Do you like to read? Have you ever stayed up waaaayyy to late reading? Then this is the spot for you. This is the spot for the eclectic book reader. I love all kinds of books, in any format. I can't wait to share my love of books with you.
Book Review
of Spunky Sponsored by Bewitching Book Tours
Spunky
By Sherile Reilly
A Bandit Creek Book
Tap dancing
and riding her dilapidated bike are ten-year old Sarah Crawford’s, better known
as Spunky, favorite activities.
After moving
to Bandit Creek with her mom, Spunky discovers the old lady in the basement
apartment dislikes both her and her dancing. While practicing her tap steps in
the garage, Spunky devises a wonderful scheme to raise cash for a new bike.
However,
disaster strikes when she is accused of theft and her great money-making plan
is squashed. Just when Spunky thinks that Bandit Creek is a horrible place to
live, she’s forced to defend her beliefs and her whole world changes. She
discovers the town may be more exciting than she ever realized.
About
Sherile Reilly
Unlike her heroine, Sherile Reilly has never had to fret about
hanging up her tap shoes. Trained as a singer and a pianist, she devoted her
expertise to teaching sixth graders and learned as much from them as they
learned from her. Sherile is now pursuing other passions, writing and painting.
She’s had numerous showings of her art and her work has been selected as ‘Best
in the Show’. She lives in Calgary, Alberta with her husband Ed.
Book Review:
Young
Sara, called Spunky by her friends, has just moved to Bandit Creek and it’s not
going so well.First she annoys the old
neighbor lady by tap dancing in the basement washroom, then she accidently gets
the woman angry even more.She is so
afraid that she and her mother will be evicted because of these problems.
This is
a really cute book and very appropriate for middle grades.It follows a young girl as she adapts to life
without her father, who is deceased.I
enjoyed the word play and the pace of the story.I give this story 4 out of 5 clouds.
Giveaway and Book Review
of Protector (Anniversary of the Veil #1)
Title: Protector (Anniversary of the Veil #1)
Author: Vanna Smythe
Genre: Fantasy
Book
Synopsis:
Kiyarran
just wanted to become a Protector of the Realm, a member of an elite order of
fighters. Strange and powerful magical abilities awaken inside him once his
wish comes true. The Priesthood that secretly controls the realm see his skill
as a threat, and Kiyarran begins to learn that little about life as a Protector
is what he thought it would be. To top it off, Kiyarran is falling in love with
Princess Issiyanna, his friend of many years.
Issiyanna
faces and arranged marriage, but she has been dreaming of another man, her one
true love. Now her long gone mother is calling to her, promising she will
return and take Issiyanna to meet the man from her dreams.
The
world is split in half by a barrier called the Veil. A terrible sacrifice was
made to put it in place and now, as the 1000th Anniversary of the Veil draws
near, a second sacrifice is called for to keep it in place.
Both
Kiyarran and Issiyanna are needed for the Anniversary. Even though they only
just learned of the Veil and neither know the role they must play …
Book two of the Anniversary of the Veil series, Decision Maker, is due out
in Autumn, 2012
Author Bio
Vanna
Smythe is the author of Protector, the first book in the Anniversary of the
Veil fantasy series. She has been writing creatively since her early teens,
though one could say her creative writing efforts started long before that.
While still in kindergarten, she once tore up a library book to make alphabet
soup, and has been fascinated with what words can do, the pictures and worlds
they can create, ever since. Book two of the Anniversary of the Veil series,
Decision Maker, is due out in Autumn, 2012.
“I’m so happy, Grisella.” Issa
threw her arms around the old serving maid as she entered her chambers. “Father
has managed to postpone my marriage.”
Grisella returned the hug, patting
Issa on the back. “That’s wonderful news child. But I still say marriage to
Thomma won’t be as horrid as you imagine. We were all in your place once. Such
are things and such is the way.”
“I will sooner stay alone than be
married to someone I don’t love.” Issa released her maid. She sat down by the
mirror, untied the knot in her hair and started brushing it out. “But I will
not stay alone much longer. My love is coming.”
The gorgeous young lord from
across the sea would be in Cer’Ine any day now. Last night Issa dreamt of him
standing near the shore. He was turned away from her, gazing across the sea
with a traveling trunk by his feet.
Grisella looked up from where she
was turning down Issa’s bed. “Who might this be, girl?”
“The handsome man I dream of most
every night now. In the dreams we hold hands and stare into each other’s eyes
for hours and days, and I can see all his secrets as he can see all of mine.
And at other times we sit side by side and he has his arm around my shoulders
and I lay my head against his chest and listen to his heartbeat, and I know all
will be well until the end of days, just as soon as we are together.”
Grisella walked over and took the
brush from Issiyanna. Her maid’s light brown eyes, for the moment not obscured
by the folds of her face, were fixed on Issa’s reflection in the mirror in
front of them. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, before finally
saying, “Issiyanna, child, you are experiencing the Dreams of the Other Half.
It is no more than that.”
“What are Dreams of the Other
Half?”
Pity filled Grisella’s eyes as she
looked away and started brushing Issa’s hair. “Your hair truly is lovely in the
winter. The moisture in the air weighs it down and gives such magnificent shape
to your curls. I almost do not want to brush them out.”
“The dream, Grisella?”
Her maid stopped brushing and
looked at Issa again. “All right…I will tell you…I’d hoped your father had
already done so by now…your mother never had the time…”
Issa waved her hand impatiently at
the maid’s reflection. “Just tell me, Grisella.”
“We all have such dreams, Issa, in
our youth and before we are wed. I too dreamt such dreams when I was your age.
The boy I dreamt of had dark brown hair and beautiful green eyes, the color of
the river after a hard rain and once the sun shines on it again. He looked much
like Kae, really. He stood over two heads taller than me and his arms were
strong and steady as he held me in the dreams. I always believed he must be
from the north, from some village at the foot of the Mountains of Giants, where
neither men nor women fear the twilight.” Grisella’s eyes were unfocused, as
though she was seeing all the way back into her youth. “But after the priests
wed me to dear, sweet Bern, the dreams stopped, and the longing vanished.”
It didn’t seem so to Issa. She
could still hear the longing in the old woman’s voice and see it in her eyes.
Grisella resumed brushing her
hair. “It’s said that the person who appears to you in these dreams is only a
mirror reflection of your own self, but of the opposite gender. Once they
start, it means that you are fit to be wed. You will see, when you are wed you
will no longer dream of this young lord.”
Her love’s eyes were the color of
the summer sea at dawn and his hair the color of wheat fields just before
harvest. Issa’s own hair was the color of honey, her eyes the color of the
sunlit summer sky. He was coming to her. When he did, a ray of the strong love
they shared in the dreams would pass from one to the other, and back again.
Then both would know that they were the one they seek, the one they long for
and wish to wed and lie beside until the end of days.
Issa would be wearing her pale
green silk dress when he came, the bodice of which was cut in a precise
arrowhead shape. It accentuated her bosom, yet did not reveal too much and was
lined with tiny pink pearls only found in the shells that lined the most
dangerous parts of the cliffs. All Issa had to do was wait. Now that her
wedding had been postponed, she had more time.
Grisella put down the brush and
handed Issa her nightgown, “Here, child, it is getting late. Things will look
brighter once twilight gives way to dawn.”
“Yes, yes, and such are things.
Truly Grisella, there is good and light even at night. Why should we fear it?”
Issa knew the answer before the maid gave it. What the priests taught, the
lower folk believed.
Book Review:
Almost
1000 years ago, the kingdom was split into two parts and a veil was created to
keep the two sides separate. However
they didn’t always stay separate. The
Queen of the larger, more human kingdom came from across the veil. However not everyone was happy she arrived,
and it led to her death.
The
kingdom has priests, who have magic, and protectors, people skilled in types of
magic and protective fighting arts. And
then there are the “pure ones” but they are a secret only a few know about.
Kei is
friend and protector of the Issa, the princess.
He loves her, which is not allowed.
He also has unusual skills that scare the priests, so he is transferred. The something happens to Issa and he may be
her only hope.
This
story is a sweeping epic type story.
Sometimes I had trouble keeping all the people straight. A lot of the names were similar enough, and
there were a lot of people that had key roles, that I got them confused. I think if I had taken the time to make a
character tree a lot of that issue would have been resolved.
The
story has unrequited love, fantasy, adventure, fighting, travel, space hopping,
a historical feel, and magic. All my
favorite things rolled into one. The
story was charming, fun, and moved along at a good clip. 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 Echo Fallssponsored by Bewitching Book Tours
Echo
Falls
By Jaime
McDougall
Genre:
Urban Fantasy
Blurb:
Running from a nightmare stalking her every move, Phoebe Martin
arrives in Echo Falls hoping she has finally found a safe place to stop. But
trouble has a way of catching up and soon the signs are there.
After a vicious attack in an alley, policeman Aidan O'Bryan is left with Phoebe
as his only path to understanding why the Echo Falls werewolf pack - his pack -
is being attacked. When another pack member is killed, Phoebe is forced to
confront her past before she loses Aidan and everything she has come to love.
Love and duty become one as Aidan strives to prevent Phoebe from becoming the
next victim. But with Phoebe just as determined to protect Aidan and her new
home, secrets from her past threaten to tear them apart. Will love give Phoebe
the strength to trust Aidan and face her fears, or will her past destroy her
future?
Keep running, keep running, keep running.
Phoebe’s lungs burned as her mind screamed the mantra. Keep running, keep
running.
How many steps can there be?
She should know. She lived in this apartment building.
Tears ran down her cheeks and her lungs burned for air. Only the
random irrational thought broke through the panic keeping her feet moving down
the steps. Keep running. Keep running. The light of the emergency exit
came into view. Almost there…
The door to the stairwell slammed open with a hollow boom. She
tripped and clung to the railing to steady herself.
Keep running.
The shock of the cool night air sent a shiver of relief through her
body. She’d come out a side exit into an alley. If she could just get to the
front –
Suddenly she was thrown to the ground from behind. She hit the
concrete, what little breath she had knocked from her lungs. Blood began
flowing from where her head hit the ground, and small sparks of light floated
into her vision.
How did he catch up so fast?
Desperately she tried to gulp down as much air as she could,
willing her lungs to cooperate. Instinct kicked in as the attacker slashed at
her, and she curled into fetal position.
A dog. He’d turned into a dog. A
big dog with vicious claws and teeth he used to tear into her exposed back,
thigh and shoulder. She slowly regained her breath but could only use it to
scream her throat raw.
Her vision faded, taking the small sparks of light with it. Searing
pain ripped through her shoulder as a claw dug down against her bone. One last,
long scream tore from her lungs before she was left gasping and sobbing, her
fear slowly smoldering into rage.
Things can’t end like this.
She opened her eyes as the dog stood over her, trying to get to her
throat. A paw came into her line of vision and she saw her chance. She reached
out, grabbed it and squeezed with all the strength she had.
The dog yelped and tried to twist away, but she held on with all
the strength she had. She knew she’d only bought herself time. She couldn’t
move the dog off her and she couldn’t squeeze his paw all night. He tried
uselessly to bite her, his jaws having no strength so long as she squeezed his
paw. But she could already feel her strength waning.
Suddenly the weight of the dog flew off her, taking the paw out of
her grip. Without thinking, she used her one cooperating arm to drag herself
toward the front of the building.
She shivered, her arm giving out, and caught a glimpse of a second
dog. No. A wolf… Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, she listened to the
dogs fighting, the battle just a few steps away. She tried her best to curl up
against the building wall and willed the growling and snapping to go away. They
sounded like they were tearing each other to pieces.
The universe granted her wish, the battle ending with the sound of
two bodies hitting each other and a sharp whine. She shivered and softly whined
as well, dreading the approach of the winner as one of the dogs yelped and ran
away.
A few moments later warm, human hand brushed the back of her head
and she screamed again. If it could be called a scream. Her throat burned and
rebelled at her abuse of it.
“Ssh. You’re safe now.”
She tried to scream again and move away, but her body wouldn’t obey
her commands. She groaned as the full force of the pain washed over her.
He murmured and she relaxed her desperate grip on staying
conscious. Sleep seemed so tempting, the black abyss singing a siren’s song to
her. Her rescuer – or captor – tried to soothe her, but something dark and
dangerous in his voice betrayed him. He was different. She tried to bat
away his hands but gave up after a few attempts, not sure if her good hand was
actually moving.
As she slipped into the darkness, she wondered if death had merely
granted her a short reprieve from the inevitable.
About
the Author:
Jaime McDougall is a citizen of the world, currently
loving life in beautiful country Victoria in Australia. She loves eating sushi,
kidnapping her husband and naming her pets in honour of science fiction
authors.
A love of fiction has always coursed through her
veins and she told stories as a child even before she knew how to write them.
Settling into one genre was never her style and she has plans for novels in
women’s fiction, urban fantasy and more – all with a touch of romance.
She has been published in Chicken Soup for the
Soul: High School: The Real Deal and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Campus
Chronicles. She has also enjoyed writing the So You Want ebook series for authors looking to establish their
names online.
Phoebe
has been running from Liam since the day he found out her secret.It was the same day he killed her brother and
revealed himself to be a monster.When
she gets to Echo Falls she thinks she has finally found a place to stop and
make a life for herself, but she finds she isn’t as safe as she thought.However she has made friends, and they
promise to make her part of their family.Unfortunately her presence costs one of them their life.Phoebe takes a stand, but is it too late?
There
were many small twists in story that had me guessing all along the way.I was constantly being surprised.The story is charming and moves at a quick
pace.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.
