Natalina Reis's Blog, page 7
February 6, 2024
Beside the Darker Shore-Blog Tour
Patricia J. Esposito has a new MM paranormal romance out: Beside the Darker Shore. And there’s a giveaway.
What might the ethical Governor David Gedden give up for one man’s exquisite beauty? It’s terrifying to consider when the man is a destructive blood prostitute and David is responsible for the state’s peaceful vampire community. Blood sales in Boston are up, blood taxes support a thriving new nightlife, neighborhoods have been refurbished, and deaths by vampires have plummeted. David is assured reelection.
However, the blood addict Stephen Salando has returned from exile with one unalterable plan: to turn the good governor into a vampire. Stephen is an immortal dhampir, whose beauty obliterates reason, who rouses in David a fierce desire he’s ignored his whole life. But for David to have Stephen, he must ally with an ancient vampire, the community’s seductive archnemesis. To have him, he must become a killer himself.
Will David hold on to his ethical public life? Or will he follow what he most desires, a kiss with a killer to become a vampire himself?
Giveaway
Patricia is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card with this tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js
Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b60e8d47307/?
Excerpt
Wetness enveloped him. It was exhilarating, this deep lake submersion. David hadn’t been told about the effects of water. Here, in this water, he wasn’t sure he even needed blood. He wasn’t sure he needed anything. He dove under and swam toward Stephen.
His body cleanly cut the surface, and he emerged before the bound liveblood. Blood streamed from a gash in Stephen’s chest. The vampires dipped white fingers in his blood, licking them. No one had bitten him, and his eyes held none of the ecstasy of bloodletting. They stared darkly at David.
“You’re an irresistible pleasure,” David said.
The black rock shone glassy, Stephen’s skin a warm contrast. David placed his hand flat on the bloody chest. He sniffed Stephen’s neck, up his cheek. His hair was cold satin. Water lapped at Stephen’s chest, drinking him. One of the two vampires bit into Stephen’s arm, making him gasp. But still he didn’t drink. They were waiting.
Cupping water, David raised it to Stephen’s face.
“You’re moonlight caught in darkness, but see how it slips away.” The water slid over his palm. “What are you sacrificing on these rocks?”
Placing both palms on Stephen’s chest again, David felt the hard cavern of chest bone, smoothed his hands over the satin skin to the round nipples shocked at the touch. He could take this body he desired, take it and leave it. This blood was promised to him. He heard Stephen’s heart beating warmly even in this cold water.
“David,” he whispered.
With that, David froze. His heart that had calmed in the water became erratic again. Stephen’s skin blurred like a warm brown sheath over David’s eyes. His throat closed, and the vampire laughter around him grew muffled, like he was underwater.
One word, one plea from Stephen and David couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t look at those eyes, couldn’t say what he needed to say. Fear clenched his stomach. Stephen’s breath burned David’s cheek.
Cold water slid between them.
And then Stephen lunged forward, and David felt the pain of blunt teeth on his neck. Stephen grabbed hold of him, biting hard, ripping David’s skin.
“No!” He shoved Stephen off. He didn’t have to do this. He wouldn’t be slave to this kind of need. The water had been healing; he’d felt at peace until seeing Stephen. David slammed Stephen back against the rock.
His legs quivered in the water. He backed away, letting water rush between them, and then Elena broke through, turning the water electric.
“Are you with me then?” she asked. “Can you see there is but one point to him?”
David scraped his leg against sharp rock as he backed away; seaweed twisted around his feet.
“No,” Stephen said. David couldn’t look at those eyes that pleaded with him. Stephen had propelled him to this point, whether deliberately or not. How much more could he make David do? He had to leave. He had to stay far from Stephen.
“David,” Stephen called, but his voice faltered. Pushing tendrils of wet hair from Stephen’s neck, Elena sunk her teeth into him. Then David did look up, as Stephen closed his eyes, as he succumbed to what he couldn’t resist.
David’s chest hurt, as if his ribs and chest bone had turned to iron mail. Clouds drifted across the moon, and Stephen’s face fell into shadows. He heard Stephen’s voice in his head, words he’d said three years ago, “Exile,” he’d said back then. “When did you go into this exile?”
Long ago.
David turned away, but Arturo was there, blocking his way. “You leave so soon?” Hate bruised his usually welcoming eyes. “When the festival has just begun?”
“Whatever you do to me, Arturo, I won’t let you live through me or love through me. I’ve found where my joy and peace are.”
“In water, like Alexandros?”
“Not like Alex. I need to kill, and the only way I can find peace with that is in solitary existence. I can’t be both mortal human and vampire. Maybe Alex can’t stand to be anything but what he was, a human. I think I can only be a vampire. I don’t want human connections. Consider your fledgling a success as a vampire. That’s all that’s left for you.”
Arturo’s hand slapped David’s chest in an icy brand. “No, that isn’t all. You think you need the kill, but you know nothing of need if you can’t love.”
Pain seared David’s chest, a raw burn that shuddered through him. Arturo had cut him. His hand slapped again, and another slice tore through to David’s ribs. The pain was silent in his throat, blocked by the rush of blood, his legs buckling. Blood poured.
“You bleed,” Arturo whispered. “You bleed into your healing water. Water loves blood. It will drain you.”
Around his waist, the water warmed and thickened. For a moment he thought how short-lived his vampire life had been, and then his body swayed with the pain.
Author Bio
Patricia Esposito lives by the notion Luis Alberto Urrea once expressed: When the world is so dark and bloody, be brave enough to broadcast innocent joy. Dare to be naive. She has written edgy paranormal fiction for most of her life, but always finds beneath it a romantic heart. Her most recent fiction and poetry reflect that enduring quest for love and joy beneath the human struggle.
Patricia has received honorable mentions in Ellen Datlow’s Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror collections, is a two-time winner of Rhino’s Reader=Writer award, and is a Pushcart Prize nominee. With a Master’s degree in English, she edits law books and textbooks for income and tries to keep up with a retired husband and enjoy time with her two adult daughters—when she’s not off exploring the intoxicating realms of the imagination and chasing muses.
Beside the Darker Shore is her first full-length work of fiction. She welcomes the chance to meet other writers and readers through her website or Facebook page.
January 30, 2024
Divine Rivals – Book Review
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I decided to read this book other that it involved some letter writing (which possibly was what got me since I have always written letters), but oh boy, am I glad I read it.
I love the originality of its plot. Yes, it is the usual love wins all, good against evil, enemy to lover romance, but I just loved the way the author manages to give the reader a World War II feel mixed with total fantasy. There are so many parallels between what happened in WWII and what’s happening in this story that I often forgot I was reading a fantasy and caught myself thinking I was reading a historical fiction work. But then you get hit with magic typewriters, mythical creatures that fly and drop bombs, and lest we forget, two gods at war against each other.
Despite the magic and strange creatures it is such a human story, at times heartbreaking. The author describes war scenes masterfully, focusing on the horror, the disbelief, and ultimately the sense of loss and helplessness an armed conflict brings to those caught in between.
I’m still reeling about how it ended but already looking forward to the sequel. Highly recommend it.
January 19, 2024
Can Positivity Be Negative?
I’ve been a yogi for many years now. Thanks to yoga I am more flexible now than I have ever been, not to mention that the practice brings me much needed peace even if for only for a few minutes a day. That said, for the past few years something yoga teachers are known for saying has really been bothering me because I know it not to be true. Or at least, not necessarily a good thing or the way to go.
Let me explain.
In yoga there is this philosophy of “everything’s possible” and “if you dream it you can do it.” These are great ideas and I fully believe in them except for one thing: when you try so hard and stretch yourself so thin to be able to accomplish all these goals, you often burn out. Which is exactly what happened to me and what I fear will happen to some of my younger writer friends.
The other day there was a reel on Instagram at the @abimillsyoga (she’s hilarious by the way. I highly recommend a peek) that, however comedic, really showed how we are often pushed to do all these things because “they are healthy and good for the soul” ignoring the fact that we are human with responsibilities and do not live in isolation from the rest of the world.
Even before I started my yoga practice, I had this belief that if you really want something, you can definitely achieve it as long as you work hard and are willing to sacrifice for it. I practiced what I preached. Even though an extreme introvert, I have always gone after what I wanted and dreamed of.
But fast forward to my life in the US after I got married. I have always (since I knew how to put words together into sentences) wanted to be a published author. Like many of my dreams (being a dancer for example) I had stuffed it in that little room in my head labeled “beautiful dreams that due to circumstances will never come true”. And no, I was not being pessimistic, just realistic.
Back then in Portugal only the rich had access to certain things, like dance classes. I practically lived in bookstores but I can’t remember a single Portuguese author who was not either wealthy or from a “connected” family. Most of them were professors of this or that and other than the classics, like Eça de Queiroz, I don’t recall a single genre author who hailed from my native country. Lofty dreams like that were for the ones who were rich or willing to move abroad. That was not me.
