The Caffeinated Diva reads... | a cup of coffee & a good book is all I need…

Enchantment Release Tour

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Kim

Welcome to the Enchantment Release Tour!

I am so excited to be a part of this tour! I love Nikki and I love absolutely everything she writes! This has been one of my favorite series to follow and, even though I am bittersweet that it is now over, I have loved every word along the way!

So read on to learn more about the book and about Nikki and to enter some fabulous giveaways!

My review of this fantabulous book is HERE!

You can find all of the tour stops here.

About the Book

JeffordEnchantment Gray returned from the dead, took on a duplicate, and now faces her biggest adventure yet.

Barcelona. Summer escape. Or so Graylee Perez thought until her old adversary, Adrian Montez, brings his magic show to Spain.

Gray seeks out a Spanish wizard to help banish Adrian from her life once and for all. Instead, she tumbles headfirst into a love spell with the arrogant warlock

After Gray follows Adrian to Paris, she must face her true feelings and decide if Adrian’s worth fighting for.

NOTE: Right now, you can get the first book, Entangled, for FREE at the following links:

You can also read the tantilizing prelude to Enchantment here.

About the Author

Nikki_Jefford Bookaholic, nature girl, and animal lover.

Nikki Jefford is a third generation Alaskan who found paradise in the not-so-tropical San Juan Islands where she is, once more, neighbors with Canada.

She married the love of her life, Sebastien, while working as a teaching assistant in France. They reside with their Westie, Cosmo.

Loves fictional bad boys and heroines who kick butt.

For more of the author Nikki Jefford | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

The Giveaways

Giveaway 1

For the giveaway pictured above (US only)…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway 2 For the giveaway pictured above, a Spellbound journal (International)…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway 3 For a chance to win $25, with purchase (International)…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: Enchantment

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Kim

JeffordEnchantment

Judging a book by its cover:  The entire series has gorgeous covers and this one is no different!
Summing it up in a sentence:  Graylee Perez has been through more things than the average girl her age, but that doesn’t mean the adventure is over.
Opening line:  It is a truth universally known that a magician who performs solo, no matter how magnificent, is no match for a man assisted by a woman possessed of beauty and an adventurous spirit.

From the back cover…

Gray returned from the dead, took on a duplicate, and now faces her biggest adventure yet.

Barcelona. Summer escape. Or so Graylee Perez thought until her old adversary, Adrian Montez, brings his magic show to Spain.

Gray seeks out a Spanish wizard to help banish Adrian from her life once and for all. Instead, she tumbles headfirst into a love spell with the arrogant warlock

After Gray follows Adrian to Paris, she must face her true feelings and decide if Adrian’s worth fighting for.

My review: I have loved both of the first two books in this series, Entangled and Duplicity, and this one is just as fabulous as the first two. It is the perfect ending to a wonderful trilogy.

Graylee is just 17 and has been through more in her life than the average girl her age, but it never seems to really end for her. Even when she tries to escape it all for a little while, it follows her. And suddenly her world is turned upside down yet again, in ways she couldn’t have possibly imagined.

In the first couple of books, the story was more focused on the “Lee” part of Graylee, while this time we got more of “Gray”. It sounds confusing, especially when you throw in the evil twin of Charlene, but instead it is fast-paced and filled with surprises and twists and turns. Some of the best little twists and surprises are so good that I don’t even want to mention them for fear of spoiling the wonderfulness that is this series!

Things to love about Enchantment…

Gray/Lee. Both Gray and Lee are sympathetic characters and I found myself rooting for both of them as they struggle to find their own ways in the world.
Adrian. He is the character that you love to hate, but somehow, in this book, there was a part of me that felt for him, too.
Charlene. For reasons I cannot tell without ruining the story line… just wow.
The happy ever after…

My recommendation: Fantabulous! Pick up the first two and read, read, READ!

5Mugs

Dawnflight Book Tour

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Kim

Welcome to the Dawnflight Book Tour!

Today I am hosting the 2nd stop on the book blog tour or Dawnflight, a refreshing and unique retelling of Guinevere and Arthur of Camelot fame!

Keep reading to learn more about the book and the author, as well as to enter a giveaway!

You can read my review of this book here.

The entire tour list can be found in this post.

About the Book

Gyanhumara “Gyan” nic Hymar is a Caledonian chieftainess by birth, a warrior and leader of warriors by training, and she is betrothed to Urien map Dumarec, a son of her clan’s deadliest enemy, by right of Arthur the Pendragon’s conquest of her people. For the sake of peace, Gyan is willing to sacrifice everything…perhaps even her very life, if her foreboding about Urien proves true.

Arthur map Uther is the bastard son of two worlds, Roman by his father and Brytoni by his mother. Denied hereditary rulership by the elders of Chieftainess Ygraine’s clan, Arthur has followed Uther’s path to become Dux Britanniarum, the Pendragon: supreme commander of the northern Brytoni army. The Caledonians, Scots, Saxons, and Angles keep him too busy to dwell upon his loneliness…most of the time.

