This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Julie Anne Grasso is an Australian author with a background in paediatric nursing. She spent many years literally wrapping children in cotton wool. Every day she witnessed great courage and resilience from the tiny people she cared for, which inspired her to write stories about a little girl elf just like them. Add in some very funky technology, her love of science fiction and desire to impart great values through her little girl elf named Caramel and there you have it, the Adventures of Caramel Cardamom Trilogy was the result. Julie lives in Melbourne with her husband Danny and their little elf Giselle. Most days she can be found sipping chai lattes, chasing a toddler, and dreaming up wonderful worlds that often involve consumption of cupcakes.
Reviewed by Lee Ashford for Readers' Favorite
“Return to Cardamom” by Julie Anne Grasso is an appealing story for pre-teens through young (or not so young) adults. This is book 2 in “The Adventures of Caramel Cardamom” series; it is the sequel to “Escape from the Forbidden Planet”. Cardamom is a planet populated by elves. The elves have various powers and abilities, but not all elves have the same abilities. Caramel Cardamom is the granddaughter of the King of Cardamom, and the daughter of one of the planet’s foremost healers. Caramel herself is in training to become a healer, but unbeknownst to herself or others, she already possesses healing abilities far in excess of what even her mother has. The economy of Cardamom is tied exclusively to the export of cardamom pods, which are the seed pods of a very sensitive intelligent plant. The pods are the source of energy used predominantly on thousands of civilized planets in the galaxy. In this episode, the “bad guys” from the first book return, endangering the entire planet’s production of cardamom pods, placing the entire galaxy in a serious bind. But all is not lost! Caramel and friends come to the rescue, and save the galaxy from the evil clone Alexander222. There is plenty of action in this book; enough for three or four books, in fact. But this is really not entirely a standalone story. There are numerous references which would make better sense if the first book were read first.
The writing is outstanding. This author has superb descriptive skills which have served her well in creating various planets and their respective “people” so that the reader can visualize them with no problems. Her description of foods and drink will make your mouth water! She has also created her young heroine to be an extremely strong character, but one with some physical defects. This seems to have been an intentional move on the author’s part to encourage kids with disorders who might otherwise feel impaired. Caramel is the heroine, but she is also just one of the gang. This story was a pleasure to read. I recommend it to all older children who are able to read chapter books, up to adults who enjoy reading an occasional pre-teen book. I have already acquired the first book in the series, and plan to read and review it soon. I am confident it will be every bit as enjoyable as this one.
