Book Review: Christmas Magic Paperback by Pamela K Kinney (Author), Brit Austin (Illustrator)

Christmas Magic Paperback
by Pamela K Kinney (Author), Brit Austin (Illustrator)
October 31, 2023
44 pages
Publisher: Little Dreamers
Genre: Children's Christmas Books, Children's Folk Tales & Myths
The Season of Christmas is not just for humans. It is a season of joy for things natural and unnatural, too.

Join the celebration!

Award-winning author Pamela K. Kinney's first children's book is wonderfully, magically illustrated by independent artist Brit Austin.

Uses open dyslexic font

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A charming telling about how the magical faerie world celebrates the season along with the human Christmas celebrations. The illustrations are black and white...would love to see a brightly colored version!

4 "magical" Sheep

SharonS

About the Author:
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Pamela K. Kinney gave up long ago trying not to listen to the voices in her head and has written award-winning bestselling horror, fantasy, science fiction, poetry, nonfiction ghost books, and a cryptid book ever since. Three of her nonfiction ghost books garnered Library of Virginia nominations. Her horror short story, "Bottled Spirits," was runner up for the 2013 WSFA Small Press Award and is considered one of the seven best genre short fiction for that year. One of her ghost books went to second printing and second edition with new stories and photos added.

Pamela and her husband live with one crazy black cat. Along with writing, Pamela has acted on stage and film, does paranormal investigations for Paranormal World Seekers for AVA Productions, and is a member of Horror Writers Association and Virginia Writers Club. Learn more about Pamela K. Kinney at https://PamelaKKinney.com.

Excerpt: A Curse of Shadows and Ice: A Beauty and the Beast Retelling by C.A. Maura

A Curse of Shadows and Ice, an all-new steamy and magical fantasy standalone romance from USA Today bestselling author Catharina Maura writing as C.A. Maura is available now!

A Curse of Shadows and Ice: A Beauty and the Beast Retelling 

by C.A. Maura  

September 2, 2022

From USA Today Bestselling Author Catharina Maura comes a Beauty and the Beast retelling featuring a cursed emperor, a princess who possesses forbidden magic, and a marriage that could save them all.

Princess Arabella of Althea is left no choice when Felix Osiris, the Shadow Emperor, threatens to overthrow her country unless she agrees to marry him.

When she learns his empire is cursed and she’s destined to set them free, they come to an agreement: help him minimize the curse’s effect on his people, and he’ll let her go.

As Felix teaches Arabella how to control her forbidden and volatile magic, her feelings for him turn from hatred to passion… and she realizes that she must break the curse, or she’ll lose him forever.

Fall in love today!

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Excerpt
“Help me undress,” I tell her, turning to face her. I might have told her that I won’t exercise my rights, but I have every intention of tempting her into touching me.

She glares at me, but her cheeks are crimson and her eyes are roaming over my exposed chest and abs. She takes a step closer, her hands trembling as she grabs the lapels of my uniform and pushes it down my shoulder.

I watch her closely, wondering what she’s thinking. Does she find my body repulsive? Most people do, yet somehow I find myself wishing she’s different. My jacket falls to the floor and she moves her hand lower, placing it on the waistband of my trousers. Fates. Her touch is affecting me more than I expected. I’d only intended to antagonize her a bit, but it looks like it’s me that’s suffering now.

“Go check the bath’s temperature,” I tell her instead. She pulls her hands away and I let my eyes fall closed, praying for composure. Would this have been easier if she wasn’t so beautiful? If that chemise wasn’t sheer in the candlelight?

“The temperature is fine,” she tells me as I finish undressing, unable to hide my desire from her. Her eyes widen as she watches me step into the tub, and I sigh in relief once I’m hidden from her. Is that what the priests refer to as karma? Is this instant punishment for trying to entice my wife?

“Come here,” I tell her, not willing to admit defeat.

She kneels beside me, her breathing uneven and her face a deep crimson. It only makes her more beautiful. It makes me wonder what she’ll look like underneath me.

I hand her the bar of soap, and she takes it with shaking hands. I expected her to refuse and walk out, but there’s more curiosity in her eyes than anything else. If I’m not mistaken, there’s a hint of desire too. It’s faint, but it’s there. For me.

I thought she’d run the bar of soap over my skin, but instead she lathers it in her hands before putting it down. I’m tense as she places her hands on my shoulders, taking her time to massage in the soap.

“You’ve done this before?” The mere thought of her touching another man has me seeing red.

“Not for anyone but you, but I’m quite familiar with the concept of bathing.”

I bite back a smile, hiding the fact that I tremendously enjoy her wit. I doubt she realizes that no one would ever dare joke around with me. I thought I’d find being married a nuisance, but it fills a void I didn’t realize existed.

“Join me,” I murmur.

Her hands pause their movement, and I turn toward her, wrapping my hands around her waist and lifting her in before she has a chance to decline. She gasps when her body is submerged in the water, her white chemise rapidly becoming see-through.

“Felix!” she shouts, and I force myself not to smile at the outrage on her face.

“It’s easier for you to clean me when you’re in here with me,” I tell her, keeping my face carefully blank. She stares at me, as though she’s trying to ascertain if I’m being truthful, and I feel bad instantly. This is new to her. It’s not just me, and marriage, but this entire environment. She takes away the loneliness I’ve always felt, but in return I’m only giving her misery and discomfort.

“I apologize,” I tell her. “You needn’t do this.”

She rises to her knees between my legs and shakes her head. “You’re my husband,” she whispers. “I want to be the one who does this for you. I don’t believe you’re quite the monster you think you are, despite the viciousness that continues to leave your lips.”

Her words disarm me, and I lean back to watch her. She places her hands on my chest, palms flat, her wet chemise sticking to her body and outlining her magnificent body. I can’t remember the last time I desired a woman as much as I do my wife.

I wrap my hands around her wrists, keeping them in place. “I…” I’m not sure what I’m even trying to say.

I’m not like most men, Arabella.

I’ll hurt you.

Run, while you still can.

Don’t let me in.

