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Book Blitz: She Dreams in Blue Light – A.R. Malecki

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Looking for something a little different? 

She Dreams in Blue Light is the debut novel by A. R. Malecki which forces readers to think about the implications of our tech-driven society. 

ebook front

She Dreams in Blue Light

Publication Date: June 27, 2023

Genre: NA Fiction w/ Sci-Fi Vibes

“A wonderful ode to love, autonomous thinking, and the possible implications of living in a tech-forward society.”
– Reedsy Discovery

Eleanor Crawford believes she can solve any problem with computer code. At just twenty-six years old, she holds a coveted software engineering position at Atlanta’s hottest startup, Agora, dubbed “The Gathering Place of the Internet.” She might be the only woman on her team, but that won’t stop her from being at the forefront of the platform’s most exciting new feature: Assemblies.

But the pressure for profit will change the nature of Eleanor’s work, challenging her idealistic, build-something-great mentality. Swept up in the fast-paced, prestigious world of Big Tech, she becomes entangled in ethical gray areas as well as an unexpected romance.

When tragedy strikes her family, she’s forced to confront the consequences of the very technology she helped create. Eleanor’s naive ideas of success come unraveled-caught between the company that’s defined her career and identity and her growing sense of responsibility to society.

Told with empathy and insight, “She Dreams in Blue Light” is both an inspiring story about one woman’s journey to find meaning in her work, and a scathing critique of today’s profit-centered, corporate mindset.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

ANNA “A.R.” MALECKI is the author of debut novel “She Dreams in Blue Light.” Her writing has appeared in Infinite Worlds science fiction magazine and she’s a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. She’s worked as a software engineer and in product design/research. 

You can find her on Instagram and Substack. 

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Book Blitz: A Kingdom of Death and Despair – Whitney Dean

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The big day has arrived! If you didn’t pre-order a copy, A Kingdom of Death and Despair by Whitney Dean is now available!

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A Kingdom of Death and Despair (The Four Kingdoms #3)

Publication Date: June 27th, 2023

Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Romance

Publisher: Phantom House Press

Darkness doesn’t die.

Once upon a time, there was a half-witch of three who walked on the land where creatures roamed free.

Once upon a time, there was a prince of one who danced with the waves under the sun.

Once upon a time, there was a prince of two who hid amongst the shadows where fear only grew.

But when time became impatient, a prophecy was conceived of twins born of darkness, who would live their lives aggrieved but coupled with their misery was the answer all sought but the question remained, which one would be left to rot?

Available Here

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A Kingdom of Frost and Fear (The Four Kingdoms #2)

Publication Date: December 6, 2022

Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Romance

Tropes: Arranged Marriage, Forced Proximity, Hidden Identity, Chosen Family, Dark Magic, Grumpy/Sunshine, Dual POV

After years of wondering where she came from and what her story was, Raven received the answers she had been craving: she has a family and is the true heir to the throne of Seolia. But the answers she so hopelessly sought only bred more questions. As she digs deeper into her past, she wonders if maybe she should have stayed hidden in the shadows, safe from the pain and agony of knowing her happily ever after may not be so happy after all.

Zeke had been right all along: she hates him for what he’d hidden from her. Now, with Raven desperate to learn who she is, he’s desperate to win her back. But while still holding secrets of his own, doing so will come at a price he may not be able to pay.

And all the while, magic is slowly reawakening in the realm of The Four Kingdoms and not a soul is prepared for the new black magic Raven is now in possession of.

This is book two of an epic dark fantasy adventure series and contains scenes of graphic and mature content. Reader discretion is advised.

Amazon

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A Kingdom of Flame and Fury (The Four Kingdoms #1)

Publication Date: May 26th, 2022

Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Dark Romance

At ten years old, Raven was mysteriously willed to be the next ruler of Seolia, a kingdom nestled within the realm of The Four Kingdoms. Orphaned as a baby, she has spent fifteen years ruling over a kingdom she believes she did not earn all while hiding secrets: she possesses dark magic and she thirsts for blood. Now at almost twenty-five years old and with a sudden addiction to stealing life, Raven must fight through her new procured darkness to save her soul, but when a mysterious stranger arrives in her kingdom, she starts experiencing vivid dreams that detail who she truly is. As she slowly starts to unravel her story, what she uncovers at the end of the spool will change the course of her life and her kingdom forever.

