Showing posts with label Kalyn Josephson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kalyn Josephson. Show all posts

Thursday, December 26, 2019

Top 10 of 2019: New or New-to-Me Authors


Top 10 of 2019 is hosted once again by Kimberly Faye Reads, and this year she has a co-host Ginger @greadsbooks.   This second topic, new or new-to-me authors, is so hard!  Between the new authors I read as part of the whole launch of SmartyPants Romance, or the ARCs of debut authors I get, it's so hard to choose!  So some of these may be a little bit of a cheat and have more than one author.  In fact, I think I'll do like last year and at least even narrow down into romance and YA authors, 10? of each.

Romance:

1. 

First is Julia Kent.  Now, while I'd actually read one of her books under her other writing name, Meli Raine, as a free e-book a few years ago, Fluffy was the first I read under the name Julia Kent.  And it cracked me up so much!  I've loved all the books in that series so far.  I actually just finished listening to the 4th book in the Shopping for a Billionaire series yesterday, and I love it too!  Most of that series is part of the Audible Escape package, so that's how I'm enjoying them. 

My review of Fluffy is HERE.


2.


I read this one by Monica Murphy this year.  It was good, and I look forward to more in the future!

My review is HERE.



3.

I think all the rest of the authors I'll share under romance will be from SmartyPants Romance, like this one from Piper Sheldon. 

My review is HERE.

4.

When I saw this sitting on one of the tables at Book Bonanza this past August, I had to buy it since I'm a librarian, so I did get to meet the author, L.B. Dunbar, and then I was also introduced to her writing!

My review is HERE.

5.


I had to read all the books in the library series, so this one I got to read as part of a blog tour, and loved it as well!  It was probably my favorite of all of them.  Sabrina's shyness, the funny nerdy quotes, like "for the love of Dumbledore!".  Nora Everly is going to be someone I read a lot of in the future I hope! 

My review is HERE.

6.


I think this was my favorite in the Donner Bakery series from the SmartyPants Romance launch.  I think it is the author, Ellie Kay's, only book so far, but again, I look forward to more! 

My review is HERE.

7.

And another in the library series.  Normally I am not a big fan of the motorcycle club books, but this one was okay because of how awesome the librarian stuff was.  Cathy Yardley did a great job! 

My review is HERE.

8.

So much in this one that I liked as well, and I'm interested in reading more by Jiffy Kate.  It made me want to pack up and move myself to a place like Green Valley, I wished there was a real Green Valley!  It also kind of got me thinking maybe I want to work one of my stories into a way it could fit into the Green Valley world and possibly be part of the SmartyPants Romance group! 

My review is HERE.

9.

I loved this book.  All the stuff about being overweight and dealing with that was true.  How people look right through you, etc.  M.E. Carter responded to tweets I posted and Instagram posts as well.  Definitely looking forward to more by this author as well! 

My review is HERE.

10.

So, I actually read this earlier this year from a partner I found on a website called Critique Match when I was looking for someone to help me critique my short story.  I didn't actually know if she was published or not, hadn't heard of her, but read and loved her story to help her.  I wondered as I read if she was, because the story was so good! Then I found it posted as a book coming out this month, and I jumped on the blog tour to help promote it.  I'm currently "re-reading" the finished copy to post a full review here tomorrow!


YA Authors:
1.

I recently read and loved this book by Cookie O'Gorman.  I need to read more by this author now!  

My review is HERE.

2.



My first Hannah Moskowitz book was a hit!  

My review is HERE.

3.



So, I was supposed to read The Replacement Crush by Lisa Brown Roberts when it came out, but I didn't get to it. I signed up to do a blog tour for this one, and now I have to go back and read that one!  

My review is HERE.

4.

A good debut for Charlotte Nicole Davis, although the ending wasn't the best for me.  

My review is HERE.

5.

Yet another debut author, Brittney Morris, and I can't wait to see more from her in the future!  

My review is HERE.

6.

Natasha Diaz is another debut author I'm highly recommending!  

My review is HERE.

7.

While this is Chelsea Bobulski's second novel, it is the first one I've read, and I really liked how original she was with her ghost story and the way to see through it.  

My review is HERE.

8.

Another debut author I read this year was Autumn Krause, and it was a kind of original slant on a story that is similar to others I've read.  

My review is HERE.

9.

Another awesome 2019 debut author, I look forward to the sequel to this unique fantasy novel by Kalyn Josephson.  

My review is HERE.

10.

A great cult type of story that I really liked, Shannon Schuren will be on my watch list for future titles.  

My review is HERE.


Tell me, are any of these authors new to you?  Or are any old favorites?  What new or new-to-you authors did you read this year?

If you're interested in joining in to the Top 10 of 2019, you can go to the links at the top for the hosting blogs.  Here are the other topics you'll see coming up:




Also, while you're here, make sure you go enter into my weekly Cleaning Up My TBR Giveaway HERE.  It's open till Friday night at midnight!

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Blog Tour Review with Giveaway: The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson

Book info:
TitleThe Storm Crow
AuthorKalyn Josephson
SeriesThe Storm Crow #1
Genre:  YA fantasy
Release Date:  July 9th, 2019
Publisher:  Sourcebooks Fire
Source:  ARC from publisher which did not influence my opinion
My rating:  4 stars

Synopsis:
In the tropical kingdom of Rhodaire, magical, elemental Crows are part of every aspect of life...until the Illucian empire invades, destroying everything.

That terrible night has thrown Princess Anthia into a deep depression. Her sister Caliza is busy running the kingdom after their mother's death, but all Thia can do is think of all she has lost.

But when Caliza is forced to agree to a marriage between Thia and the crown prince of Illucia, Thia is finally spurred into action. And after stumbling upon a hidden Crow egg in the rubble of a rookery, she and her sister devise a dangerous plan to hatch the egg in secret and get back what was taken from them.








My Review:
While I don't know if I got the whole giant crow bit to start with, there was a lot of good fantasy built into this world.  The world was very interesting, and a lot to learn about and figure out. The characters were really good, all with a lot of background that made them more than two-dimensional, and gave you reasons to maybe not hate them, until they kept doing things that made them evil.  There was a definite twist I didn't see coming, although really, it should have been something I wondered about, because how wonderful of creatures were these crows, and to get rid of them completely makes no sense.  I had really grown to want maybe something to happen for Ericen, even with him being the son of the enemy, her being forced to marry him, in his own way, he seemed to be maybe coming around.  I'm glad that who I thought might be a double crosser didn't turn out to be one.  Guess I've been reading too many books with that kind of person.  The betrayer was really someone kind of unexpected, but not anyone that would devastate my opinions of the characters.  We left off at the end with a hope for what comes next, and I look forward to reading the next part of the story.



About the Author:

Kalyn Josephson is a Technical Writer in Silicon Valley, which leaves room for too many bad puns about technically being a writer. She grew up in San Luis Obispo, CA, but now lives in the Bay Area with four awesome friends (because it’s the Bay and she’d like to be able to retire one day) and two black cats (who are more like a tiny dragon and an even tinier owl). When not writing YA Fantasy, she loves baking, reading, playing sports, and watching too many movies.


 
Giveaway:

Prize: Win a finished hard copy of THE STORM CROW by Kalyn Josephson (INT) or a signed finished copy of THE STORM CROW by Kalyn Josephson (US Only)



** International as long as book depository ships to the country



Starts: July 9th 2019

Ends: July 23rd 2019


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