Cover Reveal: Two Truths and One Liar by Deirdre Riordan Hall

Two Truths and One Liar
Deirdre Riordan Hall
Publication date: December 28th 2021
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult

Knives Out meets One of Us is Lying with a hint of the Inheritance Games. Like the original whodunnit, Clue, this suspenseful mystery also has three possible endings explaining what could have happened.

They all have secrets. They all have motives. They all tell lies.

Every year, at a prestigious boarding school, Professor Groff hosts the Midnight Masquerade. But this year, before the festivities, he’s discovered dead in his office. Yet six students still receive invitations. The same six students who’re questioned about his murder.

The show must go on. At the Masquerade, two additional students claim to know the truth. The lights go out and when they come back on, one of them is dead. Anyone could’ve been at fault.

Francisca blind in one eye and deadly on the rugby field. Toshi a number ninja and the campus punching bag. Taz who struggles with anxiety and lingers in the shadows. Fish the golden boy hiding wounds and not only in his heart. Caroline the heiress and the image of perfection. Gorgeous George the resident Greek God with nothing to lose.

The six receive anonymous notes, making them question themselves and the assumptions they’ve made about each other. Brought back together, they must prove their innocence before the all-school meeting the next morning, otherwise, they risk humiliation if their secrets are exposed exposed—and worse, if they’re found guilty.

It’s a long night of theft, danger, and threats by a secret society that shows Professor Groff was right during his final lecture.

Everything that can go wrong will.

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Author Bio:

Deirdre Riordan Hall is the author of the contemporary young adult bestsellers Sugar and Pearl as well as the High School Murder Mystery series. She’s in an ongoing pursuit of words, waves, and wonder. Her love language involves a basket of chips, salsa, and guacamole, preferably when shared with her family.

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Book Blitz: What Happened to Coco by VB Furlong

What Happened to Coco
VB Furlong
Publication date: December 4th 2021
Genres: Thriller, Young Adult

When a girl disappears, long-buried secrets resurface…

Coco is missing. Her room’s a mess, and her phone is left behind in her dorm at Lainsbury Hall School

Ella, Coco’s childhood best friend, is desperate for her to return, although she knows that if she ever sees Coco again, there’ll be a lot of explaining to do.

Bea knows that her new group of friends attracts drama, and she thinks she has the last shred of common sense between them all. Only, if that was true, she would leave Genevieve, her toxic ex, well alone.

Conrad is confident that Coco will return safe and well. Only, the way his secrets are unravelling, he’s worried he won’t be when this is all over.

Harrison and Coco are the perfect couple. Everyone knows that. But looks can be misleading. Even the smartest boy in school can make a terrible mistake.

In order to navigate the web of secrets and lies that Coco leaves behind, her circle of friends needs to unravel a few of their own.

But the question remains: What happened to Coco?

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

In the misty darkness lit only by a blue streetlamp, Ella knew that she was not alone. She turned and saw the faceless figure far down the drizzly street. It came towards her at speed. It didn’t seem to be moving, but she knew that it was gaining on her. She started to run, but her legs would not move. She was stuck, as though in quicksand.

When she dared check over her shoulder once again, the figure was only about five steps away, and she could see raspy breaths escape the black silhouette in a wispy white cloud. The scene whirred in front of Ella as she pulled on her legs, sobbing, begging them to move. But they would not. All she could hear was the breathing, slow and rattling, as though it was the figure’s very last. Four. Three. Two.

It was the skeletal hand on her shoulder that woke her. In the darkness of her room, she was alone. She turned her alarm off and felt uneasy in the silence. She was soaking wet, her back from sweat, her face from tears.

She washed her face, hardly daring to open her eyes and look into the mirror above the sink. She felt watched, hunted. As she brushed her teeth, she turned on all her lights and opened the dreary brown curtains that Lainsbury Hall School had placed in all the dorms. But even in her bright vanity lamps that took over her dressing table, drowning her in bright white light as she did her make up, her eyes darted around the corners of her mirrors, checking all angles of the room in the reflection for the faceless spectre. She was not herself today. Then again, she hadn’t been herself yesterday, either.

Author Bio:

VB Furlong is a trainee lawyer and writer of young adult novels living in Berkshire, UK. She wrote her first “novel” at aged ten and has not stopped since then. Through her writing she aims to explore many of the issues she faced herself growing up, in the hopes that others facing the same issues feel some solidarity. Her friendships are a huge part of her life and consequently is a major theme in her writing, exploring the way in which we interact with each other, especially in difficult times.

