Aimee Easterling's Blog, page 19

A summer of stellar indie fantasy (book reviews)

In my previous post, I regaled you with the best traditionally published fantasy I’ve read over the last few months. But I hope that doesn’t make you think I turn my nose at indie fare! In fact, the books in this post are every bit as good (and considerably cheaper) than the ones previously reviewed.

My favorite of the season was Dragon Bond by Ruby Lionsdrake. Whether writing under this pen name or as Lindsay Buroker, this author always delivers action-packed adventures with just the right amount of romance. This new series starter (or possibly standalone?) adds in dragon shifters — what more could you possibly want?

A very close runnerup is Marina Finlayson’s new series starter Stolen Magic. Thieves, shifters, an underdog heroine, the hint of an intriguing romance, and plenty of adventure kept me flipping pages faster and faster. I can hardly wait for book two!

Magic of the Gargoyles by Rebecca Chastain is fast and perfect and a great introduction to the protagonist’s world. A unique magic system, a quest to save the innocent, and some very adorable baby gargoyles — what more could you want?

On the young adult front, Cady Vance’s Bone Dry sucked me in with shades of Veronica Mars mixed with an intriguing and unique magic system. How could I not want to read about a heroine trying to save her mother…while conning high school friends to

pay the bills?

Pippa DaCosta’s Beyond the Veil (FREE on all retailers) contains a really great heroine who’s capable but also flawed, plus fascinating world-building interspersed with lots of action. It’s a little bit on the dark side, but if that doesn’t bother you I suspect you’ll find this urban-fantasy series a perfect one to sink your teeth into.

Finally, speaking of FREE indie reads, don’t forget that I pulled together several of my favorite urban-fantasy novels into a box set that’s free on all retailers. Why not check out Moon Magic and dive into half a dozen unique and intriguing new worlds?

A summer of magical fantasy (book reviews)

Once I figured out how to feed my Goodreads reviews into my Facebook page, I completely dropped the ball about sharing my favorite books over here on my blog. Which is totally unfair to you, the loyal reader! How about I try to make it up to you by pulling out the summer’s cream of the cream in a few short posts?

In this post, I’ll start with traditionally published fantasy downloaded to my kindle courtesy of my mother’s library card. (Thanks, Mom!)

If you’re only going to read one book this fall, make it Uprooted by Naomi Novik. You know how when you were a kid, every book you read was magical? Then you grew up and it took something extraordinary to bring back that same spark of wonder to your eyes? For me, that feeling of wonder comes from extraordinary worldbuilding combined with masterful writing…and Uprooted definitely has both. Add in characters you’ll adore plus a distinctive fairy-tale feel and you have a definite winner.

A little on the dark side but equally intriguing is Rachel Caine’s Ink and Bone. The book might be considered young adult (but it’s pretty intense and gave me some crazy dreams), or possibly urban fantasy (definitely magic in a semi-modern setting) with shades of steampunk (automatons and alternative future) and dystopian (that alternative future is pretty problematic). Overall, it’s hard to describe but easy to recommend. Try it!

I picked up Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley based on the beautiful cover. I kept reading for the alternative culture of bird people in ships, hidden in the clouds. Like all of the books in this post, Magonia was a bit darker than I often prefer, but the ending more than made up for that with perfect emotional resonance. I won’t spoil it, but I do highly recommend the book, which works fine as a standalone despite the existence of a sequel.

And how could I leave you without mentioning Harry Potter and the Cursed Child? If you haven’t tried this screenplay (not written by J.K. Rowling but remarkably readable despite the format), I recommend it as a way of embracing your nostalgia toward the original series. There’s not much original, but plenty of vignettes of Rowling’s original universe that will make the diehard fan go “Aw. Overall, it’s more like comfort food — familiar and imbued with fond memories but not particularly memorable after the fact.

Not enough to keep you reading? Stay tuned — I have more recommendations coming your way in my next post.

Dark Wolf Adrift is live!

Dark Wolf Adrift is the tale of an uber-alpha shifter whose inner beast threatens to rip away his last shred of humanity. Here’s what the early reviewers had to say:

A well-written and fast-paced story — PenKay

Brilliant characters whose layers are revealed, tantalisingly, in each story. — MelR

The novella is a prequel to the Alpha Underground series but can be read as a standalone. Just skip the last couple of pages if you don’t want to be teased about what’s to come in Hunter’s future.

Sound interesting? The book is reduced to 99 cents for a limited time and is FREE to borrow with Kindle Unlimited. Here’s the link one more time.

Thanks so much for reading! And, if you enjoy it, I hope you’ll consider telling a friend or leaving a review. Both help my books reach beyond the choir and mean I can spend less time marketing and more time writing. I appreciate all you do — you are why I write.

Dark Wolf Adrift — first chapter

Dark Wolf Adrift is up for a very brief preorder while my ARC crew takes a gander at the contents. And, while you wait, I thought you might like to read the first chapter of this prequel novella (which can also be understood as a standalone). Enjoy!

***

I’m a monster.

Not because I can shift back and forth between human and wolf skins at will. Although that part’s true.

And not because I served eight years as Special Ops in the U.S. military. Although that part’s true as well.

My monstrosity doesn’t stem from the fact that I stood taller than the other guys I walked beside, broader across the shoulders due to a childhood spent as a bloodling in lupine form rather than as a fur-less one-body.

No, it wasn’t pure physical brawn that pushed me over the edge. Being a monster is all about state of mind. And when I caught a whiff of strange werewolf within my usual stomping grounds, my thoughts were monstrous indeed.

A headless intruder, flicker, sweet blood pulsing out of the male’s neck and down my throat, flicker, crimson-tinted teeth parting as I howled my displeasure at the moon.

“Did you just growl?” asked my human partner.

I couldn’t be bothered to spare a glance for Stooge or for my other EOD crew mates, all of whom were off duty just like me and enjoying an evening out on the town. Instead, my eyes remained fixed upon the shifter who faced me from the other end of the city block.

Around us, the usual post-work-day traffic flowed, full of city dwellers blithely oblivious to the dangers that stalked through their midst. A child laughed in the distance, a radio flicked on from a second-story apartment, car horns trilled down the street. But my fellow werewolf and I remained locked in a silent battle of wills.

I shook my head to clear it of my own pent-up alpha aggressions. Our territory, my inner animal complained. But by shifter law, I didn’t actually own the streets I walked upon. This city was outpack land, free for all.

Or was that a free-for-all? I bared my teeth, hoping the other male would take the hint and back down before I was forced to track the intruder to his lair and rend him limb from limb. If he accepted my greater dominance and walked away now, I was willing to be the bigger wolf and let him escape with both of our egos—and skins—intact.

“Hunter?” one of my human companions nudged me verbally. “Is something the matter?”

“An old friend.” I forced the words out between curled lips, stalking toward the stranger who was pacing forward just as rapidly to meet me.

To a human or to a run-of-the-mill shifter, my opponent would have appeared to be a tall but otherwise average redhead, smiling cordially as he approached. But my bloodling nature instead picked out the inner wolf hidden beneath his furless skin.

The beast’s ruff was raised aggressively and its teeth were exposed in a near-audible snarl. No, my enemy hadn’t taken the hint. Instead, his monstrous half was wide awake and ready to pounce.

I walked faster, trying to distance myself from my friends. Because while they were burly and well-trained by human standards, the guys were no match for an unfriendly werewolf. So I didn’t glance backwards as I ordered the other members of my crew to: “Wait here.”

Six humans and I had all left the base together an hour earlier. Of those, five now took me at my word, pausing so I could pull ahead and leave them behind and out of harm’s way.

My wingman, though, wasn’t to be deterred so easily.

