#SciFi #Fantasy Review – The Days of Tao – Wesley Chu @wes_chu

Posted on July 18, 2016 by fundinmental

The Days of Tao by Wesley Chu took me into a science fiction fantasy world where the voice in Cameron’s head was very real.

So…let’s enter his mind and see where it takes us.

Cover: Galen Dara

Publisher: Subterranean Press

MY REVIEW

I won The Days of Tao by Wesley Chu in the black and white scifi/fantasy/horror novella surprise giveaway at Little Red Reviewer. Thank you Andrea for some fun reading.

The Days of Tao is a science fiction novella that reminds me of The Host by Stephanie Meyer and the TV show Person of Interest.

Cameron is a college student and an agent of Prophus. He gets caught up in a war between Prophus and Genjix and is given the task of extracting Nazar who has vital information. He struggles to make the right decisions and save his college friends at the same time. He is courageous, though naive and learns some valuable lessons.

The Days of Tao is a coming of age story and Wesley Chu’s writing brings Cameron to life within the pages. The action is fast paced and the adventure makes the characters shine, some of them surprising me by their actions. I am still not sure of who the traitor was, but I see why Cameron he made the difficult choice he did. We have to live with the decisions we make and so does Cameron. After all…no one can ask us to do more than our best.

3 Stars

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GOODREADS BLURB: Cameron Tan wouldn’t have even been in Greece if he hadn’t gotten a ‘D’ in Art History.

Instead of spending the summer after college completing his training as a Prophus operative, he’s doing a study abroad program in Greece, enjoying a normal life – spending time with friends and getting teased about his crush on a classmate.

Then the emergency notification comes in: a Prophus agent with vital information needs immediate extraction, and Cameron is the only agent on the ground, responsible for getting the other agent and data out of the country. The Prophus are relying on him to uncomplicate things.

Easy.

Easy, except the rival Genjix have declared all-out war against the Prophus, which means Greece is about to be a very dangerous place. And the agent isn’t the only person relying on Cameron to get them safely out of the country – his friends from the study abroad program are, too. Cameron knows a good agent would leave them to fend for themselves. He also knows a good person wouldn’t. Suddenly, things aren’t easy at all.

The Days of Tao is the latest in the popular Tao series from award-winning author, Wesley Chu. Following after The Rebirths of Tao, this novella carries on the fast-moving and fun tone of the series.

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Friday 56 #86 & BB #62 – Leviathan by #James Byron Huggins

Posted on May 27, 2016 by fundinmental

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The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

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Leviathan by James Byron Huggins

If you are a creature feature lover like me, Leviathan is one you don’t want to miss.

The cover below is the same as my hardback copy published Thomas Nelson, Inc in 1995. There are some different covers and I will share another below that I think is super cool. Maybe you can guess what creature the Leviathan is by checking it out.

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MY FRIDAY 56

His mind spinning, Frank whispered, “But I don’t think that you can hold it, Chesterton. Not if Leviathan really wants to get out. That cavern was never designed to hold anything like this.”

(page 56 in hardback)

MY BOOK BEGINNINGS

Bloodred warning lights blazed as the cavern’s shock alarm was triggered, frantically launching wounded computer personnel into emergency stabilizing procedures.

GOOREADS BLURB

Conner felt an eerie sensation as he studied the image on the ancient Viking ax: a great, fiery dragon with wings as wide as the universe, viciously locked in battle with a heroic, winged figure that grimly held the dragon’s hideous head, struggling breath to breath. “Every man must face the dragon once in his life,” Thor told him. “It is then he learns what he truly loves.”

~~~

The cover below is the Kindle edition published in 2013 by James Byron Huggins.

Which cover do you like best?

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To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.
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James Byron Huggins also has a new release, Maggie Magdalene. Check it out now.

Europa Awakenings by P R Garcia – A Must Read Epic Saga Giveaway

Posted on April 5, 2016 by fundinmental

Europa Awakenings by Pam Garcia has an amazing cover that made me feel I had to have it. After reading the synopsis I knew I had to have it. I even enjoyed learning about Pam from her bio, be sure and check it out. Her commitment to the oceans around us makes me feel I have met a kindred spirit.

I realize this is a long post, put P R Garcia has so many wonderful things to share, I could not decide what to keep and what to discard…so I included it all! Sci-fi, fantasy, reality…you decide.

Let’s welcome P R Garcia and be sure to enter the giveaway at the end of the post!

GUEST POST FROM P R GARCIA

EUROPA Awakenings in the first book in the EUROPA Series, a collection of six novels that addresses the question of “What happened to Atlantis?” It is a new, fresh concept connecting the legendary city to *******’s ice moon, Europa and to the ancient city of Puma Punku in Bolivia, plus gives an explanation as to why the city was sunk overnight and what happened to the inhabitants. (Hint: They’re still here)

INSPIRATION FOR BOOK

EUROPA Awakenings came about as an inspiration while watching a documentary one uneventful day. I am a big sci-fi fan and watch numerous shows about possible life on other planets and moons. This particular day the documentary was discussing *******’s moon, Europa. I had never heard of this moon and was completely enthralled. She is totally shielded by a thick layer of ice and astrologists believe that beneath her ice there exists a moon-wide ocean that may contain simple life. Immediately, I wondered why the life had to be simple? Europa has been in existence almost as long as Earth has, so why couldn’t it contain complex-life? Even sentient life? And since it is a closed-environment, uninfluenced by anything in the universe, the possibilities could be endless. That idea sparked the beginning of the Europa Series concept. When I went to bed that night, my thoughts were still filled with the possibilities, thus causing me to dream about a race of intelligent beings, called Oonocks, who had to flee Europa and came to Earth – the Atlantians. For the next few days the thoughts of Europa and the Atlantians filled my mind, as well as my dreams. Unable to shake the thoughts, I sat down at my computer and began to type, hoping to possible write one book. When EUROPA Awakenings was finished, I stopped typing, but the feeling that there was more of her story to be told plagued my thoughts. I’m no working on book number ten.

Currently EUROPA Awakenings has a 4.5 star rating on Amazon and a 5 star rating on Goodreads. (Which I consider very good since the Harry Potter Collection has a 4.5 star rating and the Star Wars Trilogy has a 4.6 rating.) It received a 5 star Reader’s Favorite Rating.

A huge thanks to P R Garcia and I am very excited to share all her goodies with YOU, my readers.

Add me to Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I am AMAZED and BLOWN AWAY by the epic saga, Europa Awakenings by P R Garcia!

I was hooked from the beginning and putting down this almost 500 page novel was done with much reluctance, but my hands hurt from holding the book and my eyes are blurring, making the words almost unreadable. I read the book slower than normal, savoring the story unfolding page by page, experience by experience, good and bad, life and death and above all, love and sacrifice.

Atlantis was born from a need to hide…hide not just from their enemies, but us…humans. If aliens are watching us, walking among us, it would behoove them to be wary, secretive. I agree with P R Garcia’s writing, we humans kill what we fear.

Mermaids? No. Underwater creatures? Yes. Humans? Yes.

Europa has no idea she comes from Atlantis, from a alien race forced to leave their planet.

This is her journey of discovery.

The first threat comes from a source I figured out pretty quick. I pride myself on that. It also creates a great twist to the story.

I knew there would be a romance and I wondered where her boyfriend, Terrance would come from. Would he be alien or human? Does love conquer all? We shall see.

The characters are so much more than they seem, changing forms, sacrificing, always loving, doing their duty to protect…her. The characters and world building are complex and developed to such a point, I feel I am there, interacting with them. I feel their paralyzing terror, their need to protect at the cost of their own lives. I weep with those who mourn their fallen soldiers.

Of course, I love Europa and her soulmate, Terrance, a naive human that has no idea what he has stepped into, but goes all out just to be at her side. I don’t know if I can choose just one hero, but I love Jeanip. Loyalty and duty could be his middle name. With a protector such as Jeanip, I cannot help but feel they will survive, but will he?

As P R Garcia explains what happens when they return to the water to die, it makes me think of spreading a loved ones ashes on the water, allowing them to travel on.

