Short Tales of Horror Part II by Regina Puckett ~ Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the Short Tales of Horror Blog Tour hosted by My Family's Heart! 

Title: Short Tales of Horror Part II

Author: Regina Puckett

Publication date: September 2nd 2014

Publisher: Punk & Sissy Publications

Genre: Horror

Length (pages): 77

Cover Artist: Ryan Jorgensen owns copyright on photo. Charity Parkerson put together the book cover.

Purchase: Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon Paperback | B&N | B&N Paperback | Smashwords 

 

Ours

While Sheriff Wilson has no idea what really transpired the night twelve people were murdered in the old mental hospital during what was supposed to be a simple night of ghost hunting, he was at the scene moments after the lone survivor committed suicide. Now it's a year later and a group of paranormal investigators want to set up a haunted house and invite the general public in that same abandoned mental hospital. How is he supposed to keep that many people safe from whoever or whatever killed the last group?

Silent Baby Screams

Gwen doesn't understand why her husband resents their newborn baby so much, but she never suspects that one day she'll return home from work to discover their baby boy has simply vanished. What happens next is the stuff of nightmares.

Lucky Thirteen 

Thirteen black cats help keep watch over a bedridden, old lady. Sometimes the number thirteen is lucky but then again it might just depend on who you are. 

Pay Back

There's nothing unusual about Jeremy waking up late for school, but on this particular morning something feels different. When he goes downstairs to face the music, he finds his grandmother waiting for him but no one else appears to be at home. Jeremy believes he's caught a lucky break and his mother and father won't get to know, but he soon discovers that not everything is as it seems. He finds he'll have to face up to his mistakes, though, and maybe even suffer a little payback himself.

Slimmer

Sandy loves her new boyfriend, but ever since they moved in together, Donald won't get off her back about how much she eats. When he offers her a new miracle diet pill, she decides to try one just to shut him up. Unfortunately, there are unexpected side effects that take them both by terrifying surprise. 

Sam I Am

The morning after moving into her dream home with her young daughter and husband, Paige learns that the three story, 18th century house might be haunted. She then finds that her daughter has a new imaginary friend called Sam I Am. It isn't long before Paige's perfect home turns into a living nightmare. 

These six stories found in Regina Puckett's Short Tales of Horror Part II chilled my very bones and had twisted endings that kept me guessing. There's all kinds of paranormal mischief going on here! I thought about which story is my favorite and quickly realized I can't choose - they're each frightening in their own way. It would be impossible to choose just one. I'll review each tale for you, and I promise there are absolutely no spoilers! :) 

Ours

I love horror flicks where a group investigates haunted sites. "Ours" reminded me of one of my favorite horror movies, Grave Encounters, (which if you haven't seen, you really should and make sure you're watching it in complete darkness) but stands on its own and has an amazing ending.   

Silent Baby Screams

I was a bit nervous to read this one - horror involving babies and small children can be difficult for me ever since I became a parent. I remember feeling reluctant to see Paranormal Activity 2 because I knew a baby boy was heavily focused on in the story, and my own son was about that same age at the time. This story was nothing like I thought it was going to be. The twist is pure genius. 

Lucky Thirteen

This story was so surprising and full of dark humor, which I really appreciate. And don't we all have a cat lady living near us? After reading this, you may think differently about the cat lady living on your street.    

Pay Back

I really enjoyed this story. You don't know what's going on at first, and when you begin putting the pieces together, you'll still be surprised. An excellent and well told story. 

Slimmer 

I hated the boyfriend in this story. He was a total douche. The ending was fantastic, and I read it a couple of times to savor it.  

Sam I Am

A story also involving a young child, this one reminded me of Poltergeist. Regina, you had me at 18th century house - how could a house that old with that much history NOT be haunted??  

My Rating: 

Regina Puckett is an award nominated author for her short story, Balloon Wishes. 

Concealed in My Heart is a Readers' Favorite Book Award Winner. 

Claimed by Sin is nominated for 2014 Ellora's Cave Golden Ankh award. 

