Friday, December 7, 2012

Keepers of the Zodiac ~ Blog Tour/Guest Post/giveaway




Keepers of the ZodiacKeepers of the Zodiac by Sharon Wood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Genre: Mythological YA
Source: Received to Review for this blog tour

Book Description: 
 The stars have shifted and the Earth is rapidly moving into the throes of chaos.
Four god-like beings known as the Zodiac High Council, send their winged herald, Syrie, out
with twelve sealed envelopes. His mission? To bring a chosen group of thirteen future Zodiac
Keepers, including a set of mesmerizing twins, to the Isle of Oriba for training. Syrie never
could have imagined that he would fall in love along the way—ultimately forcing him to choose
between betrayal and death. Keepers of the Zodiac is an enthralling tale of obligatory fate,
temporary hope, and impossible love.


My thoughts:  The idea behind this book is wonderful. The chaos of this world is caused by the stars in misalignment. People are committing crimes without knowing why they are committing crimes. The world has a sense of confusion.

Syrie is a herald for the keepers of the zodiac. His job is to bring an envelope to those that the council has chosen to help realign the stars and bring the world into better harmony. He has unusual characteristics that set him apart.

He falls instantly in love with one of the chosen people. From the moment they meet their attraction and love is evident. This causes problems for Syrie, the high council, and the twin sister.

Eventually Syrie accomplishes his mission and brings the chosen in for training, but there is a hitch. The plans have to be altered.

I found the book to be interesting. I felt like I was being told the story rather than experiencing the story. It failed to capture my imagination. It is well written and interesting. There is a lot of potential and I wouldn't mind finding out what happens next.

Content heads up:  There is a moderate sexual situation and some swearing.

Guest Post:  

Top 5 Favorite Books of All Time


These are not in any particular order. I loved Memoirs of A Geisha, The Night Circus, the first book in The Hunger Games trilogy, Water for Elephants, and the first book in the House of Night series. I loved the characters in each of these books. I wanted to know everything about them. My favorite thing about these books is that the authors made me want to go to their worlds. I was able to fully visualize where they were. I was so immersed in the stories, that I wanted to read every single word as not to miss anything. Coming out of their worlds was almost like an out of body experience, or “back in body” experience rather. 






Read an Excerpt: 
************************
Raquel and Simone stood in front of the mirror in their shared bathroom and admired themselves. Their hair, long, wavy, and chestnut, looked as though the trees had personally kissed them each on the head. Their eyes were an even darker brown, intimidating and powerful looking. Their skin, bronzed from lying out in the Florida sun, had a soft glow to it. And their figures were as though Barbie herself had materialized into human form, not once, but twice.
They were identical twins. So identical, in fact, that they even held the record for being the “World’s Most Identical Twins.” Of course, the title was not necessarily accurate, since they had only received it at an annual week-long twin convention their parents always sent them to. “Just another excuse for their parents not to have to deal with them,” they had always said. But they had won the title the past ten years in a row, so maybe there was some validity to it after all. Typically, there was some distinguishing factor that would allow people to tell identical twins apart, but for these two, no one could—not even their own parents.
Although they could have changed their appearances to make themselves look different from each other, like dyed or cut their hair, they liked looking exactly alike. They even used their sameness to their advantage on a daily basis. In school, although both were just as intelligent as the other, they did have different interests and different classes. Raquel loved math and Simone loved English, so whenever there was a test, they would switch places. They would even sit in for each other during lectures; essentially attending the same subject twice in one day on many occasions.  Somehow, the school caught on and actually made them wear different outfits to school. This didn’t stop them, of course, as they carried on their charades by simply swapping outfits in the bathroom stalls before class.
Their favorite pastime, however, was switching places on dates. Well, actually, it was more like Raquel’s favorite pastime—Simone just went along with it. Raquel, being devious and uninterested in monogamy, liked to make a game of seeing how many dates they could go on and how many guys they could fool. When they turned sixteen, they came to realize the effects that their good looks had on members of the opposite sex, and for the past year, had been using it to their advantage. To avoid any awkwardness, they never went out with any guys from their school. In fact, since they lived in Miami, they had their pick of the hot, young tourists that were constantly flocking there, and Raquel had no shame in chewing them up and spitting them out.
Simone would normally be the one to start the date off. She was sweet and warm, so the guys were always drawn to her personality. Once the guy started getting comfortable, Simone would excuse herself and switch places with Raquel, who would always be waiting at a nearby café. Raquel would then run in and mess with his mind by acting somewhat snobbish and uninterested, only to switch with Simone shortly after, at which point she would turn on the charm once again. Every single time, the unassuming guy would be so confused, that it would leave him intrigued and wanting more. That was the point that they would switch one last time. Raquel was the perfect closer. She would get the guy so wound up that he was practically ready to propose marriage, and then drop him like a hot potato by saying that she was bored and had to leave.
Their last date count was ninety-nine, and tonight, they would make it one hundred. Raquel had decided that this guy, unlike all the other meatheads they had gone after, would have to be special, and before they could go on their date, they would have to scout him out. 


