Guest Post and Giveaway: Allie Jean

Please welcome Allie Jean, the author of Legacy Of A Dreamer (read my review here).

Legacy of a Dreamer was spawned from an idea I've had in my head since I was very little. I must have been somewhat disturbed as a child, because I'd have horrible, violent nightmares that had so much vivid detail to them, it felt like I was stuck in a horror film. No, I didn't have any major trauma when I was young, but my mother attributes my unnatrual fear and creative imagination to Michael Jackson, oddly enough.

When I was three years old, my parents allowed me to watch Thriller for the first time, and let me tell you, I still remember the spine curdling fear I'd experienced when his eyes turned yellow at the end, followed by that horribly creepy laugh. Lord, I thought the devil himself was going to pop out of the that TV and come get me. My mother laughs to this day, retelling the look in my eyes when the music video had finished. She could tell right away that allowing me to watch that may have not been the best idea.

And yes, that is when the nightmares began. It was also around that time that I had an imaginary friend who was a werewolf, but I digress.

The premise of my book is about a girl who suffers from debilitating, terrifying nightmares since she was very young. She doesn't remember much about her past, only having a small recollection of being dragged away from her childhood home only to be put into foster care. She attributes the nightmares to something that happened in her past, something so terrifying, her mind has chosen her sleeping hours to play it out in the most twisted ways.

Giveaway Time!!

I have one ebook copy of Legacy Of A Dreamer to give away. All you have to do is fill out the form below. Comments are welcome, but you have to fill the form to enter the contest.You have until Thursday (May 31)* to enter. I will announce the lucky winner on Friday, June 1st. Be sure to check back here to see if you won. I will be emailing the winner as soon as possible to let him/her know how to claim the prize.

This giveaway is open internationally!

NOTE! Winner must respond to my email in 72 hours, or a new winner will be chosen.

Please read the Giveaway/Contest Policy before entering.

*UPDATE: due to personal reasons, I extended the period of this giveaway. 

About the Author
Allie Jean was born with an overactive imagination. At a very early age, a child, her days were spent inventing stories, directing her sisters in made-up plays or telling elaborate ghost stories. Her mind never took breaks, or shutdown, even when she slept. When her eyes shut at night, she would have vivid dreams complete with extensive, elaborate plot lines, and good overcoming evil villains.

She was encouraged by her parents, even at a young age, to write down her tales, and it has remained a somewhat secret hobby. It became a means to escape from the drama of real life into one of the many worlds she created.

Now, living in California with her husband of ten years, her love of storytelling had taken a back seat with the arrival of their four children. Though, she always found time to write down her thoughts on whatever was handy, including a stray diaper or two while rocking a sleeping child in the middle of the night when her character's begged for attention as well.

As a busy wife, mother and working full-time outside the home, somehow she has been able to write down her relentless character's story. Her once secret hobby and private world, is now released for other's to enjoy. Nothing would make Allie happier that to continue writing and spend more time at home with her family on a more full-time basis.

Blog Tour Book Review: The Legacy Of A Dreamer by Allie Jean

Author: Allie Jean

Series: The Legacy #1

My Rating: 4 cups

Blurb: (from Goodreads)

Chantal Breelan is a ward of the state, living under the care of a woman who is cold and heartless. Her past is a mystery, and her future is even more uncertain. She can’t recall why she had been taken from her parents and so she’s left with nothing but an empty hole where her childhood should have been. When she awakens from her nightmares, she’s left with terrible, violent images, as well as a boy whose face is oddly familiar, yet can’t be placed.
Scared and alone, Chantal begins to confide in an imaginary friend – a shadow in the shape of a man who stands in the corner of her room. She is comforted when she believes he listens to her.
On her eighteenth birthday, Chantal is forced to leave her foster home. She moves to New York City, but the start of her new life doesn’t begin as smoothly as she’d hoped. In this environment, she faces a whole new set of challenges.
One night at a subway station, Chantal meets a young boy who runs away from her, and she’s compelled to follow him down into the tunnels. But this Rabbit Hole reveals a world where reality is a nightmare. Her dreams are clues to her future, and her life becomes twisted and dangerous when she learns that things that go bump in the night are not just in fairy tales and childhood stories.

When I started reading this book I didn't know what to expect. I haven't read many books with characters tormented by awful nightmares before. And the nightmares were awful.