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I killed a girl last night. I did it with my bare hands and an old piece of pipe I found lying next to the dumpster. But that’s not the part that got me. The part that scared me, the part I can’t seem to wrap my head around and still has me reeling, was that when she charged me, her body shifted – and then she was a wolf. All snapping teeth and extended claws. But by the time I stood over her lifeless body, she was a girl again. Read more and purchase for only $2.99 PaperbackTaming the wolf (anna avery series, #1)
Attacked by a wolf while hiking in the mountains, Anna Avery's life just got a little hairier. Living in the Big Horn mountains in Wyoming, with a group of werewolves who are more animal than human, Anna must try to hold onto her human side. It's not easy when the alpha continues to persuade her into his bed, while another wolf is chomping at the bit to become her mate. To top it all off, dead bodies are showing up and ..Read more and purchase for only $2.99Fearless (Kings Series)
Tasmyn Vaughn didn't expect much when her dad’s job moved them to a small town in Florida; it was just another new school. But there is more to King than meets the eye, and soon Tasmyn’s ability to hear other’s thoughts is the least of her worries. Entangled in a web of first love, quirky and secretive townsfolk, magic and blood rituals, she discovers the town’s secrets aren’t just bizarre, they’re deadly. Purchase for only $3.99PaperbackSecrets (Guardian Trilogy)
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These fine authors are bringing you this Kindle Fire Event via Promotional Book Tours and Literary Addicts This contest is open Internationally! Please fill out the form below to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Linda Schroeder
will be touring June 4 – July 27 2012 with her mystery novel, Artists & Thieves.
Winner of the
2011 San Diego Book Awards, Action/Suspense category!
Where there is art, there are thieves.
Mai Ling is both. Artist by day, thief by night, she
recovers stolen art for Interpol. It’s a business, not a passion, until
her beloved grandfather reveals a family secret that is also a destiny. He is
duty-bound to return to China an especially precious bowl which belonged to his
ancestor. Mai must steal it for him.
But Mai Ling is not the only one after the bowl. Four others
plan to extract the bowl from a private California art collection. The rival
thieves grasp and then lose the bowl until finally Mai is faced with the
ultimate dilemma: save the bowl or save herself. Her duty to her
grandfather gives her only one choice.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of the Monterey Peninsula
and peopled with quirky characters, this stylish art caper entertains on every
page.
Author InExcerpt:
With screaming force a bullet dug violently into her left
shoulder, blasted her onto her side. The bowl jolted from her arm, careened
down the hillside, glinted once, twice, three times in the silver moonlight
before plunging into the old swimming pool just up the hill from the
breakwater.
The bowl itself reacted instantly to the water, glowing
brightly. In a streak of light, a stream of fire, it cut through the dark
water, hitting bottom in a blaze of red flashes.
Even as severe pain consumed her, Mai, barely able to
breathe, her energy ebbing away, watched the oracle bowl as it flew off the
cliff into the water. The bowl’s strange light, its stream of fire, seemed
normal to her, as if she expected it, as if it motioned to her.
You can visit the
author’s website at www.artistsandthieves.com.
Author Interview:
Thank
you for joining us today.
1.
What inspired this particular novel/book?
Artists & Thieves began several years ago when I was
reading David Hockney’s Secret Knowledge which is his discussion of painters
who use a camera obscura to first trace a subject and then paint it. At the same
time I was studying Chinese art and also enrolled in a UCSD class on how to
write a mystery novel. So for that class I came up with the idea of a very
ancient art object which depicted a camera obscura. That art object became a
Chinese bronze bowl and my mystery involved the theft of that bowl. All I
needed, then, was a plot and a few characters, and four years to figure out how
to put it all together. Piece of cake!
2.
What character was your favorite to write for in this story? Why?
Writing
the main character was a challenge. She had to be clever and one step ahead of
everyone else. But my favorite character to write was the artist Angelo. He is
an “in your face” artist, arrogant, flamboyant, deeply emotional. He was easy to describe, “costume,” and write
dialogue for because I know several artists like him. He is the opposite of the
heroine but her good friend.
3.
Which was your favorite scene to write?
My
favorite scene was the introduction to Angelo. I had to describe him, make him
likable, and show one of the main places in the novel--Fisherman’s Wharf in
Monterey. I lived in Monterey and knew
exactly what Fisherman’s Wharf looked like, smelled and sounded like. All the
colors, sounds, and activity of a tourist place were perfect to display
Angelo’s enthusiasm, generosity, and arrogance, traits which get him into
trouble and move the plot ahead.
4.What
was the hardest thing about writing this story?
