What is Story Bundle?You get a fantastic, specially curated collection of ebooks - all in one genre - at one low pay-what-you-want price. The books have no DRM - which means you can read them on just about all the devices you own, no matter who makes it.
The Crossing Worlds YA BundleYoung Adult fiction guaranteed to entertain all ages!
a note from the curatorDo you miss that sense of wonder your favorite books used to give you; the fast-paced and exciting reads that would suck you in and not let you go? Welcome to the newest StoryBundle, where nine top-notch authors bring you tales of adventure and courage featuring younger protagonists triumphing over magic and mayhem.
I had such a great time putting together this collection! From international bestseller Mercedes Lackey’s Grey’s Ghost – a short story of ghosts and magic in an alternate-history Victorian England – to NYT bestseller Elle Casey’s sassy modern take on encountering the faerie realm with her War of the Fae books, you’ll find plenty of great reading in these stories that explore the places where magic and our ordinary world collide.
Remember, you only have three weeks to grab this amazing bundle, and then it’s gone forever. Indulge your inner youth and dive into these fantastic stories where worlds cross and adventures abound.
Showing posts with label YA Fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label YA Fantasy. Show all posts
Apr 8, 2015
Crossing Worlds YA Fantasy Story Bundle - And A Kindle Giveaway!
Mar 25, 2015
Fantasy Favourites Read-A-Thon: Casting List Challenge ( A partiail review of Never judge a dragon by her human cover by Sarah Nicolas)
The Assignment For Today !
Casting list for your favorite – and not so favorite – characters from the book you are currently reading.
Now one of the books I am reading now is:
**And it look like I am going to finish it while I am writing this post.**
by Sarah Nicolas
Never judge a dragon by her human cover...
GoodReads summery:
Sixteen-year-old Kitty Lung has everyone convinced she’s a normal teen—not a secret government operative, not the one charged with protecting the president’s son, and certainly not a were-dragon. The only one she trusts with the truth is her best friend—and secret crush—the über-hot Bulisani Mathe.
Then a junior operative breaks Rule Number One by changing into his dragon form in public—on Kitty’s watch—and suddenly, the world knows. About dragons. About the Draconic Intelligence Command (DIC) Kitty works for. About Kitty herself.
Now the government is hunting down and incarcerating dragons to stop a public panic, and a new shape-shifting enemy has kidnapped the president’s son. Kitty and Bulisani are the last free dragons, wanted by both their allies and their enemies. If they can’t rescue the president’s son and liberate their fellow dragons before getting caught themselves, dragons might never live free again.
Remember to cast the person chained to you as well! You may not choose the actors which actually did end up playing the characters in the filmed versions.
Also, prepare for the Twitter wars. We will keep you posted.
Chines dragons don't have wings, but can manipulate earth's magnetic fields in order to fly. Their body is longer and thinner then the English ones., it has a shape of 30 foot green serpent with yellow spines all the way down back. they have a kind of colorful com on their head. They can't breath fire.
Sixteen-year-old Kitty Lung - She is a were dragon (She is a green chines dragon as there are many species of dragons in the world. Her mother is red dragon and her father is a blue one)) who secretly works for the Draconic Intelligence Command (DIC) for US government and has the very important job of guarding the President’s son (Jacob) whilst he’s at school. In her human form she is a petite teenager, brown big eyes and a purple stripe in her hair (which she don't afraid to use when it's necessary). But don't judge her by this look she is physical very strong, very fast thing. She had been trained in the DIC since she was 3 yo, and had many successful missions. Her Character project a smart, badass, antsy and hot tempered (very risky trait in dragons), persona, but she is a good daughter and loyal agent. One of her Draconian traits is invisibility, and any other dragon kind who ride her at that moment will be invisible too. The love of her life is Sani, an African dragon and of course her stricter chines mother didn't approve.
