Showing posts with label All Wounds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label All Wounds. Show all posts

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Winner of All Wounds & Pizza!

First, Thank you everyone for stopping by the Guest Post and the Review!  You are all so kind.

Second, sorry for the delay in getting the winner posted.  My fault for the delay.

I hope you all get a chance to give All Wounds by Dina James a try as it is a wonderful read.

Now, the winner!

Zia (claimed)


Congrats!
You will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email, from November 3, 2011 4:00pm EST.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Guest Post & Giveaway with Author Dina James!

****GIVEAWAY CLOSED****

Dina did it! She gave you an excerpt of her book which is one of my MANY favorite parts of the book!  Where Billy compares to a... PIZZA!

Okay, I'm THRILLED to introduce you all to Dina James.  I have read, loved, and reviewed her newly released book, All Wounds.  Please give her a warm blogger welcome. I know you all know how.

And if you stick around to the end, I think there might be a book giveaway along with some goodies... maybe PIZZA!?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi, Mel! Thanks for having me as a guest on your blog for the All Wounds Blog Tour!


Vampires, hellhounds, werewolves…oh my!

Those things are quite likely familiar to readers of the paranormal genre. In All Wounds, I take it a step further and call paranormal beings "Ethereals."

What's an Ethereal? In the Stranger Things world, it's any creature not from the Mortal realm – a creature of the Otherworlds. The Otherworlds are divided into "realms," kind of like a crystal prism, and exist alongside our own. The crystal taken as a whole is a solid object, but each facet of it separates the light through it differently. These, in my book, are the Otherworlds, and the beings that live in them (and there are so many!) are Ethereals in general.

Just like humans are a species, so are Ethereals. Humans are divided into races and ethnicities. So, too, are Ethereals. Where we have Asians, Africans, Europeans and so on, Ethereals have vampires, hellhounds, werewolves and so on.

Whereas human doctors can heal humans, Rebecca (though human herself) was born with the ability to heal Ethereals. Her ability comes from the unique life-force inside her that she can channel into the energy needed by Ethereal beings. More or less. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Each Ethereal being is different and has its own variety of needs. Some creatures need light, while others need darkness. Some need the nourishing power of Rebecca's blood while others just need their ectoplasm patched up. It depends. No two days are ever alike in the enclave of a Healer.

So what kind of power does Rebecca have? I'll turn this part over to Billy, a werewolf. (Oh, I'm sorry…a "man-wolf." Not a wolf-man.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:

“I’ll try to explain in a way you’ll get, but I ain’t no good at stuff like this like Syd is,” Billy replied, sighing a little. “Let me think.”

His eyes went to the pizza still in the box before them. He pointed to the missing slices.

“Say this pizza, when it still had all the pieces, is the power an Ethereal has,” Billy said. “Let’s say...a vamp, like Syd.”

“Syd is a pizza, got it,” Rebecca said with an impish grin.

I am not a pizza, Acolyte.

Syd? Aren’t you supposed to be [redacted for potential spoilers]? Stay out of my brain!

Aren’t you supposed to be working on shielding your thoughts?

Oops.

“Hey, Bit, pay attention,” Billy chastised, though he was smiling. “I’m lessoning you here.”

“Sorry, Billy,” Rebecca said, but without sincerity. She enjoyed the thought of Syd being a pizza too much to really be sorry.

Billy rolled his human eyes at her and continued. “Now, we’ve eaten some of the pizza, and it’s filled us up, right? We’re not hungry anymore.”

“Well I’m not,” Rebecca teased. “Can’t say you’re not, because you’re probably thinking about waffles.”

“Good places, waffle joints, especially the ones that are open all day and night. Sometimes a guy just needs a waffle, no matter what human time it might be. But you’re missing the point. You ain’t hungry no more, are you?”

Rebecca shook her head.

“So Syd gives—let’s say Ryan, who has a hard time keeping hold on his and making his own, or your Nana, since she ain’t got much of her own no more—a slice of pizza...his power...so they ain’t hungry,” said Billy. “He’s sharing his own with them. Get it?”

Rebecca’s brow furrowed. “I think so. It kind of makes sense. So... Nana...can’t remember things because she needs...a slice of pizza?”

