Promo: Free For A Limited Time - Shadow Of Time - Jen Minkman

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Shadow of Time

by Jen Minkman 

Publication: 1st January 2013

Publisher: CreateSpace

Pages: 400

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Buy It: Amazon  

All Hannah needs is a nice and quiet vacation after her first year of teaching French at a high school. She joins her brother Ben for the summer in their mom’s log cabin in Arizona. There, she meets Josh again, Ben’s childhood friend from the Navajo reservation. The little boy from the rez has grown up fast, and Hannah can’t help but feeling more for him than just friendship. 

But fate apparently has something else in store for her. And it’s not peace and quiet. Night after night, Hannah is plagued by strange nightmares about the past of Navajo Nation and terrifying shadows chasing her. They seem to come closer – and why is Josh always present in her dreams? 

Sometimes, the past has a way of catching up with you.

My Thoughts.

An absolute pleasure to read, this book had me flying through the pages to see what the conclusion to this fantastic story would be.

A truly original concept and storyline has me eager to see what Jen will release next.

Hannah and her brother Ben decide to spend their summer vacation at their Mother's log cabin in Arizona, after embarrasing herself at a gas station in front of a hot guy she's mortified when she discovers that he's Ben's best-friend from childhood Josh, what has her baffled is the intense attraction she feels for him which Josh also reciprocates.

After an encounter with three drunken men she starts to have nightmares that involve terrifying shadows with red eyes and always in her dreams is Josh a little older and they are set years ago in the past, but are they just dreams or is Hannah seeing past events that have occurred many lifetimes ago?

I loved the added storylines of the Navajo Nation it added a whole lot more to the story, more depth and the history and their customs I found to be extremely interesting, a great idea, that you don't really find in paranormal books.

This is an extremely well written, well researched book and I would love to see another book after this one, I loved the characters especially the brooding Josh and I want to read more.

I recommend any fans of paranormal romance or even romance books pick this one up it is well worth the time spent reading it.

I give this 4/5.

Q & A With Jen Minkman.

1) There is a lot of details about the Native Americans and the different tribes, how much research did you have to do to write this book?

I really had to delve deep and get a lot of books and movies about the Navajo in order to educate myself. They are quite different from tribes like the Lakota (who have been extensively portrayed in famous films like Dances With Wolves and Into The West) so good research was vital! I think out of the nine months I spent writing this book, at least three were solely dedicated to reading up on Navajo culture, mythology, language and history.

2) Have you always had an idea of featuring Native American's in your first book? 

No, not really... the first book I attempted to write was a high fantasy novel. What gave me the idea to write about them was reading New Moon by Stephenie Meyer - I liked the chemistry between Jacob and Bella in that book and was actually disappointed they didn't end up together, so I figured I should write a paranormal romance novel with Native Americans and a happy ending :)

3) If a film were to be made from this book, are there any actors in particular that you would like to be cast?

Oh, definitely! I would love to see Saoirse Ronan as Hannah and Kyerin Bennett as Josh. Not sure whether he can act, actually (he's a model)... another good one would be Michael Spears, but he's too old to play the part and Lakota, not Navajo, but I really admire his work in several projects he's done!

4) Were you inspired by any songs/music while writing this story?

First of all, I wrote my own music for the book (the songs that Hannah and Josh sing in the book really exist and can be listened to on my website). I also listened to tons of pow-wow CDs, most notably the Navajo Mountain Singers, and to punk-rock music from Navajo Nation made by the fantastic band Blackfire. I still want to see them live one day!

5) Do you plan on writing another book set in this world, maybe a sequel?

I wasn't planning any sequels, but some reviewers have complained they wanted to know more about Josh's background, so there might be a companion novella at some point.

6) Describe Shadow Of Time in five words

true love lasts beyond death.

7) What authors have inspired you over the years?

Too many to name, but a few notable ones are Ray Bradbury, Margaret Mahy, David Eddings, Tonke Dragt and Thea Beckman.

8) What are you currently reading? And what was your favourite book(s) of last year?

I thoroughly enjoyed The Hunger Games and Ultraviolet last year. Right now I am reading a book written by Ervin Laszlo about the zero point energy field and the way the world should change in order to avoid total breakdown of the current economic system. I can be very scientifically-oriented at times... but always mixed with a sense of spirituality and higher purpose.

9) And finally you're hosting a dinner party and you can only invite five people (dead or alive), who would you choose?

John Lennon and Yoko Ono, David Bowie, Jesus and my sister (because she likes all of my other guests a lot, too, and we tend to share all that makes us happy). 

