Cover Reveal: Mist On Water

Mist On Water by Shea Berkley

Release Date: July 13th 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical

Links: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Long ago, in a far off land, there rose a tale as old as the earth.

As long as Ryne can remember, his parents told him to beware the nix in the lake. From the day he was born, the tale of the nix and how she demanded Ryne as her prize for setting his captured father free has defined Ryne’s life. No matter what he does, he can’t shed its curse…in everyone’s eyes, Ryne is doomed to die.

Nari is the only one who befriends Ryne, and loves him without fear despite the villagers’ relentless jeers. But when Ryne disappears beneath the cold waters of the lake, everyone believes he’s dead. Everyone except Nari.

Now it’s up to Nari to defy her family, her village and the legend of the nix to bring Ryne back from his watery prison or they’ll both be lost. forever.

Author Bio:

Shea Berkley started out writing nonfiction (not so fun) and quickly moved into fiction (totally fun), and knew she'd found her calling. (Her family was thrilled she'd found friends to play with even if they weren't technically real.) She's still pleasantly surprised people are willing to pay to read her stories. Besides writing, her many diversions include kickboxing, reading awesome books and hanging out with her loud and rambunctious family. With five kids (all girls), her biggest job is to make sure the little darlings don't harass the neighbors and then play dumb when the cops come knocking on her door.

Author Links: Website | Twitter |  Facebook | Goodreads

Review: Jessica Rules The Dark Side (Jessica #2)

Jessica Rules The Dark Side (Jessica #2) by Beth Fantaskey

Publisher: Harcourt, 2012
309 pages, Hardcover

Source: Purchased from Book Depository

Release Date: January 10th 2012

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Vampires, Fantasy, Romance, Mystery

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon UK

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

It's one thing to find out you're a vampire princess. It's a whole other thing to actually rule. Newly married Jessica Packwood is having a hard enough time feeling regal with her husband, Lucius, at her side. But when evidence in the murder of a powerful elder points to Lucius, sending him into solitary confinement, Jessica is suddenly on her own. Determined to clear her husband's name, Jessica launches into a full-scale investigation, but hallucinations and nightmares of betrayal keep getting in her way. Jessica knows that with no blood to drink, Lucius's time is running out. Can she figure out who the real killer is —and whom she can trust— before it's too late?

My Review:

Beth Fantaskey did an amazing job on picking up where she ended things in Jessica’s Guide To Dating The Dark Side. Everything in this book I fell in love with. When you start reading you are literally thrown in the deep end right into the plot of power, now that her marriage to Lucius is over with Jessica is learning to reign as Queen. She is learning the laws, language and the how to of being a good Queen to her people. I like that Jessica is showing her flaws, but she is having trouble in learning in what she needs to do. I also like that he does not hide it but really stresses over it. But with all the stressing Jessica and Lucius make a great team. That is what a real marriage is all about, working together, having each other’s back no matter what life throws at you?

It was amazing to see the growth of each character in the book, Jessica starts off rocky not really sure how to stand on her own 2 feet always relying on Lucius. But now it is good to rely on your husband but there will be times where you have to eventually stand on you 2 feet without the help. Soon as trouble rose Jessica took everything in with amazing strength, she was very stressed and tired but she knew what was needed to be done. You have to admire her ability to keep a straight face with all the death and trouble looming around her. But as always in the end Jessica is awesome at being a Queen in her own right.

Author Bio:

Beth Fantaskey, author of the YA novels Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, Jessica Rules the Dark Side, Jekel Loves Hyde, and, most recently, my funny, romantic teen murder mystery, Buzz Kill.

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Review: Jessica's Guide To Dating The Dark Side (Jessica #1)

Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side (Jessica #1) by Beth Fantaskey

Publisher: Harcourt, 2009
351 pages, Hardcover

Source: Purchased from Book Depository

Release Date: February 1st 2009

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Vampires, Romance, Fantasy, Supernatural

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon UK

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

The undead can really screw up your senior year ...

Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction.

My Review:

Jessica’s Guide To Dating On The Dark Side is very refreshing and a good change from what I normally read in my spare time. It is a book where our main characters are Vampires but one character just doesn’t know it yet, Jessica is a normal American teen that is until Lucius appears in her life and told her that she is his long lost fiancé and a Romanian Vampire Princess. Lucius is a vampire who has to bring and marry Jessica to save a war between Jessica’s family and Lucius’s family. The relationship between Lucius and Jessica was very intriguing to read about and I did not know where it would lead, if they were going to end up being together.

