Blog Tour Book Review & Amazon/E-book Giveaway: Part-Time Princess by Pamela DuMond

Part-time Princess

Pamela DuMond

Goodreads | Amazon | Tour 

Publication Date: July 28th 2014

Genre:  Comedy, Romance, New Adult

Lucy Trabbicio’s a down-on-her-luck, young, American, former biker-bar cocktail waitress desperate to find a job. Lady Elizabeth Billingsley hires Lucy to travel to Fredonia, the tiny jewel of a country in the Alps, for ten days ‘tops’ to impersonate her.

Say what? How the heck is that going to happen?

In the mother of all makeovers, Elizabeth’s people teach Lucy how to dress, walk, talk, eat, be coiffed and even get naked like a European Lady.

The goal?

To keep Crown Prince Cristoph Timmel interested in Elizabeth until she finishes her unexpected, pressing personal business in the States.

But fate intervenes… Lucy meets and is wildly attracted to sexy, bad-boy Nick on the oh-so-long flights to Fredonia. Unfortunately for Lucy—Nick and Elizabeth have a hot sexual history, which Nick wants to immediately resume.

Prince Cristoph proposes marriage. What's an imposter girl to do?Elizabeth insists that she’ll make it back home in time for the wedding. Lucy accepts Cristoph’s proposal and is on the fast track to becoming a Princess but continues to fall for the wrong Prince of Fredonia—Nick. When another tiny glitch arises—someone’s trying to kill her.

The only folks helping Lucy are her wild, party hard, take-no-prisoners Ladies-in-Waiting. 

When the real Lady Elizabeth decides she’s not marrying Cristoph and never returning to Fredonia, Lucy’s faced with an uncomfortable decision—continue her deception, marry the prince she’s not in love with and live a dream life albeit without Nick, her dream guy? Or tell the truth and return to poverty and oblivion?

A modern day sexy fairy tale with romance, twists and turns, LOL moments, a few tears and an empowering ending.

So I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy lately. And most of it is pretty normal fare fantasy voice wise. So when I saw this book come up I decided it was time to break my reading streak and go for something a bit... lighter.

Part-Time Princess is about a girl, Lucy, who is fired from her job (the guy was totally asking for it though) and is desperate to get another job to keep her Uncle in a nice home and keep her from living on the streets. So she turns to internet classifieds and applies for every job she thinks applies to her.

One of these jobs ends up being impersonating a Princess for a few weeks and it pays amazingly well, just what she needs. She also happens to look very similar, though her personality is quite different.

Obviously you all can see where this is going to end up. There are shenanigans a-glore.

Lucy is a great character. I loved reading her voice as she tried really hard to roll with the punches. Her job is way over her head, however, and she knows it. There is definitely a suspension of disbelief we have to put on (because these people have known Elizabeth her whole life, how is it that the only thing they notice differently about Lucy is that she’s curvier, come on!) but I happily suspended it and enjoyed the story.

The romance was done really well for this kind of story. Often I have trouble reading stories like this because I can’t stand the second-hand embarrassment or the way everyone is BETRAYED, but there were some clever leavings done by the main love interest that made it feel less weird in the end and well... I won't spoil it for you.

I enjoyed the tense feeling of anxiety as Lucy’s stay grew longer and longer and then on top of that trying to figure out who was trying to kill “Elizabeth”.

Overall this book was exactly what I needed. The prose is light-hearted, the story comedy-based and the characters entertaining. If you enjoy princess stories with hijinks (like Princess Diaries for example) this is one to pick up and enjoy.

4 Bookmarks

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Blog Tour Guest Post: World Building 101 | The Violet Fox by Clare C. Marshall

The Violet Fox (The Violet Fox #1)

Clare C. Marshall

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Publication Date: October 13th 2012

Publisher: Faery Ink Press

Genre:  Fantasy, Young Adult

Pages: 288

Run.
That’s what instinct told me.
But in order to save the secrets of my people
and to protect my brother
I have to become the enemy.

