A Young Adult Christmas Anthology

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'll be in my writing cave producing a short story for an anthology hosted by the ever affable Allyson Gottlieb. This post will be short. If you don't know who Allyson is, click her name to read my interview with her.

Anywho, I'm gonna give you a little information about my title that'll be included in this awesome collection of works (and there are some amazing authors in this book).

Title: The Frivolity Fairies
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Length: 6k-10k words
Short Description: What happens when fairies pay you a visit on Christmas Eve? Shirley Beaux is about to find out what the creatures behind her mother's Christmas bedtime story are really all about.

Releases in November of this year (exact date TBA). We also don't have a working title for the collection yet. I'll be bringing you more information as we get closer.

The price? That'll also be determined later. However, all proceeds will go to charity. That's right, every author is donating their stories!

How exciting is this? Kudos to Allyson for the great concept and her generous heart.

If you're a writer: What anthologies do you have coming out?

If you're a reader: Do you enjoy reading anthologies?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Winner Announced

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! I have the winner of the book pack for you all today! I'm not gonna blab on and on, so here it is!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations to the winner! You take home these books:

 

Check out the reviews for these books here on the blog:
Sanctuary
Falling for Autumn
Sir Edric's Temple
The Bestiarum Vocabulum
Chasing Shadows

I've contacted the winner already. I hope she's super happy about this great book pack.

Tomorrow, we're back to the grind!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo 

Unofficial UtopYA Con 2015 Author Interviews to Start Soon

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I'm just taking a moment today to let you all know about the upcoming author interviews that'll take place here on the blog. Like last time, I'll have authors who intend to be at the next UtopYA Con on the blog, so you can take a moment and get to know a little about them. Get your tickets and find out more about the con here. Next year's theme is time travel, and promises to be a cool experience. You can see from the poster, the con has been extended to four full days of awesomesauce, too! While I've made a page here on the blog for the dates of the interviews leading up to the con, I'm gonna give them to you now:

Susan Burdorf - August 25
Kelly Martin - September 8
Liz Long - September 22
BJ Sheldon - October 6
Christina Mercer - October 20
Sharon Rose Mayes - November 3
Kelly Risser - November 17
Devyn Dawson - December 1

Break! Merry Christmas! This will be my 12 Days of Christmas event on the blog. Very fun!

Casey L. Bond - December 29
Casey Peeler - January 12
Rachael Brownell - January 26
Kristina Circelli - February 9
Megan Curd - February 23
K.C. Neal - March 9
Inger Iversen - March 23
Natasha Hanova - April 6
Mindy Ruiz - April 20
Christal Mosley / C. Marie Mosley - May 4
Erin Hayes - May 18
Toni Lesatz - June 1

How exciting is that list? Those folks in bold are the ones who were with us last year. Yeah, I'll have the inside info on a couple of them (because now I've met them and watched from afar). No, they didn't know I was watching. *evil grin*

You'll also see a bunch of new names up there. I'm so excited to get to know some of these ladies better. As I progress through the ranks, I'll update the page with links and photographs. How exciting is that?

Do you see the break up there for Christmas fun? I'll be doing things a bit differently this year, and giving away books from the authors from last year I gave four or five stars to over the course of 2014. Yes, I'll still include my own books; but I'm all about paying it forward and changing things up to keep them fresh for you all. More details on that as we get closer.

I'll announce the winners of my birthday Rafflecopter giveaway tomorrow. Come on back for that!

Are there any authors on the list you're looking forward to hearing from/learning about?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Book Review - Unhinged

Happy Tuesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I bring you another book review. Bet you're excited about this one, huh? I read Splintered, the first book in this series, back in March of last year; but I never wrote a review. Since this isn't a new (or Indie) author, I can't include this read in my Indie Fever Reading Challenge goal for this year; but, the kidlings go back to school Monday, and that means more reading and writing time for Mama Bear. I'll be finishing up some books I have in progress (I read more than one at a time), and I'll be bringing you lots of reviews very soon. Anywho, enough of all that, let's get to what you came for, shall we?