Jen Minkman (1978) was born in Holland, in the town of Alphen aan den Rijn. When she was 19, she moved between The Hague, Salzburg (Austria), Brussels (Belgium) and Cambridge (UK) to complete her studies in intercultural communication. She is currently a teacher of English, career counsellor and teenage coach at a secondary school in Voorburg, Holland. She tries to read at least 100 books a year (and write a few, too!). She is a published author in her own country, and translates her own books from Dutch into English for self-publication.

In her spare time, she plays the piano, the guitar and the violin. For every novel she writes, she creates a soundtrack. 

'I have always been drawn to writing. My first book was a sci-fi novel at the age of eight, which I painstakingly typed out on my dad's typewriter and illustrated myself. Nowadays, I stick to poetry, paranormal romance, chicklit and/or fantasy. In my home country, I am the first-ever published writer of paranormal romance, and I will gradually make my books also available in English (seeing I have to re-write and translate the books myself, this will take some time!).

Social Links.

Website

Goodreads

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February Wrap-Up.

These Are The Books That I Read This Month:



A Total This Month Of 13 Books.

5/5 Stars: 4 Books (Unmaking Hunter Kennedy, The Golden Lily, The Indigo Spell, Broken Wings)
4.5/5 Stars: 0 Books
4/5 Stars: 6 Books (The Reluctant Earl, Beautiful Creatures, Angel Eyes, A Natural History Of Dragons, Dualed, Farsighted)
3.75/5 Stars: 1 Book (Fall For Me)
3.5/5 Stars: 1 Book (Open Heart)
3/5 Stars: 0 Books
2.5/5 Stars: 1 Book (Shadowhunters And Downworlders)
2/5 Stars: 0 Books
1.5/5 Stars: 0 Books
1/5 Stars: 0 Books
0.5/5 Stars: 0 Books
0/5 Stars: 0 Books

A lot of 5's and 4's in my ratings this month, some great books I just wish that I had gotten around to reading more.

My standout this month was The Indigo Spell (I love me some Sydrian).
I cannot wait for The Fiery Heart.

I hope everyone had a great reading month, and another one in March.

(ARC) Book Review (215): Dualed (Dualed #1) - Elsie Chapman

Dualed (Dualed #1)

by Elsie Chapman

Publication: 26th February 2013
Publisher: Random House Books For Young Readers
Pages: 304
Genre: Dystopian
Age Appropriate: Young Adult

You or your Alt? Only one will survive.

The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternate—a twin raised by another family—and citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriage—life.

Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes West’s confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, she’s no longer certain that she’s the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her.

Elsie Chapman's suspenseful YA debut weaves unexpected romance into a novel full of fast-paced action and thought-provoking philosophy. When the story ends, discussions will begin about this future society where every adult is a murderer and every child knows there is another out there who just might be better.

My Thoughts.

Elsie Chapman has created a fresh and exciting new world that will keep you transfixed until the nail-biting end.

I love the concept of this book, the fact that your Alt (twin born to different parents) is the one that will be ordered to kill you, anywhere between the ages of 10-20 you will be visited by someone from The Board (the people in charge of the city) who will then activate the order, and it's kill or be killed, only one will be left standing, you are given a month and if neither one nor the other is dead in that time then you will both be terminated.

Only the Alt that wins is allowed a proper education, job, marriage and kids, the Completes (Alt's that have won) are allowed the best that life can provide.

After a tragedy that affects West considerably she has almost given up on life, and then she gets activated to destroy her Alt, but with the guilt that she's feeling over the tragedy she thinks that maybe she's not the better version of herself, so it's up to Chord (her brother's best-friend) to convince her to fight for her life just like she convinced him to do when he was activated feeling the exact same way.

I'm intrigued to see how this will be carried on as a series, this book ended perfectly so I would have been happy just to have it as a stand-alone novel, so I wonder.

A fast and thrilling read, very enjoyable.

I give this 4/5.

Blog Tour & Guest Post: A Natural History Of Dragons - Marie Brennan, Book Review (214).

A Natural History of Dragons

by Marie Brennan

A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS: A Memoir by Lady Trent

A Tor Hard Cover

ISBN: 978-0-7653-3196-0

On Sale: February 5, 2013

Available here:

Indiebound, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BooksAMillion,

Powells, Walmart, Overstock

Not a day goes by that the post does not bring me at least one letter from a young person (or sometimes one not so young) who wishes to follow in my footsteps and become a dragon naturalist. Nowadays, of course, the field is quite respectable, with university courses and intellectual societies putting out fat volumes titled Proceedings of some meeting or other. Those interested in respectable things, however, attend my lectures. The ones who write to me invariably want to hear about my adventures: my escape from captivity in the swamps of Mouleen, or my role in the great Battle of Keonga, or (most frequently) my flight to the inhospitable heights of the Mrtyahaima peaks, the only place on earth where the secrets of the ancient world could be unlocked.

