Review: Vida Nocturna by Mark Diehl

Title: Vida Nocturna
Author: Mark Diehl
Pub. Date: May 12, 2011
Acquired: NetGalley
Find "Vida Nocturna":
Amazon / B&N / Author Page

Only the need will last forever.

Sara has always escaped her real-world fears by reading fantasy and horror stories. Now, as a social-phobic college freshman, she enters a dark world where horror is not supernatural and fantasy is a trap.

Evil is contagious.

Victims become predators, and every predator was once just like Sara. Imagining she'd be different was her first step toward them. Now, draped in the decadent 80s subculture, she's rendered helpless by powers she never imagined.

Review: Birthright: A Nobleman Novel by Ronda L. Caudill

Title: Birthright: A Nobleman Novel
Author: Ronda L. Caudill
Pub. Date: Jan. 2012
Acquired: From author, for honest review.
Find "Birthright: A Nobleman Novel":
Amazon / Author Page
Nila Jones has been dreaming about a young nobleman from the past; little did she know that he would become a significant part of her present. In this story of young love and fantasy there are horrible details of a past life that Nila discovers. These details will determine whether Nila and her young nobleman will live happily ever after.

Captivated Reading's 100 Follower Giveaway!!!!


I don't think I really thought I'd get to 100 followers this soon! I've only been doing this for about 5 months, now. I want to thank each and every one of my follwers. You guys rock! As a thank you, I'm doing a 100 Follower Giveaway. I wish you all luck!!!

Four winners will be chosen.
The first winner gets their choice of which 'Prize Option' they would like, then the second winner chooses from what's left, then the third, and so on...
(For int'l details, please see contest "Terms and Conditions" on Rafflecopter form.)
There are several ways to enter, but being that it's a "Follower Giveaway", you MUST be a follower to participate.
Contest begins 6/29/12 at 12:01am EST, and ends 7/29/12 at 12:01 EST.
Thanks, and good luck!

Here are your choices!





a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal & Blog Hop: Keystone by Misty Provencher


I am BEYOND thrilled to be a part of author, Misty Provencher's blog tour, featuring Keystone. Keystone is the follow-up to Ms. Provencher's, fantasic debut, Cornerstone. On this tour many different bloggers are bringing you the first chapter to Keystone. Here, you'll find pages 6-8.
Check out my review of Cornerstone here.


If you missed the first 5 pages, I've listed the links here:
~Kick-off of blog tour.
~Pages 1-2 at Candace's Book Blog and Buried in Books.
~Pages 3-5 at Globug & Hootie Need a Book and Kat Ellis writes....
~Find the links for the rest of chapter one, here.


Chapter 1 – KEYSTONE- Pages 6-8

WARNING: This is an excerpt from Keystone, the second book in the Cornerstone Series. This excerpt will definitely contain spoilers for the first book. Please feel welcome to try out the first five chapters of Cornerstone at: http://mistypro.blogspot.com/p/cornerstone-chapter-one.html

This excerpt is part of a Blog Hop. In order to read the entire first chapter, please visit all the awesome Blog Hop stops listed here: http://mistypro.blogspot.com/ to find the other pages!


Instead, she pats my arm – which I see, but don’t feel – and says, "You're doing fine."

Then she disappears and I can't turn my head to see where she went. One more blink and my eyes are stuck wide open. I try to force the lids shut, but those stop working too. I feel my eyeballs drying out like a couple of hard boiled eggs on black top.

Screaming would be awesome, but my tongue’s limp. I gurgle under the spit that wells behind my tonsils and the stone broils up in my palm again.

Mrs. Reese is back, hovering over my head.

"Okay, Nalena," she says cheerfully. "Here we go. Just exhale if it hurts and that will relieve it."

I exhale like a race horse, pulling in another breath and blowing it out hard again. Mrs. Reese crinkles up her brow.

"It's that bad?" she asks. My vocal cords suddenly let loose and I scream so loud that my lungs ripple. My eyelids finally slam shut.

A whirling blast of razor blades explodes up my arm. I want to pry the stone out of my palm, but I can't move and I can’t let go. Mrs. Reese tells me to breathe, but it's impossible to do. The razors tumble through me. I feel their sharp edges shaving my nerves loose from my muscles. Tears drizzle down my cheeks. I scream again with my eyes clamped shut.