I let my eyes roam over her face, her body. She’s perfect. I didn’t realize it when I first saw her in the Mirror of Pythia, but she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Her long dark hair and those honeycomb eyes. Those lips that I want another taste of. She’s beautiful, but it isn’t just her looks. It’s the energy she exudes. I’ve never met anyone quite so pure. It makes me want to corrupt her. Own her. Defile her.

I lean in, and her eyes fall closed, her breathing a little more rapid. Her chest rises and falls, her hard nipples on display for me.

I had no intention of trying to break this curse through love. It sounds ridiculous to me — it always has. But with Arabella, I find myself hoping for the impossible.

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USA Today Bestselling Author Catharina Maura writes Paranormal Romance and Fantasy as C.A. Maura, and Contemporary Romance as Catharina Maura.

She has a weakness for fated mates, true love, fairytale retellings, and happily ever afters. Cat currently lives in Hong Kong, and you can find all her latest updates here: https://hi.catharinamaura.com/bio

Book Review: Werewolves, Dogmen, and other Shapeshifters Stalking North America by Pamela K. Kinney

Werewolves, Dogmen, and other Shapeshifters Stalking North America 

by Pamela K. Kinney

April 26, 2022
209 pages
Have you ever been driving, alone, at night, and know that what you saw along the side of the road was not human? Do you ever wonder just what was howling on your last camping trip? Have you ever felt your skin crawl as you passed by that hitchhiker in the fog?

Join Pamela K. Kinney as she explores the North American tales and mythology that deal with shapeshifting frights. From the arid deserts of the American Southwest to the dense forest of the American Northwest, and even farther north to the Last Frontier of Alaska; from the Midwest to the Appalachian Mountains, continuing to the Atlantic Ocean in the east and down south to Florida, the tales of were-beasts are myriad—and hauntingly similar.

With all these stories spanning cultures and landscapes, might there be some spark of truth to them?

Amazon

If you're interested in supernatural/paranormal stuff then Pamela Kinney is an expert. She is an author of fiction but she is also a paranormal investigator and has written many excellent non-fiction books about ghost hauntings in the Virginia area. I admit I'm not a believer, but the books cover some really interesting historical information about the haunted places covered in the books. I reviewed them here.

Werewolves, Dogmen, and other Shapeshifters Stalking North America was a bit different. Pamela Kinney obviously scoured the internet for stories from people who have witnessed one of these cryptids. It is an impressive collection of accounts. But they weren't presented as fact, just examples of how people from all over North America throughout history have recounted the similar experiences.

Like the ghost-haunting books, this one excels in the history and myths and legends tied to cryptids. There is a lot of Native American influence of course. So you can be entertained and educated.

This book is for middle school and up. The younger crowd will love the first-hand account stories and learning about different types of cryptids (there were some I hadn't heard of!) in North American myths and legends, and the older will appreciate the historical aspects.

The only issue I had was the writing wasn't as polished as it is in the ghost haunting books.

4 "Were, dog and shapeshifting" Sheep

SharonS

About the Author:
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Pamela K. Kinney is an award-winning published author of horror, science fiction, fantasy, poetry, and a ghost wrangler of nonfiction ghost books published by Schiffer Publishing. Her horror short story, "Bottled Spirits" published by Buzzymag.com was runner up for the 2013 Small Press Award.

Two of her nonfiction ghost books were nominated for Library of Virginia Awards. Her latest nonfiction ghost book to be published by Schiffer Publishing, Paranormal Petersburg, Virginia, and the Tri-Cities Area, will be released August 2015.

She also has done acting on stage and in films, is a Master Costumer--costuming since 1972— and she even does paranormal investigating, including for DVDs for Paranormal World Seekers, filmed by AVA Productions. She was casting director for High Mountain Films' movie, The 19th (been an extra in the film, too), and wrote a horror screenplay, "Crawlspace Creep," now with an Indie production company.

She's a member of Horror Writers Association and the local Virginia chapter.

She admits she can always be found at her desk and on her computer, writing. And yes, the house, husband, and even the cat sometimes suffer for it!

To find out more about Pamela's acting, costuming, and directing, click here.

Under the pseudonym, Sapphire Phelan, she has published erotic and sweet paranormal/fantasy/science fiction romance along with a couple of erotic horror stories. Her erotic urban fantasy by the pseudonym, Sapphire Phelan, Being Familiar With a Witch is a Prism 2010 Awards winner and an Epic Awards 2010 finalist. The sequel to Being Familiar With a Witch, A Familiar Tangle With Hell was released June 2011 from Phaze Books. Both eBooks were combined into one print book, The Witch and the Familiar, released April 24, 2012.

Book Review: A Swift and Savage Tide (Captain Kit Brightling #2) by Chloe Neill

A Swift and Savage Tide (Captain Kit Brightling #2) 
by Chloe Neill
November 30, 2021
Chloe Neill’s bold, seafaring heroine Captain Kit Brightling sets sail for the high seas and high sorcery in this swashbuckling fantasy series.

Captain Kit Brightling is Aligned to the magic of the sea, which makes her an invaluable asset to the Saxon Isles and its monarch, Queen Charlotte. The Isles and its allies will need every advantage they can get: Gerard Rousseau, the former Gallic emperor and scourge of the Continent, has escaped his island prison to renew his quest for control of the Continent.

Gerard has no qualms about using dangerous magic to support his ambitions, so Kit and the crew of her ship, the Diana, are the natural choice to find him—and help stop him. But then Kit’s path unexpectedly crosses with that of the dashing and handsome Rian Grant, Viscount Queenscliffe, who’s working undercover on the Continent in his own efforts to stop Gerard. And he’s not the only person Kit is surprised to see. An old enemy has arisen, and the power he’ll wield on Gerard’s behalf is beautiful and terrible. Sparks will fly and sails will flutter as Kit and crew are cast into the seas of adventure to fight for queen and country.

