Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Review, Romance, Young Adult

Book Review: Joy’s Summer Love Playlist by Piper Bee

I don’t think I would have bought this book if I hadn’t won the book merchandise, because I’m not into music. I’m so glad I did because I couldn’t put this back. It was the perfect summer read!

Setting

It’s set in modern times in America. The MC and her family moved to the town for a fresh start following an incident that ruined her brother’s football career.

Characters

Joy is the main character. She always puts her brother’s needs before her own as she feels responsible for what happened. She loves to sing but puts off her own dreams to keep everyone else happy.

Her best friend is the beautiful Lena. And, her other best friend Cale asks her to fake date him, so he can get closer to Lena who he is crushing on. He’s not the only one, as Joy’s brother is into Lena too. But. Lena has her eyes fixed firmly on her incredibly charming neighbour Jin.

Joy lets Jin in on the plan. As they work together to set Lena & Cale up, everything gets complicated.

Review

I loved this book so much more than I thought I would. Piper is an expert at story telling, I felt sticky in watermelon juice, and every heartache.

A fake dating plan rarely delivers the desired results for the parties involved, but this one surprised me as it wasn’t what I initially thought. It was better.

The characters are all well developed with their own motives, needs, and growth. Together they pushed the story towards a very satisfying ending.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Below are some affiliate links. Visit my Affiliate Disclosure Page to learn more about these.

[kofi]

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Behind the Book: Stuck on Vacation with Ryan Rupert

Behind the Book: Out of my League by Sarah Sutton

Book Review: The Practice Boyfriend by Christina Benjamin

Romance Tropes

Ally Aldridge Books, Fantasy, Future, Review, Super Powers, Young Adult

Reading Challenge: Red Blood by Kaitlyn Legaspi

About the challenge

The challenge was set by World Indie Warriors on Instagram. They created three #WIWBingo boards; YA, Romance, and Fantasy.

The aim is to read and review the books on Instagram and tag @worldindiewarriors

The goal is to get three in a line, and help indie books get seen.

I’m doing the challenge. I’ve already read some of the books on the board so I’ll be reposting them this month, and I’m hoping to read some new one too.

The Book Review

Here is my post of my old review for Red Blood by Kaitlyn Legaspi. I shortened it for social media.

[Kofi]

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Book Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Book Review: The Rookery by Deborah Hewitt

Behind the Book: Chasing Sunrise by Emily Mah

What to watch if you love super powers

Below are some affiliate links. To learn more about these please visit my Affiliate Disclosure Page.

Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Contemporary, Fantasy, Review, Romance, Young Adult

Reading Challenge: Amelia’s Story by Nicola Hebron

About the challenge

The challenge was set by World Indie Warriors on Instagram. They created three #WIWBingo boards; YA, Romance, and Fantasy.

The aim is to read and review the books on Instagram and tag @worldindiewarriors

The goal is to get three in a line, and help indie books get seen.

I’m doing the challenge. I’ve already read some of the books on the board so I’ll be reposting them this month, and I’m hoping to read some new one too.

The Book Review

Here is my post of my old review for Amelia’s Story by Nicola Hebron. I shortened it for social media.

If you enjoyed this you will like:

Behind the Book: Amelia’s Story by Nicola Hebron

Behind the Book: Sam’s Story by Nicola Hebron

Behind the Book: Chasing Sunrise by Emily Mah

Book Review: Red Blood – Card Holders by Kaitlyn Legaspi

[kofi]

Below are some affiliate links. To learn more about these, please visit my Affiliate Disclosure page.

Ally Aldridge Books, Dystopia, Fantasy, Review, Romance, Super Powers, Young Adult

Book Review: Mirror Souls by Julia Scott

I downloaded this book onto my Kindle app ages ago, and forgot about it. But, the World Indie Warriors Summer Reading Challenge reminded me to read it.

I follow Julia on social media and she is my formatter. She’s also the newest member of the Unstoppable Authors Podcast Team.

Setting

The books is set in the future with three different alien races. Well, one race is Gaians which is basically human, from Gaia aka Earth.

Avalons look human but are superior and rule the Gaians. They have access to tech that enable them to teleport and monitor everything the Gaians do.

The Midorians are another alien race at war with the Avalons. They live out in space on massive ships.

Main Character

The main character is Alana. She’s Giana and best friends with an Avalon, Gen. Alana is a rebel and breaks rules like curfew and crosses boundaries to be with her BFF.

