Sage Nestler's Blog, page 54

Blaze Haunted Halloween Tour: Bailey Southwick

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October is the month of fears, and we’re going on tour with some of our favorite authors to talk about what their main characters are afraid of. What keeps them up at night? What nightmare has them waking in a cold sweat? Each day, we’ll feature a new main character and delve deep into their subconscious to see what they fear. And each day, you’ll have a chance to enter to win some awesome prizes! Bailey is the sixteen-year-old protagonist of the Paranormal Comedy THE CONCH SHELL OF DOOM by Ryan Hill. When Bailey isn’t fighting off sea monsters, he’s fighting off his friends’ snark, a healthy fear of rejection, and anxiety. But rejection isn’t the only thing he’s afraid of…

What am I most afraid of? by Bailey Southwick

What am I not afraid of is probably the better question. I’m afraid my friends will find out who I have a secret crush on- actually, let’s leave her name out of it. If they ever found out, I’d never hear the end of it. I know a lot of people say, “Oh, I’d never hear the end of it,” but I’m serious. Marshall and Tim would hound me until I moved to Allakaket, Alaska, population 107. Even then, I’d still get texts, emails, and even real mail from them with more jokes. To top it off, one of them – most likely Marshall – would make sure the crush knew I liked them in the most public and humiliating way possible.

Maybe Allakaket isn’t the worst idea.

I’m also afraid of goblin sharks, sand soldiers, and having some bad guy’s head put on my body. Definitely the last one. No, my body isn’t the most athletic, but I’m still growing into it? Also, it’s mine. I don’t want some gross head taking control, rendering me basically dead. No way. That’d stink.

Also, I’m afraid of my anxiety. It pops up at random moments and causes all kinds of problems. I do my best to manage it, but that can only get me so far sometimes. I wish it weren’t the case, but it’s the lens through which I view life. It makes me who I am, and it can make me my own worst enemy.

about the book

Bailey didn’t mean to catch his parents plotting to unleash the sinister Trenton Maroney and his powerful oceanic army on the world. It was an honest mistake. Now, he’s got the horribly disfigured Mr. Lovell on his trail, which is doing wonders for Bailey’s anxiety.

His only ally is Franklin, a burn-out several decades past wishing his brother Trenton was destroyed for good. Franklin has battled his brother for two thousand years, and has nothing to show for it except his beloved Mustang.

To stop Mr. Lovell from awakening Trenton, Franklin and Bailey will have to get past his parents, a one-eyed stoner, crooked cops, giant Scotsmen, and Trenton’s army, which can only be summoned by one thing: the mysterious Conch Shell of Doom.

Amazon

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Blaze Haunted Halloween Tour: Maia Graystone

October is the month of fears, and we’re going on tour with some of our favorite authors to talk about what their main characters are afraid of. What keeps them up at night? What nightmare has them waking in a cold sweat? Each day, we’ll feature a new main character and delve deep into their subconscious to see what they fear. And each day, you’ll have a chance to enter to win some awesome prizes! Maia Greystone is the fierce main character from Shadow Fall by Audrey Grey. You’d think that a girl brave enough to enter the trials and pit herself against the Emperor wouldn’t have many fears, but Audrey may have discovered otherwise in her interview…

Maia Graystone Interview

Maia has just been pulled from Emerald Island where the Trials to win safety from the asteroid are taking place.

Side note: Before we began this interview, I suggested Maia sit in a chair, but she refused. In all honesty, her actions (pacing, insisting on checking the room for weapons twice) and anxious demeanor suggest a scrappy, stubborn young woman.

ME: Hello, Miss Graystone, and thank you for accepting this interview.

Maia *wringing hands*: Oh, I didn’t know I had a choice. I thought . . .

ME: You thought?

MAIA: Is the Emperor here? Or my mother? *Scans the room, her fingers toying with a small, plain dagger at her waist* Did they put you up to this?

ME: No, no. You’re safe, Maia . . . for the moment. It’s just the readers and me right now. The readers would like to know your worst fear. Can you describe it for them?

MAIA: *frowns* My worst fear? Where do I start? *Gives a small laugh* I mean, the asteroid coming to make half the planet uninhabitable comes to mind.

ME: Is that your worst fear, then?