That is until I married an American sailor and moved to the USA where the roads are paved in gold and all dreams can come true. Yes, read it with a tiny bit of sarcasm because except for the gold-paved streets, it’s a true statement. Americans, generally speaking, are not afraid to work hard to achieve their dreams. In fact, it’s widely encouraged.
As a new American, I totally embraced this belief and started working toward my dreams. Dancing was in the past. I was too old to start then, so I focused on my other major dream: becoming a published author.
I worked hard. With a colicky newborn who did not allow me to sleep for months, I tapped away on my electric typewriter (stop laughing. It was a beauty) and spent the little money I had on expensive paper and postage to mail my manuscripts to publishers only to get letters of rejection in return.
Later I decided I wanted to be an English as a Second Language teacher and went back for a second degree while I worked full time and had school aged children. At times, when my husband was out at sea, I wrote whole papers or studied for exams at Chuck E Cheese’s because I could let my kids play while I worked. Then I went for the Master’s Degree. Why not?
More recently I went back to my old dream of being published. I got lucky and was picked by a small publisher and my journey as a published writer took off. I would work all day in school plus hours of planning at home, write for a couple hours every day, take care of my family, deal with some very serious life events, work on marketing, attending author classes and events… I’m tired just thinking about it.
I was very proud of my achievements. I was publishing anywhere from three to four books a year (both traditionally and self-pub), barely selling any of them, but crushing it in terms of going for the gold. I was doing it all. All my hobbies went out the window (including reading for a while) for lack of time and my whole life was consumed with work–both my day job and my writing career. Somewhere during this time I stumbled upon yoga after a few years of Zumba-fever and the message was clear: keep going, don’t give up, you can do it!
Last year, I crashed.
After a very difficult release in the beginning of the year, I not only lost my mojo for publishing, but I started getting sick often. This morning person had to drag herself from bed to go to work and, when faced with a work-in-progress, all I could do was stare at the screen. Fatigue colored my world, both physical and mental. I was in full burnout mode.
Still am. But with age and experience comes wisdom–or something like that. I woke up one morning, tired of feeling tired and useless and forged a plan of sorts. I was going to take it easy both at work and in writing. I was going to pay closer attention to what I ate and do other things for fun. I was going to wear other things besides yoga pants and T-shirts. I was going to claim my life back.
Does that mean I quit my dream? Absolutely not. I am slowly beginning to write often again. I have many projects in the back burner and restarted taking classes on marketing and other business-related things. But I am not going back to the feverish race I was on before and these few months of downtime did me good. I am eating well, doing my yoga more frequently again, I have hobbies that do not involve writing and that keep my mind and my hands busy, I’m reading a lot and slowly going back to marketing my books and making plans for the future.
But this brings me back to where I started this blog: this push from social media influencers, from our well-intentioned yoga teachers and writing coaches, from other more successful writers, and the world in general can be negative in its overly-positive and motivational message. Even though I was working myself silly I couldn’t help but feeling I was doing something wrong, that I wasn’t doing enough, that I was stupid and lazy compared to others. Now, I still feel like that more often than I’d like to, but I have grown and learned to be good to myself, to forgive myself for not being a successful writer, to go with the flow…
And that, my friends, is the cautionary tale of an overworked and overwhelmed older woman. Take it easy. Fight for your dreams but without wearing yourself out. It’s not worth it if you can’t enjoy it because you’re so tired.
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January 16, 2024
Guardian of Talons & Snares – Review
Guardian of Talons and Snares by Anastasis Blythe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I confess. I bought this book for the cover, lol. The C-drama/fantasy lover in me couldn’t resist the beautiful art of the cover. But I’m so glad I did. For once it was ok to judge the book by its cover.
This was a fun romp with the usual elements of C-fantasy and wuxia: magic, shifters, a complicated societal hierarchy, found family, danger, action, secrets, and romance.
The character development is good and the two POVs work well throughout the book. As a romance writer I also appreciate the very, very slow-burn romance happening here. It’s well done and leaves you wanting more.
I already ordered the second one in the series and I am salivating over all those great covers. Looking forward to continuing the story (it did end in sort of a cliffhanger).
January 6, 2024
Lost You Forever- Review
I have been meaning to write this review since I finished season 1 of this amazing C-drama a couple weeks back. I don’t review all the shows I watch but when faced with something this spectacular, I feel I have to share my thoughts.