Billy nodded. “When she was younger, like you, she had her own pizza to keep her fed. Like you, she could make more pizza to replace what she shared with others, unlike now. She could, and did, share it with those who needed it, like you do with Ryan.”

“I’m a pizza too,” Rebecca said, looking at the boxes.

“Right,” Billy said. “But where Syd is an extra-large supreme pizza with everything on it, you’re just a small cheese pizza. Well, that’s not really true. Nobody’s sure yet exactly what size or kind of pizza you’re going to be, or...or even if a pizza is what you’re going to be.”

That didn’t sound good.

“What do you mean?” Rebecca asked, her heart pounding in an uncomfortable rhythm against her chest.

“You’re still being made,” Billy said. “And since Martha didn’t do nothin’ with your dough when you was growing up—she just let you sit there—you might not come out a pizza like you’re supposed to. Whatever you end up being, you gotta be baked first. But that doesn’t mean that parts of you ain’t okay to eat now. It’s just your dough that isn’t ready to eat.”

“And my birthday is baking day?” Rebecca asked. “The day we find out? And if I’m a good...whatever...or a bad one?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And there you have it.

Doesn't that part there want to make you start singing, "I Am A Pizza?" In celebration of Billy's monstrous appetite (no pun intended), I'll offer a $15 gift card to the pizza place of the winner's choice – Pizza Hut, Domino's, or Papa John's (US Residents only, sorry!). The book giveaway, though, is open to all! E-book or print, whichever they prefer.

BLURB FOR LATEST RELEASE – All Wounds available from Mundania Press
http://www.mundania.com/book.php?title=All+Wounds

It's said that when opportunity knocks on your door, you have only one chance to take it.


No one said what you're supposed to do when it kicks it.


All Rebecca MacDonnell wants to do is get through high school with grades good enough to win a prestigious scholarship so that she can finally leave her miserable life behind. One evening, after a particularly bad day, she finds out that people other than her aging grandmother need her help, and desperately so.


Well, not "people," exactly. Vampires, werewolves, demons, ghosts, goblins, and other things thought only imaginary all need help sometime, and Rebecca was born with the unique ability to heal ethereal beings. She is about to turn seventeen, the age at which her talent will manifest in its entirety, and become a true Healer…if she lives through the event.


A war between various ethereal factions is brewing, and Healers are a valuable commodity to any side. Those who wish to harness Rebecca’s manifesting healing powers for their own purposes must get to her before her seventeenth birthday.


Only two vampires and a rogue werewolf stand between Rebecca and those determined to make her serve them, and the fact that Rebecca has no clue what she's doing doesn't exactly help matters.


Neither does being seriously attracted to more than one of those just trying to protect her.


For a soon-to-be seventeen-year-old Healer-in-training, that's a lot to handle.


Especially on top of her homework.

WEBSITE: http://www.dinajames.com/
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dina-James-Chronicler-of-the-Paranormal/333654447563
TWITTER: @dinajames

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you Dina!!  I'm so glad you stopped by.  Thank you!

That Billy is one special guy.  I love his explanation!  And that he is always thinking of food. hee hee.  I know that part goes on a little longer and Billy is just amazing at it, but we can't give it all away.  Can we? ;)

Okay, as Dina promised a giveaway! Yeah!
As you saw she is has offered 1 lucky entry:
~ A Copy of All Wounds, your choice of Ebook or Print.
(Internationally)
AND
~ $15 Pizza Gift card to: Pizza Hut, Domino's, or Papa John's
(Sorry, Pizza gift card is US only, but if International winner we will try to sub with other goodies.)

Enter ON this Form:

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Blog Tour with fun goodies!

Where right!  lol.  Well, did you all see my review of the AMAZING book I just posted?  Yes, I posted it yesterday.... All Wounds by Dina James.  Go ahead, check out the review and come back.  I'll wait.

*whistles happy little tune, do a little dance*

Oh, you back!  You, um.. you didn't see the little dance I was doing, did you?  Stop snickering.

Okay, so Dina is doing a blog tour and there are fun goodies to be won.  One of which could be a book here and there at a few of the stops.  I have a list of stops and dates to share with you.