There are two kinds of people in the land of Marlenia.

The Marlenians, who live on the surface,

and the Freetors, who are forced to live underground.

The war between them ended two hundred years ago, but the Freetors still fight for the right to live under the sun. Fifteen-year-old Kiera Driscoll embodies the Freetors’ hopes as the Violet Fox. In a violet cape and mask, she sneaks around Marlenia City stealing food and freeing her people from slavery.

Then the Elders task her with a secret mission: retrieve a stolen tome that contains the secrets of Freetor magic, something the Marlenians both fear and covet. Kiera must disguise herself as a noblewoman and infiltrate the Marlenian castle before the Freetor-hating Advisor finds out her real identity, before her brother is imprisoned because of the secrets he hides, and before she falls any more in love with the prince she’s supposed to hate.

More is happening in the castle than she realizes, and Kiera is faced with a difficult choice. Will she be loyal to her people and their fight for freedom, or will she be loyal to her heart?

.
When I read The Violet Fox, it's not surprising that I found myself entranced by the world Marshall had created. World building is something that I find vital for books that delve into something more than just contemporary and especially so in Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror. Here is Marshall's advice when it comes to trying to create a world of your own.

World Building 101

Not only am I an author/publisher, but I’m a professional editor as well. And one of the things I notice when I’m editing (especially a new author) is the lack of world development.

But what does this mean?

Where you grow up influences how you turn out. I grew up in a rural town in Nova Scotia. When I’d visit the streets of Halifax in my teen years, I would freak out at huge buses whizzing by. Why? Because we didn’t have buses where I lived. It’s not that I didn’t know about buses--it’s because I wasn’t used to being inches from them rushing by me. It just wasn’t in my sphere of experience, so I’d react badly. Now I’m used to it, but only because I’ve lived in many other large cities since.

In The Violet Fox, the people who live on the surface of Marlenia have a lot of prejudice and hatred against the people who live underground, because there was a big war 200 years ago. Even though it was so long ago, this prejudice and hatred is passed down through the generations. This means that my protagonist, Kiera, who lives underground and steals from people who live on the surface, was basically taught that people who live on the surface are unfeeling, hateful bastards who would kill her people without a second thought. Throughout the book, however, her perception changes, because she has more experiences that change her perception.

So, how can I improve world building for my own books?

Here are some questions I ask myself when I’m developing worlds, and specifically, the world of Marlenia, where The Violet Fox and its upcoming sequel, The Silver Spear, take place.

1) Starting wide: what is the history of your world?

This seems like a daunting task, but just start with one fact. Just one.

Mine was: even in the earliest drafts of the book, the ruler of Marlenia is called the Holy One.

Why might that be, I wondered? It was originally just a cool title that popped into my head! I had to come up with a reason that made sense within the world, because there’s not a lot of religion in the world currently. So I came up with this: Marlenia is a lapsed theocracy. That means the society used to be heavily religious, but over the generations, religion became less important, but remnants of that earlier time remain, because the tradition is hard-wired.

Try it! Pick one obscure fact about a character and ask: why?

2) Starting specific: what is the backstory for my main character?

Sometimes you might just have characters, and no place. So look to your character’s childhood. How did he or she grow up? Was there an early childhood tragedy that influenced his or her development? Is there a specific pass time they enjoy?

Now take it wider. If he or she had a terrible childhood, why would that be? Did they grow up on the streets? Which streets, where? Why are they so terrible? If they grew up in a stable household, what did his or her parents do? Are their professions considered respectable in your world? Did they make a lot of money? Economic standing in society plays a big role in what we have access to, and our decisions in life.

Then, take it wider. Compare your character’s experiences with other potential characters in the world. Is your character’s experience typical or atypical in the world? Connect the dots. The idea is to keep asking questions until you have every detail sussed out.

