Trouble in Heaven: A Novel by JC Worthington, R.G. Ryan

In the beginning The Alpha created the heavens and the earth. This story takes place before that.

Trouble in Heaven: A Novel
by JC Worthington & R.G. Ryan
11-17-2024
Genre: Fantasy / Fiction / Spirituality
Publisher: Made for Success
In the beginning The Alpha created the heavens and the earth. This story takes place before that.

Shamayim. A perfect place, filled with perfect beings, all living in perfect peace. It was as The Alpha had always imagined it to be in unfathomable ages past. But when Son of the Dawn, his highest created being, chose to follow his own selfish ambitions—going so far as to boast about taking The Alpha’s throne—there was trouble.

Michael and Gabriel, chief amongst The Alpha’s seven archangels, had been close to Son of the Dawn to the extent of being inseparable. When he chose to rebel, attempting to persuade angels under Michael and Gabriel’s direct command to join him, it felt like betrayal. But that didn’t come close to the pain they felt when he took a third of the angelic host and left, for he wasn’t just leaving Shamayim and The Alpha…he was leaving them. When he finally declared all-out war against the Realm, the betrayal was complete.

Committed to honoring the freedom of choice He had embedded within each of His created beings, The Alpha watched sorrowfully as consequence followed consequence with Son of the Dawn growing ever more bold in his revolt. Believing that there was nothing The Alpha could create that he couldn’t corrupt, his rebellious stain began to spread throughout The Alpha’s creation. What had been meant for timeless tranquility had now dissolved into trouble…Trouble in Heaven.

https://mybook.to/TroubleinHeaven
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About the Authors

J.C. Worthington
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JC Worthington, author of the Trouble Series, is a ministry leader and teacher, driven by his love of God. His imaginative storytelling blends timeless biblical truths with untold stories, taking readers on a mind-bending journey to explore the mysteries woven into Scripture. 

R.G. Ryan
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R.G. Ryan started writing seriously following a long and satisfying career in the music industry as a songwriter, recording artist, arranger, producer and director of A&R for a couple of record labels. As a songwriter he has over one hundred and fifty songs in publication worldwide and has produced over one hundred album projects. He is the author of the Jake Moriarity series of thrillers, The Voices In My Head (the biography of late Las Vegas entertainment icon, Danny Gans), and the popular Snapshots At St. Arbuck's series. He lives with his first wife on the coast of somewhere beautiful. Can sing a little.

Release Day: Daemones ex Machina by Russell Anders + giveaway

If you make a deal with the Devil, don’t forget to read the fine print.

Daemones ex Machina
by Russell Anders
July 23rd, 2025
Genre: Cyberpunk/Urban Fantasy Fiction
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
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?

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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.

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Excerpt: Exiles (Reflections of Michael Trilogy Book Three) by LJ Ambrosio + giveaway

Exiles (Reflections of Michael Trilogy Book Three)
by LJ Ambrosio
May 2024
Genre: Fiction/Coming-of-age
Publisher: Film Valor
Number of pages: 150
Word Count: 40,241
Cover Artist: Seamus C 

In this final chapter, Ron's story concludes from Reflections on the Boulevard (2023).

Michael's wish was for Ron to exile himself in the heart of Paris with its beautiful culture and citizens as they protest and fight for the soul of the city.

Ron's journey is met with life-affirming friendships and lessons along the way.

The final book in the Reflections of Michael Trilogy, which started with A Reservoir Man (2022).

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CHAPTER ONE
A cool autumn breeze, in the twilight, wrapped around our exile who sat on a bench in front of a bookstore that resembled a place we might find in a Tolkien novel. On this street, rue de la Buccheri, was the bookstore Shakespeare and Company. The store itself was famous for housing the books of many great literary artists on their shelves. They also supported any young or old artistic vagabonds by allowing them to sleep in the aisles of the bookstore on makeshift beds when finding themselves homeless.

Ron, who managed the store, sat on this bench every evening thinking of Michael. Ron thought of things he remembered and how much he learnt from Michael. He felt the emptiness in his soul, yearning to have that connection just one more time. He had lived in Paris for six years now, a brief time for an exile, yet he was free from a society drowning in untruths; his refuge was the bookstore.

Just like every night, as Ron prepared to close the store, he occasionally checked the front of the store, looking for his friend. Then, he noticed another young man still looking at books on the outside shelves.

Ron moved outside to get a closer look at the late customer under the guise of moving the outdoor book bins back inside. He suddenly noticed that the young man was putting a book down his pants.

Ron raised his voice and shouted for the thief to put the book back on the shelf. The young man, caught in the act, ran away.

The young man sprinted and tripped while running past the café. In this stumble, he decided to turn the corner and make his way rapidly toward la Seine.

Ron, weak in the legs from forgetting the spirit of his youth, had been managing bookstores more than living life. His legs pumped forward. but with the awkwardness of an old man who had forgotten how to walk. In a few seconds he was up to speed and ran faster to catch the thief.

