The last half of 2023 was personally rough for me. I was homeless for nearly four months–a nightmare that seemed never ending. Now, this month, things have become relatively stable. While I haven’t really stopped reading, the willpower to review (and the ability to do so) was nonexistent. Starting soon, I want to be active on this blog again.
The next upcoming post will be a wish list/ spotlight post of books I want to (eventually) read. After that, I hope to get back to reviewing and spotlighting once more.
Thank you. ❤
Spotlight: Once Upon a Broken Sky: The Fracturing of a Fairy-Tale Circus by M.T. DeSantis
Amazon ~ Goodreads
April 21, 2023
116 pages
The circus where dreams come true, for a price…
Joining Grimmfay saved Zelandra’s life and gave her power she never thought possible. For countless performances, she’s enthralled audiences at the Master’s whim, but when a guest sees past the magic to the young woman trapped beneath, she realizes the power was never really hers.
A fairy-tale life waits beyond the circus’s eternal night, but it will take more than a handsome prince or a wish on a star to break Grimmfay’s bonds. The illusion of power isn’t so easily given up, especially when it will do everything to keep Zelandra under its control.
Come one, come any… Bring few, bring many…to Grimmfay, the fantasy circus perfect for fans of The Night Circus, Caraval, and the Lunar Chronicles.
Cover Reveal: The Bee King by Mathilda Zeller
Preorder on Amazon ~ Preorder paperback ~ Goodreads
May 16, 2023
ABOUT THE BOOK
When the crops fail, the monsters come.
When the monsters come, they buy the daughters.
Yura would do anything to keep her sister and cousin out of the hands of the monsters. She would even accept a marriage proposal from the Bee King, the mysterious honey magnate allegedly driving the prosperity of the empire.
But when she arrives at the Apiary, the secluded estate of her betrothed, nothing is as it seems. The empire’s wealthy and famous are converging upon the estate and she soon learns that the Bee King is not marrying her for love or lust, but third reason–a dark, strange, and deadly reason.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mathilda Zeller has inhabited 2 continents, 3 countries, 11 of the United States, and 18 towns. Don’t ask her where she’s from; it’s complicated.
She endeavors to make you lose sleep with fantasy and horror stories and currently makes her home in the Midwest with her husband, six children, and two cats.
Release Day: Scales and Stingers by K.M. Warfield
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ UBL
March 14, 2023
336 pages
ABOUT THE BOOK
Thia Bransdottir is shunned for being half Fallen, a race feared by many. She tries to disguise her lineage, but her lilac eyes make it impossible. When her Father is killed, she is taken to the cloister to be a servant of her faith. Jinaari Althir is sworn to protect Thia from the disgraced half of her heritage. Under his holy vows, he must keep others from killing her for their prejudice and using her for her power. He must succeed, there is no room for failure. Trust for someone like Thia is difficult.
Jinaari may say he is there to protect her, but can he truly do his best when he knows she is of the Fallen? Will Thia stay safe in order to fulfill her purpose or is she fated to die for her origins?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in the late 1960’s, K. M. has lived most of her life in the Pacific NW. While she’s always been creative, she didn’t turn towards writing until 2008. Writing under the pen name of KateMarie Collins, she released several titles. In 2019, the decision was made to forge a new path with her books. The Heroes of Avoch series, along with a new pen name, is the end result.
When she’s not writing, she loves playing Dungeons & Dragons with friends, watching movies, and cuddling up with her cat. K. M. resides with her family in what she likes to refer to as ‘Seattle Suburbia’.
Spotlight: The Lost Son (The Zargothian Saga Book 1) by Aidan Lucid
Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ UBL
October 20, 2022
255 pages
ABOUT THE BOOK
When Henry Simmons unearths a coin with mysterious powers, it’s clear that his life is soon to change . . . but not how he expects. After using the charm to woo Tracey Maxwell, Henry finds himself launched to another dimension””a world in which the human race is mercilessly hunted down by creatures called Sadarkians. This hellish realm, Zargothia, could scarcely be less safe.
Transported together, Henry and Tracey meet two mysterious strangers and a garrulous cat. Pressing forward, they learn that they’ve been charged with saving the people of Zargothia, but freeing King Argoth along with his people means facing ruthless overlords and almost certain death.
Vastly outnumbered, can Henry and his fated friends surmount the odds? In such a realm of wicked magic, danger lurks at every turn . . . and nothing is what it seems.
~~~
PRAISE
The Lost Son was recently selected for an Honorable Mention in Bookshelf’s 2022 Fiction Writing Contest.
“The plot, and pacing are quick and engaging. Excellent fantasy elements woven throughout just make this for a book that I didn’t want to put down.” – Laura Ruetz.
“I enjoyed this YA fantasy and I felt that it would be interesting to all ages. I thought that The Lost Son was a good story.” – Delphia Von Heeder
~~~
Find out more about Aidan Lucid and his work on his website and follow him on Twitter.
Spotlight: Tales from 13 Realms by Arken Wheeler
March 1, 2023
Smashwords
The collection begins with a biopunk piece “Green Ground Zero”, where sentient algae has overtaken the world and mutated humans into manipulated swamp monster zombie workers. A rebel named Nap risks his life for a taste of freedom, setting the tone for the rest of the collection.
“Skeleton Soulmate” is the only optimistic romance story in this collection. It tells the dark fantasy meeting of a numb ex-tattoo artist hermit who can only see human beings as walking skeletons, and a carefree wandering man-child who views himself and everyone else as babies.
Set on a central Florida small-town strawberry farm “Zombalibot” is an apocalyptic sci-fi story taking place after Grady, an old strawberry farmer and Santiago, the noble Mexican farm manager, witness a UFO crash on the farm.
The final tale in this collection is “Midnight Ascent”. In a tourist town’s late-night blizzard, this dark comedy flirts with magic realism as Shin, an orphaned outcast, seeks help from a drunk old man to find and enter the portal rumored to exist at the peak of the nearby mountain.
The other nine stories see pregnant call girls fighting back against giant sewer monsters, homeless Vietnam veterans taking unexpected psychedelic trips back in time, and other strange stories that explore the dirty avenues of raw realities and ideal imagination.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Arken Wheeler is an author/screenwriter from Tampa, Florida based in Atlanta, Georgia. He specializes in psychoactive cyberpunk, biopunk, science fantasy, antihero fantasy, magic realism, surrealist noir, and crime drama sagas interwoven with dark comedy and horror elements. Arken is earning a BFA in Creative Writing from Full Sail University and is a member of the International Association of Professional Writers and Editors. Their work is published through Amnesty International USA, Curbside Splendor, and Entropy Magazine. Arken has written, produced, directed, and acted in two original web series, Broken Ark and Demigods, in post-production. He has one pilot currently in pre-production. When not writing stories, Arken plays harmonica, and is also a photojournalist, a fashion-designer/jeweler and substitute teacher.
Release Day: The Shadow of Theron (Age of Shadows Book One) by Kathryn Troy
Author: Kathryn Troy
Title: The Shadow of Theron (Age of Shadows Book One)
Genre: Romantic Fantasy/Epic Fantasy/Fantasy Adventure
Word Count: 141k
Price: $4.99 (digital), $15.99 (paperback)
Number of pages: 546 pages
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64898-297-2
Print ISBN: 978-1-64898-296-5
The powers of old are fading. A new Age is dawning.
Holy relics are all that remain of Theron’s sacred legend. Now those relics, the enchanted weapons forged by the Three-Faced Goddess to help Theron defeat the wicked Sorcerer Argoss, are disappearing.
Lysandro knows the village magistrate Marek is responsible, and he searches for proof disguised as the masked protector the Shadow of Theron. But when Marek wounds him with an accursed sword that shouldn’t exist, Lysandro must find a way to stop Marek from gaining any more artifacts created by the Goddess or her nemesis. The arrival of the beautiful newcomer Seraphine, with secrets of her own, only escalates their rivalry.
As the feud between Lysandro and Marek throws Lighura into chaos, a pair of priestesses seeks to recover the relics and return them to safekeeping. But the stones warn that Argoss is returning, and they must race to retrieve Theron’s most powerful weapon. But as they risk their lives for a legend, only one thing is certain. The three temples to the Goddess have been keeping secrets: not just from the faithful, but from each other.
Wheel of Time readers and fans of Sarah Maas, Saladin Ahmed, and Trudy Canavan will delight in this fantasy adventure duology infused with romance.
Teaser:
Lysandro moved along the edges of the room, circumnavigating the central space occupied by countless dancing couples. Then he saw her. At the far end of the hall, the normal view out over the coast had been replaced by a painted backdrop of the Maghreve Desert, at the very farthest border of Mirêne. With her arms wrapped around herself, Seraphine looked out over the artificial horizon. She wore a sleek ivory dress covered gold and copper crystals that left her shoulders daringly bare. That now familiar ache that hadn’t left him since this morning grew more pronounced.
As he observed the faraway, wistful look in her eyes, he realized he recognized it—homesickness. He took a deep breath and called on well-used skills to smooth his nerves and keep them tightly tucked away under a charming façade.
He inhaled the hypnotic scent of her hair again as he stood close to her, and almost lost his nerve. He agonized over what to say, knowing he might have only one shot to get her attention.
“Is the city of stars as beautiful as they say?”
She turned to face him, and he saw the truth in her eyes.
Author Bio:
I’m a history professor by day, a novelist by night. I like to write what I read – fantasy, romantic fantasy, gothic fiction, historical fiction, paranormal, horror, and weird fiction. Horror cinema and horticulture are my other passions.
When I’m not reading or writing or teaching, I’m gaming, traveling, baking, or adding some new weird creepy cool thing to my art collection. I’m a Long Island native with one husband, two children, and three rats.
Cover Reveal: Heart of Fire by Raina Nightingale
Coming April 16, 2023
Preorder Now With Your Favorite Retailer
A SLAVE DETERMINED TO RIDE A DRAGON. A CHILD CHOSEN TO RIDE THE OBSIDIAN GUARDIAN.
Camilla has always been told her race is inferior. She cannot use magic. If she bonds to a dragon, she helps doom the dragons to extinction. She has never believed a word of it. She has always known that she can use magic, and she suspects it is the elves who harm the dragons by keeping them to themselves. Now, she is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime: a dragon’s clutch is hatching and while she will earn the wrath of her captors if she is caught, she has the chance to see a dragon hatch and perhaps even to Recognize.
Kario’s people have feared dragons since time immemorial. When an unrealistically huge black dragon flies in while she is hunting, she is certain she will die. Instead, her life is changed when Nelexi, Obsidian Guardian of Areaer, chooses her as her final rider. Kario takes the name Flameheart, but she is soon homesick and afraid that she is insufficient to be the partner of a god.
AUTHOR LINKS
Upcoming January 2023 Releases
The Thunderstone Theft: A Cinderella Story by Eliza Prokopovits
Amazon ~ Goodreads
January 10, 2023
193 pages
The Minister of the Treasuries has been brutally stabbed. Unfortunately for Miss Ella Highmoore’s godfather, the murder happened right on his doorstep, and now he’s the primary suspect. Ella knows her godfather is innocent, and she resolves to solve the crime and clear his name. A chance meeting with a young man named Charlie sets them both on the path to adventure and romance as they take on the challenge together. But Charlie has a secret, and when the truth comes out on the night of the prince’s ball, it looks like the end of their relationship. Ella is determined, however, that it won’t be the end of her investigation. She seeks the last few clues on her own, winding up in grave danger at the hands of the killer, and only Charlie knows enough about the case to rescue her.
Join the unstoppable Miss Ella Highmoore on the streets of Messene, a city based loosely on historical Regency London.
~~~
Starseed: Book 1 of the Shadow & Shifter Series by Olivia Hillier
Amazon ~ Goodreads
January 12, 2023
283 pages
Dark shadows. Fated Mates. Good vs Evil.
Maya has always seen the shadows. All the others are convinced something is wrong with her, leading her to a mental health diagnosis. Maya is forced into home-schooling and self-isolation.
