Book Review- THE ROMEO CATCHERS by Alys Arden

Title:THE ROMEO CATCHERS (The Casquette Girls #2)

Author: Alys Arden

Release Date: May 23, 2017

Publisher: Skyscape

Format: Paperback, eBook, Audiobook

Source: Finished Copy From The Publisher

Rating: Obsessed!!!!!!!!!!!

Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble| iBooks | Audible | TBD

Is blood thicker than magic in La Nouvelle-Orléans?

Tormented by the fate she condemned her mother to, and by the lies she’s forced to tell to cover it up, Adele scours Storm-ravaged New Orleans for the truth about her family’s magical past. But every turn leads her back to the one person she's determined to forget: Niccolò Medici. Not even the multitude of enchanted locks on the attic door trapping Nicco within can break their connection.

Sensing Nicco calling to Adele, Isaac tries relentlessly to keep her from exploring paths too dark that would endanger them all. But a new threat is rising: the Medici’s presence has attracted something else to New Orleans…an older enemy, one that will bring Isaac’s haunted past to life, test the witches’ friendships, and jeopardize Adele and Isaac’s blossoming relationship.

In this spellbinding continuation of The Casquette Girls saga, Adele must draw on the past—from seventeenth-century Florence, a time bubbling with alchemy and fraternal betrayal—and sort history from fantasy if she is to have any chance of saving her mother, her coven, and her magic.

Happy Release Day to THE ROMEO CATCHERS!!! This series has quickly become an all time favorite of mine and I can see many re-reads in the future!

This behemoth of a book was freaking fantastic!! Not as good as book 1 but still a solid 5 star read! I can't get enough of this world, every time I read a book of Alys's I feel like I'm living in New Orleans and in this case historical Florence. I love all the magic and history interwoven into the series! And OMG betrayal runs deep in this book and some surprising reveals! I will say I wasn't a huge fan of Isaac's POV in this one but I adored Adele's and Nicco' parts! I can't wait to see what happens in book 3!

I have been matching books with my LuLaRoe Leggings lately and I have this TC pair in stock, it totally reminds me of the book cover and Isaac. If you'd like to purchase them join my Facebook group! 

Haven't read book 1? Now's a great time to start the series!

Book Review- THE HUNDREDTH QUEEN by Emily R. King

Title:THE HUNDREDTH QUEEN

Author: Emily R. King

Release Date: June 1, 2017

Publisher: Skyscape

Format: Paperback, eBook

Source: ARC From The Publisher

Rating: Obsessed!!!!!!!!!!!

Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble| iBooks | TBD

As an orphan ward of the Sisterhood, eighteen-year-old Kalinda is destined for nothing more than a life of seclusion and prayer. Plagued by fevers, she’s an unlikely candidate for even a servant’s position, let alone a courtesan or wife. Her sole dream is to continue living in peace in the Sisterhood’s mountain temple.

But a visit from the tyrant Rajah Tarek disrupts Kalinda’s life. Within hours, she is ripped from the comfort of her home, set on a desert trek, and ordered to fight for her place among the rajah’s ninety-nine wives and numerous courtesans. Her only solace comes in the company of her guard, the stoic but kind Captain Deven Naik.

Faced with the danger of a tournament to the death—and her growing affection for Deven—Kalinda has only one hope for escape, and it lies in an arcane, forbidden power buried within her.

In Emily R. King’s thrilling fantasy debut, an orphan girl blossoms into a warrior, summoning courage and confidence in her fearless quest to upend tradition, overthrow an empire, and reclaim her life as her own. 

Omg this book was freaking awesome!!!! It's the perfect crossover for Young Adult and Adult fantasy lovers! Emily has written a beautifully imagined world full of magic, suspense, swoon-worthy romance, killer fight scenes (I swear I wanted Kali to scream "I am Spartacus" a few times lol) and best of all amazing friendships! I adored Kali and Deven and so many of the other characters, especially Deven's brother I need to get to know him better!!!! 

Man this book kicked my ass! In a very good way, and now I am going to be struggling until Fall of 2017 waiting for the next book! 

Blog Tour- THE CASQUETTE GIRLS by Alys Arden Book Spotlight and a Giveaway!

Happy Thanksgiving! I am thrilled to have an excerpt from Alys Arden's book THE CASQUETTE GIRLS to share wit you today! I have been dying to read this book! And make sure to enter the giveaway!

The Casquette Girls 
Alys Arden 
Published November 17th, 2015
Published by Skyscape 
Genre: YA Paranormal/Fantasy 
Goodreads Website Amazon 

Find out more about signed copies HERE!     