Finding
the plot was the hardest. I don’t work from an outline. I “blank page,” sit down
at the computer with a general idea and see what happens. This leads to very
creative “Aha” moments but also requires a whole lot of rewrites, rearranging
scenes, tightening character relationship, and meshing everything together so
the events follow in a logical sequence which could not be otherwise.
5.
What Are Your Writing Quirks & Must-Haves To Write?
I
write much better with a deadline. I am in a writing group led by the mystery
author Carolyn Wheat. We bring to each meeting a scene to be critiqued. I
polish the dialogue, descriptions, and physical happenings and take that scene
to be critiqued. Then, I rewrite!
6.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I
compose on the computer. Somehow the keyboard allows my thoughts to flow and
interesting sparks of insight occur. But I rewrite with a pencil, taking time
to think of better words and make the scene more visual and the action clearer.
7.
Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do
you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I
concentrate on two creative things now that I am retired: learning to do Chinese brush painting and
writing. I take art classes and have an art blog which means I have to hunt for
local art to blog about. I have time to research for writing--for instance I
did a lot of research on Chinese bronze treasures and visited foundries to
learn how bronze is cast for Artists & Thieves. Now I am researching Francisco Goya and
art forensics for my current novel-in-progress about a forged Goya painting.
8.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I
wanted to be a dancer and still wish I had had the money to train
professionally.
9.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I studied
literature in college. I wanted to learn to tell stories more than “to be a
writer.”
10. Where do you find your Inspirations?
I
study people. Recently I was eating dinner in a restaurant and watched a
twenty-something woman and her date in the booth next to me. She constantly
fingered a large metal medallion she wore as a necklace. She also put it in her
mouth a lot between bites. How odd? I knew there was a story there.
11. What do you like to read? Who is your favorite
author?
I read
all genres but most often mysteries and literary fiction. Usually not horror.
I’ve read everything by Arturo Perez-Reverte and Haruki Murakami--totally
different writers. And Jasper Fforde is delightful.
12. Please let readers know where they can connect
with you and purchase your books...
My web
page is www.artistsandthieves.com
and my blog is part of that address. I’m also on Facebook and LinkedIn. Artists
& Thieves is
available on Amazon, Kindle, Barnes&Noble, Nook and Google ebooks.
13. Anything additional you want to share with the
readers?
I love
the Internet. My thanks to Mindy Wall for this opportunity to connect with
writers and readers.
Thank
you so much for chatting with us today.
About
the Author:
Linda Schroeder divides her time
between the bright sun of California and the high mountains of Colorado. She
has a Master’s degree in English and one in Communicative Disorders/Audiology.
In addition to her novel, Artists &
Thieves, she has published a college text.
Her early interest in English expanded to include
language disorders and she began a second career as an audiologist and aural
rehabilitation therapist working with deaf and hard-of-hearing children and
adults.
Currently, she studies and practices Chinese
brush painting, celebrating the vitality and energy of nature. She follows art
and art theft blogs and writes her own blog about art and sometimes includes
reviews of novels. She is working on two more novels, a second Mai Ling novel
about the Diamond Sutra, and a Sammy Chan art mystery about the forgery of a
Goya painting.
Winner of the 2011 San Diego Book Awards, Action/Suspense category
Where there is art, there are thieves.
Mai Ling is both. Artist by day, thief by night, she recovers stolen art for
Interpol. It’s a business, not a passion, until her beloved grandfather
reveals a family secret that is also a destiny. He is duty-bound to return to
China an especially precious bowl which belonged to his ancestor. Mai must
steal it for him.
But Mai Ling is not the only one after the bowl. Four others plan to extract
the bowl from a private California art collection. The rival thieves grasp and
then lose the bowl until finally Mai is faced with the ultimate dilemma:
save the bowl or save herself. Her duty to her grandfather gives her only one
choice.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of the Monterey Peninsula and peopled with
quirky characters, this stylish art caper entertains on every page. Amazon Barnes
& Noble For Bloggers:
This
book is very intriguing. I love how it
introduces historical art pieces without becoming lost in the details. The tidbits of art information add to the
story, rather than distracting from it.
I
enjoyed the tidbits of information regarding Chinese history also, as well as the look at Chinese culture. This book ias well as the look at Chinese
culture. This book is a great read and
has a remarkable feast of charm, wit, action, humor, sorrow, and love.
I give
this book 4 out of 5 clouds.
This
product or book may have been distributed for review; this in no way affects my
opinions or reviews.
Tap dancing
and riding her dilapidated bike are ten-year old Sarah Crawford’s, better known
as Spunky, favorite activities. 
About
Sherile Reilly 