Even the most dedicated of letter-writers could not hope to answer all these queries personally. I have therefore accepted the offer from Messrs. Carrigdon & Rudge to publish a series of memoirs, chronicling the more interesting portions of my life. By and large these shall focus on those expeditions which led to the discovery for which I have become so famous, but there shall also be occasional digressions into matters more entertaining, personal, or even (yes) salacious. One benefit of being an old woman now, and moreover one who has been called a "national treasure," is that there are very few who can tell me what I may and may not write.

Beyond this point, therefore, lie foetid swamps, society gossip, disfiguring diseases, familial conflicts, hostile foreigners, and a plenitude of mud. You, dear reader, continue on at your own risk. It is not for the faint of heart -- no more so than the study of dragons itself. But such study offers rewards beyond compare: to stand in a dragon's presence, even for the briefest of moments -- even at the risk of one's life -- is a delight that, once experienced, can never be forgotten. If my humble words convey even a fraction of that wonder, I will rest content.

In this first volume, I will relate to you how my career as a lady adventurer and dragon naturalist began, commencing at the creation of my childhood fascination with all things winged, and for the bulk of its length describing my first foreign expedition, to study the rock-wyrms of Vystrana. Common gossip has made the bare facts well-known, but I warn you, dear reader, that all was not as you have heard.


Isabella, Lady Trent
Casselthwaite, Linshire
11 Iyar, 1895

My Thoughts.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the memoir aspect, the storyline, the illustrations (though few but very well done) and the way the whole entire book was put together made this a very intriguing book to read through.

What Brennan has created here is a story that will captivate and keep you entranced all the way through till the action packed ending.

I loved the fact that although this book is fiction it's written in the way of a memoir, the life of Isabella a rambunctious and wilful child who discovered her first Dragon at a young age which then started her obsession with discovering the workings  (both inner and outer) of the species.

Starting with her early childhood and working her way through to her early twenties her fascination with Dragons never diminishes and sets her off on an expedition to Drustanev to assist in researching them.

And whilst I did have some trouble in pronouncing a lot of the names and places ( a section at the back of the book dealing with the pronounciations would have been helpful), the world building that occurs throughout with these imaginary places takes you to faraway places a journey that will enchant you.

The illustrations were gorgeous and as I said at the start of my review I definitely would have loved more, they help the imagination more in picturing the Dragons and having an idea of just what the author is describing.

The chapters were another interesting addition to the book, the way that at the start of each  there is a description of sorts on what will occur in the following chapter, I found this was a part of the book I was looking forward too, knowing what's coming but not getting exact detail either.

I hope that this is going to be the first book in a series, I can imagine that Isabella has a huge amount of adventures that she still has to share, I will definitely pick up any further books that may be released of the memoirs of this headstrong and sometimes opinionated heroine.

I give this 4/5.

Excerpt.

 A physician had accompanied the hunt, to minister to both the dogs and the men; he arrived shortly after we did. I was not his first patient, though. I heard Jim’s voice moaning from the other side of the small room, but I could not see him through the press of other people.

            “Don’t hurt him,” I said to no one in particular, though rationally I knew the physician must be trying to help him. “Don’t blame him. I made him do it. And he protected me; he got in the way when the wolf-drake attacked.” This I had pieced together after the fact.

            The injuries Jim suffered through his heroic move were one of two things that kept him from being ignominiously sacked. The other -- though I can take little pride in it -- was my tireless defense, insisting that he was not to be blamed for bringing me on the hunt. Now, far too late, my guilt boiled up, and I fear I kept harping on the point long after my father had agreed to keep him on.

            All of that came later, though. Once finished with Jim, the physician came to me, and banished everyone but my father and the now-sleeping Jim out of the hut, for the wound was on my shoulder and it would not be appropriate for others to be there while it was bared. (This I thought foolish, even at the time, for young ladies may wear off-the-shoulder dresses, which show just as much flesh as his ministrations did.)

