Category Archives: Blog Tour

Blog tour: A Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter (VO)
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As a part of the tour, I made a review of the first book of the series. To see all the participants for the tour, click here!

Elemental Mysteries, Book 1

Synopsis:

“No secret stays hidden forever.”

A phone call from an old friend sets Dr. Giovanni Vecchio back on the path of a mystery he’d abandoned years before. He never expected a young librarian could hold the key to the search, nor could he have expected the danger she would attract. Now he and Beatrice De Novo will follow a twisted maze that leads from the archives of a university library, through the fires of Renaissance Florence, and toward a confrontation they never could have predicted.

Review: I read a lot of great reviews about this first volume so when I had the opportunity to get into it, I was more than happy! And I can say I’m glad for this discovery because I didn’t really know this author before.
This book presents us the story about Gio and Beatrice, two intriguing characters. Gio appears like a man who comes every day to do some research at the library, about a book, copying each page. We wonder from the start what he really wants or what he exactly is. He is so strange in his own way but always so Italian. On the contrary, Beatrice takes care of the library at night and keeps an eye on everything. She is a young, clever and pretty woman; she tries to understand and to analyze what is going on around her. I think ther character as much as Gio’s were very interesting to follow. They are so different but this same difference will bring them closer than we would have thought.
From the beginning, we don’t know a lot about our two main characters and it’s quite difficult to learn more. But with the chapters, we start to understand and like them. However, we only can have the explanation later, and we have to wait and enjoy the pieces of information we can get little by little.
The writing style is very original, some events from the past are mixed with some of the present, and that allows us to understand a little more about what is going on. But in the same time, we ask ourselves more and more questions, trying to understand the meaning of all of this. Because these moments are inserted like some furtive memories or even like some old pieces of letters.  
The arrival of Lorenzo in the story turns upside down the life of our heroes. We need a big bad guy in each story and this one has all the qualities to create the typical bad guy. We hate him as soon as we read about him but we also try to understand why he became the man he is now or what he really wants. The father of Beatrice is a character I would love to learn more about. We hear about this man all along the story but finally we don’t know a lot about him. I hope we could see him in the second volume because he is very intriguing.
We can predict the development of the story, it’s not a big surprise but it’s not a problem mainly with all these new characters we can meet. I didn’t expect this end at all, but it was a great idea.
To conclude, I can say it was a really great first novel and I’m very curious to learn more about the second one.



Blog Tour: Air by Shauna Granger (VO)
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Elemental, Book 2

Synopsis: It was a rough start to the school year for Shayna and her friends, Jodi and Steven, but thankfully summer break is near. Trying to sort out her feelings for the new guy in town, Shayna agrees to let Jensen join her on a group date with her friends. While out they end up at a local coffee house where their classmate, social outcast Jeremy McCormick, is humiliated by his baseball star brother. When Jeremy runs away from the jeering crowd, Shayna and Jodi hear the unmistakable sound of a thousand wings chasing after him, but no one else seems to hear them. These are not like any air elementals that Shayna or Jodi have ever encountered before and they fear Jeremy has gotten himself tangled up in something too dangerous for him to handle. But when Shayna tries to help Jeremy to control his magical abilities she realizes it might be the biggest mistake of her life.

Review: I was quite curious to find our four heros and to discover what had happened to them since the end with Ian in the first book. So it’s with a real pleasure that we can see Jodi, Shayna and Steven who will live a new adventure. And of course they’re helped by Jensen but it’s still difficult for him to really accept this new world where he evolves now. 
The author’s writing style is more accomplished in this second volume, we can also feel it with the story which is more complex than in the first novel. However, it’s true that sometimes I didn’t get into some parts of the novel near the end. 
About the story, I can tell it was quite simple but well conceived. This time, the author focuses on a new element like we can see with the title : Air. Two characters are more present, Jodi whose element lives in her and of course like always Shayna whose nothing could happen without her. However, this time we assist to a set black of the story for Steven and Jensen. But it was an interesting idea, it allows us to learn more about our two young heroines. So we evolve in a new world full of fairies and we can meet two very interesting ones who will appear a few times all along the book. I really like Tigan. He is mysterious, speak with enigmas but is always here when Shayna needs it. It was also curious to see the evolution of Jensen since the first volume, he opens himself little by little to this new life despite he’s still afraid about it. For Shayna, he has to change, he has to accept the impossible, to live with her friends, everything she wants to be at her side. 
I’ve always really like books about fairies, so it was interesting to me to see the author’s vision about this subject. As far as that goes, we can learn more about a new species, but I’ll not tell too much about them. They were very intriguing and I was happy to learn more about them.

       

Giveaway: You can enter the Grand Prize to win a signed copy of Air with a matching bookmark, a holiday candle, a Christmas ornament, Solstice sun sugar cookies and snowflake peppermint bark candy. 
Each participant needs to comment on every blog post on the tour. You can enter on the last stop. (US ONLY)

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Book Tour Earth – Interview + Giveaway : Shauna Granger
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We’re very happy today to present you Shauna Granger, the author of The Elemental series. Her second book, Air (Elemental #2), will be set to release on October 31th. (If you yant to see our review about the first novel, you could read it here).

