Another HUGE Sale on @thesmboyce’s #EpicFantasy series, The Grimoire Saga

Back in August, S.M. Boyce held her The Grimoire Saga Epic Deals Week. This week, she’s decided to give readers some EPIC deals again!

Just like the deals a few weeks ago, Lichgates is FREE for a limited time. However, if you want all 4 books for one low price, you can’t go wrong with the Grimoire Saga Complete Box Set which is only $2.99 today and tomorrow. (Trust me, that’s a STEAL of a deal…oops, that wasn’t too lame, right? But really it’s more than reasonable for such a great series.) The box set includes Lichgates, Treason, Heritage and Illusion. Just remember, though, after the first two days, that price will increase daily. The best time to take advantage of the box set sale is TODAY and TOMORROW. But if you end up missing it, each sale price is still a great deal, if you ask me.

Here’s a little about Lichgates and the series as a hole if you haven’t read my ravings about the books 😉

Kara Magari is about to discover a beautiful world full of terrifying things: Ourea.

Kara, a college student still reeling from her mother’s recent death, has no idea the hidden world of Ourea even exists until a freak storm traps her in a sunken library. With nothing to do, she opens an ancient book of magic called the Grimoire and unwittingly becomes its master, which means Kara now wields the cursed book’s untamed power. Discovered by Ourea’s royalty, she becomes an unwilling pawn in a generations-old conflict – a war intensified by her arrival. In this world of chilling creatures and betrayal, Kara shouldn’t trust anyone… but she’s being hunted and can’t survive on her own. She drops her guard when Braeden, a native soldier with a dark secret, vows to keep her safe. And though she doesn’t know it, her growing attraction to him may just be her undoing.

For twelve years, Braeden Drakonin has lived a lie. The Grimoire is his one chance at redemption, and it lands in his lap when Kara Magari comes into his life. Though he begins to care for this human girl, there is something he wants more. He wants the Grimoire.

Welcome to Ourea, where only the cunning survive.

Experience the haunting world of Ourea from the beginning as Kara Magari uncovers a secret door in the middle of the forest—a portal that transports her to Ourea, the hidden world full of terrifying things. This epic series challenges traditional notions of good and evil, pits monsters against each other, unravels the secrets of magic, and showcases the power buried within us all.

From betrayal to seduction, romance to murder—the Grimoire Saga has it all.

This set includes:
Lichgates: Grimoire Saga #1
Treason: Grimoire Saga #2
Heritage: Grimoire Saga #3
Illusion: Grimoire Saga #4

Need to see the dates for the sales again? Check out the graphic below. Remember today and tomorrow are the BEST days to take advantage of!

Grab Lichgates now!

Grab the Grimoire Saga Complete Box Set now!

Don’t have a Kindle?

No problem! You can still participate in the Grimoire Saga Epic Deals Week and read these books on your favorite device. I know many people are starting to read on phones and tablets, so keep this in mind. I seem to be one of a dying breed still reading on an e-ink Kindle 😉

Kindle books (and any Mobi file) can be read with the Kindle App available on most devices. For more info, visit Amazon’s App Page.

About the Author:

International Amazon Bestseller. Fantasy Author. Twitter addict. Book Blogger. Geek. Sarcastic. Gooey. Odd. Author of the action-packed Grimoire Saga.

S.M. Boyce is a novelist who loves ghosts, magic, and spooky things. She prefers loose-leaf tea, reads far too many books, and is always cold. She’s married to her soul mate and couldn’t be happier. Her B.A. in Creative Writing qualifies her to serve you french fries.

Boyce likes to update her blog a few times each week so that you have something to wake you up in the morning.

Connect with the Author:

Website | Facebook | Twitter| Google+ | Pinterest | Youtube

Goodreads Page | Amazon Page

#NewRelease: Girl at War, by @NovicSara

You may have seen my review of Girl at War recently on the blog. It’s a book that blew me away and it’ll stick with me for some time. I’m happy to announce that now everyone can read the book, as it’s been released.

Below you’ll find more about Sara Nović’s debut novel, which I hope is the first of many from this author.

Zagreb, summer of 1991. Ten-year-old Ana Juric is a carefree tomboy who runs the streets of Croatia’s capital with her best friend, Luka, takes care of her baby sister, Rahela, and idolizes her father. But as civil war breaks out across Yugoslavia, soccer games and school lessons are supplanted by sniper fire and air raid drills. When tragedy suddenly strikes, Ana is lost to a world of guerilla warfare and child soldiers; a daring escape plan to America becomes her only chance for survival.