Europa Awakenings contains so much action and adventure, the suspense and pacing so intense, the book is unputdownable. Everywhere I look, there is another hint of danger. The sense of impending doom follows me through the pages. I know something is coming, I just don’t know when. More than once, P R Garcia caught me by surprise and I love that.

Europa Awakenings is a wonderful combination of the paranormal and supernatural, myth and folklore, fantasy and romance. P R Garcia took me to the depths of hell and brought me up to the light of the sun. I am at a loss for words to describe the elaborate and imaginative world and characters, on land and in water, that Pam has created. I am entranced, enthralled, amazed and astounded.

There will be much more of their story, but…for now…they are safe.

I am so happy that Book II is on its way!

I received a copy of Europa Awakenings by P R Garcia in return for an honest review.

5 Stars

ABOUT EUROPA AWAKENINGS

EUROPA Awakenings is the story of a young human who’s heard of Atlantis, but never given it much thought. All she knows is that she is going off to college and will, at last, be free of the strict security rules she must live by. But her future is a delusion, her life a fabrication, a charade created to keep her from knowing the truth. And what neither she nor her protectors know is that their family’s enemy has returned and is stalking her, waiting for his chance to end her life.

The day after her birthday, Europa’s perfect world is destroyed when JeffRa assassinates her mother, believing she was Europa. Seeking solace in her mother’s bedroom, Europa discovers an entrance to a secret attic where she finds picture of her parents hundreds of years old. But the most terrifying find is her mother’s diary. Inside, Queen Medaron wrote that Europa would be born human and never know who she really was. Unwavering in her attempt to learn the truth, she embarks on a journey of discovery, a journey of many dangers as JeffRa chases her, determined to personally end her life. Along the way, Europa will lose almost everyone and everything she loves, learn that shapeshifters are real and the powers of magical Orbs. Somehow, through all of this, she must discover the truth of her past and awaken the queen inside her. To accomplish both, she has to learn and accept the true story of Atlantis, embrace the Oonock race and identify with what lies beneath the ice shield of Europa.

ABOUT P R GARCIA

When asked who I am, I usually tell people I am a not-too-grayed-haired old lady who, at the age of 61, was inspired to write a book. The book turned into two, then three. In three years I have written nine and am presently working on book ten. All are full length novels, averaging 464 pages each.

In 2008, I moved from Michigan to Southern California. Since I grew up along Lake Erie, I had a love for the water, so it wasn’t long before I could hear the ocean calling to me. I began to volunteer on the whale watching boats as a naturalist through Birch Scripps Aquarium and the San Diego Natural History Museum. It is there that I expanded my knowledge of cetaceans and other marine life, a knowledge and love I carried into the books.

MY DREAMS

To see my story play out on the big screen before I leave this world. My other dream is to receive at least one hundred reviews on the books. I welcome both favorable reviews and those with criticism.

For more information about the books, or me, visit my website: prgarcia1.com. There is an index on the web site showing the characters, as well as a listing of places and Oonock terms. I have a YouTube video on EUROPA Awakenings at https://youtu.be/EvSVloULZ2I

I just recently updated the cover of EUROPA Awakenings to better reflect the story. The cover now shows the red-haired Europa, with her sanctuary, Saint’s Isle, on the right had side, and the presence of large whale’s tail on the left. The whale is key to her survival, but you’ll have to read the story to find out who he is. The first chapter was also updated, so you will note that the paperback holds a release date of 2-27-2016, while the eBook maintains the original 12-9-2013 date. They are both the same book. Due to the significant changes in Chapter One, the paperback required a new ISB Number and a new release date.

EUROPA Awakenings can be ordered through any bookstore or online on Amazon. For exciting news about the ocean, cetaceans or important environmental issues, you can follow my Facebook page Europa Awakenings, which is just shy of 1300 likes.

Check out her website here.

GIVEAWAY

We have a fabulous giveaway to share with you. There will be two winners. P R Garcia is offering a signed copy to one US commenter and one ebook to another commenter, so International is all good. Entry is easy…just leave your email and answer the question:

If anything is possible, what would you do first to help our oceans and the creatures who live there?

Giveaway will run from 4/5/16 – 4/19/16.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.
If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
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Release Day Blitz Giveaway for Ashes in the Sky @chapterxchapter @JenniferMEaton

Posted on March 16, 2016 by fundinmental

AshesInTheSkyRDB

Happy Release Day to

Ashes in the Sky (Fire in the Woods #2)
by Jennifer M. Eaton!!

Join us in celebrating this release from Month9Books!

Enter the giveaway found at the end of the post.

Happy Book Birthday,Jennifer!

After inadvertently saving the world, eighteen-year-old Jessica Martinez is ready to put adventure behind her and settle back into the familiar routine of high school.

Though when she’s offered an opportunity to photograph the inside of an alien space ship, Jess jumps at the chance. After all, she’d be crazy to turn something like that down, right?

Spending time with David on the ship has definite advantages and the two seem to pick up right where they left off. But when Jess discovers a plot to sabotage David’s efforts to establish a new home for his people on another planet, neither David’s advanced tech nor Jess’s smarts will be able to save them.

ASHES IN THE SKY is an action-packed, romantic Sci Fi adventure that will leave readers screaming for more.

Ashes in the Sky (Fire in the Woods #2) by Jennifer M. Eaton
Publication Date: March 15, 2016
Publisher: Month9Books

OTHER BOOK(S) IN THE SERIES:

When a plane crashes in the woods near Jess’s home, the boy of her dreams falls out of the sky—literally. But David’s not here to find a girlfriend. He’s from another planet, and if Jess can’t help him get back to his ship, he’ll be stuck on Earth with nothing to look forward to but the pointy end of a dissection scalpel.

But her father runs their house like an army barracks, and with an alien on the loose, Major Dad isn’t too keen on the idea of Jess going anywhere. Ever. So how the heck is she supposed to help the sweetest, strangest, and cutest guy she’s ever met?

Hiding him in her room probably isn’t the best idea. Especially since her Dad is in charge of the squadron searching for David. That doesn’t mean she won’t do it. It just means she can’t get caught.

Helping David get home while protecting her heart—that’s gonna be the hard part. After all, she can’t really fall for a guy who’s not exactly from here.

As they race through the woods with Major Dad and most of the U.S. military one breath behind them, Jess and David grow closer than either of them anticipated. But all is not what it seems. David has a genocide-sized secret, and one betrayal later, they are both in handcuffs as alien warships are positioning themselves around the globe. Time is ticking down to Armageddon, and Jess must think fast if she’s to save the boy she cares about without sacrificing Earth—and everyone on it.

About-the-Author2

Jennifer M. Eaton

Jennifer M. Eaton hails from the eastern shore of the North American Continent on planet Earth. Yes, regrettably, she is human, but please don’t hold that against her. While not traipsing through the galaxy looking for specimens for her space moth collection, she lives with her wonderfully supportive husband and three energetic offspring. (And a poodle who runs the spaceport when she’s not around.)

During infrequent excursions to her home planet of Earth, Jennifer enjoys long hikes in the woods, bicycling, swimming, snorkeling, and snuggling up by the fire with a great book; but great adventures are always a short shuttle ride away.

Who knows where we’ll end up next?

giveaway2

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Monday Mini – A ray of hope in Mutation Z: Drones Overhead by Marilyn Peake @marilynpeake

Posted on March 7, 2016 by fundinmental

I have been eating up Marilyn Peake’s zombie series, Mutation Z. This is the fourth book, Mutation Z: Drones Overhead, and the story continues at an M & Ms pace, I gobble them up.

You may not be so hungry after sharing dinner with some of these guys.

If you are a zombie, conspiracy, genetic engineering lover, you can check out the series with Mutation Z: The Ebola Zombies, #1, FREE.

Mutation Z is now available in boxed sets for .99. Check them out and my reviews below.

Add me to Goodreads now.

MY REVIEW

Mutation Z: Drones Overhead by Marilyn Peake is the fourth novella in this zombie series that had me feeling like upchucking one minute and kicking ass the next.

Journalist Hunter Morgan awoke in McAllen, Texas, and remembered the massacre. As he raged, tearing apart the cell he had been placed in, they shot him with a tranquilizer dart…but there is a ray of hope and it is more important than ever he survive.

The virus is reaching epidemic proportions and a madman is running the Zombie Hunters.

The situation becomes more dangerous. Isolated and housebound, they plot their next course of action. They had to stop THEM before the situation reached an apocalypse, wiping out humanity.

Can it be stopped? Is it already too late?

With governments running AMOK, the media spewing lies and terror, the zombie population growing and the attempt to stop them reaching a level of savagery nobody could have foreseen, the clock is ticking and time is running out.

Maybe it is was me, but I didn’t feel the level of urgency that I felt leading up to #4. Maybe because, in Drones Overhead, we cover details of how they stay hidden, what they do to disguise themselves, and planning what comes next. We can’t be running willy nilly or no one will survive.

Needless to say, I can hardly wait to read Mutation Z: Dragon in the Bunker, #5. The title alone makes me think something even more terrible is going to go wrong (if such a thing is possible) and I want to be there!

4 Stars

The first 3 novella reviews: Mutation Z by Marilyn Peake @marilynpeake

You can find out more about Marilyn Peake and her books HERE.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.

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Giveaway – Temper by Beck Nicholas @chapterxchapter, @month9books, and @becknicholas

Posted on February 23, 2016 by fundinmental

TemperRDB

Happy Release Day to

Temper (Lifer #2) by Beck Nicholas!!

Join us in celebrating this release from Month9Books!

Enter the giveaway found at the end of the post.

Happy Book Birthday, Beck!

FREEDOM COMES WITH A PRICE.

Free from the spaceship and reunited with Samuai, Asher should be happy. But thoughts of her dead family weigh heavily on her mind.

Things worsen when temper problems in camp lead to a murder. When Asher volunteers to get the drug need to calm people down, tension ignites.

Loyalties are questioned.

Jealousy rears its head. Sparks fly.

And when rumor of a second ship hits close to home, all bets are off.

Have the aliens returned? Is this the end of everything Asher has ever known?

Temper (Lifer #2) by Beck Nicholas
Publication Date: February 23, 2016
Publisher: Month9Books

AND DON’T MISS THE FIRST BOOK IN THE SERIES:

The Bourne Identity meets Under the Never Sky in this intergalactic tale of love and deception from debut novelist Beck Nicholas.

Asher is a Lifer, a slave aboard the spaceship Pelican. A member of the lowest rung of society, she must serve the ship’s Officials and Astronauts as punishment for her grandparents’ crimes back on Earth. The one thing that made life bearable was her illicit relationship with Samuai, a Fishie boy, but he died alongside her brother in a freak training accident.

Still grieving for the loss of her loved ones, Asher is summoned to the upper levels to wait on Lady, the head Official’s wife and Samuai’s mother. It is the perfect opportunity to gather intel for the Lifer’s brewing rebellion. There’s just one problem—the last girl who went to the upper levels never came back.

On the other side of the universe, an alien attack has left Earth in shambles and a group called The Company has taken control. Blank wakes up in a pond completely naked and with no memory, not even his real name. So when a hot girl named Megs invites him to a black-market gaming warehouse where winning means information, he doesn’t think twice about playing.

But sometimes the past is better left buried. As Asher and Blank’s worlds collide, the truth comes out—everyone has been lied to…

About-the-Author2

Beck-Nicholas-head-shot-248x300

I always wanted to write. I’ve worked as a lab assistant, a pizza delivery driver and a high school teacher but I always pursued my first dream of creating stories. Now, I live with my family near Adelaide, halfway between the city and the sea, and am lucky to spend my days (and nights) writing young adult fiction.

giveaway2

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Release Giveaway for Glass Sword @VictoriaAveyard

Posted on February 9, 2016 by fundinmental

Join us on the 9th of February for the release day celebration of this hotly anticipated second book in the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard.

About The Book

GLASS SWORD
Red Queen #2
Author: Victoria Aveyard Pages: 448
Release Date: February 9th, 2016
Publisher: HarperTeen

Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control.

The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.
Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors.

But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat.

Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?

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BOOK LINKS: Amazon / B&N / Goodreads

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Red Queen is the first book in the series. I was so lucky to have won an ARC copy some time ago, can’t remember exactly where. So…I have decided to include a quickie review to see if I can entice you to read on and maybe grab a copy for yourself..

MY REVIEW

Last year, Red Queen was everywhere, so of course, I wanted to read it. I had heard mixed things about it, so it made me want to read it even more. I do find it has a common theme, but I have not read a lot of the series reviewers compare this too, so I do not see it quite like they do.

We must remember we are reading a young adult novel, so we know there will be a triangle with a young girl caught in the middle. Yes, she will have much to overcome, having to make some hard choices and fight for her survival.

I did not read anything earth shattering or mind blowing, but I loved the story all the same. The great writing brought the characters and their world to life. Betrayal and lies, the false fronts and masks people wear, whether to protect themselves or fool others, had me guessing the outcome. Do we ever know anyone, what goes through their minds, their thought and feelings? What mask do you wear?

Red Queen had me thinking twice and that rates a recommendation to all you young adult, paranormal and magic lovers out there.

4 Stars

The #1 New York Times Bestseller

Graceling meets The Selection in debut novelist Victoria Aveyard’s sweeping tale of seventeen-year-old Mare, a common girl whose once-latent magical power draws her into the dangerous intrigue of the king’s palace. Will her power save her or condemn her?

Mare Barrow’s world is divided by blood–those with common, Red blood serve the Silver- blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own.

To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard–a growing Red rebellion–even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction. One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal.

About The Author

Victoria Aveyard is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Queen. Victoria was born and raised in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, a small town known only for the worst traffic rotary in the continental United States. She moved to Los Angeles to earn a BFA in screenwriting at the University of Southern California. She currently splits her time between the East and West coasts. As an author and screenwriter, she uses her career as an excuse to read too many books and watch too many movies. She has sold several television pilots and feature-length screenplays.

You can visit her online atwww.victoriaaveyard.comor on Twitter at @VictoriaAveyard

GIVEAWAY

One winner will get a RED QUEEN Prize pack from HarperTeen, which includes:
– 1 Physical Copy of CRUEL CROWN (0.1 & 0.2 Red Queen)
– 1 Red Queen foam sword that reads “Kneel or Bleed”
– 1 Scarlet Guard scarf

Must be 13+ To Enter | Ships in US only |
See Terms & Conditions for full contest rules before entering some restrictions apply

ENTER THE RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY HERE

