Author: Cindy

(Review) A Boy Called Duct Tape

Posted on by Cindy

Title: A Boy Called Duct Tape
Author: Christopher Cloud
Pub Date: April 2012
Pages: 188
Publisher: CreateSpace

Source: I recieved an pdf copy of this book for my participation in the tour.

About the Book:
Pablo Perez is a 12-year-old poor kid without much going for him. His classmates have dubbed him “Duct Tape” because his tattered discount-store sneakers are held together with…you guessed it, duct tape. He can’t escape the bullying.

Pablo’s luck, however, changes after he finds a $20 gold coin while swimming in a river near his home. Pablo later buys a $1 treasure map at the county fair. The map shows the route to the “lost treasure” of Jesse James. Pablo can’t help but wonder: Is there a link between the map and the gold coin? He is determined to find out, and he, his 9-year-old sister and 13-year-old cousin hire an ill-natured cave guide, and begin a treacherous underground adventure in search of treasure.

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I just finished reading Christopher Cloud’s debut novel, A Boy Called Duct Tape, and I have to say I really enjoyed it.

Pablo is a young boy (12 years old) living in a trailer with him mom and sister, Pia (9 years old). Life for Pablo isn’t ideal. His mother is doing the best she can with the little she has and that means they don’t live in the lap of luxury. Money is tight and with that, poor Pablo is usually the victim of bullying because his cheap $20 shoes usually don’t make it through the year so he has resorted to duct taping them.

Then one day while Pablo and Pia are at James Creek skipping rocks, Pablo makes a shocking discovery. Now in order to skip rocks you need to have the perfectly flat ones and Pablo knows that the best rocks are usually at the very bottom. It was during one of his dive downs he grabs what he thinks is a rock but in reality when he comes up he discovers that its a 1879 $20.00 gold coin.

Pablo knows that old coins can be worth something and he really hopes that it is and takes to the Internet to find out the truth and discovers that this coin could possibly be worth $6,000+. He knows that this money can change the family’s life for the better.

This is where the adventure begins and I have to say that I managed to devour this within a few hours. I think this would be on interest to my son and will definitely add it to my new ereader when I get it.

Thanks to Pump Up Your Promo for contacting me about this book. I love discovering new authors and debut books.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Tour) A Boy Called Duct Tape

Posted on by Cindy

Title: A Boy Called Duct Tape
Author: Christopher Cloud
Pub Date: April 2012
Pages: 188
Publisher: CreateSpace

About the Book:
Pablo Perez is a 12-year-old poor kid without much going for him. His classmates have dubbed him “Duct Tape” because his tattered discount-store sneakers are held together with…you guessed it, duct tape. He can’t escape the bullying.

Pablo’s luck, however, changes after he finds a $20 gold coin while swimming in a river near his home. Pablo later buys a $1 treasure map at the county fair. The map shows the route to the “lost treasure” of Jesse James. Pablo can’t help but wonder: Is there a link between the map and the gold coin? He is determined to find out, and he, his 9-year-old sister and 13-year-old cousin hire an ill-natured cave guide, and begin a treacherous underground adventure in search of treasure.

About the author:
Christopher Cloud admits he came to literature late in life. “I was in my 60s before I developed a real interest in writing fiction,” he said. A Boy Called Duct Tape is Cloud’s debut middle-grade novel. It is a first-person account of three Latino children searching for the “lost treasure” of Jesse James.

Cloud began writing children’s fiction after a long career in journalism and public relations. He graduated from the University of Missouri in 1967 with a degree in journalism. He has worked as a reporter, editor, and columnist for newspapers in Texas, California, and Missouri. His work has appeared in many national publications, including Time Magazine.

Employed by Sun Oil Company, Philadelphia, as public relations executive and later he operated his own PR agency. He created the board game Sixth Sense in 2002 and the game sold at independent bookstores nationwide.

Cloud said his next project is a young-adult novel. “I have written the first draft of a story I’m calling 16 And In Love,” Cloud said. “This story—like A Boy Called Duct Tape—is multicultural.”

Cloud lives in Joplin, Missouri.

Check back for my review later this morning.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Review & Tour) The Adventures of Baby Jaimie/Baby Jaimie Gets Stage Fright

Posted on by Cindy

Title:The Adventures of Baby Jaimie/Baby Jaimie gets stage Fright
Author: Jaimie Hope
Pages: 24
Pub Date: November 2011
Publisher: Create Space

Source: I received a copy of this book for my honest and sincere review and for my participation on the book tour.