Near the corner, Ron had missed his opportunity to slow and check for other people walking, so he slammed into a group of women. He especially blasted into an old lady whose groceries flew into the sky, and a yogurt splattered against a wall and the faces of the other women. She turned to condemn her assailant, but he was already on the next block in pursuit of the thief.

He spotted the thief at the Notre Dame Hotel, out of breath, leaning against a pillar. Surprised at the thief’s choice to stop here, he slowed down and let his feet pound the street into a halt.

Ron grabbed at him but still missed his shoulder.

“Give me the book back!” he said, very loudly.

The thief just shrugged his shoulder, a mocking smile. His smile made the act of chasing him through the streets feel silly, as if this were a game that had been played and he took it too seriously.

The thief looked at Ron and asked, sarcastically, “What language are you speaking?”

“What do mean? I am speaking French!”

Our thief laughed, turned to a random man who walked down the street, and said, "This young man thinks he is speaking French Go ahead say something to this stranger; he will tell you are speaking some other language other than French!”

“I will call the police,” Ron said firmly.

About the Author:
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Louis J. Ambrosio ran one of the most nurturing bi-coastal talent agencies in Los Angeles and New York. He started his career as a theatrical producer, running two major regional theaters for eight seasons. Ambrosio taught at 7 Universities. Ambrosio also distinguished himself as an award-winning film producer and novelist over the course of his impressive career.

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In this final chapter, Ron's story concludes from Reflections on the Boulevard (2023). Michael's wish was for Ron to exile himself in the heart of Paris with its beautiful culture and citizens as they protest and fight for the soul of the city.

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Book Review: Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina

Indian Burial Ground
by Nick Medina
April 16, 2024
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Native American fiction, horror
ASIN: B0CC1D7GM2 ISBN: 9780593546888
All Noemi Broussard wanted was a fresh start. With a new boyfriend who actually treats her right and a plan to move from the reservation she grew up on—just like her beloved Uncle Louie before her—things are finally looking up for Noemi. Until the news of her boyfriend’s apparent suicide brings her world crumbling down.

But the facts about Roddy’s death just don’t add up, and Noemi isn’t the only one who suspects that something menacing might be lurking within their tribal lands.

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After over a decade away, Uncle Louie has returned to the reservation, bringing with him a past full of secrets, horror, and what might be the key to determining Roddy’s true cause of death. Together, Noemi and Louie set out to find answers...but as they get closer to the truth, Noemi wonders whether it might be best for some secrets to remain buried.

A novel that goes from currently Native American Noemi Broussard’s POV to 1986 from her uncle, Louie Broussard’s POV as a teenager of life on the same tribal lands, the stories lead to deaths and strange things that seem not really connect but do. All beginning with Noemi’s boyfriend, Roddy, an up-and-coming indigenous Twscaster, whose possible suicide doesn’t add up.

An unsettling story that crosses generations and eras of mystery, horror, and family drama mixing with myths and tribal folklore that stalk the reader even after the last page.

I gave Indian Burial Grounds 4 sheep. 

 

 

 

Reviewed by Pamela K. Kinney

About the Author:

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Born in Chicago, Illinois, Nick Medina appreciates blues-based music, local folklore, and snowy winters. A member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, he drew on personal and family experiences, along with research into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) epidemic, to write his debut novel, Sisters of the Lost Nation. He has degrees in organizational and multicultural communication, and has worked as a college instructor. He also enjoys playing guitar, listening to classic rock, exploring haunted cemeteries, and all sorts of spooky stuff.

​Represented by Amanda Orozco at Transatlantic Agency.

144 Genres and Subgenres for Fiction Writing

See the article where they describe each genre

  https://www.servicescape.com/blog/144-genres-and-subgenres-for-fiction-writing

 

The Writing Process of an Author and Game Designer by Jon Cohn

Writing has always been an important part of my life, ever since I was a teenager inventing worlds in which to play Dungeons and Dragons with my friends. I’ve always been a storyteller, though over the years that has taken many different shapes. One question I’m often asked as someone who both writes horror novels and designs boardgames professionally is if there are any similarities between the two.

The answer is an emphatic yes! I’m often surprised just how much my career as a game designer prepared me to become a novelist. In fact, my entire writing process is based around many of the rules I’ve established over the years making games. My goal in designing board games is to create a scaffolding of storytelling that allows the players to come up with their own story, using the tools I’ve created for them. It takes an immense amount of planning, which was an instrumental trait in teaching me how to properly build the universes in my novels, and the characters that inhabit it.

When writing a book, I’m not big on outlining every single plot point. Instead, I approach it the same way I build games, or D&D campaigns. I spend months working out every detail of the universe, building massive character trees describing each character's background; their hopes, fears, strengths and weaknesses. I want all of them to feel as real as possible, so that when the time comes to sit down and actually write out the narrative, I’ve created this incredibly defined sandbox in which I can let my characters explore.