~~~~~~~~~~~~

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.

If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?

Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.

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Teaser Tuesday #57 – Sugar Scars by Travis Norwood ( @TravisLNorwood )

Posted on January 19, 2016 by fundinmental

.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of adailyrhythm.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read. Open to a random page. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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Sugar Scars was on tour and I am so excited that I won a copy.

I love the ethereal cover that was designed by Greg Simanson.

MY TEASE

“You think that makes this okay?” I put my finger on the trigger. I remembered how easy it fired when I killed the pig. I had stood there in fear and it had surprised me. I still couldn’t bring myself to squeeze the trigger, but maybe I would slip. It would fire, and this would be over.

“You looked so you could prey on them.”

(page 179 in paperback)

MY REVIEW

Sugar Scars by Travis Norwood is an amazing post apocalyptic novel that concentrates on the survival on one nineteen year old girl, with diabetes. I raced through the pages, feeling all her emotions: fear, anger, sorrow, loneliness, joy and, yes, love.

A virus had killed off 99.9895833% of the world’s population. Some believe a virus will be the end of OUR world. With mass transportation, the virus would spread before there was time to contain it. Haven’t we had warnings? Something to think about.

SHE is a loner, a math whiz and a diabetic. HER life depends on math, math and insulin.

When the world ends…go to Walmart.

“Everytime. Even now. Every time I get the bad cart with a busted wheel.”

How true is that? I wonder what percentage of carts are damaged. 😆

I never learned her real name. She didn’t like it, so … why not change it? It’s not like it matters any more. You can be who you want to be. I love that she named her car and her house and her refrigerator…

I was so eager to read Sugar Scars that I was afraid I would be disappointed. Not to worry. Travis Norwood blew me away. If you love character driven stories, this is a MUST READ. The characters wrapped me in their arms and never let me go. Sure, we have some bad guys, but the good ones filled me with hope and the belief that there are more good people than bad in the world. Just like real life. I couldn’t wait to get to the end to find out what happens, yet I hated the thought of losing my new friends.

Sugar Scars struck me more as an adventure than a tragedy. Sure there is all the bad that comes with the end of the world, but the twists and turns, the originality of the writing, kept me racing through the pages, unable to put the book down. I read it in one sitting and I dare you to give it a try.

Do you believe a virus could be a threat to your survival? This will make you think…long after the story is read.

5 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB: Living after the apocalypse really isn’t that hard for most of the survivors. The virus killed all but 1 in 10,000. The few remaining people are left in a world of virtually unlimited resources. Grocery stores overflowing with food and drink. Thousands of empty houses to pick from.

But one survivor, a nineteen-year-old girl, requires more than simple food, water and shelter. As a type 1 diabetic her body desperately needs insulin to stay alive. With civilization gone, no one manufactures it anymore. She hoards all the insulin she can find, but every day marches toward the end of her stash of vials. She has a choice. Accept her fate and death, or tackle the almost insurmountable task of extracting and refining the insulin herself.

Brilliant scientists struggled to make the first insulin. What hope does a high school dropout have?

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Giveaway & Review – At the Sharp End of Lightning by N R Bates (@NRBatesAuthor)

Posted on January 7, 2016 by fundinmental

Add me to Goodreads

Cover: Willyam Bradberry

MY REVIEW

At the Sharp End of Lightning by N R Bates is a fantasy with a touch of realism. What happens when one world leaks into another? The world building was fascinating and will lead us to the answer.

Yalara is a Sea Sprite from Oceanlight and has a mission. She must find the disappeared. Yalara and Einion of Earth will join forces to accomplish the mission.

I have a love of the world of oceans and other bodies of water, so when an author puts the real with fantasy, sending us a subtle message about our part of the polluting and ecological damage we are adding to our environment, it adds that special element that keeps me reading, wanting to know how our worlds collide and the end result.

As I read along, their world became my world.

At the Sharp End of Lightning is Book I of the series and lays a great foundation for more, with lovable characters and a villain that is able to make me wonder if he is all bad. What comes next? I am eager to find out.

I loved the special touches, like Sea Sprites having slime fights. Adds that little something extra that makes me love the characters more.

Politics abound in the fantasy world too.

The story does not end here and I am eager to continue the journey and look forward to reading the next book.

I received a copy of At the End of Lightning by N R Bates in return for an honest review.

4 Stars

SYNOPSIS

AT THE SHARP END OF LIGHTNING. The interwoven fantastical tale of family, of loss and sacrifice, of unexpected gifts and coping with disability and new abilities set against the backdrop of climate change occurring across parallel worlds. In Oceanlight, Yalara Narika, a winged Sea Sprite, searches for her lover over immense seas only to find catastrophe and realization that her world is in turmoil.

Meanwhile in the safe suburban normality of North Wales, Einion Morgan Alban, a restless youth afflicted by a disease of the blood, is nearly murdered by a man in a white suit. Yalara and Einion must discover the causes of their near-deaths and their as yet unrevealed connections as they both face upheaval to their lives and their worlds.

Buy the book: Amazon Barnes & Noble

ABOUT N R BATES

NR Bates was born in London, grew up in Wales, and lived in Canada and Bermuda. He shares his life with his wife and his house with seven cats, one dog and the subtropical wildlife of lizards, wolf spiders and ant colonies that seek out a better life indoors.

He is an oceanographer and scientist, and has published more than one hundred and thirty scientific papers on ocean chemistry, climate change and ocean acidification. He is a Senior Scientist at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and Professor of Ocean Biogeochemistry at the University of Southampton, UK.

His novels focus on epic fantasy and magic realism, and inspired by his deep love of the ocean and environmental sciences. He has also recently published a small book of short-stories set in Paris, entitled “The Fall of Icarus (The Elevator, The Fall of Icarus, and The Girl)”.

Connect with the author: Website Twitter Facebook

GIVEAWAY

Win 1 of 5 print copies of At the Sharp End of Lightning

– one winner will also receive a $30 Amazon gift card (open to USA & Canada)

ENTER THE RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY HERE

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To see all my Reviews, go HERE.

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Giveaway & Review: Soul of Dust by Adam Millard

Posted on December 16, 2015 by fundinmental

Happy Book Birthday to Soul of Dust and

Adam Millard!

Soul of Dust

By Adam Millard

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Release Date: December 7, 2015

Publisher: Roane Publishing

Keywords: Urban Fantasy, Sleuth, Paranormal, Investigator, Wizard, Demons, magic, Gritty

MY REVIEW

Soul of Dust by Adam Millard reads like a wild west, gunslinging private eye mystery story. In Jack Bridger’s search for a missing girl, he has to avoid his own demons and I mean literally.

Jack Bridger is a mage, one of the best. He is a magical private investigator who takes on “special” cases. He’s arrogant and an asshole, constantly bucking the system. He’s not a good guy, even though he’s doing good things. He’s a whore dog and loves his Ginger Beer. He uses wards and spells to hide his identity. He has been banished to our world, Earth. He’s from Elsewhere and knows he has a Soul of Dust.