"She's coming, Nali," Mrs. Reese’s voice trembles in between my screams. "Just hang on, honey. I swear, she's coming."

I can't even ask who. I can't make my tongue move. I'm dying in pieces.

One more desperate scream unravels out of my stomach like rope. It’s not long enough to reach my throat, but it's enough. My field blows out all around me, knocking me out of my own skin. I stand beside my body, watching Mrs. Reese as she leans over it. Her own mouth is trembling as she tells me to hang on, to breathe, to wait...and then one of her tears slips off her cheek and lands on my lip. I watch the teardrop disappear into my mouth and as if someone tripped a switch on the entire universe, everything starts closing up inside a drawstring bag. Mrs. Reese and the room and my body on the bed...all of it disappears into the closing hole, leaving me in the dark. What's left is only whatever I am, without my body.

I look in every direction and finally spot a tiny speck of light. I go toward it. The pin point sparkles and widens and with every step closer to it, the pain I’d just felt seems less and less.

Nalena! My mother’s stern voice comes from behind me. It’s the same tone she used once when I’d crossed the street without looking both ways. Get back from there! Right now!

Mom? I'm suddenly pushed back inside my protective bubble, but not in my skin, so the darkness and pain are both gone. My mom is so close that I could touch her, or, at least, try to touch the weak image of her that shivers in front of me like bad TV reception. It doesn't matter. She's here.

It’s not time for you to leave yet, she says. I disconnected you from your nervous system, so the new system can re-grow without so much pain. You’ll be okay.

I don’t care about being okay. I care that she’s here with me.

Stay, I tell her. Or let me come with you.

It was time for me to go, but it’s not time for you to come, she says with a sad smile. But I need to tell you what's coming next and I can't manifest here much longer, so listen carefully, alright?

A burst of panic jumps through me. No, let me come with you! Help me die! I don't want you to leave me again!

Listen to me. Her voice is sharp now. Your nerves are re-growing. When all of your senses kick back in, your nerves are going to be hypersensitive at first. Her instructions start scrambling. You will…The vision…If it gets to be... I want you...breathe in, hum out. She flickers.

What are you talking about? I ask. I try to imagine all the little threads of my nerves, lying down inside me like flattened wheat fields and then Lazarus-ing back up.

But she's gone and my field disappears.

I'm hurled back into my skin.

And I scream. And scream. And scream again.

I don’t think I could stop even if my mom used her worst voice ever, now.


***

“"You scared me there for a minute, but you made it," Mrs. Reese whispers, but it sounds like she’s blasting every syllable through a megaphone. If she doesn’t explode my eardrums, then it will be the light that gets me. Even with my eyes closed, I swear the sun must be three inches from my nose.

Waiting On Wednesday[11]: Tiger's Destiny by Colleen Houck


"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Jill, at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



Title: Tiger's Destiny
Author: Colleen Houck
Publisher: Splinter
Publication Date: Sept. 4, 2012
With three of the goddess Durga's quests behind them, only one prophecy now stands in the way of Kelsey, Ren, and Kishan breaking the tiger's curse. But the trio's greatest challenge awaits them: A life-endangering pursuit in search of Durga's final gift, the Rope of Fire, on the Adaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

It's a race against time--and the evil sorcerer Lokesh--in this eagerly anticipated fourth volume of the bestselling Tiger's Curse series, which pits good against evil, tests the bonds of love and loyalty, and finally reveals the tiger's' true destiny once and for all.

Review: The Tube Riders by Chris Ward


Title: The Tube Riders
Author: Chris Ward
Publisher: Createspace
Pub. Date: March 19, 2012
Acquired: From author, for honest review.
Purchase "The Tube Riders":
Amazon / Chris Ward

Beneath the dark streets of London they played a dangerous game with trains. Now it is their only chance for survival...

Mega Britain in 2075 is a dangerous place. A man known as the Governor rules the country with an iron hand, but within the towering perimeter walls of London Greater Urban Area anarchy spreads unchecked through the streets.

