I Smell Sheep: Shannon Mayer

Showing posts with label Shannon Mayer. Show all posts

Monday, August 1, 2022

Book Review: Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials Book 6) by Shannon Mayer

Shadowspell Academy: Year of the Chameleon

The Culling Trials Book 6)
by Shannon Mayer

May 18, 2021

Pages: 326

Broken, bruised, and battered beyond anything else, I've survived what I shouldn't have.

But my day isn't done yet. We finally have the key to stopping Frost—literally. Even if we don't know how to use it.

One last time my friends and I have to scour not only the city but the supernatural world to find the pieces of this final puzzle—and we have three days to do it.

One final showdown brings us back to where it all began, and I face off against the woman who killed my brother. Who hunted my mother down. Who broke my uncle's spirit.

If I cannot find the final pieces, then I will fail. And if I fail, Frost wins, and we are all doomed.

No pressure.

No pressure at all.

Amazon

In the final book of the Shadowspell Academy, Wild and her crew are facing Frost and her lackeys and hopes beyond hope that they are strong enough to defeat her. Wild knows they have one piece of the puzzle to stopping Frost, but will they be able to find the rest of what they need before it's too late?

I really liked the connection between the characters in this series. The only downfall this final book had is I would have liked more of it dedicated to the final battle and an epilogue to give some more details and closure to the characters. Here's hoping that there's a chance down the road that she will put out a series that is a spin-off to this one.

Getting 4 sheep

Denise B

About the author:
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Amazon Author Page
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Shannon Mayer lives in the southwestern tip of Canada with her husband, son, and numerous animals. When not writing she spends her time staring at immense amounts of rain, herding old people (similar to herding cats) and attempting to stay out of trouble. Especially that last is difficult for her.

She is the USA Today Bestselling author of the The Rylee Adamson Novels, The Elemental Series, The Nevermore Trilogy, A Celtic Legacy series and the Venom Trilogy. Please visit her website for more information on her novels.

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Book Review: Shadowspell Academy: Year of the Chameleon (The Culling Trials Book 5) by Shannon Mayer

Shadowspell Academy: Year of the Chameleon

(The Culling Trials Book 5)

by Shannon Mayer

March 30, 2021

Pages: 314

You Don’t Choose The Academy. The Academy Chooses You.

The Shadowkiller is back.

And he is hunting me down like a dog in the streets of New York City using every tool and ally he has—including people I once trusted.

I have never been so alone in my life, and yet if I turn to my friends that puts a target on their backs too. Which means I have to keep running.

So, I do what I know, and I set myself to finding the trail of breadcrumbs that will lead me to the one who is still pulling the strings.

Frost. A Chameleon just like me. Just like the Shadowkiller. Worse, she’s seeking out my friends to pick them off, one by one. To drain their lives in order to feed hers.

To stop her, I have to find her—a task easier said than done in a city this size.

What I don’t expect to find is a truth that this world and its secrets run far deeper, and far darker than I could have ever suspected.

But is any of that going to stop me?

Not a chance.

Amazon

The Shadowkiller has surfaced again, and he is hunting Wild down in the streets of New York with the help of someone Wild had trusted. She wants to turn to her friends for help but every time she does that, she puts a bigger target on their back so she does the only thing she can to keep them safe. If Wild can keep everyone safe from the Shadowkiller and Frost, two of the most dangerous Chameleons known then maybe just maybe she can find a way to not become like them.

The connection that Wild has with her crew is a connection that most would love to have. Each of them is unique in their own way and with the strength of each other, they can arise to any occasion. This series is a fun one to read.

Getting 5 sheep

Denise B

Monday, July 25, 2022

Book Review: Shadowspell Academy: Year of the Chameleon by Shannon Mayer

Shadowspell Academy: Year of the Chameleon

(The Culling Trials Book 4)

by Shannon Mayer

February 26, 2021

Pages: 302

You Don’t Choose The Academy. The Academy Chooses You.

I’ve made it through the Culling Trials, the test that proved my mettle against every possible challenge. I assumed that meant things would settle down and I’d start truly learning.

No more danger. No more death threats. No more wondering who was out to get me.

Apparently, that was not to be.

I am what this supernatural world calls a Chameleon—a rarity even amongst all these monsters. And rare things are coveted and feared by the most powerful of all—The House Of Wonder.

It’s a good thing I have my crew at my back, because this Academy? It’s about to get seriously ugly. Which means this farm girl is ready to play by only one set of rules. Her own.

