The Wise One
GIVEAWAY!
My thoughts:
Calling all the fans of Celtic folklore and fantasy! The Wise One was a very quick and incredibly entertaining read that I just couldn't put down. It follows the story of a seventeen year old American girl McKenna McDwyer who discovers that her origins and her true nature are shrouded in secrets and she may have special powers. McKenna goes on a quest to find her birth mother and gradually build up the knowledge of what she herself is capable of. There were so many things I liked about the book. First of all, the writing style was extremely engaging. I felt transported into McKenna's world and felt her confusion and her desire to solve the mystery of her mother's whereabouts. Then the setting, of course-at some point McKenna and her friend Nissa reach Ireland and we see this wonderful country through their eyes. The characters- there's nothing more relatable to a teenager than the desire to find the place where you belong or the people you belong with. There is also the gradual discovery of what makes you special, makesyou stand out. There were a few things that didn't particularly work for me. The story is set in 1991, so the author takes pains to let the reader know what the political situation was at the moment, but McKenna expressing her political opinions seemed detached from the story and I wasn't sure why the author included this part. What I was more intrested in was the environmental angle which was very important on all levels of this story: the characters, the plot, the world-building. Another thing I wasn't particularly sure about was McKenna and Nissa's insta-friendship. Overall, I realy enjoyed this first part of what promises to be a very interesting series and I can't wait to read the next book! Thank you to Giselle from Xpresso Book Tours and the author for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest opinion. Code
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo -- EXCERPT: I should have landed on him, but instead I dropped to the floor on my hands and knees like a wounded deer. An electrical sensation zapped through my middle and wrapped around me like invisible arms, holding me in place. Hundreds of needles pricked me all at once. Excruciating pain seared from head to toe. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even blink. I had been wounded many times on missions, but nothing I’d felt in ISAN compared to what had just hit me. Immobile, a foot from my monster of a brother, I’d never felt so vulnerable. My muscles simply shut down. A whimper escaped me, but it could have been only in my head. Worse, a tear slid down my cheek. I felt humiliated beyond measure. “Aw, sis. Are you crying? Does it hurt?” Gene took his hand out of his pocket and showed me a metal trinket, a circle about the size of his thumb. “I thought it was best to have it handy in case you lost control.” He came dangerously closer and lowered, his warm breath brushing the shell of my ear. “Now you know, sis. I can contain you. You might want to show me some respect if you don’t want to be on the ground, helpless and weak. I might accidentally hurt you. We don’t want that do we?” Oh, the pain. Every tiny movement—every blink—hurt so much. He ran a knuckle down my cheek to wipe away another teardrop, and then grazed his index finger slowly across my neck, savoring my weakness. “Next time it won’t be so soft,” he said. “You should get some rest. You look like hell.” I screamed in my head. Peering up under my eyelashes, I watched him walk toward the sliding door. I wanted to rip out his throat, stomp on his heart, but I couldn’t move. Even a fraction of movement felt like a knife slitting deeper into my spine. I couldn’t win. At least not this time. But I would find a way. There had to be a way. Gene’s back to me, he held up that metal circle trinket and clicked. Just as the door blended into the wall, he released me. I thumped my head on the tile floor and wept for Brooke and the rebels who had died because of my stupid mistake. Groaning, I crawled like a worm, my knees and elbows digging across to get to the rug, each movement agony. I refused to lie on the cold ground like I was nothing. I’d never felt so small. No—I had, when my foster father beat me. Where was he now? Locked up. That would be Gene’s fate, too. Just you wait, big brother. Just you wait. Karma is a bitch.
