Tour for Gods of Merlin by Priya Ardis (Spotlight, excerpt, review, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

Gods of Merlin

by

 Priya Ardis

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GENRE: YA Fantasy Paranormal

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BLURB:

GREAT GREEK GODS. THEY ARE COMING.

Foster kid and occasional shoplifter Eowlyn Patience just wants to fit into her Boston high school. When the Sword In The Stone falls out of the sky like a meteor into the middle of London’s Trafalgar Square, everything changes. Then, an enigmatic golden-eyed man arranges for her to attend a school for the gifted in England, and the irritatingly perfect Matt Emrys from science class turns out to be Merlin—the Merlin, King Arthur’s greatest wizard.

Frozen in a cave for fifteen hundred years, Merlin has woken to find the next Arthur. Eowlyn Patience’s mysterious admittance to Avalon Preparatory was not something he foresaw…a disturbing aberration when his most powerful gift happens to be visions of the future.

The race to find the rightful heir rages between deadly gargoyles, wizards, and Regulars, but figuring out the troubled Eowlyn might be by-the-book Merlin’s hardest job yet. She’s altogether the wrong girl. Torn between what is right and what saves lives, will Eowlyn do what it takes to win—even if it means sacrificing Merlin to a god?

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EXCERPT

A gorgeous underwear-model of a man in a black suit cleaned his sword with a tissue. He threw the bloodied rag on top of the half-man, half-beast. I tensed as he reached inside his coat pocket, but he only took out a clipboard and black sunglasses. He put the sunglasses on. “Eowlyn Patience?”

A little dumbstruck, I nodded at the beautiful killer with blood on his face.

“Pretty name.” He smiled wistfully. “I once knew an Eowlyn.”

The comment knocked me out of my trance. “No one has ever heard of the name Eowlyn.”

He shrugged. “Surprise. Now, you have met me.”

I put my hands on my hips. “What do you want?”

He gave me an amused smile. “I will be your driver today. Don’t forget to grab your bags. We should leave now before you have any more visitors.”

I pointed to the corpse on the floor. “I am not going anywhere with you, serial killer.”

“Is that so? Let me be clear—I just saved your life. More hunters will be coming.” Black-Suit tucked a pencil behind his ear and the clipboard under his elbow. He stepped to the side and pointed at an idling black luxury sedan. “I’ll be waiting in the car. For when you change your mind.”

Amazon link 

Also find me on Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, and Google Play

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Priya Ardis loves books of all kinds--but especially the ones which make your nose leak and let your chai go cold. Her novels come from a childhood of playing too much She-Ra and watching too much Spock. Her bestselling series, My Boyfriend Merlin, about Merlin going to high school is a YA contemporary fantasy and romance for those like road trips, wizards, Greek gods, and gender-bent quests.

Talk to me!

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GIVEAWAY


a Rafflecopter giveaway



The tour dates can be found here

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 My review:

3.75 out of 5 stars

Gods of Merlin by Priya Ardis is a young adult fantasy story that introduces the series of the same name. Eowlyn Patience has finally found a foster family that she is comfortable with, but she still doesn’t quite fit in with her peers at school. When she is forcibly recruited to join a quest that takes her to a magic school in England, she discovers that some of her classmates have more in common with her than she realized. Unfortunately, there are many forces at work, and discovering her connection to the stuff of legends embroils her in a struggle for the legendary sword Excalibur while trying to stay alive. Identifying foes and allies is virtually impossible when nobody is who they seem and she doesn’t even know why she’s in the middle of a world-changing conflict.

This engaging story was a nice twist on Arthurian legends, bringing many of the major characters into modern situations but keeping a magical twist to their trials. The hints of interference by gods from mythology add an intriguing dimension, and I hope subsequent stories in the series untangle some of the dangling threads that were established in this story. There are teen angst issues alluded to, including the awkward dance of attraction complicated by sibling (however old they may be) rivalry, and it was difficult for me to establish a connection to any of the characters at first, but that gradually changed.

