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PARTICIPATING BLOGS:
Best Hook & Most Creative Concept
2/15/18
Come back tomorrow for the next award announcements!
Friday, February 16, 2018
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
2017 Bloggers' Choice Awards!
The Lone Star Book Blog Tours team has voted, and the results are in! From Best Fiction to Most Engaged Author, we have seventeen awards to hand out to the awesome Texas books and authors featured on Lone Star Book Blog Tours in 2017. From February 14-23, 2018, please join us as we hop around the LSBBT blogs and share the winners, runners-up, and shortlisted titles. Don’t miss it!
AWARDS SCHEDULE:
2/14: Awards Announcement
2/15: AWARDS: Best Hook & Best Creative Concept
2/16: AWARDS: Best Non-Fiction History, Best Biography/Memoir, & Best Western
2/17: AWARDS: Best Children’s/Juvenile/YA & Best Series
2/18: AWARDS: Best Literary Fiction & Best Religious/Inspirational/Spiritual
2/19: AWARDS: Best Mystery/Suspense, Best Romance, & Best Fantasy
2/20: AWARDS: Best Cover & Most Engaged Author
2/21: AWARD: Best Texas Book
2/22: AWARD: Best Non-Fiction Book
2/23: AWARD: Best Fiction Book
PARTICIPATING BLOGS:
(Not all blogs posting every day)
Monday, February 12, 2018
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
Caraval
by Stephanie Garber
407 pages
Published by Flatiron Books
Plot: Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over.
But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.
Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. And whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over or a dangerous domino effect of consequences will be set off, and her beloved sister will disappear forever.
Welcome, welcome to Caraval…beware of getting swept too far away. (2018, Goodreads.com)
Review: I finally got my hands on a copy of Caraval! I've seen this book everywhere and the cover is just gorgeous. Garber really shines in her debut filled with intrigue, suspense, mystery, magic and romance! Scarlett and Tella are two sisters invited to Caraval, a magical show where you can either watch or participate in the game to win a prize. This year, the prize is a wish. Scarlett is the older and more practical sister. She has dreamed of going to Caraval for years. But, unfortunately her invitation has come too late. She is going to be married to a man her father has not allowed her to meet, but will set up the family with power and money. Scarlett is determined to marry the Count, even if it's only to get her and Tella away from their abusive father. But, Tella has other plans and decides to leave for Caraval with the help of a mysterious sailor, Julian. Desperate to bring her sister back, Scarlett goes after her only to end up taken to Caraval against her will. When Tella goes missing, Scarlett has no choice but to enter the game of Caraval and win the wish in order to bring her sister home. But Caraval is not your ordinary game and the consequences of wrong choices are very real, even deadly.
Full of magical dresses, cryptic entertainers, confusing riddles, and terrifying tunnels, Caraval is nothing that Scarlett expects. She also doesn't expect Julian, the same mysterious sailor who took her to Caraval, to be her only hope of finding her sister. But the more time she spends with Julian, the more she questions her arranged marriage and the man she is fated to marry. But Caraval doesn't last forever, and as time runs out...so do Scarlett's chances of saving her sister and herself.
Loved Caraval and can't wait until book two: Legendary (coming out May 29, 2018)Recommended for ages 14 and up!
Rating: 5 Hearts!
💖💖💖💖💖
Rebel Of The Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
Rebel of the Sands
by Alywn Hamilton
316 Pages
Published by Viking
Plot: Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mythical beasts still roam the wild and remote areas, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinn still perform their magic. For humans, it’s an unforgiving place, especially if you’re poor, orphaned, or female.
Amani Al’Hiza is all three. She’s a gifted gunslinger with perfect aim, but she can’t shoot her way out of Dustwalk, the back-country town where she’s destined to wind up wed or dead.
Then she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, in a shooting contest, and sees him as the perfect escape route. But though she’s spent years dreaming of leaving Dustwalk, she never imagined she’d gallop away on mythical horse—or that it would take a foreign fugitive to show her the heart of the desert she thought she knew.
Rebel of the Sands reveals what happens when a dream deferred explodes—in the fires of rebellion, of romantic passion, and the all-consuming inferno of a girl finally, at long last, embracing her power. (2018, Goodreads.com)
Review: Great start to a new series! Loved the middle-eastern mythology / western gun-slinger theme. Amani and Jin are both very likable characters that have you rooting for them from start to finish. Amani is not only a dead shot with her pistol, but she is brave and willing to take risks. Outside of Duskwalk there is a rebellion brewing. One of the Sultan's sons, the rebel prince, is leading this rebellion and is being hunted. So soldiers are looking everywhere for him and his rebels - even in Duskwalk. Amani desperately wants to leave Dustwalk before her uncle marries her to himself! With no parents, she is at the mercy of her uncle. But, when she crosses paths with a handsome foreigner she realizes that he could be her only way out. Amani has never left Dustwalk, and although she doesn't know what lies outside of her dusty little town, she is willing risk everything to find out.
Hamilton does an excellent job weaving in fast-paced action, mythical beasts, and romance into an original and beautiful story! There are lots of plot twists and turns that make this one a great page-turner! A definite must read! If you love fantasy, middle-eastern mythology, westerns and romance you'll love this book! Recommended for ages 14 and up!
Rating: 4 Hearts!💖💖💖💖
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