{Blog Tour} Book Review + Giveaway: Heart of the Ocean - Heather B. Moore

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Title: Heart of the Ocean

Author: Heather B. Moore

Release Date: January 2nd 2013

Publisher: Mirror Press

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A dark secret . . . a grieving ghost  . . . a handsome stranger  . . .
What more could Eliza Robinson want?
Except for maybe her life.

In Heather B. Moore’s enthralling 1840’s historical romance, Heart of the Ocean, Eliza Robinson has turned down the very pretentious Mr. Thomas Beesley’s marriage proposal. As a business partner of Eliza’s father, Thomas quickly discredits the family and brings disgrace to the Robinson name.

While her father scrambles to restore his good name in New York City, Eliza flees to the remote Puritan town of Maybrook to stay with her Aunt Maeve. Although relieved to be away from all- things-male and unforgiving gossip columns, odd things start to happen to Eliza, and she is plagued by a ghostly voice. Her aunt’s explanation? That Eliza is being haunted by a woman who died of a broken heart twenty years ago.

After Aunt Maeve is tragically killed, Eliza's life is put in danger as she tries to uncover the mystery of her aunt's death. She encounters Jonathan Porter in Maybrook, whose presence in the town seems suspicious, yet she finds herself drawn to him. When she discovers that Jonathan’s dark secrets may be the link between the dead woman who haunts her and her aunt’s murderer, Eliza realizes that Jonathan is the one man she should never trust.

Within my first few pages of reading, Heart of the Ocean already had me. I was anxious to know more about Eliza's life and the place where her parents had planned to hide her until the controversy she'd left in New York had died down.

The setting was one of the strong points of this novel; Maybrook was definitely a breath of fresh air through the pages. I found it very easy to picture the cold, biting wind, the constant lull of the waves crashing against the cliffs, and even the astonishingly conservative and simple-minded Puritans who lived in it. The place lent more eerie factor to the already-creepy voice that began to haunt Eliza on just her first day there.

If I were Eliza, I would've left Maybrook the second I was sure that voice wasn't just in my head, so I certainly admired how she faced it: bravely, though not quite carefully and thought-out, which delivered her to a rather perilous situation. What disappointed me more was when it happened not just once. 

Apart from Eliza, there were also a lot of other colorful characters, each very different on their own. They definitely added to the overall fun of reading this book and even their stories were wrapped up by the last page - well, except for this one guy. My heart goest to thee, Nathaniel... (Excuse me if I messed that up, but I never bothered to learn that era of English, lol.)

Anyway, aside from doing a great job of putting to paper the atmosphere of the 1800's, the author also managed to perfectly mix mystery, suspense, paranormal, and romance, all of which were completely resolved in the ending that I seriously prayed for and had me tearing up. Just a few tears... yep... *hides*

MY FAVORITE PART was, well, the ending! XD

RATING:

(book details from Goodreads.com)

 

About the author:

Heather B. Moore is the award-winning author of ten novels, two inspirational non-fiction books, and two anthologies, including The Newport Ladies Book Club Series, A Timeless Romance Anthology, and Christ's Gifts to Women (co-authored by Angela Eschler).

Her historical fiction is published under the pen name H.B. Moore. She is the two-time recipient of Best of State in Literary Fiction, two-time Whitney Award Winner, and two-time Golden Quill Winner for Best Novel. Her most recent historical novel under H.B. Moore is Daughters of Jared (2012 LUW Gold Award of Excellence & 2012 LUW Best Book Trailer).

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Giveaway!

Waiting on Wednesday {15}: How to Lead a Life of Crime

 

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, where bloggers post about much-awaited releases!

 

Title: How to Lead a Life of Crime

Author: Kirsten Miller
Release Date: February 21st 2013
Publisher: Razorbill

Goodreads

A meth dealer. A prostitute. A serial killer. 

Anywhere else, they’d be vermin. At the Mandel Academy, they’re called prodigies. The most exclusive school in New York City has been training young criminals for over a century. Only the most ruthless students are allowed to graduate. The rest disappear. 

Flick, a teenage pickpocket, has risen to the top of his class. But then Mandel recruits a fierce new competitor who also happens to be Flick’s old flame. They’ve been told only one of them will make it out of the Mandel Academy. Will they find a way to save each other—or will the school destroy them both?

A school that trains kids to be criminals? If this were in real life, it would've been terrifying, but this is fiction, so of course it's exciting! I love stories set in schools that aren't really what they seem to be, but this particular one sounds fun but ruthless!
(cover and summary from Goodreads.com)

{Blog Tour} Book Review + Giveaway: A Cast of Stones - Patrick W. Carr

Title: A Cast of Stones (The Staff & The Sword #1)

Author: Patrick W. Carr

Release Date: February 1st 2013

Publisher: Bethany House Publishers

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In the backwater village of Callowford, Errol Stone's search for a drink is interrupted by a church messenger who arrives with urgent missives for the hermit priest in the hills. Desperate for coin, Errol volunteers to deliver them but soon finds himself hunted by deadly assassins. Forced to flee with the priest and a small band of travelers, Errol soon learns he's joined a quest that could change the fate of his kingdom.

Protected for millennia by the heirs of the first king, the kingdom's dynasty is near an end and a new king must be selected. As tension and danger mount, Errol must leave behind his drunkenness and grief, learn to fight, and come to know his God in order to survive a journey to discover his destiny.

I don't know if it's just me but when I'm about to read high fantasy novels, I try to ward off any expectations from my mind because they can only go either of two ways for me: hit or miss. Fortunately, A Cast of Stones didn't just hit the target, it went right through it.

The story opened by introducing us to Errol Stone, the town's young drunkard, offering to deliver a message to the local hermit priest in exchange of coin to buy more, well, ale. He is surprised when he gets a gold coin for a mere advance, but shakes it off as good luck. To his disappointment, his luck seemed to have ended there when he finds himself chased by an assassin. He reaches the priest's home, to safety - or so he thought, because instead of being relieved of danger, he gets thrust into a plot deeper and more dangerous than his drunken mind could've ever imagined.

For me, one of the things that make a good novel is character development, and Errol certainly grew a lot throughout the span of the book, but what I liked more about that growth is that it wasn't just physically - as in his body and abilities - but also internally as he fought his alcohol addiction. With that, he showed that anything can be done if one sets his mind to it.  

I think it's also worth noting that Errol never made me facepalm. Actually, none of the characters did, because this book was full of wise, colorful characters from both the good and bad sides which made it more exciting whenever they were pitted against each other.

Another thing I loved was how the fantastical elements laced in perfectly well with court intrigue, and how those two mixed raised the stakes even higher, not only for Errol, the main character, but for everyone in the plot.

With much action right from the start, and overflowing with secrets, surprises and revelations in an expertly-expounded world, A Cast of Stones has genuinely surprised me. The ending, though not a downright cliffhanger, left much questions unanswered for the sequel which I'm very excited for.

MY FAVORITE PART was Errol sparring with Liam. Oh, the foreshadowing ♥  

RATING:

(book details from Goodreads.com)

About the author:

Patrick Carr was born on an Air Force base in West Germany at the height of the cold war. He has been told this was not his fault. As an Air Force brat, he experienced a change in locale every three years until his father retired to Tennessee. Patrick saw more of the world on his own through a varied and somewhat eclectic education and work history. He graduated from Georgia Tech in 1984 and has worked as a draftsman at a nuclear plant, did design work for the Air Force, worked for a printing company, and consulted as an engineer. Patrick’s day gig for the last five years has been teaching high school math in Nashville, TN. He currently makes his home in Nashville with his wonderfully patient wife, Mary, and four sons he thinks are amazing: Patrick, Connor, Daniel, and Ethan. Sometime in the future he would like to be a jazz pianist. Patrick thinks writing about himself in the third person is kind of weird.

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Giveaway!

Cover Reveal: Reclaimed - Sarah Guillory

Title: Reclaimed

Author: Sarah Guillory

Release Date: October 15th 2013

Publisher: Spencer Hill Contemporary

ISBN: 978-1-937053-88-8

Formats: Paperback, e-book

Goodreads

Jenna Oliver doesn’t have time to get involved with one boy, let alone two.

All Jenna wants is to escape her evaporating small town and her alcoholic mother. She's determined she'll go to college and find a life that is wholly hers—one that isn't tainted by her family's past. But when the McAlister twins move to town and Jenna gets involved with both of them, she learns the life she planned may not be the one she gets.

Ian McAlister doesn't want to start over; he wants to remember.

Ian can’t recall a single thing from the last three months—and he seems to be losing more memories every day. His family knows the truth, but no one will tell him what really happened before he lost his memory. When he meets Jenna, Ian believes that he can be normal again because she makes not remembering something he can handle.

The secret Ian can’t remember is the one Luke McAlister can’t forget.

Luke has always lived in the shadow of his twin brother until Jenna stumbles into his life. She sees past who he’s supposed to be, and her kiss brings back the spark that life stole. Even though Luke feels like his brother deserves her more, Luke can’t resist Jenna—which is the trigger that makes Ian's memory return.

Jenna, Ian & Luke are about to learn there are only so many secrets you can keep before the truth comes to reclaim you.

Stacking the Shelves {3}: December 2012

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews, where we share recently bought, borrowed, won, and gifted books (print or ebooks)!

I know this is super late, but the holidays kept me busier than I thought it would so I wasn't able to post this >_< 

PRINT BOOKS:

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas - gifted by my sister

Life of Pi by Yann Martel - bought

The Iron Legends by Julie Kagawa - gifted by my sister

Hooked (Hooked #1) by Liz Fichera (signed ARC) - won from author

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1) by Laini Taylor - bought

Because my sister failed to get me the Iron Fey boxed set (such a bummer -_-), I asked her for a Kindle instead, but I have no idea when I'll get that.