Blog Tour: Stardust Summer + Giveaway

I'm so happy that I was able to take part in the ABG Reads Tour for Stardust Summer by the lovely Lauren Clark. I've read Lauren's two previous novels, Stay Tuned and Dancing Naked in Dixie, and enjoyed them both and wanted to see what her latest book was like. Happily, I ended up really liking it!

Here's the synopsis:

Single mom Grace Mason doesn’t believe in miracles, magic, or love at first sight. She likes the quiet life, complete with her eight-year-old son, their tiny house, and her teaching job. For Grace, happiness means that nothing much ever changes in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.
Then, one thousand miles away, tragedy strikes. A massive heart attack leaves Grace’s estranged father comatose in an Upstate New York hospital. While a team of doctors fight to keep Henry Mason alive, Grace and Evan rush to his bedside to say their final goodbyes.
Henry’s passing brings little closure for Grace, but she finds herself inexplicably drawn to her new surroundings. What begins as a short trip results in an entire summer spent with Henry’s second wife, Kathleen, and her next-door neighbor, Ryan Gordon, the town doctor. When a series of unlikely events lead to Evan’s disappearance, Grace must face her worst fears to find her son and bring him back home.
Stardust Summer explores the complexities of forgiveness, what it means to be a family, and the fabulous possibility of falling in love—again.

When I read Lauren's other novels, I liked them but wasn't in love with them. I was wondering how I'd feel about her latest but, as I mentioned, this novel surprised me in the best possible way. I was also surprised when Lauren told me, via email, that she had actually written this book several years ago and had put off publishing it. I have no idea why. It was so good.

I was so invested in the characters in this novel. I was immensely sad that Grace and her father were not able to make up before he passed away. I can't imagine the regret she would have because, deep down, she really does still love him. Henry seemed like a great man and I actually wish I could have "met" him while he was alive. But then that would have changed the story so we'll just move on... :)

I do think that Kathleen went through way too much. There were just one too many incidents and I found myself thinking "How much more can this woman take?" I didn't like the last accident, even if it was the reason Grace went back. (How's that for vague and confusing?) That last accident also felt a little disjointed from the overall tone of the novel. But this was really the only thing that didn't sit well with me from this whole book.

Grace was standoffish and almost rude but I was never frustrated with her. I knew there had to be a good reason for how she was acting, I just had to wait for the explanation I knew Clark would give me. Sure enough, I found her actions justified once I was "told" her full story.

I really enjoyed the romance in the novel. It  played a large role but was understated, it didn't take over the novel. Ryan really understood Grace and seemed to know how to deal with her issues and lack of communication. He was patient and waited while she figured out her feelings. It was sweet and I found myself hoping for a happily ever after.

Stardust Summer was a great read. It's sweet and serious and has a great "family is most important" theme. I definitely recommend Lauren Clark's latest novel to fiction lovers!

Bonus! Good news for everyone who now wants to read this book. There's a Rafflecopter giveaway with this tour! Click on the link to go to the entry page. Good luck!

Blog Tour: Retrieved + a Giveaway!

Last fall I took part in the ABG Reads blog tour for the novel Released by Amber Polo. I was a little unsure about what I would think of it but, as you can see from my review, I ended up really enjoying it! When Colette asked me if I wanted to take part in the tour for the second book in The Shapeshifters' Library series, I immediately said yes. I was happy that I enjoyed Retrieved just as much as the first book!

Here's the synopsis:

Dog-shifters once again face the book-burning werewolves of Shipsfeather in this charming second installment of The Shapeshifters’ Library series.
Godiva Anglesey, Chocolate Labrador, and the ruggedly handsome English Mastiff Cynerik are forced to team up against power-hungry werewolves when Cynerik discovers an ancient Ohio mound that may hold answers to their shifter history. Knowing the mound’s secrets could benefit the dog-shifters in the ongoing contest for power, ambitious werewolf pack Alpha Sybilla challenges timid Godiva to a battle for the territory. Already faced with a malicious book-worm infestation and a censorship threat to ban all anthropomorphic books in her library, Godiva, who has no interest in battling anyone, must turn from running her small town library to train for a challenge she believes she has no chance of winning. Just when things couldn’t get any worse, Godiva’s mother announces that family tradition dictates that Godiva must be married by Summer Solstice… to a Druid. Godiva doesn’t even know any Druids.
Godiva wants to run her library, retrieve books for library patrons, and keep people happy. She’s no hero. She doesn’t have what it takes to face down werewolves or save the world. Cynerik, however, believes differently. Together they must defeat the werewolves, save the town and its library, protect the most important archeological discovery in dog-shifter history… and, just maybe, find love along the way.

I really didn't like Godiva very much in Released so I was worried that I may not enjoy Retrieved simply because of that fact. Luckily, I grew to like Godiva and wanted things to work out for her. I couldn't wait for her to wake up and realize that Griswald, the man she had an enormous crush on, was completely useless and she could do so much better.

Learning the history of these particular shapeshifters and werewolves was, once again, quite interesting (even if the St. Lawrence River was spelled incorrectly...). Once Cynerik found the mound, I was just as anxious as he to find out what was inside and what it meant. I especially liked the storytelling part of the Challenge and thought it further showed how different the shapeshifters and werewolves can be.

Once again, Amber Polo delivered an entertaining read. Retrieved was enjoyable and I think anyone who likes a bit of fantasy should give this one a shot. I'm interested to see what else can happen in the third instalment (no title or date yet).

One final thing: don't forget to enter the giveaway! Click here for the link: a Rafflecopter giveaway. You can win a Shapeshifter Public Library canvas book bag, a print copy of "Retrieved," dog biscuits, and a tuft of genuine wolf fur. This giveaway is tour wide and is open only to US/Canada residents. 

Where to find Amber:

Wordshaping Blog | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Pinterest | Google+

Blog Tour: Out of the Blue

Welcome to a stop on the blog tour for Lisa Maliga's novel Out of the Blue. The tour is hosted by Collette over at ABG Reads. OK, sooo...I'm just going to get this out of the way right at the start - I didn't like this book. I know you can't like everything but it's always a disappointment when I don't enjoy a novel.

Here's the synopsis:

Sylvia Gardner is a naïve cashier who lives with her mother in Richport, Illinois. Upset with being dumped by her first boyfriend; she later falls in love with an English actor after watching him on a TV show. For two years she researches Alexander Thorpe's life and career, saving her money to travel to his Cotswolds village, intent on meeting him. Staying in the village's only hotel, she gets room and board in exchange for working at the Windrush Arms Hotel. Complications ensue when the drunken proprietor, Harry Livingstone, takes a fancy to Sylvia. As in her fantasies, Sylvia and Alexander get together—but with unexpected results.

The first thing that got me was Sylvia's obsession with Alexander. It wasn't creepy or anything...just...odd. The biggest issue, for me, was the age gap between the two. Why was a young, attractive, and, yes, naive, twenty-ish year old so obsessed with an man who lives in another country and seems to be twice her age? (he's not really...but I'm not quite sure because the ages never seemed clear to me and I'm not very good with numbers anyway!) Also, once we get to meet him, he seems like an alcoholic pig who just wants to sleep with anyone who crosses his path. I mean, I can understand being attracted to older actors (hello, George Clooney...who actually is twice my age, plus a year) but Sylvia kind of takes it a little further.

The other thing was just the way the novel was written. It jumped around in time with flashbacks that weren't set up clearly enough. At one point I'm reading along in "present" day (I'll get to that in a second) and then all of a sudden it's back to before Sylvia went to England. There were lots of unnecessary subplots and explanations. For example, at the end of the book, I got updates on what every other character was up to at that time. That did not add a single thing to the story and I was confused and expecting something huge to happen. It didn't.