3) Going deeper

This is getting beyond a 101, but if you’re developing fantasy, you need to ask yourself why specific cities develop in the way they do. Study the history of your own country and notice when and how towns develop. Here in Canada, the east was developed first, and then people migrated further west, and inland. The east was settled by Europeans first because that’s the patch of land that was closest to them. Some of the oldest cities in Canada are next to the water, be it rivers or the ocean. Why? Fishing was (still is) a big industry, and cities by the water can trade by boat with other cities accessible by water (mutually beneficial). This is overly simplistic description, but it should get you thinking about your fictional city’s infrastructure, and what kind of jobs your character or your character’s family might have.

Keep going backwards in time, keep going deeper. And remember: the actions of just one person can change the course of history--and change how your world develops.

Happy world building, and don’t forget to check out my book The Violet Fox, and the crowdfunding campaign for the upcoming sequel, The Silver Spear, at http://igg.me/at/silverspear.

About the Author 

Clare C. Marshall grew up in rural Nova Scotia with very little television and dial up internet, and yet, she turned out okay. She has a combined honours degree in journalism and psychology from the University of King’s College, and is a graduate from Humber College’s Creative Book Publishing Program. She is a full-time freelance editor, book designer, and web manager. She enjoys publishing books through her publishing imprint, Faery Ink Press. When she’s not writing, she enjoys playing the fiddle and making silly noises at cats.

Author Links:

Facebook: http://faeryinkpress.com/faeryinkpress

Twitter: http://twitter.com/claremarshall13

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5120291.Clare_C_Marshall

Goodreads Book Page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14743283-the-violet-fox

Website: http://faeryinkpress.com

MY REVIEW OF THE VIOLET FOX

There's an Indiegogo Campaign for the Second Book, why don't you support?

Blog Tour Review: The Violet Fox by Clare C. Marshall

The Violet Fox (The Violet Fox #1)

Clare C. Marshall

Goodreads | Amazon | Tour 

Publication Date: October 13th 2012

Publisher: Faery Ink Press

Genre:  Fantasy, Young Adult

Pages: 288

Run.
That’s what instinct told me.
But in order to save the secrets of my people
and to protect my brother
I have to become the enemy.

There are two kinds of people in the land of Marlenia.

The Marlenians, who live on the surface,

and the Freetors, who are forced to live underground.

The war between them ended two hundred years ago, but the Freetors still fight for the right to live under the sun. Fifteen-year-old Kiera Driscoll embodies the Freetors’ hopes as the Violet Fox. In a violet cape and mask, she sneaks around Marlenia City stealing food and freeing her people from slavery.

Then the Elders task her with a secret mission: retrieve a stolen tome that contains the secrets of Freetor magic, something the Marlenians both fear and covet. Kiera must disguise herself as a noblewoman and infiltrate the Marlenian castle before the Freetor-hating Advisor finds out her real identity, before her brother is imprisoned because of the secrets he hides, and before she falls any more in love with the prince she’s supposed to hate.

More is happening in the castle than she realizes, and Kiera is faced with a difficult choice. Will she be loyal to her people and their fight for freedom, or will she be loyal to her heart?

You look at the cover and title of The Violet Fox and the first thing you think is: is this a superhero book? You read the synopsis and you then wonder: is this a dystopia book? Then you read the book and you realize what it is: fantasy. It is a fantasy book with unique world-building, enjoyable characters and a captivating story.

Marlenia is separated into two types of people. Kiera Driscoll, our main character, is a part of the impoverished Freetors forced to live underground and steal food from above to survive. They are the losers of a civil war that had happened long ago, one sparked by the discovery of magic.

Kiera is an icon for her people. The first time she had come above to help get food she put on an outlandish outfit as a distraction and it’s stuck ever since. She became “The Violet Fox”. This is what brings her to the attention of the council who want to send her on a mission to the aboveground castle to take back something stolen from them.

