Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Podium Finish Blog Tour

Podium Finish

Welcome to the blog tour for Podium Finish by Beth Pond!


With six months until the Olympic Games, seventeen-year-old Harper’s life is pretty much perfect. She’s fighting for the starting spot on Team USA Women’s Hockey, and for the first time ever, she has a crush on a guy who likes her back. She feels like the luckiest girl in the world, until she runs a risky play at practice and breaks her knee, thereby sentencing herself to six weeks in a cast and possibly ending her Olympic dream before it even starts.
For seventeen-year-old Alex, being anything less than the best is unacceptable. That’s why, after a miserable debut season at the senior level, the former junior national singles champion switches to ice dance. Her skating partner, Ace, is an “all skating all the time” type of guy, which would be fine, if he’d stop keeping secrets about the real reason he and his former partner broke up. Now is not the time for second thoughts, but how can Alex skate her best if she can’t trust her partner…or herself?
As the pressure to make the Olympic team builds, the girls must rely on each other, because if there’s one thing they both know, it’s that the only thing harder than skating to the top is staying there.

Author Beth Pond
Beth Pond graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Hendrix College in 2012. In 2013, she taught in South Africa for 9 months as part of a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Grant. Pond is currently completing her coursework at the University of British Columbia’s Creative Writing MFA program. Her debut novel, Podium Finish, was released from Astraea Press in November 2013. When she’s not writing, Pond enjoys martial arts (she’s a black belt) and serving as a volunteer coach for her brother’s special needs baseball team.

Review:
Alex and Harper are roommates at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado, both aiming for the upcoming winter games. Harper is a hardcore hockey girl, while Alex recently switched from freestyle to dance in figure skating. Both of them are going to have to overcome some major obstacles if they want to live their Olympic dreams. Harper breaks her knee in a freak accident while Alex is dealing with a secretive partner and an overbearing father/manager. These two girls are determined to make their hard work payoff no matter what they have to do. 

I am a major Olympic fangirl, so I was super excited to read this book. It was definitely a fun read. Harper and Alex are very different characters, but you always feel that they would be friends. They help to draw out the best in each other, and you can see how each one drew from the other to help them with their problems. Harper has a fun romance with a short track speed skater, and Alex manages to navigate her sometimes silent ice dance partner. This book gives a real feel for the dedication and hard work that both sports require. I could almost feel my heart pounding as I was waiting for results with Alex or watching for the puck to enter the goal with Harper. To be able to bring these feelings through words takes real skill.

In interest of full disclosure, I am an adult figure skater, so I know a fair bit about that world. There were a few details of that storyline that kind of drew me out of the story, however unless you are very knowledgeable about figure skating it won't bother you. It was just stuff like wondering if Alex had been testing dance while she was testing freestyle because I'm not sure how you could do every dance test needed to compete senior international that quickly. See, not going to matter to most people. Overall though I really loved the book. It was a super quick read for me, and I didn't want to put it down. I really got into the spirit of it all, and now I'm just counting down the days until the opening ceremonies. If you love sports and friendship, check this book out!

Book provided for review.
Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 2/9/14
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Tale Spins Blog Tour


tale spins tour

Welcome to the blog tour for Tale Spins by Michael Mullin!

tale spins banner

tale spins

A trilogy of alternative fairytales and retellings. Discover the real Snow White story through the eyes of Creepy, the unknown 8th dwarf! Meet a teen princess who hires "The Frog Prince" witch to get revenge on a Mean Girl at school! And learn how the giant, boy thief and magic beans tale truly went down!  



mike mullin
Author Michael Mullin

Michael Mullin is a native New Englander living in Pasadena. He is the author of TaleSpins, a trilogy of alternative fairy tales and retellings for YA readers. TaleSpins stories (in the 1-book collection) are "8: The Previously Untold Story of the Previously Unknown 8th Dwarf"; "The Plight and Plot of Princess Penny"; and "Jack'd". Michael is also the co-author of the successful "Larry Gets Lost" children's book series. His screenplay "Zooing Time" was recognized by the WGA's Written By magazine. Before all this writing, he taught preschool and college, two positions he found disconcertingly similar.


Review: 

Fairy tales are always familiar to almost everyone, but sometimes there's another side to the story. This book contains three respins of old stories. One gives the perspective of the Snow White story through the previously unknown 8th dwarf. TALK ABOUT OTHER 2 HERE.

I previously reviewed 8: The Previously Untold Story of the Previously Unknown 8th Dwarf, so I won't talk about that one here. The Plight and Plot of Princess Penny tells the story of Princess Penny, and girl who is mocked and teased by a former friend. Penny takes matters into her own hands by seeking out a witch to cause problems for her bully. A troll under the bridge though may makes things difficult for Penny. This story was cute and had a good message. Penny has real problems, but she tries to deal with them by attempting to get revenge. Also, she learns not to just judge things by how they look. Very fun while still making you think a bit.

Jack'd takes a whole new look at Jack and the Beanstalk. There are lies, misdirections, and backroom deals. This story switches back and forth between perspectives, so you get to see the whole thing two different ways. There's an interesting twist that I didn't see coming, and it gives you a fresh look at a story that most people know very well. All these stories are written in rhyming verse, so they read almost like a children's book. However they are geared for slightly older audiences I think. They are fun ways to get fresh takes on old stories. Check them out!

Book provided for review.


  Tour Giveaways Giveaway #1 - Open to US only

Mike Mullin Giveaway


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Giveaway #2
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 1/21/14
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway