June 2016 Recap

Books read in previous months but reviewed in June:

(Links will take you to my reviews)

1. Their Fractured Light - Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner (Read in January, reviewed in June)
2. Ice Planet Barbarians - Ruby Dixon (Read in February, reviewed in June)
3. Morning Star - Pierce Brown (Read in February, reviewed in June)
4. The Dark Days Club - Alison Goodman (Read in February, reviewed in June)
5. The Shadow Queen - C.J. Redwine (Read in March, reviewed in June)
6. Bound to Danger - Katie Reus (Read in March, reviewed in June)
7. Hollywood Dirt - Alessandra Torre (Read in March, reviewed in June)
8. The Hostage Bargain - Annika Martin (Read in March, reviewed in June)
9. Wickedly Wonderful - Deborah Blake (Read in March, reviewed in June)
10. Begging for It - Lilah Pace (Read in March, reviewed in June)
11. Owl and the City of Angels - Kristi Charish (Read in March, reviewed in June)
12. Allegiance of Honour - Nalini Singh (Read in April, review coming soon)
13. Flamecaster - Cinda Williams Chima (Read in April, reviewed in June)
14. Hot Six - Janet Evanovich (Read in May, reviewed in June)
15. Shadowed Blade - J.C. Daniels (Read in May, reviewed in June)
16. Violet Tendencies - Jay Wells (Novella) (Read in May, reviewed in June)

Books read in June:

(Links will take you to my reviews)

1. Green-Eyed Demon - Jaye Wells
2. The Fires of Heaven - Robert Jordan
3. Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge - Paul Krueger
4. Magic Strikes - Ilona Andrews (I re-read this book before posting my review)
5. The Wrath and the Dawn - Renee Ahdieh (Review coming soon)
6. Magic Mourns - Ilona Andrews (Novella) (I re-read this book before posting my review)
7. Chaos Rises - Pippa DaCosta
8. The Loneliness of Distant Beings - Kate Ling
9. Poison or Protect - Gail Carriger (Novella)
10. Stripped Bear - Kate Baxter (Novella) (Review coming soon)
11. Dead Witch Walking - Kim Harrison (Review coming soon)
12. Inseverable - Cecy Robson
13. Secret of the Gargoyles - Rebecca Chastain
14. Blood Shadows - Lindsay J. Pryor (Review coming soon)
15. Magic Bleeds - Ilona Andrews (I re-read this book before posting my review)
16. Magic Dreams - Ilona Andrews (Novella) (I re-read this book before posting my review)
17. Hard Ever After - Laura Kaye (Novella) (Review coming soon)
18. Glory In Death - J.D. Robb (Review coming soon)
19. Ride Hard - Laura Kaye (Review coming soon)
20. Seven Up - Janet Evanovich (Review coming soon)

Other June Posts:

1. Cover Reveal: Shadows on the Moon - Zoe Marriott
2. Guest Post: Strong Female Characters by Paul Krueger (Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge Blog Tour)
3. Spotlight: Inseverable - Cecy Robson (Excerpt, Guest Post + Giveaway)
4. Cover Reveal: Archangel's Heart - Nalini Singh
5. Spotlight: Secret of the Gargoyles (+ Giveaway)
6. Favourite Romance Beach Reads
7. Movie Review: The Choice - Based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks (+ UK Giveaway for 3 copies of the DVD)

June Books of the Month:

(Choices are made from books reviewed this month and the links will take you to my reviews)

My top YA reads in June:

I actually read the first two of these months ago and they're fantastic books but I've only just got around to posting my reviews I had to include them here.

Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (read my review here)

Morning Star by Pierce Brown (read my review here)

Secret of the Gargoyles by Rebecca Chastain (read my review here)

My top NA read in June:

Inseverable by Cecy Robson (read my review here)

My top adult reads in June:

Hollywood Dirt by Alessandra Torre (read my review here)
Chaos Rises by Pippa DaCosta (read my review here)

June Events:

I've been pretty hopeless at writing up events recently so I've decided to start mentioning them in my monthly wrap up posts so they at least get a little attention!