I hadn’t known what to expect from The Violet Fox when I picked it up. I was intrigued by the synopsis, and have a terrible habit of being a sucker for anything with ‘fox’ in its name. When I finished reading the book I sat there for a while wondering why this book isn’t more well known. I enjoyed reading it massively. I had a hard time putting it down. I couldn’t believe how lucky I had been to have been asked to review it for a tour.

The characters are strong, the personalities well defined. The romance is far from instant which I always appreciate. The plot keeps readers on our toes as there were quite a few twists I did not expect one bit. In fact this book is really twisty and very cleverly done. They’re the kind of twists that make me want to re-read the book to see if I can catch them faster rather than ones that make me unable to pick up a book ever again.

The setting of the book is a fantasy world, focusing more on political fantasy. Other fantasy books I’m reminded of is Poison Study and Graceling, but this one is also a bit lighter maybe more like the book I reviewed a couple of weeks ago, Poison.

The ending did seem to be too drawn out, but for me personally that was the only stumble I could find.

There is just so much to comment on here. I love the fact that her father was the advisor. I was saddened by the fact that her brother was an extremist. I hadn’t put together that Erskina was the bad guy until she was violent with Kiera.

I found myself overwhelmed in a good way in how nothing was how I thought it was. I cried with her brother’s death. I celebrated the orb coming to live for Kiera. Reading this book was a journey.

To expand on my issue with the ending, however. I feel like everything could have been done in one go. The stopping of the wedding and Erskina attacking, the lull where Kiera is in the dungeons felt out of sync with the rest of the book.

If you enjoy unique and great young adult fantasy please give this book a try. The Violet Fox is a fantastic political adventure young adult fantasy. The next book seems to be more adventure, but I still wonder how they’re going to pick up the many pieces left over.

4 Bookmarks

STAY TUNED FOR A GUEST POST

There's an Indiegogo Campaign for the Second Book, why don't you support?

About the Author 

Clare C. Marshall grew up in rural Nova Scotia with very little television and dial up internet, and yet, she turned out okay. She has a combined honours degree in journalism and psychology from the University of King’s College, and is a graduate from Humber College’s Creative Book Publishing Program. She is a full-time freelance editor, book designer, and web manager. She enjoys publishing books through her publishing imprint, Faery Ink Press. When she’s not writing, she enjoys playing the fiddle and making silly noises at cats.

Author Links:

Facebook: http://faeryinkpress.com/faeryinkpress

Twitter: http://twitter.com/claremarshall13

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5120291.Clare_C_Marshall

Goodreads Book Page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14743283-the-violet-fox

Website: http://faeryinkpress.com

Blog Tour & Amazon Card Giveaway (INT): Coral & Bone by Tiffany Daune

Coral & Bone

Tiffany Daune

Goodreads | Amazon | Tour 

Publication Date: July 8th 2014

Publisher: Jester Ink Press

Genre:  Paranormal, Fantasy, Young Adult

Pages: 290

Halen knows the sparks igniting under her fingertips are dangerous. She has spent her entire life trying to quell the tingly feelings that make her destroy things, but now that she is back in Rockaway Beach, where she watched her father drown, the flames have become impossible to tame.Halen is trying to hold on, but when she is thrust into a mysterious new world, the underwater realm of Elosia, she unravels the secrets of her past and can't help but ignite. As she explores Elosia, she realizes her life has been a lie. And when those who have deceived her come to her for help, Halen must choose—walk away or unleash the magick that could destroy them all

When you first see Coral and Bone the initial thought is that it is a mermaid book. You sit there going ‘Oh she’s going to learn that she was secretly a mermaid and it’ll be pretty basic’. That’s not where this book goes, however. Don’t get me wrong, there are mermaids in the book… in name at least, but that’s far from what our main character is and it is not a truly important part of this book in my opinion (okay somewhat important, but not really important to Halen's specific origins).

Of course I don’t want to give too much away, it’s better to read these things on your own.