I think it can be difficult to start a series because there are so many details that have to be established, but I’d like a little more depth to the characters so that I have a better idea of their motivations. There is apparently another series that came before this one, so it is possible that a lot of the backstory was presented in those books.

Those who enjoy magic or tales of King Arthur and young adult fantasy stories should give this a try and get to know these remarkable youngsters.

A copy of this title was provided for review

The Ghost Hunter's Daughter by Caroline Flarity (Spotlight, excerpt, review, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

The Ghost Hunter's Daughter

by
 Caroline Flarity

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GENRE:   YA Supernatural/Paranormal

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BLURB:

Sixteen-year-old Anna sees things from another world, the spiritual world, a skill that isn’t exactly useful in high school. It’s bad enough that her mother, possessed by a demon, took her own life when Anna was a child, a loss she remains tortured by. Now her father makes his living “clearing” haunted objects, and Anna’s job as his assistant makes her a social misfit. Most kids in her suburban New Jersey town refer to her just as “Goblin Girl.”

Only Freddy and Dor remain loyal friends. But Anna’s so focused on her own problems, she’s missed that her connection with Freddy is moving beyond the friend zone.

As junior year approaches, a rare solar storm lights up the night skies and the citizens of Bloomtown begin to act strangely: Anna’s teachers lash out, her best friends withdraw, and the school bullies go from mean to murderous. When Anna realizes she can harness this evil power, she sets out to save Bloomtown and the only family she has left.

But to do so, she must keep her own increasingly dark urges at bay.

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EXCERPT

It was possible to zoom in on one of the girl’s closed eyelids until her eyelashes resembled a network of massive black bridges that curved over a far horizon. But why stop there? Tunneling further down to a cavernous follicle at the base of a single lash, there was a cluster of microscopic mites. They had long, sectioned, eight-legged bodies covered with blue scales. One mite was half submerged inside the follicle, feeding, while the others huddled in the shadow of the giant eyelash, avoiding the moonlight. The mites had a hissing focus on mating and territory. Although their language was alien, their joys, rivalries and fierce protectiveness of their young were palpable. Was it possible to zoom in further onto their armored skin and discover even more layers of life? Where would it end? Was there an end? Ha! It was like the what-if game.

Wait. The what-if game? In a great swoosh of images and sensations, the memories came of her and Freddy as kids, lying on the slant of roof outside her bedroom window. That’s right! She had an identity. She was Anna Fagan, also known as Goblin Girl. What was she doing staring at a bunch of microscopic mites on someone’s eyelash? Her awareness expanded outward in great swaths of rushing space, further and further from the mites to the cluster of giant bridge-like eyelashes, until she once again hovered above the body of the girl. A realization rippled through Anna—the girl on the floor was her.

Amazon link

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Caroline Flarity is a web content producer living in NYC. Her fascination with fringe topics and love of scary movies led her to begin her writing journey penning creepy screenplays. Her debut novel THE GHOST HUNTER'S DAUGHTER started life as a feature script, placing in the finals of the StoryPros Awards and as a semifinalist in Slamdance Film Festival's writing competition. She enjoys pitting her characters against both supernatural and cultural evils.

Twitter

Author website

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GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The tour dates can be found here 

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My review:

4 out of 5stars

The Ghost Hunter’s Daughter by Caroline Flarity centers around sixteen-year-old Anna Fagan, who has to deal with multiple levels of bullying at her high school, but fortunately has her buddies Doreen and Freddie to help keep her grounded. The tragedy of her mother’s death, the unusual profession her father has adopted, and the negativity that constantly bombards her all combine to make her life even more complicated than ever, then things get worse.

This mature young adult paranormal story provides an enthralling and often creepy glimpse of a world that contains many evils, some otherworldly and others mundane. Unfortunately, Anna seems to have very few positive adult role models, and she has been forced to mature and cope with things that most of us would run screaming from.

