Sunday 25 November 2012

Book Review (169): Timeless (Transcend Time Saga #3) - Michelle Madow


Timeless (Transcend Time Saga #3)

Publication: 20th November 2012
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Pages: 230
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
Buy It: Amazon  Barnes And Noble
IT'S A RACE AGAINST TIME.

In Remembrance, Lizzie and Drew changed the course of fate so they could be together. 

In Vengeance, Chelsea set fate back on its original, deadly path. 

Now, strange things keep happening to Lizzie. Things that are omens of darkness to come. A curse has doomed her to die an early death, just as she did in her past life. To make things worse, even if she can figure out who cast the curse, it's irreversible. There's only one option left for her to save herself. It's crazier than anything she's heard yet, and to do it, she'll need Drew and Chelsea's help.

Because to make things right, they must go back to when it all began …
My Thoughts...
I thought that this book was the perfect finale to the series, all the loose ends were tied up and I was extremely happy with the ending.

I was really intrigued to see where the story would go after the events in the last book, with Lizzie being followed and almost attacked quite a few times by crows, after going to visit Alistair (her memory guide), he explains that a curse has been put on her, and the only way to fix it is to go back into the past and change the events that led to Lizzie's death in her past life.

So to travel back in time Lizzie, Drew and Chelsea set out for England to find a ring that once belonged to Lizzie's past self, that will eventually with a little help send them all back in time.

The whole story arc that took place in the past was so well done, it added a little bit extra to the story as a whole.

I really loved these characters and while I'm sad that this is the last book in the series, I can happily say that there is nothing I would change, it was just that good.

I highly recommend that everyone read this series, it's really good.
I give this 4/5.







About This Author

Michelle Madow was inspired to write Remembrance after seeing Taylor Swift's "Love Story" music video while a junior at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. The song and video gave her the story idea about a high school girl reincarnated from Regency Era, England. She handed in the first chapter as a homework assignment for class, and when her teacher and fellow classmates wanted her to continue writing, she decided to go for it. By the end of the school year, her first novel was completed!

Along with the Transcend Time Saga, Michelle Madow has written two other young adult novels, both which will be developed into series’.

Michelle Madow graduated from the Park School of Baltimore in 2005, where she always took two English classes each semester. She graduated from Rollins College in 2010, cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English. At Rollins she was a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and a member of the International English Honor Society Sigma Tau Delta.

She received the Charles Hyde Pratt Award for Excellence in Creative Writing in 2010.

For more information on Michelle and her books, please visit www.michellemadow.com.

Michelle lives in Florida, where she is hard at work writing more novels for young adults.



Friday 23 November 2012

Blog Tour And Giveaway: Reckoning (Dark Prophecy #1) - Molly M. Hall, Book Review (168).


Reckoning (Dark Prophecy #1)



Publication: 2nd October 2012
Publisher: CreateSpace Independant Publishing
Pages: 276
Genre: Paranormal
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
Buy It: Amazon  Barnes And Noble

"They say the truth can set you free. I found out it can kill you."

Seventeen-year-old Kat Matheson has never revealed the dark secret that sets her apart from everyone else: She can see and hear the dead. Until now, she has been able to ignore the strange apparitions and whispering voices. But it may not be that simple anymore. Haunted by eerie visions and increasingly frightening nightmares, Kat begins to fear she may be the target of a dark and ominous force from beyond the grave. Complicating matters is the arrival of her new neighbor, a young man she instinctively distrusts but is inexplicably drawn to. Gorgeous and mysterious, he seems to hold a disturbing knowledge of her long-held secrets.

As she desperately tries to maintain control, events take an unexpected and violent turn. Discovering that nothing is what it seems and that her psychic abilities may involve far more than just communing with the dead, Kat may be forced to confront her worst fears and the powerful curse that controls her destiny.
My Thoughts...
I really loved this book, it's that good that I finished it in a day, the writing flows and the story moves along quickly and has you eager to discover what the next page holds.

Kat has seen spirits all her life, but has learned to mostly keep the fact to herself after her parents sent her to a pychiatrist when she was younger after she used to talk about seeing them.

Kat spends a lot of her time with her best-friend Rachel while pining away for the school hottie Rick, when he finally asks her out to say she's over the moon is an understatement, when the house next door that's been empty for quite a while is suddenly occupied by Lovell a boy around her age, her Mum seems intent on setting them up, but there's something strange about Lovell and there seems to be something he's hiding.

