{Tour Stop} Provex City by Micheal Pierce *REVIEW & GIVEAWAY DETAILS*

I'm happy to be a part of this tour and glad that you have a moment

to stop and check out my, well stop.  This book was a pleasant surprise

and if you check out the bottom of the post you have MANY chances 

to win yourself a copy. 

 

Fifteen-year-old Oliver Grain begins his school year fighting off bullies, learning about the boy who committed suicide in his room, and trying to understand why his history teacher, Mr. Gordon, has taken such a personal interest in him.
Do you believe in ghosts? Do you believe you can make bullies simply disappear? Do you believe you can walk through walls?
Mr. Gordon tells Oliver: "When you truly believe anything is possible, you will be able to open doors where there were only walls." And one of those doors leads Oliver to Provex City, which puts him in far greater danger than he can possibly fathom.

 Release Date: April 14, 2012

Review Copy: Paperback, 324 pages

*copy provided by Author for tour

Trailer

Review

  When contacted about reviewing this book I honestly wasn't sure what to think.  I thought it sounded interesting enough and the book was by an Indie author so I figured I would give it a go.  Basically I'm glad I did and got everything that was expected out of it and a little more.  The start of the book was a little slow for me and I was worried but there was really no need because really once you get into it everything starts to make sense.  Well that and the prologue piques your interest as to what is really going on.

  Oliver doesn't remember anything of his life before the fire that took his fathers life.  It's like his life is a blur before the fire and no one seems to focus on this or even worry.  Moving and getting bullied is basically the least of this guys problems.  I loved that he was a teenage boy no matter what happened.  His hormones and quick to the gun decisions guided him.  He is constantly feels like he lives in the shadow of his older brother and to be honest I wasn't his biggest fan for the most part but there were forces at work with him.  I really did end up liking Oliver though, he really ended up being a strong character and his confusion and weakness really started to clear up.

  Rather than Oliver the other character that really stuck out to me was Desiree.  I kept thinking I liked her and then she would do something that confused that crap out of me.  On the outside she is cheery and welcoming but there is something more that is never explained or came to the surface with her.  She didn't really seem happy with her boyfriend and when Oliver starts dating her best friend by her persuasion she seems jealous.  There are many more moments like that throughout the book and really I wish I knew what was really going on.  Honestly there has to be more than a bi-polar acting girl. Some sort of secret that she is hiding or a reason for her odd behavior patterns.

  The story itself was a little confusing to start and I had to get over a little initial hesitation to really immerse myself.   Once I had a better grasp of what was really going on and the fog started to clear it was easy to breeze through the rest.  The fact that this was expected to be a fantasy right of the hop may have had something to do with the confusion.  It was far more of a mystery type novel to start and actually even when the fantasy started the mystery still continued.  Basically what I am trying to say is that the book is a mystery/fantasy.  

  I look forward to finding out more of what is really going on in the next book.  More so to see what Desiree is really all about and why she switches and how she switches from one person to another so quickly.  The book was interesting and held a certain amount of intrigue.  The biggest thing for me is that there is so much left unsaid and undone that you have to be curious and you have to pick up the next book.

Quotes

"Right now, what you think you knew about the world around you are actually beliefs.  You thought you knew that instantaneous healing through the power of thought was impossible..."

"Good night," I said to an empty line.  That was my first phone conversation with Desiree, and I admit it was strange and dramatic, like everything with her.

"I didn't give you a scar.  You gave yourself a scar," Mr. Gordon said.  "I wish I could have healed you completely.  Your doubt in your ability to be healed prevented me from fully healing you..."

"There is a belief with reincarnation that each life you have has a different purpose or assignment, and some of those assignments may not be focused on you at all.  Some of those may be focused on teaching others through tragedy of your own, tragedy you signed up for before you were reborn."  

Author Bio

Michael Pierce lives in Southern California with his wife, daughter, and two ultra-protective Chiweenies. Provex City is his debut novel and the first book in the young adult fantasy Lorne Family Vault Series.