Amazon

About the Author

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Whitney was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas and raised in Allen, Texas. She resides in a quaint little town in Arkansas with her husband and two children, along with her labradoodle, Simba.

Her love of reading came from the Harry Potter series when she was seven years old, and frequent trips to the most magical place on earth. Because of it, the fantasy realm has taken up residence in her brain for a very long time.

While her writings include real-life pain and angst, she is a fan of happily-ever-after’s and always strives to bring that forth in her stories.

Whitney Dean | Instagram | Facebook | Amazon | Linktree

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Book Blitz: Dark Magic – Raluca Narita

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The day has finally arrived!!! Dark Magic by Raluca Narita is now available and we strongly recommend you grab a copy right away!

Psst! You can win a gorgeous book box which includes the book if you visit us on Instagram and it’s open internationally!

Ebook

Dark Magic (The Chronicles of the Underworld #1)

Publication Date: June 27th, 2023 (Today🥳)

Genre: NA Fantasy/ Paranormal

The Goddess of Death, the Grimm Brothers, and the Devil collide in a thrilling new paranormal fantasy series.

Primrose Titan is the Goddess of Death, an ancient deity who reaps the souls of the dead and rules the Underworld. All life ends with death, and in death, there is no happiness. Primrose knows this better than anyone, and her heavy responsibility has twisted her reality, purging her of all feelings for humans—or so she believes.

When the Demon King Lucifer escapes his prison in Hell and threatens chaos on the human world, Primrose must hunt him down. The High Court, a council of deities, is skeptical Primrose can handle Lucifer on her own and appoints the handsome yet icy Atlas Grimm, one of the fabled Grimm Brothers, to assist her. Strange, dark magic and supernatural creatures sent from the Devil himself stand in their way, along with political enemies acquired over the millennia.

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About Author

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Raluca Narita was born in Romania and grew up in Southern California and West Texas. She currently resides in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and loves to travel in her free time. Raluca is the author of The Chronicles of the Underworld. For each book sold, 99 cents will be donated to the Win STEM Foundation to support women in STEM.

Raluca Narita

Dark Magic

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Blog Tour: I Am The River – Kelly Romo

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I am the River copy

Welcome to the tour for I Am the River by Kelly Romo. This is the bone-chilling sequel to Dead Drift. Read on for more details!

I am the river Cover

I Am the River (A Whitewater Thriller)

Publication Date: June 15, 2023

Genre: Thriller/ Serial Killer

HE is the river. HE takes who he wants and releases who HE wants.

Ashely Covington struggles to raise her three young daughters on what little life insurance is left from her husband’s death while fighting a woodland fire. Her family does not have the resources to help her, so they pressure her to move on to find a new husband and a father for her girls.

Emmy Jenkins knows what it feels like to have a serial killer come after her. She escaped HIM twice. Emmy and Brian must start over in a new town, away from the tragic events and the killer’s family. Unfortunately, HE escapes custody. The authorities think the killer committed suicide by drowning himself in the river. They do not locate his body, but they do find a girl drowned in Elk Lake. Her death is ruled an accidental drowning, but Emmy knows HE is still alive. And HE is coming for her.

To prove himself worthy of immortality, HE follows the river to its source in the Cascade Mountains, where HE will accept whatever the headwaters offer. Suddenly, his destiny is revealed when the perfect nymph with three little girls appears on the shore.

Now Available Here

Dead Drift Cover

Dead Drift (Whitewater Thriller #1)

Publication Date: May 15, 2022

Genre: Thriller/ Serial Killer

Two teenage girls on the run with fake IDs and a beater car…what could go wrong?

Emmy has always been impulsive. She is no longer a minor and has aged out of foster care. When her best friend, Amber, is the target of a perverted uncle who lives in the basement of her group home, they plan her escape.

