Mundie Moms

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Meet @CassieClare & Find Out All Things #CoHF



Shadowhunters and demons square off for the final showdown in the spellbinding, seductive conclusion to the #1 New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series. 
Learn more and City of Heavenly Fire & meet Cassandra Clare!
May 26th: Kaufman Concert Hall, Lexington Avenue at 92nd St, NYC
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May 27th: Wellesley Middle School, 50 Kingsburg Street, Wellesley, MA
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May 30th:  Stetson Middle School, 1060 Wilmington Pike. West Chester, PA
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Tiger's Promise by Colleen Houck, Blog Tour: Book Review & Giveaway



Welcome to today's Tiger's Promise blog tour. I love this series and I'm thrilled to share my review for Colleen's upcoming novella release, Tiger's Promise. 


By: Colleen Houck
Published by:
To Be Released on: 6/1/14
Series: Tiger's Curse #0.5
Source: e-book from publisher to review
Rating: 4 stars - It Enjoyed It
Pre-Order from: Amazon | B&N
Add it to Goodreads

Before the curse, there was a promise. 

A prequel to the bestselling Tiger’s Curse series, this much anticipated novella recalls the beginning of Ren and Kishan’s story. Before Kelsey there was a girl, raised by a villain, whose love for a hero changed the course of history.

Trapped under the thumb of her abusive and powerful father Lokesh, Yesubai struggles to keep her own magical abilities secret while evading his dark powers. When Lokesh promises Yesubai to the prince of a neighboring kingdom, she becomes the central pawn in his plot to destroy the ruling family and take power for himself. Yesubai is trapped by her father’s threats and desperate to protect the man she comes to love, but she knows that any decision she makes will have dire consequences. As dark forces gather around her, Yesubai must decide if she’s willing to reveal that somewhere deep within her she has the power to change everything.

A fantastic addition to one of my favorite series. This is a novella that fans who have read the series will enjoy, and one that fans who are just getting into the series should read. I loved being back in this series. I forgot about the excitement, and heartbreak that takes place within this enchanting world. Houck gives fans an exciting look into the history of Yesbuai and the begin of Tiger's Curse. And WOW! What a beginning to the curse. I swear while I was reading about it I sat with my mouth slightly ajar. I can not believe that is how it began. Now everything makes sense in regards to why and how Kishan and Ren treat each other the way they do in the series. 

Just like the rest of her series, Houck does a beautiful job at crafting her story, her world, and her characters together. I enjoyed the history and seeing how things were back before everything happened. I loved seeing the brothers together, and their mother, and the relationship they had. It's drastically different than the abusive relationship beautiful Yesbuai has with her evil father Lokesh. It was refreshing to everything in this story from Yesbuai's perspective, and the turn of events that set the series up. 

Yesbuai is a strong, beautiful girl, who has the most vile and evil father, Lokesh. He's just as dangerous and cunning as ever in this book, as he is throughout the series. Yesbuai has a quiet strength about her. My heart broke for her through out the novella with all she has to deal with at the hands of her father. Yesbuai is a beautiful girl. Her beauty is mentioned a few times, and it's that very thing that her father uses to aid him in his quest to obtain the Damon amulets. Enter Ren and Kshan's families. 

I loved the boys in this story. I loved seeing their interactions with Yesbuai. It was obvious from the get go which brother had the connection with Yesbuai, and who had her heart, vs who was set to marry her. Yeah, you can see where this is going. Two brothers destined for the same girl, a cunning evil father who will stop at nothing to get what they want, and will use his daughter to get, and a girl who is torn between her heart, and what he father has demanded from her. Let's just say this story has a bitter sweet ending that sets in motion everything that happens in the series. Having already read the series, I liked seeing how this story set up the series. 

I loved his novella, and my only complaint, which is the same with all novellas, is I wanted more! Now I want to go and re-read the rest of the series. I can not wait to get my hands on Tiger's Dream. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR



New York Times Bestselling author Colleen Houck is a lifelong reader whose literary interests include action, adventure, paranormal, science fiction, and romance. When she’s not busy writing, she likes to spend time chatting on the phone with one of her six siblings, watching plays, and shopping online. Colleen has lived in Arizona, Idaho, Utah, California, and North Carolina and is now permanently settled in Salem, Oregon with her husband and a huge assortment of plush tigers.

Website
  


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When Life and Blogging Collide, Thoughtful Thursday


Sometimes I wish someone could write a book for how to navigate life and how to be the perfect blogger. That would help me out tremendously with learning how to juggle everything life has thrown at me, and maintaining my blog. I've had so much going on lately, that I feel like I can't keep up with everything. To be honest, I am still catching up on things last year. I know that sounds bad, but sometimes my blog is my saving grace. As much as I would love to have a how to guide for when life and blogging collide, I've realize that would probably be the most boring book ever. I've come to realize that life and blogging are meant to be an adventure. haha

When I first started blogging, I had daily to do lists and a monthly calendar. I had to make sure that everything I wrote down on that to do list was accomplished for that day. I made sure that I posted at least once a day, if not more, depending the Cassie Clare news that's going on at the time. I still have a daily to do list, and a crazy full calendar. But over the past year I've learned that sometimes my to do list won't have everything crossed off of it. I've learned I may not post every day, though I still try to get something up every day. This last year has been a year of a lot of happenings. Blog wise, it was one heck of an exciting year on Mundie Moms. In 2013 I was so grateful to experience all the things I did, and travel to all the places I did. From flying out to CA for Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Princess bus tour, Comic Con, BEA, and then the TMI movie premiere. In the mix of all that were a ton of exciting author events and book conventions here in TX. Don't be surprised when you see me posting about some of the author events I was apart of last year.