In the abandoned London Underground station of St. Cannerwells, a group of misfits calling themselves the Tube Riders seek to forget the chaos by playing a dangerous game with trains. Marta is their leader, a girl haunted by her brother’s disappearance. Of the others, Paul lives only to protect his little brother Owen, while Simon is trying to hold on to his relationship with Jess, daughter of a government official. Guarding them all is Switch, a man with a flickering eye and a faster knife, who cares only about preserving the legacy of the Tube Riders. Together, they are family.

Everything changes the day they are attacked by a rival gang. While escaping, they witness an event that could bring war down on Mega Britain. Suddenly they are fleeing for their lives, pursued not only by their rivals, but by the brutal Department of Civil Affairs, government killing machines known as Huntsmen, and finally by the inhuman Governor himself.

What a Month!


Nothing illustrates, more appropriately, than this picture what this month of blogging has been like for me. Blogging is one of my most favorite things to do. It relaxes me, it keeps me sane. But, this month my kids have been a little more difficult. Between a five-year-old who just started flag football (that will now take up three nights a week), two two-year-olds who are very needy, and an even NEEDIER nine-month-old (that is now crawling all over the place), life seems to be speeding by.

I'm just letting you all know that I'm still here, even if I've missed a few weekly posts and haven't been reading NEARLY as much!


The other thing I wanted to address is that I seem to have made an extremely common (according to more experienced bloggers) rookie mistake by committing to too many reviews at one time.

Right now, there are an EXTREME amount of books that I need to review. And, sadly, some that I didn't review as soon as I promised. BUT, if you are an author and I promised to review your book, know that I WILL. I have my list of books (in the order they were received) and I will, undoubtedly, get to each and every one of them. You'll notice that I'm STILL not taking any more requests--and haven't since a couple of months ago. I haven't even read a book of MY choice in over a month. I keep winning them. I keep looking through my Kindle library seeing them there. But, I haven't touched one. And I PROMISE I won't until I've fulfilled my commitment.

So, here's to a better July. And I'm going to go read now. :)


Blog Tour: In the Shadow of Vesuvius by Liz Carmichael





Title: In the Shadow of Vesuvius
Author: Liz Carmichael
Pub. Date: March 18, 2011
Author & Book Links:
Amazon / Author Page
This is a tense story of a young slave girl trying to escape the coming devastation of Herculaneum during the 79.CE Vesuvius eruption. It’s well-paced, with great characterization and believable situations. It’s well-researched with a lot of elements of the time period which gives the reader an authentic picture of the era. Mira knows what's coming and her goal is to save her young charge, Remy. The whole book takes place in less than twenty four hours and keeps the action flowing from the first page.

If you're looking for a good fast read with some history and adventure, I highly recommend this book. Although a YA book, it's appropriate for all ages from Middle Grade to Adult. It has something for everyone.

Author Liz Carmichael has stopped by today with a guest post for the In The Shadow of Vesuvius blog tour. Hope you all enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Blog Tour: Propheticus by Emma Daley



I'm so pleased to be a part of the Propheticus blog tour today! Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoy my review of this awesome book!


Title: Propheticus
Author: Emma Daley
Pub. Date: Nov. 20, 2010
Author & Book Links:
Amazon / Author Page
There is something frightening about the way a hateful, unknown creature looks back at you. The way its beady red eyes snarl at you, and it's cheek curls with a hiss to reveal the greedy canines beneath. It is one thing to dream of this beastly creature, and it is another to have it inches from your face, its warm ungodly breath on your cheek, and its pallid gray bones reaching to devour you. My name is Aniah, and once my world was safe. But like many others throughout the universe-and here on the planet Delucia-fate would have me meet with the Mangitori de Sangue; an ancient army of blood-lusting creatures who have been frightening and devouring the inhabitants of the universe for decades. My fate brings me deep into their world. In fact, it is written somewhere-and the stories have been told long before I was ever born-of a prophecy wherein a young woman with the heart and soul of an angel will lead the universe in a victory against the Mangitori de Sangue. I am that woman. I just have to stay alive long enough to figure out how.