            I was given brandy to drink, which I had never had before, and its fire nearly made my eyes start out of my head. They made me drink more, though, and after I had enough in me, they poured some over the wounds in my shoulder to cleanse them. This made me cry, but thanks to the brandy I no longer particularly cared that I was crying. By the time the physician began to stitch me up, I was not aware of much at all, except him telling Papa in a low voice, “The claws were sharp, so the flesh is not too ragged. And she’s young and strong. If infection does not threaten, it will heal well.”

            Through lips gone very thick and uncooperative, I tried to mumble something about how I wanted to wear off-the-shoulder dresses, but I do not believe it came out very clearly, and then I was asleep.

Guest Post.
It doesn’t look anything like it at first glance, but this series was actually inspired by a calendar and a Dungeons & Dragons book. The book in question is the Draconomicon, a third edition supplement with information on -- you guessed it -- dragons. Now, although I’m a gamer, I tend to rag on D&D: its books are usually just new prestige classes, feats, spells, and magic items, with a token bit of setting information dropped on top like a spring of limp parsley. (I prefer RPGs for their narrative aspects, not for the crunch of game mechanics.) The Draconomicon, however, is different. Sure, it has mechanics in there, but it also has lots of cool information about the life cycle of dragons, their language, their psychology, and so on. As it happened, when I went browsing through that book for a game, I had a certain calendar on my wall: a Dragonology calendar, a bit of merchandise for the books of the same name. These take the conceit of being scholarly discussions of dragons, talking about different breeds in different parts of the world from the viewpoint of a natural historian. You can probably see where this is going. Actually, I don’t know whether my first thought was a novel. I know that in the space of a month or two, I flip-flopped half a dozen times as to whether I wanted to write a book about a natural historian of dragons, or run a game in which the player-characters were out to study them instead of killing them and taking their stuff (that being the usual mode of a D&D campaign). I played around with the beginning of the book for a little while, just to see how it went, and thirty thousand words fell out of my head; that seemed like a good sign. But that was right around the time that I started on the Onyx Court series, so this project got postponed for a good four years -- four years in which I probably could have run the game, but didn’t. Isabella had staked out that territory in my head, and wasn’t letting go. Besides, the dragons in my head weren’t D&D dragons anymore. The ones in the game system are intelligent creatures, capable of speech and magic; they defy anything like plausible biology, and they live for hundreds of years. The ones in Isabella’s world are animals, like tigers or bears; they may be a bit more complicated than mundane animals, but they’re not the godlike beings of D&D. And I’m trying, in my handwavy fantasy-science way, to make them vaguely plausible on the biological front. But it still all stems from a roleplaying game and a calendar. The imagination, it works in mysterious ways.

Marie Brennan is a former academic with a background in archaeology, anthropology, and folklore, which she now puts to rather cockeyed use in writing fantasy. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to many short stories and novellas, she is also the author of A Star Shall Fall and With Fate Conspire (both from Tor Books), as well as Warrior, Witch, Midnight Never Come, In Ashes Lie, and Lies and Prophecy. You can find her online at SwanTower.com.

 Marie Brennan (Website, Twitter, Goodreads)

Book Trailer: Clockwork Princess - Cassandra Clare

The Official Book Trailer for The Clockwork Princess (Infernal Devices #3) - Cassandra Clare is here, after watching this I want to read it even more.

I'm Team Will, how about the rest of you?

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Broken Wings - Shannon Dittemore, Book Review (213).

Welcome to my stop on the Broken Wings blog tour hosted by YA Bound.  Click HERE to see the full blog tour schedule!

Broken Wings (Angel Eyes Trilogy #2)

by Shannon Dittemore 

Publication: 19th February 2013

Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers

Pages: 320

Genre: Paranormal

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Giant angels with metal wings and visible song. A blind demon restored from the pit of darkness. And a girl who has never felt more broken.

Brielle sees the world as it really is: a place where the Celestial exists side by side with human reality. But in the aftermath of a supernatural showdown, her life begins to crumble. Her boyfriend, Jake, is keeping something from her—something important. Her overprotective father has started drinking again. He’s dating a much younger woman who makes Brielle’s skin crawl, and he’s downright hostile toward Jake. Haunting nightmares keep Brielle from sleeping, and flashes of Celestial vision keep her off kilter.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s been targeted. The Prince of Darkness himself has heard of the boy with healing in his hands and of the girl who sees through the Terrestrial Veil. When he plucks the blind demon, Damien, from the fiery chasm and sends him back to Earth with new eyes, the stage is set for a cataclysmic battle of good versus evil.

Then Brielle unearths the truth about her mother’s death and she must question everything she ever thought was true.

Brielle has no choice. She knows evil forces are converging and will soon rain their terror down upon the town of Stratus. She must master the weapons she’s been given. She must fight.

But can she fly with broken wings?

My Thoughts.

I really, really loved the first book in this series Angel Eyes and was more than delighted to be a part of this blog tour.

The visualization that you get whilst reading this book/series through the descriptions is stunning, I love the Angels that have been created here and the whole storyline makes this series one of my favourites in the paranormal genre featuring Angels.

And while this has been released as Christian Fiction which I'm not a particular fan of, this series whilst having God and religion throughout the books it doesn't take away from the storyline but adds to it instead, it helps that Shannon wrote it the way she did which makes it more enjoyable for those whom aren't religious in any sense.

With some extremely likeable characters, (yes Jake and Canaan, I'm talking about you) and our lead heroine Brielle , this book surpassed the debut novel which I didn't expect and because of that it just gave us so much more to anticipate with the third novel Dark Halo (which I love the title of).

I highly recommend everyone pick this book up, but for those of you who haven't read Angel Eyes definitely start with that one first.

I give this 4.5/5.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Book One: Angel Eyes.

Publication: 29th May 2012

Publisher: Thomas Nelson Fiction

Pages: 327

Genre: Paranormal

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Once you’ve seen, you can’t unsee. Everything changes when you’ve looked at the world through . . .

ANGEL EYES

Brielle’s a ballerina who went to the city to chase her dreams and found tragedy instead. She’s come home to shabby little Stratus, Oregon, to live with her grief and her guilt . . . and the incredible, numbing cold she can’t seem to shake.

Jake’s the new guy at school. The boy next door with burning hands and an unbelievable gift that targets him for corruption.

Something more than fate has brought them together. An evil bigger than both of them lurks in the shadows nearby, hiding in plain sight. Two angels stand guard, unsure what’s going to happen. And a beauty brighter than Jake or Brielle has ever seen is calling them to join the battle in a realm where all human choices start.

A realm that only angels and demons—and Brielle—can perceive.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

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About the Author

Shannon Dittemore has an overactive imagination and a passion for truth. Her lifelong journey to combine the two is responsible for a stint at Portland Bible College, performances with local theater companies, and a focus on youth and young adult ministry. The daughter of one preacher and the wife of another, she spends her days imagining things unseen and chasing her two children around their home in Northern California. Angel Eyes is her first novel.

Website / Twitter / Goodreads / Facebook / Pinterest

Cover Reveal & Giveaway: A Need So Insatiable - Cecilia Robert

A Need So Insatiable

by Cecilia Robert 

“I’ve never bowed or kneeled for anyone,” Rafael said. “Never thought I would.” Then he was on his knees. He slid his arms around my waist, tugging me closer and bowed his head.

“You own me, Sophie.” He looked up, his dark eyes hitting me with enough force to snatch the breath from my lungs. “You’ve owned me from the moment I walked into your life in that music room. Then I saw you slipping out the window like the wolves were after you and I knew I wanted you in my life. You’ve wrapped yourself in my heart and mind. I can’t get you out. I don’t want to.”

Graduate opera singer, Sophie Fisher’s life is on fire and it’s not her breathtaking voice lighting it, but the trail of debts her father left behind after he passed away a few months ago. If she’s not ducking around corners or slipping out of windows to escape the debt collectors and a slew of characters sent from hell, she’s dealing with her rebellious fifteen-year-old sister, Lilli, who is still coming to terms with their father’s death. And as if that’s not enough, Rafael Van Rees bursts into her life—literally—bringing with him a set of emotions she isn’t prepared to deal with and a life the public had no idea of.

Rafael Van Rees, Maestro extraordinaire, just wants to be left in peace to date whichever woman he feels like, have dinner with whomever he feels like, and just enjoy his life. Until he meets Sophie and his past returns to haunt him. And just when he thought he didn’t care about her, his history proves him wrong. He knows when it comes to her, it’s all or nothing. Besides, she makes him feel fuzzy all over.

Is Sophie’s fire hot enough to melt the ice coursing through his veins?

Cover art: Najla Qamber at http://najlaqamberdesigns.com/

Genre: Contemporary romance

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17315544-a-need-so-insatiable

Book  Release: Winter 2013

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Cecilia Robert lives in Vienna with her two children, has an incurable obsession with books, anything romantic, TV and medieval architecture. When not working in her full time job, catching up with her two children, writing or reading, she can be found, knitting or crocheting, taking photos of old buildings.

Author links: http://cecereadandwrite.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CeciliaRobertBooks