Tag: fantasy

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Twisted Beauty- Kristen Flood*

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THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN LOSING EVERYTHING . . .

IS FORGETTING WHAT YOU LOST.

THE BEAST

Once the powerful prince of Renol, William is a shell of the man he once was. Living under the curse of a powerful witch, William has spent 100 years making deals on her behalf and mourning the loss of his first love.

THE BEAUTY

Belle has spent her life confined within the limits of her city, Paylor, and is now bound to a man she does not love. When she dares to venture outside the city’s gates in search of something she’s lost, she finds more than she ever expected.

As Belle and William embark on a journey of love and mourning, passion and forgiveness, they discover that sometimes what we lose isn’t as important as what we find.

This book is recommended for mature audiences and features adult content such as sex, language, and violence. If you are into that kind of thing, dive on in.

Kristen Flood is an Adult Romance and YA science fiction author and poet. At twenty-two, Kristen published her first book, The Museum: A Collection of Dark Poetry. Since she has released two more books. Her third book, Twisted Beauty, is awaiting its sequel this Winter. Kristen lives in Missouri with her husband, son, and newborn baby girl. When she’s not writing or chasing her toddler she spends her time playing board games, sword fighting and planning her next adventure. Kristen plans to release two more books in 2021.

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My thoughts:

Loosely inspired by Beauty & the Beast, with hints of other fairy tales, this is a dark and twisted story about love that survives and the cruelty we inflict on each other.

William lives under a curse and has to make deals on behalf of a witch, waiting for true love to break her spell, believing his beloved is long dead. When he meets Belle, they make a deal that sees her become his servant and moves to his hidden castle.

As they seek a way to break the curse, they begin to fall for one another, but Belle is having strange dreams and remembering things that seem to have taken place a hundred years ago.

*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: Vampires Never Get Old – edited by Zoraida Cordova & Natalie C. Parker*

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In this delicious new collection, you’ll find stories about lurking vampires of social media, rebellious vampires hungry for more than just blood, eager vampires coming out―and going out for their first kill―and other bold, breathtaking, dangerous, dreamy, eerie, iconic, powerful creatures of the night.

Welcome to the evolution of the vampire―and a revolution on the page.

Vampires Never Get Old includes stories by authors both bestselling and acclaimed, including Samira Ahmed, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker, Tessa Gratton, Heidi Heilig, Julie Murphy, Mark Oshiro, Rebecca Roanhorse, Laura Ruby, Victoria “V. E.” Schwab, and Kayla Whaley.

Goodreads| Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Bookshop.org

Zoraida Córdova

Zoraida Córdova is the author of many fantasy novels, including the award-winning Brooklyn Brujas series, Incendiary, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge: A Crash of Fate, and The Way to Rio Luna. Her short fiction has appeared in the New York Times bestselling anthology Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, Star Wars: Clone Wars Stories of Light and Dark, and Come On In. She is the co-editor of Vampires Never Get Old. She is the co-host of the writing podcast, Deadline City, with Dhonielle Clayton. Zoraida was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador and raised in Queens, New York. When she’s not working on her next novel, she’s finding a new adventure.

Twitter | Instagram | Website | Goodreads

Natalie C. Parker

Natalie C. Parker grew up in a Navy family finding home in coastal cities from Virginia to Japan. Now, she lives surprisingly far from any ocean on the Kansas prairie with her wife where she writes and edits books for teens including the acclaimed Seafire trilogy.

Twitter | Instagram | Website | Goodreads

My thoughts:

This is a really enjoyable selection of vampire stories that play with the conventions of the mythology that starts before Dracula, exploring issues of race, sexuality and gender.

As a massive Buffy fan my favourite two stories dealt with slayers – Julie Murphy’s Senior Year Sucks and V.E. Schwab’s First Kill.

They were different from each other but explored the difficulties of juggling your secret identity and high school, getting a crush on inappropriately fanged hot girls, and not ending up friendless and alone as the “weird girl”.

I loved the twists on the genre and the interplay of various themes around identity and the ultimate outsider – the blood drinking, nightwalking vampire.

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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: The De-coding of Jo – Lali A. Love*

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When a demonic parasite turns her classmates into an army of sleepwalkers, sixteen-year-old Jo must confront her celestial identity and reveal the mystery of existence. Guided by the Galactic Council, a Galactic Compass and with the help of her best friends, Jo unleashes the cosmic powers of creation to prevent the Lord of Darkness from enslaving all of humanity into obscurity.

Will she be able to decode the artificial system in time to save her friends and the sacred Light?