I mentioned "present" day. I use the quotations because the book starts off in the late seventies and ends in the early nineties. I'm all for books taking place in different time periods but this one seemed odd to me. I mean, the eighties? It wasn't set around any historical event or anything. The only explanation I could come up with was that the author needed to set the book in a time when a random girl could get that close to a famous actor.

So. There we have it. Unfortunately, Out of the Blue by Lisa Maliga was just not my cup of tea. I think she could probably do well if her novels get a bit more polished. But, as it is now, I can't recommend this novel to anyone. Ah well. You win some, you lose some.

Happy reading :)

Blog Tour: Released PLUS a Giveaway!

Welcome to a stop on the blog tour for Amber Polo's novel Released: The Shapeshifters' Library! The tour is hosted by Collette over at ABG Reads. Make sure you stop by the tour page to see what others have to say about this interesting, unique, and thoroughly enjoyable fantasy novel. After you read my review, of course ;)

Here's the synopsis:

Love dogs? Love books? Love libraries? Hate Book-burning werewolves?

Once long ago the Shipsfeather Academy was a training ground for an ancient race of dog-shifters whose mission was to protect the world’s knowledge. A powerful curse sealed these librarians in the basement of their building and gave the control of the town to a pack of book-burning werewolves.

Librarian Liberty Cutter watches in horror as the town’s public library goes up in flames and plans to re-establish the library in the abandoned Shipsfeather Academy building. Chronus, the Old English Sheepdog headmaster of the academy and leader of the dog-shifters, knows he must make some changes to continue to keep his pack safe. But even if he could persuade Liberty to believe in a talking sheepdog, how far can she be trusted? And will she ever be able to care for him as a man. He has to try, because Liberty Cutter and her staff of zany librarians may hold the key to the dog-shifters’ freedom…and the future of the town

When I first read the synopsis for Released I was a little hesitant. It seemed a little...out there. Shapeshifters? Book-burning werewolves? Right. Author Amber Polo had actually originally requested I review her novel and when she emailed me she noted that I don't usually read fantasty/paranormal but would I enjoy one set in a library? I thought, what the heck. I sometimes read these kinds of books and since I adore libraries, I thought it couldn't hurt to give it a try. Guys. I am SO glad that I did. Released ended up being well written and entertaining.

I definitely really liked the fact that this book was so library focused. It was interesting to think that there was some sort of power in the books that helped the dogs become stronger. I love small town libraries (used to work in one myself) and the new library in Shipsfeather was lovely. Except for the whole having to fight off book hating werewolves thing... :)

There was a lot of action in this book, which was great. It kept the plot moving and kept me interested. There was always something going on. I also loved that I didn't exactly know what was going to happen. I had ideas of why things had happened (Liberty's parents disappearing when she was young, for example) but I still ended up being surprised (in a good way!) once everything was revealed.

Overall, I really enjoyed Released. It kept me interested with the town history, library, magic, action, and characters. I'm looking forward to the second novel in the series - Retrieved. I need to see if the town can get rid of those werewolves once and for all! I do think that you need to enjoy fantasy stories to really like this one so if that's your thing I definitely recommend Amber Polo's Released.

Oh, and did I mention the best news? There's a giveaway with this tour! Amber is giving away a lot of really neat goodies: large canvas Shipsfeather Library book bag, 4 signed books by Amber Polo including The Shapeshifters’ Library Book 1: Released, Amber's Relaxation CD, 2 collectible dogs, a tuft of Arctic wolf fur! Trust me, it's worth it just for winning this novel. Though I'm jealous the winner gets a bag! I'd LOVE a Shipsfeather library bag :) All you have to do is follow the steps found here - a Rafflecopter giveaway - and hope Rafflecopter randomly picks you at the end of the tour! Bonus: the giveaway is for US AND Canada, yay!

Good luck and happy reading! :)