Giveaway and Book Review of The White: The Dragon Pearl, book 1

Book Review of The White:  
      The Dragon Pearl, book 1
          Sponsored by Enchanted Book Tours

Welcome to Books, Books, and More Books.  I am pleased to share this book with you.  Thank you for visiting and please come again.

About The Book

Title: The White (The Dragon Pearl, Book 1)

Author: T.L. Shreffler

Release Date: May 25, 2015

Genre: Fantasy Adventure, some romance

Ever since The White appeared in our valley of Windridge, my people have lived in fear. But today that fear ends. Finally, the King has sent his most elite dragon hunters to kill The White, the last of the imperial dragons.

Since the death of her father, Sienna Foxburn hasn’t felt safe. The White, a fire-breathing imperial dragon, terrorizes the Valley of Windridge with no end in sight. But Sienna isn’t satisfied hiding behind the walls of her keep. She is tired of fearing the dragon, but she can’t fight it alone.

Then a mysterious sorceress and two elite dragon hunters arrive, claiming to be sent by the King. Thus begins the great hunt for The White. Sienna embarks on a dragon-hunting adventure through the exotic Valley of Windridge, all while uncovering secrets and conspiracies that could endanger the entire Kingdom…. 

Author Bio

T. L. Shreffler is a dragon hunter living in the sunny acres of San Fernando Valley, California. She enjoys frolicking through meadows, sipping iced tea, exploring the unknown reaches of her homeland and unearthing rare artifacts in thrift stores. She holds a Bachelors in Eloquence (English) and writes Fantasy, Paranormal Romance and poetry. She is author of The Cat's Eye Chronicles (#9 Amazon Top 100, #1 Kindle Fantasy) and has previously been published in Eclipse: A Literary Anthology and The Northridge Review.

Links

Website: www.dragonpearlseries.com

Pre-Order the Book:

(include link with image: http://www.amazon.com/White-Dragon-Pearl-Book-ebook/dp/B00W2TS78O/)

(include link with image: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/T_L_Shreffler_The_White?id=Y0kVCAAAQBAJ&hl=en)

(include link with image: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-white-5)

(include link with image: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24604412-the-white)

Giveaway

There is  a tour-wide giveaway with four winners: one signed copy, two ebook copies and a $10 Amazon gift card.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Excerpts

Excerpt  Sighting The White

James wrestled me to the ground, his thick forearm around my throat, not quite hard enough to choke. “I win!” he declared. “Just say the word, and I'll let go!”

Damn, he was too strong. I tried to reply, but it came out as a garbled squeak. I reached my arms around, trying to get him off my back, but he was too heavy to budge. He pinned me down by pure weight.

We were so distracted by the fight, we didn't notice the wind pick up, moaning through the trees. Branches began to thrash back and forth. My hair whipped into my face.

Then a shadow flew over us.

James gasped.

Pure adrenaline shot up my spine. I threw James to the side, his arms limp from shock. We both stared upward, searching the sky.

A terrible, piercing shriek split the air, a thousand times louder than a bird. The forest fell silent. The wind whipped the trees back and forth as though shaken by giant hands. Several branches snapped off and fell to the ground.

The bowark screamed and took off running. It thundered across the hill at a clumsy, rolling gait. I scanned the sky once, twice, holding my breath. Then, finally, I saw it.

The White circled around a pillar of rock high up on the mountain. This close, it appeared much larger than the distorted beast of my dreams. The shadow of its wings engulfed the entire hillside. Its tail stretched twice the length of its body, longer than the towering trees. The sunset’s glare reflected from its wings, casting its scales in a pearlescent glow.

I couldn't believe my eyes. The dragon had appeared from nowhere!

The sun hovered low in the sky, fading over the opposite ridge of the valley. Nightfall. We had stayed out too long.

I tried to stand up, but James threw me back to the ground, pushing me flat against the grass. “Get down, you idiot!” he hissed. “Its hunting!”

