Showing posts with label Tera Lynn Childs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tera Lynn Childs. Show all posts

9/24/11

GIVEAWAY & REVIEW: Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs


Description

Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.
Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.
Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they’re triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.
These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful Gorgon maligned in myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

About the Author

Tera Lynn Childs (Authora neo) is a newly discovered species of author fish who always dreamed of being a mermaid, but never got closer than a career as a competitive swimmer. She loves to spend as much time as possible in and around water (right up until her fingertips turn all pruney) in the vain hope that one day her legs will magically turn into fins. When stuck on land, Authora neo can be found writing in coffee shops across the country, prowling for cool mermaid gear on Etsy, and spending way too much time online.

Details

  • Reading level: Young Adult
  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (September 6, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0062001817
  • ISBN-13: 978-0062001818
SOURCE:  PUBLISHER

MY THOUGHTS
ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT

We are first introduced to Gretchen, who is quite busy attending high school during the day and kicking demon butt at night.  Gretchen has pretty much been abandoned by who she thinks are her parents.  Then we meet geeky Grace who knows she is adopted and has a loving family.  Her family moves to San Francisco in order for her to attend a prestigious  private school where her already stellar computer skills can be improved.   Finally, Greer is tracked down after Gretchen and Grace meet and start putting things together after they meet in a nightclub and recognize they look just alike.  Greer has no clue she is adopted by her rich parents and thinks the monsters she has been seeing are some kind of mental breakdown.  All three girls are descended from Medusa and have special gifts.   Each have seen monsters appear during their childhood and how each deals with it is very telling.  Gretchen kicks their butt, Grace pushes the thoughts away while Greer buries them.

The set up for this trilogy is just brilliant and I can't wait until the next one is released next fall.  This is a much more mature book than Childs' other books and probably better suited for teens since there is some violence and language.  Parental control is pretty much on the back burner here as well, but in order for the story to work, it is necessary.  I mean, how can you kick demon butt if you always have to be home in time for dinner?  There is so much empowerment for these three teens and I have my fingers crossed that the next installment will continue to show their growth, both physically and mentally.  I really liked how each one of the triplets is a unique individual, yet still have traits that are common among them.  This promises to be a wonderful trilogy!

WANT TO WIN THIS arc BOOK ? 
Go to my YA blog HERE

2/8/11

REVIEW: Fins Are Forever by Tera Lynn Childs

Description

On Lily Sanderson’s eighteenth birthday she’ll become just a girl—still a mer girl, true, but signing the renunciation paperwork will ink Princess Waterlily of Thalassinia out of existence. That leaves plain old Lily living on land, dating the boy she loves, and trying to master this being human thing once and for all.

Now that Lily and Quince are together, mer-bond or not, she’s almost content to give up her place in the royal succession of Thalassinia. But just when she thinks she has everything figured out, Lily’s father sends a certain whirlpool-stirring cousin to stay with her on land. What did Doe do to get herself exiled from Thalassinia and stuck in terraped form, when everyone knows how much she hates humans? And why why why is she batting her eyelashes at Lily’s former crush, Brody?

The seafoam on the surf comes when a merboy from Lily’s past shows up. Tellin asks Lily for something that clouds her view of the horizon. There’s a future with Quince on land, her loyalty to the kingdom in the sea, and Lily tossing on the waves in the middle. Will she find a way to reconcile her love, her duty, and her dreams?

About the Author

Tera Lynn Childs (Authora neo) is a newly discovered species of authorfish who always dreamed of being a mermaid but never got closer than a career as a competitive swimmer. She loves to spend as much time as possible in and around water (until her fingertips turn all pruny) in the vain hope that one day her legs will magically turn into fins. When stuck on land, Authora neo can be found writing in coffee shops across the country, prowling for cool mermaid gear on Etsy, and spending way too much time online.

Details

  • Reading level: Young Adult
  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (June 28, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061914681
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061914683
SOURCE:  AROUND THE WORLD ARC TOURS

MY THOUGHTS
ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT

***slight spoilers after first paragraph***



Fins are Forever hit the perfect spot with me and I enjoyed this one even more than the start of the series. The book starts out with Lily deciding she will give up her capacity as a princess on her birthday and live on dry land to resolve the conflict she has with her human side.  Things are going swimmingly with Quince and she finds the perfect career to strive for as a marine ecologist.  Of course, something goes terribly wrong when her wicked cousin, Dosinia turns up on her doorstep.

There are some almost slapstick moments in the book when Lily discovers herself stuck with her human hating cousin.  Doe has committed some unspeakable offense in the mer kingdom that causes her to be banished without any powers and is sent to live with Lily to redeem herself.  The big twist here is that Lily is the one to judge if Doe has been rehabilitated and can accept humans in her life.  Doe makes good on that one by falling in love with Brody who she promptly kisses.

The ending left a lot of things open and to me it seems that there is hope that  Lily may regain her ability to rule the mer kingdom.  I can't wait until the next installment.  I received this review copy at no cost from Around the World ARC tours in exchange for my honest review.


1/28/11

REVIEW: Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

Description

Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it's not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you're a normal teenage girl, but when you're half human, half mermaid, like Lily, there's no such thing as a simple crush.
Lily's mermaid identity is a secret that can't get out, since she's not just any mermaid—she's a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn't feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she's been living on land and going to Seaview High School ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems—like her obnoxious biker-boy neighbor, Quince Fletcher—but it has that one major perk: Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren't really the casual dating type—the instant they "bond," it's for life.
When Lily's attempt to win Brody's love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily ever after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.

About the Author

Tera Lynn Childs (Authora neo) is a newly discovered species of authorfish who always dreamed of being a mermaid but never got closer than a career as a competitive swimmer. She loves to spend as much time as possible in and around water (until her fingertips turn all pruny) in the vain hope that one day her legs will magically turn into fins. When stuck on land, Authora neo can be found writing in coffee shops across the country, prowling for cool mermaid gear on Etsy, and spending way too much time online.

Product Details

  • Reading level: Young Adult
  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books; 1 edition (June 1, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061914657
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061914652
SOURCE:  Traded with another blogger.




MY THOUGHTS
LOVED IT

**slight spoilers -- don't read after the first paragraph**

This is a super fast read and much like a candy bar, you are done and wondering where it all went.  Well, at least this won't spend a life time on my hips.  I still think about this one wistfully and how cute and sweet it is.  This is just so much fun!  There are so many adorable puns and cute ways Lily has about cussing -- my favorite, son of a swordfish! This is a pretty clean book with only some G rated kissing and not much else, although Lily does fantasize about it a lot.  If you enjoy Kelly McClymber Salem Cheerleader series, you will really enjoy this one.

The story introduces us to Lily Sanderson (her name is the first of many fish puns) and her life on Florida coast where she is trying to blend in with the locals even though she is a mermaid princess of Thalassinia and discover her half human side.  Lily has one goal and that is to kiss the hot hunk Brody she has set her sights on to help her rule her kingdom. Of course, nothing goes according to plan and her first kiss which bonds her to the gentleman for life ends up with her annoying neighbor, Quince. 

Quince is all wrong for Lily, or so she thinks.  Quince has been in love with her since he first met her, but doesn't let on.  It is only when Lily explains the seriousness of that first kiss, that he truly understands what Lily is and will become.  Just like any fairy tale, this one has a happy ending, but not exactly what you might think.  Lily shows true maturity in realizing that she care about Quince, but can't condemn him to her lifestyle until they work their way through many issues.

WANT TO WIN THIS ARC?

GO TO FOREVER YOUNG (adult) HERE