Golden Night (Mystery By You)

Golden Night

Sophie is busy preparing an exhibition at the museum she works at, and she’s less than thrilled when a high-handed detective first denies her entry, then has a few problems believing she is who she says she is. Things don’t exactly improve when Sophie discovers the detective’s presence is due to an attempted robbery. Luckily, Tommy is perfectly reasonable when you get to know him, and soon they’re working together to solve a 200 year old mystery. But someone else is on the trail, and Sophie and Tommy are just slightly in the way.

Book By You Blog Contents 16.08.13

www.bookbyyou.com

Reviews (any books without a link are books I own but haven't reviewed yet)

Romance By You

By Magic Bound

Click for Love

ER Fever

Love Factor

Love's Next Door

Racing Hearts

Starstruck

Tropical Treasure

Wedding Favors


Hot Blooded (same sex, m/m)

Seduction Games (same sex, f/f)


Classic Book By You

Dracula

Emma

Northanger Abbey

The Phantom of the Opera

Pride & Prejudice

Robin Hood

The Secret Garden

Sense & Sensibility



Teen Book By You

Black Lace

First Bite

Night Wolf

Prom & Prejudice


Mystery By You

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Golden Night

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

The Secret Adversary


Kids Book By You

The Book of Dragons

The Enchanted Castle

The Phoenix and the Castle

Riddles & Codes

The Secret Code

Two Children and It


Why I Love Book By You

Robin Hood (Classic Book By You)

Following the death of his parents, Robin has two choices. He can either become his uncle’s heir, thus denying his cousin his birthright (probably not the best idea considering what his cousin is like) or he can allow himself to be disinherited too and live in the woods as an outlaw. Robin decides to be an outlaw, and soon puts his means-tested version of tax into operation, making many friends along the way, including a number of people who have just tried to kill him. Robin could probably live like this forever if he has to, but maybe there is a way he could become part of society again. And if it’s a way that involves the pretty Maid Marian, all the better.

The Secret Code (Kids Book By You)

The Secret Code

Tuppence and Tommy (I do hope I haven’t broken any copyright laws, but I couldn’t resist) are saving up for a ride in a hot air balloon, but they seem to be having just as much trouble making money as the characters I named them after. In the absence of convenient criminals, they sell cookies and lemonade and plan a party for pets. But criminals come in all sizes, and when first Tuppence’s school project and then half the money they’ve saved goes missing, Tuppence and Tommy soon have more on their minds than balloons.

Starstruck (Romance By You)

Sophie is far from impressed when she sees Kenny gambling in a casino and getting thrown out for fighting, but it’s not as though she’s ever going to see him again. She’s about to fly to Minerva Seven to help negotiate a peace treaty, she doesn’t need drunken, gambling idiots in her life. But then she meets the commander of the starship she’ll be flying on – and it’s none other than that drunken gambling idiot. Sophie is determined to keep her distance from Kenny as much as possible…and Kenny can only hope she succeeds.

Dracula (Classic Book By You)

Solicitor Jonathan Harker visits Count Dracula in Trannsylvania in order to finalise the details of a house Dracula is buying in England. This book was written long before Twilight, so the possibility of Dracula’s being a vampire doesn’t occur to Jonathan at first, but there is definitely something a bit off about this guy who never eats, doesn’t appear in mirrors, and seems to spend every night flying around like a big bat. Jonathan manages to escape from the castle and return to his fiancée Mina, but he soon realises Dracula is close behind him.

Two Children & It (Kids Book By You)

This is the personalised version of E. Nesbit’s Five Children & It.

Sophie and Serena go on holiday and decide to dig a hole to Australia. In doing so, they meet a very strange creature with eyes on stalks and feet like a monkey who calls himself a Psammead and claims to be able to give wishes. This turns out to be true…but whoever said you should be careful what you wish for couldn’t have been more right.

Seduction Games (Romance By You)

This is the same-sex (f/f) version of Tropical Treasure. There is also a m/m version.