The dragon's tail lashed through the air, snapping several trees in half as it banked and turned. The broken trunks skidded down the hill, upturning rocks and loose dirt, creating a minor avalanche. The rocks bounced downward. James gripped my hand and we braced ourselves. A huge boulder rolled right past us, barely missing our legs.

The bowark kept running. It was painful to watch, like a rock trying to outrun lightning. The White circled once more, then dove from the sky. Its wings created a howling, whistling sound, almost as loud as its screech. It plucked the bowark off the ground in one massive claw, like a hawk scooping up a mouse.

Then, with an elegant twist of its wings, it soared back into the sky. A minute later, it was gone.

Review: 

            I love dragon stories. I grew up on the Dragon riders of Pern and will forever love dragon lore.  In this story a girl gets caught up in forces outside her control.  While she is on this journey she finds out she is more than she first thought.  There is some minor romance, but it is a small part of the story.

            The real story is the girl and the dragon.  The dragon both terrifies and fascinates her.  I cannot wait to read more about Sienna and Darius and the last imperial dragon.

            I give this story 5 out of 5 clouds.

This product or book may have been distributed for review; this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.

Giveaway and Book Review of Empath

Book Review of Empath
       Sponsored by Enchanted Book Tours

Welcome to Books, Books, and More Books.  I am pleased to share this book with you.  Thank you for visiting and please come again.

About the Book

Title: Empath

Author: S. Usher Evans

Genre: Contemporary Fantasy

Lauren Dailey is in break-up hell.

Stuck between moving on and letting go, she puts on a brave face while crying herself to sleep at night. But when a mysterious voice promises escape from her sadness, she is suddenly transported to a new world. And in this place, the slightest touch pulls her out of her tortured emotions into the mind of another - an empath.

The villagers - sweet Aerona and her mischievous twins, wise Siors, and hunky Cefin - welcome her and the blessings her empath powers bring. But this world is not without its dangers. The Anghenfil, a fire-breathing monster, has haunted the village for decades, and has a taste for empaths. And that mysterious voice promising escape from sadness? It's sounding more like a whisper tinged with smoke and embers.

Can Lauren keep the monsters in the mountain and in her head at bay? Or will she succumb to the darkness like the empath before her…

Author Bio

S. Usher Evans is an author, blogger, and witty banter aficionado. Born in a small, suburban town in northwest Florida, she was seventeen before she realized that not all beach sand is white. From a young age, she has always been a long-winded individual, first verbally (to the chagrin of her ever-loving parents) and then eventually channeled into the many novels that dotted her Windows 98 computer in the early 2000's. After high school, she got the hell outta dodge and went to school near the nation's capital, where she somehow landed jobs at National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and the British Broadcasting Corporation, capping off her educational career with delivering the commencement address to 20,000 of her closest friends. She determined she'd goofed off long enough with that television nonsense and got a "real job" as an IT consultant. Yet she continued to write, developing 20 page standard operating procedures and then coming home to write novels about bounty hunters, teenage magic users, and other nonsense. After a severe quarter life crisis at age 27, she decided to finally get a move on and share those novels with the world in hopes that she will never have to write another SOP again.

Links

http://www.susherevans.com
http://www.twitter.com/s_usherevans
http://www.facebook.com/susherevans
http://www.goodreads.com/susherevans

Buy Links:

http://www.amazon.com/Empath-S-Usher-Evans-ebook/dp/B00UUD3WMK/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 (US)
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/empath-s-usher-evans/1121480923?ean=2940046639773
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/empath/id977857059?mt=11
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/528430

Giveaway

Win an eBook copy of “Empath” per tour stop and a print copy during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Excerpts

"There," Cefin said, pointing to a pile of rocks that leaned against the side of the mountain. "That is where I found you."

"I was under there?" Lauren breathed. It was obviously a cave-in, and the boulders were thick and heavy. If any of them had fallen in the wrong place, she would have been crushed.

It was a miracle she wasn't crushed.