GIVEAWAY! #Blog Tour #Publication Day #Heir to the Darkmage by Lisa Cassidy #YA Fantasy @rararesources22/4/2021
Happy Publication Day to Lisa Cassidy's Heir to the Darkmage, a YA Epic Fantasy novel. If you read The Mage Chronicles, you'll be delighted with this sequel, set in the same dark and fascinating world. Heir to the Darkmage Ambition drives her. Danger thrills her. But magic always has a price. Twenty years have passed since the Darkmage was destroyed and the war between mages ended. For Lira Astor, the single living heir to the Darkmage, escaping her name is impossible. People still fear what is long dead, and they see in her the rise of another dangerous mage with deadly ambition. Desperate to claw her way free of her grandfather’s shadow, to make her own name amongst the world of mages, Lira is willing to do whatever it takes. Even if that means joining the secretive rebel group looking to restore his vision. Survival is a lesson Lira learned early and often, yet when she is abducted and held prisoner in a deadly game of cat and mouse, she finds herself facing a nemesis she may be no match for. Forced to band together with unlikely allies who challenge everything she believes about what it means to be a mage, she will have to rely on every bit of ruthlessness she possesses. Because the war may only just be beginning… …and Lira Astor intends to come out on top. Purchase Links UK / US My thoughts: My first book by Lisa Cassidy and it definitely won't be the last. I got hooked on the story right from the beginning when I started reading about Lira, who turned out to be quite a complex character. I didn't realise that this was a follow-up to another series by Lisa Cassidy (The Mage Chronicles), but it didn't stop me from enjoying this one. Lisa carefully feeds in all the information you need about this dark and fascinating world and its diverse cultures. Lira grew up knowing very little about the war described in the previous series, so we build our knowledge of the events together with her. My heart went to her when I read about the suffering she endured as a child, trying to survive in a place where people hated and feared her for the power her grandfather Shakar wielded. Lira would like nothing more than take control of her own life and stop being defined by the long shadow cast by her formidable ancestor. Lira's early experiences shaped her into someone clever, streetwise, resourceful, and determined to prove her worth. They also taught her to know her limits and train and practise relentlessly to become the best. There are two timelines- one deals with the past, Lira's heart-wrenching childhood, and the second one with the main events happening at the time when Lira has already become an apprentice at the Mage Academy. The book is quite fast-paced, and it felt as if there was a perfect balance of the backstory, and the action-filled narrative of the present. The book proved to be a real page-turner, and my only complaint is that now I have to wait for the next book to come out. Looking forward so much to the continuation of Lira's story in the next instalment of this fascinating series. Author Bio Lisa is a self-published fantasy author by day and book nerd in every other spare moment she has. She’s a self-confessed coffee snob (don’t try coming near her with any of that instant coffee rubbish) but is willing to accept all other hot drink aficionados, even tea drinkers. She lives in the Australia’s capital city, Canberra, and like all Australians, is pretty much in constant danger from highly poisonous spiders, crocodiles, sharks, and drop bears, to name a few. As you can see, she is also pro-Oxford comma. A 2019 SPFBO finalist, Lisa has published the YA fantasy series The Mage Chronicles, and is currently working on her latest epic fantasy series A Tale of Stars and Shadow. She has also partnered up with One Girl, an Australian charity working to build a world where all girls have access to quality education. A world where all girls — no matter where they are born or how much money they have — enjoy the same rights and opportunities as boys. A percentage of all Lisa’s royalties go to One Girl. Social Media Links – Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LisaCassidyWrites Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lcasswrites Website – https://www.tatehousebooks.com/Lisa-Cassidy Thank you for reading the post! Have a wonderful day! Guiding Gaia
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play -- EXCERPT: Our initial four months were hard. The dynamics of bringing back a goddess beyond her own will required a certain amount of cosmic interference—hence her being reborn a teenager instead of simply awakened as the true goddess she was. With myself an eternal thirty-five, I’d been able to witness the world throughout the centuries. However, the moment she awoke, we were deposited on Earth together, and found Gaia’s powers and memories to be limited, forcing her to learn all she could about the modern world and its customs today. Luckily, money wasn’t an issue, as I’d been divinely gifted a limitless amount in the form of a little, black charge card I’d been putting to good use. But no amount of computers, books, or even the iPod I bought her could negate the frustration of being cooped up in a hotel for four months while learning to ease her way back into a world she, herself, had created. Hence the random storms due to her emotional outbursts. How could the gods put something like this on a teenager? I rubbed a hand over my face. “Honey, I know things haven’t been easy, but I’m truly honored to serve as your guardian, and it’s not something I take lightly.” “Ugh … you’re always so uptight.” Laughing, she turned back to the dark-tinted window, her red hair shining in the soft morning light. “It’s so beautiful here.” I took a quiet breath, swallowing my sigh. Watching her process this world anew was often a heart-breaking task. She was the ancestral mother of all life, consort to Uranus—the creator of the heavens and the sky, and mother to the Titans themselves. She created all we see and know, and was now tasked to evaluate the chaos that enveloped that same world, deciding if it was worth saving or not. So far, I couldn’t tell which way she was leaning. It would take us completing our mission before she regained her full powers and all of her original memories—both of which she’d need to make her final decision. So, in times like these, when she still noticed the beauty around her … I took note.
GIVEAWAY! The Other Side of Magic
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GIVEAWAY! City of Spells
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play -- EXCERPT: Karam stepped forward, her skillfully embroidered clothes cascading down to her ankles in a way that was almost delicate, and so very much the opposite of Karam. Even from where Tavia stood, she could smell the peppermint salve on her friend’s sliced knuckles, something the fighters in Creije loved to use to soothe their injuries and that Karam wore every day, just in case. “I thought we agreed that you were going to stop being stupid,” Karam said, Wrenyi accent thick on her tongue. “I didn’t agree to anything,” Tavia said. “Did you follow me here?” Karam crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you complaining about me saving you?” “I don’t need saving.” Tavia leaned back in the booth. “I’m a busker, not a damsel.” Nolan looked between them with a disbelieving scoff. “Are you two finished?” he asked. “Because we were about to kill her.” For the first time, Karam looked at him, as if she had only just realized— or cared—that he was there. “We have not been introduced,” she said. “No,” Nolan said. “We haven’t.” Karam held out a hand. “Hello,” she said. And then she used that hand to grab ahold of Nolan’s shoulder and pull him toward her. Without warning, Karam cracked her head against his. The buskers broke into a frenzy as Nolan stumbled back, clutching his bloody nose. Quickly, Karam landed a kick to one of the others. Tavia jumped up from the booth just as Nolan regained his footing, smashing a glass from a nearby table over his head. She shifted the backpack on her shoulder and landed a kick to another busker’s knee. He went down with a yelp. “This is why I had to follow you,” Karam said. She kicked a busker in the chest and as he bent over to catch his breath, she rolled across his back and punched another clean in the face. “You are so reckless.” Tavia sighed at the lecture, which was becoming Karam’s specialty these days. “If you were so worried about my safety, then you could have helped me take Nolan down back in the streets before his buddies showed up,” Tavia said. She swung her fist into the air, catching the cheek of a nearby busker, just the way Karam had taught her. Karam took out her knife and threw it into the shoulder of another. “I thought you did not need saving,” she said. Tavia rolled her eyes and kneed one of Nolan’s friends in the groin. “Forget making it slow!” Nolan yelled, pulling out a knife. “I’m going to gut you where you stand.” Tavia shook her head. “He really does like being graphic,” she said to Karam. She reached into her pocket for a pair of mirrored glasses and slipped them onto her nose, like she had seen Wesley do a dozen times. “Here,” she said to Karam. “Put these on.” Karam wrinkled her face and looked at Tavia like she was starting to lose her mind, but when she saw Tavia’s hands go to her pocket for a second time, it seemed Karam knew better than to argue. Tavia clutched the charm in her hand, its jagged edge spiking into her palm like tiny needles. “A way to show that if there’s one thing I have,” she said, “it’s style.” She threw the charm down onto the floor and it exploded into a blinding light. Nolan and the others clutched at their eyes, screaming loud enough to drown out the bar’s music altogether. She pulled Karam toward the door, where the customers were now blindly running and screaming as their vision temporarily disappeared. They spilled back out onto the streets of Rishiya and Karam ripped the glasses from her face. “Not really,” Tavia said, struggling to keep up with her pace. “I think I’d find it boring.” She didn’t need to look at Karam to know that she was rolling her eyes, but Tavia felt invigorated. She had the magic she ’d come for, so all in all the trip to the city had been a roaring success. And with the warm breeze on her neck and fire of victory in her belly, Tavia felt like maybe all hope wasn’t quite lost. Karam could call her reckless and the Crafters in the camp could call her a danger, but Tavia had a job to do. She had buskers to lead, and she was going to win this war and save Wesley, whether people approved of her methods or not.
GIVEAWAY! #Book Blitz (Feb 21-27) #The Wise One (The Scottish Scrolls #1) by K.T.Anglehart @Xpresso Book Tours21/2/2021
The Wise One
-- EXCERPT: Bruised and battered, the young woman was dragged through the screaming, unruly mob. Her wrists were bound behind her by a rope as thick as the noose she now faced. “Buidseach! Buidseach!” Witch. Witch. “Bàsachadh!” Die. She halted in front of the noose, unperturbed, for she knew her death would end swiftly. The man who held the end of her rope looked from her calm expression to the noose, and let out a shrill laugh. “A quick snap of the neck, aye, Bessie girl? You don’t think you’re getting off that easy, do you? Nah, that there isn’t for your kind.” The ugly man, towering and troll-like, hauled her further on like a rag doll, finally leading her to a pit loaded with broken wood fragments, branches, and logs. She was going to be burned alive. In that instant, her body trembled with the fear she had been trying so desperately to conceal. Of dying, no—she knew this life would not be her last, and she was ready to part ways with this physical body. But she would be lying to herself if she said she hadn’t been hoping for a less painful demise. He tightened the rope from her wrists around the wood banister that stood erect in the centre of the pit, then secured more rope round her ankles. “Spill your guts, now or never, buidseach,” he spat. The woman scanned the crowd. Foolish, blind, she thought. They had no idea what would become of their Earth. No, she did not regret her actions. And if she had to burn for them, then so be it. She held her chin up and addressed the spectators. Her voice was steady, knowing. “There will come a day when your fate shall depend upon a witch such as me—and you will beg for mercy.” The crowd cackled and spat back, simultaneously enraged and amused. But no one laughed louder than the troll-man. “Devil-worshipping hag.” He lowered his torch to the base of the pit, and the flames caught quickly. She watched them crawl towards her boots, but her eyes were forced shut by the rising smoke. In an instant, beads of sweat leaked like rain on her forehead, and her lungs swelled to twice their size. Just when she hoped she might pass out from the heat, the flames grew larger, now licking the base of her legs. What followed was an acute, unfathomable pain. The flames travelled higher, higher, until they enveloped the lower half of her body—and she could no longer bear the sheer agony of her skin melting away.
