Bibliophile Support Group

Happy Saturday, Bibliophiles! Hopefully everyone is looking forward to a three-day weekend of READING! I know I am. Did you expect anything else? This out-of-the-ordinary Saturday post is to let you know that the excellent YA fantasy novel Caught in a Moment by Martin Dukes, read my review here , is available for FREE to download for three days!!! I have three tasks for you: 1. Follow this link . 2. Spread the word. 3. Enjoy! Happy Reading!!!

Fearless is the YA fantasy follow-up to Cornelia Funke’s Reckless . Our first foray into Mirrorworld is, I’d say, pretty important to read first – so if you have not yet read Reckless , check out my review here and avoid this post on Fearless . If you have already read Reckless , read on… Saving his brother Will’s life, stopping him from becoming a stone-skinned Goyl, cost Jacob everything. Now, with only a few months left to live, Jacob finds himself still seeking in vain for an end to the Fairy curse that is killing him. Yet being one of the best treasure-seekers in the warped-fairy-tale world in the mirror of his longtime-missing father’s study is not proving helpful this time. The All-Healing Apple and the Well of Eternal Youth have done nothing for him. After buying back the blood of a northern Djinn from the world he was born in, blood that he himself sold years before, is one slim hope. But Jacob has a feeling it will be just as worthless. He knows that he mus...

On Distant Shores is a historical fiction romance by Sarah Sundin and the second in her Wings of the Nightingale series. Even though it is essentially a stand-alone novel, the characters from the first book With Every Letter overlap into On Distant Shores – for that reason, as well as that it’s a lovely read, I recommend reading With Every Letter first. Here’s a link to my review. Lt. Geogiana Taylor followed her best friend Rose to become a flight nurse during WWII. But she can’t help but feel she’s not up to the task. Back home she has her longtime sweetheart waiting for her, a family that yearns for her return, and the comfort of not having men’s lives in her hands any longer. In July of 1943, Georgie is still struggling to do her job as unto the Lord when she meets pharmacist Sgt. John Hutchinson. His warm smile and shy ways are endearing to her. He’s also struggling – though determined to utilize his knowledge and education as a pharmacist he resents the lack of re...

The Last Academy is a YA contemporary suspense novel by Anne Applegate. After being betrayed by her longtime best friend, Camden is sent to an exclusive boarding school. It’s a gorgeous place, huge campus, decent classes and more than enough good-looking boys. Her moody roommate isn’t so great, but soon Camden starts to tentatively make friends with a couple girls and even gets a crush on one particularly attractive boy. She’s pushing the limits on her previously cautious life and letting herself make just a little mischief, even. But she can’t ignore the startling fact that some very weird things are going on at Lethe Academy. Sometimes she sees flashes of people looking differently than they should – which is creepy and worrisome. She starts to wonder, almost, if she is going insane. Then one of Camden’s new friends disappears and the story around it doesn’t sound right to her. Increasingly, Camden is beginning to believe that something dark is going on at the school...

That Time I Joined the Circus is a YA contemporary novel by J. J. Howard. Lexi Ryan has lost everything. Her friends, her school, her home… her dad. As a last resort to get back some semblance of her life, Lexi takes off from New York to follow a slender lead on her mom’s location. A mom that abandoned her and her dad a long time ago. That lead brings her to a circus, which her mom is no longer at. But since Lexi has no money, no shelter, and no food options – she accepts a job at the circus and finds herself immersed in a world extremely different from anything she’s ever experienced. A new life begins to be built – she friends, a new type of family… maybe even new romance. Then her ex-best friend shows up and Lexi is reminded of all she left behind… First of all, I primarily decided to read That Time I Joined the Circus because the title drew me in and the cover had an enchantment to it. The vibrant colors, the sense of near-fantasy while still grounded in reality...

The Morning Star is the last novel in the YA historical/supernatural Katerina Trilogy by Robin Bridges. You definitely do not want to read the synopsis for The Morning Star if you have not previously read the first two books in this trilogy! If you are one of those people, instead check out my reviews of The Gathering Storm and The Unfailing Light , the first two, by clicking on their titles. Now, if you HAVE read the prior novels, go ahead and read on… Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, in St. Petersburg, Russia 1890, has always wanted to be a doctor. Not content with the thought of being wealthy enough to build numerous hospitals as a meek wife, Katerina wants to be able to have the knowledge and education to find cures for diseases, to help people with her own two hands. Which would include her ailing love, son of the Tsar, George Alexandrovich. But, of course, Tsar Alexander III forbids this. Katerina being a necromancer? Not so forbidden. Even tho...

Rules of Summer is a YA contemporary novel by the author of The Daughters series, Joanna Philbin. Seventeen-year-old Rory McShane doesn’t want to spend all summer watching her mom moon over her newest boyfriend, who’s young enough to be Rory’s slightly older brother. So, when her aunt invites her to join her in the Hamptons, to be an errand girl for the wealthy family she works for as a live-in, Rory agrees. Stepping off the train, though, is like stepping into another universe. Everywhere she looks are expensive cars, huge houses, impeccably clean streets, and beautiful people wearing beautiful clothes. And the Rules, the said wealthy family she’s staying with, seem very nice… yet she’s warned by other staff to avoid becoming too social with them. On the other side of things, Isabel Rule, the youngest and most impetuous Rule child, is back in the Hamptons after having spent the school year in California. Now, the superficial conversations of her old friends irritate her and sh...