Originally from Mumbles, Swansea, VB Furlong enjoys the sun and the sea, and walking her three dogs across the cliffs. These walks have offered her inspiration for many pieces of writing, including What Happened to Coco which she is excited to introduce as a coming of age boarding school thriller.

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Book Review: Radiants by David B. Coe

Dede has a secret that she’s been keeping her whole life. After a traumatizing event, she’s successfully pushed down the part of her that makes her unique, that is, until now. See, Dede can force her own consciousness out of her body and into others, essentially turning them into a puppet. And she’s going to be learning to use it a lot, apparently.

4/5 Stars 325 Pages Published October 15th 2021 by Bell Bridge Books

After using her power at school to protect and get revenge for her her friend Kyle from bullies, she comes home and tells her mom. Little does she know that her family will change forever, from that day on. Hunted down by the government, Dede and her little brother Miles are eventually separated from their mother and forced to work alone to save everyone involved, including themselves. They’re on the run, because if they stop, they’re facing incredible tests from the government to essentially map out every aspect of their unique abilities. At whatever the cost.

A good book, ,they story was more about finding yourself and staying strong in tough situations. From sticking up for your friends, to being blamed for murder and finding out your little brother’s powers, you have to do what you know what’s right, even if it’s scary and hard to achieve.

I enjoyed the book, but it’s not my new favourite. That being said, I would read more from the author in the future. It was written very smoothly, and suitable for readers fourteen an up, due to violence. Check it out if you think it would be something you’d like!

If you’d like to grab a copy, you can here!

And if you’d like to keep up with the author, you can here on Twitter!

Thanks for reading! Hope you’re doing well, and staying happy. What power would you want if you could choose?

Book Blitz & Excerpt: Double Negative by Susan Marshall

Double Negative
Susan Marshall
Published by: Evernight Teen
Publication date: November 12th 2021
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Injured competitive swimmer Reece never wanted to be Vice Prez of West Hill High. It was her brother Jamie’s idea, just something to do until she could get back into the pool.

She knew that Jamie—who led his campaign with a striptease “election speech”—would be a complete “President Dumbass.” But Reece didn’t foresee that she’d fall hard for Jamie’s Student Council rival, Zain.

Zain is hot and intense, plus an amputee and a basketball star. Between Zain’s disability and Reece’s surgery, they have their challenges, but that deepens their connection—until he drops a bombshell about his accident. Suddenly, everything important to Reece starts to implode.

Struggling with issues of family loyalty, secrets, and scars, Reece must decide if real relationships are worth the heartache.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

The atmosphere in the auditorium was near electric. The students were gobbling up the performance, knowing Jamie’s “speech” could be stopped at any second. As he started to lower his swimsuit, DiFran suddenly—finally—stomped onstage. I momentarily covered my eyes with my good hand, and when I peeked through my fingers, I exhaled in relief. His flesh-colored t-shirt was part of a unitard. No frontal nudity today, folks.

Fists and jaw tightly clenched, DiFran leaned in and whispered insistently into Jamie’s ear. But like a pole dancer resisting the grand finale, Jamie shook him off.

High-bun girl leaned forward as my brother turned ass backward to the audience. Large black letters were written across his butt—Free on the left cheek, Ice Cream on the right. High-bun girl— and pretty much the entire student body—went insane as the dance music morphed into a conga drumbeat.

As Jamie thrust out one butt cheek, everyone yelled, “Free!” He pulsed out the other one to a refrain of, “Ice cream!” Even my gym teacher Ms. Walker started shouting along, while Jamie wiggled one cheek and then the other. “Free ice cream!” I gripped the armrest with my good hand. Very presidential.

Moving to the speed of Jamie’s bum, the chanting accelerated to a fevered pitch. Riding an ice cream vendor bike, Dean blasted through the backstage curtain, skidding to a stop. He opened the cooler, pulled out a few boxes of cones, and lifted them up high like a trophy.

DiFran took center stage, waving his arms furiously, trying but failing to halt the deafening noise.

“Are you quite done?” he huffed into the mic. Jamie, who was suddenly in his trunks and at his side, shook his head. “Wrap this up pronto,” DiFran spat.

Jamie tilted the microphone toward his mouth as the auditorium quieted down. Here comes the big speech. Despite all the shenanigans, or maybe because of them, everyone seemed ready to listen. It was almost a dead silence when Jamie leaned in and spoke his first words, slowly emphasizing each letter.

“For free ice cream, vote Jamie and Dean.” He paused. Everyone sat quietly, waiting for more. But instead, Dean ripped open boxes as Jamie reached over and started firing ice cream cones at the audience. Even though I was way out of range, I ducked. A mad scramble ensued. The bull had been released.

