Dragons of Lore Book Blast: GREAT DEALS ON BOOKS TODAY!



Check out some awesome books featuring dragons! Many are discounted, or free. Buy or download the ones you like, and spread the word.

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Descendant by Nichole Giles, Young Adult
Discounted to $0.99
Buy on Amazon.com

Seventeen-year-old Abigail Johnson is Gifted.

Blessed—or cursed—with Sight and Healing, Abby lives an unsettled life, moving from place to place and staying one step ahead of the darkness that hunts her. When she arrives in Jackson, Wyoming, she is desperate to maintain the illusion of normalcy, but she is plagued with visions of past lives mixed with frightening glimpses of her future. Then she meets Kye, a mysterious boy who seems so achingly familiar that Abby is drawn to him like he’s a missing piece of her own soul.

Before Abby can discover the reason for her feelings toward Kye, the darkness catches up to her and she is forced to flee again. But this time she’s not just running. She is fighting back with Kye at her side, and it’s not just Abby’s life at stake.

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The Sapphire Flute by Karen E Hoover, Young Adult
Discounted to $0.99:
Buy on Amazon.com
Buy from Barnes and Nobel

Or Get it FREE on Smashwords.com

Rasann is a world in dire need. The net of magic that has held her together for eons is eroding and the magi can’t patch it fast enough to prevent disaster. Volcanoes spew, waters rise, famine and flood and desolation threaten the world as they desperately await the coming of the Wolfchild to heal their home.

Three women begin quests for identity and freedom from the ties that have held them: Ember, from her overbearing and prejudice mother; Kayla, from the rigidity of the caste that has oppressed her family; C’Tan, from her dark and evil master, the Guardian S’Kotos. One will discover she is the first white mage born in three millennia, another will become guardian to the a keystone, the sapphire flute, and throughout it all the third will try to destroy them both.

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Trusted by Krista Wayment, Middle Grade

Get it FREE on Amazon.com

Renick, the fifth son of a dragon breeder, crashes into an unexpected adventure that challenges everything he thought he knew about dragons, history, and himself.

Stranded in the massive Helath forest, Renick meets two other passengers: Thane, a noble training to be a dragon knight, and Lainey, the orphaned niece of a healer. Together they survive an attack by vicious wolves, rescue a baby dragon with a broken wing, and escape from a band of dragon hunters as they make a perilous climb into the mountains. What they discover there will change everything.

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The Dreamstone by Mikey Brooks, Middle Grade

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“There is a world inside our own, but we can’t see it when we are awake—only when we sleep. It is then we find ourselves in Dreams.”

When Parker’s mom is dreamnapped by the wicked Mab, it is up to him and Kaelyn to save her. When they return to Dreams, they discover Mab isn’t their only problem. Gladamyr has lost his powers and the only way to get them back is to become what he fears the most—a nightmare.

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Alvor by Laura Bingham, Upper Middle Grade

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Adarae jolted as the feeling surged through her. She looked carefully at not one, but two little faces and felt the warm power within them. No one suspected it could be two, but the strength pulsing from them was undeniable. They stared back into her eyes.

Fifteen-year-old Erin and her twin brother, Bain, had never seen the secluded cabin in the woods by their home. Upon entering, they discover a magical world where pegasi, dragons and fairies are a reality.

The siblings soon find themselves with super-human powers, being taught the art of magic and sword play by mystical beings. It isn't long before they are struck with a realization they are training to become elves.

Faced with the decision to leave the life they have always known for a world of fantasy, Erin and Bain confront certain demons that threaten to tear them apart.

Alvor is a spellbinding blend of magic and mystery, enchantment and fairy tale, that asks the age-old question: Do you believe in magic?

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Wings of Light by Laura Bingham, Upper Middle Grade

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Sixteen-year-old Erin and her twin brother, Bain, have recently become immortal elves - but the search for their mother has just begun. With new information that their mother may be alive, Erin desperately seeks to bring her back home. But when old enemies threaten her quest, Erin must turn to new friends for help and learn that some magic is better left unexplored.

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Awakening by Christy Dorrity, Young Adult

Get it FREE on Amazon.com

. . . because some Celtic stories won’t be contained in myth.

A little magic has always run in sixteen-year-old McKayla McCleery's family—at least that’s what she’s been told. McKayla’s eccentric Aunt Avril travels the world as a clairvoyant for the FBI, and her mother can make amazing delicacies out of the most basic of ingredients. But McKayla doesn't think for a second that the magic is real—it’s just good storytelling. Besides, McKayla doesn’t need magic. She recently moved to beautiful Star Valley, Wyoming, and already she has an amazing best friend, a solo in her upcoming ballet recital, and the gorgeous guy in her physics class keeps looking her way.

When an unexpected fascination with Irish dance leads McKayla to seek instruction from the mute, crippled, janitor at her high school, she learns that her family is not the only one with unexplained abilities.

After Aunt Avril comes to Star Valley in pursuit of a supernatural killer, people begin disappearing, and the lives of those McKayla holds most dear are threatened. When the janitor reveals that an ancient curse, known as a geis, has awakened powers that defy explanation, McKayla is forced to come to terms with what is real and what is fantasy.

A thrilling first novel, Awakening is a gripping contemporary fantasy, based in Celtic mythology that is rife with magic, romance, and mystery.

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The Crystal Bridge by Charlie Pulsipher, Young Adult

Discounted to $0.99
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The Egg followed Kaden home from the hospital. This glowing shell only he can see transports him across the emptiness between universes to distant worlds, but he’s afraid to use it. This strange Egg may have saved Kaden’s life once or twice, but it failed to save anyone else he cares about.

Aren’s sight reaches deep into the souls around her, seeing more than she wants in her friends and teachers at school. When she turns her gaze on Kaden, his Egg responds by sending them spiraling across space and time to a world where dragons, elves, dwarves, and peculiar gods dwell. Separated, lost, and alone in a hostile world on the brink of war, these teens must come to grips with their unique gifts if they ever want to see Earth again.

Back home, a biotechnology company tinkers with the science of reality, hoping to cure death itself by any means. But their work and the intrusion into the void have awakened something shadowy and powerful, a being imprisoned there for millennia. This dark being intends to break free and devour everything and everyone it touches. Infinite universes are in danger. Kaden and Aren must decide if they can save more than themselves. Can they save us all?

Omniscient or head-hopping? What’s the difference?

The other day, after seeing a number of publishers calling for short romance stories, I decided to dig out some of my old favorites for some style refreshing. (Or brain stimulating. You know how it is.) As I read a few of the short, sweet stories, I found myself coming to a conclusion I didn’t know I needed to reach.

There was a time when I couldn’t read these stories, or books by certain authors, because of my own mounting frustration with changes in point of view. But now, I read these books again, with a more experienced, more objective eye. And I realized that what I believed was head-hopping (in this case) was actually an omniscient point of view, and it was done well.

But, you ask, what’s the difference?

My definition:

An omniscient point of view is one that appears to the reader as an entire picture. It gives readers the power to see through the eyes of a number of different characters, all during the same scene. Like watching a show on TV. But because we are not strictly in the head of one character, each of these characters is able to keep secrets from the audience, where in a tighter, closer point of view, that would be much more difficult.

Head hopping is taking that tighter, closer point of view (be it close-third or first) and giving voice to more than one character in a single scene. This tends to be disorienting, because it’s like looking at the same scene from several different angles, all at once.

It’s a very technical, hard to understand concept, and an extremely difficult skill for most writers to master. Personally, I prefer to avoid writing in omniscient simply because it is SO HARD to get right. (And also, that’s not how I write.)

So in going back and rereading these books that have been slowly gathering dust, I remembered that there really is a place for omniscient, and that I really enjoy reading it when it’s done well.

What about you? What recent reading discoveries have you made?

Books We Read Again

And again, and again. Seriously. Do you have some of these? I have this adorable teenage neighbor who knows how to take care of books, so I often loan them to her. We joke that I’m her personal library, and I kind of am, because I tend to have the most awesome new young adult books to recommend. And since I’m recommending, I might as well loan them, right? Yeah. So anyway, I ran into her the other day.

Her (in reference to The Hourglass Door series): Sorry I’ve had your books for so long. I was so sad to finish that I started reading them over again.

Me: Those are always the best ones. I’m glad you liked them.

Her: Do you have more that are good like that?

Me, rubbing hands together: What do you think? Of course.

I then rattled off a list, got her excited, and she had my books back to me two days later, excited to start The Hunger Games.

Personally, I have a number of these books on my shelves. When I love a book, I own it. The ink and paper version, and sometimes ALSO the digital version. Because I never know when I’ll have the itch to read it again. Recently, I read another fantastic book which was so beautiful and romantic that after reading it in two days, I immediately started over and read it again (even though I have a really big stack of other books to read).

In case you’re wondering, the recent book of mine was Dangerous Favor by Joyce DiPastena. Excellent historical fiction that's absolutely clean, and completely engrossing.

I confess to having a number of read-again books.

Do you do this? What are your recent favorites?

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned that I'd read Everneath and promised to review it? Well, today is the day!

*cheers, dances, and claps*

Debut author Brodi Ashton is about to make a splash on the publishing world with this breathtaking, heart-wrenching, beautiful story of love, loss, and sacrifice. This story is unlike any I’ve read recently, with a unique format that essentially tells two stories at once, and characters that start out raw and aching right from the beginning.

Oh my gosh, you guys, I loved it. Seriously. It’s not even out yet (January—count down with me) but I can’t wait for the next one in the series. The main character Nikki (great name, don’t you think? *winks*) starts out the story as a complete mess, and throughout the whole thing, all you want is for her love interest, Jack, to take her in his arms and make her better. Except really, he can’t. And the hardest part is when you realize he would. That he would do anything to help Nikki, even with Cole pulling at her using every means at his disposal.

Check out the Blurb:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.


She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.


Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.


As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

Doesn’t it sound just fantastic? I assure you, it is. If you’re smart (and I know you are) you’ll put Everneath at the top of your must read list for 2012. In fact, you should just pre-order it here. It’s even a great price.

To hold you over until then, you can learn more about Brodi Ashton by reading her blog or the Everneath page on the publisher's website.

Yay for Reading!

Last weekend, I had a fun delivery. This showed up at my door!

(Yes, it's an Advance Reader's Copy!)

I know, I know. Lucky me, right? Well. I'd offer to give it away, but it's not actually mine. I have seven days to read it and then pass it on to the next person on the list. No worries, though. Almost done with it, and can I just gush for a sec? LOVE! If you are a fan of YA, of heartbreakingly beautiful love stories, you want to read this book when it comes out in January. I'm just sayin. (Yes, I will be doing a review, but not today.)

Before Everneath showed up, I was already halfway through this.

(Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin--first in the epic series.)

Again, LOVE. Totally different from what I usually read. NOT YA (definitely written for adults), but absolutely brilliant, with beautiful writing. And one epic fantasy series I know I'll finish (FYI, this is a rare occurrence as epic and I don't always get along). I might have to subscribe to HBO just so I can watch the series.

But that's not all, my friends. No. I am also about four chapters into this:

Two chapters into this:

and just downloaded this so I can read it for a review.

Also my TBR list has five other books I got in the mail the other day, as well as one I picked up by Peter Brett. I think I'm set with reading material until November or so. But then I'll need some more.

So tell me. What's on your To be Read list? I'm dying to know.

Top Five Favorites

I've been thinking lately about books I love, and what makes me love them, as opposed to books I don't love and why. Because what I love about a book is probably very different than what someone else loves about it. Or maybe my favorite thing is the very thing that someone else greatly dislikes.

So I'm staring at my overloaded, double and triple-stacked bookshelves, trying to decide which volumes I think about the most often and what about the pages inside impacted me the most.

The thing is, there isn't really a word that could describe what I love about all my books. But there is a common thread I think. There must be. So let's see...

1. All my most favorite books deal with relationships of one kind or another. Most of them have some kind of romantic elements, but also I think they deal with family relationships as well.

2. The endings all leave me feeling satisfied because even if all is not happy and well, it is hopeful and I have seen character growth.

3. The descriptions read like background.

4. I love the characters and empathize with them, even if I don't agree with their choices.

5. They make me smile unexpectedly at random moments.

Okay, so there are five elements off the top of my head that all my favorite books have in common. What's on your top five list?