Paul was more frequently referred to as Stooge due to his tendency to turn every occasion into a circus act. But he was adept at picking up on subtle cues of posture and tone, so he didn’t join our mutual buddies on the corner. Instead, he scurried to stay abreast of me as I barreled toward the other shifter. “Are you in trouble?” my friend demanded.

My opponent was only twenty feet distant by this point, his eyes nearly glowing with unbridled hostility and rage. His lips spread into a wide smirk of preemptive triumph and I could feel the wolf beneath his skin itching to break free and take matters into its own paws.

Yep, the dunce really was planning to launch into a knock down, drag out battle in lupine form right here in the middle of a human neighborhood.

“Not now, Paul,” I said, using my friend’s given name in an effort to dissuade him from continuing to dog my heels. It was going to be hard enough to rid myself of this shifter without cluing in the general neighborhood to our furry natures. And since the law against letting our secret slip to humankind was more of a death sentence for the human in question than a taboo for the werewolf, I couldn’t risk meeting my opponent beneath Stooge’s eagle eye.

“Could you give us a little space,” I continued. “Please.”

Darned question marks. I kept forgetting to add them to my auditory repertoire.

The thinly veiled command did the trick, though. “We’ll be right over here,” Stooge acceded, clapping me on the back before retreating to join the rest of our friends halfway down the block.

I could feel the team hovering, eyes boring into my shoulder blades. But the majority of my attention remained focused on the danger in front of my face. The danger who could so easily shake up the status quo by shifting here on a city street full of innocents.

A city street full of innocents who I was duty bound to serve and to protect.

A family might come around the nearest corner at any moment. Or perhaps Stooge’s patience would wear thin first. Either way, I knew I lacked the time and space for finesse.

So I simply blasted my opponent with such extreme alpha dominance that I could smell the reek of urine as he wet himself. “Get out of my city and don’t come back,” I commanded.

My words were the equivalent of snapping on handcuffs and stuffing a jaywalker into the back of a cop car—high-handed, arrogant, and impossible to argue with. It was overkill, I knew. I hadn’t even asked for the male’s name, hadn’t tried to sit him down and reason with him, hadn’t mentioned the fact that I currently spent 99% of my time on the human-only base and could easily share this city with one outpack drifter as long as he kept his nose clean.

But I’d done all of that and more in the past. The trouble was, my uber-alpha status made me a magnet for weaker wolves trying to get a leg up in the shifter hierarchy, meaning I’d already fielded dozens of out-of-the-blue dominance displays during my not-so-extensive span of adult life. And in the end, it always came down to one simple question—whose wolf was the biggest asshole?

The answer? Mine.

Today, like every other day, alpha assholery worked like a charm. The air around us chilled as the other shifter’s inner beast shrank down, becoming nearly invisible within his human form. His eyes skittered to the side and sweat broke out on his brow as he tried…and failed…to avoid my inescapable compulsion.

We could have stood there all day, the red-headed shifter giving himself a hernia while I relaxed into my intended role in werewolf society. But, instead, I glanced aside at last and released him from my spell.

Immediately, the once-belligerent shifter turned on his heel and ran like the fires of hell were on his tail. Yes, he ran like a bully who had learned the hard way that bigger bullies existed, or perhaps like a six-year-old kid who’d just discovered that the monster under his bed was very much real.

And as the monster in question, who was I to say he was wrong?

Six free urban fantasy books just for you

When I’m not writing, I’m often reading…which is what gave me the idea for my current project. I’ve watched others’ permafree box sets enviously for a while, waiting to be invited…and then I realized I should obviously make one of my own.

But I didn’t take the usual path of big box sets who include anyone who cares to apply. In fact, I didn’t let *anyone* apply. Instead, I pored back over my Goodreads reviews and contacted my very favorite indie authors of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. I had to beg one author to take her book out of KDP Select so it would be eligible for the permafree box set and had to beg another one to let me include a normally paid book for free.

To cut a long story short, Moon Magic contains Shiftless plus five other novels that I suspect most of my readers will adore. And you can download a free copy at any or all of the following retailers:

 

If you give it a whirl, I’ll be very curious to hear which of the included stories was your favorite. And don’t just tell me! You’ll make the day of six authors at once if you take the time to leave a review and/or tell a friend when you’re done. Thanks so much for your support! You are why I write.

An EOD shapeshifter

When I first started figuring out Hunter’s history, I knew I wanted him to have spent time in the U.S. military. I figured that was an easy way for an uber-alpha werewolf with pacifist tendencies to steer clear of the endless one-up-manship battles he would have been faced with in the shifter world. The only question remaining was — what kind of military guy should Hunter be?

My husband served two years of active duty in the Navy right out of high school, so I hit him up for suggestions. “Hunter’s smart and tough,” I told him. “But I’m sick of reading about SEALs. Which division is a better fit for an uber-alpha werewolf?”

“The EOD,” my husband instantly replied.

What’s the EOD? Here’s the Navy’s official take (to go with their official photo above):

They’re trained to disarm improvised explosive devices. Neutralize chemical threats. Even render safe nuclear weapons. Navy Explosive Ordnance (EOD) Technicians perform some of the most harrowing, dangerous work in order to keep others from harm’s way, and they do so in every environment. They’re so much more than the world’s ultimate bomb squad.

That sounded like a perfect job for an alpha protector like Hunter, so I snatched it right up.

Of course, then I was faced with the daunting task of making the tidbits of his job included in the novella believable. Enter the further wonders of the internet….

When I started tossing the story idea around on facebook, one of my reader buddies informed me that her son is an EOD tech…and that she was willing to twist his arm to read an advance copy of Dark Wolf Adrift in the interest of getting the facts right. To my delight, he took time out of his busy schedule to fix some of my errors, ending with the following note:

It works out well mating the ‘alpha-wolf’ with the alpha-male mentality of the EOD career field. We are definitely tight units and you show that really well.

(He chose to remain anonymous so his family wouldn’t be searchable on the internet. So, proud mom, don’t out him now!)

That’s the best review I think my novella could possibly get! Thanks so much to everyone who helped polish this story…and, yes, it will be available for buying or borrowing soon. Stay tuned!

Summer flash sale — complete trilogy for 99 cents

Did you download a free copy of Shiftless and enjoyed the read…but not quite enough to make you part with any of your cold, hard cash? If so, here’s the deal that I hope will push you over the edge.

For the next few days, the bundled trilogy is marked down to 99 cents on all retailers. Here are the links:

 

 

Already read and enjoyed? Perhaps you’d be willing to tell a friend about my summer flash sale?

Either way, thank you so much for your support! It’s readers like you who keep me plugging away at the keyboard even when the great outdoors beckons. Stay tuned — Dark Wolf Adrift will be coming your way soon!

Jaguar at the Portal is now wide!

While putting the finishing touches on Hunter’s novella, I took a few hours off to upload Jaguar at the Portal to non-Amazon marketplaces. So if you’ve been waiting until you could check this standalone out on Nook, Apple, Kobo, etc., now’s your chance! Here are the links:

 

I hope you enjoy the ride!

Visual puns

As a homesteader, my life gets ultra busy in the summer. If you get bored waiting around for new blog posts from me during this lull, feel free to hop on over to my facebook page, where I’ve been sharing clever and not-so-clever tidbits like this visual pun. I’m looking forward to seeing you over there!

The Complete Bloodling Serial is now wide!

Wolfie was thrilled to hear that he’s now available wide! (No, I don’t think he knows what that means, but it made him feel pretty special anyway.)

If you’ve been waiting to read The Complete Bloodling Serial until it was available somewhere other than Amazon, here are the relevant links:

 

And if you’ve already read it and have an account elsewhere, perhaps you’d take a minute to copy your review over? I’d be very grateful and Wolfie’s head would swell just a little more…. Thanks so much for your help!