Natalina Reis's Blog, page 5
September 11, 2024
The Aurora’s Pale Light – Cover Reveal
E.W. Doc Parris has a new sci-fi-horror book out, The WalrusTech Universe book two: The Aurora’s Pale Light.
Time is a motherf@#er.
The rules that govern time machines are strict and the penalties for violations are severe…and unpredictable. For example:
History will record that the end of human civilization will occur in a little over six years. History will record that a demonic virus will spread across the globe and wipe out over six billion lives. And history will record that John Arthur Banks, decorated war hero, died just over two weeks ago in a California wildfire.
Forensics confirmed it.
The DNA scraped from the burnt corpse matched his.
The Governor of California and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff attended his funeral.
It made all the news streams.
And yet…
John Banks is alive, thanks to a little help from an old army buddy in the future—with a time machine. John’s cheated history, cheated time, and cheated death. That’s the upside. The downside? He can’t return to his former life, he must hide his existence and his activities from the future, and it falls to him to prepare the world for the coming demon apocalypse. He can’t change time. The past his future friend observed, the devastation he caused with his time machine, the billions of lives lost—John can’t prevent any of it.
Success is not an option.
But he can prepare for the aftermath. John has six years to prepare for doomsday and he’s determined to cheat death one more time-this time on a global scale. Or failing that, he’ll have to lead the survivors out of Hell. There’s only one problem with that option.
The Highway out of Hell is not on GPS.
Warnings: Zombies, Torture, Wildfire, Racial Epithets, Gun Violence, Plane Crash
About the Series:
The pathway to the future is not a straight line.
Humanity will make it to the stars, they’ll forge a galaxy-spanning civilization. But it will be a bumpy road getting from here to there. There will be downfalls and there will be breakthroughs. Wars will be fought and alliances negotiated. It won’t always be pretty and it won’t always be the heroic types that move the species forward.
But the future is bright.
And that comes down to the genius of one lovable, Buddha-like hardware developer with the unlikely name of Walrus. He sees order in the chaos and beauty in the world underneath our world. Because of his unique perspective, his discoveries put us on that path.
The WalrusTech Universe is the long epic of how one special mind can change the universe.
Want to see something cool?
Universal Buy LinkAuthor Bio
E.W. Doc Parris is the bestselling author of “The Dent in the Universe.” An American writer known for matter-of-fact, hard science fiction grounded in the current scientific worldview, his stories are leavened with wit, and kindled by the warmth of human relationships.
In addition to his centuries-spanning WalrusTech Reality series, Doc is currently working on his next novel, Land of Nod, an exploration of A.I., nanotech, and the human brain’s neural network.
He is a vociferous proponent for all things science fiction, the instigator of the #SecretSciFiNetwork on Mastodon and Bluesky, and a proud member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA).
Born within the nation’s capital beltway, Doc makes his home in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge. A self-taught software developer and solutions architect, he’s made a decent living over the years as a set designer, graphic designer, animator, 3D modeler, iOS developer, puppeteer, and educator.
July 31, 2024
Your Blood, My Bones – Book Review
Your Blood, My Bones by Kelly Andrew
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book even though it was NOT a happy read (which is what I normally read).
What I loved:
*the less than perfect characters who toed the line between good and evil despite their good intentions.
*the love/hate relationship between the three main characters.
*the writing (such poetic writing fully satisfied and awed my love for words).
*the atmospheric setting and plot reminded me a little of The Shining (the book not the movie).
*the chickens (don’t ask me why I loved the chickens so much. I don’t even like chickens).
A couple things that I didn’t like so much:
*the ending (even though I agree it was the only plausible ending to this story but it still stings).
*I wasn’t crazy about their short foray into the “real world”. It just felt anticlimactic, I guess even though I did love her friends and the humor. It just didn’t jive with the rest of the book for me, I guess).
*The ending (oh did I mention that already?).
Spooky, extremely well written, and unputdownable (it’s a word). Highly recommend it.
July 15, 2024
Warrior of Blade and Dusk – Book Review
Warrior of Blade and Dusk by Anastasis Blythe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I rarely like a second book in the series better than the first but here we are. I really enjoyed this installment in the series (which I am guessing is taking off in another direction with the third book). It had everything I enjoy in C-drama/fantasy: adventure, magic, romance, weird creatures, and tropes like found family, enemies to lovers, hurt comfort… so many.
