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Showing posts with label Muse it Up Publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Muse it Up Publishing. Show all posts

Monday, October 30, 2017

Excerpt Spotlight: Evil's Unlikely Assassin (An Alexis Black Novel Book One) by Jenn Windrow

Evil's Unlikely Assassin (An Alexis Black Novel Book One)
by Jenn Windrow
June 6, 2017
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Muse It Up Publishing
ISBN: 1771279222
ASIN: B06XH9ZFD4
Number of pages: 290
Word Count: 80K
Cover Artist: Erica Petlit Designs
Sometimes it takes evil to kill evil

Vampire Alexis Black is on a mission - to rejoin the human race.

Coerced into signing an ironclad contract by an Angel-with-attitude, Alexis must hunt down and assassinate at least one vampire, werewolf, or creepy crawly every night for fifty years to become human again. Too bad the contract didn’t mention the badass vampire who now rides shotgun in her brain, insatiable bloodlust, or her new I-hate-everything-with-fangs sidekick. If she can fulfill her end of the bargain, her humanity is restored, if not she will be destroyed.

But when a revenge-seeking bloodsucker threatens her city, Alexis must risk everything to ensure there’s a humanity to return to. Since her vampire nature is her greatest weapon to defeat the monsters that threaten her friends and future, Alexis must choose to accept her inner beast or watch those she loves die.




"Evil's Unlikely Assassin is a promising urban fantasy debut that features all that's great about the genre--action, attitude, and ass-kicking." -Jaye Wells, USA Today bestselling author of The Sabina Kane and Prospero's War series.

Excerpt:
Tonight’s job had me sitting in a shadowy corner of a dead-end dive watching the unfortunate, the hopeless, and the degenerate. Had I known this is how I’d be spending my one hundred and seventy-third birthday, I would have called in sick.

An aging cocktail waitress hustled to over-serve society’s misfits. An ex-con, a dealer, and an addict pissed their lives away at the far end of the bar. A trio of prostitutes circled the room, their knock-off stiletto’s clicking on the wooden floor. And a single cockroach scurried for cover before being squashed.

How would the humans feel about me, the vampire, hiding in their shadows?

One of the battered bar stools toppled, throwing its occupant to the filthy concrete. The man, in a faded red and black flannel shirt, picked himself up off the floor. Dingy jeans slid down his hips, revealing a pair of boxers far past the expiration date for a wash. He bumped and weaved his way through the crowd, ignoring the spilled drinks and curses he left in his wake, and cut a crooked but determined path right to my table.


He collapsed into the booth next to me, blocking my only chance at escape. “How’s ’bout a drink?”

I wrinkled my nose at what had to be three days’ worth of sweat and grime, raised my bottle and sloshed the liquid from side to side. “Still nursing this one.” I focused on a faded picture of the Blues Brothers nailed to the wall and hoped he’d take the hint. A sharp tap on my shoulder told me this guy was either clueless or didn’t give a shit. My money was on clueless.

“What’s your name, sexy?”

Oh how I wanted to ignore his question, but the last thing I needed was Mr. Drunk and Stupid to cause a scene and blow my cover. “Alexis.”

His grease-coated fingers played “Get the Buggy” up my arm. I slapped them away before they got past my elbow. “How’s ’bout we get to know each other better?” He gave me a lopsided wink and ogled my breasts.

When he looked at me, he saw what every other human did, a twenty-three-year-old, petite brunette with large, light blue eyes. But if he leaned in close, he would see what lurked below the exterior, something sinister and scary, with sharp fangs and a deadly personality.

About the Author:
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Jenn Windrow loves characters that have a pinch of spunk, a dash of attitude, and a large dollop of sex appeal. Top it all off with a huge heaping helping of snark, and you've got the ingredients for the kind of fast paced stories she loves to read and write. Home is a suburb of it's-so-hot-my-shoes-have-melted-to-the-pavement Phoenix. Where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and a slew of animals that seem to keep following her home, at least that's what she claims.

