GtPGKogPYT4p61R1biicqBXsUzo" /> Google+ I Smell Sheep: November 2017

Thursday, November 30, 2017

New Movie Releases for December 2017




Dec 1
Limited Releases
 

Dec 8
Limited Releases

Dec 15

Limited Releases

Dec 20

Dec 22
 

Netflix

Limited Releases
Dec 25
Limited Release

Book Review: Awakening of the Seer (The Gateway Trackers Book 3) by E.E. Holmes

Awakening of the Seer (The Gateway Trackers Book 3)
by E.E. Holmes
November 21, 2017
Pages: 319
She can already see the dead...but is she starting to see the future?

Spurred by the injustices that nearly destroyed their family, Jess and Hannah Ballard are preparing to win back a seat on the powerful Durupinen Council. The odds are stacked against them, but that’s never stopped them before. But as Hannah faces the harsh realities of political intrigue, Jess must face a frightening new reality of her own.

Jess made a promise months before, a promise to help the trapped and tortured Walker, Irina. With Irina’s trial looming, Jess has her chance to make good on her word, but the spirit world may have other plans. Jess’s gift as a Muse is shifting. Her talent as an artist is now offering her terrifying glimpses into a future she may be powerless to change.

Unspeakable tragedy looms ever closer. Will Jess be forced to stand helplessly by, or will she interpret the signs before it’s too late?


Awakening of the Seer is book 3 in The Gateway Trackers series, and continues with Jess and Hannah at Fairhaven awaiting the continuation of the Airechtas, which was delayed due to the Shattering. Jess finds that her psychic drawings that occur while she’s sleeping, maybe more than just her gift as a Muse and has her more than a little concerned. Hannah has decided to accept the nomination for the Council seat and is trying to figure out how she can beat Marion’s manipulations of other clans.

Hannah takes more of a backseat in this story while Jess is thrust into many complications she’d rather forget. There are some definite wins and losses that make this is a good read in the series. There were many different storylines occurring and some could have used a little more attention to detail, as they seemed almost inconsequential when in reality they had importance to the story and future books.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. 


Review: Whispers of the Walker (The Gateway Trackers Book 1)
Review: Plague of the Shattered (The Gateway Trackers Book 2)

Getting 5 sheep





Denise B


About the Author:
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E.E. Holmes grew up near Boston, Massachusetts, where she spent the majority of her childhood reading books. She read them almost constantly, and as a result, perfected the art of walking and reading at the same time, a skill she can still perform to this day with remarkably few instances of falling on her face. She also wrote many books and poems in blank books and on the backs of legal pads her father brought home from the office. They remain some of her finest work.

E.E. Holmes lives in central Massachusetts with her husband, two children, and small, but surprisingly loud dog. When not writing, she enjoys watching unhealthy amounts of British television, procrastinating, and rediscovering her favorite books from her childhood all over again with her kids. Her next project is Spirit Ascendancy: Book 3 of the Gateway Trilogy, due for release in November of 2015.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Book Review: Witch for Hire by Shyla Colt + giveaway

Witch for Hire
by Shyla Colt
11-27-1017
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Vamptasy
ASIN: B075GN5Q68
Number of pages: 300
Word Count: 85,000
Cover Artist: Dreams 2 Media
Against the approaching darkness, I am the light.

Young, terrified, and bound to a vampire, Louella Eschete fled the bayou and swore off magic. Years later, she’s returned to the tiny town of Cypress, Louisiana to take her rightful place as head of her magical family, whether she likes it or not.

In order to keep the tentative peace formed between the various races of powerful beings who rule side by side, she must face her own demons. Mainly one, Cristobal Cortez.

Now a master vampire, and lord of the seven cities surrounding New Orleans, her former lover has moved up in the world. Their relationship gets way more complicated when his court is framed for a rash of murders they didn’t commit.

Forced to play her role as his bond mate, and launch an investigation into the darkness threatening to overturn truces, she may be in over her head.



