Giveaway and Book Review of Moonstone: The Unbidden Magic Series, Book 1
Sponsored by Innovative Online Book Tours
Paperback: 236 pages
Publisher: Bell
Bridge Books (August 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-13:
978-0980245349
Blurb
:
A sickly
mom. A crummy travel trailer. High school bullies and snarky drama queens. Bad guys with charming smiles. Allie has
problems. And then there’s that whole thing about fulfilling a magical prophecy
and saving the world from evil.
Welcome
to the funny, sad, sometimes scary world of fifteen year old Allie Emerson,
who’s struggling to keep her act together (not to mention her mom’s) in the
small town world of Peacock Fats, Washington. A zap from an electrical fence
set off Allie’s weird psychic powers. The next thing she knows, she’s being
visited by a hippy dippy guardian angel, and then her mysterious neighbor, the
town “witch,” gives her an incredible moonstone pendant that has powers only a
“Star Seeker’ is meant to command.
“Who,
me?” is Allie’s first reaction. But as sinister events begin to unfold, Allie
realizes she’s got a destiny far bigger than she ever imagined. If she can just
survive everyday life in the meantime.
Moon Rise
The second
book in the Unbidden Magic series...
Her mom's
still dating losers. Her boyfriend's gone back to Mexico. Dad still hasn't told
his wife and kids that she exists. At school, the drama queens and bullies
still rule. But worst of all for Allie Emerson--aka the Star Seeker of an old
Gypsy prophecy--is that her powers have taken a hike. She can't read minds
anymore. She can't move stuff just by looking at it. The other Star Seekers are
counting on her psychic gifts more than ever, and the evil Trimarks are closing
in, eager to snatch her magic moonstone necklace while she's helpless. The hot
new guy at school is ready and willing to fight her battles, but he comes with
some wicked baggage.
Dear Diary: I'm a little worried. My new BF is a demon.
Welcome
again to Allie Emerson's funny, scary, amazing, and always unpredictable life,
as the girl voted least likely to save the world from evil.
Moon Spun
The third
book in the Unbidden Magic series...
If you thought Allie’s life couldn’t get any more complicated...
As I
followed Ryker into the faery kingdom he called Boundless, the ground beneath
us began to shake, and a voice that sounded like living thunder boomed, “You
dare to bring this mortal into our world?”
I
clapped my hands over my ears, frantically looking around for the source of the
fearsome noise. Oh, this can’t be good, Allie. I made a move toward Ryker.
Strangely, he was grinning like crazy and pointed to the pool and waterfall.
“Over there.”
I took
a cautious step forward. All at once, something burst from the water, reared
back and let loose with an ear-splitting bellow so frightening, I screamed in
terror. The ground shook harder. Or maybe it was my legs. I froze in my tracks,
even though my brain said, “Run, Allie, Run!”
The
creature looked like a humongous black horse with moss-covered green scales growing
out of its back, flaring nostrils and water weeds tangled in its flowing mane.
Its mouth was open, exposing large, slime-green teeth.
“What...
is... that... thing?” I gasped.
“Allie,
meet Uncle Davey. Uncle Davey, this is Allie,” Ryker said calmly, as if I’d
been invited for Sunday dinner to meet and greet the family.
Shadow Moon
The fourth
book in the Unbidden Magic series...
Peacock
Flats
is no longer safe.
is no longer safe.
Allie
Emerson is hoping for a few quiet months to catch her breath after a summer
that included the discovery she is not only a twin and of faery blood, but also
destined to play a pivotal role in the faery world. School has barely begun
when Allie must kiss her hope of a normal year goodbye.
She
can't escape her unfinished business with the fae, the Trimarks, or Junior
Martinez, who is making it clear he plans to win her back. Signs, portents and
whispers are pushing Allie to "find the girl" before it's too late.
Hoping
her twin can help her solve the riddle of their destiny, Allie uncovers old
secrets and begins a cross-country journey that puts her in more danger than
ever before. If she succeeds, she may just find the answers that can save
everyone she loves.
Midnight
Moon
Every
night, they march through my dreams with dusty boots and blood-drenched hands.
The sequence never varies. First in line, the evil dictators who killed for power.
Adolf Hitler. Joseph Stalin. Osama Bin Laden. Saddam Hussein. Idi Amin. Muammar
Gaddafi. The serial killers, those who killed for pure enjoyment, follow. Jack
the Ripper. Ted Bundy. John Wayne Gacy. The Green River Killer. The last person
to appear in the movie playing in my head is always Timothy McVey, the Oklahoma
City bomber.
Trimarks.
Every one.
Now,
picture thousands like them pouring into our world on the night we know as the
summer solstice. Once they gain access to the mortal world, the high point of
their evening will be the slaughter of my entire family. My mother. My father.
Me.
Each
night, without fail, I hear the sound of their shuffling feet, see their
depraved smiles, feel and smell the corrupt darkness emanating from their
shrunken souls. Each night, without fail, I wake up screaming.
