BOOK REVIEW: Haven: A Stranger Magic (Haven, #1) by D.C. Akers

Haven: A Stranger Magic

(Haven, #1)

Author: D.C. Akers

Genre: YA Fantasy

Book Description:

Sam Dalcome thinks he is so completely average that no one ever notices him. Until he discovers a mysterious stranger outside his home. Bewildered, he tries to uncover the stranger’s intentions. But Sam is sidetracked when he and his friend Travis discover a secret passageway deep in the town’s quarry that leads to a hidden cavern. What they uncover next will not only change their lives forever, but will uncover the first clue to a deadly Dalcome family secret. Sam finds himself drawn into a world of mystery and magic he never knew existed, which brings him closer to a destiny he never knew was possible.

HAVEN SERIES: Known as a place of refuge, Haven is a sanctuary for those with supernatural abilities. Decades of peace between the Witches, Vampires, Goblins, Elves, and Orcs is coming to an end. Now the once tranquil world is shrouded in deception and corruption. Dark secrets tear at the very fabric of their alliance giving way to an evil that stirs in the shadows. Exhilarating and utterly gripping, the HAVEN series is an action-packed journey full of suspense, magic, mystery, and intrigue.

HAVEN: A Stranger Magic is the first Novella in the HAVEN series by author D.C. Akers. This Novella contains 28,817 words, and about 172 pages in print form.

Buy Links:

Amazon US ¦ UK

MY REVIEW

Where was this book when I was a kid? As soon as I started reading Haven, I knew I was going to like it. The writing style was addictive, and the mystery surrounding Sam's stalker was enthralling. I couldn't stop reading as I was so eager to find out more.

Essentially, this book is about a not-so-popular thirteen-year-old boy by the name of Sam Dalcome who has to deal with torments from both his sister, Sarah, and his fellow peers at school. Sam's been havong nightmares lately, and if that wasn't bad enough, he discovers a mystery stranger standing outside his home one night, staring right into his bedroom; a stranger who can disappear into thin air.

While this book is more an intro to the characters, there was enough suspense to keep you glued to the pages. I loved the characters, even when they're being annoying at times - Sarah, I'm calling you out - as their interaction felt so believable. Travis was just a hoot. He' s a brilliant secondary character who does well in lightening tense and sombre situations.

There wasn't much supernatural elements throughout the story, but from the little amount we experience, what with the powers Sarah displayed in the alleyway, I would  there was definitely magic in the air. What kind? That's yet to be explored. But I am excited to find out more about Sam and his family's history.

The author starts to set up the plot more towards the end of the book. I loved the ending chapters. It gives you more insight into where the story is heading and the potential danger of what Sam and Sarah are up against. There's certainly a lot more to the Dalcome family than meets the eye. The ending definitely made me want to read the sequel. I recommend this book to all, especially if you love suspense with elements of fantasy.

VERDICT

Award: Gold

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Source: Own copy

Book Blitz & Giveaway - ReWired by S.R. Johannes

ReWired

Author: S.R. Johannes

Publication Date: August 27th, 2017

Genre: YA Thriller

Book Description:

YA cyber thriller, ReWIRED, by Shelli Johannes-Wells (writing as S.R. Johannes), which offers a fresh and exciting new take on the genre, and could be described as Ally Carter’s HEIST SOCIETY meets THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO for teens.

Sixteen-year-old Ada Lovelace is never more alive and sure of herself than when she’s hacking into a “secure” network as her alter ego, the Dark Angel. In the real world, Ada is broken, reeling from her best friend Simone’s recent suicide. But online, the reclusive daughter of Senator Lovelace (champion of the new Online Privacy Bill) is a daring white hat hacker and the only female member of the Orwellians, an elite group responsible for a string of high-profile hacks against major corporations, with a mission to protect the little guy. Ada is swiftly proving she’s a force to be reckoned with, when a fellow Orwellian betrays her to the FBI. To protect her father’s career, Ada is sent to ReBoot, a technology rehab facility for teens…the same rehab Simone attended right before killing herself.

It’s bad enough that the ReBoot facility is creepy in an Overlook-Hotel-meets-Winchester-Mansion way, but when Ada realizes Simone’s suicide is just one in an increasingly suspicious string of “accidental” deaths and “suicides” occurring just after kids leave ReBoot, Ada knows she can’t leave without figuring out what really happened to her best friend. The massive cyber conspiracy she uncovers will threaten everything she cares about–her dad’s career, her new relationship with a wry, handsome, reformed hacker who gets under her skin, and most of all–the version of herself Ada likes best–the Dark Angel.

