Review: Reckless Magic

Reckless Magic by Rachel Higginson(#1 Star-Crossed Series)

Published by:

Released:March 14,2011

Pages:

Buy here

16 year old Eden Matthews has been in and out of private schools for the last two years. She can't seem to stop herself from closing them down. Kingsley is her last chance to finish high school and the last private school willing to accept her. She is focused on just getting through graduation until she realizes Kingsley is not like the other private schools she's been to. The students may be different, but so is she. And after meeting Kiran Kendrick, the boy who won't leave her alone and seems to be the source of all of her problems, she is suddenly in a world that seems more make-believe than reality. To top it off, she is being hunted by men who want to kill Kiran and her best friend Lilly is taken away to a foreign prison. Eden finds herself right in the middle of an ancient war, threatening everything she loves. She alone has to find a way to save her best friend and the boy who has captivated her heart. Reckless is an intricate story about mystery, adventure, magic and forbidden love. Eden Matthews is an unlikely heroine determined to save the world and be with her one, true love before its too late.

*Thank you Ms.Higginson for a copy* Her blog

 My Thoughts:
   The book follows Eden, a 16 year old who lives with her Aunt. She always thought she was a normal girl living a normal life. But a series of events reveals that she is a witch with of course magical powers. Now she doesn't just have to worry about passing the next exam or getting her driver's license. She has to worry about keeping her magic under control and staying away from the insanely good looking so called "celebrity" named Kiran. Besides that there are secrets being kept from her.....secrets that could change the magical world.


    Eden, was a really enjoyable character. She's gorgeous, sassy, and smart. Besides that she can really hold her own and knows how to be independent. She was really confused and lost when she was told that she was witch as I assume anyone else would have been. But she didn't let her new abilities affect her ego which I thought was really great.


   Then we meet, Kiran Kendrick a bad boy, who is rude and arrogant. When he was first introduced I disliked him instantly, but as the story progressed as well as Eden and Kirans relationship; I felt myself liking him more and more. He's one of those characters you love him one moment and the next you feel a deep hatred for.

  I wish I could tell you guys more about the other characters but then that would probably ruin the book. Bottom line I rate this 5 out of 5 stars! It was awesome and you all should check it out!The second book is called Hopeless Magic and will be available to purchase August 9th on Amazon Kindle and smashwords!

 

Happy Reading!

Ashlinn 

Review: Quest of the Demon

Quest of the Demon by M L Sawyer

Published by: M L Sawyer via Smashwords

Released:January 28th,2011

Pages:277 e-book

Buy here

Darci is a popular sixteen-year-old girl who plays basketball and lives in an ordinary country town. But her life is changed forever when she is accidentally transported to the land of Nahaba by a young apprentice wizard called Taslessian.

Within hours of her unexpected arrival, both teens are thrust into a dangerous journey to the cave of Grisham the Great in the hope that he would be able to send her home.

Upon reaching the cave, however, Darci quickly discovers that there is no such thing as accidents, and that their journey is only just beginning.
The Quest of the Demon has begun.

*Thank you Ms.Sawyer for sending me a copy.*


My thoughts-
 The book starts out when Darci is brought to another world by an inexperienced wizard named Taslessian. They quickly figure out that she is in a lot of danger because an evil wizard wants to capture her so he can become stronger and do more evil things. The classic evil wizard trying to take over the world. Along the way they run into trouble and then they meet the powerful dragon Grisham who tells the two that a war is going on between the North and South and they will have to participate in it.


Overall I thought the book was pretty good. Some parts kind of drug on especially the parts leading up to the battles. I liked the relationship between Darci and Taslessian, and I'm interested in how it will progress. If you are looking for a fantasy novel with interesting characters and quite a bit of action you have found your book. I rate this 3 out of 5 stars!

If you are interested in trying out the book I have a coupon code for smashwords that reduces the price to $0.99 email me at bbbbooks@yahoo.com if you are interested!

Happy Reading,

<3 Ashlinn

Guest Post: Matt Xell

The Canids of Wendsil

Hey everyone! And thanks so much, Ashlinn, for having me on your blog.

In this post (I hope it's not too long) I'll be talking about the Canids, a race of sentient (self aware and conscious) wolves that I developed for my book Tower of Parlen. We'll be looking at what they are exactly and what their role is in the fictional world of Everlon (the setting of Tower of Parlen Min and The Narrow Escapes of Ves Asirin series of books). We'll also be looking at their design and features, what inspired me to come up with these characters, and then, of course will be looking at their unique language.

In the world of Everlon, other than the humans, there are five other sentient beings (or Naru'ei) that inhabit the world. These include the wolves (or Canids) that reside in Serbian Europa, the prime-apes (or Kolus) of Etrik, reptilians ( or Dilas) in Bradil and the Hordhogs ( or khumbas) in the Opus Empra’s India. These powerful beings exist as guardians of the four great Jinn; Bei’alumos of the fire, Katu’nga of the wind, Maori of the water and Hendiri of the earth who are angel like spirits with pivotal roles in the structural balance of the nature, ecosystems and the climates in the world of Everlon. This structure was set up by Noah after the great flood under the instruction of Elohim (the God and Creator of Everlon).

