Review For GUNSLINGER GIRL By Lyndsay Ely- 3 1/2*

Title: Gunslinger Girl

Series: (at this point a standalone)

Author: Lyndsay Ely

Genre: YA Dystopian

Rating: * * * 1/2

Publishers: James Patterson Presents

(Jan 2, 2018)

Hardback: 432 pages

ISBN: 098-0316555104

FTC Disclosure: My copy

James Patterson presents a bold new heroine--a cross between Katniss Everdeen and Annie Oakley: Serendipity Jones, the fastest sharpshooter in tomorrow's West. 
Seventeen-year-old Serendipity "Pity" Jones inherited two things from her mother: a pair of six shooters and perfect aim. She's been offered a life of fame and fortune in Cessation, a glittering city where lawlessness is a way of life. But the price she pays for her freedom may be too great....

In this extraordinary debut from Lyndsay Ely, the West is once again wild after a Second Civil War fractures the U.S. into a broken, dangerous land. Pity's struggle against the dark and twisted underbelly of a corrupt city will haunt you long after the final bullet is shot.

This was an okay read. It didn't blow me away but I did manage to read it pretty quickly. Serendipity is not even close to being in the same category as Katniss Everdeen, however. I think marketers really make a huge mistake when they compare a new book to the incomparable-IE Hunger Games or Harry Potter. They hold up an example that can rarely be met and readers go away disappointed with what was a good read just not the next great read. 

That said I did enjoy the trip just wish there had been a bit more Western feel to it given the cover, the very awesome cover! I also wish there had been a bit more backstory of the Second Civil War. I feel like this was an area that was so lacking and could have added a lot more oomph to the story. I liked that this didn't have the typical love triangle (thank you so much, Lyndsay) in so many YA books and loved the theater aspect of it. Several reviewers compared it to a carnivale type but it actually gave me a Moulin Rouge feel. This book had a good strong start to it but it dragged a bit in the middle before it's grand finale. There is definitely a possibility of another book in this series with the way it ends and the author says "We'll see" when questioned on this. 

Lyndsay Ely (pronounced “eel-y”, as in those eels are looking very eel-y today) is a writer who currently calls Boston home. She is a geek, a foodie, a feminist, and has never met an antique shop she didn’t like. Her favorite color is crimson, and her favorite book is The Count of Monte Cristo.

Gunslinger Girl is her debut novel.

Blog Tour & Giveaway For THE EVAPORATION OF SOFI SNOW By Mary Weber

The Evaporation of Sofi Snow 

(The Evaporation of Sofi Snow #1)

by Mary Weber

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: June 6th 2017

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia

Ever since the Delonese ice-planet arrived eleven years ago, Sofi's dreams have been vivid. Alien. In a system where Earth's corporations rule in place of governments and the humanoid race orbiting the moon are allies, her only constant has been her younger brother, Shilo. As an online gamer, Sofi battles behind the scenes of Earth's Fantasy Fighting arena where Shilo is forced to compete in a mix of real and virtual blood sport. But when a bomb takes out a quarter of the arena, Sofi's the only one who believes Shilo survived. She has dreams of him. And she's convinced he's been taken to the ice-planet.

Except no one but ambassadors are allowed there.

For Miguel, Earth's charming young playboy, the games are of a different sort. As Ambassador to the Delonese, his career has been built on trading secrets and seduction. Until the Fantasy Fight's bomb goes off. Now the tables have turned and he's a target for blackmail. The game is simple: Help the blackmailers, or lose more than anyone can fathom, or Earth can afford.

BOOK LINKS

•       Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32969235-the-evaporation-of-sofi-snow

•       Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Evaporation-Sofi-Snow-Mary-Weber/dp/0718080904

•       Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Evaporation-Sofi-Snow/9780718080907

•       Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-evaporation-of-sofi-snow-mary-weber/1125138297?ean=9780718080907

•       Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-evaporation-of-sofi-snow

•       IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780718080907

Mary Weber is the multiple-award-winning author of the bestselling young adult Storm Siren Trilogy, and The Evaporation of Sofi Snow series (all by HarperCollins). An avid high school, middle school, and conference speaker, Mary's passion is helping others find their voice amid a world that often feels too loud. When she's not plotting adventures involving tough girls who frequently take over the world, Mary sings 80's hairband songs to her three muggle children, and ogles her husband who looks strikingly like Wolverine. They live in California which is perfect for stalking L.A. bands, Comic-Con, and the ocean.
Mary's debut, Storm Siren, was featured in the Scholastic School Book Fairs, and her novels have been endorsed by bestselling authors Marissa Meyer, Jay Asher, Wendy Higgins, CJ Redwine, and Jonathan Maberry.