Louella Eschete left the bayou and ran from her magic as well as Cristobal Cortez. Now she is returning home to Cypress, a tiny town in Louisiana to become the head of her magical family. Lou knows she must face Cristobal, who is now a master vampire and the lord of the cities surrounding New Orleans, but she’s not sure if she is ready to face him yet. She still feels like he lied and manipulated her and returning to Cypress and him will only complicate her feelings.

A witch and a vampire seem to be targeting Cristobal’s court and Lou is forced to play her role as his bonded mate and work to prove their innocence and who is behind all the horrible murders that have been occurring. 


This was a fantastic storyline. It kept me engaged and wanting more. There were a few parts of the story that seemed a bit disconnected but still great nonetheless. Not sure if this is book 1 in a series or the only story but I really hope there are more to come

Getting 4 sheep






Denise B



Excerpt:
I spot his form on the outskirts. Though, I’m loathe to admit it, my night vision is better than a human’s. Energy crackles on my fingertips. Bright green sparks break the inky blackness of night. My stomach sours. Being in the same space works as an amplifier for us. I’m manifesting new powers. He’s turned me into something foreign. Physical manifestation of magic is rare and left to the most powerful.

I curl my hands into fists. He foresaw this all those years ago in that graveyard. He recognized the potential of the two of us could create together. My chest aches. Some wounds cut too deep to ever fully heal. Angers pools in my belly. I wanted love. I got lies and manipulation instead. A pulsing ball of energy forms in front of me. I’m hypnotized by the technic-color glow. How could this come from me?

I shake under the strain of maintaining it. What was created in anger is burning off my reserves.

“Let. It. Go.”

The command given in a dulcet tone snaps my hold on the newly discovered power. The ball hurtles toward him. I resend the magic, knowing the back lash of the abrupt interruption of signal flow is going to be a bitch. Lifted off my feet by a form of magical feedback, I’m pitched back violently. My stomach drops, and then I’m caught in a strong pair of arms. The gravity of seeing him in person so close up presses down on me as I drown in his chocolate colored gaze. My tongue sticks to the rough of my mouth. All thought flees as my barriers buckle like the compromised hull of a ship. The high, well-sculpted cheek bones lead down to a strong, diamond shaped jaw rounded out by a dimpled chin. His button nose gives an eternal boyish quality to his rugged good lucks. He swallows and my gaze is drawn to his throat as my mind his worked over by years of memories. 
We’re exchanging information like two computers updating. He cups my face. “Louella.” I twitch as I ride the wave of power being exchanged between us.


About the Author:
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Shyla Colt is the sassy international bestseller of the popular series Kings of Chaos and Dueling Devils M.C. This genre-hoppers stories feature three of her favorite things: strong females, pop culture, and alternate routes to happy ever after. Listening to her Romani soul, she pens from the heart, allowing the dynamic characters, eccentric interests, and travels as a former flight attendant to take her down untraveled roads.

Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, this mid-west girl is proud of her roots. She used her hometown and the surrounding areas as a backdrop for a number of books. So, if you’re a Buckeye, keep an eye out for familiar places.

As a full-time writer, stay at home mother, and wife, there's never a dull moment in her household.

She weaves her tales in spare moments and the evenings with a cup of coffee or tea at her side and the characters in her head for company.

You can interact with Shyla Colt online via her website.

Tour giveaway 
Kindle Fire (US and Canada Only for the giveaway)
$25 Amazon GC
$25 Amazon GC
$10 Amazon GC

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Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Decking the Haunted Halls with Gail Z. Martin

Decking the Haunted Halls
with Gail Z. Martin 

I love Halloween. Always have, since I was a kid. Even without the candy, I loved the costumes and all the spooky decorations. Once, I rigged up my bedroom with my old Halloween costumes like a haunted house and then was afraid to sleep in it! (My mother was not amused.)

Still, our decorations are more fun than terrifying, because I remember how scared my kids used to get when they were little and some of our neighbors went all-out with sound effects, fog and people jumping out from the bushes. We once had a neighbor who dressed as a witch and rose out of a coffin. My kids took one look, screamed and ran all the way home. So we keep it tame.

