Cover Reveal: SHADOW OF TIME

Title: Shadow of Time

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Author: Jen Minkman
Cover Designer: Jen Minkman
Cover reveal organized by: AToMR Tours
Expected release date:  January 1, 2013

Book Description: 
All Hannah needs is a nice and quiet vacation after her first year of teaching French at a high school. She joins her brother Ben for the summer in their mom’s log cabin in Arizona. There, she meets Josh again, Ben’s childhood friend from the Navajo reservation. The little boy from the rez has grown up fast, and Hannah can’t help but feeling more for him than just friendship.

But fate apparently has something else in store for her. And it’s not peace and quiet. Night after night, Hannah is plagued by strange nightmares about the past of Navajo Nation and terrifying shadows chasing her. They seem to come closer – and why is Josh always present in her dreams?
Sometimes, the past has a way of catching up with you.

Link to find the book: http://www.nwelsaturay.com/jenminkman/english/shadowoftime/index.html

Author Jen Minkman (1978) was born in Holland, in the town of Alphen aan den Rijn. When she was 19, she moved between The Hague, Salzburg (Austria), Brussels (Belgium) and Cambridge (UK) to complete her studies in intercultural communication. She is currently a teacher of English, career counsellor and teenage coach at a secondary school in Voorburg, Holland. She tries to read at least 100 books a year (and write a few, too!). She is a published author in her own country, and translates her own books from Dutch into English for self-publication.

In her spare time, she plays the piano, the guitar and the violin. For every novel she writes, she creates a soundtrack.
Jen Minkman | Facebook| Twitter

Alleyway SPLAT! I mentioned Monday that I'd be posting today instead of tomorrow but never told you why. Well, some of you may recall approximately two years ago my daughter had reconstructive surgery on her right foot which equaled eight hours in the O.R., two weeks post-op bedrest, then two months in a cast, and three to four more months for full recovery. Yup. It's now time to do the left foot.

The first time she was 11 years old, just starting 6th grade. Now, she's 14 years old, hormonal, and has a social life. The next six months should be fun. *tosses confetti, which fails to float and lazily wafts to the ground. Wish me luck!!

Book Spotlight: Lies Beneath

This book was sent to me during the summer months, and I've been looking forward to sharing it with you. FYI: I actually have quite a few reviews to share with you, books which were sent to me prior to my decision to change my review policy. (Oh yeah, I haven't shared that change with you yet. I will soon...)

Title: Lies Beneath
Author: Anne Greenwood Brown
Genre: paranormal/fantasy
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Released: June 12, 2012
Pages: 303

I'd like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy of this book for review.

Favorite Line/Passage: As my hands pierced the surface, the icy temperature sliced through my skin, upward and outward, like a thousand razors. My heart constricted, and my mouth contorted with pain. White blossoms of clean bright light bloomed in my field of vision. Water filled my ears with a tinny ringing. The freezing water rushed into my lungs, and I took my first deep breath in what felt like days, luxuriating in the fullness of it.

Description: Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistable good looks and charm on ususpecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him.

COVETED! A MUST READ!!

My Splats: a tale of mystical intrigue, family tensions, snarky teen attitudes spiced with a bit of creepy, and longing to own one's self. A masterful play on life and emotions, circumstances and positions, honor and integrity. 

It's difficult for me to share my thoughts about this book with you. Why? Because there is so much to tell; it was that good. The structure of the story was ingenious, yet easy to follow. And by structure, I'm not referring to the writerly perspective but the readerly one - small glimpses of Calder scatter throughout the opening, but mostly focus on his here and now. As the story travels, I was given more and more crumbs which turned into pieces and eventually chunks. Creative descriptions moved me to see, hear, and feel Calder's make believe surroundings.

My other main reason for enjoying this story so much is that the male POV was refreshing. Calder has a bold voice. He's troubled from many angles, which is only aggravated by his relationship with his sisters. The dialog is clever to even a teasing degree at times.

By chapter three, the story unfolds with a sinister air, building instant tension. An old grip and promise for revenge moves tensions between Calder's sisters to escalate; a dominant sister controls them all, leaving one submissive and the other wanting out. But then Calder has a run-in with a new family in town and their two daughters - one young and Lily the big sister. This gives Calder his own issues, raising questions about himself and his beginnings that he's buried deep inside. And when Calder is presented with the task of aiding in his sisters' revenge pact, which includes harming Lily or her little sister, his inner struggle totally climaxes. 

His budding relationship with Lily the paranormal mixed with the average teenage jitters. Does she like me? Why does she make me feel this way? Why do I want her to like me when all it will do is get in my way? Lily's family's history plays a stunning role in the story's climax, and as a reader, you just might be torn.

What is your take on mermaids, or mer-men??

SPLAT: I'll be posting on Thursday this week instead of Friday. I'll explain on Thursday.

For more YA, visit these YATT Meme Supporters:

Margo Berendsen

The Write Game

Julie Musil (not every wk)

Rosewood Pencil Box

Misha Gericke (not every wk)

Fairbetty's World 

Concrete Pieces of Soul 

The B.L.O.G (The Bizzare Life of One Girl)  

A Day into the Writer

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