Astrid Yrigollen - His Black Wings - Release Day Blitz

Astrid Yrigollen - His Black Wings - Release Day Blitz

YA Paranormal Romance

Title: His Black Wings

Author: Astrid Yrigollen

Date Published: November 20th, 2012

Synopsis: 

Claren Maidstone has been forced to flee her childhood home after the death of her parents and a vicious assault from a sadistic young man who intends to marry her. Claren changes her identity and finds employment as an assistant to the handsome Fredrick Lowood, a generous yet mysterious benefactor. However, she soon finds out his generosity comes at a price. Fredrick wishes for Claren to befriend his disfigured son who resides in seclusion at their estate, Westwind.

Fredrick Lowood knows what the history books do not teach, that the Grand Council built this new world of peace and beauty on hidden blood and greed. He has plotted for years to bring down the family that enslaved his own people. Suddenly, he has the last living heir in his grasp.

Etrigan Lowood rejects the world that forces him to hide. He is powerful, plagued with a terrible dark beauty: WINGS. It is these wings that carry him out only at night to watch the unwanted intruder in his home. A creature of refined instinct yet little social grace, he is strangely captivated by Claren but knows nothing of how her family’s dark past is intertwined with his own. Through their blossoming friendship, Etrigan realizes he still retains his human heart and yearns for Claren’s love.

Kurten Wandsworth is the only son of the Mayor of St.Marhen. Kurten lives his life fueled by cruelty and lust. Whatever he wants he takes and he wants Claren to be his wife even it if kills her. Scarred by Claren he hunts her down mercilessly until he can set a trap which she will never be able to escape from.

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Astrid Yrigollen

Author Bio

Astrid Yrigollen is a native of the Bay area of California and currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Astrid started writing stories for her friends in sixth grade. After working part time at a funeral home during high school, she channeled her love of story writing in to creating video games for PC's which were featured in Shareware magazines.

In the early 1990's she secured a position with International Video game giant, Sega of America but never lost her love for writing in traditional format. After leaving the video game industry, she worked briefly as a vet assistant, aiding in surgery until she found out she passes out at the site of blood!  Maintaining a great love of animals, but preferring work where there was no blood involved, Astrid became a boutique fashion designer for people 'who like to dress like their dolls', successfully placing her designs in boutiques in Europe, the U.S, and Australia.

She founded and now co-chairs with her husband for the California Coast Ball Jointed Doll Convention, an annual event for Japanese Super Dollfie Collectors. Astrid enjoys collecting dolls, Anime, video games, baking and sewing and is currently studying college level Japanese, her third language.

Works

She now enjoys writing Young Adult and Children's books and has succeeded in putting out The Doughnut Tree, The Zombie Playground, A creature compilation , and The Mosswoods to name a few.

Website 

His Black Wings Site  

Twitter - @AstridYrigollen

Review: Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

Synopsis : (From Sara Zarr's website)

About the Book

Published February 2008

When Jenna Vaughn’s childhood sweetheart unexpectedly comes back into her life during her senior year of high school, she is forced to confront her troubled past. This is a story about the power of memory, the bond of friendship, and the quiet resilience of our childhood hearts.

The story of Jenna/Jennifer and Cameron was inspired by a friendship I had as a child with a boy, Mark, who came back into my life when we were both adults. When Mark and I got back in touch, I was surprised at what a strong bond we had despite having not seen nor heard from one another since third grade. I started asking myself—what if Mark and I had been reunited in high school? What if our lives had taken divergent paths? Would we still be loyal to each other, based on that childhood friendship, even if we wound up in different social circles and with different destinies? If so, why? What kinds of emotional and practical challenges would that bring? Though the details of what happened to Jennifer and Cameron were all made up, I did my best to be as emotionally truthful as I could with their story. I continue to be been blown away by reader response to this book, and how many people out there have Jennas and Camerons of their own.

My Review:

There is a delicious kind of pain and melancholy that comes from looking back into those powerful memories of childhood. Sweethearts captures the yearning for those powerful first friendships made at a time in our lives when we are raw and real, and the story of a girl who can't let go of the ghost of her childhood sweetheart.  

Zarr gives us the story of Jenna, a normal, well-adjusted high school girl by all appearances, who can't forget her only childhood friend, Cameron Quick. Bonded by their misfit status at school and a painful secret, Jenna and Cameron become constant companions and confidantes. Cameron disappears from Jenna's life suddenly, and she's told he died. Years pass, but Jenna is never able to move on. She goes through the motions of being upbeat and social, but her thoughts are on an endless loop of memories and longing that involve her lost playmate. But Cameron isn't dead. He comes for Jenna so they can face down the past together.