Well, as tame as a life-size inflatable hearse driven by the headless horseman with a vampire rising out of his coffin in the back can be. Or an eight-foot dragon that flaps its wings. Yeah, we’re those neighbors.
And just when I think we’re a little over the top, I look through the decoration catalogues and walk into places like Spirit and wonder—who actually decorates with the life-size animated mummies and witches and bodies hanging in cocoons? And how do I get invited to their parties? Seriously, some of these catalogues have stuff that look way better than theme park attractions I’ve been through!

Inside, some of my favorite decorations are hand-painted. Back when I had free time, I enjoyed painting ceramics (although I’m better with words than with paint). Still, I’m fond of the pieces I painted and enjoy seeing them each year. Many of the other decorations have been collected here and there over the years. One of my daughters has a birthday near Halloween, so all the time she was growing up, we did Halloween-themed birthday parties with spooky cakes!
I’ve also got all of Midnight Syndicate’s terrifyingly wonderful spooky music CDs, which are fun to play either when I’m writing a scary scene or to scare the liver out of trick-or-treaters!

Of course, Halloween wouldn’t be the same without ‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’, ‘Hocus Pocus’ and ‘Halloweentown’. You’re never too old to enjoy those with a big bowl of popcorn!

But really, if you want to see over the top, talk to me about Christmas decorations!

The New Templars novella series is a new series of short novels, similar to BookShots. Spells, Salt, & Steel is the first in the series by popular steampunk, epic, and urban fantasy duo Gail Z. Martin and Larry N. Martin.
They are the first line of defense against the things that go bump in the night. 
They are the keepers of a centuries-old legacy of The Church defending the world against the forces of darkness. 
They are a bunch of highly armed rednecks, internet video celebrities, soccer moms, and assorted broken nutjobs.
They are the new Templars, and things are about to get weird.
by Gail Z. Martin,‎ Larry N. Martin
October 3, 2017
116 pages
When all else fails, the ass end of a carp makes a damn fine weapon.

No, that didn't come from the lips of Bubba the Monster Hunter, but it sure could have! That sentence right there kinda encapsulates the life of Mark Wojcik, Monster Hunter. A blue-collar mechanic from the wilds of PA, Mark likes his beer cold, his poker games private, and his monsters…well, he doesn’t like them at all. So when he finds himself dueling a Japanese mythical monster in the Linesville Spillway in the wee hours of the night, he has to use every available weapon to survive and vanquish the ningen. 

Even if it means beating the damn thing to death with a carp. 

If interloping Japanese fish-monsters weren’t bad enough, there’s a Nazi ghost terrorizing the community. Somebody needs to gank the ghostie, and Mark is the man for the job. 

He hopes. 
An excerpt from Spells, Salt, and Steel: A New Templars Novel here 

Let me give a shout-out for #HoldOnToTheLight 2017, back for more with new authors and fantastic new posts! 130+ Sci-Fi/Fantasy authors blogging about their personal struggles with depression, PTSD, anxiety, suicide and self-harm, candid posts by some of your favorite authors on how mental health issues have impacted their lives and books. Read the stories, share the stories, change a life. Find out more at www.HoldOnToTheLight.com

And an excerpt from my friend Jean Marie Ward’s Lord Bai and the Magic Pirate here
About the Author:
Wattpad 
Gail Z. Martin writes epic fantasy, urban fantasy and steampunk for Solaris Books and Orbit Books. Vengeance: A Darkhurst novel, is the second in a new epic fantasy series for Solaris (coming April, 2018). Her Deadly Curiosities urban fantasy series set in Charleston, SC has a new novel, Vendetta, and a new collection, Trifles and Folly. Spells, Salt, and Steel is the first in another new urban fantasy series set in upstate Pennsylvania. 