I really liked the beginning and hoped there would be more examples of the supernatural interactions that she deals with so nonchalantly, but I felt weighted down by all of the negativity that continues to escalate. I’m not quite clear about what the newcomer and her invention were meant to accomplish but there are some delightfully creepy events that kept me on the edge of my seat and wincing as the evils of the humans also were increasing. There are multiple very serious issues. including bullying, mild sexting, suicide, and molestation, that are touched upon, so those with triggers should use caution. I also think some things are resolved a bit too nonchalantly after the major fight scene, especially since some folks definitely need counseling!

This is a vivid and thought-provoking story that artfully blends real-life problems with supernatural ones in an exciting combination. I can’t wait to see what comes next from this author’s vivid imagination.

A copy of this title was provided for review

A Curse of the Lucky by Nathan Wrann (VBB, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

A Curse of the Lucky
by
Nathan Warann

Two things that Jack Smith has always had: bad legs and bad luck. With a violent attack at the Tarrytown Independence Day Carnival, that bad luck has caught up to him with deadly consequences. Going on the run with Jaelle–the mysterious girl of his dreams–he descends into a world of curses, blessings, and fortunetelling Gypsies. The deeper he gets, the more he realizes she might just be the one to save his life... or end it.

The Mr. Lucky Trilogy begins with A Curse of the Lucky.

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Excerpt



My hands stung. Bad. And they looked like ground beef. I should have grabbed my gloves before leaving the house. And my leg braces. Then I could have put a little more weight on my legs. Or I could have just stayed home. The end result for this failed mission would have been the same. It wasn’t gonna happen.


Across the hub, Fiona stood beneath the Ferris Wheel, talking to some buzz-cutted, badly tattooed guy. White t-shirt, black shorts, and combat boots rounded out the general tough-guy-hooligan look he had going on. I’d never seen him around town; probably just some carny hitting on her.


With every second that passed I drifted further and further from my destiny with Becky London.


Until Fiona waved to me.


Instinctively I returned the gesture, waving at her with the small stuffed animal stuck to my five-fingered raw hamburger.


“Hi, Jack,” she called to me, with a smile.


The carny crossed his arms, flexed his tattooed biceps, and glared at me.


My throat clenched and my hand froze. Was this really going to happen? Was I actually going to get an opportunity to ask Becky out?


I picked up my crutches, ready to head toward Fiona, when a shout for help came to me from behind the fortuneteller’s tent.


Wasn’t that just my luck?



Buy link:
 
Amazon




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About the Author:

Nathan Wrann was born in Florida and moved around a lot as a child, growing up in New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut, California and finally back to Florida. No matter where he lived you would likely find Marvel Comics or a book in his hand with genres ranging from fantasy (The Black Cauldron), to SE Hinton's teen dramas (The Outsiders), to Stephen King's entire catalogue from Carrie through Tommyknockers. At the age of seventeen he joined the U.S. Army as a Military Policeman, and following that, graduated from Southern Connecticut State University with a degree in video production and theater.

Currently Mr. Wrann is a writer, publisher and (formerly) independent filmmaker living in West Haven, Connecticut with his rescued Chihuahuas Napoleon and Gatsby, pain-in-the-butt cat Konstantine, and wife Kimberly. Nowadays, in between books, you'll find him enjoying horror films, YA Paranormal TV series (Vampire Diaries, Sabrina, etc), and the Marvel and Star Wars Cinematic Universes.





 


Amazon Author Page: 
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Author’s Note RE: the Mr. Lucky Trilogy & Dark Matter Heart: The Mr. Lucky Trilogy is a Dark Matter Heart World Expander. The events in this series take place in the same world, with the same paranormal concepts and rules as Dark Matter Heart, but with all new characters and adventures. Opportunity abounds for crossover stories bringing all the characters together.

It is not necessary to read Dark Matter Heart to enjoy the Mr. Lucky Trilogy, but I think you’ll like it.

Get Book One: Dark Matter Heart here
Get Book Two: From Out of Chaos FREE here

Thank you Dear Reader, we have much fun ahead of us.