I liked the arranged marriage part because I have never read about that before, it made the book a little unique in its own way sort of. I was able to relate to Lucius and Jessica. There are a lot of twists and turns and surprises in this book, but it felt like you knew what was going to happen in the end anyway but it is still able to surprise in the end too, so it really doesn’t disappoint you any way possible.

Author Bio:

Beth Fantaskey, author of the YA novels Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, Jessica Rules the Dark Side, Jekel Loves Hyde, and, most recently, my funny, romantic teen murder mystery, Buzz Kill.

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

ARC Review: Ice Kissed (Kanin Chronicles #2)

Ice Kissed (Kanin Chronicles #2) by Amanda Hocking

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2015
300 pages, kindle edition

Source: Netgalley

Release Date: May 5th 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Magic

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon UK

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

In the majestic halls of a crystal palace lies a secret that could destroy an entire kingdom…

Bryn Aven refuses to give up on her dream of serving the kingdom she loves. It’s a dream that brings her to a whole new realm…and the glittering palace of the Skojare.

The Skojare people need protection from the same brutal enemy that’s been threatening the Kanin, and Bryn is there to help. Being half Skojare herself, it’s also a chance for her to learn more about her lost heritage. Her boss, Ridley Dresden, is overseeing her mission, but as their undeniable attraction heats up, their relationship is about to reach a whole new level—one neither of them is prepared for.

As they delve deeper into the Skojare world, they begin to unravel a long-hidden secret. The dark truth about her own beloved Kanin kingdom is about to come to light, and it will change her place in it forever…and threaten everyone she loves.

My Review:

There have been a few books that I have been reading lately that were written in third person it was a real change to all the other books I usually read in first person. But I find that stories being told in first person have so much more emotion and personality. This story stars with Bryn recapping a failed mission along side Ridley and she is beating herself up over that failure.

I really enjoyed read this book, I grew to love the characters in the story, but I fell in love with them in the first book Frostfire. I did not understand the ending or how much depth that went into it until I properly read the synopsis of Frostfire again, it was like I light switch flicked on.

Author Bio:

Amanda Hocking is a lifelong Minnesotan obsessed with Batman and Jim Henson. In between watching cooking shows, taking care of her menagerie of pets, and drinking too much Red Bull Zero, she writes young adult urban fantasy and paranormal romance.

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Wattpad | Email | Tumblr | Publisher Website | Instagram | Youtube

ARC Review: Rogue (Talon #2)

Rogue (Talon #2) by Julie Kagawa 

Publisher: Harlequin Teen, 2015

400 pages, kindle edition

Source: Netgalley

Release Date: May 1st 2015

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal, Mythology, Supernatural

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon UK

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Ember Hill left the dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues. But Ember can't forget the sacrifice made for her by the human boy who could have killed her—Garret Xavier Sebastian, a soldier of the dragonslaying Order of St. George, the boy who saved her from a Talon assassin, knowing that by doing so, he'd signed his own death warrant.

Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order's headquarters. With assassins after them and Ember's own brother helping Talon with the hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George.

A reckoning is brewing and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another day…or start an all-out war?

My Review:

Man this book was an amazing read I thought it wasn’t going to be as good as the first book, but it blow my expectation out of the window. What really catches me off guard is every time Julie tells a story it feels so real, but her imagination is very outside the box but you can picture things happening as if they are happening in front of you, she has a way of bring her characters to life and I think that is so awesome in telling stories.

This book is packed with action, action, action and more action, and you will really like dragons in this one there is also a lot of ass kicking dragon fights. And also the love triangle in this book works for them and its strange but it is like second nature in this story, with Ember being dragon and human it becomes a point like their being 2 separate entities it just made sense. Her dragon side wants a dragon only and her human wants a human only. In the end this is not your usual love triangle.

My Rating:

Author Bio:

Julie Kagawa, the New York Times bestselling author of the Iron Fey and Blood of Eden series was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos, and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn’t getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish, and the odd eel.
When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her Math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time (okay, at least the illustrations did), but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a
real job.

To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dog trainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full time.

Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks are at an all time low. She lives with her husband, an obnoxious cat, an Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and a hyper-active Papillion.

