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brenda pandos

The Onyx Talisman by Brenda Pandos
Publisher: Obsidian Mountain Publishing (December 16th, 2011)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Source: Author (Thank You!)
Series: The Emerald Talisman #3
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Unrest stirs deep in Scotts Valley. Filled with uncertainty, Julia anxiously awaits Nicholas’ return. Phil, hurt and unsure of his place as a sober vampire, holds the pieces of Julia’s fragile psyche together, secretly hoping Nicholas stays away forever. Scarlett bides her time, plotting for the perfect moment to prove herself and earn redemption. But somewhere in L.A., Alora conspires to reclaim her talisman and strip Julia of everything she holds dear.

Little do they know, a war is coming and more than one vampire would like to see the Prince of Vampires overthrown. As more and more vampires show up from nowhere, addicted to her scent, Julia must pick her allies carefully before it’s too late. Can Julia bargain with fate? When the time comes, will she even have a choice?

Review:

Brenda has always been a fantastic author so, needless to say, the writing in this book is amazing. She really knows how to throw in some intense action that will have your heart racing. I liked the way that each book flows so well together and it's easy to see the progression of each character.

I admit, I have a soft spot for Phil and I wish there was something more for him. I wanted him to have more happiness. I loved him from the beginning and he was so loyal and caring towards Julia. I felt that he was the person who really brought out some new emotions for Julia. Even more than Nicholas, sometimes Phil was just able to break down the walls Julia sometimes had around herself.

One thing I loved (without going into detail) is that we really get a satisfying ending — meaning that it isn't abrupt or not explained. I hate when the action ends with a book and within a paragraph, it's over. Brenda gives a little more to help readers truly understand what happened.

Brenda,
I feel like I've known you forever. You were one of the first people I worked with and I cannot thank you enough for allowing me to enter the world you created. You continue to amaze me with all you do and you are truly an inspiration. Even more than your talent, you are a fabulous person, friend, and mother. You do it all! And, you still remain positive even during the stressful times.
Thank you for all you do and for creating such a fascinating world full of characters that will always be in my heart.

--Jessica

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Evergreen by Brenda Pandos Publisher: Obsidian Mountain Publishing Date: June 29th, 2012 Series: Mer Tales #2 Add it to Goodreads Summary: A kingdom on the brink of war.
A king on the fringes of insanity.
A family running for their lives.

Ash and Fin’s only desire is to be together and dive into their happily ever after, though their conflicting worlds work to pull them apart. Neither is ready to convert to the other’s life: become a human or a mer. Little do they know that somewhere in Natatoria a secret holds the fine fabric of everyone’s lives together. If the truth is discovered, Ash and Fin will no longer have the luxury of waiting. They’ll be forced to choose. But will it be for loyalty or love? Or will someone else make the choice for them if they can’t decide?
Brenda is also hosting a contest right now on her blog. It's a a 'Name Tatchi's Novella Contest' where the winner will get a $50 Giftcard. Everyone can enter and you can get details by going to Brenda's blog.

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I highly enjoyed the book The Emerald Talisman and one of my favorite characters is Julia's friend Samantha. I am thrilled to have her on the blog today to ask her a few questions.

J: Hello Sam, so glad you could be here with me today!

Sam: Thanks for interviewing me. Forgive me for being nervous. This is my first interview.
J: Sam, can you tell us a little about how you and Julia became such good friends?
Sam: One day in the 4^th grade she asked me to play two-square and we were friends ever since. Not a lot of kids have lost a parent. A drunk driver killed my dad in an accident when I was in second grade. Julia was the only person who understood and helped me.
J: What about the others? What do you think keeps your group together? You all seem to differ in a lot of ways, especially Katie.

Sam: Julia is defiantly the glue that keeps us together. Between Cam and Katie always getting on each other’s nerves, without Julia, we’d of parted ways along time ago. We all care about Jules a lot.
J: Do you ever worry about Julia or think that maybe she is hiding something from you?
Sam: Never. We tell each other everything. She sometimes zones out and seems distracted with what others are going through, but I think it’s just her natural way of empathizing with people. She really knows what to say to help you feel better.
J: Do you wish that she would confide in you more?
Sam: She and I usually do, but I guess you can’t tell your friends everything. I don’t think there are secrets between us. Why? Is there something I should know?
J: What? *looks away* oh no, um, of course not. *Clears throat*.moving on… Even when you and Julia fight, how do you keep your friendship strong?

Sam: We never really fight. I hate conflict. She hates conflict. We do our best to get along. She’s a really sweet person. What’s to fight about?
J: If you could choose 1 word to describe each of your friends, what would it be?

