Welcome to my stop on the Official
The Shadow Prince blog tour
The Shadow Prince by Bree Despain 512 pages
Published March 11th 2014 by Egmont
Age Group: Young Adult
Series: Into the Dark #1
Source: Finished copy from Publisher
Haden Lord, the disgraced prince of the Underrealm, has been sent to the mortal world to entice a girl into returning with him to the land of the dead. Posing as a student at Olympus Hills High a haven for children of the rich and famous Haden must single out the one girl rumored to be able to restore immortality to his race.
Daphne Raines has dreams much bigger than her tiny southern Utah town, so when her rock star dad suddenly reappears, offering her full tuition to Olympus Hills High s prestigious music program, she sees an opportunity to catch the break she needs to make it as a singer. But upon moving into her estranged father s mansion in California, and attending her glamorous new school, Daphne soon realizes she isn t the only student in Olympus who doesn t quite belong.
Haden and Daphne destined for each other know nothing of the true stakes their fated courtship entails. As war between the gods brews, the teenagers lives collide. But Daphne won t be wooed easily and when it seems their prophesied link could happen, Haden realizes something he never intended he s fallen in love. Now to save themselves, Haden and Daphne must rewrite their destinies. But as their destinies change, so do the fates of both their worlds.
A pulsating romance of epic proportions, Bree Despain s The Shadow Prince will leave her fans breathless for the next book in the Into The Dark series.
The Shadow Prince is a whopper of a book. It comes in at over 500 pages long , and the only thing I was thinking when I was done with it was, That wasn t long enough. I want more! I love mythology and I really enjoyed all of the attention to mythological details that Bree wove into the story. Mythology really was everywhere, throughout the street names in the town to the class lectures at school. It was an immersion into the stories of Persephone and Hades, which just so happens to be one of my very favorite myths. For example, One of Daphne s teachers was teaching her class about some versions of the Persephone myth and she was describing a thesis paper she wrote in college and I thought even that sounded fascinating. I would totally read her paper. So I may be a bit of a mythology nerd, but this book is perfect for both mythology enthusiasts like me and newbies alike.
I loved how strong willed Daphne was. She is not going to back down from anything or anyone. But she wasn t so stubborn as to be pig headed. She could admit when she was wrong. That is a balance that I seldom see in main characters. They are normally all or nothing. And I loved how passionate Daphne was about music. She could see music in everything. It was pretty magical, and Bree made all of it come to life in the story through her descriptive writing. This is a book that would have one of the most killer playlists out there- that s for sure.
Hayden is chosen as a surprising guardian. Right off the bat he is the underdog and I couldn t help but root for him. I felt bad about the harsh reactions he drew from everyone in his home court. And throughout the book he kept alluding to this big, bad horrible thing that he did to earn his people s hatred. It was driving me crazy trying to guess what it was. Watching Hayden fall in love with Daphne was really sweet. You know it is going to happen from the start, but even so it will make you smile. I am pretty in love with them myself.
The Shadow Prince is the first book in the Into the Dark Series, and I already know that I am going to freakin LOVE this series. Not only did this book have me on the edge of my seat over the action scenes, but it had me laughing out loud and awh-ing at some of Hayden s parts. It is told in dual narrative, which served the story well. We got to see a peak into Hayden's head as well as get to see into his world. A great book for fans of mythology and for people who are new to the story of Hades and Persephone. This series is a hit!
Bree Despain is the author of The Dark Divine trilogy: The Dark Divine, The Lost Saint, and The Savage Grace. She rediscovered her childhood love for creating stories when she took a semester off from college to write and direct plays for at-risk, inner-city teens from Philadelphia and New York. She currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband, two young sons, and her beloved TiVo. You can visit her online atwww.breedespain.com.