Find Him:

Blog|Remove|Facebook|Goodreads|Website

Giveaway

There are many chances with this tour to win your own copy of this book and some extra as well!!

•   Three winners will receive a paperback of Provex City and a $15 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
•   Five additional winners will win paperback copies of Provex City. (INT)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!

Waiting on Wednesday: Towering

OMG What do I have to do to get a copy of this?!

At first, I merely saw his face, his hands on the window ledge. Then, his whole body as he swung himself through the window. Only I could not see what he swung on.Until, one day, I told my dream self to look down. And it was then that I saw. He had climbed on a rope. I knew without asking that the rope had been one of my own tying.
Rachel is trapped in a tower, held hostage by a woman she’s always called Mama. Her golden hair is growing rapidly, and to pass the time, she watches the snow fall and sings songs from her childhood, hoping someone, anyone, will hear her. 
Wyatt needs time to reflect or, better yet, forget about what happened to his best friend, Tyler. That’s why he’s been shipped off to the Adirondacks in the dead of winter to live with the oldest lady in town. Either that, or no one he knows ever wants to see him again.
Dani disappeared seventeen years ago without a trace, but she left behind a journal that’s never been read, not even by her overbearing mother…until now. 

Expected Release: May 14, 2013

Published:  HarperTeen 

Format: Hardcover, 304 pages

Why am I Waiting

1. Holy crap have you read that description?!  It's written by Alex Flinn SERIOUSLY!
2. I love Rapunzel.  Haven't seen may retelling's of it either so love the originality!!
3. If any of the previous reasons don't grab you look at the cover! LOOK AT IT!!!

Well that's what I'm waiting on.  What are you waiting on?

LINK ME UP!!!

Wilful Impropriety ed. by Ekaterina Sedia

I first read about Wilful Impropriety back in June 2012 in a blog post by Malinda Lo. In that particular post Lo, the author of novels Ash, Huntress and Adaptation, listed YA books published in the US in 2012 that include LGBT main characters.

I must admit I had forgotten all about this anthology until I was browsing Foyles YA section in their Charing Cross Street store during my New Year's trip to London. Wilful Impropriety caught my eye, because the name of the book sounded interesting and I found the cover somehow hauntingly alluring. And then I remembered that I had read about this book somewhere!

Wilful Impropriety is an anthology of 13 historical stories set in Victorian times, 13 tales of society, scandal and romance as the subtitle goes. The theme of all these stories is "true love has no barriers". The back cover tells us: "At long last the Season has arrived, with its magnificent balls, its scandalous gossip and its numerous clandestine relationships. But both within this charmed world and beyond its superficial glitter, there are those who chafe against rigid social barriers and wilfully violate the rules, despite the stakes being very high indeed... Sometimes luck in enough, but every once in a while a touch of magic is needed".

Wilful Impropriety is an absolutely wonderful book! I loved every single story in it and would not have minded one bit if there had been many more than 13 stories in this book!:) What is so wonderful about Wilful Impropriety is that the anthology is nicely inclusive. Race, social class, gender and sexual identity all are factors in one or more of the stories. These are also feelgood stories with mostly happy endings. The girl gets the boy, or sometimes the girl gets the girl, or passes as a man and marries the girl, or the boy gets the sprite. In a story called Outside the Absolute by Seth Cadin the main character Sam wears alternately both men's and women's clothing and Sam's biological gender is not revealed until almost in the end where as Sam's love interest's biological gender is never really said out loud, only hinted at.

As I said, I loved all the stories in this anthology, but some I loved even more than others. :) My favorites included:

-The Unladylike Education of Agatha Tremain by Stephanie Burgis
Agatha's aunt arrives to launch Agatha into society, but all Agatha would like to do is to study magic. In a London ball she accidently meets a young woman and realises this is the person she would like to spend her life with, only the women in her family really have to marry men for magical reasons.
-Mercury Retrogade by Mary Robinette Kowal
An aristocratic young woman falls in love with a clockmaker rumored to be the son of a British Admiral and his Indian mistress. A little macigal help is needed for a happy ending.
-False Colors by Marie Brennan
A young woman decides to pass as her brother, when the brother dies during his first vacation from the navy and an inheritance is at stake. She moves up in the ranks and is made a lieutenant. Only Lieutenant Ravenswood can't help falling for his/her best friend in the navy, who of course believes Ravenswood to be a man.

