Blog tour: Oxford Whispers

Title: Oxford Whispers

Author: Marion Croslydon

Publisher: Carlux Publishing

Publish Date:  08 October 2012

Pages: 324

ISBN:  9780957282407

Source:  for blog tour

Genre:  YA, paranormal, romance

Series:  The Oxford Trilogy

Other books in series:  Oxford Shadows

Other books by author:  No Reverse (12 August 2013)

Rating: liked

Madison LeBon is dead set against the dead.

Her fresh start at Oxford University is a brand new beginning. She finally has a chance to turn the page on her psychic powers and cumbersome voodoo heritage. Snakes, dolls, ghosts, and spirits: Farewell…

Not quite.

When the tragic lovers in a painting—the subject of her first history class—begin to haunt her, she must accept her gift before life imitates art. The lovers warn her against their own nemesis, a Puritan from the English Civil War. Unfortunately, said nemesis is now going all homicidal on Madison.

College becomes more complicated when she falls hard for Rupert Vance, a troubled aristocrat and descendant of one of the characters in the painting. With the spirit of a murderer after her, Madison realizes that her own first love may also be doomed…

How would you react if your family has history of going crazy from interacting with ghosts?  That is the history of Madison LeBon.  She has always tried to stay away from this; distancing herself from what has troubled her family.  That is why she went to Yale and then to Oxford University in England.  Up until then, she has had a few interactions with ghosts.  When she got to England, she made friends in Ollie and Pippa, who introduces her to Rupert.

At first glance, Madison is turned off by Rupert because of his playboy ways.  She avoids him when he talks to her.  This works until Jackson McCain, her tutor and boss, pairs them up for study partners.   This job with Jackson is helping her to figure out what is happening in Oxford.  She is drawn to this painting, The Wounded Cavalier by William Shakespeare Burton and to the characters of Sarah, Robert Dallembert and Peter Perkins.   Even though she is seeing visions of Sarah and what happened in her time, it isn’t until the warning that “Peter will kill you” that she takes it seriously.  What happened between Sarah, Robert and Peter?  Will Madison stay to her initial feelings toward Rupert?  Is Madison in danger?

At first this book was a little difficult to get into the rhythm of it.  It would switch between Madison’s and Sarah’s time.  Once I got reading a little, it got better.  I liked how Madison didn’t want to accept her heritage and the gifts that her family had.  It’s difficult to be different and Madison had seen the repercussions of this first hand.  I also liked that she didn’t like the jock right away, or she didn’t want to admit to anyone that she did.   Madison didn’t want to trust anyone with her secret in fear that they would shy away from her. 

Rupert had his own struggles.  He struggled with his father.  He said his father couldn’t stand him.  They constantly butted heads.  He struggled with the grief of losing his mother; then to have this “American Girl” come in and throw him for a loop.  I liked that Rupert wasn’t perfect and he never pretended to be. 

This people that “haunted” (I use that term loosely) Madison were centered on a painting.  I love art and that made me like this book even more. After reading the synopsis for Oxford Shadows and discovering it was centered on music, I think that would enjoy that book also.

Click on the photo for the complete listing of the blog tour for Oxford Whispers and Oxford Shadows

In addition to being an author, I work as an entrepreneur, wife and mother-of-one but spend a good deal of time with books, DVDs and listening to my mp3 player; all for the sake of inspiration, of course.

My debut series, The Oxford Trilogy, has been a blast to write because I can indulge in my favorite types of music: Country and English rock.

My main goal as a writer is to make readers dream bigger and cause their hearts to beat a little faster.

Since my writing is all about sharing dreams and stories, I love connecting with fellow readers and authors.

First prize: signed copy of Oxford Shadows + Oxford University T-Shirt

Second prize: signed copy of Oxford Shadows + $10 Amazon gift card

... and then 3 people can win an ecopy of Oxford Shadows

All are International

an AToMR tours giveaway

Blog Tour: Storm

Title:  Storm

Author: Evan Angler

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publish Date:  07 May 2013

Pages: 265

ISBN:  978-1-4003-2197-1

Source:  ARC for book tour

Genre:  YA, dystopian, Christian fiction

Series:  Swipe

Other books in series:  Swipe, Sneak, Spark (05 November 2013)

Rating: Really liked

In a future United States under the power of a charismatic leader, everyone gets the Mark at age thirteen. The Mark allows citizen to shop, go to school, and even get medical care--without it, you are on your own. Few refuse to get the Mark. Those who do . . . disappear.