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Friday, April 04, 2014
Two Chicks on Books
http://www.twochicksonbooks.com/
guest post and giveaway
Cornucopia of Reviews
http://cornucopiaofreviews.blogspot.com/
review and giveaway
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Welcome to my Stop on the Fortune Caf� blog tour
The Fortune Caf� by Julie Wright , Melanie Jacobson, Heather B. Moore a novel in three parts ebook, 280 pages
Published March 17th 2014 by Mirror Press
Age Group: New Adult/Adult clean Romance
Series: Tangerine Street Romance #1
Source: ecopy from Authors
Welcome to Tangerine Street
Tangerine Street is a must-see tourist stop with a colorful mix of one-of-a-kind boutiques, unique restaurants, eclectic museums, quaint bookstores, and exclusive bed-and-breakfasts. The Fortune Caf�, situated in the middle of this charming collection of shops and caf�s on Tangerine Street, is a Chinese restaurant unlike any other because, well, to be honest, the fortunes found in the cookies all come true�
MIS-FORTUNE: Emma, a waitress at The Fortune Caf� will do anything to avoid opening a fortune cookie. Each fortune is rumored to somehow magically come true. Being a girl grounded in reality, she doesn�t have time for that kind of nonsense. But when trying to prevent a food fight at the caf�, Emma accidently cracks open a fortune cookie: �Look around, love is trying to catch you.� If there is one thing that Harrison, her former best friend in high school is good at, it�s catching her unaware.
LOVE, NOT LUCK: Lucy has always been lucky . . . until her parents meet her fianc�s parents at a disastrous lunch at The Fortune Caf�, and she breaks her lucky jade necklace. Even worse, her fortune cookie reveals that �True love is for the brave, not the lucky.� How is she supposed to read that? She�s always considered it lucky how she met her fianc�. But after breaking her necklace, Lucy�s luck takes a dive. And when her fianc� dumps her, the only person she can turn to is Carter, the unluckiest guy she knows.
TAKEOUT: Stella is content in her new life of taking over her mom�s jewelry shop. No more boyfriend to worry about, and as long as she stays busy, she doesn�t have to dwell on her non-existent love life. When Evan comes into the shop with his young daughter, Stella is charmed. But she is reluctant to complicate her straightforward life, so when she reads her fortune after ordering takeout from The Fortune Caf�, she completely ignores it. After all, how can a fortune as vague as �Do the thing you fear and love is certain,� apply to her?
Emma, Lucy and Stella are the three ladies in The Fortune Cafe. I think I liked Emma's story the best. Hers was about a guy that had a crush on her in high school suddenly coming back into her life. It was so cute. I also really liked the luck theme going through "Lucky" Lucy's story. The stories are not pure fluff though. They each have their own unique hardships going on. One of the three girls starts out engaged and gets dumped by her jerk of a fiance. And another one has the stress of caring for her abusive and mentally ill mother. The stories each felt like glimpses into the real lives of these women.
You can't help but root for their happy endings. I really enjoyed The Fortune Cafe. It is a feel good book that is sure to put a smile on your face. Emma Stella and Lucky Lucy are each great characters and any one of them can easily turn out to be your favorite. This book made me want to go out and get some fortune cookies to see what my fortunes would be. The Fortune Cafe is feel good fun that I think fans of young adult and adult contemporaries will easily enjoy.
Julie Wright started her first book when she was fifteen. She�s written over a dozen books since then, is a Whitney Award winner, and feels she�s finally getting the hang of this writing gig. She enjoys speaking to writing groups, youth groups, and schools. She loves reading, eating writing, hiking, playing on the beach with her kids, and snuggling with her husband to watch movies. Julie�s favorite thing to do is watch her husband make dinner. She hates mayonnaise, but has a healthy respect for ice cream.
Melanie Bennett Jacobson is an avid reader, amateur cook, and champio
n shopper. She consumes astonishing amounts of chocolate, chick flicks, and romance novels. After meeting her husband online, she is now living happily married in Southern California with her growing family and a series of doomed houseplants. Melanie is a former English teacher and a sometime blogger who loves to laugh and make others laugh. In her down time (ha!), she writes romantic comedies and pines after beautiful shoes.