All in all Wilful Impropriety is a lovely book! Totally reread worthy! :)

Wilful Impropriety is edited by Ekaterina Sedia and includes a foreword by Scott Westerfield. Immedietely after reading Wilful Impropriety I checked our library catalogue for books by any of the writers included in this anthology. I now have Sedia's book Heart of Iron home from the library. It's a steampunky, wuxia adventure inspired novel set in 19th century Russia!





Teaser Tuesday 22.1.2013

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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 Lista if they like your teasers!

My teaser this time is from p. 57 of Heart of Iron by Ekaterina Sedia:

"Unfortunately, I was too much of Eugenia's niece to think of anything artful. My first inclination was to march to the Winter Palace and shout at the emperor; my second was to spit in his brother's smug face."

**EARLY REVIEW** Blaze by Laurie Boyle Crompton

Blaze is tired of spending her life on the sidelines, drawing comics and feeling invisible. She's desperate for soccer star Mark to notice her. And when her BFF texts Mark a photo of Blaze in sexy lingerie, it definitely gets his attention. After a hot date in the back of her minivan, Blaze is flying high, but suddenly Mark's feelings seem to have been blasted by a freeze-ray gun, and he dumps her. Blaze gets her revenge by posting a comic strip featuring uber-villain Mark the Shark. Mark then retaliates by posting her "sext" photo, and, overnight, Blaze goes from Super Virgin Girl to Super Slut. That life on the sidelines is looking pretty good right about now...

Expected Release: February 1, 2013 

Published By: Sourcebooks Fire

Review Copy: ARC 312 pages

So there is no trailer and I don't normally do this

but this song fits somehow.

Review

  What a fun and engaging read.   I was pulled right in by the description and lets face it the cover.  I have always wanted the pink underneath and so between my fantasy and the fact that this seems like a disaster waiting to happen I was hooked.  Needless to say when I requested it, got approved and found it in my mailbox I was giddy and oh so excited to start.  For the most part I got what I had wished for and enjoyed the book from start to finish.  With a few heart stopping moments, ones that you are shocked and some things you just wont expect it was a totally worthy read.

  I loved this story it was unique in its own way and really fun to read.  The characters were so well done that at times it was seriously like watching some bad high school drama unfold.  You know what I mean, the stuff you see coming or the stuff that is whispered about among friends in the bathroom that you catch wind of.   This made everything so much easier to love and enjoy.  To be honest I know where Blaze has been in some aspects so each event and reaction was realistic to me.  Especially with all the people involved and all the possibilities that were there.  There were also some serious moments and a few lessons thrown in for good measure.

  Blaze (yes that is her real name) is the girl that no one really notices but she isn't a loser either.  She just is.  She is a soccer mom, in a not the real mom but sister kind of way.  She loves her brother but kind of doesn't enjoy the driving him and his buddies back and forth to games.  This does however give her time for her passion: Comics.  Reading them, drawing them, writing them.  If it has something to do with comics she's in.  Well that and Mark.  The girl has a serious weak spot for this testosterone high guy. Though he notices her it's not quite why she thinks and well things get a little crazy from there.  This is where the story got real fun.  Blaze was a serious firecracker waiting for the right moment to go off.  When she did there was really no going back for her.

 Her friends though quirky were annoying to say the least.  Well Amanda annoyed me, I liked Terri for the most part.  I will admit though that having Amanda around was almost like being back in high school.  Everyone has that one friend or knows the girl that doesn't care who likes a guy or who is with a guy, when she wants him it's too damn bad.  Also when she doesn't get what she wants it's not her fault but normally the closest friend to the incident! Terri tries to be there but I just felt that when things blew up and they were needed they were really not there.  I mean they pretended to be but they weren't really there.