************************


Giveaway: (US & Canada Only)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the Tour:


November 13 - Reading Addiction Blog Tours - Meet and Greet
November 14 - The Cozy Dragon - Review
November 15 - Wonderland Reviews - Review/Interview
November 16 - Corssroads Reviews - Review/Interview
November 17 - Lovely Reads - Guest Post/PROMO
November 18 - Pink Fluffy Hearts - Guest Post/PROMO
November 19 - Winged Reviews - Guest Post/PROMO
November 20 - My Cozie Corner - Review
November 21 - The Solitary Bookworm - Guest Post/PROMO
November 22 - Emily Ward - Interview/PROMO
November 23 - Lost in Fictional Worlds - Review/Guest Post
November 24 - Oh Chrys! - Guest Post/PROMO
November 25 - Book and Appointment with Wisdom Books - Review/Guest Post
November 26 - LovLivLife Reviews - Guest Post/PROMO
November 27 - Inside BJ's Head - Review/guest Post
November 28 - The Book Maven - Review
November 29 - Books and Swoons - Review
November 30 - Books, Books, The Magical Fruit - Gues Post/PrOMO
December 1 - In This World of Books... - Review/Interview
December 2 -A Bibliophiles Thoughts - PROMO
December 3 - Getting Your Read on - Review
December 4 - My Seryniti - Review/Guest Post
December 5 - Rolling With the Moments - Review/Guest Post
December 6 - YA Novel Reader - Review/GuestPost
December 7 - Bookworm Lisa - Review/Guest Post
December 8 -Fiction Prediction - Review/Interview
December 9 - Paulette's Papers - Guest Post/PROMO
December 10 - Read-A-Holicz - Review/
December 11 - Willing to See Less - Guest Post/PROMO
December 12 -Bookishly Devoted - Review/Guest Post
December 13 - My Reading Addiction - Review


About Sharon Wood:  Sharon Wood is a married, mother of two boys. She was born and raised in Northern California, and attended college at San Jose State University, where she studied Marketing. A self-proclaimed Disney fanatic, Sharon enjoys collecting Vinylmations and talking about Disney related things to anyone that will listen. Besides writing, she enjoys playing and coaching volleyball, dancing, and reading. Keepers of the Zodiac is her first novel, and she is currently hard at work on the sequel!  

Find her at :  Website / Facebook


Purchase Links:

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for your honest review and for taking the time to host new authors. I agree that there is a lot of potential for this story and I look forward to the next book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for your review and being a part of this book tour. I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for your review, Lisa! Thank you also for hosting :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I loved this book. Thanks for your thorough review, and I agree with @Cheryl that it's great you're supporting new authors!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for commenting. Each and every one is read and appreciated.
Have a wonderful day.