Review, Guest Post, Giveaway: Beast Charming by Jenniffer Wardell

Beast Charming

by Jenniffer Wardell

Fairytale Retelling

Fiction/Fantasy/Comedy/Romance

Published by Jolly Fish Press

*ARC obtained directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Synopsis:

Beauty Tremain had spent her life being thrown into the path
of ogres and noblemen by her title-hungry father, Noble
Tremain (whose name is really Frank.) Escaping the bonds of her
sadistic matchmaker father to work for a dragon-owned temp
agency, Beauty hesitantly takes a mysterious job working for
a butler in an enormous mansion. When the mansion’s owner,
James Hightower, proves to be a seven-foot-tall brooding beast
with the bad habit of hurling statuary from the rooftop, it’s up to Beauty to roll up her sleeves and
argue her way to a paycheck.
When Beauty and James start having feelings for each other, however, they determine their
relationship is the least of their concerns. Beauty’s father re-enters the scene armed with lawsuits
and threats. To add to the chaos, James’s mischievous ex-fiancee shows up to reclaim him.
Beauty and the beast need to somehow control their tempers long enough to return the favors
with schemes of their own.

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Jenniffer Wardell is a fantasy romance author and general fairy godmother-at-large. She's always on the lookout for witty dialogue and a well-earned happily-ever after. Anyone who wants to chat or trade jokes can find her at http://www.facebook.com/JennifferWardell, https://twitter.com/wardellwriter, http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com or http://jennifferwardell.tumblr.com.

Meet the characters: Beast Charming

by Jenniffer Wardell

    When you really want to get to know a character, describing their hair and eyes simply aren't going to cut it. Raven tresses and emerald eyes tell you nothing about the character's sense of humor, temper, hopes or dreams.

    So, with my new book, "Beast Charming," I've decided on what I hope is a more effective introduction. I've chosen a passage from the book that I think gives a pretty good insight into the character's personality.

Beauty (Yes, that's really her birth name. She hates it)

From the book:

   Three hours later, there was still no sign of him.

   Since that time had included a dinner featuring Waverly’s melt-in-your mouth roast, Beauty took the continued absence as a clear sign that JamesBeast was an idiot. Of course, since she was the one who’d gotten herself lost in the middle of the rapidly darkening woods trying to find him, it was probably a case of the gnome calling the gremlin short.

   She muttered insults at both of them as she pushed aside a low-hanging branch, ducking out of the way before it could snap back and smack her in the face.  She’d had the genius idea of following the trampled undergrowth, completely ignoring the fact that she could have been following a very angry bear for the last 20 twenty minutes who would now have every right to sue her for stalking. That, or she was walking in an enormous circle, and JamesBeast was hidden somewhere watching and laughing his head off.

James (a.k.a. Beast, a.k.a. the most stubborn man on the planet)

From the book:

   Hating the guilt he could feel threatening to overtake him, he dropped the girl and watched while she scrambled into a sitting position. “Did you get the answer you were looking— Not that farway, you idiot …. . ..” James Beast  cut off the rest of the threat to reach forward and grab the girl again, stopping her panicked retreat straight back into the middle of the thorny bush he’d yanked her out of. He picked her back up, and lookeding for a place he could put her back down without having to rescue her again. When she started sobbing, he shook her a little. “Stop it. I’m trying to help you run away without the chance ofyour collapsing in the woods and dying of blood loss.” He pointed towards the front of the house, hoping Waverly wasn’t anywhere near a window at the moment. “Do you think you’re capable of escaping that way without doing any more injury to yourself?”

Waverly (Like Cher and Madonna, he's cool enough that he doesn't need a second name)

From the book:

   His expression turned rueful. “I’m afraid that my larger purpose in hiring you isn’t nearly as intricate as James undoubtedly believes it to be.” He moved closer, smile flickering again.   “Though I must admit to being flattered that he’s overestimated my genius in such a manner.”

   “Any chance you could let me in on what that larger purpose is?” she asked, lifting her hands in a helpless gesture. “If I know where we’re supposed to be going with this, it might help me restrain the urge to hit the man with something heavy.”

   Waverly raised an eyebrow, the gesture so much more expressive than when she did it that Beauty was briefly tempted to start practicing the look in front of the mirror. “If either of you had paid proper attention in the library, you would realize I’ve already explained the complete extent of my ‘secret plot’ to both of you.”

 Oh my goodness. This author just continues to blow me away. Jenniffer Wardell has this amazing, witty sense of humor that interweaves into her storytelling. Her writing just flows effortlessly for me. Beast Charming was thrilling, refreshing, full of wit, charm, & an amazing bit of humor all mingled together. It brought about new life to an old, classic fairytale!

The characters were stunningly crafted! I'm actually having an internal debate about whether or not I loved this version of Beauty & the Beast more so than the original cartoon... Yes... it was THAT good. 

Reading Jenniffer's guest post above (THANK YOU FOR THAT JW!), you'll immediately get a sense of what I mean when I say that the characters are perfect. Beauty is strong, independent, and oh so smart-mouthed. Hehe. I loved her! It's so nice to see a female lead who isn't afraid to take charge and go after what she wants. She's lived a horrible life thanks to her father pushing her on every prince & single noble man within a million mile radius. Her & her sister... I don't envy them for being the laugh of the ball at times. But they kept their heads high & they finally managed to get away from him to live their own lives. 

Beast! I really, really loved his character. I liked the strength and the internal debate that he had going on within himself. He was a "beast" of a business man until he literally became, well... a beast. Then he shut himself out of the business world, not wanting people to see him looking more like his nickname. Waverly! Ah! I think he's truly one of my favorite characters in the entire novel. I loved every time he graced the pages. He had this calm sense of all-knowing about him that just hypnotized me. 

The plot was great! I wasn't expecting some of the twists and turns that Jenniffer took while working through their story! 

Overall, perfect 2nd novel by Miss Wardell. I can't wait to see what she comes out with next!!!! 


Overall rating: 5 Stars
Cover rating: 5 Stars PLUS! Do you see that cover?!? I'd love to have it framed on my wall! 
Characters: 4.5 Stars <-- I would've loved to have seen more of Beauty's sister. I really enjoyed her sister but I almost felt, at times, like she fell a little too far into the background here and there when she should've stood out more. But overall, I did love everyone! 
Plot: 5 Stars
Climax: 5 Stars
Ending: 5 Huge Stars! So glad to see they got what was coming to them! (And that Beauty went back for the vines hehe - I'm so glad the author added that bit into the ending!!!!!!!) 

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Guest Post: Eleanor (The Unseen #1) by @JohnnyWorthen

Eleanor

The Unseen #1

by Johnny Worthen

Young Adult

Published July 1 by Jolly Fish Press

Synopsis via Goodreads:

It was a gamble for Eleanor to rejoin humanity, but she was driven to it. She’d been too successful forgetting. The last vestiges of her family hung by a thread in her transformed brain and drove her to be reckless. Ten years later, Eleanor hides in plain sight. She is an average girl getting average grades in a small Wyoming town: poor but happy, lonely but loved. Her mother, Tabitha, is there for her and that’s all she’s ever needed. But now her mother is sick and David has returned. The only friend she’d ever had, the only other person who knows her secret, is back. And Eleanor again becomes reckless.

Eleanor is a modest girl, unremarkable but extraordinary, young but old, malleable but fixed. She is scared and confused. She is a liar and a thief. Eleanor is not what she appears to be.

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JOHNNY WORTHEN grew up in the high desert snows and warm summer winds of the Wasatch Mountains. He graduated with a B.A. in English, minor in Classics and a Master's in American Studies from the University of Utah. After a series of businesses and adventures, including years abroad and running his own bakery, Johnny found himself drawn to the only thing he ever wanted to do -- write. And write he does. Well versed in modern literary criticism and cultural studies, Johnny writes upmarket multi-genre fiction – thriller, horror, young adult, comedy and mystery so far. “I write what I like to read,” he says. “That guarantees me at least one fan and a hectic job for my publicist.”

When not pounding on his keyboard, attending conferences and conventions, Johnny Worthen can be found with his wife and two boys in Sandy, Utah.

Connect with Johnny:  Twitter    Website    Eleanor Website     Blog     Amazon    Goodreads

In praise of the Reader

Sometimes I think of myself as a candle-maker in the age of the LED. I am a writer. I am an author. I create books. Paper objects which share my thoughts in antiquated symbols thousands of years old. The product I make requires knowledge and education to access, it requires an active participation by the reader as the fuel for the machine is found in their imagination. I requires the reader’s time and indulgence. It is not instant gratification. In the age of TV and movies, video games and the internet, reading for pleasure is a rare activity. It is difficult to compete with the technological leaps entertainment has seen in the last half century, hypnotic lights and phrenetic cut scenes. It is difficult but not impossible.

Books offer several advantages over every other narrative art forms. Here are three that I like to remember

First, books are one heck of a great bargain. For the cost of a movie ticket you can get days of entertainment.

Second, books flow at a reader’s pace. They can read it all at once, speed-read style, get to the action, whoop-whoop the case is solved, or they can linger in the language, a warm bath of images and symbols to play with.

Third, the level of complexity offered in a book cannot be duplicated even by most skillful filmmaker. Films speak in images, plays in speech, but books speak in thoughts. Literature can reach deep into the reader like a subliminal lullaby, touching the rawest of emotions. Other narrative forms can do this too, but books, requiring the reader’s cooperation, I would argue, are the most powerful and effective at this. No monster ever shown on a screen is half as terrifying as the one an author induces you to imagine. No love was ever so pure as the one you the reader is lead to create.

Study after study, college after college and life after life all agree that people who read are more educated and worldly and interesting than people who don’t. I had a friend once tell me that the best experiences they’d ever had in their life never actually happened to them. That’s the power of books. That’s why it is so important to read and teach our children to read. 

I’m here to tell you about my new book, ELEANOR, THE UNSEEN, a young adult paranormal story about a girl living in a small Wyoming town. She is old and young, malleable but fixed. She is loved and alone. She is a liar and a thief and she is not what she appears to be.

The book’s getting great reviews and is a fantastic fable of growing up, the trials of the outsider and dealing with prejudice. It’s full of grand themes intimately argued, personal triumph and tragedy. You’d do me a favor if you were to look it up and let me know what you think of it, but if you don’t that’s okay too, as long as you, gentle reader, read something and encourage others to do the same.

I am a candlemaker but it is you, the readers, who keep the flame alight. It is that light that ignites our culture. The best movies are born of the best books. The stories drawn on paper sheets in ancient symbols that require an effort to understand. Books are the seeds of culture, the narratives of our society — extra lives waiting to be shared for the cost a cup of coffee.

If you’re here at Kayla’s Place, I know you’re a reader and I want to thank you. On behalf of authors everywhere, on behalf of our culture and society and species, I thank you! When we meet we’ll have much to discuss, depths of intrigue and twists of fate, experiences beyond ourselves but still our own, all this because we have read it in books.

Read and be well and look for ELEANOR, THE UNSEEN, wherever excellent books are sold.

Among other places, I can be reached at:

 

Website    Eleanor Website     Blog     Amazon     Goodreads

Giveaway, Review & Guest Post: Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know Of) by @FJR_Titchenell

Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (that I know of)

by F.J.R. Trichenell

Debut YA Horror/Comedy

Published May 6 by Jolly Fish Press

*eARC obtained directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review as part of the tour*

Synopsis via Goodreads:

The world is Cassie Fremont’s playground. Her face is on the cover of every newspaper, she has no homework, no curfew, and no credit limit, and she spends her days traveling the country with her friends, including a boy who would flirt with death just to turn her head. Life is just about perfect—except that those newspaper headlines are about her bludgeoning her crush to death with a paintball gun, she has to fight ravenous walking corpses every time she steps outside, and one of her friends is still missing, trapped somewhere in the distant, practically impassable wreckage of Manhattan. Still, Cassie’s an optimist. More prone to hysterical laughter than hysterical tears, she’d rather fight a corpse than be one, and she won’t leave a friend stranded when she can simply take her road trip to impossible new places to find her, even if getting there means admitting to that boy that she might just love him, too. Skillfully blending effective horror with unexpected humor, this diary-format novel is a fast-paced and heartwarming read.

Grab Your Copy from Amazon

F.J.R. Titchenell is an author of Young Adult Sci-Fi and Horror fiction. She is represented by Jennifer Mishler of Literary Counsel and currently lives in San Gabriel, California with her husband and fellow author, Matt Carter, and their pet king snake, Mica.

The "F" is for Fiona, and on the rare occasions when she can be pried away from her keyboard, her kindle, and the pages of her latest favorite book, Fi can usually be found over-analyzing the inner workings of various TV Sci-Fi universes or testing out some intriguing new recipe, usually chocolate-related.

Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of) is F.J.R. Titchenell’s first novel. Her first novel coauthored with Matt Carter, Splinters, will be available fall of 2014.

 Connect with the author:   Website   Facebook   Twitter   Goodreads

My Top Ten Zombie Influences

1: World War Z (book)

This is the ultimate zombie novel. The thought and research that must have gone into it is staggering, and far beyond anything I can imagine attempting. How is that an influence, then? Because it took me deeper into a zombie apocalyptic world than anything else and started my brain really working there.

2: Zombieland

It's a zombie comedy road trip. I think that influence is pretty clear. I wanted to give YA readers the kind of zombie fun this movie offers a primarily adult male audience.

3: Shaun of the Dead

This was the first zombie movie I ever saw, and consequently the first zombie comedy I saw. I have no doubt that mixing zombies with British romantic comedy did a lot to endear them to me.

4: The Walking Dead (TV)

I became a fan of this one too late for it to have much of an influence on me as I was writing Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of), but with it being the main work of zombie fiction everyone knows right now, you can't help it influencing how you think about zombies, and every other zombie story must be compared and contrasted with, no exceptions.

5: The Walking Dead (Comics)

For similar reasons to the TV show, the comparison must be made, even though I didn't read them until after writing the book. I'm not as big a fan of the comics as the TV show. They have great moments but tend to devolve into characters having endlessly circular conversations and monologues about how awful their world is and how awful it makes them. That was something I always wanted to avoid overdoing.

6: 28 Days Later/28 Weeks Later

Another of my earliest introductions to zombies, and yes, for all storytelling purposes, that is what the monsters of the 28 series are. They’re my favorite serious take on fast zombies. I'm not an adamant member of either the fast or slow zombie camp. I enjoy them both in different ways, and the speedwalk-shambling zombies of Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of) are my compromise.

7: Warm Bodies

I hadn't read Warm Bodies when I wrote Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of) either, and even if I had, they wouldn't have much in common. I don’t romanticize zombies, but Warm Bodies is the one work I truly love that does. It made me accept that sentient zombies can be done well, so even though that's not what I do, that has to count as an influence on how I now look at zombies.

8: Night of the Living Dead

Once I knew I loved zombies, I had to watch the classic. Plenty of the zombie storytelling elements that Night of the Living Dead established show up in Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of), like the old, slow-acting bites that always scared me most. You'll never meet any Barbaras in my books though. She’s just… just awful.

9: Return of the Living Dead

These zombies are capable of thought and speech and are completely unbeatable. My zombies are far more traditional in nature, but I adore the balance of humor and creepiness this movie achieves.

10: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

I wanted to love this book so much. It's the first book in a YA zombie epic! How could that not be exactly my thing? As you can probably guess, I didn't like it, and it ended up being a strong anti-influence on me. It's not that I don't like dark and/or heavy stuff in conjunction with either YA or zombies. I do. But this one relies so heavily on the awfulness of its dystopian post-apocalyptic world to make the story that the characters get no part in that. Their qualities and relationships are announced rather than developed organically. As much as I liked the ideas in the abstract, I think it's that disappointing disconnect I felt from those characters that made me want to do everything Forest of Hands and Teeth and its following imitators didn't; get close with these teens stuck at the end of the world, explore their relationships and let the fun of zombie slaying in.

Phew... zombie apocalypse! Although the author jumps right into this tale and we don't really end up with a lot of background on why everything has gone bonkers, I felt like the novel started off with a bang. I usually don't read many zombie novels. I've just never gotten into the whole being dead thing... LOL However, if all zombie books cracked me up like this one, I'd totally start reading them all.

The characters were great. I'll admit I wish there was alittle more "meat" to the characters sometimes. I felt like, rarely, they felt a little flat but not to the point where I disliked them. Hearing the tale through Cassie's narration was fun. I have to admit, it took me a while to get used to the format - it's sort of like reading a journal that someone has kept. I liked it once I got the feel for it & settled in. I adored the quirky humor throughout the novel which mixed well with all the gory battle &, well, apocalyptic times...

The action sequences were totally awesome & kept me glued to the pages. The novel is very fast paced & action packed. I snorted a few times in between griping my ereader in a death grip through the fight sequences. Awesome job on the author's part.

The plot flowed well for me. I enjoyed it. Although, I thought it was a little crazy that she went through all the effort to save her friend when they didn't really seem friends anymore.. but whatever. It worked. I did think the ending felt a little rushed but it wasn't a buzzkill. Like I said before, the novel was really fast paced so it worked.

So, overall, great, action packed, hilariously enjoyable zombie novel.

Overall Rating: 4 Stars
Cover Rating: 3 Stars
Characters: 3.5 Stars
Plot: 4 Stars
Climax: There were so many action packed moments that I'm not quite sure where I could pin point an actual climax...
Ending: 3.5 Stars

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