Other work includes the Chronicles Of The Necromancer series, the Fallen Kings Cycle, the Ascendant Kingdoms series, the Deadly Curiosities urban fantasy series, and Iron & Blood (co-authored with Larry N. Martin)

Monday, November 27, 2017

Alpha Male Diner: Dragon Stew (Fire Born by Rayanne Haines)

Welcome. Come on in for a taste of Dragon Stew. A dish best served with dark rum on the rocks, a roaring fire, and massage oil. My name is Rayanne and I’ll be your server—until the lights go dim that is. I hope you’re ready for a beast that’s spent two thousand years honing his skills. A don’t be afraid when you feel silk wings wrap around you in the dark. Sink in. Let the meal begin.


Ingredients:
-Six-foot, Six-inches of muscles forged in the mountains of Vahalla

-Two-thousand years of fire, fighting, and sex

-One ancient dragon residing within

-Eyes a mix of shadow and steel

-A dash of mind control

-Unbound loyalty to those he loves

Seasoning:
-Muscled arms covered in tattoos that tell the story of a time forgotten

-One packet of solitary predator

-Attitude, oh attitude, how we need to stir you in.

-A few jagged edges, broken pieces

-Careful kindness

Mix in a newbie immortal with a tenuous hold over fire, a family secret, and a war with the elementals. Our Dragon likes alone time. Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t sweep you away from this party for something a little more . . . intimate.

Warning. Collum, King of the Dragons and Guardians of the Immortals, never quits and never loses.

Taste Test

Collum woke up with a headache. Too much fighting and Diplomatico rum the night before hadn't done him any favors. He swung his six-foot six-inch, two-hundred and fifty-pound frame to the edge of the bed, and pushed his hands through inky hair before massaging his temples. He was big enough and dangerous enough that he was generally left alone. Which made his line of work a little easier . . .

He walked to the window and closed the blinds. His condo was on the top floor of a building that overlooked Stanley Park and the Pacific Ocean. A view most people would kill to have. Collum didn't give a shit.

Pulling on his track pants, he turned to study his reflection in the full-length mirror. Eyes a mix of shadow and steel stared back at him. Eyes that looked tired and cynical. His muscled arms were covered in tattoos that told the story of a time forgotten. A time that had shaped mankind. He worked hard saving the world from shit on a daily basis, with no thanks. He’d stopped looking for thanks a long time ago. His father made sure of that.

He did his job and looked after his people. That was enough. Just because he’d managed to cheat the reaper for a while didn't mean shit. He could meet his match today as quick as the next.

Being a guardian wasn't for the faint of heart. As the leader, Collum spent less time getting his hands dirty than in the past. He was still what he was, though, and if you asked around you'd hear you didn't want to mess with him. Collum took orders from no one and very few people ever risked pissing him off. He only had one real friend. In his position, he couldn't afford to like too many people. It was easier to remain solitary. Dragons didn't make good friends.

That didn't mean he didn't like pleasure. Two thousand years of sex makes you pretty good at it, and Collum liked being good. He liked watching the ladies faces when he hit their buttons just right. He liked hearing their screams of pleasure in place of the screams of death that usually followed him. Collum loved soft skin and waves of silky hair, and tiny toes that curled when he brought them to orgasm. Sometimes, a night with a woman was the only thing that reminded him of why he chose to protect this world.

The knock on his bedroom door was quickly replaced by Glenn walking in with the paper. “It’s about time you woke up. It’s almost noon.”

“I don’t recall asking you to be my father—only my housekeeper.”

“Yes, well, when you killed him, I decided to take on the role. So, I guess you’re stuck with my paternal instincts, like it or not.”

The two men glowered at each other for a minute before Collum backed down. “You were more of a father to me than he ever was.”

“Precisely why I agreed with you that he had to die.”

Collum turned his back on the man and grabbed a gray T-shirt out of the dresser in the corner of the room. He didn’t want to think about that right now. “You have any coffee?”

“You’re going to have to talk about it at some point you know.”

“Why? She’ll still be dead, won’t she? The bastard still lived longer than he should have.” He stared hard at the old man in front of him. “Coffee?”