I noticed less “weirdness” in this print copy than in the first in terms of format (even though there is a snafoo in the last quarter of the book where the sentence stops midway and jumps to the next line) and the cover didn’t disappoint.
Love this series. Thank you Ms. Blythe for the read.
July 11, 2024
Take Some Tahini – Book Tour
Karenna Colcroft has a new MM paranormal romance out, Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat book six: Tahe Some Tahini. And there’s a giveaway.
Tobias Rogan never wanted to be a leader. But here he is, the Anax of the United States, ruler of all werewolves in the country. Only two weeks after winning the rank in a challenge fight against his senile predecessor, Tobias and his mate Kyle are still adjusting to their new reality when a frantic call alerts Tobias to the massacre of nearly half the wolves in a pack in North Dakota–including the pack’s Alpha and Beta.
An investigation reveals that the wolves responsible for the attack are from Canada. Tobias reaches out to Silas Creighton, Anax of Canada, and finds someone like-minded in wanting peace between the wolves of the two countries. At Silas’s invitation, Tobias and his mate Kyle, along with their new guard Quinn Boucher, sole survivor of the North Dakota massacre, travel to Nova Scotia to put an end to the conflict between the American and Canadian werewolves. But not all wolves are interested in peace–and not all want Tobias to survive the trip.
Warnings: violence, gun violence, discussion of past sexual abuse, homophobia
About the Series
Kyle Slidell didn’t move to Boston expecting to be changed into a werewolf. But that’s what happened. He can’t control whether he shifts at the full moon, but he can damn sure continue being vegan–even in wolf form.
Tobias Rogan, Alpha of Boston North Pack, never expected to fall in love with anyone, let alone a man. A male Alpha is not supposed to have a male partner. But when he meets Kyle, he’s immediately attracted. And after Kyle is changed, Tobias realizes the truth: Kyle is not only his partner, but his mate.
The werewolf world isn’t a simple place, and Kyle and Tobias are thrown into the middle of conflict within and among the packs of the United States–a conflict that extends all the way to the top of the werewolf hierarchy. Can they and their love survive what they face?
AmazonGiveaway
Karenna is giving away a $10 Amazon gift card with this tour:
a Rafflecopter giveaway https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js
Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b60e8d47313/?
Excerpt
I debated knocking and decided to just try the doorknob. Kyle had better hearing than the rest of us. He knew I was here. If he didn’t want me to enter the apartment, he would have locked the door.
He hadn’t. The knob turned easily, and I pushed the door open and entered the living room that had been mine for decades.
The light in the room was off, but the kitchen light was on. I set down my bag and walked slowly into the other room. And there, I found my mate.
Seeing Kyle sitting there, at the same table in the same apartment where our relationship had grown, felt like a knife in my heart. I’d found him. But the way he looked at me almost made me wish I hadn’t. I’d never seen such pain and anger in his eyes.
His eyes mirrored my own emotions. Pain at how he’d left me, not a word to me, not even speaking to me when I reached out. Rage at being abandoned by the one person who had sworn never to do that.
I didn’t know whether to hug him or beat the shit out of him. I did neither, just stood in the doorway, fists clenched, waiting for him to fucking say something so I could.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” I went toward the other chair but stopped. If I got too close to him, I might lunge across the table and strangle him. I closed my eyes just long enough to let an image of the ocean form. It didn’t calm me as much as usual, but at least it washed away the urge to hurt Kyle for hurting me. Which was good. I would never hurt Kyle.
I had before. I hadn’t meant to, but I had. And I’d sworn I never would again.
I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. “You’re here.”
“And the sky is blue, grass is green, and werewolves have fur.” He folded his arms. “You found me. Now what?”
His tone was completely flat. No anger, which would have been a good sign if he’d shown any other emotion. But there was nothing. He didn’t want me there. I could feel that through our bond, which was actually a good sign. The bond was still intact. But the way he spoke, the way he looked at me, sent my temper on the upswing again. How fucking dare he be a sarcastic asshole after what he’d done to me?
I gritted my teeth and forced another long, slow breath. “We talk. You tell me why you left, and we decide if we can fix it.”
“And if we can’t?”
“Then at least we talked to each other!” My voice rose, and I didn’t give a shit, even though Kirk could hear and probably everyone in the other two buildings could as well. “You just took off, Kyle. You didn’t say a damn thing, just took off. I was worried.” My eyes watered, and I blinked a few times as my anger ebbed. “I love you.”
“You have a weird way of showing it.” He sighed. “Sit down, would you? Unless you’re trying some Anax intimidation tactic on me.”
