Blog Tour & Review - Mistletoe on 34th Street by Lisa Dickenson

Published 3rd November 2016

Full of romance and festive magic, Mistletoe on 34th Street is the funniest and most charming love story you will read this Christmas!

Olivia has never experienced a snow-covered, ‘traditional’ Christmas before. Having grown up in a family that chose winter sun over decking the halls, she’s not sure what all the fuss is about. So when she and her colleagues are stranded in New York after a work trip, Olivia is perfectly happy spending the holiday season in the Big Apple.

Jon, Olivia’s friend, on the other hand is desperate to get home in time for his big family get-together. Nevertheless, determined to make the best out of the situation, he sets out to show Olivia how enchanting Christmas in New York can be. And when handsome New Yorker Elijah is added to the mix, could the magic of the season finally be working its charm on Olivia? As 25 December draws closer, Olivia suddenly finds herself with a decision to make: who does she really want to kiss under the mistletoe this Christmas?

Links

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Review

*** Disclaimer - I was given a copy of this book by  Little Brown Book Group, in return for an honest review ***

Finally, I have been waiting weeks to post this review. It is finally November and I can indulge, get cosy under a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate and absorb myself in Christmas themed books. This being my first of the year and having read it over Halloween, I had been worried I might not get fully into the Christmas spirit. I need not have worried it did and some. By the way how pretty is the cover? It caught my attention straight away when I received an email about this book.

The author has a talent for drawing you in, making you feel like you know the characters and is extremely good at describing the world around Olivia our main character, in particular, New York. All the characters have varied personalities and they are relatable in their own ways which helped me get past a slightly slow start (which for me is my only real criticism of this book). The story is full of romance, humor and everything that makes Christmas... well Christmas. I laughed out loud at so many parts, I am pretty sure my husband thought I had finally lost my marbles. 

The Author's writing style is fun, lighthearted and ( as someone who has not read anything not in the third person style in a long while) refreshing. Olivia's mind is perfect for telling this story and a pleasure to be 'inside' she is so quirky and her inner monologue is quite often so funny you cannot help but fall in love with her yourself. As we follow her struggle of understanding Christmas from a traditional point of view and her struggles with work, love, being stranded in New York, crossed wires and learning that the past is just that the past. She is surrounded by a variety of entertaining individuals, each bringing their own little thing to the story. Some of which are just perfect and favourites in the book for me. Such as Olivia's dad, Kim (her appearances are just gold) and Abigail. Another thing I found a really nice touch about this book was the well-placed pop culture references. I loved them! Especially regarding a certain favourite childhood toy of mine, I actually think that might be my favourite scene throughout the whole of the book.

As lighthearted, festive and funny as this book is it caught me upside the head with one hell of a wallop of emotion and although not where it may have been attended or where people would think I was a gibbering teary mess. If a book can make me cry, laugh out loud and festive then that is definitely a book worthy of a read.

There is very little to criticize about this book. I found the start slow and for, me it took a while to get hooked. I also had trouble with some of the words used / phrasing, this is in no way the author's fault but my own.

If you are feeling grinchy this year or having trouble deciding on your first or latest festive read for the year, pick up a copy, grab your blanket, your festive pj's or jumper, your favourite winter tipple and settle down to enjoy.

My Rating : 

Author Bio

Lisa Dickenson is the pseudonym for Beyoncé. OK, FINE, THAT'S NOT TRUE. Lisa lives by the Devon seaside, stuffing cream teas in the gobs of anyone who comes to visit, and writing stuff down that she hopes is funny.  Her first novel was the copyright-infringing Sweet Valley Twins: The Twins Holiday Horror, which she wrote in primary school and gave up on after five pages. Twenty-ish years later Lisa went on to be a *real author* and wrote the Novelicious Debut of the Year, The Twelve Dates of Christmas. In summer 2016 out popped You Had Me at Merlot. She’s now keeping her fingers crossed that everyone will like her third paperback, Mistletoe on 34th Street, and that New York City gives her a free apartment near Central Park as a ‘well done’.  