Concealed in My Heart won runner-up in the international 2014 MARSocial Author of the Year Competition. 

Borrowed Wings, has received the Children's Literary Classics Seal of Approval. 

Memories won first place in the 1st WSBR International Poetry Contest. This poem may be found in her book of poetry, Tilting at Windmills and Words. 

Slowly Drowning won second place in the 3rd WSBR International Poetry Contest. This poem may be found in her poetry book, My Words into the Beyond.

Sir Galahad Comes to the Rescue won third place in the 3rd WSBR International Poetry Contest. This poem may be found in her book of poetry, Ramblings and Dreams.

Her collection of poetry, Fireflies, won 2013 Turning Pages Poetry Book of the Year.

She writes sweet romances, horror, inspirational, picture books and poetry. There are several projects in various stages of completion and there are always characters and stories waiting for their chance to finally get out of her head and onto paper.

 

Amazon Author Page | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Goodreads   

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Blog Tour organized by:

Blog Tour: Review ~ Broken Truce (Broken City #2) by D.D. Chant

Hey guys! Welcome to my stop on the Broken City Series Blog Tour hosted by My Family's Heart Book Reviews & Tours. Click here for the full tour schedule. 

I have a review of book two, Broken Truce, and a link below the cover of Broken City that will take you to my review of book one in case you missed it. 

Title: Broken Truce

Series: Broken City #2

Author: D.D. Chant

Release Date: February 1st 2014

Genre: Post Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Romance

Cover Artists: Laura Tunstall & Kate Lacey

Add: Goodreads 

Purchase: Amazon | Smashwords

Synopsis

Life isn't turning out the way that Deeta thought it would. With the Lewises defeated and peace between the tribes, she'd believed that the dark times were in past. 

However troubles between the tribes continue, and the Andak council has selected Tom as their ambassador and chief spokesman to the other tribes.

Deeta knows that there is still much resentment against the Andak, and that Tom is in danger every time he leaves the safety of Andak city. 

Struggling with her own complicated feelings against the tribe that she is now a part of, Deeta tries to ignore the changing attitudes growing within her.

Then Tom is betrayed, and with the whole City thrown into great danger, Deeta finds that reality can't be ignored forever...

BROKEN TRUCE was released three years after the first book, BROKEN CITY, and I could tell the difference in Chant's plotting. The story and characters have grown exponentially from the first book, and there's much more action with intense moments in this installment of the series.  

What I liked 

I really liked the plot of BROKEN TRUCE with all of the action and intensity. The synopsis gives away very little as to what happens in this book, and I was taken by surprise in the best way possible. In writing this review, I decided I should stick with how the book made me feel and what I thought about it rather than possibly giving any of the plot away, especially if you haven't read book one yet. Let's just say I was invested in the plot and needed to know what would happen next.  

Many of the characters have grown on me, including Deeta and Tom. I warmed up to both of them much more this time around, and I think part of that is they've become familiar to me and understand their personalities and ways of thinking better. I even began liking Jayden, one of the Andak brothers, and hoping for more scenes with him. He's brave in wanting to do the right thing even if he has to stand up to his brothers to get it done. I admire that about him. 

What didn't work for me

As with the first book, BROKEN TRUCE also has many spelling and grammatical errors. The biggest mistakes I ran into were run-on sentences and misuse of pronouns (ex. using "you're" instead of "your"). I don't usually comment on this sort of thing because I mostly review ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) which have kinks to be worked out before being published for sale, and this book is an ARC. However, the first book had these types of mistakes, too, and it has been out for three years which is plenty of time to fix these issues. 

There are quite a few shifts in POV in BROKEN TRUCE. There's Deeta's POV in first person and Tom's POV in third person, which was also the case with the first book. Again, I found myself wishing Tom's POV was also in first person. Unlike the first book, BROKEN TRUCE has several different characters' POV's, which ended up confusing me at times. They're all in third person, too. It ended up making the story a bit jarring plus gave me a lot of characters to keep track of without much to help me differentiate them from one another - mostly, the Andak brothers. 

