipating.
Dreamland by Robert L. Anderson
Releases on: 22nd September 2015
Odea Donahue has been
able to travel through people’s dreams since she was six years old. Her
mother taught her the three rules of walking: Never interfere. Never be
seen. Never walk the same person’s dream more than once. Dea has never
questioned her mother, not about the rules, not about the clocks or the
mirrors, not about moving from place to place to be one step ahead of
the unseen monsters that Dea’s mother is certain are right behind them.
Then a mysterious new boy, Connor, comes to town and Dea finally starts to feel normal. As Connor breaks down the walls that she’s had up for so long, he gets closer to learning her secret. For the first time she wonders if that’s so bad. But when Dea breaks the rules, the boundary between worlds begins to deteriorate. How can she know what’s real and what’s not?
Then a mysterious new boy, Connor, comes to town and Dea finally starts to feel normal. As Connor breaks down the walls that she’s had up for so long, he gets closer to learning her secret. For the first time she wonders if that’s so bad. But when Dea breaks the rules, the boundary between worlds begins to deteriorate. How can she know what’s real and what’s not?
Thoughts:
I love the concept of someone being able to travel through dreams and I'm really looking forward to this. It has real potential!
What do you think of Dreamland?
And what are YOU waiting on this week?
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Book Shelf: The Seventh by S.D. Wasley
When she’s invited to join the elite Gifted Program, Mimi discovers she’s not the only one at the school with an unusual talent. Maybe being normal isn’t even an option anymore.
More info on Goodreads......
Review:
The Seventh is S.D. Wasley’s debut novel and is a supernatural tale that weaves different elements of the paranormal together with friendship and romance in this first novel that kicks off Wasley’s debut series.
The Seventh follows sixteen year old Miette "Mimi" Alston, a teenage girl who has spent the last three years of her life accompanied by three ghosts at all times. Known for her odd nature and the problems her ghosts can cause, Mini’s school life has been nothing but difficulties. So when her psychologist recommends Etherall Valley Prep, a school that focuses on managing problem children, a category Mimi falls into with her diagnosed delusions, Mimi takes a chance on EVP, unaware her life is about to change forever. Soon invited to participate in a Gifted program, Mimi is shocked to discover other individuals with abilities similar to hers and quickly discovers that having her gift isn’t necessarily the curse she believed it to be……
As far as storyline’s go, the one within The Seventh was quite solid. S.D. Wasley’s writing is easy to read and her main character easy to follow. From what I discovered in this first instalment I’m thinking The Seventh will be a part of a series and Wasley supports this by setting up many possibilities with where the storyline could possibly go. The Seventh sets the stage are far as storyline development and mythology are concerned, and while it’s a fairly basic storyline for now, Wasley clearly has a bigger picture in mind.
Mimi is an easy enough main character to follow. She’s very normal despite the fact she has ghosts following her at all times and I enjoyed her developing relationships with the other characters. S.D. Wasley gives Mimi people who can understand where she’s coming and who have been insimilar situations in the form of Drew, Gabe, Mona, Ed, Cassie and Patience who are all a part of the Gifted program and who have different abilities of their own.
Obviously there’s a romance between Mimi and goth-boy Drew that was actually quite sweet. They were endearing to be honest and I liked that they grew from a friendship, and that despite their obvious crushes on each other, they got to know each other first before a romantic relationship developed.
S.D. Wasley ends this instalment of her debut series perfectly with enough excitement, development and revelations to leave me wondering what will happen next. Likable characters combined with a paranormal element make for an entertaining read.
Rating:
Source: Sent for review by the author (Thank you S.D!)
Format: Kindle ebook
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords
My Recommendation: Looking for something magical? This one is for you!
Cover: This cover is really pretty--I love it!
Will I read sequel/continue with series: Yes, I'm looking forward to more.
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