Thursday, February 28, 2019

Blog Tour + Guest Post + Giveaway - The Winnowing (Stanley & Hazel #2) by Jo Schaffer


Find the tour schedule here.







The Winnowing (Stanley & Hazel #2) by Jo Schaffer
Publication Date: February 26, 2019
Publisher: Month9Books


Darkness descends over St. Louis, a city already rocked by the 
Great Depression. More and more people are disappearing, and 
some have turned up dead. A sinister secret society is putting 
forward their plan known as “The Winnowing,” designed to wipe 
out those they consider “undesirable.”

After Stanley and Hazel foil the diabolical plans of Charles 
Chouteau, they become instant celebrities. Hazel is thrust into the 
role of debutante, and risks loses herself in it. Meanwhile, Stanley 
must deal with the horrific tragedy of his best friend’s death while 
being threatened by the unseen forces of the Veiled Prophet.

With things spiraling out of control, Stanley and Hazel’s relationship 
is tested, possibly beyond repair. As bodies pile up, people become 
more desperate. The divide between wealthy and poor grows ever 
wider, threatening to tear their worlds apart. Now, the two must find 
a way to work together if there is any hope at all of saving their 
relationship and their futures.

 



Pre-order Links:

BAM | Google Play | Chapters | Indies | Amazon | B&N | kobo | TBD









Top 10 Fav Reads (not in any particular order)


This list was hard to come up with because I can easily have a top 
20 books in every genre. But this is a mix of some favorites. 


1. The Deryni Series

2. Anne of Green Gables series

3. Little Women series

4. All books Jane Austen

5. Jane Eyre

6. Of Human Bondage

7. Emily of New Moon Series
 
8. The Chronicles of Narnia

9. The Great Gatsby

10. Outlander







About the Author


 

Jo Schaffer was born and raised in the California Bay Area in a 
huge, creative family. She is a YA novelist, speaker and a 
Taekwondo black belt.
She’s a founding member of the nonprofit organization that created 
Teen Author Boot Camp, one of the nation’s biggest conferences for 
teens where bestselling authors present writing workshops to nearly 
a thousand attendees.
Jo loves being involved in anything that promotes literacy and 
family. She is passionate about community, travel, books, music, 
healthy eating, classic films and martial arts. But her favorite thing 
is being mom to three strapping sons and a neurotic cat named Hero. 
They live together in the beautiful mountains of Utah.













 Tour-wide giveaway





http://www.chapter-by-chapter.com/


 

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Can't-Wait Wednesday - Emily Eternal by M.G. Wheaton


Can't-Wait Wednesday is a feature hosted at Wishful Endings where people showcase an upcoming book they are looking forward to.




This week my choice is . . .




Title: Emily Eternal
Author: M.G. Wheaton
Pages: 256
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: 9th April 2019


Blurb from Goodreads:
 
Meet Emily - she can solve advanced mathematical problems, unlock the mind's deepest secrets and even fix your truck's air con, but unfortunately, she can't restart the Sun.

She's an artificial consciousness, designed in a lab to help humans process trauma, which is particularly helpful when the sun begins to die 5 billion years before scientists agreed it was supposed to.

So, her beloved human race is screwed, and so is Emily. That is, until she finds a potential answer buried deep in the human genome. But before her solution can be tested, her lab is brutally attacked, and Emily is forced to go on the run with two human companions - college student Jason and small-town Sheriff, Mayra.

As the sun's death draws near, Emily and her friends must race against time to save humanity. But before long it becomes clear that it's not only the species at stake, but also that which makes us most human.
 




 Why I'm Anticipating This Book:

An artificial consciousness has to save the human race?!
The science in this is going to be so interesting!
Sounds awesome!


  


Monday, February 25, 2019

Wildest Dreams Unboxing - Once Upon a Dream (February Box)



Wildest Dreams is a YA subscription book box run by the lovely Zoe who blogs at No Safer Place.

Each box included a YA book, a tea, a bath product, and usually a bookmark and something extra.



This month the theme was 
Once Upon a Dream.
 
 
 
Here's what was inside . . .
 
 
 
 A bracelet inspired by The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon.
This is by Lulu and the Elephant.

A print of Kiko the protagonist in Starfish by Akemi Dawn.
This is designed by Lia from @lostinink_.





Tea inspired by Sleeping Beauty.
This is from Rosie Lea Tea.

A lip conditioner inspired by Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor.
This smells like marshmallow fluff and is from Shimmer & Luxe.