Family wise there was a lot going on too. Aside from the exciting family vacation/two week road trip I took with my kids, my daughter had a major surgery at the beginning, and at the end of the year I was out of commission for a while due to a total hysterectomy I had to have. That recovery went into the beginning of this year. Needless to say for the first three months of this year I was still copying with recovery and problems I was having from my surgery. Surgeries aside, I wear many hats, the most proud ones are mom and wife.

I am mom two fabulous, elementary school aged kids. Both are extremely active, which I love. On top of taking caring care of my family, and my house, I am very active in my kids's school. I am up at the school often and volunteer weekly to do reading groups in my kids's classrooms. I'm also PTA President, Book Fair Chair, and a blogger with three review blogs. Sometimes I think the busier I am the easier it is to focus. Recently I've come to realize that trying to juggle all these things sometimes gets extremely crazy. With all that's been going on I've completely fallen behind on reviews, posting author interviews, and replying to emails. If you know me, you know how much I hate being behind. I've recently learned that I can't always control what life is going to throw at me, and to just roll with it. Okay, I'm still learning to roll with it. Especially when it comes to blogging. When all is said and done, sure blogging is important, but on the scale of most important, my family is at the top, and then everything else falls into place.


There have been times over the past few months that I have wondered if it was time for me to walk away from blogging. I've been blogging for 9+ years now, 5 1/2 of those years have been here on Mundie Moms. I have felt that sometimes I just can't keep up with everything with life and with blogging. When the two collide, life wins. But then there are times I have sat back and thought about why I started Mundie Moms. To me, what I do is exciting! I love supporting Cassandra Clare, and the authors I have on Mundie Moms. I love working with publishers and authors to promote their books. I enjoy talking to others about books that I just love. When I sit and think about that, that alone renews my dedication to become a better blogger. To realize that while I'm far from perfect in my blogger, it's something I'm passionate about.

I've been doing this since Feb of 2009, and I'm constantly in awe over those who have these amazing blogs, can juggle mommy hood, being a student, a professional or whatever it is that they, and have these incredible blogs. I admire those in the blogger community that do what they do. They make blogging look effortlessly. I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who put so much time into your blogs. I want to know, HOW DO YOU DO IT!? I know, I get it. It sounds silly to ask, because I'm doing the same thing, but I feel like what I'm doing is being stuck in a rut when I want to post more personal posts, make my posts more exciting, and spruce up my blog. I want to know, how do you schedule your blogging time. How do you decide when and what you're going to post. Have you cut back on your content? How much time do you spend blogging and reviewing books each week?

Here is how I do it. I still have my daily lists, and my calendar. I could not blog without my calendar. I often times get little sleep, because I'm up reading. Which I'll be honest, is a sacrifice that's totally worth it. I get up early to get posts done. I rarely post ahead of time, because I've had one too many problems with scheduled posts not going up when they should. I know from experience how time consuming blogging is, especially when it's done for free. I often times wish I could figure out a way to turn my love of promoting books into a source of income. Maybe one day when I have time, I will. haha

I'm so appreciative to those who continue to visit the blog, and who have been long standing readers of the blog. You have no idea how much your support has helped me keep my head above water when I've often times felt like I was drowning in all acceptations I put upon myself. There have been some days I just wanted to take a break from everything. Not like a permanent one, but one where I could just go off with a book in hand and hide from the rest of the world. haha You are the reason I continue to do what I do. I love talking about books with you guys! I love reading your comments, though I am so behind on replying back to them. I love visiting your blogs, and finding new books to add to my TBR lists. THANK YOU for all you do!

I'd love to know your thoughts on how you juggle blogging and the demands of every day life. How do you do it? What have you learned over the course of your blogging career?

City of Lost Souls Read-A-Long: Chapter 21


Hello & welcome to day #21 of our City of Lost Souls Read-A-Long. You can find out more about the read along and find the schedule here. There is no right or wrong way to participate. Your comments can be as long or as short as you'd like them to be. 

Today's discussion is about the Chapter 21: Raising Hell

Chapter 21
  • It doesn't matter how many times I've read this chapter, I always feel like I need to take a moment and digest what I read. Sebastian proves he is far more cunning, and evil than Valentine. Unlike Valentine, Sebastian has succeeded in accomplishing his goal. Even though Jace & Clary's family and friends came to the rescue, do you think it's enough to save them, and undo what Sebastian has now accomplished? 
  • Clary did it! I can't believe she actually stabbed Jace. I mean, I can, but I also thought she would have hesitated. I'm in total awe of her right now. Did you think she had it in her do this? I did, but thinking and then reading about her doing it is a little shocking. haha
  • Jace! Okay, so I had hoped that the real Jace would have won out and helped Clary. Though I felt that he was trying to, when Clary stabbed him with the sword I swear that Jace was the real or at least the real Jace knew was going to happen. Do you think Jace will survive? I feel like the angel power that saved him once before, and now the flame of the sword will some how change Jace, and not just in the you'll survive this kind of way. There's no way Jace could walk away from this normal.
  • What do you think will happen with Sebastian? 


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