Tagged: masquerade tours
The Castle Blues Quake by Linda Covella
(Cover picture courtesy of Patch.com)
12-year-old Pepper Connelly leaves her best friend, Chrissie, behind when her family moves from New York City to Santa Cruz, CA. Pepper discovers a boy, Corey, hiding in her backyard shed. Unknown to Pepper, Corey is a ghost trying to contact his grandfather, Boppie, before he crosses over. He tells Pepper he must locate Boppie before Social Services finds him. Pepper agrees to help.
While Pepper’s communication with Chrissie dwindles, her friendship with Corey grows. She tells Corey about her passion for writing songs, and throughout the story, she composes a song about Corey. Corey teaches Pepper to play the harmonica. Soon, she’s torn between finding Boppie and knowing when she does, Corey will certainly go back on the road with his traveling-musician grandfather.
Other characters help her on her quest: new classmate Ally Cressman, who dresses in an odd-ball, non-mall style; Sawtooth Sam, the mysterious saw-playing street musician; and Madame Mchumba, who performs her psychic readings at the Boardwalk amusement park. Earthquakes, haunted house rides, poltergeists, and crystal ball readings propel Pepper toward the end of her search as she learns about the give and take, the heartache and joy, of true friendship.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook in conjunction with the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
This is definitely a middle grade novel, probably one that’s not really all that suited for teens, but I decided to give The Castle Blues Quake a try anyway. It wasn’t a bad decision in the end either.
Even though some characters are walking stereotypes, the main characters are at least a little fleshed out. Pepper has had to move to a new house in Santa Cruz from New York City so she’s understandably not happy with the situation. She’s drifting apart from her big city friend but then she makes a new friend: the house ghost, Corey. The only problem? She doesn’t know he’s a ghost and he’s not about to tell her he is either. He’s waiting for his grandfather the whole novel (which would normally make him a boring character) but Corey is actually quite proactive. He and Pepper essentially set out on a quest to bring his grandpa back home, not knowing that grandpa has secrets of his own.
My only real ‘complaint’ about the book is that the secondary characters should have been fleshed out more. Sage, Pepper’s parents, the psychic, etc. Even for a middle grade novel they were surprisingly stiff, like they were cardboard cutouts. All they really served was to move the plot forward at convenient intervals. Pepper’s parents especially seemed pretty oblivious to the goings on of their twelve-year-old so there was a little of that believability factor missing. Still, this is not a bad novel. It’s just not a great one.
I’ve read quite a few stories like this before so the plot was really no surprise at all for me. I don’t want to give spoilers away, but I think it will probably be predictable even for the targeted audience. Still, I like that Linda Covella maintained a decent pace throughout the novel and didn’t belabour the point in her descriptions yet the reader knows what’s going on. As an older reader I felt the believability factor was a little low, but then again I’m not a 9-12 year old and haven’t been for a number of years.
The Castle Blues Quake is not a book made for my demographic, but it’s not a bad book for middle grade children. There are better novels out there, but there are also a lot worse ones. This book didn’t make me gasp in surprise or struggle to catch my breath because it was so beautiful, but it was a solid, generally well-written novel.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Book Blast: Gold Rush Deluge by Suzanne Lilly
When Lucinda Martin York and George Arnold leave Diggers Flat during a rainstorm, the Sacramento and American rivers crest, causing a deluge of epic proportions that engulfs the town of Sacramento. While Lucinda uses her medical skills to help save the citizens, George proposes a plan to stop the floodwaters and save the town.
Lucinda holds fast to her dream of becoming a doctor and apprentices to Dr. Mitchell Kersey. She falls under his spell, and too late she realizes Kersey has a dark and murderous past that has followed him to California. The danger she finds herself enmeshed in may end her dreams before they have even begun.
Based on historical events of 1850 Sacramento, Gold Rush Deluge is riveting and romantic.
Suzanne Lilly is a teacher and a writer who occasionally takes time off to zipline in Alaska, teach in China, and traipse around Rome. She writes sweet stories with a splash of suspense, a flash of the unexplained, a dash of romance, and always a happy ending.
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Book Blast: Stranger at Sunset by Eden Baylee
A vacation can be a killer.
Dr. Kate Hampton, a respected psychiatrist, gathers with a group of strangers at her favorite travel spot, Sunset Villa in Jamaica. Included in the mix are friends of the owners, a businessman with dubious credentials, and a couple who won the trip from a TV game show.
It is January 2013, following the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The luxury resort is struggling, not from the storm, but due to a scathing review from caustic travel writer, Matthew Kane. The owners have invited him back with hopes he will pen a more favorable review to restore their reputation.
Even though she is haunted by her own demons, Kate feels compelled to help. She sets out to discover the motivation behind Kane’s vitriol. Used to getting what he wants, has the reviewer met his match in Kate? Or has she met hers?
Stranger at Sunset is a slow-burning mystery/thriller as seen through the eyes of different narrators, each with their own murky sense of justice. As Kate’s own psychological past begins to unravel, a mysterious stranger at Sunset may be the only one who can save her.
Eden Baylee left a twenty-year banking career to become a full-time writer. She incorporates many of her favorite things into her writing such as: travel; humor; music; poetry; art; and much more.
Stranger at Sunset is her first mystery novel, on the heels of several books of erotic anthologies and short stories. She writes in multiple genres.
An introvert by nature and an extrovert by design, Eden is most comfortable at home with her laptop surrounded by books. She is an online Scrabble junkie and a social media enthusiast, but she really needs to get out more often!
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Twell and The Army of Powers by Kate O’Leary
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Twell lives in the new world of Como, and has always neglected her telekinetic gifts, desiring to be ‘normal.’ Her biggest drama in life is having to be genetically partnered with a boy she doesn’t know or love by her next birthday. Unfortunately she loves her best friend, who loves the girl she hates most, and Twell is left frustrated & heartbroken.
When Twell is requested alongside several other teens to develop her skills for the protection of Como, she reluctantly agrees to the training, and finds herself thrown into all sorts of mental and physical challenges.
Handsome, charismatic Jonaz, is gifted with the power of healing. According to Twell he’s an infuriating prat who delights in provoking her. But first impressions have always been her downfall.
When Como is attacked, life as Twell knows it is changed forever, with devastating consequences. With no choice but to fight, Twell risks her life to protect those who have survived, coming up against unexpected dangers she could never anticipate. Will she survive, and if so will she be matched to a stranger when the one she is growing to love is destined to another?
[Full disclosure: I was provided a free paperback through the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
In the first chapter of this book, I was filled with dread. It seemed like your typical catty teenage drama book with only a little bit of science fiction and a dash of dystopia. Then at the end of the chapter we learn that the leadership of Como, the Governing Body, chooses who you are matched with as life partners based on your genetics. Pretty terrifying, huh? There’s also the fact that every citizen wears a wristband that brings them updates from the GB and allows them to monitor everyone, everywhere. That’s even more terrifying.
Twell is a complicated character. She’s judgmental but at least she’s eventually willing to revise her judgments and act like a real human being rather than a super catty teenager. To her credit, she does grow quite a bit as a person as the book progresses, but there is a lot of angst to get through in the beginning. And to be fair, I’d be pretty angsty too if a government controlled my entire life like it does on Como. Twell’s interactions with the other characters are fascinating and I’ll admit she is a sympathetic character, particularly after tragedy strikes in the later half of the book. So I can’t really diss her or Kate O’Leary’s character development; it’s pretty good.
My only real criticism of Twell and The Army of Powers is the fact that the writing is unpolished. I don’t mean it’s bad or has lots of typos, but it feels like there’s a little more maturity needed on the part of the author to pull off those super emotional scenes. Part of the problem is that this is a first book so of course it’s going to be rough. But the other part is the fact that Kate O’Leary sometimes doesn’t let her characters speak for themselves. Whenever they say something that is clearly meant in one way she still adds an explanation after their dialogue that feels unnecessary, even in a book aimed at younger readers. It gets a little distracting at times but I believe Kate O’Leary’s writing will only improve with the sequel (especially considering that heart-wrenching cliffhanger).
So aside from a little bit of rough writing, this book is actually quite good. It’s not reliant on just one trope but it’s rather a mash-up of quite a few sci-fi and dystopian tropes into one unique, well thought-out world with realistic characters. I’d recommend it for younger teens, although there are some scenes of violence.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
Book Blast: Strangers on a Bus by Robert Manary
If you liked When Harry Met Sally, you’ll fall in love with Robb and Gertrude from Strangers on a Bus…
Robb is crushed by a failed relationship with the love of his life and finds himself unexpectedly on a long bus trip from his adopted home in the U.S. back to his native Canada.
At the first stop in NYC, a girl gets on and so begins a contemplation of life, love, and strange events that will bring tears of laughter and heartache streaming down your face.
Is this girl Robb’s real true love or just a rebound? How far can they get on a bus ride anyway?
This is a true story.
Robert Manary is an international playboy and man of mystery, with the charm and sophistication of James Bond shaken not stirred with a couple ounces of Cyrano de Bergerac, a dash of Rasputin, and garnished with the rapier wit of Thurston Howell the Third.
That’s how he sees himself, anyway.
The truth is Robert Manary is a construct created to protect the dubious reputation of his Clark Kent like mild mannered writer/puppeteer/the man pulling the levers and breathing life into the Great and Powerful Oz (don’t look too closely behind the curtain).
Manary is an award winning blogger, an erotic romance novel writer, the author of a pretty decent romantic comedy, and for a brief period in the early nineties served as dictator of a small South American country.
Most of that is true.
Manary is also an experimental artist who has no clue how to write an Author’s Bio, and definitely no idea how to end one.
P.S. He is also a shameless plunderer of pop culture.
