Roxanne Rhoads's Blog, page 292

Dawn Girl by Leslie Wolfe

The Heroes and Villains of Everyday Life
            You go about your business and suddenly you come across an individual who’s not exactly…  kind.  Who’s not the type of person you’d like to ask to come over for dinner.  Who’s definitely not the type of person you would accept around your children without feeling the urge to load your weapon. This individual could be male or female, young or old, a stranger or a remote acquaintance. It doesn’t matter; these people just happened to cross our paths regardless of how much we’d want to never meet them again. Just to clarify, they could be the road rage driver who cut in front of you then honked and yelled at you for no good reason. They could be the creep who stalked your daughter on her way back from school. They could be the neighbor who poured detergent at the root of your favorite tree because she doesn’t like the fallen leaves on her lawn. Or you find yourself humbled by an act of kindness coming from a total stranger, someone who goes out of their way to help you, while expecting nothing in return.  Someone you’d love to have over for dinner, but words fail to come out of your mouth to extend the invite. You can barely whisper thank you as they turn to leave, but they’ll be forever in your heart, together with the gratitude for having had the opportunity to meet them, even if for a split second.            It doesn’t matter how these people look like; authors build physiognomies easily. We don’t need much inspiration for physical descriptions. Where these people really bring value into our artistic lives is through allowing us a glimpse into their souls.  I don’t mean that in a biblical way, not even remotely. Pragmatically though, such people make great heroes or villains.  Sometimes I like to look at one of these individuals and ask myself, “If you were a serial killer, who would you kill?  How would you go about it?  What would pleasure you the most?  And how would I catch you?” Or, on the other hand, “If you were my hero, how would you rescue me?”Just like there are colors, myriads of colors in nature, there are equally many facets to human behavior. Sometimes people surprise us, whether in a good way or a bad one, but that dimension, that depth of perception, of feeling, of emotion, we only find in nature, in real people. In the strangers that provide us with inspiration for characters that that will become memorable, whether heroes or villains.I like to people watch sometimes, looking for that edge of behavior, that wow moment when a complete stranger becomes a hero at the local mall just by returning a wallet or helping someone cross the street. All my characters are fictional, but here and there one of the traits they exhibit comes from a person who has crossed my path, at some point in time when I was watching. It’s discreet, buried amongst other personality traits my character is exhibiting, and it’s totally unrecognizable. After all, villains won’t admit they’re villains, and heroes don’t know they’re heroes.All I do is watch, pay attention to the people that cross my path, and my world populates with countless heroes, and a few villains too.


Dawn GirlTess Winnett SeriesBook OneLeslie Wolfe
Genre: Crime Thriller / Police Procedural
Publisher: Italics Publishing
Date of Publication: 8/30/2016
ISBN: 978-1-945302-06-0ASIN: B01I0X2YR0
Number of pages: 225Word Count: 71,000
Cover Artist: Sam Roman
Tagline: Pristine, golden beaches and a dead body
Book Description:
Her blue eyes wide open, glossed over. A few specks of sand clung to her long, dark lashes. Her beautiful face, immobile, covered in sparkling flecks of sand. Her lips slightly parted as if to let a last breath escape.
Who is the beautiful girl found at dawn, on a deserted stretch of golden sand beach? What is her secret?
FBI Special Agent Tess Winnett searches for answers relentlessly. With each step, each new finding, she uncovers unsettling facts leading to a single possible conclusion: Dawn Girl is not the only victim. Her killer has killed before.
Hiding a terrible secret of her own, Special Agent Tess Winnett faces her inmost fears, in a heart-stopping race to catch a killer who’s getting ready to end yet another life. Will she find the killer in time? Will she be able to stop him? At what cost?
The rules of the game have changed.
So has the textbook definition of a serial killer.
Special Agent Tess Winnett is the bold, direct, and short-fused heroine of Dawn Girl. Putting her life on the line, she doesn’t pull any punches, searching only for the truth, and for the man who takes lives on her watch. Intelligent, resourceful, and uncompromising, Tess will take readers on a memorable, white-knuckled journey in this suspenseful, gripping serial killer thriller.
Kindle      Paperback      Audible



Excerpt:

She made an effort to open her eyes, compelling her heavy eyelids to obey. She swallowed hard, her throat raw and dry, as she urged the wave of nausea to subside. Dizzy and confused, she struggled to gain awareness. Where was she? She felt numb and shaky, unable to move, as if awakening from a deep sleep or a coma. She tried to move her arms, but couldn’t. Something kept her immobilized, but didn’t hurt her. Or maybe she couldn’t feel the pain, not anymore. 