GIVEAWAY! Book & Author Details: The Damned Society: Smoke and Mirrors by L. J. Elliott Published by: Wallace Publishing Publication date: November 17th 2020 Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult Synopsis: Lexia Luccen is a seventeen-year-old girl with a fiery power that is slowly destroying the last fragments of her sanity. Having lost her abusive father, Lexia is left scarred from the way he treated her and by the grief of his death. When she accidentally uses her ability to create a devastating explosion that takes many lives, she is moved from her life of solitude into the hectic youth facility that is Lucida. Lucida is no ordinary youth facility. It is a secretly run technological agency for supernatural wayward youth, set up to teach them how to control their abilities after they have caused disturbances in society. These youths think that once they have been reformed, they will be freed. However, the truth is a very different story. Lies, love, and more death await Lexia at Lucida, and she soon realizes that this facility is not quite what it seems. Now she knows she must make a choice: does she finally give up to the darkness that slowly consumes her—like her father did—or does she follow the firestorm that runs through her veins and for once in her life, battle for something? Time is running out. Lexia needs to make her decision fast, before Lucida makes it for her. Goodreads Purchase Amazon GIVEAWAY (ends Nov 26th) Blitz-wide giveaway (INT)
rafflecopter AUTHOR BIO: Lotté Jean Elliott is an author from North-Eastern England. She began as an avid reader before she picked up a pen one day and started to use her imagination to create a new universe, just like her favourite fictional ones. Through literature, she saw a whole new world open up, and she has not stopped diving into the deepest parts of her mind ever since. When she isn't writing novels, poetry, or screenplays with her sister Francesca, Lotté loves nothing more than to find inspiration for life through art films, music, exploring museums, and language learning. She loves to explore the deepest meaning behind things and gain new perspectives of the world in which we inhabit. wordpress / twitter / instagram / goodreads / facebook Book & Author Details: Title: Ocean Heart (The Soul Heart Series, #1) Author: Ally Aldridge Publication date: December 1st 2020 Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult Synopsis: Being a mermaid brings a new depth to ‘it’s complicated.’ High school teen Mariah’s life is anything but simple. Between a crush on her best friend and a rivalry brewing with the swim team star, her powers awaken early. When Mariah’s guardian meddles in her life with magic, she causes more harm than good. The soul reapers are coming and there’s a werewolf hungry for merblood. All secrets wash ashore sooner or later, and Mariah’s about to discover hers. Mixing a messy love life with deadly powers will whip up a storm of trouble. Can Mariah contain it or will she be swept up in its wake? A gripping story about a mermaid, self acceptance, and romance that literally sparks. Goodreads Pre-order Amazon / B&N / Kobo My thoughts (Book Review): I don't remember the last time I missed my train stop, because I was so engrossed in the book that all the sights and sounds of the world just disappeared for a few blessed moments. I'll start with the bad news: there is the dreaded love triangle. The good news: it works! The tension is palpable and Ally Aldridge will keep you guessing until the very end who Mariah is going to end up with. Mariah is a typical teen: sweet, but awkward, loyal, but not exactly easy to get to know. Her biggest secret (at least that's what she thinks) is that she is in love with her best friend Jace. When Jace moves to a different part of their town, Mariah knows she won't see much of him outside school. But when the summer days are over and they go back to school, Mariah discovers to her dismay that they don't have any classes together. Jace joins the football team and starts spending more and more time with his new friends, while Mariah is getting increasingly more isolated. And then a miracle happens: she makes a new friend, Ana, who invites her to join the swimming club. The only problem: Mariah isn't supposed togo anywhere near water. She has a rare allergy to salt water and her Mum makes her wear a special medical bracelet. Once in water, Mariah feels she finally found the place where she belongs. Even the team playboy, arrogant Murray has to admit she is a talented swimmer. Jace starts dating Murray's sister and needs Mariah to help him divert Murray's attention to get some time alone with his new girlfriend. Will Mariah, whose heart is broken, help him and where will this lead her? This was such a fast and entertaining read. There is something about Ally's writing style that compels you to read on and when you absolutely must put the book down, you'll really look forward to getting back to it. This is obviously Book One of a new series, so