Logan Langly went in to get his Mark, but he backed out at the last minute. Ever since, he's been on the run from government agents and on a quest to find his sister Lily, who disappeared when she went to get her Mark five years earlier. His journey leads him to befriend the Dust, a vast network of Markless individuals who dissent against the iron-grip rule of the government. Along the way to the capital to find Lily, the Dust receive some startling information from the Markless community, opening their eyes to the message of Christianity and warning that humanity is now entering the End of Days.

In "Storm," Logan and his friends are the leaders of the Markless revolution. But while some Markless are fighting Chancellor Cylis' army, the Dust is busy trying to find a cure for a horrible epidemic sweeping through the Marked. And it's difficult for them to know who to trust, especially when they aren't sure if Logan's sister Lily, one of the commanders in Cylis' army, is on their side or not. And all across the nation--and the world--the weather is become less stable, and a storm is brewing that bigger than any of them could have ever imagined....

**I received this book in exchange for an honest review**

What would you do when you realize that things are not what they seem?  That is what happens to Logan Langly in Storm.  This is the third book in the Swipe series.   The Markless Revolution is ever present in the larger cities, which is calling out more and more IMPS (International Moderators of Peace).  It seems that since the discovery of the army that was trained in secret, the Markless have been making their presence known.   One of the Markless is Tyler, who is searching for his friend among the IMPS that are drawn out.  He has not given up the search since arriving in Beacon in Sneak.

Meanwhile, Peck, Hailey and Logan (all Markless) are trying to help Erin, who is Marked and is suddenly coming down with a high fever.  Erin has done the research and she thinks that she has come down with Trumpet, a deadly virus which nobody has any idea about.  This virus is only affecting the Marked.  They are trying to find a cure for Trumpet before Erin succumbs to it.  Erin is sure that if they contact the doctor who made the Mark vaccine, she will know how to help her. 

It has long been said that there will be a union between General Lamson and Chancellor Cylis (American Union and European Union, respectively) and this will create the Global Union with both of them at power.  When you are Marked at age thirteen, you pledge to Chancellor Cylis.  This has been ten years in the making. Now that this union is complete, will General Lamson and Chancellor Cylis agree with each other?  Will Erin find out about Trumpet in time to save herself?  What will happen to Logan, Peck and the other Dust members?  Will the American Union survive the threats to them?

I was really excited when I was asked to be a part of this book tour.  I had previously done tours for Swipe and Sneak and really liked the series.  Angler has a way of telling a story.  He doesn’t give you information too quickly or too slowly.  I LOVED how Peck found a copy of Swipe and was reading about them.  That was hilarious.  I also like how Evan Angler is supposedly part of the American Union and is recording their story.

The characters are well developed in this book.  I like how Logan is humble.  He doesn’t really think he is the face of the Markless.  He always tells Peck that he is.  Logan is just a good kid who is trying to do the right thing.   Because there are so many more characters and storylines, you don’t get as much of Logan’s inner dialogue as you did in Swipe.

Overall, I love this series.  It is one that I keep an eye on for the next release.  I really like both Swipe and Sneak and had thought that this would be the last in the series, but Spark is rumored to be released in November.  I cannot tell you how happy that made me.  I was a little antsy going into Storm, because you never can tell if the “ending” of a series is going to live up to what it is in your mind.   Storm didn’t disappoint and had just as much action as the previous two books.  Even though this is categorized as religious fiction, it doesn’t overshadow the plot of the book.  This series is a definite read!

Click on the banner below for the full list of blog tour stops.

Evan lives without the Mark, evading DOME and writing in the shadows of Beacon.

Swipe is his first book. But if anyone asks, you know nothing about it, and you didn't hear anything from him. 

Don't make eye contact if you see him. Don't call his name out loud. He's in enough trouble already.

And so are you, if you've read his book.

YA Bound, Evan Angler and Thomas Nelson are holding a contest for this blog tour.  The prize is print books of Swipe, Sneak and Storm.  If you click on the covers below, it will take you to the Goodreads pages.  US only please.  Please remember to use the email address that you would want them to contact you if you win.

a YA Bound blog tour giveaway

"Anything lines up if you look at it long enough," Arianna said.  "The fact is, countless stories have been written over the years, saying all kinds of things.  We cannot just pick and choose which data to look at based on what fits with the results we already wanted to find.  Even a broken clock is right twice a day."