They head for Canada, where Amber will be safe, and the foster care system can no longer control their lives. When they come across a whitewater rafting brochure, they decide to take a detour for one last adventure before leaving the country. Emmy and Amber have no idea it will be a decision that will forever change their fates.

The rafting town is so far in the middle of nowhere that Emmy’s car radio catches nothing but static. They consider turning around until a truck pulls up, loaded with hot whitewater rafting guides and rubber rafts–just the fun they were looking for. Ignoring every instinct, they turn off the pavement and follow the truck down an isolated dirt road. They end up in Lodell, the town where a girl went missing the previous summer…and she will not be the last.

Purchase Here

About the Author

Kelly Romo Author Photo

Kelly Romo grew up in California but has lived in Oregon for over twenty-five years. She teaches writing, literature, and social studies. She is the mother of three grown children: Brittany, Brennan, and Ryan. She is an avid outdoorswoman who loves to kayak, hike, and fish.

Kelly has a Master of Fine Arts in Writing (Fiction) and a Master of Arts in Teaching, both from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon USA.

For more information, please visit Kelly’s website at http://www.kellyromo.com

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Readers Club

Book Tour Schedule

June 26th

http://rrbooktours – Kick-off

https://www.instagram.com/jenalreads/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/niveditha_preeth – Review

https://ilovebooksandstuffblog.wordpress.com – Feature

http://ramblingmads.com – Feature

https://christinebialczak.com/ – Feature

https://readsandreels.com – Feature

June 27th

http://blackcoffeebrowncow.blogspot.com/ – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/brandikaedesigns/ – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/creepylilbookworm/ – Review

https://onemoreexclamation.com/ – Review

https://latishaslowkeylife.com/ – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/latishaslowkeylife/

https://ontheshelfreviews.wordpress.com – Feature

June 28th

https://www.instagram.com/2manybooks2littletime/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/katierichardauthor/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/ninas_booknook/ – Review

http://www.thefaeriereview.com – Feature

https://lshadowlynauthor.com/ – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/samanthainfantasyworld/

https://samanthainfantasyworld.wordpress.com/ – Feature

https://bookwormbunnyreviews.blogspot.com/ – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/shelbe_reads/?igshid=ZDdkNTZiNTM%3D – Feature

June 29th

https://www.instagram.com/BookBaddies4Life/ – Review

https://mayisuggestblog.com/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/nicmedia/

https://www.instagram.com/itputs.the.book.upon.the.shelf/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/suzanhlarson/ – Review

https://www.thesexynerdrevue.com – Feature

June 30th

https://www.instagram.com/calhoun.crew/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/author.rowan/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/booknerd_jen22/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/laura_cover_stories/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/mels_booksandhooks/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/elinasbookstagram/ – Feature

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Blog Tour: The Fascination – Essie Fox

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Twin sisters Keziah and Tilly Lovell are identical in every way, except that Tilly hasn’t grown a single inch since she was five. Coerced into promoting their father’s quack elixir as they tour the country fairgrounds, at the age of fifteen the girls are sold to a mysterious Italian known as ‘Captain’.

Theo is an orphan, raised by his grandfather, Lord Seabrook, a man who has a dark interest in anatomical freaks and other curiosities … particularly the human kind. Resenting his grandson for his mother’s death in childbirth, when Seabrook remarries and a new heir is produced, Theo is forced to leave home without a penny to his name.

Theo finds employment in Dr Summerwell’s Museum of Anatomy in London, and here he meets Captain and his theatrical ‘family’ of performers, freaks and outcasts.

But it is Theo’s fascination with Tilly and Keziah that will lead all of them into a dark web of deceits, exposing unthinkable secrets and threatening everything they know…

Essie Fox was born and raised in rural Herefordshire, which inspires much of her writing. After studying English Literature at Sheffield University, she moved to London where she worked for the Telegraph Sunday Magazine, and then book publishers George Allen & Unwin, before becoming self-employed in the world of art and design. Essie now spends her time writing historical gothic novels. Her debut, The Somnambulist, was shortlisted for the National Book Awards, and featured on Channel 4’s TV Book Club. The Last Days of Leda Grey, set in the early years of silent film, was selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month. Essie is also the creator of the popular blog: The Virtual Victorian. She has lectured on this era at the V&A, and the National Gallery in London.