About the Author:
Bestselling author Leslie Wolfe is passionate about writing fiction, despite spending a significant number of years climbing the corporate ladder. Leaving the coveted world of boardrooms for the blissful peace of the Florida-based "Wolves’ den," Leslie answers one true calling: writing.
Leslie’s novels break the mold of traditional thrillers. Fascinated by technology and psychology, Leslie brings extensive background and research in these fields that empower and add texture to a signature, multi-dimensional, engaging writing style.
Leslie released the first novel, Executive, in October 2011. It was very well received, including inquiries from Hollywood. Since then, Leslie published numerous novels and enjoyed growing success and recognition in the marketplace. Among Leslie’s most notable works, The Watson Girl (2017) was recognized for offering a unique insight into the mind of a serial killer and a rarely seen first person account of his actions, in a dramatic and intense procedural thriller.
A complete list of Leslie’s titles is available at http://wolfenovels.com/titles
Follow Leslie on Twitter: @WolfeNovels
Leslie’s Goodreads profile: http://bit.ly/LWolfeGR
Like Leslie's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/wolfenovels
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wolfenovels
Visit Leslie’s website for the latest news: www.WolfeNovels.com   
Tour giveaway
3 $20 gift card combos, “Coffee and a Book,” Starbucks and Amazon gift cards $10 each. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Witches of Ravencrest by Saga Tamara Thorne and Alistair Cross

The Witches of Ravencrest
Book #2 in The Ravencrest Saga
Tamara Thorne and Alistair Cross 

Dark and Unnatural Powers

In a remote part of California just above the coastal town of Devilswood, Ravencrest Manor, imported stone-by-stone from England more than two centuries ago, looms tall and terrifying, gathering its dark and unnatural powers, and drawing those it wants as its own.

Murder Lurks in the Shadows

Governess Belinda Moorland has settled into life at Ravencrest and, as summer gives way to autumn, romance is in the air. She and multi-millionaire Eric Manning are falling in love … but powerful forces will stop at nothing to keep them apart. And as the annual Harvest Ball is set to begin, evil abounds at Ravencrest. Murder lurks in the shadows, evil spirits freely roam the halls, a phantom baby cries, signaling a death in the mansion, and in the notoriously haunted east wing, three blood-soaked nuns, Sisters Faith, Hope, and Charity, tend to the demented needs of a maid gone mad.

Vengeful Spirits

Ravencrest has come to life. In the gardens below, granite statues dance by moonlight, and a scarecrow goes on a killing rampage, collecting a gruesome assortment of body parts from unwilling donors … But Belinda’s greatest danger is the vengeful spirit of Rebecca Dane. Once the mistress of Ravencrest, Rebecca Dane has a centuries-old ax to grind with the powerful witch, Cordelia Heller - and Belinda becomes her weapon of choice. 




Praise for The Ravencrest Saga
"The Ghosts of Ravencrest delivers on every level. Delicate, creepy, detailed, and beautifully crafted, this reinvention of the gothic ghost story into a sexy, sleek modern chiller is a marvel of suspense and atmosphere. A knockout of a horror yarn!" -Jay Bonansinga, the New York Times bestselling author of The Walking Dead: Invasion, Lucid, and Self Storage.
"Ghostly secrets abound. Tortured spirits wander the hallways. Star-crossed lovers walk the paths of time. Servants connive, and the heroine faces an uncertain future …Run, do not walk, to get The Ghosts of Ravencrest. Tamara Thorne and Alistair Cross take the reader on a delicious journey of twisted family secrets, troubled dreams, and barely-concealed passions. Wrap yourself in the silken robe of this story and escape to Ravencrest." - Sylvia Shults, author of Hunting Demons: A True Story of the Dark Side of the Supernatural

Giveaway and Review : Grave Ransom by Kalayna Price

GRAVE RANSOM
Alex Craft 
Book 5
Kalayna Price

Ace Mass Market 
ISBN: 9780451416582 
$7.99

In the thrilling new novel from USA Today bestselling author Kalayna Price, Alex Craft comes face-to-face with the walking dead….

Grave witch Alex Craft is no stranger to the dead talking. She raises shades, works with ghosts, and is dating Death himself. But the dead walking? That’s not supposed to happen. And yet reanimated corpses are committing crimes across Nekros City. 

Alex’s investigation leads her deep into a web of sinister magic. When Briar Darque of the Magical Crimes Investigation Bureau gets involved, Alex finds herself with an unexpected ally of sorts. But as the dead continue to rise and wreak havoc on the living, can she get to the soul of the matter in time?

About the Author:

Kalayna Price is the USA Today bestselling author of the Alex Craft novels including Grave Visions, Grave Memory, Grave Dance, and Grave Witch. Ms. Price draws her ideas from the world around her, her studies into ancient mythologies, and her obsession with classic folklore.



My Review
Grave Ransom by Kalayna Price
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Walking corpses, crazy drama, heartbreak and family....Alex never has it easy.

Grave Ransom is a magic laced journey full of wyrd and grave magic wrapped up in necromancy- and Alex has a target on her back with a desperate necromancer trying to stop her from undoing all his work.

This book is filled with drama, action, and emotional distress (for Alex). Her eyesight keeps getting worse, her love life is a mess with a forbidden boyfriend whose name she doesn't even know and her ex boyfriend forced to be her shadow because he is charged with watching over her by the Winter Queen of Faerie. Now she stumbled into something she's never come across before- a walking corpse- and finds herself entangled in something much larger than one anomaly.

And she has her very own Faerie Castle and all that goes with it...that appeared in the mortal realm. Kinda. It straddles the two planes existing in both. But she has to keep it a secret from the outside world.

The world of Alex Craft is a mix of Laurell K Hamilton's Merry Gentry, Kim Harrison's The Hollows, and Darynda Jones's Charley Davidson books all tossed together to make something unique and totally engrossing. If you are a fan of any or all of the previously mentioned series than you'll love the Alex Craft novels.

I received this review copy from NetGalley

View all my reviewsa Rafflecopter giveaway

Eight Badass Women in Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Shows - Guest Blog by Katherine McIntyre

Jessica Jones

A superheroine so awesome she gets her own show—count me in. If you’re expecting the normal ‘flash’ (had to make the superhero pun) of the genre, this delivers a whole different brand of story. Instead, Jessica Jones comes off like an urban fantasy, and the lead is the sort of surly, bad-mouthed heroine of my dreams. She’s damaged and doesn’t want to be a hero, barely scraping by, and the exact sort of underdog I want to root for. On sheer attitude and resilience alone, Jessica Jones is on this list. 

Buffy

You don’t get to do lists of badass women without Buffy. She was a pioneer of her times, slaying vamps at night and fumbling her way through high school during the day. While there are a lot of other stand out characters in the show, her strength places her in an entirely different category. Despite all the gray areas she wandered through and how she wavered, she maintained her moral code at the end of the day and led with self-sacrifice and determination.

Cordelia

So, I’m representing Angel here too, and I’m sure this name on this list comes as somewhat of a surprise. However, I want you to consider that Cordelia weathered Buffy without a single superpower, and the only thing she was working with in Angel happened to be visions. Yet, the character’s brand of sass didn’t dim, her loudmouthed objections and complaints didn’t waver, and she remained ferocious even when she lived in a world where most folks could overpower her. That takes grit. 

Caroline Forbes

Vampire Diaries is one of those unexpected shows that comes off like a teen romance…and ends up being about two brothers and their relationship. Somewhat like Supernatural. And while the main character of the show didn’t thrill me, the moment Caroline Forbes stepped onto the scene with her Type A neuroticism and bossiness, I was smitten. While everyone else is struggling with their bloodlust, the moment Caroline turns, she adapts fast, and throughout the series tends to do the least amount of damage from her kind and maintain her morality. If that’s not impressive, I don’t know what is. 

Bonnie Bennett

In terms of self-sacrifice, I think Bonnie Bennett is the crowning champion. She’s on her own, a lot, gets knocked down, a lot, and yet time and time again she’s out there using her witchy mojo to save Elena and crew. It’s a thankless job, and yet throughout the series the emotional fortitude of this character is amazing. With the hell she’s experienced, being able to forgive certain individuals, or even tolerate them for the sake of her friends shows the shade of loyalty this character displays. 

Hayley Marshall

When you think werewolf, fierce as hell comes to mind, and also Hayley Marshall. She first appeared in the Vampire Diaries, however she really blossomed in the Originals. The woman Klaus affectionately refers to as ‘Little Wolf’ has a strong as hell personality and holds her own amidst the big beaters in New Orleans. She’s an advocate of her people and unafraid to step to the plate for them and fight, despite the danger. And as a mother? Folks out to harm Hope better run and hide, because Hayley will go feral.