Of course I have many of the main story beats already figured out by this point, but I find it’s much more rewarding when the characters in the story find themselves in a situation, and instead of inventing a way for them to behave, or determining how the world reacts to their actions, I’ve already got all of that stuff figured out. That way, I can focus on making sure the story unfolds organically, allowing my characters to react in ways that feel realistic, because I already know them so well. The result is that these characters have arcs that feel genuine. Their beliefs, conflicts, and opportunities to learn from each other happen out of circumstance, rather than having to find a way to shove points A, B, and C into the story.

For example, Slashtag is the story of seven celebrities trapped in a haunted hotel filled to the brim with horrifying traps and puzzles. I have multiple maps featuring at least a dozen traps that never made it into the book, because once I let those characters into the hotel, I left it up to them to figure out their path. At that point my job was mostly to nudge them in the right direction so that they could all take their own journey of growth, and for many of them, their eventual demise.

Slashtag

by Jon Cohn

4/26/23
Horror
Publisher: Deadbolt Books

Welcome to Slashtag, the most immersive horror reality competition series in history! Tag along as seven of America's favorite celebrities step into the infamous Propitius Hotel, home to one of the most prolific serial killers in history - Arthur Wilson.

Arthur built and operated the Propitius Hotel from 1905 until 1928 when dozens of bodies were found in his hotel, along with countless hidden torture rooms throughout the hotel. Arthur disappeared, seemingly never to be caught. He then returned - nearly 40 years later - under the guise of a priest leading a congregation of 100 people back to his hotel, where he once again committed mass murder.

Enter Tawny Howlett - a top-tier lifestyle influencer who is in the midst of the crappiest week of her life. Her brand new health drink turned out to be tainted, and now thousands of her followers want nothing more than to see her social media empire crumble. In order to rehabilitate her image, she's agreed to take part in "Slashtag: The Ultimate Horror Experience".

At first it's all fun and games, until the team of seven celebs discover that the ghost is very real, and out for blood. In order to survive the three-day live-streamed event, Tawny and her fellow contestants must band together to try and send the spirit of Arthur Wilson straight to hell.

"I suddenly wish that I were just crazy. A hallucination would mean my brain is broken, which is something I’ve spent my entire adult life attempting to accept. If we’re both seeing this, it means the world is broken in a way my brain is not prepared to confront."

While Tawny has her hands full trying to survive a weekend at the Propitius Hotel, it's up to her younger sister April to work from the outside to try and find a way to save her sister, and uncover the dark truth behind the TV network that continues to air the deaths of some of America's top talent.

Together these seven doomed souls must solve the puzzles hidden within the hotel in order to vanquish the spirit of Arthur Wilson.

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About the Author

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JON COHN IS A WRITER and professional board game designer based out of San Diego, California. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter @joncohnauthor.

He would also love to give you free stuff like stories, audiobooks, and games by signing up for his mailing list at www.joncohnauthor.com.

Book Tour

July 10 - Matters That Count - Excerpt

July 11 - BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog - Spotlight

July 12 - I Smell Sheep - Spotlight

July 13 - On A Reading Bender - Review

July 14 - Our Town Book Reviews - Excerpt

July 15 - Liliyana Shadowlyn - Spotlight

July 16 - The Avid Reader - Interview

July 17 - Guatemala Paula Loves to Read - Review

July 18 - Momma Says to Read or Not to Read - Spotlight

July 19 - Buffy Kennedy - Excerpt

July 20 - Jazzy Book Reviews - Review

July 21 - Books Blog - Spotlight

July 21 - RABT Reviews - Wrap Up

Excerpt: Cracked Sky by Ben Eads

Cracked Sky

by Ben Eads 

January 6, 2015

Genre: horror

Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing

A dark supernatural thriller about loss, grief, and family.

Reeling from the loss of their only child, Stephen and Shelley Morrison take a harrowing journey through a world beyond the crack in the sky, where their daughter's spirit is trapped with The Lost Ones. They must stop her murderer before it fulfills its goals: Terrorize. Consume. Destroy.

“Eads knows his horror, and pulls off the deft trick of utilizing genre conventions while simultaneously adding his own unique twists to the mix. Get in on the ground floor of Eads' work, folks. His career is destined to be a long one.”—Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker © Award-winning author of The Turtle Boy, Kin, and Jack & Jill

“Do yourself a favor, put BEN EADS up on your fridge, underline the name, then buy everything he writes. The quality of his writing is first rate.”—Gene O'Neill, THE CAL WILD CHRONICLES, AT THE LAZY K

“Eads created a sick and dark dream world. Reading it was like visiting the most twisted of Wonderlands. Eads' other world is genuinely horrifying, and even more disturbing than Joe Hill's Christmasland. That's truly a messed up and lovely thing to see.”—Mercedes M. Yardley, author of Little Dead Red and Pretty Little Dead Girls

“Taking some inspiration from King but very much his own writer, Eads brings the reader a compelling story of a family torn apart by events beyond their control.”—THIS IS HORROR

“Ben Eads’ Cracked Sky is what you would get if Pink Floyd had a ménage à trois with Stephen King's Regulators and Kathy Koja's Cipher...and then took a hit of acid.”—John M. McIlveen, Bram Stoker © Award-Nominated author of Hannawhere.