You can also find Mary's fun interviews in the paperback of Marissa Meyer's NYT bestselling, CRESS, and in Jay Asher's 13 REASONS WHY movie tie-in edition. Most recently, you can see her and her family as extras in the NETFLIX Original Series, 13 REASONS WHY.

She gets nerdy at @maryweber.com, FACEBOOK @MaryWeberAuthor, INSTAGRAM @MaryWeberAuthor, TWITTER @mchristineweber, and GOODREADS. Come say hi!!

Release Week Blitz & Giveaway For SEA OF STRANGERS By Erica Cameron

Welcome to the Release Week Blitz for

Sea of Strangers 

(The Ryogan Chronicles #2)
by Erica Cameron

presented by Entangled Teen!

Grab your copy today!

Congratulations Erica!

Know your enemy if you want to survive…

The only way for Khya to get her brother back alive is to kill Varan—the immortal ruler who can’t be killed. But not even Varan knew what he was doing when he perverted magic and humanity to become immortal.

Khya’s leading her group of friends and rebels into the mountains that hold Varan’s secrets, but if risking all their lives is going to be worth it, she has to give up everything else—breaking the spell that holds her brother captive and jeopardizing her deepening relationship with Tessen, the boy who has been by turns her rival and refuge since her brother disappeared. Immortality itself might be her only answer, but if that’s where Khya has to go, she can’t ask Tessen or her friends to follow.

GR

Sea of Strangers 

(The Ryogan Chronicles #2)
by Erica Cameron
Publication Date: December 5, 2017
Publisher: Entangled Teen

Amazon | Amazon Australia | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | B&N | Kobo | iBooks

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

GR

Erica Cameron is the author of books for young adults including the Ryogan Chronicles, the Assassins duology, and The Dream War Saga. She also co-authored the Laguna Tides novels with Lani Woodland. An advocate for asexuality and emotional abuse awareness, Erica has also worked with teens at a residential rehabilitation facility in her hometown of Fort Lauderdale.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads

 Giveaway Information:

Sea of Strangers Prize Pack, including:**

* A signed copy of Sea of Strangers

* A $20 Visa gift card

* A swag pack

**For international: 1 copy from book depository and a $20 Visa gift card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour & Giveaway For SEIZE TODAY (Forget Tomorrow #3) By Pintip Dunn

Seize Today (Forget Tomorrow #3)

by Pintip Dunn

Publication Date:  October 3, 2017

Publisher:  Entangled Teen

Seventeen-year-old Olivia Dresden is a precognitive. Since different versions of people’s futures flicker before her eyes, she doesn’t have to believe in human decency. She can see the way for everyone to be their best self-if only they would make the right decisions. No one is more conflicted than her mother, and Olivia can only watch as Chairwoman Dresden chooses the dark, destructive course every time. Yet Olivia remains fiercely loyal to the woman her mother could be.

But when the chairwoman captures Ryder Russell, the striking and strong-willed boy from the rebel Underground, Olivia sees a vision of her own imminent death…at Ryder’s hand. Despite her bleak fate, she rescues Ryder and flees with him, drawing her mother’s fury and sparking a romance as doomed as Olivia herself. As the full extent of Chairwoman Dresden’s gruesome plan is revealed, Olivia must find the courage to live in the present-and stop her mother before she destroys the world.

GR

Purchase Links:

Amazon | Amazon.com.au | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Entangled

Link to Tour Schedule:

http://www.chapter-by-chapter.com/tour-schedule-seize-today-forget-tomorrow-3-by-pintip-dunn/

Seize Today (EXCERPT)

Pintip Dunn

Dual Cover Reveal for THERE ONCE WERE STARS and HERE SKIES SURROUND US by Melanie McFarlane

Hello Readers! Welcome to the Dual Cover Reveal for

There Once Were Stars AND Here Skies Surround Us
by Melanie McFarlane

presented by Month9Books!