Alana is dreading shift day when her & her family could be moved as she likes where they are. She’s also almost eighteen, an age where she’ll be give her profession. As she gets older, there’s more talk of her being coupled.

Review

I liked Alana. She’s a daring character and a rebel. The story is about her finding her Mirror Soul. It’s like a soul mate that awakens powers.

The Avalons don’t allow Mirror Souls and Alana is breaking rules to discover and be with hers, putting everyone she loves in danger.

It’s a fast paced adventure as they travel all over the world looking for somewhere safe to be together. Instead, they unravel a load of secrets, as embark on a mission to rescue Alana’s family.

I’m not a fan of aliens. space or travelling, and this book was up against that. But, the fast pace and action kept me turning the page as I unravelled secrets with Alana.

[kofi]

If you enjoyed this you will like:

Book Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Book Review: Red Blood Card Holders by Kaitlyn Legaspi

The Benefits of Having a Formatter

My “To Be Read” Pile (March 2020)

Below are some affiliate links. You can discover more about these on my Affiliate Disclosure page.

Ally Aldridge Contemporary, Fairy Tale, Fantasy, High, My Books, Mythology, Ocean Heart, Romance, Super Powers, The Soul Heart Series, Urban, Young Adult

Summer Reading Challenge

Summer Reading Challenge

World Indie Warriors is a nonprofit organisation that has a mission to bring indie authors together so they can collaborate and help each other. They are a lovely bunch and a joy to work with.

#WIWBINGO

Over on Instagram @worldindiewarriors have created a reading challenge for indie books.

Readers are encouraged to get a line of three by reading books on the bingo cards.

When readers post their review, WIW would like readers to tag them in it.

My debut novel Ocean Heart is featured on one of the bingo boards!

Fantasy books to read this summer!
Romance books to read this summer!
YA books to read this summer!

If you want to join in, you might be interested to know that Ocean Heart is available to borrow from all good libraries. The library might need the ISBN to order it in. You may find this pic useful.

Ocean Heart ISBN

As a supporter of indie authors & indie books, I already have a few of the books ticked off the bingo card, but no lines.

Check out the reviews below:

Crown of Conspiracy by Kara S. Weaver review

Sorceress of Truth by J.D. Groom review

Agent Undone by Cassidy Reyne review

Duet Rubato by Claerie Kavanaugh review

Amelia’s Story by Nicola Hebron review

Brave New Girl by Grace Herbst review

Red Blood by Kaitlyn Legaspi review

Ally Aldridge Contemporary, Fantasy, Mermaid or Siren, My Books, Ocean Heart, Romance, The Soul Heart Series, Young Adult

Read the first 3 chapters of Ocean Heart

I’ve been meaning to post the first three chapters of Ocean Heart online ever since I published. I wanted people to be able to sample the book before they buy it.

Amazon does allow a peep inside but not everyone shops with Amazon.

I decided to post Ocean Heart to two places:

Wattpad

Ocean Heart on Wattpad

I’ve been on Wattpad for years but I’ve struggled to get seen amongst all the voices there. I liked how easy it was to use.

You can follow me @Redfae on Wattpad and read Ocean Heart there.

Movellas

Ocean Heart on Movellas

I’ve had an account here for years but never really used it as I didn’t find it as user friendly. I recently got encouraged to give it another go as it’s being revamped.

So far, I am impressed. It’s a lot more user friendly appears to be more social and engaging than Wattpad. I’m looking forward to their new app coming soon.

You can follow me @Redfae on Movellas and read Ocean Heart there.

Ocean Heart for Free

Both the above sites are currently free to join. Writers post their stories (content) and readers enjoy it, comment, and rate it.

I also included in the books about when Ocean Heart has been given away free. This isn’t something I can do all the time.

Ocean Heart by Ally Aldridge ISBN

I also reminded people that Ocean Heart can be ordered in by libraries. If you have a library card, you can borrow and read Ocean Heart if your library stock it. If they don’t, you can ask them and they’ll need the ISBN.

I hope you enjoy the chapters enough to treat yourself to a full copy. I also look forward to connecting with you on either platform or social media.

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About Ocean Heart

Ocean Heart is free on Smashwords

About Sky Heart

Sky Heart needs Beta Readers

[kofi]

Ally Aldridge Contemporary, Fantasy, Mermaid or Siren, My Books, Ocean Heart, Publishing, Romance, The Soul Heart Series, Writing, Young Adult

Ocean Heart is on Smashwords

My paperback is in libraries and I wanted my eBook to be available too. You see growing up, I really valued the library. I couldn’t afford loads of books but the library gave me access to them.

