Now That You’re Here by Amy K. Nichols Cover Reveal

31 Jan, 2014 by Heather in Cover Reveal- 1 comment

Fire and Ice is happy to reveal the new cover for Now That You’re Here by Amy K. Nichols

About NOW THAT YOU’RE HERE

Danny and Eevee are meant to be together . . .

Just not in this universe.

Eevee Solomon has high school down to a science. Get the grades. Get the recommendations. Get into an Ivy League college, and eventually land a killer job at NASA.

Then Danny Ogden enters the equation.

Danny is a street-smart graffiti artist. He’s always managed to stay out of serious trouble, but this time he’s out of luck. One minute he’s running from the cops, and the next, he jolts awake in an unfamiliar body–his own, but different. Somehow, he’s crossed into a parallel universe. Now his friends are his enemies, his parents are long dead, and coolheaded Eevee is not the brazen girl he once kissed back home.

Then again, this Eevee may be his only hope of getting home.

Eevee tells herself she’s only helping him in the name of quantum physics, but there’s something undeniably fascinating about this boy from another dimension . . . a boy who makes her question who she is, and who she might be in another place and time.

Find it on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18309634-now-that-
you-re-here

About Amy Nichols

Amy has been crafting stories for as long as she can remember. She earned a Master’s in literature and worked for years as a web designer, though, before realizing what she really wanted to be was an author. Her first novel, YA sci-fi thriller Now That You’re Here, will be published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on December 9, 2014. The follow-up, While You Were Gone, will be published in 2015. She is mentored by award-winning crime novelist James Sallis.

Amy is represented by Quinlan Lee of Adams Literary. She’s an active member of SCBWI and SFWA, as well as a member of the Class of 2k14 debut authors.

Social Media Links

Website* Blog * Twitter * Facebook* Class of 2k14

The Giveaway

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ARC Breview: All That Glows by Ryan Graudin

30 Jan, 2014 by Heather in book review, fairies, harper teen, london, ryan graudin, Uncategorized, young adult fiction 1 comment

I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

All That Glows

by Ryan Graudin
Published by Harper Teen on February 11, 2014
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 480
Format: eARC
four-stars

Source: Edelweiss
Buy the Book • Goodreads

Emrys—a fiery, red-headed Fae—always embraced her life in the Highlands, far from the city’s draining technology, until she’s sent to London to rejoin the Faery Guard. But this isn’t any normal assignment—she’s sent to guard Prince Richard: Britain’s notorious, partying bad boy and soon-to-be King. The prince’s careless ways and royal blood make him the irresistible for the dark spirits that feed on mortals. Sweet, disheveled, and alive with adventure—Richard is one charge who will put Emrys’s magic and heart to the test.

When an ancient force begins preying on the monarchy, Emrys must hunt through the London’s magical underworld, facing down Banshees, Black Dogs and Green Women to find the one who threatens Richard’s life. In this chaos of dark magic, palace murders and paparazzi, Emrys finds herself facing an impossible choice. For despite all her powers, Emrys has discovered a force that burns brighter than magic: love.

I have to admit that I am drawn like a moth to the flame by all things faerie– so of course, when I saw this one on Eidelweiss I had to grab it! In the vein of Lesley Livingston, Jenna Black, Julie Kagawa and Maggie Stiefvater comes a book about royalty, London and the fairy guard that protect them.

What I liked

The flow of the writing and the premise of a bit of a rogue prince who likes to make trouble being guarded by his very own fiery guard who is as old as time.

There are new mythological creatures not seen much–green ladies, banshees and dark dogs that hunt in the underground clubs and graveyards of London.

The clash between nature and modern civilization, the faeries become sick when surrounded by metal, technology and not enough thick forest

It’s a clean read. There is one swear word and a kissing scene, but otherwise it’s rated PG

Meeting Herne the Hunter and the personification of a very powerful fairy who rides through his own forest on the hunt

I wish

I connected more with the characters, they didn’t feel fleshed out enough and their romance was instant without much build up

The world where the fairies came was more and integral part of the setting the author built

The bottom line

I would buy a physical copy of this one when it comes out. I really enjoyed it and was happy to see a fairy book, as it’s been a while since we’ve seen one in the YA line up. I read All That Glows quickly and genuinely enjoyed the premise, the idea of magical a hidden world living in London and the final battle at the end. Thanks so much to Harper Teen for the sneak peek. I will be buying this one!

Author Bio

I write books. Some are about rowdy-partying princes and their faery guardians (ALL THAT GLOWS, HarperTeen, 2/11/14). Others are about teenagers fighting for their lives in the slums of the Hak Nam Walled City (THE WALLED CITY, Little, Brown, Fall 2014). I love writing, traveling to new lands, drinking chai lattes and hanging christmas lights. I also love Jesus. I’m repped by Adams Literary.

Learn More on her website*goodreads*twitter

Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare~ Excerpt and Giveaway

28 Jan, 2014 by Heather in avon, excerpt, giftcard, giveaway, Romance, tessa dare 2 comments

Fire and Ice is happy to highlight

Romancing the Duke
Castles Ever After #1
by Tessa Dare
Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages
Expected publication: January 28th 2014
by Avon
ISBN 0062240196

“A sweet, fun nod to literary fandom, and two main characters who are perfect for each other yet never would have met if they weren’t each at a nadir in life’s journey.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Dare’s first Castles Ever After historical provides a unique twist to a fairy tale, complete with an ancient castle, a damsel in distress, and a wounded hero […].”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“[A] wickedly funny and soul-satisfyingly romantic novel, the perfect launch to Dare’s new Castles Ever After series.”
–Booklist (starred review)

In the first in Tessa Dare’s captivating Castles Ever After series, a mysterious fortress is the setting for an unlikely love . . .

As the daughter of a famed author, Isolde Ophelia Goodnight grew up on tales of brave knights and fair maidens. She never doubted romance would be in her future, too. The storybooks offered endless possibilities.

And as she grew older, Izzy crossed them off. One by one by one.
Ugly duckling turned swan?
Abducted by handsome highwayman?
Rescued from drudgery by charming prince?
No, no, and… Heh.

Now Izzy’s given up yearning for romance. She’ll settle for a roof over her head. What fairy tales are left over for an impoverished twenty-six year-old woman who’s never even been kissed?

This one.

A sneak peek of ROMANCING THE DUKE

The driver pocketed her offering and touched his cap. “What was yer name again, miss?”
“Goodnight. Miss Izzy Goodnight.”
She waited to see if he would recognize it. Most of the literate people in England would, and a great many of their domestic servants, besides.
The driver only grunted. “Jes’ wanted to know it, in case someone comes around asking. If you’re never heard from again.”
Izzy laughed. She waited for him to laugh, too.
He didn’t.
Soon driver, team, and carriage were nothing more than the fading crunch of wheels on the road.
Izzy picked up her valise and walked through the barbican. A stone bridge carried her over what once had been a moat but now was only a slimy green trickle.
She’d done a bit of research in advance of her journey. There wasn’t much to read. Only that Gostley Castle had once been the seat of the Rothbury dukedom, in Norman times.
It didn’t look inhabited now. There was no glass in many of the windows. No lights in them, either. There should have been a portcullis that dropped to bar the entrance—but there was nothing there. No door, no gate.
She walked through the archway and into the central, open courtyard.
“Lord Archer?” Her voice died in the air. She tried again. “Lord Archer, are you here?” This time, her call got a respectable echo off the flagstones. But no answer.
She was alone.
Dizzied from her strange surroundings and weak with hunger, Izzy closed her eyes. She coerced air into her lungs.
You cannot faint. Only ninnies and consumptive ladies swoon, and you are neither.
It started to rain. Fat, heavy drops of summer rain—the kind that always struck her as vaguely lewd and debauched. Little potbellied drunkards, those summer raindrops, chortling on their way to earth and crashing open with glee.
She was getting wet, but the alternative—seeking shelter inside one of the darkened arches—was less appealing by far.
A rustling sound made her jump and wheel. Just a raven taking wing. She watched it fly over the castle wall and away.
She laughed a little. Really. It was too much. A vast, uninhabited castle, rain, and now ravens, too? Someone was playing her a cruel trick.
Then she glimpsed a man across the courtyard, standing in a darkened archway.
And if he was a trick, he wasn’t a cruel one.
There were things in nature that took their beauty from delicate structure and intricate symmetry. Flowers. Seashells. Butterfly wings. And then there were things that were beautiful for their wild power and their refusal to be tamed. Snowcapped mountains. Churning thunderclouds. Shaggy, sharp-toothed lions.
This man silhouetted before her? He belonged, quite solidly, in the latter category.
So did the wolf sitting at his heel.
It couldn’t be a wolf, she told herself. It had to be some sort of dog. Wolves had long been hunted to extinction. The last one in England died ages ago.
But then . . . she would have thought they’d stopped making men like this, too.
He shifted his weight, and a slant of weak light revealed the bottom half of his face. She glimpsed a wide, sensual slash of a mouth. A squared jaw, dark with whiskers. Overlong hair brushed his collar. Or it would have, if he had a collar. He wore only an open-necked linen shirt beneath his coat. Buckskin breeches hugged him from slim hips to muscled thighs . . . and from there, his legs disappeared into a pair of weathered, dusty Hessians.
Oh, dear. She did have such a weakness for a pair of well-traveled boots. They made her desperate to know everywhere they’d been.
Her heart beat faster. This didn’t help with her lightheadedness problem.
“Are you Lord Archer?” she asked.
“No.” The word was low, unforgiving.
The beast at his heel growled.
“Oh. I-is Lord Archer here?”
“No.”
“Are you the caretaker?” she asked. “Are you expecting him soon?”
“No. And no.”
Was that amusement in his voice?
She swallowed hard. “I received a letter. From Lord Archer. He asked me to meet him here on this date regarding some business with the late Earl of Lynforth’s estate. Apparently he left me some sort of bequest.” She extended the letter with a shaking hand. “Here. Would you care to read it for yourself?”
That wide mouth quirked at one corner. “No.”
Izzy retracted the letter as calmly as she could manage and replaced it in her pocket.
He leaned one shoulder against the archway. “Aren’t we going to continue?”
“Continue what?”
“This game.” His voice was so low it seemed to crawl to her over the flagstones, then shiver up through the soles of her feet. “Am I a Russian prince? No. Is my favorite color yellow? No. Would I object if you were to come inside and remove every stitch of your damp clothing?” His voice did the impossible. It sank lower. “No.”
He was just making sport of her now.
Izzy clutched her valise to her chest. She didn’t want Snowdrop getting wet. “Do you treat all your visitors this way?”
Idiot. She cursed herself and braced for another low, mocking “no.”
He said, “Only the pretty ones.”
Oh, Lord. She ought to have guessed it earlier. The fatigue and hunger had done something to her brain. She could almost believe the castle, the ravens, the sudden appearance of a tall, dark, handsome man. But now he was flirting with her?
She had to be hallucinating.
The rain beat down, impatient to get from the clouds to the earth. Izzy watched drops pinging off the flagstones. Each one seemed to chisel a bit more strength from her knees.
The castle walls began to spin. Her vision went dark at the edges.
“I . . . Forgive me, I . . .”
Her valise dropped to the ground.
The beast snarled at it.
The man moved out from the shadows.
And Izzy fainted dead away.

The Giveaway

Could your “castle” use a pick-me-up? Enter to win a $50.00 BED BATH & BEYOND gift card below for a home improvement happy-ever-after of your own!
(US entries only please)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Luminescence by Braden Bell- Blog Tour Sign Ups

27 Jan, 2014 by Heather in blog tour Leave a comment

Fire and Ice is thrilled to announce and host the blog tour for

Luminescence

by Braden Bell
Paperback, 320 pages
Expected publication: March 11th 2014
by Cedar Fort Publishing & Media
ISBN 1462114059

Summary

“He’s alive!” she yelled. “He’s alive!”
As Lexa spoke the words, she knew they were true. She knew with total certainty.
“Dr. Timberi’s alive!”

When Lady Nightwing kidnapped Dr. Timberi, everyone assumed their teacher had been killed. So when Lexa discovers that he isn’t dead, Conner can’t believe his ears.

Determined to rescue their favorite teacher, Conner, Lexa, and Melanie confront their worst fears and use their powers in unexpected ways to defeat Lady Nightshade, the treacherous Darkhand leader. But when the trio makes a terrible choice to save Dr. Timberi, their powers may not be enough to keep everyone alive. A thrilling conclusion to the Middle School Magic series!

Your favorite characters return in this satisfying conclusion of the Middle School Magic series! Filled with plenty of twists, humor, and adventure, Luminescence will keep you guessing until the last page.

Study hall? Definitely. Substitute Teachers? Absolutely. Rescuing people from brutal villains? Bring it on!

Goodreads*Amazon

About the Author

During his middle school years, Braden Bell was the least-stable, lowest-achieving student in the history of the world. He shocked every former teacher by graduating from high school and college, and then going on to earn both a Master’s degree as well as a Ph.D. A teacher by day and a parent by night, he is around teenagers 24/7. He teaches music and directs plays at a private school, much like Marion Academy in The Middle School Magic series. Whether he fights evil after hours is something he cannot disclose.

Braden Bell holds degrees in theatre from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. from NYU. A committed educator, he has been directing plays and teaching school now for over twenty years. Braden lives with his family on a quiet, tree-lined lot outside of Nashville, TN, where he teaches theatre and choir at a middle school. The author of The Road Show, The Kindling, and Penumbras.

Lean More on his website* twitter* facebook* goodreads* publisher

Participants in the Luminescence blog tour will be allowed one entry for their site in the rafflecopter for a $25 Amazon giftcard or Paypal cash.

Click here to sign up.

Elevated by Elana Johnson~ Cover Reveal

24 Jan, 2014 by Heather in Cover Reveal-, elana johnson 2 comments

Fire and Ice is thrilled to participate in today’s cover reveal for Elevated By Elana Johnson. Without further ado… *drum roll please*

What do you think?!

About ELEVATED

The last person seventeen-year-old Eleanor Livingston wants to see on the elevator—let alone get stuck with—is her ex-boyfriend Travis, the guy she’s been avoiding for five months.

Plagued with the belief that when she speaks the truth, bad things happen, Elly hasn’t told Trav anything. Not why she broke up with him and cut off all contact. Not what happened the day her father returned from his deployment to Afghanistan. And certainly not that she misses him and still thinks about him everyday.

But with nowhere to hide and Travis so close it hurts, Elly’s worried she won’t be able to contain her secrets for long. She’s terrified of finally revealing the truth, because she can’t bear to watch a tragedy befall the boy she still loves.

Praise for ELEVATED

“ELEVATED will take you on an emotionally gripping journey through the highs and lows of first love.” ~Carolee Dean, author of Take Me There and Forget Me Not

“Poignant, raw, and intense, ELEVATED is a novel that will grip your heart and linger in your mind long after you turn the last page.” ~Stasia Ward Kehoe, author of Audition and The Sound of Letting Go

Purchase on Kobo

About Elana Johnson

Elana Johnson’s work, including Possession, Surrender, Abandon, and Regret, published by Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster), is available now everywhere books are sold. Her popular ebook, From the Query to the Call, is also available for download, as well as a Possession short story, Resist. School teacher by day, Query Ninja by night, you can find her online at her personal blog or Twitter. She also co-founded the Query Tracker blog, and contributes to the League of Extraordinary Writers.

Social Media Links

Website/blog* Twitter *Facebook *Tumblr *Wattpad * League of Extraordinary Writers * WriteOnCon *Elana on Goodreads

The Giveaway

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Author Guest Post- Looking Up by Michelle Wilson

23 Jan, 2014 by Heather in Author Guest Post, blog tour, deseret book 3 comments

Fire and Ice is so excited to participate in this Deseret Book blog Tour and have author Michelle Wilson here today with an exclusive blog post!

About the Author

Michelle Wilson is a native of California. Through serving a full-time mission, teaching seminary, Sunday School classes, and speaking at various firesides and conferences, Michelle has developed a love of the power and simplicity of the gospel. She believes in the healing power of laughter and chocolate. She and her husband, Jerey, are the parents of three children and live in Washington State.

Guest Post

Looking up

Thanks for having my on your blog, Heather!

I have really enjoyed the response I have gotten so far to ‘Does This Insecurity Make Me Look Fat?’ The dual ideas of ‘learning to see’ who we are and ‘choosing to be’ are hitting home with so many.

In our hectic lives, it is easy for us as women to look beyond the mark of who we are and who we can be. We can, at times, get caught in the traps of comparing our perceived worst to other’s best, putting unrealistic expectations upon ourselves, or basing our worth on what we think others opinions are of us. These things keep us from seeing ourselves as we really are.

That’s where the ‘learning to see’ comes us—as we learn to recognize the things that block us from seeing ourselves as we truly are and come to understand how God see us, we can begin to understand who we really are. And not only that, but what we are capable of! So many of us live underneath our privileges! Perspective and confidence open the doors of understanding and opportunity, and allow us to walk through to find new experiences, growth and joy.

I didn’t understand that for a long time. Though my outward circumstances in life were good, I carried a weight of insecurity, fear, and sadness. I managed to hide it from most people (as we are so good at doing) but it affected my actions, choices, and priorities. I allowed myself to feel worthless and began looking around to my peers and others to make me feel differently. That worked sometimes, like when my friends told me they loved me, or when a boy said I was cute. But then, the times I didn’t get a phone call, or my friends went out without me, or my brothers were cruel to me, any feeling of confidence and worth I may have had went out the door.

My parents told me often I was wonderful, but somehow I let their role as parents turn their view of my into an obligatory compliment I didn’t allow myself to believe.

Lest you think I was a walking sad sack my teenage years, I wasn’t. In fact, I hid these feelings well. I became so adept at acting as though I had confidence and a feeling of self-worth that most didn’t know that to me that’s all it was, an act. Yes, there were times of joy, fun, and happiness. I loved my family and had some good friends. I even had a testimony of God and Jesus Christ. But, underneath the laughter and smiles, I didn’t have testimony of myself or my worth. I just didn’t feel I was good enough.

Thankfully, it wasn’t too soon after my teenage years that I began to recognize what my problem had been. It wasn’t a matter of who I was or wasn’t; it was the simple matter of which way I had been looking.

I spent years looking side to side, all around me, for the definition and summation of my worth. How did I compare with others? How did I fit in? How did they see me? It was only when I changed the direction of where I looked that I began to see—when I stopped looking side to side, but began looking up to God for my place and my purpose did I truly begin to understand myself.

As I mentioned before, I had always had believed in God. I never doubted He was real. I even understood, in theory, that He loved me. He had always been in my life, in the background. But when I put Him in the forefront of my thoughts and efforts, I began to not only believe in Him, but realize that He believed in me. He allowed me to see myself the way He sees me—with hope, admiration, tenderness, and love, such perfect love. Through my growing relationship with Him, I was able to see myself as He does, and, because He doesn’t lie, I had to believe Him.

His knowledge and vision are perfect. So is His love.

His love for me isn’t based on what I have or haven’t done, what kind of clothes I wear, whether I have a muffin-top or not, or what my peers think of me. Neither should mine.

His love for me isn’t dependent on how clean my house is, how cute my kid’s clothes are, are if I have an awesome Pinterest board. And neither should mine.

His love for me doesn’t diminish when I make mistakes, or fall short of my sometimes unrealistic goals for myself. And neither should mine.

His love for me doesn’t change because someone around me doesn’t like me.

He loves me with a perfect love because He can see beyond all of that into who I am and what He knows I can do. He made me. That means something. And though I still have a ways to go to become like Him, He loves me now. He sees me for who I am, and He thinks I’m pretty awesome.

I can’t tell you how that realization has freed and empowered me throughout my life. When the times of fear and doubt creep in, or I begin to worry what other’s might think, or maybe feel out of place, all I have to do is refocus and look up to Him, and I feel better. The worries and stress are put into their proper place, and I again at peace.

The beauty of this story is that it doesn’t apply to only me. It applies to you. God knows you better than you know yourself. His perspective is clear. His love is perfect. I believe He is there to help you see yourself through His eyes—the only way to see yourself as you really are. And as you look up for your worth and realize how He amazing He knows you are, you can believe Him. He is God. He cannot lie.

I used to just believe in God, and now I know that He believes in me. And nothing I can see from side to side can ever change that.

About the Book

Does This Insecurity Make Me Look Fat?
by Michelle Wilson
Paperback, 176 pages
Published 2013 by Deseret Book
ISBN13 9781609078072
Goodreads* Amazon* Deseret Book

Product Description

• Why do clothing stores hang fun-house mirrors in their dressing rooms?

• The laundry doesn’t cry when it’s not folded, so why should I?

• Can I be confident even if an elevator calls me fat?

Michelle Wilson’s humorous yet poignant insights help women examine the limitations we place on ourselves out of insecurity and self-doubt. We have faith in God, but do we know that He has faith in us?

When we see ourselves with God’s eternal perspective, we can feel confident and whole—even in our imperfection. Just think what we might accomplish if we truly believe that we are more important than we know, stronger than we realize, and extraordinary in every way.

Find out more on the author’s website

The Traitor’s Wife Blog Tour and Kindle Giveaway

21 Jan, 2014 by Heather in allison pataki, blog tour, kindle paperwhite giveaway, kismet book tours, simon schuster, traitor's wife, Uncategorized 8 comments

Fire and Ice is thrilled to be today’s stop on the official tour for The Traitor’s Wife by Allison Pataki hosted by Kismet Book Touring. We have an exclusive excerpt from the book as well as a kindle paperwhite giveaway which is international! I love the cover…isn’t it gorgeous?!

Book Summary

A riveting historical novel about Peggy Shippen Arnold, the cunning wife of Benedict Arnold and mastermind behind America’s most infamous act of treason.

Everyone knows Benedict Arnold—the infamous Revolutionary War General who betrayed America and fled to the British as history’s most notorious turncoat. Many know Arnold’s co-conspirator, Major John André, who was apprehended with Arnold’s documents in his boots and hanged at the orders of General George Washington. But few know of the integral third character in the plot; a charming and cunning young woman, who not only contributed to the betrayal but orchestrated it.

Socialite Peggy Shippen is half Benedict Arnold’s age when she seduces the war hero during his stint as Military Commander of Philadelphia. Blinded by his young bride’s beauty and wit, Arnold does not realize that she harbors a secret: loyalty to the British. Nor does he know that she hides a past romance with the handsome British spy John André. Peggy watches as her husband, crippled from battle wounds and in debt from years of service to the colonies, grows ever more disillusioned with his hero, Washington, and the American cause. Together with her former lover and her disaffected husband, Peggy hatches the plot to deliver West Point to the British and, in exchange, win fame and fortune for herself and Arnold.

Told from the perspective of Peggy’s maid, whose faith in the new nation inspires her to intervene in her mistress’s affairs even when it could cost her everything, The Traitor’s Wife brings these infamous figures to life, illuminating the sordid details and the love triangle that nearly destroyed the American fight for freedom.

Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Excerpt

September 25, 1780 West Point Fort, New York

When the second messenger arrives on horseback, Mistress hears the frenzied pace of the horse hooves outside her open window.

“Another rider? Goodness, we must be the busiest home on the Hudson River this morning.” Mistress chuckles, tugging at the loose sleeves of her white linen nightdress. “Don’t they know we are set to receive Washington and his party for breakfast this morning? You’d think they could withhold these errands for at least one day.” She sighs, her features fresh from rest, beautiful beneath the frame of loose blond curls.

“Better go see what they want.” She directs me with a nod and I leave her room, making my way down the narrow wooden staircase.

“Scoot, pup.” I edge the dog aside from the door. From my perch on the front step, I shield my eyes and stare up the shaded post road. The rider emerges from the dappled cover of the thick trees into the stark early-morning light. My heart lurches involuntarily at the memory of another morning, when another rider had trotted up this trail. How that soldier had been here to see me. But I cannot allow myself to grow hazy in daydreaming, not today.

I notice that this man is not liveried in the General’s crest, and therefore does not come from Washington’s camp. He approaches the house at alarming speed, urging his weary horse forward with the ruthless spurs of his dusty boots. He halts just feet from me, his horse breathless, the rider looming over me like one of St. John’s horsemen come to warn us of the end of the world. I straighten up to my full height as the man alights from the horse, landing in a cloud of churned-up dirt, uniform filthy, hair matted with sweat.

“Can I help you?” I stand, sentry-like, before the front door of the farmhouse.

“I need to speak with Major General Benedict Arnold.” The man, still gasping for air, careens toward the house, dust surrounding him like a shroud. “Water my horse, miss. I must speak to the General!” The man hands me the bridle and staggers toward the front door without another word.

I hear the commotion in the front of the house as this lone rider calls out the master’s name: “Where is General Benedict Arnold? Urgent message for Benedict Arnold from the south Hudson.”

I tie this man’s horse to the post out front and glide noiselessly back into the house, positioning myself out of sight at the top of the stairway. I hear my master approach the messenger in the drawing room. His telltale plodding on the wooden floor—lopsided, uneven—due to the war wound that has forever crippled him and rendered his left leg useless. Muffled sounds as the master of the house greets the messenger, his voice like gravel as he chides his subordinate.

“What is your aim, man? Barging in on us like this on the morning we are to receive His Excellency George Washington, and with the lady of the house not yet arisen and

dressed?”

The messenger answers through uneven breath. “I assure you, Major General, you will pardon my abruptness when you see the message I’m delivering. I was ordered to deliver it posthaste.”

Good heavens, from where are you coming?” My master’s voice now betrays his alarm.

“North Castle Fort, down the Hudson. A full day’s ride, sir.”

“Give it here, then.” I hear papers being ruffled as they change hands. Silence follows, with just the sound of the morning birdsong to accompany the scene unfolding inside the farmhouse.

Then the master’s gait, again lopsided, but with an urgency I haven’t heard in years. He soon reaches the stairs, causing me to flee back into my mistress’s room.

“What is it?” Her eyes widen as I dash across the threshold of her sunlit chamber.

“Master’s coming!” is all I have time to say. We hear his rapid approach; using his impressive upper body strength, he’s pulling him- self up the stairs. The floorboards groan beneath his boots as he climbs. I look to my lady, and her features are horrorstruck as we understand each other. No words are needed between us after all these years.

“But surely it’s not . . . it can’t be?” Mrs. Arnold fidgets with the bedcovers, deliberating whether to rise or remain abed.

“Peggy.” Arnold bounds through the door, his hulking frame atremble in the doorway.

Struggling to breathe, he gasps, “They’ve found us out! All is lost, all is lost. We’re unearthed.”

His face tells me that he struggles just as much as my lady does to make sense of the words, even as his lips utter them. And then, as quickly as he entered, General Arnold exits back out my lady’s doorway. And I am left alone, in this room, with nothing but my lady and her shrill wails.

“BENEDICT!” she cries after him. “BENEDICT ARNOLD!”

About the Author

ALLISON PATAKI grew up in upstate New York, in the same neighborhood where Benedict and Peggy Arnold once lived. Allison attended Yale University, where she graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in English. While at Yale, Allison received Distinction in the Major from the English department and served as a campus reporter and news anchor for the student-run campus television program, YTV News.

The daughter of former New York State Governor George E. Pataki, Allison was inspired to write The Traitor’s Wife: A Novel of Benedict Arnold and the Plan to Betray America based on the rich Revolutionary War history of her hometown in New York State’s Hudson Highlands.

Allison spent several years writing for television and digital news outlets prior to transitioning to fiction. The Traitor’s Wife: A Novel of Benedict Arnold and the Plan to Betray America is Allison’s first novel. Allison lives in Chicago with her husband.

Find Allison Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

Tour Schedule

Monday, January 20th – Daily Mayo
Tuesday, January 21st – Fire & Ice
Wednesday, January 22nd – Sofia Loves Books
Thursday, January 23rd – Little Miss Drama Queen
Friday, January 24th – Book – A – Holic
Monday, January 27th – The Most Happy Reader
Tuesday, January 28th – Evie Bookish
Wednesday, January 29th – Books Besides My Bed
Thursday, January 30th – Crossroad Reviews
Friday, January 31st – Reading Reality
Monday, February 3rd – Curling Up with a Good Book
Tuesday, February 4th – Le Grande Codex
Wednesday, February 5th – Bewitched Bookworms
Thursday, February 6th – Supernatural Snark
Friday, February 7th – Rose’s Book Corner

The Giveaway

We have a fantastic giveaway for this tour: A Kindle paperwhite! This giveaway is open internationally provided Amazon.com ships to you.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ARC Review: Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

20 Jan, 2014 by Heather in alyssa b sheinmel, ARC, Farrar Straus Giroux, macmillan, peter pan, reimagining, summer 2 comments

I received this book for free from Farrar Straus Giroux in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Second Star

by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
Published by Farrar Straus Giroux on May 13th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Pages: 256
Format: ARC
five-stars

Source: Farrar Straus Giroux
Buy the Book • Goodreads

A twisty story about love, loss, and lies, this contemporary oceanside adventure is tinged with a touch of dark magic as it follows seventeen-year-old Wendy Darling on a search for her missing surfer brothers. Wendy’s journey leads her to a mysterious hidden cove inhabited by a tribe of young renegade surfers, most of them runaways like her brothers. Wendy is instantly drawn to the cove’s charismatic leader, Pete, but her search also points her toward Pete's nemesis, the drug-dealing Jas. Enigmatic, dangerous, and handsome, Jas pulls Wendy in even as she's falling hard for Pete. A radical reinvention of a classic, Second Star is an irresistible summer romance about two young men who have yet to grow up--and the troubled beauty trapped between them.

Wow. Where to even begin with this book?!! I sat down to read it, and never got up. Read straight past my bed time, into the night, until turning the very last page. For me, the writing was absolutely enchanting and dreamlike–a fairy tale shimmering to life in a modern day retelling by the beach. By far, the most magical book I’ve read in a very long time.

Wendy Darling’s world is shattered when her twin brothers go missing after going surfing and then never come back. Her parents are shells of themselves, merely passing through the motions of life. Wendy, in the mean time, is convinced her brothers are still out there somewhere.

She’s a straight A student– Stanford bound in fact, but Wendy feels the tug of the ocean, the whispers of her brothers.

A chance meeting with a beautiful boy named Pete leads her to Kensington. Once the home of millionaires, now an abandoned neighborhood clinging dangerously close to the edge of a cliff backed up to the ocean. Wendy is sure her brothers could have known this very spot where the perfect waves crash in and the tide washes away the path that leads back home. She is inexplicably drawn to the salty air and fire-lit nights.

Second Star brought me back to my senior year in California and the summers in between. Taking weekends at lazy beach towns, finding warm sand between my toes and then shaking it all out again to head back to school, the sunny days and carefree atmosphere.

Pete is perfect. He’s exactly what you would imagine a modern day Peter Pan to be. Belle, his moody, angry girlfriend has secrets of her own. The other lost boys, Hughie and Matt come together to form their own makeshift family. But, there is a very real threat living on the other side of the beach.

Jas.

He can hook you with his lies, his dust and his enigmatic pull. The love triangle all happens so fast you won’t know what hit.

Wendy finds herself doing things she would never normally do, and second guessing her mind as she chases the second star in search of the truth. Lines between reality and dream becomes blurred (as often happens with trauma, love and loss), so much so that even the reader is not sure what is fact and what is imagining.

I’m guessing this is a standalone, because of the ending. I don’t want to spoil anything for readers. But suffice it to say, Second Star is a twisty, turvy ride that will suck you in, pull you under and spit you back out wanting another wave. It takes everything you think you know and shakes it up– but for me it was perfect.

Highly recommend Second Star. If you are looking for it to stick to your pre-conceived notions about the well known childhood story of Peter Pan, you may be disappointed– but if you want amazing writing, here you’ll find fast paced story spinning at its best. Thanks so much to Ksenia at MacMillan Teen Books for sending me this treasure!

My advice… head over to NetGalley and request it. Preorder and add Second Star to your wishlist NOW.

Content: Due to this being such an early review I won’t list specifics yet. There are several elements of mature content but not in so much detail that it was bothersome to me, will release the parental warnings after the book is published.

Excerpt

Sitting as far from Jas as possible, my body pressed against the passenger- side door, I close my eyes and let a memory wash over me–a memory, I’m certain this time, not a dream: Pete’s chin resting on the small of my back as we paddle out to take a wave. The board sticky with wax beneath me as I pull myself to stand. The ocean dropping out below us as the board slides into place beneath the crest of the wave. And the sensation that I’m flying, weightless and carefree,with no one on the planet except Pete and me, no one else know exactly what this feels like.

Author Bio

I was born in Stanford, California, and even though I moved across the country to New York when I was six years old, I still think of myself as a California girl.