What do you think of the covers?

Peace. Love. Order. Dome. That's the motto that the Order has given the residents of Dome 1618 to live by. Natalia Greyes is a resident of Dome 1618, a covered city protected from the deadly radiation that has poisoned the world outside for four generations. Nat never questioned the Order, until one day she sees a stranger on the outside of her dome. Now Nat wants answers. What else might her government be hiding from the good and loyal people of Dome 1618?

GR

Nat leaves her home, Dome 1618, just as they begin to colonize on the outside. She travels with Evan to his home, Dome 569, to deliver a replica of the immune serum and allow Evan to report back to his mother, Caroline. But when they arrive, members of the “New Order” take them into custody and Nat and Evan are separated, once again.

Thankfully she is reunited with her uncle, Alec, who takes Nat under his protection. But Nat has a lot to learn about Evan’s home, a progressive dome that colonized on the outside over a decade ago. There are many rules in Dome 569 put in place by Caroline; some that come with sharp and sometimes deadly consequences when broken. Here, Nat learns of the struggles that can come with change, and how tearing down the old ways doesn’t always make things better overall. In the process, she uncovers truths that could tear down the kingdom Caroline has sacrificed to protect, and in turn puts Nat at risk.
Will Nat be able to protect Evan from the lies, or will he succumb to them for the sake of his family, just as his mother did many years before? As Nat uncovers the secrets of Dome 569, will she be willing to give up her morals and values to pay the price for freedom, or die fighting for what she believes in?

GR

Melanie McFarlane is a passionate writer of other-wordly adventures, a little excitable, and a little quirky. Whether it’s uncovering the corruption of the future, or traveling to other worlds to save the universe, she jumps in with both hands on her keyboard. Though she can be found obsessing over zombies and orcs from time to time, Melanie has focused her powers on her YA debut There Once Were Stars, and her YA urban fantasy Summoner Rising.

She lives with her husband and two daughters in the Land of Living Skies.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

Review For CROSSING IN TIME By D. L. Orton- 5 *

Title: Crossing In Time
Series: Between Two Evils #1
Author: DL Orton
Genre: Time Travel

Rating: * * * * *

Publishers: Rocky Mountain Press

(May 1, 2015)

Paperback: 558 pages Large Print

ISBN: 978-1941368039
FTC Disclosure: My copy

Remember how it feels to fall in love? —   * Race against the clock through a dystopian nightmare. —   * Climb naked into an untested time machine (carrying a seashell and a promise). —   * Wake up 20 years younger, buck naked and mortally wounded, with your heart in your throat. —

— This is a perilous journey of passion, loss, and redemption that will have your pulse galloping and your palms sweating, make you laugh out loud through your tears, and leave you flush with the sublime pleasure of being in the arms of the one you love.

Oh, my! What a ride! This was a very fast paced read and even at over 400 pages, I flew through it.  I know that this is sci-fi but it seemed so believable and possible. The combination genre of time travel, sci-fi, suspense and romance made this book about as close to perfect as it gets. I stayed up way too late several nights in a row with this awesome read. Thank goodness I have book two ready to jump right into and book 3 just came out! 




 

AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR D. L. ORTON lives in the Rocky Mountains where she and her husband are raising three boys, a golden retriever, two Siberian cats, and an extremely long-lived Triops. In her spare time, she's building a time machine so that someone can go back and do the laundry.

Website:
http://DLOrton.com

Book Series:
http://BetweenTwoEvils.com

Sign up for freebies & new releases:
RockyMtPress.com/sign-up/

Compare books at Goodreads:
Goodreads.com/dl_orton

Chat on Twitter:
Twitter.com/@DL_Orton

Facebook:
Facebook.com/dl.orton.author

Blog Tour & Giveaway For SUBVERSION By Melinda Friesen

  

Subversion (One Bright Future #2)

by Melinda Friesen

Publisher:  Rebelight Publishing

Publication Date:  August 31, 2016

“I surrender my days, my efforts, myself to the OneEarth Bank . . .”

