New Release: Modern Divination (Spells for Life and Death Book 1) by Isa Agajanian

Modern Divination: A bewitching dark academia with a magical love story (Spells for Life and Death Book 1)
by Isa Agajanian
Book 1 of 1: Spells for Life and Death
Genre: paranormal romance, science fiction, urban fantasy
A Discovery of Witches meets The Atlas Six in Modern Divination by Isabel Agajanian, a dark contemporary fantasy from a brilliant new talent. Modern Divination is the first book in the Spells for Life and Death duology.

The colour of magic was gold . . .

Twenty-three-year-old witch Aurelia Schwartz has always had to carefully balance her human life with her secret magical one. With a place at an elite Cambridge University college, she almost has everything she could possibly want within her grasp. Just so long as she follows the rules: make no promises. Tell no one what you are. And never stay the night.

Except Aurelia’s gift of green magic has begun to fade. Worse still, someone is hunting witches – and stealing their powers. Reluctantly, Aurelia needs the help of fellow witch – and dreadfully arrogant classmate – Theodore Ingram. Together, they seek refuge among his family in the remote corners of an already-desolate town. But as she grows closer to Teddy, the power-hungry witch-killer, too, draws nearer. And they threaten to destroy everything Aurelia holds dear . . .

Modern Divination by Isabel Agajanian is a magical cosy fantasy with witches, featuring an academic rivals-to-lovers romance, found family and yearning.

Praise for Modern Divination

‘Lush and atmospheric, full of magic and yearning’ – Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six

‘The cosy contemporary fantasy of my dreams’ – Ava Reid, New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning

‘A gem of a book’ – Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of The Foxglove King

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About the Author:
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Isa Agajanian (they/them) is a writer and illustrator in the United States. Raised in California and spirited away to Florida, then Oregon, Isabel is never writing in one place for too long. They are joined in their pursuit of good stories by a hefty grey cat named Mosse and at least one roommate at a time. Modern Divination is their first published novel at the crux of a hundred unpublished stories.

Book Review: Thunder Game (A GhostWalker Novel Book 20) by Christine Feehan

Thunder Game (A GhostWalker Novel Book 20)
by Christine Feehan
May 6, 2025
Book 20 of 20: GhostWalker
Two broken souls find a love worth fighting for in this captivating GhostWalker novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan.

Diego Campos has come home to die. The GhostWalker is tired of walking a dark path shaped by countless losses. There has never been a moment of good in his life that wasn’t followed by something bad. But as he makes his way to his family’s homestead in the Appalachian Mountains, his plans are interrupted by a violent ambush that sets his life on a new course.

In between fighting off a small army of assailants, Diego is struck by a beautiful, brutal warrior woman unlike anyone he’s encountered before. Compelled to rescue her, Diego uses his psychic gifts to make Leila’s broken body whole again and save her from certain death. With each new breath she regains her strength, showcasing her humor, intelligence and courage as she reveals the truths of her past and inspires feelings Diego never thought his heart could experience.

After a lifetime alone, in the middle of firefight, Diego has finally found a light to guide him through the darkness—and one brief touch is enough to set them both aflame.

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Diego has come home to die. He's had enough of life and goes to the one place he knows his brother will find him and carry out his last wishes. Diego is a Ghostwalker--an enhanced and experimented-on soldier who thinks he's not as good as his brother. Ghostwalkers are men who volunteered to be enhanced psychically so they would be of more use to their country.

 However, Dr. Peter Whitney also performed experimental gene coding on them without their consent or knowledge. Because of his connections and the government, which wanted his enhanced soldiers, he was pretty much untouchable and continued to experiment with people.

Diego and his teammates are more like family to each other and will help each other out. Before Diego can get to his cabin, a bunch of soldiers comes for his elderly neighbor who is an ex Ghostwalker. But he's not alone. His two nieces are with him and one gets kidnapped while the other gets hurt. Diego has to trust Leila and show her some of his psychic gifts that no one else knows about in order to save her life.

