Book Review - Asleep

Happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I have a different kind of book review for you all. It'll still be my reader and editor's perspective, but since this is a young adult book, my daughter, from the book blog Isa Marie Reviews, is also going to give her two cents. Our review will be added to the 2016 Review Team pool of reviews. Be sure you bounce over there and check out some of the lovely reviews written by those awesome women.

If you think you'd like to keep up with Isa Marie's future reviews, subscribe to her blog here.  She'll be reviewing Middle Grade and Young Adult novels over there. Time to get rollin'!

As always, a few details about the book before we get to the good stuff.

Title: Asleep
Author: Krystal Wade
Genre: Young Adult Thriller
Length (print): 340 pages
Buy Links: Amazon Kindle $3.99

Blurb:
"To cure fear, you must use fear."

Rose Briar claims no responsibility for the act that led to her imprisonment in an asylum. She wants to escape, until terrifying nightmares make her question her sanity and reach out to her doctor. He’s understanding and caring in ways her parents never have been, but as her walls tumble down and Rose admits fault, a fellow patient warns her to stop the medications. Phillip believes the doctor is evil and they’ll never make it out of the facility alive. Trusting him might be just the thing to save her. Or it might prove the asylum is exactly where she needs to be.

Gotta love that cover, huh?

Okay, let's get to the review!

I picked up Asleep after attending a release party thrown by the author. There it sat, on my Kindle list, waiting to be read. Well, I have a rather impressive TBR, and I wasn't planning to dive in just yet. However, my daughter picked up the book on her device (she has access to my library), and she begged me to read it so we could talk about it. She was loving it. So, I did as I was told (good Mommy), and here we are to give you all the details about our thoughts. To start off, I'm gonna tell you: my daughter is ten. Now that you know where I got Asleep, and why I read it, let's move on to the juicy parts of this review.

From a Reader's Perspective:
Jo: Rose Briar and I could possibly be friends if she existed in the world, but I'm not sure I would like her attitude at the beginning of this story. She seemed very much the "world is out to get me" kind of teen, and those chicks make me nutso. But, she had some excellent development throughout the story, and she emerged on the other side a better person despite all the crap she went through in order to grow. I have to say, Nurse Judy was probably my favorite character, though I didn't feel a true emotional connection to anyone I was reading about.

Truth is, I didn't even feel sorry for Rose and what she was experiencing. It may be my closed off side, but it's hard to connect with someone whose thoughts I can't follow. Make sense? I mean, the girl is half crazy, so nothing she's seeing or thinking makes sense. Ha! Anyway, she was a well painted character, I just wish there were more for me as a reader to identify with (or maybe I don't... Still on the fence with that one). Pacing was perfect. I never felt bored while reading. World building was spot on, and I could picture the institute in my head well. There were also a number of twists and things I was wondering about until the end. I'm pretty good, but some of those surprises were like: WOW. I'm now going to hand the reins over to the kidling.

Warning: There are a couple of F bombs in the book. If you're a parent who's really strict about that, prolly not the best read.

IM: I was bored and decided to go on Kindle to see if any new books were any interest to me. Searching through my section, I found that my mom put a few new books on there and found this one: Asleep, by Krystal Wade. I found the cover intriguing and downloaded it immediately to soon find out that Rose was the kind of girl that thought the world was out to get her. (Isa no likey) So eventually after making it through the first chapter of it I felt as if I couldn't put it down and read through the first sixteen chapters in one sitting. Ms. Wade, the pacing was perfect, and I never felt bored or that the book was going too fast. There were jumps, twists, and turns throughout the entire book. It made me question if Phillip was real or an figment of her imagination, and I just was itching to find out. Once I had finished it, good Lord I thought I would explode of all the other endings this book could have had. But, I highly suggest that you read this book, and I hope you're gonna be itching out of your skin to read it, too. :-D

From an Editor's Perspective:
I didn't find a ton of errors, but there was just one that kept popping up that had me pausing: Dr. Underwood closed her chart. Her is referring to Rose, but the sentence reads awkwardly. I caught it twice. Now, the kidling is the one that noticed it first, so if she's pointing it out, it has to be a little confusing. Other than that, nothing to write home about.

Rating:
1 Star for keeping me on my dang toes throughout
1 Star for pacing
1 Star for world building (that's one hell of an old building)
1 Star for making the character's head such a confusing place that I was never sure if I really wanted to be there or not
1 Star for grammar, plot, pacing, and consistency
Overall: 5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended for those that enjoy a gripping thriller with lots of twists and turns.

Whatchall think? Gonna check it out?

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

Jo

Readers Meet Authors - Authors get Free Exposure

Happy Friday, everyone! Whew! I'm worn out from all those book reviews. Seriously. I have another one coming next week for Asleep though. It will be done a little differently, because I'm going to let my daughter take part. First of many (I hope). Anyway, today, I'm telling you about a new e-mail list you should subscribe to as a reader, and the person you can contact for free addition to this list if you're an author.

Yep, that's right, I said free.

Ready? Get your clicking fingers warm, and let's get going!

Here's the site: https://sites.google.com/site/ourauthorscorner/

On the left hand side, a little way down the page, is the signup link. Just do it.

For authors, you'll want to contact this lovely lady on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010945659964

Please mention when you DM that you're interested in the author feature newsletter.

Are you in, or are you out? *grin*

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

Jo

Write Better. Write Faster. Right Now. A FREE 4-Part How-to Video Series

Happy Wednesday again! *grin* Okay, you guys, strap in, because this post is a doozy!

I'm so excited to share this!

Want to write faster (and BETTER)?
Want to finally write that novel?

This is where you start.

This 4-part video series is designed specifically to teach you—for free—how to start writing better, faster, today.

FYI, the makers of the videos are Heather Hildenbrand & S. M. Boyce: published, best-selling authors. They’re the real deal, with a NBC film option and published novels to drool over. They run a company called Find Time to Write and in true Find Time to Write BOSSness fashion, they decided to tackle the largest issue first.

Authors hire these ladies to level up their careers and propel them forward. But today, they’re doing this video series for free.

Check it out here.

Now, there's a place at the bottom where you can stick your e-mail address in and get the next three videos absolutely FREE, too.

What do you think? Will you be checking it out? Let me know in the comments.

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

Jo

Book Spotlight - More Than Words

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Halfway through the week, we are! Today, I'm bringing you information on a young adult contemporary romance. Strap in, get your clicking fingers ready, and let's get going!

✯✯More Than Words by Elle Henry✯✯

Title: More Than Words
Author: Elle Henry
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Length (print): 194 Pages
Buy links: Amazon  ~  Barnes and Noble  ~  Kobo  ~  iBooks

Blurb:
Sixteen-year-old Ansley Stevenson is trying to understand teenage love and all the emotional trappings it brings. Victim of a kidnapping as a child she suffers from social anxiety along with a panic disorder. People scare her into a panic; her goal is to live a normal life outside of therapy and medication.

She has never been the girl boy’s notice or find attractive as most people view her as a freak due to her past. This changes the moment she locks eyes with Simon Collins, the cousin of her best friend, Maxwell. He turns her world inside out by giving her the courage to stand on her own two without fear, while showing her the beauty that life and love brings if you just live it.

Add to your shelf on Goodreads!

What readers are saying:

“This book which is part of a series kept me going from beginning to end. I am excited to read the next!” “Young love, anxiety attacks, a terrible dark secret from her past - all those elements come together to make this a very entertaining and engaging read. Buy it for yourself or to pass on to any teenage girl - you'll both enjoy it!”

About the author:
Growing up in Florida Elle was always called the girl with a book and told often I looked like a "Librarian". Which suited her just fine; because she enjoyed the escapism in reading and the fact that reading was like taking a journey anytime she pleased. She developed that passion for reading from her grandmother who is now deceased, but that love books and reading continued. She considers some of her favorite places in the world libraries, bookstores and museums.