Dive in Today!

An Excerpt from Cracked Sky:
Chapter 1
Stephen Morrison held his dead daughter’s doll in a shaking hand, watching rain spill from a rusted gutter. The windshield wipers fanned the water from side to side in a hypnotic rhythm.

Whomp-whomp. Whomp-whomp.

A dark gravity pulled his eyes away from the storm and toward Allie’s doll. His calloused fingers massaged the little dress that Shelley had made for it like a worry stone.

Look, Daddy! Mommy says dolly and me are twins . . .

Stephen tilted the doll upward. Its azure eyes flipped open, as if from a nap. If he buried his nose in the crook of the neck . . .

Daddy, that tickles!

. . . it wouldn’t smell anything like Allie. He smelled it anyway. Cheap plastic filled his nostrils. A sweet strawberry smell hid below it and tickled the hairs in his nose. No matter how many pills he took, memories of the good times, before the wreck, was all the projector in his mind played. A sob welled up in his chest, shaking him as if he were at the mercy of an angry sea. It begged him to stop fighting the waves and just let go. For a brief moment, he longed for his handgun.

Who loves you, Allie-bear?

He hugged the doll and pressed its cold cheek to his.

But it couldn’t hug back.

You do, Daddy!

It would never hug back. It wasn’t Allie. It would never be Allie. Still, he placed his thumb on its chest and waited for a heartbeat that would never come.

The clock inside the car warned he would be late for his appointment with the shrink if he didn’t move now.

Stephen wiped his tears with the doll’s dress and reluctantly placed it in the passenger seat. He arranged the skirt of the dress so it covered her knees.

Let’s buckle you in, Allie-bear.

He turned the car off and pulled the keys out of the ignition. Stephen opened the door and stepped into the rain, losing himself in the places between the droplets. The wind bent him like the willow trees on the side of the road as he walked toward the doctor’s office.

He reached for the doorknob with a hand that used to be there and bumped what was left of his right shoulder into the doorway. The pain rippled through his thin, frail body like a pebble dropped by a child in a pond.

A numb hand rubbed at his nub which only intensified the effect. Pins and needles danced on a limb that became a painful memory.

I’m going to faint.

“Mr. Morrison?” Her soothing voice was distant, underwater. “What are you doing out here in the rain? You don’t even have an umbrella.”

Stephen’s fingernails drew little red crescents on his palm.

“I’m sorry, Doctor Sullivan.”

Daddy, can you get my dolly?

“Let’s go inside and get you dry, okay?”

He nodded, wiped away tears and followed her inside.


Chapter 2
“Can you take me back to that moment, Stephen? What stands out?” Dr. Meagan Sullivan jotted notes in her file.

Thunder rumbled outside, shaking the walls.

I need my prescriptions refilled. Please . . .

“Well, I just keep telling myself that what happened . . . it could have been anyone. I mean, my brother Josh was right behind us. They have two children.” Stephen cleared his throat, snorting back tears. He stared out his psychiatrist’s window into the gray sky and was pulled toward its vacuous center. “I guess what they say is true.”

“What’s that?”

“That everything we look at is a mirror.” His dry tongue licked cracked lips. “Anyway, it’s the randomness of it . . . I can’t . . . ”

Tears pattered like Allie’s footsteps across the leather recliner, as if in a faint, ghost-like pool.

“Stephen, if you don’t feel comfortable going back there yet, that’s okay.”

I can’t believe I’m doing this.

“I . . . think I can.”

“Let’s give it a go, huh?”

He took a deep breath and exhaled. “There we are at the intersection. Shelley was singing to Allie in the backseat trying to calm her tantrum. Over and over, and over again . . . it’s like a movie stuck on replay. I can’t . . . I can’t remember what Allie asked me. Why Shelley was so upset.”

Can we hurry this up?

“That’s okay. Please understand, this is normal behavior given your injuries. Especially head trauma. Do you remember anything after that?” Doctor Sullivan brushed a stray lock of red hair behind her ear.

“The red light was taking forever. I had my hand out to Allie. She dropped her doll at some point. I saw it out of the corner of my eye on the floorboard behind us. I picked it up and handed it back to her. I heard Shelley scream, and there was this weird sound . . . melodic almost. Then the ice cream truck comes toward us and just cuts the car into . . . ” His face twitched as the pain came back: The windshield shearing his arm off; his head breaking through the window and slamming into steel at sixty miles an hour; Allie screaming his name before . . .

