Welcome to the tour for The Sons of Echidna by Athena M. Bliss! Read on for more details!
The Sons of Echidna
Publication Date: March 5, 2025
Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Greek Mythology
✨️ Umbrella Academy meets A Series Of Unfortunate Events
✨️ Greek Mythology
✨️ Slow-burn Romance
✨️ Cozy but Morbid
✨️ Nuisance to Lovers
✨️ Found Family
✨️ Top Tier Banter
✨️ Smutty Pirates
✨️ LGBTQ+ Rep
✨️ Toxic Relationships
✨️ Spice
Welcome to the family.
In a disheartened attempt to get her life back on track, Lucy takes up a live-in nanny position only to realize that the advert was misleading, sending her world spinning violently out of control.
She was meant to look after kids and animals, not a menagerie of mythical monsters––of human and beast kind alike.
Little does her mysterious new employer know Lucy has her own dark secrets, and faced with the realisation that she needs to grow her abilities to survive, she pushes herself too far, destroying the delicate balance between magic and technology.
To seize control of her new world and save herself Lucy must choose––Her life, or her humanity.
Athena M. Bliss’s debut novel, THE SONS OF ECHIDNA, is a fast paced blend of The Umbrella Academy meets The Addams Family. A non-stop series of toppling dominoes, this book promises to keep you on your toes from the first page to the last. A hefty dash of spice brings the diverse and colorful cast to vivid life, along with exquisitely detailed illustrations sprinkled liberally throughout the book. The first in the series, THE SONS OF ECHIDNA is followed by THE SIRIN SISTERHOOD, THE HUNTERS CURSE, and THE GOD GENOME.
And finally, the omnibus, which will contain all 3 of the Quicksilver stories!
Art by Nel Kingman @moth.deity
The pirates of Charleston’s Golden Age aren’t as dead as you might think.
In her centuries-long life, Kulika Yadav has chalked up more than her fair share of regrets. Deserting the crew of former pirate king Bartholomew Roberts is not one of them. She vowed she would never return to his Charleston mansion, knowing that doing so would mean captivity or death. Now, two hundred years after she left, she has no other option: her new master is dying, and the person who holds the key to his cure has disappeared on Bartholomew’s turf.
But Kulika isn’t the only woman on a mission in South Carolina. Patience Quick has been searching for her best friend for six months now, along with enough other missing people to fill a whole deck of cards. She’s willing to do just about anything to find her friend, even if it means following a midnight lead to a colonial-era mansion, where a never-ending pool party is about to turn sinister.
As Bartholomew’s great revelation approaches, his mansion is a powder keg of untrained vampires, and what little control he holds over them is beginning to disintegrate. While Kulika knowingly confronts the man who gave her immortality, Quick is left scrambling to understand the nature of the creatures whose nest she has unwittingly disturbed. When the two women’s paths cross, blood will fly.
The QuickSilver Omnibus edition is a complete collection, containing all three books (Kill Me Quick; A Quick Study; Quick and the Dead) and all six short stories (A Shanty in the Key of F You; Dolce Evita; Ex Marks the Spot; Cara Mia; Bella Donna; Ciao Bella) in Josie Jaffrey’s QuickSilver series, a sapphic dark fantasy series set in Charleston, South Carolina.
I’d rather punch myself in the face than work with that thunderous oaf.
When the messengers of the resistance vanish and ritualistic killings appear on their doorstep, all eyes turn to the unknown presence lurking in the woods. Convinced it’s the remnants of a murderous cult—one that exists because she failed to stamp it out—Penny vows to end them.
But as much as she wishes she could be a one-woman army, she needs backup. Voted “most likely to stab someone in the face,” making friends was never her strong suit, and in the midst of a war, her options for allies are limited. So to get the manpower for a search party, she agrees to a partnership with the giant, hulking, infuriating Mal—the general of the resistance. Her general and “commanding officer” (barf). But she doesn’t intend to play nice.
With each step into the deep, dark woods, a tangled mystery unfolds, launching Penny and her team into a cat-and-mouse chase to uncover the truth about the insidious company, Pharmatrox. But as the threats ramp up, so does the tension between Penny and Mal, putting them on a collision course where they’ll either crash and burn or discover they’ve met their match.
To end the war and stop Pharmatrox before it regains power, the nation’s future hinges on Penny’s choice—will she remain loyal to the resistance and to Mal? Or will she give up everything in her ruthless quest to take down the company that destroyed her life.
Megan Boley is a dystopian and urban fantasy author (and, alas, a former redhead). Her stories are full of ragtag teams, strong women, grumpy but lovable men, and some steamy romance to keep things nice and interesting.
My thoughts: We’re back in the nightmare that is Pharmatrox ravaged America (see this post for book one) and Penny is determined to wipe out the cult that has sprung up and is murdering people, draining them of their blood and still taking the drugs that will eventually turn them into flesh eating zombies.
They’re also contending with the remnants of Pharmatrox’s soldiers, who seem to have a new leader and some new horrible drugs too. And there’s the Watchers, whoever they are – friend or foe?
As the war enters its death throes, with the Faction getting more ground and possibly support from Canada and other allies, it’s up to those inside the city to cut off Pharmatrox’s head at the source, no more evil corporation and Penny is spoiling for a fight. First she just has to sweet talk the general, Mal, into letting her do things her way, the opposite of what he’s ordering her to do.
Agnes and Silas are working on a cure for the drugs Pharmatrox has been poisoning so many with, but they could really do with a friendly scientist to help them. Will any of the remaining Pharmatrox ones defect and help them or is this doomed too.
And everyone’s favourite teenage boy/puppy dog Quentin gets to play with explosives – cos that’s a great idea!
I actually liked this a lot more than book one, probably because I was more familiar with the characters and the situation, and I liked the whole Team Outpost, working with the good guys to get things done, no one on zombie drugs, thing that was going on. It was more wholesome. And I love Quentin, he’s such an adorable nuisance, scaling buildings, eating everything in sight, blowing stuff up, making new friends, he would be a great diplomat (apart from the explosions and fires).
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Leah Williams knows exactly what she wants from life – comfort, luxury and security. All the things she would have had if her childhood hadn’t been derailed by her father’s bad decisions. And then she meets Miles Sinclair. After the death of his wife last year, Miles is ready to start living his life again, and Leah knows just how to help him… what could be so wrong with that?
When Miles takes Leah to his chateau in the South of France, she’s excited to get a taste of the life she deserves, even if it means enduring the presence of Miles’ cousin Vivienne, who seems determined to insert the memory of his dead wife into every conversation.
But the Chateau Clairvallon has a history, not least as the place where the last Mrs Sinclair died. And as Leah discovers more about the accident that took her predecessor’s life, she begins to realise that the family she’s set her sights on isn’t quite what it seems.
Before writing fiction, TJ Emerson worked in theatre and community arts. As well as acting, she ran drama workshops in health care settings, focusing on adults with mental health issues. Her short stories have been widely published in anthologies and literary magazines, and her feature writing has appeared in Stella magazine, Woman’s Own and The Sydney Morning Herald. She has a PhD in Creative Writing from The University of Edinburgh and works as a literary consultant and writing tutor. She is also the Creative Director of The Bridge Awards, a philanthropic organisation that provides micro-funding for the arts.
My thoughts: This reminded me of two things – Robert Browning’s poem My Last Duchess, and Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca, with cousin Viv as Mrs Danvers.
Both concern themselves with the previous wife, her haunting the place or a subtle threat about what happens to unfortunate wives.
Indeed Leah does feel the presence of the previous Mrs Sinclair, Riley, but through her absence, no pictures, no one really talks about her. And there is something a bit sinister about being at the house where she died and not acknowledging that. Indeed, Miles seems reluctant to even admit she existed.
Leah isn’t in love, she just wants the wealthy lifestyle, the nice clothes, the lack of needing to work or worry about money. She doesn’t really care much about Miles. Unfortunately for her, there’s something else going on at this crumbling French chateau, with Miles’ possessive and unpleasant cousin Vivienne ever present.