Glenn stiffened slightly before masking his face with an air of indifference. “Of course. It’s probably cold by now. I’ll make a new batch.”

As he walked out of the room, Collum frowned but didn’t call him back or apologize. He wasn’t a child, and didn’t need to talk about what happened. It had been twenty-five years and he’d done what needed to be done. He always did what needed to be done.

Collum was halfway down the glass stairs of his condo for that cup of black coffee when his cell rang. Addicted to knowledge, he had played a large, if silent role in the advancements of many technologies humans took for granted. His iPhone was never out of his reach.

“Yep. What?”

“Hello, is this Collum Thronus?”

“How did you get this number?” was his terse reply.

“This is Quinn Taleisin. I'm Kaylen's daughter. Her granddaughter was attacked today right after the mysterious appearance of a flame tattoo on her foot. We need your help.”

Collum sat on the stairs, the coffee and Glenn forgotten, and let his head drop. “Tell me where you are. I'm on my way.”


Fire Born (The Guardian Series Book One)
by Rayanne Haines
September 13th, 2017 
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-68291-511-0
ASIN: B074WFSD7G
Number of pages: 224
Word Count: 70,000.00
Cover Artist: Fiona Jayde
When Alex Taleisin’s immortal DNA kicks in after a fight for her life against something not-quite-human in the YMCA parking lot, her Aunt finally lets her in on the family secret. They’re Immortal – Elementals to be precise. Only, Alex is a little something more, and until they discover what, her life is in danger.

Collum Thronus, Guardian of the Races and savage King of the Dragons has no choice but to protect Alex and find her father’s people. He made a promise and Collum always keeps his promises. Now, he needs to keep his hands of his charge.

Enter an insane grandfather, a shifter with a hidden agenda, and a witch with a shoe addiction and soon Alex is wishing for a quiet house in the hills with the dragon she’s falling for. But a battle is coming and Alex knows the only way to find her answers is to trust her powers and become the warrior she was destined to be.



About the Author:
Rayanne Haines is a published poet, romance fiction author, and arts manager.

She writes Paranormal Romance with Kick-Ass Heroines. She believes in magic and legend and all the things we cannot see. Rayanne prefers her alpha males a little gritty and the women who love them, in charge of their own destiny.

Fire Born is the first book of the Guardian Series published by Soul Mate Publishing. Magic Born is available June 2018.
Tour giveaway
5 $10 Amazon Gift Cards
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Excerpt Spotlight: Dangerously Divine (A Broken Riders Novel) by Deborah Blake


November 28, 2017

302 pages
Berkley 
The author of the “wonderful” (Tamora Pierce) Baba Yaga novels and Dangerously Charming is back with a magically mesmerizing new tale about the dashing and daring Broken Riders...

The Riders: Three immortal brothers who kept the Baba Yagas safe, now stripped of their summons to protect. But fate is not finished with them—and their new callings are even more powerful...

Though his physical wounds have healed, Gregori Sun, the eldest of the Riders, remains in spiritual turmoil. His search for his mother, the one person able to heal his soul and save his life, is failing—until he crosses paths with a beautiful and fascinating librarian who might be the key to his salvation...

Ciera Evans’s bookish ways are just a guise. The product of a difficult past, she has dedicated her life to saving lost teens—by any means necessary. She works alone, but when a dark, brooding stranger proposes they team up to solve both their problems, she is tempted—in more ways than one...

After Ciera and Sun’s plans are derailed by dangerous enemies, they find themselves entangled in an ungodly affair—one that will force them to either find new strength together or be forever haunted by their pasts alone.



“Hello,” he said, tossing the black plastic bags effortlessly on top of the ones already teetering in an unsteady and odiferous mound. The new additions slithered wetly into place. “Were you looking for me?”

Ciera studied him for a moment before she spoke. Her posture was deliberately relaxed, but her clenched fists and tight jaw revealed some inner tension.

“Are you following me?” she asked, eyes boring into his. “Did he send you?”