Author Links: Website | Google+ | Twitter | Instaram | Facebook | Youtube

Book Blitz: A Question Of Counsel

A Question Of Counsel by Archer Kay Leah

Publisher: Not available

Release Date: May 27th 2015

Genre: Adult, Fantasy

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | B&N | Kobo | Smashwords

Synopsis:

Life hasn’t been easy for Aeley since she arrested her brother, and her role as a political leader leaves her feeling isolated and lonely. Days before her brother’s trial, she meets Lira, a quiet and modest scribe who makes Aeley want more than just a professional relationship.

When she attends the trial and leaves with a marriage contract, Aeley doesn’t know what to do. She must choose one of two brothers, marrying into a family she doesn’t know. Then she discovers that Lira is part of the same family–a sister to Aeley’s suitors and the family’s disgrace. And not at all opposed to an intimate relationship.

Except random acts of violence against her people test Aeley’s ability as a leader, and a web of lies and deceit threaten not only her chance at happiness, but her life…

Excerpt:

"It could be any one of the available men and I still wouldn’t be happy about it." The words tumbled from Aeley's lips before she could stop herself. "It isn't just your brothers being themselves, it's the whole concept of giving myself over to a guy I don't care for. I have no interest in sleeping with them, or procreating. And it isn't because I don't know how—I know how. I've slept with guys before; I just don't care for it. I don't get pleasure from it like everyone thinks I should. I know Father wanted me to find someone nice, but his idea of nice isn't the same as mine."

"Is it the same reason why you and Mayr aren't together?"

"Partially," Aeley replied. "That, and he's my best friend. The only one who really understands me. We never wanted to ruin it." She tilted her head back to stare at the stars. "If only it wasn't your brothers. If only it was y—"

Closing her mouth, she knew she'd said too much already. It always happened whenever they were together. Rarely did she tell anyone her most private thoughts, and when she did, she trusted only Mayr. But even then, she preferred to keep her deepest thoughts to herself, protecting them as if they were precious and easily shattered. Why could she not stop exposing those secrets when she was with Lira?

"What were you saying?" Lira asked softly, her eyes searching Aeley's.

"Nothing. Never mind. I was rambling."

"Or telling the truth."

When Aeley turned, Lira stepped closer. Their chests touched—a deliberate move, Aeley realized, when Lira leaned into her. She watched the rise and fall of Lira's chest under the simple gold pendant around her neck.

"Imagine if you could tell me everything, without worrying about what I'd think," Lira murmured. Her face neared Aeley's. "Maybe this is exactly the change you wanted. Maybe you just need more time to put everything together. Or maybe you just need all the pieces."

There was no time to breathe before Lira's lips touched hers, coaxing a soft kiss from Aeley with a gentle push and tug.

Her thoughts spun. Aeley raised her hand to the balcony to keep steady, only barely registering the fact that her hand made it halfway before stopping in the air. Was the silence just in her head or had the music stopped?

By the time Aeley realized what was happening, Lira's lips left.

"Something for you to think about," Lira whispered. Without waiting for a reply, she walked towards the ballroom.

She paused in the doorway and looked back, the light from the room illuminating her face and giving her skin a yellow glow. Her lips showed the hint of a smile, but her eyes said everything.

Author Bio:

Archer Kay Leah was raised in Ontario, Canada, growing up in a port town at a time when it was starting to become more diverse, both visibly and vocally. Combined with the variety of interests found in Archer’s family and the never-ending need to be creative, it has been this diversity that has inspired Archer’s love of toying with characters and their relationships, exploring new experiences and crazy situations.

Archer started writing stories at age six and became “that kid” with their nose in the books and a pen in their hand, pursuing the challenges of writing novels at age thirteen and conquering the dread of poetry at fifteen. Archer most enjoys writing speculative fiction and is engaged in a very particular love affair with fantasy, especially when it is dark and emotionally charged.

When not reading and writing for work or play, Archer is a geek who has too many hobbies, keeping busy with other creative endeavors, a music addiction, and whatever else comes along, especially if it is in technological form. Archer lives in London, Ontario with a same-sex partner and their cat.

Giveaway:

Individual giveaway (OPEN INTERNATIONALLY) ENDS JUNE 13TH
1. $5 amazon gift card

Leave your name, email, blog (if you have one) and number starting from 1 in the comment section below.

ARC: Saving London

Saving London by Taylor Dawn

Publisher: Booktrope, 2015
272 pages, kindle edtion

Source: Publisher (Book Marketing Manager)

Release Date: June 9th 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon UK

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

The List. That Signified Finality.
The Journey. That Would Span The Globe.
The Sacrifice. That Would Decide The Outcome.
The Choice. That Could Unleash Evil On Earth.
The End Is Only The Beginning...