Bo

This list couldn’t be complete without a nod to Lost Girl. Bo Dennis puts the ‘b’ in badass, and she’s relentless in the protection of her friends. She assumes the mantle of leadership with ease, and what I love about the show is that folks don’t try to question it. Man and woman alike fall in line, because not only does Bo hold herself to a strict moral code, but she’d do anything on the planet for those she cares about. 

Kenzi

While I love Bo, the real star of Lost Girl, for me at least, was Kenzi. Talk about moxie. This girl had it in spades. She used her scrappy street smarts to fight alongside Bo even when she didn’t have a single power to her name, a human amongst the fae. Like Cordelia, it takes an extreme amount of strength and resilience to hang tough with that sort of crowd, and yet Kenzi does, time and time again. She does it in style too, with the sort of goth-punk attire I’m always envious of.

Waking for WinterPhiladelphia Coven ChroniclesBook FourKatherine McIntyre
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Loose Id
Date of Publication: July 4th, 2017
Book Description:
The Philadelphia Coven has thwarted the Order of the Serpent’s every attempt to destroy their city only to draw out the scariest nightmare from the Otherworld, the Caoranach. One of the Coven’s own, Cami Akiyama, has already met this creature—the very monster who tortured her, branding her with a mark. Given Cami’s history with the big bad, the Coven leader assigns her a bodyguard, none other than the gorgeous and lethal necromancer, Dante Martinez, the ex-boyfriend she disappeared on years ago. One conversation confirms the spark between them never died, and based on the way Dante flirts, he won’t allow that flame to extinguish out without a fight.
No one has ever compared to Dante and the incendiary passion he inspired in her, but the Caoranach broke her—Cami’s too damaged for any sort of relationship. Not like that stops him. If anything, he fights harder for the memories of a love that kept her sane on the bleakest nights. And despite every effort to distance, she finds herself falling for him all over again. Except the Caoranach isn’t finished with her—the branded mark holds the secret to the city’s destruction or salvation, and Cami stands in the center of the storm.
Loose ID


Excerpt 2:
He sucked in a harsh breath. “So it had nothing to do with us?”
So, so complicated that phrase. It had everything to do with them, with how bright their flames burned when they were together and how their fire threatened to consume survival and reason alike. The aching intensity he inspired in her had reached the fervor of consumption, to the point she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to extricate herself. In their time apart, she’d grown. Fallen down, scraped her knees, and fucked up, sure. But she’d learned to stand on her own and had become a woman who could fight her own battles. Had she stayed back then, she risked not only losing him but herself in the process.
“You’ll always have the place you carved into my heart.” Her words came out quiet while the enormity of the realization crashed through her. As much as she tried to distance herself, as much as she’d tried to move on, the second Dante entered her life again, his presence returned her to a home she’d been away from for a long, long time. His uncharacteristic quiet unsettled her nerves, but after the bombshell she’d dropped, she didn’t expect quips or quick conversation.
The inches between them grew agonizing since she wanted so badly to reach out and stroke his arm or squeeze his hand and close the distance. To indulge in the comfort his mere touch allowed. However, the silence reached a deafening crescendo, and for once she couldn’t read his gaze.
Dante sat up on the bed, a bandage over his side where he’d been patched. The doctors had cut off his shirt but left his jeans on. His mouth tightened with pain at the motion, and he moved carefully as he slid to the end of the bed to grab her hand. So close, the scent of his smokes and metal surrounded her, intoxicating in his nearness and his heat a blossom unfurling in her chest. His dark, honeyed skin looked good enough to lick, and her tongue darted out to wet her lips on instinct.
He traced his fingertips down her cheeks to lift her chin, the slight touch electric, an awakening that traveled through her body in a way that brought her into the present for the first time in too long.
Closing the distance between them, he leaned down and brushed his lips to hers.
About the Author:
A modern day Renaissance-woman, Katherine McIntyre has learned soapmaking, beer brewing, tea blending, and most recently roasting coffee. Most of which make sure she’s hydrated and bathed while she spends the rest of her time writing. With a desire to travel and more imagination than she knows what to do with, all the stories jumping around in her head led to the logical route of jotting them down on paper. She writes novels with snarky women, ragtag crews, and guys with bad attitudes. High chances for a passionate speech thrown into the mix.
Website: http://www.katherine-mcintyre.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kmcintyreauthor
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pixierants
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/authorkmcintyre

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6473654.Katherine_McIntyre

Reflections on the Vampire Guest Blog by Maya Tyler

Why are humans fascinated with vampires?

