A Chick Who Reads

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Modern Princess Release Tour Book Review: Innocent Princess

A straight-laced princess meets a bad boy is this modern Rapunzel retelling. INNOCENT PRINCESS by Lauren Helms is full of first love, music, and just a little illegal hacking. Readers who love road trip romances featuring a good girl falling for the bad boy will adore this opposites attract, new adult romance. The next installment of the Modern Princess Collection is now LIVE!

Only on Amazon + Read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited!

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♛ Goodreads ➝ https://bit.ly/2QGsWhy

Zella

This year is all about discovering who I really am.

A roadtrip to a place seven hundred miles away, might not seem like much, but to me it means freedom.

I set out looking for adventure, I never expected Ryker would help me find it.

Ryker

I'm no prince charming, but I may just be her knight in shining armor.

First, captivated by her ridiculously long blonde hair, I soon find out there is so much more to Zella then her hypnotizing locks.

Turns out those hacking skills I've been practicing are about to come in handy.

A straight-laced princess meets a bad boy is this modern fairy-tale retelling full of first love, music, and just a little illegal hacking.

Excerpt

I tug at my favorite blue T-shirt, slightly embarrassed. I'm normally on my A-game when it comes to women, and this one seems to be besting me. "One track mind it seems," I mutter.

"So it seems. By the looks of it, you were doing something you probably shouldn't be doing." She looks almost too innocent to trust, so I can't help flipping the switch on my other skill. A slow grin, one I've been told countless times is sexy as sin, slides across my face. Cocking my head slightly, I wink at her. Lowering my voice, just slightly, I say, "How's your day going?"

She stares. Her eyebrows pinch together, and she cocks her head slightly. "Did you just smolder?"

My face falls, and I feel ... out of place. Am I in an alternate universe? Since when did my smolder not work on the opposite sex? Not only did it not affect the pixie, but she also called me out on it. Is my smolder broken?

My thoughts are interrupted by an amused giggle. "Let me guess, that usually works on the ladies?"

"Yeah, I think I might be broken." I can't keep the pout out of my tone.

More giggles from Blondie.

"How about you try introducing yourself? Maybe I have to get to know you before the smolder is effective on me."

Uh, maybe she's right. I'm going to have to work my magic later on some random chick to ensure I haven't lost my smolder mojo.

Shaking off the confusion, I get my head back into the game. "Hi, I'm Ryker Stone."

Review: In this modern day retelling of Rapunzel you have Zella and Ryker a very unlikely pair.

File this one under new adult. I am not usually into this genre, because I'm 46 and I stopped relating to young 20 somethings when I was a young twentysomething, but this book was really sweet.

Zella is 3rd year college student with an over protective mother. Ryker is a hacker at the same fictional university, Camelot U. I have to admit I love the college setting.

The budding romance between the two that progresses as Ryker takes her to meet her birth parents is sweet and charming. He's a bad boy turning good. Their trip to meet her parents is quite an adventure and she gets to do a few of her bucket list items. Though why a girl under 21 has a bucket list remains to be seen.

I think because this was a sweet romance, I liked it even more. I think smoking hot sex would have spoiled the story. I'm not saying there wasn't any sex, but it wasn't all about sex.

Their romance was fun and this was a quick easy read that I didn't want to put down. Lauren Helms is fast becoming one of my favorite authors.

Rating: 5 flowers

About Lauren

Lauren Helms has forever been an avid reader from the beginning. After starting a book review website, that catapulted her fully into the book world, she knew that something was missing. Lauren decided to take the plunge and write her first novel. While working for a video game strategy guide publisher, she decided to mix what she knew best--video games and romance. She decided to take the plunge and joined NaNoWrimo and a month later, she had her first draft.

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About the Modern Princess Collection

Once upon a kiss, a modern romance becomes a fairytale.

The prestigious Camelot University comes fully equipped with elitist guys, a castle, and a Glass Ball, but these self-proclaimed princesses don’t need crowns to prove their worth. They’ve taken love and life into their own hands and written their own fairytale.

Follow seven of your favorite fairytale heroines as they find their happily ever after, in these standalone, contemporary romance novels. The ladies of Cam U are a dangerous combination of cute and badass, full of attitude and imperfections, and an innocence only fairytales can convey.