My thoughts: this is a dark and beautiful book about three young people facing adversity and danger, finding their family and happiness despite the odds. Keziah and Tilly are twins, but Tilly stopped growing as a child and their father sells them to a stranger – known as Captain.

Their paths cross with Theo, mistreated and abandoned by his miserable and cruel grandfather, dreaming of becoming a doctor.

It is only a few years later when the three meet again that their lives become entangled as Tilly is kidnapped. Together with the twins’ friends they set out to rescue her and discover the truth about Theo’s family and find a home, and a family of their own.

It’s beautiful as well as sinister, amongst the collections of Theo’s grandfather and then that of the doctor. There’s a lovely little twist right at the very end too. And romance blooms for some of the characters, the wicked are punished, people are reunited and wrongs are undone. It’s a bit Shakespearean as it ends with a wedding, as many of his comedies do, which is fitting for Tilly, playing a fairy queen on stage.

The author’s day job as a historian of the Victorian era means this is a well researched and intelligent story, beautifully brought to life, the characters mix with real life figures, and could themselves almost be real, they certainly feel it. Keziah steps out of the page in her chapters, with all the hopes and dreams of a young woman, even amid her reality. Theo too feels very alive, his struggles and desires to make a difference at odds with the rotten world of his grandfather. Magical and moving.

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

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Book Blitz: His Dark Reflection – Marvellous Michael Anson

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A special hardcover edition of His Dark Reflection complete with beautiful sprayed edges will be available for pre-order from June 26th till the 30th. Don’t miss out on this chance!

HIS DARK REFLECTION- EBOOK COVER

His Dark Reflection

A gripping tale of love, secrets and murder: They’ll take his secrets to their graves

Publication Date: March 9, 2023

Genre: Thriller/ Suspense

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LOVE . SECRETS . MURDER
Mote was keeping secrets when she married Jack. So was he.
When the single shot that takes their son’s life blows open all they’ve kept hidden, they have to face their worst nightmares alone.
Their daughter, Ara, remembers one thing from the night her brother was killed. She knows who pulled the trigger.
She knows Mote is sleeping in the same bed as the man who killed her child.
She knows something is off with the man pretending to be her father.
And she will get her revenge.

Pre-Order Here

About the Author

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Marvellous Michael Anson, the best-selling author of Birthmarked, is devoted to giving her readers fast-paced, high-stakes stories that explore the multi-faceted human condition. She has been writing poems and short stories for over a decade, as well as directing short plays and being a writer’s favourite soundboard.

Marve is not limited to the art of stringing words together; she wrote and produced her award-winning short film in 2016. She is a recipient of the 2017 AFRIFF Film School Scholarship Program.

Marve works as a technology consultant during the day and a storyteller at night. She is a member of the Society of Authors, Alliance of Independent Authors and Abuja Literary Society. She hosts an online writing group called Writers Connect on Facebook (All are welcome!)

Her website is www.justmarve.org

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Blog Tour: Maybe Tomorrow – Penny Parkes

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What a difference a year could make…
 
Jamie Matson had once enjoyed a wonderful life working alongside her best friend, organising adventures for single-parent families, and her son Bo’s artistic flair a source of pride rather than concern.
 
She hadn’t been prepared to lose her business, her home, and her friend. Not all in one dreadful year. And now she finds herself reeling – rebuilding her world, with Bo at its heart – swallowing her pride and asking for help.
 
Jamie certainly hadn’t expected to find such hope and camaraderie in the queue at her local Food Bank – thrown together with an unlikely and colourful group of people – all of them struggling to get by, yet still determined to reclaim their lost careers and agency over their lives. Even if just choosing their own groceries again is a goal they can all share.
 
As their friendships flourish, they quickly find it’s easier to be objective about each other than about themselves, and decide that – when you’re all out of options – it’s okay to bend the rules a little and create your own.
 