Award-winning Author, Lali A. Love provides a supernatural thriller of metaphysical and visionary fantasy with her own revolutionary philosophy and unique narrative skills to produce this heart-wrenching and gripping tale.

Lali A. Love lives in the capital city of Canada with her husband and two beautiful children who are her greatest source of pride, joy, and inspiration. As a debut author, Lali loves to write stimulating, character-based novels that invoke an emotional response in her readers. She has done extensive research into epistemology and metaphysics to further her understanding of the Universal Laws of Energy.

In her spare time, Lali is committed to writing her visionary fiction trilogy about spiritual transformation. These mystical novels are based on the journeys of three incarnated Angels that have been brought together in the third-dimensional existence, to realize their Divine Feminine soul purpose. Each of them must experience unique self-realization to overcome the dark demonic entities that are determined to destroy their inner light to derail their Soul mission.

My thoughts:

Jo and her friends are just regular teenagers, dealing with issues about race, gender, sexuality and belonging, experimenting with drugs and alcohol, throwing parties and trying to work out who they are.

Then they accidentally release some demons from the school basement where the creepy janitor has been hiding them.

As more of the students become infected, it’s up to Jo, gifted with special abilities by the mysterious Galactic Council to try to rescue her classmates and reverse the damage before it’s too late.

There was a lot happening in this book, that adage that it has to get a lot worse before it gets better rings true, there’s death and serious injury, family problems and bullying; all of which serves to distract Jo and her allies from stopping the dark powers that are slowly taking over the school.

Jo spends a lot of time trying to understand her new abilities and how to use them to help others, her journal entries serve to guide the reader through her ideas and concerns.

There is a lot to unpack in this novel, and it probably requires more than one reading to get all the nuances straight, if you like your fantasy with a side of mysticism, then you’ll enjoy this.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: A Curse of Gold – Annie Sullivan*

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Curses and queens. Pirates and kings. Gods and magic. This highly anticipated sequel to Annie Sullivan’s enchanting A Touch of Gold, the story of the daughter King Midas turned to gold, is the gripping crescendo to this sweeping fantasy adventure. The final saga of a cursed queen, a vengeful Greek god, and a dazzling kingdom in the balance.

After barely surviving thieving, bloodthirsty pirates and a harrowing quest at sea to retrieve her stolen treasure, Kora finds readjusting to palace life just as deadly. Kora’s people openly turn against her, threatening her overthrow as heir to the throne—a cursed queen who has angered Dionysus. When Dionysus puts out a challenge to kill the girl with the golden touch and burn down her kingdom, it’s not just her future on the throne in danger. Kora’s life and entire kingdom are now on contract.

As bold and brave as ever, Kora sets out to find Dionysus, the very person who is trying to kill her, on the mysterious disappearing island of Jipper. Kora has no other choice. If she wants to save her kingdom and have any chance at reversing her father’s curse, she will have to enter into a deadly game with Dionysus, the greatest trickster the world, or the underworld, has ever seen.

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Barnes and Noble Book Depository

Indigo

Annie Sullivan is the author of the young adult novels A Touch of Gold, Tiger Queen, and A Curse of Gold. She lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, and she loves fairytales, everything Jane Austen, and traveling and exploring new cultures. When she’s not off on her own adventures, she’s working as the Senior Copywriter at John Wiley and Sons, Inc. publishing company, having also worked there in Editorial and Publicity roles. She loves to hear from fans, and you can reach her via the contact form on this website or on Twitter and Instagram.

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My thoughts:

I really enjoyed A Touch of Gold – Greek myths, pirates, peril on the high seas, it was basically written for me, so I had high hopes for A Curse of Gold and they were thankfully not misplaced!

Kora, Royce and their friends set out on an epic quest to find Dionysius and get him to reverse the curse on her father, King Midas, and rescue the kingdom from ruin.

Accompanied by a sulky Triton, son of Poseidon, some amazing pegasi (flying horses, I think Pegasus was actually the name of one), a sea creature that behaves like a dog (almost as good as a ship’s cat, almost), and after defeating the gorgons, will Kora be able to outwit the god of ill-advised bets?

Adventure, monsters, romance, this book has it all. So dive in and learn that sometimes what appears to be a curse may actually be a gift.

Giveaway (US/Can)

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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: The Trials of Koli – M.R. Carey*

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Read my review of the first Book of Koli here.


The Book of Koli is the unforgettable story of a young boy struggling to find his place in a world where nature itself has turned against humanity: Everything that lives hates us…

Beyond the walls of the small village of Mythen Rood lies an unrecognizable landscape. A place where overgrown forests are filled with choker trees and deadly seeds that will kill you where you stand. And if they don’t get you, one of the dangerous shunned men will. Koli has lived in Mythen Rood his entire life. He believes the first rule of survival is that you don’t venture too far beyond the walls. He’s wrong.

