Month: May 2023

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Hex Next Door – Lou Wilham

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TheHexNextDoor copy

We are so happy to share The Hex Next Door with you all!

Lou Wilham has written a truly ‘magical’ story, and on May 3rd will be revealing a brand-new special hardcover edition! Visit one of our Bookstagram hosts for a chance to win a signed hardcover!

Hex Next Door Kindle 2

The Hex Next Door (Witches of Moondale #1)

Genre: Cozy Fantasy/ LGBTQ +

Publication Date: Special Edition Coming Soon

Publisher: Midnight Tide Publishing
What’s a little necromancy between family?

For the Crow Witch, Icarus “Rus” Ashthorne, Moondale seemed the perfect hiding place. But like they always say, you can’t go home again, and Rus finds out quickly that nothing is how she remembered, while at the same time very little has changed. Then she comes face to face with the only woman she’s ever loved, Az Elwood, and… well, things get messier than she thought they ever could.

The Elwoods are a staple of Moondale, respected, feared, powerful, and Azure Elwood was always happy with her place amongst them. Happy to play the part of the good little witch, until Rus Ashthorne. Eleven years ago, Rus got on a bus and left Azure behind, but she’s back, with two little girls trailing her like ducklings, and enough unspoken things between them to drown the town.

Now witch hunters are knocking at their proverbial door, the council of magic is being a real pain in the ass, and Rus wonders how much magic it’ll take to protect the people she loves from herself and the danger following her.
A LGBTQ+ cozy urban fantasy novel for fans of The Ex Hex, and October Daye.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

Born and raised in a small town near the Chesapeake Bay, Lou Wilham grew up on a steady diet of fiction, arts and crafts, and Old Bay. After years of absorbing everything, there was to absorb of fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi she’s left with a serious writing/drawing habit that just won’t quit. These days, she spends much of her time writing, drawing, and chasing a very short Basset Hound named Sherlock.

Lou Wilham

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book about a witch family moving back to the town the head of that family Rus came from. Moondale is a place of sanctuary for magic users, witches, druids and mediums.

Rus has taken her adopted daughters there to raise them safely and happily in a community that won’t turn against them and to protect them from witch hunters. Youngest daughter Ailuan has a much sought after gift, and she’s at risk.

Rus also has to deal with being back around her ex, Azure and old friends from her youth.

Luckily Az doesn’t hold anything against Rus, and wants to help keep her girls safe. As do the other friends living in and around Moondale.

As things start to go bad, they rally around Rus and her family to protect the girls and get little Ailuan safely back to her family.

This is the first in a new series and I’m looking forward to the next book.

Book Tour Schedule

May 1st

R&R Book Tours (Kick-Off) http://rrbooktours.com

Reads & Reels (Spotlight) http://readsandreels.com

@books.and.salt (Review) https://www.instagram.com/books.and.salt/

@happily_undignified (Review) https://www.instagram.com/happily_undignified/

@bookswithstacie (Review) https://www.instagram.com/bookswithstacie/

May 2nd

@xxpandorasbooksxx (Review) https://www.instagram.com/xxpandorasbooksxx/

https://www.tiktok.com/@xxpandorasbooksxx

Rambling Mads (Review) http://ramblingmads.com

@dreaminginpages (Review) https://www.instagram.com/dreaminginpages/

@waggybookworm (Review) https://www.tiktok.com/@waggybookworm?_t=8a1EBJNLCO3&_r=1

May 3rd

@aebennettwrites (Review) https://www.instagram.com/aebennettwrites/

@my_books_and_coffee (Review) https://www.instagram.com/my_books_and_coffee/

@booksnsnax (Review) https://www.tiktok.com/@booksnsnax

@nite0wl29 (Review) https://www.instagram.com/nite0wl29/

@tralynsbookbag (Review) https://www.instagram.com/tralynsbookbag

@ameliaveganreader (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/ameliaveganreader/

@sharingthebooklove (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/sharingthebooklove/

May 4th

@the.polished.diamond (Review) https://www.instagram.com/the.polished.diamond/

@ems.readsandreviews (Review) https://www.instagram.com/ems.readsandreviews/

@by_hckilgour (Review) https://www.instagram.com/by_hckilgour/

@justsokristin (Review) https://www.instagram.com/justsokristin/

Liliyana Shadowlyn (Review) https://lshadowlynauthor.com/

Mx. Phoebe’s Viewpoints (Review) https://mxphoebesviewpoint.wordpress.com/

@nerdybookmama (Review) http://www.instagram.com/nerdybookmama

I Smell Sheep (Spotlight) http://www.ismellsheep.com/

May 5th

@excavating.my.tbr (Review) https://www.instagram.com/excavating.my.tbr/

@bookishbaddie (Review) https://www.instagram.com/bookishbaddie/?igshid=MDM4ZDc5MmU%3D

@itsabookthing2021 (Review) https://www.instagram.com/itsabookthing2021/

@demigodreading19 (Review) https://www.instagram.com/demigodreading19/

Book Tour Organized By:

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*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Lords of Uncreation – Adrian Tchaikovsky

ramblingmads

From Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time and winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, Lords of Uncreation is the final high-octane instalment in the Final Architecture space opera trilogy.

He’s found a way to end their war, but will humanity survive to see it?

Idris Telemmier has uncovered a secret that changes everything – the Architects’ greatest weakness. A shadowy Cartel scrambles to turn his discovery into a weapon against these alien destroyers of worlds. But between them and victory stands self-interest. The galaxy’s great powers would rather pursue their own agendas than stand together against this shared terror.

Human and inhuman interests wrestle to control Idris’ discovery, as the galaxy erupts into a mutually destructive and self-defeating war. The other great obstacle to striking against their alien threat is Idris himself. He knows that the Architects, despite their power, are merely tools of a higher intelligence.

Deep within unspace, where time moves differently, and reality isn’t quite what it seems, their masters are the true threat. Masters who are just becoming aware of humanity’s daring – and taking steps to exterminate this annoyance forever.

My thoughts: Idris sometimes reminds me of Rincewind from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, a rather nervous man who seems to have stumbled into something bigger than him and doesn’t quite know how to get out of it. In Idris’ case it really is much, much bigger than him. Universe sized really.

He has finally, almost delved enough into the unreal to find the masters behind the planet warping Architects. But can he convince everyone else to go after that and not just the crystalline creatures?

There’s also an attempt at a coup, a very angry Aklu the Unspeakable, the Vulture God limping on, complete with Olli and Kit still on board, even as the rest of crew travel on the Eye with Idris.

This series is hard to explain in a way, it plays with some huge and complex ideas – unspace, the Architects, the Ints like Idris. There are some brilliant concepts too, terrifying ones like the Parthenon and the Essiel and brilliant ones gone a bit awry, like Hugh. The characters are all great, I love Olli and Kittering, their racketing around the universe, holding the ship together with not much more than a few nuts and bolts and determination.

The existing order is in free fall and the ragtag gang trying to fix the universe are all that stands between complete destruction and what’s left of humanity and its allies/enemies/whatever the Hegemony is. I am sad it’s ended, but it was an incredible ride.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: Soul Sucker – Kayla Maurais

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SoulSucker copy

Welcome to the tour for Soul Sucker by Kayla Maurais! Read on for more, and make sure to visit one of our Bookstagram hosts for a chance to win a hardcover edition and some other bookish goodies!

OFFICIAL SUCKER COVER

Soul Sucker

Publication Date: February 17th, 2023

Genre: YA Sci-fi/ Fantasy

If the horror planet they’re trapped on doesn’t kill them first, their sibling rivalry just might . . .

For siblings Dash and Shea, stealing and selling rare artifacts across the galaxy is the family business. Meticulous planner Shea yearns to make her father proud, while chaos comedian Dash secretly wishes to be a normal teen.

When Dash fails to return from a classified heist on a planet in the Realm of Shadows, his negligence falls on Shea, and it’s up to her to rescue him. Again. Locating her brother is tricky enough, but upon her arrival Shea discovers that not only has Dash lost the portal key that was meant to deliver them home, the vile creature he was sent to steal has latched onto him and now feeds on his soul.

To save her brother, Shea must enlist the help of a runaway spellcaster in order to find the cure. Nobody else can guide them across a treacherous terrain filled with viscera-laden rivers and forests lurking with carnivorous predators. Relying on someone else means being vulnerable for the first time. And as Shea’s confidence in herself and her tolerance for her brother’s mistakes start to waver, she must decide what’s more important—being the perfectly-polished leader her father raised her to be, or letting her guard down to save her siblingship and her little brother’s soul.

Add to Goodreads

Get Soul Sucker Here!

About the Author

Author

Kayla Maurais is a Young Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy author from New England. She first started writing creatively when she was thirteen. Since then, she’s gone on to get a Masters in Screenwriting. When she isn’t writing, Kayla enjoys spending time in nature and going on road trips to discover new places. She is also a certified TEFL teacher, birth doula, and an intuitive empath.

Kayla Maurais

Book Tour Organized By:

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blog tour, books

Blog Tour: New Normal – Michelle Paris

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Welcome to the tour for Michelle Paris’ new book, New Normal. Read on for more details!

image0-2

New Normal

Publication Date: May 2nd, 2023

Genre: Women’s Fiction/ Light-Hearted

Publisher: Apprentice House Press

After the sudden death of her husband, Emilie Russell just wants to feel normal. But being a middle-aged widow doesn’t come with a how-to manual. Her well-meaning friend, Viv, believes the cure to all that ails is simple: a new man. So, she sets Emilie up with her handsome and charming new neighbor, widower Colin. There’s only one problem with the plan—Colin is gay.

Emilie embarks on a rollicking journey of self-discovery with Colin as her mentor and best friend. From learning to swipe right without cringing while midlife dating in constricting shapeware to cougar moments in Key West, Emilie reenters the dating pool with both humorous and soul-crushing results.

With the encouragement of her friends, including a new furry one, plus a little therapy, Emilie begins forging a new life, one where she exchanges tears for laughter, and one that maybe—just maybe—includes the courage to find love again.

Add to Goodreads

Available on Amazon

About the Author

Paris, Michelle 1 5x5

Michelle Paris is a Maryland writer who believes laughter can heal the heart. Her debut novel, New Normal is loosely based on her own experience as a young widow. Her personal story of overcoming grief was featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. And her essays about grief and mid-life dating have appeared in multiple editions of the Chicken Soup for the Soul inspirational book series as well as in other media outlets. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America, the Maryland Writers’ Association, and the Women’s Fiction Writers’ Association. Currently, Michelle is enjoying chapter two of her life with her new husband, Kevin, who keeps her from being a cat lady but only on technicality.

Michelle Paris

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