Speaking of nightmares, one of the things I loved about this book was how they were presented. They were very detailed and for me that was new. When I read dream sequences they are rarely this detailed and this vivid. Also, I know for sure that if I had dreams like that, I'd be scared of falling asleep.

Chantal surprised me. A lot I might say. At first I had a very different opinion of who and what she was and why she was like that. I certainly didn't expect her to be related to the fallen angels. But I liked her from the very start. Maybe because she seemed like she needed a break, a new life, a fresh start. And how cool was it that she had an imaginary (well, not actually, but you'll see ;) ) friend made of a shadow? The last time I heard of something similar was in Peter Pan and I liked that idea so much. Also, she named him Nick, which is one of my favorite names :D

Speaking of Nick. I liked him. I thought he was such a sweetheart. He's the knight in shining armor type of guy and I'm so glad that Chantal gets to meet him. After her childhood, she really needed him. He's a warrior also, one that would give his own life to protect Chantal. And he loves her.

The one thing that I loved above all else were the evil creatures in this book and I hope we get to see more in the upcoming books. You know how much I love sexy vampires, but it's been a while since they've been portrayed like the evil creatures they were first knows as. I think it's probably the first time since I read that in a book.

This book is filled with suspense and, while it starts a little slow, once the action starts, it doesn't stop until the very end. There's also a little bit of horror, a little romance, some funny moments. So I say read it.

Now to wait for the second book :)

Book Review: Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Author: Wendy Higgins

Series: The Sweet Trilogy #1

My Rating: 5 cups

Blurb: (from Goodreads)

What if there were teens whose lives depended on being bad influences?
This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels in Sweet Evil.
Tenderhearted Southern girl, Anna Whitt, was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She’s aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but it isn’t until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage, and her will-power is put to the test. He’s the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.
Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

To quote Anna, wowza! You know, when I decided to read this book yesterday I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did, nor did I expect to read it this fast. But I did. Boy, did I love this book.

First of all, angels and demons, how can that be a bad plot? Right? I mean, it's nice to see other creatures getting attention. Plus, demons are HOTT. Yes, it needed that extra T :P I liked the mythology and how it was  used. I liked the idea of guardian angels and whisperers and demon lords (or Dukes) and all that. And while you might think it's cliché that a half-angel, half-demon girl falls for the demon boy, it's such a good story, it doesn't even bother you. Or it didn't bother me.

Speaking of love stories, if I had to pick the best love story I've read so far this year, this would be the one. I loved Kaidan so much. He was a smart-ass some of the times, a jerk a few times, but I realized he REALLY liked Anna and he cared for her. I do hope they end up together, because they have such a sweet connection.  Also, Kaidan was hot :D

I liked Anna. She is an easy girl to like and I was sad and angry for her a few times. There was this one scene where I literally wanted to jump into the scene and punch a guy. Not Kaidan, another guy. Kaidan was good with her ;)

Oh, I hope we see more of Anna's father. I liked him a lot. And the way he bonded with Anna and how he cared for her was really special and it's one of those rare father-daughter relationships, one that I haven't found very often in books. So I was glad to see that in a book. I do hope the relationship between them will grow stronger and stronger.

You basically have anything you can think of in this book: humor, suspense, drama, romance, the usual teenage angst, fantasy, you name it. The only thing I can think of that would've made this book even better would be if we had gotten to see things from Kaidan's perspective. Since it's told in 1st person from Anna's view, we don't exactly get to see what Kaidan really thinks or feels. You know I prefer multiple POVs, so maybe that's why I wanted Kaidan's POV also. Other than that, the book was great and I highly recommend it to anyone. Seriously. Go read it! I'm now going to bite my nails for the second book in this trilogy :)

Dirty Little Secret (8)

Dirty Little Secret is a weekly meme hosted by Under The Covers.

The rules are simple:

1. Be a follower of Under the Covers.
2. Create a post in your blog taking the meme image and copy instructions.
3. Answer the weekly question.

For more information and for signing up, go to the Under The Covers blog.


This week's question:


We've heard a rumor that Ryan Seacrest is using Fifty Shades of Grey as a manual in the bedroom.
What book would you give a guy to study up on?