Overall

The only two issues keeping me from giving BROKEN TRUCE a higher rater than three stars are the grammar/spelling and multiple POV's. The plot is excellent, and the action kept me excited enough to want to keep reading. The characters have grown since the first book, and they've grown on me as well. This series is a different kind of dystopian than anything I've read before, and I think if you want to read a post-apocalyptic, dystopian novel without plagues or zombies, then give this series a try.     

My Rating:

Book One

Click here for my review of Broken City, Book One.

Title: Broken City

Series: Broken City #1

Author: D.D. Chant

Release Date: February 7th 2011

Genre: Post Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Romance

Cover Artists: Laura Tunstall & Kate Lacey

Add: Goodreads 

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Smashwords

Synopsis 

Deeta Richards has never seen the outside world. Before she was born a banking crisis brought civilization to an end and now no one leaves the safety of the compounds unless they need to, but Deeta still dreams of seeing more than the building she was born in.

Tom is in the guard, this group are the only people that the tribal elders allow to leave the compound and Tom knows only too well that Deeta could never survive the harshness that exists outside. Then tragedy strikes and Deeta and her sister Jan find themselves captured by a hostile tribe. Why does Tom know so much about these people? And why do they know so much about him? As this mystery draws to a climax, they discover that their friend Tom is not quite what he seems...

   

Hi everyone!

My name is Dee Dee, I'm twenty-six, and I live in a beautiful part of Devon, England with my family. I have a younger sister, Amy, who is a brilliant guitar player, some chickens, duck, geese, pheasants, a cat (that adopted us when we moved in!!!) and some Koi. 

BROKEN CITY is actually my second novel. My first, as my Aunt so delicately put it, was crazy but in my defence I was only sixteen at the time. On the plus side I learnt a lot (or so I hope) and two years later BROKEN CITY was finished. Due to the support I have received from everyone I have just finished the next book in the Broken City series!

I have another book, THE PROMISE, which is set in Saxon England it's the beginning of a series and I have just released my third book FRACTURE which is set in the distant future and is also the start of a series. 

I really hope you enjoy reading my books as much as I enjoy writing them. 

I love reading and have a Kindle: I read almost anything with adventure and romance in it! I also like to cook and wear impractical high heels!!! And as you might have noticed I have a horrible addiction to exclamation marks!!!    

Author Links

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Blog Tour organized by:

Blog Tour: Review ~ Broken City Series by D.D. Chant

Hey guys! Welcome to my stop on the Broken City Series Blog Tour hosted by My Family's Heart Book Reviews & Tours. Click here for the full tour schedule.  

Title: Broken City

Series: Broken City #1

Author: D.D. Chant

Release Date: February 7th 2011

Genre: Post Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Romance

Cover Artists: Laura Tunstall & Kate Lacey

Add: Goodreads 

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Smashwords

Synopsis 

Deeta Richards has never seen the outside world. Before she was born a banking crisis brought civilization to an end and now no one leaves the safety of the compounds unless they need to, but Deeta still dreams of seeing more than the building she was born in.

Tom is in the guard, this group are the only people that the tribal elders allow to leave the compound and Tom knows only too well that Deeta could never survive the harshness that exists outside. Then tragedy strikes and Deeta and her sister Jan find themselves captured by a hostile tribe. Why does Tom know so much about these people? And why do they know so much about him? As this mystery draws to a climax, they discover that their friend Tom is not quite what he seems...

My Thoughts

BROKEN CITY is a dystopian novel unlike any I've read before. Instead of zombies or plagues, a huge financial crisis has hit and decimated society as we knew it. Tribes formed and built compounds to keep their people and resources safe from each other. The Andak tribe is the richest and most feared out of all the tribes. 

I felt lukewarm about Deeta. She was meant to be brave and compassionate - her compassion drew me to her, and she is brave but much more full of self doubt than I wanted in a heroine. I rooted for her to tell Tom how she felt about him even though I wasn't terribly keen on him. She saw something in him that I wasn't able to until later.   

