Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Blog tour: "Catalyst" by Casey L. Bond

Hi folks! Today is the day I review "Catalyst" by Casey L. Bond.
My review:
Overall I enjoyed this book. I really like the character of Seven, although I want to know WHY she is named Seven. She's a terminally ill young woman from an affluent family in the city of Confidence. Her family decides to allow her to have a companion and she chooses a boy, Mitis, whom she met when he was arrested (read to find out why!). They use each other as means to their own ends but they wind up becoming friends.

This being said, I found it to be very predictable. Also the dictionary entries at the beginning of
each chapter are not needed.

But overall, great book. If you like YA you should read this!

Blurb:
The city of Confidence, which is surrounded by a thick, concrete wall. These walls are built to protect those within and to keep dangers outside. What happens when the only danger to the citizens within is its leadership?


When a young man on a suicide mission meets a young woman with a terminal illness , both of them use one another as a means to their own ends. They never expect to become friends. They never expect to become so much more to each other. Their backgrounds and the secrets they uncover are more dangerous than any plans they could make together or separately.

Revolution begins with a spark.



Want more? Here is an excerpt:

Enoch slowed the car, scanning the surroundings meticulously. My eyes caught movement. A dark figure crouched behind some nearby bushes that were too thin to hide him. Enoch had taken notice, too. He stopped the car and jumped out of the vehicle, raising his stunner.
I’d never seen one used on a person before. Sitting up straighter to get a better look, I watched as the dark figure jumped up and tried to run. Despite his exertions wasted on me, soldier Enoch was fast, too. Hot on the figure’s heels, the soldier launched the stunner’s probes. When they connected, every muscle in the assailant’s body seized and locked up tight. The man stopped short, and Enoch tackled him, removing the probes from the back of the man he’d just tackled.
My fingers and face were pressed against the hot glass of the window.
My goodness. That was intense.
I watched as Soldier Enoch winced and gritted his teeth as he hefted the other man’s weight and dragged the limp form toward the car. He didn’t put the assailant in the front seat and I almost fell out onto my face when the door beside me was wrenched open. He was going to put him in the back seat! With me! I scooted far to left, plastering myself against the opposite door.
“Can I get in the front?” My voice was shrill, but I couldn’t help it.
Enoch shoved the man down into the seat beside me and then began to maneuver his feet into the floorboard. “So you can run again? I don’t think so,” he grunted, still fighting with the man, whose muscles were beginning to work now. The man was trying to fighting back.
His clothes were weird. They were torn and dirty. His neck wouldn’t hold the weight of his head, so it dangled between his knees, obscuring his face. The door beside him slammed closed, locking us inside. There was a bullet-proof glass barrier between the front and back seats.
If I thought running had given my heart a workout, I was wrong. This was crazy! I tugged on the door handle, pulling hard when it wouldn’t open. “Don’t break it.”
The voice beside me was deep, rich and fluid. It stopped me. I released the handle and looked over. His head was eased back against the headrest, and he looked at me intently. “You’ll really piss him off if you break his ride.”
Blue eyes. The color of what I imagined the ocean looked like: Blue-green and crystal clear as water. Dark, shaggy hair framed his face. His jaw was square and peppered with dark stubble. He had holes in his ears, held open by round pieces of metal. Colorful tattoos covered one of his arms. I gasped, which made him chuckle.
Enoch started the engine and eased the car forward.
The guy sitting, literally stunned into submission beside me, was a scrub. And since they’d caught him in the city, he was as good as dead.
“What’s going on back there?” Soldier Enoch piped up, glancing from the rearview mirror to the road and back, as he drove forward down the same street on which the scrub had been apprehended.
“Calm down. Nothing’s going on.” The scrub’s voice was hypnotic. I couldn’t quit staring, but I kept my hand on the door handle. It wouldn’t do any good. It was locked, but it made me feel better somehow, like I was holding a metal rod that would ground any electricity he sent my way.
Soldier Enoch smiled at my seatmate smugly. “I’ll enjoy watching you hang, scrub.” He muttered some belittling remarks and I watched the scrub’s face distort into something frightening. The scrub flexed his fingers, one at a time, then all together. He was regaining feeling, regaining strength. It looked like he was ready to try something.
Enoch’s page began making static sounds and frantic voices came over the air at him. Taking advantage of the distraction, I scooted closer. When the scrub’s arm raised in Enoch’s direction, my fingers grazed his forearm. “They’ll kill you,” I whispered to him.
“I know.” He didn’t move away, just stared at my fingers on his skin. I pulled my hand back.
“Why did you risk it? Why come into the city?”
He stared back at me. “My brother is sick. He needs medicine or he won’t make it.”
There was a raw quality to his voice indicating that he was being honest. Now his brother would die, and so would he.
Enoch was still fussing with someone over the page. I looked back at the man sitting beside me. The scrub was pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Are you able to run?” I whispered.
He snorted. “Like it matters.”
“Are you? Have your muscles recovered?”
Soldier Enoch glanced up into the mirror again. When he was preoccupied with his page, the scrub leaned forward propping his elbows on his knees. He flexed his feet and arms, making the muscles ripple beneath the fabric. “Yeah. I’m good.” He looked sideways at me, giving me a smile. “Why?”
“Did you get the medicine you needed?” I whispered.
He nodded. He’d gotten it.
“When he unlocks the doors, run and don’t look back.” The scrub’s brows furrowed, almost meeting in the middle.
“What are you talking ab—”
“Soldier!” I shrieked. “Pull over. I’m going to be sick!”
“You’re kidding me!” Enoch jerked the wheel to the right and the car followed suit.
“I need help, please! The door won’t come open!” I frantically jerked on the door’s handle and panted dramatically, pounding my palm against the closed window. “Please!”
“I’m unlocking it!” Soldier Enoch yelled, throwing his door open and then clicking the button on his door to unlock mine.
He opened my door, and I dry heaved a few times, making it look real. Most times it would have been real, but I had vomited everything I’d eaten already—just outside the doctor’s office at the Medical Pavilion.
Soldier Enoch crouched down and awkwardly tried to pat my back. His city-issued, black leather boots shone in the bright sunshine that was still blazing over the land. The temperature outside had gotten cooler, but the landscape was now painted a vibrant gold.
Enoch wasn’t all bad, maybe. I regained my composure, accepting the handkerchief he offered. I wiped my eyes and then the corners of my mouth before blowing my nose and offering it back to him. He declined with a cringe that he tried to disguise with a smile, so I smiled sweetly at him.
When I looked over to where the scrub had been seated, his seat was empty and his door stood wide open. He’d gotten away. He was free, and his brother had a chance at life.
“Where’d he go?” Soldier Enoch screamed. Stomping around the back of the car, he proceeded to search the area meticulously. Twenty minutes later, he gave up. I should have left and walked home, but I was tired. I couldn’t do it, and Enoch would have gotten in trouble if he showed up without me, or if I showed up at home without an “escort.”