We have a fear of dying, of being forgotten. And vampires “live” forever. The immortality vampires represent is attractive, aside from the whole blood-drinking thing, they don’t get sick, they don’t age, they don’t die. The latest innovations all focus on finding the elusive fountain of youth and combating the signs of aging—thinning hair, hair loss, grey hair, wrinkles, age spots, sagging, cellulite—are you feeling depressed yet? Truly, dis-ease is the dis-ease within us, our discontent and dread of aging and dying.

We spend so much time in the futile attempt to defer aging and avoid death, we have forgotten to actually live. Death is inevitable, but how we live our lives is a choice. I choose to spend each day as if it were my last. I choose to take care of myself. I choose to treat others how I wish to be treated. Life is far from perfect. Humans, myself included, are infinitely flawed. Consequentially, life is also flawed. I still prefer an imperfect life over a perfect death.

Immortality is not an infallible recipe for happiness. I see it as a never-ending existence of isolation and loneliness. The endless years becoming meaningless, with time in unlimited supply. Humans strive to seek meaning in their lives. We all want a life worth living. Worth dying for.

In A Vampire’s Tale, my vampire hero Corgan Halton seeks redemption for his past wrongs, using his story as an eventual substitute for his perpetuity. He desires the finality of death, but wants to make his life, as it is, worthwhile first. Even though the possibility of infinite years stretches before him, he chooses a finite existence.

What would you choose?

A Vampire's Tale
by Maya Tyler 

The best laid plans…

Marisa Clements was never satisfied writing the ‘gossip column’ in the local paper so she quit her job to follow her dream of writing fiction. Floundering in an unforgiving industry, she wrote about vampires, a popular subject she considered fascinating but as real as unicorns, to pay the rent.

Corgan Halton was tired of human misconceptions about vampires. He planned on telling Marisa his story and end his existence. It was no coincidence Corgan selected Marisa to write his story. With the ability to see the future, he knew she would be a major part of it. He knew she would be the one to help him die, but in doing so, she’d be doomed to the same fate. Once they met, their futures would be irrevocably intertwined.

Corgan began caring for Marisa and finally revealed the truth to her. He admitted his quest to atone for his past sins had put her in grave danger from a nest of revenge-seeking vampires. Corgan must claim her for her own protection. But claiming her is not enough, he must ask for help from his wizard friends and his maker in order to destroy his enemy or Marisa will never be safe.

Amazon       Smashwords        Apple       Kobo      Nook

Maya Tyler is a romance author, blogger, wife, and mother. She has a degree in Commerce, but writing is her true passion. Her short story “Just for Tonight” is included in an anthology called With Love from Val and Tyne and her debut paranormal romance novella was Dream Hunter, published in December 2014. Her second paranormal romance novel A Vampire's Tale released on March 22, 2017. She writes paranormal romance with a twist and all her books have a common theme – happily ever after.
You can find Maya on the web at the following locations:
Twitter | Facebook | Website | Blog

Bewitching Book Tour Bundles

Introducing Limited Time Bewitching Book Tour Bundles
Have a book you want to promote heavily? Or do you have multiple books you need to promote? 
Check out our bundled deals.
Bundle 2 and 3 are perfect for authors with a couple new releases coming up or for Publishers who have multiple books to promote.
Buy the bundle now, use them anytime. 
Bundle deals do not expire, but your chance to purchase them does.
Bundles will only be available to purchase until August 1.
You must use codes BUNDLE1, BUNDLE2, or BUNDLE3 to receive bundle pricing
Not available with any other offer or special pricing
Sign up here: http://goo.gl/dNgqXv
Bundle up and receive big discounts on Bewitching services
Bundle 1 features a cover reveal, release day blitz and one month tour for just $180

Bundle 2 features 2 release day blitzes, 2 two week tours, and 2 newsletter blasts for only $240

Bundle 3 features 3 release day blitzes, 3 two week tours, and 3 newsletter blasts


You can use the bundled services on one book or split them up for multiple books. 
One month advance booking still applies. Which means if you want to tour September 1 you would need to schedule it by August 1.