Sam: I don’t know. That’s hard to say in one word. Cam – Smart. Katie – Cool. Dena – Nice. Julia – Sweet.
J: If you could have a hope, or wish, for each of them, what would it be?
Sam: I wish Cam would get into the college he wants to get into and find a cool girlfriend. That Katie would find a great boyfriend and get into the college she wants to attend too. That Dena and Morgan would get married and live happily ever after and have cute kids. That Jules and Nicholas figure out a way to tell her dad about their relationship and they get married to.
J: What about yourself? What are you hoping for?
Sam: Oh, I don’t know. Is it just between us? I’d like to marry Todd, but if I had like an impossible wish, I’d like my dad back.
Thanks for the interview. It was fun.

The Sapphire Talisman by Brenda Pandos Publisher: Obsidian Mountain Publishing (December 15th, 2010) Reading Level: Young Adult Paperback: 320 pages Series: The Emerald Talisman, book #2 With the local vampire coven decimated, Julia and Nicholas try to begin a somewhat normal life together. Bound by secrecy from a shape shifter determined to see Julia’s world-saving prediction come to fruition, Julia isn’t allowed to tell Nicholas the leader survived, ransacking her happiness with guilt. When Alora returns, bent on revenge, the reunion forces Nicholas and Julia to choose what they are willing to live and die for.

The Sapphire Talisman blog tour is hosted by Teen {book} scene.You can USE GOOGLE to visit the other stops on the tour.
USE GOOGLE to find out how to pre-order a signed copy and all pre-orders can be entered to win a talisman.
Ends November 30th.

The Sapphire Talisman will be out December 15th, 2010.

Find Brenda Pandos Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads
Purchase The Emerald Talisman Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository
The Emerald Talisman Book Trailer

The Emerald Talisman by Brenda Pandos Publisher: Obsidian Mountain Publishing (March 24th, 2010) Reading Level: Young Adult Paperback: 280 pages Source: Author (for review)
Series: Talisman, book #1 Rating: 5 of 5 stars To be normal, sixteen-year-old Julia Parker would shed her empathic gift in a second. Life has been difficult since her mother's mysterious disappearance ten years earlier — an event she witnessed, but can't remember. Julia's situation becomes more complicated after a near death experience from a blood thirsty stalker. As high school students go missing it is clear there is a connection to her own experience--past and present. Someone has to stop the madness and a chance encounter with a creepy psychic foretells that only Julia is the key to stopping the madness, but it may require the life of the one she loves.
Review: The Emerald Talisman starts out with a bang and never slows down. Julia was a fascinating character who immediately runs into trouble when something dangerous comes after her in the woods. To make things more interesting Julia has a"gift" of sensing emotions. The first thing she notices is the overwhelming hunger coming from her predator. This seems odd to Julia because she typically doesn't sense emotions from animals so that only means one thing; it's human. Out of nowhere Nicholas comes to save the day and this starts the whirlwind of their relationship, exposed secrets, and dramatic conclusions for Julia.

Julia and Nicholas were amazingly written characters but the story was not simply centered around them as most books are. Brenda incorporates more interesting characters as Julia's friends and classmates. This kept the story flowing smoothly even without the constant presence of Nicholas. I found this to be one of my favorite aspects of the story.

As things progress we dive into the drama of Julia's life as she learns about the truth that surrounds her, but we also get a glimpse into her past and the mystery surrounding the disappearance of her mother. Julia is a caring individual who is close to her family and easy to relate to. She seems to become a strong young lady as the story progresses. In many ways she is the typical teenage girl but her gift lets her in on some of the secrets people keep hidden by emotions. Nicholas is a vampire hunter and quite mysterious in many ways. One constant with him is his protectiveness of Julia. I look forward to learning more about him and his past.

Brenda did an incredible job of keeping the story moving and keeping me, as the reader, interested. I enjoyed the complex plot, strong characters, and fast paced action throughout. By the end of the story we have answers to many of the key questions but some remain that will be answered in the sequel, The Sapphire Talisman.

I'm also thrilled to be part of The Sapphire Talisman blog tour hosted by Teen {book} scene. Be sure to stop back by on Wednesday, November 24th for an interview with one of the characters from the series.
USE GOOGLE to find out how to pre-order a signed copy and all pre-orders can be entered to win a talisman.

The Sapphire Talisman, book 2 in the Talisman series, will be out December 15th, 2010.

