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Friday, February 28, 2014

Zoe & Zak and the Yogi's Curse by Lars Guignard Audiobook Blog Tour and Personal Audiobook Review :)

Thanks for stopping by my tour stop on the audiobook tour for Zoe & Zak and the Yogi's Curse by Lars Guignard. This is a middle grade fantasy adventure for ages 8+.  Check out the tour page for the full list of tour stops.



Zoe & Zak and the Yogi's Curse by Lars Guignard
Read by Sonja Field
Genre: Middle Grade Magic, Fantasy Adventure. Ages 8-13
Length:  audiobook length is 7 hours 36 minutes Publication Date: November 20, 2013

Zoe and Zak are back in India. Again. And this time they’re attending Moonstock Himalayan Boarding School, which might seem fun except for the fact that the school itself is a little strange. Students ride elephants instead of school buses, snarling monkeys work as security guards, and angry parrots monitor the halls. And even when they manage to get used to the wildlife, the food is absolutely terrible. But living with a bunch of other kids their age can be a lot of fun, too, or at least it seems that way until Zoe’s roommate goes missing. Following the directions written on a steamy bathroom mirror, Zoe and Zak fly through the clouds on their magic carpet to learn that the two of them have been chosen yet again. This time they’ve been asked to lift the Yogi’s Curse. It’s not going to be easy. Zoe and Zak don’t even know what the Yogi’s Curse is let alone how to lift it, but like it or not, they soon discover that a whole lot of people are depending on them. Now, if they’re going to save the day, Zoe and Zak are going to have to fool the monkey guards, avoid the nasty parrots, and maybe even develop a supernatural ability or two. Because lurking beneath Moonstock is a powerful new enemy. And if Zoe and Zak can’t stop him, nobody can.


My Audiobook Review

I read a lot of YA audiobooks and this one did not let me down!  I loved the storyline and I thought the reader did an awesome job, loved her voice for a YA novel :)  The book was funny and moving at the same time, Zoe is very likeable as a character, she has wit, brains and is headstrong with her own opinions and doesn't let anyone tell her what to think. Zak is funny and smart too, and I think most kids can relate to him because he was in a new place trying to make friends by being funny and showing off a bit.
 

I have not read the first book in this series but I didn't have a problem getting into it and understanding what was happening so I would say this could be a stand-alone book but I can't wait to read the first book and the 3rd book in the series as well :) 

This book was fun and very magical, if you enjoyed Harry Potter or Percy Jackson I think you will love this series!  The setting of India is awesome, monkeys and elephants and lizards oh my! And of course mystery abounds :)  But I also loved the educational parts of the books - you get to meet a lot of other characters with different backgrounds/ethnicities.  
The author manages to take what would be a difficult situation of being in a boarding house for kids and somehow make it fun and adventurous for all the kids.  I can see this becoming a popular movie series because the characters are so awesome and I think a lot of people would love the story!

All in all this is a magically delicious story and I highly recommend the audiobook version.  I don't think you miss out on anything with the audio as you can hear the adventure and passion in the reading - it was fun and easy to listen to and I definitely will be listening to the audio versions of the rest of the series :)
 

Audible iTunes | Amazon  | GoodReads

We want to invite all of you to ask the author and narrator your own questions on the Author's Goodreads Group and they will answer them on March 1st! 

Some things people are saying: 


"I have a 10 year old son who is an avid reader!! He loves Books,(but he's picky too) he loved Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. He was so excited to read the 2nd book in this series! When I presented him the first book he was not sure he would like it but changed his mind quickly, then when I heard about the 2nd book being released he almost jumped out of his chair! (no exaggeration) He is anxiously awaiting the 3rd book! I would say that any child who enjoys fantasy/adventure books should read this series! It is a well written page turner! It’s a fun story that adults can even enjoy the storyline without getting bored! According to my son, ‘every kid should read this series’.” 5-Star review from savygreensaver.com

“Lars Guignard has done a fabulous job with this series. I loved the `Ghost Leopard’ & love this one even more. For late-elementary to middle school age readers, you can’t beat this series. It’s fun and fast-paced. Even my picky fifth grader enjoyed every page. There are bits of magic thrown in keep the action exciting. Mr. Guignard has a brilliant imagination & readers are blessed that he’s chosen to use it for YA fiction. If you’ve yet to read the first installment in this series, do yourself a favor and read these books back to back. Don’t limit it just to kids! Adults will have a blast reading these too!” ~ 5-Star review from Liz Terek, Amazon

"The action is non-stop and plot twists and turns keep readers hanging onto their magic carpets as they fly along with our heroes. The magicality is wonderful, using legends and fantasy elements from Indian culture and mythology. There are no instant spells ‘imported’ into the story: all the enchantment belongs firmly in India, using cultural and folkloric aspects that will no doubt get young readers interested in reading up more about the background." 5-Star review from Fiona Ingram, author of The Secret of the Sacred Scarab  