So I took pity on us both and stayed put, imagining and hoping that the scrub had made it over the wall and that his brother would make it, too.
  ***

Wanna know more about the author?
Casey L. Bond resides in Milton, West Virginia with her husband and their two beautiful daughters. When she’s not busy being a domestic goddess and chasing her baby girls, she loves to write young adult and new adult fiction.
Bond graduated from Hurricane High School in 1999. In 2003, she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Marshall University in the field of Criminal Justice.
You can find more information about Bond’s books via the following links:
Twitter: @authorcaseybond             
Connect on tsu, Instagram, Google+ and LinkedIn!

Here are all the links where you could find this book:
**0.99 cents until 21st goes up to $2.99**

Do you enjoy music? Please share your idea of the perfect soundtrack to ‘Catalyst’ with us

Here’s the playlist on Spotify! <3 span="">




Monday, June 22, 2015

July 25th Gluten Free & Allergen Friendly Expo, Worcester, MA

I am posting again about the Gluten Free & Allergen Friendly Expo, Worcester, MA, on July 25th. It's at the DCU Center. I really want to encourage anyone who lives around Worcester (MA/RI/CT and beyond) who is gluten free/allergy free and/or has loved ones who are, to come to this event. There will be:
  • Entry into the vendor fair with over 100 brands
  • Valuable coupons at the vendor booths
  • Samples from the vendors
  • Discounted products available for purchase
  • Informative classes related to the gluten free and allergen-friendly lifestyle
  • Free reusable bag to carry your goodies
  • Meet your favorite vendors, authors and blogger

So COME!
The expo's Facebook page is here
They can be found on Twitter
Their website is linked here.

I am GIVING AWAY 5 TICKETS so 5 of my readers can go FOR FREE!

If you do not win tickets, or want to buy them anyway, FOLLOW THIS LINK. Until 6/24 (JUST 2 days from now!) tickets are 30% off  (http://ow.ly/MCyQh) , then 20% off through 7/24! (http://ow.ly/MCyT4).

I am super excited to go. I hope I see some of you there!

On loss

(Cross posted from my Tumblr

I just read Neil Gaiman’s journal entry about the recent events with Amanda and Anthony. I cried so hard. It is so difficult to watch a loved one struggle in their last few days, to the ever after. For me it brings up so many memories, old hurts, old scars, and lots of tears. I have lost too many people. But, such is life. It’s an ever-turning wheel of birth, life, and death. All we can do is live it, give and receive love, and make it better for the next cycle. 
Many blessings, light and love to Amanda Palmer, Neil, Anthony himself, Laura (his wife), and those around them. 

Neil’s most recent journal entry is here:

You can find them all on Twitter 

Facebook:

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Hi internet-land. Review of "Wild" the movie

Hi folks. I have read a new book, but you'll have to wait for the review. Today I am just popping in to weigh in on "Wild" the movie. I rented it from Redbox not knowing it was a book first, so I'll have to read it later. The movie came out in 2014. It's about Cheryl Strayed, played by Reese Witherspoon, who also produced it, and her hike on the Pacific Crest Trail in search of herself and her life. It's not a fast-paced movie, but it is definitely interesting. There are a lot of flashbacks that show what led to her hike, things that are relate-able for most people (death, drugs, etc). It has some good music and great scenery. I encourage you to check it out.
You can find it on Amazon Instant Video right now at this link. You can find it on Blu-ray/DVD also on Amazon here. (Sorry, I love Amazon.)

Here is the link to the book it's based on (Amazon). "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail" by Cheryl Strayed

Here's the IMDB listing for the movie.

Go check it out. Check back this coming week for my review of "Catalyst" by Casey L. Bond.

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Review of ARC of "Forbidden by Cathy Clamp

*I received an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Forbidden is book 1 in the Luna Lake series by Cathy Clamp. It brings the world of the Sazi (Hunter's Moon) to 10 years after the plague. I have not read the Sazi series but you do not need to have read it to read this. This book had a very interesting plot, that begins RIGHT at the start. It centers on Claire, a young Wolven agent goes to Northeastern WA to investigate some missing children. She meets Alek, a red wolf shifter who is trying to become a Wolven agent. Together they investigate the strange goings-on in Luna Lake. Lots of great characters in this one. If you enjoy shifters, you should read this one. It doesn't come out until August 11, 2015 (per Amazon).

You can pre-order this On Amazon or B&N
Cathy's website: http://www.ciecatrunpubs.com/ 
Her blog can be found here
She's on Facebook here

Go check it out. If you haven't read the Sazi series, you can start with Hunter's Moon, which was written by Cathy Clamp and C.T. Adams.
buy on Amazon
B&N



Review of "The Sculptor" by Scott McCloud

Wow. This was fantastic! I just finished it and cried for a solid 3 minutes after. Make sure you read the personal story Scott McCloud writes in the afterword (it's the reason I cried). This is a MUST read, especially if you like comics/graphic novels. It's about David who is an artist, a sculptor, who's been having a hard time. He makes a deal with Death and the story goes from there. This is a very thoughtful, well-written and well-drawn book. Seriously, go read it now.
Find it on Amazon in hardcover and kindle
Also at Indigo here
Or B&N at this link

Read it. Trust me, you will not regret it.

Friday, June 12, 2015

Review of "Art of Asking"

Amanda fucking Palmer is fantastic. Yes, it is required to add the "f" word in her name. This book is absolutely stellar. Go read it, right the hell now. Seriously. If you don't already love AFP, you will.  I admit I highlighted a LOT of parts from this book. I took pictures of specific sections and sent them to my loves. really, I did. See below. AFP talks about her time as a statue, her relationship with C. Anthony M. and Neil himself. She writes about the difficulties The Dresden Dolls had and that she had. She encourages her readers to ask for help, to be honest, to have faith in their fellow humans. It does got back and forth a lot, but I enjoy stream-of-consciousness writing (I write that myself). Go read it. I have already begun lending my copy out to friends. Also, you can find Amanda in various places on the internet, as she is VERY connected. 
Her website is found here
She's on Twitter at https://twitter.com/amandapalmer

So go find her, find this book, and get on it already.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Hi followers! I am back!

Hi ladies and gents and others. I have returned to blogging. I apologize for the respite, but it was direly needed. It's difficult to keep this and Tumblr up at the same time, but I am trying!

If you would like to find me on Tumblr, go follow this link.

I have decided to start talking more about being gluten-free here. I have been gluten free for 10+ years now. I most likely have Celiacs disease, but I stick with the gluten intolerant label as Celiacs was never proven. In short, I feel better not eating gluten, so I don't.

I will be attending the MA GF&AF Expo in Worcester, MA, on July 25th. If you would like tickets you can go HERE and grab some. I would LOVE to see some of you there.

You can take advantage of these offers too:
30% off (thru 6/24): http://ow.ly/MCyQh
20% off (thru 7/24): http://ow.ly/MCyT4

It gets better! My followers can get a FREE 1-year subscription to Delight Gluten Free Magazine if they purchase a ticket through one of those links!! 

Check back for ongoing posts. I promise this time to be better!