Elle now lives with her family in Central Florida. Studying English with a focus on Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire. She credits some of her favorite authors as Bronte sisters, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Daphne Du Maurier, Sylvia Plath and Stephen King. Her life and love is writing and reading, and she has a site dedicated to her work called AvidWriterElle.com.

Find Elle online:
Facebook  ~  A Girl and Her Books Publishing on Facebook  ~   @Candidly_Elle  ~  Newsletter

What do you think? Isn't that a great cover?

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

Jo

Cover Reveal - Frequency

Happy Wednesday a second time, everyone! It's all about the cover reveal! If you remember my review of Frenzy from last week, you'll appreciate this post. The cover of the third book of the trilogy, Frequency, is revealed! Enjoy!

Title: Frequency

Author: Casey L Bond

Genre: YA Paranormal

Cover Designer: Cover Me Darling

Model: Nathan Weller

Expected Release Date: April 11, 2016

Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR

Blurb: When the Infected attacked, something horrific happened to Porschia Grant. Porschia in Frenzy was scary; Porschia with hallucinations is terrifying. There has to be a reason, and there must be a cure for the episodes refusing to release her from their tentacles of insanity. 

Saul is in the center of the city surrounded by secrets–some are damning, some are eye opening—others might just offer hope and be worth fighting for. How can a person justify the possibility of infecting another human being? What might the humans and night-walkers lose if he doesn’t take the chance?

The decisions made, and the lies uncovered, will shock everyone in and around Blackwater, and they just might spark a revolution.

Everything emits a sound… and hunger is deafening… horrible.

Award-winning author Casey L. Bond resides in Milton, West Virginia with her husband and their two beautiful daughters. When she’s not busy being a domestic goddess and chasing her baby girls, she loves to write young adult and new adult fiction. You can find more information about Bond’s books via the following links: 

Website: www.authorcaseybond.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorcaseybond Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorcaseybond Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7212486.Casey_L_Bond Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/caseyb007 Amazon: http://amzn.to/1PmE0pg

Bean Counting for Authors - Helping Writers and Creative Business Owners Grasp Accounting and Taxes

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Today, I have an awesome takeover post by the lovely Christina Mercer. YOU WANT TO READ THIS! Get it here on Amazon.

Here's an extra tidbit! If you're coming to Utopia con this year, Christina will be discussing this very topic in a panel! Title: The War Chest. Date: Thursday, June 23, 2016. Time: 3PM CST. See it on the sched app here!

Description:
For those who want to make a living as an author, it’s imperative to know the accounting side of the career path you’ve chosen. You gotta keep track of it all – the cost of swag, the travel, the conferences, the paperbacks, the promotions and advertising, and on and on.

This session will help keep you sane and your budget balanced (hopefully). Get tips from accountants and authors on how to keep track and manage your money, reveal the goods on what you can write off come tax time, and how to report it to Uncle Sam without losing an arm and a leg.

If you're not planning to attend the conference, change your mind now. There are tons of great panels, just like this one, for you to learn from! Get your tickets HERE.

Authoring books is amazingly fun and creative and never, EVER dull. . . However, along with all that imaginative wonderment, Authors come closer to becoming mini-accountants than they realize. Why? Because once anyone becomes an official business owner, he/she crosses into the realm of accounting and taxes.  

Oh, the horrors of it, right? But never fear! 

When Authors Mean Business, they have propelled themselves from merely writing for “fun” to reaping well-earned monetary rewards. AND THAT IS A GOOD THING, RIGHT? Authors are not only wand-waving story weavers, but also real-world professionals running businesses that earn money. And, yes, along with that comes accounting and taxes. If that causes some of you Authors out there to squirm, just remind yourselves that it’s a sign of monetary success if your books are earning ENOUGH profits to generate said taxes. And you don’t have to figure it all out on your own!

In order to help fellow creatives with all of this business and accounting stuff, I offer a handy little guide with some important must-knows of accounting, taxation, budgeting, and planning for the future. Learn the differences between a hobby and a business; get a handle on different business structures; learn about proper bookkeeping, sales tax, common and complex tax deductions, retirement options and more! 