In this show we follow the lives and troubles of four main characters: Princess Xiao Yao and the three men who love her: her cousin prince Xyian (who she sees and loves like a brother), Tushan Jing (who she has saved and fallen in love with), and Xiang Liu, the poisonous nine-headed snake (who Xiao Yao is attracted to but refuses to accept it).
I normally don’t like love triangles, but this one really works well. We have all three types of guys pinning for her: the good guy who loves her above all things except his own ambition to prove everyone wrong about him (he’s like the underdog prince of the kingdom), the bullied, almost beaten to death rich guy who is willing to give up on everything just to be with her but who is stuck in an impossible dilemma, and the bad-boy who falls in love with her despite himself and is willing to risk everything for her.
The story is full of intrigue, drama, magic and surprising twists. But the characters are what makes this story amazing. The acting is the best I have seen in a long time from Yang Zi as the main female character, to Zhang Wan Yi, Deng Wei, and (my favorite) Tan Jian Ci, the nine-headed snake. The story is dark but has light, even funny moments and best of all, it has so much heart.
And this is where Tan Jian Ci comes in. This young actor needs to be commended for his acting in this show. The way he expresses his feelings for Xiao Yao is so powerful, so full of yearning, so full of pain that makes your heart ache. And he does it all with no words.
Photo: My Drama ListCan’t wait for the next season which I understand will be available on Netflix and Tencent Video sometime this year.
Ten very enthusiastic stars 
December 31, 2023
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches-Review
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book made me so very happy. At the end I was just smiling like a fool.
The characters were well developed and both perfect and flawed, The story was beautifully human, celebrating the best of humankind and full of hope.
Like Mika says at the end, she might not be the witch that changed the world but she was taking some solid steps in that direction.
Lovely story, swoonworthy romance with just the right amount of spice, and peppered with humor to balance the darker issues raised throughout the plot. Absolutely recommend it.
A word about the performance of the audio book: flawless. Could not have asked for a more perfect reading. Thank you.
December 24, 2023
Sword Catcher – Book Review
Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I can’t say enough good things about this book. Cassandra Clare did it again and in a very different style than what she got us all used to. But her talent to develop amazing yet flawed characters who you can’t help but care about is still one of the many things that makes Clare one of my favorite writers.
The world she created is truly a masterpiece, reminiscent of epic fantasies I read a long time ago without some of the over description that sometimes goes along with it. The linguist in me absolutely loved the language-side of this world. The very slow-burn romance(s) is delicious and rings true.
I’m absolutely in love with Connor, Kel, Lin and Antonetta. I want more NOW!
If you hate cliffhangers you may want to wait for the sequel to come out because it definitely leaves you hanging in so many different ways.
Highly recommend it.
December 15, 2023
Once Upon a Broken Heart – Book Review
Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I started listening to the audio book for Once Upon a Broken Heart upon the recommendation of a friend who was reading and loving it. I was a little hesitant at first because I had tried Caraval and just couldn’t get into it at the time, so I was afraid the same would happen with this one. But I’m glad I read it.
It reads very young but it’s a charming story in many ways. I admit I sometimes got tired of the main character’s naiveté which seemed excessive often, but the author managed to hook me and keep me interested for the whole story. I also was a little put off by the overly detailed descriptions of what everyone was wearing and furnishings but that’s something more to do with what I like to read and not so much anything against the book.
I do love Jax’ character and I’m so intrigued by him, I will most likely delve into the second in the series right away.
The book is a quick read but it does end in somewhat of a cliffhanger (more like things that are not yet solved and a new mystery of sorts), so be aware of that. But since the whole series is published that won’t be much of an issue.
All in all an entertaining story with a few surprises (I love being surprised in a story) and an interesting fairytale type world.
November 30, 2023
My Three-Year-Old Is a Barbarian – Blog Tour
Aaron Frale has a new queer LitRPG fantasy out (gay, gender fluid): My Three-Year-Old is a Barbarian and Other Parenting Problems. And there’s a giveaway.
Necromantic rituals, murderous ogres, battle-scarred rangers: not a typical Saturday detention for unsuspecting teaching assistant, Petra, and her delinquent teen charges.
The Beaverton High School Breakfast Club show up for what they thought would be cleaning the locker room with a toothbrush when the morning goes horribly wrong, and they fall victim to a deadly, dark spell.
Some jerkwad moon mage shoves the consciousness of Petra’s three-year-old into the body of a musclebound barbarian, and she is transformed into a halfling. The kids get stuck as a cleric, fire mage, and other stalwarts of your typical fantasy gaming party.