-Nathan Wrann


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GIVEAWAY


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Nathan Wrann will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.


a Rafflecopter giveaway


The tour dates can be found here

Crossed Fire by Kim Baccellia (Spotlight, excerpt, review, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

Crossed Fire

by Kim Baccellia

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GENRE:   YA Paranormal

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BLURB:

Stephanie Stewart is a typical sixteen-year-old girl—she loves hanging out with her friends, going to concerts, and sipping mocha lattes. Yup. Just your average teenager . . . Except for one difference—she can see and talk to the dead. In fact, Stephanie helps dead girls who who’ve been murdered or killed, cross over. Just as Stephanie is getting used to her unique “gift”, her mom stumbles into some dangerous witchcraft that backfires and triggers similar abilities in Stephanie’s best friend Cura, and nemesis Hillary. Stephanie already has enough trouble trying to maintain a “normal” life between school and her cute boyfriend Dylan, who happens to have a supernatural talent all his own. But now she has to help her friend Cura and her “frenemy” Hillary cope with their new-found powers as well as cross over two murdered cheerleaders and battle an evil demon who wants to use Stephanie’s supernatural strengths as a free pass to The Other Side. And she needs to do it all while still getting her term papers in on time. She’s definitely going to need an extra-large mocha latte for this.

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EXCERPT

A sudden breeze picked up the trash and leaves that were strewn about, making them dance over the patchwork of dirt and grass. And then I felt it. The itch on the back of my legs that warned me a dead girl was approaching.

A flash of intense light erupted across the darkened sky. Dylan pressed the cold water bottle to his forehead, probably to soothe his headache. Under his breath I heard him mumble about a freaky aura.

At first I couldn’t make her out, but little by little she materialized out of the fog. She looked older than me, maybe college age?

“Is that the girl?” I asked Dr. Anthony. Sure, he’d shown me a newspaper photo, but seeing the ghost in front of your eyes was always different from seeing a picture of someone when they were alive.

“Yes,” he said. “Her name is Morgan. Morgan Waters.”

Although I hadn’t had a vision of her death the strong impression of daisies resurfaced. I swear I could smell the sweet, fresh scent.

Morgan made her way over to us in a weird sort of half-floating-half-walking way, crossing the Sacramento River. Moonlight shone all around, lighting up the freeway behind her.

The water bottle fell from Dylan’s grasp, but he made no effort to pick it up. He stared at the spirit, and then rubbed his eyes.

Buy links:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Books a Million
IndieBound 
Kobo

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Kim Baccellia has always been a sucker for the paranormal. She blames it on her families’ love for such things as having picnics at cemeteries, visiting psychics, and reading her mother’s copies of the daily horoscope. In middle school, Kim wrote a horoscope column for the school newspaper. It was a huge hit!

Kim’s other published YA fantasies include NO MORE GODDESSSES, GODDESSES CAN WAIT, and EARRINGS OF IXTUMEA. All are available on Barnes & Noble.com and Amazon.

A member of RWA, Kim is currently revising a YA post-apocalyptic novel where a Latina teen questions her cult’s faith. She’s working on a romance set in Tuscany, Italy.  She lives in Southern California with her husband, son, and Damon, her pet cockatiel.

Author links:

Website

Blog

Facebook

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a Rafflecopter giveaway


The tour dates can be found here


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My review:

3.75 out of 5 stars

Crossed Fire by Kim Baccellia is a young adult paranormal story that is part of the ‘Crossed’ series. Young Stephanie Stewart has the ability to not only see ghosts of murdered girls, but has learned to help them cross over. Her hunky boyfriend, Dylan, sees auras, but not without paying a price, and not only her BFF but her major frenemy also get involved in the weird and wonderful world she’s become a part of. The unexpected interference by her mom and others in an ill-fated sorority leads to unpalatable discoveries as well as temptations that may change the world, and not for the better.

There are intriguing aspects to this world and one can’t help admiring Stephanie and her dedication to helping those who need her while dealing with the normal teen angst and challenges of school and peers. I like the elements of the ritual for helping a ghost pass over even as I ache at the girls’ lives that have been cut short in such horrendous fashions. Those with triggers or who are squeamish should use caution, as most things happen off-page but are still distressing.