Want to keep up with all the Modern Princess Collection news? LIKE the Rewritten Fairytales Facebook page!

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Monday, May 18, 2020

Release Blast Book Review: Ignite My Heart

Loni Ree is back with IGNITE MY HEART, the first book in her new series, Sparks in Juniper. It was love at first sight for Slater and Elyse, but are they ready to fight unforeseen battles to keep their sparks aflame? If you love Frankie Love’s PIZZA MY HEART and Tory Baker’s JUST ONE KISS, you will devour this humorous, firefighter, small-town romance.

It only takes a spark…

Trace Remington

I’m used to my nice quiet life in Juniper. I usually save Mrs. Jacob’s cat from its own bad luck once or twice a week and, on occasion, deal with a real emergency. When Paige Reilly moves in, the little firecracker wakes up our sleepy small town and sets my blood on fire.

Paige Reilly

I was looking for somewhere quiet to settle down, and Juniper, Colorado looked like the perfect place. Little did I know, the quiet little town would welcome me with a bang. When the hottest guy I’ve ever seen shows up at my door to give me advice on fitting into the town and neighborhood, sparks start flying between the Fire Captain and me.

Are you ready for sparks to ignite? This book is guaranteed to set your kindle on fire.

Review: Ignite My Heart is a super fast paced read that you can really devour in one sitting. Its only 66 pages long.

There's a lot going on here for such a short period of time that it feels like a whirlwind, especially if you are used to reading longer books. Its got Insta-love combined with the strangest, yet funniest, meet-cute you ever did read. Lets just say the reason Trace and Paige meet will have you in stitches.

Trace is also an alpha-male that's also a big ole softie, he's also a firefighter.

Paige is a web designer just recently moved to Juniper

There's a mystery involved too that involves Paige.

For me the only issue I had was that Paige didn't get developed as a character well enough for me. Granted, I love that Trace really held the focus of the story. His point of view was the strong one throughout, although I really would have loved him to like Paige for something more than a hot bod. That bothers me in so many romance. OMG she's gorgeous, BANG! Love!

He basically steamrolled Paige into a relationship and we never get her full feelings.

But again, 66 pages, so I can't complain too much.

I liked that we got some steaminess but it didn't take over the story, because that would have been too much.

If you are looking for a quick romantic read though, this a good one to try!

Rating: 4 flowers

Buy Now or Read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon → https://amzn.to/3fld6Ul

Add to Goodreads Here!

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About the author

Loni Ree is a very busy mom of six who loves to read, and she finds that it helps her escape the chaos of everyday life. She likes quick reads that are red-hot and on the excessive side. Writing has also been a passion of hers, and Loni decided to share the stories floating around in her mind. Her short, steamy stories have a tiny bit of suspense and are a little over the top because she believes reading should be an escape from real life. Her books always have a happy ever after, guaranteed!

Website: https://lonireeromance.com/

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Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours Book Review: Of Darkness And Light

Of Darkness and Light by Heidi Eljarbo

Publication Date: May 12, 2020

Series: Soli Hansen Mysteries, #1

Genre: Historical Mystery

In this first book of a new historical mystery series, a young art historian faces a tough choice in German-occupied Norway.

“Artful prose and at a pace that makes for a can't-put-down, first-class literary voyage."–Melissa Dalton-Bradford, bestselling author of Global Mom

Oslo, 1944. Soli Hansen’s passion for art history is and always has been a way of life for her. While she spends her days working in an art shop, WWII is taking its toll on everyone. Apprehensive of the consequences, Soli avoids becoming entangled in the war resistance efforts. She closes her eyes in hopes the enemy will retreat and leave her beautiful country for good.

But when a woman is found dead in the alley alongside the art shop and a painting from the last auction goes missing, Soli is thrown into the thickest of the fray involving both Nazi art theft and the Norwegian resistance.

Once Soli finds her courage, there’s no turning back. Her personal life is turned upside-down with danger, lies, spying, and an incredible discovery.

In this dual timeline novel, Heidi Eljarbo paints a vivid picture of what people are willing to do in desperate times. With unforgettable characters and rich historical details, Of Darkness and Light will keep the reader mesmerized until the last satisfying page.