I didn't like Tom until he finally opened up to Deeta. I felt like he took her for granted and was so stoic as to be almost creepy. The huge secret he's keeping inside explained his behavior, and things took a turn I never expected. The tribe would never be the same again.     

My only issues with BROKEN CITY are the switch in point-of-view, and I wanted more background into how everything changed after the banking crisis. Most of the story is told in first person from Deeta's perspective, but there are a few parts toward the end told from Tom's point of view in third person. I was hoping to hear his voice in first person and think it would have added a lot to his character and the story. 

I think there's a huge story waiting to be told with the financial crisis and societal breakdown. It would have helped me understood more about the tribes and compounds and how they formed. I'd love for the background to be fleshed out, even if it was in flashbacks.  

Overall, BROKEN CITY breathes new life into the dystopian genre with its lack of plagues or zombie. The plot behind this series is a very realistic situation, especially given the financial crisis we faced back in 2009 where thousands lost their jobs and the banks were bailed out by the government. If you're looking for a dystopian novel without apocalyptic elements, then BROKEN CITY is the novel for you. 

My Rating: 3 / 5 stars

     

Title: Broken Truce

Series: Broken City #2

Author: D.D. Chant

Release Date: February 1st 2014

Genre: Post Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Romance

Cover Artists: Laura Tunstall & Kate Lacey

Add: Goodreads 

Purchase: Amazon | Smashwords

Synopsis

Life isn't turning out the way that Deeta thought it would. With the Lewises defeated and peace between the tribes, she'd believed that the dark times were in past. 

However troubles between the tribes continue, and the Andak council has selected Tom as their ambassador and chief spokesman to the other tribes.

Deeta knows that there is still much resentment against the Andak, and that Tom is in danger every time he leaves the safety of Andak city. 

Struggling with her own complicated feelings against the tribe that she is now a part of, Deeta tries to ignore the changing attitudes growing within her.

Then Tom is betrayed, and with the whole City thrown into great danger, Deeta finds that reality can't be ignored forever...

My Review Coming Soon! :) 

About the Author

Hi everyone!

My name is Dee Dee, I'm twenty-six, and I live in a beautiful part of Devon, England with my family. I have a younger sister, Amy, who is a brilliant guitar player, some chickens, duck, geese, pheasants, a cat (that adopted us when we moved in!!!) and some Koi. 

BROKEN CITY is actually my second novel. My first, as my Aunt so delicately put it, was crazy but in my defence I was only sixteen at the time. On the plus side I learnt a lot (or so I hope) and two years later BROKEN CITY was finished. Due to the support I have received from everyone I have just finished the next book in the Broken City series!

I have another book, THE PROMISE, which is set in Saxon England it's the beginning of a series and I have just released my third book FRACTURE which is set in the distant future and is also the start of a series. 

I really hope you enjoy reading my books as much as I enjoy writing them. 

I love reading and have a Kindle: I read almost anything with adventure and romance in it! I also like to cook and wear impractical high heels!!! And as you might have noticed I have a horrible addiction to exclamation marks!!!    

Author Links

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Blog Tour organized by: 

Blog Tour: Excerpt, Author Playlist, & Book Trailer ~ Blue Rose by Sarah Daltry

 

The author name and the cover caught my eye for BLUE ROSE. I've been following Sarah Daltry's blog for a while now, and she always has strong opinions and content I love reading. 

The cover and the title caught my eye - I love the cover model's hair and how there's streaks of blue in it. The name of the novel is beautiful, and I'm very much looking forward to reading this series even though it deals with heavy subject matter. 

I'd like to know what you guys think, too. 
Tell me in the comments below! 

BOOK INFO: TITLE: Blue Rose, a Flowering novel  

AUTHOR: Sarah Daltry  

RELEASE DATE: 2/1/2014  

PUBLISHER: SDE Press  

COVER DESIGN: Shoutlines Design

 

 

“Four. My life has been shaped by four people. Four men, to be more specific. My father, my stepfather, my best friend, and my boyfriend. The first two shaped it in horrible ways, but what I am, who I am, is all because of four men.”

