Blog Tour & Guest Post: Conjure by Lea Nolan

 Today we are so excited to take part in the Conjure blog tour hosted by Entangled Publishing!  Conjure was such a fun book and we were lucky enough to have Lea Nolan, the author, stop by to discuss what genre Conjure falls into!

Thanks so much for having me, Crystal! It’s a pleasure to be here at WinterHaven Books to discuss my debut novel, CONJURE, book one in The Hoodoo Apprentice Series. CONJURE is a Middle Grade/Young Adult crossover, an emerging trend in publishing that is new to many folks. So I figured I’d use my time here to describe this hybrid and extol its virtues. So without further ado, I give you…

What the Heck is a Middle Grade/YA Crossover?
MG/YA crossovers feature action-packed romance:
CONJURE features a hidden 18th-century pirate treasure, demon dogs, soul snatching, and a wicked flesh-eating curse that can only be broken with Gullah hoodoo magic. Sounds action-adventure-y doesn’t it? That’s because it is! Which is often what you find in a great, face-paced middle grade story.

But before you get ready to confine it into the MG category, consider this:
CONJURE also features a heart-swelling romance between its teen leads Emma Guthrie and the unrequited, secret crush of her life, Cooper Beaumont. Which leads me to my next point…

MG/YA crossovers emphasize sweet romance:
Romance—sweet or otherwise—doesn’t typically show up in a middle grade story. In fact, that’s usually a deal breaker since kids under 12 aren’t into that sort of thing. Smoochy time is generally reserved to Young Adult stories. Recent market trends have pushed YA romances in a more edgy direction, hence the “Upper YA” category.

But what about tweens and teens who aren’t drawn to, or aren’t quite ready for the darker/edgier/sexier fare, but still want to read books with a little somethin’ something? 
MG/YA crossovers provide sweet romance that gets their pulse pumping, but keep things decidedly more PG.

MG/YA crossovers grow with their readers:
Like JK Rowling’s Harry Potter Series and Rick Riordan’s The Kane Chronicles, MG/YA crossovers grow with their readers, getting progressively darker as the series goes on. As I mentioned earlier, CONJURE is just the first book in The Hoodoo Apprentice series. Two more books will follow, and each takes a more
creepy and sinister turn than the last. I love that these books will grow with their readers and hopefully will carry them along to the final series climax.

Thanks so much for having me! I hope it convinces you to give CONJURE and other MG/YA crossovers a try!
~Lea

Thanks Lea for stopping by!  This was so helpful!  Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out certain genres and this will definitely help my in the future =)

Now for a little bit about Lea's fabulous book Conjure!

Conjure by Lea Nolan
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Release Date: October 16, 2012
Purchase:  Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Powells / TBD

Be careful what you search for...

Emma Guthrie expects this summer to be like any other in the South Carolina Lowcountry—hot and steamy with plenty of beach time alongside her best friend and secret crush, Cooper Beaumont, and Emma’s ever-present twin brother, Jack. But then a mysterious eighteenth-century message in a bottle surfaces, revealing a hidden pirate bounty. Lured by the adventure, the trio discovers the treasure and unwittingly
unleashes an ancient Gullah curse that attacks Jack with the wicked flesh-eating Creep and promises to steal Cooper’s soul on his approaching sixteenth birthday.

But when a strange girl appears bent on revenge, demon dogs become a threat, andJack turns into a walking skeleton, Emma has no choice but to learn hoodoo magic to undo the hex, all before summer—and her friends—are lost forever.

Lea Nolan writes the kinds of stories she sought as a teen—smart paranormals with bright heroines, crazy-hot heroes, diabolical plot twists, plus a dose of magic, a draft of romance, and a sprinkle of history. She’s holds degrees in history and women’s studies concentrating in public policy and spent fifteen years as a health policy analyst and researcher. She lives in Maryland with her heroically supportive husband and three
clever children. Her debut YA novel, CONJURE, book one in The Hoodoo Apprentice Series is a new release from Entangled Publishing under the Entangled Teen imprint. You can learn more about Lea on her website, on Facebook, Twitter and on Goodreads. CONJURE is available at both Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

Additional Social Media links:

Entangled / Facebook Series page / Group blog / Entangled Group blog

About the author:
Lea Nolan couldn’t read until the third grade. After a lot of hard work she finally got the hang of it and devoured any book she could find with a shiny Newberry Award sticker on the cover. Today she writes the stories she sought as a teen—smart paranormals with bright heroines, crazy-hot heroes, diabolical plot twists, plus a dose of magic, a draft of romance and a sprinkle of history. She holds degrees in history and women’s studies concentrating in public policy and lives with her heroically supportive husband and three brilliant children in Maryland.

Website / Group blog / Facebook / Twitter

My mini review:
Conjure is pure pirate adventure with a twist.  This story will take you back to your Treasure Island days and make you remember why reading as a kid was the best thing ever.  I absolutely fell in love with Emma, Jack, And Cooper. They were an awesome cast of characters that never gave up and were truly there for one another.  The story was very fast paced, I never knew from one minute to the next what was going to happen. I have to also mention that the twists thrown into this story were amazing.  I love a great adventure and Conjure is just the right kind of mix of adventure, romance, and fun!

4 Snowflakes

That's not all!  We have a giveaway for you!!  Entangled is hosting a one day giveaway so make sure to enter TODAY!  All you have to do is make a comment in the section below about something we talked about in this post.  It can be about the gnere, pirates, Lea, Conjure, whatever you want!  Good luck everyone and remember the giveaway ends today.  The winner will be chosen by Random.org.