From, Jenna's snippets of memories, I was aware that the secret she was harboring was that Cameron was abused by his father, physically and perhaps sexually. And I was dreading these memories being recounted in detail upon Cameron's return. I didn't want to have to go through that with the character, but Zarr manages to make the reader aware that Cameron endured abuse and the impact it had upon him without graphically describing it. When Jenna asks to talk about it, Cameron simply says, "Why? We know what happened." The story isn't about abuse, nor is it about Cameron. In fact, Cameron stays a quiet enigma to the very last page. Sweethearts is about a girl coping with the loss of her friend and learning how to find the right amount of space in heart for that all-encompassing friendship while still leaving room for new ones. For a moment, I harbored hope that Cameron and Jenna would become high school sweethearts and be making out, dating and overcoming everything just to be normal teenagers. But Sweethearts isn't about fun teen romance. It's about the truest and most innocent kind of love: friendships forged in early childhood.

I loved this book from it's sorrowful tone, to the magical bond between Cameron and Jenna, to the wisdom about love that we're left with at the end of the novel. Like Cameron Quick, Sweethearts is a book I won't soon forget.

5 stars!

Review: Bright+Star By Nickie Anderson

Synopsis:

It's bad enough that Sadira Pascal's father doesn't make it home to celebrate her fifteenth birthday. He might be a busy hovership engineer pulling overtime on a new design, but he's always been home for the important things. It's worse when she discovers her father decided to ride on the maiden voyage of his newest ship, the CAS Bright Star, without even telling her. But things really fall apart during Sadira's field trip with her class to observe the hovership launch. Instead of a successful flight, she watches the Bright Star fall out of the sky. 

The Central government confirms her father's death, leaving Sadira to pick up the pieces of her former life. While she struggles with her loss, Private Baruj Haddad tries to convince her that her father and the rest of the Bright Star crew are still alive. At first, Sadira doesn't believe there's any hope. But then she stumbles across a message that makes her think maybe, just maybe, her father is still alive. As she digs deeper into the Bright Star's crash, Sadira uncovers secrets about her father's work, secrets that put her and everyone she loves in danger.

My View:

Pair Anderson's cool, smooth, ultra fluid writing style with crescendoing action against a futuristic, dystopian background, and you have the pitch perfect novel that is Bright+Star. Anderson never succumbs to manipulating the readers with flashy characters or abrasive dialogue. She simply delivers good, concise  writing that drives steadily toward the climax. Our protagonist, Sadira is both gentle and steadfast. She's a believable and likable heroine. Sadira isn't a stunt woman or a weapons specialist, doing back flips and spraying everyone with machine gun fire. Badassery isn't her style. She's just a loyal and brave girl that keeps struggling against obstacles with determination to find her missing father. A character with character. In fact, all the characters opposing their corrupt government are good and uncomplicated people in a dark and complicated world. The stripped down realness and warmth of the characters in juxtaposition  to the unraveling society makes Bright+Star one of the most crisp, fresh and enjoyable dystopian novels I have ever read.

4.5 stars for this beautifully written tale of perseverance and devotion.

The book was provided to me by the author for the purpose of review. All opinions expressed are 100% honest and my own.


Where to find the book:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Bright-Star-ebook/dp/B00A4LH8TG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352508379&sr=8-1&keywords=bright+star+nickie+anderson
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bright-star-nickie-anderson/1113774877?ean=2940015832143
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/253304
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16090963-bright-star

Christmas Card Exchange

Hey guys,
Turning the Pages has created a really cute event: A Christmas Card Exchange! Get in the spirit and make a new friend's holiday a jolly one!

Review: Once Upon A Toad

The sweet, green glittering book jacket of Heather Vogel Frederick’s Once Upon a Toad proclaims the novel to be “charming.” And a more concise and precise thing has never been said. The world of young adult fiction these days is dark – sexy vampires, sexy heroin addicts, sexy post-apocalypse survivors, sexy demons. We YA readers apparently like our novels morose and - well - sexy! Once Upon A Toad is neither. It’s a light and fun; an easily digestible spoon full of sugar about two-twelve year old step-sisters becoming friends after a little unwanted magic enters their lives.