Government 2.0 by Joseph Gorski

"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning." ~Henry Ford
Governments of nations are basically corporations on steroids. They have the power to do pretty much whatever they want. They can initiate force, use coercion against its citizens to try to control them, and commit fraud to in part to control the media. They have the power to destroy property and/or seize property in both times of war and peace. They also have the power to take away your personal liberty by incarcerating you for an almost limitless list of offenses. These legal powers are unique to the nations/governments of the world.

         Finally the tide is starting to turn with the advent of the World Wide Web combined with nearly universal access in the palm of our hands. People are starting to take back their power and peacefully revolutionize the world. These are exciting times despite the picture the media paints. The abuses of governments have reached their limit and a new era of health, wealth and innovation is dawning. Governments will be forced to adapt to the people or become largely irrelevant. This is Government 2.0.


Government 2.0Joseph Gorski
Genre: economics, government
Publisher: BookVenture Publishing LLC
Date of Publication: February 2017
ISBN-13-1-946735-05-8
Number of pages: 82Word Count:  22581
Book Description:
Government 2.0 explains in non-technical language how the banking system works, the media, the medical establishment and the government work against the common person. It explains how this model is falling apart.
The changing attitudes of people toward those in power, and the new technology which is helping to empower people is discussed and explained. There is real hope that power of the people will overtake the power of the elites.
It is important that the people understand this and embrace this change and don’t let themselves believe the fear mongering of the elites.
BookVenture      Amazon      BN

Short Excerpt:

US government power was possibly at an all-time high in the decade or so following the 9/11/01 attacks. Recently some cracks in the armor are forming. Some on the left and right side of the political spectrum are beginning to join forces and question this consolidation of power and abuse of power in Washington, D.C.
About the Author:
Joseph Gorski, the author of Government 2.0, has followed a less than typical path over his last 35 years of life in the USA. It started with a deep spiritual journey in 1982 which continues to this day. It leads to rejecting the established religions and political parties of the world without rejecting their core teachings of love, tolerance, and respect of our fellow human. This took him away from a normal career path, living in a city at times and in the country at times. Joseph came to believe that there is a central power in the universe that some people call God, source energy, or by many other names.
Joseph graduated with a business administration BA degree from Rutgers-Newark College of Arts and Science in 1983.
https://www.facebook.com/Joseph-GorskiAuthor-1492405091073850/

https://twitter.com/josephgorski

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal Krait’s Redemption by T. L. Shreffler

Krait’s Redemption The Cat’s Eye ChroniclesBook FiveT. L. Shreffler
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: The Runaway Pen
Date of Publication: Sept. 12th, 2017
Number of pages: 300Word Count: 85,000
Cover Artist: T. L. Shreffler
Tagline: Sora joins forces with unexpected allies to harness the power of the Cat’s-Eye necklace and save the City of Crowns.
Book Description:
With winter solstice fast approaching, Sora and her companions are running out of time. She must stop The Shade from awakening the Dark God, yet a powerful force has overtaken her Cat’s-Eye necklace, rendering the stone almost useless. To use the stone, Sora must learn to trust her instincts and embrace her own inner strength. She joins forces with unexpected allies, Lord Gracen Seabourne among them, to protect the City of Crowns. As the city dissolves into chaos, she finds herself barreling toward an epic battle that will decide the fate of mankind.
At risk to his own life, Crash returns to the Hive seeking aid against Cerastes. However, the events that led him into exile have not been forgotten. Will the Hive offer him redemption, or will they demand he pay the ultimate price for his transgressions?
Join Sora and Crash in their epic battle to save the City of Crowns!

Excerpt:
Crash watched the bonfires in the distance.Each day, more devotees swelled the Shade’s ranks. Shadow portals transported them from cities, from fields and mountains—from anywhere—to this forsaken desert. Nameless warriors pooled beneath a red plateau that towered in the twilight, blocking the moon.An army of the lost, Crash thought. Their burning pyres beckoned to him like lighthouses on a foreign shore. But he had left those fires behind, walking miles into the flat desert to sit among the sand.The Shade’s encampment might be in the Desert of Ester, but he wasn’t sure. His sense of certainty had fled long ago. He wondered at this unprecedented gathering. He wondered at the royal city’s evacuation, so close to winter solstice night.He watched the fires glint against the darkness. He watched, and sat, and pondered. At first, Cerastes’ army had puzzled him. He didn’t know why a Grandmaster, typically a solitary figure concerned with martial discipline and meditation, would want to gather so many numbers. But now, as Crash became more firmly entrenched in the Shade’s activities, he knew what they were about. He had thought Cerastes meant to wage war against the human kingdom, but he was wrong.Cerastes wanted the Hive.Crash had realized the Grandmaster’s ambition when the assassin Cobra had issued his last dying words. It had all become suddenly, perfectly clear. Stop him. Cobra’s death had returned the arrow to Crash’s compass, and perhaps for the first time, he knew true north. He knew what he had to do.
About the Author:
T. L. Shreffler is a noblewoman living in the sunny acres of San Fernando Valley, California. She enjoys frolicking through meadows, sipping iced tea, exploring the unknown reaches of her homeland and unearthing rare artifacts in thrift stores. She holds a Bachelors in Eloquence (English) and writes YA Fantasy, Paranormal Romance and poetry. She has previously been published in Eclipse: A Literary Anthology and The Northridge Review.
Website: www.tlshreffler.com
The Cat’s Eye Chronicles: www.catseyechronicles.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/catseyeauthor
Facebook: www.facebook.com/catseyechronicles
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5138153.T_L_Shreffler
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/T.-L.-Shreffler/e/B00AGIYQR4



a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Review of Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Scooby Doo meets Cthulhu.

13 years after teen detectives, the Blyton Summer Detective Club, solved their final case, they are still haunted by the past. Something wasn't right, there was more to the neatly wrapped up case than they realized back then.

Now it's 1990 and the team is scattered- all twenty somethings out in the big bad world trying to find their way. One is in a mental hospital, one isn't living up to her potential, one is a vagabond traveling from place to place and getting in trouble along the way, and another- the one who seemed to have "made it" out in the world- he's dead from an overdose.

It's time to get back together and put right whatever went wrong on that last case.

So the team gets back together, even Peter, the dead one, Nate's the only one that can see him. Throughout the story you wonder if Peter is really a ghost or just a figment of Nate's imagination. Nate clearly wonders this himself.

Back to Blyton Hills they go...and boy have things changed. No longer a bustling mining town, now it's more of ghost town which just lends to the overall creepiness. Evil lurks under the lake and in the old mansion but who is behind it all, and why?

The meddling kids (who are no longer kids) will stop at nothing to learn the truth because their lives literally depend on it.

A phenomenal story that pays homage to Scooby Doo and Lovecraft, has a bit of a Buffy twist and finished off with a dash of Stranger Things thrown in. I really enjoyed the overall story. Twisted and dark, part mystery, part horror, part sci-fi. It's a genre bending mash up that will hook you. There's even a bit of romance, but it's not what you'd expect at all. The characters pay homage to the original cast of Scooby Doo right down to the dog but are well developed and fleshed out on their own, they are more than mere caricatures of the Scooby cast.

One thing did bother me though- the book bounced around in style. In the middle of your average novel setting it turns into a screenplay format complete with dialogue, scene directives and thoughts from the author peppered with made up words. But I enjoyed the story enough that after the first couple instances of this switch up my brain just ignored the change in format and I continued on with the story...because the story is that good.

I give it 4 stars for the story. I would have given it 5 but the awkward formatting, odd words and sometimes clunkiness knocked it down a star.

Also there is a mention of Rage Against the Machine- who did not exist in 1990. They didn't form until 1991. Their first album released in 1992 and they hit the scene hard at Lollapalooza in 1993. I am a stickler for accurate music in period books. It's an odd little pet peeve of mine.

View all my reviews

I received this review copy from DoubleDay in exchange for an honest review.

Not His Dragon by Annie Nicholas

Not His DragonNot This SeriesBook OneAnnie Nicholas
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Annie Nicholas
Date of Publication: 7/2016
ASIN: B01FP2XSE2
Number of pages: 224Word Count: 75,000
Cover Artist: Janet Holmes
Tagline:  Here be dragons.
Book Description:
Eoin Grant hasn’t encountered a female of his race in decades, and this crazy person’s scent declares her unmated. Fate set her in his path, and he won’t let this opportunity slip through his claws. No matter how wary she is of him. After all, how many chances does a dragon have at finding love? But fate can be a crueler mistress than his perfect mate. Of all things, she thinks she’s human.
Business is taking off for Angie Weldon. She put her freakishly sharp nails to good use when she opened her back-scratching spa in downtown New Port. The local shifter community pounced on her skills and she’s knee-deep in shed fur. By the end of the year, if lucky, she could afford to move out of her crappy apartment.
Dollar signs flash before Angie’s eyes when a dark, brooding stranger books her solid for a week but she notices the possessive fury in his glare. She’s been around enough shifters to know the look, and she won’t go down that road again. Angie is literally swept off her feet by the intense shifter and he wants more from her than she’s willing to give. She figures it’s best to avoid eye contact and back away slowly. Until he changes her life by insisting she’s a dragon.
On Sale for 99 cents until 7/1/17 Amazon Excerpt: Only one block separated Angie from her workplace. Her lungs burned. No matter how much air she sucked in, there didn’t seem to be enough oxygen.A tall, slim man smoking a cigarette watched her from half a block away.How did she notice him in her state of asphyxiation? Because his pale, blue gaze cut across the distance and met hers with such intense fury that it scorched her retinas.She slowed her pace, glancing over her shoulder, but saw no one. Why was she the focus of his death glare? Maybe he was friends with the jackass in the truck who’d cat-called her and didn’t appreciate her attempt at sign language? If so, he could take a number and get in line with all the other things wanting to destroy her life today.As Angie jogged closer, she couldn’t help but notice the brightly colored tats peeking out from under his long-sleeved dress shirt. His business attire looked out of place with his shaved head and a cigarette hanging from his lips. He’d never be the poster boy for GQ Magazine, but he sure fit her bad boy fantasies.He strode into her path, blocking her way. “What are you doing here?”She tried to brake, but flip-flops weren’t made to stop on a dime. The front ends folded under and she scraped the tips of her toes along the concrete sidewalk. “Mother fucker, son of a bitch…” She hopped on one foot to rub her bloody toes, then repeated the process on the other foot. “What’s wrong with you?” She planted her hands on his chest and shoved, propelling herself backward.Pinwheeling her arms, she caught her balance. Great, a supernatural. She had a better chance of pushing the Hanover Tower.He grabbed her upper arm and yanked her kissing-close. “Don’t do that again.”Her blood smeared across his white shirt where she’d laid her dirty hands. She couldn’t help but notice a small blue symbol tattooed by his left eye. From this angle, she couldn’t see the design completely.Try as she might, she couldn’t jerk her arms free. Her heart hammered. “Let go.” She glanced around for help, but no one seemed to want to meet her desperate stare. They crossed the street, gazes glued to the ground. The pedestrian population thinned out quickly as many of them found stores they just had to enter. The scent of fear filled the air and only some of it was hers.“What are you doing in my city?” His whispered question sent chills down her spine.“Your city? No one owns New Port.” Oh God, she couldn’t stop her mouth. All she had to do was apologize profusely for whatever imagined transgressions and he’d most likely let her go. Angie stared at the shaved dark stubble on his head, since she couldn’t take his penetrating glare. He kept his hair cropped real close. Almost like velvet. She caught her hand before she reached to touch him. Her senses said he was some sort of shifter, but she couldn’t tell what. She suspected she had a little supernatural blood in her lineage, so her skills were limited. Definitely not werewolf. Her ties to the pack were close enough that she knew them at least by sight.Unfortunately, humans didn’t hold the monopoly on criminals. Supernaturals had them too and Ryota had shown her how to best defend herself. She slid her free hand into her front pocket. “I said, let me go.” She gave her arm another jerk.He gave her a condescending smile that would have frozen the Eastern Ocean. “Or what?”She withdrew her hand, aimed at his face, and pulled the trigger on her pepper spray, remembering at the last moment to close her own eyes and mouth.He let go and roared an inhuman sound. The noise rattled the windows. She thanked God that she’d emptied her bladder before setting the kitchen on fire.Shit, shit, shit.
She geared her ass to holy-shit-it's-going-to-eat-me speed and didn’t think the soles of her flip-flops hit the ground until she reached the door to her own little business.
About the Author:
Annie Nicholas writes paranormal romance with bite. She has courted vampires, hunted with shifters, and slain a dragon’s ego all with the might of her pen. Riding the wind of her imagination, she travels beyond the restraints of reality and shares them with anyone wanting to read her stories. Mother, daughter, and wife are some of the other hats she wears while hiking through the hills and dales of her adopted state of Vermont.
Website: www.annienicholas.com
Blog:  www.annienicholas.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorannienicholas
Twitter: https://twitter.com/annienicholas
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3132972.Annie_Nicholas
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/annienicholas/
Newsletter: http://madmimi.com/signups/202848/join