The Gifted Ones Blog Tour Stop- excerpt

"Wake up, Momma. You can wake up now; you can come back to me; it's safe,
really. I really need you, especially now. At least give me a sign you can hear me,
Momma, please?" a tear rolled down his soft, plum cheek, but her eyes were dry,
motionless and tightly closed. When no sign came, he scooted back in the chair, folded his hands together, set his elbows on the edge of the bed and bowed his

head in silent prayer, something he hadn't done in months, since he had given up on her… on life.

Title: The Gifted Ones: The Fairytale
Author: P. G. Shriver
Publisher: Gean Penny
Pages: 274
Blurb:

Thrown together by the cruelties of a modern day world in which genuine compassion is rare, evil abounds, and goodness is often tainted by the fight to survive, two unusually gifted teenagers
discover they are linked by a fairytale told them repeatedly throughout their youth by their late mothers. Destiny awaits them, but first they must locate the others, as the fairytale foretells, to defeat
the evil monster who waits and change the lonely world in which they live. Only then will they find peace... and family.

About P. G. Shriver

Born in California, and raised in Minnesota and Texas, P.G. spent her early years writing poetry and winning poetry contests, while escaping the drama in her own childhood by reading great books for children. Ever since her earliest days, she loved story telling. She wrote numerous short stories in High School and her early college years, continually trying to relive that first experience at the age of seven of seeing her name in print in the local newspaper.

P.G. sought her education at the University of Texas, where she studied English, literature, and Education. During the entire process of earning her BA and M.Ed, she never stopped writing and trying to be published. It was during this time that her first children's book No More Stinkbugs! was accepted for publication by Castle Keep Press. Many of her stories develop from nature.

P.G. graduated college and began her career in education, another great world that offered real experiences to humor and delight through children's books. She watched children interact, bringing to surface her own experiences as a child and yet more events to write about. While teaching, she discovered many great books for young people, such as The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963, Maniac Magee, So. B. It and many more. She is a fan of Dean Koontz novels, too, and loves reading fantasy and paranormal books.

P.G. was married 20 years in March 2012 and has a bright, young daughter who has begun her own college career. She lives on a small farm in Texas with her family and animals. P.G. has experienced great love and loss throughout her life. Those her family has lost have dedications in her books.

P.G. has two young adult books published, Dead Perfect and The Gifted Ones: The Fairytale the first book in The Gifted Ones Trilogy. She also has several children's books written under Gean Penny, her pseudonym. P. G.

has since dissolved her contract for her first book with Castle Keep Press and moved the title to her own imprint, Gean Penny Books.

Author Links:

Goodreads I Authorcentral I Purchase I Website I Blog I Facebook I Twitter

Review: Painted Blind

Title: Painted Blind
Author: Michelle A. Hansen
Publication date: May 3rd, 2012
Publisher: Createspace

Seventeen years old and agoraphobic, Psyche Middleton vows her dad will never see the risqué photos she took during a summer modeling stint abroad, but one of them ends up on a billboard in her Montana hometown. Now everyone—especially her dad—can see it. And yet, somehow, those are the mundane things in her life because she is about to fall unexpectedly, head-over-heels in love with Erik, a mysterious young man who rescues her from a crowd of admirers, and who she’s never actually seen because…he can make himself invisible.

As strange as this may seem, it’s about to get even stranger. Erik takes her to his palace in an idyllic kingdom, and she is swept into the beauty and culture of his world, but his affection has one condition: she may not see him. Overtaken, intrigued, and still not wholeheartedly believing he’s real, Psyche is going to have to decide if she can love him blindly; because if she can’t, she may lose him forever.

Despite my undying love for Greek myths, there is one key characteristic about them that I absolutely detest: insta-love.

Think about it, how often does anyone in Greek mythology actually take the time to get to know their love interest? (If you can name just one, then I owe you cookies.) That's why I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful character depth and romantic development in Painted Blind.

As someone who is well-acquainted with the Psyche and Eros myth, I loved how Michelle Hansen brought this story to the modern world while still retaining the principle elements of the myth. The concept was brilliant and creative and actually quite believable.

Psyche was a very relatable heroine. Sure, she makes some mistakes and she definitely has her own baggage to deal with, but all that just makes her realistically flawed. There were moments when I didn't like something she did, and more than one occasion when I got annoyed by how all the guys were clambering to help her, but overall, Psyche's bravery and perseverance shined through, and I had no problem seeing her as a real girl, as opposed to just a name in a myth.

And speaking of the guys in this book....
holy wowza, there was a whole menagerie of hot males!
All of them were really interesting characters, and NO, I'm not just saying that because I'm a book-boyfriend-obsessed girl. Hansen did a fantastic job making each one of them memorable and unique, giving them back stories that made me want to learn more about them. However, the one who really stole the show, was Eros (AKA Erik), god of love. I mean, obviously! In most retellings of this myth (and in the actual myth), Eros is this really vain and shallow jerk, but in this book, he was so real. He had insecurities and talents and a past that influenced him. He's not the kind of guy who actively seeks out attention. Instead, he's the kind of guy who tends to hang back, quiet and mysterious, and oh my gosh so darn swoon-worthy.