Kit Brightling is an accomplished, highly skilled sea captain of the Saxon Isles. A young woman in a largely male profession, Captain Kit is undaunted and determined in her assignment to help protect the isles from an advancing foe. Kit possesses a magical alignment with sea currents. This alignment provides Kit and her crew an advantage as they covertly pursue and surveil enemy forces. However, recognizing the power and potential of such an alignment, the isles monitor and sanction the use of magic. Kit’s relationship with her magic is wary. Exiled Emperor Gerard has been gathering forces against the isles and its allies. He is amassing volatile magical power regardless of the danger it poses to the continent.

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A Swift and Savage Tide is the fabulous follow-up to Neil’s first series installment, The Bright and Breaking Sea. I adored the first book and greatly anticipated Kit’s next adventure. This fantasy series has it all: a confident, formidable female heroine, adventure, espionage, and smouldering romance. The plot is fun and engaging. I was also most pleased the romance between Captain Kit and Viscount Rian Grant is more fully realized in this installment. I found A Swift and Savage Tide to be an all-consuming, wildly entertaining read from start to finish.

This series has long-term potential. While threats remain, there are other creative, curious, and courageous Brightlings in the wings waiting to support Kit and future developments. I cannot wait for the next sea-faring adventure.

5 Sheep Review: The Bright and Breaking Sea (Captain Kit Brightling #1)

Five Sheep

Bianca Greenwood

Photo by Dana Damewood.

About the Author:

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Chloe Neill is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Captain Kit Brightling, Heirs of Chicagoland, Chicagoland Vampires, Devil’s Isle, and Dark Elite novels. She was born and raised in the South, but now makes her home in the Midwest, where she lives with her gamer husband and their bosses/dogs, Baxter and Scout.  Chloe is a voracious reader and obsessive Maker of Things; the crafting rotation currently involves baking and quilting. She believes she is exceedingly witty; her husband has been known to disagree.  

Chloe is represented by Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency and is a member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America.

Interview: Fantasy Author Shakuita Johnson + giveaway

Can you, for those who don't know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?

I have always enjoyed writing. I wrote a lot of poetry in high school, but I didn’t start writing my first book until the end of 2011 and published it Dec. 2013! I served 8 years in the United States Air Force. After that I moved to Boston to work on my Master’s in Public Admin. I’m currently back in my hometown. I’m a Scorpio. I enjoy music and the arts. I’m the oldest of brothers. I have 3 biological and 2 stepbrothers. I have 11 nieces and nephews and currently child-free.

Tell us something really interesting that's happened to you!

When I was working in the military a chain-link fence almost fell on top of me. It was like something out of Final Destination. I moved out of the way just in time. No one else was around and it probably would have been a while before someone found me and I don’t even remember if I had my phone on me or not.

What are you passionate about these days?

These days I’m passionate about crafting. I make journals and notebooks because I’m obsessed with also buying them. I thought if I could make them myself it would lessen my spending but that was a lie. I still buy notebooks and the raw materials to make journals and I believe I’ve spent even more money on it.

What inspired you to write this book?

I’m super into anime and I decided to do something along those lines with paranormal. So, I decided to write a book about a fox yokai or Kitsune as they are referred to in Japan.

What can we expect from you in the future?

I have so many projects but I def will be finishing my first series that started with the first book I wrote. I have other series/trilogies I have started and some I need to start. I have some erotic shorts I need to finish, and I plan to possibly do a shared world if I can get the interest.

Who designed your book covers?

My book covers are mostly designed by Daria Brennan of https://beegraphica.com. Its been great seeing her grow in her craft from the first book cover she’s done for me til the most recent ones she’s designed. I have also used L.M. Adams, and three other cover designers.

Convince us why you feel your book is a must read.

It’s def something different from the norm. I try to stay away from what’s considered mainstream and write something outside the box. It seems lately everything follows the same formula, and I don’t like to read things that read like every other book. I like diversity and stories that push the envelope. I like to think that I write stories like that. I write what I would want to read. There is nothing wrong with reading the same sort of stories but I like writing off beat things and I write for those who are of the same mind.

What are your top 10 favorite books/authors?

This is hard but I’d say:
Anne Rice
R.L. Stine
V.C. Andrews
Christopher Pike
Shelly Laurenston
Kresley Cole
Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
Patricia Briggs
L.M. Adams
Kim Harrison

There are many more I read but I find myself rereading these authors and I’ve def read Queen of the Damned dozens of times.

What book do you think everyone should read?

A Child Called It. It really highlights some of the things children suffer at the hands of those who are supposed to love them and how lacking our resources still are when it comes to the safety and welfare of children that are really in danger.

What are you currently reading?

I’m currently reading manga and light novels. There are so many I don’t know how I keep up. But the last book I read was The Call of Crows series by Shelly Laurenston. Some of the manga I’m reading are:
Tokyo Revengers
The Time I Reincarnated As A Slime
My Hero Academia
Unromantic
Ring
Counterattack of Pregnancy
My Weird Roommate
Equipoise

Wicked Crimson: A Myths and Legends Anthology

November 9, 2021

Genre: Mixed Paranormal

with stories by
Shakuita Johnson, Stephanie Kelley, Stephanie Ayers,
Kelsey D Garmendia, Aubrie Nuttle, E.S. McMillan, L.M. Adams

Ancient cultures often tell tales of ancient legends…

Gathered are 7 such tales told from 7 perspectives.

Shakuita Johnson

Magic Gods

Stephanie Kelley

Pas de Deux

Stephanie Ayers

Broken Chords: Fosse’s Song

Kelsey D Garmendia

The Music

Aubrie Nuttle

Embrace My Ashes

E.S. McMillan

Dita’s Choice

L.M. Adams

Twisted Eventide: Pieces

Tainted Blood and A Twisted Christmas

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Shakuita Johnson is a 34-year-old Psychology major. When she isn't going to school or working, she is doing what she loves most. Writing. She started writing in middle school. She would write poetry in her room or the middle of the night. Then she was introduced to short stories in a creative writing course her senior year. Her love for paranormal and supernatural started with R.L. Stine Goosebumps books and TV shows, Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles, and Christopher Pike books. She is an avid reader with over 100 books on her bookshelf and 1000 plus on her iPad. She also loved to watch Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer with her mom.

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$30 Amazon

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Excerpt: The Councillor by E. J. Beaton

The Councillor
by E. J. Beaton
March 2, 2021
Publisher: DAW
Genre: dark fantasy, swords and sorcery

448 pages
This Machiavellian fantasy follows a scholar's quest to choose the next ruler of her nation amidst lies, conspiracy, and assassination

When the death of Iron Queen Sarelin Brey fractures the realm of Elira, Lysande Prior, the palace scholar and the queen’s closest friend, is appointed Councillor. Publically, Lysande must choose the next monarch from amongst the city-rulers vying for the throne. Privately, she seeks to discover which ruler murdered the queen, suspecting the use of magic.

Resourceful, analytical, and quiet, Lysande appears to embody the motto she was raised with: everything in its place. Yet while she hides her drug addiction from her new associates, she cannot hide her growing interest in power. She becomes locked in a game of strategy with the city-rulers – especially the erudite prince Luca Fontaine, who seems to shift between ally and rival.

Further from home, an old enemy is stirring: the magic-wielding White Queen is on the move again, and her alliance with a traitor among the royal milieu poses a danger not just to the peace of the realm, but to the survival of everything that Lysande cares about.

In a world where the low-born keep their heads down, Lysande must learn to fight an enemy who wears many guises… even as she wages her own battle between ambition and restraint.

Editorial Reviews
Praise for The Councillor

“A sharp and insightful look at power and privilege in a m agical world, and what happens when people who’ve historically had neither find themselves in possession of both.”—Anna Stephens, author of the Godblind trilogy

“A gripping tale of intrigue and politics and power, set in a beautifully-drawn world of shifting alliances and morally grey characters. Intelligent, nuanced, and compelling.” —H. G. Parry, author of The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heap

“A tense intrigue of unknown loyalties, political machinations, and secret magic, The Councillor explores ambition, addiction, and the consequences of power. A powerful and intelligent debut from a writer to watch.” —Sam Hawke, author of City of Lies

“The Councillor is elegant, intricate, and utterly engaging! A beautifully written and intelligent debut novel.” —Rowenna Miller, author of the Unraveled Kingdom series

Amazon

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
One
The shape of a crown stood out in the emerald wax of the seal, and Lysande glanced at it once before looking away, staring at anything but that envelope. She raised her vial and drank. Gold tinged the room, spreading from the corners, glossing the piles of manuscripts and slipping across the bedsheets; she felt it transmute her insides, moving from her chest to her abdomen. The clink of glass dripped luster, and through it all, she struggled against a surging wish to let the effects spread and spread.

"Signore Prior!"

Calm settled upon her. The vial felt newly cool, as if it truly had been purified; as if it had never contained a spoonful of chimera scale, nor any ingredients that might mix and, if swiftly consumed, permeate the bloodstream. She did not need to think about the composition of the drug. She certainly did not need to think about the envelope.

"If you please, Signore Prior, the queen would see you."

The ball of emotion in her chest had begun to soften. How easy it would be to let it dissolve, under the same force that had gilded her vision. The old chant repeated in her mind: restrain, constrain, subdue.

When the messenger shouted through the door again, she pushed against her ease and forced her fingers to trade the vial for an empty basin. Slowly, she withdrew a small piece of hardened resin from her desk drawer and watched the surface of the stone glitter in the candlelight. After staring at it for a long time, she drew a swift breath and placed the night-quartz on her tongue. The reaction worked through her, and she bent over and retched; her hands gripped the edges of the basin until everything was expurgated. In the middle of the blue liquid, her own eyes shone, and she glimpsed something that was almost desperation.

Words drifted through the door. As Lysande threw on a pair of trousers, she anchored herself to the messenger's phrase: the queen would see you.

Gathering her keys, she put on her best doublet, a thick garment in the royal green, with only a smattering of ink-spots. She took the envelope with the emerald seal from her desk and paused, staring at it for a long time, turning it over in her fingers before slipping it into her pocket.

The physicians were leaving the royal suite as she arrived, carrying baskets of tools; only Surrick lingered in the corridor, wiping her hands on her robe. She nodded to Lysande, who nodded back slowly.

Lysande turned away from the chief physician and approached the suite. Her stomach swirled, but she kept her back straight and her hands from trembling.

Through the antechamber, trying not to look at the points of the swords in the brackets, she kept up a stiff gait. In the bedchamber, she threw up a hand to shield her eyes. Sunlight embossed the shelves on the wall. She watched an aureole form around a silver chalice, illuminating the words Sarelin Brey-Unifier, Warrior, Conqueror-the Hand that Held Back the White Tide and Saved Elira. Lysande shook her head and, after a moment, ran her finger over the edge of the envelope in her pocket.

"Sarelin?" Her voice resounded in the chamber.

She walked to the bed. The robe on the sheets drew her gaze, mottled with blood.

"Sarelin? Are you awake?"

"I hope so," a woman's voice said. "If this is the next life, it's lacking a bottle of red."

She felt the weight of Sarelin's presence, even before a figure emerged from behind the dressing-screen. Lysande was certain that the queen had not only chosen this position to show off the daggers at her left hip, nor the sword at her right, for at this angle, sunbeams struck the dent in her armor, turning it into a gleaming scar.

"Thank Cognita!" Lysande said.

"You can thank those damned physicians." Sarelin strode over and clapped her on the shoulder until her teeth knocked. "If they don't stop hectoring me, I'll tip the ghastly potion down their throats."

"Armor after an injury, though? Is that your wisest idea?"

"Surrick says I'm healed enough for it."

"And did you perhaps order Surrick to tell you that?" Lysande said.

"You want to watch that you're not too clever before breakfast. You can't enjoy a tart if you're full of a retort." As Sarelin clanked over to her table and poured herself a goblet of vivantica, Lysande noted the absence of a flush in her cheeks. The queen was not the wan figure she had been a few days ago when two women in armor carried her into the palace, shouting about a panther attack, but she still looked drawn, Lysande thought: too drawn by far.