A story of friendship, possibilities, and hope, that maybe tomorrow will be brighter than today…

Penny Parkes survived a Convent education largely thanks to a ready supply of inappropriate novels and her passion for writing and languages.

She studied International Management in Bath and Germany, before gaining experience with the BBC. She then set up an independent Film Location Agency and spent many happy years organising shoots for film, television and advertising – thereby ensuring that she was never short of travel opportunities, freelance writing projects or entertaining anecdotes.

Penny now lives in the Cotswolds with her husband, two children and a geriatric spaniel. She will often be found plotting epic train journeys through the Alps, baking gluten-free goodies or attempting to prove that you can, in fact, teach an old dog new tricks.

Twitter: @CotswoldPenny

My thoughts: this is a happy/sad book set in our current, post pandemic, economic slump, underemployed times. Jamie lost her home, her best friend and her business. She’s trying to put her life, and that of son Bo, back together. Working in a posh deli for a boss who needs a slap, for minimum wage, dealing with a mouldy flat and a creepy landlord who keeps letting himself in, rushing to A&E with Bo, who has chronic asthma. None of this is good for either of them. And she’s really lonely.

But,in the queue for the food bank, she meets Bonnie and Kath and Amy. Three other women facing their own predicaments. Together the four new friends will pull each other up, help out and support one another.

A lucky break comes when, just as everything seems to be completely fallen apart, Jamie is offered a live in job with Ruth and Henry. This charming couple are starting to struggle, and with their son in the States, need a hand. Could this be the first step towards a better life for Jamie and Bo?

I was completely charmed by this book, despite recognising bits of my own current disaster of a life in Jamie and her friends, I thrilled to the moments when things went well for people. When Amy showed off her art, when Bo was happy in the garden, when Jamie was able to take a breath. I loved the whole gang, and I’d love a sequel, showing them in a few years time, when hopefully things are better for all of us.

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

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Book Blitz: Promenauts: The Averune Necklace – J.C. Williams

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Promnauts copy

Such a great cover and the reviews are stellar!

Check out Promenauts: The Avarune Necklace by J.C. Williams and maybe treat yourself to a copy today!

promenauts_cover_5x8

Promantheus: The Avarune Necklace

Genre: Fantasy Adventure/ Mystery/ Young Adult

Grades: 3 – 12

Azuelo is a strange boy who has woken up in the middle of the woods with no memory of his former life. When he finds his way to the city of Stormhold, he is quickly inducted into the ranks of the promenauts, a group of warriors sworn to protect their city from the violent gurgans lurking just outside their walls. Now, Azuelo must fight to help defend his new home, all while trying to reclaim his forgotten past with only one thing as his guide, the avarune necklace.

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About the Author

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Justin Williams, the author of Promenauts, The Avarune Necklace as well as the CEO, president and supreme imperial pooh-bah of Justin Williams Books LLC.

Promenauts

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Blog Tour: Death in the Highlands – Fliss Chester

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There’s a dangerous killer lurking by this loch… and only canny Cressida can track them down.

Scotland, June 1925. Socialite Cressida Fawcett has been invited to cast her interior design eye over the Stirling family’s new seat, Ayrton Castle, up in the Scottish Highlands. Thrilled to be spending the summer at the historic estate, Cressida fills her suitcase with this season’s hunting jackets – and some tartan for her little pug Ruby, of course!

But before the party is ready to tramp through the glens, shocking news puts paid to their plans. Hamish Glenkirk, former owner of Ayrton, has been found dead inside a turret room of the castle. The door was bolted from the inside, and the room is three storeys up, surrounded by impenetrable stone walls… How did the murderer get in? And out?

With Detective Andrews of Scotland Yard at least a day’s journey away, Cressida knows she needs to get to the bottom of this case – and fast. There’s no end of suspects among the hunting party. Could it be the local doctor whose wife left him for a fling with the now-dead laird? Or is the gamekeeper hiding secrets under his kilt?

