Harmony Kent's Blog, page 53

#BookReview: Liars and Thieves by D Wallace Peach @Dwallacepeach

Hi everyone. Today, I have a book review for you by an author new to me, D Wallace Peach. I loved this read so much that I’ve now added her other books to my ereader and eagerly await her next book in this series.

About the Book:

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Behind the Veil, the hordes gather, eager to savage the world. But Kalann il Drakk, First of Chaos, is untroubled by the shimmering wall that holds his beasts at bay. For if he cannot cleanse the land of life, the races will do it for him. All he needs is a spark to light the fire.

Three unlikely allies stand in his way.

A misfit elf plagued by failure—

When Elanalue Windthorn abandons her soldiers to hunt a goblin, she strays into forbidden territory.

A changeling who betrays his home—

Talin Raska is a talented liar, thief, and spy. He makes a fatal mistake—he falls for his mark.

A halfbreed goblin with deadly secrets—

Naj’ar is a loner with a talent he doesn’t understand and cannot control, one that threatens all he holds dear.

When the spark of Chaos ignites, miners go missing. But they won’t be the last to vanish. As the cycles of blame whirl through the Borderland, old animosities flare, accusations break bonds, and war looms.

Three outcasts, thrust into an alliance by fate, by oaths, and the churning gears of calamity, must learn the truth. For they hold the future of their world in their hands.

My Review:

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A fantastic fantasy read.

I haven’t read this author before and came across this book during its launch tour on varioius blogs on the web. I am so pleased I picked it up and bumped it up my to-read list. I only put it down because life forced me to, lols.

As I read, a few lines stood out for me. I share three here:

1. A clocktower rang the hours, and when night crept into the alleys, he follwed on its heels.

2. Though goblins were permitted anywhere in the Borderland, their right to breathe didn’t equate to a warm welcome.

3. He possessed the ambition of a well-fed cat on a sunny sill.

At the beginning, a dark force attempts to break the veil. When he’s unsuccessful, he sets off events that will have the three races fight and destroy each other for him. The political intrigue, machinations, and manipulations are well written and gripping. And the world-building is wonderfully done, as is the characterisation.

I eagerly await the second book in the series. This book so moved me that I’ve now added D Wallace Peach’s other books to my ereader.

A solid five stars from me.

***

NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.

4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.

3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.

2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.

1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

I’d love to hear what you think of this review. Thanks for stopping by

How to Publish with KDP: Part Fifteen | Story Empire

Hi everyone, I’m over at Story Empire today with Part Fifteen in my how-to-publish-to-KDP series. Today’s post tackles the mess that’s HTML for some of your book descriptions on KDP but not others >>>

Hello SErs. Harmony here.  As promised, here is  part fifteen in the post series dedicated to taking a step-by-step look at how to get your finished manuscript from your computer and on sale on Ama…

Source: How to Publish with KDP: Part Fifteen | Story Empire

The post How to Publish with KDP: Part Fifteen | Story Empire first appeared on Welcome to Harmony Kent Online.

Hi everyone, here’s the second installment of Women In Sc...

Hi everyone, here’s the second installment of Women In Sci-Fi over at Y Correa’s place >>>

The post https://harmonykent.co.uk/5334-2/ first appeared on Welcome to Harmony Kent Online.

The Way of the Wild: ‘Fiction In A Flash Challenge’ Week #16 NEW Image Prompt. Join in the fun! #IARTG #ASMSG @pursoot #WritingCommunity

Hi everyone! It’s that time of the week again … Friday fun flash fiction! This week’s picture had my muse in a decidedly monosyllabic mood, lols

Author Y. Correa’s Blog: #WomenInSciFi Featuring Rebekah Wagner

Hi everyone. Happy Friday! September is Science Fiction month, and fellow author and friend Y Correa is running a Women in Sci-Fi event each Friday and Sunday throughout the month. Today, Rebekah Wagner is over at Y Correa’s blog >>>

 

Source: Author Y. Correa’s Blog: #WomenInSciFi Featuring Rebekah Wagner

The post Author Y. Correa's Blog: #WomenInSciFi Featuring Rebekah Wagner first appeared on Welcome to Harmony Kent Online.

“Even angels deserve decent working conditions”: The Emissary Series by @MarciaMeara

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Hi everyone! Today, I am so happy to have over friend and author, Marcia Meara. Help yourselves to beverages and cake, and enjoy a good book … perhaps the novella series, The Emissary. Here’s Marcia tell you all about her latest book >>>

Thanks so much for having me here today, Harmony. I’m pretty excited to be sharing the news of my latest release with you and your followers. It’s the final installment in a trilogy of three novellas, and I’d like to share a bit about how I came up with the idea for these angelic tales.