That was until she met Cay, the only other person who can explain and share her strange abilities.
In a world filled with hidden shifters, dark spirits and unearthly beings. What has made Maya Voss an outcast is the only thing that will save the human race from the evil that is rising around them.
But awakening to Maya’s magic that lies within her is equally as dangerous as it is powerful.
As the dark presence thickens inhabiting the bodies of humans pushing them to do unlawful things.
Can Maya tame her own deep dark shadows to unleash the light within?
Move over vampires, angels & demons. There’s a new race in town. Starseed is the first book in the mythology, shadow & shifter series, and the beginning of a whole new teenage supernatural adventure.
~~~
Cursed Ever After by Lacey Carter Andersen
Amazon ~ Goodreads
January 13, 2023
261 pages
My father has disappeared, and the only person who can help me is my sworn enemy…
In Paradise Falls, everything seems perfect. There’s no death, no hunger, and no homelessness. I’ve been told a million times that it’s a utopia, made possible because of my family. And I’ve always believed my people when they said this.
But then my father goes missing in another world.
My people are worried. My father’s mission was to bring back a powerful substance we need for our survival. Now, the only people who can get this substance are me and the son of a rival family.
If only things were that easy.
In my world, everything surrounding my father’s disappearance is shrouded in secrets and lies, causing me to question my beliefs and my loyalty to my people. And in that other world, dangerous magical beings stalk me, and the only chance I have to survive and find my father is to work with Callum, the son of my enemy.
Callum is stubborn, arrogant, and as resistant to working together as I am. And yet, when we find ourselves in a life-or-death situation, I might just realize that there’s more to this handsome man than what meets the eye. When I touch him, when I’m close to him, I know it’s wrong. It’s forbidden. But whatever is going on, he’s the only other person who can help me, who can understand.
Yet every decision has a price. And will the one I pay for growing close to Callum be more than I can bear?
~~~
Beauty and the Blade by S.C. Grayson
Amazon ~ Goodreads
January 26, 2023
297 pages
Most London socialites dream of marrying for love or status, but Contessa’s wedding is about justice—and revenge.
Nathanial Woodrow is known on the streets of London as the Beast, leader of the fearsome Lion gang who mark their victims with three slashes on their face. Since her mother was found dead with the signature slashes years ago, Contessa has wanted nothing more than to see her murderer brought to justice. However, the Beast has been impeccable at maintaining his façade as the high society Mr. Nathanial Woodrow, and nobody has been able to gather enough evidence to convict him. When the Beast unexpectedly asks Contessa’s father, the Chief of the Royal Police, for her hand in marriage, Contessa and her father hatch a plan to bring him down from the inside.
As Contessa enters the lion’s den in search of evidence to convict the Beast, she finds that not everything is as she once thought. Her father’s work, hunting down Talented that use their magic to rule the criminal underworld, is thrown into question with each glimpse of the kind-hearted man beneath the mask of a hardened gang leader. As Contessa navigates her search for justice, she finds herself questioning what side she’s really on, and why she finds herself drawn to a man she’s supposed to hate.
~~~
Silk: Summer’s Curse by Rubina George
Amazon ~ Goodreads
January 29, 2023
A Curse
Eighteen year old Summer Smith has been cursed. If she is to survive, she must return to the magical world she was hunted from as a child. For Summer is no ordinary girl. Her blood is rare. Her power feared.
A Promise
Sebastian Spry, a moody recluse on the edge of despair, knows this better than anyone. He had no intention of returning to Silk, but he promised to protect his best friend’s daughter, no matter the consequences.
A Betrayal
Together, Summer and Sebastian embark on a dangerous quest to find a cure, one that takes them through the lawless lands of Silk, and into the paths of the rebellious Royals. The Royals won’t offer their help for free, though. If Summer wants the cure, she’s going to have to earn it.
Capturing the attention of the Royals could be Summer’s undoing. Will Summer find the cure before its too late? Or will she be the downfall they never saw coming?
Love and loyalty are put to the test in this desperate fight for survival.
Welcome, to the World of Silk.
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.
Indie Fantasy Review 