CHILDREN'S BOOK WEEK GIVEAWAY HOP

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CHILDREN’S BOOK WEEK

Giveaway Hop!

This hop is hosted by

I AM A READER, NOT A WRITER

and

KIDLITFRENZY & MYMCBOOKS

Thank you for stopping by on my leg of this hop! For this giveaway I’m offering THREE kindle Young Adult books to one winner.

Click on the book titles to read each book’s summary on Goodreads.

Recalled (Death Escorts, #1) by Cambria Hebert

I'll Be Here by Autumn Doughton

Chasing McCree by J.C. Isabella

Also remember to read my rules for this contest under terms and conditions on the rafflecopter widget, and then fill out the rafflecopter form to stand a chance of winning ALL THREE these Kindle books up for grabs. For the free Kindle app click here. You are also welcome to enter any or all of the other giveaways I have on my blog by clicking the Giveaways tab at the top right, or just click HERE.

There are over 100 blogs participating in this hop and each one has its own entry rules and geographic limits, so be sure to read the rules before you enter each giveaway.  This hop starts on 13 May and ends on 19 May at midnight (South Africa Standard time). I live in South Africa and our time zone is six to nine hours ahead of the U.S. and a few other countries, which means this rafflecopter will accept entries earlier, but it will also end earlier on the 19^th, so please don’t leave a comment saying my giveaway ended early. Good luck everyone!

What is Children’s Book Week?

Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running literacy initiative in the country. Each year, books for young people and the joy of reading are feted for a full week with author and illustrator appearances, storytelling, parties, and other book-related events at schools, libraries, bookstores, museums, and homes from coast to coast!

For more information please visit their website. 

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REVIEW: BEASTLY by Alex Flinn

Title: Beastly

Author: Alex Flinn

Publisher: Harper Teen

Publication Date: October 2, 2007

Genre: YA, Paranormal Romance

Reviewed by: Books4Tomorrow

Source: Purchased

My star rating: 5/5

SUMMARY

I am a beast.

A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright--a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.

You think I'm talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no deformity, no disease. And I'll stay this way forever--ruined--unless I can break the spell.

Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I'll tell you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.

REVIEW

Judging by the astounding amount of reviews this book has received, I’m clearly a latecomer to this well-loved novel. As a side note, I haven’t seen the movie either and until yesterday, I haven’t even known there is a movie based on this book. So, I’m just going to add my voice to a couple hundred others and tell you why I enjoyed this story so much.

“Just because something is beautiful doesn’t mean it’s good.”

I love the essence of this story which I feel is also captured in the immortal words of one of my all-time favorite pop groups from the 80s, the Pet Shop Boys; from one of their more recent hit singles, Love, Etc,: “Don’t have to be beautiful, but it helps.” It’s what I’d choose as a theme-song for this lovely book as it also details how it’s not what you own, what you can do, or what you have on the outside, to love and be loved. I believe with this song they were making the same point Alex Flinn is making with this modern-day interpretation of the classic, Beauty and the Beast (and yes, she did a fantastic job!). Ms Flinn simply reiterated the saying “beauty’s in the eye of the beholder”.

“Maybe we judge people too much by their looks because it’s easier than seeing what’s really important.”

Just about everyone knows the tale of Beauty and the Beast, or had seen the Disney movie adaptation, so it is easy to spot the similarities. Same message, same old story? Yes, indeed. But the author wrote it in a voice that will be easily understood by today’s youth. Two teenagers, one the shallow, rich son of a famous news anchor, and the other a poor, abused daughter of a drug addict. Instead of magic teacups and singing candelabra, the author substituted them with a blind tutor and an aging cleaning lady. The palace was replaced with a five-story mansion in Brooklyn, New York, and of course Kyle – who later becomes the beast and changes his name to Adrian – goes to a posh private school where most of the other students are as obsessed with beauty, money and popularity as he is.

About the characters. Kyle is an obnoxious, rude, self-centered little brat. The author went all out portraying him as the shallowest boy you can possibly imagine. Usually I don’t like it when an author so blatantly pushes it in my face how evil or malicious a character can be. You know? Like the author is saying I won’t get it if she’s too subtle about it? But in Beastly, I understand why the author was so brutal about Kyle’s selfishness. When Kyle/Adrian’s transformation finally happens and he discovers the value of friendship, love, and beauty that can’t be measured at face value, it has a bigger impact on the reader. The way she did it, it works. Sadly, with the exception of Lindy, she didn’t develop some of the other characters; ones I deemed key characters crucial to the story. At first I didn’t like Lindy either, and even though she grew on me, I still wasn’t too fond of her at the finale. Kyle’s dad had more of an effect on me than Lindy did. Whichever way, I still enjoyed the story tremendously. Mostly for Kyle/Adrian’s transformation and the message about inner beauty, judging others and the value of worldly possessions versus free will and love.

I haven’t read any of this author’s other works yet, but I’m looking forward to discovering more of her books. Beastly is a quick, easy read perfect for readers aged thirteen and up.

 

 

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For those of you who, like me, haven’t seen the movie yet, click here to watch the official movie trailer of Beastly, based on the novel by Alex Flinn.

Love, Etc, by Pet Shop Boys (with lyrics)

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REVIEW: RED MOON by Benjamin Percy

Title: Red Moon

Author: Benjamin Percy

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Publication Date: May 7, 2013

Genres: Horror, Dystopian, Paranormal

Reviewed by: Books4Tomorrow

Source: Received from publisher via NetGalley

My star rating: 3/5

SUMMARY

They live among us. 

They are our neighbors, our mothers, our lovers.

They change.

When government agents kick down Claire Forrester's front door and murder her parents, Claire realizes just how different she is. Patrick Gamble was nothing special until the day he got on a plane and hours later stepped off it, the only passenger left alive, a hero. Chase Williams has sworn to protect the people of the United States from the menace in their midst, but he is becoming the very thing he has promised to destroy. So far, the threat has been controlled by laws and violence and drugs. But the night of the red moon is coming, when an unrecognizable world will emerge...and the battle for humanity will begin.

REVIEW

Reading the blurb, I couldn’t wait to get a copy of this book. I wanted to know who “they” are. I was guessing “they” might be aliens or some underground species of monsters or something really exciting and unimaginable. My imagination was going wild wondering what “they” could be. Imagine my disappointment when I started reading Red Moon and discovered that “they” aren’t that interesting at all. They’re only lycans. And no, I don’t read werewolf-themed books, but since I requested it for review through NetGalley, I had no other choice but to give this 500-page plus novel a go and see if maybe I’ll enjoy it. So I’m subtracting one star because the blurb was misleading and another star because I didn’t enjoy the story as much.

The good things first. Benjamin Percy is a phenomenal writer. Even if the story sucked completely (which it didn’t) I would’ve given it a high star rating because of his eloquent prose, vivid descriptions and exceptional action sequences and fight scenes. Seriously, this author can write up a storm, but there were times I couldn’t refrain from eye-rolling at some of the analogies he used. Although I avoid books with werewolves (lycans) and other paranormal creatures such as vampires, shifters, witches, etc, I have to applaud the author for cleverly underlining issues such as racism, prejudice, xenophobia and terrorism by creating a novel where humans and lycans are at odds with each other.

What irked me about the story is that the author builds up the suspense and reader’s expectations to the point where you feel you just can’t take anymore, and then he goes and wraps up the final scenes in a few sentences, which left me feeling deflated and let down. The descriptions were vivid, which contributed a lot to the world building and made it easier for me to immerse myself in the story, but many times it got too lengthy and ended up being page filler. It was clear the author did a lot of research for this book, but the scientific terminology and complex explanations went right over my head, so eventually I started skimming through those.

Overall, Red Moon was an okay read and I think fans of books with paranormal elements will enjoy this novel without complaint. It just wasn’t for me. I’ll definitely read more books by this author if he writes anything in my preferred genres (or anything which doesn’t contain overused paranormal themes/characters) as he undoubtedly is a very talented writer.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

 

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Red Moon by Benjamin Percy has 36 reviews on Goodreads. Read it here.

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ABOUT the AUTHOR

Benjamin Percy is the author of two novels, Red Moon (Grand Central/Hachette, 2013) and The Wilding, as well as two books of short stories, Refresh, Refresh and The Language of Elk. His fiction and nonfiction have been published in Esquire (where he is a contributing editor), GQ, Time, Men's Journal, Outside, the Wall Street Journal, Tin House and the Paris Review. His honors include an NEA fellowship, the Whiting Writer's Award, the Plimpton Prize, the Pushcart Prize and inclusion in Best American Short Stories and Best American Comics. He is the writer-in-residence at St. Olaf College and teaches at the low-residency MFA program at Pacific University.

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REVIEW: STEALING PARKER (Hundred Oaks, #2) by Miranda Kenneally

Title: Stealing Parker

Series: Hundred Oaks, #2

Author: Miranda Kenneally

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: October 1, 2012

Genres: YA, Sports, Romance

Reviewed by: Books4Tomorrow

Source: Purchased

My star rating: 4/5

SUMMARY

Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.

Now Parker wants a new life.

So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?

But how far is too far before she loses herself completely?

REVIEW

Since finishing Catching Jordan, the first book in the Hundred Oaks series, I couldn’t wait to start Stealing Parker. I was expecting something very similar to the first book in this series and although Stealing Parker was a great read, it doesn’t compare to the magnificence of Catching Jordan.

Lately I’m more and more into sport-themed books and in that regard this book didn’t disappoint. Even though it isn’t focused so much on sport as it was in Catching Jordan, I still enjoyed it a lot. The focus here was more on the romance aspect, but in such a way that it wasn’t mushy at all. I’m not so much a fan of romance, but I do have appreciation for romance that makes me swoon. One of my pet peeves is when one character falls in love with another solely based on the other character’s looks. Yes, looks should be a part of it because that’s what attracts people to each other, but it shouldn’t be the only reason one person falls in love with another. Such relationships hardly ever last and thus I can’t believe in a happily-ever-after ending in a book with two shallow characters falling in love with each others’ appearance and nothing more. Yep, I’m old-fashioned like that. One of the many reasons why I loved Stealing Parker is because the characters are attracted to each other based on what they see, but then they fall in love with each other based on what they discover in that person. Another reason I enjoyed it is because it has familiar characters in it I recognized from the previous book.

Parker is a really terrific character. At first I wasn’t too fond of her because she seemed really reckless and fickle. She flitted from one guy to another, using them as she goes along without considering their feelings and the consequences. Then she falls in love with new coach, Brian, and I was just rolling my eyes. He was just so hot and she just couldn’t help herself. Yeah, right. But, the further I read – and once Parker and Wil started hanging out – I could see where the author was heading with the story and I started to warm up to Parker. When her life fell apart, it really fell apart. She has to deal with a mother who turned lesbian and left her family behind, a brother who couldn’t deal with the disappointment and turned to drugs and alcohol, and a father who is in denial about pretty much everything and who has unwavering faith in the church which he allows to dictate his life - even to his own detriment. (Just between you and me, I found Daddy Denial quite endearing and a couple of times I couldn’t help but laugh at his oblivious ignorance.) On top of all that, Parker is ostracized by her former best friends at school and at church because of the decisions her mother made. This girl really had it hard and because of this I was happy with the way the book ended.

There are a few lessons to be learned from this story. One theme amongst many that stands out is the matter of faith. Parker has a constant inner monologue with God and the reader gets to know and understand her better through her notes to Him. Parker makes a lot of wrong decisions and she blames her mom for it, but she also makes a couple of new and unexpected friends along the way who teaches her to see things differently. I like the message this book sends out about taking responsibility for your actions, and especially the message about doing what’s right for you, whether the church and everybody else approves of it or not.

Stealing Parker is a beautiful, multi-layered story with a heartwarming conclusion. It forms part of a really magnificent series which I think should be read by every teen girl once she gets to that age where she has to make the decision about when and to whom to give up her virginity. A lot of girl issues are sensitively dealt with in this story and truly this author is very much in touch with the inner workings of the age group for which this book has been written. A highly recommended must-read!

 

  

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Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally has 583 reviews on Goodreads. Read it here.

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REVIEW: GAME, SET, MATCH (Outerbanks Tennis Academy, #1) by Jennifer Iacopelli

Title: Game, Set, Match

Series: Outerbanks Tennis Academy, #1

Author: Jennifer Iacopelli

Publisher: Coliloquy

Publication Date: May 1, 2013

Genres: YA, Sports, Romance

Reviewed by: Books4Tomorrow

Source: Received from publisher for review

My star rating: 5/5

SUMMARY

Nestled along the North Carolina coast, the Outer Banks Tennis Academy is the world's most elite training facility. In this pressure-cooker environment, futures are forged in blood and sweat, and dreams are shattered in an instant.

Penny Harrison, a rising female star, is determined to win the French Open and beat her archrival, Zina Lutrova. But when her coach imports British bad boy Alex Russell as her new training partner, will Penny be able to keep her laser-like focus?

