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Blog Tour Review: Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy by Paula Berinstein

December 10, 2015 Lily B Blog Tour, Review 11 ★★★½

Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy (Amanda Lester, Detective, #1) by Paula Berinstein
Series: Amanda Lester, Detective #1
Published by The Writing Show on May 22nd 2015
Pages: 386
Format: Paperback
Source: Author, Blog Tour
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
Rating:
Heat Rating: half-flame

I received this book for free from Author, Blog Tour in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Twelve-year-old Amanda Lester wouldn't be caught dead going into the family business. Just because she's related to Inspector G. Lestrade, that bumbler who sometimes worked with master sleuth Sherlock Holmes, doesn't mean she should become a detective and give up her dream of becoming a filmmaker. Unfortunately, her plans are in jeopardy. Her latest project with the Stick Dog Filmmakers Club and Production Company isn't coming together, and her control freak tendencies have driven away all her actors. If she doesn't make a winning film soon, her parents will insist that she go into the L.A.P.D. young cadets training program, and her budding career will be over. So when Herb and Lila Lester suddenly send her to a secret English school for the descendants of famous detectives, Amanda resists-until she and her new friends notice drops of blood and weird pink substances in odd places. Are these strange happenings clues to a real mystery or simply part of the elaborate class project the teachers assign every year? The answer comes all too soon. When Amanda's father disappears and the school's cook is found dead with her head in a bag of sugar, the kids are certain that crimes are taking place. Now Amanda must embrace her destiny and uncover the truth. The only snag is that arch-villain Blixus Moriarty, a descendant of Holmes's nemesis Professor James Moriarty, might be involved, and he doesn't like nosy little girls interfering in his business.

Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy banner

This is my stop during the blog tour for Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy by Paula Berinstein. This blog tour is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 30 November till 13 December, you can view the complete tour schedule on the website of Lola’s Blog Tours.
So far this series contains 3 books: Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy (Amanda Lester, Detective #1), Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis (Amanda Lester, Detective #2) and Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle (Amanda Lester, Detective #3).

Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy, was a cute story. It had an interesting concept and room for development and growth of the characters. I do admit, while reading this my initial thought screamed, Harry Potter. A 12 year-old girl is forced away into a boarding school where she learns the skills she needs in order to become a detective. She gets sorted into one of the four houses, which ends up being a house she didn’t particularly want. Sounds fun right?

I enjoyed the story. It was a quick read. Amanda at first is very reluctant when it comes to going to the school. She does not want to be a detective, she wants to be a film maker. I have to admit, 12 years-old seems very young to be worrying about your career, and Amanda was very serious about growing her career. Once she gets to the school and meets a few friends, I think she slowly ends up warming up to the idea. Besides, the school offers her plenty of opportunities to help work on her film-making stuff, and when things start to go downhill in school, including a murder, Amanda and her friends find themselves in the thick of things.

As much as I enjoyed the story, there was a thing or two that did bother me.

As I pointed out before, I felt 12 years old Amanda was too focused on her career, and did not feel like a 12 year old. Maybe the book would have benefited if it was made for an older audience? The age and her ambitions sometimes did not match, but it was definitely written like a middle grade book, which clashed a bit for me. There was a scene about dead bodies, something I feel no 12 year old should witness. The character definitely should have been older. There had been instances that made her look older, and then there had been tantrum throwing that was age appropriate. There was also an attraction to a boy named Nick, once again the age kept swinging up and down for me.

There is a huge pet peeve in the book for me. The parent bashing as I like to call it. It suffers from the bad parent syndrome. The fact that this is a middle grade book made me frown a little. Amanda calls her mother stupid, there is a disconnect, and she hates the fact that her mother does not support her film-making career and is trying to send her away. The parents are portrayed badly in this too. Her mother says that film-making is dangerous, but she sends her off on a career path that can get her daughter killed.

Nonetheless, it has a lot of potential as Amanda carries on at the academy and grows as a character. Plus the artwork for the covers are stunning, absolutely adore them. As a middle grade book, it was also fast and easy to get through, but a few concepts felt a little heavy and confusing for the targeted audience.

Later books in the series:
Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis (Amanda Lester, Detective #2)
By Paula Berinstein
Genre: Mystery/ detective
Age category: Middle Grade
Release Date: September 15, 2015

Blurb:
If only Sherlock Holmes’s great-great-grandson weren’t such a dork . . .

There’s a new student at the Legatum Continuatum School for the Descendants of Famous Detectives and Amanda is supposed to work with him. Scapulus Holmes is a descendant of the great Sherlock and he’s crazy about her. Unfortunately she thinks he’s a dork and would rather die than have anything to do with him.

But when the kids discover a dead body encrusted with strange living crystals, Amanda realizes she needs Holmes’s help. If the crystals fall into the wrong hands they could be used for nefarious purposes, and only he knows how to protect them.