Sun cocked an eyebrow. “If anything, it would seem that you are following me,” he said, indicating the Dumpster and the door. “And I do not know to which ‘he’ you are referring, but I assure you, the only one who sent me here was my teacher at the monastery.”

“Monastery?” Ciera blinked and shook her head, as if trying to adjust to a small but seismic change in the ground under her feet. “You’re amonk?”

Sun smothered a laugh at the dubious tone in her voice. Mikhail had used almost the exact same tone when Sun first informed his younger brother of his plans.


About this Author:
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Deborah Blake is the author of the Baba Yaga Series from Berkley (Wickedly Dangerous, Wickedly Wonderful, Wickedly Powerful), the Broken Rider Series, and the Veiled Magic series from Berkley and has published ten books on modern witchcraft with Llewellyn Worldwide. When not writing, Deborah runs The Artisans’ Guild, a cooperative shop she founded with a friend in 1999, and also works as a jewelry maker, tarot reader, and energy healer. She lives in a 130-year-old farmhouse in rural upstate New York with multiple cats who supervise all her activities, both magical and mundane.

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Saturday, November 25, 2017

Comic Review: Batwoman (2017-) Vol. 1: The Many Arms of Death

Cover by: Steve Epting
Written by: James T Tynion IV, Marguerite Bennett
Series: BATWOMAN 2017
Book Type: Collected Edition Graphic Novel
Publisher: DC

Fresh from her adventures in DETECTIVE COMICS, Katherine Kane returns with her own DC Rebirth title—and an intriguing new mystery to solve—in BATWOMAN VOL. 1: THE MANY ARMS OF DEATH.

Someone is selling cutting-edge weaponry on the black market, and their aim is to kill as many people—from as many nations—as possible. With help from her intrepid assistant, Julia Pennyworth, and their high-tech mobile command center, the yacht Sequoia, Batwoman quickly tracks the weapons to their source: a small, lawless island known as Coryana, home to pirates, outlaws…and a year of Batwoman’s life.

 Back before she joined the Bat-Family, Kate Kane spent some time with Coryana’s unofficial matriarch—and nearly lost herself in the process. Now her past is quickly catching up to her, and if Batwoman can’t figure out who to trust, the next thing she loses will be her life!

 Acclaimed writers Marguerite Bennett and James Tynion IV and artists Steve Epting (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Stephanie Hans and Renato Arlem launch Batwoman into an explosive new era in BATWOMAN VOL. 1: THE MANY ARMS OF DEATH, collecting the BATWOMAN: REBIRTH one-shot special and issues #1-6.

I’m ashamed to admit, I’m not familiar with Batwoman. I know nothing about her so I went in blind to Batwoman Vol. 1: The Many Arms of Death.

And had my mind blown.
REBIRTH one-shot special and issues #1-6

Kate Kane’s story is one of tragedy, heartbreak, and survival that writers Marguerite Bennett and James Tynion IV strongly convey in each page of dialogue. From Kate’s tragic loss of her twin and mother as a child to her time in the military to the day she meets the Caped Crusader himself, Kate’s journey is chronicled in a few short sentences. I would have liked more about Kate’s past because it was just a fascinating story that took place over the course of a few years and in more than one place. The little bit that was told was what hooked me and had me finishing this volume in about an hour.

Just as important to a good story are the illustrations. Artists Steve Epting, Stephanie Hans, and Renato Arlem beautifully bring to life Kate’s world and don’t shy away from depicting the harsher aspects of her life. The details in each image really draw the eye to the rough action scenes as well as the raw emotions on Kate’s face. I loved all three artists’ contributions.
All in all Batwoman Vol. 1, The Many Arms of Death was a good introduction to a character I knew nothing about. I would have loved a more in-depth look into her past but I still managed to connect to this character through her will to survive and make amends. She’s a tortured character, more so than the more well known Batman, but she has a realistic complexity that makes her more interesting and in my opinion, that complex nature of hers should be explored a lot better in future volumes.

Sheep Rating: 3 ½ “Need More Background” Sheep






Adria Reyes