Reading Really Can Be Contagious

So, I know it’s going to sound, well, strange, but I know quite a lot of people who claim that they aren’t readers. Or not fans of reading. Or whatever. (I know, I don’t really get it either, but it’s true.)

I mean, yeah, they can read. They read newspapers and magazines and textbooks. And they’re intelligent people. So why wouldn’t they read something good for sheer pleasure? Because, as we die-hard-life-long-readers know well, there is nothing more pleasing than a really great story.

I’ve decided that there must be some kind of disconnect between these intelligent non-readers and the books they’ve tried reading up to this point, which basically means that they just haven’t found the right books to read. And with that in mind, I’ve made it my mission in life to assist my loved ones in this endeavor.

The mission started something like a year ago, when one of my non-reader friends needed something to read on a plane. I sifted through my books, knowing this person’s personality well, as well as what would interest her, give her pleasure, and guess what? When I got my book back, she was grinning. *score 1*

Since that small success, I have also converted my non-reader sister, who recently brought me back my copy of Shiver and actually squealed when I told her it was the first of a series and sent her away with Linger. *score 2*

There will be more of these stories. And when I discover them, I will share. Because now, more than ever, I believe that everyone can love to read for pleasure, as long as they have the right books.

More About Bill the Cheeseburger

Just because Bill is no longer with Happy doesn’t mean she won’t always remember him. In the way of all the best things in life, his memory will live on for many, many cheeseburgers to come.

Have you ever had an experience like Happy had with Bill? I have. Every once in a while, I read a book like this. And then I pour through all the books I can find, hoping to get the same kind of satisfaction that I got with the first book (or series of books), but none of them are quite right. Some might come close, and I give them lots of credit. Still. Not the first book (s).

Then, one day, I get over my obsession with book #1, and eventually happen upon another book I love, and the process starts over.

This, to me, is the definition of a great story. When you just can’t stop thinking about it, when you scour the world to find something else that compares, when you become almost obsessive in your love of the main characters. That is some dang good reading.

It resonates, sticks, changes you. It’s what I hope my writing will someday do for just one reader.

That will be good enough success for me.

But, you know, if my book happens to get a high spot on the NYTBL, that would be really good too.

Book Review: "Secret Sisters" by Tristi Pinkston

Okay, before I get to the review, I have to get something off my chest. I read a lot of books. I mean, really. Because I love reading. And I read lots of young adult books because, well, that’s my genre and what I need to know, and those are the stories I love. But.

Lately, YA books have been getting heavy. Or, at least, the best ones are. Heavy in topic. Heavy in emotion. Heavy in words and pages. Yikes! And even though I’m dying to read them, I find myself staring at the stacks of books on my nightstand warily, putting off opening them because I know that the minute I do, I’ll be sucked into a world of drama.

That’s how I like my YA books.

But no one can read ALL drama, all the time. To do so would be, well, exhausting. Which is why I also have a grand appreciation for short, entertaining books that make me laugh out loud. You know what I mean? Feel good books.

But I’m picky. Always. I still insist on reading books with well defined characters, thoughtful plots, and just all around good writing. Let’s face it. A writer’s style and voice can make or break the book.

The point is I’ve been excited for the release of Secret Sisters for something like two years. Ever since Tristi brought the first chapters of this book to our critique group, I’ve been completely hooked. (And just so you all know, this is the first in a multi-book series, so I’m still hooked.)

Right off the bat, I fell in love with Ida Mae. She’s so matter-of-fact and thoughtful, and just downright fun. Put her together with her sidekicks…er, I mean, Relief Society counselors, Tansy and Arlette, secretary Hannah, and zany—and totally hunky—nephew Ren, and let the spying...um, I mean, sleuthing, um, I mean, investigating begin.

This cast of characters will have you laughing out loud in the middle of the day, perhaps while you’re in the grocery store or driving your car, when out of the blue a great line pops into your head. One such as, “Sister Babbitt, why is the Relief Society here?”

Yes, that really happened. And people stared. I appeared to be nuts. Don’t worry, I’m used to it.

If you’re looking for a quick, light-hearted read that will have you giggling for days after you’ve finished, add Secret Sisters to your list. This one’s a keeper. Thank goodness it’s the first of a series. I know there will be several more books to which I can look forward.