Seven girls tied by time. Five powers that bind. One curse to lock the horror away. One attic to keep the monsters at bay. ** After the storm of the century rips apart New Orleans, sixteen-year-old Adele Le Moyne wants nothing more than her now silent city to return to normal. But with home resembling a war zone, a parish-wide curfew, and mysterious new faces lurking in the abandoned French Quarter, normal needs a new definition. As the city murder rate soars, Adele finds herself tangled in a web of magic that weaves back to her own ancestors. Caught in a hurricane of myths and monsters, who can she trust when everyone has a secret and keeping them can mean life or death? Unless . . . you’re immortal.   

Excerpt:

The warm air lingered, and dampness wrapped around my skin as if we had entered a gym locker room. I flicked the light switch just to be certain. Nothing. We both reached for our phones. That feeling of peculiarity versus familiarity swept over me once again.

The total silence had crept into the house with us, but after sixteen years of hearing the pendulum swings of the old grandfather clock in the foyer, an impression of the sound was left burned in my mind. The phantom ticks became louder in my head as we crept through the foyer and into the living room. My father walked a few feet ahead of me with his makeshift flashlight thrust forward and his right arm extended over me in a protective stance. There had been countless reports of people breaking into homes and squatting in the less-flooded neighborhoods.

By the glow of our phones, nothing appeared to be out of place – not that either of us could remember exactly how we had left it.

No signs of water or mold. My father exhaled loudly.

“I’m going to get the hurricane box,” I said, already halfway through the dormant dining room when he yelled my name in protest. The thick, old walls muffled his voice.

Despite the long journey, I felt incredibly alert – my eyes darted back and forth like an animal’s as I surveyed each room – and, now that I was alone, I became very aware of the beating of my own heart. The deeper I moved into the house, the harder it pounded, until the beating reverberated in my ears.

When I entered the kitchen, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong. And yet everything seemed okay…
My hair lifted from my shoulders, sending waves of shivers down my back. A delicate touch brushed my neck.

“Who’s there?” My body twisted around, and I ducked away.

A slow creak answered.

I spun towards the noise, dropping my phone in the process. I bent to find it on the tile floor, and when I rose, my head collided with something soft but solid, nearly knocking me back down.

“What the—?”

My hair yanked backwards.

“Who’s there?” I yelled, thrashing my head.

I screamed in pain when something small and sharp pierced the skin at the base of my neck and clawed all the way up to my cheekbone.

High-pitched screams assaulted me. Blood smeared from my neck to my face as I covered my ears, screaming back. I continued to flail wildly in the dark – the intruder’s wings flapped frantically in my face.

“Adele!”

“Dad! Kitchen!” My head jerked backwards again as my hair became entangled with the bird’s talons and ripped from my scalp.
“Get away!”

Each time its feathers touched my skin, a wave of shudders went down my spine, making my feet dance. My arms got scratched up shielding my face. I fell to my knees, ripping the last of my tangled hair free from the bird’s claws. Tears poured.

“Adele! Where are you?”

I crouched in a ball next to a cabinet as glassware began to fall from the counter and smash onto the tile floor around me.

“Down here!”

“What the hell?” he yelled over the ruckus, sliding onto the floor. 
“Are you okay?” He pulled me close.

His heart raced against his chest. In the illumination of his phone, I saw the crow’s giant black wings open and close, breaking everything they came into contact with.

He helped me up, then swiftly grabbed a broom from behind the refrigerator and shooed the trespasser out the kitchen door. I followed and slammed the door shut.

“Are you hurt?” He held the light of his phone up to my face. My hand and arm covered the wound, but his eyes still bulged, causing me to look down. Red covered most of my right shoulder. I wiped more blood off my face with the back of my other hand.

“It looks worse than it is,” I lied, my throat raw from screaming. The wound throbbed, but I kept it covered so he would calm down. 
“All of this over a bird?” I tried to joke, fighting the tears.

He still clutched the broom in one hand and his lit phone in the other. I don't know if it was the anxiety, the weariness, or just how ridiculous we both must have looked, but I started laughing, and soon he did too.

He put the broom down and wrapped his arms around me. “Home sweet home.”

“Never a dull moment.” My voice was muffled into his shoulder. I squirmed trying not to get blood on his shirt. “Wait a second.” I raised my head. “That door must have been open.”

“What?”

“The kitchen door… I never opened it for the crow to fly out.”

He held his phone up to shine the light on the old brass doorknob. Someone had definitely smashed the lock to force the door open. He tapped the keypad on his phone three times and brought it to his ear.

“Dammit! No service.”