With a deliciously twisty plot, the topical bite of Cory Doctorow’s LITTLE BROTHER, ReWIRED delves into technology addiction, internet privacy, and corporate/government collection of data, as it vividly illuminates the universally human questions about ethics, privacy, and self-definition that both underpin these socio-political issues and dovetail with classic coming-of-age themes. Ultimately, ReWIRED is about the daily choices we all make about who we want to be, how much of ourselves we choose to share with others, and the terrifying risks and exhilarating rewards of being ourselves, online and off.

Buy Links:
Amazon US ¦ UK

Book Blast & Giveaway - The Pursuit of Lady Harriett by Rachael Anderson

The Pursuit of Lady Harriett
Author: Rachael Anderson

Book Description:
When wills clash and hearts collide, who will reign victorious?

Termed an Incomparable during her first London season, Lady Harriett Cavendish is beautiful, spirited, and confident, capturing the attention of a great many suitors. Unfortunately, they all failed to capture her attention, and she concluded the season as unattached as she’d begun it.

Only weeks prior to her second season, Harriett encounters Lieutenant Christopher Jamison while visiting Tanglewood Manor. Recently returned from war, the lieutenant is everything that Harriett's previous suitors were not. He’s arrogant, ungentlemanly, irritating, and challenges her at every opportunity. When he goes too far, Harriett decides that it’s time to turn the tables on him. But as she sets out to put the lieutenant in his place once and for all, she discovers there is more to him than meets the eye, and when it comes to matters of the heart, she has no control whatsoever.

Buy Links:

Amazon US ¦ UK

Book Blitz & Giveaway - The Captive (Emerge #3) by Melissa A. Craven

Emerge: The Captive
(Emerge #3)
Author: Melissa a. Craven
Genre: YA Paranormal / Urban Fantasy
Release Date: August 28th, 2017

Book Description:
A moment of distraction has cost him his freedom but Quinnton Loukas has a dangerous secret

Held as a captive of the Immortal organization, known as Soma, if his secret is discovered it will be used against him. From the moment of his Awakening, Quinn has struggled with an addiction to his power. The rigid self-control that has kept his addiction at bay is now in the hands of another. If Livia discovers what he is capable of, she will drive him to become the monster he fears is lurking deep inside his soul. His only hope is to escape before she has that chance. But there are others at Soma. Those he’s grown to care for and refuses to leave behind.

Thousands of miles away in India, Sasha blames herself for the capture of the boy she’s loved nearly all her life. As she and her family work to find a way to bring Quinn home, Sasha is caught up on a journey of her own that will take her far from everything she ever thought she wanted. Drafted by the Senate into a brutal training program, Sasha begins to discover who she truly is and how little control she has over her own destiny.

Sasha and Quinn have always shared a special bond, but with their lives moving in opposite directions can they ever go back to the way they were?

Or is there something much more complicated about the future of their relationship?

Immortality. Prophecy. Power. Join Quinn and Sasha in this coming of age, paranormal and urban fantasy with themes of adoption, diversity, supernatural, and historical fiction.

 Preorder Emerge: The Captive at the special publisher price of $0.99!

The Captive releases on August 28th and will return to regular price on 9/4.

Pre-Order Links:
Amazon US ¦ UK

Book Blast & Giveaway - The Keep of Ages (The Vault of Dreamers #3) by Caragh M. O'Brien

The Keep of Ages

Author: Caragh M. O'Brien
Series: The Vault of Dreamers Trilogy (Book 3)
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (August 29, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1596439424
ISBN-13: 978-1596439429

Book Description:

In the fast-paced, high-stakes conclusion to Caragh M. O'Brien's Vault of Dreamers trilogy, Rosie travels to a derelict theme park to shut down dream mining once and for all.

Driven by fear when Dean Berg kidnaps her family, Rosie Sinclair strikes out across the country to rescue them. When an elusive trail leads her to Grisly Valley, the contaminated ruin of a horror theme park, Rosie has to consider that Berg may once again be manipulating her every move to make her fearful, priming her for a final, lethal dream mining procedure. As Rosie struggles to outmaneuver Berg, she unearths the ultimate vault of dreamers and the hint of a consciousness more powerful and dangerous than any she's imagined before. Faced with unspeakable suffering and otherworldly beauty, Rosie must discover how to trust her mind, her friends, and reality itself.