Leila is a surprise because he's never had such a reaction to a woman before and he feels a pull towards her. Once they have both rested and she is healing and feeling better, they want to go after her sister but more soldiers show up. Diego and Leila work together to take them out and keep each other safe. But when Diego's brother finds out what's going on and finds out some secrets that Diego has been keeping, the rest of the Ghostwalker team make their way to them to help out.

Diego and Leila's romance was a slow burn because neither of them had ever felt anything like the instant attraction they felt for each other. They let themselves get to know each other as they grew closer and tried to find a way to rescue her loved ones from Whitney before he could experiment with them more. There was so much action in this book, so much fighting so we get to see Leila and Diego in action.

I really liked that the rest of the Ghostwalker team showed up, and we got to see how his teammates, the characters from past books, and their families were doing. I really loved that. It's nice to see how characters from previous books that you really liked are doing. This is the 20th book in Christine Feehan's Ghostwalker series and I can completely recommend this book as well as this series. But I would read the books in order to understand what has been happening and how it all started. 

This was a great addition to the series, and I look forward to reading more about it.
 

I give this book 5 sheep!

Mary Kirkland

Dark Thoughts Blog

About the Author:
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I write every day and have done so since I was old enough to pick up a pen. (I spent a lot of time getting in trouble at school for writing instead of doing the things I was supposed to do.) Once I create my characters, I try very hard to have them react to situations as they really would. Sometimes I have preconceived ideas of what I would like them to do, but they don’t mind me, because it would be out of character for them. They take on a life of their own. Sometimes when I throw difficult situations at them in the hopes I’ll get a certain reaction and they don’t do what I want, I complain bitterly to my husband and he laughs at me. Still, it is important to me to have them be real, not perfect people, so they make mistakes we lesser mortals might make.

NA Romantic Fantasy: Of Light and Freedom (The Star Queen Chronicles Book 2) by Rachel Fallon

Of Light and Freedom (The Star Queen Chronicles Book 2)
by Rachel Fallon
May 5, 2025
Genre: NA Romantic Fantasy
Journey to the Otherworld
Fated Mates
Forbidden Love
Magic Training
Shadow Daddy Dragon Shifter
Court Intrigue
Brewing War

Step into the light and let the darkness swallow you whole…

Asteria’s life has been sent into chaos. With the truth of who she is revealed, she must reckon with what her future now brings. Unsure if that future should include the man who fate chose for her, but who hadn’t chosen her, she soon finds even greater challenges awaiting them. She must quickly learn to control her new powers, but unfortunately, control is the one thing that has always alluded her, and the stakes are now higher than ever.

Calix has waited over four hundred years for his mate, and while he always knew finding her would be far from straightforward, he never expected these circumstances. With one kingdom clamoring for their prophesied queen, and another for their gods’ chosen heir, they find themselves stuck between two kingdoms, with the threat of being torn apart just as they’ve found one another.

Everything hangs in the balance as the continent teeters on the line of chaos. With Cyrus’s plans put into action for his foul blood magic, Dusk and Night prepare for war, as rebellion finally begins to stir outside the shadows of Night. As prophecies converge and the seer speaks, the gods’ message comes through loud and clear—and one does not deny the gods.

The balance shifts, chaos thrives, and a war long foretold erupts, ensuring that the world as Asteria knew it, will never be the same…

Of Light and Freedom is the second book in a compelling new adult romantic fantasy series featuring contrasting light and dark love interests and the delicate line of balance and chaos for a magical land. Plus Fae shifters, court intrigue, slavery rebellion, a shadow daddy love interest who can shift into a dragon, and a heroine finding her own power and fighting for what she believes in. Perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas, Jennifer L Armentrout, Clare Sager, Nisha J Tuli, Carissa Broadbent, Chloe C. Peñaranda, and Raven Kennedy! 