She tested the words she had planned in her head.

"Ugh." Sarelin eyed the rose-pink liquid, swirling it in the cup. "Here, Trichard, Trichard!" A ball of golden fur leaped up from one of the chairs into Sarelin's hand. "You did a good job finding this little fellow."

"Call it an investment in the realm." Lysande tried to conjure a smile, hoping it would not crack.

"He lives up to his namesake." Sarelin tickled the tiny monkey. "Father could never shut his mouth, either."

The monkey chattered, as if on cue. It took a sip of the medicine and smacked its lips, and the two women laughed as one, Lysande's smile softening.

"Surrick's been bleating at me since I woke, telling me to use your little taster every time I drink. Claims your monkey can sniff out poison in seconds." Sarelin gave the animal another stroke. "Maybe she's got a point. With the whole realm thinking I'm about to collapse, there's some who'd like me to collapse faster."

Some moments arrived like a break in a song: pauses between beats that were not prearranged but opened up of their own accord, when the musicians drew breath. Lysande was looking at Sarelin, and then, in the space between words, she was aware of everything that she had agonized over since the hunt returned: all the possibilities, suspicions, and doubts, culminating in last night's reading. Sentences needled her mind.

She should at least say something. A hint about the panther. The animal was not the problem, but as for the associations that her research had thrown up . . . there was a certain name that you did not say, if you were wise, and Lysande was already bargaining with herself. When Sarelin was well enough to bark a greeting at the guards; when Sarelin was slamming the door of her suite and making the swords trembling in their brackets; when the queen's cheeks were flushed, then, she would bring up the possibility that the panther's attack had not been a coincidence.

Sarelin downed the goblet of vivantica in one go, shuddering, and reached underneath one of the platters. "I know it's late, but take this as the second half as your gift-day present."

"Sarelin, you cannot-"

"How dare you tell a queen what she cannot do?" Sarelin thrust a box under Lysande's nose, her face half-split with a smile.

Lysande opened the lid. The feather dazzled her eyes. Every barb was star-bright; the stem shone, painted gold and whittled to a point. She lifted the quill out of the box.

The first half of the present had been a gold dagger, presented a week ago, on the day that marked twenty-two years since she was found. She had never understood how the silverbloods expected her to celebrate that day, as if her childhood were a play with a magnificent ending. The problem with nobles was that they could not imagine a genre aside from heroic drama. What kind of story was it if your parents had abandoned you in a carpenter's shop during the war, a naked child in a room of blazing wood-tragicomedy? Or farce?

But the dagger. That was worth celebrating. Sarelin's present had carved straw enemies in the target range. Lysande turned her gaze to the quill now. Squinting, she made out her own face in the surface of the feather. The frown and the straggling mane of hair glimmered in reflection; she really should have combed her hair this morning, but at least the glinting, deathstruck lock was hidden beneath the other strands.

"You're spoiling me," she said.

"It's an exchange. You're going to copy out the news of my recovery."

"Ah. Of course I am."

"Anyway . . . there's no better scholar. Haven't I said it enough times? You're the girl who translated the Silver Songs, Lys. The girl with the quill."

Those were the same words Sarelin had spoken the day she had visited the schoolroom of the orphanage, the day that she had questioned each child about the history of Elira. I'll take the girl with the quill, she had said. Lysande swallowed. She placed the quill back in its hollow. In the pit of her stomach, unsaid things circled around and around and kicked, and every warning she had rehearsed in the last two days strained to get out.

"And you're taking care of the envelope for me," Sarelin said slowly, holding Lysande's gaze. "That deserves a reward."

It would not help, to run her hand over the envelope again. It would not aid her one jot to take it out and gaze at it-if overthinking could have made her feel confident, she would already be a worriless scholar. Lysande hugged Sarelin, her fingers interlacing behind the silver breastplate. There were too many chalices and plates on the wall, she thought; too many gleaming things from which her own countenance could gaze back.

She left the target range in the quiet before dusk. Once the door to her chamber was shut, she removed the jar from her drawer, unscrewed the lid, and dipped the spoon in, taking care not to let her hand tremble as she tipped a spoonful of shredded scale into the vial. Blue. Still the same stock, the same hue shining; maybe in a year or so, the smugglers would source their product from different chimera remains. Then she would be spooning out purple scale, or green. The properties of a long-dead beast were likely to transmogrify . . . with each different stock, new risks blossomed . . . ChariceÕs warnings repeated themselves to her, but she could smell the scale wafting up in dozens of different notes.

Spiced wine, grass after heavy rain, and the scent of old books when the covers had begun to wear; sometimes, like today, the chimera scale smelled of the things she enjoyed. At other times, she caught the scent of things she had tried to forget, like the rotten wood of the floorboards at the orphanage, and pipe-smoke: a thick tang from a particular herb which she had breathed all too recently.

Lysande held the vial over the fireplace until the heat nipped at her fingers. She poured the shredded scale into the goblet, tipped in a spoon of sugar from a jar on her desk, then added two spoons of water from another goblet.

The mixture began to fizz. It shivered and melted, leaving behind a liquid the color of lake water in the early morning, and Lysande drank until the goblet was half-empty. Her heartbeat began to hammer with the force of an angry blacksmith, but she ignored it; if she had pressed a hand to her forehead, she knew that she would have felt a fiery swathe of skin. Her stomach writhed. She told herself to push through the symptoms, one by one; to hold on to the thought of the reward. The calm spread through her next: it might not be pleasure that coursed through her veins, exactly, but she could see everything without frustration. The world around her, from the papers on her desk to the light streaming through the window and the wood of the bedposts-it all felt golden. The worries within her melted away and a purity imposed itself onto the room.

Had she really been thinking about the panther all afternoon? Had she truly been considering telling Sarelin what she had discovered, weighing it against the risk of the queen storming through the palace, forgoing medicine and rest? Had she really been imagining the way that rage dug trenches on Sarelin's brow-the way that Sarelin's voice smoked with fury when she swore revenge on one particular woman?