Tennis is all Jasmine Randazzo has ever known. The daughter of two Grand Slam champions, she's hell-bent on extending her family’s legacy and writing her own happily-ever-after...until her chosen Prince Charming gives her the just-friends speech right before the biggest junior tournament of the year, the Outer Banks Classic.

With a powerful serve and killer forehand, newcomer Indiana Gaffney is turning heads. She’s thrilled by all of the attention, especially from Jack Harrison, Penny’s agent and hot older brother, except he keeps backing off every time things start heating up.

With so much at stake, dreams—and hearts—are bound to break. Welcome to OBX: Where LOVE is a four-letter word, on and off the court.

REVIEW

Oh my gosh, I so didn’t want this book to end. I’ve been reading as much as I could every day, inching towards the finale, but hoping upon hope it would never end.

*sigh*

I think I’m in love with about three characters in this book…Alex…Jack…even Dom. Game, Set, Match oozes sexiness. I don’t know how the author managed it, but she wooed me with this amazing book and her superb writing. Even the girls were hot, okay? Is it possible to be in love with a book, cause I think I am.

OK, swoon session over. I loved this book from the first chapter and the more I was drawn into the story, the more I adored these characters. Penny is undoubtedly my favorite and I’m so happy things between her and bad boy Alex developed the way it did, but then it ended the way it ended, and I’m just so confused. Are they on or are they off? I guess I’ll have to wait for the next book. Indy is a great character and I liked her from the word go. She brings that positive, happy-go-lucky sort of vibe to the story. Jasmine took some getting used to, but even with her surliness I couldn’t help but like her, especially nearer towards the end. Honestly, I loved all the main characters. They grew throughout the story and I was incredibly sad to say goodbye to them at the end. I take comfort in the fact that this is only the first book in the series and I’ll soon meet up with them again.

The world building in this book is done beautifully. OBX didn’t feel like a fictional tennis academy from a book, but more like a place I’ve been to in real life. Plus, it’s right next to the ocean, so it was even easier for me to imagine being there with all these extraordinary characters. The story is simply fantastic. Filled with romance, drama, excitement and nailbiting suspense whenever a tennis match was in progress, Game, Set, Match kept me riveted to the edge of my seat. Lately I’m into sports novels and I’m not a big fan of romance. This novel has both, but the author effortlessly keeps both these elements balanced in such a way that tennis fans and romance junkies will enjoy this book to its fullest extent (I’m neither, but this book took my enjoyment level to new heights). Oh, and you don’t need to actually know the ins and outs of tennis to enjoy this story. I don’t know a thing about tennis, but the author keeps it simple and now I know a lot more about this game than I did before I read this book.

I can’t express enough how much I enjoyed this book. It’s definitely going on my favorites shelf. I loved absolutely everything about it, including the ending, and I can’t wait to read the next installment in this mindblowing series!  I enjoy books with strong, self-assured female protagonists and this novel reminded me of Georgetown Academy by Jessica Koosed Etting and Alyssa Embree Schwartz; another series with similar strong and self-assured female leads. Game, Set, Match is an absolute must-read!

 

 

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Game, Set, Match by Jennifer Iacopelli has 54 reviews on Goodreads. Read it here.

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ABOUT the AUTHOR

Jennifer Iacopelli was born in New York and has no plans to leave...ever. Growing up, she read everything she could get her hands on, but her favorite authors were Laura Ingalls Wilder, L.M. Montgomery and Frances Hodgson Burnett all of whom wrote about kick-ass girls before it was cool for girls to be kick-ass. She got a Bachelor's degree in Adolescence Education and English Literature quickly followed up by a Master's in Library Science, which lets her frolic all day with her books and computers, leaving plenty of time in the evenings to write and yell at the Yankees, Giants and her favorite tennis players through the TV.

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BLOG TOUR: EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY: SWEET MERCY by Ann Tatlock

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Sweet Mercy

Stunning coming-of-age drama set during the Great Depression and Prohibition

When Eve Marryat's father is laid off from the Ford Motor Company in 1931, he is forced to support his family by leaving St. Paul, Minnesota, and moving back to his Ohio roots. Eve's uncle Cyrus has invited the family to live and work at his Marryat Island Ballroom and Lodge.

Eve can't wait to leave St. Paul, a notorious haven for gangsters. At seventeen, she considers her family to be "good people," not lawbreakers like so many in her neighborhood. Thrilled to be moving to a "safe haven," Eve soon forms an unlikely friendship with a strange young man named Link, blissfully unaware that her uncle's lodge is anything but what it seems.

