The Cinderella Moment by Jennifer Kloester

Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪ out of 5 Stars

My thoughts:

Even though I don’t normally read YA romance books—I’m normally a sci-fi, dystopian reader—this book was a refreshing breath of fresh air.  I will admit to being quite the fan of America’s Next Top Model and the fashion world. And I shall certainly put my hand up to share that I watch Mad Men for the clothes.

But I’d never thought to read a book set within this world.  Well silly me, because this was so much fun. I love the setting in Paris and author of The Cinderella Moment, Jennifer Kloester, certainly knows how throw almost insurmountable problems at her characters who are then ingenious in finding determined ways around them.

The protagonist Angel is a wonderful character and I love her determination to succeed. She rather reminded me of Emma Harte of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s A Woman of Substance, one of my favourite heroines.  I just love tenacious women; they are so inspiring.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves fashion, a page-turning read and a fresh take on a classic fairytale.

Book Blurb:

A love of fashion.

A couture competition.

A once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Angel wants to be a fashion designer, but without money or connections, it's going to be a challenge. So when she gets a chance to head to Paris, Angel grabs it – even if it means masquerading as her best friends Lily. That can't be too hard, can it?

But faking things doesn't come easy, and when Angel meets her very own Prince Charming, things start to get complicated. She needs to stop her secrets unravelling if she wants to live happily ever…

From exciting talent Jennifer Kloester comes a modern fairytale of high society, mistaken identity, love, betrayal, friendship – and great clothes.

Release Date:                      July 2013

Author’s Website:              http://www.jenniferkloester.com/

Purchase Book:                  Amazon

Publisher’s Website:         Penguin

About the author:

Jennifer Kloester loves to escape into a good book. She began writing her own stories in primary school and was living in the jungle in Papua New Guinea when she discovered Georgette Heyer's wonderful historical romances. Those books took her to London, Paris and New York and inspired her to write her two novels The Cinderella Moment and The Rapunzel Dilemma. After spending three years living in the desert in Bahrain, Jennifer now spends most days writing in a book-lined study in an old manse. She is also the author of two books on Georgette Heyer: Georgette Heyer's Regency World and Georgette Heyer: Biography of a Bestseller.

Blue Into The Rip by Kev Heritage

Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪ out of 5 stars

My thoughts:

Blue Into The Rip is quite a different YA book. It doesn’t have vampires, it’s not about the end of the world, has no bows and arrows, and there is no magic to be seen anywhere. It’s a sci-fi adventure in a similar vein to Ender’s Game with time travel thrown in for good measure.

What a fantastic debut novel from Kev Heritage. Blue Into The Rip has everything going for it: time travel, interesting characters, suspenseful situations, good guys, bad guys and camaraderie.

Blue finds himself four hundred years in the future thanks to a rip in time. The world is a very different place. Our fifteen year old protagonist ends up in the academy of a mysterious military organisation called SEARCH. This is where the action really starts, where Blue makes friends and enemies and begins his own search to find a way home.

There is also an environmental message thrown in about the possible future of the planet with global warming. It certainly is a great premise for a series and I really look forward to spending more time with Blue. So few stories are written aimed at middle school boys and older with an interesting premise and this certainly fills a gap there.

If you are an adult, don’t let its YA tag stop you reading it.  Blue Into The Rip is well written, creative, and just shows you that Independent authors are creating work as good, if not better than traditional publishers. I highly recommend you join Blue for a rollicking, thought-provoking adventure.

Book Blurb:

Blue didn’t want to be in the future
They didn’t want him there either…

A rip in the fabric of time, a far-flung globally warmed future, a flooded Earth and the only remainder of civilisation – a militaristic organisation living underneath ‘Desert Amazon’…

Getting back home to rescue his little sister Annie was the only thing that mattered to messed up, mixed race teenager, Blue (named after his stupid, googly blue eyes) – and that was the problem – home was over four hundred years in the past.

Ripped forwards in time from his odd hippy parents, their peculiar house and his lonely school life, Blue had only one thing on his mind: return. But how does a lowly cadet in a militaristic Academy living in a post-apocalyptic future achieve such a goal, especially with the distractions of girls, pilot training, spacewalks and his almost constant unpopularity?

The more Blue found out about this flooded, gung-ho annoying future, about himself – who and what he was (was he even human?) – and the equally disturbing and shocking truth about his ‘parents’ – the more he realised getting home was the only solution. Wasn’t it? If Blue knew one thing, it was that he would at least try.

