Review - More Than We Can Tell (Letters to the Lost, #2) by Brigid Kemmerer

Title: More Than We Can Tell (Letters to the Lost, #2)

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Pages: 415

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books

Release Date: 8th March 2018

Blurb from Goodreads: 

Rev works hard to keep the demons of the time before his adoption at bay ... until a letter from his father after his 18th birthday brings the trauma of his childhood hurtling back.

Emma escapes real life by perfecting the online game she built from scratch. Coding is way easier than facing her parents' nasty relationship or the growing distance with her best friend ... But when an online troll's harassment starts to escalate, she fears for her safety.

When Rev and Emma meet, they're buckling under the weight of their secrets. Though both of them find it hard to put their problems into words, they connect instantly and deeply. Rev and Emma's problems might be worlds apart, but they promise to help each other no matter what.

But promises are made to be tested and some things hurt more than we can tell.

 

 Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

My Review:

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) and NetGalley*

Adopted at a young age after escaping from his abusive father, Rev works hard to battle his demons. Then a letter arrives from his father on Rev's eighteenth birthday, threatening to bring back buried memories.

Emma loves gaming and coding, just like her father. She has built her own online game and escapes there to get away from her bickering parents. But then a troll starts harassing Emma and threatening her safety.

When Rev and Emma meet they both have their own problems, but maybe together they can overcome them.

What does Rev's father want from him?

Will the troll harassing Emma get bored and go away?

I really enjoyed Letters to the Lost, so when I heard that there was a sequel/companion novel coming out I was excited to read it.

I loved both Rev and Emma as well as other characters like Declan and Rev's adopted parents. Rev and Emma were both likeable and realistic protagonists.

The plot was interesting and held my attention. I felt sorry for both Rev and Emma and really liked their interactions.

The writing style made it easy to zoom through the pages.

While I didn't like this as much as Letters to the Lost, I still enjoyed it.

Overall this was an enjoyable read that I would recommend.

Book Blitz + Giveaway - The Trouble with Unicorns (Team Unicorn Talia, #1) by D.T. Dyllin

The Trouble with Unicorns (Team Unicorn Talia, #1) by D.T. Dyllin
 
Publication date: April 30th 2018
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Paranormal, Romance

Part-time demon tracker, full-time optimist …

Talia White does what comes naturally to a unicorn: Balances the scales between light and dark with hefty doses of love and joy.

Faced with a string of high profile demon possessions, Talia is determined to do her job, despite the fact that she finds herself strapped with a brooding dragon warrior as her new guardian.

That’s the trouble with unicorns … they’ll accomplish their goal one way or another, even if they have to get a little stabby to do it.

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Author Bio

 

D.T. Dyllin is a bestselling author who writes paranormal, sci-fi, and contemporary romance. Basically, anything with a love story is her kryptonite. Her obsession with affairs-of-the-heart is what first drove her to begin twisting her own tales of scorching romance.

D.T. was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Black & Gold for life, baby!) She now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with her husband, and two spoiled German Shepherds.

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Blog Tour + Guest Post + Giveaway - Fractions of Existence by J. Lenni Dorner

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Fractions of Existence by J. Lenni Dorner
Publication Date:  September 20, 2017

 

Once they were humanity's exalted protectors— now they are being hunted.

Xavier will weigh all human life against Gwendolyn's ignorant happiness.

The good news is that her choice can blow his away.

Omnipotent beings find each other while playing an online game. Xavier has been searching for Gwendolyn, his true mate and the missing member of the Existence. Only if reunited can the group regain the rest of their memories and access all of their powers. Hidden in plain sight, disguised as humans, they help who they can, as best they can, when they can.

The Eyes in the Shadows, a religious sect, has been trying to free humans from the “prison” of life on Earth for millenniums. The Existence has always been able to thwart them… until now. They've discovered a way to end the world that no one will see coming.

Gwendolyn has her future all laid out. There is a plan. She knows what her parents want for her and how to get it. Then Xavier, a friend from a virtual game, makes her question everything. He's full of secrets, one being an understanding of her fear of the wind.

She tries to suppress her intense attraction to the mysterious and frustrating Xavier. She's engaged, after all, and the thoughts she's having aren't proper. Gwendolyn is swept into a whirlwind of secrets, danger, and a forbidden attraction. She'll drive across the country in her beat-up old car, not knowing if he is genuinely interested or just being polite. (He refuses to kiss her!) Gwendolyn's journey is full of self-doubt, sacrifice, and dark visions that invade her sleep. Will she uncover the truth about herself?

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Purchase Links:

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 If I Knew Then What I Know Now About Writing

Not just because of my book, but also because of my time at Operation Awesome, I learned more about query letters. There's a question or request that often comes up about "comparison titles." There's a disconnect between what agents and publishers mean by this and what many authors (myself included) think it means.

The purpose of comparison titles in a query letter is marketing to a core audience. Authors tend to pick a best-seller, which seems wise, but isn't. The reason is that best-sellers tend to have a crossover fanbase. Harry Potter is a very popular example. It has a huge fanbase of readers who have never bought another fantasy book, and a fanbase that transcends ages. The books didn't start there, though.

