Tag: mythology

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Blog Tour: Solace of Dusk – K.V. Meadows

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Welcome to the tour for Solace of Dusk by K.V. Meadows. Read now on Kindle Unlimited!

Solace of Dusk (Dusk and Embers Book 1)

Release Date: March 2025

Genre: Romantic Fantasy

Those who play with prophecies will get burned…

23-year-old Undesirable, Durvla Garrick, has a dangerous secret. Being both deaf and having a chronic ailment, her very existence is treasonous. So, when the Queen’s mercenaries accuse her of stealing a dress, she comes quietly—better to be arrested for her knitting skills than her illness.

Under the watchful eye of the broody royal guard, Tiernan Kilkenny—the embodiment of the very people she’s spent her life hiding from—Durvla is appointed dressmaker to the princess. But castle life isn’t quite what she expected, and nor is its staff…

With the Queen dying, Princess Carys Meredyth fa Rhodri is reluctant to inherit the throne of a broken Kingdom when she feels so broken herself. Magic has been outlawed for a millennium—so why are her memories filled with whispers of enchantment?

When Carys finds a book that only she can read, more questions unravel. Are the fairytales that have provided her comfort since childhood really only stories? Or has the truth been right there all along?

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

Content Warnings:


-Violence (real world weapons, prolonged torture, magic wielding), blood without gore, and violent killing
-Child abandonment, infant death (not detailed), and a brief mention of miscarriage
-Unmanaged severe mental illness, anxiety and anxiety attacks, suicidal ideation
-Sensual and sexual content (on page, non-explicit) -Grief and loss, mentions of parental death, terminal illness
-Disability prejudice, ableism, classism
-Profanity

My thoughts: I really enjoyed reading this book (now on KU) and am eagerly looking forward to book two.

With Welsh and Celtic mythology influences, this is a kingdom under attack from within. The princess, Carys, is worried about her invalid mother, and leaving much of the running of the country to the council. Which might not be the best idea.

Elsewhere Durvla, a botanist, is trying to keep her younger brother safe and hidden. She’s deaf and he’s autistic, both things seen as undesirable in the world they live in. Things that could see them taken away and thrown in the terrifying prison. When she does get seized, she ends up as Carys’ dressmaker, a path to freedom opens up.

But others have their own plans for the kingdom, evil plans. And things go wrong for Carys and for Durvla.

This is gripping, funny, intelligent fantasy with interesting and relatable protagonists and the magic system was also intriguing. I can’t wait for the next installment, it ends on such a cliffhanger.

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#rrbooktours #rrbtSolaceofDuskTour #solaceofdusk #duskandemberseries #romanticfantasy #romantasybooks #romantasyreads #kindleunlimited #kufantasy #booktours

*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: Helen’s Judgement – Susan C Wilson

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She’s the most scapegoated heroine in Greek mythology, but there’s never just one side to any story. This new framing uncovers the complexities of Helen of Troy–a woman tormented by the blame placed on her by others, and tortured by her own guilt.

“We all blamed Helen”

Haunted by her decision to leave her child behind in fleeing her unhappy marriage, Helen seeks to build a new life in Troy with her lover, Paris. She yearns to recreate the childhood family she lost when she married Menelaus, but her outraged husband vows to regain her by force, at the head of a vast army.

Facing hostility from all sides, Helen must decide where her loyalty–and her safety–lies.

Perfect for fans of Greek mythology retellings, and Madeline Miller’s Circe, Jennifer Saint’s Elektra, and Pat Barker’s The Women of Troy.

My thoughts: Helen of Troy might be one of the most hated women in literature, the face that launched a thousand ships, the woman who cuckolded her husband, ran away with a prince and brought about the destruction of the legendary (and real) city of Troy.

Narrated by the ghost of Achilles, this is Helen’s story.

