Spotlight: Anathama’s Road- Elysians by A.E. Thrall

Spotlight: Anathama’s Road- Elysians by A.E. Thrall

Amazon ~ Goodreads
December 12, 2022
419 pages

At the Buckroad Inn, Eloralynn, an Elysian princess who has long begged Ohren to take up his throne, recounts the tale of the Seventeen Elysians. As she tells the tale of the forebears of all races, The Children, and their strife against the rebellious god Odrum, Ohren grapples with the shame of his past.

Anathama’s Road weaves together the tales of the Seventeen Elysians and the Sons of Remr. Together these tales tell the ages long war between the Vanya and the Merath, the gods of the world.

Eloralynn speaks of the first Elysians, the Three from the Sky, and the Four from the Tree. She tells how they came to find the Five from the Mountain and Five from the Sea, amidst the incredible danger brought about by Odrum and the Merath. Ohren recounts the Sons of Remr, who lost their immortality in their strife against Odrum.

Outside the Buckroad Inn, a new threat looms, for Odrum was but a puppet to a larger foe. The patrons of the Buckroad Inn would do well to listen, for if the races of Ely are to survive the coming storm, they must remember their singular origin and unite against this common foe.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

A.E. Thrall is the writing duo of brothers Derek and Caleb Thrall. They are the authors of their Fantasy debut novel, Elysians, book one of a planned series titled, Anathama’s Road. They are Wyoming natives, both obtaining their bachelors from the University of Wyoming. Derek is a lawyer by day while Caleb is a school counselor.

Spotlight: When Emily Went Missing by Michael Weems

Spotlight: When Emily Went Missing by Michael Weems

Amazon ~ Goodreads
December 26, 2020
231 pages

“It was the flowers that killed the farmer’s wife. I dreamed about it after getting shot in the head.”

Ruth Gonzales introduces us to her strange world where a haunted flower garden is her best friend, she hears thoughts that are not her own, and she dreams the memories of the dead in the small town of Foxglove, Texas. Ruth has a rule. The Rule of the Dead is a simple one – Ruth doesn’t tell anyone about the thoughts she hears or the memories of the dead she dreams. But when a classmate disappears and Ruth begins to dream of a world in oil paintings, she realizes she may be compelled to break The Rule to do what is right.

Young adult to adult fiction. Book has mild profanity (no f-bombs, but a few cuss words are used sporadically). Book does contain some violence, particularly the first chapter. Reader discretion is advised.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Weems is an Amazon best selling author of The Ghosts of Varner Creek and Border Crossings. When Emily Went Missing is his third novel.

Spotlight: A River, its Pebbles and the Sky Above by Devanarayanan G Nair

Spotlight: A River, its Pebbles and the Sky Above by Devanarayanan G Nair

Amazon ~ Goodreads
October 10, 2022
109 pages

A book rare in its texture, in a diction in consonance with the contemporary, capturing moments! Condensed images catapulting meaning, decked with the right photos that cement and sediment meanings, evocative to the core! Afterall, isn’t that what poetry is all about?

Opening pores, inviting the reader in, allowing him to weave out webs in its interstices! Here is the much-needed poetry of the times.

In an age of selective seeing, listening straddling the tight ropes of time, these emotive, tangible words, images and spaces keep our imagination astir, through the minimal to the maximal. Words slide and fall into the reader psyche causing ripples, ultimately to settle down like pebbles in the lake with an assurance and a calm so rare.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Devanarayanan Gopakumaran Nair was born and raised in Kerala, India. He earned degrees in computer engineering and management and is currently running AlignMinds, a technology consulting company. Dev has spent his life pursing greater knowledge and thrives on unraveling the complex layers of the human experience.

Spotlight: The Dark Prince of Lazera by Rachel E. Croxton

Spotlight: The Dark Prince of Lazera by Rachel E. Croxton

Amazon ~ Goodreads
November 1, 2022
274 pages

Simina, a poor girl in the small village of Lazera on the planet Zormonia, loves to read books. The stories in them take her to far distant lands and allow her to imagine herself in a different world, a different life. Her favorite things to read are fairy tales and romance novels. One day, she discovers an intriguing new book, titled The Dark Prince of Lazera. It tells of an evil, dark prince who possesses dark magic. She does not believe he is real, though the book says otherwise. That is, until one fateful encounter…

Certain events cause Simina’s life to change in unexpected ways as the mysteries of The Dark Prince begin to unravel…

Review: The Curse of Wrath by C.C Sunny

Review: The Curse of Wrath by C.C Sunny

Amazon ~ Goodreads
September 20, 2022
426 pages

Dianna didn’t know what to expect when a beautiful horse with a red rose and a fancy letter saying her father had been arrested. But she certainly wasn’t expecting to be swept away into an hidden enchanted kingdom ruled by a furry beast, animal staff and an entire town turned into flowers. A life for a life that was Diannas payment for her fathers crime.

Although Dianna promised to remain within the kingdom she hasn’t given up her goal to go home. Dianna’s presence disturbs more than Beast’s solitude. The last pretty face he trusted had cursed him. His powers suppressed by the curse have made him a prisoner to his past mistakes, a never ending punishment. He can’t fully protect his people and kingdom from the witch that cursed him.

The witch is possessive, entitled and will fight to keep what she believes to be hers.

~~~

MY THOUGHTS

This is probably the longest Beauty & the Beast retelling I’ve read so far, but also one of the more unique ones. There are the obligatory, familiar aspects of the B&B story plus extra, more interesting worldbuilding, magic, and other fantasy races.

The story goes dark in the stark reality of war, life and death (I only wish Dianna had more of a reaction to a certain death near the end).

I liked the relationship between Dianna and the Beast. They had time to grow into their relationship and fall in love with each other. There was a lot of ‘meat’ on this story’s bones (sometimes B&B retellings don’t often add something more to the overall plot, y’know, to make the book stand on its on legs).

C.C. Sunny is an author to watch (can’t wait to see that possible sequel coming out).

Spotlight: Depraved Immortal Supernormal Artists (DISA) Volume 1-3 by Jason W Chan

Spotlight: Depraved Immortal Supernormal Artists (DISA) Volume 1-3 by Jason W Chan

ABOUT VOLUME ONE

Come along as a group of immortal supernormal artist friends bands together to solve mysteries and fight crime and other evils while they struggle with their own addictions and depravities.

Volume 1 is about the mysterious disappearance of their friend Wind, the one who made them all immortal in the first place.

Buy Volume One, A Bizarre Disappearance, on Amazon

ABOUT VOLUME TWO

In Volume 2, the love story of Wind and Flower is revealed, starting with a shocking murder in Tang Dynasty China and continuing with an exciting cat-and-mouse chase and harrowing escape along the Silk Road. The reason behind Yan’s hatred of and revenge on Wind is also revealed.

Buy Volume Two, A Love that Echoes through Time, on Amazon

ABOUT VOLUME THREE

In Volume 3, the group of friends is closer to unraveling the mystery of the disappearance of their friend Wind. The revenge of Yan reaches its riveting climax.

Buy Volume Three, The Cycle of Revenge, on Amazon

AUTHOR LINKS

Blog | Twitter | Facebook Fanpage

Book Blitz + Giveaway: A Forest of Stolen Memories by Callie Thomas

Book Blitz + Giveaway: A Forest of Stolen Memories by Callie Thomas

A Forest of Stolen Memories
Callie Thomas
Publication date: December 2nd 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

A royal wedding turns to disaster when a curse goes awry. A victim of the Sorcerer’s prophecy, Roselyn’s memories are instantly erased, leaving her panicked at the altar. Confused, she flees to the place her prince fears most—the enchanted Mistbrooke Forest. Danger lurks closer than she can imagine, forcing her to seek help from a dark stranger who may be the key to recovering her lost memories. Can she break the curse without breaking her heart?

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

I didn’t care that he was a prince—they would not force me to marry a stranger.

Yards of white lace, patterned with roses over a white satin gown, clung to the top half of my body, then fanned out around me. Dazed, I stared at them, confused why I couldn’t remember a single detail about my dress. Or about myself.

Who am I? Why could I not remember?

“Rose? Darling?” the handsome prince whispered, his words warm like honey, coaxing my eyes to his. So familiar . . . those silver eyes lined with impossibly long sandy-brown lashes. They matched his styled hair, which curled around his golden crown, not a strand out of place.

His thumbs rubbed in a soothing motion across my knuckles, my fingertips trapped in his grip. I tugged my hands, his eyes narrowing at my struggles as his hold turned painful.

“Please let me go,” I cried out.

He slid closer, so close that his warm breath caressed my cheeks, and I inhaled his lemon scent. Fear rooted me in place, the feeling of confinement strangely paralyzing. His eyes trailed over my features with heated possession, stopping to linger at my lips. Releasing one of my hands, he reached his gloved fingers for my face.

Did he think he could kiss me just because he wished it?

Not if I had anything to say about it!

Author Bio:

Callie Thomas was born in California but moved away immediately after, living in more places in the United States than she can remember. Even now, she can’t stay in one spot too long, but you can usually find her on the sandy shores of someplace tropical, possibly with a coconut drink in her hand. Callie has been writing since middle school when her teacher caught her writing stories instead of vocabulary words in her 7th grade English class. Plagued by doubt, she went in a completely different direction and graduated college at George Mason University with a Bachelor of Science in Graphic and Web Design. But the stories never stopped. Older and wiser (she hopes), she is finally ready to take a leap of faith with her writing. She recently published her first Vella series, A Forest of Stolen Memories, and is currently writing her first novel, The Captain’s Daughter.

Website / Goodreads / Instagram / Facebook / TikTok

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js