Perfect for fans of Kate Morton, Lucinda Riley, Katherine Neville, and Kate Mosse.

Available on Amazon

Praise for Of Darkness and Light
“Interspersing love, hope, and courage, the participants are drawn together in mysterious paths.”–Pauline Isaksen, bestselling author of Dying for Justice

“Of Darkness and Light will reel you in and keep you hooked until the end.”–Mette Barfelt, bestselling author of The Solvik Series

Review: I'm always in search of a good mystery. Cozy, historical, thriller, I love them all. Of Darkness and Light is the first book in a new series, so I was super excited to read this one. I always seem to start series in the middle. So yay for getting in on something from the start.

The setting is WII Oslo and it involves the murder of a cleaning lady who turns out is not quite what she seems. Soli starts to dig into the the woman's murder and she ends deep into it. Working with a local police office, Soli finds her quiet life turned upside down and she finds herself working with the Nazi resistance.

This was a fabulous pageturner and I highly recommend it to anyone that loves reading about this time period.

Rating 5 flowers

About the Author

Heidi Eljarbo is the bestselling author of Catching a Witch. She grew up in a home filled with books and artwork and she never truly imagined she would do anything other than write and paint. She studied art, languages, and history, all of which have come in handy when working as an author, magazine journalist, and painter.

After living in Canada, six US states, Japan, Switzerland, and Austria, Heidi now calls Norway home. She and her husband have a total of nine children, thirteen grandchildren--so far--in addition to a bouncy Wheaten Terrier.

Their favorite retreat is a mountain cabin, where they hike in the summertime and ski the vast, white terrain during winter. Heidi's favorites are family, God's beautiful nature, and the word whimsical.

If you would like to know more, please visit Heidi's website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads.

Blog Tour Schedule

Tuesday, May 12
Review at Passages to the Past

Thursday, May 14
Review at Gwendalyn's Books

Friday, May 15
Feature at What Is That Book About

Monday, May 18
Review at A Chick Who Reads

Tuesday, May 19
Feature at Reading is My Remedy

Thursday, May 21
Review at 100 Pages a Day

Friday, May 22
Feature at Hopewell's Public Library of Life

Monday, May 25
Review at Foals, Fiction, and Filligree

Tuesday, May 26
Feature at Books and Backroads

Thursday, May 28
Feature at Bookworlder

Monday, June 1
Review at History + Fiction + Adirondack Spirit

Tuesday, June 2
Interview at Jorie Loves A Story

Wednesday, June 3
Review at Jessica Belmont
Review at Chicks, Rogues and Scandals

Giveaway
During the Blog Tour, we are giving away one copy of Of Darkness and Light in paperback! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.

Giveaway Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST on June 3rd. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Paperback giveaway is open internationally.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud will be decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or a new winner is chosen.

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Release Blitz: Imperfect Princess

Imperfect hearts never fall apart in IMPERFECT PRINCESS by Sonya Jesus. This emotional fairytale retelling about an imperfect girl and her scars will chill you in this modern version of The Snow Queen. Fans of the friends to lovers trope will devour this coming of age, new adult romance. The first book in the Modern Princess Collection is now LIVE!

Only on Amazon + Read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited

♛ Amazon ➳ https://amzn.to/34shADF

♛ Goodreads ➳ https://bit.ly/33MViMM

It started with fire.

Not the kind that burns inside you and melts your heart into a mess of happy feelings. A real one. One that rips through wood and disintegrates brick and bone, leaving ashes and orphans in its wake.

Death would have saved me from a rocky family life. There would be no cigarette burns on the soles of my feet, no vicious words engraved in my mind, and no Kai Madison. The friend who saw past the scars and offered me pennies for my secrets. The guy who stole my heart with a single kiss in the middle of a rose garden on a snowy winter.

Nothing would have been easier to leave behind—to vanish from—but for the past four years, I've been isolated from the world, living in a hospital room and helping the Feds build a case against my foster-dad. Now I'm free and willing to risk my life to see him again.

There's only one problem. I'm no longer imperfect. I have the same heart, but a different face.

Excerpt

“You know you can tell me anything, right?”