When Emma wins a place on reality TV show Treasure Quest, she isn’t expecting to fall in love. Her ex-girlfriend hurt her badly, and what’s the chance of their being two lesbians out of just six contestants? The first person Emma meets is the incredibly hot Sophie, wearing nothing but a towel. She actually seems okay at times, if you can overlook the arrogance. But Sophie wants to win, and Emma doesn’t know how far she’s prepared to go…

Books I'd love to star in

I’m probably a little bit obsessed and odd (actually, there’s no ‘probably’ about it), but I’ve been thinking about books I’ve enjoyed reading, and wondering which books I’d most like BookByYou to personalise.

The Secret Adversary (Mystery By You)

When Tommy and Tuppence begin their career as The Young Adventurers, they have no idea what to expect - after all, they haven’t yet decided what young adventurers do. But after Tommy hears the name ‘Jane Finn’ in a restaurant and Tuppence decides to use it as an alias, they discover that being a young adventurer isn’t much fun after all. The violence and kidnappings aren’t so bad, but going without food is something they didn’t bargain for.

The Phantom of the Opera (Classic Book By You)

Raoul goes to the Paris Opera and sees his childhood sweetheart Christine performing the leading role in Faust. He’s keen to renew their acquaintance, but Christine seems less than happy to see him. When Raoul tries to find out why, he realises he has a rival. Christine has never seen the mysterious Erik (and let’s be honest, she wouldn’t want to), but he sings like an angel.

Racing Hearts (Romance By You)

Sophie dreams of becoming a racer, but as she’s a girl, she counts herself lucky just to be working with racers like Ace and Kenny. Ace is her current boyfriend, but sometimes he seems to be more in love with himself than with Sophie. New driver Kenny would like to take pole position in the races - and in Sophie’s heart. But he’s got to compete with Ace, and it seems like the only thing to Kenny’s advantage is that he has a proper name.

Northanger Abbey (Classic Book By You)

Catherine is very excited when friends of the family invite her to visit Bath with them, and she is far from disappointed when she makes two friends she really likes, the affectionate but flighty Isabella, who fancies Catherine’s brother James, and the gentle, quiet Eleanor Tilney. Isabella and Miss Tilney have the added advantage of having at least one hot older brother, and John Thorpe and Henry Tilney are quick to show an interest in Catherine. But while being driven around in John’s flash new carriage seems fun at first, Catherine much prefers the intelligent but very amusing Henry, who lives in a real live abbey. If only Catherine’s imagination wouldn’t keep running away with her…

Night Wolf (Teen Book By You)

Sophie is reading a mystery novel her new friend Jade has lent her. It’s a true story about a spate of killings and features a gorgeous Victorian detective called Kenneth. The next thing Sophie knows, she is in the middle of the mystery. Suffocated by corsets, far from impressed with coach travel…and gazing into a handsome detective’s eyes. Sophie has no idea who the killer is. But Kenneth has his own theories, and for once, he really hopes he’s wrong.

The Secret Garden (Classic Book By You)

When Mary’s parents die of cholera, she is sent to live with her uncle, who lives on the Yorkshire moors. At first, she’s not impressed. The moor is ugly, the house is boring, and she’s determined to hate everything. But it’s very difficult to hate the friendly robin, and even crusty old gardener Ben Weatherstaff plays a part in helping Mary to appreciate her new home. Mary’s life is starting to be happy at last…but then she hears the sound of crying somewhere in the house, and she's determined to find out who it is.

ER Fever (Romance By You)

Emma and Sophie are nurses in the accident and emergency department of a hospital. When they first meet gorgeous new doctor Gareth, Emma thinks he’s an arrogant bumhead. However, as Gareth is a dedicated professional and more than a little bit adorable, and as Emma is exactly the same, it’s not long before there’s some fumbling going on in the closet. But Emma, like any sensible girl who’s had her heart broken, has trust issues, and the sudden appearance of a beautiful girl from Gareth’s past goes down about as well as it usually does in books.