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About the Author:
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I'm Rachel Fallon. I'm 32 years old and work full time in an office arranging engineer schedules, but after work is when all the fun begins! I write, I read, I bookstagram. I absolutely love fantasy romance and will just eat up any books of it I find. I started my bookstagram because I wanted to keep track of my thoughts on the books I've read, and started doing reviews. It started to take off so I've expanded out to include special edition book and bookish merch spotlights as well a book box unboxings. I love romantasy so much in fact, that I couldn't help coming up with stories in my head all the time. I used other's fictional characters for a long time as my outlet. I received so much support and great feedback, and people encouraging me to write my own novel. I don't think I would have had the guts to chase this dream without them. I sat down and decided y'know what? I want to write a damn book. Let's do this.

Very quickly, the story and characters began coming to me. It's evolved along the way of course, but much of my base brainstorming remains true to the story now. The characters and the world were just so vivid to me right away, and I knew this had to be my focus. I do have other series ideas waiting in the wings for later, but all my love and attention is going into The Star Queen Chronicles right now. Especially book 1, Of Darkness and Ruination. I can't wait to share this with you all!

What kind of romantasy books do I love? All kinds! But my favorites series are ACOTAR, Blood and Ash + Flesh and Fire, Crowns of Nyaxia, Of Flesh and Bone, Artefacts of Ouranos, Plated Prisoner, Legends of Thezmarr, The Empyrean, The Mist King, Gods and Monsters, An Heir Comes to Rise, Nytefall, The Coven, Shadows of Tenebris, Deliciously Dark Fairytales and so many more!

Outside of books, what's there to know about me? Well, I have an adorably spoiled calico cat named Cookie Dough, since she looks like a ball of cookie dough (very original, yes). We call her Cookie, of course. I do love watching current tv shows like House of the Dragon, Wheel of Time, The Sandman, and Good Omens. I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially Bucky Barnes, The Winter Soldier. I've very excited for Dune Part 2 coming up. I love the big epics like Lord of the Rings and it's so rare they come around like this! I clearly stay in a very fantasy/paranormal/romance wheelhouse even outside of books!

Excerpt: Tough Karma: A Race Against Time (The Karma Series Book 1) by Laura Simmons +giveaway

A chilling tale of loss, tragedy, psychic warfare, and eternal love.

Tough Karma: A Race Against Time (The Karma Series Book 1)
by Laura Simmons
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy

“Tough Karma - A Race Against Time took my preconceived idea and previous experience of Paranormal Romance, rolled it into a tight little ball and slam dunked it in the bin of old experiences.” The International Review of Books

A chilling tale of loss, tragedy, psychic warfare, and eternal love.

Amber Macklin’s world is cruelly shattered when she loses her baby girl three months after her husband’s sudden death. Her cousin, Bryce, comes to her rescue, moving her into his home for fear she will kill herself from the grief. He provides solace and a shoulder to cry on, and he has loved her as more than a cousin for a long time. Amber and Bryce soon discover they are not blood relatives, which opens the door for romance as he pulls her through her darkest hours. When Mike, a college friend of Bryce’s, stops by to visit, Amber senses a deadly secret behind his nice guy persona. She has a frightening dream that Mike is trying to kill her and recurring sleepwalking episodes where she draws detailed pictures of him torturing her. Deeply troubled, Bryce uses his ability to astral travel to investigate Mike and uncover his terrifying past. Mike has had his eye on Amber for some time, and when he learns that Bryce and Amber have become lovers, he is furious. Mike abducts Amber and takes her to his rural Georgia hideaway, and Bryce must rely on his astral abilities to track her down. But will he be too late?
Tough Karma is a stand alone novel. The astral adventures continue in Dark Karma: Sword of Vengeance.

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 Seven hours had passed since Mike shot her up with benzo, and they were a little over half-way to his hideout. As the effects started wearing off, she had a vivid dream . . .