BEAN COUNTING FOR AUTHORS-Helping Writers & Creative Business Owners Grasp Accounting & Taxes

 

NOW AVAILABLE!!

GET IT HERE!

Counting each and every “Bean” earned may not be the idea of fun and adventure for most, but having lots of beans in the bank is a pretty great way for Authors to keep on doing what they do love most—WRITING BOOKS! And understanding some important business and financial basics is a big step toward making that happen.

Once-upon-a-time, Christina Mercer worked as a CPA. Though she retired that formal hat, you can still find numbers buzzing around her head. She is also an award-winning author of fiction for children and young adults. She currently resides in Northern California enjoying life with her husband, sons, pack of large dogs, and about 100,000 honeybees.

WebSite | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest 

What do you think? Plan to check it out?

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

Jo

Book Review - Ride the Wind

Happy Monday! Yeah, I've been a busy reader this year already, and I'm almost done with Cress, book three of the Lunar Chronicles, so that review will be coming this week, too. But that's another story (see what I did there?). Today, we're talking about Starla! My daughter got three of Starla Huchton's books for Christmas: Shadows on Snow, Stillness of the Sky, and Ride the Wind. Needless to say, I stole one and read it (because I love Starla's books). Once I'd read Lex Talionis, her new adult book, I was hooked. Now that you know what a die-hard fan I am, let's get going!

About the book up for review today:

Title: Ride the Wind: A Flipped Fairy Tale
Author: Starla Huchton
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Fairy Tale
Length (print): 226 pages
Buy Link: Amazon Kindle $2.99

Blurb:
Once upon a time, I made a promise to a stranger. Though I'd never seen her face, I cared for her above all others.

Once upon a time, I broke my vow. In trying to save the one I loved, I condemned her to a cursed life and stripped her of all freedom in a single, misguided step.

Once upon a time, I set out on a journey. Though it might never earn me forgiveness, I would set her free or die trying.

I bought a set of the entire Flipped Fairy Tale collection in paperback from Starla Huchton for my ten-year-old daughter's Christmas gift. Of course, being a fan of Shadows on Snow, I knew I'd likely sneak and read all the stories behind her trusting little back. I managed to make it through one of two before she caught me, and you all have a review as a prize for my dastardly ways. Now that you know where I got the book, let's dive into the review.

From a Reader's Perspective:
I'm a fairy tale nut. From The Princess and the Pea to Hans and the Little Iron Man, I've read hundreds. Huchton's retellings always leave me with that same sense of child-like awe the originals did. I dive in, getting lost in the carefully crafted stories, hoping against hope the guy ends up with the girl. Well, this novel didn't disappoint me. Ride the Wind is such an intricate story of faithfulness, I was sitting on the edge of my seat, shaking the main character, Lukas, when I can see the detrimental mistake he's about to make. I was talking to the book in my hands as though he could hear me. Then, he goes and does it anyway. No, I can't tell you what "it" is, but I can tell you from that moment on, he fights with everything in himself to make it right. A perfectly flawed hero. I loved it. Why? Because he felt so real to me. Huchton never leaves you bored, and her pacing was spot on. World building was perfect. I could see it all, but she didn't go on and on with bog-you-down description.

One of the things I enjoyed most was finding characters from Shadows on Snow making their appearance. I didn't put it together right away, and was pleasantly surprised when I unraveled the clues. Brilliantly done.

From an Editor's Perspective:
Nothing noteworthy. I didn't stumble, shake my head, or get annoyed with errors. Gorgeous editing.

Rating:
1 Star for twisting yet another fairy tale so beautifully and keeping me engaged
1 Star for world building without overwhelming me
1 Star for pacing
1 Star for intertwining the books together so seamlessly
1 Star for editing
Overall: 5 out of 5 stars. Solid. Highly, highly recommended for anyone looking for an excellent escape, a great read, or a new twist on an old tale.

Have you guys read it? What did you think?

Be SURE and come back tomorrow, because I have a book being featured you won't want to miss.

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

Jo