We hope you’ll enjoy this interview.

– How many books do you plan on writing? Do you already have an idea of what’s going to happen in each one?

Shauna Granger : I have always intended on this to be a five book series, one for each element. I do always have a vague idea about what the story is going to be about when I sit down to start the book, but until then, I have no idea, lol. I am currently working on the fourth book in the series but I have no idea what the fifth, and possibly final, book will be about. I need to know how this book is going to end before I know what the following book will be about. I know that sounds a little weird, but I’ve never been one who could write with outlines; I write organically, listening to the characters and just trying to keep up with them as the story unfolds. When I try to plan and outline a book I lose all sense of urgency to tell the story.

– Could you tell us a little something about the second book?

Shauna Granger : The second book was a lot of fun for me to write; this book focuses on the Air elementals and I researched a lot of Irish folklore and got back to my ancestors’ roots for it. You’re going to find High fairies, brownies, house hobs, earth fairies, air fairies and many more species in this book. However, despite all the pretty, sparkly fun of those fairies book two, Air, also shows people their dark side. Readers will join the characters on a trip into the Sidhe (the fairy underworld), and see just what these creatures are capable of.

– Has it been difficult to write the first book?

Shauna Granger : Once I realized that I wanted to write in the Fantasy genre writing the first draft of Earth was remarkably easy. For a very long time I tried not to write Fantasy because that was the genre I enjoyed reading the most and I was concerned there was nothing new I could bring to the table. It would be four years before I would finally allow myself to write Earth, but when I finally decided that was the story inside of me, I managed to write the first 10,000 words in under two hours. People tell you to write what you know, or write what you don’t know (meaning it’ll force you to do the research necessary to write that story), but I like to tell people to write the story you want to read. That’s my big secret.

– Does the inspiration for the characters come from people you know?

Shauna Granger : Not really. Now, there are a few minor characters that are inspired by people in real life, but mostly they come from my imagination. Deb, the manager of the Oak, Ash and Thorn, is based on a real person who is a kind and loving person who I thought more people should know. A lot of the teachers in the books are based on my high school teachers. But as far as the main characters, if they are inspired by real people, it’s a bunch of people all rolled up into one fictional person. I like to take traits from people, whether it’s a sense of humor, a haircut or whatever, and mold them into one person.

– Do you need very specific conditions to write? With music? In a coffee shop? Where does the magic happen?

Shauna Granger : I do need noise to write. I create a playlist of music for each book so that if I’m in an unfamiliar place I can still get back into the mood of the story. If I am in my office, I’ll turn the music on and even turn on the T.V. so that there is enough noise that I end up blocking it all out and am able to focus solely on the screen in front of me. If I’m not in my office, I do make sure to take my music list with me because it’s like the actual voice and tone of the story I’m working on and thanks to that, I can work anywhere, anytime. I want writing to be my fulltime job, so I treat it like a job. I don’t have the luxury to wait for inspiration to strike or to be sitting in just the right place. I think that’s the difference between treating writing like a hobby or like a livelihood.

– What are your favorite books?

Shauna Granger : Oh my gosh, this is probably the hardest question ever. I love books so much. How do you decide! I guess your favorite books are those that you can read over and over again and never get bored, so with that in mind I know that all seven Harry Potter books are at the top of my list. And no, that answer is not to pander to the masses, I have probably re-read each of those books at least four times and I get lost every single time.

The incredible Neil Gaiman and his books would make my list, specifically American Gods and Stardust – if you’ve only seen the movie, you’re really missing something – and Neverwhere.

Kim Harrison and Jeaniene Frost are my two favorite Urban Fantasy writers right now, so Harrison’s Hallows Series and Frost’s Night Huntress (and the spin offs) are on that list too.

– Do you plan on writing for an older audience?

Shauna Granger : I actually do have a story in mind with an adult main character bouncing around in my head. I don’t think Young Adult books are just for teens so I don’t want to say that this next project will be just for Adults. But I am really excited to start writing the story. This book will also be an Urban Fantasy novel, full of magical realism where all the fantastical creatures, witches, fairies, elves, trolls and more are part of society, out in the open. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. I have absolutely no idea what the story is going to be about outside of what types of characters are going to be in it, and who the main character is, but I think it’s going to be great!

Thank you Shauna for aswering our questions !

Giveaway :

As a part of the tour, Shauna Granger will give the possibility to win one e-copy of her first book : Earth. So please to enter, leave a comment with a way to contact you (email address). This giveaway is international and closes on October 31th at 11:59PM.

You can win this e-book in each blog of the tour, so check them all !

There will be too two Grand Prizes. To enter the first one you must comment on each blog post of the tour for a signed print copy of soon to be released Air and a bookmark! Second Grand Prize is a signed print copy of Earth and a bookmark! Don’t forget to go on this blog on October 29 th.

Blog on the tour :