Find Brenda Pandos Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads
Purchase The Emerald Talisman Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository

Book Trailer

My Scary Story by Brenda Pandos
My overactive imagination creates interesting drama in my life, especially when I sleep. For instance, I still can’t swim alone, even in a pool, thanks to Jaws. And, for a long time, I couldn’t go potty without looking down into the bowl to check for critters. So, I avoid horror and scary things at all costs. But my imagination is very helpful with my creative writing, so I can’t go wrong there.

I’ve always been an active dreamer, talking nightly in my sleep. Many times, it’s just an endless puzzle I’m trying to solve, salt and peppered with visions of the daily events that makes so much sense when I’m half awake, but slips away once I become lucid.

So, when my husband and I were first married, I seemed to be more active than usual. I’d freak him out, frequently talking and/or getting out of bed, scared or worried about something or another. He’d just consol me (probably to get me to be quiet) and I’d go back to sleep. But one night, I woke up and saw what I thought to be an alien, flutter from the curtains, fly under our sheets and possess the love of my life before my eyes. At my gasp he tried to consol me, reaching out, but I screamed bloody murder and fought his arms in absolute panic, afraid the creature inside was coming to get me next. Once my mind became clearer and dear hubby was able to grab me and talk me down from my hysteria, I burst into tears, thankful he was still himself and not some horrible creature I’d dreamt him to be.

I’m happy to say, after nine years of marriage, he sleeps through most of my night activities except when I see spiders.

The Emerald Talisman by Brenda Pandos Publisher: Obsidian Mountain Publishing (March 24th, 2010) Reading Level: Young Adult Paperback: 280 pages
Series: Talisman, book #1 To be normal, sixteen-year-old Julia Parker would shed her empathic gift in a second. Life has been difficult since her mother's mysterious disappearance ten years earlier — an event she witnessed, but can't remember. Julia's situation becomes more complicated after a near death experience from a blood thirsty stalker. As high school students go missing it is clear there is a connection to her own experience--past and present. Someone has to stop the madness and a chance encounter with a creepy psychic foretells that only Julia is the key to stopping the madness, but it may require the life of the one she loves.

Prize:

• 1 winner will receive a signed copy of The Emerald Talisman and bookmarks.

• You must be at least 13 to enter.
• Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
• Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
• Contest is US ONLY and ends November 3rd.
• Once contacted the winner will have 48 hours to respond with their mailing address.
• The form must be filled out to enter.

The Sapphire Talisman, book 2 in the Talisman series, will be out December 15th, 2010.

- Thank you so much Brenda for the story and book donation!

Find Brenda Pandos Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads
Purchase The Emerald Talisman Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository

Book Trailer

* Check out Lisa's Haunted Halloween post.

*Reminder: If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry! Please read full entry rules here.

Everblue by Brenda Pandos
Publisher: Obsidian Mountain Publishing (July 29th, 2011)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Paperback: 304 pages
Source: Author (Thank You!)
Series: Mer Tales #1
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Best friends share everything with each other. Or do they? Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Frances Lanski is tired of her boring, single life. Spending time with her best friend Tatiana, dreaming about kissing Tatiana's twin brother Fin, and swimming competitively are her only sanctuary. The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college. But when Tatchi fails to return home after a family emergency, and no one knows where the family has gone, Ash chooses to do something drastic to find them.

Ashlyn is about to discover what she’d thought to be true her whole life, wasn’t, and the truth, too fantastical to imagine. Secrets lurk beneath the deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe, secrets that will change Ashlyn's life forever.
Review: Something wonderful I have learned about Brenda Pandos and her writing is that she knows exactly how to create a world. It doesn't matter if it is a world full of mermaids or vampires; it's just as spellbinding.

This is one of my first mermaid books and I have to say that I was completely mesmerized at how Brenda told this story. Everblue alternates from Ashlyn to Fin throughout the story and they have very different lives. Ashlyn is a student, dealing with boy issues, swim practice, and a pretty typical family life. Fin, on the other hand, has a life far from typical. He lives in the mer world and it is not as magical as people may think. Rules and politics get in the way of any sort of normal life for Fin and his family. He is forced to live within the world and watch his sister Tatiana deal with the same uncontrollable fate.

During the first part of Everblue we get a chance to get to know each character. I enjoyed each point of view and it was nice to see how the characters acted independently. But I gotta say that the middle and end of the book was really what hooked me. We are able to see more of a mingling between the characters and I feel this is where they both shined. We see the passion and determination come out. Ashlyn doesn't back down and Fin just glowed with strength and courage.