Just as Cressida is closing in on the truth, a blood-curdling scream echoes through the mist. Another member of the party, and one of the suspects, has been shot. With a wee dram in hand, can Cressida find the killer before the bagpipes play for another victim?

An unputdownable and gripping cozy mystery which fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Lee Strauss will love.

Amazon

Fliss Chester lives in Surrey with her husband and writes historical cozy crime. When she is not killing people off in her 1940s whodunnits, she helps her husband, who is a wine merchant, run their business. Never far from a decent glass of something, Fliss also loves cooking (and writing up her favourite recipes on her blog), enjoying the beautiful Surrey and West Sussex countryside and having a good natter.

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My thoughts: I do enjoy this series, Cressida, Dotty and Ruby are lots of fun and getting very good at crime solving.

This time they’re in Scotland, for the 12th August, the “Glorious Twelth” when the grouse shooting season starts. Only someone has decided it’s not birds that need to die but a local laird, Hamish Glenrick. Found stabbed in his former home, which just so happens to be where our intrepid detectives are staying, of course.

Once they start putting the clues together, a story of sadness, betrayal and long held grudges starts to emerge. Plenty of people had motive to kill Glenrick, but who is DM and why was he found clutching a blackmail letter?

With police inspector Andrews on his way, Cressida explores secret passages, interviews her suspects and builds up a picture of a deeply unpleasant man, up to his eyeballs in debt, disliked by his children and peers. But the clues, and red herrings, might lead closer to home than Cressida originally suspects. Another cracking case for this flapper detective and friends.

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

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Blog Tour: The First Bright Thing – J.R. Dawson

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If you knew how dark tomorrow would be, what would you do with today?

“This is the magic circus book that I have been looking for all my life.”―Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of Every Heart A Doorway

Ringmaster — Rin, to those who know her best — can jump to different moments in time as easily as her wife, Odette, soars from bar to bar on the trapeze. And the circus they lead is a rare home and safe haven for magical misfits and outcasts, known as Sparks.

With the world still reeling from World War I, Rin and her troupe — the Circus of the Fantasticals — travel the midwest, offering a single night of enchantment and respite to all who step into their Big Top.

But threats come at Rin from all sides. The future holds an impending war that the Sparks can see barrelling toward their show and everyone in it. And Rin’s past creeps closer every day, a malevolent shadow she can’t fully escape.

It takes the form of another circus, with tents as black as midnight and a ringmaster who rules over his troupe with a dangerous power. Rin’s circus has something he wants, and he won’t stop until it’s his.

J. R. Dawson (she/they) is a writer and educator who has published shorter works in places such as F&SF, The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Lightspeed. She lives in Omaha with a loving spouse and three dogs. Having earned a BFA from The Theatre School at DePaul, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Stonecoast, Dawson works as a teaching artist. Her clients include assorted Midwestern non-profits that teach kids the power of performance and storytelling.

My thoughts: one of my literary loves is circus themed books, I blame Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus. I am fascinated by the history too, of circuses and side shows and the terribly poorly treated “freaks” who worked in them.

Here, instead of freaks we find Sparks, people gifted with strange powers or abilities, something that happened during the dark days of the First World War. No one knows why or how, but there it is.

Rin, Odette and Mauve try to use their gifts for good, taking in other Sparks and offering them a home in their travelling circus, while also trying to make the world a better, happier place, even if it is one person at a time.

They find Jo, and her twin Charles, and invite them to join the family. Jo can create vivid, realistic illusions with her mind, and Charles has invulnerable skin. But Jo’s power could be dangerous in the wrong hands – like the sinister Circus King.

Rin has a past she keeps secret, and it’s starting to catch up with her. Can she and her friends outwit the cruel man chasing them, can they prevent another war?

It’s beautiful and magical and sad and hopeful and I cried and laughed and rooted so hard for Rin and the family she built, for her wife Odette, for Mauve and her ability to see the future but not always fear it, for Bernard. For Jo and Charles too, two sweet kids caught up in something so much bigger than them. I need a sequel, I want to know that Rin’s plan works and they’re all ok. It’s so very, very good.

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