Yes, I'M ONE OF THE STOPS ON THE LIST. :)  I am Mel's World.  She will be here Saturday October 22 with a guest post.  I DO hope you all stop by to check it out and say hello.

Now the list of places and dates for you to check out in the weeks to come:

~ First up we have Thursday, October 20th at Bitten By Books! This is going to have a fun contest and they've given me an awesome promo link for you all to RSVP here!
~ Friday, October 21st - Books Make Me Happy will be hosting me for a Q&A, book review, and there are rumors of a giveaway!

THIS IS ME --> ~ Saturday, October 22nd - Mel's World will have me as a guest on her blog, and there might be fun surprises!

~ Sunday, October 23rd - MamaKitty's Reviews is hosting me for a guest post and will have a review.

~ Monday, October 24th - Hanging With Bells will be hosting me for a guest post will have a review.

~ Tuesday, October 25th - JoJo's YA Corner will be hosting me for a Tuesday Talking Teaser and will have a review.

~ Wednesday, October 26th - Good Choice Reading will have me as a guest on their blog and have a review.

~ Thursday, October 27th - Laurie London's Blog will have me participating on her Thank You Thursday feature, and there are rumors of a giveaway!

~ Friday, October 28th - Skyla Dawn Cameron will be hosting me as a guest on her blog, and there might be surprises!

~ Tuesday, November 1 - JA Saare will be hosting me as a guest on her blog, and there are rumors of a giveaway!

~ And if all that weren't enough, Dina is having a giveaway on her own blog here!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Book Review: All Wounds

All Wounds (Stranger Things, #1)
All Wounds

By:  Dina James

Publisher:  Mundania Press

Publish Date:  October 2011

Format:  ARC, 224pgs

Genre:  YA Urban Fantasy

Series:  1st book in Stranger Things series

Recommendation:  OH MY YES!!  Even though it's YA you can't pass this one up.  Quick pacing and fun characters!

Book Synopsis:
It's said that when opportunity knocks on your door, you have only one chance to take it.

No one said what you're supposed to do when it kicks it.

All Rebecca MacDonnell wants to do is get through high school with grades good enough to win a prestigious scholarship so that she can finally leave her miserable life behind.  One evening, after a particularly bad day, she finds out that people other than her aging grandmother need her help, and desperately so.

Well, not "people," exactly.  Vampires, werewolves, demons, ghosts, goblins, and other things thought only imaginary all need help sometime, and Rebecca was born with the unique ability to heal ethereal beings.  She is about to turn seventeen, the age at which her talent will manifest in its entirety, and become a true Healer...if she lives through the event.  A war between various ethereal factions is brewing, and Healers are a valuable commodity to any side.  Those who wish to harness Rebecca's manifesting healing powers for their own purposes must get to her before her seventeenth birthday.

Only two vampires and a rogue werewolf stand between Rebecca and those determined to make her serve them, and the fact that Rebecca has no clue what she's doing doesn't exactly help matters.

Neither does being seriously attracted to more than one of those just trying to protect her.

For a soon-to-be seventeen-year-old Healer-in-training, that's a lot to handle.

Especially on top of her homework.

First Sentence:
The only thing in the room that made any sort of noise was the clicking keys of the old computer keyboard, pushed - no, more like jabbed - by a very annoyed secretary.

My Thoughts and Summary:
Leaving the Principals office with her best and only friend Robin after receiving their first ever detention, Rebecca thinks she sees a goblin type dude and wonders if she has the same disorder as her Nana, a mental disorder - dementia.  Ryan, the schools top bad boy, helps Rebecca but his help is known around school to come at a cost.  Ryan had caught Rebecca's attention in the principals office and now in detention... or had she caught his attention?  Rebecca is worried about her Nana and needs to get home as she takes more care of her than Nana of Rebecca.  But that night when Ryan is brought to her door bloody and unconscious Rebecca's world will change as she learns of strange supernatural creatures and beings and what she is or the females in her family are....healers of the Ethereal. Suddenly Nana is her old self with Syd and Ryan there, Rebecca learns secrets of her family her Nana tried to keep her from, but with a war coming to the Ethereal again, Rebecca's healing help is needed, and she has to learn quick.  Oh, and there is school too!