The question isn't about who might buy the book once it becomes wildly popular. The question is about which group will buy the first 500 copies. The hardcore fanbase who will tell their friends, write reviews, and post on message boards. Use Amazon to find your book's genre, then skip the first page or two on the top of the list. That's the sweet spot for comparison titles (in most cases).

Another mistake querying authors make is using non-books as comparison titles. Movies, television shows, or even songs are not comparison titles. The first place a publisher sells your book isn't going to be a movie theater, the DVD section at Best Buy, via Netflix, or on Pandora. (Though how great would a, "if you enjoyed this show, consider this book" option be? Even if that were real, it still wouldn't be the first selling location.) Big publishers are going to start selling using their pre-existing fanbase of proven reading reviewers. That's why they need to know who to sell the first copies to. (Or offer up ARCs.) This might seem obvious to some authors. To those who it doesn't, back in 2013, I had one query letter where I compared Fractions of Existence to song "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba. Yes, there is a similarity, but the marketing doesn't crossover between music and books.

That was my second biggest querying mistake. (My biggest one being my attempt to write the query letter from the point of view of one of my characters. It seems creative and fun. PLEASE learn from my mistake and don't do it. A very kind agent pointed out that it's nothing but confusing.)

Yes, I ultimately decided to self-publish. I became an expert on query letters over the past five years, learning from books, classes, and (most of all) from mistakes.

I self-published because I wrote an urban fantasy that doesn't include the traditional elements of the genre. Fractions of Existence lacks mention of vampires, detectives, orphaned main characters, magic users, dragons, butt-kicking female loners (Jez isn’t really a loner), a butt-kicking normal human who plays with paranormals (Wend isn't really a normal human), or protagonists who hunt paranormals for vigilante justice (that's the antagonists, and it's not justice they're seeking). It IS an urban fantasy, just not that kind of urban fantasy, which makes it difficult to market to the fanbase. I realized I had to scrap it or go on my own and hope to find my small niche of readers. It's hard, but I know it was the right decision for me.

About the Author

 

J. competed in Write Club 2014 &2016. The Creative Writing Institute held writing contests that resulted in J Lenni Dorner being published in "WRONG!: A themed anthology 2014" and LOST!: A themed anthology 2017. J self-published "Preparing to Write Settings That Feel Like Characters," in 2015. Winner of the Write Edit Publish Now flash fiction "Youthful Frights versus Adult Fears" Halloween challenge 2015. Signum University's Mythgard Institute held a creative writing contest in the autumn of 2015 called "Almost an Inkling" in which J Lenni Dorner was the Popular Vote Winner of week 6, resulting in publication in The Soul of Wit. The Operation Awesome Flash Fiction Contest 12 win in April 2016 went to J Lenni Dorner.

A to Z Challenge co-host as of 2017.

When not reading or writing, J enjoys video games, laughing at funny cat videos, finding drawings of dragons on Pinterest, and watching movies.

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Review - The Wolves of Winter by Tyrell Johnson

Title: The Wolves of Winter

Author: Tyrell Johnson

Pages: 321

Publisher: 11th January 2018

Blurb from Goodreads: 

Forget the old days. Forget summer. Forget warmth. Forget anything that doesn’t help you survive in the endless white wilderness beyond the edges of a fallen world.

Lynn McBride has learned much since society collapsed in the face of nuclear war and the relentless spread of disease. As the memories of her old life continue to haunt, she’s been forced to forge ahead in the snow-drifted Canadian Yukon, learning how to hunt and trap and slaughter.

But her fragile existence is about to be shattered. Shadows of the world before have found her tiny community—most prominently in the enigmatic figure of Jax, who brings with him dark secrets of the past and sets in motion a chain of events that will call Lynn to a role she never imagined.

 Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

My Review:

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to HQ and NetGalley*

Gwendolynn 'Lynn' McBride and her family moved to Yukon when she was young, after war and disease broke out, ending society as we know it. Now in her early twenties, Lynn spends her time hunting and surviving in the snow-covered landscape.

Things change when Lynn comes across a stranger and his dog. Jax brings danger to Lynn and her family.

What secrets will be unearthed?

Will everyone survive the events that follow Jax's arrival?

The Wolves of Winter reminded me of one of my favourite books, Wolf Road by Beth Lewis, in a lot of ways - both are post-apocalyptic/dystopian books set in the Yukon with female protagonists that can hunt. When I realised that there were so many similarities, I was worried I wouldn't enjoy The Wolves of Winter, but it surprised me.

I thought Lynn was a good protagonist and there were several other characters that I liked.

The plot was good and held my attention. There were a few aspects of it that I had read in other books, but I felt they worked well together in this. The action was well-done and there was a little romance (which I liked).

I did feel that it could have been a bit longer because I seemed to read it really quickly, but the pacing was good. Part of me wants a sequel, but I also liked the way the story ended.

The writing style was easy to follow and made me want to read on.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Tyrell Johnson writes next.

Overall this was an enjoyable read.