VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR [Review + Giveaway] The Portal's Choice by KD Pryor

The Portal's Choice

by KD Pryor

Date Published: 5/6/2013
Young Adult Paranormal / Horror

Journal, just in case . . .I didn’t ask to meet ghosts. Shoot, I was fine without them in my life. Uncle Craig and Hannah were nasty to me, but at least I knew how to handle living pains in the butt. Now I have to figure out how to open and close a portal between the human and spirit worlds. And I have to find and return a bunch of angry ghosts through the gateway and lock them on their side. I don’t know why the portal chose me to do this, a fifteen-year-old kid with no ghost busting experience. But it did. And if I want a ghost-free night’s sleep anytime soon, I’d better figure out how to get the job done. Because I’ve about had it with murderous ghouls and their unpleasant agendas.  “Signed Tallis Challinor”

When Tallis Challinor has to move a second time after the death of her parents, she hopes it is for good. She and her brother are ready to settle into a stable home situation with their Aunt Gabbie and her husband, Noreis. But what should have been a happy reunion is plagued with problems when Noreis opens a portal between the spirit and human worlds located in the basement of their house in New Hampshire. 

Tallis is a practical kid. She doesn’t believe that ghosts exist. But she can’t deny what she sees with her own eyes and the two ghosts Tallis meets at Thanksgiving in the basement of her aunt’s house are definitely not figments of her imagination, although she wishes they were. Tallis is unwittingly drawn into the portal’s energy when one of the ghosts fixates on her and forces her to assist in the release of three particularly nasty spirits. As a final blow, the portal chooses Tallis as a temporary gatekeeper and she finds herself charged with the duty of returning the very ghouls she’s set free, plus a few of their buddies, back to the spirit realm.  

As Tallis learns the secrets of the portal and begins to understand her newly acquired power, she formulates a plan to return the ghosts. Along the way, she receives help from many new friends who fill in the details about the identity of the escaped spirits, providing a possible motive for the outrageous actions of the escaped ghosts. Tallis must learn to trust herself and others as she taps into her inner courage to get the job done and save her town from the angry restless dead set. 

The Portal’s Choice was a very different story than I am use to reading. I usually don't read ghost stories not sure why but they don’t usually spark my interest. But I read the blurb and The Portal’s Choice got my attention.  Tallis Challinor and her brother Wyatt spent most of their life after her parents died going from relatives house to relatives house never really fitting in. But after their aunt dies they moved in with Aunt Gabbie, and her husband Noreis. Not only did they share the house with them but there was a portal into the afterlife that ghosts liked to visit on occasion when the door was open. Landry was definitely not your typical town, it was in every way a “ghost town”. And after the death of her Uncle Noreis, a  portal gatekeeper, the portal fell to Tallis and so did the responsibility to retrieve all of the good and very bad ghost that have ever been let out and return them through the portal back to the afterlife. With the help of her dead uncle, her new boyfriend-Aiden,  the rightful gatekeeper and several others from the town, she was going to have to do just that, in order for the portal to be closed forever.

The Portals Choice started off slow just to build the world for us. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute once all the action got started. Right from the beginning you jump in with both feet then it kind of lulls but don't go to sleep or put it down because after that it is action packed, non stop suspense! 

Tallis is a great heroine. She's very likable and your typical teenager, with all the issues that goes into being one.  (Fun...I know! Don't miss it at all) I was glad she finally found a family to stay with and that really seemed to love her and her brother. Then there was the really sweet relationship between her and Aiden. I was so glad she had found a friend and then when they finally got together. He was such a help and supported her throughout the whole ordeal. I could relate to every character and loved getting to know everyone in town. (Well...except for the ghost. Some of them were bad news and they showed it.)

If you enjoy paranormal ghost stories, than this one is for you. I think it is for YA and adults alike. It definitely is fun, action packed and full of suspense. Pryor did an awesome job!  And I can't wait to get around to the second one soon.

4 HOOTS for The Portals Choice!!

KD Pryor started life in Missouri, where she read lots of books, even sneaking them into baseball games to the irritation of her father. Kelley graduated with a degree in International and Comparative Studies from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. After college and marriage to a great guy, she decided to pursue a law degree at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Her oldest son was born soon after law school, followed three years later by her daughter and a move to Kentucky. One more son, a move to Ohio and four years later, her family jumped on the opportunity to move to India. They lived in Bangalore, now Bengaluru, for four wonderfully chaotic years, traveling all over Asia, Australia and Europe. 

Now, settled in New Hampshire with her family and herd of cats (only three), she can often be found in her office, working on the next installment of “The Gatekeepers of Em’pyrean” series, reading one of a dozen books she has started, and dreaming of her future travel destinations.

“The Portal’s Choice”, book one in “The Gatekeeper’s of Em’pyrean” series featuring Tallis Challinor, was released on May 6, 2013.

“The Inn of the Kindred Spirits”, a novella featuring protagonist Tallis Challinor, was released in November, 2013.

“The Forgotten Gate”, book two in “The Gatekeeper of Em’pyrean” series, is scheduled for release in 2014.

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Book #2 has just been released! 

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