MAIA: Well, my brother, Max, being stuck here when she hits. That’s a big part of it. I mean, he’s only a kid. And he doesn’t take things very seriously. My parents used to let him get away with everything, the imp! He’s not built for this world, where you have to be hard and cruel to survive.

ME: Is there a safe place for you, away from the asteroid?

MAIA: Yeah, the fancy space station called Hyperion, designed for the Emperor and his court of Golds. The Royalists are accepting four Bronzes. But If I don’t win the Trials, then Max and I will be left here to die.

ME: So, then, your worst fear is not winning the Trials?

MAIA: *Chews her lip* I think my worst fear isn’t just letting Max down again, but . . . the Archduchess finding him.

ME: And who is she?

MAIA: *toys with her dagger* The Emperor’s deranged, psychopathic lapdog? Everyone knows her—or, rather, everyone wants to not know her—because everyone that meets her winds up dead. You see, when the Emperor wants to find someone, he uses her. She’s been looking for Max and me for over seven years, and if she finds us–*shudders*–well, let’s just say that can’t ever happen. I’ll do whatever I have to to keep her away from Max.

ME: Is that why you let yourself be reconstructed into this new image?

MAIA: *Twists her new, sleek red hair between her fingers* It’s so she won’t recognize me at the Trials. I like it, but . . . well, I miss the old me, too.

ME: All right, I think we’ve uncovered your biggest fear for the readers. Anything else you want to tell them before you go back to the Trials?

MAIA: Yes. Don’t ever give up fighting to save those you love. Even if it seems impossible to win, even if it is impossible to win, never give up and never surrender.

*Maia gets up to leave, the beautiful, open-back emerald-green gown she wears glinting in the soft light*

ME: Good luck, Maia. I hope you win and save your brother.

*Maia pauses, but doesn’t turn around*

MAIA: I will. Whatever it takes.

about the book

The asteroid hurtling toward the earth will kill billions.

The Emperor and his Gold Court will be safe in their space station, watching from the stars. The Silvers will be protected underground. But the Bronzes must fight it out at the Shadow Trials for the few remaining spots left on the space station.

When an enigmatic benefactor hands Maia Graystone a spot in the Trials, she won’t just get a chance at salvation for her and her baby brother, Max: She gets to confront the mother who abandoned her in prison, the mad Emperor who murdered her father, and the Gold prince who once loved her. But it’s the dark bastard prince she’s partnered with that will make her question everything, including her own heart. With the asteroid racing closer every day, Maia must trust someone to survive. The question is who?

Amazon – Barnes & Noble – iTunes – Kobo – Goodreads – Request A Review Copy

 

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The Merciless by Danielle Vega

Title: The Merciless

Author: Danielle Vega

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis:

Brooklyn Stevens sits in a pool of her own blood, tied up and gagged. No one outside of these dank basement walls knows she’s here. No one can hear her scream.

 

Sofia Flores knows she shouldn’t have gotten involved. When she befriended Riley, Grace, and Alexis on her first day at school, she admired them, with their perfect hair and their good-girl ways. They said they wanted to save Brooklyn. They wanted to help her. Sofia didn’t realize they believed Brooklyn was possessed.

 

Now, Riley and the girls are performing an exorcism on Brooklyn—but their idea of an exorcism is closer to torture than salvation. All Sofia wants is to get out of this house. But there is no way out. Sofia can’t go against the other girls…unless she wants to be next.

 

By the shockingly twisted end, readers will be faced with the most haunting question of all: Is there evil in all of us?

Review:

The Merciless is one of those rare young adult horror novels that does what a young adult horror novel should do: not tiptoe around the fact that it IS a horror novel.  I can’t even list how many young adult horror novels I have not been able to finish because they are too dumbed down, and almost ashamed of the genre that they are in.  But Danielle Vega did not write that way, and The Merciless is easily one of my new favorite novels.

Vega is miraculous at mixing both gore and teen angst in a way that is almost artistic, but revolting at the same time.  She grapples with Christianity, God, and the devil, but she makes them more relatable to contemporary life.  The Merciless is clearly a novel that challenges good versus evil, but also examines the forces inside of us that pull us one way or another.  Vega used the struggle of the teenage experience in the most profound way, and it was amazing how well she developed every single one of her characters in such a short novel.