“You have terminal cancer.”

London Patterson, a seemingly healthy young woman, had her entire life ahead of her. That was until four little words brought everything to a screeching halt. As the shock and grief begin to fade, London decides to map out her last year and embark on an epic journey to complete a bucket list. She wants to do the things she’s been afraid to do in her life, step out of her self-contained box, and see the world. What she didn’t expect was for a mysterious stranger named Adam to breeze into her life like a breath of fresh air.

Adam offers to help London complete her list on one condition…that she sees it through to the end. Agreeing on those terms, the two set out on an adventure of a lifetime. But London soon realizes that Adam isn’t quite…human. Along their journey odd occurrences happen that cause London to question who or what Adam is and why he’s helping her.

Follow London as she checks off her bucket list in this inspiring new Urban Fantasy novel from Taylor Dawn.

My Review:

London is on the road of starting her very own bucket list, which leads London to run into a man named Adam who also offers to help her with her list. But only if she agrees to follow through with everything she has on list and competes it all. Adam then sort of takes over her list but seems to have connections everywhere and pretty much unlimited money, a few times she questions his stability where he talks about angels and its very cryptic about who he really is. But then with him around she feels very calm and safe so then she tries to forget about that.

London is also very spunk and snarky for a young lady who has been dealt a shit hand in her life, so not only has she just learned that she is dying caused by cancer but she has had it very rough her entire life growing up, in the foster care system, she has this sarcastic attitude which she uses as a coping mechanism so people do not get close to her.

Adam was courteous and very patient for a male, he sort of needed to be with London and all her personality. He showed up in London’s life at exactly the right moment he needed to be there, I like Adam’s character I found that he was easy to like with the secrets he held back about his life.

Author Bio:

C.D. Taylor/Taylor Dawn began writing as an item to check off her bucket list. She resides in the southernmost part of Illinois, right on the mighty Mississippi river. She enjoys the quiet country life with her husband, son and the many farm animals that make up the rest of the family. She. decided that farm life was just a little too mundane, so she started writing erotica and fantasy to liventhings up, so far so good. C.D./Taylor entered cosmetology school right out of High School and practiced the art of hair styling for 12 years. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found sitting around a table making people laugh. She has always wanted to be a standup comic. She loves pulling practical jokes, dresses up in a costume every Halloween and believes that dancing is the key to a happy life (even if you aren’t a good dancer). She believes that life shouldn’t be taken too seriously, we will never get out alive anyway. More than anything, she is a kid at heart, she doesn’t believe in bedtimes, eating everything on her plate, or having ice cream only for dessert. Her favorite quote is by Dr. Seuss…”Why fit in, when you were born to stand out.”


Author Links:  Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

ARC Review: Fairy Keeper

Fair Keeper by Amy Bearce

Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press, 2015

236 pages, kindle edition

Source: Netgalley

Release Date: March 5th 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon UK

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Forget cute fairies in pretty dresses. In the world of Aluvia, most fairies are more like irritable, moody insects. Almost everyone in the world of Aluvia views the fairy keeper mark as a gift, but not fourteen-year-old Sierra. She hates being a fairy keeper, but the birthmark is right there on the back of her neck. It shows everyone she was born with the natural ability to communicate, attract, and even control the tiny fairies whose nectar is amazingly powerful. Fairy nectar can heal people, but it is also a key ingredient in synthesizing Flight, an illegal elixir that produces dreaminess, apathy and hallucinations. She’s forced to care for a whole hive of the bee-like beasties by her Flight-dealing, dark alchemist father.

Then one day, Sierra discovers the fairies of her hatch are mysteriously dead. The fairy queen is missing. Her father’s Flight operation is halted, and he plans to make up for the lost income by trading her little sister to be an elixir runner for another dark alchemist, a dangerous thug. Desperate to protect her sister, Sierra convinces her father she can retrieve the lost queen and get his operation up and running.

The problem? Sierra’s queen wasn’t the only queen to disappear. They’re all gone, every single one, and getting them back will be deadly dangerous.

Sierra journeys with her best friend and her worst enemy -- assigned by her father to dog her every step -- to find the missing queens. Along the way, they learn that more than just her sister’s life is at stake if they fail. There are secrets in the Skyclad Mountains where the last wild fairies were seen. The magic Sierra finds there has the power to transform their world, but only if she can first embrace her calling as a fairy keeper.

