Acquired Digital Audiobook by: I am a new blog tour hostess with Audiobookworm Promotions wherein I have the opportunity to receive audiobooks for review or adoption (reviews outside of organised blog tours) and host guest features on behalf of authors and narrators alike. I started hosting for Audiobookworm Promotions at the end of [2016] during “The Cryptic Lines” tour wherein I became quite happily surprised how much I am now keen on listening to books in lieu of reading them in print. My journey into audiobooks was prompted by a return of my chronic migraines wherein I want to offset my readings with listening to the audio versions.
I received a complimentary audiobook copy of “Halfway Bitten” via the publicist at Audiobookworm Promotions (of whom was working directly with the author Terry Maggert) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Why I am so wicked thrilled to be reading this YA #Paranormal series:
In case you’ve missed my full ruminations on behalf of the first novel in this wonderfully witchy series, please direct your mouse to Halfway Dead!
You immediately warm to Carlie – her charm is her forthright attitude where conjectured insight into her hometown and the area in which she calls home is slightly more ‘quirky’ than she is herself! For instance, your senses overtake the setting on sight – this is a cold (by temperature) environ which could be seen as ‘off-putting’ to others but to Carlie, it’s more than just the place she’s chosen to lay her hat, it’s her ‘home’. Home to Carlie isn’t just where you feel comfortable or where you can score a wicked awesome job at the local diner a stone’s throw from your residence (not only saving on petrol but medically speaking, her digits are never in danger of frost bite!) wherein you never quite feel as if the stark contrast of the natural world is inhibiting your prospects. Not that Carlie is shy when it comes to nature; if anything, she finds solace inside the hidden realms of where forest and stream meet the sky and cast untold amounts of wisdom into the whispering quiet hum of the natural order bubbling to life all round her whilst crossing her path with a lightness not found amongst urbanites.
Her open honesty about her unconventional life is refreshingly brilliant to see captured in a Young Adult story with a heroine who embraces her moxie and chooses to find a stitching of nonchalant monologue where she encourages you to listen to her tale(s) with an open mind and an imagination to knit out the rounding of the fantastical which just happen to be her mainstay of peculiar ‘happenings’. -part of my reactions to Halfway Dead
Can we talk about aesthetics & cover art designs!?
One thing I consistently talk about here on Jorie Loves A Story is how if a story doesn’t pull me into it’s orbit & theshold – the art on the cover or inside it’s interior becomes art to appreciate rather than a part of the experience of the story itself. When I find a story or a series such as Halfway Witchy, I find myself over the moon thrilled to bits to exclaim my bookish glee in finding cheekily clever cover art sporting a fiercely Indie YA Paranormal series with the aplomb appeal of announcing itself as one part quirky and a heaping spoonful of eclectically wicked! Case in point!?
I *love!* my cuppa tea | chai | Americano Miso / Espresso Lattes – but to take the tea cup itself and direct your eye to how it dangles on a finger whilst evoking a tattoo-vibe of book titles with the quirky eclectic artsy style of a White Witch you begin to soak into the aesthetics of the series your reading (or listening too, as is the case with me!). Each of the designs evoke something extraordinarily ordinary about Carlie and her witchy spirit of mind. It’s part of the appeal to her character’s personality but also, it’s a telling visual aide when you’re already attached to a character & her world.
They also dimensionally differ from one another on a score of layers of intrigue & the deepening reality of Carlie’s life. The first cover started off on the footing of innocence & familial pride; the second shows the conflictions of a witch and the third – wells, it proves this horror on the side of cosy I can handle is going to pull out the punches to keep me firmly on the border between straight-up Horror and Cosy Horror (the realm in which I can traverse without nightmares!).
I think it also shows character growth and the building of Carlie’s internal and external worlds colliding into a singular experience only she can voice and tell. I caught a wink of a nod towards a FOURTH! novel in this series being written and I can only hope the momentum that is building thus far along will not only continue in the series but lead us to itch to devour the next installments with the same zest of bookish anticipation for the continuity & the conflict of drama intermixed with the realities of small towne life, white magic and the supportive arm of family & friends.
And, maybe just a smidge of that Cosy Horror cheeky humour I’ve come to love so much, too! I mean,… it *is!* definitively a stand-out in it’s genre for proving how well-timed comedic moments and a spunky heroine can make you sit into a smile whilst bracing yourself for what comes into your view on the next page turn,…
As much as I lamented this about the author who penned the tale:
The way in which Mr Maggert approaches all of this is with sensitivity and compassion; he presents both sides and let’s the reader make up their own mind about what they want to takeaway from the novel. Like most Young Adult novelists I have come to appreciate finding (and he is now amongst them!) – they stitch into the fabric of their stories life lessons, cautionary insight and a global conscience of time-sensitive realities to help ensure that all future and current generations are armed with knowledge and insight into what could theoretically impact their daily lives. Either on a quasi personal level or on an intuitively observational level – however which the reader chooses to consume the information provided, it will be a stepping stone towards unveiling the larger picture.
In many ways, this is why Children’s Lit across the spectrum (i.e. Picture Books, Chapter Books, Juvenile Fiction and YA) play such an important role in endeavouring to give children and teens a measure of a breath of what is currently affecting our world. It leads to empathy but also to understanding; if the conversations are not broached at home or in school, there are stories that can encourage a mind to open to a concept not yet introduced. In this, Maggert excells and it was a true pleasure to watch how he enticed young readers who are mature enough to embrace a slightly Upper YA Paranormal Suspense novel to broaden their horizons whilst everything is cast into a fantasy world where the supernatural and current events collide.
Halfway Bitten Subtitle: Take a bite out of evil
The circus came to Halfway, and they brought the weird. When clowns, vampires, and corpses start piling up in town, Carlie has to break away from her boyfriend, Wulfric, to bring her witchy skills to the table- or grill, as the case may be. When the body of a young woman washes up in the lake, it unleashes a spiral of mystery that will bring Carlie, Gran, and Wulfric into a storm of magical warfare.
Spells will fly. Curses will rain. Amidst it all, Carlie will make waffles, protect her town, and find out if a man from the distant past can join her in happy ever after. With love and honor at stake, Carlie has no peer.
Digital composite of Wooden table with library background. Halfway Witchy book series collage provided by Audiobookworm Promotions; used with permission.
About Terry Maggert
Left-handed. Father of an apparent nudist. Husband to a half-Norwegian. Herder of cats and dogs. Lover of pie. I write books. I've had an unhealthy fascination with dragons since the age of-- well, for a while. Native Floridian. Current Tennessean. Location subject to change based on insurrection, upheaval, or availability of coffee. Nine books and counting, with no end in sight. You've been warned.
Acquired Digital Audiobook by: I am a new blog tour hostess with Audiobookworm Promotions wherein I have the opportunity to receive audiobooks for review or adoption (reviews outside of organised blog tours) and host guest features on behalf of authors and narrators alike. I started hosting for Audiobookworm Promotions at the end of [2016] during “The Cryptic Lines” tour wherein I became quite happily surprised how much I am now keen on listening to books in lieu of reading them in print. My journey into audiobooks was prompted by a return of my chronic migraines wherein I want to offset my readings with listening to the audio versions.
I received a complimentary audiobook copy of “Halfway Dead” via the publicist at Audiobookworm Promotions (of whom was working directly with the author Terry Maggert) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Why I am so wicked happy about tucking into a Paranormal Suspense:
I have the tendency to appreciate certain Paranormal Suspense, Mystery and Thrillers which are just this side of Cosy Horror but occasionally push the envelope to take me straight out of my personal comfort zones. This began when I was a teenager who would try to blink away the grittier scenes attached to The X-Files, smiled at the irony of enjoying Buffy the Vampire Slayer and happily enjoyed most of the Charmed series before the serial took off into a tangent of nonsense that truly was utterly pointless.
As a reader, it’s quite a hard needle to thread – which Paranormal novelists are curating stories I can handle or even find pleasure in reading when my bookish heart is quite sensitive to most overtly horrific and grisly scenes too oft found inside the genre itself!? This is why I have the tendency to lean more towards PNR (or Paranormal Romance) but even then, I am quite particularly particular; seeking out the stories where the relationships and the paranormal elements can walk hand in hand without giving me that jolt of something quite horrific or a nightmaric ghoulish feast that would leave me wrecked for dreamscapes afterwards.
The balance of course, is one part world-building to where setting, texture and sound of a narrative can fully immerse me into an ‘other place’ for the spell I send inside it but not overtly dark or without light, because I am not entirely the kind of reader who can cosy up into a Dystopian-esque world either. I like sophisticated layers and humour that is not in the gutter whilst the scenes where something quite fowl takes place can have the ability to pull-back and off-set the reality of that moment with either compassion, mercy or a somberness that befits the scene. Strong characters and a cheeky inclusion of wit or banterment would be most ideal; but I also, happen to love the ‘unexpected’. The moments you cannot foresee coming ahead of time and how the psychological suspenseful bits also can encourage you to get properly lost in the story.
Whatever it is I’m seeking as it depends on the sub-genre, the premise and the overall conjecture of what a story could elude to including – I like to seek out unique voices in fiction. I prefer to find the writers who have something intrinsically their own and a way of crafting a story that is both informative (for whichever sub-focus they include) and wicked entertaining on the other end! I like to rally behind characters who are in the middle of their journey and of whom interact with an eclectic supporting cast of people or creatures you might never suspect would become such a crucial point of the story itself.
Thus, I decided to take a chance on the Halfway Witchy series; as the author originally found me on Twitter whilst he was promoting another novel of his (Heartborn) which I was on the fence about for nearly the duration of it’s blog tour. It was only after following the tour route and reading a few incredibly personal reviews of it’s contents, I realised I was most intrigued by this author! I ended up adopting a copy of the audiobook (of which I will be featuring in a few short weeks) for review consideration and found myself pulled into the orbit of this universe – the Witchy world of Carlie.
I originally began listening to this audiobook soon after I received it and a few moments whilst my Dad was first brought home recovering from his stroke. As I mentioned on Twitter to the author, finding this series was a lovely blessing of joy; and as I move through the series, I look forward to exploring what I like about this curious section of literature which continues to draw my eye. As sometimes what appeals to me to read (or listen too) isn’t quite what you might think would be on my palette of stories but has something contained within it’s chapters that is wholly original and happily consumed. Sometimes we all have to embrace our quirky natures and as readers, I think we’re naturally quirky!
Carlie McEwan loves many things. She loves being a witch. She loves her town of Halfway, NY - a tourist destination nestled on the shores of an Adirondack lake. Carlie loves her enormous familiar, Gus, who is 25 pounds of judgmental Maine Coon cat, and she positively worships her grandmother, a witch of incredible power and wisdom. Carlie spends her days cooking at the finest - and only - real diner in town, and her life is a balance between magic and the mundane, just as she likes it.
When a blond stranger sits at the diner counter and calls her by name, that balance is gone. Major Pickford asks Carlie to lead him into the deepest shadows of the forest to find a mythical circle of chestnut trees, thought lost to forever to mankind. There are ghosts in the forest, and one of them cries out to Carlie across the years. Come find me.
Danger, like the shadowed pools of the forest, can run deep. The danger is real, but Carlie's magic is born of a pure spirit. With the help of Gus, and Gran, and a rugged cop who really does want to save the world, she'll fight to bring a ghost home, and deliver justice to a murderer who hides in the cool, mysterious green of a forest gone mad with magic.
Left-handed. Father of an apparent nudist. Husband to a half-Norwegian. Herder of cats and dogs. Lover of pie. I write books. I've had an unhealthy fascination with dragons since the age of-- well, for a while. Native Floridian. Current Tennessean. Location subject to change based on insurrection, upheaval, or availability of coffee. Nine books and counting, with no end in sight. You've been warned.
Acquired Book by:Did you ever grow curious about a new publisher who produces science fiction, fantasy, and horror genre selections in both novel length and short stories? Did you ever decide to enquire with the publisher you’ve found to see if they were open to book blogger requests to read and review their selections!? This is the situation I found myself in as I was quite mystified by the offerings of World Weaver Press! Such a delightful discovery on my behalf [in 2015] with a website full of inspiring reads across SFF!
Since I started reviewing with World Weaver Press [one year ago in August, 2015] there has been a changing of the guard behind-the-scenes where there is a new owner & publicity team. I am wicked happy to see the legacy and tradition of WWP has been carried forward by this lovely new team! I am honoured to work with them continuing to showcase World Weaver Press through reviewing their titles and hosting future guest features by their authors! The current four reviews I’m posting on their behalf (i.e. The Falling of the Moon, Scarecrow, Frozen Fairy Tales and Far Orbit: Apogee) were selected before the company changed hands. Moving forward after these reviews, I am hoping my next review will be for “Murder in the Generative Kitchen” of which I thoroughly enjoyed highlighting recently! Although I do hope to continue reading the anthologies Ms Parrish is making as SIRENS released recently, too!
I received a complimentary copy of “Scarecrow” direct from the publisher World Weaver Press in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Why I am wicked excited to read SCARECROW:
You simply know going into reading one of the anthologies by Ms Parrish that your in for a wickedly delightful reading! In this particular case, I was so deeply attached to the stories in CORVIDAE (coming out of reading FAE), I was wicked enthused to begin reading SCARECROW! It’s the type of anthologist whose instincts to pull together writers & their stories that you cannot help but celebrate because her instincts give you such a palette of choices to read! It’s quite incredible, honestly – because each time I step inside the vortex of the Magical Menageries I feel as if I’ve travelled to so many wondrously illuminated places all within the pages of one singular anthology!
I happen to love reading stories of Cosy Horror in the Autumn months – as this time of the year is anchoured to Halloween! I’ve been a long-time appreciator of Halloween as I love celebrating the holiday with all the festivities that pull together it’s light-hearted core of joy whilst embracing all the quirks that go along with it, too! I haven’t had the chance to see a lot of scarecrows in fields but I grew up loving the Wizard of Oz like most children, and therefore, had a strong impression of a fantastical scarecrow!
I like being introduced to new windows of Speculative Fiction – which is one reason I am attracted to the collective works of World Weaver Press! Each time I pick up their anthologies, I find a new world to alight inside, a new writer to champion and an incredible depth of layered story-telling within the framework of a ‘short story’! It’s wicked good fiction but I appreciate the new realms I’m discovering too, which broker into Cosy Horror!
The past two months notwithstanding, as my migraines returned and I had to take a small hiatus from blogging – what motivates me to read SCARECROW is for that experience of the unknown to once again re-align in my imagination & the hauntingly epic feeling that despite reading a scary story every now or then, I truly love embracing this new branch of literature that gives me so much joy to read!
I love to just *dive!* into a Rhonda Parrish anthology
and see what she’s given me to devour!
Scarecrow
Hay-men, mommets, tattie bogles, kakashi, tao-tao—whether formed of straw or other materials, the tradition of scarecrows is pervasive in farming cultures around the world. The scarecrow serves as decoy, proxy, and effigy—human but not human. We create them in our image and ask them to protect our crops and by extension our very survival, but we refrain from giving them the things a creation might crave—souls, brains, free-will, love.
In Scarecrow, fifteen authors of speculative fiction explore what such creatures might do to gain the things they need or, more dangerously, think they want.
Within these pages, ancient enemies join together to destroy a mad mommet, a scarecrow who is a crow protects solar fields and stores long-lost family secrets, a woman falls in love with a scarecrow, and another becomes one. Encounter scarecrows made of straw, imagination, memory, and robotics while being spirited to Oz, mythological Japan, other planets, and a neighbor’s back garden. After experiencing this book, you’ll never look at a hay-man the same.
Featuring all new work by Jane Yolen, Andrew Bud Adams, Laura Blackwood, Amanda Block, Scott Burtness, Virginia Carraway Stark, Amanda C. Davis, Megan Fennell, Kim Goldberg, Katherine Marzinsky, Craig Pay, Sara Puls, Holly Schofield, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, and Kristina Wojtaszek.
Acquired Book By:I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Chapter by Chapter, where I receive opportunities to host Author Guest Features on behalf of the Indie Publisher Month9Books and review for Indie Publisher: Rebelight Publishing of whom I love the stories by their Middle Grade & YA authors! As 2016 started, I received more opportunities to read and review Canadian authors through Chapter by Chapter. I love being able to discover more #CanLit whilst appreciating the beauty of the stories I am discovering through this touring company.
I received a complimentary copy of “Flames of Nevyana” direct from the publisher Rebelight Publishing in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
On the joy of reading a new Rebelight Author:
I am wicked happy I can close out 2016 reading another new author by Rebelight Publishing – as this is the Canadian publisher I had the joy of discovering through Chapter by Chapter Blog Tours! Each selection I am making through them, are future books I will be giving to my children, as I am delighted to find such wonderful stories for young readers, that not only challenge them through thought-provoking literature, but their the type of stories that can instill confidence and curate empathy through the showcasing of life lessons that seek to inspire readers of all ages.
I love unique story-tellers and unique narrative cores of Science Fiction or Fantasy – realms that you can sense are not entirely opposite or differential of our own living sphere of existence but are altogether quite uniquely developed in their own right. They have their own laws of nature and of order – where there is a particular balance which bridges the world together – or draws them apart; it depends on where we enter the story-line per each writer’s vision for their story. What I love the most about seeking out stories within the umbrella of Speculative Fiction is the ability to continue to always seek out the plausible curiosities of what inspires the stories to alight in the pages of the books I’m reading. Writers who seek to tell a story in such a creative methodology – to reach past imagination and unite readers through the timelessness of their character’s journey.
As I’m on the fringes of celebrating Science Fiction throughout November, it is a joy of mine to bring a few Speculative Realms to my blog and readers ahead of the month-long celebration here on Jorie Loves A Story and throughout the book blogosphere as we all rally together through the collective gathering Rinn Reads puts on each year through #RRSciFiMonth! I must admit – the premise of this story combined with the cover art to help grant an early visual clue towards what I might find inside the novel was the combined motivation to read the novel. Although on a personal note, I was truly captured by ‘Voltpunk’ and was wondering if this was either a new sub-genre of Science Fiction, Fantasy or the hybrid I love myself: Sci-Fantasy!? OR was it merely the name of the series being developed and launched through Flames of Nevyana!? Whichever way it would become revealled one thing is certain: Rebelight authors continue to inspire me onwards and upwards into their creative worlds of literary exploration!
Notation on Cover Art: I truly loved how the cover art represents light and the synergy of how light can be reflected or sparked into motion – initially I thought this story might have a Nation American or First Nations thread of story-line, because the cover art looked so very familiar to me of Native Artisans and Craft patterns. There is a repetitive pattern on the cover, both dissolving and expanding (inward and outward simultaneously) and I wondered if this was prove to be a clue towards understanding the light and energies on Nevyana. And why is the blue fire and the orange energies co-merging or intermixing with each other?! Almost is something being reborn, re-generated or created wholly anew by ‘something’ that caused this reaction!?
Flames of Nevyana
Blue Fire is both blessing and curse. A gift from the gods, its mystical light and energy powers and protects the land of Nevyana, but it also divides her people into three distinct groups. In the wrong hands, it becomes a formidable weapon. When sacred objects for channelling Blue Fire are stolen, sworn enemies Petra, Amlinn, and Jin set out to find them, and their paths converge on a collision course with the truth. Can they bridge the centuries-old divide between their communities? Or will their search for the truth and the explosive power of Blue Fire signal the end of Nevyana?
Edward Willett is the award-winning author of more than fifty books of fiction and non-fiction for children, young adults, and adults. He lives in Regina with his wife, Margaret Anne; their teenage daughter, Alice; and their Siberian cat, Shadowpaw.
Last October, I made a rather brilliant discovery in Historical Fiction – I met Avelynn for the very first time! This was also my very first historical involving the Vikings – a group of people of whom have held my curiosity for most of my life, yet for some strange reason I never quite took the time I should have to ‘meet them’ properly – either through historicals or non-fiction accountments of their lives! They were such a fascinating group of adventurers, explorers and of course, have such an anchoured past to turbulence and upheaval across power struggles for land & prosperity.
As you can see from this quote from my review last year, I was quite keen on how they were portrayed by Ms Campbell:
On the Vikings themselves:
Alrik isn’t quite the Viking warrior I was expecting to find, though to be honest anyone outside the precept of who Vikings are known for being outright would have been a pleasant surprise, truly! Alrik leads with his heart but with a mind that is truly rapt for battle. He understands loyalty but his trust in both his men and the cardinals of war is where his confidence lies. He isn’t one to tempt a woman past her own senses nor does he find himself able to do anything that is not proper or honourable. He’s an interesting bloke by half, considering he’s at an impasse in regards to his kin who are seeking wrath more than peace.
In some mannerisms he showed Avelynn at their first meeting, I was reminded of stories I’ve read about the Highlander Scots – both are fiercely proud and grit wit a determined air to battle any sort who try to cause them ill-harm or take back a stronghold they’ve already won.
Avelynn took me by complete surprise – turnt out to be one of my most beloved reads of 2015, and never quite left my mind! I was quite curious what would happen ‘next’ and how the characters within the world of Avelynn would continue to move forward with their lives. It’s compelling drama, but it’s also a brilliantly written arc of Historical Romance set during a difficult time in history where everything is a bit uncertain and strife with war or changes in power. It’s not the easiest of generations to make your mark on the world but there was so much heart and hope stitched inside this HistRom that I truly felt hugged closet to Avelynn herself and the emotional journey she was undertaking!
This is why I am so wicked excited to be a part of the blog team whose announcing the sequel’s arrival & why this #bookbirthday has me so wicked happy to have a sequel to read this Winter! There is a bit more to the story behind how I’m reading “Avelynn: The Edge of Faith” but right now I want to share the information on the book itself, the beautiful cover art & the lovely Excerpt Ms Campbell provided for me to share with my readers! A bit of a tradition – I shared an Excerpt last October for her debut and now again for her sophomore release!
Enjoy reading this wicked glimpse into Avelynn and Alrik!
It’s the year 871. Charges of treason, murder, and witchcraft follow Avelynn into exile as she flees England with Alrik. Arriving in Wales, they find refuge among Alrik’s friends in the Welsh nobility. Cast out by his half-brothers, Alrik seeks to regain his honor and earn favor with the gods. When war threatens, Alrik embraces gold and the opportunity for his crew to become mercenaries, aiding the Southern Welsh kings in their fight against Rhodri the Great.
Desperate to return home, Avelynn seeks to find a way to prove her innocence, but she is pitted against Alrik as their desires for the future clash. With battle looming, Avelynn’s faith in their relationship is further tested through a bitter struggle with Marared, a jealous lover from Alrik’s past. Marared’s threats turn deadly, and Avelynn runs afoul of magic and sorcery, causing her to question her beliefs and role as priestess.
When Avelynn and Alrik are betrayed, Avelynn is captured and Alrik is charged with regicide. The two become separated, a chasm of greed, deceit, and ambition driving them apart. In an act of harrowing faith, Avelynn will stop at nothing to find her way back to Alrik and break them both free from Wales’s bloodthirsty grasp.
AVELYNN: THE EDGE OF FAITH is a stand-alone novel and #2 in the Avelynn series.
Marissa Campbell is a published freelance author, and co-author of the award-winning, spiritual self-help book Life: Living in Fulfillment Every Day.
Her debut historical fiction AVELYNN, was published through St. Martin’s Press, September 2015. She self-published her sophmore release Avelynn: The Edge of Faith. She is a proud member of the Historical Novel Society, Romance Writers of America, Writer’s Community of Durham Region, and local critique group B7.
When she is not writing, she is busy looking after her wonderful children, spending time with her fantastic husband, hanging out with her awesome friends, teaching yoga, dancing, laughing, and having fun!
Halfway Bitten
Halfway Dead
![Book Review | “SCARECROW: an #anthology of shorts” [edited by] Rhonda Parrish published by #IndiePub World Weaver Press](https://i0.wp.com/jorielovesastory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/73/2016/10/Scarecrow-Anthology-by-World-Weaver-Press.jpg?fit=682%2C1024&ssl=1 "Book Review | “SCARECROW: an #anthology of shorts” [edited by] Rhonda Parrish published by #IndiePub World Weaver Press")
Scarecrow
Flames of Nevyana
Avelynn