For me, the romance between Psyche and Eros was a whole heck of a lot better than insta-love. As a couple, Psyche and Eros had a lot of hurdles to get through, and when you have to work through stuff like that, you get this wonderful little thing called DEVELOPMENT. Me gusta.

Now I can't end this review without talking about the world-building because OH MY GOSH, it's just fabulous. Hansen expertly weaved together the mortal world and the gods' realms seamlessly! In this one book you get to see so much of the Olympian realm, with each setting beautifully and vividly described.

Rating: 4 stars*
All in all: Amazing! I really really hope Michelle Hansen decides to write some more myth retellings in the future because, if this book is any indication, she'd be really good at it!

*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Feature and Follow #22

Follow Friday is a really fun way to make new blogger friends and promote your blog in the process! This weekly meme is hosted byAlison Can Read and Parajunkee. 

Books are turned into movies all the time! Turn it around. What movie would make a really great book?

Ooh this is a toughie considering most movies I watch are adaptions of books!
I am a huge lover of chick flicks so I think How to Lose a Guy in 10 days would make a hilarious book!

This question was actually A LOT harder than I thought it was! Clearly I need to expand my movie niche. ;)

Feel free to leave me a link to your FF, I'm really curious about other people's answers!
And don't forget:

Current giveaways
*blogoversary giveaway
*Wingless by Cydney Lawson

And by the way, has anyone else seen the City of Bones trailer??? I'M SO EXCITED! :D

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Trailer!!!

My reaction:

And aldsjfkhaldkjfhalkjdfh THE WAY THEY'RE LOOKING AT EACH OTHER:

In short:

via not-your-normal-thirtysomething

November 14th, 2012

Top Ten Books I'd Want on a Deserted Island

Hosted over at the Broke and Bookish

So I suppose, for practicality's sake, I should have a couple of How to Survive on a Deserted Island books, but what the heck, let's just pretend I already know how to do that already because if I didn't I highly doubt I'd survive long enough to even read these ten books....

Chunky/Time-consuming books:

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling--this might be cheating because it's an entire series, but oh well!

The Bible--...because it's The Bible! And I haven't read it yet, so why NOT do it on a deserted island?

[Insert notoriously famous classic]--i.e.: The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, etc.

Light-hearted romances:

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins--Paris + Etienne = best chick-lit ever.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen--Humor. So much wit. And MR. FREAKING DARCY. Need I say more? 

ANY book by Sarah Dessen--though my main favorites are This Lullaby, The Truth About Forever, and Just Listen (okay, maybe not so light-hearted, but there's romance! And I love re-reading these!)

Humor/Adventure

Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan--this series is made of awesomesauce. I could re-read Percy's one-liners all day!

The Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter--hilarious and full of covert missions!

Books that give me ALL THE FEELS

The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta--I haven't even read the last book yet and I don't know if my heart can take it!

The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare--You guys must have seen this coming.... I mean, I need my daily dose of Will Herondale, even if I'm on a deserted island!

Well, those are my top ten books. What are yours? Please leave me a link or just tell me in the comments; I'd love to know! :)

Also, if you're new to my blog, feel free to enter my blogoversary giveaway and a giveaway of Wingless and its sequel by Cydney Lawson!

Author Interview & Giveaway: Wingless by Cydney Lawson

I am super excited to welcome author Cydney Lawson on my blog today! She was kind enough to answer a few questions and provide a copy of her books, Wingless and Displaced, for a giveaway. Be sure to check out the info for that at the end of this post! :)

 Hi, Cydney, and welcome to my blog! I’m so glad to have you here! Please tell us a bit about yourself  

I’m a twenty-year-old college student with either not enough or too much time on her hands. I love to read, and I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life but creating something that others can read, too.

-What was your inspiration for writing Wingless?

 Well, I had a very abstract direction of dividing up the five senses into super powers. And then I had a completely unrelated idea of a naked girl, falling from the sky, and landing on a boy’s lawn in my head. I merged the two rather forcefully and Wingless came out.

-Who was your favorite character to write about and why?

Tane was my favorite point of view to write from because she is so complex. She’s stoic, and snobby, and all business. But at the same time, she manages to be dependent, and gentle, and curious about other worlds. She was amazingly fluid in the book, taking different shapes and forms as the plot progressed. She went through genuine change, and I love to see that in a story.

-If Wingless were to be made into a movie, who would your dream cast be?

I have no idea who would play Charlie, but Tane would be played by Sophie Turner from Game of Thrones. Gaius would be played by Keegan Allen, maybe? Ezra Miller would play Felix!

-Describe Wingless in 3 words. Go!

Thought-provoking. Tragic. Cliffhanger.

Now for some random questions…

Tea or coffee?

Tea always! I love tea!

Early bird or night owl?

*stares at the clock* It’s midnight right now, and I’m doing an interview.