The average adult wolf weighs about 300 to 500 pounds and stands at a height of about 8 to 12 feet (when standing on hind legs only). An average wolf can run at an approximate speed of 75 - 150 miles per hour. There are generally three kinds of wolves: the Kapke (or grey wolves), the Mayake ( or blue wolves) and Haduke (or black wolves). Wolves usually travel and live in packs of over 100. A pack leader is known as the Zagnol, which means 'the great alpha.’ He’s the largest and the strongest of the pack and is distinguished by his silvery-white fur. Of course all packs around the world are ruled by one Queen-wolf known as Ne'era; distinguished by her scarlet fur, she is also the only wolf that can summon the Jinn of fire; Bei'alumos.

Author Interview: Matt Xell

Today's author interview is Matt Xell author of Tower of Parlen Min!



Blog | goodreads | twitter



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Why did you pick the name Ves Asirin?

In a lot of the novellas and scripts I wrote back in High School, my characters either had generic/normal names like (Ryan Thompson and Erica Lynn) or code names for their real names (Sinder and Seth Electric) and I wanted to write about a character with an exotic name. I remember watching a documentary about Buenos Aries,  which is a city in Argentina, and I instantly fell in love with the name. For the longest time I played around with letters in the alphabet and finally came up with the name Ves Asirin.

And does it have a meaning?

Unknown to Ves himself,  'Ves Asirin' is not an actual name but a title; a set of words that, in the angel language of Kapriseik, means 'He whom Elohim sent us towards the very end' or 'The God-sent' in short.

Where did you get your ideas for this book?

Tower of Parlen Min is actually a merger of two stories I was working on back in 2006; one called The Narrow Escapes of Ben Benns and the other called The Tower of the Great Few. The latter is what inspired the  main plot in Tower of Parlen Min and it was inspired by a nightmare I had which was a bizarre mash-up of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and House on Haunted Hill movies.

Review: Tower of Parlen Min

Tower of Parlen Min by Matt Xell

Published by:XLA Publishing Group

Released:July 23, 2010

Pages:375 e-book

Buy: here
Amazon links:
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3

Ves Asirin, an orphaned and introverted boy with a complicated memory loss disorder, wins a trip to the TOWER OF PARLEN MIN, the home of the wealthiest inventor of the time, Jacobius Trent. There, with 19 other children, he must compete in the Sword Challenge; a series of intricate puzzles and daring tasks, for a prize of $12 million. As dazzling, glorious and liberating as the Tower seems to be for him, Ves finds that it keeps a dark and secret history that he has been unknowingly connected to for over 150 years, a secret that will define his future and destiny ... if he can escape The shadow; a powerful and seemingly unstoppable, supernatural serial killer.

My Thoughts-
 This book follows Ves Asirin an orphan who suffers from a memory loss disorder. I liked Ves in the beginning and I did feel sympathy for him, but when he arrived at the Tower he turned into somewhat of a jerk. But the one trait I admired was that Ves was always up for an adventure and liked to learn new things.But many times he would get himself in trouble with the adults and children while doing that.

I only had three problems with the story and the writing. There was a fair amount of grammatical errors throughout the book. Second, we were introduced to all 19 of the children at once, and they were all described at once.Now thinking about it, I should have wrote it all down so I wouldn't be confused.Third, some parts where really slow and others happened very quickly. That wasn't a huge issue though, now onto the things I liked!

First I just want to say I give props to Matt Xell and his team for all the research they conducted! Probably my favorite part was the sword fighting. Those scenes were described awesome!There was so much detail and I learned something about jousting! Second, there was a couple parts that included some mythology and if you didn't know I'm a sucker for mythology specifically Greek which it did include a little of.Third, the wolves and their language, I thought it was a great idea and I liked that the wolves weren't really as they seemed....

Bottom line, the book is a good read although it is quite long,it's perfect for the reader who loves fantasy. I rate this 3 out of 5 stars. So if you want to try this book out you are in luck!I will be giving away five copies for free!!!

In My Mailbox #2!Birthday Edition!

As most of you probably already know In My Mailbox is a weekly meme

hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren!

Birthday Presents From Parents and Grandpa!

Mockingjay(Already talked about in a post)

Twisted-Sara Shepard(Pretty Little Liars what else do I have to say?)
Heist Society-Ally Carter(So excited!!)
Just Listen-Sarah Dessen(First Dessen book!)
Frostbite-Richelle Mead(Loved Vampire Academy)

For Review-(Got these like 1 week ago!)

The Odd Job Squad-Karl Fields

New England Witch Chronicles-Chelsea Bellingeri

Reckless Magic-Rachel Higginson


Happy Reading!!And I might be getting 1 or 2 more books so 
be on the lookout!



<3 Ashlinn

Review: Catching Fire

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Published:Scholastic Press

Released:Sep. 1st, 2009

Pages:391 Hardcover

Buy here

Against all odds, Katniss has survived the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turns his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol- a rebellion that Katniss and  Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying. Katniss is about to be tested as never before.