  The romance part of this book was, well not really a romance.  That's not what this book was about but it was in a way(if that makes sense).  Mark was "the" guy.  The one that everyone seemed to like, the one that got what he wanted, the JERK.  Though once I reflected he didn't make any promises but he didn't try to set things straight either.  There is also another guy that is kind of in play.  Though he is 100% not Mark and really isn't full out going for Blaze but is amazing in his own way.  I'm not going to lie I wanted to shake Blaze, tell her to wake up and smell the awesome guy!  But everything happens for a reason right?

  Overall Blaze was both a fun and meaningful read.  It was like the best of both worlds and I enjoyed every page.  Laurie Boyle Crompton's writing just flowed across the pages and made the read that much more enjoyable.  My only wish is that Mark had gotten more than he did.  Cruel?  Maybe but trust me he deserved it after everything he put poor Blaze through.  If you like contemporary reads I say give this one a go 100%.

Quotes

My dad gave me a cool name, Blaze, but my life is so unexciting that my name is more ironic than the soccer ball magnet I stuck to the back of my minivan--my failed attempt to create visual irony.

I call her the Blazing Goddess and sometimes Blaze for short because, hey, my life may pretty much suck, but my name is still amazing.

He's sitting so close I could reach over and touch him.  It might be kind of hard to explain, and a little weird, maybe, but still... possible.

That is, four layers assuming Mark has on underwear.  I've spent enough time with the male species to know that isn't necessarily a given.

*Signing Recap* Melissa de la Cruz + Giveaway!

Melissa de la Cruz

Signing Recap!

So many years ago my husband took a leap and went out and bought me a box set.  This was unlike him and I was shocked to realize he had done a wonderful job and well as you may have guess by now, it was the first 3 books in the Blue Blood Series.  I was entraced and in love!  I have continued to purchase the books each year as they come out on PB (as I like to keep series in the same format) and stuck to that despite my love for HB.  Anyway when I caught wind about this signing I was all in!  So now that you know why I am so excited about this I will show you some of the fun!!

So I got there with my Girl Friend Kristie and my daughter Emma at like 10am oh ya we were ready for a line!  We brought reads and tablets to wait.  Coming up the stairs there was the above banner and the display with the books <3 Then before Melissa came out she provided cupcakes, refreshment and a place for photos with some awesome Blue Bloods themed stuff!! Sadly I am a wimp when it comes to getting my picture taken but I took one of the cupcakes!

Then the moment came and Melissa de la Cruz came out.  She was awesome!  Took us through everything from signing up to write the series to finish it!  Here's what I learned:

1. The Blue Bloods series was originally supposed to be 9 books! A trilogy, 3 prequel books and 3 as follow ups.  This changed after she finished writing Revelations (book #4) and decided she wasn't up for the whole prequel thing.  
2. Masquerade (book #2) was her favorite book to write!  She wrote it while pregnant and alternated writing with her naps!  *Personally I loved this! 
3. Along with Bloody Valentine they wanted a Blue Bloods Christmas book...
4. Melissa outlines every book.  Basically by the time she is done her outline all she has to do is flesh it out a bit.
5. Melissa is a positive person!! So much so that any negativity is immediately deleted or blocked.  I think this is great advice for anyone really.  No one needs negativity in their lives!!

What I forgot to mention above is that Mrs. Cruz will be releasing a new series in September.  The first book is Frozen!  In the picture is her holding the bookmark.  Also there is a rare pic of me while my books are being signed!  I was really excited that each and everyone of them were personalized!! *Squee*

Anyway that is all.  Well I have a few pics of my books.  I didn't do individual pictures because there would be A LOT but I took all the books I took with me and a few different of the signature :D

The final book!  Will miss the characters!  Oh but we may not have to miss them all!  Melissa will be doing a spin off series!!  It will be adult but still YAY!!!