After fleeing slavery, Rielle James burns with the desire to topple OneEarth Bank and end its enslavement of young people as Contracts. When she learns that her friend Nathan has been sold to a logging company where Contracts die or vanish without a trace, she assumes a false identity and becomes a slave again to help him escape.

Her act of subversion uncovers the horrific truth behind the OneEarth Bank’s role in Contract disappearances and its link to a global pandemic.

Can Rielle and Nathan escape and expose the truth before it’s too late?

 

GR

Purchase Links:

BAM | Chapters | Indies | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | TBD | iBooks

EXCERPT

Book Blast & Giveaway For SHADOW FALL by Audrey Grey

Hello readers!

Are you looking for your next read?

Well, let us help make things easier for you!

Welcome to the Book Blast for

Shadow Fall by Audrey Grey

presented by Blaze Publishing!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

Looking for more books to read?
Read on and find a book that’s waiting for you to devour!

Shadow Fall

(Shadow Fall #1)

by Audrey Grey

Publication Date: Nov 22, 2016

Publisher:  Blaze Publishing

The asteroid hurtling toward the earth will kill billions.

The Emperor and his Gold Court will be safe in their space station, watching from the stars. The Silvers will be protected underground. But the Bronzes must fight it out at the Shadow Trials for the few remaining spots left on the space station.

When an enigmatic benefactor hands Maia Graystone a spot in the Trials, she won’t just get a chance at salvation for her and her baby brother, Max: She gets to confront the mother who abandoned her in prison, the mad Emperor who murdered her father, and the Gold prince who once loved her. But it’s the dark bastard prince she’s partnered with that will make her question everything, including her own heart. With the asteroid racing closer every day, Maia must trust someone to survive.

The question is who?

GR

BAM | Chapters | Indies | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | TBD | iBooks

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:

Book Blitz For SIMULATION by M. Black

Simulation
M. Black
Genre: YA SyFy Dystopian
Publisher: Eloquent Enraptures Publishing
Date of Publication: Dec 16th, 2016
ISBN: 978-1539194675    
Number of pages: 380
Cover Artist: M. Black

SIMULATION is a fictional novel and is the debut release from Dystopian Thriller author M. Black.
A YA SyFy dystopia, along the lines of City of Ember meets CW’s The 100. This story will capture your heart and still won’t let go even at the end. Written in part while listening to Outside by Ellie Goulding, this story contrasts technology to nature, rich to poor, privilege to hardship, and illusion to reality.
“No one is getting in but whom we allow, and no one is ever getting out.”
Set in 2175 in Colorado, USA, where Citigogs are the new form of cities and citizens are kept under a careful population control, we meet Ilia the Princess of our main Citigog named Iliad, and Jez a Giver. As Ilia spends more time with Jez, she finds herself drawn to the Outside and ventures out of her Citigog only to learn that everything is not what it seems.

Fans of the Divergent and Hunger Games series will revel in this story about a strong, but disillusioned heroine who must become brave as she uncovers the truth about her world.

AMAZON

Excerpt:

Spotlight Post & Giveaway For GIRL OF GLASS by Megan O'Russell

Girl of Glass

Megan O'Russell

Fiery Seas Publishing

Young Adult

Dec 6, 2016

Two worlds...one glass wall...no turning back. The human race has been divided. The chosen few live in the safety of the domes, watching through their glass walls as those left on the outside suffer and die. But desperation has brought

invention, and new drugs have given the outsiders the strength to roam the poisoned night unafraid – but it comes at a price.Seventeen-year-old Nola Kent has

spent her life in the domes, being trained to protect her little piece of the world that has been chosen to survive. The mission of the domes is to preserve the human

race, not to help the sick and starving. But when outsider Kieran Wynne begs for Nola’s help in saving an innocent life, she is drawn into a world of darkness and danger. The suffering on the other side of the glass is beyond anything Nola had imagined, and turning her back on the outside world to return to the safety of the domes may be more than she can stand. Even when her home is threatened by the very people Nola wants to help.