About the book:

Baby Jaimie is in her first year of school. She has made a lot of friends and learned a lot of things. Now she will learn what it means to be a team player when she is in her very first play. Follow Baby Jaimie as she learns the lesson, there are no small parts, only small actors.

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Baby Jaimie is in kindergarten and one day her teacher (Mrs Johnson) comes in and tells the kids they will be doing a play. The fun part is the kids get to choose which they want to do and its a tie between Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs. Which will they choose?

Jaimie is excited about doing the play but her bubble is quickly burst when her sister, Kelly makes fun of her and basically scares her about doing the play saying things such as stage fright and forgetting lines. When she goes to school the next day what her sister said is in her head and she messes up. She is sad and disappointed.

Jaimie did an excellent job because she hit every emotion on the head. I mean who has faked an illness so they couldn’t go to school on the day of a play or presentation? I know I certainly did.

Now will Jaimie realize her mistake in lying to her mother? While she manage to pull the play off without a hitch? Will she over come her stage fright?

This is a perfect book to read to children because it teaches them that there is nothing to be afraid of, being scared is a normal reaction and that if you try your best it will be okay and honestly as a parent you only want your child to try their best.

I look forward to sharing this with the kids in the school library.

About the author:
Jaimie Hope was born in New York and it was in high school, when she joined the newspaper staff and decided she wanted to be a writer. Jamie received her Associates degree in 1999. Then she moved to Florida where she was an active volunteer in the local historical society and remained active in the arts. In 2005 Jaimie wrote her first children’s book, The Adventures of Baby Jaimie, published in 2006 and Who Says You Can”t Go Home? in 2008. The Adventures of Baby Jaimie: Baby Jaimie Goes to School in 2010. Her Autobiography, Roll With It followed by the third volume in her children’s series, The Adventures of Baby Jaimie: Baby Jaimie Gets Stage Fright, and her first Paranormal Romance, When You Come Back To Me Again were released in 2011.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Review) Illicit Magic

Posted on by Cindy

Since I am posting all these post fairly close together you probably already know about the book so I am just goig to get into my review.

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I want to thank Bewtiching Book Tours for allowing me to be a part of this tour and they were the ones we graciously provided me with an ecopy of the book to read and review. Thankfully it wasn’t a long read because I had to read it off my computer since I am having Kobo issues.

This is the first book in the Stella Mayweather series. The other books in the series are Unruly Magic and Devious Magic. They all sound really good. I am looking forward to getting them when I get a new ereader.

For me this was a different kind of paranormal romance and that was because it involved witches this time. I am trying to think if I read anything with witches lately? Hmm I don’t think so.

This book had everything I loved a little romance, a little mystery, a little action, cute guys and some humor.

I really like Stella. There was so much about Stella that you wanted to know about and she gradually let us know. It wasn’t all at once but gradually as the story progressed so did Stella which was nice because it kept you reading and wanting to find out more about her past.

For me I just wanted to reach out to Stella and be her friend because she never had the ideal life. Her parents died when she was young (5 years old) and was forced to live from foster home to foster home. She never really had a stable life like people need.

Stella is kind of a loner and sticks to herself and that is because she has magical powers. She chooses to be alone because she is afraid she will hurt someone she cares about so its easier to stick to yourself but honestly you can see that Stella just wants to have a friend who will understand what she is going through and stick by her through thick and thin. I mean who doesn’t want that?

At the age of 24, Stella is trying to live a normal life with doing the day to day things until she is attacked one night. Its basically hell on earth for her. Her attackers have set her place on fire but before anything tragic can happen a mysterious woman (Etoile) wisks her away.

Her attackers are hunters (Brotherhood) and they want her but she has no idea why (they are looking for the witches and burning them alive). She finds out that they mystery woman is actually a witch and lets Stella know she isn’t alone that there are others just like her willing to help her manage and control her powers.

Will Stella be able to control her powers or will she die trying?

I really enjoyed the book and looking forward to the other books.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Guest Post) Camilla Chafer

Posted on by Cindy

If you read my earlier post you will see that I am a Bewitching Book Tour for Illicit Magic by Camilla Chafer. When I first heard about the book I wanted to read it. I am lucky enough to have Camilla Chafer do a guest post for me.

Thanks Camilla for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this for me. Please help me welcome Camilla to Cindy’s Love of Books.

Hi Cindy, thanks for inviting me over to your gorgeous blog. Today, on Illicit Magic’s penultimate tour stop, I wanted to talk a little about getting into my characters’ heads. It’s kind of weird writing several people, working out their individual motivations, strengths and flaws but now, several books into the series, I find myself automatically saying no, Stella would think first before doing that or Evan wouldn’t say that as though the characters are real. Well, they’ve lived in my head long enough! Here’s some insight into three of the main characters.

I write from Stella’s point of view. She’s a very realistic sort of heroine. She isn’t kickass, she’s lonely at the start and she’s not very happy. The first couple of chapters reflect that as she’s feeling pretty sorry for herself, but as the novel progresses we really start to see a change in her personality. I wanted to this change in her to mirror how her magic grows, how her life changes, how ready she is for change but finally also how she’s comfortable in her own skin. As the series goes on, Stella strengthens not only in her magic but really blossoms as a character. Most of all I wanted her to be an antithesis to the two most common modern heroines in the urban fantasy/paranormal genre: the “normal” heroine who needs to be saved by an all powerful supernatural guy, and the kickass sword-wielding woman who blasts her way through the bad guys. Ultimately, Stella is going to have to find a way to save herself.

Writing Evan, Stella’s love interest, is fun. I wanted him to be a little uptight at the start and mysterious, then as Stella starts to open up, so does he. He’s wildly attracted to her but very careful of their precarious position as he’s not a witch but something very different, plus though he’s been sent to look after her he believes there’s more to it than simply teaching her magic. He’s honest, reliable, and waits for her to be ready and open to something more with him. He’s got a lot of history that we’ve yet to uncover.

Etoile is a lot of fun to write. She’s a little snarky. She says the things other people might not say and she’s very smart. She’s a counterbalance to Stella. Where Stella is shy and lonely, Etoile is deeply self assured and has a loving family. Crucially they share a lot of the same traits; they’re both loyal, kind, and determined, and that’s why they make good friends. During Illicit Magic, Stella needs Etoile. Later in the series, it’s likely that the tables will be turned and that’s when their friendship will truly become an equal one.

[Thanks once again Camilla for doing this and thanks to Bewitching Book Tours for making this happen. I truly appreciate what you guys have done and are doing.]

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Tour) Illicit Magic Tour Post

Posted on by Cindy

Title: Illicit Magic (Book 1in the Stella Mayweather series)
Author: Camilla Chafer
Publisher: Audacious
Pages: 214
Pub Date: May 2011

About the book:More than three hundred years after the most terrifying witch hunts the world has ever known, it’s happening again.

Racing from attack by the ruthless Brotherhood in London to the powerful witch council in New York, twenty-four-year-old novice witch Stella has to put her faith in strangers just to stay alive but she might not be any safer in their midst than from the danger she is running from.

Sent to an extraordinary safe house by the sea to learn her craft, Stella finds there is more than one dark secret in her new family: Étoile’s sister is spoken of in fear and sadness; Marc is supposed to be a powerful witch but is missing his magic; where does the owner of their safe house vanish to every day and why does Evan have the eyes of someone not quite human?

There is only one secret that someone will do anything to keep quiet, but whose secret is it and will Stella have to pay the price for silence?

Amazon UK Top 10 contemporary fantasy bestseller
Amazon US Top 45 fantasy bestseller
Amazon US Top 50 contemporary fantasy bestseller

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/mzGZrI
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/iFNS1c
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/lX5PLb
Nook: http://bit.ly/jmrAO9
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/iEShAn

Other books in the series are:

Unruly Magic is the second book in the series and was released in July 2011.

Devious Magic is the third book in the series and it was released in December 2011.

Author bio:
Hi, I’m Camilla and I’m the author of the Stella Mayweather Series, an urban fantasy/mystery. The series starts with Illicit Magic and a lonely young woman, Stella, who has been caught up in a terrifying witch hunt and is whisked thousands of miles away to what she thinks is safety to learn her craft. The series is a blend of magic, mystery and romance with a splash of humour – and while the girls really do go all out to save themselves, there’s always a hunky guy or two on hand to help them out. The series continues with Unruly Magic and Devious Magic, both out now.

I live in London, England, but I try to travel as often as I can – I’ve been all over the US and Europe. In my day job I’m a journalist and editor so I write for magazines, newspapers and websites throughout the world (my favourite assignment was spending a week riding rollercoasters – if you listen carefully you can probably still hear me screaming) but writing fiction has always been my first love.