Kitty's parents - Both chines dragon (see above) - Her mother is very high on the command chain in DIC. and her father (Commander Lung) is retired one as he can't shape shift to his dragon form because a wound he take from a rouge dragon who ripped out one of his hearts. (Usually dragon heal very quickly, if one of their two heart got injury they will have to wit till it will heal till they can shift again. But If the injury is really bad they won't be able to shift again, ever). Both her parents love each other fiercely, but her father don't live in the dragon compound with them. Kitty's mother was the one who rescue him from the rouge dragon and carried him to safety. Their love, even their separate live stayed strong.
Bulisani Mathe (Sani), another were dragon (An African specie, agile long body, four legs dragons with black fur - much panther like. this kins of dragons can't fly) and one Kitty is really attracted to although In his human form he look like a tall, brown skined long limbs but muscular with bright green-yellow eyes. As typical to dragons he also has high temperature signature, 2 hearts, and strong physical abilities like, strength, agility and speed. He had never shown anything other than friendship towards her. Originally he is from Uganda, where his his parents die in racial eruption of hate. He came afterward to the US and worked for the DIC since then. He love Kitty as much she love him. After he got a bullet in one of his hearts he couldn't shape shift to his dragon form, because of this he had to ride on Kitty dragon back foe most of the book.
Wallace - He is an English computer geek with ratty shirts and also an English dragon (the ones always depict in movies: a four egged dinosaur-like body. a bearded head with jewel-bright eyes, a long tail ending in arrow shaped tip, and a massive leathery wings. They also Can breath fire.He is CIA agent and really heat dragons) He is only got into the DIC as result hacking into the system of the government, and had been training under Kitty only for a year. He called No. One (Kitty got the tag Unlucky from same operation) because he was the one who didn't stand in the pressure of breaking into the Lebanese embassy and shape shift in front of the camera's (which discoverd his body heat signature - dragons have higher temperature) and by this exposed of the dragon race to the world. As a computer geek it is really dangerous to live him with any electronic gadget. He is helping Kitty to retrieve Jacob by giving her the access to his AI - CINDY and to his bank account.
After the exposure of the dragons to the world the government confined all of them in their quarters under the the earth. Only Kitty and Sani stayed outside and could answer to the request of the President to return his son, Jacob, from the his kidnappers (The CIA was too busy to keep the dragons looked don from the world).
Dominic (Secret agent Harris) - another government agent, but unlike Wallace, he know and appreciate the help that the government got from the dragons all this years. He was sent as a trusty agent by the president of the US to help Kitty and Sani get Jacob back from his kidnapers.
Kitsune - Fox female from the Japanese mythology, who can take the shape of any and only female shapes. They are very canny and can manipulate the mind of the people around them only by looking at them (with dragon they have to touch them and they succeed only to confused them). They don't have a regular loyalty ans usually preform as a mercenary. She is working with the Yakuza (Japanese mob) in the US. She Kidnapped Jacob by pretending to be the very beautiful (they can't be not beautiful) daughter of the German embassy. Gesina. She manipulated Dominic mind and made him shot Sani in one of his hearts, which made it for him to impossible to shift most of the plot. She exposed her identity by her long white tail, which the kitsune can't hide when they are under extreme stress.
Director Bean - is the chief commander of the DIC and one of the bad guys, as he cooperate with the Yakuza in kidnapping Jacob. He also responsible for the locked down of the dragons. He confirm his rule as the bad guy when he ask from Kitty not to rescue Jacob (luckily at that point he didn't know that Sani is also free to roam around)
Cleft Chin- it is a nick name of kitty to the one of the secret agents. He is one of the bad guys and hate the dragons as whole. Of course he was happy to confine the dragons an he think they are too dangerous (monsters) and must be eliminated. He was the one to arrest Kitty's disable retired father in his wheelchair and would gladly add kitty to the rest. To kitty herself, he said that he would never surrendered to a Lizard. Also, He is the one who is responsible the change in kitty's operation from a very undercover one to a very public one - to show the world how the dragons rescue the president son in live. So now instead of sneaking to them under the cover of the night they are coming to them in full daylight.