Propulsive and deeply speculative, The Keep of Ages concludes the Vault of Dreamers trilogy with stirring possibilities for what it means to be alive.

Buy Links:

Amazon US ¦ UK ¦ B&N ¦ Book Depository

Blog Tour Promo & Giveaway - Masked by J.D. Wright

Masked
Author: J.D. Wright

Genre: Upper YA Paranormal/Superheroes

Release Date: August 15th, 2017

Publisher: Limitless Publishing

Book Description:

Vada’s To-Do List:

- Turn 18 (check!)

- Register super name

- Order supersuit

- Attend superhero indoctrination

- Graduate high school

- Start kicking criminal tail

Book Description:

Vada Lawson can’t wait to be a superhero. Born into a family with special powers, she’s been training to fight criminals and villains her whole life. But her indoctrination into the underground super community is derailed when normals start breaking out in superpowers themselves.

Not trained to control their new abilities, the normals are frightened and vulnerable. Then their mutilated corpses begin turning up all over town. What the heck?

Somehow, with the help—and hindrance—of an annoying newly-minted super named Orion, Vada has to stop the chaos before it destroys her and everything she holds dear…and ruins her superhero debut.

No one ever said that being a superhero was easy…

Buy Links:

Amazon US ¦ UK ¦ B&N

Blog Tour Excerpt - I'm With You by Allie Frost

I'm With You
Author: Allie Frost

Genre: Teen and Young Adult

Date Published: 9/26/16 (Print) 10/18/16 (eBook)

Publisher: Dragon Tree Books

Book Description:

When fifteen-year-old Ciarán Morrigan eavesdrops on a conversation between his father and two mysterious strangers, his life—and the life of his little sister, Remiel—is changed forever. After their father makes a startling decision, the Morrigan siblings are forced to flee the only life they've ever known and embark on a dangerous adventure across the nation of Empirya. With the enlisted help of a disinherited vagabond, a cynical violinist, a fire-juggler with a fierce temper, an aspiring mechanic, and a cheerful librarian, Ciarán and Remiel must fight to escape the clutches of lethal pursuers. Their journey carries them through smog-filled cities, dark forests, humble towns, and perilous mountains, but will Remiel's dark secret and ghosts from the past prevent the Morrigan children from finding a place they can truly call home?

Winner – Indie Genius Award from Dragon Tree Books

Winner – Literary Titan Book Award (Gold) June 2017

Buy Links:

Amazon US ¦ UK ¦ B&N

August Favourites

Welcome to my August Favourites.

Here, you will find a list of the movies and books I watched and read in August and my favourite among them.

Books Read:

 
Favourite:

Buy Links:

Amazon US ¦ UK

Movies Watched:

 

 

Favourite:

Book Blast & Giveaway - The Lost Knight by Candy Atkins

The Lost Knight
Author: Candy Atkins

Book Description:
How am I supposed to save the world when I'm not strong, not brave, not smart, and not particularly good at most things? I ran away from home the day after my thirteenth birthday when Auntie and her weird friend attacked me. Now I'm on the run with the Grim Reaper and a scary soldier. And I'm no longer on Earth. They were expecting me to be a Knight. The savior that's supposed to stop a war and prevent the invasion of Earth. But I'm not. They grabbed the wrong girl. I just don’t know how to tell them.

Buy Links:
Amazon US ¦ UK

Book Blitz & Giveaway - Swim by M.E. Rhines

Swim

(Mermaid Royalty #2)
Author: M.E. Rhines

Published by: Clean Teen Publishing

Publication date: August 29th, 2017

Genre: YA Fantasy

Book Description:

A mermaid has no fear of the deep…

Angelique is not your typical fairy tale mermaid. She’s edgy, with a quick temper and intense personality that sometimes leave her feeling like an outsider even among her own clan. Reeling from the recent changes in the Mer-world hierarchy, Angelique is struggling to find her place in the ocean. But a chance encounter with a handsome two-legged Fin-man will leave her questioning more than just her place in the underwater order.

Packed with adventure, romance and drama, Swim continues the compelling story of life and love in the magical underwater realm of Atargatis.

Buy Links:

Amazon US ¦ UK ¦ B&N ¦ Kobo

Cover Reveal - Chasing Ella by Jillian Quinn

Chasing Ella

Author: Jillian Quinn

Publication Date: September 27th, 2017

Genres: NA Contemporary Romance

Blog Tour Spotlight - The Big Lies You've Been Told About Self-Publishing

Think You Know About Self-Publishing?
Think Again

The ad promised riches.