When Gyan and Arthur meet, each recognize within the other their soul’s mate. The treaty has preserved Gyan’s ancient right to marry any man, providing he is a Brytoni nobleman—but Arthur does not qualify. And the ambitious Urien, Arthur’s greatest political rival, shall not be so easily denied. If Gyan and Arthur cannot prevent Urien from plunging the Caledonians and Brytons back into war, their love will be doomed to remain unfulfilled forever.

Buy it: Kindle | Amazon | B&N | Kobo
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari

About the Author

KimHeadlee Kim Headlee lives on a farm in southwestern Virginia with her family, cats, goats, and assorted wildlife. People & creatures come and go, but the cave and the 250-year-old house ruins — the latter having been occupied as recently as the mid-20th century — seem to be sticking around for a while yet.

Kim is a Seattle native (when she used to live in the Metro DC area, she loved telling people she was from “the other Washington”) and a direct descendent of 20th century Russian nobility. Her grandmother was a childhood friend of the doomed Grand Duchess Anastasia, and the romantic yet tragic story of how Lydia escaped Communist Russia with the aid of her American husband will most certainly one day fuel one of Kim’s novels. Another novel in the queue will involve her husband’s ancestor, the 7th-century proto-Viking king of the Swedish colony in Russia.

For the time being, however, Kim has plenty of work to do in creating her projected 8-book Arthurian series, The Dragon’s Dove Chronicles. She also writes other romantic historical fiction under the pseudonym “Kimberly Iverson.”

Kim Headlee | Facebook | Goodreads

The Giveaway

Enter the giveaway here!

Book Review: Dawnflight

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Kim

HeadleeDawnflight

Title:  Dawnflight
Series:  The Dragon Cove Chronicles, Book #1
Author:  Dawn Headlee | Facebook | Goodreads
Genre:  sci fi, fantasy, historical romance
Pages: about 512
Published:  October 1999
Source:  Book tour
Buy it:  Kindle | Amazon | B&N | Kobo
Add it:  Goodreads | Shelfari

Judging a book by its cover: The cover perfectly sets the mood of the novel!
Summing it up in a sentence: In this retelling of Arthur and Guenivere, Gyan and Arthur are soul mates, forced to prevent the land from plunging back into war, or face having their love unfulfilled forever.
Opening line: It was a wild night, the eve of Samhainn.

From the back cover…

Gyanhumara “Gyan” nic Hymar is a Caledonian chieftainess by birth, a warrior and leader of warriors by training, and she is betrothed to Urien map Dumarec, a son of her clan’s deadliest enemy, by right of Arthur the Pendragon’s conquest of her people. For the sake of peace, Gyan is willing to sacrifice everything…perhaps even her very life, if her foreboding about Urien proves true.

Arthur map Uther is the bastard son of two worlds, Roman by his father and Brytoni by his mother. Denied hereditary rulership by the elders of Chieftainess Ygraine’s clan, Arthur has followed Uther’s path to become Dux Britanniarum, the Pendragon: supreme commander of the northern Brytoni army. The Caledonians, Scots, Saxons, and Angles keep him too busy to dwell upon his loneliness…most of the time.

When Gyan and Arthur meet, each recognize within the other their soul’s mate. The treaty has preserved Gyan’s ancient right to marry any man, providing he is a Brytoni nobleman—but Arthur does not qualify. And the ambitious Urien, Arthur’s greatest political rival, shall not be so easily denied. If Gyan and Arthur cannot prevent Urien from plunging the Caledonians and Brytons back into war, their love will be doomed to remain unfulfilled forever.

My review: I have always been a fan of Arthurian tales, loving the rich mythology of the time. Dawnflight, first in a continuing epic series, brings together Gyan and Arthur. All of the legendary characters are present in this novel, but they were “created” in a whole different way. Headlee’s retelling speaks of possible reality, rather than the fairy tale versions we all know. It is, at its heart, still a love story, but told in an entirely new, and sometimes gritty, way.

Things to love about Dawnflight…

Gyan. In this retelling, she appears as a stronger, more independent woman. She is more of a warrior woman than the shy and reserved woman as she is normally portrayed.
The new story. Of course, I went into this book with all kinds of Arthurian tales in mind. The threads were there, but the characterizations quickly changed as I got to know them through the eyes of the author.

Things I wanted more/less of…

Religious tone (less). There was a clear religious tone to this that, at times, seemed at odds with the strong, independent nature of Gyan.

My recommendation: I think that this is a book that may not necessarily appeal to all readers, but most definitely to those who love this era, this mythology, and sweeping epic tales. It is well-written and full of mystery and intrigue and a unique retelling of the story. I was left hovering between 3.5 and 4 mugs with this, but I truly think it is more a matter of personal taste rather than anything else. I do think that this is a great read for those into Arthurian mythology!

3.5Mugs