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to Walker's offices for their Ink Slingers Summer Picnic. We spent a brilliant morning talking about lots of exciting upcoming books they have lined up for us, eating cake and chatting with three of their authors: Siobhan Curham, Zoe Marriott, and Lauren James. All three authors have books coming out soon: The Moonlight Dreamers, Barefoot on the Wind (which is one of my most longed for releases of the year!) and The Last Beginning, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the author's talk about their newest books and getting to chat with them as well as meeting some of the new Walker publicity team. They have lots of exciting things planned for us so you definitely need to keep an eye out for their new releases!

Siobhan Curham, Zoe Marriott, and Lauren James

Thanks so much to everyone at Walker Books for inviting me and being so enthusiastic about working with bloggers! I came away with lots of exciting books to read so keep an eye out for reviews over the next few months :o)

My Challenge Updates:

These are the challenges I've signed up for in 2016:

2016 Read 100 Books in a Year Challenge - Read 116/200
2016 British Books Challenge - Read 18/50
2016 New Author Challenge - Read 25/50
2016 Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance Challenge - 53/100
2016 Contemporary Romance Challenge - 12/20
2016 Romantic Suspense Challenge - 8/20

Review: Finding Cherokee Brown - Siobhan Curham

His lips touched mine and for one split second the whole world stopped. Then every cell in my body fizzed into life . . .

When I decided to write a book about my life I thought I'd have to make loads of stuff up. I mean, who wants to read about someone like me?

But as soon as I started writing, the weirdest thing happened. I found out I wasn't who I thought I was. And I stopped being scared. Then everything went crazy!

Best of all, I discovered that when you finally decide to be brave it's like waving a want over your life - the most magical things can happen . . .

Visit Siobhan Curham's website for more information

Review:
Claire is sick of her life, since her best friend moved away she has struggled to fit in at school and the bullies have been making her life a misery. All she wants is someone to talk to but since she doesn't really have any friends she decides to write her life story instead. Writing starts out as a release but as she writes about the way she is treated she realises that she is going to have to learn to stand up for herself if she wants things to change. As Claire finds her courage and makes some shocking discoveries about her past she starts to discover who she really is.

Siobhan Curham has a knack for writing realistic teenage characters so as much as I liked Georgie in Dear Dylan I found myself loving Claire even more in Finding Cherokee Brown. Things haven't been easy for her but she isn't one to sit around feeling sorry for herself and as she starts to think things through she realises that nothing will ever change unless she makes it. She is brave enough to face up to her bullies even though she knows that could end up making things worse for her. The bullying scenes in the story were very well written and realistic, I remember having a teacher just like Miss Davis who was completely unable to cope with the kids at my school and who just stood back and watched the bullying happen. I just wish I'd been brave enough to stand up for myself like Claire did.

Aside from the issues Claire is having at school she also has questions about her family. Her father left when she was a baby and has never been part of her life, Claire has always been told that he lives in America and wants nothing to do with her so when she discovers he is living just a few miles away in London she is understandably shocked and annoyed. Meeting her dad has a huge impact on Claire and the way she sees herself, she has always felt like an outsider at home with her mum, step-dad and twin half-brothers so finding her dad makes her feel like she is part of a family again. At the same time she is resentful for the time she has missed out on with him and she has to come to terms with why that happened. I loved the way her relationship develops with her dad and the way things played out when her mum found out they were in contact. It was a difficult situation that effected every member of the family in different ways and I thought the author handled that very well.

If you enjoyed Dear Dylan then you're going to love Finding Cherokee Brown just as much but the books are totally unrelated so you don't have to read them in any particular order. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good contemporary coming of age story, especially anyone who has suffered (or still is suffering) with bullying. Claire is an inspirational heroine who shows that you should never have to hide who you really are and that if some people don't understand you then it's their loss not yours. I'm looking forward to seeing what Siobhan Curham comes up with next.

Source: Received from Egmont in exchange for an honest review

Other reviews of this book:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Finding Cherokee Brown Blog Tour: Agatha Dashwood’s Writing Tips by Siobhan Curham

Today I'm excited to welcome Siobhan Curham to the blog to celebrate the release of her newest book Finding Cherokee Brown. I loved Siobhan's debut novel Dear Dylan when I read it a few years ago so I couldn't wait to read her next book and Finding Cherokee Brown doesn't disappoint. I'll be posting my full review later today but this was such a fun read and one I'd definitely recommend to fans of contemporary YA.

His lips touched mine and for one split second the whole world stopped. Then every cell in my body fizzed into life . . .

When I decided to write a book about my life I thought I'd have to make loads of stuff up. I mean, who wants to read about someone like me?

But as soon as I started writing, the weirdest thing happened. I found out I wasn't who I thought I was. And I stopped being scared. Then everything went crazy!

Best of all, I discovered that when you finally decide to be brave it's like waving a want over your life - the most magical things can happen . . .

Visit Siobhan Curham's website for more information

Now let me hand over to Siobhan who is going to tell you a little more about the book and share some of the writing tips included in the book.

********************

Siobhan Curham

Agatha Dashwood’s Writing Tips

Finding Cherokee Brown is the story of a teenage girl who decides to write a book about her life after coming across a (fictional) second-hand book called, So You Want to Write a Novel by a writer called Agatha Dashwood. As Cherokee follows the advice in the book and starts writing about her own life, it helps her become more like the feisty literary heroines she loves to read about – and gives her the courage to stand up to her bullies.

Each chapter in Finding Cherokee Brown begins with a writing tip from Agatha Dashwood and we see Cherokee following that advice somewhere in the chapter. Rather than write completely straightforward writing tips, I decided to have fun with Agatha Dashwood’s voice and made her a very bossy, old-fashioned, straight-laced writer from the 1950s. Although the tips are all genuine, and hopefully will help any aspiring writers reading the book, I also wanted to give people a laugh when they read them.

Here are a selection:

The Character Questionnaire
“When I started out in my writing career, many years ago, writing short stories and serials for The Respected Lady magazine, the Character Questionnaire became my most cherished friend. Use the template below before you start your story to get to know your own characters even better than you know yourself.”

The Opening Paragraph
“Dear writer, imagine if you will that your reader is a trout, swimming merrily downstream. The first paragraph of your novel should be like the maggot on the end of the fisherman’s line. Juicy and appealing to the point of irresistible. Hook them with that and then let the rest of your first chapter reel them in.”

Character Journey
“For your main character your story has to be a journey. This journey can be physical, but it must always, without fail, be emotional. If your character hasn’t grown, learnt and changed by the end of your novel then I am afraid they are destined for the wastepaper bin.”

Show, Don’t Tell
“One of the crassest mistakes a new novelist can make is to waste acres of paper telling their reader all about their characters and their motivations. You must SHOW us this information, dear writer, through the character’s actions, rather than tediously tell.”

Conflict = Drama
“There has never been a best-selling novel about a blade of grass growing, or a drop of paint drying. The reason for this is simple, my dear. Readers crave drama and if you don’t create conflict for your characters you cannot create drama.”

Characterisation
“My dears, it’s all fine and dandy knowing your characters inside out, but what do they think of each other, and how do you let the reader know?”

Theme
“The theme for my first novel, ‘The Proud Maiden’ was the sanctity of virginity and for my most well known novel, ‘The Eternal Volcano’ it was the abiding power of love. Decide today upon the message you want your own novel to convey.”

********************

Thanks for a fab guest post Siobhan! I have no intention of trying to become a writer (I'm a very happy reader of everyone else's hard work lol) but these tips make a lot of sense when I look at them from a readers point of view. I loved the tip about the opening paragraph - it takes a nice juicy first line to hook this reader :o)

Don't forget to come back later to read my review of Finding Cherokee Brown and make sure you check out the other tour stops below:

Blog Tour: Dear Dylan Playlist - Siobhan Curham

Today I'd like to give a very warm welcome to Siobhan Curham who has dropped by to share the playlist for her book Dear Dylan. I was lucky enough to read Dear Dylan when Siobhan self published the story back in 2010 and I thoroughly enjoyed it (you can read my review here). So I was thrilled to find out that the book had been bought by Egmont for their new Electric Monkey imprint and of course jumped at the chance to take part in the blog tour. In case you've not heard of Dear Dylan here is the cover image and blurb:

A first crush. An unexpected friendship. A dream come true. A perfect read for fans of Cathy Cassidy, Sarah Dessen and Karen McCombie

Fourteen year old Georgie Harris feels as if the summer holidays are over before they have even begun. Banned from going to the local drama workshop by her bully of a step-dad and her increasingly fragile mum, she is consigned to six long weeks of looking after her tooth-fairy obsessed kid sister. Sick of feeling like the outsider at home and at school, she starts emailing the one person she thinks might understand; Dylan Curtland, star of the popular soap opera Jessop Close. And when Dylan starts emailing back, Georgie finally feels a tiny spark of hope. At last she has someone who really gets her, someone who really wants to help. But in the faceless world of email all is not as it seems...

Visit Siobhan Curham's website for more information

Now I'm going to hand over to Siobhan so she can talk about the Dear Dylan Playlist.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Siobhan Curham

Dear Dylan Playlist

Music features quite heavily in Dear Dylan – the main character, Georgie, is a very talented singer and the book follows her as she takes part in a summer workshop, putting on a production of the musical Bugsy Malone. I had a lot of fun putting together this playlist for the book, which includes songs that are featured in the story and songs that sum up some of the central themes, such as friendship and strength and hope. I hope they bring a smile to your face too…

Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton
Georgie loves this song as it reminds her of her dad and a time when she and her mum were so much happier. She also sings it in her audition for Bugsy Malone.

Ordinary Fool, from Bugsy Malone
This is a song Georgie has to sing in the show and she really identifies with the lyrics.

Club Tropicanna by Wham
This is a cheesy eighties classic and is on the playlist because it would have been a key part of Georgie’s soundtrack growing up, given her mum’s insane love for the lead singer George Michael (she even named Georgie and her sister Michaela after him!)

Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Eva Cassidy
This is such a beautiful version of the song and it reminds me of Georgie in terms of her sense of hope.

Who’s Laughing Now by Jessie J
In Dear Dylan, Georgie has to deal with some quite hurtful incidents involving her so-called best friend, Jessica. For most of the book she feels inferior to Jessica, but, just as in this song, Georgie is the one who has the last laugh.

Stronger by The Sugababes
This song became my theme tune when I was going through a really tough time in my life a few years ago. It is such an empowering song and I can imagine Georgie playing it when she’s at her lowest ebb and getting a lot of strength from it.

Lose Yourself by Eminem
This is a great track for people who have been given a once in a life time opportunity to shine. In Dear Dylan, Georgie has to make the decision whether to grab an opportunity to follow her dream, despite potentially dire consequences. This is a great song to give her courage to make that decision.

If I Can Dream by Elvis Presley
The key theme of Dear Dylan is the importance of dreams. This song sums it all up perfectly to me, and, after listening to it, anything feels possible.

Carry On by Ben’s Brother
A beautiful song that to me symbolises the importance of the online friendship that is central to Dear Dylan and how the love and support of a friend can make all the difference.

Climb Every Mountain by Shirley Bassey
Another epic song about never giving up on your dreams no matter what obstacles you encounter on the way. In Dear Dylan, Georgie has to deal with some serious, and at times, terrifying issues in her home life, but she carries on holding out for the possibility of happier times.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting today Siobhan, there are some great songs on the playlist and I love the way they have such important meanings for Georgie and the story.

Don't forget to check out the other stops on the Dear Dylan blog tour (see details in the banner below)

Publisher Spotlight: Egmont Electric Monkey - February - June 2012

I thought it would be fun to start spotlighting new releases that different publishers have coming up over the next few months for us to look forward to.  I'm constantly looking for new books to add to my wish list and thought it would be a nice way of spreading the bookish love with other bloggers.  I'm not sure how regular the posts will be yet but I have quite a few lined up already and we'll see how things go over the next few months.  So in the spotlight today we have . . .

For 2012 Egmont are launching their new YA imprint Electric Monkey, they have some very exciting titles that I can't wait to get my hands on so I thought it would be nice to share some of them with you here.  Check out Egmont's Electric Monkey website for more information.

6th of February:

First up we have Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.  I really like historical fiction but I've not read much set around the second world war recently so I'm really looking forward to this one.  Visit Elizabeth Wein's website for more information.

A heartbreaking tale of a friendship between two young women set against the odds of the second world war.

Only in wartime could a stalwart lass from Manchester rub shoulders with a Scottish aristocrat, one a pilot, the other a special operations executive. Yet whenever their paths cross, they complement each other perfectly and before long become devoted to each other. But then a vital mission goes wrong, and one of the friends has to bail out of a faulty plane over France. She is captured by the Gestapo and becomes a prisoner of war. The story begins in “Verity’s” own words, as she writes her account for her captors. Truth or lies? Honour or betrayal? Everything they’ve ever believed in is put to the test…

Next we have Oliver Twisted a debut novel by British author JD Sharpe.  Oliver Twist with vampires, zombies and werewolves?  Yup, I'm sold!  This is definitely at the top of my wish list & I can't wait to get hold of a copy.  Visit JD Sharpe's page on Goodreads for more information.

