the beauty book by nancie rue

Title: The Beauty Book
Author: Nancie Rue
Rating: 3/5

Summary (BookSneeze):
Learn with Lily and her friends just what it means to be beautiful in God’s eyes—inside and out!

In a society so focused on the idea that external beauty reigns supreme, it can be difficult for young girls to figure out what “true” beauty is all about. This unique and creative book for girls ages 7–11 answers the common questions girls ask during this often confusing and overwhelming stage in their lives in an inviting and conversational manner.

Filled with fun quizzes, imaginative activities, and cool illustrations, The Beauty Book offers cool, relevant information about everything from great hair styles to tattoos, from skin care to clothes, and much more. Above all, the message that God-confidence is beautiful is highlighted on each and every page.

My 2 cents:

I like the book. It made me remembers  all the things I used to do or wear when I was a kid/tween. I love to wear anything that I think will make look pretty and nice without concerning what others would say. Let say that my taste in fashion or clothes is not as fantastic as my piles of books!

I admit that the book is more related to Christians according to Bible. However, I believe that every religion has their own belief and this book actually quoted some from the Bible which I'm not really familiar about it. And I think good advices are acceptable regardless of what religion you are. I like the illustrations in the book and make it suitable to girls, and more enjoyable. Adding a little bit more details or explanation would make it much better for kids/teens understanding.

Disclaimer: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. These are my honest review and receiving a copy in no way will ever reflected my review.

unicorn keep by angelia almos

Title: Unicorn Keep
Author: Angelia Almos
Rating: 4.5/5

Summary (Goodreads):

Jiline of Ainsley is dismayed when her best friend is selected by the mages to become a unicorn keeper at the Keep, an isolated mountain fortress. Especially since Madelen is in love and engaged to the richest boy in the village. Jiline on the other hand has no prospects of marriage or a trade in their small village. So, she comes up with a plan to take Madelen’s place at the Keep and hopefully flunk out of unicorn keeper training before the mages can discover the deception. Unfortunately, the unicorns have their own plans for her.

Mage Herrick, son of the Keep Mage, returns home to the Keep as the trainee keepers arrive. A chance encounter with Jiline, who he believes is Madelen, on the trail sparks a magical connection between the two. Knowing he can’t feel a magical draw to someone who has no magic, he tries to prove Madelen (Jiline) has magic within her. His attention brings unforeseen complications for both of them .

My Review:

I hope the book will have a sequel. I don't know if the author is planning to have one soon, but I do hope so. The truth is, it's been so long since I've read about unicorns! That maybe the only reason why I'm dying to read this, despite of whatever the outcome. But hey, the book turned out great! It's totally genius! The read was quick like you reading in a glance, but I think she did great plotting the story because even though the book is quite short, it was condense and nothing would be an excuse to hate the book.

Jiline is very cute and I love the love sparkling between Jiline and Herrick. It's like there's nothing impossible even if you are powerless, when you love someone, the power will come to you. And that is what I felt when I was reading the book. You could feel hope, love, magical powers, and endless effort to thrive for the best. And I love misunderstanding, only when it turns out beautiful.

It was a quick read and it worth killing time, with having magical feelings, magical creatures, and I promise you that you will want to be a unicorn keeper yourself. Read it and feel magical.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from Enchanted Book Promotions  as part of the tour. These are my honest review and receiving a copy in no way will ever reflected my review.

guest post: Author Angelia Almos

Hi guys! Today I would like to introduce you all to Author Angelia Almos, the author of Unicorn Keep. The tour is brought by Enchanted Book Promotions. Please Click on the banner if you like to read more of post, interviews and of course, GIVEAWAYS!

"Writing Books of the Heart"

When people ask me why I write young adult fantasy, my answer is almost always, “I write the books I would have loved as a pre-teen and teen.”

 I was your classic horse crazy girl who also happened to be a book crazy girl. As such, I read a lot and one of my favorite things to read were horse books. It didn’t take me long to get through all of the well-known horsey authors and start to stalk the shelves looking for any book cover with a horse or unicorn on it.

One of my all time favorite “horsey” books as a teen was the series The Secret of the Unicorn Queen by Josepha Sherman, Gwen Hansen, Suzanne Weyn and Dory Perlman. It might not have had many horses in it, but it had magical horses – unicorns. It had just a smidge of romance, lots of adventure and mystery, and pretty unicorns with distinct personalities. I re-read those books for years before I finally wore my copies out. I also adored Thoroughbredseries, The Saddle Club series, and Walter Farley books. Finding horsey contemporary fiction was fairly easy, but finding horsey fantasy fiction was a lot harder which is probably why I love to write it so much.

It’s been a lot of fun writing the books I would have loved as a teen. After Horse Charmer, I was trying to come up with an idea for another fantasy story and I wanted horses to have a prominent role again. But this time, I was thinking unicorns, I wanted to write about unicorns. There are more unicorn books on the market now thanks to Bruce Coville, but I remember having to hunt and hunt to find any books featuring unicorns when I was a teen. It took me several weeks of on and off brainstorming to finally come up with the idea of Unicorn Keep.

The first idea presented itself to me as a middle grade fantasy, but several chapters in I learned the book was actually a young adult fantasy romance. It isn’t so unusual to find your book taking a very unexpected turn when you’re a pantser (writing by the seat of my pants/no-plotting). I fought the change at first, but then decided to go with it and I’m very glad I did.

Unicorn Keep was both fun and a challenge to write. It’s a little different in style than my other books – the challenge, but very much a book of the heart – the fun.

About the Author

Angelia Almos formed a lifelong passion for horses at the age of five when she talked her parents into riding lessons. Horses often play a prominent role in her young adult fantasy books. She also write horsey nonfiction and space opera. She lives in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with her husband, two daughters, two dogs, two cats, and one pony (she often thinks of bumping that number up to two).

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