When Agamemnon and Menelaus arrive at her childhood home, Agamemnon has already murdered her brother-in-law and nephew and forced her sister Clytemnestra to marry him, so she isn’t too favourable. His brother doesn’t appeal, he’s not the handsome prince of her imagination, but her father has little choice, Agamemnon threatens to seize their kingdom too.

Not the most auspicious start to a marriage, but not an entirely unexpected one considering the time. When Helen runs off with Paris to Troy, abandoning her daughter, and leaving her homeland behind, she hardly expects what happens next. King Priam refuses to send her back and the Greeks famously come together to lay siege to Troy for ten long years.

Achilles also tells us about the goings on inside the Greek encampment. Agamemnon rarely leaves his tent, preferring to let the others fight, like generals ever since, which annoys Achilles. Then comes the infamous falling out that results in the death of Achilles’ cousin and closest friend Patroclus, Achilles’ revenge killing of Hector and finally Paris’ cowardly killing of Achilles. Finally the horse makes an appearance.

Some of the most famous events of the Trojan war. I always wondered why Shakespeare never staged this – it feels very in keeping with some of his tragedies.

Obviously Homer (whoever he or they were) got there first, but Susan C. Wilson retells this most famous of stories from new perspectives – Achilles and Helen. Had Helen’s father held out and she married Achilles, none of this would ever have happened, nor any of the resulting events.

Helen’s account of the destruction of Troy is shocking, graphic and you can imagine people’s genuine horror as the Greek soldiers lay waste, killing the men and taking the women to be slaves. King Priam’s death is awful, the proud man reduced to blood and bones in moments.

But Helen’s end is equally gruesome, she won’t be returning with Menelaus, she will never see her daughter again. The Greeks have spent ten long years waiting for this moment. The judgement of Helen.

The title can be seen in different ways – Helen’s own poor judgement in running off with the vapid but pretty Paris, the judgement of the Trojans on her, and that final judgement after the long years of fighting. A fight that doesn’t really have much to do with her, one that feels like an excuse as the Greeks also want access to the Hellespont, and to establish themselves in Asia, beyond the walls of Troy and its allies.

This was a really interesting retelling of this most famous story, one I’ve studied in depth before and often enjoyed, but that gives agency back to Helen, and furthers the story of the House of Atreus from Clytemnestra’s Bind, the first book in this series.

*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: The Sons of Echidna – Athena M. Bliss

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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.

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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?

PRE-ORDER HERE

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Blog Tour: Goddess with a Thousand Faces – Jasmine Elmer

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Steeped in ancient magic, dark divinity and wild ways, Goddess with a Thousand Faces takes you on a historical journey like no other…

Blending mythological retellings with historical research, Goddess with a Thousand Faces traverses the world and transports through time to bring ten formidable and inspiring ancient goddesses to life. Meet Artemis, the Greek goddess of the wilderness, never without her bow and arrow; Sedna, Inuit goddess of the ocean, guarding the icy waters and all its creatures; Isis, Egyptian goddess of healing, who dwells by the River Nile, just to name a few…

Jasmine Elmer explores these goddesses of our past, uncovering their truths, their rebellion and their freedom. For too long, they have been written out of history; lost to the sands of time and stamped into silence. Goddess with a Thousand Faces restores these women to their glory.

Pour over this treasure trove of myths, legends and mighty goddesses. Hear the messages echoing through the ages and see yourself in the faces of these icons. For while their stories might ancient, today they are more important – and more powerful – than ever.

A treasure trove of beautiful storytelling and ancient wisdom, perfect for fans of Love in Colour by Bolu Babalola and Storyland by Amy Jeffs.