The world according to Oliver Twisted is simple. Vampyres feed on the defenceless, orphans are sacrificed to hungry gods and if a woe-begotten catches your scent it will hunt you forever. On the advice of a corpse, Oliver flees his ghastly orphan life to seek his destiny in the dark streets of old London Town, despite the perils of the woe-begotten zombie-infested journey. There he meets the shadowy Dodger, the evil old soul-stealer Fagin, and the menacing Bill Sikes, who is more werewolf than man. But will Oliver Twisted be the world’s salvation, or its downfall? An authentically Dickensian and genuinely inventive reimagining of Dickens’ eternal classic, this is Victorian England but not as we know it!

5th of March:

I have heard fantastic things about Michael Grant's Gone series but although I have the books sitting on my shelves I haven't got around to reading them yet.  I really must do something about that!  In the meantime I'm definitely looking forward to the first book in his new series - BZRK.  Visit Michael Grant's website for more information.

The most breathtaking and exhilarating ride you will take this year, this is the first in an incredible new action thriller series from Michael Grant, author of Gone.


These are no ordinary soldiers. This is no ordinary war. Welcome to the nano, where the only battle is for sanity. Losing is not an option when a world of madness is at stake.
Time is running out for the good guys. But what happens when you don’t know who the good guys really are?

Noah and Sadie: newly initiated to an underground cell so covert that they don’t even know each other’s names. Here they will learn what it means to fight on a nano level. Soon they will become the deadliest warriors the world has ever seen.

Vincent: feels nothing, cares for no one; fighting his own personal battle with Bug Man, the greatest nano warrior alive.

The Armstrong Twins: wealthy, privileged, fanatical. Are they the saviours of mankind or authors of the darkest conspiracy the world has ever seen?

The nano is uncharted territory. A terrifying world of discovery. And everything is to play for . . .

Also released in March is Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber.  This one sounds completely different from anything I've read before.  I have to admit I'm not a Kill Bill fan but I do love Ferris Bueller's Day Off so I'm curious about this one.  Visit Joe Schreiber's blog for more information.

Kill Bill meets Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Fasten your seatbelts for a quirky, rapid-fire joyride through the streets of New York.

‘You shot him. You totally just shot that guy back there. I think I’m gonna throw up.’

One ordinary guy.

One female assassin.

When Gobi lands in Perry’s like, she rips is apart like a bombshell . . .

A fast-paced action thriller like nothing you’ve ever read before.



Skin Deep is another 2012 debut and was written by British author Laura Jarrett.  This one seems to have romance and mystery and it's definitely been added to my wish list!  Visit Laura Jarrett's page on Goodreads for more information.

After the car crash that leaves her best friend dead, Jenna is permanently scarred. She struggles to rebuild her life, but every stare in the street, every time she looks in the mirror, makes her want to retreat further from the world. Until she meets Ryan.


Ryan's a traveller. When he and his mother moor their narrow boat on the outskirts
of a village, she tells him this time it will be different. He doesn't believe her; he can't imagine why this place shouldn't be as unwelcoming as the rest. Until he meets Jenna.


But as Jenna and Ryan grow closer, repercussions from the crash continue to reverberate through the community. And then a body is found…

2nd of April:

I had the chance to read Dear Dylan by Siobhan Curham back in 2010 when it was self published by the author.  I really enjoyed the story so was very excited to hear that it has been picked up by Egmont.  You can read my review of Dear Dylan here and visit Siobhan Curham's website for more information.

A first crush. An unexpected friendship. A dream come true. A perfect read for fans of Cathy Cassidy, Sarah Dessen and Karen McCombie


Fourteen year old Georgie Harris feels as if the summer holidays are over before they have even begun. Banned from going to the local drama workshop by her bully of a step-dad and her increasingly fragile mum, she is consigned to six long weeks of looking after her tooth-fairy obsessed kid sister. Sick of feeling like the outsider at home and at school, she starts emailing the one person she thinks might understand; Dylan Curtland, star of the popular soap opera Jessop Close. And when Dylan starts emailing back, Georgie finally feels a tiny spark of hope. At last she has someone who really gets her, someone who really wants to help. But in the faceless world of email all is not as it seems...