It felt like Christmas walking through the doors and knowing I could take home any book. Pre- pandemic, I took my kids to the library so they could experience the same joy I had (and still do). My kids are always so excited, I struggle to control them but the lovely staff never judge. It’s given me a greater appreciation of my mum for taking me and my siblings (three under five) to the library so often, and hauling home the heavy bounty of books.

These memories have made the library important to me. And, I know I’m not alone. That’s why it’s been so important to me to have my books in libraries.

But it turns out, Overdrive will not deal with authors directly. So, I had to find an aggregator to be the middle man. They recommend D2D or Smashwords. I chose Smashwords as during my recent review of Aggregators I was impressed by their own store and the deals they do to promote indie books.

Now, Ocean Heart is on Smashwords, I celebrated by enrolled it in their Summer/Winter Sale. This means Ocean Heart is FREE for July 2021!

Ocean Heart free on Smashwords for July 2021

If you are looking for your next Summer Read go check out the sale. You can download Ocean Heart for FREE. I didn’t need to enter the code but if it asks, it’s: SW100

You can then read the ePub on whatever app is your favourite eBook reader.

Ocean Heart ISBN Numbers

If you missed this deal, you should now be able to borrow the paperback and eBook at your library. If it’s not in their catalogue, ask how to request it in. It helps to provide your librarian with the ISBN number.

Below are affiliate links:

Here’s the link to the Summer/Winter sale: https://www.smashwords.com/shelves?ref=Redfae

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About Ocean Heart

[kofi]

Ally Aldridge Contemporary, Editing, Fantasy, My Books, Shifters, Sky Heart, The Soul Heart Series, Writing

Sky Heart needs Beta Readers!

Yes! I’m pleased to announce that I have finished my first edit of Sky Heart and now need Beta Readers.

Click here for the Beta Readers Sign Up Form.

NB:  Sky Heart doesn’t have an official cover yet.  The image used is my Work In Progress cover.
Beta Readers Wanted – Sky Heart

What is a Beta Reader?

You get to read the full story before anyone else, and can help shape the future version with your feedback.

Tell me if you like a character or not. You can say if a scene is too slow or too fast. Suggest what to cut or add to the story. Basically share your thoughts to help me improve it.

This version has only been edited by me. It will have mistakes. It won’t be as polished as a final version that has been professionally edited.

What type of story is Sky Heart?

Sky Heart is book 2 in The Soul Heart series but has a new main character, Keily.

You can read Sky Heart (book 2) even if you haven’t read Ocean Heart (book 1). It is a complete story, however, it will have some spoilers for book 1 as it assumes you’ve already read it. In addition, it is part of a series so although the main issue is resolved in the story, there are things that will be unresolved as they are dealt with later in the series.

July 2021: Ocean Heart is FREE in the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale

Sky Heart is a YA Contemporary Fantasy. Here is the blurb:

Beta Books

I want to try out a site called Beta Books.

This site enables me to easily share Sky Heart with my Betas. It will also organises any feedback to make it more manageable for me.

Readers can share their feedback as inline comments, at the end of a chapter, and I can even ask readers questions about specific things.

If you want to help me but prefer not to use Beta Books that’s fine. Please still sign up using my Google Form and I’ll consider another option for you.

Sign up

If you’ve read this far, thank you. I’m so pleased you’re interested. Please fill in my Google Form so I can send you details on how to access Sky Heart.

Google Form: Sky Heart Beta Readers sign up

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About Ocean Heart

[kofi]

The following links are affiliate…

July 2021 – Ocean Heart is free on Smashwords in the Summer/Winter Sale

Ally Aldridge Age, Behind The Book, Book Genre, Fantasy, Mythology, Romance, Tips, Writing, Young Adult

Behind the Book: Garden in the Sands by Ellie Mitten

I’m so happy Ellie agreed to let me interview her as I loved her debut book. There’s a link to my five star review at the end. It’s really exciting to find out what went into making such an amazing book.

I loved Garden in the Sands. It’s not like any book I’ve read before. What genre would you say it is?