Now they must quest through a land of pissed-off warriors, angry giants, a pompous vampire, and a necromancer out to kill Petra and her child.
Despite being in a world where everything threatens to shuffle off her mortal coil, the hardest part is convincing a hulked-out man that the battle axe is not a toy, the undead are not cuddly, and he should use the potty.
Universal Buy Link | Goodreads
Giveaway
Aaron is giving away a $20 Amazon Gift Card with this tour:
a Rafflecopter giveaway https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js
Excerpt
Things to Do in Detention When You’re Dead
Beaverton High School, Mid-October
The final victim in the day that Instagram died was none other than ‘Baking’ Aiden himself, Petra’s favorite customer. The guy was a living stereotype. If the long hair and perpetually-worn Metallica T-shirt weren’t enough, the guy actually drove a VW minibus. The smell of pot wafted all the way to the front door of the school when he jumped out of his vehicle.
If the police needed to fill their minor-in-possession quota for the day, all they needed to do was follow him around. She briefly contemplated asking what Aiden had done to join the ranks of the Saturday-damned but realized any conversation would invite Urkel to join in. She dialed up her perpetual scowl and went for the front door to the school. However, it was locked, and TAs weren’t important enough for a key.
Before she could figure out what that meant for the students assembling, another car pulled up. It was her dad, Barry. The prick was in his convertible with the top down, and his girlfriend, who Petra could have sworn was going to the same community college as her, was in the front seat. Petra’s three-year-old was strapped in the back. She slung her backpack off and shoved it into Urkel’s hands.
“Okay, I’ll watch it for—” The kid’s voice trailed off as she stomped over to her father.
“What the hell are you doing, Dad?!”
“Your mother didn’t tell you?” Barry asked. “Bets and I are going to rent a cabin for the weekend.”
“No, I’m talking about Jonathan!” She screamed and pointed to the kid in the back seat. “You don’t drive with your top down with a kid in the back!”
Her father laughed. “What? He likes it!”
Petra scrambled to remove her son from the car seat. Even though she felt way too young to be the mother of a toddler, she sometimes felt more responsible than her own father. Her dad was an idiot with an idiot girlfriend who always tried to act like the cool mother despite being the same age as his daughter.
“He’s a three-year-old boy. Little boys need to laugh,” Beatty ‘Stupidsalot’ (Schneider) said, but Petra ignored her.
As soon as Jonathan was safely in her arms and the diaper bag slung over her shoulder, her dad revved the engine.
“You make sure you feed that boy properly and get him his nap. Got to go. Check-in’s at 3,” he said, before speeding off.
“I guess you’re not picking us up afterwards.” She added under her breath. “Whatever, dick.”
“Dick!” Jonathan said and giggled like he had uttered the funniest thing ever.
“Don’t you say that,” Petra scolded her child.
“Dick! Dick! Dick!” Jonathan said over and over, laughing with glee.
“That’s going to make Great-grandma Petra very sad. You don’t want to make her sad, do you?” Petra said, as she brought her kid towards the door. If it weren’t for her namesake grandma, Petra didn’t know what she would have done when she had gotten pregnant. She was lucky that nothing seemed to stop the woman. She was a babysitting machine even at 85 and had practically raised Jonathan from birth.
The worst part about being a mother with no financial stability because the school system paid TAs like serfs toiling the land was that Petra’s actual parents were useless at parenting. Her mom always had her laptop on and wouldn’t notice if the climbing-obsessed toddler had scaled to the top of the fridge (which he had on more than one occasion). Her dad wasn’t reliable either because he was more concerned with the things a college student should be concerned about, like partying and driving fast cars. That left Grandma Petra, who was happy to watch the kid when Petra went out with her friends. (Which didn’t even involve any drugs or alcohol, even though she had masterminded the scheme that facilitated the buying and selling of it. Her outings were more to feel normal for an hour or two).
The bottom line was that even though Petra would sell a bag of weed here and there and give her middle finger to the authorities whenever she could, at the end of the day, she knew it wouldn’t be forever. Her grandmother would be dead, and the only person in the world at that point who would give a crap about Jonathan would be herself. That was the thought that kept her up at night.
By the time she got up to the group assembled at the school’s front door, they were already talking about going home for the day. Jack grabbed the door handle and attempted to muscle it open. When it wouldn’t budge, he turned to the others and said, “Oh, well, fifteen-minute rule. Right?”