**Afterthought** In reading my own words, it sounds like this is a young adult book, which it is not. Although, young adults would probably like it too. This book has been classified as chick-lit for the elderly. Or just plain old fun!

Here’s the blurb:

Ida Mae Babbitt, president of the Omni 2nd Ward Relief Society, didn’t mean to become a spy. But when visiting teaching stats are low, and she learns that one family under her care is in financial trouble, she’ll do whatever it takes to make sure they have what they need. If that includes planting surveillance cameras in their home and watching them from a parked car in the woods…well, isn’t that what any caring Relief Society president would do?


With the help of her counselors, Arlette and Tansy, Ida Mae soon learns that there’s more to the situation than meets the eye.


But it’s all in a day’s work for the Relief Society.


To purchase your copy of Secret Sisters, click here.


To learn more about the author, Tristi Pinkston, check out her blog or website.

To learn more about Valor Publishing, check out their blog or website.

Book Review: "Loyalty's Web" by Joyce DiPastena

By Nichole Giles

Blurb from the back of Loyalty's Web by Joyce Dipastena:

In twelfth century France, King Henry II of England has just finished quashing a rebellion by his power-hungry sons and now seeks to tame the lawless barons who supported them in this corner of his "Angevin empire." To this end, the king has sent the Earl of Gunthar as his royal representative to ensure that Prince Richard and his former cohorts faithfully adhere to the terms of the peace treaty.

Far from being welcomed with open arms, Gunthar no sooner steps foot in the county of Poitou than he is greeted by a series of assassination attempts. All appear to be linked to the former rebellious prince through the agents of the family and friends of young Heléne de Laurant. A clever, intrepid young woman, she realizes that the only way to prove her loved ones’ innocence is by exposing the true assassin. Heléne races against time—and dark secrets of the past—to unmask the killer before the kingdom plunges back into war.

Fierce determination gives way to mutual attraction as Heléne and Gunthar spar over the identity of the traitor. But their blinding magnetism almost causes them to overlook an even deadlier threat from an entirely unexpected direction.

I have to be honest. I’ve been interested in reading this book since it was published. But for one reason or another, never got my hands on a copy. Then it was a Whitney Award finalist—and I wanted to read it worse. Still, it took me until this month to finally get a copy, and as soon as it came, I ripped open the package and started reading. (Even though I was in the middle of reading another book.)

Being a big fan of romance, and harboring a deep love of stories set in regency periods, I’ve read several books from this and similar time periods. However, it’s been a long time since I read one. Truth be told, I’ve never found one that didn’t make me blush at least twice, and cringe at least five times. Until now.

Loyalty’s Web is definitely as romantic as anything I’ve read—full of emotion and intrigue—and because the author chose to leave out those lurid scenes, I found the romance more invigorating and real. Definite thumbs up for that.

The plot twists led me in so many different directions, that even when I thought I knew who was behind the assassination attempts, I ended up being wrong (unusual for me). I did figure out one of the sub-plots near the beginning of the book, but found myself questioning the details behind it as I read.

In the end, I stayed up late for two nights in a row, and even made myself late to an appointment because I just had to see what happened next. This is definitely a book I’ll read over and over again.

I adore Joyce’s writing style—it’s clean, easy to read, and her voice draws you into the story in such a way that you are unable to put the thing down. Also, I loved learning more about the time period and the brutality and customs that were considered normal.

If I were to pick one thing that disappointed me—and here I have to be completely nitpicky, because there wasn’t really much—I’d say I wanted (because I’m selfish) another chapter, or at least another scene, to more firmly wrap up the conclusion. However, I was absolutely satisfied with the end, and am anxiously awaiting the next work by Joyce, Illuminations of the Heart, which I understand (and hope) is a sequel to Loyalty’s Web.

On a final note, there was one character in this story that I thoroughly despised—which, I believe, was intentional on the author’s part. Helen’s wicked, evil mother deserved to be hanged! Or worse. You want to know why? Sorry, you’ll have to read the book. Loyalty’s Web gets five out of five diamonds on my rating system.

To get your copy of Loyalty’s Web click here.

To pre-order your copy of Illuminations of the Heart click here.

To learn more about the works of the author, Joyce DiPastena, click here.