“The evil hovers around us, thick and suffocating.”

Throughout reading The Merciless I was surprised over and over by Vega’s way of describing elements that others may not have been able to describe.  Her description of the evil in the room that was suffocating the girls made me feel the atmosphere of that room for myself, and I became fully emerged in her words.  Vega has made horror artistic for a new generation, and this book can be enjoyed by young adults and adults alike.  I have not been this excited about a horror novel since Misery by Stephen King, and I will be reading everything that Vega produces from here on out.

Vega has proven her status as a staple writer to define our time, and that is coming from a very tough reviewer.

FOR BOOK REVIEW REQUESTS FILL OUT FORM: Book Review Request Form

IF BOOK REQUEST WEBSITE IS DOWN EMAIL: peachykeenreviews@gmail.com

Blaze Haunted Halloween Tour: Pietro Volo

October is the month of fears, and we’re going on tour with some of our favorite authors to talk about what their main characters are afraid of. What keeps them up at night? What nightmare has them waking in a cold sweat? Each day, we’ll feature a new main character and delve deep into their subconscious to see what they fear. And each day, you’ll have a chance to enter to win some awesome prizes! Read on to find out what our dear friend Peter Pan Pietro from Jacob Devlin’s The Carver worries about at night…

Hey everybody! Pietro Volo here, your favorite character ever from The Carver and the handsome, dashing alter ego of your favorite Lost Boy, Peter Pan.

Friends, I know what they say about me. I’ve seen the movies. I’ve listened to the songs. If I’ve understood them correctly, the stories ask you to believe the following:

That I am still a ten-year-old boy.

That I need a bottle of Gorilla Glue to stick my shadow to my toes.

That I’m going to fly into your children’s windows and whisk them off to some isolated world filled with man-eating gators and pirates, kinda like how I picture Florida.

There was a time when all of this might have been true, but it bewilders my brains to believe that all these stories handle this so casually. The songs are slow, soulful, and even a little touching. But now that I have a fifteen-year-old son? Dude, I’m freaked. What if there’s another me flying around world and he’s determined to snatch moody teenagers right out of their beds and zoom them off to a place where we can’t get a hold of them because AT&T doesn’t reach that far? This is scary. Zack doesn’t even wear pants to bed.

*clicks on flashlight and points it under my chin*

That is one of my worst nightmares. The other one is a terrible dream that I have all. The. Time. You know who else likes to fly through your window while you’re sleeping? The Sandman. He’s supposed to bring you some nice REM, but when he gets sick, we all get these recurring fever dreams.

You’ll never guess what my nightmares involve. There are some tiny changes from night to night, but they always involve one freaky element that kicks me–hard, I’ll have you know–right in the Assassin’s Creed parts I and II. One time, I was on top of Mount Everest. Don’t ask me how my lazy bum got up there, but then there was an earthquake that brought the whole mountain down. Another night, I was standing on top of Clocher de Pierre, the bell tower offering the best view of Florindale, and my shadow took a torch and lit the base on fire. I’ve also been on a tightrope across two skyscrapers, and my wife and kid are at either side holding Santoku kitchen knives. How fair is that, Sandman? But my least favorite is probably the Ferris Wheel, which is clearly falling apart as I swing back and forth at the very top by one hand.

But wait! you say. You can fly! I get that a lot when I talk about nightmares. You can fly, you can fly, you can fly. Well, hey. You ever have those dreams where you’re being chased by like, a leathery winged demon, or a dude with a bloody axe, or an animatronic orangutan from Disneyland? And sometimes, your feet plant roots into the carpet or you suddenly weigh a hundred thousand pounds? That’s me. That’s Murphy’s Law. When the Ferris Wheel crashes into dust, you don’t get to fly.

Yeah, the Sandman’s a friggin’ jerk. You should hear about how many times Prince Liam’s had to fight off a dragon with a toothpick, or Snow White’s twisted dream where her feet turn into apples. Hansel? Pretty sure his nightmares are drizzled on a graham cracker and loaded with a generous coat of pure sugar. Hey, that might be a beautiful dream for you and I, but that guy probably wakes up plastered in sweat. Gross!

