Cassandra Page's Blog, page 6
September 12, 2018
Shadows and Spellcraft feature: ‘Shattered Illusions’ by Laura Greenwood
Amazon / iBook / Kobo / Nook
Don’t get in the way of me and my sai. At least, not if you’re a vampire. That’s a quick way to end up dead.
My name is Ashryn Barker, and I’m a vampire hunter. One of the best in fact.
I also have a secret. One I can never tell anyone else. When I look someone in the eyes, I can see their deepest secret, the one hidden behind the illusion they show the world.
My name is Ashryn Barker, and I’m here to shatter your illusions.
Author Bio
Laura is a USA Today Bestselling Author of paranormal romance, reverse harem, and contemporary romance. When she’s not writing, she can be found drinking ridiculous amounts of tea, trying to resist French Macaroons, and watching the Pitch Perfect trilogy for the hundredth time (at least!)
Shadows And Spellcraft
The Ultimate Urban Fantasy Binge Collection
A boxed set with over a dozen amazing reads, that will take you to lost worlds, fall in love with unlikely heroes, and kick some butt with no-nonsense chicks. With a collection that includes New Adult romance, urban fantasy, and Young Adult, there’s something for everyone.
Each story is exclusive to this collection, and includes some shiny new stories from USA Today and New York Times bestselling authors.
If you love to binge on stories that take you away from the ordinary, this boxed set of fifteen books will keep you reading for days. It’s stuffed with vampires, shifters, mages, fae, ghosts and more in everything from modern day Earth to Apocalyptic settings. Bury your nose in this box set now. Order your copy of SHADOWS AND SPELLCRAFT NOW
Amazon / iBook / Kobo / Nook
Mini-review: ‘Crown of Midnight’ by Sarah J. Maas
“A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.
It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend.”
From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.
Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.
Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena’s world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie… and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.
After I reviewed Throne of Glass, I had a few people tell me to persist, because the story gets better. I liked the first book well enough to continue (I just thought Celaena was all talk as far as the “greatest assassin in the land” thing goes), and I’m happy to report that my advisers were correct.
This book is better than the first one. There’s less focus on pretty dresses (although they do get a mention) and more on scheming, stalking, stabbing and snogging — not necessarily in that order. Also betrayal, magic and bad guys. I love the magic in this series, and the ancient mysteries. I am so there for those.
My main reason for not giving this book the full five-star treatment is that I occasionally found Celaena annoying, and more than a little dense. There is one point in the book where she’s given a riddle, and the first part of the answer is blindingly obvious, but it takes her an age to figure it out. (When another character mocked her for taking so long, there was vigorous nodding on my part. Although, to be fair, she had other stuff going on…) I also found her reactions to a couple of key events in the story a little … well, erratic? It’s hard to say more than that without spoilers, but I’m sure that those who’ve read the book know what I mean. 
September 11, 2018
Shadows and Spellcraft feature: ‘Out of the Shadows’ by Ashlee Nicole Bye
Amazon / iBook / Kobo / Nook
From the streets of Melbourne to the bowels of Westminster, the delicate balance between life and death that is so painstakingly maintained by the reapers of The Order of Dark and Light is being tested by the return of an ancient threat. Tensions are rising within the hidden world of The Shadowlands and if this threat is not contained war will be inevitable. And the destruction of the human world is bound to follow in its wake.
Amidst this tension, eighteen year-old Sachi Manning is struggling to cope with the grief and guilt that has plagued her ever since her best friend was murdered six months earlier—that is, until she spots him seemingly alive and well and being held at scythe point by a hooded figure who looks more like a GQ model than the Grim Reaper.
Sachi shouldn’t be able to see through the glamours that shield Shadowlanders from the human world, so the reaper in question wants some answers. And so begins the craziest couple of weeks of Sachi’s life as she is drawn into a world of mysteries, magic, monsters, and mayhem, encountering dragons, faeries, soul-sucking demons, not-so-grim reapers, and even the Horseman of Death.
With a mix of heart, humour and hair-raising action, Out of the Shadows is the adventure of an afterlifetime, perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare and Paula Weston.
Author Bio
Ashlee Nicole Bye is the author of the SHADOWLANDS series, the first book of which–OUT OF THE SHADOWS–was published in April 2017.
She was born and raised in the always amazing city of Melbourne, Australia. She’s a total history geek, a book nerd (of course!), loves watching sport, and is just a little but obsessed with anything fantasy and science fiction related.
She’s a doting auntie to three awesome little guys and two gorgeous little girls and the mum of a crazy fur baby, a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy named Sadie. She’s also vision impaired and writes all her stories with the help of Apple’s awesome zoom commands and Scriverner’s 800% magnifying option.
Shadows And Spellcraft
The Ultimate Urban Fantasy Binge Collection
A boxed set with over a dozen amazing reads, that will take you to lost worlds, fall in love with unlikely heroes, and kick some butt with no-nonsense chicks. With a collection that includes New Adult romance, urban fantasy, and Young Adult, there’s something for everyone.
Each story is exclusive to this collection, and includes some shiny new stories from USA Today and New York Times bestselling authors.
If you love to binge on stories that take you away from the ordinary, this boxed set of fifteen books will keep you reading for days. It’s stuffed with vampires, shifters, mages, fae, ghosts and more in everything from modern day Earth to Apocalyptic settings. Bury your nose in this box set now. Order your copy of SHADOWS AND SPELLCRAFT NOW
Amazon / iBook / Kobo / Nook
September 8, 2018
Cover reveal: ‘A Hand of Knaves’ anthology
As I mentioned in my last post, the A Hand of Knaves anthology (in which I have a story) is having its book birthday this month — on 30 September, to be exact. And now I have a sexy, sexy cover to share with you. The cover art is by Canberra local Shauna O’Meara. It has been a delight to work with the team for this anthology, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the stories.
I don’t have links for this one yet, but when I do I’ll share them on the socials. In the meantime, enjoy this gorgeous piece of art. 
Rogues, thieves, pirates and ne’er-do-wells abound in speculative fiction. Sometimes heroic, sometimes villainous, often somewhere in between, rogues are as likely to steal one’s heart as one’s purse, and show little remorse while helping themselves to either.
So why do we love them? Because they’re imperfect, fallible, and even vulnerable under that carefully-maintained, world-weary exterior.
Rogues represent something we rarely see in our daily lives: ordinary people prepared to take on the “powers that be” by way of guile and subterfuge. But are they only in it for the loot, or are they — deep down — romantic at heart?
Nineteen science fiction, fantasy, and horror tales from twenty of Australia’s best established and emerging writers.
Eugen Bacon
Amy Brown
David Coleman
Tom Dullemond
Maureen Flynne
Rebecca Fraser
Edwina Harvey
Isobel Johnstone
Grace Maslin
Chris McGrane
Claire McKenna
Cassandra Page
CH Pearce
Simon Petrie
Louise Pieper
Robert Porteous
Charlotte Sophia
Helen Stubbs
David Versace
Angus Yeates
Buy links
Coming soon
September 5, 2018
Cover reveal: ‘Shadows and Spellcraft’ book bundle
I have a very busy couple of months coming up, what with the release of Rheia and A Hand of Knaves, but (because I am a sucker for punishment) I decided that wasn’t quite enough. So I’m releasing Isla’s Inheritance as part of an urban fantasy ebook bundle that comes out on 30 October. The bundle is called Shadows and Spellcraft: The Ultimate Urban Fantasy Binge Collection.
Because urban fantasy.
If you’ve already read Isla’s Inheritance, I love you … and you should consider buying the bundle anyway. For a start, it contains fourteen other urban fantasy novels and novellas by various authors — that’s over 2500 pages of story! Secondly, the pre-orders are available for US$0.99, or around AU$1.43. What a great way to discover new writers! (I know I’ve already ordered my copy, and I’ve already read two of the other books that are in the bundle.)
Also, check out the cover. If the style looks familiar, it’s because it has been designed by KILA Designs, the same designer I use for my books. Isn’t it gorgeous?
Blurb
Dive into FIFTEEN amazing worlds full of action, adventure, magic and mayhem brought to you by some of the freshest voices in urban fantasy.
Want angels? Demons? Fairies? Witches? Supernatural assassins? Vampires? Whatever you’re after, you’re bound to find it in this incredible collection jam-packed with page-turning adventure.
This bundle features 8 full length novels, 4 short novels and 3 novellas written by:
Laura Greenwood
Jenn Windrow
Tiffany Shand
Victoria DeLuis
Monique Singleton
Chris Coleman
Ashlee Nicole Bye
Kim Richardson
Devyn Jayse
Robyn Jenkins
Tanya R Taylor
Sadie Moss
Cassandra Page
K. A. Last
Thea Atkinson
Preorder links
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Australia | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
August 29, 2018
Review: ‘Dreadnought’ by Cherie Priest
Nurse Mercy Lynch is elbows deep in bloody laundry at a war hospital in Richmond, Virginia, when Clara Barton comes bearing bad news: Mercy’s husband has died in a POW camp. On top of that, a telegram from the west coast declares that her estranged father is gravely injured, and he wishes to see her. Mercy sets out toward the Mississippi River. Once there, she’ll catch a train over the Rockies and―if the telegram can be believed―be greeted in Washington Territory by the sheriff, who will take her to see her father in Seattle.
Reaching the Mississippi is a harrowing adventure by dirigible and rail through war-torn border states. When Mercy finally arrives in St. Louis, the only Tacoma-bound train is pulled by a terrifying Union-operated steam engine called the Dreadnought. Reluctantly, Mercy buys a ticket and climbs aboard.
What ought to be a quiet trip turns deadly when the train is beset by bushwhackers, then vigorously attacked by a band of Rebel soldiers. The train is moving away from battle lines into the vast, unincorporated west, so Mercy can’t imagine why they’re so interested. Perhaps the mysterious cargo secreted in the second and last train cars has something to do with it?
Mercy is just a frustrated nurse who wants to see her father before he dies. But she’ll have to survive both Union intrigue and Confederate opposition if she wants to make it off the Dreadnought alive.
This is the second book in the Clockwork Century series (I reviewed the first book here). You don’t need to read the first book before this one, though it wouldn’t hurt and will give you some of the backstory around characters we only see in passing in this one.
The series is an alternative version of the American civil war, but with steampunk tech and zombies. It’s basically made for me, you guys!
I really liked the first book, Boneshaker, but I loved Dreadnought. Part of that is because it’s not a split point-of-view book — I don’t mind those, but they aren’t my favourite. Another part is that we don’t have a sometimes-annoying teenage boy as one of the point-of-view characters. (Sorry, Zeke.) A third part was that the zombie threat is mostly the “creeping dread” kind than the teeming horde kind, which was sinister and chilling and kept me hooked.
Mercy was a delightful leading lady: a young nurse who is by turns ladylike and swears like a trooper (learned in the hospital, no doubt). She isn’t afraid to take charge when direction is needed, and she has a bedside manner that is both disarming and tough when it needs to be.
She knows how to shoot a gun, but almost all of Mercy’s involvement in the story’s action revolves around her nursing others as best she can in a war zone (or a zombie apocalypse). I found that part of the story fascinating and disturbing in turns — we aren’t exactly talking modern medicine here. And the story is so action-packed that Mercy definitely gets a lot of chances to work her trade.
Briar, the main character in Boneshaker, is still my fave due to the single mother solidarity thing, but Mercy runs a close second.
This series hasn’t contained any romance so far (though I’ve already started the third book and there a charming development brewing). But if you’re okay with that and love spec fic, Dreadnought is definitely worth checking out.
August 21, 2018
Mini-review: ‘Throne of Glass’ by Sarah J. Maas
Meet Celaena Sardothien.
Beautiful. Deadly.
Destined for greatness.
In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake. She got caught.
Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament—fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin’s heart be melted?
I’m coming to this series pretty late — I bought it a while ago because the cover was just that awesome, but it took a while to filter to the top of my tbr (and I actually ended up listening to it on audiobook, so the paperback never even got opened — oops).
I found the story engrossing enough, though the main character is no where near as tough as I thought she’d be, given that whole “best assassin in the land” thing. She talks the talk, but we rarely see her walk the walk. I mean, she has all of the thief skills associated with your typical assassin, and is good with poisons, but she isn’t cut-throat by any stretch of the imagination. I struggle to imagine her actually killing someone for money.
She also likes pretty dresses and parties. I actually like this about her, because I don’t think a character has to be unfeminine to be tough. But I can see that she gets a lot of hate from that, and it definitely distracts her at times when she should be focused on the competition.
I liked how bad the bad guys were, and the way that the fantastical elements were woven through. (There’s also a love triangle, which I didn’t mind — though I never really had a preference between the blokes in question — but others might find trope-y.) I’ll definitely download the sequel when I get my next Audible credit. But if you’re looking for a more-gritty story about an assassin, then I’d recommend Nevernight by Jay Kristoff over Throne of Glass.
August 17, 2018
‘Rheia’ — an excerpt (and a revised release date)
In case you missed it, my ancient world fantasy novel, Rheia, comes out later in 2018. I had announced the release date as 29 September, but — as it happens — an anthology in which I have a story is having its launch party that exact same day. That being the case, I’ve decided to push Rheia’s release date back two weeks, to Saturday 13 October. Apologies to anyone that is disappointed about this, but I wasn’t really keen on trying to wrangle two book birthdays at once!
Now, onto the excerpt. 
August 12, 2018
Review: ‘Bitter Truth’ by Lauren K. McKellar
Book #2 in the Twisted Hearts duet
You can run, you can hide, but the truth will always find you.
Everly Jenkins knows darkness — but that doesn’t stop her living life to the max. Not until she meets Cameron Lewis, the tragic reminder of her past that she just can’t seem to shake.
Being “just friends” with a man who sends her soul flying and her body up in flames is near impossible — until her secrets come out, leaving her alone.
Will the darkness overcome her once again? Or will Everly fight for the man she loves and help him face the bitter truth?
I’m going to keep this review as spoiler-free as I can, which means being cryptic (and therefore fairly brief).
The first thing you need to know is that you really shouldn’t start with the second book in this series. You’ll be hella confused, and miss all of the good feels in the first book, which I reviewed here. That being said, the first third or so of Bitter Truth covers the same events as in Honest Love, but from Everly’s perspective. I really enjoyed this part of the book, with its glimpses into what Everly’s deal really is.
I enjoy Everly as a character. She’s gone through some pretty dark times and come out the other side with the willingness to fight, not just for herself but for Cameron and what he wants more than anything else as well — custody of his baby girl, Piper. She fights for him when he doesn’t even want to see her, and frankly I’m glad this part of the story was from her perspective rather than his, because I found his slump at the start of Bitter Truth a little frustrating (if understandable).
Lauren K. McKellar does what she describes as “romance with feels”, and one of the things that has made her an auto-buy for me is that her books never feel predictable even while they stay true to the romance genre (which can be rather formulaic). There was one moment in Bitter Truth where I was absolutely certain I knew what was going to happen next. I really struggle with super-cringeworthy moments in fiction (you know, the ones where you want to hide your face so you don’t die of secondary embarrassment), and I thought this was going to be one of them — so much so that I had to put the book down and gather myself in order to keep reading.
I should’ve had more faith, because not only did what I was expecting not happen but the whole story took a turn for the even-more-awesome.
This duology has a smoking hot couple, an adorable toddler, a conniving ex who still manages to be somewhat sympathetic at times, some tragedy, some steamy sex scenes, lots of beach scenes that made me hanker for my next coastal holiday, and a happily ever after. What more could you want?
August 9, 2018
Book announcement and cover reveal: ‘Rheia’
Once upon a time, in between writing my various urban fantasy projects, I slipped and fell and wrote a fantasy novel. This was back in the days of yore (well, 2016), in between writing Lucid Dreaming and False Awakening, and I didn’t want to release this book in between the two halves of that duology.
It is now that book’s time to shine.
After going through several working titles (the highlight of which was the utilitarian Greek Fantasy, because I can’t be trusted to name things), I finally settled on the perfect name for this book — and now I can share it with you, along with the perfect cover, done by the fabulous Kim from KILA Designs.
Rheia
Release date: 29 September 2018
“Beauty and the Beast meets Ancient Greece, with a steampunk twist”
Every year, Rheia’s father brought home four prisoners of war, sacrifices to keep the demon Typhein bound. Rheia never gave them much thought … until her father’s enemy made her one of them. Now she has two weeks to find a way to escape death at the hands of the Beast and either save her people or condemn them to destruction.
The last thing Rheia expected was to fall in love with the Beast oath-bound to kill her.