Emma (Classic Book By You)

As Jane Austen states in the opening few words, Emma Woodhouse is handsome, clever and rich. The trouble is…she knows it. Her neighbour Mr Knightley does his best to stop her from making an idiot of herself, but it just doesn’t occur to Emma that she could ever be wrong. Emma believes that her new friend Harriet, who is of questionable birth, would be the perfect match for the very respectable vicar, and she is also delighted to hear the rumours that the girl she hates is interested in her best friend’s husband. Mr Knightley thinks a good dose of falling in love would sort Emma out. It looks like he’s about to get his wish.

Sense & Sensibility (Classic Book By You)

Things are bad enough for Mrs Dashwood and her daughters when Mr Dashwood suddenly drops dead, but their situation doesn’t exactly improve when their daughter in law talks their brother out of giving them enough money to live on. Marianne likes a bit of drama and tragedy to spice up her life, but her elder sister Elinor can see they’re in deep dog poo. Then some random cousin offers them a home out of nowhere, separating Elinor from the guy she fancies and throwing Marianne into the path of a guy she should probably stay well away from.

Pride & Prejudice (Classic Book By You)

When the rich, single Mr Bingley arrives in the neighbourhood, Mrs Bennet is determined to get at least one of her five daughters married off. She becomes even more hopeful when Bingley’s even richer friend Mr Darcy shows up, but whilst Mr Bingley and Jane Bennet do seem to be instantly smitten, Mr Darcy makes a bad first impression on Elizabeth when she overhears him saying she’s not exactly hot. Throw in a couple of tarty younger sisters and some lush young officers, and this classic book isn’t nearly as boring and inaccessible as you might think.

Hot Blooded (Same Sex Romance By You, M/M)

Aaron is a university professor who spends a lot of his time in the library. Chris is a vampire who also spends a lot of time in the library. A meeting between them seems inevitable, even before that bookshelf nearly crashes down on Aaron’s head, and Chris demands a kiss as a reward for saving him. Soon, the two men are crazy about each other (yes, this is a gay story, look away now if you’re prejudiced), but for some reason Aaron doesn’t understand, this sexy, mysterious stranger keeps holding back.

Wedding Favors (Romance By You)

Jade and Gareth are getting married (lucky Jade!) and Sophie has agreed to make the favours as a favour (genius title for a very funny book). Gareth’s friend Kenneth, a 911 operator and general doormat (but such a cute one), is housesitting for Gareth. Sophie does her best to deny the instant attraction between her and Kenneth, but even her shopping trolley can’t resist him.

Tropical Treasure (Romance By You)

Sophie’s first meeting with Gareth takes place in the bedroom.

Not like that. They fight over who’s going to sleep in the best room, but as soon as one of them actually wins the argument, Jade walks in and tells them she was here first. But Sophie and Gareth have sized each other up and decided they like what they see. And considering they’re spending the next few weeks on a tropical island without many clothes on, it’s fair to assume they’re going to see quite a lot of each other.

Love's Next Door (Romance By You)

Sophie returns to her old home after a year away and decides to welcome herself home by playing a little prank on her best friend and childhood sweetheart, Gareth. She isn’t the least bit attracted to him now, of course she isn’t, though she absolutely can’t stand that tart he’s sleeping with, but she still enjoys embarrassing him half to death and generally making life difficult for him. As for Gareth, the feeling is absolutely mutual.

Click for Love (Romance By You)

Sophie is sacked after accidentally sending a text intended for her new boyfriend to everyone in the company (personally, I think anyone sending a text as cringe making as that deserves to be shot, so she gets off quite lightly). But the company’s decision backfires on them just slightly when the talented Emma also leaves. Emma decides this is the perfect opportunity to pursue their dream of setting up their own fashion line, while Sophie decides this is the perfect opportunity to get Emma interested in one of her favourite hobbies: online dating.

Black Lace (Teen Book By You)

Kenneth is a Shadow Ward who chases after lost souls who haven’t died properly and tries to help them find peace. His latest assignment leads him to Sophie, a vampire who doesn’t suck blood, but still has quite a high mortality rate where her victims are concerned. Sophie needs Kenneth to keep her alive, and as he’s so adorably soft hearted, he can’t really say no, especially once he realises she’s just as much a victim as he is (the fact he thinks she’s gorgeous probably also helps).

First Bite (Teen Book By You)

Sophie is in the library researching for a school paper, when a really hot vampire called Kenneth appears out of nowhere and stops a bookshelf from falling on her head. Kenneth likes Sophie, but he feels that vampires’ getting involved with humans is a big no-no, even when they’re as intelligent and in love with books as he is. Sophie really likes Kenneth, but it’s hard work pretending she hasn’t noticed he doesn’t always breathe.

Prom & Prejudice (Teen Book By You)

Sophie and Gareth used to be best friends, but things went a bit sour after Gareth’s other best friend Avril pushed Sophie into the brambles and Gareth refused to believe it wasn’t an accident. Now, Gareth thinks it’s hilarious to play practical jokes on Sophie, while Sophie probably does get some secret enjoyment out of genuine accidents involving her locker door and Gareth’s head.

The Enchanted Castle (Kids Book By You)

It’s the school holidays, and Mummy wants to take Sophie and Emma on an adventure. Sophie and Emma view the idea with deep suspicion. They’ve been on Mummy’s ‘adventures’ before. It’s true that the hotel they’re staying in used to be a castle, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be fun – what if it smells?

The Book of Dragons (Kids Book By You)

This book features four short stories from E. Nesbit’s collection of short stories, The Last of the Dragons.

Daddy has decided Sophie and Jade are old enough to set off fireworks in the garden, so perhaps it’s not so very wrong of them to assume they’re also big enough to go all the way to the North Pole.

Bunking off school also seems perfectly acceptable when Sophie and Jade decide to find out once and for all why the mountain is so noisy.

When the world is overtaken by dragons of increasing size, Sophie and Jade have to sneak out during the hours of daylight in order to save the country.

Finally, Sophie and Jade go off to perform a traditional rite of passage…but it all seems such a shame when there’s only one dragon left.

Book By You Books

I spent most of my childhood reading books and wishing I was the main character. Real life is all right as far as it goes, but a book can take you into a whole different world.

So imagine how excited I was when I realised it was possible for me to star in my own books.

Book By You is a wonderful personalised book site that allows you to star in both original novels and existing works. You can personalise children's books, teen books, adult romances, mysteries and classic novels including Pride & Prejudice, The Secret Garden and The Phantom of the Opera.

You get to do all the fun things the main character does, and real life friends can play the roles of your friends in the books. Your romantic hero could be your real-life partner or the guy(s) of your dreams, whether he's that gorgeous guy you go to school with, or that hot guy who stars in your favourite film.

Even your cat or dog can make an appearance - and if, like me, you don't have any pets, you can always name them after some playful friend or toddler, the results are hilarious.

Depending on the book you order, there are also opportunities to change the book so it features your home town, your school or your favourite restaurant.

For the classic novels, I've mostly used the names of the original characters, as that will make more sense to the people who know them already. For the original novels, I've used the character names I've selected - it's very confusing and clunky writing 'the heroine's friend's boyfriend' all the time, especially as there are books when the heroine has more than one friend. I'll try really hard to make it clear which are personalised characters and which ones aren't.

These books give me so much happiness and laughter,which is why I thought I'd blog about them and share my enjoyment of them with other people. Maybe I'll get the chance to talk to other fans of personalised books. Maybe I'll inspire more people to buy them and help them discover the delights of starring in your own novel. (Maybe one day, I'll even have the courage to submit some of the personalised books I've written for myself. )