When the reality of her situation finally becomes clear, Eve is faced with a dilemma. Does she dare risk everything by exposing the man whose love and generosity is keeping her family from ruin? And when things turn dangerous, can she trust Link in spite of appearances?

EXCERPT

“Well, that’s easy,” I said. “It’s easy to love Uncle Cy.” After all, he was my ticket out. He was my ticket to a new life. We were leaving the city of sin behind. No more bootleggers, brothel-keepers, gangsters, corrupt lawmen, kidnappers, or murderers. We were on our way to Marryat Island Ballroom and Lodge in Mercy, Ohio, on the Little Miami River. We were on our way to the Promised Land.

Daddy gave me one more glance in the rearview mirror before settling his eyes on the road for the long haul ahead. Mother wiped at tears one last time before resignedly stuffing her handkerchief back into her pocketbook. She turned her face to the window, her features delicate and gentle in profile, her soft brown hair pulled into its usual knot at the back of her head.

I too settled back for the ride. As the newly awakened Minnesota landscape rolled by, I noticed the morning edition of the St. Paul Pioneer Press on the seat beside me. Clear of the city limits and facing the long stretch of open road toward Wisconsin, I picked up the paper to pass the time. When I saw an advertisement on page six for Wilson Tailors, I shook my head and clicked my tongue softly. Even the tailors were making money from the fallout of St. Paul’s sleazy underworld. In bold type the proprietor, Mr. Edmund Wilson, boasted: “Bullet holes rewoven perfectly in damaged clothes.”

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Ann Tatlock

Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy-Award winning novel Promises to Keep. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association "Book of the Year" in fiction for both All the Way Home and I'll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her "one of Christian fiction's better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories." Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina.

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1 winner will receive a copy of 3 of Ann's Books

Sweet Mercy, Travelers Rest and Promises to Keep

Open to US & Canada Only

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REVIEW: A SHADE OF BLOOD (A Shade of Vampire, #2) by Bella Forrest

Title: A Shade of Blood

Series: A Shade of Vampire, #2

Author: Bella Forrest

Publisher: Self-published

Publication Date: April 8, 2013

Genres: YA, Paranormal

Reviewed by: Ellen Fritz

Source: Received from author for review

Ellen’s star rating: 5/5

SUMMARY

In A Shade Of Blood, Bella Forrest transports you deeper into a unique, enthralling and beautifully sensitive story.
Prepare to be lost in its pages…

When Sofia Claremont was kidnapped to a sunless island, uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet, she believed she’d forever be a captive of its dark ruler, Derek Novak.

Now, after months of surviving an endless night, the morning sun may soon rise again for Sofia. Something has possessed Derek’s heart and he offers her a gift no human slave has ever been given in the history of his cursed island: escape. 

High school, prom and a chance to move on with her life now await her. 

But will she be able to forget the horrors that steal her sleep away at night? … and the feelings that haunt her for that tormented prince of darkness?

REVIEW

Although A Shade of Blood is not as action-packed and suspense laden as A Shade of Vampire, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Sofia and Ben had left The Shade and must go back to their perfectly normal lives; something that proves far more difficult than they had anticipated. Sofia finds herself constantly fretting about and, yes, even pining for Derek Novak. Ben on the other hand, is so mentally and physically scarred by the experience that he just wants revenge on the vampires. At the Shade, Derek, now the ruler, is going out of his mind with longing for Sofia, attempting to restore The Shade to its former military strength and trying to deal with the ever present bloodlust. Matters take a nasty turn when Derek's sister, Vivienne, is taken prisoner by the hunters.

Where the first book in the series, A Shade of Vampire, was a really fast paced book, A Shade of Blood is a slower, comfortably paced read. While still skillfully moving the plot along the author dedicates much more time to world building and character development. After the dramatic events of the first book, all the characters need to take stock, make decisions and come to terms with their circumstances. The author handles this aspect masterfully and the characters actually show growth and development throughout the story so that, by the end of this book, they are well fleshed out and more realistic than ever. She also gives the reader more back story about all the main characters and reveals a few astonishing truths about the families of Sofia and Derek in particular. A few new characters are introduced in this story and persons who played a minor role in the previous book, have a bigger part in this one.     

I highly recommend A Shade of Blood to everybody who loves a good vampire story with an amazing amount of depth to it. It would be a good idea however if you could read the first book, A Shade of Vampire, before you read this one. Thumbs up to Bella Forrest for yet another five-star read.

 

 

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