My thoughts:

Koli and his companions, Ursula and Cup are on the road, trying to reach London and find whoever is sending out a signal, but the journey is dangerous.

I enjoyed this a lot more than the first book, it felt more fully realised and I liked that the perspective went back and forth from Koli and Spinner, back in Mythen Rood.

A lot happens in the pages of this second novel – Koli and his friends fight off attacks from old enemies and of course nature, which really has it out for humans, and who can blame it.

They do meet some good people though, ones who offer them help rather than threats.

Meanwhile Spinner is trying to find her place in Mythen Rood, having married Haijon in the previous book. She’s beginning to see some things about the all powerful Ramparts that leave her with questions no one wants to answer.

This was a really good book and I’m already looking forward to the third and final installment.

*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: Emily Knight I Am… Becoming – A. Bello*

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Homecoming. Sacrifice. Family. Fire.
The Knights are finally reunited and ready to defeat Neci once and for all. But Neci is one step ahead and is targeting them one by one. When Neci takes one of Emily’s best friends hostage, Emily leads the elite team on a rescue mission but nothing can prepare them for what Neci has planned.

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A. Bello is an award-winning author and publishing entrepreneur, born and raised in London, where she still lives and works. In 2018, Abiola was named ‘Trailblazer of the Year’ by London Book Fair.
Abiola wrote her first novel at the age of eight – when she fought monsters and dragons on a daily basis – and experienced her first taste of ‘being published’ after winning a school poetry competition at the age of 12. Seeing her words in print fuelled a passion for writing that remains to this day.
The first incarnation of the Emily Knight story can be traced back almost 20 years; Abiola wanted to fill the gaping hole in children’s fiction for an inspirational, strong, black, female, young protagonist. This ‘gap’ in publishing remains in today’s publishing world despite continued calls for more diversity in terms of the authors creating the books and the characters and plot lines within the stories.
She is the founder of The Lil’ Author School and co-founder of The Author School (shortlisted for The Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2016 and celebrating its fifth birthday in 2020). Abiola is also co-founder of The Diverse Book Awards and Hashtag BLAK.
Abiola is regularly asked to contribute to the media; she has been featured in About Time Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Female First, Daily Mirror, BBC1XTRA, The Bookseller, The British Blacklist, Melan Magazine, London Post, and many more.

Abiola is also a regular at literary festivals and gives talks to children in primary and secondary schools, as well as to young writers and people wishing to get into the publishing business.

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My thoughts:

This was a fun and enjoyable read, Emily and her family and friends are super powered humans who fight against evil versions led by a woman called Neci.

Emily is fifteen, and as well as dealing with teenage dramas, she’s dealing with being a warrior, and the return of her long lost father and brother, both of whom are seen as heroes and attract attention Emily would rather avoid.

I hadn’t read the previous books in the series and I think I might have got into this faster if I had, it took me a little while to understand what was happening and who everyone was.

I’ve recommended the series to a few friends raising daughters who read and who might enjoy having a female hero.

*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: May Day – Josie Jaffrey*

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If the murderer you’re tracking is a vampire, then you want a vampire detective. Just maybe not this one.It’s not that Jack Valentine is bad at her job. The youngest member of Oxford’s Seekers has an impressive track record, but she also has an impressive grudge against the local baron, Killian Drake.

When a human turns up dead on May Morning, she’s determined to pin the murder on Drake. The problem is that none of the evidence points to him. Instead, it leads Jack into a web of conspiracy involving the most powerful people in the country, people to whom Jack has no access. But she knows someone who does.

To get to the truth, Jack will have to partner up with her worst enemy. As long as she can keep her cool, Drake will point her to the ringleaders, she’ll find the murderer and no one else will have to die.
Body bags on standby.

May Day is the first book in Josie Jaffrey’s Seekers series, an urban fantasy series set in Oxford, England.
Goodreads

My thoughts:

This was a good slice of crime noir, with added fangs. Vampire detectives investigating crimes potentially committed by their own crime, finding all kinds of creeps lurking in the shadows along the way.

Keeping their bloodthirsty secrets safe from the human population and making sure not too many bloodless corpses turn up is a full time job, so the last thing they need is a weird murder.

These vamps seem to be Daywalkers, blending in amongst the students and locals of Oxford as they carry out their investigation, problem is it all seems to loop back round to the people they least want to be guilty.

Riddled with pitch black humour, pop culture references and a healthy dose of old fashioned British irreverence, this is an excellent new addition to the vampire literary canon.