Oh My!  I don't know where to start.  So, I'm going to get the gushing done first... LOVED this book.  Quick moving and fun!  Really.  Loved Ryan, LOoOoOVED Syd! He is mine, no one else can have him.  And Billy! Oooohhh, he can come fix my car and make his den in the garage anytime.

Okay, curious?  Well, yeah.

This is a Young Adult book, and I think it is wonderful for all ages to read.  There is no major love scenes or alcohol or anything to the point where I would think the parent should read this book first and decide.  I would definitely hand it over with out another thought.

The characters... Ahhh... Okay, so as you can tell I fell hard for Syd.  Yes.  I did.  I tried my darnedest to do as Master Sydney told Rebecca in the beginning.  That sometimes an Acolyte takes the wrong meaning from what a Master Vampire does and feelings grow that are not reciprocated.  Dina's amazing writing had me fighting my emotions, along with the characters', through out the whole book.  Amazingly well done Dina.  I love how she put that thought into my mind and I tried so hard to follow it, just like he told his Acolyte to do.  But, I will admit I failed miserably.  I fell in love. *sigh* 

Okay, on with the review.  We have Ryan which I was wanting more of the mystery here, and I did get.  I love how I was left wanting to know more with the important part he played.  And we got the big man Billy!  Oh, he is the best friend anyone could ask for and he sleeps curled up on the floor in his protective family loving way.  Oh these are not the only characters, but the ones we spend most of our time with.  Amazingly well done as they are all so different and fit in this story so well. 

Our main girl, Rebecca.  This is a girl who has a full life of caring for her Nana and worrying about school and home.  What Rebecca learns explains why she is the way she is, and opens her up to evolve to so much more for her birthday so close.  But others want what she is becoming and will do just about anything to get it.  Rebecca really grows as a character from the beginning to the end of this book.  You will see.

When I started reading this one I didn't want to stop.  Dina had me wanting more constantly keeping the pages turning.  I came up with questions and she would answer them, leading me sometimes to more in depth questions which would be answered as well.  This book took on action as we went into the Etheral to face down the demons.  Oh, and Billy's car!  AMAZING he has the car I soooo want, and when you see here in the Ethereal.  Ha!  Love it.

The world here is so magical.  The whole idea of the Healers and their history.  And all the magical creatures we see.  I just enjoyed all the magic here.  The story of Rebecca coming into her own is wonderful.  I love the healer birth.  We learn some of the stories each character has as it slips right in the story at prefect times and even have a few little morsels to make us hungry for the next book as well.  Nothing to leave us starving, just looking forward to the next meal.

I will be purchasing a print copy of this one to keep on the shelves and go back to in the future.  And I WILL be looking for the next book.  And maybe keeping an eye out for Syd. ;)


I read this book for an honest review for Publisher

This book qualifies for YA Reading Challenge 2011 and Horror and Urban Fantasy Reading Challenge hosted by Book Chick City.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Who? What? Where? (40)

Who are you with? Where are you at? What's happening?

Share with us just a little bit of what is happening in the book you are reading, right where you are now.

Just a tiny taste of what's happening, remember try to not give spoilers of the book.

(This is a new meme I'm going to try and will tweak as I go. And please don't laugh at my lame attempt at drawing. ;D )


I'm sitting with Billy, Rebecca's new body guard, and Rebecca in her kitchen.  We just saw her Nana off to a friends for safety and Billy has just explained Rebecca and the Ethereal beings powers in comparison to a pizza.  I really liked this! It was fun and I had to chuckle when Sydney mind spoke he was not like a pizza.  All the troubles might get better, but most likely worse after her birthday in a few days.

All Wounds
By:  Dina James

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Teaser Tuesday (95)

Teaser Tuesday

is a weekly event
Sponsored by MizB of Should be Reading

Here's how it works:

Grab the book you are currently reading (anything at all)
Open the book to any random page.
Share 2 teaser sentences from anywhere on the page
Please Make Sure They Are Not Spoilers!
(Don't Give Too Much Away)
Just enough to pique our interests.

This is the next book for me to read. I'll be picking up this weekend.

