Archive for Early Buzz
Meet Prince Liam – he’s one of the Prince Charmings you hear about in fairy tales. He’s the hero of Sleeping Beauty, but he’s never had the spotlight until now in this excerpt of The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy.
Excerpt from The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy:
Art copyright © 2012 by Todd Harris.
Liam never doubted that he was a hero. If anything, he was a little too sure of it. You can’t really blame him, though; people had been treating him like a demigod ever since he was a young child. The adulation began shortly after the birth of Princess Briar Rose, the daughter of the king and queen of Avondell. In a rare instance of international communication, they announced that they were looking for a suitable prince to whom she could be engaged. When the princess came of age, she would marry this prince, forever joining her kingdom with his.
As it so happened, the kingdom of Avondell sat upon a seemingly endless chain of gold mines. Whichever nation managed to hook up with Avondell would become super rich. Gareth, the king of Erinthia, which sat just across the border (and therefore just out of reach of Avondell’s gold), wanted in on that. The treasure-hungry King Gareth suggested his then three-year-old son, Liam, as a worthy future husband for Princess Briar. Unfortunately, lots of other countries were itching for a shot at Avondell’s gold as well, and the competition for Briar Rose’s tiny hand was fierce. Little princes from around the world lined up to present themselves before the royal couple of Avondell—and each seemed to have a special skill. There was a tap-dancing toddler from Valerium and a baby from Svenlandia whose parents claimed he could “speak dolphin.” A four-year-old from Jangleheim absolutely rocked on the flügelhorn. And a five-year-old prince from Sturmhagen (one of Gustav’s brothers) demonstrated his ability to kick a chicken forty yards.
Afraid that little Liam wouldn’t stand out in the crowd, his father resorted to trickery. Just as Liam toddled out in front of the king and queen of Avondell, two masked assassins burst into the throne room. They were actually actors hired by Gareth, and each wore a cinnamon stick—young Liam’s favorite treat—tied around his boot. The two “assassins” positioned themselves between the preschool prince and the royal couple—and as soon as Liam excitedly grabbed at the cinnamon sticks on their legs, the actors proved how good they were at their craft. As the boy pulled and tugged at the sweets, the actors threw themselves around and howled in pain. They spun, flipped, and smashed into each other. To the rulers of Avondell it looked as if the three-year-old was beating the grown men senseless. When the royal guards reached the scene of the “fight,” little Liam was standing over two seemingly unconscious assassins, slurping happily on a cinnamon stick.
After that, there was no question as to which prince would be selected to wed Briar Rose. The king of Erinthia took his son home in triumph. The boy was treated to awards, parades, and festivals held in his honor. The two actors, by the way, were unable to prove their innocence and were locked away in an Avondellian dungeon for life, but King Gareth didn’t worry about that: He was going to be rich (well, richer—he was already a king).
Young Prince Liam thrived on all the attention, though he was unsure of exactly why he was getting it.
“Why does everybody love me so much?” he asked his father.
King Gareth didn’t want to tell his son the truth—that, for the most part, the people of Erinthia were as greedy as their king was, and they cherished Liam because they knew he would someday make their nation unbelievably wealthy by marrying into the Avondell fortune. Instead he told his son, “Because you’re a hero.”
Liam and a Melon
Art copyright © 2012 by Todd Harris.
Liam’s Sword
Art copyright © 2012 by Todd Harris.
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Early Buzz - Author: Christopher Healy, Book: The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom | 
859 words
THE TRAITOR IN THE TUNNEL by Y.S. Lee
Series: The Agency, #3
Publication Date: February 28th 2012 by Candlewick Press
Rating: 
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Summary: Get steeped in suspense, romance, and high Victorian intrigue as Mary goes undercover at Buckingham Palace – and learns a startling secret at the Tower of London.
Queen Victoria has a little problem: there’s a petty thief at work in Buckingham Palace. Charged with discretion, the Agency puts quickwitted Mary Quinn on the case, where she must pose as a domestic while fending off the attentions of a feckless Prince of Wales. But when the prince witnesses the murder of one of his friends in an opium den, the potential for scandal looms large. And Mary faces an even more unsettling possibility: the accused killer, a Chinese sailor imprisoned in the Tower of London, shares a name with her long-lost father. Meanwhile, engineer James Easton, Mary’s onetime paramour, is at work shoring up the sewers beneath the palace, where an unexpected tunnel seems to be very much in use. Can Mary and James trust each other (and put their simmering feelings aside) long enough to solve the mystery and protect the Royal Family? Hoist on your waders for Mary’s most personal case yet, where the stakes couldn’t be higher – and she has everything to lose.
Five Epic Reasons You Need to Read This Book:
- Need a solid historical YA romance? Look no further. Lots and lots of witty banter, hot chemistry, and unresolved sexual tension between James and Mary. For those worried, this book would probably be PG-13 at most. No sex, lots of good kissing.
- Lee dives deeper into Mary’s background. More secrets about her past will be unveiled.
- I read it in two sittings. I only stopped the first time since I had to sleep. This one is a page-turner – beware!
- It will keep you guessing. When I’m reading a mystery, it’s always fun to try and guess who the culprit is. The game is not so fun when it turns out I’m right. It doesn’t happen here. The mystery baffled me and my jaw hung when I got to the end.
- The Queen of England makes a cameo! Yes, Queen Victoria! She plays an epic role in THE TRAITOR IN THE TUNNEL and you don’t want to miss it.
This is one hype-worthy book that you don’t want to miss out on. If you haven’t started this series already, you better do so!
Full review and author interview to come in February 2012!
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Early Buzz - Author: YS Lee, Book: The Traitor in the Tunnel, Series: The Agency | 589 words
DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #1
Publication Date: September 27th 2011 by Little, Brown & Company
Rating: | 
Summary: Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.
When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
Reasons to Read Daughter of Smoke and Bone:
- The world-building is fantastic; Taylor will take you all over the world as well as a whole new one from the comfort of your favorite reading nook
- It’s a novel of intense feelings: passion, sorrow, loneliness… Taylor tugs at every reader’s heartstrings.
- Taylor takes forbidden love onto a whole new level.
- This is not your typical angel story.
- The ending is not really a cliffhanger, but it will make you yearn for more.
Full Review to Come Soon!
Teaser Trailer
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Early Buzz - Author: Laini Taylor, Book: Daughter of Smoke and Bone | 539 words
- Action Packed
- Borrow It
- Hahaha Funny
- Heartwarmer
- Makes You Think
- Tear-Jerker