Blog Tour: Forty Days

Title: Forty Days

Author: Stephanie Parent

Publisher:  Stephanie Parent

Publish Date:  10 February 2013

Pages: 125

ASIN:  B00BEA5MC6

Source:  blog tour

Genre:  young adult, romance

Series:  Neima’s Ark

Other books in series:  Forty Nights (June 2013)

Other books by author:  Defy the Stars, Precious Things

Rating:  Liked

The entire village knows Neima’s grandfather is a madman. For years the old man has prophesied that a great flood is coming, a flood disastrous enough to blot out the entire earth. He’s even built an enormous ark that he claims will allow his family to survive the deluge. But no one believes the ravings of a lunatic…

…until the rain starts. And doesn’t stop. Soon sixteen-year-old Neima finds her entire world transformed, her life and those of the people she loves in peril. Trapped on the ark with her grandfather Noah, the rest of her family, and a noisy, filthy, and hungry assortment of wild animals, will Neima find a way to survive?

With lions, tigers, and bears oh my, elephants and flamingos too, along with rivalries and betrayals, a mysterious stowaway, and perhaps even an unexpected romance, FORTY DAYS is not your grandfather’s Noah’s Ark story.

FORTY DAYS is approximately 45000 words, the length of a shorter novel, and is the first installment in a two-part epic story. It does contain a cliffhanger ending.

Readers looking for a traditional, religiously oriented version of the Noah’s Ark story should be warned that FORTY DAYS may not appeal to them. The novel will, however, appeal to lovers of apocalyptic fiction, historical fiction, and romance, as well as anyone who’s ever dreamed of having a baby elephant as a pet.

**I received this book as part of a blog tour in exchange for an honest review**

What would you do if your family had the person who the whole village pegged as crazy?  That is Neima’s grandfather, Noah.  Noah has been telling people of the end of days for years now and is now putting all his resources into building this ark.

Neima is affected by everybody thinking that her grandfather is crazy.  There are some people in the village who won’t even associate with her because of it.  It isn’t fair how it doesn’t affect other people in her family like her cousin, Kenaan. 

Then Noah calls a family meeting.  Neima’s mother thinks it is to announce that Kenaan and she will marry.  Neima does not know if she is ready to marry and is worried about the meeting.  Noah tells them that the time is come for the great flood and they need to prepare.  As if things weren’t bad enough, now Noah wants them to bring in animals to take on the ark with them.  That surely isn’t going to win Neima any friends.  Good thing she has friends in Jorin and Derya, who don’t bother with what people say about Neima’s family.

Then the rains come.  Her family is all in the ark.  This includes Kenaan, who she still hasn’t spoken to after the preparations.  What will happen between Neima and Kenaan?  Will Neima see her friends again?

Everyone has heard of the tale of Noah and the Ark.  This story gives a little different spin on it.  It is told from the POV of the sixteen year old granddaughter of Noah.  When I first started reading this book, I couldn’t stop thinking about Bill Cosby’s “Noahs” and how comedic they were.  I liked that this book thought up of some of the same issues.

I liked how you could tell that Neima was young by the problems that she faced, but they were still relevant to the time period.   It is sometimes hard to understand the customs of another time period, especially one that is drastically different than your own.  In Forty Days, it was well explained what the social norms were (i.e.: men sleeping in one room and women sleeping in another).  I also liked how Parent explained why she wrote things in the way she did.  I think that this was important given the sacredness of the story of Noah.  

Neima as a protagonist is wavering.  She has an ongoing battle with herself on what she wants to say versus what she really says.  She doesn't always think inline with what the customs or social norms are.  She is just finding her voice in this first book and it will be interesting to see how that develops in Forty Nights.

I only rated this as “like” or 3 stars because it can be a little heavy reading at times.  Given the story, it would be difficult to be otherwise.  I’m not saying that you cannot just read the story and really like it without all the “heaviness” (history, social norms, etc).  I just couldn’t bypass those.  All in all, it was a good read and I’m excited to read Forty Nights when it comes out in June.

 Click on the banner to see the full list of blog tour stops.

Stephanie Parent is a graduate of the Master of Professional Writing program at USC and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts as a piano major. She moved to Los Angeles because of Francesca Lia Block's WEETZIE BAT books, which might give you some idea of how much books mean to her. She also loves dogs, books about dogs, and sugary coffee drinks both hot and cold.

YA Bound and Stephanie Parent is holding a giveaway with this blog tour.  This contest is international.  You can win:

(1) e-book of Forty Days and $10 gift card to Amazon (INT)

(3) e-book copies of Forty Days (INT)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 On sale for 99¢