Author Bio:

A lover of libraries, Susan obtained a Masters Degree in Library Science but found that she was too disorganized for that field. Instead, Susan worked at The Globe and Mail newspaper and then Seneca College. Four kids later, she decided to stay-at-home, spending her quiet moments indulging her love of writing.

The old adage is to “write what you know.” In Double Negative, Susan channels her experience as a parent of a teen amputee and her misguided belief that she was once an athlete. The inspiration for NemeSIS was the complicated sister dynamic in Susan’s estrogen fuelled household in Hamilton, Ontario. An avid reader, she loves e-books and falls asleep nightly to the soft glow, oblivious to what happened on the last page.

Susan lives in Toronto with her husband, three sons, a daughter, rescue dog Bean and Indy the cat.

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Book Review: Project Ele (Ele #1) by Rebecca Gober & Courtney Nuckels

5/5 Stars 334 pages
Published December 24th 2013 by Clean Teen Publishing

Imagine you’re standing in line in the hot sun. Now imagine that, but for a week straight. Not only is the sun hot, but everyone is very stressed out. You’re not waiting for a new phone, or to get into the store to get your groceries. You’re waiting for your spot in an underground vault. A massive bunker. And there’s a plague spreading fast. If you didn’t think it could get any worse than that, you’re dead wrong. There’s no actual guarantee that you’ll get in, and the weather is only going to get more extreme. This, and more, is what fifteen year old Willow is facing with her family.

A very unique take on a classic apocalyptic fiction story, as an insane last resort to contain a virus that’s taking over the world, the world leaders are planning on heating the planet hot enough to wipe it, and anyone who’s infected, out. The rich and most important people are ushered into the vaults, leaving the poor people and the infected people scrambling trying to get in, or face to deathly hot conditions outside.

Now if you know me, you’d know I’m a huge fan of the game series, Fallout, as well as almost any book featuring the apocalypse. So of course this was right up my alley. I loved the story, the characters, and the setting. I think it’s perfect for all ages to read, and I can’t wait to read more. Kind of an X-Men meets Fallout 3, but not the entire game. Just the beginning where you’re growing up in the vault. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.

If you’d like to grab a copy for yourself, you can here!

And you can follow the authors, Rebecca and Courtney, on Twitter!

Thanks for reading, hope you have a great day! Did you play the fallout games? I could talk about them all day.

Book Review: Skin by Donna Jo Napoli

4/5 Stars 352 pages
Published August 6th 2013 by Skyscape

A beautiful and very memorable story of a teen girl who one day wakes up to find that her lips, and then more spots on her body, have turned white. She has vitiligo, and she just has to learn to live with her new skin condition, among everything else going on in her life.

A book about self acceptance over all, Giuseppina lives with a little brother who calls her a slut, and at school her friends and other kids judge her for wearing makeup to cover up her spots. Basically, this book is just a story of life on a day to day basis. She goes to school, she starts dating an old friend, and she struggles with her own body image, while trying to keep it secret. I loved how realistic it was, and I found that to be a really nice change of pace from the other books I’ve been reading lately. I recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a feel good story without all the bells and whistles, and anyone who’s 16+.

If you’d like to grab a copy, you can here.

Thanks for reading! And don’t be afraid to show your true self to the world! They’ll love you for it.

Book Review: Thin Space by Jody Casella

After losing his twin brother in a car accident where he was driving, Marsh has completely lost himself in his grief. Obsessed with an old story from an even older neighbour who’s long gone, he finds himself constantly looking for the perfect spot for a “thin space”, or a place where he can cross over to the other side to talk to someone lost to the world. He just wants to talk to him one last time and make things ight. But after wandering around barefoot for months, it’s starting to get cold, and he’s starting to lost hope.

5/5 Stars 256 pages
Published September 10th 2013 by Beyond Words/Simon Pulse

A wonderful and in depth story about a teenage boy trying to deal with a new world without his best friend, his grief, and also his flashbacks to the accident itself, I was instantly hooked. He feels like the accident was his fault, and he wants to be gone from the world. And I think that those are real things that people have to deal with. The only good thing in Marsh’s life now is his new friend Maddie, who’s running from her own past and home life, and who also wants nothing more than to help him and be around him, no matter what. And that just what he needs.

WHat was really great though, in my opinion, was the ending. Completely hit me out of the blue. It was something that I never expected, and added a new layer to just how amazing and unique of a story it really is. Great characters who grow throughout the story, just a really amazing plot, and perfectly written just how I personally like to read, this book is definitely one of my new favorites, and I can’t wait to get a physical copy for my collection. No matter what kind of genre of books you like, I think you should check out this book, and you would like it too!

