BOOK REVIEW: Moore Zombies by Wendy Knuth

Moore Zombies: Gimme Noodle

Author: Wendy Knuth

Genre: Children's Picture Book

Publication Date: 29th July 2015

Book Description:

Baby Zom is hungry! When the Moore zombies go see their Mombie about dinner plans, she suggests they take the Moorevette out for some noodle. Broheimer, Gothina, and Kamper drive their little sister out for an adventure through the countryside. The kids have to make a quick stop along the way, where they are seen by humans. Baby Zom is afraid, but her siblings know just what to do. Grab a bottle of ketchup and see what ends up on the dinner table!!

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MY REVIEW

Another adventure out into the world with the Moore family as they head to their grandmother's house for dinner. This is the second book I have read in this zombie series, and again, it was a good read. I loved the illustrations and the fun activities the family partook in as they tried to acclimate to the world of the living. Again, the author explores some important themes and messages such as acceptance and learning how to deal with prejudices and how to appreciate different cultures. Like the first book I read, I still have a problem with the narration. I felt disconnected from the characters, thus I couldn't connect with them on an emotional level.

Overall, it was a good read with a good message.

VERDICT

Award: Silver

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Source: Own copy

Moore Zombies: Zombie World

Author: Wendy Knuth

Genre: Children's Chapter Book

Publication Date: 2nd October 2015

Book Description:

Moore Zombies Chapter Book #2

Where can zombies mingle amongst humans without being detected? At Zombie World! The Moore zombie children are asked by their Pop to help out with some of the attractions. Gothina and Baby Zom dress up humans into zombies. Broheimer and Kamper give a tour of the Creepy Show. However, the kids soon realize they are being followed. When everyone gets together at the Brain Food Court, things turn up missing. Who is to blame, and what will be done about it? Find out at Zombie World!

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MY REVIEW

It has taken a while, but I'm finally starting to get into these Moore Zombies books, and I must say this one is by far my favourite one. It's full of fun and adventure, what the series has been promising ever since I came across it, and it finally feels as though the real fun has arrived. In this adventure, the Moore kids visit Zombie World, a place where they finally fit in and don't have to worry about being detected by humans. As the Moore kids go about helping out with the attractions, it soon becomes apparent that peoples items are going missing. Who is to blame? That's what the Moore kids plan to find out.

This book was enjoyable and full of intrigue. As this was a chapter book, there were only a few illustrations, at the start of each chapter, which was different to the previous two books I read. Strangely, I enjoyed it moore (pun intended) without the illustrations as it allowed me to focus on the story and allowed me to visualise the story more. I finally felt a connection with the characters, which, although long awaited, was so worth it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the mention of Dracula and Frankenstein. Although I was aware of the backstory, it was pleasant to read. It's a good addition for kids to learn about the classics that have helped shape the world of monsters as we know it today.

VERDICT

Award: Gold

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Source: Own copy

Book Blitz & Giveaway - Image Adjuster by Lily Alexander

Image Adjuster

Author: Lily Alexander
Publication Date: March 11th, 2020

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Book Description:

In Hollywood, image is everything.

Being part of a power couple can mean the difference between your star rising or being iced out of roles. No one ever said the relationship had to be real.

Stephanie, an actress and the daughter of Hollywood royalty has made a thriving business out of posing as a girlfriend to celebrities who need a bit of a PR boost. Everything is scripted and when the contract ends everyone goes their separate way.

No feelings, no risk, just acting.

Devon is just another client – no matter how handsome he might be, how compatible they seem. The arrangement works perfectly.  It’s all business. Definitely just business.

Unless it’s not.

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Book Blitz & Giveaway - The Plan by Whitney Dineen

The Plan

(The Creek Water Series #3)

Author: Whitney Dineen

Publication Date: March 10th, 2020

Genre: Adult Comedy / Contemporary Romance

Book Description:

Bead shop owner Amelia Frothingham has been keeping a secret from everyone she knows.

She pretends to be the ultimate care-free bohemian chick, but the truth is, she’s the world’s biggest control freak. Much to the delight of her Southern family, Amelia’s life appears to be smooth sailing. That is, until bad boy rockstar Huck Wiley mysteriously blows into town like a spring tornado.

Like every other woman under eighty with a pulse, Amelia’s intrigued. So when Huck starts showing up in her shop with flirtation in mind, she finds herself getting sucked into the rock god vortex. But her previous attempts at long-distance love have always ended on a sour note, so Amelia has vowed never to repeat the experience.

What Amelia doesn’t know is that Huck has a secret of his own, and he has no intention of returning to Los Angeles before he’s good and ready.

Will Huck stay in town, scattering the beads Amelia has finally gotten sorted? Or will he head back to his glamorous life and take her last chance at spontaneity and love along with him?

Find out in this deliciously funny romcom about love and life in Creek Water, Missouri!

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Aviary Anniversary Blitz & Giveaway - The Aviary by Emily Shore

The Aviary

(The Uncaged Series, #1)

Author: Emily Shore

Published by: Clean Teen Publishing

Publication Date: March 5th, 2019

Genre: YA Dystopian

Book Description:

“Gentlemen, we have a special treat for you today. Feast your eyes on this pure-blooded beauty!”

Sixteen-year-old Serenity has spent her entire life in hiding to protect her from this exact moment. In a world where beauty is bought and sold on the streets like a corporate commodity, Serenity’s natural assets are more like liabilities. Despite her parents’ best efforts, she’s been taken—ripped from her home and the only life she’s ever known—to find herself on sale to the highest bidder. And that bidder? Enigmatic and dangerous, Luc is the director of The Aviary—an elite museum where girls are displayed as living art by day…and cater to the lascivious whims of the highest bidder by night. In this elaborate and competitive world, girls go by names like Raven and Nightingale, and will stop at nothing to become top Bird.

Luc comes to idolize Serenity’s purity and aims to turn her into his grandest exhibit of all time—The Swan. In no time, she becomes one of the most coveted exhibits in Aviary history. When she discovers Luc holds the key to finding her parents, she must learn to play The Swan to perfection…to win his heart and earn his trust. But she doesn’t anticipate falling for him in the process. Now she faces an impossible choice: escape The Aviary and lose her only chance at finding her parents—or become Luc’s Swan for good and lose her identity forever.

The Jewel by Amy Ewing meets Tricks by Ellen Hopkins in this gritty Young Adult Dystopian that tells of a fear-inducing future where the world of sex trafficking has become a social norm and where woman aren’t treated as humans and are no safer than they were than they were in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.

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Book Blitz & Giveaway - Fae Hunter by Sarah K.L. Wilson

Fae Hunter

(Tangled Fae #1)

Author: Sarah K.L. Wilson

Publication Date: December 11th, 2019

Genre: YA Fantasy

Book Description:

Think you know fae? Think again.

Our lives are nursery rhymes and faerie stories now, Allie.

When Allie Hunter’s twin sister steps through a magic circle into the Faerie realm, she opens the door to deadly fae, bent on causing havoc and harm to Allie’s village.

Rendered blind to all but the spirit world, Allie is frustrated and angry but determined to bring the fae down. No matter what that might cost her.

But in a world where lies are truth, power is sustenance, and every action ripples into violence, how can one mortal stop all of Faerieland?

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Book Blitz & Giveaway - What She Didn’t See by Heather Wynter

What She Didn’t See

Author: Heather Wynter

Publication Date: February 28th, 2020

Genre: Adult Suspense / Thriller

Book Description:

An American tourist in Rome. A secret service agent on vacation. An international assassin… What could go wrong?

Gracie Colby and Lena Boyd are wrapping up the tour of Italy Lena has planned her whole life.

Luke Barnes, a Secret Service Agent, is on vacation in Rome.

Before she knows what happened to her, her friend is dead, and Gracie finds herself swept into a whirlwind of danger, intrigue, and international forces conspiring to destroy her. Teaming up with Luke to survive, Gracie is forced to question herself and decide if she is capable of outrunning the assassin before he can get to them.

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Book Blitz & Giveaway - Forgotten Pieces by Tori Fox

Forgotten Pieces

(White Creek #3)

Author: Tori Fox

Publication Date: February 27th, 2020

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Book Description:

Eight years ago, I fell for Ryder Thompson.

He knew me in a way no one else did.

He held my heart in his hands.

Until he brought it crashing to the floor.

I picked up the pieces, vowing to never let him in again.

And I never thought I would see him again.

Then one day, he reappeared in my life.

I promised myself I would ignore him.

I lied.

————————————————————

Tacoma Calloway made me a better man.

To this day I swear upon it, no matter how broken I am.

We weren’t meant to be together when we first met.

We were two lost souls finding solace in the other.

But eight years later, I still want her.

I forbid myself from loving her then.

And I am unable to love her now.

If only my heart would listen.

It won’t.

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Book Blitz & Giveaway - Where We Belong by Shann McPherson

Where We Belong

Author: Shann McPherson

Published by: HQ Digital

Publication Date: February 21st, 2020

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Book Description:

An emotional, compelling page-turner from your next romance obsession, Shann McPherson, about the power of friendship and finding love where you least expect it.

When Alice ‘Murph’ Murphy’s beloved mother died, she promised to keep the family bakery in Graceville, Georgia afloat—even if it meant letting her high-school sweetheart, Nash Harris, go. For years, Murph has been biding her time, waiting for Nash to come back for her.

So when he strolls into Piece O’ Cake, Murph’s heart skips a beat—until he hands her an invitation to his wedding… There are painful secrets in both their pasts that only the two of them share, and Murph can’t bear the thought of Nash belonging to someone else.

DThere’s only one thing Murph can think of to do: fake a relationship with local bar owner and old friend Harley Shaw to remind Nash of what he’s losing, and win him back for good.

Nash is Murph’s best friend, a vivid reminder of her childhood and all the things she’s lost—but the more time Murph and Harley spend together, the more the lines between real and pretend begin to blur. Can Murph choose between the one who got away and the one who never left—and heal her aching heart?

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Book Blitz & Giveaway - The Resistance by T.H. Hernandez

The Resistance

(The Union Series, #5)

Author: T.H. Hernandez

Publication Date: February 25th, 2020

Genre: YA Dystopian

Book Description:

After the Union is invaded by the Uprising, life for Evan and her friends becomes even more dire. If they have any hopes of saving the world they know, they’re going to need help. And it looks like there may be someone already out there trying to accomplish the same thing.

Now living in an encampment in the Ruins, life is hard for most Unis in the Resistance. For Cyrus and the other Ruins survivors, it’s just more of the same.

While they train for their ultimate mission, tragedy strikes, upending everything once again. Complicating their plans, someone in their midst is working against them. Evan, Cyrus, and the rest of the Resistance need to locate reinforcements to help them bring down the Uprising while rooting out the traitor. With trust at an all-time low, no one is above suspicion as danger walks among them.

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Book Blitz & Giveaway - To Plant a Single Seed by Kelsey Ketch

To Plant a Single Seed

Author: Kelsey Ketch

Genre: YA Short Story

Release Date: February 2020

Book Description:

“Each of us has a seed of our own, each as diverse as the person that carries it.”

Raised in an isolated world of strict rules, one young woman questions what is the purpose of the seed she carries in the palm of her hand. What is its purpose in a world that already seems perfect and is basically untouchable? Railing against her society, she decides to travel toward the distant tree line to discover her purpose.

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Book Blitz & Giveaway - Fang And Claw by Evangeline Anderson

Fang And Claw

(Nocturne Academy, #2)

Author: Evangeline Anderson

Publication Date: February 22nd, 2020

Genre: YA Paranormal

Book Description:

My name is Kaitlyn Fellows and I’ll never be the same.

The Fire stole everything from me.

My home…my family…even my beauty.

The right side of my face is normal–even pretty. But the left side, I hide in shame. That’s where The Fire marked me…scarred me forever.

At Nocturne Academy I’m nothing–just a little Norm girl with no supernatural powers and a disfigured face.

Which is why it’s so strange that a big, Handsome Drake like Ari Reyes should take an interest in me.

But it isn’t only Ari who’s interested in me.

For under his high cheekbones and clear amber eyes, he hides another, much more frightening visage–A Drake, the fire-breathing monster that lives within him.

A monster who has decided I should be his alone.

Can I survive Ari’s love for me? And more importantly, can I survive the love of his Drake?

Because once a girl has been claimed by a Drake, the only way out is through The Fire.

What am I going to do?

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Book Blitz & Giveaway - Forever Summer by Nicole Bea

Forever Summer

Author: Nicole Bea

Published by: The Wild Rose Press

Publication Date: February 24th, 2020

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Book Description:

Morrigan Westhaver isn’t convinced anything could make her forget her abusive ex-boyfriend—not even if she travels all the way from her home in Michigan to her father’s ranch in Alabama. Saved text messages and voicemails haunt her life with poisonous words and crippling self-doubt, but she can’t seem to let them go. On the ranch, much to her surprise, she immediately takes to a rescued horse, Stormy, as well as Levy, an attractive ranch hand. Will their understanding and gentle support help her heal, or is the damage too deep?

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Book Blitz & Giveaway - Creeping Beautiful by J.A. Huss

Creeping Beautiful

Author: J.A. Huss

Publication Date: February 19th, 2020

Genre: Adult Romance / Suspense

Book Description:

McKAY

I wasn’t the one who broke her but I played my part.

She came to us when she was ten. I raised her. I loved her.

I taught her how to survive in a world of evil men.

But it wasn’t enough.

ADAM

I wasn’t the one who saved her but I did my best.

She needed me as much as I needed her.

Bought and paid for on the auction block.

But not for the reasons you think.

She was my weapon.

DONOVAN

I wasn’t the one who lied to her but I hid her truth.

She was broken before I got there.

Wild and angry. Defiant and bratty.

But she trusted me most.