She tilted the goblet. Another drop of the concoction landed on her tongue. The hammer-blows of her heartbeat began to land faster and faster.

How familiar the practice of avoidance could be, and how sweet. There would be no need for night-quartz this time. She took the new quill from its box and traced a few shapes in the air, snaking the tip around.

Her hand flew over the pages of her notes, tracing tables of siege campaigns and checking officers' names sprinkled in brown ink. It was easy to forget about her distress when she was unearthing details, picking out the fine points from the stories and records that immersed her in another time. The tasks had changed, slowly. In her early years in the palace, she had compiled and translated as much of the realm's political history as she could, leafing through fat manuscripts in the queen's private library that had promised tales of assassinations, old stories of chimera attacks, and newer, mud-spattered accounts of rebellions. She had summarized trade deals, cross-referencing them with foreign alliances, noting whether they were achieved with arms or ink. Only when she had felt confident enough in her knowledge of history had she begun to search for patterns, analyzing the strategies that Elira's queens and kings had used against invaders, and classifying the tactics that city-rulers had employed to defend or expand their territory. It had taken many false starts with a quill before she had written the first words of her own treatise, the title pricked out boldly in rare violet ink: An Ideal Queen.

Today, she could not write for long. No matter what approach she tried to take, the prose came out in ungainly lumps. Sarelin's confident smile appeared in her mind, undercutting every sentence.

She opened her map-book, turning to the pages at the back. After surveying the diagrams of the White War for a moment, she touched the golden quill to the paper.

The final battle came out quickly; the Mud Field bloomed with legions and captains on her page, the Pyrrhan clash appearing on the White Army's left flank and the archers on the right. She covered the field with thin lines, marking the movements of the battalions.

There remained one thing to add, after the White Queen's advance: Sarelin's last charge. Her quill hovered above the page. Somehow, she could not touch it to the map.--This text refers to the hardcover edition.

About the Author
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E. J. Beaton is the author of the fantasy novel The Councillor. She has previously published a poetry collection, Unbroken Circle (Melbourne Poets Union), and has been shortlisted for the ACU Prize for Poetry and the Ada Cambridge Poetry Prize. She studied literature and writing at university, and her PhD thesis included analysis of Machiavellian politics in Shakespearean drama and fantasy literature. She lives in Melbourne, Australia.--This text refers to the audioCD edition.

Book Review: The Bright and Breaking Sea (Captain Kit Brightling #1) by Chloe Neill

The Bright and Breaking Sea (Captain Kit Brightling #1)
by Chloe Neill
November 17, 2020
Publisher: Berkley
377 pages

Genre: historical fantasy, Greek & Roman myths
Chloe Neill brings her trademark wit and wild sense of adventure to a stunning seafaring fantasy starring a dauntless heroine in a world of magic and treachery.

Kit Brightling, rescued as a foundling and raised in a home for talented girls, has worked hard to rise through the ranks of the Isles’ Crown Command and become one of the few female captains in Queen Charlotte's fleet. Her ship is small, but she's fast—in part because of Kit’s magical affinity to the sea. But the waters become perilous when the queen sends Kit on a special mission with a partner she never asked for.

Rian Grant, Viscount Queenscliffe, may be a veteran of the Continental war, but Kit doesn’t know him or his motives—and she’s dealt with one too many members of the Beau Monde. But Kit has her orders, and the queen has commanded they journey to a dangerous pirate quay and rescue a spy who's been gathering intelligence on the exiled emperor of Gallia.

Kit can lead her ship and clever crew on her own, but with the fate of queen and country at stake, Kit and Rian must learn to trust each other, or else the Isles will fall....

Amazon

Listen to Chloe read chapter 1: LINK

Captain Kit Brightling has been forging a promising career as a member of the Isles’ Crown Command. Her supernatural command of the sea, combined with undaunting determination, has made her a rising young star in the field. She’s young, energetic, and determined to prove her worth in the male-dominated sphere. Nothing has come easily to Kit, raised as an orphan by her adventurous benefactor Hetta and Kit’s resentment of the “Beau Monde”, the realm’s privileged class is clear: “its members born into extraordinary wealth and primarily concerned, at least in Kit’s experience, with their own comfort and ease.” When Queen Charlotte commands Kit to team with Colonel Rian Grant, Viscount Queenscliffe, a member of the Beau Monde, resentment simmers.

The Bright and Breaking Sea is a wholly entertaining fantasy adventure, marking the start of a very special series. Kit and Rian make a remarkable team evolving from frosty colleagues to reluctant partners, to something more. Neill builds a rich fantasy realm while commenting on contemporary concerns such as gender and class equality. Her characters are rich and varied. The action, adventure, and slow-burn romance are set against building political tension sure to propel the action of this series for installments to come.

Kit is a fresh, forthright female main determined to maintain her independence: “I’ve a negative view of the requirements that women play at being helpless to attract a wealthy man, and exchange meaningful activity to become accessories, like a soft ug or charming vase once married.” She is eventually forced to confront her own judgements against Grant and his birthright when he proves to be as focussed and determined as she.

I had a legitimate book hangover after concluding The Bright and Breaking Sea. I anxiously anticipate future installments. Fans of fantasy adventure will appreciate this thoughtful, entertaining read. I look forward to the unfolding of political espionage of the Isles and beyond. I am hopeful the other girls of Brightling house, as well as their intriguing sponsor Hetta, will feature in coming installments.

Five Sheep

Bianca Greenwood

Photo by Dana Damewood.

About the Author:

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Chloe Neill is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Captain Kit Brightling, Heirs of Chicagoland, Chicagoland Vampires, Devil’s Isle, and Dark Elite novels. She was born and raised in the South, but now makes her home in the Midwest, where she lives with her gamer husband and their bosses/dogs, Baxter and Scout.  Chloe is a voracious reader and obsessive Maker of Things; the crafting rotation currently involves baking and quilting. She believes she is exceedingly witty; her husband has been known to disagree.  

Chloe is represented by Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency and is a member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America.