My Review:

Army Bearce’s twist on fairies and magic in her novel the Fairy Keeper is imaginative and it works really well. Fairies are not sweet at all. They are very fierce, Fairy Queens are not so motherly but they are very ruthless and cutthroat. Magic is not something of this world. But it is literally what holds the world together. So welcome to Aluvia a world that is literally coming undone because magic is being drained from it. Sierra is the main character, her world is coming undone too. She is a fairy keeper, one with the responsibility of collecting the magic nectar from a fairy hatch. When her father trades her younger sister to a rival, the only way Sierra can free her sister is if she finds her missing Fairy Queen and return her to her father. What she ends up finding when she sets out to do is so much more that her missing Fair Queen, she learns the reason the world is falling apart. The important things about herself and what she is destined to do about it.

Alucia is a world, full of dark alchemists and merchants who make and sell poisons and a powerful drug flight made of the nectar produced by the fairies. Sierra is the daughter of jack the most powerful alchemist. She is also one of the fairy keepers, a person who tends to the fairies and collects their nectar from them much like a bee keeper. But what the people of this world do not know is taking this nectar that contains magic that the fairies are supposed to sprinkle across the world is damaging the whole fabric of their world. As magic is being drained from their world, the world is literally weakening causing earthquakes and figuratively weakening as people are increasingly corrupt, violent and addicted.

When all the fairies die and their Queens disappear, Sierra sets off on a quest to find her Queen with her best friend Corbin and Nell, a guard sent by her father. She intends to return the Queen to the hatch so she can save her sister but soon realizes there is more at stake than just her sister’s freedom. Along the way, she grows as a person as she has to figure out what is right and wrong, in her relationships, as she must figure out her place with Corbin and Nell, and learns her role with regards to magic, because she has a destiny that is more than just a fairy keeper. Throw in a handsome faun, some villains and a dragon and you have the making of a fun adventure with a message.

My Rating:

Author Bio:

Amy Bearce was an Army kid who moved 8 times before she graduated high school. The one constant in her life was books--particularly fantasy and science fiction--and that hasn't changed.

Despite all the moves, Amy married her high school sweetheart. They met in their junior English class in an American school in Germany in 1991. They have two wonderful daughters and are hopefully passing on their love of fantasy and science fiction to them, too.

A former English and reading elementary and middle school teacher, Amy has recently completed her Masters of Library Science and is excited about a career working with kids, teens, books and technology.

Amy is a homebody with a serious addiction to personality tests, which is not uncommon for an INFP (Myers-Briggs) such as herself. (Take a free test here!) According to the DISC personality test, she is also a perfectionist, a title she hated. She immediately retook the test, changing some answers. When the results came up as Perfectionist again, she took it a third time, changing more answers to get a better result…not even seeing the irony until later.

And yes, the result still came back as “Perfectionist.”

Now, though, Amy is working on embracing imperfection, knowing full well that life is full of mistakes, that we learn through errors, and sometimes the best things in life are those things we didn't intend to happen at all.

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

ARC Review: Southern Fried Wiccan

Southern Fried Wiccan by S.P. Sipal

Publisher: BookFish Books, 2015

173 page, kindle edition

Source: Netgalley

Release Date: March 24th 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon UK

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Cilla Swaney is thrilled to return stateside, where she can hang up her military-brat boots for good. Finally, she’ll be free to explore her own interests—magick and Wicca. But when she arrives at her grandma’s farm, Cilla discovers that life in the South isn’t quite what she expected. At least while country hopping, she never had to drink G-ma’s crazy fermented concoctions, attend church youth group, make co-op deliveries...or share her locker with a snake-loving, fire-lighting, grimoire-stealing Goth girl…

…Who later invites her to a coven that Cilla’s not sure she has the guts to attend. But then Emilio, the dark-haired hottie from her charter school, shows up and awakens her inner goddess. Finally, Cilla starts believing in her ability to conjure magick. Until…

…All Hades breaks loose. A prank goes wrong during their high school production of Macbeth, and although it seems Emilio is to blame, Cilla and Goth pay the price. Will Cilla be able to keep the boy, her coven, and the trust of her family? Or will this Southern Wiccan get battered and fried?