She loved me best.

So I set her free.

Indie Anna Accorsi is a woman lost in her past.

A pretty little nightmare.

A gorgeous piece of misery.

A mess of lovely darkness.

She is creeping beautiful.

And now we want her back.

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BOOK REVIEW: The Real Principal by Sheldon Peart

The Real Principal

Author: Sheldon Peart

Genre: YA Crime / Thriller
Publication Date: 14th November 2019

Book Description:

Seventeen-year-old Danny Easington is trapped in the down-town Kingston inner-city community of Zion City. His mother, whom he reveres admonishes him that education is the only means to escape the grunge and grime of ghetto life.

Danny's mother is hospitalized from a motor vehicle accident and he hurries to her bedside. With her last breath, she beseeches him to protect his ten-year-old sister, Jessica. Danny suspects that Jessica is being molested at home and steals away from school, to defend her. But in his haste, he is charged with a shocking murder.

Tim Browning and Natasha Parkinson, are Danny’s rich up-town friends. They are astounded, but insist on his innocence, because of his dutiful adherence to his mother's teachings. However, the evidence against him is damning.

In a display of unwavering friendship, determination and true grit, Tim and Natasha embark on a calculated mission to find the real killer and vindicate their friend. Unleashing unmatched investigative skills, the budding detectives uncover crucial evidence which the police cannot overlook. But who is the killer?

Detective Sergeant Junior Smellie is confident that he has the right man. But will the brilliant young detectives find that last stroke of genius to convince the police otherwise?

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MY REVIEW

Danny Easington's life was going great until the sudden and tragic death of his mother. Being left with the responsibility of taking care of his younger sister, Jessica, he soon starts to suspect that her withdrawals is more than just her mourning for her mother and may have something to do with his stepfather, Mr Wedderburn, and his sudden interest in bonding with Jessica. Is the attention her father showing her more than fatherly love? Just as Danny thinks he has Mr Wedderburn where he wants him, his life takes a turn for the worse when he's arrested and charged for the brutal murder of one of his fellow pupils. With damning evidence pointing the finger at Danny, can he and his sidekicks, Tim and Natasha, use their intellect to discover the real culprit and set Danny free?

This is the second book I have read by Peart, and he certainly does have a way of grabbing the reader's attention from the very beginning with his intriguing premises. You get hooked to the story from start to end and I appreciated feeling as though I was part of the investigation, trying to solve the clues to unveil the real killer. I thought some of the characters could have been better developed as there was little known about them. There were also repetitive scenes that I thought could have done with some editing to make every situation relevant.

The book needs a good edit, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

VERDICT

Award: Silver

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Source: Author

Book Blitz & Giveaway - Married to the Earl by Samantha Holt

Married to the Earl

(The Wallflower Brides #3)

Author: Samantha Holt

Publication Date: February 10th, 2020

Genre: Adult Historical Romance

Book Description:

Going from vivacious society belle to widow wallflower can leave a lady wanting…

Joanna Lockhart is trapped in a mire of grief and boredom. Still recovering from the sudden death of her husband, the beautiful widow is tired of being treated like a fragile porcelain doll. But when a severe illness nearly claims her life, Joanna finds the perfect outlet for her natural vitality—a charity.

Unfortunately, her sudden interest in all things philanthropic is marred by the presence of one Ambrose Creassey. For some unknown reason, this handsome cad has decided to cast aside his reputation as a rake, and take up the mantel of charitable patron.

As the Earl of Newhaven, Ambrose has enjoyed his life of delicious debauchery. But recently the earl has hungered for more noble pursuits. A charity seems to be the perfect outlet for his newfound desire to be more than just a rake. And of course, he doesn’t mind the aid of a beautiful, well-connected woman like Joanna… Especially when he cannot resist riling her a time or two.

After all, she does rise so beautifully to the challenge.

Focusing on their work is harder than either of them thought. There’s no denying the attraction between them, but is Ambrose truly prepared to cast aside his hedonistic history? And even if he does, is Joanna ready for a new love?

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Book Blitz & Giveaway - Possessed by JoAnne Keltner

Possessed

(Pagan Light #1)

Author: JoAnne Keltner

Genre: YA Paranormal

Release Date: January 2019

Book Description:

Calling Jackie psychic makes her cringe. But Jackie’s no normal seventeen-year-old. She picks up emotions from people and objects like a freak. The emotions make her sick, and the guilt she feels for lying to her church when she was twelve causes her to deny her psychic abilities.But when her jealous friend Trish invites a demon to help her steal Jason's love for Jackie, Jackie must learn how to use her gift to protect Jason and herself and to heal the negative energies around them. To do so means she must overcome her guilt and accept who she is before the demon claims her soul.

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