​Today is the cover reveal for Beyond the Moon by R.J. Wood! This cover reveal is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. 

Beyond the Moon
(The Voyages of Jake Flynn #2)
By R.J. Wood
Genre: Fantasy/ Science Fiction/ Sword and Space/ Space Fantasy
Age category: Middle Grade/ Young Adult
Release Date: 2018

​Blurb:
Beyond the Moon picks up after the battle above the ice planet Nystal, where Earth-kid Jake Flynn and crew have recently escaped from the Crimson Cabal. Their voyages continue on the other side of the galaxy where magic has displaced technology and monsters are real. Jake continues to grow in his new abilities to channel energy and fly tall wooden ships in space, but struggles with having been named the Justicar, a prophesied champion of the light. Pushing forward, he sets course for new planets in search of allies who will stand with him and help stop the cabal from resurrecting a long dead queen. To succeed, Jake must learn more about channeling and how to balance his new and unwelcome responsibilities with the continued search for his missing parents and a way home to Earth.
 
Aided and mentored by the young Life Magian, Starla Silvertree, her aged protector, Ottomeyer Riversend, and assisted by veteran sailors Jehnna Marik and Captain Billy Goldbar, Jake must make heavyweight decisions with deadly consequences.
 
Unicorns, ghost ships, pirates, space battles, magi wielding lightning and fire, dinosaurs, and a Valkyrie – Jake must face them all in this epic sword and space adventure. By the end, Jake will take another step toward adulthood, discover truths about his parents’ fate, suffer the death of a comrade, and muster the courage to charge into a final showdown with the terrifying snake-woman, Celia Sable.

Check out Destiny’s Gambit (The Voyages of Jake Flynn #1)!
“A resourceful boy takes a glowing sailboat across the stars to search for his long-missing parents and becomes the target of pirates and an evil cabal with a sinister agenda.”
 
You can buy Destiny’s Gambit here:
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Destinys-Gambit-Voyages-Jake-Flynn-ebook/dp/B00SP93OAG/
- Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/destinys-gambit-r-j-wood/1122247672?ean=2940154633052
- Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/destiny-s-gambit
- Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/755439

R. J. Wood has been creating stories and adventures for others since 1979. A bard at heart, he trained in Drama (BA) and History (MA) while at university. He currently lives near Snoqualmie Falls in Washington State with his wife and children. There he does a little fishing, some adventuring, and of course, his writing.
 
Like everyone of my generation and beyond I have been heavily influenced by film. I like to think of my books as movies in my mind. I developed my creative writing through fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal RPGs. My degree in drama helps me with story, characters, and especially dialogue. Having an advanced history degree is excellent for plots and characters, but it also helps me with world building.
 
You can find and contact R.J. Wood here:
- Website: https://www.authorrjwood.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorrjwood/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/authorrjwood
- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13270313.R_J_Wood
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/R.J.-Wood/e/B00TCOXXNQ/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/authorrjwood
​

​Giveaway
There is a cover reveal wide giveaway for the cover reveal of Beyond the Moon. One winner will win a $10 Amazon Gift card.
 
For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:

Faith's wish to get off to a good start at her new high school is shattered on the first day, as she quickly discovers that drop-dead gorgeous Hunter and friends decide she lives in the "wrong" house and wears the "wrong" clothes. They systematically harass her and seem determined to make her life miserable. She fantasizes about how she'll get even some day when she is a famous singer/actress, but meanwhile just wants to make it through the day. She meets a couple of possible friends, but finds it hard to trust anyone. 

When maybe-friend Julia tells her about the upcoming talent show, Faith is determined to win in order to impress her tormentors. Then nice-guy neighbor Riley invites her to the homecoming dance. She's excited to go until she gets there and realizes that something is up--something terrible. And when she reacts, she finds herself in danger of being suspended from school. Faith questions her own goals, decisions, and values as she struggles to find her way.

For tweens, teens, and adults who are young at heart

This moved at a pretty fast paced for me. I liked Faith's spunk and sense of self, something that I wish I had at her age. Like Faith, however, we both dressed whatever we felt like and not what was "in" or "expected." I think I wore my first pair of jeans my senior year in high school! Fortunately, I was never bullied, even though I knew my share of cliques, and everyone kept to their own social circle. Our town population was double that of  Delwick - around 30,000 - so a new girl would stick out but we had enough "things" to occupy our teenage selves. 
I digress. Ann Herrick writes this in first person, so the whole time, we are in Faith's head and it's lovely, if you remember high school - ha! She has school to worry about, her dad and sister, her Broadway aspirations. Each worry boomerangs in and out of her thoughts but Faith is confident, sassy and fights back with all that comes her way. It is her self confidence that attracts people to her. I like this book for middle grade/young adult readers, the language is appropriate and the message is clear. I know teens aren't the only ones who can identify with fitting in with the crowd or standing out and throwing our own "ugly girl party." Well done, Ann!