there is a bit of intoduction to the fantasy world. Mariah lived her life in the complete oblivion of her true nature and her heritage. The reader gets to discover this world at the same pace as she does, but as she focuses on her love troubles more than other important things, her knowledge remains incomplete. I can't wait to find out what happens to the other characters- we get plenty of hints that there are lots of other magical creatures waiting to make their appearance in the rest of the series. All I can say I'll be definitely looking forward to reading the next book. Hope Ally's already writing it! About Ally Aldridge: Ally was born in London but grew up in Suffolk which is where most of her YA Fantasy novels are based. She is happily married to her high school sweetheart, and together they are raising two cats, their son and daughter. When Ally is not writing (or at her day job), she loves spending time with her family at the local beach, in the forest or watching way too much Netflix. Ally loves a cup of tea and has been known to order one on a night out. website / facebook / twitter / instagram / goodreads Book & Author Details: Title: Ocean Heart (The Soul Heart Series, #1) Author: Ally Aldridge Publication date: December 1st 2020 Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult Synopsis:Being a mermaid brings a new depth to ‘it’s complicated.’ High school teen Mariah’s life is anything but simple. Between a crush on her best friend and a rivalry brewing with the swim team star, her powers awaken early. When Mariah’s guardian meddles in her life with magic, she causes more harm than good. The soul reapers are coming and there’s a werewolf hungry for merblood. All secrets wash ashore sooner or later, and Mariah’s about to discover hers. Mixing a messy love life with deadly powers will whip up a storm of trouble. Can Mariah contain it or will she be swept up in its wake? A gripping story about a mermaid, self acceptance, and romance that literally sparks. Goodreads Pre-order Amazon / B&N / Kobo GIVEAWAY Blitz-wide giveaway (INT)
Full details and entry at: www.allyaldridge.com/giveaway My thoughts (Book Review): I don't remember the last time I missed my train stop, because I was so engrossed in the book that all the sights and sounds of the world just disappeared for a few blessed moments. I'll start with the bad news: there is the dreaded love triangle. The good news: it works! The tension is palpable and Ally Aldridge will keep you guessing until the very end who Mariah is going to end up with. Mariah is a typical teen: sweet, but awkward, loyal, but not exactly easy to get to know. Her biggest secret (at least that's what she thinks) is that she is in love with her best friend Jace. When Jace moves to a different part of their town, Mariah knows she won't see much of him outside school. But when the summer days are over and they go back to school, Mariah discovers to her dismay that they don't have any classes together. Jace joins the football team and starts spending more and more time with his new friends, while Mariah is getting increasingly more isolated. And then a miracle happens: she makes a new friend, Ana, who invites her to join the swimming club. The only problem: Mariah isn't supposed togo anywhere near water. She has a rare allergy to salt water and her Mum makes her wear a special medical bracelet. Once in water, Mariah feels she finally found the place where she belongs. Even the team playboy, arrogant Murray has to admit she is a talented swimmer. Jace starts dating Murray's sister and needs Mariah to help him divert Murray's attention to get some time alone with his new girlfriend. Will Mariah, whose heart is broken, help him and where will this lead her? This was such a fast and entertaining read. There is something about Ally's writing style that compels you to read on and when you absolutely must put the book down, you'll really look forward to getting back to it. This is obviously Book One of a new series, so there is a bit of intoduction to the fantasy world. Mariah lived her life in the complete oblivion of her true nature and her heritage. The reader gets to discover this world at the same pace as she does, but as she focuses on her love troubles more than other important things, her knowledge remains incomplete. All I can say I'll be diefinitely looking forward to reading the next book. Hope Ally's already writing it! AUTHOR BIO: Ally was born in London but grew up in Suffolk which is where most of her YA Fantasy novels are based. She is happily married to her high school sweetheart, and together they are raising two cats, their son and daughter. When Ally is not writing (or at her day job), she loves spending time with her family at the local beach, in the forest or watching way too much Netflix. Ally loves a cup of tea and has been known to order one on a night out. website / facebook / twitter / instagram / goodreads Join Soul Heart Readers FB Group |
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