Stalk Lisa at the links below:

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Blog Tour - Reaper Madness by Nessie Strange

Hey all,

Welcome to todays blog post.  A stop in the awesome book blog tour for:

Reaper Madness - Living Dead World #2

by Nessie Strange

Book Description:

This isn’t the afterlife she expected...

Jen MacLellan can’t get the hang of being a reaper. She’s been separated from Jack, the man she loves, and is stuck with an annoying telepathic link to her ill-tempered mentor, Sam. Now Death is breathing down her neck, promising to remove that annoying link if she gives him what he wants. But when reapers begin to disappear back on earth, leaving behind walking, talking dead people, Jen and Sam are thrust into a dangerous mission to recapture the souls, and a passionate physical relationship that complicates everything.

Jack Norris has no memory prior to waking up on the half-demon Nulcifer’s couch six months earlier. As he begins to investigate his past, he discovers a string of past lives tied together by a beautiful, mysterious brunette. Who is she? And why does finding her seem like a life or death proposition?

When Sam falls victim to fate during a routine visit to earth, Jen’s devastated. Desperate to get him back, she runs smack into the man she never thought she’d see again—Jack. She tries to keep her distance, but there’s no time to be awkward if they want to save Sam. When sinister plots are revealed, and betrayals threaten everything, she’s forced to make some tough choices—and learns that life is just as difficult when you’re dead.

Excerpt:

Sam wasn’t kidding when he said I had no idea what I was getting into. And now, as I stared Death in the face—literally—from an uncomfortable black leather executive chair, it occurred to me for the first time that I was in way over my head. Between the pinstriped suit and dark, slicked-back hair, he resembled a character from The Godfather more than a deity who ruled over the dead and dying. Death was one scary motherfucker. And he was smiling.

“Care for a drink, Jennifer?”

I shook my head, but he rose anyway, retrieved two glasses from the cabinet behind him, and filled both with amber-colored liquid. “Relax, I’m not going to bite.”

That wasn’t what I was worried about.

“Now, how long have you been with us? About six earth months?”

I cleared my throat. “Ah yes. About that long.”

“I find it intriguing,” he said. “You have been telepathically linked to one of my reapers this entire time, yet you really demonstrate no capability when it comes to this job. One would think that would give you an edge, hmm?”

Ouch.

“You’d think,” I laughed. OK, I sucked at it. It was only recently I’d been allowed to travel back to earth to help retrieve souls. Sam did most of the work, while I trailed behind, like one of those ankle-biting little purse dogs. What I wanted to know was why he’d insisted I do the job in the first place. I’d never asked to be a reaper. It wasn’t like I wanted this.

“The occupation listed from your most recent incarnation on earth was a mortician, was it not? So you should be accustomed to working with the deceased and the sensitivities that go along with it.”

“These two jobs are absolutely nothing alike.” Shit. I’d reacted again, lost my cool because of something he said. Now that my brain had caught up with my mouth, the fire snuffed out and with it went my nerve. I needed to learn to bite my tongue. Considering the habit crossed over with me from my last life, maybe that was wishful thinking. “Well, I mean, because when I was a mortician, those people didn’t talk back to me.”

Death studied me. “No, I don’t imagine they did.” He scrunched his lips up, his brow furrowed—the only hint of emotion I’d seen from him—but it quickly faded. “What exactly is it that’s holding you back or hanging you up? I’m just trying to understand here.”

“Well, I guess some of it is that I feel bad for them. I want to make things easier, but Sam’s all about scaring them and intimidating and manipulating them. It doesn’t seem right. I mean, we’re their first point of contact with the afterlife; why does it have to be frightening?” I was doing it again. OK, I needed to breathe. “I just… I see the fear in their faces, and it tears at me. It doesn’t feel right. It’s not me.”

Bio:

Nessie is a Massachusetts native and mother of two who has dabbled in everything from abstract painting to freelance sports reporting. She also loves a good story, whether it’s reading or writing one. Living Dead Girl and Reaper Madness, the first two novels in her urban fantasy Living Dead World series, were published by Etopia press in 2014.

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Book of Immortals: Disciple by Kassandra Lynn Interview & Review by Kimmy

Hey all,

Hope you are all keeping well!