Web links:
Website: www.camillachafer.com
Blog: www.camillachafer.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CamillaChafer
Twitter: @camillawrites

Illicit Magic Excerpt 1 (from Chapter One – 734 words)
NB: British English

Sharp, murmured voices passed me on the wind. I couldn’t make out what they were saying but there was the sound of confusion and dissent; then a barked order calmed them. I caught the sole word “silence” from a low voice as it hissed past me. The footsteps shuffled and stamped again but no one uttered a word. It was like they were all listening for me. I felt like a fox, terrified and cornered, knowing that the beagles were just behind me, waiting to catch my scent.

Above me I could just see the first quarter of the moon breaking in the sky, casting a dim glow over the city. My jacket was a dark padded cord, good for blending in with both the hedge and low light. My breath was catching like little puffs of cloud in the air so I pulled up my cheap, striped scarf and covered my mouth to keep the plumes from straying to where they could be seen.

Without moving the rest of my body, I strained my head towards my pursuers, the scarf tightening about my neck until I tugged it loose again. I tried to count how many footsteps I could hear as they shuffled, fanned out and regrouped.

With only my pounding heartbeat for company I waited for what seemed like eternity. I tried to count Mississippi’s to gauge the time but my mind stumbled over the count and I threw the thought away. I waited for seconds, minutes, hours for them to rush past me, or at least turn and stamp a different way, hoping miserably that they really hadn’t seen me dart into this street.

Finally I couldn’t hear a thing but the blood rushing in my ears. Had I made it up? Was I really paranoid enough to think someone would bother following me? Probably. Possibly. It wasn’t the first time I’d been extra cautious, but it was the first time since the news has been full of murder. I shivered and tried to shake away the icy fear.

Edging my way across the privet, the leather of my long boots brushing against each other as I sidestepped, my toes scuffed against the scrub of garden. Fronds of hedge needled my back through my winter coat as I brushed by and fresh drops of dew slid uncomfortably past my scarf and inside my collar.

With my mouth set in a firm, grim line, clamped so tightly shut I was close to grinding my teeth, I poked my head forward, mere millimetres from the hedge but enough to see a gloved hand shoot towards me and grab my coat, the fingers clawing at my shoulder to snatch a handful of material and drag me into the open. A gasp escaped me. How had they gotten so close without me realising? Another hand, yellowed at the fingertips and reeking of tobacco, reached for my neck.

A gruff male voice snarled, “Gotcha!”

I shrieked and my whole body went rigid as I closed my eyes tightly. The air went thick and heavy around me, the cold momentarily disappeared and the blood in my veins surged as electricity crackled through my body. For the merest second all the low light and dull sounds of the city disappeared as the power rushing through me overwhelmed and took possession of me.

With the hand at my neck and the fear pumping alongside the electricity, I thought I would die in this moment, but when I opened my eyes again I was on the other side of the street, looking at my attacker grasping at the air where a second ago my neck had been. I saw his fist punch savagely through the air where my jaw should have been. If I had still been there, he would have smashed it for sure.

I felt dizzy and willed myself not to faint. The last of the shriek ebbed in my throat as I realised that I had barely focused on the task but had ended up exactly where I thought I should be when I’d glimpsed that section of empty street. Perhaps my strange gift (I never could decide what I should call it) only worked properly when I was terrified. Moving through space wasn’t something I had even been able to control before. And right now, I wasn’t afraid to admit that I was absolutely, gut-wrenchingly, terrified.

(Doesn’t that sound really good? Check back later for my review on the book.)

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

What would you recommend that I see and do in NYC?

Posted on by Cindy


We are currently planning for my trip to New York City and BEA and that means some one needs to be home to get Michael off the bus while I am away especially on the Monday since its a ped day. So hence the counter today.

Personally for me I find that it seems so long away, but I know its not. I remember the first time I went to BEA in 2010 it seemed to have flown by and I guess I never really got to savour the moment of it like I am now.

Anways, the reason for my post today is to ask what should I see and do while I am in NYC?

I am hoping to make it more about sight seeing then BEA. I will be attending BEA and I have a ticket for the Children’s Author Breakfast (which I am excited about since Chris Colfer will be the MC). Not sure how many days or the times I will be at BEA. I am also hoping to attend TAC (Teen Author Carnival).

What are you doing?

Okay so I am currently planning what I want to see and do and I am asking for your suggestions. Please let me know in the comments below what I should see and I and why I should.

Thanks everyone.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.