Review: Chase Danger Super Spy: Mystery of the Special Sauce by Lisa Olivera

Welcome to The Wormhole!

Today it is my pleasure to feature:

Lisa Olivera and Chase Danger: Super Spy.

Chase Olivera and his parents Lisa and Chad Olivera are an Author and publishing team from California. Published works include the Chase Danger, Super Spy Series:

Book #1 Mystery of the special Sauce and book #2 Pirates of Pineapple Island. Chase is a bright seven year old entering the second grade this fall, Lisa works with young children as a Special Circumstance Aide and Chad is a musician, composer and children’s theater director. They live and work in Santa Clarita California. As a family they enjoy writing books, going to the beach, watching movies and going on Geocaching adventures.  

Please visit them at http://www.chasedanger.com/ and “LIKE” them on facebook

for exciting updates.

Join 6-year-old super-spy Chase Danger on his very first illustrated adventure. Chase Danger is the world's youngest super spy - ready to fight villains wherever they appear. In his first adventure he battles a giant octopus and terrifying scorpion, builds a super flying car, takes a quick trip to space, and befriends Ali Bali - a mysterious 6-year-old girl that helps him along the way. Chase Danger and Ali Bali will return in Book 2. 1st in a series of Chase Danger: Super Spy books. 22 full color illustrations by Adam Goodman. Read-Along CD included featuring a dramatic performance of the entire story.

Click HERE to get your own copy of this exciting children's story.

Click HERE to get the next Chase Danger book: 

Chase Danger, Super Spy: Pirates of Pineapple Island

My thoughts:

Chase Danger ~ I love the main characters name.  Lisa is clever with the way she writes and the names she has given her characters.  The story is action packed and fun.  Outrageously far fetched, it will hold the young readers attention and leave them looking for more.  

The illustrations are bold and colorful, the artwork detailed and nicely done.  I love that it has the CD as well so children can either listen, read along or read alone - as well as taking it on the road.

Giveaway! Phobia by C.A. Shives

Giveaway!

EVERYONE HAS A SECRET FEAR...

Ex-cop Artemis Herne thought he left the grit and crime of the city in the past when he moved to a small town in Pennsylvania. But the discovery of a woman's dead body, bound and covered with snakes, sends panic through his community and ignites his investigative instincts.

As the serial killer continues to target his prey, Herne must confront his haunted past to uncover the pattern in the deaths. He soon discovers that every victim suffers from a phobia. And every murder transforms the victim's worst fear into reality.

Tormented by his personal demons, Herne is forced to face his own fears as he hunts for a murderer who uses terror for a weapon.

I am thrilled to say that I have been granted the ability to offer a copy of Phobia to one of my followers!

Super easy - quick weekend contest.

Rules: be a follower of The Wormhole (18+) and fill out this fast form.

Winner drawn on Sunday, August 19, 2012 and announced on Monday, August 20, 2012.

Good luck and thanks for following!

Review: His Heart for the Trusting by Lisa Mondello

His Heart for the Trusting by Lisa Mondello

*I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Amazon Book Description:
Ever since Mitch Broader set foot in Texas, he dreamed of owning his own ranch. Now that he’s bought a share in the Double T Ranch, he’s one step closer to the dream. Then his past greets him in the form of a baby basket, complete with infant and birth certificate naming him as the father. He can’t change diapers and work toward his dream at the same time. 

When Sara Lightfoot, “Miss Hollywood” in Mitch’s eyes, rescues him with her particular knack for handling his precocious son, he hires her on the spot as a temporary nanny. No matter how much Sara’s dark eyes and warm heart make this bachelor think of making their arrangement permanent, she’s made it perfectly clear she has other plans that don’t include him or his dreams. 

Sara Lightfoot never thought she’d return to her home on the reservation. Now she plans to reclaim the life she left by going back to the reservation as a Native American storyteller, teaching the Apache children stories of their culture. She didn’t expect Mitch Broader’s sexy smile or job offer as a live-in nanny to derail those plans. After all she’s been through to come home, can she open up her heart once again to love?

My thoughts:
I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read and review this book.  I truly enjoyed the first book in the series and was expecting the same of this one.  I was NOT disappointed.  