This is why, bitch. Thanks.

“You’re doing fine.” Doctor Sullivan removed her glasses. They reminded him of old actresses and bad movies. She placed the tip in her mouth.

“I can still feel it.” Stephen raised the arm that used to be there. “My physician says they’re phantom pains. The “pins and needles effect.” But when I pushed her back into the car-seat . . . those little fingers wrapped around my pinky and they squeezed.” Stephen wiggled an invisible digit. “They squeezed. God, I can still feel it. And that . . . fuck . . . that piece of shit! He’s still alive. He’s in a coma, but he’s still alive.” Stephen shook his head, letting out a nervous laugh. “And you know what? He just may walk out of there. He just may.”

The cloud moved closer and swelled, its center a deep pool of oblivion. The pressure squeezed his head again. His vision turned hazy. He could feel vomit inching its way up his esophagus.

“Stephen, grieving is a process.” She leaned forward and handed him tissues.

Stephen composed himself the best he could.

“Anger is perfectly natural. It plays a crucial part in the process of healing. It’s okay to feel the way you do. We just need to work on moving forward, okay?”

His heart skipped a beat and the world went black. His fingertips played with the stitches above his left ear and a faint electricity of phantom nerve impulses flared around his healing shoulder joint.

“A four-year-old dies, and a drunk driver lives?” “I’m sorry, Stephen.”

“Do you have children? You look young enough. What if it had been you?”

“I am so sorry, Stephen. I apologize. If you’re not ready to go there, then let’s back off. How are the anti-depressants working?”

Stephen bit down on his lower lip until he tasted pennies.

“It numbs it, that’s all.” “How about the pain?”

“Bad. Real bad. Still. And I find myself reaching for my wife, and she’s reaching for a bottle.”

“How is Shelly? Has she gone back to work at the hospital? She hasn’t been here with you for counseling. I’m very concerned for you both. You’re a family unit.”

“A family?” Stephen let out another nervous laugh. “Is that what I’m supposed to call it?”

“How bad is it at home? Would you like to talk about that?”

About the Author:

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Ben Eads lives within the semi-tropical suburbs of Central Florida. A true horror writer by heart, he wrote his first story at the tender age of ten. The look on the teacher’s face when she read it was priceless. However, his classmates loved it!

Ben’s short fiction has appeared in magazines or anthologies by: Crystal Lake Publishing, Shroud Magazine, and Seventh Star Press. His first novella, Cracked Sky, was published in 2015 by the Bram Stoker Award® Winning press Omnium Gatherum. His latest book, Hollow Heart, is now available from Crystal Lake Publishing.

Excerpt: Sabrina and the Lady (The Comus Duology, #1) by Sonya Lawson + giveaway

Sabrina and the Lady (The Comus Duology, #1)

by Sonya Lawson
February 25th 2022
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
A tyrant occupies the Fae Palace and the only woman who could stop him is hiding in Kentucky, drinking wine with a Milton scholar. But that might be a good thing.

Sabrina, a small-town academic, spends her days teaching and hanging out with the kind but somewhat mysterious best friend she met a few years ago. Her life is steady, maybe even a little dull. Until her friend’s family arrives. Suddenly, Fae is no longer a fictional place. Magic is real. And, oddly enough, Sabrina’s knowledge of a 1634 play may hold the key to saving Nin and her realm.

Nin landed in Kentucky after escaping her captor, the tyrant she once loved. The human realm is calming for her, with moments of joy, but she hates how she hides who and what she is from Sabrina. When Nin’s family unexpectedly arrives at her greenhouse, a series of events force her to share her secrets and grapple with her place in Fae — past, present, and future.

Sabrina and Nin must trust in their friendship, themselves, and John Milton’s Comus to survive in Fae and save the realm from ruin. If they cannot, terror and destruction will reign far beyond the Fae Palace gates.

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Link to Free Comus Duology Extras (Prequel Novelette and a Copy of the Milton Play Text):

https://books.bookfunnel.com/sonyalawsoncomusduology

Excerpt:
She needed a plan, but she had nothing. Nowhere to go that she could easily reach. No one was near to help. Even if they were with her in this place, or she could miraculously find The Falls where her family now hid, being around her was a danger in this moment because of her uncontrolled magic and the forces that stalked her from the Palace. She missed her old home, she missed the Palace from before, she missed her family and her Queen and her ideals of love now horrifically dashed. She had missed her magic, and now it frightened her because she knew not how to rein it in at this moment. So much to do, to think, to remember, to fear, to hate. Too much. All too much. She finally gave it voice, scrunching her tear-stained face and releasing a scream so fierce and desolate, so filled with magic and loss and pain, that when she caught her breath afterward, she saw her wail had literally ripped a hole in the night air.

Another forest poked through, wild in its own right but smelling of strange soil, utter stillness, and, oddly, a hint of humanity. She approached the split with wonder. She knew of no one who had ever torn through the veil of the realms with only a scream, no spellcraft or intention. But it was just what she needed. A spell was traceable — formal magic scented the air, lingering long after casting and making it easy to follow. Her magic in that moment seeped everywhere, pouring out of her in a continual stream without a definitive ending point or anchor. Comus could not trace this type of magic, mostly because it was something new and unknown. Wouldn’t even consider the possibility of this wild, unwieldy magic because it was something far beyond his own power and therefore inconceivable to one such as him. No one in Comus’ power could come close to figuring this out, either. None of his lackeys had even the hint of that type of power because Comus liked to always be unquestionably the best and most powerful in any room.

Gin could do it. Maybe Mother. They could possibly find her again. They would be the only ones she would want to find her, as defeated and disgraced and dangerous as she was. It was her out, her way to save herself and the rest of Fae. After making up her mind, she slipped through the tear in her reality.

From the other realm, surrounded by new trees and earth and air, she watched the hole in the night heal itself without her intention. Knowing she was in the human world, untouchable by hate or love, apart from all she knew for good and bad, she felt adrift, but also relieved. She did not know this place or the people who inhabited it, yet it did not matter. She was safely away from Comus and utterly alone for the first time in years, her only companion the dense, cold, untouched forest. She breathed a sigh before laying on the leaf-strewn ground and introducing herself to this other earth.

About the Author

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Sonya Lawson (she/her/they) is a recovering academic currently writing fantasy and other forms of speculative fiction. While she remains a rural Kentuckian at heart, she currently lives in the Pacific Northwest. She fills her days with writing, editing, reading, walking old forests, and watching sitcoms or horror films. You can find more information about current projects and upcoming releases at www.sonyalawson.com.

GIVEAWAYS

Sonya is running a Release Day Book Box Giveaway on her social media platforms. More info can be found here

 https://sonyalawson.com/current-giveaways

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$25 Amazon gift card

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Double Book Review: Cackle By Rachel Harrison

Cackle
By Rachel Harrison
October 5, 2021

Publisher: Berkeley
ASIN: B08S7B2QSD 

ISBN: 9780593202029
A darkly funny, frightening novel about a young woman learning how to take what she wants from a witch who may be too good to be true, from the author of The Return.

All her life, Annie has played it nice and safe. After being unceremoniously dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Annie seeks a fresh start. She accepts a teaching position that moves her from Manhattan to a small village upstate. She’s stunned by how perfect and picturesque the town is. The people are all friendly and warm. Her new apartment is dreamy too, minus the oddly persistent spider infestation.

Then Annie meets Sophie. Beautiful, charming, magnetic Sophie, who takes a special interest in Annie, who wants to be her friend. More importantly, she wants Annie to stop apologizing and start living for herself. That’s how Sophie lives. Annie can’t help but gravitate toward the self-possessed Sophie, wanting to spend more and more time with her, despite the fact that the rest of the townsfolk seem…a little afraid of her. And like, okay. There are some things. Sophie’s appearance is uncanny and ageless, her mansion in the middle of the woods feels a little unearthly, and she does seem to wield a certain power…but she couldn’t be…could she?

Reviewer: Pamela K. Kinney

I gave Cackle 5 sheep.

Annie takes a teaching position in a town in upstate New York. Before she leaves, she goes out for a night on the town with a friend. Both go to a psychic who reads her friend’s fortune, but she won’t do it for Annie. A foreshadowing? 

Annie moves into her rented apartment in a quaint little village near where she will be working. The place is nice, although she has a spider infestation. She meets Sophie, whom others living in the village seem afraid of, but Annie finds herself drawn to the beautiful and magnetic woman. She lives in a fairytale-ish mansion in the woods, appears ageless, and seems to have a sort of power.

A feminist, dark fairytale that bewitches the reader. Supernatural horror that draws you in until you can’t put it down until you realize you finished the story. Rachel Harrison has turned the vampire story on its ear with The Return, and I think she will have readers rethinking this witchy tale differently than they have known before.

Reviewer: Midu Reads*

2.5 peacefully grazing sheep

When she breaks up with her long-time best friend and recently bf, a woman moves to a small town and accepts a dead-end job to get away. Little does she know what future--and that town--has in store for her! Once there, she strikes a friendship almost immediately with the woman who owns most of the town. But that still wouldn't explain the almost fear-like obeisance she inspires in the rest of the townspeople. Unraveling that mystery helps our heroine understand herself a little better.

So, the pluses:

1. A woman comes into her own. She stops apologizing for who she is, being patient with assholes, and finds her inner witch. Yaay!

Now, the minuses:

1. The meat of the story isn't juicy enough to be extended into a 300-pager. I would have appreciated something deeper and darker coming out about the friend's past or something. 