She approached the pile and saw where Cefin must have dug her out. Seeing the size of the rocks, knowing how close she had come to not getting out, she felt a little sorry for being so angry with him. Although he was being a jerk right now, she wasn't sure she ever thanked him for saving her life.

"Hey," Lauren said, tossing him a sideways glance. "Thanks for saving me."

"Just hurry up," he huffed, pulling his spear off of his back. "The Anghenfil could be in any one of these caves."

"The right response is 'you're welcome'…" She walked up to the pile and began pushing aside any of the rocks she could, looking for anything strange. She tossed a fist-sized stone behind her and gasped.

"There's a cave here!" she called to Cefin, who was standing with his spear in his hand and not helping her whatsoever.

She sniffed and began tugging at a big rock, hoping that if she could move it a little bit, it would dislodge other ones, creating a larger hole, one that she could slip through. With a heave, she pushed with all of her might and it broke free, tumbling down into the blackness and taking Lauren with it.

She landed in a heap in the dark, cool cave, coughing up dust and other particles. A small halo of light formed a circle on the ground, but didn't offer any other illumination in the cave. Pushing herself to her feet, she walked over to the hole and peered out, spying Cefin standing at attention.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking."

"Hurry up," Cefin snapped, his eyes glued to the skies.

"Yeah, yeah," Lauren rolled her eyes, disappearing into the darkness.

She stumbled around for a moment, feeling at the floor with her feet for anything that would give her a clue as to how she got here. Maybe she just needed to walk to the end of the cave and she'd wake up back in her own bed. She kicked the ground until she found the wall of the cave, placing her hands on the chilly stone to guide her. She kept to the wall, planting her feet firmly with every step to keep her balance.

Her foot caught on something and she fell, but not onto the hard ground, onto something firm…

And scaly.

In the darkness, a gigantic red eye opened.

She gasped, fear gripping her as she scrambled for the small pinhole in the distance that was the edge of the cave. "CEFIN!" she screamed, her voice echoing in the cave.

The monster was moving, and Lauren saw a flash of bright fire, illuminating the black body the size of an elephant.

She screamed and ran faster, hating herself for ever coming up here. She flung herself at the small hole, wriggling out as fast as she could. Cefin's spear was out, concern on his face.

"Lauren, quiet down, you'll wake the—"

"TOO LATE!" she screamed, pulling herself out of the cave and running past him as fast as her feet could carry her. "RUN!"

Review: 

            Interesting premise of time and space/dimension travel mixed with psychological or mental illness issues so that you aren’t sure even at the end if it really happened.  The story was an interesting mix of fantasy and reality.  It explores the concepts of depression, suicide, and letting other people in to the “secret” thoughts and emotional connections.  Well written so that it is intriguing rather than preachy.

            I give this story 3.5 out of 5  clouds.

This product or book may have been distributed for review; this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.

Book Review of From Frights to Flaws

Book Review of From Frights to Flaws

      Sponsored by Enchanted Book Tours

Welcome to Books, Books, and More Books.  I am pleased to share this book with you.  Thank you for visiting and please come again.

 

About the Book

Title: From Frights to Flaws

Author: Sunayna Prasad

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

            Twelve-year-old Alyssa McCarthy is sick of her uncle’s unfair rules and longs for a better life. After discovering the existence of magic, she finds out about a dark wizard hunting her down. An unforgettable storm occurs in Alyssa’s ordinary New Jersey town before the sorcerer kidnaps her to the Fiji Islands.

On the enchanted island of Yanowic, Alyssa learns that she is unable to get out of the country due to a giant shield. She must defeat some dangerous creatures and the evil wizard in order to leave. But with sorcerers and magical technology getting in her way, can Alyssa succeed?

Author Bio

Sunayna Prasad has been writing stories for several years, starting at the age of six. Now twenty-one, she is a college student will study who studies art and design as well write for children. Aside from that, Sunayna also likes to cook, watch movies, and draw. She lives on Long Island, New York, with her family.

