The False Prince not to be confused with Fresh Prince

"THE FALSE PRINCE is the thrilling first book in a brand-new trilogy filled with danger and deceit and hidden identities that will have readers rushing breathlessly to the end.

In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king’s long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner’s motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword’s point — he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage’s rivals have their own agendas as well.

As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner’s sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.

An extraordinary adventure filled with danger and action, lies and deadly truths that will have readers clinging to the edge of their seats."

I finally read this book after hearing about for so so long. It was one of the Teens' Top Ten nominees and I really loved the cover so I finally got to reading it. I was quite surprised at how good this book is! Right from the start there is action and intrigue. There are orphans who are being rounded up and taken to a secluded castle for who knows what reason? Secrets and a long history of regents trying to scratch their way up to the throne will have you truly spellbound. Ah and it wouldn't be a YA novel without a little bit of true love and romance right? I'm sure you want to know what happens to Sage and his so called orphan buddies right? Well, you will soon find out if you read The False Prince!

My favorite quotes from The False Prince:



"If I had to do it all over again, I would not have chosen this life. Then again, I’m not sure I ever had a choice. Sage

These were my thoughts as I raced away from the market, with a stolen roast tucked under my arm. I’d never attempted roast thievery before, and I was already regretting it. It happens to be very difficult to hold a chunk of raw meat while running. More slippery than I’d anticipated. If the butcher didn’t catch me with his cleaver first, and literally cut off my future plans, I vowed to remember to get the meat wrapped next time. Then steal it. Sage

He was only a few paces behind now, chasing me at a better speed than I’d have expected for a man of his girth. He yelled very loudly in his native language, one I didn’t recognize.

He was originally from one of the far western countries. Undoubtedly a country where killing a meat thief was allowed. Sage about Connor Bevin

It was this sort of thought that encouraged me to run faster. I rounded a corner just as the cleaver suddenly cut into a wood post behind me. Even though he was aiming for me, I couldn’t help but admire his throwing accuracy. If I hadn’t turned when I did, the cleaver would’ve found its target. Sage


And I might have made it, if not for the bald man sitting outside the tavern, who stretched out his foot in time to trip me. Luckily, I managed to keep hold of the roast, although it did no favors to my right shoulder as I fell onto the hard dirt road. Sage

The butcher leaned over me and laughed. “ ’Bout time you get what’s comin’ to you, filthy beggar.” Sage

As a point of fact, I hadn’t begged for anything. It was beneath me. Sage

Warning Creepy Notebooks May Be Dangerous

Gone Too Far
Natalie D. Richards
Release date: January 6th 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Keeping secrets ruined her life. But the truth might just kill her.

Piper Woods can't wait for the purgatory of senior year to end. She skirts the fringes of high school like a pro until the morning she finds a notebook with mutilated photographs and a list of student sins. She's sure the book is too gruesome to be true, until pretty, popular Stella dies after a sex-tape goes viral. Everyone's sure it's suicide, but Piper remembers Stella's name from the book and begins to suspect something much worse.

Drowning in secrets she doesn't want to keep, Piper's fears are confirmed when she receives an anonymous text message daring her to make things right. All she needs to do is choose a name, the name of someone who deserves to be punished...

Gone Too Far is a really good book. I found it to be thrilling and a real page turner. Piper Woods was a very compelling character and I felt like I knew her really well by the end of the book. While Piper grappled with many issues that teens usually do, this novel touches on the deeper ways that teens can bully each other. Piper doesn't realize that if you don't stick up for those that are being bullied, terrible things can happen. When she finds a creepy notebook with strange code names for her fellow classmates she has no idea what she has stumbled upon. After looking through the notebook, she realizes that one of her classmates has transcribed tons of horrible transactions between her classmates. She even finds herself in the notebook, not wanting to believe that someone could be watching everyone at the school so closely. Things heat up when a tragic accident occurs and Piper thinks that she should avenge the girl that has died. This is where the tables start to turn and things get pretty crazy. I didn't want to believe that there was someone out there terrorizing their very own classmates, but in this story that is exactly what is going on. What I did believe about Piper and her character is that she really did care what happened to others and that maybe she didn't really know the people that she was closest to after all and that includes her own parents. I wanted to keep reading this book and never put it down. I read it in one day and found the author to be a very compelling writer. I just couldn't stop reading chapter after chapter. I would recommend this book to all teens and think that it could possibly open up their eyes to what might be going on right in front of their eyes. And, also to never fall for a blackmailer's tricks ever!