Ten years later Ana is a college student in New York. She’s been hiding her past from her boyfriend, her friends, and most especially herself. Haunted by the events that forever changed her family, she returns alone to Croatia, where she must rediscover the place that was once her home and search for the ghosts of those she’s lost. With generosity, intelligence, and sheer storytelling talent, Sara Nović’s first novel confronts the enduring impact of war, and the enduring bonds of country and friendship.

Would you like to grab a copy of Sara Nović’s debut? You can find it from:

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks

About the Author:

Sara was born in 1987 and has lived in the United States and Croatia. She recently graduated from the MFA program at Columbia University, where she studied fiction and literary translation. She is the fiction editor at Blunderbuss Magazine and teaches writing at Columbia University and the Fashion Institute of Technology. She lives in Queens.

Find out more:

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• Goodreads
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#ARC #Review: #GirlatWar, by @NovicSara

Title: Girl at War
Author: Sara Nović
Rating: 5/5 stars

Zagreb, summer of 1991. Ten-year-old Ana Juric is a carefree tomboy who runs the streets of Croatia’s capital with her best friend, Luka, takes care of her baby sister, Rahela, and idolizes her father. But as civil war breaks out across Yugoslavia, soccer games and school lessons are supplanted by sniper fire and air raid drills. When tragedy suddenly strikes, Ana is lost to a world of guerilla warfare and child soldiers; a daring escape plan to America becomes her only chance for survival.

Ten years later Ana is a college student in New York. She’s been hiding her past from her boyfriend, her friends, and most especially herself. Haunted by the events that forever changed her family, she returns alone to Croatia, where she must rediscover the place that was once her home and search for the ghosts of those she’s lost. With generosity, intelligence, and sheer storytelling talent, Sara Nović’s first novel confronts the enduring impact of war, and the enduring bonds of country and friendship. (description from Goodreads)

*Please note this is a review for an ARC provided for honest review*

When starting this book, I didn’t expect the experience I had from reading it. Girl at War is a beautifully written, intense, and captivating début novel. If I hadn’t known this was Nović’s début, I’d have assumed there was a backlist to check out. There isn’t, yet, though. This author is just that talented from the start.

The first person narrative was key to drawing the reader into the experiences of being a child during a war. Ana is trying to have a childhood in a city that’s being bombed from the air. Her family has just enough rationed food to not waste away. And there’s always a lingering knowledge that a loved one might not walk through the door at the end of the day. Along with all of this, Rahela, Ana’s baby sister’s health is a major concern tearing at the family. This is troublesome for any person to live through, but for a ten-year-old, it’s a very impressionable time. Nović portrayal of this child in a war-torn setting had me closing the book every now and then just to absorb it all, knowing that this was the childhood of many kids only a few decades ago, and in places around the world today.

I also thought that after the initial set-up of Ana’s childhood, jumping to her in her twenties in New York City. Ana’s juggling college, a relationship, and memories of her past effecting her more and more each day. With this and flashback scenes, the reader gets the full scope of Ana’s life journey and her journey to heal, to look for answers, to not forget.

This book, its setting, its characters, and the gorgeous writing, it will stay with me for a long time. It has been a long time since a book has had an effect on me like Girl at War has. It may have ruined me for whatever book I read next. And I’m ok with that.

This book will be released on May 12th. If you’re interested in pre-ordering it, you can do so from:

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks

About the Author:

Sara was born in 1987 and has lived in the United States and Croatia. She recently graduated from the MFA program at Columbia University, where she studied fiction and literary translation. She is the fiction editor at Blunderbuss Magazine and teaches writing at Columbia University and the Fashion Institute of Technology. She lives in Queens.

Find out more:

• Website
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• Goodreads
• Amazon author page

(An Almost) #Review – The Song of Achilles, by @MillerMadeline

Title: The Song of Achilles
Author: Madeline Miller
Rating: 5/5 stars

“Achilles, “the best of all the Greeks,” son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful— irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods’ wrath.

They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.” (description from Goodreads)

There’s no way I can write a review for this book that the book deserves. From the very beginning I fell in love with Miller’s writing and the way she shaped the legendary characters from The Iliad into this novel. I could probably have rushed through this book in a day or two, but I found myself holding off reading in order to prolong my enjoyment. Normally I complain about how slow I read (even when enjoying a book), so making this one last longer was an interesting change of attitude. In the end, it didn’t disappoint. I just hope that Miller has something else in store for her readers. I’ll definitely come back for more

That’s basically my review. There’s not much more I can say to praise this book without babbling. I’m a big fan of Greek mythology, though I haven’t read much of it since high school and early college when I was reading Homer and some other authors/books dealing with the subject. It was great to revisit that world and see this author’s interpretation of Achilles and Patroclus’ relationship and the story of the Trojan War. If you’re a fan of mythology, or just a great novel filled with a romance, action, legend, this might be a book to check out. I just wish I had gotten a copy of this earlier. I now know that I was missing out for a few years.