7th of May:

Shift by EM Bailey is another 2012 debut that sounds awesome.  Another one that has been added to my wish list!  Visit EM Bailey's website for more information.

A taut and seriously compelling psychological thriller from a major new YA talent.

“There were two things everyone knew about Miranda Vaile before she’d even arrived at our school. The first was that she had no parents – they were dead. And they were dead because Miranda had killed them.”


Since her breakdown last year, Olive has become the school loner, so she can only watch as new girl Miranda latches on to her old best friend, class queen bee Katie. Soon Miranda is talking like Katie, dressing like Katie – even going out with Katie’s boyfriend. And then Katie dies. Olive is convinced Miranda is somehow responsible, but the only person who believes her is Lachlan, the hot boy who won’t take the hint that she wants to be left alone.


And then Miranda turns her attention on Olive. She makes life so much fun that soon they are best friends. But what price will Olive have to pay for this new friendship?


With shock twists, a moving romance and a heart-racing climax, Shift will keep you turning the pages furiously.

How to Keep a Boy as a Pet by Diane Messidoro sounds like it's going to be a really fun light hearted read.  To find out more about this debut author visit her page on goodreads.

Can taming a gorgeous boy really be as easy as walking a dog?

Circe Shaw is on a mission. She must transform into a fabulously sophisticated journalist and discover the amazing scientific truth about boys. Urgently.

But life is beyond complicated. Circe has to deal with a poisonous rival, her mum’s annoying ‘just friends’ men and her own Dark Past.

Can Circe’s daring investigation really teach her the facts of love?

Will it help her finally get a boyfriend?
Or will it break her heart…?

4th of June:

Dads, Geeks and Blue Haired Freaks by Ellie Phillips sounds like another fun read if you like contemporary fiction.

One girl’s search to find her father, using the internet, some boys and quite a lot of hairspray.

Sadie Nathanson spends her life trying to survive the excruciating embarrassment of simply existing. It’s hard enough being a bit of a shrinking violet within a loud and outspoken extended family, but the unexpected card from ‘Dad’ on her 15th birthday is the last straw.

As ‘Dad’ was an Internet sperm-donor, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that this is a bad joke, probably set up by her ex-best-friend Shonna. But it starts Sadie wondering – just who was her father? Is he the cause of her worry crinkle and wonky bum? What would happen if she tracked him down?

So she decides to do just that. With help from her nerd cousin Billy, his friend Nodding Tony and a regular dose of ‘Haironomics’ (Sadie’s own hairstyle-related philosophy system), they uncover a lot more than they bargain for…

Last but definitely not least is Alchemy by K.J. Wignall.  This is the second book in the Mercian trilogy, I read the first book Blood last year (read my review here) so I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next!  Visit K.J. Wignall's website for more information.

'Run!' Will said to Eloise. She hesitated and he pushed behind her, grabbing the bird out of the air. But the sound of beating wings didn’t stop. Eloise let out a cry and when he turned she’d been scratched on the head and was hitting another crow away.

The vampire William of Mercia continues to search for answers about his long, undead life, together with Eloise, the girl with whom his fate is entwined. But the darkness doesn’t yield its secrets easily.

As they edge closer to the truth, it becomes clear that something evil knows their every move, and this time it’s targeting the person Will needs most of all.

Lost in a frozen landscape, powerful adversaries are locked in a battle that not everyone can survive, as destiny collides with a sorcerer’s dark arts…

So what do you think of the new Electric Monkey titles?  They have a great selection so I'm sure there must be something there that catches your fancy!  Which ones are you most excited about?

Review: Dear Dylan - Siobhan Curham

Fourteen year old Georgie Harris feels as if the summer holidays are over before they have even begun.  Banned from going to the local drama workshop by her bully of a step-dad and her increasingly fragile mum she is consigned to six long weeks of babysitting her kid sister.

Sick of feeling like the outsider at home and at school, she starts emailing the one person she thinks might understand; Dylan Curtland, star of the popular soap opera Jessop Close.  And when Dylan starts emailing back Georgie finally feels a spark of hope.  At last she has someone who really gets her, someone who really wants to help.  But in the faceless world of email all is not as it seems...

Visit Siobhan Curham's website for more information

Review:
Georgie has a lot going on in her life and feels like she has no one to talk to about her problems.  Feeling lonely she starts to email her favorite actor Dylan hoping desperately for someone who understands her.  At first the replies she receives are just standard responses but as the person who is replying starts to discover more about Georgie's home life they reach out to offer her friendship. 