Happy Reading to You!

Mrs. Librarian Lady

Sophomore Year Is Greek to Me by Meredith Zeitlin - Fun, Fun, Fun

A laugh-out-loud high school adventure set in Greece, perfect for fans of Meg Cabot

High school sophomore Zona Lowell has lived in New York City her whole life, and plans to follow in the footsteps of her renowned-journalist father. But when he announces they’re moving to Athens for six months so he can work on an important new story, she's devastated— he must have an ulterior motive. See, when Zona's mother married an American, her huge Greek family cut off contact. But Zona never knew her mom, and now she’s supposed to uproot her entire life and meet possibly hostile relatives on their turf? Thanks... but no thanks.

In the vein of Anna and the French Kiss, Zona navigates a series of hilarious escapades, eye-opening revelations, and unexpected reunions in a foreign country—all while documenting the trip through one-of-a-kind commentary.

I loved this book! It is very funny, the characters are really charming and it made me really really want to travel to Greece it sounds like such a beautiful place! I am also a big fan of realistic fiction and this book has all of the best impression of the how real relationships work. I loved how the main character Zone goes on a journey to basically find herself and how she realizes just like many others do, that life is not perfect, but if you can trust in yourself and live life to the fullest things will always turn out to be just fine. Just like many teens, Zona finds out that life itself is a work in progress. I am a huge fan of authors like Meg Cabot, Sarah Dessen, and Jenny Han and Meredith Zeitlin is right up there with the best with this novel! I love her writing and can't wait to see if there will be more novels with Zona to come. I recommend Sophomore Year Is Greek To Me to anyone that loves a sweet coming of age story in a lovely setting. Very much like when Lena was in Greece in the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.

Happy Reading!

Mrs. Librarian Lady

Apocalyptic Dream Awakens an Awesome Idea!

Last night I dreamed that I was watching the night sky filled with massive amounts of shooting stars. In my dream, the entire sky was lit up with lights and I believed that it was an apocalyptic event. Somewhere toward the end of this dream, I was half awake and still half dreaming I remember an idea came to me. I should start a Walking Dead book club at the library! I think three things would bring in teens to join this club. One is they love anything related to zombies, two they think anything apocalyptic is cool, and three we can play the new Walking Dead Monopoly game! I absolutely adore any YA book that features an apocalyptic world gone mad. I have read a lot of dystopic YA novels and one that I think was my first love was Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I also remember fancying The Giver by Lois Lowry, but not really understanding the impact that this book would have me on much later fostering my love for the dystopic. Most recently, one of the best apocalyptic books I have read is Pure by Julianna Baggot. This book was totally awesome and freaky too. For when then world was ending an explosion occurred and anything that was near a person fused to their body. That meant that people were walking around with doll parts, other people, and bird cages fused somewhere on their persons. Yikes that is freaky! Funny enough, I have never been a big fan of zombies. They kind of scare me and I would hate to be chased by one. I postponed watching the Walking Dead television show on AMC for exactly that reason. After a long period of coaxing, my kids finally talked me into watching the first season and after me walking out of the room a few times during gruesome hoards of zombies feeding I was totally hooked on the show. I power watched to get caught up to the 4th season and now have been following the show and the after show the Talking Dead. After my dream and idea of starting a Walking Dead book club, I realized I should probably try to read the Walking Dead graphic novels by Robert Kirkman. I think it would be a great way to segue into the book club and find out if the new members have them already or plan to read for the club. I will keep you posted on the progress of the Walking Dead book club!

Happy Reading to you!

Mrs. Librarian Lady

Insurgent Feeds My Soul

I was so excited to see Insurgent in 3D this last weekend! The movie was totally amazing and I was surprised because it was even better than Divergent. It seems like the first movie had a lot of setting up to do and there was like this secret romance going on between Tris and Four. But... in Insurgent the cat was out of the bag and the romance was full on baby! They fought some too and that was cool, but their love shines through all the way. I think Tris and Four are my favorite fictional couple, which is why I am so not looking forward to the next movie Allegiant. I am sorry I won't give anything away, but it is going to be a super cry fest for me for sure. Here is one of my favorite pictures I've seen around on the net that shows the awesome dynamic duo Tris and Four!!!