A little about the book up for review today:

Title: Unhinged (Splintered Book 2)
Author: A. G. Howard
Genre: YA Fantasy/Fairy Tales
Length (print): 400 pages
Buy Links: Amazon Kindle $9.99  ~  Hardcover $14.00

Synopsis:
Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole. She was crowned Queen of the Red Court and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the boy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly appealing Morpheus. Now all she has to do is graduate high school. That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn't show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland--where she (partly) belongs. Could she leave Jeb and her parents behind again, for the sake of a man she knows has manipulated her before? Will her mother and Jeb trust her to do what's right? Readers will swoon over the satisfying return to Howard's bold, sensual reimagining of Carroll's classic.

***Will not appear in review elsewhere. Holy crap at the covers for these books, huh? I love, love, love them. They're all so very close to monochromatic, the cover for Splintered was the same (but green), and the next one in this series appears to be red. Booyah. I have an idea where that story may be going by the image on the cover alone. Red is a bad lady. *grins* I love it! This book gave me chills as it carried me along on its back through a mad, mad world.***

Let's get to the review, shall we?

I was browsing through Barnes and Noble when I spotted this book nestled among the titles in the Teen section. Of course, because I'm me, I picked it up. Bad decision (ask my husband and kids), because I couldn't put it down once I picked it up it fell into my hands. A. G. Howard is becoming one of my favorite authors through this trilogy. What did I love? Well...

From a Reader's Perspective:
Wow. I got completely sucked in by the descriptions and world building going on in Unhinged. Several times I caught myself closing my eyes for a moment to get a more vivid picture in my head of what was going on around Alyssa. She's one tough cookie, and I can't help but root for Morpheus in the crazy love triangle going on. There are no middle book blahs going on here. This story was funny, fun, and contained all the wonderful madness of Splintered. I wasn't disappointed, and I can't wait to read Ensnared in January. When the end happened, I wished for more book right away. Unhinged totally left me with a book hangover for a couple of days after I was done reading it. I liked how the second book built on the first one and set me up for the third. Jeb was kind of annoying. I know, sad to say, but I'm crossing my fingers for Alyssa to take her place in Wonderland as queen with Morpheus by her side. I had one of the little twists figured out by the middle of the book, but it was no less thrilling. You'll enjoy the creepy factor. This isn't a retelling of Carroll's story, it's a total re-conception of why, who, and how, building on Alice's ancestors.

From an Editor's Perspective:
Just a pronoun misplacement or two; nothing to write home about.

Rating:
1 Star for edge-of-my-seat world building
1 Star for giving me such likeable characters I don't know which one to root for
1 Star for just enough description without going overboard
1 Star for pacing, tying things together with book one, and setting me up for book three in a non-irritating way
1 Star for great editing
Overall, 5 out of 5 stars. Recommended if you dislike retellings, but love great spinoffs, of classic fairy tales.

I hope you all enjoyed that little review!

Have you read any of the books in this series?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Last Chance to Enter!

Happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! I hope you all had a super awesome weekend. Just leaving you a quick note to remind you about the giveaways going on. I'll be back tomorrow with a book review of Unhinged by A. G. Howard. How exciting is that? Without further ado, here are the deets on those giveaways:

Giveaway #1:

Check out the reviews for these books here on the blog:
Sanctuary
Falling for Autumn
Sir Edric's Temple
The Bestiarum Vocabulum
Chasing Shadows

Giveaway #2:

Review here.

This is a companion novel for Falling for Autumn.



Now, for the Rafflecopter entry forms. Good luck to you all!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Book Review - Finding Autumn

Happy Hump-day, everyone! Today, I bring you another fab book review. This is yet another title from the ever awesome Heather Topham Wood. If you haven't read her books, you can start for free by picking up the first of her Second Sight series: First Visions. Those are new adult contemporary paranormal novels about a girl named Kate who falls ill and wakes up from a coma with a psychic ability. I reviewed the whole series of four! See those reviews (in order by book #) here (Amazon Review), here (Goodreads Review), here (on this blog), and here (also on this blog). Anywho, grab a cup of coffee, get comfy, and let's get going!