Heather B. Moore is a
USA Today bestselling author. She writes historical thrillers under the pen name H.B. Moore, her latest is
Finding Sheba. Under Heather B. Moore she writes romance and women�s fiction. She�s the co-author of The Newport Ladies Book Club series. Other women�s novels include
Heart of the Ocean, The Fortune Caf�, the Aliso Creek Series, and the Amazon bestselling Timeless Romance Anthology Series.
*Note this post contains affiliate links. Any/all money made through my amazon affiliate account goes back into the blog for giveaways.
Welcome to my stop on the
Road to Somewhere blog tour
Be sure to follow the rest of the stops on
the tour 
Title: Road to Somewhere
Authors: Kelley Lynn & Jenny Morris
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Publication: March 11th, 2014 by Bloomsbury Spark
Source: eARC from Publisher (via NetGalley)
Summary:
New! From Bloomsbury Spark, a sunny heartwarming story of discovery and sisterhood.
A road trip. A singing competition. And super-hot cowboys.
What could be better?
For Charlie, a post-high school road trip isn't just a vacation, it's life changing. While her parents think she's helping a friend move, a chance at fame is the real reason to grab her best friends and drive to L.A. But when her super annoying, uber-responsible, younger sister, Lucy, has to tag along, it isn't quite the summer of fun she imagined.
Add in a detour to her grandparents' ranch in Texas, and between mucking the stalls, down-home cookin�, and drool worthy ranch hands, this could just turn into the best, and most complicated, summer of their lives.
The Road to Somewhere is a super fun book. It is told in dual narrative between the two sisters- Charlie and Lucy. Dual Narrative is my favorite writing style "voice" for reading a book. I think it is a great way to get to know the main characters. Most of the time it is done between the main guy and girl of the story, but I really enjoyed the dual narrative between the two sisters. It was funny because in some ways they were so similar, and in some ways they were about as different as you can be. But this road trip was great for the two of them. I had so much fun reading this book. It put a smile on my face.
Lucy and Charlie are both great. Their strength is in their reliability. I could see them in myself and in my friends. They don't have all the answers, but that is some of the beauty of their journey. Charlie is about to start college, which can be super scary for a lot of people. But she has an even bigger goal for herself. And we get to find out all about that throughout the course of the story. I loved how supportive Lucy was of her older sister. (And don't worry! You get to learn all about Lucy's goals as well.) I liked both of the girls, but Lucy just stole my heart a little more. She is the quieter of the two girls and I think I related to her a little more. Even though I am the older sister, I can be pretty quiet when I want to be, especially when I was younger.
There are some cute guys thrown into the story. I mean, what road trip is complete with out at least one cute guy?? But the romance is not the main feature of the story, and I really appreciated that. Now I love a good romance probably even more than the next girl, but this book was about the sisters relationship and about their own coming of age tales, and the romance was secondary. It worked that way.
The road trip takes these two sisters all over the place. There are cowboys, ranches, Twists and turns galore. This book is a perfect summer read. I really had a great time with The Road to Somewhere. The ending left open the possibility of a sequel and I for one, am hoping that there is one!
Kelley Lynn was born and raised a Midwestern girl. She�s not afraid to sweat and fills her free time with softball, soccer and volleyball. (Though you probably don�t want her on your volleyball team.) She occasionally makes guest appearances as a female vocalist for area bands. Music plays a large role in her writing process as well as the characters and plot lines within her stories.
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Jenny S. Morris is a YA author who loves all things geek, may have a Kdrama addiction, and prefers the rainy NW to any place she's ever lived. Road to Somewhere is her debut novel.
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As a young girl who spent her allowance on Nancy Drew mysteries, Louise realized that one day, she might have a story of her own to tell. Maybe even more than one story. After years focused on raising her children she eventually reconnected with her passion for creative writing. She soon began to craft a large collection of short stories which were published in the inspirational online magazine, Faithhopeandfiction.com. Shortly thereafter, she authored her first novel, Wishless, a contemporary YA, released in 2011.