I wanted to share with you today a book I read just before the end of last year.  I do hope you enjoy:

Book of Immortals: Disciple 

by Kassandra Lynn

*** Disclaimer *** - I received a free copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating:

Synopsis

You enjoy stories, but would you want to become part of one?

When Celine dies in a plane crash, instead of going to heaven or hell, she becomes the antagonist in the novel she was reading on the flight.

In her new realm of existence, immortals gather energy from the environment to gain prolonged life, while devils suck the life out of mortals in exchange for power. As the secret offspring of the two opposing races, Celine finds herself having to cover up her devil ancestry while enrolled in an immortal school.

She could live with her role, if only she hadn’t read the book. The end means her death, and this time it’s for good. Celine’s high school crush, Erik, who also journeyed to the new world, encourages her to become a devil in order to change her destiny. It sounds like a simple choice, but that would mean betraying the world she had grown fond of.

As her doomsday draws near, Celine must choose a side or use her insider’s knowledge to overturn the plot—and possibly the whole realm in the process.

Interview

Kimmy: Hi Kassandra.  Thanks for taking the time to join us here at Opinionated Cupcakes.

Kassandra: Thanks for having me!

1. Tell us about your book

Book of Immortals: Disciple is a fantasy about a girl who get trapped within a story she read.

Official blurb:
Following her death in a plane crash, Celine discovers that neither heaven nor hell are options for her. Miraculously, she's transformed into the antagonist of the book she'd read prior to her demise. Now, she must navigate this strange new immortal life, knowing that the antagonist's journey won't end well. Between covering up her devil ancestry in an immortal school and trying to understand her feelings for a senior apprentice, can Celine circumvent her impending doomsday to create a favorable plot twist?

2. What inspired you to write your first book?

I like to make up stories in my head when I lie on my bed at night—it's like telling myself a bedtime story. But thinking about something in my mind can be very disorganized and illusive. I want to put them down in writing to make them more concrete and to share my fantasy with others.

3. What books are you reading now?

I just finished Pinehurst, a YA fantasy I enjoyed. I'm currently reading a super long Chinese historical romance that keeps me way past my bedtime. Of Sea and Stone is on my to-read list for the next week.

4. Do you have anything in specific you want to say to your readers?

I grew up reading stories in both English and Chinese. The structure behind fiction and the roles each characters play had intrigued me since I was a child. Somehow, I like many of the antagonists and minor characters more than most of the protagonists—perhaps because the antagonists are the ones with the more interesting traits and strong personality? In my writing, I want to incorporate some of the things I like about minor characters into my protagonists. My protagonists are not always good in the traditional perspectives—some of them might be downright evil and selfish—but they're the ones I like to read about. I hope you find them interesting too.

5. What are the challenges in bringing it to life?

I find it a little challenging to just sit down and write something every single day. Sometimes I have days that I don't feel creative at all and sometimes I get distracted by many things that come up. The first draft is definitely the hardest, although I have the most fun writing it.

Review

The author approached us towards the end of last year to see if either Rinny or myself would be interested in reading and reviewing her book.  The concept seemed quite unique, like nothing I had read recently or could think of and I loved the cover, so I jumped at the chance to read it.

I loved this book.  Being well and truly hooked from the first few pages, it didn't take me long to devour it.  The storyline was interesting and I found myself easily immersed in Shann's world.  I hung off every word, my need to keep reading, just one more page I kept telling myself multiple times on end.  

It was easy to connect with the main character Shann, the author done a great job of developing the her character and a few of the supporting characters.  I do however feel that some of the characters who perhaps started off strong, seemed to dwindle slightly as the story progressed.  My other downside would be the seclusion that each disciple takes to increase their level.  At the start I didn't mind so much.  However towards the end I felt that it had almost become a time passer.

I would've loved to have seen more focus on the world itself, Aaren, Divinity Sabien and some of the character relationships.  I feel Shann's life was very short lived.  Basically I wanted more Aaren and Shann!

Having said that, the author fitted a lot into one book and although some things could have been improved on, I do feel she did it really well.

I highly recommend this book.  I am super excited for the next book in the series.  This really is a new take on fantasy, so what are you waiting for, go get your copy now!