As I do, here's a little about the book up for review today:

Title: Finding Autumn - a Falling for Autumn companion novel

Author: Heather Topham Wood

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Length (print): About 153 pages
Buy Links: Amazon Kindle $0.99

Synopsis:
***Not a standalone. Falling for Autumn from Blake's point of view. Includes bonus chapters set after the events of Falling for Autumn.***

Two years earlier, Blake Preston received a phone call that would change everything. His stepfather—a man he trusted and admired—had been accused of sexually assaulting one of his students. His stepfather declared his innocence and Blake chose to stay loyal to the man who had raised him as his own.

Cook University is the one place Blake can keep his anonymity. No one knows about the scandals surrounding his stepfather’s arrest and subsequent conviction. To his friends, he is merely the star running back for the college team and an NFL hopeful. But the life he has built at Cook is threatened when Autumn Dorey locks eyes with him at a campus party.

Getting entangled with Autumn is a mistake. Yet Autumn is the only person who can answer the one question that haunts him: is his stepfather a monster?

Blake conceals his identity and starts a friendship with Autumn under false pretenses. What begins as a way to uncover the truth about his stepfather changes as he grows close to Autumn. His relationship with her calls into question everything he thought he knew about his family. Against all odds, he falls in love with the one girl he’s forbidden to have feelings for. But can their love last once Autumn finds out who Blake Preston really is?

60,000 Words

Ages 17+ Due to Strong Language and Sexual Situations

***Will not appear in review elsewhere. I've been a long time fan of Heather's. We met during the first Author Blog Challenge, and we've kept in touch ever since. I found her and her books, enjoyed her unique flavor, and never looked back. I've proofread nearly all of her titles since then. Love her work! Finding Autumn is a companion novel to Falling for Autumn. You can read my review of that title here.***

Let me move on to the review.

I was so excited to read this novel. So many things happened in Falling for Autumn that I wanted to see from Blake's POV. When I heard Heather was writing this one, I was chomping at the bit for her to finish. Well, she did. And I wasn't disappointed. Time for the good stuff!

From a Reader's Perspective:

Autumn Dorey is an unreliable narrator because she never gets to see what Blake is going through when she's not around. I have to say, I loved him in the first book, and this one just made him more likable. I did find out some of the things he was doing when not by her side (things that were a little deplorable), but I loved watching him grow as a character and appreciated that he wasn't perfect. We're human; therefore we're flawed. He was so protective of her later on. It was a nice change from the A-typical bad-boy in many other books. By the end, I wanted him to succeed and win her heart. Like Falling for Autumn, I was immersed in the story and emotionally vested by the end. There's enough difference in the stories that it's worth it to pick this one up and lend it your time. A great read.

From an Editor's Perspective:
This book is clean and error free. You won't be sorry if you take a chance on it.

Rating:
1 Star for giving me an excellent variation on the first book
1 Star for making Blake so likable
1 Star for keeping me biting my nails
1 Star for giving the main character plenty of flaws
1 Star for lack of errors
Overall, 5 out of 5 stars! You certainly want to pick up this title. Great book hangover.

In case you weren't aware, there's a giveaway going on here on my blog and here on the IBGW blog. In one, you get Falling for Autumn (and six other awesome titles); in the other, you get Finding Autumn.

Go enter!

What do you think? Will you pick up a copy? Have you read the first one?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Happy Birthday Giveaway

Hello, good people of the blogosphere! Happy Tuesday, and happy early birthday to me! Well, I'm a year older as of this coming Saturday. No, I'm not telling you how old I'll be. I got an awesome birthday gift already from The Best Husband in the World (TBHITW). So, because he's awesome, I'm giving you all a gift for my birthday. Exciting, huh?

What's up for grabs?

A couple of the e-books I've reviewed this year, and an e-copy of my novels: The Bird and I, Zombie.

Which books am I including? These (that I gave five brilliant stars to):

Check out the reviews for these books here on the blog:
Sanctuary
Falling for Autumn
Sir Edric's Temple
The Bestiarum Vocabulum
Chasing Shadows

So, get on your entry wagon and let your fingers do the clicking!

Rafflecopter will run until the Tuesday after my birthday (through 7/29/14).

Good luck to you all!

If you missed them, check out the great giveaways going over on INDIE Books Gone Wild this week. I'll have another one for you over there tomorrow, too! You'll want to enter this one and tomorrow's. There's a book in the other one that goes with one of the ones shown above.

Here's what you've been waiting for!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Did you enter? Are you super excited yet?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo