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Hedge Witch Blog Tour

5/7/2014

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Blurb:
Fifteen year-old Cait Weerd has no idea she’s being sought by the undain: sorcerous creatures of necromancy that feed off the spirit of the living. She doesn’t know the undain need her blood to survive. She doesn’t even know she’s a witch, descended from a long line of witches. Cait Weerd doesn’t know a lot, really, but all that’s about to change.

At Manchester Central Library she’s caught up in sudden, horrific violence. In the chaos she’s handed an old book that’s been hidden there and told to run, hide the book or destroy it. It contains all the secrets of the undains’ existence. They and their human servants want to find that as much as they want Cait.

What’s more, she learns that the fate of two worlds is at stake here. Just what she needs. Along with definitely-not-a-boyfriend Danny, she has to decide what the hell to do. Run, fight or just hope it all goes away.

It’s only then she learns who she really is, along with the terrible truth of what the undain have been doing in our world all this time …

                                                      Goodreads                   Purchase: -Amazon:
Review:
"What you send out comes back to you threefold.  It's the way of nature, the way it should be.  And we accept, welcome even, the price paid.  After the day there must be night.  After the summer, the winter."

This is the price to be paid for practicing magic, only Cait doesn't know that magic exists, or that she is a witch.  When trouble from another world suddenly erupts into the basements of the Manchester Central Library, where Cait's grandmother works, Cait must learn about another world and the magic within her- quickly.  The library houses many special books, some behind bars and some from other worlds.  It is one of these books that the terrifying undain and a team of brutal soldiers
is willing to hunt down Cait, her grandmother, her mother and Cait's friend Danny, for.

First, I loved that this began in a library, what better place for a dangerous otherworldly book to be stored? I easily fell for Cait's character.  She was easily relatable and a strong character, it was fun to see her discover her magic and find strength within herself.  I do wish that we didn't leave Cait for so long when the point of view switched to the other, magical world of Andar.  There was a lot of world building, back-story and important characters to meet, that tied the story together as it moved along.  Fer and Cait's relationship was an interesting surprise.  Once the story came back into Manchester and the chase was on with the book, I was much more engaged. Also, learning all of the depth of the book, the soldiers and the ties to Andar was intriguing. The best surprise character for me was the archaeon, a literal bookworm who can supply all of the knowledge of the books it has lived in, and in our world, the world wide web.  I hope he shows up again in the next book.
Read a Sample:
From Book One:

Hedge Witch Sampler
ePub: http://bit.ly/1oAJGEw
KIndle: http://bit.ly/1hfzDRv
and Book Two:
Witching Hour short stories
ePub: http://bit.ly/1iaEleh
KIndle: http://bit.ly/1ilPaLS


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Author Bio:
Simon was born on the misty Isle of Man but now lives deep in the English countryside with his wife and two daughters.

He writes science fiction and fantasy as well as some stories that can’t make their minds up.

Find out more on his website at :

 Author Website                               Goodreads                              Facebook                              Twitter    

Giveaway:
Leave a comment to win
one ebook copy of Hedge Witch. Open internationally!

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Chronicles: The Library of Illumination

5/2/2014

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Chronicles: The Library of Illuminations
Young Adult Fantasy
Date Published
:
 April 29, 2014
Blurb: Within the walls of a centuries-old building lies the magical Library of Illumination, a place where books literally come to life. 17-year-old Johanna Charette is the youngest curator ever chosen to oversee the day-to-day operation of the library and she knows, in case of trouble, having an assistant can be invaluable, so she hires 16-year-old Jackson Roth to give her a hand. Jackson gets off to a rocky start, but manages to prove his mettle. Besides, he’s kind of cute and a lot of fun.
Johanna is charming and brilliant—and a natural born leader. She keeps the library operating on an even keel. Jackson is clever and intrepid. He relies on his wits to keep them out of danger when trouble arises. Unfortunately, his derring-do is one of the reasons why they sometimes find themselves in awkward situations. So it shouldn’t be any surprise when his wanton curiosity sparks a journey to a distant realm, where they end up with front row seats in a battle against an ancient foe. 