The book of the month is On the Come Up by Angie Thomas.
This is the new book from the author of The Hate U Give.




Here is everything altogether . . .
 





I really liked this box.
I thought there were some unique items.
The bracelet is my favourite thing in the box - I love The Bone Season.
I already have a copy of On the Come Up so this one is going to my sister, but I was happy to see it in a subscription box.




What's your favourite item in this box?





Saturday, February 23, 2019

Blog Tour + Guest Post + Giveaway - Smoke and Summons (Numina Trilogy #1) by Charlie N. Holmberg


Find the tour schedule here.








 Smoke and Summons (Numina Trilogy #1) by Charlie N. Holmberg
Publisher: 47North
Release Date: February 1st 2019
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Fantasy



Synopsis:

A captivating world of monsters and magic from the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Paper Magician Series.

As a human vessel for an ancient spirit, Sandis lives no ordinary life. At the command of her master, she can be transformed against her will into his weapon — a raging monster summoned to do his bidding. Unlike other vessels, Sandis can host extremely powerful spirits, but hosting such creatures can be fatal. To stay alive, she
must run. And in a city fueled by smoke and corruption, she finds a surprising ally.

A cunning thief for hire, Rone owns a rare device that grants him immortality for one minute every day — a unique advantage that will come in handy in Sandis’s fight for freedom. But Sandis’s master knows how powerful she is. He’s determined to get her back, and he has the manpower to find her, wherever she runs.

Now, to outwit her pursuers, Sandis must put all her trust in Rone and his immortal device. For her master has summoned more than mere men to hunt her down...













What Inspired Me to Write My Book



You want to know what inspired me to write Smoke & Summons
Professional pressure.

My agent called me while I was on vacation a couple years back to 
tell me she and my editor had had a discussion, and they decided it 
was time for me to write another series.

Mind you, I’d written one series in my life, and to be fair, it was kind 
of a fluke. It was also a bestselling fluke, so admittedly, I could see 
where they were coming from.

But a series? My ideas were one-book ideas. Thus the number of 
standalones. How was I going to get an idea big enough to 
encompass at least three books? 

Being a go-getter, anal, “red” personality, I got started on it 
right away, vacation be damned. I started harvesting ideas from dead 
novels, Pinterest boards, and the brainstorming folder I keep on my 
computer. I pulled anything and everything I thought was remotely 
interesting. I took the fire horse from an urban fantasy idea I had 
about the steeds that pulled Helios’s chariot. I stole monsters from 
the third novel I’d ever finished (and will never publish). I took the 
idea of summoning (a la Final Fantasy) into a living host from a 
Pinterest board I’d dedicated to a slapdashed high fantasy. I had 
written, very simply, “immortality switch” in that brainstorming 
folder, and instantly fell in love with it. Admittedly, my daughter 
was watching a lot of Tangled at the time, and some Flynn Ryder 
might have snuck in there as well.

Truth be told, it was alarming how fast the Numina series pulled 
together. I didn’t have any paper with me at the time, so I stole my 
husband’s calculus notebook and claimed the last 50 pages in it for 
myself. I started drawing maps and created a religion, a history, a 
people. A magic system unlike anything I’d done before. And you 
know what? I really liked it. I loved it. I loved writing it, editing it, 
adjusting and fixing it. The first book, Smoke & Summons, became 
the best book I’d ever written (in my fine and humble opinion). And 
now it’s out in the world, with its sisters on the way.

And so, despite what was a very stressful phone conversation in 
Angels Camp, California, I am incredibly grateful for the push 
(though let’s be honest, it was more of a violent shove) from my 
agent and editor, because these books would not have happened 
without it. It showed me what I can do when I really put my mind to it.

And that, in the end, is a little bit inspiring. :)






About the Author 


Born in Salt Lake City, Charlie N. Holmberg was raised a Trekkie alongside threesisters who also have boy names. She is a proud BYU alumna, plays the ukulele, owns too many pairs of glasses, and finally adopted a dog. Her fantasy Paper Magician series, which includes The Paper Magician, The Glass Magician, and The Master Magician, has been optioned by the Walt Disney Company. Her stand-alone novel, Followed by Frost, was nominated for a 2016 RITA Award for Best Young Adult Romance, and her novel The Fifth Doll won the 2018 Whitney for Speculative Fiction. She is a board member for Deep Magic Ezine and currently lives with her family in Utah. Visit her at www.charlienholmberg.com.




Author Links:










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