 

Alana Reardon has secrets. Some of them are too dark to tell, but everyone already thinks they know anyhow. At 20, she takes too many pills, hides the parts of her that she hates, and willingly becomes the person that they think she is. A slut. A whore. Trash.

There have only been two guys who ever saw Alana as more: Jack, the guy she can’t get over, and Dave, the one who never got over her.

With the help of therapy, facing her past, and the inevitable ways that life changes without your permission, can Alana learn to stop blaming herself? Can she allow love into her life? Is she ready to move on?

Warning: This book deals with topics of abuse and may trigger reactions in people who have experienced those things in their own lives.

Amazon Kindle | Goodreads

 

Later that day at lunch, I had just found a seat by the window when he sat across from me. I was used to sitting alone. He didn't say anything, and he had nothing to eat. He looked up at me, though, after a few minutes, and his eyes did it again. I hated my body, hated the way I looked, hated that somehow I owed my body and my looks to everyone else. But when Jack looked at me, I wanted to let someone touch me. I wanted him to hold me. He felt like safety. 

It didn’t even make sense. He was just a broken kid, like me. He always wore the same threadbare hoodie. Most days, it covered his head. He was cute, but awkward. His hair was too long and usually greasy. His Chucks were a little too big, so they looked a little like clown shoes. Yet those gorgeous eyes were all I cared about. I hadn’t considered guys at all. I didn’t find them attractive, and I certainly couldn’t see the appeal of sex or of intimacy. With Jack, though, the thought of him near me didn’t make me nauseous.

“Do you want my orange?” I asked him.

“Are you sure?”

It wasn’t a groundbreaking question. But it was how I knew that what I naturally felt for Jack was right. Because no one had ever asked me that. No one had asked if I minded, if I was sure, if something was okay. They just took things.

“Yeah.”

He took it and I handed him my knife. It was flimsy plastic and wouldn’t even pierce the rind, so I took the orange back and peeled it with my fingernails. Jack just watched me and, when I handed him the orange, now peeled, he smiled. His upper lip curled more than it should have and he looked silly, smiling at an orange. But he drew the same smile from me.

“Thank you,” he said, and he pulled two slices free from the whole and handed them back to me. I didn’t eat them right away. I just watched him eat his part. He was messy and he ended up covering himself in the juices. He unzipped his hoodie after the orange squirted down the front. Underneath, he was wearing a washed out blue T-shirt with a train on it. He looked ten.

“Nice shirt,” I teased.

He looked down. “I live with my grandmother. She has no concept of clothes.”

“It’s cute.”

He smiled again and it was less awkward this time. “Do you live with your grandmother, too?”

I was wearing a huge black sweater over baggy black pants. “No. I just… I don’t like people looking at me.”

“Yeah. I get that.”

He didn’t tell me that I was too pretty to dress the way I did; he didn’t say my body was too good to hide. He just went back to eating his orange, letting the juice spill all over the train shirt. We were fourteen, but I already knew Jack would always be the only thing that mattered in my future.

 

 

Forget Me Not | Lily Of The Valley | Star of Bethlehem | Blue Rose |

Orange Blossom-Coming Soon | Ambrosia-Coming Soon

 

 

Sarah Daltry writes about the regular people who populate our lives. She's written works in various genres - romance, erotica, fantasy, horror. Genre isn't as important as telling a story about people and how their lives unfold. Sarah tends to focus on YA/NA characters but she's been known to shake it up. Most of her stories are about relationships - romantic, familial, friendly - because love and empathy are the foundation of life. It doesn't matter if the story is set in contemporary NY, historical Britain, or a fantasy world in the future - human beings are most interesting in the ways they interact with others. This is the principle behind all of Sarah's stories.

Sarah has spent most of her life in school, from her BA and MA in English and writing to teaching both at the high school and college level. She also loves studying art history and really anything because learning is fun.

When Sarah isn't writing, she tends to waste a lot of time checking Facebook for pictures of cats, shooting virtual zombies, and simply staring out the window.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr

 

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