My Thoughts-
WOW!WOW!WOW!I'm so glad that I finally finished Catching Fire! 

I'm sure many of you have read The Hunger Games series or at least the first book. I don't know about you guys but I think this book improved and was even a little better than The Hunger Games!

Characters: Katniss, Katniss, I love her! And Peeta, the boy who would risk everything for her. Side note: Did you know that his name Peeta is a type of bread but it's spelled Pita!How awesome, yeah most of you probably knew that but I didn't realize that until my dad pointed it out. Anyways back on track. Throughout the whole book I was trying to decide who I would join: Team Peeta or Team Gale. And yet I'm still stumped!Unlike Twilight where I was like: Oh yeah Team Edward right here!No doubt about it. But there's just something about these two that I can't choose between!Oh Suzanne Collins why do you make it so tough?!

The only criticism I have is, when the "plan" was revealed to us by Haymitch I thought it wasn't explained very well. I still gave this book 5 stars because the whole series is a fun read and hard to put down!

Happy Reading!

And if you have read the book which team are you: Peeta or Gale?

 P.s. I won't be able to start Mockingjay soon because of others book I have to review!

~Ashlinn~

Review: The Next Shakespeare

The Next Shakespeare by Wanda Ernstberger

Published by:Etopia Press

Released:June 17,2011

Pages:20 e-book

Buy on amazon 


Who thought a poem would trigger World War Three?

Tristan Gunner—skateboard fanatic, junk food junkie, award-winning poet. But you’d think he just got detention instead of the school’s grand prize for poetry. And even though Chris won five Math and Science awards, the next Einstein is crying because he’s not the next Shakespeare. Astra wants them both to cut the drama, and caught between a mortified winner and a crybaby loser, she hopes Chris can get over his attitude before World War Three erupts in her kitchen.

*I was contacted by the author to review but the review is all my own opinion.* 


My thoughts-

First off I just want to say that this book is really short!And I'm actually really glad it is. I read this all in one sitting, and I thought that 20 pages was the perfect amount for this story but not enough to connect with the characters.


The point of view is Astra's. She has two guy friends Chris and Tristan. Chris is a really smart guy but thinks he's better than everyone one else because of that. Tristan is a sweet guy that comes from a broken home and I think just wants to make it out of high school and start a new life.I liked that Ms.Ernstberger added in some lessons such as, value your friends and treat others with respect no matter where they come from or who they are.


Overall, the book is an easy and light read that you will probably finish in one sitting. I gave this book 3 stars because although I think the story is good I just didn't connect with the characters as I would have liked to!But I do recommend to check it out! And stay tuned for an author interview with Ms.Enstberger!

Author Interview: Wanda Ernstberger

 It's interview time!I have been lucky enough to interview Wanda Enrstberger author of The Next Shakespeare

Blog  | goodreads | Twitter

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Where did you get your idea for this book?

The idea for The Next Shakespeare came to me when I was sitting in a restaurant. Most of my ideas come to me as a flash of inspiration. I have no idea what triggers it, but that’s usually what happens before I begin a story.

Why did you pick the name Astra?It's definitely different and unique.

I named her when I was thirteen, when I first thought of her character. Astra means “like a star,” which is appropriate for a goddess.

Will there be a sequel to The Next Shakespeare?

The Next Shakespeare is a back story to my YA fantasy series, Infinity Blue. Astra, the narrator in Shakespeare, is the main character. Astra makes a tragic error in her final year of high school, and she doesn’t know how to make up for the mistake. When Fate tells her she’s the goddess Infinity Blue, Astra realizes she has a way to atone for her error.

Have you always wanted to be an author and if not what else did you aspire to be?

First, I wanted to be a princess. Then I wanted to be an astronaut. In middle school, I dreamed of being a scientist, but there was one problem—I was terrible at science. So, how did I become a writer? I’ve always made up stories since I was little. Just before I started high school, I started writing those stories down. Since that time, I’ve dreamed of becoming a writer.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Follow your passion. Be patient. Don’t give up.

Waiting on Wednesday #6!

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted at Breaking the Spine ,that spotlights an upcoming release that I am eagerly awaiting. This week is The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle.

Sixteen-year-old Laurel's world changes instantly when her parents and brother are killed in a terrible car accident. Behind the wheel is the father of her bad-boy neighbor, David Kaufman, whose mother is also killed. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Laurel navigates a new reality in which she and her best friend grow apart, boys may or may not be approaching her out of pity, overpowering memories lurk everywhere, and Mr. Kaufman is comatose but still very much alive. Through it all, there is David, who swoops in and out of Laurel's life and to whom she finds herself attracted against her better judgment. She will forever be connected to him by their mutual loss, a connection that will change them both in unexpected ways. 

This book sounds interesting, definitely something I have ever read! And that cover is so cool! Sorry for the lack of posts, some reviews should be up in the next week! The book is to be released September 6th this year!