Amazon

Jasmine Elmer is a straight-talking ancient world expert. Deciding her subject needed a ‘glow up’, she began her mission in 2020 to make the subject relatable and representative. Outside of writing, she spends her time bringing that energy to television screens, appearing on broadcast channels such as Channel 4, Channel 5 and National Geographic, as well as hosting and featuring on many podcasts. Her debut book Goddess with a Thousand Faces is a bold exploration of world goddesses, blending storytelling with historical fact. It follows from years of research as a student at universities like UCL, Cambridge and Exeter and a career as a secondary school teacher of Classics. She is of dual heritage, Pakistani and white, and her mother was born in Canada. She grew up in East London but now lives in Exeter, Devon with her husband and son. She has five cats and is absolutely not ashamed of that fact! When she has some downtime, she loves spending time in nature, curling up with a good book and a hot choc, and having a laugh with her friends. She flits between meditation and being frazzled. Such is life.

My thoughts: This was a really interesting, totally fascinating book, bringing a selection of goddesses from pantheons across the globe, from Inanna of Sumeria, to Sedna of the Inuit, spanning thousands of years and dozens of belief systems.

Retelling one of the stories of each goddess and then discussing their history, importance and impact through a modern feminist lens, this was a really thought provoking read. I actually really wished it was longer and looked at more goddesses, it felt like a great jumping off point for deeper research and another thing to get totally obsessed with.

Some of goddesses, particularly the Greek and Norse ones were familiar to me from previous reading and a mild obsession with mythology, others were less familiar and in a couple of cases, I had not heard of them at all. Which was a bit frustrating as of course goddesses from pantheons outside of Europe aren’t often featured in many mythology encyclopedia apart from those of Egypt sometimes.

Before I vanish down the rabbit hole of research and reading, I will recommend this as a great introduction to a wide range of religious beliefs, many old and some still practised around the world today and the goddesses that form part of those faiths.

*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: That Which Stands Outside – Mark Morris

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A new chiller from multi award winning author of over 50 novels, winner of the New York Festival Radio Award for Best Drama Special and Festival Radio Awards.

That Which Stands Outside is a horror novel inspired by Nordic folklore. After Todd Kingston rescues Yrsa Helgerson from muggers one rainy London night, their resulting friendship quickly develops into a romance. When Yrsa’s mother dies, Todd accompanies her back to her childhood home, an isolated Nordic island. The reception they receive there is one of suspicion and hostility. The islanders believe Yrsa to be a child of a mythic race called the Jötnar, a claim which Yrsa dismisses as superstitious nonsense. But as the island is rocked by a series of devastating events, Todd finds himself caught up in a terrifying battle, one which possibly threatens the future of the world itself.

Morris has written and edited over fifty novels, novellas, short story collections and anthologies. His script work includes audio dramas for Doctor Who, Jago & Litefoot and the Hammer Chillers series. His most recent work includes the Obsidian Heart trilogy (The Wolves of London, The Society of Blood and The Wraiths of War), the original Predator novel Stalking Shadows (co-written with James A. Moore), the official novelization of the Doctor Who60th anniversary special Wild Blue Yonder,new audio adaptations of the classic 1971 horror movie Blood on Satan’s Claw and the M.R. James ghost story A View From a Hill, a 30th anniversary short story collection Warts And All,and, as editor, the anthologies After Sundown, Beyond the Veil, Close to Midnight and Darkness Beckons. Blood on Satan’s Claw won the New York Festival Radio Award for Best Drama Special, and A View From a Hill won the New York Festival Radio Award for Best Digital Drama Program, and was also awarded Silver at the 2020 Audio & Radio Industry Awards. Mark has won two British Fantasy Awards, and has also been nominated for several Stokers and Shirley Jackson Awards.

My thoughts: set on a remote island off the coast of Iceland, this is a creepy and sinister horror thriller that reminded me why I hate pot holing and why when someone says “let’s go poke a bear” the correct response is to run very fast in the opposite direction.

There aren’t any actual bears here, but creepy gnome like creatures called jotnar – I know in some Nordic tales they’re more benevolent, but these ones are murderous and evil.

Todd’s girlfriend Yrsa is from this island and is the reason he, and then his brother, are there. Her mother’s died and they’ve gone over for the funeral. Then she asks if he thinks his brother Robin and his crew of builders would be willing to come over with their equipment and drill a massive hole into an underground cavern. In the dark, in the local cave system (Bear!!)