Review: Veil of Pearls by MaryLu Tyndall


Title: Veil of Pearls
Author: MaryLu Tyndall
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Pub. Date: July 1, 2012
Acquired: Netgalley
Pre-Order "Veil of Pearls":
Amazon / B&N / The Book Despository

Be swept away to Charleston of 1811, a city bustling with immigrants like Adalia, who is a runaway slave so light-skinned that no one guesses her past. Terrified her secret will be discovered, she settles into a quiet life making herbal remedies for a local doctor. But when Morgan, the handsome son of a prominent family, sweeps her into his glamorous world—a world in which the truth about Adalia’s heritage would ruin them both—suspicions and petty jealousies are aroused. What will Morgan do when he discovers that the woman he has fallen in love with is a runaway slave?

Review & Giveaway: Tributary by Lisa T. Bergren


Title: Tributary
Author: Lisa T. Bergren
Publisher: Bergren Creative Group, Inc.
Pub. Date: June 12, 2012
Acquired: From author, for honest review
Purchase "Tributary":
Amazon / B&N / Smashwords
TRIBUTARY, a novella (1/2 the length of a normal novel), picks up a year after BOURNE... Lia struggles to overcome the fear that constant battle has heaped upon her; Gabi and Marcello face an unexpected crisis; and Lord Greco just may be ready to leave the grief and loss of his past behind him, so that he might grab hold of the future... Volume 3.2 of the River of Time series.


Waiting On Wednesday[10]: One Moment by Kristina McBride



"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Jill, at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.




Title: One Moment
Author: Kristina McBride
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Publication Date: June 26, 2012
This was supposed to be the best summer of Maggie’s life. Now it’s the one she’d do anything to forget.

Maggie Reynolds remembers hanging out at the gorge with her closest friends after a blowout party the night before. She remembers climbing the trail hand in hand with her perfect boyfriend, Joey. She remembers that last kiss, soft, lingering, and meant to reassure her. So why can’t she remember what happened in the moment before they were supposed to dive? Why was she left cowering at the top of the cliff, while Joey floated in the water below—dead?

As Maggie’s memories return in snatches, nothing seems to make sense. Why was Joey acting so strangely at the party? Where did he go after taking her home? And if Joey was keeping these secrets, what else was he hiding?

The latest novel from the author of The Tension of Opposites, One Moment is a mysterious, searing look at how an instant can change everything you believe about the world around you.

Review: The Guest Book by Marybeth Whalen


Title: The Guest Book
Author: Marybeth Whalen
Publisher: Zondervan
Pub. Date: July 1, 2012
Acquired: Netgalley
Pre-Order "The Guest Book":
Amazon / B&N / The Book Depository

When Macy Dillon was five years old her father encouraged her to draw a picture in the guestbook of a Carolina beach house. The next year, Macy returned to discover a drawing by an unidentified little boy on the facing page. Over the next eleven years the children continue to exchange drawings … until tragedy ends visits to the beach house altogether. During her final trip to Sunset, Macy asks her anonymous friend to draw her one last picture and tells him where to hide the guest book in hopes that one day she will return to find it—and him. Twenty-five years after that first picture, Macy is back at Sunset Beach—this time toting a broken family and a hurting heart. One night, alone by the ocean, Macy asks God to help her find the boy she never forgot, the one whose beautiful pictures touched something deep inside of her. Will she ever find him? And if she does, will the guestbook unite them or merely be the relic of a lost childhood?

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Dreaming Dangerously by Kathleen Harsch



I'm SO excited to have Kathleen Harsch, here, on my blog, today! I hope you stay and check out her book "Dreaming Dangerously". I have the synopsis and a special guest post, from Kathleen, herself!


Title: Dreaming Dangerously
Author: Kathleen Harsch
Publisher: Createspace
Pub. Date: Sept. 5, 2011
"Dreaming Dangerously" Links:
Amazon / B&N / Goodreads
What if you could HEAR thoughts?

Thanks to her ability to mind-drop, Cassie can hear the thoughts of everyone around her. But sometimes her telepathy is more of a curse than a psychic gift, especially when it comes to Will Rossi.

Reason #1: He pushes his thoughts at her, whether she wants to hear them or not.

Reason #2: His sexy, vindictive ex-girlfriend.

Reason #3: His dimples are absolutely, 100% distracting.

To her surprise, Cassie feels drawn to Will's electromagnetic vibes. Yet, as she falls for him, she discovers their relationship has some serious side effects. She begins to have dreams about the future - dreams that come true in horrifying ways.