Can the detectives keep the bad guys from learning the crystals’ secrets? It would help if they could figure out who the dead body is too. Only if Amanda and Holmes can find a way to work together can they prevent a disaster, and it isn’t looking good

You can find Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis on Goodreads

You can buy Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis here:
- Amazon
- Amazon Paperback
- Barnes & Noble

Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle (Amanda Lester, Detective #3)
By Paula Berinstein
Genre: Mystery/detective
Age category: Middle Grade
Release Date: November 15, 2015

Blurb:
Purple rainbows, a mysterious crypt, and pots of gold . . .

Things are not going well for Amanda and the secret detective school. A priceless artifact has disappeared, a dangerous hacker is manipulating matter, and zombies are being seen all over the Lake District.

Then the real trouble starts. When her cousins go missing and her friend Clive is kidnapped, Amanda is forced to turn to someone she’d rather not deal with: her old boyfriend Scapulus Holmes. But then he vanishes too. Now’s she’s sure that arch-villain Blixus Moriarty is involved . . . or is he?

You can find Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle on Goodreads

You can buy Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle here:
- Amazon
- Amazon Paperback

About the Author:
Paula Berinstein is nothing like Amanda. For one thing, she’s crazy about Sherlock Holmes. For another, she’s never wanted to be a filmmaker. In addition, compared to Amanda she’s a big chicken! And she wouldn’t mind going to a secret school at all. In fact, she’s hoping that some day she’ll get to build one.

You can find and contact Paula here:
- Website
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Goodreads
- Paula’s blog on Goodreads
- The Writing Show podcasts

There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy. These are the prizes you can win:
- paperback copies of Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy (Amanda Lester, Detective #1), Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis (Amanda Lester, Detective #2) and Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle (Amanda Lester, Detective #3) by Paula Berinstein (INT)
- 2 winners will each win a paperback copy of Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy (Amanda Lester, Detective #1) Paula Berinstein (INT)

For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
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Blog Tour Review: Return Once More by Trisha Leigh

December 4, 2015 Lily B Review 37 ★★★★½

Return Once More by Trisha Leigh
Series: The Historians #1
Published by Bloomsbury Spark on October 20th 2015
Genres: Young Adult Time Travel
Pages: 289
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Author, Blog Tour
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
Rating:
Heat Rating: one-flame

If you could learn the identity of your one true love—even though you will never meet— would you?
Years have passed since refugees from a ruined earth took to space, eventually settling a new system of planets. Science has not only made the leaps necessary to allow time travel, but the process engineered a strange side effect—predicting your one true love.
If you could save your one true love from an untimely death, would you be able to resist?
Sixteen-year-old Kaia Vespasian is an apprentice to the Historians—a group charged with using time travel to document the triumphs and failures of the past—and she can’t resist a peek at her long-dead soul mate in Ancient Egypt. Before she knows it, she’s broken every rule in the book, and the consequences of getting caught could destroy more than just her new romance.
Or would you have the strength to watch him die?
But when Kaia notices a fellow classmate snooping around in a time where he doesn’t belong, she suspects he has a secret of his own—and the conspiracy she uncovers could threaten the entire universe. If her experience has taught her anything, to changing history means facing the consequences. The Historians trained her to observe and record the past, but Kaia never guessed she might have to protect it— in a race across time to save her only chance at a future.

Return Once More had caught me by surprised. A story about Kaia, a Historian in training who on her 17th birthday discovers the identity of her True Companion and the lengths she goes in order to spend what little time she has with him. Meanwhile, trying to unfold a huge mystery that is being kept secret back in her own home that can change an outcome of their entire society.

Wow, this book truly blew me away. It was amazing, it was well crafted, with likable characters, and a wonderful world building. It was new, it was refreshing and it left me wanting more. Once I started this, I had the hardest time of putting it down, it was nearly impossible. Everything flowed so well, I didn’t even find one dull moment as I eagerly flipped through my kindle pages. Everything felt like it had an outcome which only pushed me to go on, to continue reading. Kaia as a character grew on me. Her story felt emotionally charged. She had so much going on, not only in training and her struggles there, but knowing that her True Companion had died a long time ago, and the whole mess with her brother.

It is also a love story with a love that transcends time. Yes, there is a sort of instance love, but the author kind of prepares you for it and it needed to be done for the sake of the story. It’s a bit more complicated than a simple case of annoying instant-love. I did NOT find it annoying. It was handled delicately and I found it so well done, I do applaud the author. Because it’s not simple and it left my head reeling by the end of the book.

The writing is absolutely beautiful and descriptive in a way that pulls you in and refuses to let you know. The author is immensely talented and it shows through the crafted word. The mystery, the excitement, the well fleshed out characters that jump out from the pages, Return Once More is well worth the read - especially for the lovers of Time Travel books. The plot was exciting, fast paced and packed full of twist and turns that will keep you wondering and going. I myself cannot wait for the next book in this wonderful series. The writing alone is worth it!

