Season's Greetings by Kira Snyder- Review and Giveaway!

 

Parish Mail: Season's Greetings (#2.5)

By Kira Snyder

Genre(s):  Mystery, Young Adult, Paranormal, Novella
Published Nov 2013
Pages: 242

Publisher:  Coliliquy

View on Goodreads

  

Summary:  "Celia Macarty is eager to enjoy her first New Orleans Christmas, but school has barely let out for the holidays when she learns that mystery never takes a vacation. Using the clues on a Christmas card from 1933, Celia must unravel a supernatural riddle that takes her all over festive New Orleans—and deeper into her family’s past. As Christmas Eve draws closer, shady community secrets come to light, and Celia enlists an unlikely ally to set things right.

With the help of her witchy best friend Tilly and a trio of to-die-for suitors, Celia navigates a mystery and, in the process, her heart. Because in the Crescent City, Christmas is a time of enchantment and surprises, and a little romance might be Celia’s best present of all.

Celia’s latest Parish Mail adventure is an active fiction title from Coliloquy. Your reading choices will help Celia solve the crime!"

Review:   WARNING!  Potential spoilers ahead if you have not read at least the first book of the Parish Mail series!

This was a great addition to the Parish Mail series. The book appears to take place after book 2 (which I still need to read) and they days are creeping closer to Christmas!

Dead Letter Office by Kira Snyder (review)

 

Parish Mail: Dead Letter Office (1)

By Kira Snyder

Genre(s):  Mystery, Young Adult, Paranormal
Published Feb 2013
Pages: 379

Publisher:  Coliliquy

Buy it or View on Goodreads 

Summary:  "When Celia’s father is killed in Afghanistan, she moves with her mother to New Orleans, the city where her father grew up. Struggling to adjust and haunted by troubling dreams, Celia finds comfort in new friends like Tilly, a practicing witch, and Donovan, the son of a police detective. On Halloween, bizarre supernatural occurrences rock the city. Celia meets the mysterious Luc and finds a letter, over a hundred years old, addressed to her.

The paranormal repercussions continue when Celia learns that Luc is the restless spirit of a young man murdered in 1854, only able to assume solid form at night. And then, to her shock, Celia finds that the letter, which describes the suspected murder of a man in 1870, contains uncanny parallels to the present-day death of Abel Sims, a homeless veteran.

With help from Luc, Tilly, and Donovan, Celia races to solve the murder—and the mystery of the letter—using both magical and forensic clues.

This is an Active Fiction title
"Active fiction" is a new type of e-reading experience that allows the reader and the author to interact with each other and the text in new and different ways.

Kira has written Parish Mail like a TV series–there are over-arching mystery and romantic story arcs that extend between the episodes, while each episode has a smaller case that is presented and solved. Along the way, she asks you, the reader, to make several small decisions as you read. These choices do not impact the overarching storyline, but certain combinations “unlock” clues to the series’ mystery, which are embedded in the text. Kira also asks you to cast a vote at the end of the episode, to get additional feedback from her fans about their preferred love interests in future episodes."

Review:  Dead Letter Office is an interesting mystery novel. Yet this is unlike most mysteries one may have read. In this book the reader helps decide the course of action for the story. For those who enjoyed the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books as a child (or even teen/adult), then this is the next step up!

Season's Greeating Cover Reveal and Giveaway!

   Celia Macarty is eager to enjoy her first New Orleans Christmas, but school has barely let out for the holidays when she learns that mystery never takes a vacation. Using the clues on a Christmas card from 1933, Celia must unravel a supernatural riddle that takes her all over festive New Orleans—and deeper into her family’s past. As Christmas Eve draws closer, shameful community secrets come to light, and Celia enlists an unlikely ally to set things right.
   With the help of her witchy best friend Tilly and a trio of to-die-for suitors, Celia navigates a mystery and, in the process, her heart. Because in the Crescent City, Christmas is a time of enchantment and surprises, and a little romance might be Celia’s best present of all.           
   Celia’s latest Parish Mail adventure is an active fiction title from Coliloquy. Your reading choices will help Celia solve the crime!

"This is an Active Fiction title
"Active fiction" is a new type of e-reading experience that allows the reader and the author to interact with each other and the text in new and different ways.

Sacrificed (Book 3) by Holly McDowell (review)

 

  King Solomon's Wives: Sacrificed (3)

by Holly McDowell

Genre: Short Story/Novella, General Fiction
Published Oct 2013
Pages: 86

Publisher:Coliloquy, LLC

Summary:  "In this harrowing third episode of King Solomon’s Wives, Hunters have imprisoned Sumarra. Trapped, tortured and missing her final window to become pregnant, she must find a way out or her ancestral line will perish forever. Time and hope might just be running out.

Her rival, Dilara, is the only Wife with the knowledge and resources to rescue her. But Dilara has other pressing problems: Infighting among the clans, the reappearance of a rogue Wife long thought dead, the Hunters’ continuing attacks, and her own haunting mistake. Will Dilara be able to unite the clans and be the leader the Wives so desperately need?

Dilara has always followed and enforced the rules, but in order to save Sonya, Sumarra, and the sisterhood, she must choose to go against everything she believes, even if it means sacrificing her rank, her integrity, and her own life."

 

 

 

Review:  Holly McDowell has continued to bring her story of King Solomon's Wives to life in this third installment. This one was the shortest of the books so far and while I am still not thrilled with how it is put out, bit by bit, I feel this book was more well done than the previous two.

This book goes back to Sumarra from first book, Hunted. She is being held captive along with another Wife/sister and is slowly being tortured. While we do get some insight into her, I was hoping for more. Yet I liked learning what a strong, caring line she comes from. The other character we finally get some insight on is Dilara. Sumarra's clan leader. Actually, she is basically the Leader of all the sisters. While she is a caring person in one way, she is also extremely selfish and deceitful in other ways. Quick to punish others for their 'sins' yet she has a few of her own that start to close in on her. While she is a neat character to learn about, she is far, far, from my favorite.

This story starts to pull some things together from where the previous books left off in a very clean way. The story is still far from over, but I am starting to see loose ends being tightened together. Also, the editing on this book seemed to be a vast improvement from the second two. It seems the longer gap between stories paid off in a fresher book! I look forward to continuing the series! 

 

 

*I received an eArc copy of this book for review.  All Opinion expressed are mine and mine alone. 

 

  

About the Author

 

Holly McDowell lived in Colorado, Georgia and South Carolina before discovering the magical and inspiring city of Chicago. She can be spotted drinking glögg, searching for the world's best tapas bar and writing in coffee shops all over the windy city. King Solomon's Wives is her first novel.