Our main character, Halen, has moved around all her life with her mother. Suddenly her senses are working into overdrive and new birthmarks have appeared on her and life in general has gotten really weird.

Not surprisingly there is a strong YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE feeling to the beginning of the book. There was one or two chapters in particular that made me wonder if this book was going to fall into a lot of overdone cliches. Luckily however, after that initial dip, Coral and Bone steered more into unique and original story telling, including some fantastic plot twists.

Overall, I really enjoyed Daune’s writing for the book. There were are a few times that fell into feeling a bit off, but then another scene would grab my attention and I’d enjoy it so much I’d forget about that off feeling.

My absolutely favourite parts of this book are how it ended (which I’ll get into under my spoilers tag) and the way Daune cleverly used a cliche to hide one of her twists.

First the cliche camoflauge! Halen and Dax’s relationship seemed to be a INSTA LOVE type of relationship. She’s been drawing him and they have an instant connection and it just screams fated love that is all the rage in YA books right now. Of course, though we may suspect that he was Natalie’s ex-boyfriend, it doesn’t cross many reader’s minds to pin him as their Guardian. Especially with Tage working so hard and him being introduced as full Elosian.

Now on to my feelings on the ending. And by the ending I mean the very end. The fact that Halen has eaten Asair’s soul accidently and now they are secretly living in the same body is just awesome. It gives us so many worries for the next book and even if the author never writes another book in the series, there’s something satisfying about wondering all the things that could happen. It’s rather horror movie cyclical like.

I’d describe this book as a mix of fantasy and urban fantasy. There are some parts that are pure high fantasy and then others, when they are in the “real” world, that you can’t help but get an urban fantasy vibe from. I think it’s pretty unique and I enjoyed it as a read.

4 Bookmarks

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Blog Tour & Giveaway(INT): Fractured by Erin Hayes

Fractured

Erin Hayes

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Publication Date: July 8th 2014

Genre:  Horror, Adult

Blinded by a mysterious seizure when she was three years old, Bash Martin has managed to carve out a normal life for herself as an adult. Yet she still yearns for a deeper connection with her twin sister Lily, who has always been jealous of the attention their parents bestowed upon Bash due to her disability.

A dream vacation seems like the perfect chance to heal their relationship, but Bash soon realizes there is something terribly wrong with Lily and that her sister is hiding a dark secret. And when a supernatural fire engulfs their hotel and corpses come back to life, the sisters are plunged into a nightmarish world that threatens not only their lives, but their very souls.

The best way I can describe Fractured by Erin Hayes is as a Horror Movie in print.

We follow several characters, focusing in on a pair of twins and the man that both of them love. Of course, something has been "haunting" the twins for a while and that something is absolutely terrifying and dangerous.

The twins are set up well as characters. They have two very distinct personalities and we can see how they both got to that point. I found myself easily being able to compare them to people I knew in real life.

The darkness of the book is set up well as well. Things are littered throughout the beginning that become important later. We are given enough things, that if we're paying close enough attention, we can guess and figure things out.

The fact that this is pretty much a Horror Movie in print is a double edged sword. On one hand everything is very visual in the book. I can see everything playing out in my mind perfectly. I can even imagine up the music playing in the background at certain moments and the fear in the characters voices. The imagery is very, very scary.

On the other hand it would have come across much scarier as a movie due to the fact that in a book you can't just introduce characters for a second and expect them to make impacts on us. Fractured has three sets of characters. The three main ones, the secondary characters (their group of friends) and the background characters. I feel like if this last group had been set up far in advanced, things later would have had a greater impact on us readers.

That aside, however, I greatly enjoyed the mythology and main characters that the book did present.

Just to reiterate what I mentioned above. All the deaths that happened quickly weren't that scary. Even what happened to the secondary characters only bordered on it. While when it came down to our main characters, I was gripping the book, terrified. As much as I loved the set up for the main characters, if we had just met many of the other characters, even in passing and got a feel for their personalities even just a little bit, the book would have raised a notch. I pretty much ignored all the background characters since they were all introduced and named too quickly to keep track who was who.