Jenn's Urban Fantasy, EVIL’S UNLIKELY ASSASSIN won the RWA Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal (FF&P), “On The Far Side” writing contest in July 2014, top 5 in the RWA Desert Rose, “Realizing the Dream” writing contest, and finaled in the Houston Writers Guild annual writing contest in April 2014. It was also selected as first runner up in Writers Type’s First Chapter Contest in April 2013.

Her Paranormal Romance, STRUCK BY EROS placed first in the RWA’s Golden Pen Contest, third in the Ruby Slippered Sisterhoods Make it Golden contest, and fourth in the West Coast Romance Writers Beacon contest.


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Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Book Review: School of Deaths (The Scythe Wielder's Secret #1) by Christopher Mannino

School of Deaths (The Scythe Wielder's Secret #1)
by Christopher Mannino
270 pages
Published May 2nd 2014
by Muse it Up Publishing
Thrust into a world of men, can a timid girl find bravery as the first female Death?

Thirteen-year-old Suzie Sarnio always believed the Grim Reaper was a fairy tale image of a skeleton with a scythe. Now, forced to enter the College of Deaths, she finds herself training to bring souls from the Living World to the Hereafter. The task is demanding enough, but as the only female in the all-male College, she quickly becomes a target. Attacked by both classmates and strangers, Suzie is alone in a world where even her teachers want her to fail.

Scythes hungry for souls, Deaths who subjugate a race of mysterious magicians, and echoes of an ancient war with Dragons.

As her year progresses, Suzie suspects her presence isn't an accident. She uncovers a plot to overthrow the World of Deaths. Now she must also discover the reason she's been brought there: the first female Death in a million years.


I suppose being a "death" or essentially a reaper might appeal to the young adult audience but I never connected with the title or the term "deaths" throughout the whole story. It just didn't roll of my tongue or mind properly. I guess the "goth like " title could draw some in but those looking for dark stories will be disappointed.

This story seemed more like a morale boosting piece of literature for those that think being young gives you no value to others. Susie (mc) was taken by a "death" (see, there's that term again that just doesn't sound right!) at age 13 to a training program to reap souls on earth. One big problem, she is a girl and there ARE no female deaths (again...no!). The only other female was there hundreds of years before and was blamed for starting a war between the deaths and the dragons. Don't get too excited, there are no dragon characters to meet!

To continue the fairly bland story (in my opinion), Susie makes a few friends, has some struggles and vows to right a wrong and take on the headmaster of the school. She then plans to take her final exam and return to earth. Easy right? In the meantime she becomes enamored with a second year student "death" (shudder) and questions where her loyalties really lie after this year has passed. I guess I just couldn't get into the story because I kept thinking "Why did these people need to wait hundreds of years on a 13 year old girl to make things right." Guess I want a story with just a little more believability.

I know I am a far cry from a young teenage girl but I have read a significant amount of young adult paranormal stories and this just didn't ring any bells for me. But then, I have been wrong before!

I think there is a little disconnect of the title and the story and personally it didn't flow well as if some parts were "filler".

I would love to get a 13 year old girl's opinion but otherwise not sure I could recommend as an exciting read.

I give this story 2.75 "please use reaper" sheep!





Jeanie G

About the Author:
Christopher Mannino’s life is best described as an unending creative outlet. He teaches high school theatre in Greenbelt, Maryland. In addition to his daily drama classes, he runs several after-school performance and production drama groups. He spends his summers writing and singing. Mannino holds a Master of Arts in Theatre Education from Catholic University, and has studied mythology and literature both in America and at Oxford University. His work with young people helped inspire him to write young adult fantasy, although it was his love of reading that truly brought his writing to life. His wife, Rachel Mannino, is a romance author at www.RachelMannino.com

Mannino is currently completing The Scythe Wielder's Secret series and is working on several adult novels.