It was exciting to revisit the main characters from the first book as secondaries in this book, but pleasantly surprised that I liked Mitch and Sara as much as I liked Mandy and Beau in Her Heart for the Asking.  Lisa Mondello is wonderfully skilled in creating the kind of characters that a reader can really believe and invest in.  I loved how Sara's fierce loyalty and determination comes out and how Mitch virtually blooms into the kind of father every child should have.

The romance is sweet and steamy - I know that sounds wrong, but it's true.  

With each Lisa Mondello book I read, I like her style, stories and characters more and more.  This was the second book of hers that I read, but plan to read more.  I am currently reading the next book in this series, The More I see.  That review will post on August 29, 2012.

Release Day Blitz: Flight the Crescent Chronicles by Alyssa Rose Ivy

Flight

By Alyssa Rose Ivy

The Crescent Chronicles, Book 1

Genre: Mature YA/New Adult Paranormal Romance

Number of pages:  250

Book Description:

Sometimes you just have to take flight.

A summer in New Orleans is exactly what Allie needs before starting college. Accepting her dad’s invitation to work at his hotel offers an escape from her ex-boyfriend and the chance to spend the summer with her best friend. Meeting a guy is the last thing on her mind—until she sees Levi.

Unable to resist the infuriating yet alluring Levi, Allie finds herself at the center of a supernatural society and forced to decide between following the path she has always trusted or saving a city that might just save her.

Author Bio:

Alyssa Rose Ivy lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write. 

http://www.alyssaroseivy.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/alyssaroseivy

https://www.facebook.com/AlyssaRoseIvy

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5047249.Alyssa_Rose_Ivy

Review: The Color of Snow by Brenda Stanley

The Color of Snow by Brenda Stanley

*** I received this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Amazon Product Description:
When a beautiful 16-year-old girl named Sophie is found sequestered in a cage-like room in a rundown house in the desolate hills of Arbon Valley, Idaho, the entire community is shocked to learn she is the legendary Callidora--a baby girl who was kidnapped from her crib almost seventeen years ago and canonized in missing posters with portraits of what the fabled girl might resemble. Authorities soon learn that the cage was there to protect people from Sophie, because her biological father believes she is cursed.

Sophie is discovered after the man she knows as Papa, shoots and injures Damien, a young man who is trying to rescue her. Now, unsocialized and thrust into the world, and into a family she has never met, Sophie must decide whether she should accept her Papa’s claims that she is cursed and he was only trying to protect others, or trust the new people in her life who have their own agendas. Guided by a wise cousin, Sophie realizes that her most heartbreaking challenge is to decide if her love for Damien will destroy him like her Papa claims, or free her from past demons that haunt her mind.


My thoughts:
Twisted, heartbreaking... this is the story of a girl who has lived her life believing in everything that her father has told her, but realizes that it is not reality.  It is a story of what lengths people go to in the name of faith or their personal belief system.


Brenda Stanley has created a world where a father has gone over the edge in his effort to save his child.  Her characters are tragic and believable.  All the characters are firmly embedded in a world where they live and breathe their beliefs - right or wrong.  


The plot is sad and disturbing  - but not hopeless.  The tragedy that is the lives of the characters since the start is wrong on many levels.  Although the story is intriguing and well written, I found myself wishing for just one positive person or circumstance.  I found that person in Sophie's cousin, Stephanie.


In the end - - - I liked the story a lot.  It is beautifully written.  I found it hard to put down.  I truly loved the ending, it is filled with hope and the opportunity to change.

Blog Tour: The Color of Snow by Brenda Stanley

This virtual book tour is presented by Tribute books.

The Color of Snow web site:
http://the-color-of-snow.blogspot.com/

Welcome to The Wormhole and my day on the tour.

It is my pleasure to feature:

Brenda Stanley and The Color of Snow.

Brenda Stanley's Bio:

Brenda Stanley is the former news anchor at her NBC affiliate KPVI in Eastern Iadho. Her writing has been recognized by the Scripps Howard Foundation, the Hearst Journalism Awards, the Idaho Press Club and the Society for Professional Journalists. She is a graduate of Dixie College in St. George, Utah, and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Brenda lived for two years in Ballard, Utah, within the Fort Duchesne reservation where the novel is set. She and her husband live on a small ranch near the Snake River with their horses and dogs.