They had warned everyone not to come home yet…

He gave up on the call, went to the pantry, and lifted out a large cardboard box onto the kitchen counter. I didn’t need my phone light to know it was appropriately labeled “Hurricane Box” in my six-year-old scribble. On the side, written in a range of green Crayola to Sharpie, was a list of every hurricane it had been used in, along with the date. We were pretty diligent about keeping it fully stocked because we weren't the type who evacuated every time bad weather brewed in the Atlantic.

He pulled out a robust first-aid kit.

I nervously removed my sticky fingers from the wound.

“Dammit, Adele!”

“What?”

“I’m taking you to the hospital.”

“Dad, there aren’t any hospitals.”

“Dammit.” He hesitated for a second before he managed his manly-dad-poker-face.

“Dad!” The tears began to well again.

“I’m sorry, baby, it’s not that bad. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he lied. “It’s just a lot of blood.”

He pressed the gauze against my face. “Damn bird.”

When the bleeding subsided, he spun the lid off the bottle of rubbing alcohol. My face scrunched at the chemical smell. “It’s gonna burn,” he said gently and poured a generous stream of the clear liquid down my face and neck.

My limbs twisted into each other. I tried not to yelp as the solvent spidered into the wound, burning like fire. He covered the clean wound with new gauze and pressed my hand over it.

“Stay here, and I’ll check out the rest of the house.”

“No, I want to see!”

“Okay, but just stay put for two minutes. Keep applying pressure. I’ll be right back. I promise.”

Something about his exit made me suspicious. I attached the gauze to my skin with some medical tape and dug through the remaining contents of the supply box: a transistor radio, an assortment of nonperishable food items, various kinds of batteries. Voilà. Two flashlights. I flicked them on and off to test the batteries.

When he returned, the beams of light revealed a small black object in his hand. I did a double-take. “What is that?” I exclaimed in a loud whisper. “You own a gun? Do you even know how to use that thing?”

“Calm down, sweetheart. It was Grandpa’s, and it’s always been locked up in the safe.” He seemed oddly at ease holding the weapon, as if it was something he used on a daily basis. Who is this guy? I gently placed the second flashlight into his free hand. And what else had Grandpa locked up?

Let’s go,” I said and filed behind him.

He led the way back down the hall and into his bedroom, waving his light around to check out the state of his things. I continued to the rear of the room and opened the large pocket doors that separated his bedroom from his studio.

My brain refused to register what I saw in front of me. I hastily moved my flashlight from one thing to the next.

No.

No.

No.

“I'm so sorry, Dad.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
He rushed over, slid the wooden doors completely open, and stepped into the workspace.

“Stay here.”

Most of my father's life work was in total disarray, strewn about the large, open room. I focused my light on the rear wall and gasped. My flashlight was shining straight into the back courtyard – a humongous Greek-revival-style column from a neighboring house had smashed through the exterior brick wall and created a gaping hole at least seven feet tall and ten feet wide. Does it still constitute as a hole if a giant could walk through it? Wind, rain, and Lord knows what else had poured in. I thought of the crow as I slowly approached the gap, and wondered if there were any other animals lurking in the house.

“Adele, stay back. There might be structural damage.”

Backing away from the hole, I picked up two unstretched canvases and tried to separate them, but they had fused upon drying. I put them down to avoid any further damage.

“Come on, Dad, there isn't much we can do tonight.” My hand rested on his shoulder as I pulled him away from the acetylene tank he was examining. “We'll get a better look in the morning.”

We did a quick run-through of the rest of the house and ended back in the kitchen. To our relief, everything else appeared unscathed.

“No crows, squatters, gaping holes or pools of standing water,” my father said, dodging broken glass on the floor as he brought a chair to the kitchen door. He jammed it under the broken knob, securing the door for the evening. “Anything else can wait until the morning as far as I am concerned. Can you get through the night without electricity? I can set up the generator in the morning.”

I nodded with a jet-lag-induced yawn. “Definitely.” It was only 8:30 p.m. (3:30 a.m. Paris time), but I was so tired I could have slept through another hurricane.

I agreed to sleep in the living room to appease my father’s fear that the back of the house might have structural damage, although I'm not sure it would have made a difference where we slept if the house did cave in. I didn’t mind, though – after the crow incident, I was still kind of spooked. Not that I would have admitted it.

By the time I got back from a bottled-water toothbrushing, my father was snoring on the love seat. I sniffed an old afghan; when the smell didn't make me scowl, I pulled it over him.

Lying in a heap of blankets and cushions on the floor, I felt better 
than I had in weeks. Just being home brought on a small smile. Although it quickly faded when I thought about Dad's studio. His schedule was erratic because of the bar, so it was hard for him to meet people outside of the nightlife, who he tried to avoid since he was solely responsible for me. The only thing that truly seemed to make him happy was his art.

