Showing posts with label Southern As Sweet Tea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Southern As Sweet Tea. Show all posts

Audiobook Blitz + #Giveaway: Compulsion by @martinaaboone @simonteen


Release Date: 10/28/14
Narrated by: Joell A. Jacob
Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins 
Simon Pulse/Tantor Audio
448 pages

Summary from Goodreads:
Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.

All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.

Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.

Buy Links:

Listen to an audiobook sample:

Praise for Compulsion:
"Skillfully blends rich magic and folklore with adventure, sweeping romance, and hidden treasure . . . An impressive start to the Heirs of Watson Island series." —Publishers Weekly
     
"Eight Beaufort is so swoon-worthy that it's ridiculous. Move over Four, Eight is here to stay!"  —RT Book Reviews, RT Editors Best Books of 2014

"Darkly romantic and steeped in Southern Gothic charm, you'll be compelled to get lost in the Heirs of Watson Island series." —JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"A fresh twist on the Southern Gothic -- haunting, atmospheric, and absorbing." —CLAUDIA GRAY, New York Timesbestselling author of A Thousand Pieces of You and the Evernight and Spellcaster series 
    
"A stunningly magical debut with a delicious slow burn to be savored. I want to live in this story world!" —WENDY HIGGINS, USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of the Sweet Evil trilogy


"Beautifully written, with vivid characters, a generations-old feud, and romance that leaps off the page, this Southern ghost story left me lingering over every word, and yet wanting to race to the compelling finish. Compulsion is not to be missed." —MEGAN SHEPHERD, author of The Madman's Daughter

Book Two:
PERSUASION (HEIRS OF WATSON ISLAND, BOOK 2) 
Beautiful Creatures meets Gone With the Wind
As reporters chasing rumors of a stolen shipment of Civil War gold descend on Watson Island, Barrie Watson discovers more is buried at Colesworth Place than treasure. A mysterious, magical man claims the key to the Watson and Beaufort gifts and the Colesworth curse also lies beneath the mansion, and Barrie has no option but to help him find it. While she and Eight Beaufort struggle to make sense of the escalating danger and their growing feelings for each other, Barrie must decide not only whom to trust, but which gift is more reliable—Eight’s or her own. With the fate of the founding families at stake, she has to choose between what she feels deep in her heart and what will keep her loved ones safe.

Pre-Order Links:
IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon |  Book Depository | Goodreads

Martina Boone was born in Prague and spoke several languages before learning English. She fell in love with words and never stopped delighting in them.

She’s the founder of AdventuresInYAPublishing.com, a Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers site, and YASeriesInsiders.com, a site devoted to encouraging literacy and all this YA Series.
From her home in Virginia, where she lives with her husband, children, and Auggie the wonder dog, she enjoys writing contemporary fantasy set in the kinds of magical places she’d love to visit. When she isn’t writing, she’s addicted to travel, horses, skiing, chocolate flavored tea, and anything with Nutella on it.


Book Blitz Organized by:

Review: Compulsion by Martina Boone

Compulsion by Martina Boone
(Heirs of Watson Island #1)

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Southern Gothic

Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.

All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.

Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.

The Good
The setting.
The setting is what originally sold me on Compulsion. I have a long standing love affair with the Carolina coastline, especially anywhere around Charleston. Martina Boone nailed it with her portrayal of the area. Her descriptions were so beautiful that I was swept up in the story in a heartbeat. I felt like I was back in the midst of Charleston (just without the awful humidity). From the small town drama to the southern twangs, Compulsion was everything great about the lower states!

The characters.
Yes, yes, and yes. I'll talk about Barrie and Eight in a moment. Right now I want to rave about the secondary characters in Compulsion. Mark was everything perfection. The way that Martina Boone showcased his relationship with Barrie made my heartache. He was her mother, father, and confidant. I loved him. Aunt Pru was also great! The author did an excellent job at showing the adjustment she's going through with all of the changes. Martina Boone did not ignore any detail in this book and for that, I'm so thankful!

Barrie and Eight. Eight and Barrie. Beight. Errie.
Whatever we're calling them, I love them. Eight was a bucket full of swoon. Seriously. I very rarely swoon over a character in a book. I've never got behind the whole book boyfriend craze. But Eight Beaufort? Sign me right up, y'all! The way that the relationship between Barrie and Eight develops is perfect. It's a slow burn with not even a little hint of insta-love. REJOICE, y'all.

Barrie.
Jeez. I loved this girl. She was put into an impossible situation, and I admired her so much. Her curiosity and resolve really sold me on her. She isn't fainting onto a couch. But she isn't charging into battle all willy nilly either. She was so authentic. Thank you for that, Martina!

Everything.
Seriously. Compulsion was amazing. The thought and plot development in this book is incredible. Martina Boone is above all else, a story teller. And Compulsion was a story that I'm so glad that I got to read. All of the elements in this book come together in such a cohesive way. I don't know how anyone could pass up Compulsion. It's the perfect YA book for fall!

The Bad
Nothing!

The In-between
Na-da!

**I  received this book for free in exchange for an honest review with no compensation.

Review: Magnolia by Kristi Cook

Magnolia by Kristi Cook

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance
Publication Date: August 5th, 2014

In Magnolia Branch, Mississippi, the Cafferty and
Marsden families are southern royalty. Neighbors
since the Civil War, the families have shared vacations, holidays, backyard barbecues, and the overwhelming desire to unite their two clans by marriage. So when a baby boy and girl were born to the families at the same time, the perfect opportunity seemed to have finally arrived.

Jemma Cafferty and Ryder Marsden have no intention of giving in to their parents’ wishes. They’re only seventeen, for goodness’ sake, not to mention that one little problem: They hate each other! Jemma can’t stand Ryder’s nauseating golden-boy persona, and Ryder would like nothing better than to pretend stubborn Jemma doesn’t exist.

But when a violent storm ravages Magnolia Branch, it unearths Jemma’s and Ryder’s true feelings for each other as the two discover that the line between love and hate may be thin enough to risk crossing over.

  Magnolia is simply amazing. Nearly everything about this book was perfection. The setting? Absolutely on point. The characters? Couldn't have been better. The plot? Yes, please! Seriously, I have so much love for this book! It's perfectly southern. The setting, the characters, the dialogue; it all reeks of slow accents, insults veiled with the perfectly placed "bless her heart", and everything else I love about the south. This book totally took me by surprise and swept me off of my feet.


  The way that Cook weaves in a backwards Romeo and Juliet scenario had me from the start. You just knew that Jemma and Ryder were going to be together by the end even though you had no idea how. All of the ways that I pictured it happening never came, but Cook delivered anything better than I could have imagined. The storm was perfect! The relationship between Jemma and Ryder was truly amazing. There's no insta-love here. Rejoice. I can't say much because I don't want to give away anything. Magnolia is a book (and romance!) that's best experienced firsthand.


  Before picking up this title for review, I had never heard of Kristi Cook before. Now I consider myself as one of her biggest fans. I'm practically tripping over my own feet to find something else by her. Her ability to not only capture the essence of the south without throwing in cliches and stereotypes, but to capture the teenage spirit and the appeal of love and hate has made me a fan for life. Do you love YA? Do you love believable romances? Do you love characters that seem to become real people? Then you simply have to read Magnolia!

**I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review with no compensation.

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