My Review:

I was a little unsure of what to expect when I started Sipal's Southern Fried Wiccan. The premise sounded cute and I thought the title was clever. What I got was a coming-of-age tale of a military brat who is trying to find her place in the world. The addition of religion was not over-bearing or meant to sway the reader one way or another. This is simply about a girl who is on the path to self-discovery and she uses wicca to find herself. I loved the incorporation of MacBeth, it really added a lot of depth and flair to the story. I also adored Cilla. She was easy to relate to. If I were still in high school, I could easily see myself becoming friends with her. I also cherished Cilla's family, particarly her grandmother. I would love to have a "G-ma" like Cilla, who is into making her own tea, and grows and sells organic vegetables. Overall, this is a sweet southern tale. I will definitely make a note to read more from Sipal in the future!

My Rating:

Author Bio:

Susan Sipal had to travel halfway across the world and return home to embrace her father and grandfather's penchant for telling a tall tale. After having lived with her husband in his homeland of Turkey for many years, she suddenly saw the world with new eyes and had to write about it. Perhaps it was the emptiness of the Library of Celsus at Ephesus that cried out to be refilled, or the myths surrounding the ancient Temple of Artemis, but she's been writing stories filled with myth and mystery ever since.

When not writing--wait, scratch that--she's always writing. Actually, she does have one other interest besides making sense of the voices constantly yabbering in her head (and her family, of course). She's heavily into nutrition and traditional foods. Her kitchen is usually filled with fermenting, bubbling concoctions of yesteryear.

Her small farm, however, is filled with kids and animals. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, two kids, one dog, two rabbits (though that's about to soon multiply), three cats, six goldfish, a dozen chickens, and too many frogs to count.

She is best known as an analyst of the Harry Potter series, with essays published both in the US and the UK discussing the alchemical and Egyptian metaphors. Along with multiple writing-craft workshops, Susan has spoken on the mythological underpinnings of Harry Potter at several fan-based and academic conferences in the US and England.

Author Link: Website | Twitter  | Goodreads

ARC Review: Dreamfire

Dreamfire by Kit Alloway

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 2015

368 pages, kindle edition

Source: Purchased through Dymock

Release Date: February 24th 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Supernatural, Romance

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon UK

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Joshlyn Weaver has always lived with a big secret. Ordinary kids spend their free time going to the movies, hanging out with friends, and searching on the internet.

But for her, an evening at home usually means entering people's dreams. For many generations, her family has been part of a very powerful and very secretive society of dream walkers. Tasked with the responsibility of lowering the world's general anxiety — which only leads to war and strife in the waking world — their job has always been to stop nightmares before they go too far.
By stopping nightmares while sleeping, they help to stop nightmares in real life.

But when an ancient feud within the dream walker society resurfaces right when a seemingly unconnected series of very strange and very scary events start occurring during her dream walks, Josh finds herself in a race against time. The one true dream walker has never been known. Could she be the one?

My Review:

The whole concept of Dreamwalkers very interesting but I do have to the in-depth sometimes tedious explanations of dream walking and dream theories the book dragged for a while, even though all the action scenes in the nightmare. But lucky I stuck to it because it picked up about half way through the book and I could not put it down from there on wards.

As for the main character Joshlyn goes she was very gifted at what she did, her skills in resolving nightmares is unheard of in the dream walking community. Joshlyn is living with a lot of guilt over the death of her boyfriend in which she blames herself for his death, but of course she does not know how to handle her new found feelings for her apprentice Will. Their romance was slow building which is realistic and unfortunately I did not find any of the moments shared between them all that swoon worthy and maybe that had something to do with the fact that Will was just Will, there was nothing that made him stand out for me, any who back to character Joshlyn I did find that there was a few times where she acted before she thought her actions through which led to some pretty severe consequences to the people she loved and cared for so I did not really like that about her but she was loyal and it was easy to feel her pain which made me sympathise for her.

There were a couple of secondary characters that stood out to me, one was Windsor Josh’s BFF. I honestly did not really like her she did something that no real best friend would do and I do not know how Josh can tolerate her. And another character who I thought was just plain bloody creepy until we learned the truth about him was Haley. He was the twin brother of Josh’s ex and once we learn about his gift I found him to be one of the more interesting characters in the novel.

My Rating:

Author Bio:

I live in Louisville, Kentucky with my family and four Chihuahua mixes. When I'm not writing, I'm quilting, reading, and endlessly trying to improve my house. (Flooring? Sure, I can lay flooring! How hard can it be?) I'm the daughter of a professor and a film historian, and I grew up seeing a lot of movies. Currently, I'm taking my first ever college English literary criticism course, which is opening my mind in all sorts of exciting ways.

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