Blog Tour Review with Giveaway: Perfect Harmony by Emily Albright

Book info:

Title:  Perfect Harmony

Author:  Emily Albright

Publisher: Amberjack Publishing

Release date: September 18, 2018

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Source:  ARC from publisher which did not influence my opinion.

My rating:  4 stars

Synopsis:

Pippa Wyndham is a top cellist―she’d never settle for anything less. Determined to get into the nation’s most prestigious music college, nothing’s going to stand in her way . . . Until her senior year of high school when a new guy from a fancy New York conservatory transfers to her school. 

Declan Brogan’s cocky, and he knows how amazing he is at the cello. He has every intention of knocking Pippa out of first chair and showing her who really belongs on top. Forced together when assigned a duet, their personal competition and mutual dislike transform into a teasing friendship.

Torn between her childhood crush and the boy who threatens her dreams, Pippa finds herself at risk of losing her best friend, her future, and the boy who makes her heart melt. Struggling to make things right, Pippa discovers that sometimes the thing you want the most doesn’t always end up being the thing you need.

BOOK LINKS

Add to Goodreads 

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

BookDepository

IndieBound

 

 
My Review:
I've enjoyed the other books I read by this author, and so I looked forward to this one as well.  The characters were a bit younger it seemed than the other books.  I liked the story, the music competition aspect, and the definitely teen girl characteristics that Pippa and her friends displayed.  Even though at times I got a bit annoyed by Pippa refusing to believe that Declan was interested in her, I understood part of it was her age.  I also realize that is really how it is sometimes, we don't always think that someone could be interested.  I was a little disappointed that she gave up on her crush on Noah so quickly, but it makes sense how she was already starting to feel about Declan, whether she wanted to admit it or not.  Pippa's brother being oblivious to her best friend, Quinn, having a crush on him totally made sense though. Boys are definitely not as quick on the uptake sometimes about those kinds of things. Especially at that age. I got so mad at Quinn for being upset about Declan.  She totally is the one who first said he liked Pippa, so why would she act that way?  And then I was mad at Declan for telling Pippa what he did when he got the news about him mom while they were in NYC.  But, when you hear what else he'd been told, it made sense.  It made you really dislike Lexi even more than you did just for what she did to come between Pippa and Quinn.  This was a sweet YA read, and definitely one I'd recommend.

About the Author:

Emily Albright is the author of EVERYDAY MAGIC and THE HEIR AND THE SPARE, both available now from Simon Pulse. Her next novel PERFECT HARMONY will release 9.25.2018. 

She's a writer, a major bookworm, a lover of romantic movies, a wife, a mother, an owner of one adorable (yet slightly insane) cockapoo, and uses way too many :).

Visit her facebook.

Find her on Twitter.

Or check out her website.

Giveaway:

Prize: Three paperback copies of Perfect Harmony by Emily Albright (USA only)

Starts: 9/18/18

Ends:  9/26/18

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TOUR SCHEDULE

http://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2018/08/tour-schedule-perfect-harmony-by-emily.html

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Blog Tour Review with Giveaway: Fawkes by Nadine Brandes

Book info:

Title:  Fawkes
Author:  Nadine Brandes
Genre:  YA historical fiction/fantasy
Publisher:  Thomas Nelson
Release Date:  July 10th, 2018
Source: Purchased physical copy of book
My rating:  4 stars

Synopsis:

Thomas Fawkes is turning to stone, and the only cure to the Stone Plague is to join his father’s plot to assassinate the king of England.

Silent wars leave the most carnage. The wars that are never declared, but are carried out in dark alleys with masks and hidden knives. Wars where color power alters the natural rhythm of 17th century London. And when the king calls for peace, no one listens until he finally calls for death.

But what if death finds him first?

Keepers think the Igniters caused the plague. Igniters think the Keepers did. But all Thomas knows is that the Stone Plague infecting his eye is spreading. And if he doesn’t do something soon, he’ll be a lifeless statue. So when his Keeper father, Guy Fawkes, invites him to join the Gunpowder Plot—claiming it will put an end to the plague—Thomas is in.

The plan: use 36 barrels of gunpowder to blow up the Igniter King.

The problem: Doing so will destroy the family of the girl Thomas loves. But backing out of the plot will send his father and the other plotters to the gallows. To save one, Thomas will lose the other.

No matter Thomas’s choice, one thing is clear: once the decision is made and the color masks have been put on, there’s no turning back.

BOOK LINKS

•      Goodreads
•      Amazon
•      Barnes & Noble
•      Book Depository
•      Kobo
•      IndieBound

• iBooks

My Review:
I had been hearing about this book around the blogosphere all summer, and noticed when it showed up on the shelves in the bookstore where I work. Then one night as I was working, the author showed up in my store to see her books on the shelves, as well as maybe autograph them for us.  It was so cool to meet her, and of course since she was there, I had to buy a book right away to get autographed.  It was a couple weeks after that before I was able to finally pick it up and read it, but it was definitely one that grabbed me from the get-go, and was a wonderfully unique and creative rewriting of a historical time and figure.  The author kept me on my toes throughout most of the book with not knowing if Thomas was on the right side in working with his father and the Keepers, or if the Igniters, the ones who wanted people to be able to open up to the White Light when it spoke to them, were the ones we should be rooting for.  With the fact that Martin Luther was mentioned in the story, and that I grew up in a Lutheran church school, when he was mentioned, I immediately was pretty sure which side I needed to be rooting for, no matter what that did to my views of the characters as they were and as they related to Thomas.  