I wanna share something a morally grey, shady magical fairy once told me on one of the scariest nights of my life. Do not be angry when your shadow eludes you, she said. After all, shadows are born from the light. The world can be a real scary place sometimes. There’s violence and pure hate. There are hateful queens, chameleon wolves, and aquamantulas. There are deceptions and cancers and poisonous fruits, and Space Mountain breaks down when you’re in line. And the Sandman doesn’t care. But, I’m here to remind you that it takes a light to cast a shadow (unless it’s my shadow–this thing doesn’t obey me or physics or anything.) Find your light source. It can be anything. Family. A hobby. A good book and a Netflix show to binge on. Or, you know, me… But whatever you do, I really hope you don’t turn to a mirror to solve your problems. I mean, you can, but good things don’t usually happen. That’s another story for later.

Happy Halloween, Lost Children! BOO!

about the book
THE GIRL IN THE RED HOOD has been looking for her mother for six months, searching from the depths of New York’s subways to the heights of its skyscrapers . . .

THE PRINCE looks like he’s from another time entirely, or maybe he’s just too good at his job at Ye Old Renaissance Faire . . .

THE ACTRESS is lighting up Hollywood Boulevard with her spellbinding and strikingly convincing portrayal of a famous fairy. Her name may be big, but her secrets barely fit in one world…

Fifteen-year-old Crescenzo never would have believed his father’s carvings were anything more than “stupid toys.” All he knows is a boring life in an ordinary Virginia suburb, from which his mother and his best friend have been missing for years. When his father disappears next, all Crescenzo has left is his goofy neighbor, Pietro, who believes he’s really Peter Pan and that Crescenzo is the son of Pinocchio. What’s more: Pietro insists that they can find their loved ones by looking to the strange collection of wooden figurines Crescenzo’s father left behind.

With Pietro’s help, Crescenzo sets off on an adventure to unite the real life counterparts to his figurines. It’s enough of a shock that they’re actually real, but the night he meets the Girl in the Red Hood, dark truths burst from the past. Suddenly, Crescenzo is tangled in a nightmare where magic mirrors and evil queens rule, and where everyone he loves is running out of time.

Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Signed Copies – Goodreads

Blaze Haunted Halloween Tour: Tru Shephard

October is the month of fears, and we’re going on tour with some of our favorite authors to talk about what their main characters are afraid of. What keeps them up at night? What nightmare has them waking in a cold sweat? Each day, we’ll feature a new main character and delve deep into their subconscious to see what they fear. And each day, you’ll have a chance to enter to win some awesome prizes! Read on to find out what Tru Shephard from Regress is afraid of…

My name is Tru Shepard, and my worst fear isn’t about monsters. It’s about losing my creativity, a part of my personality.

I’d left the warehouse district an hour ago. My shoes echoed on the deserted rain slicked sidewalk. The quiet night air was cold and smelled of moist dirt. Once again, I’d missed the train and had to walk home. Big mistake on my part. Sure, I had protection but it wouldn’t stop….

The familiar electronic hum approached from behind me. I was out in the open with no place to hide. Without any warning, the air above me filled with drones coming from every direction. I had no choice but to surrender. I knelt on the wet asphalt with my hands up.

The police dragged me into an unfamiliar, abandoned building. The walls and floors gleamed white. I gagged on the smell of fresh chlorine. My eyes stung from the intense, white lights. Fiery pain ripped through my arms. Smoke escaped my lips. So cold. My teeth chattered. My body kept shaking.

I lifted my head. A man in the trademark navy blue suit of the CHA stood in front of me. My insides quivered. A metallic voice announced I was a traitor and a danger to society. But it offered me a choice—immediate administration of the vaccine or death.

It didn’t matter. Either way killed a Creative.

Someone held a syringe filled with a golden liquid.

A flash of dark steel. The cold barrel of a gun pressed against my temple. If I chose me, my family would be heartbroken. If I…too late. Someone else made my choice. I didn’t get a say in the matter. A man pulled the trigger.

That’s my fear—losing my Creativity because of the New Order’s mandatory vaccine.
about the book

The United States has fallen.

Creativity is banned.

A government-mandated vaccine which totally blocks creativity.

It’s 2025 and the country is run by a group of scientists and technologists.

Tru Shepard, a soon-to-be seventeen-year-old, wants to avoid the vaccine. Without self-expression, Tru would rather die.