***I received this book in exchange for an honest review. However, these thoughts and opinions are my own. I'm not required to write a positive review.***

Award-winning author Ann Herrick grew up in Connecticut, where she graduated from The Morgan School and Quinnipiac University. Her books have received the ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Readers Award, the IRA/CBC Children's Choice Award and EPPIE Young Adult Finalist Award. 

The vast majority of Ann's books are HFN (Happily For Now, with the possibility of Happily Ever After. The characters are in their teens, after all, so Ever After would be a *really* long time.) Two books have positive endings, but not the standard HFN or HEA, but with those possibilities if the reader reads very carefully between the lines at the end of the story.

She now lives in Oregon with her husband, who was her high-school sweetheart. Their daughter is grown, married and gainfully employed, and has given them their only grand-dog, Puff, a bloodhound-rottweiller-beagle mix, and six grand-kitties. While Ann misses the East Coast, especially houses built before 1900, she enjoys the green valleys, fresh air and low humidity in Eugene, Oregon.
​
YA NOVELS: 
My Bad Boy Summer
Someone Like Him
The Farewell Season
My Fake Summer Boyfriend
Life, Love, and Surviving High School
The Perfect Guy
All's Fair in Love and Words
Hey, Nobody's Perfect
How to Survive a Summer Romance (Or Two)
Someone Like Him
Snowed In Together
The Real Me
Trading Faces 

TWEEN NOVELS:
The Next Great Rock Star!
Also Known as Lard Butt

BOXED SETS (each set has 3 novels):
First Loves 
Seasons of Love
Perfect Love

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS:
Heart's Desire
The Sharks of Guilford High
Extra-Curricular Role Playing

​This is my stop during the blog tour for My Not So Normal Life: Spy Recruit by Liz Laz. This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 29 May till 18 June. See the tour schedule here: http://www.lolasblogtours.net/blog-tour-my-not-so-normal-life-spy-recruit-by-liz-laz
 

Blurb:
My name is Lily Anne Gemorski. I am not your normal eleven-year-old. I am a spy. I speak four languages and know how to defend against someone three times my size.
 
As a new recruit, I have learned a lot about being a spy. What I haven't learned is how to lie to my best friend, Becky; or how to get my team captain to stop hating me.
 
You can find My Not So Normal Life: Spy Recruit on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34852799-my-not-so-normal-life
 
You can buy My Not So Normal Life: Spy Recruit on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/My-Not-So-Normal-Life-ebook/dp/B072LSDJXT/

​Liz Laz began writing as a child and penned her first novel, My Not So Normal Life: Spy Recruit at the age of 15. Liz continued writing in her spare time while attending college at Dominican University and law school at the John Marshall Law School. Liz works as an insurance attorney and writes in her spare time. Liz loves binge watching Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock on Netflix, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends. Liz lives with her rescue dog, Robin Hood, just outside of Chicago.
 
You can find and contact Liz Laz here:
- Website: http://liz-laz.blogspot.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100012944979498
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/LizLaz3
- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6429160.Liz_Laz  

This was quite a fast read. I read it in less than four hours, I think. But just because I happen to be a fast reader didn't mean the author himself didn't take his time. J.C. Roberts took his time in the build-up of this fun horror mystery and it had just enough action to keep the pages turning. It certainly is reminiscent of the Goosebumps series that I read as a kid. 

This was an excellent start to a series, or rather, the first case for Warren High's Paranormal Investigation Club. There were plenty of surprises and perhaps, its the superstitious part in me that shivered along with the characters, but I did not want to keep reading this book at midnight! Roberts did an excellent job with imagery. I'd recommend for those of us who want a throwback to the old Stine classics; or for those who want to introduce your children to a quick read that it's okay to be different, and to stand your ground amidst the sway of the crowd.

I laughed. I ducked under my covers. I was reminded that some walls we need to tear down ourselves. And like most people, however far removed we are from high school, we still remember who we were: the bully, the geek, the nerd, the popular kid...... and in Warren High: an Elephant never forgets.

​J. C. Roberts is a young author who was born and raised in Houston, Texas. From a young age, he's always been fascinated by old legends, mythology, and folklore and wishes to seek out their origins. For a short while, he was a teacher at a private school for children with social struggles called Focus Academy, where he primarily taught English and Mathematics. 

He has a pet prairie dog named Stormy, and enjoys practicing archery. When he's with friends, his favorite thing to do is play board games (his favorite being Betrayal at the House on the Hill) and he has a deep love for puzzles and mysteries, especially logic puzzles. His favorite author is Annette Curtis Klause, and he always loves corresponding with his readers. You can email him at JCRobertsFanMail@gmail.com with any questions or comments you may have.

Social Media links:
https://jcrobertsauthor.com/
Twitter: @JCRobertsTweets
Facebook: @JCRobertsAuthor