1.Olivia @ Olivia's Catastrophe Day 3
2.Chantelle @ Oh, the Stories You'll Know
3.Day 3: Recast
4.Coffee Boos & Art
Dec 4, 2014
Review - tour for Lichgates by S.M. Boyce!
Welcome to my tour stop for Lichgates by S.M. Boyce. This is a review tour that runs December 1-12.
Lichgates is a young adult fantasy and is the first in the series.About the Book:
Lichgates
(Grimoire Saga #1)
The final page will leave you breathless.
When Kara Magari uncovers a secret door in the middle of the forest, she discovers (and trips through) a portal to a hidden world full of terrifying things: Ourea.
She just wants to go home, but the natives have other plans for her. She clashes with immortal shapeshifters, is carried off by a dragon, nearly dies on several occasions, and somehow becomes the master of an ancient book of magic called the Grimoire. Every time she thinks she's safe, her new "friends" show their true colors.
Kara needs an ally, or she might not survive Ourea's monsters. 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 stranded girl, there's something he wants more. He wants the Grimoire.
Welcome to Ourea, where only the cunning survive.
Boyce’s Store: ePub | Mobi | Signed Paperback
Other Retailers: Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks | Smashwords
My Review
.
What is Lichgate? - I was surprised to find that Lichgate is actually a real thing. A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English lic, corpse) is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard. In the Middle Ages when most people were buried in just shrouds rather than coffins, the dead were carried to the lych gate and placed on a bier, where the priest conducted the first part of the funeral service under its temporary shelter.
So now I have to find how this meaning ht I fount connected to the plot.
The plot
Kara Magari, a normal young adult who lost her mother. At the beginning of the book you find Kara deep in the throes of grief, guilt and pain this loss. One holiday day while hiking in the Rockies with her father, she happens upon a door in a mountain that transported her to a magical place where she is the prophesied one who will save the world from evil.
Kara that lived an ordinary life, is not equipped for what lays ahead of her. Somehow her choices will always lead hers into trouble, with her smart mouth and independent ways. Kara repeatedly does every idiotic thing that other (much wiser) characters in the book specifically warn her not to do, and every time the results are dire. Through a series of events, Kara finds a Grimoire and becomes The Vagabond (wanderer) in a world where everything is deadly. Guided by her Grimoire and the memories of the past keeper, she embarks on a dangerous journey that has her running for her life and fighting for a world that she never knew existed.
In this world the people have waited a thousand years for the next vagabond and now that she is here, there are those who would use her for the Grimoire and those who would kill her. Her job is to bring together all the warring factions of the magical world of Ourea. Kara must decide who to trust if she is going to live to try to bring peace.
Kara has to learn many new things - magic, the sword, new creatures and new cultures. She stumbles upon Braeden,who vows to guide and protect her in the big new world of Ourea, but the secrets she uncovers may be to big for her to survive.
Braeden Drakonin, a royal son in hiding from his brutal father and Kara's companion. He comes along for the ride since he has no real home, and provides Kara with the familiarity of Ourea world (mountains) and magic skills. Braeden can transform, heal himself, do spells and can even become very powerful when he gets angry. A certain sword or poison can affect him, and he has to do anything his Dad says, but otherwise there don't seem to be limits to his magical power.
Braeden has spent his life fighting against his Stelian nature, trying to find a way to escape the blood ties that control him. He originally wanted to use Kara for her power over the Grimoire, but eventually realized that his feelings for Kara are stronger than his own interests. His internal struggle frequently made you wonder if his own ulterior motives and if it lead to Kara downfalls. and it consciously or not, brings a level of tension to their relationship.
Gavin. Like Braeden he is another son of royalty but does not know his adopted brother. Both men grow to rule different parts of Ourea, yet he belong to a faction that Ourea uniformly despise.
The Grimoire - There are no limits to the ways a handy Grimoire can help you on the road. It can be opened anytime to provide answers, a map, or a magic spell. It can even house creatures who can pop in and out whenever you need a ride or a stable.
About S.M. Boyce:
When I graduated with a degree in creative writing, I realized that made me well qualified for serving French fries. It would take years of writing hundreds of thousands of words of all kinds before I became the action and adventure bestselling author that I am today.
I specialize in action-packed stories that weave in fantasy, mystery, and heroines with a knack for mischief. All romantic leads are based loosely on my husband, who proved that soul mates are real. I have a deep love for ghosts, magic, and spooky things. If you’ve already finished my books, check out my blog or twitter feed for a dash of adventure.Links:Contact Form | Website | Blog
Social Media:
Boyce’s Novels
Giveaway:
A beautiful Grimoire Saga Pendant
US only
Ends December 17th
This event was organized by
Nov 22, 2014
Blog Tour {Excerpt/Spotlight & Giveaway} Of Legacies Series by Victoria Escobar
Of Gaea
Of Legacies #1
By Victoria Escobar
Genre- YA Fantasy
Her choice will change the world.
She hated the wheelchair. Hated the way it made her feel less than what she was. Most of all she hated not being able to do all the things she used to. Ari had been a track and field star, an archery champion and an Eskrima pro. Now she was confined to a wheelchair slowly dying inside from its restraints.
Medical science wasn’t working. The tests, the drugs, the therapies were all useless and a waste of time. She was tired of wasting her time; she was tired of failure. It was time to look away from the obvious and try something unconventional.
Nothing was ever free and that included miracles. Abruptly, Ari finds herself tangled in a web of lies, questioning everything she’s ever known as truth. Never had she believed she’d be thrown headfirst into a world of good and evil, magic and Gods.
Trapped in the middle of a war she had never known existed both parties demanded her allegiance. Ari was a catalyst that could change all the rules of the Earth. But when the time comes to make a choice will she be strong enough to know right from wrong?
And here is an Excerpt from Of Gaea:
“Ghi, you came!” A woman practically attacked Ghita with her hug.
Ari only watched bemused, then melded into shock when the woman pulled away to look at her. There was no mistaking the woman for anyone other than Lyris. She was an identical twin... to Ghita.
“This must be Ariadne.” She glanced quickly over the wheelchair and then at Ari. “I’m so glad you came.”
Ari looked to her mother for help but Ghita was shaking hands and speaking to two people nearby. Ari looked back at Lyris. “Yes, I’m Ariadne. Please call me Ari.”
“Wonderful,” Lyris beamed at her. “Would you like to go for a walk? I would like a walk.”
“I…” Ari glanced over at her mother again who was still preoccupied. She wasn’t entirely certain it was a good idea being so far away from the responsible adults. Lyris’s face, however, didn’t leave any room for a gentle let down. “Sure, um, where do you walk?”
“Oh,” Lyris giggled childishly. “I’ll take you to my favorite place.” Before Ari could stop her Lyris was behind the wheelchair pushing. “Tell me all about you, Ariadne. I want to know everything.”
“But shouldn’t we tell Mom?” Ari began to swivel around when something sharp was press against the back of her neck.
“No, I don’t think so.” Lyris’s voice never lost its cheerful tone.
Ari swallowed nervously. Two thoughts swirled through her mind. The first: she was being held hostage by a crazy person. The second: she had broken her promise to Sasha. She doubted anyone would have foreseen her current situation though. Who could have predicted a crazy person smart enough to conceal a sharp object and hold a person in a wheelchair hostage?
“We’re going to play a game of hide and seek. If we’re crafty about it, they won’t find us for a good bit.” Lyris was still cheerful and the sharp object still pressed dangerously to the back of Ari’s neck. “Did you know there are a set of nerves back here that if I slice through all of them will render you dead? Interesting fact isn’t it?”
“Mom will worry about us. She loves us both very much.” Ari protested gently. Lyris was scarily cheerful, and Ari preferred that than whatever angry might look like. She definitely didn’t want to risk seeing firsthand what happened if Lyris’s composure was broken. If her aunt held a knife while smiling cheerfully, who’s to say she wouldn’t slit Ari’s throat in anger?
About the Author-
Born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but with the ability to claim eight states as home; Victoria Escobar writes fiction from her current home in New York. She writes whatever comes to mind and because of such has a variety of genres written including Young Adult, New Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, and Contemporary Fiction.
In spare time if not with family, and friends Victoria enjoys curling up with a book from a favorite author with music playing. If not reading or writing she spends time drawing, sketching, crocheting, or some other random art project. She enjoys staying busy, but most of all enjoys staying creative.
Nov 21, 2014
Book Blitz - Henge by Realm Lovejoy
Henge by Realm Lovejoy
(Le Fay Series)
Is a YA Fantasy that is a modern spin-off of the Arthurian legends featuring Morgan Le Fay as the protagonist. This tour will consist of reviews, interviews & guest posts.
About the book:
Modern-day Camelot. Where knights no longer carry swords. Magic is dangerous. And those who seek control are not to be trusted.
Sixteen-year-old Morgan le Fay is a fire user. An ordinary girl with an extraordinary skill, she has the ability to create and command fire at will. Her dream is to become the Maven—the right hand of the future King Arthur. In the chance of a lifetime, Morgan is selected to join Arthur’s Round, an elite group of young magic users from which the new Maven will be chosen.
Along with the other fire, water, and wind users in Arthur’s Round, Morgan is rigorously trained and tested. The handsome Merlin, a brilliant water user, takes a particular interest in her. Is his friendship to be trusted, or is Merlin simply trying to win the position of Maven for himself? Among the many rivals Morgan faces is the current Maven, Mordred, who seems determined to see her fail.
But Morgan has a secret—years ago, her mother was executed for using fire magic, and Morgan’s desire for justice makes her more than ready to take on the challenge before her. Can she prevail in Camelot’s tests of survival and magic? Only time—and Morgan’s powerful fire—will tell.
Realm Lovejoy’s modern Arthurian series features one of literature’s most complicated and powerful female figures. Henge is the first book in the LE FAY series, and—like Morgan le Fay’s magic—it is sure to dazzle and amaze.
Excerpt
As I walk backstage the young man who was staring at me beams with perfect teeth. Suddenly the temperature in my face rises, and it doesn’t help that I just got done working with fire. I wipe the sweat from my face with the back of my hand and study him. The bright light above shines through his long lashes and illuminates his ash-blond hair and blue eyes, which are the shade of a partially cloudy sky. A somber and wise blue. A smattering of faint freckles dots his nose, like raindrops. He even smells like rain. I have seen a few good-looking boys on the streets of Tintagel before, but I’ve never been hit multidimensionally by someone’s attractiveness.
“You were amazing,” he says to me with a slightly Welsh accent. “I’ve never seen fire like that. Where did you learn it?”
I want to tell him that my grandfather was Hector de Maris. Though Grandfather died of old age ten years ago, he left behind hundreds of articles and interviews that chronicled his life: he was the Maven to King Constantine II; he was rumored to have touched the Grail. But I can’t mention him. I can never speak of Mother’s side of the family. Father warned me that I would never get a job anywhere if people knew Morgause de Maris-Orkney was my mother.
“Thanks,” I simply say. “I’m self-taught.”
“What’s your name?” he asks.
“Morgan. What’s yours?”
“Merlin.”
“Oh, neat—Merlin, like the falcon.”
I vaguely remember merlins occasionally soaring through the forest during my childhood. Merlin certainly is not birdlike, though he does seem like an ethereal creature that stepped out of some sun-dappled woods. I study his clothes. He wears a light blue suit and matching tie. He notices my stare.
I clear my throat. “That’s a nice tie. Did your parents get it for you?”
Merlin averts his eyes but maintains his smile. “I don’t have parents. These clothes were donated to me.”
I color as a pang of guilt pricks me for making an assumption. “Ah, well, it’s really nice. Better than my old clothes.”
“I think your clothes look nice too,” he says.
The way he looks at me gives me a boost of confidence. “I see that you’re dressed in blue,” I say, smiling. “Are you a water user?”
He nods. On TV, water users are often categorized as boring splash makers. Maybe he chose formal wear because he doesn’t plan on physically moving around too much.
The announcer speaks. “Next, we have a water user… sixteen-year-old Merlin Ambrosius from Wales!”
“You’re up. Good luck,” I say and give him a quick wink.
He blushes. I don’t think I’ve ever given anyone a wink in my life. Maybe performing fire has given me a rush of boldness.
Still pink in the face, Merlin keeps his head down as he walks onto the stage. As the light centers on him, he looks up at the ceiling like he’s spacing out. As I watch him, waiting for him to do something, I become embarrassed for him. What is he doing? He blinks a few times. Regardless, the pianist begins his song. Classical—clean and simple.
A ball of water appears in the air above his head. It wobbles around in a circle, fighting gravity as the water bloats. The crowd laughs, watching the struggling blob. Merlin continues to look up—he blissfully closes his eyes, as if he’s under a spring rain shower.
The blob starts to quiver like jelly, precariously close to collapsing. Before I can flinch, it’s falling. Then the blob sprouts wings. Dovelike wings. The crowd gasps. The water bird rises up above Merlin and flies with glassy wings that undulate and catch the light with each flap.
I scrutinize the water bird, my neck craning. The complexity of manipulating a thin sheet of water without breaking form… how is it possible? The delicate but heavy wings fight the laws of physics.
The bird splits up into more birds—all equal in size, which means that Merlin can produce water with ease. My fists clench as I continue to watch him. I’ve never seen someone so young able to make complex shapes. Six gleaming birds fly in circles around Merlin. They then separate above his head in a geometrically perfect hexagon. Merlin also understands spatial precision. The birds all turn toward the center, above his head, then fly at each other, collapsing with a succession of splashes. The crowd gasps again.
The water doesn’t fall down. It turns into a rose. Wavering, crystal petals. Diamond thorns. A water rose that traps the stadium light inside it.
The amount of control it must take to fight gravity, to form water into those petals, those thorns.
The piano music cascades as the rose divides and loops into the air, bending into letters.
M
o
Morgan
My cheeks grow hot. The letters turn into six roses again, twisting together, winding, winding. The roses coil into a caterpillar. A butterfly bursts from the caterpillar. Then the shimmering butterfly flies into his hand. He closes his hand around it with gentle slowness, his eyes cast down. When he opens his hand again, it’s dry.
Then he bows.
People are so stunned that they forget to applaud. Slowly someone begins to clap, and then everyone is screaming and hooting and cheering. The applause crashes into my eardrums, each clap striking at my heart. A standing ovation. Some people are even wiping tears from their eyes.
I stare, bewildered. I couldn’t have anticipated this. Merlin was supposed to be like those kids I watched on TV who accidentally used water, making a little splash, staining their clothes as if they wet themselves. So where did Merlin learn his magic?
The show goes on in a fog as my mouth goes dry. In my peripheral vision, as distant to me as figurines going round and round on a jewel box, other contestants dance and show their magic. Nothing directly catches my eye. I want to fast-forward to when the judges rank us. All my childhood, I stayed sheltered with no friends while other kids went to school and played. I spent my time practicing fire magic by the sea. I have no distractions from my goal. My will is pure, driven by madness. “Nothing is more powerful than madness,” my mother used to say.
After the final show the announcer talks loudly, but his words don’t reach me. I hear him say my name, and I walk up to the stage with mechanical stiffness. It feels as if it’s all happening in slow motion. The crowd is still a blur. He swings a heavy medallion around my neck.
It bears the number two.
About the Author:
Realm Lovejoy is an American writer and an artist. She grew up in both Washington State and the Japanese Alps of Nagano, Japan. Currently, she lives in Seattle and works as an artist in the video game industry. CLAN is her first book. You can find out more about her and her book at www.realmlovejoy.com
Find the Author:
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)