Brenda Stanley's Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/brenda.baumgartnerstanleyBrenda Stanley's Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/myauthorlifeBrenda Stanley's Website:
http://www.brendastanleybooks.net/Brenda Stanley's GoodReads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4086376.Brenda_Stanley

The Color of Snow Summary

Can a troubled young girl reenter society after living in isolation?

When a beautiful 16-year-old girl named Sophie is found sequestered in a cage-like room in a rundown house in the desolate hills of Arbon Valley, Idaho, the entire community is shocked to learn she is the legendary Callidora--a baby girl who was kidnapped from her crib almost seventeen years ago and canonized in missing posters with portraits of what the fabled girl might resemble. Authorities soon learn that the cage was there to protect people from Sophie, because her biological father believes she is cursed.

Sophie is discovered after the man she knows as Papa, shoots and injures Damien, a young man who is trying to rescue her. Now, unsocialized and thrust into the world, and into a family she has never met, Sophie must decide whether she should accept her Papa’s claims that she is cursed and he was only trying to protect others, or trust the new people in her life who have their own agendas. Guided by a wise cousin, Sophie realizes that her most heartbreaking challenge is to decide if her love for Damien will destroy him like her Papa claims, or free her from past demons that haunt her mind.

...a guest post from the author!

Guest Post by Brenda Stanley
The Color of Snow has been described as dark or mysterious.  I feel most of my writing fits this description because I enjoy looking at the strange and unusual things in life.  My novel will definitely make some people uncomfortable.  I like to look at situations and issues and try to figure out how people will react.  For years I was a crime reporter, so I enjoy investigating stories and learning about the parts of life most people try to hide.  When I wrote The Color of Snow, I was working on a story about a young girl who went missing years ago and has never been found.  I started thinking about what would happen if she were to suddenly show up now.  I loved putting myself in Sophie’s shoes and seeing things for the first time.

Sophie’s relationship with Damien is both intense and tempered.  Her father has raised her to believe that she will destroy anyone who truly loves her, so she is torn between her love for Damien and her fear of causing him harm.

The story changes between what is going on with Sophie and what happened in her parent’s past that brought her to where she is.  I wanted readers to experience the often isolated feeling of living in a vast rural area, but also the mental confinement of a small town.

Mental illness, teen pregnancy, religious intolerance, and racism are all big parts of The Color of Snow.  I like my characters to face challenges and see them grow from them.  It is not only the conflicts with the other characters that keeps the story going, but also those within the person’s own mind.

I wanted Sophie to be unusually beautiful so that people treated her strangely and therefore made her feel even more alien when she is first discovered.  She has transformed from a tragic kidnapping victim to a mythical ghost from the past and this makes her transition into her new life even more difficult.

My ties to the Mormon Church go back to my great-great grandparents.  I was raised in the teachings of the Mormon religion and even though I am no longer a member, I have many friends and family who are still very active in the church.  My descriptions of the Mormon culture are how I view it and how I feel someone who has never been exposed to it might see it.  I think there are a lot of people who are curious about the Mormon religion and have misconceptions.  I feel I’ve been both candid and fair in my portrayal.

The Color of Snow Twitter hashtag:

#TheColorOfSnowThe Color of Snow GoodReads page:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13456512-the-color-of-snowTribute Books Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Archbald-PA/Tribute-Books/171628704176

Tribute Books Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/TributeBooks

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186
  Kindle buy link - $2.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00873ASTK?tag=tributebooks-20

Nook buy link - $4.95
http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=dcSBhG3Rj8w&subid=&offerid=239662.1&type=10&tmpid=8432&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.barnesandnoble.com%252Fw%252Fthe-color-of-snow-brenda-stanley%252F1111297400%253Fean%253D2940014382007iBookstore buy link - $4.99
http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=dcSBhG3Rj8w&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fitunes.apple.com%252Fus%252Fbook%252Fthe-color-of-snow%252Fid531375973%253Fmt%253D11%2526uo%253D4%2526partnerId%253D30Google buy link - $3.79
http://books.google.com/books?printsec=frontcover&id=u6m2hVzQxi4C#v=onepage&q&f=false

Smashwords buy link - $4.99
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/166734?ref=tributebooks
PDF buy link - $4.95
https://www.payloadz.com/go/sip?id=1600173

My review will post live on August 16, 2012!  Stop back and check it out.