Monday, November 29, 2010

Cyber Monday - Talisman Series

It's Cyber Monday... do you have that special gift for the Twilight and Vampire Diary lovers in your life? The Talisman Series gift set is a perfect gift!
Books come gift wrapped from you and signed with special note from the author (me) with bookmarks.








Purchase The Sapphire Talisman in time for Christmas!

$15.99

Want a talisman to go with it? Order here

Merry Christmas!
Hugs, Brenda

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Thanksgiving at Julia's house

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. My birthday, the 25th, landed on the same day, so I enjoyed pumpkin pie and birthday cake. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday for so many reasons, and I have tons to be thankful for! Let me know what you're thankful for in my comments ;)

Here's a snippet scene of Thanksgiving at the Parker's that was posted during the blogtour I thought you'd enjoy.

“I’m stuffed,” I said as I patted my tummy. “I don’t know how it’s possible, but this Thanksgiving dinner was better than last year, Auntie Jo. Thanks.”

Dad, Luke and Uncle John followed in a chorus of praise to the cook.

“Oh, it was nothing.” A blush crossed Jo’s glowing cheeks. “And I’m the one who looks like she ate the whole turkey.” She chuckled.

Uncle John reached over and rubbed Jo’s pregnant belly. “Oh, the Buda-belly.” He purred. “Not much longer, Mommy”. They exchanged a tender moment, and then Jo removed his hand and stood, taking her plate to the kitchen.

I caught Luke’s horrified expression and rolled my eyes. The corner of his lip crinkled up. This wasn’t the first time Uncle John got inappropriately mushy over Jo’s burgeoning stomach.

“Josie, don’t you dare. You’ve done enough today.” Dad cast his glance in our direction. “Luke, Julia, you need to clean up the dishes.” He took his plate to the kitchen then ushered Jo into the living room. “After you, Sis.”

Moments later, I heard the TV come to life.

“Yes, Sweet-pea. You go rest your little tootsies. The kids and I will clean up.” John said behind Dad, exuding jealousy. I guess he wanted to follow them and watch the game instead.

The cutesiness did me in, though, seeming to be in overdrive since Jo’s pregnancy. I bit my lip to stop from smirking when Luke reflected the same annoyance. We exchanged glances and stood up at the same time.

“You get the table?” Luke asked under his breath.

I nodded and scurried to start scraping the excess food onto one plate and stacking the others. We’d cleaned up together so many times, we had the process down to a science. The faster we worked, the quicker we could get to watching football and do pass interference on Uncle John, the King of awkward questions.

“So, Luke. How’s school?” John asked while fastening a “kiss the cook” apron on over his own pudgy stomach. He obviously had packed on a few sympathy pounds on Jo’s behalf over the past few months.

“Great.” Luke shouldered around John and looked in the cupboard. “What should I put these left-over potatoes in?”

“Just put them in a Ziplock,” Jo said from the living room. “I don’t have much room in the fridge.”

“Good idea, Dear.” John said, planting himself against the counter as Luke tried to work around him. “Taking any interesting classes?”

“Yah…. Dude, where are the Ziplock bags?”

“Oh.” John fumbled around, opening drawer after drawer unable to locate the bags like he’d never set foot in the kitchen before.

“In the left-hand drawer next to the silverware, Hun.” Jo said.

“Ah. Found them. Thanks, Beautiful.”

I was in Pergatory.

Jedi mind trick. Jedi mind trick. I’m not here. Don’t talk to me.

I kept to myself in the dining room, working as quickly as I could while Luke averted John’s questions one after another until his curiosity landed on me.

“So, Julia…”

Ahhh… Run Forest, run!

I muscled past John with a heaping stack of plates but he followed, empty handed.

“What’s new in the boy department?”

Who says “boy department”?

“Nothing. Why?”

“Everything can go in the dishwasher, but the plates need to be hand washed,” Jo called over our conversation. “Please.”

“Got it,” Luke called back. The sink was already filled with soapy water and I set the plates directly inside.

Luke washed. I dried and put away like we were being timed.

“Oh, I just wondered,” John continued, this time actually pulling apart the turkey and storing the meat in bags. “I would think they’d be lined out the door. Do you flirt enough? Give them hints you like them?”

My cheeks burned and I wanted to sink into the tiled floor.

“I’m doing fine in the boy department, John. Seriously. How’s work?”

And as if I’d just turned on a toy train, John unloaded on us from his frustration with his micromanaging boss to his insubordinate workers.

And like two whirlwinds, Luke and I cleaned up the rest of the kitchen in a snap, “aha-ing” and “oh-wowing” at the appropriate times.

Within minutes we were finished, all accept the turkey pan John labored over, stripping every last scrap of meat off the carcass.

We stood nearby and waited for him to finish so we could wash the pan.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve got it,” John lied. He obviously wanted us to insist we wash the pan for him. Luckily, I knew not to fall for it—emotion reading bonus.

“Cool,” I said and tossed my wet rag in the drainer. Luke followed suit and we abandoned poor Uncle John in the kitchen, alone with only his naked turkey to consol him.


Only a few more days until The Sapphire Talisman is released!
I hope you'll join the twitter party!

Hugs, Brenda

Monday, November 15, 2010

Week at a glance

Lots happening on the Sapphire Talisman tour. If you've been following, here last weeks posts:


Monday, November 8: Natalie at Mindful Musings
(Author Interview)
Tuesday, November 9: Jessica at A Fanatic's Book Blog (Review)
Wednesday, November 10: Emily at Red House Books (Guest Post: Movies & Books)
Thursday, November 11: Kelsey at The Book Scout (Review)
Friday, November 12: Jen at Extreme Reader Book Reviews (Character Interview: Nicholas)

And for book birthday, you can enter here to win a copy:



Goodreads Book Giveaway





The Sapphire Talisman (Talisman, #2) by Brenda Pandos



The Sapphire Talisman


by Brenda Pandos



Giveaway ends December 15, 2010.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.




Enter to win


Monday, November 8, 2010

Monday Author Bloghop

Meet an author, sponsored by Lisa Sanchez. Authors! Have a book out? Are you under contract for publication? Make sure you join in the hop. This is a great way to network your blog and let readers know who you are!

I'm Brenda Pandos, author of The Emerald Talisman and the soon to release (12/15) The Sapphire Talisman. EEk! So exciting! Leave a comment and introduce yourself!



Thursday, November 4, 2010

Reviews are in

After a nail-biting wait, reviews are coming in! There will be a total of 15 this month to tempt your reading taste buds before the big release day!

Check out each day of the tour for interesting posts, giveaways, reviews and contests!

Okay, with out further ado.... here's review #1 from Katie's book blog:

The first thing I liked about The Sapphire Talisman was the fact that Nicholas finally revealed some of his secrets and so did Julia.  Finally things were out in the open between those two.  I felt like they could finally grow because they knew everything about each other.  Then things took a turn for the worse.  Obviously I'm not going to tell you what happened but I will say that their relationship went through the worst situation it possibly could.  I was shocked at everything that happened in The Sapphire Talisman and the wait for the next book is going to be even worse.

The action in The Sapphire Talisman took off from the very first page and didn't slow down at all.  By the time I got to the end of the book I was biting my fingernails and hoping for the best but knowing it was going to be bad.  I was just really glad that there was some closure between this book and the next.  The wait will still be bad but at least I know some of what is going to happen.

Overall, The Sappire Talisman is an amazing book and the best possible sequel to The Emerald Talisman that I could have imagined.  The Talisman series is one of the most unique vampire stories that I have read and Brenda Pandos is an amazing author.  I know that I will love whatever she does next.






And review #2 from Eleni at LaFemme Readers.

The Sapphire Talisman was an enticing and compelling follow up to The Emerald Talisman. Brenda's flow of writing has developed since the first book. Her artistic potential and storytelling skills succeeded in formulating a wondrous continuation. The unexpected plot twists and defined characters helped me once again get lost in Brenda's creativity. This time around, Nicholas and Julia switched roles. Instead of Nicholas protecting her, Julia turned into a feisty and courageous young lady. In the hands of Alora, a malevolent vampire, Nicholas succumbed to his half vampire darkness, leaving Julia to fend for herself. However, before evil fell upon him, Nicholas had a heart fluttering likability that I felt lacked in the past. The relationship between the two blossomed into a sweet and tight bond. I must say though, I was amused by his change and actually preferred the evil version better.

Then again, I am biased since one of my favorite characters abruptly came back. Due to spoilers, I won't mention his name. The only thing I will share is that this certain individual tickled me with butterflies. His cocoon of love for Julia made me swoon like a little school girl. He had the perfect balance that all vampires should embody, and did I mention I am in love with him? Moving on, throughout the fight for Nicholas's freedom, Julia's ability to sense emotions and auras came in handy. I was glad to see that she no longer acted naive and actually functioned without being around him. All in all, the sequel surpassed my expectations and left me longing for the next installment. I am eager to know what lies in store for Julia and Nicholas. Will their relationship sustain the damaging cracks or will she maybe move on to someone else? Hm, we shall see, hopefully Brenda releases it soon! I also wanted to share with you the back cover which I think is breathtaking -- definitely captured Alora's attitude to a T!






I'm so excited and thrilled. Thanks Katie and Eleni for a heartfelt and honest review!

Hugs, Brenda

Monday, November 1, 2010

Day 1 Blog Tour

Day 1 starts with an interview with Julia at
Book Crazy with Jenn.

Check it out!

Enter to win The Sapphire Talisman each Friday on the month long tour! Check back to find out where and how!

Hugs, Brenda