Book Review: The Four Horsemen: Bound (The Four Horsemen Series Book 2) by LJ Swallow

The Four Horsemen: Bound (The Four Horsemen Series Book 2)
by LJ Swallow
Sept 11, 2018
Pages: 170
The story of Verity and the Four Horsemen continues in the second book of this addictive REVERSE HAREM urban fantasy series from USA Today bestselling author LJ Swallow.

What happens when you discover Truth is a lie?

Ewan's shock revelation sends Vee's life further into chaos, and she faces an uncertain future in a secret world she never knew existed.

The Four Horsemen now have their missing link and will each do anything to protect and support her, but Vee's determined to show them she can be their equal.

When Vee joins the Four Horsemen's hunt for those behind the plot to murder a fae queen, she discovers society faces bigger dangers than she realised. One night changes everything and increases Vee's determination to harness her power and step into her new role.

The group are about to find out exactly how powerful Truth is.

The Four Horsemen is a series of urban fantasy books with a reverse harem twist. Prepare to follow the main story of Vee and the Horsemen through addictive books filled with action, suspense, magic and paranormal romance with multiple love interests. They must be read in order and the books heat up! Contains sex and strong language. For readers 18+.

The book is written in BRITISH ENGLISH with British spelling, grammar and idiom.

The Four Horsemen series is complete

Legacy

Bound

Hunted

Guardians 

Chaos

Descent 

Reckoning

Vee joins the Four Horsemen becoming the fifth they have been searching for but she’s not sure she is ready for all that she discovers. The five need to discover who is out to kill the fae queen before the balance is shifted the wrong way.

Vee is a powerful woman who can tell when a person is lying. As far as powers go it is one that can be helpful as well as painful. She is surrounded by four beautiful men that she is drawn to in different ways that can either strengthen the team and help her harness her other powers or could drive them all apart causing a catastrophe that could affect all those around her.

Review: The Four Horsemen: Legacy (The Four Horsemen Series Book 1)

Getting 4 sheep

Denise B

About the Author:

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LJ Swallow is a USA Today bestselling author and alter-ego of bestselling contemporary romance author Lisa Swallow. 

Giving in to her dark side, LJ spends time creating worlds filled with supernatural creatures who don't fit the norm, and heroines who are more likely to kick ass than sit on theirs.

Book Review: The Second Coming (The Ascension Series Book 8) by SM Reine

The Second Coming (The Ascension Series Book 8) 
by SM Reine
August 31, 2019
Pages: 228
Elise Kavanagh was once known as the Godslayer - a woman born to kill Adam, a man become God. But she defeated him and stepped into his role, taking her lifelong partner into the pantheon with her. Now she must navigate her mortal goals with her divine life, beginning with substantiating into an avatar to have James Faulkner's baby, and ending with vengeance. Book 8 of the Ascension Series.

Elise Kavanagh and James Faulkner have lived many different lives and have been gods for an eternity. James has asked Elise repeatedly to have a baby and expand their family and she finally gave in which lead them both to avatars to accomplish this goal. Even though they planned the aspects of their avatars, things never seem to go as planned.

Elise and James have led many different complications throughout Reine’s different series, either by being the lead characters or by quietly existing in the backgrounds of her stories. Each time they appear their characters take on more depth that really shows the imagination of the author. This book has opened up infinite possibilities for the Ascension series itself as well as many spin-off possibilities. It was one of the best-written works Reine has had to date.

Getting 5 sheep

Denise B

About the Author:
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Hi everyone! My name is Sara, and I'm the New York Times Bestselling Author of urban fantasy known as SM Reine. I collect swords, cat hair, and typewriters (which I do use for writing!). You can usually find me writing on my treadmill desk at 2am whilst listening to dubstep. Yes, dubstep.

If you would like to know the instant I have a new book available, you should enlist in my Army of Evil! I'll only email you when I have a new release, which is generally no more than once a month. I can't write any faster than that. :)

Excerpt: A Darker Shade of Evil Anthology + giveaway

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September 24, 2019
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Including stories from USA Today and Bestselling Authors

Khardine Gray, USA Today Bestselling Author– Alone In The Dark
Dariel Raye – USA Today Bestselling Author – The Devil Upstairs
Lori Titus USA Today Bestselling Author – Talons
Muffy Wilson – USA Today Bestselling Author – Succubus Unleashed
Keta Diablo – Bestselling Author – I Spy A Demon
Marilyn Harlow– Bestselling Author – Demons Are A Girl’s Best Friend
Gracen Miller – Bestselling Author – Hex
Michelle Scott – Bestselling Author – The Demon’s Prisoner
Katherine Smits – Bestselling Author – Siren Descending

About A Darker Shade of Evil

Deadly demons, diabolical devils and other creatures of the night will hold you spellbound in this one-of-a-kind anthology. In a world of dark delights, they trifle in forbidden passion, suspense, and kick-ass battles. It’s all right here for you in this captivating urban fantasy and paranormal romance anthology!

Brought to you by USA Today and International Bestselling Authors, these stories of sexy alpha heroes and heroines will keep you turning the pages. Devils, demons and their lethal hunters will draw you into their conquests, twisted deceptions, scorching heat, and yes, even love.

* Heat Rating: Spicy to Erotic Romance
* No Cliffhangers
* Happily-Ever-After or Happy-For-Now

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Dead women, all young and beautiful, are popping up all over the city in various states of decomposition…missing some shocking body parts. 

Detective Brock Hanley takes the case, determined to find the murderer. He has no idea whom or what he’s facing.

Then, she walks into his life. Sapphira Leash.

Half beauty queen, half tigress…all misanthropist, and more than just curious about his haunting new case.

Why she hates the world is a puzzle. Maybe she just hates men, or maybe it’s just Detective Brock Hanley. How can a long-legged temptress with an attitude help him solve these murders? Sapphira has connections of the darkest kind, and a seasoned detective’s eye for violence and murder. If she defies her golden rule – never get involved – Hell could land at her doorstep - literally.

She has a secret, a big one, and the closer Brock Hanley gets to Sapphira Leash the harder it is for her to resist having sex with him…or killing him.

