Tangled Power: Compass Points #2 by Jillian Witt

We're celebrating the release of Tangled Power by Jillian Witt! Make sure to get your copy on June 18th!

Tangled Power: Compass Points #2
by Jillian Witt
June 18, 2024
Genre: Romantic Fantasy/ New Adult/Adult

🧭His power scares everyone but her
✨Dual POV
🧭Hot Forging 😏
✨Opinionated Magic
🧭”Get in losers. Let’s go find a rogue god.”

“Technically, the continent is doomed if you can’t figure out how to work together…the good news is there’s no way for the Compass Points to trust each other less than they currently do.”
— Arie

Before the Compass Points can confront a god, Rose will unite them the only way she knows how: through their magic.

To forge her weapons is to know the heart of the wielder. Uncovering the secrets that have plagued the fae courts longer than the mist will not be an easy task. But it may be simpler than predicting how her magic entwines with the Suden Point’s unprecedented power—and the growing bond between them.

Tangled Power is the second book in the Compass Points series

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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).

Amazon-BN-Smashwords

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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Excerpt: Dark and Lovely Mermaids (Broken Mermaids, #2) by Julie Catherine + giveaway

Dark and Lovely Mermaids (Broken Mermaids, #2)
by Julie Catherine
June 11th 2024
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Mermen. Monsters. And a lot of Manipulation. An at-odds prisoner (merman) and warden (mermaid) are about to set off to cross the deep ocean and end up running for their lives. Dive into the twisted waters of Dark and Lovely Mermaids, a forced proximity, enemies to lovers paranormal romance where the love is deep and the ocean is wild.

Ellara Merme made a bad deal. To save her friends and human sweetheart, she agreed to become a sea-slave, the lowest class in the mermaid world. It’s hell on earth, at the bottom of the ocean. A terrible choice. The only decision that’s worse, is the choice she’s about to make.

The leader of the mermaids has offered her an out: Deliver the merman prisoner to Neptune’s army and all will be forgiven. No problem. Should be an easy mission. Except…

… the deep ocean is full of sea monsters itching to make the mermaid their next meal.

… plus she might be catching feelings for the merman she’s supposed to be delivering. Could he possibly be so charming? Or are there other manipulations at play?

With danger crashing with every wave, Ellara has to decide: should she stick to the plan and save herself from sea-slavery? Or dive headfirst into the waters of romance? Can she outsmart the ocean and resist the merman’s charms? Or will she end up making an even worse bargain to survive?

Dark and Lovely Mermaids is a thrilling, loyalty-testing, romantic underwater adventure full of monsters, natural disasters and an army of mermen—an underwater story so enchanting you -won’t want to come up for air!

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EXCERPT:
“Who should go? Among us, there is a mermaid brave enough, wise enough, and strong enough to do this task? To journey alone. To finish what must be done. To save our kingdom from Poseidon’s spy work. Ellara Merme.”

Petra thrust me forward and lifted the hand she still held in a victorious pose.

All of Merme erupted in whoops and cries.

I plastered a foolish smile upon my cheeks.

All this adoration was for me? What a joke.

I was a hoax standing here, paraded out to the town, in my new silver hair. They were acting like I was some sort of savior, but in reality I was just a jerk they could blackmail into completing the task. So desperate to become a Fert, I’d risk my life.

“Smile,” Petra hissed.

“I am smiling.”

“Bigger.”

A hollow grin pushed up the corners of my lips. I tried to hide the terror behind my eyes. Petra swooped me forward ’til I was side-by-side with Quinn. The leader held up my other arm. I tried not to faint.

“Ellara Merme is our courageous warrior, our mighty Merme.” Quinn said. “She brought the terrible merman’s presence to the attention of the Pause. Ellara brought him down in the fight during the storm. She has killed a Portrayan Kingfisher Crab, manipulated human women into becoming her friends, and she has bedded hundreds of men.”

How about one. The day after my transition was over.

I wanted to vomit in my own mouth.

At best, these claims were a wild twisting of the truth. At worst, the city of Merme had just been pacified with lies. And promises that couldn’t come true. Somewhere in the crowd, I imagined Blonde craning her neck, rolling her eyes. Quinn was making me out to be some sort of super woman. It couldn’t have been farther from the truth. But the women of Merme didn’t care. They just wanted to be safe.

“Ellara Merme was blessed by Abigailya, the sea witch. In fact, the sorceress bestowed on her the magical third eye.”

Which I still didn’t know how to use.

“She defeated a clever water nymph. All by herself.”

I couldn’t stand it anymore. My eyes searched for Blonde. I started to shake my head, no. Petra’s fingernails dug into my palm.

“Play along,” the rainbow-woman hissed. I tightened my smile.

“Ellara Merme is the perfect woman for this mission. A vital soldier. A master mermaid. A linchpin in the success of Neptune’s war. And we will win.” A less experienced orator might have shouted that from the rafters and beaches, but Quinn knew better than that. “We will win,” she whispered, it came out like a shiver. An ear-worm in the brain of every young mermaid. “We will win.” She repeated. Then, finally, she brought the mighty point home. “We. Will. Win!”

Book 1

About the Author:

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Julie Catherine is an author, screenwriter and playwright. 




 

 

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Double TV Show Review: Fallout (Amazon Prime TV Series) - some spoilers

Fallout
April 10, 2024 (USA)
Based on: Fallout; by Bethesda Softworks
Created by Graham Wagner, Geneva Robertson-Dworet
Starring: Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Kyle MacLachlan, Moisés Arias, Xelia Mendes-Jones, Walton Goggins
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 8
Running time 45–74 minutes
Amazon Prime Video
Genre: Action, Drama, Post-apocalyptic, Science fiction, Western
In a future, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles brought about by nuclear decimation, citizens must live in underground bunkers to protect themselves from radiation, mutants and bandits.

Reviewer: KD
Getting 4 and 1/2 Sheep

Fallout season one on Amazon Prime is based on the video game. I never played the game and knew just about nothing, so went in just with the shows version of what this world was like

"In a future, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles brought about by nuclear decimation, citizens must live in underground bunkers to protect themselves from radiation, mutants and bandits."

Turns out, that only the richest can buy into a bunker. Everyone else either dies, becomes a mutant of sorts or joins up with waring group. It's a dog eat dog world, like literally you are going to eat someone's butt or their dog, cat, etc. Everyone is out to get each other, living top side is a free for all and adapting or death is the order of the day.

It takes a while to figure out what's going on and who can be trusted. Seems like no one can. There's not much description of what each faction is about, you kind of have to just keep watching and put the pieces in place as they come about. But by the end of the last episode, I still felt like a lot was missing.

However, you do get to understand that the major money players and big corporations are the ones pulling the strings. It's scary to even dream up that the very people making these vaults are the same ones that want to drop the bombs. Wipe the slate and start over a fresh new world, in their version. Pretty crazy and sadly could be VERY true. Hopefully not, but you never know.

Lots of fun cameos from random actors, that was a laugh to see someone famous in just one episode. Overall, enjoyed this one and certainly want to watch season 2. Seems the foundation is laid and now Lucy sets off with the ghoul to find some answers.

Certainly worth a watch, just make sure you have a strong stomach for some parts!

Reviewer: SharonS
Getting 4 and 1/2 Sheep

I agree with Katie! Fallout is worth a watch. I'd also knew nothing about the game it is based on, but it is dark comedy at its best. It will have you laughing and saying "Ew, gross!" at the same time. But it also has some dramatic moments.

Alpha Male Diner: Serving WOLF SHIFTER prepared by A. Mariposa + a taste test

Welcome to ALPHA MALE DINER!
Meet “Heart of the Wolf’s” male lead, Gareth Delarosa, an Alpha wolf without a pack.

Welcome to Alpha Male Diner, a neat little cuisine off Highway 20, just outside the small town of Black River, NY. It’s a real backwoods kind of place, lots of mountains and trees and weird little gravel roads leading to nowhere. But you know, a lone Alpha wolf has to run his car garage somewhere.

Serving up a steamy “WOLF SHIFTER” on a silver platter, Gareth Delarosa is part Latin Lover, part Army vet, and 100% freak in the sheets. Order him up with extra HOT sauce:

 

Gareth Delarosa
Recipe created by A. Mariposa 

Heart of the Wolf

Ingredients:
1. Long black hair and tattoos.
2. Three or four inches over six feet.
3. Are those mountains or chest muscles?
4. Damn he looks good in plaid.

Seasonings:
1. Obsessive male vibe when he knows what he wants.
2. Moody, protective scowl and sensual lips.
3. Tendency to dominate every situation.
4. Gun he keeps under the backseat of his Camaro.

Consider pairing with these side dishes:
1. A collar and handcuffs after a sensual massage.
2. A bumpy ride in the backseat of his classic Camaro.
3. Netflix and chill (or Netflix and steam . . .)
4. Street tacos and a slice of lime.

Let’s try a taste test!

 

Read First 10 Chapters FREE on Kindle Vella!

Waking Up in Your Forbidden Crush’s House. Wearing His Shirt. You know, Normal Things™.

“Hey.”

Maddy stiffened. Her heart gave a little flutter. She knew that voice. His deep, husky baritone was unmistakable.

She looked back over her shoulder.

It was him.

Oh good lord.

He stood at the entrance to the kitchen, a towel over one shoulder.

Their eyes met.

She felt a little zap of lightning.

She swallowed. Hard.

Maddy turned around to face him. She was shocked. He was her secret. Secrets were supposed to remain hidden. Not standing before her, face-to-face.

This was her first time standing so close to him outside of work, in broad daylight, without a dark moonlit forest obscuring his physique. His honey-hazel eyes glimmered beneath stern brows. His black hair, a warm tone like rich earthen humus, fell freely past his shoulders.

His massive chest made two little mountains under his white T-shirt. He was very tall and packed with muscle; she guessed him to be three or four inches over six feet.

A full sleeve of tattoos covered each arm. She had never really looked at them before. Up near his left shoulder, partly hidden by his shirt, she saw a vibrant, grinning skull in the sinister style of Dios de Los Muertos. The word LOBO in rustic Southwest font ran down his right forearm, while LOCO ran down the left. If his arms were both down, it read “lobo loco.” His right arm also carried the astrological symbol of a Scorpio, or maybe it was just a big fucking scorpion. The rest of the sleeve was too intricate for her to really appreciate at a glance.

His skin was deep tan. He wore blue jeans and steel-toed work boots. Something like car grease stained his shirt. She wondered, not for the first time, if he worked at a garage.

Maddy realized she was staring with her mouth slightly open. She shut it. She met his eyes again. She really didn't know what to say.

“You hungry?” he asked.

Then he walked back into the kitchen.

Maddy followed him with some hesitation. She felt like a stray cat who had wandered into someone’s house. He set a plate of bacon down on the kitchen table, and she pulled out a chair and sat down. Next to the bacon was a plate of scrambled eggs and two big waffles with maple syrup.

“I didn’t know what you liked,” he said, like he needed to explain why he’d served her an entire breakfast buffet. “Eat up. I’ll finish the rest.”

“Uh . . . thank you,” she mumbled.

She picked up her fork and speared one of the waffles onto her plate. The sight of so much food made her suddenly ravenous. She felt like she had burned ten-thousand calories the night before. She started shoving warm, syrup-covered waffles straight into her mouth.

He continued washing the dishes. The voice on the TV droned on. Maddy’s ears suddenly perked when she heard her name. “Now on local news, five bodies were found in the woods just outside Black River, NY . . . Police are saying animal attack . . . nearby mobilehome abandoned . . . currently searching for Madeline Donovan, a student at Black River High School. If you have any information about her whereabouts, please call . . . .”

So the police were looking for her. Wow. Color her impressed. Someone must have reported her missing. Maybe because of the gunshots? Certainly not her father, it sounded like Dean still hadn’t come home.

Another voice interrupted Maddy’s thoughts, a memory from the night before: “Rough up the guy. . . Toss his place . . . Leave a message.”

Maddy’s hands started to shake.

Her fork slipped through her clumsy fingers. It clattered to her plate. Then to the floor. It made a lot of noise.

The man turned to look at her.

“Sorry, uh . . . sorry,” she muttered.

Her hands clutched the bottom of her shirt as she tried to stop trembling.

He was still watching her. That made it worse. This isn’t normal. Nothing about this is normal. She was in his house. Her head was bandaged, and she was sitting in his boxers and a T-shirt. She felt a weird sense of vertigo. Everything was surreal.

She stared at her plate. Her cheeks were burning. She tried not to think of the unnegotiable fact that she was wearing his clothes, which meant someone must have undressed her the night before, which meant he absolutely saw her naked.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

He shut off the sink. Then he passed through the kitchen and into the living room, where he picked up the remote. He turned off the TV.

“Sorry if that bothered you,” he said.

“It’s alright,” she said.

She turned in the chair. She could see him clearly; he was only about ten feet away. She studied his face again. The light from the window cast shadows beneath his high cheekbones.

Devilish. He had a masculine neck, a cleft chin, a straight nose and a slightly prominent brow that gave his face a stern appearance. His lips were firm and sensual. His lashes were long and dark. His eyes were a bright, unusual hazel color. Sometimes they were green, and sometimes they were gold. She couldn’t tell if he was Native American, Mexican, Brazilian or a little bit of everything. To her, he looked like an exotic model from somewhere warm and tropical.

She felt a flutter in her stomach. It was not a shy tickle, but a steroid-enhanced butterfly striking her ribcage. She liked him so much. But . . . he was an adult, and she was only nineteen.

So, like, probably too young for him. God, she could not stop blushing.

“So what happened last night?” he asked.

Heart of the Wolf
by A. Mariposa
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Black Butterfly
Date of Publication: 05/31/2024
ISBN: 9780999310298
ASIN: B0D1FKQ35J
Number of pages: 300
Word Count: 120,000
A steamy paranormal romance about forbidden first love!

Maddy Donovan is trying to survive her senior year of high school. Her life is far from normal. Her stepdad is a shameless alcoholic. The power bill is due. And she has a math test tomorrow. She's living in survival mode, and she has no time to date that spicy older guy who keeps coming by the hardware store. What's his name again? Right. Gareth Delarosa. Black hair, hazel eyes, over six feet tall--guys that hot don't belong in Black River. He's been her secret crush for the last five years, but there's an age gap, and he's way off limits.

But it seems like fate has other plans. When Gareth saves her life the night of a break-in, she wakes up in his bedroom, in his bed, wearing his shirt. Her secret fantasy is staring her in the face. Oh wait, he's a werewolf? Right. Seems like her luck. True love is about to upend her world.

Welcome to a love story about crossing boundaries, taking risks, healing from trauma and learning to live on the wild side. This is not your grandma's love story!

Recommended for readers 18+, contains spicy scenes and adult content.

Buy now on Amazon!

About the Author:
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A. Mariposa is penname for YA Fantasy writer, T. L. Shreffler. She writes Paranormal Romance that's steamy, spicy, a bit gritty, a little messy, and a whole lot of Happily Ever After! Her first PNR series The Wolves of Black River can be described as Shameless meets True Blood. For fans of Alpha males, shifter romance, forbidden first loves and historic small towns, this series is for you. <3
 

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