This Week:

Nana nodded. "With hellhounds, you have to show a great deal of respect, even-" Nana glared again at Sydney as she led Rebecca to the bed where Ryan lay.

All Wounds
By:  Dina James
pg34

Friday, September 30, 2011

Looking Forward To...(69)

There are so many amazing books already on the shelves and new ones coming out.

For a list of books yet to be released I'm looking to get, you can also look on my right Sidebar at the ever growing list titled Desired Reads - just scroll down. Of course there are tones of other new books to come out that are amazing as well, but these ones are part of series I have already started or for one reason or another caught my eye (and haven't seen much on other blogs yet). But I will highlight one here each week.

(mentioned in order of Release Date then Alphabetical if there are more than one book coming out on the same date.)

Next Book Is...

All Wounds
Stranger Things #1
By:  Dina James
Due Out:  October 11, 2011

This is a new YA read coming out by a new author.  And I love the sounds of this world with a healer.  Sounds dangerous and exciting.  I like the sounds of the Ethereal.  This side of the line has drawn my attention.  And I can't wait to read this one.

Goodreads Synopsis:
Rebecca MacDonnell was brought up to believe she was just a regular girl with regular problems who would have a regular life. Her expectations were drastically altered one night when the secret her aging grandmother kept from her showed up – literally – on her doorstep.

Her classmate Ryan is near-fatally wounded by hellhounds, and is brought to her for help by his vampire friend, Sydney. Rebecca quickly learns that she is anything but "regular." She's a Stranger, descended from the most prominent line of Ethereal Healers ever known. Now Rebecca understands why she's always felt – and was treated like – she didn't belong, and why she's always wanted to be a doctor. Now instead of human medical school, she'll train to be a healer of a different sort.

Provided, of course, she lives long enough for her unique ability to manifest entirely, and then through the event itself.

A war between various ethereal factions is brewing, and Healers are a valuable commodity to any side. Those who wish to harness Rebecca’s manifesting healing powers for their own purposes must get to her before her seventeenth birthday, and staying alive until then is proving to be a lot harder than the algebra Rebecca's trying to get a good grade in and taking care of her grandmother combined.

Only Ryan, Syd and a rogue werewolf called Billy stand between Rebecca and the demons determined to make her serve them, and Rebecca's protectors have problems of their own to deal with. The fact that Rebecca has been kept completely ignorant of her heritage and talents and is frightened by them only makes things that much harder. If all that weren't enough, Rebecca finds herself attracted to both Syd, the blond Master vampire, and Ryan, the dark-haired bad boy she's trying to keep alive.

Then there's her homework.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Cover Release

A new YA read by new author Dina James.

To me this sounds like an amazing read with a world full of mystical and magical creatures.  One I will be looking into in the future.  As much as I love the amazing covers with a character depicted on it I enjoy the symbol covers as well.  I'm really curious about this one.  It looks kind of like a flower type in the background and the Celtic stars on top.  I wonder if this has to do with healers, or the world...

Due out:  October 11, 2011
Publishing Site Synopsis:

It's said that when opportunity knocks on your door, you have only one chance to take it.


No one said what you're supposed to do when it kicks it.


All Rebecca MacDonnell wants to do is get through high school with grades good enough to win a prestigious scholarship so that she can finally leave her miserable life behind. One evening, after a particularly bad day, she finds out that people other than her aging grandmother need her help, and desperately so.


Well, not “people,” exactly. Vampires, werewolves, demons, ghosts, goblins, and other things thought only imaginary all need help sometime, and Rebecca was born with the unique ability to heal ethereal beings. She is about to turn seventeen, the age at which her talent will manifest in its entirety, and become a true Healer…if she lives through the event. A war between various ethereal factions is brewing, and Healers are a valuable commodity to any side. Those who wish to harness Rebecca’s manifesting healing powers for their own purposes must get to her before her seventeenth birthday.


Only two vampires and a rogue werewolf stand between Rebecca and those determined to make her serve them, and the fact that Rebecca has no clue what she's doing doesn't exactly help matters.


Neither does being seriously attracted to more than one of those just trying to protect her.
For a soon-to-be seventeen-year-old Healer-in-training, that's a lot to handle.


Especially on top of her homework.