Links

http://www.sunaynaprasadbooks.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SunaynaPrasadBooks

Buy on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Alyssa-McCarthys-Magical-Missions-Frights-ebook/dp/B00EO8U7O8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429210274&sr=8-1&keywords=from+frights+to+flaws

Review: 

This is a darling story.  It is hysterical, scary, and realistic.  This is a great book for middle school readers.  The main character finds out magic is real when strange things start happening.  The strangest of all is the talking, walking statue, or marble figure as he prefers to be called.

Despite all the surreal things that happen to Alyssa and her friends, she remains a down to earth person.  The only thing I didn’t like was how quickly the girls and Alyssa’s family accepted magic.  I kept waiting for them to tell her they knew about magic and planned to tell her when reached a certain age, but that never happened.  However those were minor.

I look forward to reading more by this author.  I give this book 3.5 out of 5 clouds.

This product or book may have been distributed for review; this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.

Book Review of The Deep End

Book Review of The Deep End

Sponsored by Enchanted Book Tours

Welcome to Books, Books, and More Books.  I am pleased to share this book with you.  Thank you for visiting and please come again.

About the Book

Title: The Deep End

Author:  Julie Mulhern

Genre: Cozy Mystery / Women’s Fiction

Swimming into the lifeless body of her husband’s mistress tends to ruin a woman’s day, but becoming a murder suspect can ruin her whole life.

It’s 1974 and Ellison Russell’s life revolves around her daughter and her art. She’s long since stopped caring about her cheating husband, Henry, and the women with whom he entertains himself. That is, until she becomes a suspect in Madeline Harper’s death. The murder forces Ellison to confront her husband’s proclivities and his crimes—kinky sex, petty cruelties and blackmail.

As the body count approaches par on the seventh hole, Ellison knows she has to catch a killer. But with an interfering mother, an adoring father, a teenage daughter, and a cadre of well-meaning friends demanding her attention, can Ellison find the killer before he finds her?

 

Author Bio

Julie Mulhern is a Kansas City native who grew up on a steady diet of Agatha Christie. She spends her spare time whipping up gourmet meals for her family, working out at the gym and finding new ways to keep her house spotlessly clean--and she's got an active imagination. Truth is--she's an expert at calling for take-out, she grumbles about walking the dog and the dust bunnies under the bed have grown into dust lions. She is a 2014 Golden Heart® Finalist. The Deep End is her first mystery and is the winner of The Sheila Award.
 

Links

www.juliemulhern.com
https://www.facebook.com/juliekmulhern?ref=hl

Buy the book on: Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Kobo

Book Excerpts

Excerpt

“You want to know my name?”

“Seems only fair. You know mine.”

“Everyone calls me Jones.”

I put the can back on the table. The aluminum made a hollow sound. “What do your parents call you?”

He mumbled.

“Pardon me?”

He mumbled again.

“Did you say Anthony?”

“No.” He glanced over his shoulder at the mirror then leaned forward and whispered, “Anarchy.”

I had to have misheard him. “That’s not a name.”

“It is in San Francisco.”

No wonder he went by Jones. Detective Follow-the-Rules was named Anarchy? “How?”

“My father wears his politics on his sleeve.”

Professor Jones advocated for the abolition of law. Detective Jones enforced them.

And I thought I had problems with Mother.

My fingers, quite of their own volition reached across the table. I stopped their progress before they touched Detective Jones’ hand.

We both stared at them, my hand hovering an inch above his. It was as if some magnetic force was drawing me to touch him, to connect. My gaze traveled to his face, tanned, lean, a frame for the nicest brown eyes I’d ever seen. Those eyes looked into mine.

                We sat, opposite sides of the table, our hands almost touching, our questions forgotten.

                Then I remembered who we were. Detective Jones didn’t need empathy from a murder suspect any more than I needed sympathy from the man who might arrest me.

Review: 

If Murphy’s law was a story plot, it would be this one.  This poor woman’s life goes to heck in a hand basket and if it could go wrong it does.  First her husband cheats on her and then she finds the same woman dead.  But it only gets worse from there.

This story has more turns than Lombard Street in San Francisco.  And the murderer was a total surprise to me.  I guess it’s good that I’m not a detective because I would have never guessed.

I give this story 4 out of 5 clouds.

This product or book may have been distributed for review; this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.

Book Review of Skydreamer

Book Review of Skydreamer

Sponsored by Enchanted Book Tours

Welcome to Books, Books, and More Books.  I am pleased to share this book with you.  Thank you for visiting and please come again.

About the Book

Title: Skydreamer

Author: Sheryl Winters

Genre: Paranormal Romance

For fire talent, Jaden Zarie, life is far from a fairy tale. Blisters from any contact with water, check. Sleeping in a shed behind your greedy Uncle's house, check. Ex-boyfriend scouting the bar where you work for one-night stands every night, double check.

When Jaden sets off to secure a new life with her two sisters, winning a contest with a huge pile of gold on the line seems like a quick fix. Getting hitched to Draven Winterbourne, King of the Dragon-changers, and finding true love, was beyond anything she could have hoped for.

But a friend turned enemy threatens to take it all away. Jaden is thrust into an alternate universe and separated from her new husband and her sisters, she must summon up the courage to start over, alone, knowing she may never see any of them again.

Author Bio

Sheryl Winters lives in a small town in Alaska. She grew up in the midst of old country story tellers, so you might say writing comes naturally to her. She is known for writing paranormal romances with a twist. Her writing inspiration often comes from the great outdoors of Alaska and she enfolds bits of it into her stories. For further inspiration, she has raised a menagerie of cats and dogs to the aged spirits they have become.

Links

Blog:  http://sherylwinters.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sheryl-Winters/684816784908158

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/WintersSheryl

Website: http://sherylwinters.weebly.com/

 Excerpt:

“…The Contest is open to all women between the ages of twenty-one and thirty. Contestants are required to bring their own reagents. The use of Alchemy is strictly prohibited. Chance of winning twelve hundred gold per round is one in…”

Voices press in on me from every side. The week of constant traveling has done me in. All I want to do is hide in the vego and sleep. I don’t even care if we have enough for dinner tonight. I feel trapped by the chattering voices of the crowd mashed up with the officials on the Dais.

“I heard the King’s mother set up this contest herself. Talk about the ultimate mama’s boy. He has to be uglier than a troll if his mother has to marry him off this way,” someone suggested.

“… high possibility of death,” came a skeptical voice, “but with twelve hundred gold per round, everyone should enter.”

“Which one is Draven?” a shrill voice demands.

“Are you blind?” Came the reply. “He’s the one good looking one with the light brown hair. The one standing next to King Evrid.”

“You said he was ugly!”

It doesn’t matter who this Draven is. We are only here for Adania. If we win, every silver goes to her schooling. She’ll have a roof over her head and decent clothes. Nothing else matters.

My fingers sink back into the dark blue Legal Sphere I received earlier. The tiny ball settles into my palms with only a light sizzle and its message sounds inside my head.

All contestants will enter into an exclusive competition. The winner will win a one-year marriage with Draven Winterbourn, King of the Dragon-Changers. Iyardar Stone to choose the winner. In the event Draven Winterbourn does not agree with the Iyardar Stone, he has the right to veto said contestant and select one of his choosing from the remaining contestants. As stipulated, marriage duration will be one year, unless both parties—

“Is the Iyardar Stone a diamond, or a ruby?” I whisper to Isla. “And how does it choose a winner if it’s a rock?”

 * * * *

Review:

            I love dragon stories and this one has magic and dragons.  Yay!  It is also the strangest and sweetest love story, and a twist on the Cinderella or rags to riches story.  I loved it.

            The story drew me in with beautiful imagery.  It was a true pleasure to read.

            I give this story 5 out of 5 clouds.

This product or book may have been distributed for review; this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.