About the Author

Kassandra Lynn is the author of Book of Immortals series. Her favourite genres are fantasy and romance. She especially enjoys reading and writing about unique concepts, unpredictable plots, and protagonists who aren't the typical protagonists.

Useful Links: 

Goodreads | Website | Amazon Author Page

Buy the book:

Amazon

Kimmy Reviews - Jack Strong by Walter Mosley

Hello all,

Happy New Year, I hope you all had a wonderful time during the holidays.  For me I had a nice time, short but brief.  Had to get back to work and reality sooner or later.  Before being off for the holidays, work was crazy.  So to start off the new year, I am catching up on some outstanding reviews.  Hope you enjoy!

*** Disclaimer ***
I received a free copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating:

Synopsis:

In a Las Vegas hotel room, a man awakes to confront his destiny.

Dreaming, Jack hears voices: a frightened child in a hospital, a woman cheating on her husband, a death row inmate. When he wakes, the voices recede, but they do not vanish. He is in a luxurious hotel room on the Vegas strip, and his body is covered in scars. Jack Strong is a patchwork man, his flesh melded together from dozens of men and women, and his mind is the same way. Countless lifetimes are contained within him: people whose lives were cut short, and who see their place in Jack as a chance to make things right.

On behalf of one of them, Jack reignites a feud with some corrupt casino bosses. Drawing on the skills of another, he beats the life out of two bodyguards. Jack fights for control as he lurches from impulse to impulse, certain that somewhere within him lies a soul. The answer may lie with whoever is tailing him in a sleek black car--if Jack can somehow confront him. 

Review

This author is completely new to me.  I came across this book browsing Netgalley back in 2014.  The cover caught my attention and the synopsis sounded very interesting.

Jack, our main character is like a patchwork quilt, made up of many different male and female body parts.  These also contribute to Jack's different personalities and the shifts in their points of view throughout the story.

Unfortunately this short novella didn't do much for me.  It just felt too alike to the beginning of a story, however this one,  never quite did begin. 

Useful Links

 Goodreads | Author | Amazon UK | Kobo

Thunderlight by Adrienne Woods Blog Tour & Review by Kimmy

Book Details

Title: Thunderlight, Book Two

Author: Adrienne Woods

Series: The Dragonian Series

Publisher: Fire Quill Publishing

Release Date: 20 November 2014

ISBN: 9780992244613

Synopsis 

Vibrant, scale swathed wings… Abilities that can be harnessed by a chosen few… Dragons…

All this may seem like old news, but for seventeen year-old Elena Watkins the world of Paegeia is not finished revealing all its secrets. During a summer break intended for relaxation, she discovers that her harrowing adventure to retrieve the King of Lion sword wasn’t the destiny foretold by the cryptic Viden, a dragon with the ability to see a person’s true fate. The words inked onto the page of the mysterious Book of Shadows remains black and Elena must return to Dragonia Academy to discover their true meaning.
Upon her return to the magnificent castle she has to face a challenge of a different kind, keeping her boyfriend Lucian McKenzie, the Prince of Tith and love of her life, away from the dangerous new student, Paul Sutton. As a Wyvern, Paul has made it his mission to claim Elena as his rider but he is proving to be more perilous than at first glance.

Everyone knew that Wyverns were bad news, and just as evil as the darkness that lurked inside Blake Leaf, the Rubicon forced to fight against his inner nature every day. But Elena can see a small light lurking in the darkness, a destiny still unfulfilled; to prove that Wyverns can be claimed.

Will Lucian’s dark secret about Wyverns and Elena’s need to prove their true nature cause their love to be torn apart? And which of Elena’s friends will be sacrificed this time if she is wrong?

Excerpt two

As we continued to look for the jerseys and get ready Isabel came up to give us a five minute warning. Blake had vanished around five, simply saying that he would meet us there. Sir Robert had given him his ticket before he disappeared so he would be able to find us. 

Ever since that night at camp when he got wasted and he put me under some sort of hypnotizing spell which almost made us kiss, which was seriously ridiculous as he despised me, he’d been acting like his old self; arrogant and a total dick. Something about Blake being wasted and for some reason always wanting me, was really freaking me out…but it also made me wonder about a lot of things he was hiding and maybe that those things only came out when he was truly drunk. 