Excuse me a little while I laugh... Ok *draws in breath* I'm done. Well, I still giggle at the rumor, but I'll try to stop it for a little while.
I wouldn't give him a book. Look, maybe it's my weird brain but if I can't trust him enough to tell him what I want, how can I trust him to pick my favorite parts from a book? I would give him my Cherise Sinclair books to read, though I'd watch him like a hawk, making sure my babies...err...my books are safe and sound. (I just hate it when someone makes even the tinniest mark on my books *shrugs*) Maybe it's not the best answer you've heard, but it is what it is :P

What about you? What book would you give a guy to study up on?

Interview: Amber Garr

Please welcome Amber Garr. She stopped by to talk about her amazing book, Promises (read my review here).

*Hello Amber! Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hi and thanks for having me! Let’s see…I work as a research marine biologist during the day, and at night I’m either dancing or writing. I grew up in the Pennsylvania mountains and have lived in Florida for the past ten years. My house is full of one husband, one dog, two cats, and six fish. I recently completed my Ph.D., and although I will continue with my career, I still look forward to sitting down and writing all of the stories in my head.


*When did you start writing?

I did a little journaling as a kind (nothing major), but I really started focusing on my fiction writing about two years ago. I had an injury and couldn’t dance for a while, so I suddenly found that I had some free time. I started with flash fiction and short stories and those quickly turned into full novels and a series! I do a lot of technical writing for my job, so this was something that quickly became a new hobby of mine and I really enjoyed the freedom and creativity it brought.


*Are you a plotter or a panster?

Definitely a plotter. I make lists reminding me to make lists. I don’t have a detailed outline, but I do plot out each chapter in the book before writing. Smaller plot points will change or appear along the way, but the major scenes and characters are usually planned. I have a special zombie journal for all of my writing notes!


*What was the inspiration for writing Promises?

Well, of course I always wished that I could be a mermaid so I often wondered what that life would be like. Would I live in the ocean or walk amongst the humans? And what kind of responsibility would that entail. So the story kind of developed from there…a secret society of mermaids and a girl who feels like the she has the weight of the world on her shoulders. Because, who hasn’t felt that way at least once in their life? The first chapter was originally one of my short stories, and after a few months, I decided to add more to it...and that quickly turned into a three book series! I loved the selkie folklore and knew that I needed to weave that into the story as well as creatures that may be lurking underneath the ocean but we never see.


*The covers for your Syrenka books are stunning! Did you have an idea of how the covers should look like while writing the books?

Thank you so much! Although, I can’t really take the credit for them other than making the decision to hire Claudia at PhatPuppyArt (http://phatpuppyart.com ). I didn’t know exactly what I wanted when we worked on the first cover (Promises). I debated over showing a tail or not, but we decided to keep that part mysterious. I wanted to emulate how “trapped” Eviana felt in the cover of the second book (Betrayal). And the third cover (Arise) evolved as I was writing. As you will see, it will be very fitting for the development of Eviana’s character by the end of the series. Claudia is simply amazing and I wish that I had time to write a story for each one of her pieces.


*What’s your favourite and least favourite part of writing?

I absolutely love creating new worlds and having characters do things that I would never have the guts (or personality) to do. My least favourite part is not having enough time to dedicate to writing. These past few months have been so busy for me that I’m dying to have my nights free to finish Arise and work on the other books in progress.


*What is your favourite book?

I can’t really pick a favourite. But I’d have to say that anything written by Kelley Armstrong, Kim Harrison, Charlaine Harris, or Richelle Mead has been read at least three or four times!


*If you could be any character from your books, who would you be and why?

I think I’d pick a water sprite. It would be cool to be able to change forms and travel anywhere water flows. I’m just not too sure about the having to eat humans part. I’m a very picky eater.


*Do you have anything planned after the Syrenka series? Will you keep writing YA?

Yes, I have two adult novels that I like to publish and I’ve been toying with a new idea for a standalone YA novel. There are also a few back stories and situations with characters from The Syrenka Series that I may write up and put together in a novella. We’ll see! I really love writing and the response to my books has been encouraging. Now I just have to find the time.


*What do you like to do besides writing in your free time?

I am involved with a local dance and fitness studio where I teach ballet/contemporary classes, perform, and choreograph. And when I’m not doing all of those things, I like going out on the water with my husband in our little boat and enjoying nature!


*If Promises were made into a movie, which actors would you choose to play the main characters?

I have thought about this so many times and the only person I’ve been sold on since the beginning is Kain…and that would be Alex Pettyfer for sure! Although I recently saw a move with a rather unknown actress (Sarah Gadon – The Moth Diaries) who may fit my ideal for Eviana. Brendan’s been tough. Perhaps Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson) with some green contacts…but I don’t know. I would love to hear some suggestions!


Thank you for stopping by!

About the Author

Amber Garr spends her days conducting scientific experiments and wondering if her next door neighbor is secretly a vampire. Born in Pennsylvania, she lives in Florida with her husband and their furry kids. Her childhood imaginary friend was a witch, Halloween is sacred, and she is certain that she has a supernatural sense of smell. She writes both adult and young adult urban fantasies and when not obsessing over the unknown, she can be found dancing, reading, or enjoying a good movie.




Social Contact

Website: http://www.ambergarr.com

Blog: http://ambergarr.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amber-Garr/232359720165110

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5374297.Amber_Garr

Blog Tour Book Review: Promises by Amber Garr

Author: Amber Garr
Series: Syrenka #1
My Rating: 5 cups
Blurb: (from Goodreads)

Sometimes following your heart can end up destroying the ones you love.
When seventeen-year-old Eviana Dumahl is faced with the responsibility of an arranged marriage and clan leadership, she is forced to choose between the life required of a mermaid and one of a teenage girl simply infatuated with the wrong guy. Kain, her devoted fiancé would make a wonderful husband except that she’s been in love with Brendan, a shape-shifting selkie, ever since they were kids. Choosing to abandon her family, her clan, and her life with Kain will have dire consequences far beyond anything she could have imagined.
A war is brewing amongst the clans and Eviana unwittingly becomes a pawn in the intricate schemes of a twisted mastermind. With Brendan’s life on the line, she has no choice but to involve those who she once considered friends. Amidst encountering senseless tragedies and immense loss, Eviana discovers that she is more valuable as a clan leader than anyone ever suspected. Her survival is not only dependent upon the loyalty of her friends, but also on her acceptance of a life that she had so adamantly tried to escape.
Promises is the first book of The Syrenka Series trilogy following Eviana and her friends through the perils of growing up in a discrete world that inherently threatens human society.

I'm so, so happy I got to read this book. First, I haven't read a book with mermaids before (unless you count  The Little Mermaid, but that was ages ago), so this was new territory for me. Second, it's fantasy, so I knew for sure that I was going to love this book.

What I loved about this book is that you get to see each and every character both as a sea creatures and as humans. That was very interesting. And I loved the fact that mermaids are presented as being on top of the food chain. It was fun to see other creatures besides vampires that could be rulers of all races.

There were also mythological references about mermaids and how they created and when. Then there are the selkie references and I was so happy about that. If I didn't met many mermaids in my books, I hear a lot of stories about selkies and I was excited to see them included in the fantasy world, because I believe they are very interesting creatures. Plus, it's fresh. I mean, how many creatures get to shift into an animal dressing in the skin of said animal?

Besides the fact that she's a mermaid, Eviana seemed like a normal teenager to me. A girl that's stubborn, strong willed, brave. She's in love with a selkie shifter, but she's been promised to another boy since she was a little girl. You can call it a love triangle and you wouldn't be mistaken. She loves Brendan, even though everyone is against their relationship, and she chooses to run away with him. She has a sense of right and wrong, more than I expected. Yes, part of why she ran away was because of her rebelliousness, but it was also because the idea of being married to one guy and being in love with another was wrong. She's also very naive, but that is mostly due to her mother, who never thought of sharing details of the things she was supposed to expect once Eviana became a clan leader. I didn't really like her mom very much because of that.

There were a lot of surprises and a lot of twists and turns that I didn't expect. Also, I didn't expect to like Kain. I liked Brendan, the selkie, a lot, but I was expecting a dull Kain, not a hot, swoon-worthy Kain. I love the fact that both guys are really strong characters.

And, in case you didn't notice, this book has an AMAZING cover! I would stare at that cover over and over again, without getting tired. In fact, all covers in this series are amazing, gorgeous, beautiful.

I say you should definitely read this book. If you like fantasy and YA, you really should try it! And at the end of this book you'll find a sneak peak for the next book in the series, Betrayal.