Miles and Viv have a really strange, messed up relationship, and could do with being around each other less and some serious therapy. Instead they’re in the family holiday home, wrapped up in a warped scheme, that when it all unravels, is completely bonkers and aimed at entirely the wrong person. Leah might think she’s the player, but she’s been played.
Disturbing and claustrophobic, questions quickly arise about the death of the last Mrs Sinclair, and possibly a few other incidents from Miles and Viv’s pasts. These damaged and strange people are incredibly toxic and only the old housekeeper with dementia seems able to say that out loud. Compelling and creepy.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Omnibus insert/peekaboo artwork artist: @emryn_art
Cover artist (all editions): @saintjupit3rgr4phic
Publisher: @neverandeverbooks
Map artist: @centaur.maps
Tropes/Themes
Queen x Knight
Forbidden Romance & Tension-Filled Rivalry
Found Family & Oathbound Devotion
He Falls First
Dark Magic & Vengeful Goddesses
Childhood Friends to Lovers
Sexually Fluid MMCs & Strong, Lovable FMC
Sweet & Steamy Moments
The Crown Saga is a swoony, high-stakes romantasy featuring forbidden love, dark magic, and courtly intrigue in a queen-ruled world. The story follows Queen Merrin, a fiercely independent ruler who’s more comfortable sneaking out to drink with her guards than sitting on a throne, as she embarks on a journey to rescue her best friend—and in doing so, uncovers ancient secrets that threaten the very foundation of her world.
Spice Level
Tons of tension, steam, and swoon throughout
Slow-burn romance with high emotional stakes
Low spice, introduced later in the series (Books 3 & 4), but when it hits—it’s steamy, satisfying, and worth the wait
Comps
Throne of Glass – Sarah J. Maas
Rebellious queen, court intrigue, slow-burn romance, and high stakes.
Queen of the Tearling – Erika Johansen
A young queen learning to rule while uncovering dark secrets.
The Bridge Kingdom – Danielle L. Jensen
Political alliances, enemies-to-lovers tension, and duty vs. desire.
Gild – Raven Kennedy
Slow-burn tension, forbidden romance, and unique magic.
The Bear and the Nightingale – Katherine Arden
Atmospheric fantasy, folklore, and mystical elements.
Serpent & Dove – Shelby Mahurin
He-falls-first dynamic, romantic tension, and reluctant alliances.
The Priory of the Orange Tree – Samantha Shannon
A queen’s struggle with duty, magic, and an ancient threat.
The Witch’s Heart – Genevieve Gornichec
Mythology, fate-bound love, and a fiercely independent heroine.
Book 3 today, pirate vampires galore in The Quick and the Dead!
Art by Nel Kingman @moth.deity
This is how the world ends: with a drip, drip, drip…
All is not well with the crew of former pirate Bartholomew Roberts. As the day of his great vampire revelation dawns, his mansion is a powder keg of untrained Silver, and what little control he holds over them is beginning to disintegrate.
Kulika is concerned, but she’s even more concerned about what he’s been keeping in his wine cellar. With the whole world about to descend on the mansion for the launch of his new regime, it feels like a bad time to be messing around with mutated zombies and long-incarcerated Silver.
At least Quick is out of harm’s way. Now that she’s found her best friend, they’re getting on the first plane out of Charleston while the going’s good. Quick might not understand why Bartholomew’s letting them leave, but she’s not stupid enough to hang around asking questions either.
All she has to do is get to the airport.
That’s not a lot to ask, is it?
Quick and the Dead is the third book in Josie Jaffrey’s QuickSilver series, a sapphic dark fantasy series set in Charleston, South Carolina.
I’m determined to win over the one guy who hates me…but I never expected to fall for him.
Being a prince may seem like a fairytale, but to me, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. That’s why I’m excited when I get permission from my uncle—the king of Norway—to go undercover as a student at an American college for a year. And I’m even more ecstatic to be selected for their football team. Soccer, I mean. The only problem? Farron, the team captain, dislikes me on sight.
Determined to win him over, I start a charm offensive, but nothing works. He only hates me more. Until the animosity comes to an explosive release…and we end up kissing each other. How did that happen when neither of us has ever been attracted to a guy before?