Amazon

Wild made it through the Culling Trials and so did her friend but what would happen? Some unexpected events find Wild and her crew back together again and up against some seriously powerful people but would they all survive? Only time will tell.

Wild’s mind is extraordinary. She can see and sense things that others can’t, and she has a way of working through an issue to find the right solution. Wild is a Chameleon, which is extremely rare and very few people know that she has the power of all the houses inside of her. Between her powers and the strength of her crew, Wild is determined to figure out what is going on and how to save all the houses but most of all her crew.

This series is such a fun read that has different types of magic, monsters, and rules which keep you guessing until the very end.

Getting 5 sheep

Denise B

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Book Review: Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials Book 3) by Shannon Mayer & K.F. Breene

Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials Book 3)

by Shannon Mayer & K.F. Breene
June 11, 2019
Pages: 186
You Don’t Choose The Academy. The Academy Chooses You.

The last of the Culling Trials is here. I foolishly thought I’d survived the worst.

My team is falling to pieces around me and my heart is shattered for the losses I’ve endured. But I can’t stop when I’m so close to the end. There are too many people depending on me.

I foolishly thought there wasn’t much more I could lose…until the nature of my bloodline comes to light.

I’m not what I thought I was. Not what anyone thought I was.
But to tell people the truth would be to kill us all.

To fail the trials will mean death, but to succeed might damn me for life.

The end of the Culling Trials is finally here and Wild thought her crew had survived the worst of it but she was wrong. Her team is falling apart and her is being broken into a million pieces by the losses that keep stacking up around her. Each trial has brought out another part of her that surprises everyone around her and if she can stay alive maybe she will be able to find out more about who she is and where she comes from.

There are five houses in the magical world and it’s rare for a person to have more than one talent and people are definitely not meant to work together but Wild surprises everyone with the connection her team has built with one another. This connection makes them stronger than any other group or individual and is what keeps them going even when they are their lowest point. This strength is one of the aspects that has made this book such a joy to read. It is full of surprises making it hard to put it down until the end.

Book Review: Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials book 1)

Book Review: Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials book 2)

Getting 5 sheep

Denise B

About the Author:

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K.F. Breene is a USA Today Bestselling and Top 10 Kindle All-Star author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy and fantasy novels. With two million books sold, when she's not penning stories about magic and what goes bump in the night, she's sipping wine and planning shenanigans. She lives in Northern California with her husband, two children and out of work treadmill.

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Book Review: Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials Book 2) by Shannon Mayer & K.F. Breene

Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials Book 2)

by Shannon Mayer & K.F. Breene
May 14, 2019
Pages: 242
You Don’t Choose The Academy. The Academy Chooses You.

Being accepted into an elite school of magic, monsters, and assassins was not my idea of higher education. But here I am, fighting my way through the Culling Trials to claim my right to be taught.

As if the gauntlet-type physical and mental tests aren’t enough, people are going missing.

People that are my friends.

In a dangerous world where no one is as they seem, the golden rule is simple: Trust no one. They think we should just look out for ourselves. That we should leave the fallen behind and ask no questions.

They clearly think we’re idiots. I got this far by trusting my instincts, and I’m not going to back down now.

Those kids won’t be left to die.

Not on my watch.

Shadowspell Academy Book 1 and Shadowspell Academy Book 2 end with a cliffhanger

Wild has stepped into the place of her brother at the Culling Trials and is doing whatever is necessary to hide the truth that she isn’t Billy. The trouble with secrets is that they are hard to keep and the kids at these trials will use whatever they can to find a way to win. When kids start to go missing, Wild is determined to find out why, but she is unsure who she can trust but she wants to save them no matter what.

This is series is enticing which makes it a quick read. Full of magic, treachery and greed it has all the components of a great series. There are five trials in all each seemingly deadlier than the last but Wild team of ragtag misfits are bound and determined to work together to get through them in one piece, even Ethan who has no choice at this point.

Book Review: Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials book 1)
Book Review: Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials book 3)

Getting 5 sheep

Denise B

About the author:
website-FB-Twitter
Amazon Author Page
Instagram
Shannon Mayer lives in the southwestern tip of Canada with her husband, son, and numerous animals. When not writing she spends her time staring at immense amounts of rain, herding old people (similar to herding cats) and attempting to stay out of trouble. Especially that last is difficult for her.

She is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the The Rylee Adamson Novels, The Elemental Series, The Nevermore Trilogy, A Celtic Legacy series and the Venom Trilogy. Please visit her website for more information on her novels.

About the Author:

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Book Review: Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials Book 1) by Shannon Mayer & K.F. Breene

Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials Book 1)

by Shannon Mayer & K.F. Breene
April 9, 2019
Pages: 180
You Don’t Choose The Academy. The Academy Chooses You.

I had no idea how those words would change my life. Or how they’d changed my life already…

Until the day the most dangerous man I’ve ever met waltzed onto my farm and left us a death sentence.

In an invitation.

My younger brother has been chosen for the prestigious, secret magical school hidden within the folds of our mundane world. A place so dangerous, they don’t guarantee you’ll make it out alive.

If he doesn't go our entire family will be killed.

It’s the same invitation my older brother received three years ago—the same place he mysteriously died.

The academy has already killed one sibling. I’ll be damned if they take another.

I do the only thing an older sister can: chop off my hair, strap on two bras to flatten the girls, and take my brother’s place.

Magic and monsters are real. Assassins are coming for me, and the dead are prone to rise. What’s a girl faking it as a boy supposed to do? That’s right—beat the academy at its own game.

Or die trying.

Wild was shocked when a strange man showed up at her farm with an envelope for her younger brother, one eerily similar to the one that her older brother had received and who had died at this school. Determined not to let her younger brother die too, Wild sets out to become a boy and save her family from more tragedy.

This is a definite binge read book, so be prepared to read from cover to cover! The characters each brought something special to the story that made you want to know each of them better. A weird bunch of misfits each with their own gifts; shapeshifter, necromancer, seer, vampire, goblin and warlock each trial will show off their skills. If you are looking for your next new series this is one you don’t want to miss.

Book Review: Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials book 2)

Book Review: Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials book 3)

5 sheep

DeniseB

About the Author:

Monday, March 30, 2015

Book Review: Recurve (The Elemental Series #1) by Shannon Mayer

Recurve (The Elemental Series #1)
by Shannon Mayer

March 31st 2015

by HiJinks Ink Publishing, Ltd

“My name is Larkspur, and I am an Elemental.”

My people use the power of the earth to sustain life and defy our enemies. I should be at my father's side as a royal princess. But as a half-breed, bastard child, that isn't going to happen.

I've been accused of attacking the queen, my wicked stepmother, and my life is suddenly on the line. I have only two options left to me: banishment, or training to become one of the King's Elite Guards, an Ender.

Option one will kill me.
Option two is meant to break me, but is the only way to survive.

Did I mention I have no power like the rest of the elementals, and my connection to the earth is worth next to nothing?

Could things get any worse? Of course they can. Welcome to being an Elemental.

The Rim is a fantastic realm existing beyond human reach. Outcast and a virtual orphan, as the illegitimate daughter of the earth elemental king, Larkspur is forced to forge her way alone. With enigmatic dreams as her only clue that something is amiss, Lark, unable to access her elemental powers, is forced to toil in a lesser station as a planter. Lark’s relationship with her father, stepmother queen Cassava , and half siblings is tenuous, but when she’s accused of attacking Cassava she is forced to make a choice; train as an Ender, or face banishment, or even death, for her purported transgression. Lark endeavours to be an Ender, but it’s an undertaking --this ‘recurve’ of her abilities --she has little hope of surviving.

Mayer’s new series opens with fantastic promise. The Elemental world is imaginative, but recognizable, and Larkspur a formidable female heroine. The reader is not permitted for a moment to truly believe Lark is useless. As a planter, she does the heaviest lifting, literally, and as an ender trainee she’s tenacious. Lark is a misfit, making her accessible, but she’s also a fighter, and this makes her riveting. Although there are undercurrent hints of romance, this novel is all fantastic action and intrigue. I look forward to a connection being developed between Lark and Ash, her ender colleague and superior, in future installments. Coal, as Lark’s on-again, off-again diversion, willlikely develop into a character with distinct plot possibilities and entanglements.

The writing is superb, as always with Mayer. The reader is certainly entrenched within the text from the start. The beautiful, vivid description and continual plot twists are engaging and entertaining. Although I like a good love story, this book transcends omnipresent stereotypes and is truly refreshing in a variety of ways. Beneath the layers of the text exists a subtext of contemporary concerns such as environmental destruction, pandemic disease, even the more eccentric concern of zombie apocalypse.

The finale of this series starter is intense and the suspense nearly killed me. The book doesn’t end with a cliff-hanger, but most certainly leaves the characters poised to brace against multiple looming threats. I eagerly anticipate book two in the Elemental Series.

5 sheep

Bianca Greenwood

About the author:
Facebook | Twitter | Blog | Amazon Author Page
Shannon Mayer lives in the southwestern tip of Canada with her husband, dog, cats, horse, and cows. When not writing she spends her time staring at immense amounts of rain, herding old people (similar to herding cats) and attempting to stay out of trouble. Especially that last is difficult for her. She is the author of the The Rylee Adamson Novels, The Nevermore Trilogy, A Celtic Legacy series and several contemporary romances. Please visit her website at http://www.shannonmayer.com for more information on her novels.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Book Blast: Wounded (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 8) by Shannon Mayer + giveaway

"My name is Rylee and I am a Tracker." When children go missing, and the Humans have no leads, I'm the one they call. I am their last hope in bringing home the lost ones. I salvage what they cannot. The clock is ticking and I can feel the weight of the final battle with the demon hordes looming over my head. The puzzle pieces are becoming clearer, but the casualty list is growing. And with each name that is added to those we've lost, my confidence cracks a little more. Yet there is hope. A child saved. A life lost. A prophecy fulfilled.

Buy on

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EXCERPT FROM WOUNDED:

“You don’t think that all of the disasters that humanity has faced were all natural, do you? The bubonic plague is a good example. It was blamed on a number of things. Rats, the Jewish people, punishment from God. It all led to a cleansing of anything unusual. Mostly supernaturals, who were trying to blend in,and in that process the humans wiped out many of their best defenders against the demon population, which then went on to spread the plague across the world. But that is just one example.”

“What was the point though, wouldn’t the demons have wanted people to be alive so they could

possess them?” Liam asked.

Erik gave a ruthful smile. “Yes and no. The bubonic plague wasn’t so much about killing people off, as it was infecting them. Making them weak and easier to possess. The plague compromised their immune systems, allowing them to be taken over. Especially the young.”

Something about what Erik said sent a twang through my brain. I struggled to put the pieces together that floated just out of reach. Damn it. Liam touched my arm.

“What?”

I closed my eyes and pressed my palms into them, blocking out any light. “Just let me think for a minute.”

The feel of the night air and the sound of the fountain filled my ears as I looked at the pieces one by one. Demons escaped in London who bred fast. Minor supernaturals were being possessed by lesser demons and evil spirits.

Packs of Orion’s demons were free to cause chaos. The only thing we were missing was a plague and then Orion would have access to all the young people he wanted. The urge to vomit swelled up through my stomach and burned the back of my throat.

“Children are normally hard to possess, aren’t they?” That was why it had taken a full pentagram when the black coven was trying to have India possessed so many months ago. At least, that was what I understood. Bert bobbed his head.

“Yes, it can be very difficult to possess a child. There is a natural protection

over the young when it comes to demons, something the elementals put into play.” He grimaced as he said ‘elemental’ and again I wondered at these particular supernaturals that I’d only just been hearing about. “But when the small humans are ill, that protection goes into keeping them alive, rather than keeping them from being possessed.”

Feeling like a bully, but not really caring, I leaned in to Bert. “How did the bubonic plague really start?”

An interesting thing happened. Bert paled and shook his head. “I can’t tell you.”

My eyebrows shot up and I glanced at Erik. “You want to make him talk, or do you want me to make him talk?”

Erik shrugged. “Either way is fine. I haven’t interrogated a demon in years. I’ve missed it.”Bert paled even more and his lower lip trembled. “I can’t tell you. I can’t. Tracker, Slayer both of you have to trust me. Please.”

“Begging will get you nowhere, little demon.” Erik growled. He had a short, serrated knife in his hand that he’d pulled from somewhere within his robes. It was curved, like a skinning knife, and if it hadn’t been for the rough edges that’s what I would have called it.

“Track demons and evil spirits.” Bert blurted out as he fell to his knees. “Proof I am on your side. Track them; you’ll see it isn’t me fooling you.”

Erik paused and looked over at me. “Up to you. Personally, I’d just as soon dice him up.”

“Fuck, why not, Tracking will take me two seconds.” I grumbled. I send out a thread to Track demons as a whole, paired with a thread for evil spirits, just to satisfy—Holy. Fucking. Hell. I swayed on my feet and went to one knee, the overwhelming wash of pings I got back seriously making me re-think getting out of bed the day before. We were surrounded by Orion’s minions.

Hundreds of them.

All of the books in The Rylee Adamson Novels series will be on sale from September 9-15th at $0.99 down from $3.99 regular price.

Books 1-7 will be on sale for $0.99 at the following links September 9th- 15th

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For the first time EVER Shannon's books will be on multiple platforms!!

The author is giving away $25 Amazon Gift Card (x3)

a Rafflecopter giveaway