“I don’t think that’s a thing,” Urkel ventured.
Sissy said, in her high-pitched nasally voice, “Come on, Jack. Let’s go. We’re missing the game.”
Petra rolled her eyes and said, “Everyone, just chill out. You obviously don’t know how this works. You cut Saturday detention, and that’s two more Saturdays for you and maybe another for speaking out of turn. Just enjoy the fact that we get to spend it outside on the grass, because the clock is already ticking.”
“That’s right,” Mr. Jackson said from the threshold of the school, startling all of them. He must have come from inside while they weren’t paying attention. While the guy was a good-looking twenty-something with longish brown hair and thick hipster glasses, there was something off about him. He looked as if One Direction had to kick one of the members out of the band for being a serial killer.
Usually, Petra would be Hot for Teacher, but there was something a little too intense about his personality. Maybe it was the way he always seemed to be staring into the distance or how he’d sometimes seem to talk to someone who wasn’t there when he was alone in his room. Regardless, he was disconcerting, at least to Petra. The dumb girls had a crush on him. She was so glad to be outta this place, well kinda. But at least she could quit the job when something better came along.
That didn’t stop her from attempting to get out of her obligation.
“Mr. Jackson,” she said, while he ushered them into the building, “as you can see, I could not secure daycare. Do you really need a TA for today?”
Mr. Jackson ignored her. He slammed the door behind them, and Sissy jumped. He strode forward, not even bothering to turn on the lights to the school and led them down a dark hallway. Nothing but emergency lighting illuminated the way.
“Maybe this is a good opportunity to teach your son about responsibility, Miss Zaslavsky,” Mr. Jackson said over his shoulder.
Petra gave him the middle finger, and Jonathan did the same while shouting with excitement. The others laughed while she tried to get her son to perform some other hand gesture. Mr. Jackson didn’t seem to notice or care. He brought them further into the building until he stopped at the basement stairs.
“Can’t we just clean a classroom or something?” Sissy squealed. “There are spiders down there!”
“The custodial staff keeps this place quite clean and pest-free,” Mr. Jackson said. “Now, I need you to help me with a little project. It will take an hour of your time, tops. Then you’ll be free to go.”
“But Principal Sokol said it would be six hours!” Urkel said, and Jack kicked him. Petra was pissed too. An hour of pay wasn’t even worth the gas. Not that she paid for her own gas or had driven her own car. However, something wasn’t right, and she’d be happy to leave as soon as possible.
“I know what the principal said, but it’s my prerogative to administer punishment as I see fit,” Mr. Jackson said.
“What does this project involve?” Petra asked warily.
“Nothing,” Mr. Jackson replied. “You’ll just need to sit there.”
“Dude!” ‘Baking’ Aiden exclaimed. “Sign me up!”
The others nodded in agreement. Petra didn’t like it, but she didn’t really have a choice. It was either go in a basement with a psycho teacher or spend the following Saturday with Coach ‘Justice’ (Justin). His detentions always involved toothbrushes and locker room floors and the TAs always got stuck with bucket duty. At least there was safety in numbers. If Mr. ‘Jack-off’ pulled out a butcher knife, she could throw Urkel in the way and get to safety.
Mr. Jackson smiled in that weird staring-into-the-void way and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll be with you the whole time.”
That was precisely why she was worried.
Author Bio
Good times and hope for a better future. Maybe some fun time travel adventures or interdimensional travelers. A toddler stuck in a barbarian and his mom in a halfling. “Comedy and” is my jam. When not writing, I can be found teaching, podcasting Aaron’s Horror Show, and screaming while playing guitar for the band Spiral. Life has brought my wife, myself, and my son to Montana, where we reside at the moment.
November 20, 2023
Legends & Lattes – Book Review
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was just the story I didn’t know I needed. What a concept: cozy fantasy.
Despite it’s mild facade Legends & Lattes actually deals with some very interesting and serious issues such as self-acceptance, the power of kindness and love, and the breaking of some very solidly set stereotypes. I loved that the whole story seems to fight against the common concept of strength. Here the orc wants nothing to do with violence and the succubus refuses to use her powers. Instead they resolve most problems with a wonderful mug of coffee and a tasty pastry. Can’t beat that.
Between Thimble, Cal, Tendri, Viv, the old Gnome who plays chess with himself, and the dire cat, Amity there are no lack of great, well-developed, and whimsical characters to make you smile.
I listened to the audio book read by the author himself and it just hit the spot. Highly, highly recommend it.