It’s always gratifying to discover readers are interested in the lives of secondary characters as well as those of the “stars” of our stories. After I published my second Riverbend novel, Finding Hunter, I began receiving a lot of questions about Gabe Angelino, the trucker who brought Hunter Painter home. It appears Willow wasn’t the only one who thought he might be a real angel instead of just a good man. At every local event—book signings, eco tours, slide show presentations—someone invariably asks about that mysterious trucker.[image error]

Talk about writing on the wall! This message was written large enough that even someone with eyes as old as mine could read it. I decided I’d better do something about it, but what? A lightbulb went off! Maybe a standalone novella would be a way to tell Gabe’s story without falling too far behind on either of my series.

The first questions I needed to answer were the ones everyone kept asking me—was Gabe Angelino really an angel? Or was he just a nice guy?

After an hour or two of pondering, I had my answers. Was Gabe an angel? No. Was he just a nice guy? No. Was his name even Gabe Angelino? No. He was going to be something different. Unique. And hopefully, a character who would both make people smile and speak to their hearts.

I continued to ponder. What if angels were desperately overworked? What if the population of the world had increased to such staggering proportions that it was becoming more and more difficult for angels to keep track of souls in peril? What if all the constant sturm und drang around the planet was driving angels to distraction and making their jobs so difficult, they needed help?

Finally, what if Azrael, the archangel in charge of all things connected to helping souls cross over into Heaven after death, has had enough? Even angels deserve decent working conditions, right? And with those questions settled in my own mind, the trilogy was born: The Emissary, The Emissary 2: To Love Somebody, and at long last, The Emissary 3: Love Hurts.

 

Blurb

The archangel created his emissaries to help mortals avoid choices that would doom them for eternity. He hadn’t planned on the youngest member of his team falling in love with one.

~~~

[image error]Azrael’s emissarial program was growing daily, but it still met with stubborn opposition from many on the Council of Angels. Dodger’s request to be allowed to experience what falling in love was all about didn’t help matters, but Azrael thought the boy was onto something. He agreed emissaries who’d shared a loving relationship during their mortal lives would have a deeper understanding of human emotions and motivations, thus enhancing the skills they needed to do their jobs.

With that in mind, Azrael gave Dodger one chance to search for true love. He then laid down a daunting set of stringent rules and guidelines that could not be broken under any circumstances lest dire happenings occur. But while the angel sincerely hoped Dodger would find a way to make this endeavor work, he feared an avalanche of unintended consequences could be in store for his youngest emissary.

Sometimes even angels hate to be right.

~~~

Will Azrael ever tire of popping up behind Jake just to see his first emissary fall out of his chair in shock? Will sharp-eyed motel owners ever notice a big red and white semi mysteriously appearing and disappearing from their parking lots overnight? And will Dodger be able to track down the mystery girl who caught his eye two weeks earlier to see if she’s really The One?

To find the answers to these and other angelic or emissarial questions, come along on one last adventure with Jake, Dodger, and that ginormous, glowy-eyed archangel, Azrael. They’re waiting for you!

 

Bio

Marcia Meara lives in central Florida, just north of Orlando, with her husband of over thirty years and four big, spoiled cats.

When not writing or blogging, she spends her time gardening, and enjoying the surprising amount of wildlife that manages to make a home in her suburban yard. She enjoys nature. Really, really enjoys it. All of it! Well, almost all of it, anyway. From birds, to furry [image error]critters, to her very favorites, snakes. The exception would be spiders, which she truly loathes, convinced that anything with eight hairy legs is surely up to no good. She does not, however, kill spiders anymore, since she knows they have their place in the world. Besides, her husband now handles her Arachnid Catch and Release Program, and she’s good with that.

Spiders aside, the one thing Marcia would like to tell each of her readers is that it’s never too late to make your dreams come true. If, at the age of 69, she could write and publish her first book (and thus fulfill 64 years of longing to do that very thing), you can make your own dreams a reality, too. Go for it! What have you got to lose?

 

Contact & Buy Links

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The Emissary 3: Love Hurts BUY LINK

CONTACT MARCIA HERE

marciameara16@gmail.com

The Write Stuff

Pinterest

Twitter: @marciameara

 

Find Marcia’s Books Here:

MARCIA’S AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE

The post "Even angels deserve decent working conditions": The Emissary Series by @MarciaMeara first appeared on Welcome to Harmony Kent Online.

Major #edit and a new book cover! The Battle for Brisingamen

Hi everyone. I hope you’re having a good week so far. As of Monday, I started to revise the first book I ever wrote: The Battle for Brisingamen. It’s amazing how much I’ve learnt and grown in the last seven years.

The only way I can do the edit without cringing too much is if I pretend it’s someone else’s book, lols!

I’ve also reva[image error]mped the book cover. This is the current one:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here’s the revamped one:

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I’ll upload this once I’ve uploaded the revision changes too. I’ve reached chapter four, and this process may take a while along with my other projects. But I’m determined!

 

 

 

 

 

I’d love to know what you think about the new cover, so don’t be shy and leave a reply in the comments below

#BookReview: Hope by Terry Tyler @TerryTyler4

Hi everyone. Today, I have a book review for you by an author I greatly admire, Terry Tyler. I’ve read both books in this series (Hope and Wasteland) and here’s my review for book one, which could easily fit both books in the series.

About the Book:

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‘We haven’t elected a Prime Minister, we’ve elected a lifestyle’.

As the fourth decade of the 21st century looms, new PM Guy Morrissey and his fitness guru wife Mona (hashtag MoMo) are hailed as the motivational couple to get the UK #FitForWork, with Mona promising to ‘change the BMI of the nation’.

Lita Stone is an influential blogger and social media addict, who watches as Guy and Mona’s policies become increasingly ruthless. Unemployment and homelessness are out of control. The solution? Vast new compounds all over the country, to house those who can no longer afford to keep a roof over their heads.

These are the Hope Villages, financed by US corporation Nutricorp.

Lita and her flatmates Nick and Kendall feel safe in their cosy cyberspace world. Unaware of how swiftly bad luck can snowball, they suspect little of the danger that awaits the unfortunate, behind the carefully constructed mirage of Hope.

Terry Tyler’s nineteenth published work is a psychological thriller that weaves through the darker side of online life, as the gap between the haves and the have-nots grows ever wider. Whether or not it will mirror a dystopian future that awaits us, we will have to wait and see.

My Review:

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I only discovered this author this year, and I’ve fallen in love with her books.

Hope was all the more compelling because I’m reading it at a time in which the UK’s PM is now seen in the news running with his personal trainer. Anti-obesity ads are on the radio all the time … so much so that I just switch off. What’s so different between fiction and real life right now? Not a lot, and that’s freaky. It’s also testament to the powers and prowess of this amazing writer. Whether way in the future, the near future, or now, she hits the nail on the head every time.

While the narrative is well written and mostly error free, I did pick up on a few glitches, such as:

‘then’ instead of ‘than’

‘whose’ instead of ‘who’s’

‘alright’ instead of ‘all right’

And some funny sentences which have some of the characters ‘turn round’ … I’m sure the intention here was to ‘turn around’ instead of into a sperical shape!

And then there were instances of adding extraneous words, as in:

He shrugged (his shoulders) and She nodded (her head). We don’t need the bits in parentheses because they’re self-explanatory.

However, with all that said, these instances were few and minor and didn’t detract from the brilliance of the story enough to lose stars. Whichever way you look at it, from all I’ve read up to now, this writer would have to work hard to get less than a solid five stars from me.

I’m heading straight to the next book in the series and cannot wait to get into it. Terry Tyler has become one of my auto-buy authors.

Even if you don’t usually read dystopian or post-apocalyptic fiction, you’ll love Hope and this series. And, most likely, you’ll enjoy all of her books. Nothing that Ms Tyler has written up to now seems far-fetched because she has a chilling knack of making it all so real and not just possible but entirely likely.

 

***

NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.

4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.

3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.

2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.

1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

I’d love to hear what you think of this review. Thanks for stopping by

To Pre-Order or Not – That is the Question. A Look at the Benefits of Pre-Order. | Story Empire

Hi everyone. John Howell is talking about the other side to the question of whether or not to use the pre-order option when publishing. You’ll find him over at Story Empire >>>

 

Hi SEers. John, with you today. I would like to continue the discussion that I started last time.  (you can view it HERE) As you will recall (or not), I discussed some research I did on preorders o…

Source: To Pre-Order or Not – That is the Question. A Look at the Benefits of Pre-Order. | Story Empire

The post To Pre-Order or Not – That is the Question. A Look at the Benefits of Pre-Order. | Story Empire first appeared on Welcome to Harmony Kent Online.

Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – Author Spotlight – Life Changing Moments – Do or Die by Harmony Kent | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Hi everyone! Happy Monday! Yesterday, I appeared on Sally’s blog and gave away a few secrets, lols. A few of you have visited already, but for those of you who haven’t seen the post yet, I’d love for you to pop on over and take a look. You never know what you might discover about little ole me