BUY LINKS : Amazon: http://amzn.to/1hI4DWL

Review: 
A library where an open book can come to life and illuminate your imagination, who wouldn't love that!  Johanna is stuck in a dead-end job, the only good thing is that she gets to work with books.  When she is asked to make a special delivery to the strange Library of Illumination, she sees way more than she bargains for.  Since Johanna seems to be the only one to gain entrance to the Library, she gets more deliveries to the library and gets to know the curator, Mal.  Mal trains Johanna to take care of the abundance of books and all the wonders that they contain.  As Johanna gains confidence as the new curator and begins to work with curator-in-training, Jackson, she will find plenty of adventure within the books themselves as well as the magical library.

I absolutely loved the concept of The Library of Illumination! Who wouldn't want a chance to see some of their favorite scenes from books spring to life? Or have a chat with some famous (or infamous) people and characters?  Johanna's character is intelligent, loyal and most of all, a lover of books.  For a woman of eighteen, her character is very mature and shows great problem solving skills whenever she or Jackson gets into a bind.  I'm on the fence a bit about Johanna and Jackson's romance right now, it seems a little forced, but it might grow on me.  The adventures that can take place
in the Library of Illumination are limitless, Cassanova was my favorite and I wish he could have stayed in the Library longer, despite his womanizing ways.  I also loved the ideas of the portals, eleven more Libraries of Illumination in different realms.  I wish they all could have been explored. 

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Carol Pack
C. A. PACK, author of Code Name: Evangeline, Evangeline’s Ghost, and the Library of Illumination novelettes, is an award-winning journalist and former television news anchor/writer from Long Island, New York. 

Website: www.chroniclesthelibraryofillumination.com        

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/libraryofillumination

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohannaCharette

Blog: www.carolpack.com/blog/index.php

Any Others: www.pinterest.com/carolpack/library-of-illumination/


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Read An Excerpt :

“What’s this? Jackson asked, picking up a book that sat by itself on a bottom shelf. A thick layer of dust obscured the cover. “Did you leave this book down here?”

“What book?”

He opened the book to a random page to see what it was about. Dracula suddenly loomed over him, blood dripping from his mouth. “Uhhh ...!” Jackson’s scream did not get past his throat.

Dracula moved in for the kill. The teen managed to slam the book shut just as the vampire’s teeth made contact with his skin.

“What are you doing?” Johanna poked her head around the corner of the shelf and spotted the blood on Jackson’s neck. She looked down and recognized the volume of Dracula by Bram Stoker and winced. “We must have missed that one. Are you all right?”

Jackson swiped at his neck.

“Come with me.” Johanna led him to the circulation desk. She took out a first-aid kit and cleaned away the blood with an antiseptic wipe.

“Am I ...?”

“It’s just a surface wound.” She wrapped the bloody wipe in a tissue and threw it in the wastebasket. “You’re going to live ... but not forever.”

Jackson sighed with relief. “You know, when my mother used to patch me up, she would kiss it to make it better.” He raised his eyebrows and grinned at her.

“If you got hurt working for Larry at Once A-Pawn A Time, would you ask him to kiss it to make it better?”

“You really know how to hurt me.”

Johanna laughed. She leaned in and lightly kissed Jackson’s neck.

He could feel the hairs along his nape tingle.

“All better?” she asked.

He merely nodded, too stunned to answer.

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    Hi there! I'm Stephanie and I obviously love reading.  As, the title suggests, I read at least one hundred pages a day.  I enjoy most book genres; however, my favorites are historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, thriller, horror and YA.  I also read a lot of non-fiction science and gardening books for my occupation.  I enjoy reviewing books and as always, any book that I receive for free is read in return for my honest review.  

    ​https://share.simonandschuster.com/stephanierhildreth

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