It’s interesting that you say that, as Garden in the Sands actually started as a MG fantasy story. When it came to self-publishing, however, I read lots about YA being an easier market to get into. Therefore I re-wrote it, adding Lira’s POV element. Overall I’d say it’s a YA fantasy re-telling.

Despite being set in the desert, it’s very reminiscent of The Secret Garden. Did you plan for it to be like a fantasy version of the classic?

Yes! A re-telling was exactly my aim. I adored Mary in The Secret Garden when I was a child, as she was stroppy and imperfect. She influenced Quil a lot!

There are two MC’s can you give a brief intro to each?

Quil is a human girl born into wealth and privilege that only serves to constrict her. Desperate to gain a shred of attention from her parents, she spent her childhood misbehaving. This led to being frequently sent away from home to learn to become a ‘lady’, something she has no interest in doing. The only ray of light in her life is her main, Sasha.

When she finds herself sent away from the palace and charged with entertaining the sickly prince, she finds she’s not the only one in the world with problems.

Lira was born into greatness too, but as a demi-god this involved learning to wield a sword to prove herself. She rose to the challenge, and when the story starts she is a great heroine. She feels trapped, however, the link to her long dead human mother setting her apart from the other gods. She can’t help but watch the misery of life below in Miran. When a chance arises to break the curse that’s punishing the humans for their king’s crimes, Lira risks all the help them.

Quil learns to garden in the book – are you green thumbed?

I certainly try to be, but it’s a process of trial and error!

Lira is a demi god and fights mythical beasts – did you do a lot of research on this for your novel?

I studied Classics at university, so I’ve loved the mythology of Ancient Greece and Rome for a long time. I knew many of their stories already, but some of the beasts needed some extra research!

Who is your favourite God/Goddess from mythology?

Definitely Athena. She’s so strong and not cowed by any of the males in Olympus. She’s who Lira is based upon.

What can we look forward to from you next?

My next book is and MG adventure fantasy set in Cornwall, where I live.

Where can we go to discover more about you and your books?

Instagram (@ellie_mitten) is where I like to connect with other writers and reads :)

If you enjoyed this you will like:

Book Review: Garden in the Sands by Ellie Mitten

Behind the Book: Crown of Conspiracy by Kara S. Weaver

Book Review: Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

Book Review: Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

[kofi]

Below are some affiliate links. To learn more about these, please visit my Affiliate Disclosure page.

[kofi]

Ally Aldridge Behind The Book, Book Genre, Books, Contemporary, Fantasy, Mermaid or Siren, Review, Super Powers, Young Adult

Book Review: Tenebrasco by Hannah Reed

I read this book as part of the #MerMayReadalong on Instagram where author Hannah Reed did weekly interviews with readers to see what they thought about her book.

The Peace Treaty fails and war breaks out between the Legged and Mera. The teens of important families are about to uncover secrets hidden on both sides. Can these be the used to bring about peace?

Setting

The book is set in a world very similar to ours, however, humans are aware of the merfolk. The book starts off with a peace treaty being agreed as the two groups are historically not allies.

The underwater world is much like our own but under the sea. They have their own cities, climates, and transport system.

We are called the Legged by the Mera. The Mera use pearls of different colours to use their magic. Different colour pearls have different powers. This is probably why the series is called The Pearl Weilders.

Main Character

April is the main character. She is a mermaid princess with the ability to weild all the pearls. The peace treaty is important to her parents and something her father has worked hard to accomplish.

Alex & Connor are legged sons of President Darius. They start off relaxing out of the way on Shell Island. Connor finds an unconscious girl on their beach who he takes in. The boys and their staff care for the mysterious girl and become very fond of her.

There are also many other important characters like Ethan, King Nathaniel, Megan, Kayla, and Fredrick. The chapters are mainly told from April’s perspective but they swap to be told from different characters throughout the book.

Review

This story was brilliant. The stakes were high, the danger real, and it had me turning the page every chance I got.

April is easy to like and relate to, despite being a mer princess. All the characters are well thought out with clear motives that make sense, even the villains.

There isn’t a romance although there is the potential that one is growing. The immediate threat is resolved in the book but the overall threat is ongoing, leaving it open for the next book.

This was got 5 stars for me. I loved it, and really enjoyed being part of the Readalong. I didn’t want it to end.

[kofi]

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Behind the Book: Tenebrasco by Hannah Reed

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Book Review: Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

About Ocean Heart by Ally Aldridge

Below are some affiliate links. You can discover more about these on my Affiliate Disclosure page.