Spotlight: Phoenix Unbound (The Fallen Empire) by Grace Draven + A Special Giveaway

As this is the first book in Grace Draven’s Fallen Empire series, we are celebrating with a giveaway that also features other first-in-series romantic fantasy books (including books by Nalini Singh, Chloe Neill, Ilona Andrews, Anne Bishop, and Patricia Briggs). We are calling it a ‘Romantic Fantasy Starter Kit’

Phoenix Unbound (The Fallen Empire)

by Grace Draven

September 25, 2018
Ace Trade Paperback
A woman with power over fire and illusion and an enslaved son of a chieftain battle a corrupt empire in this powerful and deeply emotional romantic fantasy from the USA Today bestselling author of Radiance.

Every year, each village is required to send a young woman to the Empire's capital--her fate to be burned alive for the entertainment of the masses. For the last five years, one small village's tithe has been the same woman. Gilene's sacrifice protects all the other young women of her village, and her secret to staying alive lies with the magic only she possesses.

But this year is different.

Azarion, the Empire's most famous gladiator, has somehow seen through her illusion--and is set on blackmailing Gilene into using her abilities to help him escape his life of slavery. Unknown to Gilene, he also wants to reclaim the birthright of his clan.

To protect her family and village, she will abandon everything to return to the Empire--and burn once more.

About the Author:

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Grace Draven is a Louisiana native living in Texas with her husband, kids, and a big, doofus dog. She is the winner of the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice for Best Fantasy Romance of 2016 and a USA Today Bestselling author. Find out more about Grace Draven online at gracedraven.com.

GIVEAWAY

https://sweeps.penguinrandomhouse.com/enter/fantasy-romance-starter-kit-giveaway

Book Review: Night and Silence (October Daye #12) by Seanan McGuire

Night and Silence (October Daye)

by Seanan McGuire
September 4, 2018
Publisher: DAW
ASIN: B0782VCM7K ISBN: 978-0756414764
Things are not okay.

In the aftermath of Amandine's latest betrayal, October "Toby" Daye's fragile self-made family is on the verge of coming apart at the seams. Jazz can't sleep, Sylvester doesn't want to see her, and worst of all, Tybalt has withdrawn from her entirely, retreating into the Court of Cats as he tries to recover from his abduction. Toby is floundering, unable to help the people she loves most heal. She needs a distraction. She needs a quest.

What she doesn't need is the abduction of her estranged human daughter, Gillian. What she doesn't need is to be accused of kidnapping her own child by her ex-boyfriend and his new wife, who seems to be harboring secrets of her own. There's no question of whether she'll take the case. The only question is whether she's emotionally prepared to survive it.

Signs of Faerie's involvement are everywhere, and it's going to take all Toby's nerve and all her allies to get her through this web of old secrets, older hatreds, and new deceits. If she can't find Gillian before time runs out, her own child will pay the price. One question remains:

Who in Faerie remembered Gillian existed? And what do they stand to gain? No matter how this ends, Toby's life will never be the same.

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Toby should be thinking about getting married to Tybalt with him and Jazz back home and her quest to bring her older pureblood sister back to her mother, but instead, her life is tearing apart. Tybalt avoids her due to PSTD from being trapped in cat form. Jazz can’t sleep, and Toby’s ex and his human wife have appeared at her doorstep, demanding to know if she’d kidnapped her daughter, Gillian. Which she hasn’t. Agreeing to find her. Toby begins the search at the campus of Gillian’s college, where she was last seen. The clues stink of Faerie involvement and there are secrets too, one even connected to her in a way she never saw coming.

Once again, Seanan McGuire gives another great adventure for October Daye and for the readers.

I give Night and Silence (October Daye) 5 sheep.

Reviewed by Pamela K. Kinney

About the Author:
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Seanan McGuire is a California-based author with a strong penchant for travel and can regularly be found just about any place capable of supporting human life (as well as a few places that probably aren't). Seanan was the winner of the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer; Rosemary and Rue, was named one of the Top 20 Paranormal Fantasy Novels of the Past Decade; and her novel Feed, written under the name Mira Grant, was named as one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2010. She also won a Hugo for her podcast, and is the first person to be nominated for five Hugo Awards in a single year.

Sheep Movie Review: KIN (2018)

KIN (2018)

August 31, 2018 (USA)
Directors: Josh Baker, Jonathan Baker
Based on: Bag Man; by Jonathan Baker; Josh Baker
Cast: Jack Reynor, Zoë Kravitz, Dennis Quaid, James Franco, Myles Truitt 

Rating: PG-13 (for gun violence and intense action, suggestive material, language, thematic elements and drinking)
Genre: Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Written By: Daniel Casey
Runtime: 102 minutes
Studio: Lionsgate
KIN, a pulse-pounding crime thriller with a sci-fi twist, is the story of an unexpected hero destined for greatness. Chased by a vengeful criminal (James Franco), the feds and a gang of otherworldly soldiers, a recently released ex-con (Jack Reynor) and his adopted teenage brother (Myles Truitt) are forced to go on the run with a weapon of mysterious origin as their only protection.

Based on the movie poster you go in thinking this is a science fiction movie...well, it kind of is...the last 10%. But if you read the blurb it says crime thriller with a sci-fi twist and even that is a bit misleading cause it isn't so much a crime thriller as a dark on-the-run from a psycho criminal story. Basically, it wasn't what I thought it would be. AND it might be rated PG-13 and have a 14-year-old protag but the first 90% of the movie is pretty dark and violent even though there isn't much blood and a lot of the killing happens off camera. 

Let's talk about that 10% sci-fi part at the very end. That was cool but in a Power Rangers movie kind of way. That's right, it was like they wrote the movie and stuck on an ending from a different type of movie (the one I thought I was going to see and probably the tone of any possible TV series).

I'm not sure why this was released in theaters. Based on the story, it is more like a TV series pilot...and since KIN was produced by the producers of Stranger Things, this isn't a surprise. It should have debut Netflix. The movie is an origin story for Elijah Solinski and just when we find out his part in the story, it is over.

You can guess I don't recommend seeing this in the theater, wait for it to show up on TV. What I do recommend, is watching the short film KIN is based on, Bag Man. It was written and directed by the same people. It is free to watch here: http://www.bagmanshortfilm.com/

3 "keep that on the lower setting" Sheep 

SharonS

Book Review: The Mermaid by Christina Henry

The Mermaid

by Christina Henry
June 19, 2018
336 pages
Publisher: Berkley
From the author of Lost Boy comes a beautiful historical fairy tale about a mermaid who leaves the sea, only to become the star attraction of history's greatest showman.

Once there was a mermaid called Amelia who could never be content in the sea, a mermaid who longed to know all the world and all its wonders, and so she came to live on land. 

Once there was a man called P. T. Barnum, a man who longed to make his fortune by selling the wondrous and miraculous, and there is nothing more miraculous than a real mermaid.


Amelia agrees to play the mermaid for Barnum and walk among men in their world, believing she can leave anytime she likes. But Barnum has never given up a money-making scheme in his life, and he's determined to hold on to his mermaid.

The Mermaid is Christina’s Henry’s most recent retelling of beloved fairy/folk tales and heroes. Henry has taken on Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and now P.T. Barnum. The Mermaid tells the tale of a mermaid’s life on land as well as her subsequent exploitation at the hands of an enterprising and unscrupulous P.T. Barnum.

Amelia is a curious mermaid looking for more. She settles into a blissful, quiet domesticity as the wife of a costal fisherman. But when Amelia finds herself widowed but unaged, she longs to widen her world. She is offered a feature spot in P.T. Barnum’s museum of amusements and she reluctantly takes the position as a means to an end. Predictably, Amelia soon becomes acquainted with the cold, cruel world of humans.

I enjoyed The Mermaid for its subtle, nuanced storytelling. Henry is a true literary figure along fantasy writers. The book, however, lacked the magic and gripping storyline of her previous two retellings. Despite her integration into the human world, Amelia retains her secretive, closed-off character. While this is suitable in establishing the story, it makes it difficult for the reader to form an attachment. Feeling ‘other’ or ‘misfit,’ however, is a definite touchstone for readers.

Though this story takes place in the mid-1800s, it’s remarkable how applicable it is to a contemporary reader. The ideas of prejudice, exploitation, celebrity as commodity, and feminism are all integral pieces to the story. Amelia is the perfect vehicle to embody ideals far ahead of her time. She isn’t the popularized picture of a mermaid; buxom with a sea shell bikini, but rather something otherworldly, curious, and deadly. Amelia is afforded a feminist sensibility in this time and place because she alien and other: “All she’d found was that women spent a great deal of time saying they were pleased when they were not, smiling when they were not happy, and pretending their anger and frustration did not exist.”

Readers expecting a reprisal of P.T. Barnum as imagined by The Greatest Showman will be sorely disappointed. Henry’s Barnum is a self-interested, conniving business man who cares little for anyone or anything other than himself. Henry assumes a much more critical voice regarding the history of this man and his questionable and exploitive practices.

Review: Alice (The Chronicles of Alice #1)
Review: Red Queen (The Chronicles of Alice #2)
Review: Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook

Four Sheep

Bianca Greenwood

About the Author:

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CHRISTINA HENRY is the author of the national bestselling BLACK WINGS (Ace/Roc) series featuring Agent of Death Madeline Black and her popcorn-loving gargoyle Beezle. She is also the author of the forthcoming dark fantasy ALICE (Ace Trade).

She lives in Chicago with her husband and son.

Excerpt Spotlight: The Warrior Princess (Alinthia #3) by Siobhan Davis + giveaway

The Warrior Princess (Alinthia #3)
by Siobhan Davis
August 28th, 2018
Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
She’ll tear the galaxy apart to save them…

Captured by a special, secret government agency, Alinthia is now facing another new reality—one where she’s separated from the four guys who have come to mean so much to her. But she has faith in Dane, Coop, Maddox, and Beck, and she refuses to give up hope.

Until she discovers General Arantu and his despicable daughter, have imprisoned her protectors and time is running out to save them.

Desperate to escape the government’s clutches and rescue her loved ones, Alinthia finds unlikely allies in the strangest of places. With their help, she finally understands what is required to assume full control of her powers and fulfil her legacy.

However, the more she uncovers about herself and her abilities, the more she understands how fragile the line is between good and evil, darkness and light, right and wrong.

Will she make the ultimate sacrifice in the name of love, or are there some lines that can’t ever be crossed?

The third book in the enchanting Alinthia series is intended for readers aged seventeen and older. This is upper YA/NA crossover reverse harem paranormal romance which gets steamier as the series develops. This is not a standalone read. Full-length novel.

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Previous books in the series:

EXCERPT:
Cooper
I come to, groaning as several of my senses are assaulted at once. A putrid, decaying smell tickles my nostrils, and I’d probably puke if I was human and capable of vomiting. Moans, cries, and screams filter into the room from somewhere outside. Shivers tiptoe up my spine as a blast of cold air sweeps over me, and my arms ache like a bitch. A dull pounding in my head and pain burning at the back of my eyes make seeing difficult, but I push through my discomfort, forcing myself back to consciousness.

Slowly, my vision clears, and my surroundings come into focus.

“Mad Dog and Beck are still unconscious,” Dane says into my mind.

“Where are we, and how the fuck did we get here?” The last thing I remember is being ambushed by Alandra and a bunch of goons outside Kylie’s house. I put up the mother of all fights, but I was outnumbered, and they had the element of surprise. It’s embarrassing how easily they overpowered me after that.

My head spins around, my eyes scanning the small cell. The walls are exposed stone, and the floors are coarse black slate. It’s dirty, cold, and unforgiving under my butt. There is little natural light in the room, the only glimmer of brightness trickling in through a small, open window above my head.

Beck, Maddox, and Dane are all stripped to their boxers, arms elevated, and wrists bound together, chained to the stone wall. I look down at myself, confirming I’m in the same predicament. “Where’s Alinthia?” The connection that bonds my brothers and I to our girl thrashes anxiously about, trying and failing to locate our missing piece. “Where is she, Dane?”

“It’s not good, Coop, and it’s all my fault.”

Copyright © Siobhan Davis 2018

About the Author:

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USA Today bestselling author Siobhan Davis writes emotionally intense young adult and new adult romantic fiction with swoon-worthy romance, complex characters, and tons of unexpected plot twists and turns that will have you flipping the pages beyond bedtime! She is the author of the international bestselling Kennedy Boys, Saven, and True Calling series’.

Siobhan’s family will tell you she’s a little bit obsessive when it comes to reading and writing, and they aren’t wrong. She can rarely be found without her trusty Kindle, a paperback book, or her laptop somewhere close at hand.

Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Siobhan forged a successful corporate career in human resource management.

She resides in the Garden County of Ireland with her husband and two sons.

GIVEAWAY

Blitz-wide giveaway (INTL)

$20 Amazon gift card

A signed copy of The Lost Savior (the first book in the series)

a Rafflecopter giveaway