. . . She is running through the woods, terrified because Mike is chasing her. She calls out frantically for Bryce over and over, trying to outrun her pursuer, “BRYCE, WHERE ARE YOU? HELP ME! HE’S GOT ME. PLEASE HELP ME!” She hears his voice echoing through the woods, “Amber, baby, I’m on my way to get you. Hang in there; I WILL find you”. . .

A sudden back-handed smack in the face jolted her awake. “SHUT UP!” Mike yelled. “Do you know that you talk in your sleep? Bryce isn’t coming to rescue you. He will never find you. Get that through your head right now.”

He’s surrounded by black, is that his aura?! That’s why I felt a dark heaviness around him and from the pictures I drew . . . the drugs are making me see things. Don’t backtalk, don’t let him know that Bryce knows where to find me . . . I have to survive this; I don’t want him to kill me . . . she thought and looked down at her hands. He had put the handcuffs back on . . . If I weren’t afraid of dying in a car crash or worse, I would attempt to hit him right now. I can do more with my arms and hands in front of me . . . “I have to pee again,” she stated choking back the tears and still feeling the sting from his slap.

“There’s a rest stop ten miles ahead. We’ll stop there. It’s time for another shot of benzo. If you try to put up a fight, I’ll make sure you hurt the rest of the way, badly,” he said coldly.

“Why are you doing this? Why me? Do you really think that you can abduct a woman and make her fall in love with you?” she asked trying to stay calm and thinking of Bryce’s voice from her dream . . . I wonder if that was really him communicating with me. I want to believe it was. Mike didn’t respond to her question and kept his eyes on the road. He wasn’t used to women behaving so calmly. Then again, he was handling her differently than the others and hoping for better results.

Ten miles seemed like forever to her, and they finally arrived at the rest area. She debated different scenarios of getting away from him and screaming for help. Her legs weren’t shackled, and her mouth wasn’t duct taped, yet. He seemed to read her mind and threatened her as he pulled into a parking space close to the restrooms. He drew a handgun from a side compartment in the door, shoving it into her stomach and said, “If you try ANYTHING, including screaming for help, I will gun down everyone I see, and innocent people will pay for your selfish behavior. I’ll make sure you’re killed along with the rest of them,” he threatened with the coldest look in his eyes she had ever seen.

She was getting angry and even though he had a gun shoved into her stomach she responded with disdain, “I don’t want anyone killed because of me, except for you!”

He just laughed and pushed the gun deeper into her stomach, making her wince in pain. “Keep talking like that and I’ll kill you before we get there,” he said. She decided to cooperate and try to escape at a later time. She didn’t think he would kill her this soon, but she was going to play it safe. He shot her up with more benzo and helped her walk to the restroom while he stood outside and waited. In her drugged state she looked longingly at the small windows in the restroom and briefly contemplated how she might escape through them, knowing that she would never make it. When she was finished, she stumbled out the door and he caught her before she hit the ground.

“Come on, honey, let’s get you home,” he said kindly putting his arms around her to help her stay upright. I hate you and your ugly aura . . . she thought and passed out a few seconds after getting into the Jeep.

Dark Karma: Sword of Vengeance (The Karma Series Book 2)
“Dark Karma is a fascinating story that would surely be loved by any fan of fantasy and romance. Simmons proved herself a competent author in writing a tale of angst, magic, and determination." Reader Views

What would you do if you woke up one morning and your world was inexplicably changed in the worst way imaginable?

Banished by his enemy into a hellish alternate dimension, Luke Decker fights to understand why his world has suddenly changed, and why is he on trial for the murder of his beloved Nina? What he doesn’t know is she’s not dead. Nina watches him vanish into thin air and is completely bereft, struggling to find out how and why he disappeared. Using all of her psychic talents and traversing the astral realm, she frantically searches for him to no avail. She owns a secret item which holds the key to his salvation, but will she figure it out before he’s condemned to live the rest of his life in a realm of darkness?

This remarkable tale of vengeance, time travel, and dark magic is even more enjoyable if you read Tough Karma: A Race Against Time first.

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Karma: The Resolution (The Karma Series Book 3)
This story picks up where Dark Karma left off. Enjoy the next thrilling adventure into alternate dimensions!

“From the first time I saw you back in the 14th century to the day I was imprisoned in the dark realm, you have lived in my dreams and my heart,” David said to Maddie. He knows that she is the reincarnation of his beloved Cara. Can he convince her that they shared a past life? Will she still want him once she learns the truth? And what about the evil immortal who wants her dead?

“If I can pull a cat from a dream, I can rescue Mori from where she’s being held prisoner,” thought Noah Colton. Each night Mori comes to him on the astral plane, begging for him to save her and vanishing before he can follow. Terrified that she will soon be killed, he travels to another dimension to rescue her and bring her to his home. But what will happen when her captors track her down?

Two, out-of-this-world romantic fantasy stories unfold as David and Noah battle dark forces to save the women they love. Find out what happens when the unexpected intervenes and changes everything in these interconnected stories.

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Little Bits of Karma (The Karma Series Prequel)
A captivating reincarnation romance of redemption and forgiveness.

Even though Holly O’Rourke is having problems with her longtime significant other, James, she has never entertained thoughts of infidelity…that is, until the day she has a chance encounter with Charlie, a handsome coworker. James promises he will change and work on their relationship, but Holly’s feelings for Charlie just won’t go away. Distressed by her mixed emotions, Holly schedules an appointment for a reading with a psychic medium, where she discovers her adulterous past lives and their tragic consequences. Holly learns to do her own past life regression through self-hypnosis and uncovers not only lives that she shared with James and Charlie, but how the other people in her present life have been with her in the past—the threads of their lives interwoven for centuries. Holly is stunned by recurring themes and the issues of karmic justice that need to be addressed. Where will her karmic path ultimately lead? Find out in Little Bits of Karma, an entertaining new book about spiritual cause and effect.

**Only .99cents!!**
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About the Author:

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Laura Simmons grew up in northern Virginia and spent most of her career working for various Department of Defense contractors in the Washington, DC area. She has a fascination with all things metaphysical and mysterious. She enjoys adult coloring books, writing, jigsaw puzzles, arts and crafts, and vacationing at the beach.

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Cover Reveal: Daemones ex Machina by Russell Anders - Cyberpunk / Fantasy

 

Daemones ex Machina
by Russell Anders
Release Date: July 23rd, 2025
Genre: Cyberpunk/Urban Fantasy Fiction
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
If you make a deal with the Devil, don’t forget to read the fine print.

Three operatives find themselves on the run after a corporate sabotage job goes awry. Now, their predatory employer, a heavyweight weapons-tech firm, wants its elite A-team dead at all costs. Jon is a smooth-talking charmer. Friedrich is a hacker prodigy. And Guion is the ice-cold tactician who keeps them all in line.

Backs against the wall, the men strike separate infernal pacts to stay alive. They vanish into the urban badlands of New York’s Five Hives, vowing to lie low and figure out why they’ve become targets. Meanwhile, Jon suspects there’s an insidious evil possessing his friends, and he wonders if they all got more than they bargained for.

Amid an escalating war between local gangs and the firm’s private shock troops, the fugitives uncover a conspiracy that threatens to destroy everyone they know and love. But can they stop the destruction before their inner demons seize control?

About the Author
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At the age of four, Russell Anders started telling stories, often interrupting his mother during bedtime reading to ask, “Then what happened?” She always answered, “You tell me,” and his imagination conjured fantastical tales of dragons and dinosaurs.

He gravitated toward a career as a technical writer and writing coach for software companies. He also briefly served as a columnist for Dragon Magazine. One of his favorite hobbies includes tabletop role playing, especially as the game master. And yes, he's as cruel to the characters in his games as he is to the characters in his books; his players love him for it.

Russel lives with the constant canine companionship of whip-smart but goofy Sigurd, an English Mastiff (the best breed ever).

Daemones ex Machina is his debut novel.