Zared Aoki has his own secrets. He wants Tru’s help exposing the plans of a corrupt, domineering government. In exchange, he’ll help her avoid the vaccine.

Failure is not an option. Tru refuses to live a colorless, dull existence.

10 days.

That’s all the time Tru has.

Lies and secrets make up her world. Is she ready to learn the truth?

Amazon – Barnes & Noble – iBooks – Kobo

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Tomoiya’s Story: Escape to Darkness by C.A. King

Title: Tomoiya’s Story: Escape to Darkness

Author: C.A. King

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis:

From the Author of The Portal Prophecies books, comes the anticipated new series: Tomoiya’s Story.

This series is the perfect addition to any Vampire fan’s collection.

Space travel. To some it is an advancement; a way to meet new races, learn new traditions; explore new cultures – a chance to expand the mind with knowledge of the unknown. To others, it is nothing more than a new outlet of resources to exploit and destroy. To the naive and trusting it is a recipe for disaster. The question of whether or not venturing into the realm of the stars is worthwhile, is a topic that will be argued for generations to come.

The Universe – vast and never ending. It recycles within itself. What happened before comes full circle and occurs again. Some call it fate – others destiny.

Two different ages – Two vampire princesses.

Two stories – one written in a book – the other about to begin.

Escape To Darkness tells the tale of Allaynie, a vampire whose tears are worth a fortune. A chance meeting on her wedding day changes her whole existence.

and

Woden, a man to whom greed is merely good business. Hunting is his trade. He’ll do anything to collect her unique tears for profit, even chase her into darkness.

This novella explores an alternate explanation for the myths and legends that surround modern day Vampires and can be read as a stand alone story.

Review:

C.A. King is the master of imagination.  Both Tomoiya’s Story: Escape to Darkness and her series, The Portal Prophecies, are highly original and are incomparable to any other literary works.  Tomoiya’s Story is easily one of my new favorite series, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the installments once they are released.

The best part about King’s writing is that she knows how to transport the reader into her world, and she doesn’t make the reader feel as though they are an outsider.  Her carefully crafted words made the story spring to life, and I ripped through this novel within a day.  King took the somewhat overused concept of the vampire and turned it into something all her own.  In this day and age it is hard to write a vampire novel without having it sound like a story that has already been done, but King gave this story life and she made it fly.  She took vampires and turned them on their head by creating her own myths, and her ideas can clearly become classics in the near future.  I was overjoyed by her fresh take on this mystical being, and her story did not disappoint.

King used a descriptive form of writing that is not easy to find anymore, and I fell in love with the way that she created artistic wording.  One of my favorite quotes from her novel is as follows:

“The corners of his slightly parted lips pushed upwards forming a rather unnerving smile.”

Her descriptions made her characters come alive, and I felt as though they were in the room with me as I read.

If you are looking for a new vampire novel that is nothing like anything else in its genre, then I highly suggest Tomoiya’s Story: Escape to Darkness.  It has made me believe in the vampire genre once again.

FOR BOOK REVIEW REQUESTS FILL OUT FORM: Book Review Request Form

IF BOOK REQUEST WEBSITE IS DOWN EMAIL: peachykeenreviews@gmail.com

Mind Reader (Book 1) by Katrina Kahler

Title: Mind Reader (Book 1)

Author: Katrina Kahler

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis:

Emmie is a 12 year old girl who has a special talent. Her mom calls it a gift but Emmie does not agree. Being a mind reader is not at all what it’s made out to be and Emmie constantly finds herself in trouble. The girls at school think she’s creepy and try to avoid her. This leads to an ongoing change of schools and a struggle to make friends, leaving Emmie feeling lonelier than ever. However, when Emmie and her mom decide to move to Carindale, Emmie happens to meet a girl called Millie Spencer and everything changes.

Emmie has never had a best friend before and feels that finally her life has turned in a positive direction. Meeting Millie’s friend, Jack adds to the excitement, especially when she realizes he is someone she cannot stop thinking about. Then some strange events take place and when Millie’s old friend, Julia Jones makes an unexpected visit, Emmie’s world turns upside down.

Can she use her mind reading abilities to help her or will she find herself in more trouble than ever before?