Lois D. Brown talks about what it's like to write a book

This week Mrs. Librarian Lady will feature author a blog piece by Lois D. Brown. Lois' new book "Robbed of Soul" will be releasing this week and she has some great advice on How to write a book in two months!

So you want to write a

book. I have a little advice. (Writers always do.)

Two years ago it took me

almost twelve months to write a middle grade book that was 30,000 words long.

This past fall I wrote an 85,000 word adult mystery called Robbed of Soul in two months. What made the

difference?

Point #1: Like

your book





First off, let me say

that to write a book, and to write it fast, you need to like your idea. I

wasn't so jazzed about writing the middle grade book. I thought it had a good

premise and was marketable.

However, I was completely

passionate about Robbed of

Soul. It’s set in a real town, Kanab, Utah, which I love to visit. It included

legends about Montezuma’s gold and historical tales from treasure hunters

in the 1920s. And the protagonist is a woman who survived eight months in

solitary confinement in Tehran. All of these are things that fascinate me. So much

so that I've actually appeared on a television show about

Montezuma's treasure. 

Point #2: Make it a competition.





 I contacted a friend

of mine who was about to start to write her second book. (If you don’t know someone

personally, there are tons of online author support site that would work too.)

My friend and I made

writing our books into a competition. It made all the difference. Every few

days we would check up with each other. We’d send a quick text

asking how many words the other had written that day. It was fun. First she was

ahead. Then I was ahead. Then she was ahead. Yes, she finished the book

before me, but it didn't matter. We both finished writing rather large novels in

less than ten weeks.

Point 3: Get rid of distractions 





I

created an atmosphere that was conducive to writing. Our

family’s main computer is in the kitchen. I like it there because I can see

what my kids are doing on it. But, it really makes it difficult to focus. The fridge is about six feet

from my computer chair. It whispers to me all the time. I knew I had to change where I

wrote Robbed of

Soul. I set up a desk in the corner of my house the furthest away from my

kitchen as possible.  I also put my cell

phone in a different spot than where I wrote.

Point 4: Write while you do chores





There is a free app for an iphone called Dragon Diction. It's easy to download and it's simple use. While it's not

perfect, it does a good job of transcribing everything I say. I use it for

outlining. I write dialog with it. I'm even using it to write this blog. I

speak into my cell phone while I'm riding in the car, when my hands are tired of typing, even

while I walk around the house picking up messes.





Point 5: Stay awake!

Caffeine does a number on me. I really

don't like consuming large quantities of it. However, I found Crio

Bru to drink. It has a great natural stimulant in

it, it tastes good, and I feel like legit writer with my steaming mug of brown

liquid at my side. Another natural stimulant I use is an orange essential

oil. I like the brand doTerra. I keep a small bottle of this essential oil

right next to my computer. When I started to feel drowsy, I open the lid, pour

a drop on my hands, and rub them together. I then breathe in deeply and have an

immediate pick me up. And it makes my keyboard smell good. (No, I don't own stock in either of the

companies)

Do you

like books? Do you like Zions National Park? Join the ROBBED OF SOUL book launch giveaway and you may win

3 nights in a vacation townhome in Kanab, Utah.

(Thirty minutes from Zions.) A $450 value! (Or a $100 Amazon gift card

if preferred.) 

a

Rafflecopter giveaway

Rescued but psychologically damaged from a failed mission, ex-CIA officer Maria Branson takes

the job of police chief in the quiet town of Kanab, Utah. Rest and relaxation are the doctor’s orders. She

gets neither. Instead, a missing mayor, the spirit of a dead Aztec warrior, and the over-confident-yet-

attractive head of Search and Rescue await her in a town whose past has almost as many secrets as her

own. As Maria investigates a modern-day murder, she disturbs a world of ancient legends and deadly

curses. Yet most lethal of all is Maria’s fear someone will discover just how empty her soul really

is.

Available at Amazon, Smashwords, and Google Play.