Dragonwitch is the fifth novel in the fantasy series Tales of Goldstone Wood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. I have been continually impressed by this series – which is a must for fantasy lovers. Though each novel has a stand-alone aspect to it, it is immensely rewarding to read them in order, as there are characters and situations that are extrapolated with later books. For me, I still recommend reading them in order. The only one I have not read yet is Moonblood , which I bought a copy of and just need to carve out a few days to read. Other than that, I’ve reviewed them all. So, here are the books in order with links to the reviews: Heartless Veiled Rose Moonblood Starflower Dragonwitch Now, the below synopsis will not give anything away about the prior books – so you’re safe here. The North Country does not yet have a King – but it is expected to. And the man that is expected to be that next king must have a wife, of course. That is why Lady Leta of Aiven has traveled ...

Deep Betrayal is a YA supernatural/mermaid horror novel and the second in a trilogy from Anne Greenwood Brown. The first novel is called Lies Beneath – you can read my review here – and I strongly recommend having read Lies Beneath before Deep Betrayal or this review. You’ve been warned!!! It’s been thirty days since Lily’s heard or seen Calder. Thirty days has allowed doubts to creep in about their connection… But when he does return, things are still sour. Once Lily tells her father that he, like Calder, is a merman – well, Lily’s dad essentially takes all of Calder’s time, wanting to spend every day in the water. When a slew of near-death experiences begin to turn into dead bodies on the shore, Calder believes that his mermaid sisters are hunting once more – sloppily. But Lily fears that the messy killings are more along the line of a brand-new merman… her father. Either way, people are bound to start looking… Lies Beneath was told from Calder’s point of view. D...

Heart of Glass is a YA historical suspense novel, and the sequel to Cross My Heart , by Sasha Gould. First off, you definitely need to read Cross My Heart before you read Heart of Glass or this review! Spoilers are NOT good!!! Feel free to check out my review of Cross My Heart here , and once you’ve read that first book come on back here for my thoughts on the sequel. Assuming the remainder of readers have read Cross My Heart and now will not be spoiled… In Venice 1585, it’s been three months since Laura found out who murdered her sister. Three months since she joined the Segreta, a powerful society of women who trade protection for secrets… She is now blissfully engaged to Roberto, the first son of the Doge, and experiencing a happiness she never imagined possible in her many years cloistered in the nunnery. The peace was not meant to last. Venice is a turbulent, passionate, dangerous place. On a night when Laura is to complete an important mission for the Segreta, a...

Today I want to introduce Levi, a fan of the Bibliophile Support Group! He thought we might be interested, as book maniacs, how the process works when it comes to creating a book cover, and I agreed! I'm going to give it over the Levi here: How Book Covers Are Created By Levi Stack While skimming over book covers on shelves or scrolling through them online, have you ever wondered how these works of art are created? How illustrators collaborate authors? How artists reinvent the heart and life of a story – only in a different medium? I’m writing to give you an inside look at that unique process. I was lucky enough to work side-by-side with my illustrator, Owen William Weber, so you’ll get to see firsthand what went into the artwork of my award-winning novel, The Silent Deal . Here’s a summary to give you a feel for the story: When Viktor and Romulus, two peasant boys in the Russian Empire, dig too deep into their town’s strange past, they awaken the wrath of a mysteriou...

Worm Winds of Zanzibar is a YA sci-fi/fantasy novel by Martin Dukes, and the second book in the Alex Trueman trilogy. Caught in a Moment started this story, so to get the full impact (and avoid spoilers!) I’d strongly recommend you read it first. You can start with reading my review here . If you haven’t read Caught in a Moment yet, stop reading this review now!!! I’m trusting you… After finding himself in Intersticia, a bizarre world that exists between intervals of frozen time, Alex realized that he is definitely not an ordinary teenager. Unlike anyone else there, Alex found he could manipulate and move things around him. It proved to be a dangerous ability though, as it put him on the radar of a branch of the angelic community called the Brethren of Twelve, who may have less than kindly intentions for him. In fact, their unsavory obsession interrupts Alex’s reintroduction back to his regular life and Kelly, whose life he saved and whom he is quickly regaining memorie...

Spellbindin g is a YA contemporary supernatural novel by Maya Gold. When Abby Silva’s US History teacher tells her class to research their ancestry for an assignment, Abby is startled by what she finds. With a bit of digging, Abby finds out that she is descended from an accused witch of 1600s Salem. Compelled by this knowledge, she goes to Salem and things start to… happen. At moments when Abby really wants something, objects seem to move on their own. And when after leaving a local library she finds herself in possession of an ancient spell book, a little experimenting finds that the spells… work! But Rem Anders, an attractive Salem boy, is also keeping secrets. He doesn’t appear to like what she’s getting into to – but maybe likes her? All Abby knows right now, is the power at her fingertips is putting her in a position she’s never been before… but there might be a darker truth to what’s going on… Spellbinding had some good qualities. For one, the plot was engaging. ...