“What do I have to tell?” My body aches in protest, reminding me of the many secrets hidden just underneath the layers of cloth, and the many more beneath the layers of skin. What good does voicing truths do? A shared burden is still heavy, and I like feeling weightless in his presence.

“Everything…” He slips closer, breaths landing on my trembling lips. His thick blond lashes flutter, and in that same exact instant, our lips touch. And touch again.

Silk and smooth. Like melting ice.

They glide over mine, as though one year of life has blessed him with skill, my inexperience clearly evident in my ragged breaths. But he doesn’t seem to mind. When he tears his lips from mine, his hand falls to my chin, and he tilts it upward to face him. “You’re so different, Thorn.” Hovering his lips a couple inches away from mine, he whispers, “Be careful with the Del Rios. They aren’t who you think they are.”

Review: Imperfect Princess is a great way to start the Modern Princesses collection. Imperfect Princess is an emotionally charged read, based on The Snow Queen. Now I have to say that this isn't a fairy tale I'm very familiar with, so the story just had to hold its own with me, and it really pulled me in right away.

Its Rose who has the life that is not what it seems when she's at Camelot U. She's spent years with surgeries to correct injuries sustained when her foster father tried to kill her and his wife along with himself or so it seems

Kai is the boy she loved then, but he can't know who she is now because of the federal case. Its got a whole Witness Protection thing going on, and a mystery involving Penny/Rose's foster family. Its a little hard to imagine how a child that ended up in the system, ends up with a foster family with mafia connections and then gets sent to wealthy people who essentially pay to fix her and that's how she ends up in Camelot U.

There are a lot of twists and turns as Penny/Rose finds her way back into Kai's heart. Her past makes for a gripping and sad story.

This story is absolutely amazing and unputdownable.

Rating: 5 flowers

About Sonya

Sonya’s a nerd—a cool nerd—who loves science, books, make-up and unicorns. She even has unicorn slippers and unicorn plushes adorn her office. It’s not obsession (or so she says), it’s simply an ode to her imaginative side.

She believes in fairytales and in the beautiful things a mind can conjure. She’s a firm believer of empowering the crazy fictional ideas, putting them down on paper (figurative paper because she’s not a fan of writing in notebooks), and letting them flourish into a story. Sometimes that story is about psychos and murders.

Don’t believe me? Ask her in any of her social media. She’s all about those connections.

“There’s so much potential in a dream, not exploring it seems like such a waste of something absolutely beautiful.”

Facebook➝ www.facebook.com/authorsonyajesus

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About the Modern Princess Collection

Once upon a kiss, a modern romance becomes a fairytale.

Want to keep up with all the Modern Princess Collection news? LIKE the Rewritten Fairytales Facebook page!

Facebook ➝ https://www.facebook.com/rewrittenfairytales/

This promotional event is brought to you by Forever Write PR https://www.foreverwritepr.com/

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Pump Up Your Book Book Review: The Marvelous Mechanical Man

THE MARVELOUS MECHANICAL MAN
By Rie Sheridan Rose
Steampunk/Adventure/Romance

The Marvelous Mechanical Man is the first book in a Steampunk series featuring the adventures of Josephine Mann, an independent woman in need of a way to pay her rent. She meets Professor Alistair Conn, in need of a lab assistant, and a partnership is created that proves exciting adventure for both of them.

Alistair’s prize invention is an automaton standing nine feet tall. There’s a bit of a problem though…he can’t quite figure out how to make it move. Jo just might be of help there. Then again, they might not get a chance to find out, as the marvelous mechanical man goes missing.

Jo and Alistair find themselves in the middle of a whirlwind of kidnapping, catnapping, and cross-country chases that involve airships, trains, and a prototype steam car. With a little help from their friends, Herbert Lattimer and Winifred Bond, plots are foiled, inventions are perfected, and a good time is had by all.

ORDER YOUR COPY

Amazon → https://amzn.to/3bfoz55

I was debating just what I should do next when I heard the sound of a key in the front lock. Hurrying back to the laboratory, I was just in time to see Alistair Conn step inside.

            “Professor Conn! Am I glad to see you.”

            He set the bundles he was carrying down on the counter.

            “What is it, Miss Mann?”

            “Your mechanical man...can it walk on its own?”

            He frowned, glancing quickly at the rear door and back.

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

            I rolled my eyes.

            “We don’t have time for shilly-shallying. Yes, I know I didn’t have your leave to look in the back rooms, but I did. I saw the automaton, or statue, or whatever he was, but when I opened the door to the hallway this morning, the door to the storage room was ajar and the man was gone.”

            “Gone?” All the color fled his face, and he pushed me aside, practically running down the lab to the rear door. He threw it open and darted to the storage room. “No...no! This is impossible! How could he be gone?”

            “That’s what I was asking you.”

            “He can’t move on his own, Miss Mann. He has no power source. He’s just a big metal doll without his heart—and that doesn’t work yet.” He wiped his hand across his lips then turned and ran back to the lab, searching furiously amid the items I had so carefully arranged—apparently to no avail—on the counter. “It’s gone!” he cried. “They got that, too? Oh, this is disastrous, indeed.”

            “Got what?” I asked, following him back to the lab, where he seemed determined to destroy all my neatening efforts of the day before.

            “The heart, Miss Mann, the heart! I showed it to you yesterday morning—it’s an oblong machine, about so big….” He held up his hands about six inches apart. “You asked me what it did.”

            I stepped over to the counter and opened the drawer beneath it. Rummaging in the back, I withdrew the silk-wrapped package I had placed within it the night before.

            “Is this what you’re looking for?”

            He practically snatched it from my hand.

            “Thank God! Oh, that was most clever, Miss Mann. Most clever.”

            I decided there was no need to tell the man it was only chance that had protected his precious...whatever it was. Let him think it had been foresight.

            “You say that’s the statue’s heart?”

            “Well, it will be, if it ever starts working. This little object will provide the power necessary to move the automaton’s limbs, to let him think. He will be a true mechanical man.”

            “But it doesn’t work.”

            He sighed.

            “Not yet.” He set the oblong down on the counter. “I’ve done everything I can think of, but I just can’t make it do anything.”

            I looked down at the funny little machine. I couldn’t tell him I had played with it and added things. He would never forgive me.

            Something looked odd about the assembly. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what, so I put my finger on the machine instead. There was a tiny lever half-hidden by the new gear assembly. It shifted under my fingertip, and suddenly, the heart began to beat.

Looking for a fast paced Steam punk novel. It was a super easy read. I loved Jo Mann and her story along with the Professor/ Inventor Alastair Conn.

It reminded me of the old science fiction movies that are on the Comet network.

It is a well written novel that will entertain any age, though I definitely felt it would work best as a young adult/new adult read. The relationship between Jo and Alastair is a clean one. There are definitely some underlying feelings there that didn't get explored much but we do know that Jo has some feelings for the professor.

The mechanical man, who is dubbed Phaeton is a wonderful character too! I wasn't sure what type of character he'd be good or bad when I decided to read this one. In fact I was really envisioning the Autons and the Cybermen from Doctor Who at first. I was pleasantly surprised Phaeton was nothing like that.

Jo was super spunky and a strong heroine, but she's definitely a girlie girl,especially when you compare her to Fred, another girl with a boy's name that they meet while trying to protect Phaeton.

It was a pleasant way to pass an afternoon and I look forward to reading more of Jo's adventures and to see if Alastair really gets a clue.

Rating: 5 flowers

Rie Sheridan Rose multitasks. A lot. Her short stories appear in numerous anthologies, including Nightmare Stalkers and Dream Walkers Vols. 1 and 2, and Killing It Softly Vols. 1 and 2. She has authored twelve novels, six poetry chapbooks, and lyrics for dozens of songs. These were mostly written in conjunction with Marc Gunn, and can be found on “Don’t Go Drinking with Hobbits” and “Pirates vs. Dragons” for the most part–with a few scattered exceptions.

Her favorite work to date is The Conn-Mann Chronicles Steampunk series with five books released so far: The Marvelous Mechanical Man, The Nearly Notorious Nun, The Incredibly Irritating Irishman, The Fiercely Formidable Fugitive, and The Elderly Earl’s Estate.

Rie lives in Texas with her wonderful husband and several spoiled cat-children.