All I had to do was purchase their product to learn the secrets of self-publishing, and the money would start rolling in.

Fortunately for me, I’d bought enough snake oil over the years from ads that promised I could rub away that ugly scratch on my car’s fender, or let a little robot clean my apartment while I relaxed.  Which is an excellent idea—if only it worked. The truth is there is no magic bullet, and ads that promise one are more than misleading, they’re deceiving.

There’s nothing more misleading than all the information that’s out there about self-publishing. If you are a writer interested in self-publishing, everywhere you turn you’re hearing conflicting information: Self-publishing is hard, self-publishing is easy, self-published authors don’t make any money. Use Scrivener, don’t use Scrivener. It’s enough to make you go batty.

The truth is, self-publishing isn’t for everyone.  In my new webinar, The 5 Big Lies You’ve Been Told About Self-Publishing, And Why They Tell Them, I break down the 5 big lies. Afterwards I discuss all of your publishing options so you can make an intelligent choice about which option is best for you.

Those of you who know me know I’ve had a lot of success in my 30 year career as a writer: Bestselling novels, a 2015 award winning novel, novels optioned by Hollywood, movie scripts, and I am an Emmy and Academy Award nominated writer. When it comes to writing, I know how to be successful, and I’d like to share some of my success secrets with you.

If you’ve thought about self-publishing but didn’t know where to begin, why not start here: webinar signup link. Spaces are limited to the first 100 so sign up now.

Blog Tour Organised by:

Pre-Order Week Blitz - Just Off The Path by Weston Sullivan

Just Off The Path
Author: Weston Sullivan

Genre: Fantasy

Date Published: September 5th

Book Description:

Hansel never asked to be a hero. He never wanted to fall in love with Rapunzel, Queen of the East. He didn’t ask to be raised by Gothel the Wretch, and he certainly never wanted to be credited for her arrest. But more than any of that, Hansel never wanted to lie: but he did. He lied about everything. He thought that he was done with it all when he and his sister Gretel retreated into the woods to reclaim their land, but he should have known better.

Years later, Rapunzel’s guards knock at his door, and they say the words he hoped that he would never hear: Gothel has escaped. As he and Gretel take refuge inside Rapunzel’s castle in the eastern capitol of Hildebrand, Hansel is thrust back into everything he never wanted in the first place: his lies, his legend, and his lust. In the wake of it all, he knows that Gothel has escaped to finish what she started. She is out to make sure that the Sleeping Beauty never wakes, and that Grimm suffocates under her blanket of thorn and vine. In order to find Gothel and save the kingdom, Hansel and Gretel must look for fact in a land of fairy-tale by following a trail of grisly murders, a girl in a red cape, and a powerful little man who can’t stand the sound of his own name.

As they search for answers, Hansel finds that he isn’t the only liar in Grimm, and that there may be a traitor among them of royal proportion.

Will be available later this year.

Buy Links:

Universal Link

Cover Reveal - Sunburner by Claire Luana

 
Sunburner

(Moonburner #2)

Author: Claire Luana
Publication Date: September 25th, 2017
Genre: YA Fantasy

Book Description:

Kai, the newly-crowned queen of Miina, finds her reign threatened by a plague of natural disasters that leave death and destruction in their wake. Are the gods truly angry at the peace between the moon and sunburners, or is something more sinister to blame? Kai’s throne and her very life may be forfeit unless she can appease the gods’ anger and her peoples’ superstitions.

Determined to find a solution, Kai and the Sunburner Prince Hiro embark on an extraordinary and dangerous journey to discover the true cause of the plagues. What they find is an ancient enemy determined to plunge their world into eternal darkness—and one desperate chance to save it.

Pre-Order Links:

Amazon US ¦ UK

 

About the Author

Claire Luana grew up reading everything she could get her hands on and writing every chance she could. Eventually, adulthood won out, and she turned her writing talents to more scholarly pursuits, going to work as a commercial litigation attorney at a mid-sized law firm. While continuing to practice law, Claire decided to return to her roots and try her hand once again at creative writing. She has written and published the Moonburner Cycle and is currently working on a new trilogy about magical food. She lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband and two dogs. In her (little) remaining spare time, she loves to hike, travel, binge-watch CW shows, and of course, fall into a good book.

Author Links:

Website ¦ Goodreads ¦ Facebook ¦ Twitter

Cover Reveal Organised by: