Winner of Cover Real and Giveaway!

The winner of the two E-books from Jamie Magee is............Ellen Trieu! Congrats Ellen! I sent off your email to Jamie and Cynthia (BRA) and they will send you your prize.

Thank you to everyone who participated and Every one of you will be entered to win the grand prize over at Book Readers Addicts Blog. Good luck to you all!

Day 7: Image by Jamie Magee Cover Reveal and Giveaway (CLOSED)

Today I have the honor of being part in the Cover Reveal for Jamie Magee new book Image. Image is book 3 in the Insight series and I adore them. So here is our part of the cover. Its freaking awesome. Can't wait to see how it all looks together.

Jamie is also very kindly offering you guys a chance to win Insight (book 1) and Embody (book 2) in the series.

To enter all you have to do is

Go "Like" Jamie's Fan Page: Insight Jamie Magee 

Comment on the blog post

And fill out the form below

Giveaway is International and ends on September 22nd

Review: The Demon Trapper's Daughter Done By Autum Frailey

 Synopsis:

Demon Trapper Riley Blackthorne just needs a chance to prove herself—and that’s exactly what Lucifer is counting on…

It’s the year 2018, and with human society seriously disrupted by the economic upheavals of the previous decade, Lucifer has increased the number of demons in all major cities. Atlanta is no exception. Fortunately, humans are protected by Demon Trappers, who work to keep homes and streets safe from the things that go bump in the night. Seventeen-year-old Riley, only daughter of legendary Demon Trapper Paul Blackthorne, has always dreamed of following in her father’s footsteps. When she’s not keeping up with her homework or trying to manage her growing attraction to fellow Trapper apprentice, Simon, Riley’s out saving citizens from Grade One Hellspawn. Business as usual, really, for a demon-trapping teen. When a Grade Five Geo-Fiend crashes Riley’s routine assignment at a library, jeopardizing her life and her chosen livelihood, she realizes that she’s caught in the middle of a battle between Heaven and Hell.

My Review: 

The Demon Trapper’s Daughter is a wonderful read that will hook you from page one. I absolutely loved Riley (the main character) and I also loved her attitude and the amount of emotions that Jana put into this book. It seemed like every time Riley cried, I cried. I could relate to her in a way that it doesn’t seem a lot of authors can accomplish. And I believe that everyone will be able to connect with her as well. I also loved the other characters Denver Beck and Simon. I could also relate to Beck in many ways and I swear that I know a few guys that are exactly like him. Same with Simon. 

In this book Jana seems to put every single character through some extremely hard times. Especially Riley. But you know what that showed me? It showed me that if Riley can pull through the things that she did….then so can the rest of us. She lost some very important people in her life and almost lost others, but each time this happened she would pull through in the end and prove to everyone that being the only girl Demon Trapper was a privilege that she was going to continue to pursue no matter what. Now I don’t know about you but doesn’t that seem to make Riley one badass main character? 

I personally can’t wait until I can get y hands on Soul Thief/Forbidden. This story drew me in so much that I need to keep the story going. It is a must read in my eyes and I can’t believe that I waited so long to actually read it.

5/5 Stars

Review: Wolfsbane (Nightshade Novel 2) by Nadège Richards

Okay, So I may just be a tad late but bare with me. I was in NY for vacation all summer and I was late to getting to a bookstore because there weren't many around where I stayed. But I finally got my hands on a copy of Wolfsbane and felt the need to share my opinions. If you haven't read it yet, I hope I inspire you to do so.

Synopsis:

This thrilling sequel to the much-talked-about Nightshade begins just where it ended-Calla Tor wakes up in the lair of the Searchers, her sworn enemy, and she's certain her days are numbered. But then the Searchers make her an offer-one that gives her the chance to destroy her former masters and save the pack-and the man-she left behind. Is Ren worth the price of her freedom? And will Shay stand by her side no matter what? Now in control of her own destiny, Calla must decide which battles are worth fighting and how many trials true love can endure and still survive.

My Review:

Where to start?! First off, Cremer created this perfect series most girls can relate to. It has the normal cliché love triangle, but what girl doesn’t have or wish they had that problem! I was in love with this fascinating new installment to the series since page one. It picks up where Nightshade left us hanging and from there you’re completely lost in its trance.  Wolfsbane had more of the action we were looking for in Nightshade. Of course there were some steamy scenes, but danger seemed to be everywhere so there wasn’t much of it. Calla unites with the Searchers, who she once believed were the enemies, knowing she can’t return to Vail because the Keepers will surely kill her.  She learns the many secret and lies the Keepers have hidden from her, even the truth about Renier’s mother’s death. Andrea executed this perfectly. She weaved the two novels together like magic, and I honestly can say I didn’t see any of it coming. Calla makes new friends with the Keepers and all in the same chapter, looses some. Jumping through portals, desperately trying to get her pack back together, I think was the most exciting part of the book. The world of the Searchers was totally different and opened your eyes to something new. It really got your mind reeling. Calla’s fight was different this time. Instead of focusing on saving Shay, it was saving her pack and destroying the Keepers. But, of course, that is easier said then done. Her brother undergoes a major loss, half her pack no longer trusts her, Ren feels the only way he can make her stay is by hurting her, and the Nightshades lose an elder Alpha. Though through this – the complications, the perplexities, the lies, the blood, the bones – Calla hangs on and fights till there is nothing left to fight for.

 On a negative note, I didn’t appreciate the way Calla constantly continued to switch back and forth between love interests. I’m fully aware that is what a love triangle will do to a gal, but I just don’t think it should’ve been that hard to decide. I felt like Andrea was trying to help us understand Calla’s struggle, but all in the same time, she was giving me the impression that the reader wouldn’t “get” her pain if she didn’t put us through it as well. Calla couldn’t exactly be with Shay in the way she wanted to without thinking about Ren every second. If she was still unclear about who her heart belonged to, she should have settled that from the get-go. But that is my only opinion. Everything else – STUNNING! Andrea Cremer is a genius, and with that, I convince you to go to your local bookstore and pick up a copy if you haven’t already. You won’t be displeased, I swear it! ♥

4.5/ 5

Winner of Romancing Your Dark Side Tour with A Jacob Sweeny

Once again I am going to say thank you to both AJ and BK for joining us yesterday and sharing their thoughts on developing characters. I really enjoyed reading what both of you guys had to say! Okay so here is the winner of the Pulse Of Heroes Mini Calendar:

Lissette Martinez

Congrats girl! Please make sure you respond to my email within 24 hours or you will forfeit the prize to someone else! 

Winner of Giveaway #6

I would like to say congrats to all five of the winners! And here they are:

Savanna Ucinski - You get your choice between Spartan Heart 1 or Spartan Heart 2
Nat Cleary - Bookmark
Alice Priday - Bookmark
Terri M - Bookmark
Lisa Sperry - Bookmark
Clarissa P - Bookmark

Thanks to Everyone for participating in these events and Hopefully to another 6 more months of fun!

Guest Post and Giveaway with A Jacob Sweeny

First I would love to say Welcome to the amazing AJ and Thank you for doing this with us! She is here to talk about the developing of her characters in Pulse Of Heroes.

A few thoughts about developing and writing the characters of Pulse of Heroes - A. Jacob Sweeny

While writing the characters for Pulse of Heroes I had to keep a couple of things in mind, and they were to make the characters believable and at the same time, make them extraordinary.

Michelle is the main character and she is a teenage girl who is experiencing love for the first time. But not only is she experiencing love, she steps into a world where normal adult experiences are like child's-play by her love interest and all his friends.

As I wrote her I constantly had to remind myself not to give her adult ideas and views. I had to go back to the time when I was a teenager and to the world that I saw through those eyes. I also spent a lot of time with teenage girls to get back that sense of what they are like.

Not every teenage girl I met was the same. Like adults, they have their own experiences and backgrounds that make each and every one of them unique. What they do all have in common is the lack of experience. So, a lot of their knowledge is based on logic, common sense, or plain learning, rather then personal experience. I tried to instill that sense of knowledge in Michelle, where she was smart but through learning, or logic. However through Elliot, who has surpassed all human experiences, she also learns that life doesn't always make sense, and neither is it logical at all times.

The title of the book itself lends the reader an eye into the story before they even read it. The word Hero is one that promises characters with extra human, extra-ordinary aspects. But even with so-called heroes, it is very important to give each character a reason to exist other than just furthering the plot along. In a long saga such as Pulse of Heroes, I was able to do that. I didn't want to hurry and tell the main story, I wanted to open up another reality to the reader and invite them in to meet these people as if they were real.

Besides the story arc of each character, it's important to remember that every person reacts differently to whatever is the stimulant, based on his or her background and experiences. The hero's reaction therefore has to be more intense at times, while almost completely subdued at others. They have had lifetimes of lessons to figure out to themselves what is important and what isn't.

Thanks AJ for sharing this with us! I loved hearing all about how you developed your characters :D

Now for the fun part :P She has kindly donated a AWESOME Pulse of Heroes Mini Calendar to one lucky winner! Just comment below with any questions that you have for AJ and your email address. I will chose one lucky winner late tomorrow night.

P.S. Dont forget to join her Facebook page to keep up with all things Pulse of Heroes and more:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pulse-Of-Heroes/108874512509753

Creating Believable Characters by BK Walker

Whether we write YA or Romance, one thing that is most important as a writer is having your readers connect with your characters. Everyone reads to be able to escape from the mundane. Life is hard, and we all have some sort of fantasy that we wish could happen in our lives. We wish to meet a sweet angel, handsome vampire, sensual werewolf, let's face it, most of us would just love to be swept off our feet. How do we do that? We read...

So what is it in a character that we love most? Placing ourselves in the book, pretending we're the ones that are being romanced, rooting for the underdog hoping they come out on top, having our own thoughts as to how a story might go.

Character development isn't all that difficult, as long as the character is meant for the storyline. It is up to us as the writer, to portray each character so they are easily imaginable to the reader's mind. How do we do that? We put ourselves not only in the shoes of the character, but of the reader as well. What would we like to be reading? What would we do in the same situation as the character? What if???? These are all questions that we ask ourselves each time we write a character's story. In order to create a believable character, we become the character.

When writing young adult characters, we have to remember that it is for the younger audience, and this is when it becomes fun. We get to be a teen again, or young adult. We get to do things over, so to speak, the things we wish we could change. You know that old saying, if I knew back then what I know now? Well, we get to actually change the past for the better.

Stories hold some piece of our past or present, something we've probably experienced at least once. So when writing a character scene, we live through the character. Becoming the character, creating drive, tension, passion, all the things we readers love to indulge in. Most characters people can relate to in some form, whether it be wishing they could be with that hero or heroine, having experienced the situation themselves, or just simply remembering a time when dreams weren't so far out of reach, and maybe can be within reach again.

 

Also a big thank you to BK for joining us and sharing your thoughts as well :D