And the Winner of the MINDER Book and Swag Giveaway is...

Thanks to all  for your comments and for entering the  giveaway and supporting an up and coming author. Kate Kaynak has provided an awesome packet of goodies for the winner. I have the T shirt myself and I love it. It gets plenty of looks and questions! The winner has the book, T shirt and poster coming her way.

Based on the comments,  folks showed a huge variety of interest in what they'd like to see in paranormal literature. There were no particular trends noted here! It's wide open. Well, on to the winner.
The winner of this super nice giveaway is...

Kailia Sage!!!

Congratulations. Please email me your address, so I can pass it on to the author. If you don't respond in 72 hrs, another winner will be selected.

Winner was chosen randomly via Random.org

Toodles!

Book Review and Giveaway: MINDER by Kate Kaynak. One Winner, Three Prizes!

I met Kate Kaynak, author of Minder at a writer's conference last year. At that time, we were both writers trying to hone their craft and working our way toward publication. Kate has beaten me to the finish line and the first of her Ganzfield Series, Minder became available in June. Let's go to the blurb on the book:

Sixteen-year-old Maddie Dunn needs to learn how to use her special abilities before somebody else gets hurt. Ganzfield is a secret training facility full of people like her, but it's not exactly a nurturing place.  Every social interaction carries the threat of mind-control. A stray thought can burn a building to the ground. And people's nightmares don't always stay in their own heads. But it's still better than New Jersey, especially once she meets the man of her dreams...

Minder is a YA paranormal that takes on a different element: that of teens that possess extrasensory abilities. As a fellow writer and one that is moving along the same professional trajectory as the author, I read this book and reviewed it with a more critical eye than I normally would. I previously read some of Kate's first pages when the story was still in its manuscript form and so, was very interested in the final product.

I really like the premise of teens with special  extrasensory powers. This is an element that hasn't been worked to death in the YA genre and has fresh appeal and is wide open with potential. Now let's talk about the execution of that potential.