As much as we get to know the characters, we are able to truly visualize their contrasting worlds. Ashlyn sees the clear blue water while Fin lives deep below it. Everblue really allows the reader to open their imagination and accept a place full of beauty and charm. But even a place that beautiful hides some dark secrets and Fin and Tatiana must find ways to protect each other. The last thing Fin wants is to bring Ashlyn into the mix too.

Everblue continues on with the fabulous, descriptive writing style readers have come to enjoy through Brenda's Talisman series. Readers will easily dive into this story!

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Purchase Everblue Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

I'm so thrilled to be part of Brenda's tour for Everblue and she has been kind enough to offer up a signed copy for one lucky reader! You can USE GOOGLE to add to the book to goodreads. My review of Everblue will be posted shortly but if you enjoy a fascinating tale about mermaid life, it's a must read!
Click the banner to follow the tour!

Everblue by Brenda Pandos
Publisher: Obsidian Mountain Publishing (July 29th, 2011)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Paperback: 304 pages
Series: Mer Tales #1
Best friends share everything with each other. Or do they? Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Frances Lanski is tired of her boring, single life. Spending time with her best friend Tatiana, dreaming about kissing Tatiana's twin brother Fin, and swimming competitively are her only sanctuary. The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college. But when Tatchi fails to return home after a family emergency, and no one knows where the family has gone, Ash chooses to do something drastic to find them.

Ashlyn is about to discover what she’d thought to be true her whole life, wasn’t, and the truth, too fantastical to imagine. Secrets lurk beneath the deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe, secrets that will change Ashlyn's life forever.

Giveaway Prize:

• 1 winner will receive a SIGNED copy of Everblue by Brenda Pandos.

• You must be at least 13 to enter.
• Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
• Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
• Contest is US Only and ends September 9th.
• Once contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond.
• The form must be filled out to enter.

Everblue, book #1 of Mer Tales Publisher: Obsidian Mountain Publishing Tentative Release Date: 7/31/2011 Follow Brenda on Facebook Goodreads Twitter: @brendapandos Blog: brendapandos.blogspot.com

Best friends share everything with each other. Or do they? Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Frances Lanski is tired of her boring, single life. Spending time with her best friend Tatiana, dreaming about kissing Tatiana's twin brother Fin, and swimming competitively are her only sanctuary. The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college. But when Tatchi fails to return home after a family emergency, and no one knows where the family has gone, Ash chooses to do something drastic to find them.
Ashlyn is about to discover what she’d thought to be true her whole life, wasn’t, and the truth, too fantastical to imagine. Secrets lurk beneath the deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe, secrets that will change Ashlyn's life forever.

Want to know more? Check out Brenda’s blog at: http://brendapandos.blogspot.com

The lovely Brenda Pandos has just released the cover of her next book, The Onyx Talisman, the third and final book in the Talisman trilogy.
Check out my reviews of The Emerald Talisman and The Sapphire Talisman. This is an amazing series and I highly recommend it!
Publisher: Obsidian Mountain Publishing Tentative Release Date: 11/16/2011
**WARNING SPOILERS** All was perfect in Julia’s life until Nicholas had his vampire blood-lust activated by his mother Alora, her immortal enemy, turning him evil and bent on revenge. Heartbroken and out of choices, Phil and Julia ran away in the middle of the night, with Scarlett on foot, to Orange County to warn and plead Nicholas’ Godfather for help. Once arriving at Harry’s though, the local coven accosted them and they narrowly escaped. After they returned home, there was a huge showdown between Phil, Nicholas, Scarlett, Alora, Katie and Julia. Alora almost got what she wanted—Julia’s vampire warding talisman—but Preston, Nicholas’ father, and Harry came to the rescue. They escorted Nicholas and Alora back to Beverly Hills, pledging to return Nicholas free from his blood-lust. But all Julia’s received in the past four months is a letter stating Nicholas missed her along with some song lyrics and promise of a quick return. That was a month ago. Now Julia awaits Nicholas’ return with the Fab Five Coven: Phil and Katie—the sober vampires, Scarlett—the half-vamp/shape-shifter, and Tyler and Julia—the inducted humans. She’s stuck in Scotts Valley with Phil as her self-appointed chaperon and no way to return to Los Angeles to check on Nicholas. Only Scarlett and Julia know her fate ultimately involves the demise of all vampires, possibly including the ones she loves. When the time comes, will she even have a choice? Find out in the final installment of the bestselling Talisman Series November 16, 2011!

Find Brenda Pandos Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads
Purchase The Emerald Talisman Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository
Purchase The Sapphire Talisman Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository

The Emerald Talisman is available for the KINDLE or NOOK for just $0.99.