Monday, September 23, 2013

Xpresso Book Tours: By Blood and Moon Child by Tracy Banghart: Review and Giveaway

By Blood by Tracy E. Banghart
Series: By Blood #1
Publication date: February 18th 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal

For 17-year-old Emma Wong, spending a summer in England should be a dream come true. Gorgeous scenery? Check. Lots of hot guys with accents? Yes, please.

Throw in an estranged mom, annoying new stepdad, and drooling baby half-brother, and it’s a disaster even her favorite cherry red leather jacket can’t fix. Even worse, there’s (hot) live-in research assistant Josh to contend with. The only thing more embarrassing than   drunk-kissing him hours after they meet? Knowing he’ll be witness to her family’s dysfunction all. summer. long.

But when Emma meets a mysterious girl who happens to be a Druid, her vacation suddenly promises to be far more intriguing than she  anticipated. Powerful rituals, new friends, an intoxicating sense of freedom...and Simon, the sexy foreign stranger she was hoping for. It’s all a perfect distraction from dirty diapers and awkward family dinners.

Trouble is, intriguing doesn’t often mean simple. And Emma is about to discover just how not simple her life really is.

By Blood is a novel about the ways that blood can bind us to others – or tear us apart.

Purchase:
Amazon: By Blood
Barnes & Noble: By Blood


Emma Wong is quite the character and she isn't afraid to let it show - primarily in her clothing from the sounds of it.  I loved her vibrant personality and outgoing outlook (most of the time).  She gets a bit down when she is told she will be staying with her estranged mother, her new step dad, and their new baby in England for the summer.  But there's a hot research assistant staying with them as well that she quickly develops a crush on.  

During one of Emma's explorations she meets Ash - a young woman claiming to be a druid - part of a group of people trying to figure out how the old religion really worked - and it does seem to work.  After taking part in a couple rituals Emma is ready to jump on board and become a believer, but even this outrageous trip won't end up being that simple and easy.

Things aren't what they seem and she quickly finds herself in way over her head.  The suspense in this one built all the way up until the end and still left you wondering just a little bit.  The downside was that the Emma wasn't my favorite character - I fell in love with Ash about two sentences after she appeared and wish she had more scenes in the story.  With lots of twists this one was hard to put to put down at times.


Moon Child by Tracy E. Banghart
Series: By Blood #2
Publication date: August 16th 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal

Before Emma's adventures in Oxford, her best friend Diana came face-to-face with a killer...

Diana Calvert is so over high school. Who cares if Olivia hates her? And David needs to forget about having a crush on her STAT. Even Emma’s crazy fashion choices can’t keep Diana entertained. All she can hope for is a dance scholarship to a college as far away as possible from too-small, too-boring, too-nothing-ever-happens New Freedom, PA.

Then Diana meets Nicholas Woodhaven. He’s pale, angry…yet weirdly charming. The more time they spend together, the more she wonders who – or what – he really is. Because he isn’t anything like the other guys she knows. Not with the whole only-going-out-at-night thing. And living with his creepy aunt. And not going to school.

Just when Diana thinks she’s got Nicholas all figured out, people in her small, nothing-ever-happens town start dying. She has to wonder – can she trust him? And even more alarming – could she be next?

A murder mystery with a paranormal twist, Moon Child is best read under the covers with a flashlight...if you dare!

Purchase:
Amazon: Moon Child
Barnes & Noble: Moon Child


I didn't enjoy Moon Child quite as much as By Blood.  I had a much more difficult time relating to Diana than I did to Emma - her family life seemed just way too perfect.  I wasn't surprised that Emma thought Diana's new boy interest was a vampire, he certainly made it seem believable.  But with a killer on the lose draining women and girls of their blood before killing them, he makes the perfect suspect.

This book seemed to be mostly about Diana trying to figure out how to ask Nicholas about his life as a vampire and took longer to get into the real story.  The murders were almost a backseat rider in the story even though they were the most interesting part.  About half way through things begin to get really interesting though and it takes off from there.  Not quite enough suspense spread throughout for my taste.


AUTHOR BIO
Tracy E. Banghart is a cheesy movie–loving, fantasy football–playing (go Ravens!), globe-trotting Army wife who began “practicing” her craft at the age of five, when she wrote her first story. She loves visiting the international friends she met while pursuing her MA in Publishing and spends a portion of every summer at her family’s cabin in Canada, where she finds inspiration and lots of time to relax on the dock. She lives with her husband, son, two lazy dogs and one ornery cat. When not writing or spending time with her family, she is on a mission to bake the perfect cupcake.

LINKS:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

September 9th
-Stephanie Parent YA Author >>  Review of By Blood (Book 1)
-Whatever You Can Still Betray >> Top 10 List

September 10th
-Reader Rising >>  Review of By Blood (Book 1) + Interview
-Wintry Words >>  Excerpt
-A Diary Of A Book Addict >>  Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)

September 11th
-Simply Infatuated >>  Interview
-Froggarita’s Bookcase >> Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)

September 12th
-The Babbling Reader >>  Interview
-The Rest Is Still Unwritten >> Excerpt

September 13th 
-Buried Under Books >> Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)

September 16th
-Fae Books >> Guest Post
-Michelle’s Paranormal Vault of Books >> Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)
-Escape Into A Book >> Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)

September 17th
-Penny For Them… >>  Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)
-Sassy Book Lovers >> Excerpt
-page Flipperz >>  Top 10 List

September 18th
-All in One Place >> Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)
-From the Writer’s Nest >>  Excerpt

September 19th
-A Bibliophiles Thoughts on Books >> Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)
-Words Create Scenes >>  Review of By Blood (Book 1)
-YaReads >> Top 10 List


September 20th 
-Pika Pages >>  Interview
-Nazish Reads >>  Excerpt

September 23rd
-Hot Off the Shelves >> Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)
Book Crushin >> Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)

September 24th
-Books and Bindings >>  Review of By Blood (Book 1)
-The Phantom Paragrapher >>  Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)

September 25th
-ReadingToTheStarsAndback >>  Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)
-Unraveling Books >> Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)
-Jodie Pierce’s Ink Slinger’s Blog >> Guest Post

September 26th
-Books of Love >>  Review of By Blood (Book 1)
-Northern Plunder >>  Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)
-My Life is a Notebook >> Review of By Blood (Book 1)

September 27th 
-Lola’s Reviews >>  Review of By Blood (Book 1)
-Project Read and Review >> Review of By Blood (Book 1)


September 30th
-The Cover Contessa >>  Excerpt
-Dalene’s Book Reviews >>  Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)

October 1st
-Ms. ME28 >> Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)
-Why I Can’t Stop Reading >>  Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)

October 2nd
-Mom With A Kindle >>  Guest Post
-Ladybug Literature >>  Review of By Blood (Book 1)

October 3rd
-Such A Novel Idea >> Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)

October 4th
-No Bent Spines >> Review of By Blood (Book 1) & Moon Child (Book 2)
-The Book Lover’s Report >> Review of By Blood (Book 1)
-As the page turns >> Interview

2 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for reading, and for being part of the tour! I'm glad you enjoyed Emma and Ash! I love Ash too. I think one of these days she's going to need her own story. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would LOVE to see an Ash story - she seems like she would have a lot of personality and backstory to work with.

    ReplyDelete