*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: The Beast & the Bethany – Jack Meggitt-Phillips, illustrated by Isabelle Follath*

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Beauty comes at a price. And no one knows that better than Ebenezer Tweezer, who has stayed beautiful for 511 years. How, you may wonder? Ebenezer simply has to feed the beast in the attic of his mansion. In return for meals of performing monkeys, statues of Winston Churchill, and the occasional cactus, Ebenezer gets potions that keep him young and beautiful, as well as other presents.

But the beast grows ever greedier with each meal, and one day he announces that he’d like to eat a nice, juicy child next. Ebenezer has never done anything quite this terrible to hold onto his wonderful life. Still, he finds the absolutely snottiest, naughtiest, and most frankly unpleasant child he can and prepares to feed her to the beast.

The child, Bethany, may just be more than Ebenezer bargained for. She’s certainly a really rather rude houseguest, but Ebenezer still finds himself wishing she didn’t have to be gobbled up after all. Could it be Bethany is less meal-worthy and more…friend-worthy?

My thoughts:

This was lots of fun, and very silly.

What amused me before I read it was the title – my sister-in-law is called Bethany and I told my husband that made him the Beast!

However the book was even better than it’s title suggests.

The Beast lives on the top floor of Ebenezer Tweezer’s enormous house, where it demands more and more unusual delicacies to eat. In exchange he vomits up whatever Ebenezer, a sprightly 511 years old, desires.

Until the Beast wants to eat a plump, juicy child. I think it might be related to the witch in Hansel & Gretel.

Enter Bethany – a short hurricane of bad manners, petty theft, and obstinence. She’s also a lot smarter than anyone gives her credit for.

With Bethany’s help Ebenezer starts to plot against the Beast and put a stop to its greed.

I laughed so much at times I snorted like a pig!

This book may be aimed at child readers but even an old crone like me can enjoy it.


*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: The Trouble with Peace – Joe Abercrombie*

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Read my review of A Little Hatred here.

Peace is just another kind of battlefield . . .
Savine dan Glokta, once Adua’s most powerful investor, finds her judgement, fortune and reputation in tatters. But she still has all her ambitions, and no scruple will be permitted to stand in her way.
For heroes like Leo dan Brock and Stour Nightfall, only happy with swords drawn, peace is an ordeal to end as soon as possible. But grievances must be nursed, power seized, and allies gathered first, while Rikke must master the power of the Long Eye . . . before it kills her.
Unrest worms into every layer of society. The Breakers still lurk in the shadows, plotting to free the common man from his shackles, while noblemen bicker for their own advantage. Orso struggles to find a safe path through the maze of knives that is politics, only for his enemies, and his debts, to multiply.
The old ways are swept aside, and the old leaders with them, but those who would seize the reins of power will find no alliance, no friendship, and no peace lasts forever.

My thoughts:

I do enjoy the world building of Joe Abercrombie – the politics and never ending feuds that threaten the Union as much as the countries on their borders.

People are bored in peace times, there are too many hours in the day to scheme and plot.

Savine hasn’t fully recovered from the events of A Little Hatred, and a politically savvy marriage might just be the thing to save her.

Leo gets dragged into schemes at the heart of government, not realising he’s being manipulated and lied to.

Things aren’t much better in the North, but then when have they ever in this world?

I thoroughly enjoyed this new addition to the Abercrombie canon – lots of action as always, with a wry humour and plenty of intrigue.

*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: The Bone Shard Daughter – Andrea Stewart*

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The Bone Shard Daughter is an unmissable fantasy debut from a major new voice in epic fantasy — a stunning tale of magic, mystery, and revolution in which the former heir to the emperor will fight to reclaim her power and her place on the throne.
The emperor’s reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire’s many islands.
Lin is the emperor’s daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.
Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright – and save her people.

My thoughts:

This is an incredibly good start to what is going to be an amazing fantasy series and the beginning of an excellent career for its author.

The book was so good I didn’t want it to end, I was that engrossed. The magic system is really intriguing, as well as sinister and a bit creepy.

As the plot unravels and the Empire literally starts to crumble, the intrigue grows – why is the Emperor losing his grip on the constructs and what made Deerhead Island sink?

People are starting to doubt the power of the throne and wake up in some cases. Setting up a confrontation in the next book already.

I liked Lin’s determination to find out what her father is up to and Jovis’ attempts to stop helping people, even as he helps them.

My favourite character was obviously Mephi, the magical creature Jovis rescues. I’m looking forward to finding out more about him.

This was a really great read, inspired by the author’s own Chinese ancestry, and I can’t wait till the second book is published.

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