I shook my head and the thoughts of Blake washed away as I grabbed my bag and followed Sammy to Sir Robert’s old Sedan. 

The drive wasn’t that long and I gasped when Sir Robert pulled into the parking area in front of a giant mountain. There were at least a million cars already parked in neat rows and the noise coming from inside the mountain told me that it must be the location where the Warbel games took place. 

Crowds of people wearing different colored jerseys, caps and scarves huddled around. Some even carried flags and I saw a yellow flag with a huge hornet on top of what looked like a raider. 

Raiders were flying objects that made me think of an enhanced skateboard. 

Everywhere in Paegeia’s parks, and ports, people flew on them. You needed a special license for one and I tried so hard to suppress my laughter when Becky told me that her next try would be her fiftieth or so to get hers. Becky wasn’t one of the safest drivers out there. I still wondered every time I was her passenger if the inspector that gave hers hadn’t been smoking weed or something. 

We climbed out of the car and a feeling of excitement rose inside my chest as I followed the Leafs into the opening at the bottom of the mountain. It was dark as the only light came from tiny globes mounted in the wall. It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the soft glow of the lights as we piled into another tunnel. 

People pushed and shoved us as we tried to make our way to our seats. The pace we moved was reasonable for such a big crowd, but it was still too dark and too cramped up for my liking. We finally stopped when the people in front of us didn’t move. I hated every second we had to wait for whatever held up the crowd to pass. I was feeling jumpy and took huge breaths as the heaviness on my chest came back, mixed with a shot of adrenaline. 

“Are you okay?” Sammy asked softly and I realized that I was squeezing her hand really tightly in my own. 

“Sorry, just crowded. What’s happening at the front?” 

“It’s normal, we are close to the check-in point.” 

I flinched as a huge horn blew right behind me. It echoed off the wall and sounded like an archangel announcing doomsday. 

The crowd barely moved now, and I felt like punching the guy when he blew on it a second and third time. The other people thought it was funny, and I wished that I felt the same spirit inside of me, but this dark passageway seriously was starting to creep me out. 

After a few minutes, I could finally see the outline of what looked like five cubicles and people moving into rows. We took the one closest to us and waited until it was time to present our tickets. Ours had blue dots on them and I still had no idea what I was going to find myself at tonight. 

It took a couple of seconds for my eyes to adjust as we entered toward a lighter room. Six black elevators, three on a side opposite one another, made my heart jump a bit faster. 

In Paegeia, an elevator wasn’t just an elevator. It was how the people of Paegeia traveled around the world, if you were a dragon, and inside Paegeia, if you were human. I hadn’t experienced it myself and had only seen them once inside their funny looking tubes when we went to fetch George at the Wall when he’d come back from the other side. 

“Are these the same elevators they have at the Wall?” I spoke softly. 

She laughed at the small shake in my voice. “No, Elena. They are normal elevators.” 

People surged forward again as they maximized the elevator’s weight limit and I saw Sir Robert pushing the blue button. He wore a black t-shirt with a pair of jeans and a baseball cap. Wrapped around his neck was a green and black stripped scarf. 

Sir Robert Leaf was Sammy and Blake’s father and, The Greatest King That Ever Lived, King Albert’s dragon. He looked nothing like the figure inside the museum of Etan, and he was nothing like I’d imagined. He was kind, always friendly and no matter how much Blake pissed him off, he would give me a soft look and a friendly smile. It was hard to imagine that he was Chromatic, a Night Villain, and one of the vilest dragons that roamed this world. The people of Paegeia didn’t address him as Sir Robert anymore. Some of them even thought that he’d had something to do with betraying the King, but I knew better. He missed his Rider every single day; he missed his Dragonian. 

His wife, Isabel, stood next to him with her arm wrapped in his. She wore a parka with a green and black striped beanie. A huge smile, along with pure excitement, was written all over her face. She was the spitting image of her sister. She had a twin sister who I was very familiar with. The first time I saw her I’d thought for a second that Constance, the doctor at the Infirmary was Sammy and Blake’s mom. 