Farron wants to let it run its course and get it out of our system, but I doubt that’ll work. I’m falling for him hard, but he has no idea who I really am. I fear that if he finds out, he’ll never speak to me again…
The Prince and the Player is the first book in the Prince Pact series and features an undercover, sunshiney prince and a grumpy, handsome soccer captain, two guys who mistake hate for attraction, a double bi-awakening, and two opposites who attract each other like magnets.
The royally romantic, enemies-to-lovers college romance for fans of Casey McQuiston, Alexis Hall and Jax Calder.
Nora Phoenix is a USA Today Bestselling author of over 60MM/gay romances. As a child, she fell in love with reading, and she’s still an incurable book addict. She started writing as a teenager, and though it took her a while to fulfill her dream of becoming a romance author, she never stopped. She writes in various subgenres of gay romance and is known for writing engrossing stories that offer an escape from reality with unique characters, plenty of heat, a captivating story, and all the feels. Flawed, strong men who are just a tad damaged are her catnip, and she wants to give them all their happily ever after. When she’s not writing or reading, she’s spending time with her son, travelling, or gardening. Originally from the Netherlands, she currently resides in upstate New York.
My thoughts: Four princes come up with a plan, to spend time being “ordinary”, and decide America will be the best place to do this, since few Americans know much about European royals. First up is Prince Tore of Norway, his uncle is the king, and he’s third in line for the throne.
He enrolls at a college in Ohio, and joins the football (soccer) team. Where he promptly falls foul of the captain – Farron. But the bickering and competition between them can’t stop an undeniable spark. Farron thinks it’s just a sex thing, and they should “get it out of their systems” as horny college boys may well do, but as they spend time together, they can’t fight the fact that this is more than just physical.
Only problem, Tore is still in the closet – royally speaking. When a tragedy back home means a quick dash to Norway, Farron gets suspicious. And oh dear, that secret might just derail the whole thing.
There is quite a bit of steamy sex, these are young men after all, working through things naked is apparently the best way to do it!
It’s also funny, a bit silly, and has far too much football (we invented it, we get to name it!) for me, and not much studying seems to get done! Definitely college (university) then!
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Today I’m sharing the cover for book 2 in the Quicksilver trilogy – A Quick Study!
Art by Nel Kingman @moth.deity
A covenant in blood can never be broken.
In the aftermath of the Casting, Kulika and Quick are both irrevocably changed: Quick by Kulika’s blood, and Kulika by her love for Quick.
Under normal circumstances they might be celebrating, but not only is Quick struggling to control her powers, she’s also sworn to Bartholomew and his crew by a blood covenant she cannot break. With Kulika bound to Quick, and Quick bound to Bartholomew, they’re both detained at Bartholomew’s pleasure for the foreseeable future.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Kulika’s mission is an abject failure. The person she came to South Carolina to find has simply vanished, which means no cure for the fatal poison that’s killing her new master. Soon she’ll have no master at all, and no home to return to.
That’ll work out just fine for Bartholomew. With Quick’s life in his hands, he has all the leverage he needs to force Kulika back to his side.
Kulika is left with a terrible decision: surrender herself to Bartholomew’s covenant, or die trying to free Quick from his control. If Quick’s ever going to learn how to use her powers, then she’d better do it, well, quick.
A Quick Study is the second book in Josie Jaffrey’s QuickSilver series, a sapphic dark fantasy series set in Charleston, South Carolina.
Expert on body language and memory, and consultant to the Oslo BOOKS Police, psychologist Kari Voss sleepwalks through her days, and, by night, continues the devastating search for her young son, who disappeared on his birthday, seven years earlier.
Still grieving for her dead husband, and trying to pull together the pieces of her life, she is thrust into a shocking local investigation, when two teenage girls are violently murdered in a family summer home in the nearby village of Son. When a friend of the victims is charged with the barbaric killings, it seems the case is closed, but Kari is not convinced. Using her skills and working on instinct, she conducts her own enquiries, leading her to multiple suspects, including people who knew the dead girls well…
With the help of Chief Constable Ramona Norum, she discovers that no one – including the victims – are what they seem. And that there is a dark secret at the heart of Son village that could have implications not just for her own son’s disappearance, but Kari’s own life, too…
Known as the Queen of French Noir, Johana Gustawsson is one of France’s most highly regarded, award-winning authors, recipient of the prestigious Cultura Ligue de l`Imaginaire Award for her historical thriller Yule Island. Number-one bestselling books include Block 46, Keeper, Blood Song and The Bleeding. Johana lives in Sweden with her family.