I loved the layers to Seth that were revealed. I also loved the imagery of the final scene (Hayes really is masterful when it comes to that). Though I do wish that Lily could have been given a longer time to dish out revenge on the demon. It all happened really fast.

The way it ended was slightly too convenient and easy, but on the other hand I adore the idea of the two of them merging into one to escape the claws of the demon. I also love how you could see both of their personalities in the epilogue-like scene where they meet Seth again.

If you like Horror Movies, you will like Fractured. It's not quite at Stephen King level, but the imagery is top-notch and it is quite scary.

4 Bookmarks

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Blog Tour & Giveaway(INT): The Lost Kingdom by Stephanie Beerden

The Lost Kingdom (The Elements #1)

Stephanie Beerden

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Publication Date: April 28th 2014

Genre:  Fantasy

A Prophecy made long ago, announced the arrival of the new Ladies of Elements.

And now almost a millennia later, it finally came true …

All her life Arima thought she knew who and what she was. That is until the day of her sixteenth birthday came and her world is turned upside down, when she’s told she’s not a White Witch but Lady Spirit. And that she is the one that has been foretold, will unite the Five Ladies of Elements once again and save Ilendia and the Other Lands from Ahriman, the Demon King.

At first Arima refuses to accept her new fate, but when Shanums come and destroy her village and kill her loved ones, she has no choice but to flee and fall right into the destiny she never wanted.

As she grudgingly starts her journey into the unknown, she is accompanied by her unicorn familiar Sirrim, Blythe, a Vampire with a dark past and Myrddin, a mysterious Ljosalfar.

And the longer her journey lasts, the more Arima begins to realise that she can’t escape her own destiny and she must learn to control her powers and learn to be a Lady for the sake of the Sisters she doesn’t know and the people of Ilendia and the Other Lands.

However, things get more complicated when Arima comes into the possession of a key. Her instincts compel her to go towards danger when she discovers that the key she holds, can unlock the legendary kingdom of Eléssima, the home of the Ladies of Elements.

She will have to make the choice to follow her instincts …

…or stay on the path that has been laid out for her.

DREAM CAST

The Lost Kingdom has so many characters that are only around for a short time, so I tried to focus on the characters that are a constant throughout the book, sans Ahriman (only because I keep imagining him as a living suit of armor for some reason... no idea why).

ARIMA - DAKOTA FANNING
While reading the book, I kept thinking of the Fanning sisters when I read Arima, personality-wise, Dakota fits better, however. Of course the last film I saw with Fanning was a while ago and she played a young girl with attitude and rebelliousness which I feel fits Arima well. Also, I feel like Arima's eyes are an interesting part of her looks, so Fanning's huge and gorgeous eyes would be a great way to highlight that feature.

BLYTHE - IAIN GLEN
As for Blythe, in my brain I both as both rugged in a "I've been through a lot" kind of way and dashing. I also wanted to pick someone who looking exasperated constantly would sit well on.

BRYEIA - EMMA THOMPSON
I had a hard time with Bryeia. I didn't want to find a stereotypical older woman actress. She is introduced to us as being pretty crotchety and then we are shown the other side with Arima. Thompson's pretty versatile in that way.


Also she always looks so fantastic aged up.

I'm not 100% on this though, as I said I had a hard time, but since she's important, I wanted to cast her.

CRIMSON - EVA GREEN
Crimson was first character that I casted almost immediately while reading. For some reason I kept seeing her as Eva Green in Dark Shadows (except with red hair) and that terrifying smile end up sticking in my head every time she popped into the story.

ECHANTRE - MICHELLE PFEIFFER
Beautiful, Enchanting and fantastic at going from sweet to vengeful and cruel at the turn of a dime

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