Book Blitz: Amanda Lester series by Paula Berinstein

This is my stop during the book blitz for the Amanda Lester Series by Paula Berinstein. This book blitz is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours. The book blitz runs from 30 January till 5 February. You can see the tour schedule here. There is a guest post to read, links to all the books in the series and a giveaway!

About the Amanda Lester series
The Amanda Lester series is a Middle Grade/ Young Adult Mystery series.
The series contains 5 books so far and at least 2 more books are planned. The first four books are also available bundled in a box set. And the first book is also available in audiobook format. The currently published books are:
– Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy (Amanda Lester, Detective #1)
– Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis (Amanda Lester, Detective #2)
– Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle (Amanda Lester, Detective #3)
– Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret (Amanda Lester, Detective #4)
– Amanda Lester and the Red Spider Rumpus (Amanda Lester, Detective #5)

The First book in the series:
Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy (Amanda Lester, Detective #1)
by Paula Berinstein

Blurb:
Amanda Lester wouldn’t be caught dead going into the family business. Her ancestor, Sherlock Holmes’s colleague Inspector G. Lestrade, is a twit. Nevertheless her parents refuse to see his flaws, and she’s going to a secret English school for the descendants of famous detectives whether she likes it or not.

When Amanda arrives at the dreaded school, she considers running away—until she and her new friends discover blood and weird pink substances in odd places. At first they’re not sure whether these oddities mean anything, but when Amanda’s father disappears and the cook is found dead with her head in a bag of sugar, they’re certain that crimes are taking place.

Now Amanda must embrace her destiny and uncover the truth. The only snag is that arch-villain Blixus Moriarty, a descendant of Holmes’s nemesis Professor James Moriarty, might be involved, and he doesn’t like nosy little girls interfering in his business.

You can find Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy on Goodreads

Get the e-copy for free!
The e-copy of Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy is free now on all vendor sites! Grab your free copy here:
– Amazon
– Barnes & Noble
– Kobo
– Smashwords

Get the Audiobook!
You can buy the audiobook of Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy here:
– Audible
– Amazon
– iTunes

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here on Soundcloud.

Guest Post: Romance in Amanda Lester’s world
My first crush came at the age of six. At thirteen I fell deeply in love. Because love was so central in my young life, I wanted a romantic relationship to lie at the heart of my stories for tweens and teens. In fact this relationship is so important to me that I actually think of my series not as mystery but as a love story between a flawed girl who thinks big and a boy who’s full of fire.

Writing about young love is tricky though. When we first meet Amanda and her friends they are twelve and thirteen, so while they have romantic feelings they don’t always recognize or feel comfortable with them. Amanda herself denies that she has them for an entire year. Only her friend Amphora, who is truly boy crazy, pursues this aspect of her life. So in the first three books I kind of dance around the issue, depicting flashes of longing and affection but not much more. But in Book 4, after they’ve known each other for a year, the kids start to realize what they’ve been feeling for some time.

Amanda resists as long as she can. In fact she would probably never admit that she was in love unless you pushed her. When her friend Simon points out to her that she loves a certain boy (no spoilers here) she denies it. She’s so wrapped up in her filmmaking and learning to be a detective that she doesn’t even think about romance. Boys aren’t important to her except as fellow detectives or thorns in her side. It’s not that they repulse her. She just doesn’t have the time—until one day love hits her like an earthquake.

Over the course of Books 1 through 6, two boys fall in love with Amanda. Now I know that some readers don’t like love triangles, but I adore them, and Amanda’s isn’t the only one in the series. My feeling is that triangles evoke tension in a story, and allow us to feel that wonderful angst we crave when reading.

As I see it, this angst is the price you, the reader, and I, the writer, pay for the joy of experiencing the true love between soul mates that lies at the heart of the series. The light in the lovers’ eyes, the way their hearts soar, the deep bond they share—that’s what lies beneath the mysteries. My lovers free each other from the chains that bind them, grow and struggle and learn together as they discover who they are as people and where they fit in the world.

Make no mistake, it’s a rough road Amanda and her friends travel. Romance in my books is no fairy tale. But I believe the journey is all the more fulfilling for its difficulties, and all the sweeter. It’s that belief that moves me and impels me to tell my story. Because in the end, love is what life is all about.

Tomorrow I’ll talk about how I do my twists and turns.

All five books in the series

Buy the whole series on Amazon!
The first Amanda Lester book is free and book 2, 3, 4 and 5 are only 0.99$ per book or can be bought as part of a box set. Links to each book on Amazon are below:
– Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy (Amanda Lester, Detective #1)
– Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis(Amanda Lester, Detective #2)
– Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle (Amanda Lester, Detective #3)
– Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret (Amanda Lester, Detective #4)
– Amanda Lester and the Red Spider Rumpus (Amanda Lester, Detective #5)
– Amanda Detective box set Books 1-4
– The Amanda Lester series page

The Amanda Lester books on other vendors
The Amanda Lester series is also available on other vendor sites. Get the books on B&N, Kobo, iTunes and Smashwords.

About the Author:
Paula Berinstein is nothing like Amanda. For one thing, she’s crazy about Sherlock Holmes. For another, she’s never wanted to be a filmmaker. In addition, compared to Amanda she’s a big chicken! And she wouldn’t mind going to a secret school at all. In fact, she’s hoping that some day she’ll get to build one.

You can find and contact Paula here:
– Website
– Facebook
– Twitter
– Goodreads
– Paula’s blog on Goodreads
– The Writing Show podcasts
– Newsletter

Giveaway
There is a tour wide giveaway for the book blitz of the Amanda Lester series. These are the prizes you can win:
– One winner will win all 5 Amanda Lester books in paperback.
– Two winners will win a set of all 5 Amanda Lester books in e-format.

For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway