Blog Tour-Review and Giveaway: Spell for Sophia by Ariella Moon

Spell for Sophia

Sophia Perez-Hidalgo’s survival depends upon her mastering magic and the supernatural before her lawless parents and their vengeful boss catch up to her. How far must she flee to escape them forever? Sophia runs until she’s out of stolen money, then…Fate delivers her into the arms of Louisiana teen Shiloh Breaux Martine, and his grand-mère, a voodoo priestess living deep in the bayou.

Breaux knows Sophia is trouble — but he’ll travel through time, battle zombies, and risk his bright future to protect her. While Ainslie, best friend extraordinaire, will jeopardize her sanity to find and aid Sophia. When friendship, magic, and love are not enough, Sophia will have to save herself. But first, she must believe she’s worth saving.
Sometimes the worst scars are the ones you cannot see.

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Book Trailer:

Excerpt 

Breaux followed me onto the streetcar and bought day passes with exact change. I scanned the streetcar's vintage interior for two seats together. I ignored the pinched brows and alarmed stares from our fellow passengers. Most of them fixated on a point behind me. With dismay I realized Breaux's blood-soaked bandana was drawing too much attention. Someone was bound to notice his uncanny resemblance to the congressman. The last thing we needed was to derail the time-space continuum or spark rumors.

The migraine over my eye throbbed.

I discovered an empty row toward the back and claimed the window seat. Breaux shoved our passes into his jeans pocket, then roosted beside me. He placed the backpack at his feet and kept his chin down. His hands trembled and twitched against his thighs. Caffeine, sugar, and shock, I thought. The cloth over his gash sported blood in varying shades of red. It appeared wet and sticky. The sight of it made me queasy and I had to swallow hard. Breaux's ashen pallor hadn't improved. Worry worsened my stomach. Breaux needed to go to the hospital and get stitched up. Someone should x-ray him and see if he had a fracture or concussion. Or both.

Merciful Mary, please help us complete whatever must be done here so we can return to our own time.

A flicker of color flashed outside the window. I swiveled toward it, thinking maybe it was a flag. Wrong! The hints of gold and red sprung from a wispy paisley top worn by an African-American teen hovering several feet off the ground. My brain registered, ghost! My hand flew to my mouth to muffle a shriek.

The movement must have caught the ghost's eye. She zoomed to the window and pressed her nose against the glass. I shrank against Breaux. The wraith's peace sign necklace swung through the pane, almost touching my chin before it dropped. The temperature plummeted several degrees.

I shot Breaux a furtive sideways glance. His attention was fixed on Nervous Guy, who was making his way toward us. The ghost bracketed her face with her hands and peered through the window. Brackish swamp smells assaulted my nose. Water dripped from her long curly Afro and slid down the sides of her hands and onto the windowpane. I wondered if she could hear my heart thundering.

"Are you the Mexican?" the wraith asked.

My eyes widened. Is the drug cartel employing ghosts? Speechless, my gaze darted across her face. She's no older than Breaux. Unlike Mam'zelle, whose spirit had transitioned into a being of light, the ghost still retained her human form and the clothes she must have been wearing when she died. Her skin, though blue-gray in death, still showed patches of its former nutmeg color. She had Breaux's nose.

The ghost pointed a wet finger. "Is he Shiloh Breaux Martine?"

         "Umm. Breaux…" My fingers dug into his thigh. 

My Review

Edge of your seat?  Check.  Magic around every corner?  Check.  Teen angst?  Check.  Unputdownable?  Definitely.  Quick tip-make sure you read the first three books before starting Spell for Sophia.  They provide a ton of great backstory and will make everything a lot more understandable, and without a doubt enhance your enjoyment of this book as well as the entire series.

Spell for Sophia provides plenty of tension and action, actually a lot more than I expected.  There's always something going on-either in Sophia's or in Ainslie's parts of the world-so you're constantly on the edge wondering what's going to happen next.

One thing I love about this book (and actually the whole series) is how accepting these young teens are of the magical world.  It would be expected since young teens are naturally more open-minded and willing to believe.  

I was actually expecting most, if not all of this story to be played out entirely with Sophia and those immediately around her, so it was a pleasant surprise to have Ainslie and the rest of the characters from the first books play a greater role, and it really helped tie the stories together even more tightly, giving the entire series an increased feeling of connectivity.

Spell for Sophia is an excellent addition to the series, and for me a 4.5 star read.  I'd recommend the entire series to teens and up who enjoy YA paranormal stories.  And I'm over here crossing my fingers that we get to hear more, hopefully with Yemaya's story (*hint, hint*).

The Teen Wytche Saga by Ariella Moon

Think magic will solve your problems?

Bring you love? Cure you? Protect you? Help you find someone who is lost?

Think again.

Magic tests friendships. It hisses, chirps, stinks up the room, backfires, and explodes. Magic forces you to make tough decisions. Shatter limitations. Discover your true self. When you use magic, expect results in the ultimate triple-un—unpredictable, uncontrollable, and so undeniable.

And you thought navigating high school was tough.

Author Ariella Moon

Ariella Moon is the author of the Teen Wytche Saga, a sweet Young Adult paranormal series. Ariella writes about magic, friendship, high school, secrets, and love in Spell Check, Spell Struck, and Spell Fire from Astraea Press.

Ariella spent her childhood searching for a magical wardrobe that would transport her to Narnia. Extreme math anxiety, and taller students who mistook her for a leaning post, marred her youth. Despite these horrors, she graduated summa cum laude from the University of California at Davis. Ariella is a Reiki Master, author, and shaman. She lives a nearly normal life with her extraordinary daughter, two shamelessly spoiled dogs, and an enormous dragon.

Blog Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 1/19/15

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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