Cat Starr is the perfect young heroine: unconcerned about her looks, popularity or boys; passionate about learning and the bassoon; a drama-free pre-teen with a large vocabulary and a sense of humor; a kid who respects and enjoys spending time with adults. In other words, a completely unrealistic adolescent, except that Cat is very realistically rude and spiteful when it comes to her snobby step-sister, Olivia. Pretty and prim, Olivia resents that Cat is spending three months with her and her family and getting so much attention for being such a nice darn person. A war breaks out between the step-siblings. Olivia gets their classmates to create an elaborate tap dance routine while chanting “Catbox” to our protagonist. Cat gets even by manipulating Olivia’s precious room décor models. The girls seem more foes than family until the mysterious, orange-haired Great Aunt Aby shows up at their house in her rickety RV. Armed with a twinkle in her eye and a pep talk for her great-niece, Aby soothes discouraged Cat just a bit before departing, urging her to find “common ground” with Olivia. Cat holds no hope that she will ever bond with boy-crazy, selfish Olivia. Common ground comes in the form of supernatural oral ejections. Olivia is spitting flowers and diamonds with every word she utters, and Cat is coughing up toads. Could Great Aunt Aby be behind this? When Olivia’s gem-producing ability hits the news, criminals are gunning to get to her precious stones. Drama unfolds and the girls set out on the road to Las Vegas, being brought closer together by near death experiences and team work.




I absolutely adored this story. From Cat’s snarkiness to the humor that develops from toad-spitting situations to the non-stop action of the sisters’ road trip – this novel was book was a little diamond. Toadally awesome.







Five stars!

Why So Serious?

Source

     The Hub recently wrote a great article on the lack of humorous YA books out today. Now, I remember how serious and morose I was at fifteen, but I always enjoyed a good laugh! Luckily, their blog found a few chuckle-worthy reads for lovers of teen books. Check out The Hub's article, "Where Has All The Humor Gone?"

Freebie and Excerpt

Reviews to come.. I promise! I am almost done reading Once Upon A Toad so expect that this week! This qualifies as news, I suppose, even if the YA author in discussion is me..

I feel like giving!

That's right. I feel like doing a little impromptu giveaway! The first 10 people to email "I want Ricky" to henry@myhenrycircle.com will get a free Amazon code for my new story, "A Very Ricky Sunday." No weird catch or anything! You don't have to review it, blog or tweet. I just have a lot to celebrate and want to send some laughter your way!

First page of a "Very Ricky Sunday" here:

“This here tie feels like a noose ‘round my neck. Can’t you loosen it up just a little? I’m suffocating. And why I got to wear your dang boyfriend’s clothes? Looks like I’m wearing my dad’s threads. (‘Course if I was really dressed like my daddy, I’d be wearing an orange jumpsuit, if you know what I mean.) Why I got to go to church again? Your brother done lured me over by telling me he had the bloodiest, gruesomest video game ever been made. I was all excited, and then ya’ll hold me down and put this tie on me,” Ricky whines. “Ya’ll know it’s wrong to trick a dude like that.”

            I stand back and look Ricky over. In David’s khaki pants, light blue button down shirt, and navy tie, he looks a far cry from the hick bully I was dodging in tenth grade. He looks normal. Almost handsome, with his platinum hair slicked back and his air horn of a mouth closed.

            “Ricky,” I say, noticing the green enamel leaf poking from underneath his tie, “You’re going to have to lose the pot leaf necklace. Seriously. You’re not wearing that into a Pentecostal church. Unless you’re in the mood for an exorcism.”

            He sighs and unfastens his chain. “My grammaw gave me this. Fine. But I ain’t putting on them penny loafers over there. I am keeping on my tenny shoes.”

            “Those are dress shoes, but okay, never mind. You’re passable now,” I say, “Let’s get a move on.”

            “I don’t want to go to church. Ya’ll go on without me. You know me; I can’t sit still for long. I get antsy. I get all sweaty in my pits and privates. Bad nerves, I reckon. How’d you get Kip to go? I thought your brother was acrostic.”

            Kip swaggers up to us in a full power suit. His suit and his immaculately groomed mustache make him look like a five-foot-tall stock broker. “Acrostic is a poem, my friend. An example: K – knowledgeable, I – intimidating, P – powerful. I believe you mean to say ‘agnostic’. And to answer your question, Christina paid me to go.” Kip is the first fourteen-year-old, mustached, evil genius I have ever known. And he’s my only sibling. Lucky me.