Why couldn’t that column have fallen into any other room in the house? Even my own bedroom would have been better. I wondered if any of his paintings or charcoals had survived. A sinking feeling inside told me, unlikely. At least his main medium was metal…
I pulled out my phone and hoped a quick text to Brooke would go through.

Adele 8:57 p.m Made it home. Able to sleep in the house. Full report tomorrow. xo.

I was out cold before she had a chance to respond.

About the Author

Alys Arden was raised by the street performers, tea leaf-readers, and glittering drag queens of the New Orleans, French Quarter. She cut her teeth on the streets of New York and has worked all around the world since. She either talks too much or not at all. She obsessively documents things. Her hair ranges from eggplant to cotton-candy-colored. One dreary day in London, while dreaming of running away with the circus, she started writing The Casquette Girls. Her debut novel garnered over one million reads online before being acquired by Skyscape in a two book deal. Rep’d by ICM. Website Twitter: @alysarden Facebook Blog

  

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Blog Tour Blitz: Lumière (The Illumination Paradox #1) by Jacqueline Garlick

Title: Lumière

Author: Jacqueline Garlick 

Pub. Date: August 11, 2015
Publisher: Skyscape
Pages: 458

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Find it: Amazon, B&N, Book Depository, Goodreads

One determined girl. One resourceful boy. One miracle machine that could destroy everything. 

After an unexplained flash shatters her world, seventeen-year-old Eyelet Elsworth sets out to find the Illuminator, her father’s prized invention. With it, she hopes to cure herself of her debilitating seizures before Professor Smrt—her father’s arch nemesis—discovers her secret and locks her away in an asylum. 

Pursued by Smrt, Eyelet locates the Illuminator only to see it whisked away. She follows the thief into the world of the unknown, compelled not only by her quest but by the allure of the stranger—Urlick Babbit—who harbors secrets of his own. 

Together, they endure deadly Vapours and criminal-infested woods in pursuit of the same prize, only to discover the miracle machine they hoped would solve their problems may in fact be their biggest problem of all.

Teasers

Pre-Order Noir Now

Available August 18th

Find it: Amazon, B&N, Book Depository, Goodreads

Teasers

About Jacqueline

I write YA, New Adult, and Women’s Fiction. I love strong heroines, despise whiny sidekicks, and adore a good story about a triumphant underdog. I love to read, write, paint (walls and paper) and plan cool writing events for cool writers (check out niagarawritersretreatandconference (dot) com.) I have a love/hate relationship with chocolate, grammar, and technology. I prefer creating things to cleaning things, and baking to cooking and believe laughter is a one-stop-shop solution to all that ails you. I also firmly believe ELO’s Mr. Blue Sky can improve even the worst day. And if that doesn’t work, there’s always Ellen Degeneres. You will always find a purple wall (or two) in my house (perhaps even a door) and a hidden passageway that leads to a mystery room. (Okay, so you won’t find a hidden passageway but a girl can dream, can’t she?) Oh, and tea. There will always be tea. I love specialty teas…and collecting special teacups from which to drink them. (See collection below.)

In my former life, I was a teacher (both grade school and college – long story, don’t ask) and more recently, I’ve been a graduate of Ellen Hopkin’s Nevada Mentor Program and a student of James Scott Bell, Christopher Vogler and Don Maass. An excerpt from Lumière earned me the 2012 Don Maass Break Out Novel Intensive Scholarship.

Known for my edgy, rule-breaking, Tim Burton-esque style of writing, I’m often affectionately referred to as the Quentin Tarantino of YA among friends in writing circles.

Facebook * Twitter * Website 


Giveaway

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Lumière Blog Tour Schedule

August 4th

Seeing Double In Neverland - Promo Post

Larissa's World - Review & Promo Post

August 5th

Let Me Be Fictional - Review & Promo Post

August 6th

The Cover Contessa - Promo Post

Two Chick on Books - Promo Post

August 7th

Hope to Read - Review & Promo Post

Functioning Insanity Reviews - Promo

August 10th

A Little Bit of R&R - Promo

August 11th

Kimberley Griffiths Little - Review & Promo Post

August 12th

Twinning for Twins - Promo Post

August 13th

Bookcrush.in - Promo Post

August 14th

ME Reads A Lot - Promo Post

August 17th

Christina Farley - Promo Post

The SMART Book Club - Review & Promo Post

Author Interview- Karen McQuestion

I am thrilled to have Karen McQuestion here today to talk about her new book FROM A DISTANT STAR! The book releases today so make sure to grab your copy. I can't wait to get mine.
Haven't heard of FROM A DISTANT STAR? Check it out!