Sammy had doubled over with laughter when she saw the expression on my face when I first met Isabel. She was a Swallow Annex just like Constance and I was sure if you put them together, you wouldn’t be able to tell them apart just by looking at them. She was also just as kind as her twin and made me feel at home the first moment I stepped inside their house. 

The elevator screamed as we ascended into the peak of the mountain. It felt like forever and a million things that could go wrong filled my head. The door finally opened and we all had to get out so that a couple at the back could exit. 

When the door opened for about the fifth time, we spilled out.

Bonus Excerpt

ANGER, BETRAYAL, AND HATE turned my stomach to acid. It consumed my mind and I watched as bottles, papers and books on the desk flew off and crashed to the floor. 

A maid rushed to my side. She didn’t say anything, but her eyes reflected fear in their watery depths. The dustpan in her hand trembled as she started to sweep up the jagged shards of glass. Rising, she began to straighten the books that had fallen to the floor in a heap. Every few seconds her eyes darted nervously in my direction as if a mere breath would make me lash out at her with my outstretched hand. 

I touched her face gently until my hand reached her neck, tightening slowly as my anger began to rise once again. My grip tightened around her soft, shapely neck as I lifted her up from her position at my feet until her face was level with mine. Listening carefully I heard her heart fluttering like a bird trapped inside a cage. 

“How did I become this way?” I spoke, giving voice to my reality softly. 

She just stared at me with round, brown unblinking eyes. Her eyes were sunken deep into the surface of her face and her cheek bones were sharply defined. 

Looking at her sullen face made me feel worse. I lifted up my other hand and struck the woman hard across her cheek. 

A cry left her mouth and I threw her from me as if she weighed nothing. She skidded across the floor landing in a heap against a wall of cold, unforgiving stone. If I was a dragon I would blast fire, reduce this wretched place to a pile of insignificant ashes. 

Two other maids, hearing the startled cry, rushed into the room. Their eyes were wide as they took in the room and the immobile heap near the far wall. “Sorry, m’lord,” the older one said, her voice slightly trembling. “She’s new, we will train her better.” 

They picked up the maid who had come to and was sobbing. She clutched the side of her face, covering the huge, red handprint where I’d struck her. 

I nodded. The old maid knew her place well, although I still didn’t care for her name, she knew where she stood. 

I plunged myself down onto the chair and closed my eyes. A silent roar growled inside of me lighting a fire of rage deep in my core. 

The girl had made it. 

The Rubicon saved her life, so a part of him was still fighting me. I could still see her eyes searching mine. They bore into my soul, seeking answers. How was this possible! The wall wouldn’t allow any human to go to the other side. 

Albert’s laughter echoed inside the castle; a startling reminder that good would always win. He would pay dearly for this. I would find a way, and I promised myself she wouldn’t live much longer. 

I pushed myself up from the chair and rubbed my face hard. The emotion of my anger escaped my lips making a sickening sound. Rage that emanated from deep within me overpowered the haunting laughter and echoed throughout the entire castle. 

“Master,” Cain’s voice interrupted my thoughts. 

“Speak, my loyal servant,” I said out loud. “What is the news?” 

“Everything is in place. We won’t fail you,” his voice said in my head. 

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and let it out hard. “We’ll see.”

Review

Author Bio

Adrienne Woods was born and raised in South Africa, where she still lives with her husband and two beautiful little girls. She always knew she was going to be a writer, but it only started to really happen about four years ago. In her free time―if she gets any because moms don’t really have free time―she loves to spend it with friends, whether it’s a girls night out, or just watching a movie. She’s a very chilled person. Her writing career started with Firebolt, book one in the Dragonian series. There will be four books in total, including a further two to three books, which will be stories that take place within the Dragonian series. Her other series, Dream Casters, will be released mid 2015. She also writes in different genres, and her woman’s fiction, The Pregnancy Diaries, will be published under a pseudonym. And then, she has a paranormal series by the name of the Aswang series, which will consist of about ten novels. And if that wasn’t enough, there is another series, Guardians of Monsters, which will be released in 2016.

Author’s Links: 

Blog | Facebook Book Series Page | G+

Twitter | Website | Fire Quill Publishing

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