Hardback or paperback?

Hardback. I love a book that can take a beating because I’ll probably be reading it more than once.

Do you listen to a soundtrack while you write?

Absolutely. No book I’ve ever written could have ever survived without music behind it, surrounding it.

Favorite genre to read?

YA anything. I love Young Adult contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, verse.

Thanks so much for stopping by, Cydney, and now it's time for the giveaway! :)

A copy of Wingless and its sequel, Displaced are up for grabs. 

Charlie thought his summer was going to end like every other summer before it. With a growing sense of forboding and a waning sense of freedom. Until Tane landed on his front lawn in a crumpled heap claiming to be from heaven. A place much darker and much greater than he’d ever imagined. Tane is on a mission to find a Septar, a citizen of Fismuth that was left behind when she was supposed to have been taken. And when she enlists the help of Charlie and his friends, she pulls them into a world of danger, love, and ultimately, heavenly rewards.

My name is Tane. At least it was before I was banished to the outlands of heaven. Before everything I had learned to care for was taken from me. Before I murdered an innocent human.

Tane is an outcast in her own world. She is forced to fend for herself against the infamous and ravenous Feeders in Abannon to prove her worth and save her own life. When Azurael, a de-winged, slightly insane angel finds her and offers to deliver her to a secret land of life and prosperity-the Oasis-Tane agrees to become his traveling companion and student. As she learns his ways, she begins to question her own, as well as her role in the last prophecy he ever told.
My name is Charlie. At least it was before I was dragged to Fismuth. A lot has changed since then, and my new name is the least of them.

Charlie is an outcast in his own world. He doesn't fit in with his old friends. He can't stand to be around the only parent he has left. And he's plagued with thoughts of a girl long gone. Until the day Charlie is dragged and blessed with wings, a new sense of strength, and a mission to save Tane from her own fate. But Charlie isn't the only one planning to escape to Abannon and claim Tane.

In a struggle to find their purpose and each other, Charlie and Tane must face death, trust new friends, and start a war they didn't know existed to either fulfill or stop the prophecy that will end heaven as they know it.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Palace of Stone

Title: Palace of Stone (Princess Academy #2)
Author: Shannon Hale
Publication Date: August 21, 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Coming down from the mountain to a new life in the city seems a thrill beyond imagining. When Miri and her friends from Mount Eskel set off to help the future princess Britta prepare for her royal wedding, she is happy about her chance to attend school in the capital city. There, Miri befriends students who seem so sophisticated and exciting . . . until she learns that they have some frightening plans. They think that Miri will help them, that she "should "help them. Soon Miri finds herself torn between loyalty to the princess and her new friends' ideas, between an old love and a new crush, and between her small mountain home and the bustling city. Picking up where "Princess Academy "left off, this incredible stand-alone story celebrates the joys of friendship, the delight of romance, and the fate of a beloved fairy tale kingdom.

Princess Academy, for me, is one of those timeless reads, a go-to when I'm in a reading rut, regardless of how old I'd gotten. I was perfectly happy with the way Princess Academy ended--I thought it was quite perfect and didn't need a sequel. To be honest, I was pretty scared about reading Palace of Stone because when you have that one amazing book, you don't want its memory to be tarnished by a sequel of a lesser caliber.

When I first saw Miri becoming enchanted with the innovation of the capitol and joining the revolution, I wanted to jump up and shout, "No, Miri! Back to Mount Eskel with you! Stay away from all this political turmoil!" and then I would have thrown her over my shoulder and taken her back to the mountain myself...

I did not want one of my favorite characters was changing into someone I didn't recognize, and I feared that the revolution fervor would change preexisting relationship dynamics...Don't tell me you didn't make a horrified gasp at the phrase "Miri finds herself torn...between an old love and a new crush."

 For a good chunk of this book, I worried that I would not like it as much as I had hoped....

...And now we come to the part of the review where I reassure you that yes, Shannon Hale has once again worked magic with her words and created a sequel just as wonderful as the first book. (Hehe, I had you worried there for a second, didn't I?)

It wasn't until about midway through that I fully realized Hale had me utterly captivated with her story. Her diction is still just as beautiful, almost lyrical in a way, and I was taken back to a world of fresh mountain air and endless blue skies. Yet despite Hale's effortlessly gorgeous writing, she captures the spirit  of revolution perfectly. There is life and energy and excitement flowing from the pages!

And I cannot gush enough about her characters! Despite my initial apprehension, I enjoyed watching each character grow while still retaining the very essence of themselves that made me love them in the first place. Miri has and always will be one of my favorite characters and despite my qualms, she is still the smart but stubborn girl, albeit even more awesome in this book!

Rating: 4.5 stars*
All in all: Very rarely do readers get a sequel that is just as good, if not better, than the debut, but Shannon Hale has broken free of that mold as only the truly excellent authors to do. She broke through all of my walls of caution and wariness and has touched me with her story in a way that I feared she wouldn't be able to.

*I received a copy of this book for review from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.