When Siobhan Curham asked me to review Dear Dylan I was intrigued by the idea of a novel written purely in the form of emails.  I've not read anything like it before & I was very curious to see how it would work - I have to say I was impressed.  Reading took me right back to my teens reminding me how the smallest embarrassment felt like the world's biggest disaster and how just a smile from the boy you liked left you feeling on top of the world.

Georgie is a very real character, in her first few emails I was reminded of a typical teen who hero worships the actor Dylan - I can remember being very similar at her age.  As you get to know her you can't help but like her and hope that her dreams come true.  Georgie's situation at home is very difficult and I was genuinely concerned for her safety at times.  That for me is a sign of a great book - one where you care what happens to the characters.

I don't want to give away any of the storyline so I'll just say that this book will have you laughing out loud one minute and close to tears the next, I actually had goose bumps towards the end and really couldn't put the book down until I knew how things turned out.  This book may be aimed at young adults but it is one that I'm sure most adults will enjoy too & I'd highly recommend it.

Source: Thank you to Siobhan for sending me this book for review

Other reviews of this book:
Darlyn & Books
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Author's Animal Antics - Siobhan Curham

Author's Animal Antics is a new regular blog feature here at Sarah's Book Reviews where I'm very excited to have some fantastic authors come and chat to us about their pets.  I'm thrilled to introduce the lovely Siobhan Curham as my guest today...

**************************************************

I have always been a dog-lover and for many years dreamt of the day I would be able to own one of my own. Three years ago that dream finally came true when I bought a dog called Max. However, like a lot of dreams the reality has turned out a whole lot different to what I expected. Not worse, but very different!

Max came from a rescue centre and the staff knew very little about him as he had been found as a stray. All they were able to tell me was that he was between four and six years old and originally from Scotland. Over the three years we have had him we have been able to piece together a bit more information about Max’s past from his behaviour and it has often been quite sad.

A major factor in my dreams of being a dog owner had involved long relaxing walks through parks, woods and beaches, but for the first few months we had Max it was all we could do to get him to walk round the block. I had no idea that dogs could suffer from agoraphobia but Max was displaying all the signs; pressing himself against walls and lying down and refusing to move.

At first I got quite stressed about this and would watch TV show The Dog Whisperer obsessively in the hope of finding a solution. After weeks of watching dogs with just about every other issue under the sun, the show finally highlighted a dog exactly like Max. Barely able to contain my excitement I pressed record on the VCR and looked forward to Cesar Millan providing me with the perfect solution to my problem. But this time the solution seemed even more stressful than the problem! Apparently I was to attach the end of Max’s lead to his tail, to hold it in an upright and therefore confident position, and I was to put on a pair of roller blades when I took him out so he could feel as if we were on some kind of mission. Hmm – the only mission I would be going on if I donned a pair of roller blades would be to the nearest Accident and Emergency ward. I decided to resort to the constant coaxing with sausages method. It might have taken longer but at least I didn’t end up in hospital – or court for GTH – Grievous Tail Harm.

Another thing Max has a phobia of is football! He only has to hear the thud of a ball being kicked and he becomes a quivering wreck. This wouldn’t be so much of a problem if my teenage son Jack was into ballet or stamp-collecting, but he is a complete soccer nut. At first I thought this might help Max to face his fear – if he saw Jack (who he adores) playing keepy-uppies in the back garden it might help him realise that not everyone is going to kick balls at him (we are sure this is what must have happened to him in his previous home to have prompted such terror). However, our plan for rehabilitation badly back-fired. The morning after Jack tried to get Max to play football with him, we came down to find a huge dog poo balanced on top of the ball! We got the message and my dream of taking Max down to the touchline every Sunday to watch Jack play flew out of the window.

In the end a mixture of love and patience - and sausages - has meant that Max will now walk pretty much anywhere. He still hates footballs, but at least he hasn’t crapped on any in a while!

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Thank you so much for visiting today Siobhan!  Siobhan Curham is the author of a self-help guide about Antenatal & Postnatal Depression, 3 adult novels - Frankie Says Relapse, Sweet FA & The Scene Stealers and her newest book Dear Dylan is her first young adult novel.

Find out more about Siobhan and her work on her Website

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