If you enjoyed Julia Jones’ Diary then Mind Reader is another series that you will love. This exciting book for girls is filled with unexpected plot twists and turns, drama, romance, boy crushes, friendship issues and much, much more. It will hook you in from beginning to end and is sure to become a new favorite!

Review:

Katrina Kahler is a very talented children’s author.  She knows how to write for different age groups, and it was clear to me that she knew her audience.  Usually when I read children’s books I feel as though they are talking down to the reader and dumbed down for understanding, but Kahler had more faith in her readers.  She clearly knows what 9 – 12 year olds want in a novel, and she gave it to them.

Our main character, Emmie, is your classic, unsure 12 year old, despite the fact that she can read minds.  She is cast out from the other students due to her abilities, and she ends up having to change schools because of the trouble she finds herself in.

Unfortunately, changing schools cannot solve all of Emmie’s problems.  Being a mind reader is not something that you see in your average 12 year old, and she constantly feels like she has to hide who she is, and what her talents are.

Even though I am an adult, I could feel myself relating to Emmie.  She has a magnificent talent, but she can’t tell the world because of the ridicule that would follow.  We all have something about us that some people may not like, but unlike Emmie, some of these things we cannot hide.  We all experience ridicule in one form or another, and Kahler did a great thing by writing this book and making children aware that not everyone might understand them or like them.  Mind Reader is a great book to teach your child to love themselves and not feel bad about themselves based on what other people say or think, and I actually was very intrigued by this story.  I think that both boys and girls could benefit from this novel, and I applaud Kahler for touching on such a sensitive topic.

FOR BOOK REVIEW REQUESTS FILL OUT FORM: Book Review Request Form

IF BOOK REQUEST WEBSITE IS DOWN EMAIL: peachykeenreviews@gmail.com

Author Spotlight: Janette Fuller

Today’s author spotlight is on the talented Janette Fuller!  Her new book, Transgression, releases today and I am so excited to be able to share her work with you!

 

Agent Yagil faces the fight of his calling as a Guardian Angel. His newest assignment is going to take every bit of perseverance and patience he has.

Seventeen-year-old Amber Reynolds is looking for some freedom and independence from her rigid lifestyle. Going behind her parents’ back, she takes a part-time job at the renowned inn located within Ambrosial Acres.

As Agent Yagil watches over Amber, he discovers things are not what they seem. Despite its wondrous beauty, Ambrosial Acres hides a dark and supernatural secret.

Between Amber’s new coworker crushes, her menacing stalker, a mysterious online stranger, and the evil agents out to lead her down a path of self destruction, Agent Yagil struggles to keep her safe. To keep her from using her freewill that will bring harm to herself—and others.

Will Agent Yagil succeed? Or will his shortcomings get in the way?

Purchase on Kindle

About the Author

 

Jannette loves spending time with God and her family. She’s a fangirl of everything lovely, and always tries to see the best in everyone, except for the villains in her YA series (Ambrosial Acres).

When not blogging or writing her latest article, she watches Maco Mermaids on Netflix, sweating away unwanted calories. She’s a bit of a neat freak, too. Her home always sparkles. But her daily walks through the enchanted forest is one of her favorite pastimes.

There’s more to be said, but then her bio would end up being a memoir.

 

 

Author Links:

 

Website:

http://www.jannettefuller.com/

 

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/jannettef.fuller/

 

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/jfuller3

 

Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.com/jannettefuller/

 

Google +

https://plus.google.com/u/0/110070481675946410266

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behind Broken Glass Walls Teaser #1

Hello, Everyone!

It is getting closer and closer to November, and that means that it is getting closer and closer to my novel, “Behind Broken Glass Walls”, being released!  It will release on November 1, and I wanted to celebrate by posting three teasers in the next couple of weeks.  Enjoy, and thank you for all of your support!

Please also feel free to ask me any questions that you may have in the comments

Review: Book Bath Box – Fall (October) Box

Book Bath Box is a bookish subscription box that focuses on reading in the bath.  Since my favorite time to read is in the bath, I just couldn’t wait to receive this box.  Book Bath Box is quarterly, which means that it ships 4 times a year and in the months of January, April, July and October.  The boxes generally line up with the seasons.

Each box comes with a book, a bath product, and 3 or so extras to help set the mood.  Sometimes the extra items do include food, so there is a place for you to list any dietary restrictions when you check out.  Since I have Celiac Disease and extreme dairy sensitivity I can’t do gluten or dairy, so Winx, the owner, was very receptive to those needs.  I have not found a non-food box that takes such care in making sure that allergies are taken into consideration, and that alone made this box a huge winner for me.

But perhaps one of the biggest perks of this box is that it includes FREE SHIPPING in the United States!  Since the box itself is $39.99, this makes subscribing more than worth it.  And believe me, once I received my first box I knew that I would not be cancelling any time soon.  The books included are adult fiction and generally fall under the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres, which is perfectly fine with me.

Fall (October) Box Adventure

Now, you are probably saying, “enough with the talk, let’s get to the stuff”!  Okay, okay, I get the hint.  Here we go…

Book Bath Box comes in a plain white box with a sticker featuring Book Bath Box’s logo on the front.  I like how simple the packaging is, and it definitely fit everything perfectly.

Once inside, a few information cards are included.  There is one business card featuring information on Book Bath Box, a list of everything included, and a tip card that tells you how you can receive discounts on future boxes, or how to read safely in the tub.

The bath item for this box was an adorable “library bag” of bath salts from Tea Soap Books.  https://www.etsy.com/shop/TeaSoapBooks

The salts smell of green tea and bergamot, and I seriously cannot stop smelling this adorable little bag!

The next item, which is one of the extra items, is a tin of Dragon’s Dream Tea by Aun-Juli Riddle at Adagio Teas.  http://www.adagio.com/?gclid=CjwKEAjw7ZHABRCTr_DV4_ejvgQSJACr-Ycw1sz3yUdVUbaTS9c_e0W3u6o5LDTwWBFf6-rmYdfElxoCFUrw_wcB

I absolutely love Adagio Teas because they have many different variations of tea that relate to different fandoms, movies, or books.  I am also a huge fan of tea, so this delightful little mix of green chai, assam melody and cinnamon won’t be lasting long!  A cup of this will go perfectly with the bath salts as I read in the tub.

The next extra item was also supposed to be a couple of Pumpkin Truffles by Moonstruck Coffee Company: http://www.moonstruckchocolate.com/?gclid=CjwKEAjw7ZHABRCTr_DV4_ejvgQSJACr-YcwKKKWoYTpNm84Fql3Tgey5vFuKJHJAZmv8AtPCIbmxBoCo5Hw_wcB

These truffles were linked to the book specifically, but because of my allergies I was given a couple of dark chocolate covered orange peels that just look delightful!  There was also a note explaining why I received these chocolates, and it verified that they are indeed gluten free and vegan.  I was very impressed with this careful curation.

And the last, and possibly most important, item in the box was the book Asteroid Made of Dragons by G. Derek Adams.  This book is a Science Fiction/Fantasy book that sounds extremely exciting.  Here is the synopsis:

“When a lone goblin researcher stumbles across an artifact containing a terrifying message–that the world is in grave and immediate peril–she scrambles to find help. A very unusual asteroid (one constructed as a cage for dragons) is headed straight for the planet, and Xenon is the only person in the world who knows. As she clambers across hill and dale with her quill, journal, and dwindling coin purse to untangle the mystery, she’ll need plenty of luck to find the right clues and the right sort of help.

Meanwhile, our heroes have their own problems. They have a bank to rob, a sea to cross, and a kingdom to infiltrate. Luckily, Rime is a wild mage–the laws of reality quiver when she gives them a stern look–and her guardian, Jonas, wields a reasonably sharp sword. But Rime is slipping ever closer to the abyss of madness, and Jonas is wanted for murder at their final port of call. To make matters worse, the mage-killing Hunt and its commander, Linus, follow the duo like a patient shadow, bent on Rime’s destruction.

When the wise are underfunded, the brave are overbooked, and the cruel are unconcerned, can the world be saved from destruction?”

What is even better about this selection is that the author provided us with a pin of the novel’s cover, and a playlist to go along with the book (which is something that I do with my own book box as well).  The link to the playlist on spotify is on the information card that came in the book.

Overall, I was very impressed by how carefully curated this box was, and I am so happy to have gotten to try it out!  It is a great box for any Science Fiction/Fantasy nerds, or for people who love to read in the bath.

  Order Book Bath Box Today! 

http://www.bookbathbox.com/