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Blog Tour: Adella of the Campos – A.M. Portman

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Welcome to the tour for Adella of the Campos, an epic fantasy adventure by A.M. Portman!

Adella of the Campos (Legends of Andolin #1)

Publication Date: February 2021 (First Edition)

Genre: Epic Fantasy/ Mythical Creatures

Tropes:

Epic quest, travel adventure, ancient prophecy, witty banter, betrayal, morally grey love interest, slow burn enemies-to-lovers, pirates, apocalypse

A WOMAN IN A DESPERATE SEARCH

Adella’s life had been peaceful on the frontier of Valenna. But when mysterious raiders attack and burn her town down, her brother goes missing. Leaving everything behind, she sets off in a desperate ride across the plains to find him.

A MERCENARY IN DIRE NEED OF HER HELP

Kol, a highly-skilled Sornian soldier, needs Adella’s help if he wants to live to see another day. A traitor to his country with nowhere else to turn, he agrees to guide Adella across the wilderness of the Campos.

A HIGH-SEAS ADVENTURE

When Adella is captured by the enemy, she inadvertently lets a powerful artifact fall into the wrong hands. Risking everything to find her, Kol takes a gamble and joins forces with the mysterious Captain Declan, a notorious reaver known for plundering Sornian ships.

Each must face the same choice: Save the life of someone dear to them, or retrieve the artifact and prevent the awakening of Mundil and the rise of the Twelve Calamities…

In a world of intrigue, mystery, and betrayal, will the choices they make lead to disaster?

Legends of Andolin: Adella of the Campos is the first in an all-new series that takes you on a captivating adventure filled with excitement, danger and, most importantly, sea serpents.

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Blog Tour: Saved by the Caladrius – Mary E Jung

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We’re celebrating the release of Saved by the Caladrius with a book tour this week! Read on for more details!

Saved by the Caladrius

Publication Date: September 17, 2024

Genre: Monster Romance/ Spicy 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

  • Wings and Fancy Peen
  • Size Difference
  • Fated Mates
  • Spicy Mating Ritual
  • Nesting (they are a bird species)
  • Plus size FMC
  • He nurses her back to health

Elora’s chronic ailment of her thyroid has not been successfully treated. She needs a miracle or tomorrow might not come for her. Luckily, there’s a cure on a magical island.

The catch? She needs to receive the cure from a monster.

Osias is duty bound to save the sick. As a rare Caladrius, he has magic healing abilities. What he doesn’t expect is to fall madly in love with his charge.

Will these two bridge their differences and find love? Or are they doomed to pine for what they can never have forever?

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Blog Tour: The Torments – Michael J Malone

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Hiding from the world in her little white cottage on the shores of a loch, Annie Jackson is fighting to come to terms with the world of the murmurs, a curse that has haunted female members of her family for centuries.

While she is within the ancient, heavy stone of the old dwelling, the voices merely buzz, but the moment she steps outside the door they clamour to torment her all over again, bringing with them shocking visions of imminent deaths.

Into this oasis comes her adoptive mother, Mandy McEvoy, begging for Annie’s help. Mandy’s nephew Damien has gone missing, after dropping off his four-year old son at his mother’s home. Unable to refuse, but terrified to leave her sanctuary, Annie, with the help of her brother Lewis, is drawn in to a secretive, seductive world that will have her question everything she holds dear, while Lewis’ life may be changed forever…

Michael Malone is a prize-winning poet and author who was born and brought up in the heart of Burns’ country. He has published over 200 poems in literary magazines throughout the UK, including New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings. Blood Tears, his bestselling debut novel won the Pitlochry Prize from the Scottish Association of Writers. His dark psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, was a number-one bestseller, and is currently in production for the screen, and five powerful standalone thrillers followed suit.

The Murmurs, first in the Annie Jackson Mysteries series, was published to critical acclaim in 2023. A former Regional Sales Manager (Faber & Faber) he has also worked as an IFA and a bookseller. Michael lives in Ayr, where he also works as a hypnotherapist.

My thoughts: Annie has finally found some peace, but then her cousin goes missing and she and Lewis team up to look into his disappearance. What they end up tangling with is way more complex and scary than they expected. Annie’s gift – those whispers in her mind might help but they could also put her in harm’s way. 

There are dangerous people who believe in some dark things, who have caused terrible harm to others because of it, and now they have Annie in their sights.

Annie and Lewis aren’t detectives, they’re not equipped to go around asking questions of some of the more troubling and dangerous people who they come across. They’re also aided though by a few good souls, thankfully.

Darker and more twisted than the previous book, Annie is dragged into a world of the Occult and dark magic beliefs. I can’t imagine that she and Lewis will survive intact after this and all the tragedy they find. But it’s totally compelling and gripping to read.

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

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Blog Tour: Journey to 2125 – Gary F. Bengier

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Welcome to the ARC tour for Journey to 2125 by Gary F. Bengier. Read on for more details!

Journey to 2125

Expected Publication Date: September 30, 2024

Genre: Sci-Fi/ Dystopian

The story of a family facing our future

It’s 2125 when a long-separated grandson suddenly arrives on his doorstep looking for answers. Max MacGyver retells their family story and secrets, revealing a century of challenges that they’ve faced. Journey to 2125 is one family’s touching story, across generations, of adventure, rivalry, loss, survival, and resilience.

This is the story of a family facing our future. A small boy escapes war in Asia. A young woman flees catastrophe driven by climate change in Africa. Some family members build technology companies, while others deal with the trauma of jobs lost to automation. A young couple fight for privacy and democracy. Lives are positively transformed by biomedical science and threatened by it.

At its heart, Journey to 2125 is the story, told over a single day, of a young boy and his grandfather. Why did his parents decide to move to the Commune? What family secrets will his grandfather share?

Parts political drama, family saga, and hard-science speculative fiction, Journey to 2125 is the story of how humankind might collectively weather the tragedy and chaos that we can expect from accelerating change. What will it feel like to live during these next one hundred years? Take this journey with Max MacGyver and his grandson, as they reveal their family history, and the road ahead for you and yours.

“One family’s consequential journey through the trials and triumphs…A must read for those who seek to understand how technology and humanity will shape the coming century.”

GARY F. BENGIER

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Blog Tour: Within the Embers – T.A. Reilly

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We’re celebrating the upcoming release of Within the Embers, the second book in T.A. Reilly’s Scattered Destinies series! Available September 21st!

Within the Embers (Scattered Destinies #2)

Expected Publication Date: September 21, 2024

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Steam/Heat Level
● 2-3 🌶
● A few explicit, open door scenes

Tropes:

✨ One Bed w/ a Twist
✨ Found Family
✨ Who Did This To You
✨ Magic Training
✨ Sassy Banter
✨ Bonded Mates

Sought after answers are never as they seem.

When Kateya awakens with no memories, in an unfamiliar land, she knows two things for certain: she’s in danger, and she’s traveled back in time . . . again. Only this time, icy darkness lurks in the sky, revealing how different things truly are.

All magic demands balance.

Kateya’s memories begin to surface, haunting her with a past—tainted by dark magic—carved into her skin. As raging embers of magic begin to burn within her, the King of Avyon realizes she’s not only incredibly powerful, but a danger to everyone . . . including herself.

Alliances become weapons of war.

Past and present collide and bonds are forged through passion and hatred, forcing Kateya to question everything she believed she knew about those she loved. She must learn to harness the power rising within her, while determining who she can truly trust.

A fate written in the stars.

Harrowing truths are revealed that hold the power to not only alter the destiny of those prophesied, but change the future of the Vanaiyer Realm. As Kateya fights for freedom, she realizes not all knowledge is power and magic can’t always change the inevitable—including the tides of war.

The darkness is creeping closer . . . will they be able to hold it off?

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Triggers/Content Warnings:
Mentions of abuse, harm, profanity, violence, blood, capture, and death

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Cover Reveal: Fathomless – Laura Holt

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We’re thrilled to present the brand-new cover for Laura Holt’s fairy tale retelling, Fathomless, which is also available for pre-order!

Fathomless (Star-Crossed Book 5)

Expected Publication Date: October 29, 2024

Genre: Fairy Tale Retelling/ Greek Mythology

  • Enemies to Lovers
  • Lovers to Enemies
  • Star-Crossed Love
  • Fairy Tale Retelling
  • Strong Female Characters
  • Cinderella Didn’t Ask for a Prince
  • Angry Girls with Attitude
  • Greek Mythology

Cather Ganis didn’t ask for power. Now that her star-crossed curse is broken, all she wants is to settle down and live a quiet, normal life with her husband, Peter.
Unfortunately, things are never normal when you’re an immortal goddess, and as the Curse Breaker and Deity Killer of the gods, Cather has one more curse to break: the curse of reincarnation cast on Rhodopis, Cupid’s long-lost Cinderella. She and a bevy of other deities, including her former boyfriend Hermes, have until the clock strikes midnight on Rhodopis’s eighteenth birthday to end her never ending life cycle, or she’ll be doomed to repeat it until the end of time. That is, if Zeus doesn’t kill her first.

Roupie Sole has always been trouble.
Not because she means to be. Trouble just seems to find her no matter where she goes. So, when she moves in with a wealthy foster family a week before her eighteenth birthday, it seems like she’s finally getting a fairy tale ending.
But there’s something a little too perfect about her new school, and a series of near-death experiences soon put her on edge. When she starts having vivid dreams that feel a little too much like memories, she wonders if there’s more to her rags to riches story than good luck. And if so, how can she figure it out before it destroys everything and everyone she cares about, including herself?

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Blog Tour: Black Hollow – Rachael Holyhead

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Derbyshire, England 1977

Marie is a girl with strange obsessions and a free and often wayward spirit.

Anna is shy and bookish, kept on a short rein by her repressive parents.

An unlikely alliance. A friendship forged in blood. Families intertwined forever.

Autumn 2010

A brutal murder is just the case chain-smoking detective Kate Fox has been waiting for, except her nemesis has other ideas.

Newton is struggling to live up to his own high standards. As he grapples with chronic pain and a hidden phobia, his wife leaves him and things begin to unravel.

As Anna comes to terms with her father’s murder, Marie returns after more than 30 years, sending her well-established drink problem spiralling out of control.

Set in a fictional town in Derbyshire, England, this gripping saga takes you on an emotional journey, with an abundance of twists and turns…

Goodreads Purchase

Rachael Holyhead was born in the industrial heart of Sheffield. She grew up in South Yorkshire, at the edge of the Peak District.

She attended Carter Lodge Comprehensive School and read History at the University of Liverpool.

A lifelong Sheffield United supporter, she also loves snooker and is an all-round armchair sports fan.

Still passionate about history, she has eclectic reading tastes, enjoying everything from the Brontës and Wilkie Collins to more modern writers of mystery, horror and crime.

As a child, Rachael began writing stories and letters for her Uncle, who was stationed overseas with the army.

She considers Liverpool her second home and loves the city’s music, culture and maritime heritage. Her roots remain in Sheffield, where she lives with her sons and her pet cat, Luther.

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My thoughts: the murder of a local business owner has complicated links to the past for his daughter Anna, who has never quite put the past behind her.

The police are looking for someone with a reason to kill, and after a neighbour also dies, seemingly of a heart attack, Kate I’d sure something more complicated and connected to the secrets that lie in the past.

Anna’s friend Marie has returned to town, armed with knowledge Anna doesn’t have, does she have any connection to the deaths or at least some idea of who Anna’s father really was.

A clever, knotty story with lots of twists, moving back and forth as the truth slowly reveals itself, both Anna and Kate are drawn into the things bubbling below the surface of the town.

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

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Audiobook Release: Another Life – Karla Marie Sweet

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One of the UK’s most exciting screenwriters, Karla Marie Sweet is a Brit List nominated British-American actor and writer with credits including BBC, Netflix and Hulu who has written her debut novel Another Life for Audible Original. 

 Audible Originals showcase new and original fiction from talented British authors commissioned exclusively by Audible. These handpicked “audio first” stories cannot be found anywhere else or in any other format (such as print or eBook) and are at the heart of Audible’s mission to offer the most captivating and compelling audio content to book lovers.

 For fans of Margaret Attwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Naomi Alderman’s The Power, Another Life is speculative fiction at its most ambitious and provocative, at once taking us on a thrilling journey to an alternate reality, and exposing the limits of own world in bold and surprising ways.

 Another Life will be narrated by British actors Kingsley Ben-Adir (Bob Marley: One Love) and Erin Doherty (The Crown).

 A feminist, dystopian page turner, Another Life introduces readers to the controversial External Womb Programme, which provides women with the technology to outsource their pregnancy to a machine. While countless women hail this as revolutionary, others grapple with what this subversive new technology might mean for the future of motherhood and, indeed, the world.

 After losing her parents in a car accident, Lucy marries James – sweet, straight, dependable, and completely unlike her charismatic, hard-to-pin-down ex Violet. All Lucy craves a glittering career as an actor, but James wants to settle down and have a baby, so when they discover the External Womb Programme, it looks like they can have it all.

 But a corrupt government stepping into power for the first time leads to this groundbreaking piece of technology falling into the wrong hands, forcing everyone to reckon with a challenging new world and their place within it.

 Karla Marie Sweet, author of Another Life and Brit List 2023 writer, said “Writing my debut novel has been such a joyful experience. It’s been a way for me to grapple with so many concepts, themes and world issues. A means of articulating so many fears and dreams. Developing the coming-of-age stories of these characters over the last few years has also been a big part of my own coming of age. I’m so grateful that Audible could see this novel’s potential and working with them since they came on board has been nothing short of wonderful.”

 

Karla Marie Sweet is a British-American actor, screenwriter, novelist and dramaturg born and based in Manchester, UK. Recent acting credits include Black Dog and season 2 of Hulu’s No Man’s Land. As a writer, her theatre credits include Cheetham Hill (for the Royal Exchange), This Little Relic (BBC Radio 3 and the Belgrade Theatre) and Othello (Watermill Theatre), a re-versioning The Guardian and WhatsOnStage awarded four stars each, calling it a “remarkable” adaptation that “moves with the pace of a thriller.” 

 Karla also has multiple TV writing credits to her name, with her special unconscious bias episode of Hollyoaks hailed the show’s “best ever episode” by the news media and lauded by fans and critics alike. The episode went on to be the cornerstone of the show’s winning submission for Best Continuing Drama at the 2022 Royal Television Society Awards. Karla’s been in the writersroom for several shows including Get Even (BBC/Netflix), Sexy Beast (Paramount+) and a 1990s set show about pirate radio, helmed by Ashley Walters.

 She is currently part of the 2023/24 Brit List cohort after gaining 13 industry nominations for her comedy-drama pilot DaSilva & Sharp. 

Get your copy from the 19th September exclusively on http://audible.co.uk/

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Book Blitz: American Graveyard – Dale Zawada

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We have something to get you into the spooky spirit! American Graveyard by Dale Zawada is now available!

American Graveyard

Publication Date: September 13, 2024

Genre: Horror/Anthology

American Graveyard is a six-story horror anthology from award-winning screenwriter Dale Zawada.

The six twisted morality tales range in tone and subgenre from supernatural to splatterpunk, and shine a light on the not-so-hidden horrors of suburbia, the American Graveyard.

The Lake Monster: Denny Rose is an actor, at least that’s what he tells people. After his failed Hollywood experiment ends, he returns home to care for his ailing grandfather, who is acting stranger than usual.

When You Wish: This depraved retelling of Pinocchio follows a mourning father suffering a psychotic break over the loss of his son who wants nothing more than his boy back, and he’ll make that happen no matter what.

Cat Scratch Fever: Catherine Martino has always skated through life off her good looks, but when the vain young woman develops a mysterious rash, her comfortable life is altered forever. This skin-crawling morality tale is based on a true story.

Flight Simulator of the Gods: When Tyler learns his flight simulator impacts the reality around him, the high school bully becomes a god overnight, taking revenge on the people he feels wronged him.

Elf Off the Shelf: When six-year-old Jason sneaks downstairs on Christmas morning, the elf on the shelf goes rogue to punish the impatient, naughty child. Will Santa Claus make it in time, or will Jason make the ultimate naughty list?

The Darkest Thoughts: Megan’s life was perfect. She had her dream job and the perfect husband in Luke. Their intense love is tested when a detective from Luke’s past appears, and as his violent history is revealed, Megan must choose between the man she loves and doing what’s right.

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Blogathon: Little Sister – Isabel Ashdown

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After sixteen years apart sisters Jessica and Emily are reunited. With the past now behind them, the warmth they once shared quickly returns and before long Jess has moved into Emily’s comfortable island home. Life couldn’t be better. But when baby Daisy disappears while in Jess’s care, the perfect life Emily has so carefully built starts to fall apart.

Was Emily right to trust her sister after everything that happened before?

My thoughts: I’m a big sister and while my younger sister sometimes drives me nuts, I would do anything to keep her safe. I think it’s why I found Jess and Emily’s story and their relationship at times hard to believe, especially what happened between them as teenagers. 

Daisy being kidnapped is absolutely awful, but none of it was Jess’ fault, if anything Emily has a not insignificant role in what happens – as does her husband, who isn’t as wonderful and trustworthy as she thought.

But as the story unravels and the long separation between Jess and Emily – sixteen years – and the reasons why – or the reasons that Jess thinks and what Emily did turn out to be very different. That was what was shocking. As an older sister, yes sometimes I have wanted to get rid of sister – maybe not permanently, and resented her, of course. But I would never stoop as low as Emily did, never drive a wedge between parents and child.

I think I had such a strong reaction to this book not just because of my own sibling relationship, but because I am surrounded by sisters. My mum is an older sister, my dad has two older sisters, many of my friends are older (and younger) sisters. And even at their worst, I can’t imagine any of them doing what Emily did. She’s monstrous. But it’s all hidden so well behind a veneer of charm, success and happiness. The ending might be quite twisted, but a part of me can’t blame Jess for wanting to put Emily in her place, for taking a sort of revenge.

It’s also incredibly well written, moving back and forth between the sisters, creating empathy and antipathy as you learn more, the darkness of Emily’s cruel behaviour, Jess’ own plotting to finally get one over on her sister.

Cassie (Emily’s step-daughter), a big sister herself, is contrasted against the nasty relationship between Emily and Jess, is more empathetic. There’s a big age gap between her and Daisy (I have a friend with a similar one, it does complicate things sometimes) but Cassie doesn’t resent her sister, the way Emily does hers.

The book is excellent, the writing strong and the plot intense, something I’ve really come to enjoy in Isabel’s books. A real pleasure to read even as I sort of hated Emily!

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