Blog Tour: Review of Second Verse by Jennifer Walkup & GIVEAWAY!

I'm excited to host a stop on the Second Verse blog tour, hosted by Book Nerd Tours.  To find the other stops on the tour and any additional information go to the post found HERE.

Second Verse by Jennifer Walkup

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published: October 1st, 2013 by Luminis Books

Source: Author/Publisher

Bad things come in threes. In Shady Springs, that includes murder.

Murder Now
Lange Crawford’s move to Shady Springs, Pennsylvania, lands her a group of awesome friends, a major crush on songwriter Vaughn, and life in a haunted, 200-year-old farmhouse. It also brings The Hunt: an infamous murder mystery festival where students solve a fake, gruesome murder scheme during the week of Halloween. Well, supposedly fake.

Murder Then
Weeks before The Hunt, Lange and her friends hold a séance in the farmhouse’s eerie barn. When a voice rushes through, whispering haunting words that only she and Vaughn can hear, Lange realizes it's begging for help. The mysterious voice leads Lange and Vaughn to uncover letters and photos left behind by a murdered girl, Ginny, and they become obsessed with her story and the horrifying threats that led to her murder.

Murder Yet to Come
But someone doesn’t like their snooping, and Lange and Vaughn begin receiving the same threats that Ginny once did. The mysterious words from the barn become crucial to figuring out Ginny's past and their own, and how closely the two are connected. They must work fast to uncover the truth or risk finding out if history really does repeat itself.

Find the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

I scare ridiculously easy and so I was a tad afraid going into this one.  But I really love ghost stories and for that reason I couldn't resist.  While I'm really glad I read this (really glad!) it was really scary.  I did read some of it at night and that was simply because I HAD to know what happened.  Even though it was terrifying, I just couldn't set the book aside.  I know those that read a lot of horror may not get as scared as I did, but those of you that are chickens like me, be aware, this book is pretty scary!

I really liked Lange a lot.  She's a new girl but she's already made friends and seems to fit in well.  Everything seems to change after she has a seance in her barn and hears some words spoken by what we would assume is a ghost.  It's only Vaughn who hears those words with her though and that kind of drives them together and the others away (though there's much more to that aspect).  Through the book Lange and Vaughn work together to piece the puzzle of the murder of Ginny and her entire family, together.  But someone is stalking Lange and Vaughn and they are very, very creepy.  And while Lange is clearly terrified, I have to say that girl is very brave.  I'm pretty sure my reaction would be to jump in a car and drive far far away and never look back.  I don't think I could have stayed in that house one more night.  But even though she's scared she continues with real life and getting through each day.  She's always been attracted to Vaughn, but through the book the attraction becomes more.  These two are adorable together, but unfortunately their time together is rather intense because they are trying to figure out what happened in the past, and what is happening to them, now.

This book has a lot of twists.  While there were a few milder things that were fairly easy to figure out, the big picture mystery totally blew me away!  I did not suspect any of it!  It was such a shocker that I'm pretty certain my jaw actually hit the floor.  And after that it felt like surprise after surprise.  It was amazing to have such great twists that I never saw coming and totally elevated my thoughts of the book big time! I liked it before, but that made me like it even more!

This is a mystery/thriller/romance/horror. All those things are in this book and it's the perfect read for October.  You can freak yourself out as you hide in your closet. ;)  But I do recommend this one, very much.  And while it has a conclusion, everything is wrapped up, there is room for a sequel and I very much hope that that happens!

Disclosure: I received this book for review purposes, all opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.

About the Author

When Jennifer Walkup isn’t writing or reading, she’s spending time with her husband

and young sons, listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers, and coming up with costume ideas for Halloween. She’s obsessed with good coffee and new recipes and likes broccoli on her pizza, flowers in her hair, flip-flops on her feet, and the number 13. A member of SCBWI and RWA, Jennifer also serves as fiction editor for The Meadowland Review and teaches creative writing at The Writers Circle. Second Verse is her first novel.

Twitter | Goodreads | Blog |  Website

 

10 Winners will get a signed Bookmark (open internationally)

1 Winner will get: The Romance Pack
Stickers | Bookmark | Leather Love Journal | 2 Love Picture Frames | $10 iTunes Gift Card | French Kiss Lip Gloss | Love Ring | Touched by Corrine Jackson | Breathe by Abbi Glines | Guitar Notes by Mary Amato

1 Winner will get: The Mystery Pack
Stickers | Bookmark | Halloween Journal | Creepy Tree Candle | Skeleton Girl Trinket Box | $10 iTunes Gift Card | Glitter Nail Polish | Skeleton Key Necklace | Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma | Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross

ADDITIONAL GIVEAWAY!
If SECOND VERSE can get 75 Review ON AMAZON by November 1st (one month after release) Jennifer will do a giveaway for a KINDLE just for those who reviewed it! Winner will be chosen from the reviews, so don’t forget to read it and put that review up! ON AMAZON!