"Yogi’s Curse is a non-stop thrilling adventure featuring the ever-entertaining tweens, Zoe and Zak, now attending boarding school in India. Armed with Zoe’s growing yogi powers and Zak’s trusty whip Stryker, the duo must rely on their wits when a new evil descends on the school and students begin disappearing. Lars Guignard keeps up the pace with this second installment in the Zoe and Zak Adventure series. I recommend this series to tweens and teens who love a great adventure steeped with magic and mysticism. Ages 8+." 5-Star review from motherdaughterbookreviews.com 

 
About the Author:

Prior to writing novels, Lars Guignard wrote for film and television. As a teenager he attended boarding school in the Indian Himalayas and his experiences there provided the inspiration for the Zoe and Zak series which now include: Zoe & Zak and the Ghost Leopard and Zoe & Zak and the Yogi’s Curse and Zoe & Zak and the Tiger Temple.

He lives in the Pacific Northwest where he dodges bears and cougars while hiking & skiing the magnificent Coast Mountain Range.

For news about new releases, please join his email list here: Zoe&ZakAdventures@gmail.com
About the narrator:
Sonja Field combines her life-long passion for reading with her skill as an actress to bring audiobooks to life! A dynamic and versatile narrator, she has logged hundreds of hours recording textbooks with an organization called Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic. She loved recording the action-packed Zoe & Zak and the Yogi's Curse because of its wealth of colorful, quirky, and memorable characters.









Giveaway:
 2 copies of Zoe & Zak and the Yogi's Curse in ebook (worldwide), paperback (US only) or audiobook (where audible.com is accessible)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 This tour was organized by CBB Book Promotions.

12 x 12 Blog Tour and Giveaway! Check it out :)

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One of the few things that people talk about, when talking about brand and social media is that it's a minefield.  People talk about everything from being completely overwhelmed, to not knowing what to do with their profiles.  And so, I wrote 12 tutorials (and a couple of bonus exercises to help people. Each tutorial contains an introduction, the 'basics', the exercise, and then a bit about what your 'solution' should be.  They're not designed to be the be all and end all of each network, but they are designed to support you if you're struggling, or aren't sure that you've covered everything. I've keep the price low so that you can enjoy the book without feeling like you've had to pay a fortune for just a couple of tips too - though I could have priced it higher, I feel $0.99 is the right price for this. Launching on the 28th February, until it's available, you can pre-order from my blog page at Warpaint Marketing.
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12x12 - Your social media Primer Looking for support for Facebook, Twitter, Triberr?  How about G+? This book covers everything that you need to know about the very basics of each network.  Exercises to give you a chance to try your learning out, hands on. Each of the tutorials is designed to be as easy as possible to access. Originally started a set of articles for a website, the tutorials have evolved into a go to guide to the simple, quick way to build an usable, safe profile online.
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Kai Viola (http://authorinterrupted.com)Kai is a veteran online marketer. She started in internet marketing, writing content for others, along with copywritten sales pages, then moved on to the indie writer's community when KDP hit. She's been self-publishing since 2004 (mostly poetry), and has spent the last three years or so in the community, helping others with social media, writing tutorials and articles all over. When not writing non-fiction, Kai's planning novels, travelling for work and having a bit of an adventure in her life. She's the mother of two parents, owner and parent of two kittens, an artist and a dreamer .
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As the book is about social media, you might want to follow Kai to find out some extra tips.  Below are the various places you can follow her - remember too that these count as entries in the giveaway!

Book Blog | Personal Blog |Facebook | Book Facebook |Twitter | G+ | Goodreads | Pinterest | Triberr | Klout 

Buy the Book (pre-order which will switch to Amazon)
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Win all of the books from the range, take part in beta support and get freebies before anyone else or a $25 gift certificate.  Check out the Rafflecopter below. a Rafflecopter giveaway  
Kai is appearing on multiple blogs in the next few days - head on over to The Finishing Fairies for tour central, information and more!
Promotion of 12x12 Launch Tour is brought to you by:
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Join us for other book blasts at The Finishing Fairies mailing list!

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Keeper by Ingrid Seymour Cover Reveal!!!

I'm excited to reveal the cover for Keeper by Ingrid Seymour.  This YA fantasy is releasing as a serial novel with the following release dates:
 vol 1 - March 05
 vol 2 - April 2
 vol 3 - May 7
 vol 4 - June 4
and the Omnibus edition with all volumes releases in July.
This is the cover of the omnibus that contains all the stories that comes out in July. 


About the Book:
Greg Papilio both wants and dreads his impending metamorphosis. He’s tired of being a runt—always picked last on the basketball court—and tired of being ugly, like a caterpillar, when he could be what girls call “drop dead gorgeous.” But as much as he looks forward to the transformation, he also fears the caste it will inevitably assign to him. He doesn’t want a common caste, or one that will obliterate his freewill and make him a slave. He wants a powerful one, a cool one.