Wolf Pact which Melissa recommended I read before I pick up GoP!  I love the cover so much!!  I am truely a sucker for covers with red in them!! Also the Graphic Novel!! I just picked this one up and look forward to reading it!!!!

This is all the books I had signed (minus graphic novel)!  So I am only missing two books that I will have ready for next time!!

 So I was horrible and didn't pick up a spare book to be signed BUT I figured that this will work for all you INTL people.  I am going to give away any book out of this series that is currently in PB.  It will be INTL as long as the Book Depo ships to you!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!!

Library Loot 19.1.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!


This week I had a little less time for reading (work, dancing & the Australian Open Tennis Championships ;)) and I'm still reading Girl Reading by Katie Ward. I'm hoping to finish it tonight.

This week I borrowed three books written in English from the library. I also purchased one e-book & some nonfiction books (sales in the bookstores :)).

Let's start with the library books:

Brotton, Jerry: A History of the World in Twelve Maps
I think maps, and especially old maps, are wonderful! Old maps tell us so much more than just the way from one place to another. Brotton's book "examines the significance of twelve world maps drawn from global history - beginning with the mystical representations of ancient history and ending with the satellite-derived imaginery of today". The book promises that after reading this book you will never look at a map in the same way again! There is also lots of gorgeous pictures of maps in the book. I'm not sure whether I will have enough time to really read this book, but I want to at least browse it -and then maybe borrow it again later.

Kay, Guy Gavriel: Lord of Emperors
My plan to read more fantasy this year got a very good start! I finished reading Sailing to Sarantium, the first part of Guy Gavriel Kay's The Sarantime Mosaic duology a week ago and simply loved the book! Read my review here. As I did have a fair amount of library books at home I tried to be practical and not to reserve the second part of The Sarantine Mosaic immediately from the library, eventhough I was really impatient to know how the story continues and, of course, how it ends. I resisted for one whole day! :) Usually I always read the backcover text, but this time I feel I don't want to know anything beforehand. I want to go to the book without any knowledge of what will happen and would just like to enjoy the story.

Jemisin, N. K.: The Killing Moon
I did not like the one book by Jemisin I read last year, but I am willing to give her books another chance. Eva mentioned this book to me telling that Jemisin's world in The Killing Moon is strongly inspired by Ancient Egypt. I love anything to do with Ancient Egypt and am now very much looking forward to reading this book! I hope it will be second time lucky for me and Jemisin's fiction! :)

E-book:

Kelman, Stephen: Pigeon English
This is my English Reading Circle's February read. It is a story about an eleven-year-old Harry from Ghana who moves to England with his mother and older sister. Harry settles well into his new city life, but then one of his friends is murdered. Unwittingly Harry puts his family into danger as he decides to investigate what really happened to his friend.

Book sale finds:

Abulafia, David: The Great Sea. A Human History of the Mediterranean
I did almost buy this history of the Mediterranean Sea many times last year.:) Now it was on sale and I dinally did buy it! It's a complete history and starts with the Gibraltar Neanderthals some 22000 BC and goes all the way to 2010. Abulafia is Professor of Mediterranean HIsroty at the University of Cambridge. The Great Sea won the Mountbatten Literary Award for the best book about the sea in 2011.

Kiros, Tessa: Apples for Jam
Tessa Kiros is a cookbook author of Finnish-Greek Cypriot descent. I simply love her books and, as they are rather expensive when new, have tried to accumulate my collection during sales. I think her books are among the most beautiful cookbooks ever published! And the recipes are nice, too. :)

Virga, Vincent: Cartographia. Mapping Civilizations
This is a lovely coffee table book about -well old maps and mapmaking again. :) I had just been thinking that I will probably not have time to read Brotton's book I mentioned above from cover to cover and then I saw this book in the bookstore! I just had to buy it, and I got it very cheap -less than half price! :)

Well, those are the books that either came to visit me or moved in with me this week. :) How about you? Did you visit the library this week?