Blog Tour: The Shapeshifter's Secret

June is packing a powerhouse of great new YA releases this year, and one book not to be missed it The Shapeshifter's Secret by Heather Ostler. Throw out your preconceived notions of how shapeshifters live and rule, especially in an alternate world, and get immersed into a whole new story filled with a colorful cast of characters. Some say that felines have nine lives, but Julia is soon to find out that her whole world is changing just as much as her new body in this story of intrigue and growing up. A war is brewing and love is in the air, just as much as your adversaries are rising up to use you to their every advantage. A mother's love is hard to find in an enemy. Be prepared to be blown away by The Shapeshifter's Secret hitting stores in June 2012.

Excerpt from The Shapeshifter's Secret:

       As Julia burst through the school’s front doors she beganrunning with quickness and agility she’d never known before.Normally it would have taken her at least an hour to get to CovingtonPark. However, only minutes had passed when she arrivedout of breath and fatigued. Her chest heaved, but she continuedonward to the deserted woodland behind the park.

     Julia entered into the hidden dark forest and collapsed on thedirt floor. She tried to shake off the anger and heat that pulsedinside her, but it only seemed to have gotten worse. Images of Ms.Finnary and the students swirled in her head, and she screamedwith anguish. Why couldn’t she get rid of the horrible feelings? Itseemed her whole body was reacting more extreme this time, andshe knew she was dangerous.

      A branch snapped near her, and she sprang up from theground baring her teeth again like a wild animal. 

     “Who’s there?”She spun around menacingly, and to her shock, found Calebstanding just a few feet away from her.“Julia, are you okay?” he asked walking toward her with hishands out.
      “How did you find me here?”

       “You need to calm down. I can help you,” he said, far toocomposed for the situation.

        “Leave.” Julia’s voice was mean, and she hoped it would beenough to get him to disappear. “I don’t want to be responsiblefor what I do to you.” 

        “I’m not going to leave you,” Caleb stated. “I want to help.”         

     “No,” she growled. Soon her hands began shaking harderthan ever before. Her breathing seized her, and she felt her lungsmight explode before she had enough air. She shook her head asher vision was obscured, and suddenly she was no longer Julia. 

The Shapeshifter's Secret

Heather Ostler

releases  6.12.2012

Cedar Fort

Pre-order Today:    bn  /  amazon  /  bookdepository

Author On the Net: Heather Ostler

Author Website: http://www.heatherostler.com/

Author blog: http://heatherostler.blogspot.com/

Author's Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/heatherostler

Publisher Blog http://www.cedarfortbooks.com/

Publisher Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cedarfortbooks

Publisher Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/cedarfortbooks

Blurb from the Publisher:

Julia is finally discovering what–not who–she is.

Like any sixteen-year-old, Julia's used to dealing with problems. From her overprotective father to her absent mother to a teacher who definitely has it in for her. But everything changes when Julia's reactions become oddly vicious and angry---more animal than human. This action-packed adventure has it all: humor, romance, and a plot that will keep you guessing to the very last page.

Our Thoughts On TSS:

    Being sixteen can be hard enough for the average girl, but Julia soon finds herself hidden from a secret world at the edge of war. For some sixteen year olds the rite of passage does not include growing furs and claws. The Shapeshifter's Secret brings itself into a whole different class with an intense plot and a fast moving storyline. Julia is our furry heroine who finds her world turned inside out when she is whisked away to another world called Ossai where her family is fighting each other and Julia could become the turning point in the altercations. 
    Ossai is a world accessed through portals to and from our world, only accessible to those with the fit knowledge and Ossai blood. The government is at war with itself as Ossai is divided between the Soldier Union, led by her father Lancer, and the Guild ruled by a select few and her mother Alexis too. 
    In a world ripe with family secrets and betrayal, Julia is struggling with her family's past while also learning who she is and her new abilities at Lockham Castle. Here among the students at the prestigious Ossai school, Julia is finding the strength in herself to help fight for her country's freedom and safety while also surviving falling in love and school. Keeping her grades up is hard, but keeping her love life secret from her father proves more challenging.
    Readers will enjoy this new twist in the shapeshifting genre where there is law and order and royalty among the shifter's separate in a new world beside our own. With each chapter new secrets are revealed and a tragic past is exposed, and with a fabulous cast of characters the author has blended the story and the world building perfectly. Being a teen is complicated, but finding yourself a royal in peril is just plain tricky.

*received a copy from the publishers through netgalley, and their amazing website. An honesty review was typed out by me with at least three cups of coffee in my system and I hope all errors were auto-corrected or fixed by flying monkeys in residence.