“I’m not.” I sat and leaned my elbows on the table. “How could you do that? How could you just leave without saying a fucking word?”
“I didn’t know what to say. You would have told me not to go. And I wouldn’t have gone. And I would have kept dealing with all that shit.”
“What shit?”
“You know.” He waved. “I’m a weakness for you. I shouldn’t exist or whatever. Those assholes back in California.”
“So you fucking walked out on me because of them?” I was so furious I was shaking. “You left as soon as I was gone. You knew you were going. You were gone by the time I called you, and you didn’t say a goddamn word. How could you do that?”
“I should have.” This time, emotion filled his tone. “I’m sorry, Tobias. I just…I needed to get the fuck out of there. And I knew you would have told me not to go. I didn’t want to do this.”
“Do what?”
“This.” He gestured toward me. “Argue. Process our feelings. I just wanted to get away from the homophobes and the memories. Living in that house…I’m guessing you have some decent memories of the place. You went there for years for the national gatherings. A couple weeks ago was my first time being there, and I spent most of the gathering in a goddamn cage, Tobias.”
I felt like he had jammed a blade into my heart. Involuntarily, I took a step back. How had I not realized? I knew all too well what trauma could do, but I hadn’t even considered how Kyle must feel waking up every single day in the place where he’d been dragged away from me and locked in a tiny basement cell.
Author Bio
Karenna Colcroft lives just north of Boston, Massachusetts, and has been in love with the city since childhood, though she has yet to encounter any werewolves, vampires, or other paranormal beings in her travels. At least none that she knows of.
Karenna is a polyamorous, nonbinary human who lives in Massachusetts with her husband. She also has two adult children and three “bonus” kids, four grandchildren, and two and a half cats. (Half in terms of time the cat lives with her, not in terms of the cat itself…)
June 18, 2024
What the River Knows – Book Review
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was recommended this book by a friend at work and I’m so glad I decided to read it right away instead of putting it on my never-ending TBR. I absolutely LOVED this book. It had everything I love in fiction: mystery, adventure, history (Ancient Egypt history), humor, language, and romance.
The main character is a little too reckless for her times, but this is after all a magical realism novel so a little creative liberty is more than welcomed.
I totally fell in love with the male lead, Whit. He’s a bit on the morally grey side at times, but just enough to keep the reader guessing. His slow-burn romance with the FMC is well done, sexy in a subtle way, and believable.
And the parallel with the history of Cleopatra made it all that much sweeter. I highly, highly recommend it. Can’t wait to read the sequel.
June 5, 2024
The Stardust Thief- Book Review
The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Stardust Thief was another one of my “by-the-cover” buys. Absolutely beautiful cover. I couldn’t resist. It went on my never-ending, taller than the Eiffel Tower TBR and that’s where it stayed for over a year. In the meantime I was one of the authors participating in a signing that Ms. Abdullah was also part of, so of course I had to have it signed. Back to the TBR for almost another year. A few weeks ago I finally picked it up, began reading it, and loved it!
The story does have a YA tone but it does have quite a bit of graphic violence, so be aware of that in case you have a younger YA who wants to read it.
Great story, awesome characters, magical setting. I loved that it was peppered with so much folklore and mythology. Being a linguist (AKA language nerd), I really enjoyed the addition of Arabic words and phrases throughout the story. I also liked the very slow burn romance(s?) budding between a few characters and the (however surrogate) father-daughter relationship between the Midnight Merchant and her jinn companion.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the character arc for Aisha. Loved it and it was very well-done.
Now a quick word about the audio book (I have both audio and print). Because it’s a story told in three POVs, it’s also narrated by three different voice actors. I have to say that I am not a fan. Because each individual actor voices the characters in a different way, it was jarring for me to hear Loulie’s dialogue in three very different voices. Same with other characters in the book. Just a personal preference.
Highly recommend this book.
May 15, 2024
The Library of the Unwritten – Book Review
The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a hard review to write because I have very mixed feelings about this book. Let’s see if I can explain.
Overall I loved it. It had almost all the elements I like in a book: mystery, fantasy, humor, wacky references to mythology, and good writing. With tropes like found family, redemption, second chances, and appearances can be deceiving this was a winner for me from the get go.
I stayed way past bedtime reading “just one more page” of this book, a sure sign that I really liked it. It was a weird story. In a good way.