This is the kind of story that always weaves just enough historical details within, without just being the actual history you might read in a textbook, and having obvious changes - magical light and masks, duh - that makes me want to learn more about the time period and people features in the story. Because while I'd heard of Guy Fawkes, I was immediately more interested in learning about his true contribution and involvement in that time period.  I loved that the author touched on the history and how she took her own liberties for her story with it in the end section of the book.  I can say that this is now an author I look forward to reading more from, and that she will be on my radar for future books.

About the Author:

Nadine Brandes once spent four days as a sea cook in the name of book research. She is the author of the award-winning Out of Time Series and her inner fangirl perks up at the mention of soul-talk, Quidditch, bookstagram, and Oreos. When she's not busy writing novels about bold living, she's adventuring through Middle Earth or taste-testing a new chai. She and her Auror husband plan to live in a Tiny House on wheels. Current mission: paint the world in shalom.

Website -  Goodreads - Twitter - Instagram - Facebook

Giveaway:

•      Prize: 1 copy of FAWKES by Nadine Brandes

•      INT!!!

•      Starts: 8/19

•      Ends:  9/6

   
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Check out the rest of the tour HERE. 

Blog Tour Review with Giveaway: Kiss of the Royal by Lindsey Duga

Book info:

Title:  Kiss of the Royal
Author:  Lindsey Duga
Genre:  YA Fantasy Romance
Release Date:  July 3rd, 2018
Publisher:  Entangled Teen
Source: Physical copy of book from publisher which did not influence my opinion in any way
My rating: 4.5 stars

Synopsis:

In the war against the Forces of Darkness, the Royals are losing. Princess Ivy is determined to end this centuries-long conflict once and for all, so her new battle partner must succeed where the others failed. Prince Zach’s unparalleled skill with a sword, enhanced by Ivy’s magic Kiss, should make them an unstoppable pair—but try convincing Zach of that.

Prince Zach has spent his life preparing for battle, but he would rather be branded a heretic than use his lips as nothing more than a way to transfer magic. A kiss is a symbol of love, and love is the most powerful weapon they have—but try convincing Ivy of that.

With the fate of their world on the line, the battlefield has become a testing ground, and only one of them can be right. Falling for each other wasn’t part of the plan—but try convincing their hearts of that.

BOOK LINKS

•      Goodreads

•      Amazon

•      Barnes & Noble

•      Book Depository

•      Kobo

•      IndieBound

•      iBooks

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My Review:
This is one of those books that has such a beautiful cover you automatically have to pick it up to see what it is about.  The synopsis gives you a good idea of what it is about.  But really the world is so much more intricate and magical than you might guess from the idea of a kiss being magic.    About 80 pages in I was so hooked it was hard to have to go back to work when I'd been reading on my break.  Since all we're given is the story from Ivy's viewpoint and background, it is very frustrating the way that Prince Zach keeps denying her a simple kiss.  How he even stands back at first and doesn't immediately agree to be her partner.  It was easy to feel Ivy's pain at losing a partner, and not just one, five.  And then how her mother treated her, she really did feel alone.  But she had her sisters, and then she had Bromley, who was like a brother to her.  I liked the correlation between how the Wicked Queen ripped out her heart, and how the Legion felt emotion was a bad thing.  

Once Zach and Ivy got on their way, however, there was so much to learn about the Romantica group.  And then to learn that there might be a dark side to the royal kiss, something that may make the good it did not worth it.  The ending had some twists and turns, and I loved the little epilogue so we knew just how things could turn out without needing a sequel.  I could totally see a sequel, as it sounds like this world has more battles to end the darkness, but the main obstacle in this story was basically solved and we get a pretty happy ever after.

I look forward to putting this in my school library.  I think the beautiful cover will make students pick it up, and the story itself will keep them turning pages until the exciting ending. 

About the Author:

Lindsey Duga is a middle grade and young adult writer with a passion for fantasy, science fiction, and basically any genre that takes you away from the real world. She wrote her first novel in college while she was getting her bachelor’s in Mass Communication from Louisiana State University.

Other than writing and cuddling with her morkie puppy, Delphi, Lindsey loves catching up on the latest superhero TV show and practicing yoga.

Get in touch with the author:

-->WebsiteGoodreads
Twitter
Instagram

Giveaway:

•      Prize: 1 copy of KISS OF THE ROYAL by Lindsey Duga (US Only)

•      Starts:6/25

•      Ends: 7/10

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Check out the rest of the tour HERE.