Cassie needs to learn to trust Will, or she won't be able to prevent the tragedy she sees coming.


And now, here's a special guest post from Kathleen Harsch on what it's like balancing her time between ALL of her very important jobs. (This lady does it ALL between being a wife, mother, teacher, writer, etc... She's awesome, right?!)


Review: What I Didn't Say by Keary Taylor


Title: What I Didn't Say
Author: Keary Taylor
Publisher: CreateSpace
Pub. Date: April 30, 2012
Acquired: Netgalley
Purchase "What I Didn't Say":
Amazon / B&N

Getting drunk homecoming night your senior year is never a good idea, but Jake Hayes never expected it all to end with a car crash and a t-post embedded in his throat.

His biggest regret about it all? What he never said to Samantha Shay. He's been in love with her for years and never had the guts to tell her. Now it's too late. Because after that night, Jake will never be able to talk again.

When Jake returns to his small island home, population 5,000, he'll have to learn how to deal with being mute. He also finds that his family isn't limited to his six brothers and sisters, that sometimes an entire island is watching out for you. And when he gets the chance to spend more time with Samantha, she'll help him learn that not being able to talk isn’t the worst thing that could ever happen to you. Maybe, if she'll let him, Jake will finally tell her what he didn't say before, even if he can't actually say it.

The Orphan, The Soulcatcher, and the Black Blizzard Blog Tour




Author Kimberlee Ann Bastian has stopped by my blog today with an excerpt for her blog tour. Check it out!

Most of his life, Charlie Reese has been surrounded by a loving family and all the comforts of home. But when a house fire claims them, he and his cousin, Jimmy are sent to an orphanage in the heart of ‘Depression Era’ Chicago. A year later, Charlie’s life is shaken by yet another tragedy and with it comes the mysterious introduction of a secretive runaway, named Bartholomew. As Charlie begins to discover more about his new companion, he unknowingly becomes a participant in a two-hundred year old secret. Come the morning of the Black Blizzard, Charlie finds he must make a choice - flee the destiny laden at his feet or take on his responsibility and follow a path full of supernatural wonders.



Waiting On Wednesday[9]: Leif (Existence #2.5) by Abbi Glines



"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Jill, at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



Title: Leif (Existence #2.5)
Author: Abbi Glines
Publication Date: July 3, 2012
"She was mine. I owned her soul…until Death stole her heart."

Why Am I Waiting?
If you read Existence and Predestined in the Existence trilogy then you know why I don't need a HUGE description to draw me in and have me be all over this book.

While I am EAGERLY awaiting Ceaseless, I can't help but get SUPER excited over a book from Leif's point of view. To say that he was a complicated character is an understatement. I can't wait to get into the mind of the "man" Pagan spurned.











Who Loves Indie Authors?!?!?!?


So, who LOVES Indie authors?!?! THIS girl, that's who!!!
And, if YOU do, too, why don't you head on over right NOW to The Indelibles blog and sign up to be a part of the Indie-pendance Day Blog Tour! It starts July 2nd and goes through the 5th. And, it doesn't require anything crazy to participate!
Here's what you have to do:
~PICK A BOOK: Pick an indie (self-published or small press) book that you either HAVE READ AND LOVED or WANT TO READ.
(I won't lie--this will be the HARDEST part! Who can pick just one?!)

~WRITE A POST: On INDIEpendence day (July 2nd), write a post about that book. It can be a review, an interview with the author, or simply a post highlighting the book. In your post, be sure to include: 1) HOW you found out about the book and 2) WHY you liked it (or WHY you want to read it). Make it easy for people to sample your indie author by providing buy links as well.
(Not too difficult, right?)

~DO A GIVEAWAY (optional): You can give away swag, or a copy of the indie book you're highlighting, or don't do a giveaway at all - it's up to you!

IMPORTANT: you may NOT highlight your own novel or one of the Indelible's novels (this is a Pay It Forward event!) We think all Indelibles books are high quality and deserving of celebration, but we can do that some other time.

~GO TO GOODREADS (optional): Add the Indie book or books you're featuring to our ever-growing INDIEpendence Day List.

Sounds like fun! I hope you'll join us! If you DO decide to participate, make sure you go here and sign up with the Link tool.