 

Release Date:                   January 2014

Author’s Website:          http://www.kevheritage.com

Purchase Book:               http://www.kevheritage.com/blue-into-the-rip/ 

Publisher’s Website:   Independent Author

Fuse (Pure #2) by J.C. Baggott ★ ★ ★★

PART TWO STILL PURE DELIGHT

Last year I fell in love with ‘Pure’ and the marvellous talent that is Julianna Baggott.  So my hand was firmly in the air for ‘Fuse’, part two of this dystopian trilogy.  I wasn’t the only passionate fan.  In between the books, ‘Pure’ has become an award-winning novel. 
The New York Times named ‘Pure’ in its ‘2012 Top 100 Notable Books’.  It was a People Magazine pick for its ‘“Still Hungry?” List’, as suggested reading for ‘The Hunger Games’ fans.  Entertainment Weekly picked it for “Find Me a Twilight” and the list goes on.  It even featured on Suspense Magazine’s “Best Book of 2012” list. 

If you haven’t read 'Pure' then put the first two of the trilogy on your reading list.  As Fox2000 has acquired the film rights and Karen Rosenfelt, the lead producer of ‘The Twilight Saga’ film trilogy will produce, expect to hear a lot more of ‘Pure’ in the future.

Do you need to have read the first book to enjoy ‘Fuse’?  Yes and you will enjoy every minute of the catch-up.  In ‘Pure’ we met Baggott’s finely imagined characters and the devastating and mesmerising post-apocalyptic world of the Dome-dwelling Pures, untouched by the Detonations.  The survivors, the Wretches, live outside in the wasteland, scarred by horrible fusions of whatever object they were nearest during the detonations; dolls heads fused to wrists, wings fused to backs, babies fused to hips and even a boy fused on his brother’s back.

In ‘Fuse’, Baggott hits the ground running as the determined group of Partridge, Pressia, Lyda and Bradwell embark on a plan to save the Wretches from the Dome-dwellers who seem intent on wiping them out. Told via multiple perspectives, our heroes separate on various quests.  Partridge returns to the Dome to confront his dictator Father Willux.  Pressia, El Capitan and Bradwell embark on an odyssey for the antidote to reverse the Wretches disfigurements and Lyda joins the savage Mothers. 

‘Fuse’ thrusts us deeper into Baggott’s horrifying future vision and expands the central characters without slackening the pace.  On the final page, we are left hanging precariously over a literary cliff but if anyone can leave you gladly dangling, it’s Julianna Baggott and her band of extraordinary ‘Pure’ heroes.

My review copy of 'FUSE' supplied by Hachette Australia.

For more information about this book, click through to Hachette website HERE.  

RELEASED:  Febuary 2013

More Information from the Publisher Hachette Australia

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

           Julianna began publishing short stories when she was twenty-two and sold her first nove

l while still in her twenties. After receiving her M.F.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, she published her first novel, Girl Talk, which was a national bestseller and was quickly followed by The Boston Globe bestseller The Miss America Family, and then The Boston Herald Book Club selection, The Madam, an historical novel based on the life of her grandmother. She co-wrote Which Brings Me to You with Steve Almond, A Best Book of 2006 (Kirkus Reveiws).
           Her Bridget Asher novels include The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted, The Pretend Wife, and My Husband’s Sweethearts. Asher’s novels are widely published overseas.
          She has also published award-winning novels for younger readers under the pen name N.E. Bode as well as under Julianna Baggott. Her seven novels for younger readers include, most notably, The Anybodies trilogy was a People Magazine summer reading pick alongside David Sedaris and Bill Clinton, a Washington Post Book of the Week, a Girl’s Life Top Ten, a Booksense selection, and was in development at Nickelodeon/Paramount; The Slippery Map, The Ever Breath, and the prequel to Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, a movie starring Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, and Jason Bateman. For two years, Bode was a recurring personality on XM Sirius Radio. Julianna’s Boston Red Sox novel The Prince of Fenway Park (HarperCollins) was published in spring 2009. It is on the Sunshine State Young Readers Awards List and The Massachusetts Children’s Book Award for 2011-2012.
          Visit the "Pure" website for the first chapter of "Pure", loads of cool stuff and to learn more. Information on purchasing “Pure” and "Fuse" is also there. I highly recommend you buy yourself a copy of each. You will want to read them more than once.

            Visit author Julianna Baggott’s website and blog, with fabulously informative information for writers there. http://juliannabaggott.com/

Click here to purchase Pure

The Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth

Its not easy being different

 

Harry Potter was very concerned about joining Hogwart’s faction Slytherin as it seemed a breeding ground for bullies, where as Hufflepuff was mostly filled with jolly wizards.  But in Veronica Roth’s dystopian novels, Divergent and Insurgent, factions are a life commitment and there isn’t a chatty sorting hat in sight.

Roth by the age of 23 had best sellers on her hands with Divergent and its follow up Insurgent.  In 2012 she added a movie deal for her trilogy and is one of the new breed of authors, like the Hunger Games' Suzanne Collins, capturing the imagination of young readers by supplying a bleak future for humanity. 

In a dystopian Chicago, the population has divided themselves into five very different groups abiding by a strict code of conduct; their behaviour almost genetically implanted in them.  These factions, the citizens decide, allow them to live harmoniously.

Beatrice is born into Abnegation (the Selfless), and we meet her on her sixteenth birthday when she must choose to stay in her faction or transfer, and live the rest of her life in one of the other factions—Erudite (the Intelligent), Candor (the Honest), Amity (the Peaceful), Dauntless (the Brave).  Before deciding their future alliance all candidates must undertake an aptitude test to assist their decision.  Beatrice results are not so clear cut; unbeknown to her she is divergent with an aptitude to fit into more than one faction, a seemingly dangerous trait. 

At the ‘Choosing Ceremony’ she transfers to Dauntless, forsaking her family.  In her first hours at Dauntless she discovers they demand new initiates survive a ruthless initiation program for a limited ten spots.  The unsuccessful will become ‘Factionless’, a terrible fate of bleak homelessness.  During the program Beatrice, now renamed ‘Tris’, befriends fellow initiates and discovers that her talent for the tests creates dangerous enemies.  Despite her best efforts she also finds herself attracted to their seemingly heartless trainer, Tobias "Four" Eaton.

Insurgent follows on directly from Divergent, taking Tris and her collaborators on a journey into the true origin of the Factions. They will fight for the future of all divergents against faction leaders whose goal is anything but harmony between factions. 

The final in the trilogy is due for release in 2013.

My review copies of DIVERGENT and INSURGENT thanks to the fantastic people at Harper Collins Australia
 

To buy or learn more visit Divergent and Insurgent 
eBook is also available here eBook

Release Dates: 2011 and 2012
 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Veronica Roth graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in creative writing. While she was a student, she often chose to work on the story that would become ‘Divergent’ instead of doing her homework. It was indeed a transforming choice. Now a full-time writer, Ms Roth lives near Chicago.
DIVERGENT is her first novel.
Visit Veronica Roth's Official Blog: http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com.au/ 

The Trouble with Fate by Leigh Evans ★ ★ ★★

 Reviewed by Guest Reviewer TRACY HARRIS

DESTINED FOR A GOOD READ

Hedi Peacock is a half breed with a twist. Half Fae and half Werewolf, she has struggled to fit in  since she saw her Were father and Fae mother brutally murdered and her twin brother stolen and returned to the Fae Realm. Armed only with her wits and her awakened Asrai amulet, Merry, she works as a barista whilst caring for her Fae Aunt, Lou, who has been slowly dying since the Portals to the Fae Realm, Merenwyn, were closed.

Life runs smoothly, or as smoothly as it can for a woman touched with magic in a world full of iron, an unfortunate ability to mind walk at inopportune moments and an “inner were” that longs to be released, until her long lost Were crush, Robson Trowbridge, walk into her Starbucks and her world spins on its axis.

Hedi discovers that her aunt has been kidnapped and her life is being bartered for the return of an amulet, an amulet that Hedi doesn’t possess and last saw on Trowbridge’s neck the night of her parent’s murders. Tracking Trowbridge down, Hedi discovers that not only her life was ruined that fateful night. Trowbridge lost his Alpha, his wife and his family and now spends his days as a Rogue, running from his past and the new Alpha of his pack, his power crazed uncle, Mannus. The only problem with returning the amulet, is that it will mean the portals to Merenwyn will reopen, a treaty will be broken and war between the two species will ensue.

Leigh Evans has not written your typical Faery tale. Hedi is not your average faery princess waiting to be rescued from her golden tower. She isn’t your normal, beautiful heroine. In actuality, she is a defiant young woman who has discovered there is no place in either the Fae or Were worlds for her, due to her mixed blood. She desperately mourns the loss her family, especially that of her twin brother, Lexi. Understandably, she has a very large chip on her shoulder which can lead to an antagonistic character which, occasionally is very difficult to sympathise with.

Evan’s writing style is direct and intense. Her characters are well crafted with intricate back-stories. She gives us a tale that moves quickly, pacing it well and allowing the characters and their relationships to grow naturally.

A born and bred Canadian, Evans lives in Southern Ontario with her husband. She has raised two children, three dogs and a few cats. About four years ago Evans came to the conclusion that she shouldn’t let her dreams die and thus The Trouble with Fate was born. This is Evans’ first published book, and she has been contracted for another three books (total of four).  The next in this series, The Thing About Were’s, is scheduled for publication in July 2013.

RELEASE DATE:  January 2013
For more information and to purchase please visit TheTrouble With Fate
Leigh Evans Website: http://leighevans.com/blog/  (As a side-note if you have ever dreamed of writing a book do check out Leigh's blog.  It will certainly inspire you. She writes of her journey to publication.)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 

I was born in Montreal, Quebec but now live in Southern Ontario with my husband. I’ve raised two kids, mothered three dogs, and herded a few cats. Other than that, my life was fairly routine until I hit the age of 50. Some women get tattoos. I decided to write a book. A little tardy, but then again, Mum always said I was a late bloomer.