2. The protagonist really got on my nerves. Yes, I get that she had to undergo a drastic transformation, but did she have to be such a doormat? Ugh!

3. Spooky? Maybe parts of it, but as a whole, nope.

4. The bf showing his true colors. I mean, really? If they'd been BFFs before becoming a couple, she should have caught on to his true nature. Or, did the author just 

And, finally, the spiders:

1. Since there were so many of them, they deserve their own category. I'm squicked out by them IRL, but I didn't mind them being in the book so much. However, if arachnophobia is your thing, then give this one a wide berth.

So, Cackle might not be a Halloween-worthy read, but it is still a fun one.

*Most of my go-to series are 3 starrers

No rating - wasn't my genre/dnf'd so rating it would be unfair
1 sheep - won't be picking up another book in a series again
2 sheep - average read with overused tropes and cliches. Will give the author another try/only continuing because of OCD, so must finish a series
2.5 sheep - liked the book but was put off because it was overly long/ill-treatment of a character the author had me invest in and so on.
3 sheep - enjoyed the book but have reservations because I expected to be wowed and wasn't
4 sheep - was unputdownable
5 sheep - formed an emotional connection, will read the heck outta this series

About the Author:

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Rachel Harrison is the author of the forthcoming novel CACKLE. Her debut, THE RETURN, was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Her short fiction has appeared in Guernica, Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, and as an Audible Original. She lives in Western New York with her husband and their cat/overlord.

Pre-order horror novel: Golem by PD Alleva

Golem
by PD Alleva
Oct. 5th, 2021
Genre: Horror
Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR
“An extraordinary psychological horror book. Excellently written, with a twisted, spiraling, unexpected end that will leave you speechless.” ~ TBM Horror Experts

Detective. Angel. Victim. Devil.

A haunting tale of suspense, loss, isolation, contempt, and fear.

On November 1, 1951, war hero John Ashton was promoted to detective. His first assignment: find the district attorney’s missing daughter. But his only lead is Alena Francon, a high society sculptor and socialite committed to Bellevue’s psychiatric facility.

Alena has a story for the new detective. A story so outlandish John Ashton refuses to heed the warning. Alena admits to incarnating Golem, a demonic force, into her statue. A devil so profound he’s infiltrated every part of New York’s infrastructure. Even worse, he uses children to serve as bodily hosts for his demonic army, unleashing a horde of devils into our world.

When Alena’s confidant, Annette Flemming, confirms the existence of Golem, John is sent on a collision course where fate and destiny spiral into peril, and the future of the human race hangs in the balance.

The Devil Is In The Details!

Fans of The Silence of the Lambs, Clive Barker, John Connolly, old Stephen King, and Anne Rice will be fascinated by this edge of your seat psychological horror thriller with a story that rips out the heart of humanity and throws it on a slab to be feasted on.

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PD Alleva is an alternative fiction author. His novels cross genres, blending mystery, conspiracy, psychology, and action with horror and dystopian science fiction. Alternative fiction is PD's attempt at describing what readers uncover in any one of his books, a new discovery towards mainstream storytelling. He's been writing since childhood, creating and developing stories with brash and impactful concepts that he would describe are metaphors for the shifting energies that exist in the universe. PD exists inside of his own universe, working diligently on The Rose Vol. II and exceptional horror novels. Be prepared for Golem, PD’s upcoming horror thriller.

Paranormal Fiction Author Jennifer L. Hart: What is Paranormal Women's Fiction anyway? + giveaway

What is Paranormal Women's Fiction anyway?

It's a tale as old as time, muffin-topping out of its skinny jeans and needing an extra cup of coffee to make it through the day. It's a woman who loves the hell out of her family but craves adventure and romance and all the fixings.

It’s Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Supernatural Cozy Mystery, and Women’s Fiction all tossed into the crockpot together until the flavors blend and harmonize into something amazing and tasty.

For me, it was a reason to get out of bed in the morning after my beloved beagle died. Sharing Joey's and Robin's story gave me something to look forward to. It was a way to tell a story about and for a group of people who are often taken for granted, women over the age of 40, a group I now belong to. The mom expected to be chef, chauffeur, to make doctor's appointments while scrubbing the toilet all without a thank you.

It's my way to add a touch of magic into the ordinary and a dose of badly needed fun into the world.

Had you heard about PWF? If so, have you read any of the books?

Book 1 Over the Faery Hill
I scrolled down through the listings, many of which were seasonal and wouldn’t start back up until spring. All of the nearby ski resorts were full up and things like ziplining and rafting were definitely warm weather-based. Plus, with my bum wrist, it wasn’t like I could tackle anything uber physical.

Story of my life.

Irritated, I snapped the laptop shut and stared out the window, massaging the ache in my wrist more out of habit than any real pain. My mother was right. At my age, not knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up was just plain sad.