Samantha Gibson is average. She’s short and a little full around the hips—a terribly cute look for a future chef. À-la-Rachael-Ray in her old days. She’s two years away from culinary school, from her uncaring parents, and from carving a perfectly Human future. She wants independence, a career and a quiet life of her own.

Except fate couldn’t care less about what Greg and Samantha want and gives them exactly the opposite. Greg’s metamorphosis assigns him a caste that enslaves him to Samantha, while her chance to attend Le Cordon Bleu is taken away when her parents get a divorce. And fate’s cruelty doesn’t stop there. Not content with shattering their dreams, it also makes them fall in love, just to tear them apart when Samantha morphs, losing her freewill and developing a compulsion for a guy she barely knows.

Still, these misfortunes are just the tip of the iceberg, because Greg’s fate is to protect Samantha at a time when someone wants her dead. He is her Keeper and will stop at nothing to ensure her safety, even if her secret past proves deadly, even if she belongs to someone else.



AUTHOR BIO:
Ingrid Seymour loves, loves, loves to write. She's a young and new adult author. She writes in a variety of
genres including romance, urban fantasy, paranormal and horror. She loves pizza and sushi, Sunkist and gum. She believes in vampires, witches, but not zombies (uh-uh, never!) She writes to loud music, daydreams constantly and spends too much time in twitter!! Find her there? ;) Ingrid has incredible fun doing what she does, but more than anything she enjoys hearing from her readers. It's a dream come true.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads | G +

Growing Pains Series by KF Breene Book Highlight and Giveaway!



Title: Growing Pains (series)
Author: K.F. Breene
Genre: New Adult contemporary romance

On the tail-end of her ex-boyfriend crashing through a restraining order and putting her in the hospital, Krista realizes that the only way to effectively escape her past is to put distance between it. She gets her life back on track in San Francisco with a job that has limitless potential.

Unfortunately, to achieve her dreams, she must brave the star of the company; a charming and handsome salesman that isn’t used to the word no. Krista tries to run from him at every turn, but his pull continually sucks her back in; her hesitancy to trust the only thing saving her from being another notch on a bedpost.

Sean never has to try with women. He's the type of guy to jump in with both feet, get bored, and sprint right back out. But when a geeky new hire stumbles through the company, befuddling him with a keen intellect he doesn’t expect, he starts to lose his way. Before he knows it, all his efforts are concentrated around trying to capture the interest of the only woman to run when he tries to deliver a line. As she opens up, so does he, landing him in a terrain as disconcerting as it is invigorating.


The growing pains box set is currently on sale for 99 cents on Amazon, for a limited time! That's three books for under a buck! 



A wine country native, K.F. Breene moved to San Francisco for college just shy of a decade ago to pursue a lifelong interest in film. As she settled into the vibrant city, it quickly became apparent that, while she thought making and editing films was great fun, she lacked cinematic genius. For that reason, her career path quickly changed direction. Her next goal was a strange childhood interest, conjured at the dining room table while filling out a form. For some reason, her young self wanted to be an accountant. Thinking on it now, she often wonders how she had any friends. Regardless, it was the direction she finally took.

While she could wrangle numbers with the best of 'em, and even though she wore the crown as the most outspoken, belligerent accountant in the world, her mind got as stuffy as her daily routine. It was here that she dusted off her creative hat and began writing. Now she makes movies in her head, not worried about lighting, shutter speed or editing equipment. Turns out, a computer is much easier to manage than a crowd of actors. She should know, she was an actor at one time.




a Rafflecopter giveaway


Tuesday, February 18, 2014

NEW Lace Renaissance Corset Top at Figuresque :)

Figuresque Deals!
 
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Preorder your size by 2/24

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Sunday, February 16, 2014

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski




The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

As a general's daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin's eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him'with unexpected consequences. It's not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner's Curse is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

Buy LINKS:





Marie Rutkoski is the author of The Kronos Chronicles, including The Cabinet of Wonders and The Celestial Globe. The Cabinet of Wonders, her debut novel, was named an Indie Next Kids’ List Great Read and a Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year, among other
honors. Rutkoski grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), as the oldest of four children. She attended the University of Iowa, where she took Writers’ Workshop classes and studied with Pulitzer Prize-winner James Alant McPherson. After graduating, she lived in Moscow and Prague. Upon receiving her Ph.D. from Harvard University, she held dual appointments as a lecturer there in both English and American Literature and Language, and History and Literature. Rutkoski is currently a professor at Brooklyn College, where she teaches Renaissance Drama, children’s literature and creative writing. She lives in New York City with her husband and cat.

Author Links:
Instagram: @MarieRutkoski