Fiery Seas Publishing

Megan O’Russell is the author of the young adult fantasy series The Tethering, and Nuttycracker Sweet, a Christmas novella. Megan’s short stories can also be found in several anthologies, including Athena’s Daughters 2, featuring women in speculative fiction.

Megan is a professional performer who has spent time on stages across the country and is the lyrist for Second Chances: The Thrift Shop Musical, which received it’s world premiere in 2015. When not on stage or behind a computer, Megan can usually be found playing her ukulele or climbing a mountain with her fantastic husband.

https://meganorussell.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ORussellauthor

https://twitter.com/MeganORussell

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8061709.Megan_O_Russell

Book Blitz/Guest Post & Giveaway For HOME by Eleni McKnight

Hello Readers! Welcome to the Book Blitz for

Home by Eleni McKnight!

Celebrate this release by entering the giveaway
found at the end of the post!

Happy Release Week, Eleni!

Published: WordCrafts Press, LLC.
Publication Date: Nov 22, 2016

Available for Purchase:

                                                                        AMAZON

Knowledge is a dangerous commodity in the Home commune, the last beacon of civilization against the fallen outside world. As Suzannah Commons begins to secretly read forbidden books, she jeopardizes her future for the forbidden love of the boy who supplies her new, dangerous habit, Silas Maars, and his family. Will her new-found knowledge be her destruction?

Suzannah is in training with the rest of the unmarried teenage girls in the Handmaiden House and Home’s laundry to become a bride when she accidentally comes upon a naked boy in one of the family quarters, Silas Maars. To see a naked man before marriage is an unforgivable sin in Home and a challenge to her precious status as a virgin, her only aspect of worth. This compromise to her purity would earn her an automatic exile in the Hard Labor Camp, a death sentence until the commune leader, Parson, sentences her to the punishment of serving Silas and his unusual family as a housekeeper. As she works for the Maars family and is isolated from the rest of the commune’s population, she discovers the frightening, threatening outside world is not as dangerous as she has been led to believe. The Maars family reveals to her that Deacon controls the population of Home by keeping them all ignorant, denying them education and books so he can teach his own twisted, corrupt, self-serving version of religion from the pulpit. As she learns the truth and begins to fall into a star-crossed love with Silas, her fate as a childbride to one of the lecherous Elders or a worker in the hard labor camp is drawing nigh.

 World-building for Home

I’ve feared the political ideology of patriarchy for a while, now. I prefer equality between the sexes, or as it’s better known, feminism, and I’ve thought about how the world would look if all the real-life horrors that life is like without feminism. Feminism campaigns against, like excessively strict dress codes for women and the idea that women are not worthy of equal jobs in the workplace because their main focus should be homemaking and starting families, and I started from that. I always said I’d never write a dystopian novel, but things transpired in 2012 that lead me to it.

The women in this world do not have choices. Their choices are made for them by men and they are considered “children” and “lesser than men”, even as adults in an attempt to keep some semblance of control. I myself have experienced this kind of abuse and mistreatment, people trying to control me. It was difficult to break out of, but I’ve done it. Only I can decide what’s best for me, not somebody else. When you give the control over to someone else to make you happy, they’ll always do it wrong. And it can get abusive and dangerous at times, too.

I’ve been attacked repeatedly with “if women would just act like ladies, then men would be gentlemen again” as if that was a defense against why rape happens due to women requesting equality with men. I’ve also gotten excuses that if women didn’t dress a certain way, have a certain reputation, ambitions, or come from certain backgrounds, they wouldn’t get raped. This is victim-blaming, and it’s not something I have a lot of sympathy or tolerance for. This list of reasons why women are raped are never-ending. There is no particular way to dress that would keep a rapist from raping. Even virgins are victims are rape and sexual assault. We’ve had men raped by women, and their rapes are considered a joke and are thought to be hilarious, like in 40 Days and 40 Nights (where Josh Hartnett’s character wakes up to his ex-girlfriend having sex with him without consent), a moment that’s chilling for many rape victims of different genders. When people take private nude pictures/sex tapes and they get leaked by a malicious individual, it’s the person in the nude photo’s fault and their problem, not the fault of the person who shared it. And it’s these things that promote rape culture, the ultimate victim-blaming society.