When I was little, I pretended that I didn’t like to read, because my sister loved to read, and I wanted to be different. (I also pretended that I didn’t like pizza, because it was her favorite food, I still get sad when I think of all the delicious pizza dinners I missed out on.) By the time I was eight, it was too hard to pretend I didn’t like to read, because the truth was that reading was my favorite thing in the world. I loved it so much that when there was nothing to read, I wrote my own stories just to give myself something to read. And when there was no pen and paper to be had, I made up stories and acted them out by myself. I played all the parts, and I was never bored.

When I was eleven years old, I began going to a school in Manhattan called Spence. The teachers there were very supportive of my reading and writing. One teacher there encouraged me to read F. Scott Fitzgerald, and another introduced me to magical realism, and another tried to convince me that there was more to Ernest Hemingway than lessons in fly fishing. (She was right, of course.) And still another let me write a sequel to one of my favorite novels and call it a school project, even though I would have done in my spare time just for the fun of it.

After Spence, I went across town to Barnard College. Once again, I had some of the best teachers in the world encouraging me to write, and introducing me to new authors. One of my very favorite teachers told me to read Joan Didion (and I didn’t thank him enough for that), and my other favorite insisted that there was nothing more to Ernest Hemingway than lessons in fly fishing (and I argued with her a lot about that).

After college, I got a job working in an office where I wore high heels and blazers and even the occasional stiff-collared blouse. I thought I would write on the side, but after a while,I stopped writing altogether – for over a year, I didn’t write a word except in my journal, a very strange thing for a girl who wrote stories from pretty much the time that she learned how to hold a pen.

But then, when I was 24, I began working at a new job, and the people there introduced me to great new writers, just like the teachers I’d had in school. I began to miss writing. It was boring when I wasn’t making up stories to keep myself entertained. And so – slowly, just for the fun of it – I began writing again, and in a couple years I had written the story that would become The Beautiful Between.

I still don’t write every day; sometimes I get caught up in other things, and sometimes I’d just rather park myself in front of the TV and watch reruns of The West Wing. But I always find my way back to my computer; I always remember just how much fun writing really is. And the great thing about writing – at least in my experience – is that it comes out best when you’re doing it for the very, very fun of it.

Find Alyssa on her website*twitter*

Witch Fall Blog Tour

17 Jan, 2014 by Heather in amber argyle, blog tour, book review, giveaway, Uncategorized 8 comments

I received this book for free from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Witch Fall

by Amber Argyle
Published by Starling on October 24th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 332
Format: eBook
three-half-stars

Source: Xpresso Book Tours
Buy the Book • Goodreads

All things fall.

Even Witches.

Supreme in their dominion over seasons, storms, and sea, the Witches have forgotten the unmatched destructiveness of mankind. And among the weapons men seek are the magical songs of the Witches.

Lilette is one of the few who see the decadence and decay weakening the Witches. As an outsider amid her own kind, can she help them survive the coming war?

Fire and Ice is happy to be a part of the official blog tour for Amber Argyle’s Witch Fall. Follow the full Xpresso Book tour here

Review

This is my first taste of Amber Argyle’s writing. When I heard Witch Song was free right now, I downloaded the first book in the series then jumped ahead to the third, Witch Fall for the tour. This one is meant as a prequel, or standalone, so the order can be reverse the way I approached the series.

Amber is a master at world building! Witch Song, set in an Asian empire, which I am assuming would be much like Japan or China, is the tale of Lilette. A girl who has lost everything she loves, including her family, and somehow survives a shipwreck. She finds home on a remote island and is about to be married to the father of her best friend, the chief of the tribe. Women in this book don’t have much say in the matters of marriage, bethrothal, and concubines. Their plight is one I struggled with as well as some of the darker elements. But Lilette is a persistent fighter and she is bound to find a way out when she’s kidnapped by the enemy, an elite, a royal prince with a brutal edge.

A tale of espionage, fantasy and magic, Witch Fall has eloquent writing with detail and lots of action. Can Lilette learn to trust those who she knows from her childhood? Can she remember her song of the Creator and save the destruction of her people? All balance has been lost by rulers seeking power and Lilette is the key to saving them.

Content: Witch Fall packs a punch… literally. If you have a weak stomach for violence (as I do), you may want to bow out. Recommended for mature teens or adults. To see other content highlight here: threat of sexual abuse, violence against women, lots of death by sword, sensuality.

About the Author

Amber Argyle is the author of Witch Song and Fairy Queen trilogies. She grew up with three brothers on a cattle ranch in the Rocky Mountains. She spent hours riding horses, roaming the mountains, and playing in her family’s creepy barn. This environment fueled her imagination for writing high fantasy. She has worked as a short order cook, janitor, and staff member in a mental institution. All of which has given her great insight into the human condition and has made for some unique characters. She received her bachelor’s degree in English and Physical Education from Utah State University. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and three small children.