If you’d like to grab a copy of this novel, you can find it on:

Amazon | B&N | Kobo

About the Author:

Madeline Miller was born in Boston and grew up in New York City and Philadelphia. She attended Brown University, where she earned her BA and MA in Classics. For the last ten years she has been teaching and tutoring Latin, Greek and Shakespeare to high school students. She has also studied at the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought, and in the Dramaturgy department at Yale School of Drama, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms. The Song of Achilles, her first novel, was awarded the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction and was a New York TimesBestseller. It has been translated into twenty-three languages including Dutch, Mandarin, Japanese, Turkish, Arabic and Greek. Madeline was also shortlisted for the 2012 Stonewall Writer of the Year, and her essays have appeared in a number of publications including the Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Lapham’s Quarterly and NPR.org. She currently lives in Cambridge, MA, where she teaches and writes.

Find out more:

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#Review: Collapse, by @RStephenson5

Title: Collapse (New America #1)
Author: Richard Stephenson
Rating: 4/5 stars

“BOOK ONE in the NEW AMERICA series.

What would it take for the United States to fall from within? In a not too distant future, America is put to the test. With the American people deep in The Second Great Depression and two of the most powerful hurricanes on record to contend with, the United States is in no condition to deal with hidden terrorists on its soil, maniacal politicians, and the most formidable military threat the world has seen since the Third Reich. 

This is the story of three men from three very different walks of life: Howard Beck, the world’s richest man, also diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome; Richard Dupree, ex-Navy SEAL turned escaped convict; and Maxwell Harris, a crippled, burned-out chief of police of a small Texas town. At first, they must overcome their own struggles and fight for their survival against impossible odds. In the end, the unlikely trio must band together to save their beloved country from COLLAPSE. 

Empires topple. Nations crumble. Civilization is fragile. In 2027, America will fall.” (description from Goodreads)

This book has been on my to-be-read list for a long time, and I’m very happy to finally get the chance to read it. What I find missing in some dystopian books that I read is the beginning of the new way of life. Many books start years later with a character/resistance to take down the wicked government. Collapse is a novel that’ll bring the reader through the entire process of how America deteriorates and falls, as well as how a new government rises.

What I enjoyed most about this novel was that, as I said, it takes the reader through the fall of one nation and the rise of a new one. (I don’t feel this is a spoiler due to the New America series title and what’s said in the description.) Even though it’s known that the outcome of this book probably won’t be positive, the journey to the end is filled with much to enjoy. The book follows the struggles of a few group’s of American in the Second Great Depression. These interlaced stories about very different characters can be books all by themselves. That’s how much detail and planning seems to have gone into telling their stories. Stephenson is also able to jump around from story to story without me getting tripped up much of the time. That’s always an obstacle when carrying along with a few storylines in one book.

Whether others agree or not, I felt that much of what happens in this novel could actually happen some years down the road. For me, the fact that I could picture some of this being actual history at some point in the near future added to the emotions of the book. Some details are obviously exaggerated or too “out there” but overall, I see realism in Collapse and that enhances the “horror” these characters face. As with many dystopian books, the ability to fear realism from a book makes me enjoy it that much more. Maybe I’m just sick and enjoy reading about a dark near future, though.

The only real issues I had was that at some points in the book, the story was moved along by things out, rather than allowing the story to move things along. In this I mean some sections were written as “This happened. Then this and this. Followed by…” It wasn’t too troubling, but there were strong sections in this book, and these others were a bit dull. With as much detail of characters, events, and other elements that this book had, it’s expected that some things are glossed over though.

Book 2, Resistance, is on my Kindle now (as well as the short story Spider). I’m looking forward to the next installment of the New America series.  If it’s anything like Collapse, I’ll find it hard to put down.

You can grab a copy of this book from Amazon in the following formats:

Kindle | Print | Audible

About the Author:

Richard Stephenson was born in 1975 in Denison, TX and spent his childhood in North Texas. In 1992, he graduated high school after only three years. He then pursued his degree at Oklahoma Christian University, once again accomplishing the task in three years. Richard then married his best friend before going off to basic training to be a military policeman with the US Army. With his new wife joining the adventure, they spent the next four years at Fort Polk, LA and had two children.

Just before his son turned five, Richard and his wife were told that their oldest child had Asperger’s Syndrome. Nine years later, Richard’s son would become the inspiration for the character of Howard Beck.

After leaving the armed forces, Richard continued his law enforcement career in the federal sector and has been with the Department of Justice for thirteen years.

Find out more:

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