Must be 13+ To Enter – Shipping in the US Only

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Don't forget to stop by Rainy Day Ramblings for Kendare Blake: Antigoddess on the Something Wicked Returns event!

 

Blog Tour: Flicker & Burn by T.M. Goeglin Excerpt & Giveaway

 I'm excited to host a stop on the tour for Flicker & Burn by T.M. Goeglein.  This tour is hosted by Book Nerd Tours and you can find the tour page with all tour information HERE.

I haven't read this series yet, but I'm hoping I can do so soon!

Sara Jane Rispoli is still searching for her missing family, but instead of fighting off a turncoat uncle and crooked cops, this time she finds herself on the run from creepy beings with red, pulsing eyes and pale white skin chasing her through the streets in ice cream trucks; they can only be described as Ice Cream Creatures. They're terrifying and hell bent on killing her, but they're also a link to her family, a clue to where they might be and who has them.

While she battles these new pursuers, she's also discovering more about her own cold fury and more about the Chicago Outfit, how the past misdeeds--old murders and vendettas--might just be connected to her present and the disappearance of her family. But connecting the dots is tough and time-consuming and may finally be the undoing of her relationship with the handsome Max--who's now her boyfriend. But for his own safety, Sara Jane may have to end this relationship before it even really starts.

Her pursuers who've shown her her mother's amputated finger and the head of the Chicago Outfit who's just whistled her in for a sit-down make a romance unthinkable. The only thing that matters is finding her family and keeping everyone she loves alive.

EXCERPT:

Prelude

            My name is Sara Jane Rispoli.

            It’s not my birthday and I haven’t eaten cake since I turned sixteen, but I’m plagued by ice cream.

            If anyone offers me a cone, I’ll break his nose.

            I’ve been chased for the past month by a creepy black truck that sells frozen treats and just when I’ve shaken it, the little nightmare comes tinkling around the corner again.

            I have a movie-obsessed sidekick with a rollercoaster weight problem, and an ill-tempered Italian greyhound that’s not really my dog but I love him anyway, sort of.

            I have a classic 1965 Lincoln Continental convertible in dire need of body work and a badass 2000 Ferrari 360 Spider that’s like driving a fuel-injected comet.

            I have a boyfriend who’s finally, actually, my boyfriend and who accommodates this decidely non-petite nose and these braces, but has no idea who he’s really dating.

I also have an ancient, worn leather notebook that chronicles a century of Chicago’s most valuable criminal secrets, but which refuses to yield the secret I desire most – ultimate power – holding it mute and indecipherable within its last chapter, Volta.  The whole thing is held together by rubber bands and masking tape, while my last measure of sanity is held together by an unyielding determination to track down my missing parents and little brother.  Every breath I take is fueled by a cold flame of fury that burns in my gut with a need for vengeance and revenge.

            I’m alive because I have the notebook.

What I don’t have is a real clue where my family is. 

            They’re not dead, but there are ways of being alive that are worse than death.

            I hold no mercy for my enemies because mercy is for suckers.

            I don’t have any plans for the future other than to continue breathing.

            I throw a hundred hard combination punches at a heavy bag every day and it never feels like enough. 

            When I’m not being chased, I chase back. And when I’m not studying the notebook, I roam the streets of Chicago where one day soon I’ll either catch the people who have my family or be caught by them – either way I’m ready to fight to the death.

            As long as I have the notebook, I have a weapon.

            As long as the possibility exists that my family’s alive, I’ll keep looking.

Every violent, unspeakable step I take to save them makes me into someone else.  I remember the other Sara Jane, but it’s no longer completely me, and that’s okay.

She would’ve only slowed me down.

BIO:

T.M. Goeglein began his career as a writer of print and television ads for a host of advertising and media companies. As a screenwriter, he created both original scripts and worked as a script doctor for several production companies in Los Angeles. He was an original contributor to the Huffington Post 'Living' section, and continues to write for both the national edition and Huffington Post Chicago. Read T.M. Goeglein's stories on the Huffington Post.


His debut young adult novel, COLD FURY, will be published by Penguin/Putnam in 2012 and is the first in a trilogy; he’s currently working on the second book. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Laura, and two young children.

    

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