The milieu of high school, complete with cliques, insecurities, and hot-and-cold romantic challenges, is nicely evoked and makes me glad those days are far behind me! I feel there are some continuity issues, I think the moms acted erratically (if not hypocritically), and there are a lot of loose ends but I enjoyed the overall story. I suspect that it would have been better to have read the first story in the series to get oriented and I understand that some things are left dangling to keep one interested in the sequels. Those who enjoy teen paranormal stories should give this one a try, but be warned…some of the imaginative scenes may stay with you a while (ewww….ghosts in the dissection lab!).

A copy of this title was provided to me for review

Wolf Sirens: Forbidden (Tour, giveaway and review)

                                               
 


Wolf Sirens, Discover the Legend:  Forbidden
by Tina Smith


Publisher: Indie
Publication

Date: July 2012


Genres: Paranormal/fantasy/romance/suspense





When Lila unwillingly moves to the country town of Shade, she can’t imagine the life-altering events that lie in wait for her.  Shade has a curfew and has always been surrounded by myths. A central feature of the town is its famous statue of Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, whose spirit is said to protect the innocent.

  Lila falls in with a group of intriguing teenagers with luminescent eyes and soon she is drawn into the shadowlands of fantasy and reality, where destiny collides.

  A mysterious local girl, Cresida, warns her to stay away, but Lila is drawn to them like a moth to a flame.  
Cresida knows their fatal secret and she is honour-bound to protect those who are endangered.  But she underestimates Lila’s passion for the mysterious and charismatic clan of youths.

Lila begins to feel a call she cannot ignore.  Yet her heart is filled with vulnerable desires that begin to turn the underworld upside down, for both hunter and hunted, as she learns they have been waiting for her…



Inspired by the legend of the mythical femme fatale, Wolf Sirens is an intimate tale of unrequited and forbidden love in the underworld, a masterpiece of romance fantasy.



A compelling debut novel about how love and fate chooses you. Inspired by Grecian demigod Artemis and the mythical femme fatale, Wolf Sirens is sure to enthrall all lovers of the fantasy, romance genre.







About the Author:

  Tina Smith is an herbalist, dog lover, Piscean and mother with a fondness for strong female protagonist's. A love of the fantasy genre and the deep exploration of dark and evocative subjects inspired Wolf Sirens Forbidden.  The sequel Fever further unfolds the tale of the heroine femme fatale, on her journey in the underworld between the lands of myth and reality.

Purchase link:
Amazon




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My review:

Wolf Sirens:  Discover the Legend:  Forbidden by Tina Smith is the first title in a paranormal series that is geared for the young adult audience.  A young high school student named Lila Crain moves with her mother to the town of Shade and struggles to find her place in both school and town.  Uneasy undercurrents complicate the already angst-filled challenge of finding her place and the discovery that there are such things as werewolves and Hunters make it even more difficult to distinguish between true friendships and manipulative relationships.  Lila’s life gets increasingly complicated and when death and severe bodily harm become all too likely, she will have to decide what her purpose in life truly is...before she becomes the next victim.

There are interesting concepts in this young adult paranormal tale but the story seems a little disjointed and erratic to me.  The overall angst of being a youngster in a new school and the struggle to find one’s place in the pecking order is nicely conveyed but the shifting allegiances and complex relationship between the role of hunter and werewolf is still a puzzle to me.  The underlying pressure that will result in even more deaths is not quite clear as it seems that there is both an innate and an exterior force shaping the heroine’s actions and causing her to be both catalyst and a product of the power struggle taking place within the clique she strives to join.  The interactions with the neighboring pack, the cause for the disappearances in town and the anticipated result of her training with her self-appointed mentor are all still muddled for me.  I also didn’t like the duplicity of her interaction with one of the pack members whom she uses as a stand-in for another although I realize that it may just reflect normal teen indecisiveness.  I think that there are great underlying themes to this tale but that the story is just a little too convoluted at this time and hope that subsequent tales work out some of the inconsistencies and provide better exposition.  For me, this was an adequate light read.