A former journalist, Thomas Enger is the number-one bestselling author of the Henning Juul series and, with co-author Jørn Lier Horst, the international bestselling Blix & Ramm series. One of the biggest proponents of the Nordic Noir genre, his books have been translated into twenty-eight languages. He lives in Oslo.
My thoughts: I knew from the authors that this was going to be good, gripping and shocking. There are lots of different sons in this book, from Kari’s, missing for seven years, to the suspect, whose parents don’t seem remotely interested in him, as friends and other connected people.
The town where two teenage girls are brutally murdered is called Son, it’s quiet, not many full time residents, and they’re planning a Halloween party, but someone decides to stop them from ever having a good time. The police arrest an acquaintance of theirs, who admits to being in the house, having been invited to bring over some drugs, but says he’s innocent. The detectives don’t believe him. Kari does. She analyses his body language, those nonverbal clues that say a lot more than words.
So she starts digging. Digging into the lives of the two victims, into the lives of their families and friends. She learns a lot of secrets – affairs, money troubles, blackmail. But are any of them bad enough to kill over? Or is it something she can’t even yet guess at?
This is a real page turner – each revelation and twist kept me hooked. Kari is an interesting character, she goes against her police colleagues, determined that the science proves she’s right and that somewhere in all the evidence she uncovers, will be the answer, the reason why two young women were brutally killed. And in helping the suspect, her lost son’s best friend, maybe she can find some peace too.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
MEET DETECTIVE LOLA HARRIS. A TOUGH COP WITH ATTITUDE, BUT A GOOD HEART.
A secluded retreat. A storm closing in. A killer among them.
Detective Lola Harris is persuaded to take a much-needed break in the remote Scottish Highlands. She’s expecting peace and quiet. But Ardaig Castle, an exclusive wellness retreat for the rich and famous, has its own dark secrets. Lola soon discovers that someone is sending poison pen letters to the staff. They’re growing more malicious each week. The latest reads: Why have you employed a killer among your staff?
As a storm rages outside, paranoia spreads within. The castle’s wealthy guests are rattled, old wounds are reopened and then — a body is discovered sprawled on the stone-flagged floor of the castle hallway, limbs twisted at an impossible angle. Trapped by the weather, Lola must untangle a web of lies, grudges and hidden pasts before the killer strikes again. Because at Ardaig Castle, not everyone is who they claim to be — and someone will kill to keep their secrets buried.
Daniel Sellers is the author of the Kindle-bestselling Lola Harris Mysteries and is an obsessive fan of Agatha Christie. His crime thrillers are pacy and dark, with as much interest in whydunnit as who. He grew up in Yorkshire, and has lived and worked in Liverpool, Glasgow, Ireland and Finland. Sellers now lives in Argyll in Scotland.
My thoughts: I’ve previously read another book in this series, but you don’t have to have done in order to enjoy this.
Detective Inspector Lola Harris has been persuaded to take a little break by her sister Frankie. They’re going to stay in a cottage in the grounds of Ardaig Castle in the Scottish Highlands. Except Frankie has an ulterior motive. Her friend Catherine works at the castle, staff members have been receiving poison pen letters and Catherine is spooked. Frankie wants Lola to talk to her about them. The wellness retreat run at the castle’s management doesn’t want to officially involve the police, but Catherine needs help.
A storm closes the roads and now they’re basically stranded at the castle until things can be cleared and when someone is killed, that means everyone is trapped with a killer. Lola takes it upon herself to investigate and try to find both the letter writer and the murderer before help can reach them.
A clever, enjoyable read in the vein of Agatha Christie, with all the suspects in one place, no way out and a shrewd detective on the case.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 