Title: FROM A DISTANT STAR

Author: Karen McQuestion

Pub. Date: May 19, 2015

Publisher: Skyscape

Pages: 279

Find it: Amazon, Barnes& Noble, Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Emma was the only one who hadn’t given up on her boyfriend, Lucas. Everyone else—his family, his friends, his doctors—believed that any moment could be his last. So when Lucas miraculously returns from the brink of death, Emma thinks her prayers have been answered.

As the surprised town rejoices, Emma begins to question whether Lucas is the same boy she’s always known. When she finds an unidentifiable object on his family’s farm—and government agents come to claim it—she begins to suspect that nothing is what it seems. Emma’s out-of-this-world discovery may be the key to setting things right, but only if she and Lucas can evade the agents who are after what they have. With all her hopes and dreams on the line, Emma sets out to save the boy she loves. And with a little help from a distant star, she might just have a chance at making those dreams come true.  

Now on to the interview!

Hi Karen! First I want to say welcome to Two Chicks on Books! I am super excited to read FROM A DISTANT STAR and am so happy that you could stop by for a visit!

For the readers: can you tell us a little bit about FROM A DISTANT STAR and the characters? From reading just the synopsis it gives off a bit of a Roswell vibe (which just happens to be my favorite TV show).

You’re the second person to mention Roswell, so I’m glad I can say I never saw the show (or I’d be worried that I had subconsciously copied it).

The story opens with a space pod crashing near a farmhouse where eighteen-year-old Lucas is dying of cancer, his girlfriend, Emma, at his side. When Lucas miraculously recovers, only Emma and the family dog realize he’s not quite himself. Once Emma realizes what the problem is, there’s a road trip and along the way, more than a few complications.

Is this going to be a series or a stand alone?

From A Distant Star is a standalone novel.

       Were any of the characters in the book inspired by people from your real life?

 I don’t think so? I hope not!

Who was your favorite character to write? What about your least favorite?

I love all my characters, including the awful ones, because I understand where they’re coming from, so I don’t really have a favorite or a least favorite. I can say that in this book, the character who was the most fun to write was Mrs. Kokesh, the town witch Emma visits when seeking help for Lucas.

What is your favorite passage/scene in FROM A DISTANT STAR?

Hard question! My very favorite is toward the end and is too spoilery, so I’ll tell you my second favorite, which is the scene where Lucas wakes from his coma and Emma, seeing this, is elated that the love of her life has come back to her.

What kind of research did you have to do for the story?

Luckily, not too much. The book is more fantasy than science fiction, but I did have to know some scientific terms, all of which I could find through online searches.

What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?

I’m dying to read Made You Up by Francesca Zappia! It’s a debut novel that comes out on the same day as From A Distant Star. I love the cover and the premise.

Who is your ultimate Book Boyfriend? 

Jamie from the Outlander series.

What inspired you to write YA?

I’ve written women’s fiction and middle grade, but YA has always been my favorite and I think my writing style works well for the category. Young adult novels are usually fast paced, with great characters, and a lot of emotion. Very satisfying to read and write.

Lightening Round Questions

Twitter or Facebook? Twitter—I love dashing off my little idiotic, stream-of-consciousness thoughts and I’m always amazed when people RT or favorite them.

Favorite Superhero?  Iron Man

Favorite TV show? The Walking Dead

Sweet or Salty?  Sweet

Any Phobias? I’m afraid of almost everything, actually. I’m claustrophobic, afraid of snakes and stinging insects, fearful of creaky noises in my house at night, etc. The one fear I have overcome is a fear of flying. One year I traveled a lot and by the eighth flight I realized I was so relaxed it was like boarding a bus. Voila! I knew I was cured.

Song you can’t get enough of right now? Anything by Meghan Trainor. I love the sound of her voice and her song lyrics.

Fall Movie you’re most looking forward to? Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I hope they don’t mess it up.

Thanks so much Karen for answering my questions! I can’t wait to read FROM A DISTANT STAR! And a million times yes about Jamie from Outlander and love The Walking Dead!!!!

Thanks for having me! Your questions were great.

About Karen:

Karen McQuestion is the bestselling author of books for all ages. Some of her titles include Hello Love, Life on Hold, The Long Way Home, and the Edgewood series. Her publishing story has been covered by the Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, and the national NPR show, The Story with Dick Gordon. She has also appeared on ABC’s World News Now and America This Morning. McQuestion lives with her husband and kids in Hartland, Wisconsin.

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