Succubus Unleashed Excerpt:

A Beautiful Gift 
Chapter 1 
“Where?”

“Under the west pillars of the Golden Gate Bridge in the swampy marsh and fetid pools of saltwater left by the receding tide. She’s been ravaged, first by her assailant then by nature.” The first responder on the scene replied as he wiped his face and mouth with a handkerchief.

“I don’t want her mother to see her like this. The torture of losing her daughter is one thing to live with, but this? This is torture; it’s cruel. Jesus Christ, looks like we’re gonna need dental records to ID her.” This wasn’t Drew Loverhood’s first murder scene, but it was gruesome and ranked right up there with one of the worse.

“You’re right. She should imagine returning her daughter to God the way He sent her to live with her Mother.” 

“You okay, Tank?”

“Yea…I got daughters…I threw up when I saw her — I marked off the spot so CSI wouldn’t mistake it as evidence. Sorry. She can’t be much older than my girls, maybe twenty…twenty-five?”

“Yea, I would guess. Has the ME been called? We really can’t touch her until she’s through with the initial examination. Expand the restricted area. I don’t want the press to secure any drone photographs. I want her Mother to remember her as she was in life — joyful, sweet, pure — a beautiful gift.” Detective Loverhood sighed and shook his head.

“Hmmmmm…maybe she will someday.”

“Yea. Christ, where is Hanley when you need him…” Loverhood said to no one under his breath

“I think he took early retirement and is somewhere in the Rockies, sir.”

“Jesus, Tank! Don’t you think I know that? He was my goddamn partner for a decade, right after I got my gold shield.”

“Yea, of course. Sorry.”

“You’re doing a lot of ‘sorry’, Tank. Pull yourself together. Wait up by the demark line for the ME and get her down here without any fanfare, will ya?”

“Sure, Lover, will do.”

“‘Detective Lover’ to you, Tank.” Loverhood didn’t want to bust the guys balls. This was an especially nasty scene. Har for anyone, especially a guy with daughters. We see it every day, but it doesn’t get any easier when the face you see, you imagine is one of your own.

Dr. Celecia Farmer was walking down the hillside below the bridge with her investigator. As she walked, she was putting on rubber gloves. 

“Hey, Lover, whatcha got?” 

“Pretty self-explanatory, Doc. Young woman, twenty to twenty-five…maybe a hundred and ten pounds, Caucasian, auburn haired. Doesn’t look like a runaway or a hooker, she has a manicure and pedicure. Not much else I can tell without moving her, which I didn’t do, but she is dead.”

“Yes, I can see that from here. Tommy, get some photos, please, before I get in there to take a closer look.”

“What do you think, Doc?”

“Right now, you don’t want to know what I think because what I think doesn’t matter. It’s what I know that matters.”

“You always so ‘by the book’, Doc?” Loverhood knew what he thought but he hadn’t said a word out loud to anyone. He didn’t like where this was going already and the quick conclusions he drew, based on a decade of experience, wasn’t good for anyone. This was going to be a long one, Loverhood already knew that. And messy. He sure wished his partner was here working these cases with him, but he was sure he wouldn’t comeback even if he called him. Or begged him.

Ever since his wife and daughter were killed by a nutcase with a death wish and driven by revenge, Detective Brock Hanley had retired to higher ground. He never wanted to see another bridge, especially not a “golden” one. Lover called him a couple of times a year on special occasions or to ask him about a case or something superficial, but conversations were stilted and awkward, even for as long as they’d know each other and as close as they once were. It was hard, hard to pretend that something precious hadn’t died in him when “his girls” died.

He was a zombie. He had no more to give to anyone because nothing mattered to him. Lover was beginning to think he was just waiting to die himself so he could see them again.

But they both knew that when their numbers were up, they wouldn’t be going to the same place—not after what they both had seen and done. Especially what they had done. They had done things they would never want their wives to know about, walked that fine blue line, the one between legal and downright sinister. Law and order was never pretty and Lady Justice wasn’t blind, she wasn’t fair or just, she was moot. She was a co-conspirator, plain and simple. And she took all she could out of Detective Brock Hanley when she took the only people he ever loved.

“Lover…Lover…Lover!”

“Yea, Doc. Sorry…” He sighed in the face of yet another death, another gruesome, cruel, sadistic death of a beautiful child ripped from a bright future and family that would never be or be the same.

“Listen, I am done here, for now. I can’t tell you much other than this is a suspicious death. She has marks around her neck and petechial hemorrhaging. There are no other marks, abrasions, lacerations, bruises or contusions so she wasn’t dropped from the bridge or down the hillside. And she is missing some vital body parts, but I’ll know more when I get her on the table. I can tell you that ToD was between midnight and six this morning based upon her liver temp and lividity. It could be a sex crime or something more sadistic and sinister. Like I said, I’ll know more when I open her up.”

“So, Doc, how long has she been in the water?”

“I would guess about four to six hours. It was after high tide, though, I can tell you that otherwise she would be all beat up by the surf and there might not be much of her left from the marine life. I will add, though, that she has been ravaged by someone or something.”

“So, how’d she die, Doc, strangulation?”

“Cause of death could be from any one of a number of manners of death. Could be strangulation, drowning, or she might have bled out.”

“Bled out! What from?”

“Well, Lover, you were busy collecting evidence when we rolled her over. She has a pretty nasty horizontal incision in her lower abdomen. Looks like she is missing something from the inside.”

“Sweet Jesus, Doc—what the hell?”

“I am not positive, but it looks like she was either pregnant, maybe not, but they took all her reproductive organs, from what I can tell. So, there could’ve been a baby involved or they just wanted her organs. I can’t know until get in there and the toxicology comes back in about three weeks.”

“Three weeks? We can’t wait that long for the toxicology. We need to know if she was drugged and murdered for her baby or her organs. Either way, there’s some sick fuck out there and we must stop him as fast as possible. Keep this under wraps, Doc, we don’t want to start anything we can’t control with the women in our city.”

“You may have to stop them. There could be more than one sick fuck out there.”

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