But suddenly Kat seems to be seeing more spirits than usual, a girl dancing on the field at school, who may or may not be a good spirit and there seems to be a malovent presence following her around, and they're out to get her.

A great book and I'll be eagerly anticipating further books in this series,

I give this 4/5.
Guest Post...

A Day In My Writing Life


My day starts quite early, usually between 4 and 5 am. I make a cup of tea (black or green), and spend the next 45 minutes to 1 hour reading. I really can't do anything until I've read at least one chapter. Then I respond to e-mails before a shower and breakfast, followed by sitting down to the business of writing. I'll write until about 12, then break for lunch. This is also when I do some posting on Facebook, Twitter or my website. I'll try to put in another hour or two of writing in the afternoon. I generally stop writing about 3 pm. By that time, my brain cells have usually dried up! I try to get in a good workout around 3:30 - yoga, Physique 57, or some form of cardio - then I unwind with a glass of red wine while I catch up on the boring daily household tasks and prepare dinner. By 8 pm, I'm usually in bed, working on my French homework and blocking out the scene for the next day's writing. And somewhere between 4 am and 8 pm I try to squeeze in 30 minutes of piano practice. It's a full day and I can guarantee you that something will always be left undone! Like that load of laundry to fold. Or those weeds that need to be pulled in the garden. Or that paperwork that needs to be filed. Or the dishwasher that needs to be emptied. Or those verbs to be conjugated. Or that re-write on page 12…..I seriously needs Hermione Granger's time turner.

Giveaway...

5 signed copies US ONLYa Rafflecopter giveaway



About this author

Molly M Hall is the author of Reckoning, the first novel in the Dark Prophecy series. She has spent most of her life in Colorado and currently lives just outside of Denver.

She pursued a degree in English Literature at Columbia College, and worked in the corporate world for several years before turning to writing full time.

When not reading or writing, she can be found shopping for awesome boots, listening to music, practicing yoga, working on her very inadequate French, playing piano, or looking for inspiring landscapes to photograph. More at: mollymhall.com


Contact Links...


Thursday 22 November 2012

Blog Tour And Giveaway: Colonization (Paradise Reclaimed #1) - Aubrie Dionne, Book Review (167).



Colonization (Paradise Reclaimed #1)

Publication: 7th November 2012
Publisher: Inkspell Publishing
Pages: 228
Genre: Dystopian/Science Fiction
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
Andromeda has spent all seventeen years of her life aboard a deep space transport vessel destined for a paradise planet. Her safe cocoon is about to break open as Paradise 21 looms only one month away, and she must take the aptitude tests to determine her role on the new world and her computer assigned lifemate. As a great-granddaughter of the Commander of the ship, she wants to live up to her family name. But, her forbidden love for her childhood friend, Sirius, distracts her and she fails the tests. The results place her in a menial role in the new colony and pair her with Corvus, “the oaf”.

But when Andromeda steps foot on Paradise 21, her predestined future is the least of her worries. Alien ghosts from a failed colonization warn her of a deadly threat to her colony. And when Sirius’s ship crashes on the far ridge in an attempt to investigate, she journeys to rescue him with Corvus. 

Andromeda now must convince the authorities of the imminent danger to keep her protect her new home. What she didn’t expect was a battle of her own feelings for Sirius and Corvus. 

Can she save the colony and discover her true love?
My Thoughts...
I wouldn't say that I'm really a fan of science-fiction books, however Colonization was so entertaining and interesting that I mostly forgot the genre I was reading, and that's all thanks to the fantastic writing that kept me intrigued and anxious to see what was going to happen on the next page.
Andromeda 'Annie' has been onboard a ship in deep space for all of her life headed to a planet named 'New Earth' after the Earth we know is no longer habitable, before they land she and all the kids her age have to take an aptitude test to determine what their jobs will be in the new world, they will also be assigned their lifemates, Annie who has developed feelings for her best friend Sirius hopes that they will be paired up, but Annie doesn't score very well where Sirius does and she gets a lesser job than Sirius and subsequently gets paired with Corvus, whom Annie thinks of a muscled 'oaf'.
But looks as they say can be deceiving and after spending time with Corvus she develops feelings for him, he ends up being an extremely sweet and caring guy and Annie has to decide whether she can forget about her idea of being with Sirius and give Corvus the chance he deserves.
But through all this people have been found suffering from some strange fatal disease after they land on the planet they have named Paradise 21, and what they discover will make them come to the realisation that their new paradise may be uninhabitable, but what do you do when you no longer have a way off the planet?
I really loved this book, I'm intrigued to see where the rest of the books in the series will take us, I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for the following books in the series.
I give this 4/5.
Giveaway...


It is open to US, UK and Canada participants.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


About The Author...


Aubrie Dionne writes science fiction fantasy with romantic
elements. Her writings have appeared in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade,
Emerald Tales, Hazard Cat, Moon Drenched Fables, A Fly in Amber, and Aurora
Wolf. Her books are published by Inkspell Publishing, Entangled Publishing,
Lyrical Press, and Gypsy Shadow Publishing. She’s also a professional flutist in
New England.

Please visit her website:http://www.authoraubrie.com
Twitter: @authoraubrie


Tuesday 20 November 2012

Waiting On Wednesday.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine where you can spotlight an upcoming release that you're eagerly anticipating.

This week I'm waiting on....

Another Little Piece



Mailbox Wednesday.

Wednesday's Mailbox.
I've decided that I will stop participating in In My Mailbox, the reason being I seem to get a lot of books every week and it takes me forever to put them all together in one post and link them up.
So I will be doing Mailbox Mon-Fri every week.

Review...


Unfed (Undead #2)

(Scholastic Australia)


Blog Tour And Giveaway: Colonization (Paradise Reclaimed #1) - Aubrie Dionne


Colonization (Paradise Reclaimed #1)

Publication: 7th November 2012
Publisher: Inkspell Publishing
Pages: 228
Genre: Dystopian/Science Fiction
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
Andromeda has spent all seventeen years of her life aboard a deep space transport vessel destined for a paradise planet. Her safe cocoon is about to break open as Paradise 21 looms only one month away, and she must take the aptitude tests to determine her role on the new world and her computer assigned lifemate. As a great-granddaughter of the Commander of the ship, she wants to live up to her family name. But, her forbidden love for her childhood friend, Sirius, distracts her and she fails the tests. The results place her in a menial role in the new colony and pair her with Corvus, “the oaf”.

But when Andromeda steps foot on Paradise 21, her predestined future is the least of her worries. Alien ghosts from a failed colonization warn her of a deadly threat to her colony. And when Sirius’s ship crashes on the far ridge in an attempt to investigate, she journeys to rescue him with Corvus. 

Andromeda now must convince the authorities of the imminent danger to keep her protect her new home. What she didn’t expect was a battle of her own feelings for Sirius and Corvus. 

Can she save the colony and discover her true love?

Guest Post...
What makes Corvus so irresistible by the end of the book?
Corvus is the underdog in Colonization: Paradise Reclaimed. He’s competing with Andromeda’s childhood crush. At first she’s blind to everything he does, but as she gets to know him, she discovers there’s much more there than she thought, putting him in the running for her heart.What makes Corvus so charming is not the way he looks on the outside- although he’s not ugly, by far- it’s how he treats Andromeda, and the lengths he’ll go to win her love. Everything Corvus does, he does for her. In writing Colonization, I wanted all the girls out there to know there are other fish in the sea. I was sick of reading YA books where the jerky, arrogant, better-looking-than-he-should-be-for-his-own-good guy always gets the girl. There are sweet, kind hearted guys that will treat you right out there that don’t fall into the bad-boy category, yet they are just as charming.
Find out in Colonization: Paradise Reclaimed if Andromeda makes the right choice. 

Giveaway...
It is open to US, UK and Canada participants.a Rafflecopter giveaway



About The Author...



Aubrie Dionne writes science fiction fantasy with romantic
elements. Her writings have appeared in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade,
Emerald Tales, Hazard Cat, Moon Drenched Fables, A Fly in Amber, and Aurora
Wolf. Her books are published by Inkspell Publishing, Entangled Publishing,
Lyrical Press, and Gypsy Shadow Publishing. She’s also a professional flutist in
New England.

Please visit her website: http://www.authoraubrie.com
Twitter: @authoraubrie

Monday 19 November 2012

Mailbox Monday.

Monday's Mailbox.
I've decided that I will stop participating in In My Mailbox, the reason being I seem to get a lot of books every week and it takes me forever to put them all together in one post and link them up.
So I will be doing Mailbox Mon-Fri every week.

Brought...

(One of my quotes from my book review of Deity ended up in the finished copy, to say I was excited was an understatement)