Tour-wide giveaway (US/CAN)

$30 Amazon Gift Card

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About Trisha Leigh

Trisha Leigh is a product of the Midwest, which means it’s pop, not soda, garage sales, not tag sales, and you guys as opposed to y’all. Most of the time. She’s been writing seriously for five years now, and has published 4 young adult novels and 4 new adult novels (under her pen name Lyla Payne). Her favorite things, in no particular order, include: reading, Game of Thrones, Hershey’s kisses, reading, her dogs (Yoda and Jilly), summer, movies, reading, Jude Law, coffee, and rewatching WB series from the 90’s-00’s.

Her family is made up of farmers and/or almost rock stars from Iowa, people who are numerous, loud, full of love–the kind of people that make the world a better place. Trisha tries her best to honor them, and the lessons they’ve taught, through characters and stories–made up, of course, but true enough in their way.

Trisha is the author of THE LAST YEAR series and the WHITMAN UNIVERSITY books. She’s represented by Kathleen Rushall at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

To learn more about Trisha Leigh, please visit her at trishaleigh.com.

If you enjoy New Adult books or a good contemporary romance, please check out my pen name, Lyla Payne!

Tasty Book Tours Review: The Winter Laird by Nancy Scanlon

November 16, 2015 Lily B Blog Tour, Review 44 ★★★

The Winter Laird by Nancy Scanlon
Series: Mists of Fate #1
Published by Diversion Books on November 17th 2015
Genres: Adult Historical Romance, Time Travel
Pages: 262
Format: Paperback
Source: Blog Tour
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
Rating:
Heat Rating: two-flames

This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.

I received this book for free from Blog Tour in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE PRESENTSuccessful matchmaker Brianagh O’Rourke believes in happily-ever-afters...just not her own. She’s convinced passion only exists in her dreams. When she reluctantly accepts a marriage proposal, Bri decides she needs a vacation—but she didn't expect it to be in 13th century Ireland.
THE PASTLaird Nioclas MacWilliam just wants peace for his clan. The time for him to marry has come, and after waiting years for his ally to present their daughter, he’s agreed to marry another. But on the eve of his nuptials, a daring rescue brings his missing betrothed right into his arms.
And she does not want to be there.
THE FUTUREBrianagh has to return to the future. Nioclas has to marry. He offers a solution for the both of them: She marries him and stays for three months, and they work together to convince his clan they are a love match. In return, he vows to safely return her home. But as the days turn to weeks, they both begin to see what a happily-ever-after could be. And when the time comes, does Brianagh return to the life she’s built, or does she remain in the past for a chance at true love?

Brianagh O’Rourke is one of the most coveted matchmakers in the business. It’s only a shame that she herself cannot find a love match. When a family secret comes to light, the last thing Bri expects was to be thrown back into the past, without warning, by a man she trusted her entire life.

Now she is back somewhere in the 1400s, and must fulfill her sire’s promise to the laird of the MacWilliams clan in joining their clans in marriage and her duty of producing children in order to save history. There, Bri comes to face to face with literally with the man of her dreams and the revelation stuns Nick just as much.

I liked the story. I thought the romance was sweet. I liked how Nick went out of his way to try and woo Bri into loving him because he realized he could not fulfill his promise to her of letting her go. Bri was a strong woman, but not powerful enough to deny the depth of the attraction between them. Her personality is to take charge and no sooner after arriving at the castle, does the boredom of being the lady of the castle, drives her into taking charge and making some changes.

Overall, as far as the story goes and the romance it was a good read. It was clean, and I came to admire both Bri and Nick. I liked watching their love for each other grow into something undeniable. I also really loved Reilly in this book and hope he eventually get’s his own story.

My only gripe is the historical accuracy with this book. First, the blurb mentions 13th century Ireland, but in the book Bri goes back to the 15th Century Ireland. Second, the Irish heads of the clans during that period were often called the Irish Lords. Lairds were a Scottish term for the highlander clan lords in Scotland, not Ireland. If you are looking for a highlander romance, this is NOT it as Highlanders originated in the Scottish Highlands. Also, Irish lords didn’t really wear kilts, which is what it looks like on the cover. They did wear leine, which is accurate in the book.

I also wished that Bri wasn’t so accepting of her faith so quickly. For a modern girl, she did not act like being thrown into 15th century Ireland and having everything ripped away from her was a problem.

Also don’t believe okay excited in 15th century 😉

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About Nancy Scanlon

Born and raised near Boston, Massachusetts, Nancy Scanlon wrote her first romance novel at age 16, when she realized that fictional boyfriends were much easier to figure out than real ones. In the time since, she managed to earn a degree in English, obtain a graduate certificate in creative writing from the University of Cambridge, and marry the man of her dreams (but she still holds tight to her fictional boyfriends).
Currently, she resides in Puerto Rico with her husband, two children, and two dogs. When not writing, Nancy spends her time reading, reviewing and blogging about romance novels, watching too much HGTV, and taking care of her family.