If you’d like to grab a copy, you can here!

And if you’d like to keep up with the author, you can here!

Thanks for reading! Hope you’re doing well, and your brain is doing well too.

Book Review: Grounded (The Grounded Trilogy #1) by G.P. Ching

An amazing story of finding yourself when you think you’ve found all that there is to find. Lydia is a girl with a power inside her that’s well hidden on an Amish Community. So well hidden in fact, that she doesn’t even know she has it. That is, until she ventures off on her own into the world beyond their little slice of heaven, into a post apocalyptic, futuristic world. I knew immediately that it had potential to be one of my new favourite books.

5/5 Stars 407 pages
Published November 11th 2012 by Carpe Luna Publishing

September 2052, fireman Frank finds a baby in a rain storm. But after seeing who’s left her, he runs straight to an Amish colony and never looks back. There, she grows up Amish, never wondering about anything other than her chores and future husband, until her father suddenly falls ill and is put in a medical facility off colony. Then, her best friend convinces her to go off colony with him in an old tradition. What should be the most exciting part of her young teenage life is turned upside down when she becomes a human lightning rod.

The next thing she knows, the police are there arresting her, claiming she’s a scamper, whatever that is, and haul her in for testing. This book is something that I have never read before. It takes these two completely different world that really don’ seem like they should be able to blend together, like oil and water, and somehow the author is able to mix them seamlessly. I really can’t believe that I haven’t read something like this before, and honestly, I can’t wait to jump right back into the series. If you think you would like it, definitely give it a shot. I won’t forget it anytime soon.

Photo by Frank Cone on Pexels.com

If you’d like to grab a copy, you can here!

And if you’d like to keep up with the author on Twitter, you can here!

Thanks for reading! I hope you have a great day, and pick up a book for a little bit today!

Book Review: Spacevault by G.W. Smith

Although this was an interesting idea, as a book, it wasn’t really for me. Set on world that’s doomed to perish because of an asteroid, Xel, the main character is destined to save it. Unfortunately there is also insta-love, and too little description for me to be able to follow all the different species of characters in the story. Basically, it wasn’t for me.

2/5 Stars 117 pages
Published January 21st 2012

The beginning of the story starts with a mass gathering of scientists. In the next fifty years, asteroid “Black Rock” is going to come and mess up their entire planet’s orbit by coming too close, dooming their home. They’ve been working on a solution, a way to teleport to a safe location, but nothing has really become of it because they would have to move their entire population. After ten years, they’re running out of options. So they’ve come up with a new idea, taking the world’s most intelligent people and children, giving them special schooling so they may go on to save their people. And Xel is one of those children.

Was he a child or was he a teen? Was he fully grown? These are some of the questions I have. How did he change his relationships with the other characters in the story so fast? Why were the children basically test dummies? There are just so many things I didn’t really understand, and I couldn’t really stay invested in the book.

I think that although I thought the book was confusing, not everyone will think that. It does have a great and unique scifi base to build off of. If you think you would enjoy it, check it out!

Thanks for reading. Hope you’re doing well and there’s no asteroids headed for our own planet!

Book Review: A Stranger Magic (Haven #1) by D.C. Akers

Even though I’ve never read anything by D.C. Akers before, I was interested to get this book started. It wasn’t my new favourite, but it was a great book to switch up my reading list with.

3/5 Stars 172 pages
Published March 5th 2013 by Vanquisher Publishing

Sam is just a boy who’s in Junior High, with a single mom, and a bully of an older sister. Beginning with a stress dream, it mostly shows his daily life, but with a magical twist. A very quick and easy read, middle grade fiction is usually out of my comfort zone because of how toned down everything is. That being said, I didn’t feel like there was that vibe from this book, although there wasn’t really anything to tone down in the first place.

His sister Sarah however, turns out to live a more exciting life than we originally think. Things just seem to break around her when she’s upset, and she’s starting to get upset more often. Something I can’t wait to read more of is her side of the story.

A topic that did kind of effect me was the kids dad. How they feel cheated because of his death, and feel like they’re missing out on things that other kids have are they’re supposed to have. That’s exactly how I feel about my mom, the author really hit it on the head.

Overall I enjoyed his book and would check out the next part of the story if I got a chance to. I’ve had this book since 2013 and just finally got around to reading it, and I’m glad I did. If you’re into middle grade paranormal and fantasy, or if you just want a quick book to read, I think you would enjoy it.

Photo by Quenani Leal on Pexels.com

If you’d like to grab a copy, you can here!

And if you’d like to keep up with the Author on Twitter, you can here!

Thanks for reading, and don’t let your bully of a sister get you down!

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