On the other hand there were things about the plot and the fantastical world the author created that I wasn’t sure about. Things not always made sense to me. For example the reason why those unwritten books were kept so zealously in the library in Hell never quite clicked for me, not sure why. Maybe the plot was just too clever for my brain to unravel it fully.
But it was a great read nevertheless. I highly recommend it for lovers of fantasy with a touch of madness.
May 14, 2024
Earth 2100 – Blog Tour
Other Worlds Ink has a new near-future sci-fi anthology out: Earth 2100.
Earth on the Cusp of the Twenty-Second CenturyHow the world has changed in the last seventy-six years. In 1948, scientists ran the first computer program, and “the Ultimate Car of the Future,” the futuristic, three wheeled Davis Divan, debuted. Since then, a succession of inventions—the personal computer, the internet, the World Wide Web, smart phones and social media—have transformed every aspect of our lives.
The next seventy-six years will change things too, in ways we can barely even begin to imagine. Culture, climate change, politics and technology will continue to reshape the world. Earth in 2100 will be as unrecognizable to us as today would be to someone from 1948.
Eighteen writers tackled this challenge, creating an amazing array of sci-fi possibilities. From emotional AI’s to photosynthetic children, from virtual worlds to a post-urban society, our writers serve up compelling slices of life from an Earth that’s just around the corner.
So dive in and take a wild ride into these amazing visions of our collective future.
Universal Buy Link | Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo | Smashwords | Publisher | Goodreads
Gail Brown
Chaos filled several of the workshop tables. Material overflowed a table with a sewing machine. Some heavy duty, water proof beige fabrics had drifted to the floor.
A thick vegetable and meat soup simmered on the stove in the tiny central kitchen area. Next to the stove was a table set for two. Without any chairs.
Celina rode her power chair over to the counter top stove to stir the soup. The counter was a few inches higher than was comfortable. Today she needed to cook more than her usual single serving. Maybe her height measurements had been off. The counter could be an inch shorter, and not be in her lap.
It was challenging to figure out how to build it low enough to see into a pan, and stir the food, while tall and sturdy enough to not knock it over when Lizzy slid under it.
There was only about a foot of space to work with, if she didn’t want the pan higher than her face, and not able to stir without her elbow at maximum height. Which risked boiling food splashing on her face.
Figuring out how to make furniture the correct height, so she could slip her non-functioning legs under it had consumed her waking hours, and even sleeping hours, for the last year.
The stainless steel pan reflected her face. Down to the pointed lines above her eyebrows. Even the eyebrow she had singed an hour before.
She turned the power chair back to her wood and metal design workstation. Another stainless steel surface. Covered with scars from the many experiments needed to build lowered objects, with a glimpse of personal beauty in their functionality.
What would Henril and Trinkle think of her newest achievement? Her former hiking partners no longer walked the trails as much without her.
Certainly not on the narrow bluff overlooking the river. Henril had avoided out of concern for Trinkle’s safety. Or so he said.
Hopefully, they would soon all be hiking together.
The Authors
Tim Newton Anderson
nathan bowen
Elizabeth Broadbent
Gail Brown
J. Scott Coatsworth
Monica Joyce Evans
Isaiah Hunt
Blake Jessop
E.E. King & Richard Lau
Morgan Melhuish
Eve Morton
Christopher R. Muscato
Jennifer R. Povey
D.M. Rasch
Joseph Sidari
Mike Jack Stoumbos
Joseph Welch
KB Willson
April 18, 2024
Bonfire of Calamities – Book Review
Bonfire of the Calamities by Kim M. Watt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
As a long time fan of the ladies and dragons of Toot Hansell, I am yet again a happy customer–well, reader.
Just like all the other installments of the Beaufort Scales series, Bonfire of Calamities is a slightly insane but oh-so thrilling romp. The hilarious situations these ladies get themselves into to solve a mystery are just as good as the mystery itself and the strong friendships between humans and magical creatures. Fabulous writing is just the cherry on top.
Grab yourself a copy and some scones. It will be a wild ride!
April 8, 2024
Pride and Premeditation – Book Review
Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I loved this reimaging of Pride and Prejudice as crime fiction.
I totally could see Elizabeth Bennet as this determined, feminist young gumshoe-wannabe.
The writing was good, the character twists awesome and in some cases unexpected, and Price managed to keep the period feeling much alive.
My only gripe is that the romance was too lukewarm even for a YA novel. I wanted a little more sparks between Lizzie and Darcy.
Well done. I will be reading the rest of the series.