Maybe because the one thing I had truly wanted to be had been taken away from me at sixteen. My gaze fell on the 1st place ribbons, the trophies and newspaper clippings on the built-in bookcase across the way. Artistic gymnastics, first place. Six years running. A photo of me in midair, doing a back handspring off the balance beam. The headline read—Local gymnast is heading for Olympic glory.

It had been more than hope though. It had been my whole life for as long as I could remember. Fate might as well have minced up to me, cracked her gum in my face, and said, “Sorry, Joey. No gold medal for you. How about a lifetime of scraping by instead?” I’d been groping for a purpose ever since.

***

“Diet. Starts. First. Thing. Tomorrow,” I huffed as I slogged ever upwards. My Olympic hopeful self would have kicked my middle aged-kiester if she could see my sorry state. I was breathing so hard that I didn’t notice the point when I crested the hill. I did however notice when the road came to an abrupt halt by dead-ending at a massive oak. I paused and took in my surroundings.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” I scanned frantically for any signs of human habitation but nothing. No vehicle, no cute little cottage, or newly finished mansion. At that point, I would have given my left boob for the dreaded yurt.

Was that want ad some sort of joke? If so, it might prove to be deadly.

“What sort of sick bastard—?”
“Hey, what’s all the shrieking about?” A male voice said from above me.

I craned my neck and locked gazes with a pair of brilliant blue eyes for the second time that day. “Robin Goodfellow?”

“In the flesh.” He smirked as though it was some sort of joke. He stood on a platform that jutted out from the trunk of the tree about thirty feet above my head and was leaning over the railing, peering down at me.

“Joey Whitmore, right? The woman who wants to change October 3rd, 1996. What are you doing here?”

Odd that he remembered the date. Then again, meeting me was probably the strangest part of his day. “My”–behemoth gas guzzler—“car died.”

“I recall.” The lines around his eyes crinkled with amusement. “You look cold. Hold on a sec, I’ll be right down.”

“Okay,” I said because really, what else was I going to say?

The sound of footsteps came from inside the tree. And then a door shaped like an upside-down acorn that I hadn’t even realized was there swung inward. He appeared, silhouetted by an amber glow. “Come on in.”

Something was unsettling about Robin Goodfellow. He seemed amused like there was a private joke and he was the only one in on it. Deep-seated instinct warned that I would be an idiot to trust him.

***

“So, you admit you want to kiss me then?”

I didn’t see any point in denying it. “Yes.”

He unfurled from his casual pose and stalked closer. “And what makes you think I want to help you?”

“Because you could have been curb-boosting me all day. You gave me little trips around town and stayed with me, even when I lashed out at you. And you defended young Joey when I would have made verbal mincemeat out of her. I think you are invested in the outcome of my journey. I think you want me to succeed.”

He shook his head. “Lamb, you are delusional. I live only for the bargain, whether it succeeds or fails.”

“Then why do you want me to kiss you so badly?” I held my breath, waiting for his answer.
His eyes glowed in the dim light. “I couldn’t say.”

I wondered if that meant he didn’t know. At first, I thought he just wanted to push my buttons, to make me squirm since that was the fae prince’s MO. But I was beginning to believe that Robin was hanging around with me, not because I was one of his bargain biddies, but because he actually liked me.

Over the Faery Hill (Magical Midlife Misadventures Book 1)
by Jennifer L. Hart
October 26, 2020

260 pages
Genre: Paranormal Women's Fiction
A mountain of regrets. A bargain with a mischievous faery. Could tinkering with her past create a better future?

Joey Whitmore longs to escape her dead-end world. Facing a midlife crisis at age forty-two and still living with her mother, getting fired from yet another job is the proverbial last straw. So when a fae trickster in human guise offers a chance at changing her history, she figures there’s nothing left to lose.

Though skeptical of his magic, Joey accepts the sly prince’s enchanted hourglass and begins a reckless journey back in time. But as she tries to act as her own fairy godmother and reverse her mistakes, her blundering interference causes a chain of catastrophic consequences.

Will Joey’s attempts to alter her deadbeat destiny end up erasing her entire existence?

Over the Fairy Hill is the first entry in the Magical Midlife Misadventures paranormal women’s fiction series. If you like relatable characters, paranormal twists, and laugh-out-loud humor, then you’ll love Jennifer L. Hart’s endearing tale.
Buy Over the Faery Hill to grant a bag full of dubious wishes today!

**On Sale for the month of April – only $2.49!!**

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The Fae Side of Forty (Magical Midlife Misadventures Book 2)

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USA Today bestselling author Jennifer L. Hart writes about characters that cuss, get naked, and often make poor but hilarious life choices. A native New Yorker, Jenn now lives in the mountains of North Carolina with her imaginary friends. Her works to date include the Damaged Goods mystery series and the Magical Midlife Misadventures.

Giveaway

$25 Amazon gift card,

Autographed hardcovers of both books

– 1 winner each!!

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