But…even a mage’s head can be turned by a hot dame.

I love Jack Bridger. He has a mind of his own. He doesn’t mix well with others, but somehow or other he manages to pick up a “team” that will help him find out who wants him dead.

We will battle all types of shifters, from bears and wolves to lions and monkeys, from gators to gorillas and mice to raccoons. The aswang are the worst of them all. Their food of choice reached into my “gut”, making me feel a level of disgust I don’t think I have felt for a shifter before.

I had a fun romp through Soul of Dust and caught myself laughing softly off and on. Through the fights, blood and gore, the writing had a comical tint to it. I encountered some new shifters and met some fun characters. Some overcame severe hardship to step up and do the right thing.

I have read the story before, ya know what I mean? BUT, I think we always have room for another flawed “hero” doing his best. For some reason I find them easier to root for than the goodie two shoes. I would recommend Soul of Dust for a gun tooting good time.

I received a copy of Soul of Dust by Adam Millard in return for an honest review.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos 3 Stars

Sometimes being semi-immortal just isn’t enough.

Jack Bridge is having a very bad day.

Life as a private investigator is tough, but it’s even worse when you’re a semi-immortal wizard private investigator whose tolerance for humans grows thinner by the day. Just when he thinks things can’t get worse, in she walks.

Kate West, beautiful and complex in equal measure, with a problem only Jack can solve. Daemons, magic, voodoo, and vamps; it’s all very real, and Jack Bridge is the last line of defense against the creatures of Elsewhere.

Sometimes being semi-immortal just isn’t enough.

Purchase Links

About Adam Millard:

Adam Millard is the author of twenty novels, ten novellas, and more than a hundred short stories, which can be found in various collections and anthologies. Probably best known for his post-apocalyptic fiction, Adam also writes fantasy/horror for children. He created the character Peter Crombie, Teenage Zombie just so he had something decent to read to his son at bedtime. Adam also writes Bizarro fiction for several publishers, who enjoy his tales of flesh-eating clown-beetles and rabies-infected derrieres so much that they keep printing them. His “Dead” series has recently been the filling in a Stephen King/Bram Stoker sandwich on Amazon’s bestsellers chart. Adam writes and edits for UK horror website This Is Horror, whose columnists include BC Furtney, Simon Bestwick and Simon Marshall-Jones.

Adam lives with his beautiful wife, Zoe-Ray, and their wonderful son, Phoenix Justice. There are also chickens, rabbits and cats, but the less said about that the better.

Follow Adam on Twitter @adammillard

Website: http://www.adammillard.co.uk

Tour Schedule

GIVEAWAY!

A paperback copy of Soul of Dust and a $10 Amazon Gift Card!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code. No purchase necessary, but you must be 18 or older to enter. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter, and announced on the widget. Winner well be notified by emailed and have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. The number of entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Roane Publishing’s marketing department.

Blog Tour Schedule

Dec 7th

Release Day Blitz

Dec 8th

In the Pages of a Good Book – Guest Post

Books to Curl up With – Review

Dec 9th

Late Night Books and Reviews – Author Interview

Sweetlove and Hotness Britches – Promotional / Exclusive Excerpt#1

Dec 10th

Mythical Books – Guest Post

Witching Hour Reads – Author Interview

Dec 11th

Sinfully Sweet Promotions – Promotional / Exclusive Excerpt #2

Dec 14th

Scribbler’s Sojourn – Guest Post

Reader Girls – Guest Post

Dec 15th

Red Penn Reviews – Top Tens List / Review

Liz’s Reading Life – Promotional / Exclusive Excerpt #3

Here is What I Read – Play List

Dec 16th

Fundinmental – Review / Ebook Giveaway

Paranormal, Magic, and Mischief – Review

Drifting into Books – Promotional / Exclusive Excerpt #4

Dec 17th

Books Can Take You There – Play List / Review

Reader’s Haven – Promotional / Exclusive Excerpt #5

Cutting Muse Blog Review – Review / Author Interview / Ebook Giveaway

Dec 18th

Sassy Kiwi Book Blog – Play List

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To see all my Reviews, go HERE.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.

If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?

Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

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