3 Year Blogoversary + Giveaway!

As of today (October 8th), I have been blogging for 3 years!!! That's just amazing to me, it really doesn't feel like its been that long!  On October 8, 2010, I published my first post--a book review of Fallen by Lauren Kate.  Its actually not a very good post, and I've debated a few times just pulling it off the blog altogether--but its a part of history, now, so it stays!  And it also serves as a reminder to me at far I've come!

To celebrate this momentous occasion, I am doing a GIVEAWAY!! The prize for this awesome giveaway will be an awesome surprise box of books!  I will pack the box full, so depending on the size of books, I can get 8-12 books in the box!  Sorry, this is US only--I just can't afford the shipping costs. BUT, if you are international, I did make an entry on the form just for you--if I pull your name, I will send you an ebook of your choice up to $8.

I would also love if you could comment below on anything at all to do with my blog--why you like it, anything memorable I've posted, etc. Thanks!

So let's get this party started!  Enter on the Rafflecopter below, and GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Moon Dwellers ebook--FREE on Amazon Oct 7-9!

It's time to start a revolution!  And maybe read about one, too!   The Moon Dwellers, the first book in the Dwellers Saga by David Estes will be FREE on Amazon Oct 7-9!!  On those dates, you may download the ebook on Amazon for FREE!  This is a super-dee-duper deal, so you'll want to take advantage of it!

The Dwellers Saga was mentioned in a recent Buzzfeed article as one of "15 Books Series to Read If You Enjoyed The Hunger Games," along with many other well respected series:  The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth; Delirium by Lauren Oliver, The Gone Series by Michael Grant, along with others.  You can read about the books that make up the list HERE.


Download from Amazon HERE
The Synopsis:
In a desperate attempt to escape destruction decades earlier, humankind was forced underground, into the depths of the earth, creating a new society called the Tri-Realms. 

After her parents and sister are abducted by the Enforcers, seventeen-year-old Adele, a member of the middle-class moon dwellers, is unjustly sentenced to life in prison for her parents' crimes of treason.

Against all odds, Adele must escape from the Pen and find her family, while being hunted by a deranged, killing machine named Rivet, who works for the President. She is helped by two other inmates, Tawni and Cole, each of whom have dark secrets that are better left undiscovered. Other than her friends, the only thing she has going for her is a wicked roundhouse kick and two fists that have been well-trained for combat by her father.

At the other end of the social spectrum is Tristan, the son of the President and a sun dweller. His mother is gone. He hates his father. Backed by only his servant and best friend, Roc, he leaves his lavish lifestyle in the Sun Realm, seeking to make something good out of his troubled life.

When a war breaks out within the Tri-Realms, Tristan is thrust into the middle of a conflict that seems to mysteriously follow Adele as she seeks to find her family and uncover her parents true past.

In their world, someone must die.

The Author:

David Estes was born in El Paso, Texas but moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he was very young. He grew up in Pittsburgh and then went to Penn State for college. Eventually he moved to Sydney, Australia where he met his wife and soul mate, Adele, who he’s now been happily married to for more than two years.
A reader all his life, David began writing novels for the children's and YA markets in 2010, and has completed 14 novels, 12 of which have been published. In June of 2012, David became a fulltime writer and is now travelling the world with Adele while he writes books, and she writes and takes photographs.
David gleans inspiration from all sorts of crazy places, like watching random people do entertaining things, dreams (which he jots copious notes about immediately after waking up), and even from thin air sometimes!
David’s a writer with OCD, a love of dancing and singing (but only when no one is looking or listening), a mad-skilled ping-pong player, an obsessive Goodreads group member, and prefers writing at the swimming pool to writing at a table. He loves responding to e-mails, Facebook messages, Tweets, blog comments, and Goodreads comments from his readers, all of whom he considers to be his friends.
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Learn more about the author at: ​http://davidestesbooks.blogspot.com​

My Goodreads Fan Group: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/70863-david-estes-fans-and-ya-book-lovers-unite?clear_facebook_session=true

My Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Estes/130852990343920

My Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/davidestesbooks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/davidestesbooks

The Bane by Keary Taylor

Goodreads
352 pages, YA Dystopian
The Eden Trilogy #1
My rating: 4 stars


Synopsis

Before the Evolution there was TorBane: technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter. It had the ability to grow new organs and limbs, to heal the world. Until it evolved out of control and spread like the common cold. The machine took over, the soul vanished, and the Bane were born. The Bane won't stop until every last person has been infected. With less than two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction.

Eve knows the stories of the Evolution, the time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name. But she doesn't need memories to know this world is her reality. This is a world that is quickly losing its humanity, one Bane at a time.

Fighting to keep one of the last remaining human colonies alive, Eve finds herself torn between her dedication to the colony, and the discovery of love. There is Avian and West – one a soldier, one a keeper of secrets. And in the end, Eve will make a choice that will change the future of mankind.

The Bane is The Terminator meets The Walking Dead with a heart-twisting romance.

Previously published as Eden, due to reader demand it has been revamped and rereleased as The Bane: book one in The Eden Trilogy.

My 2 cents

I really enjoyed this dystopian read! Its has a sci-fi theme to it, and it made me think a little of Partials by Dan Wells or The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa just in some of the world building parallels. 

The Bane are part machine, part human. The way the book describes the cyborgs, it almost made me think of The Terminator. Humanity is almost beat at the time the novel opens. Eve is part of "Eden", a settlement of about 35 humans that have banded together over the last 4 years for survival. She has no memory before the end of the world. Avian and Gabriel, the village leaders, found her at age 14 naked and bloody, and adopted her. All she could remember was her name.

She has proven her worth, being one of the strongest and quickest members of the group. Avian and his sister Sarah are her best friends. Things go on, as normal as possible, until the Bane start getting more ruthless on their attacks. And then West and few others stumble into their camp and join their group.

Eve doesn't trust West at all, but she is drawn to him. He claims to know her from before the apocalypse. But is seems he might be hiding some pretty big secrets of his own. 

There is a love triangle in the story between Eve, West, and Avian, but it actually in a strange way makes sense, just because of who Eve really is. So it worked for me, and I was pleased that the triangle was wrapped up before the end of the story, and doesn't seem like its going to drag on through the whole trilogy.

The concept on this one isn't all that original, but the world building is still really well done. The characters were also well done, and I got to know each one of them well. There are a few unbelievable moments, especially in the beginning. There were a few times where I was confused, but I plowed through and I eventually got up to speed. This is the first in a trilogy, and I can't wait for "Human" which will be released this summer!

October Author of the Month--Keary Taylor

October Author of the Month is....Keary Taylor!!!

Keary is the author of several YA books, including The Fall of Angels Trilogy, The Eden Trilogy, and a few standalones.  I'm so excited to feature this brilliant Indie author this month!

About this author

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Keary Taylor grew up along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where she started creating imaginary worlds and daring characters who always fell in love. She now resides on a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their two young children. She continues to have an overactive imagination that frequently keeps her up at night. She is the author of THE EDEN TRILOGY, the FALL OF ANGELS trilogy, and WHAT I DIDN'T SAY. To learn more about Keary and her writing process, please visit www.KearyTaylor.com.

 Stay tuned for lots of fun things throughout the month!