The
summer solstice is less than a week away. I know this because, along with my
nightly horror show, a countdown calendar pops up in the upper left hand corner
of my cerebral screen along with an ominously ticking clock. It's a reminder
that only two people in all of our worlds can prevent this disaster. A girl
named Sammie Sullivan. Me. And, of course, the moonstone.
I'm
Allie Emerson, a semi-normal seventeen-year-old girl. I say semi-normal because
in the last two years, I've experienced a series of events that definitely fall
in the not-so-normal category. First of all, I was given a magic moonstone
pendant. Then, I found my missing father, discovered I was half fae and, most
importantly, learned of the prophecy stating it's my duty to save the world
from evil. Little things like that.
In the
mean time, I try to live like a normal kid. I go to school. I have friends.
Sometimes I even have boyfriends. I live with my mother, Faye, in a 24-foot
travel trailer parked behind my Uncle Sid's house, next to Blaster the bull's
pasture. Okay, maybe that's not so normal, but it's my normal.
About the
Author:
A former teacher, coach
and school counselor, Marilee lives in Washington State and writes full time.
Her books include Castle Ladyslipper,
a medieval romance, The Rock and Roll Queen of Bedlam, winner of the
2010 Booksellers Best award for romantic suspense, Moonstone, Moon
Rise, Moon Spun, Shadow Moon,
and Midnight Moon. Marilee is a
member of the Romance Writers of America, Pacific Northwest Writers Association
and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Contacts:
- Website www.marileebrothers.com,
- Blog http://bookblatherblog.blogspot.com
- Facebook www.facebook.com/marilee.author
- Twitter @marileeb
- Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/MarileeB
BUY NOW
LINK:
Giveaway:
Excerpt:
As I
approached Kizzy’s house, I felt my heart beat a little faster. The house can
barely be seen from the road. It’s hidden behind a humungous hedge that runs
all the way around her property. The only way to get in is through the iron
gate set in middle of the hedge. I never approached the gate straight on. I cut
over to the hedge and sneaked up on it because of the eye. The gate had this
spooky eye painted on it. Swear to God, no matter how hard I tried to avoid the
eye, it watched me, its glaring black pupil tracking my every move. A falcon’s
eye, Kizzy told me, a symbol used to ward off evil.
In spite of what Cory says, Kizzy was not a
witch. She was a Romany gypsy and apparently there’s a difference. Who knew?
With an
involuntary shiver, I averted my gaze, slipped through the gate and trotted
down the walk toward the hulking two-story house. The porch with its
overhanging roof wrapped all the way around both sides of the house. A veranda
Kizzy called it.
“Alfrieda,
you’re here!”
Kizzy
stood at the top of the stairs and held out her arms. She was the only person
who called me by my hideous real name. Thanks to Claude, Faye’s dad, I was
given the name Alfrieda Carlotta Emerson. Faye ran away from home at seventeen.
A year later, stuck in the hospital with a baby she didn’t want (me) and no
visible means of support, she struck a deal with Claude. In exchange for paying
the hospital bill, he got to name me after his beloved, long-dead mother,
Alfrieda Carlotta Emerson the First.
“Hey,
Kizzy!” I slipped off my back pack and stepped into her embrace. She smelled of
incense, lavender and Virginia Slims. Not that I’m a fashion expert but Kizzy
always looked like she was dressed for a photo shoot in case a photographer
from Vogue Magazine was hanging around Peacock Flats.
Today,
she wore a silk turquoise dress the same color as her eyes. Her long, dark
braid, sprinkled with gray, was draped over one shoulder. Three silver bangle
bracelets encircled each wrist. Silver hoops hung from her ears. She’d replaced
the rune stone she usually wore around her neck with a pale blue gemstone in an
ornate silver setting. The stone was the size of a large marble. A shimmer of
light danced on its surface. Strangely, I felt a strong need to reach out,
touch it, hold it in my hand and stroke its glistening surface. I clasped my
hands together tightly to resist the urge.
Kizzy
studied my face then gently touched the mark in the middle of my forehead with
a manicured fingernail.
“Ah, I
see the third eye has awakened. Come. Sit”
She led
me to the porch swing.
Okay,
sometimes Kizzy creeped me out. Wasn’t it bad enough I lived in a travel
trailer and wore clothes from a thrift shop? I mean, nothing screams “loser”
like a third eye popping out in the middle of your forehead. I rolled my eyes
in disgust.
“Should
I start wearing bangs?”
Kizzy’s
tinkling laughter reassured me.
“It’s
not a real eye, Alfrieda. The third eye is located deep within the brain. It’s
called the seat of the soul, the link between the physical and spiritual
worlds. Tell me everything.”
Review
Love,
Love, Love this series. Very cute
concept with the moonstone triggering the magic powers. I love that the divergent groups based on
characteristics of the lines in your hand.
It was interesting how the author used the moonstone to trigger and enhance
Allie’s innate powers,
I can’t
wait to read the rest of the books in the series. I give this book 4.5 out of 5 clouds.
This
product or book may have been distributed for review; this in no way affects my
opinions or reviews.