Horrible things start happening, beginning with an accident that leaves the victim speaking in an ancient version of the local language (Norse maybe?) and it all gets much worse from there on out. It’s bloody and brutal and Todd is terrified. Will anyone make it off the island alive? 

The writing is tense and gripping, even as things get more horrifying, I couldn’t stop reading. I love a good creepy book. And this is definitely that.

*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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Book Release Blitz: Woven Song – Rachael Krotec

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WovenSong copy

Woven Song is now available and if you like epic tales full of myth, love, and betrayal, then you are going to want to read this!

Woven Song_E BOOK

Woven Song

Publication Date: June 7, 2024

Genre: YA Fantasy/ Asian Mythology

🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒Found Family
😈Fallen Gods
🏮Asian mythology
🐈Orange Cat Chaos
❤️💔Will they, won’t they
⚔️Epic fight scenes
🤕Chronic illness rep
🐉 DRAGONS
🗡️Girls with swords

Isolated on the moon and yearning for the warmth of connection, a young Kaguya-hime falls to the mortal realm. While unknowingly sealing away her divine identity, she begins living as the mortal Yuki. But the mortal realm isn’t as charming as it seems…

Years later, after being banished from the imperial city of Gobe, Yuki returns on the emperor’s request with the hopes of restoring her family’s dojo. But when Yuki’s dreams are seemingly dashed after tragedy strikes, she is forced to face the unsettling truth behind her banishment.

On the verge of death, Yuki’s life becomes intertwined with the dragon god, Ryu, and together they must fight to save the mortal realm from Izanami, the ruler of the land of the dead. Caught between living as a mortal or a goddess, Yuki must fight to write her own mythology before the gods do it for her.

Woven Song weaves Asian mythology into an epic tale of love and loss, of loyalty and betrayal — where love is as soft as a lullaby, secrets are currency for the wicked, and every friend might be a foe.

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Blog Tour: Hera – Jennifer Saint

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Hera, immortal goddess and daughter of the ancient Titan Cronos, helped her brother Zeus to overthrow their tyrannical father so that they could rule the world. But, as they establish their reign on Mount Olympus, Hera suspects that Zeus might be just as ruthless and cruel as their father was, and she begins to question her role at his side. She was born to rule, but does that mean perpetuating a cycle of violence and cruelty that has existed since the dawn of time? Will assuming her power mean that Hera loses herself, or can she find a way to forge a better world?

Traditionally portrayed as a jealous wife, a wicked stepmother, and a victim-blaming instrument of the patriarchy, Hera is ripe for a retelling that shows her as a powerful queen–ruthless when she needs to be, but also compassionate, strategic, and ambitious. With Hera, beloved and bestselling author Jennifer Saint delivers another epic and enthralling reimagining of a Greek heroine we only thought we knew.

Due to a lifelong fascination with Ancient Greek mythology, Jennifer Saint read Classical Studies at King’s College, London. She spent the next thirteen years as an English teacher, sharing a love of literature and creative writing with her students. She is the #1 internationally bestselling author of Hera, Atalanta, Elektra, and Ariadne.

My thoughts: Hera is an interesting choice after Ariadne, Elektra and Atalanta. Zeus’ sister/wife, not often seen very positively, driven to wreck terrible revenge on the women Zeus rapes (let’s face it, that’s what he does, it isn’t consensual 99% of the time) and the children he abandons. 

I can’t think of a positive myth of Hera, she isn’t in many of the best known stories, and ones like that of Herakles (named after her in an attempt to please her) she’s all Vengeance and Wrath. 

Goddess of women, marriage and sometimes childbirth (although her daughter Eileithyia actually is), represented by peacocks – which always seem more Zeus like in their look at me fanciness, especially as peahens are very plain.

I did find her a bit more sympathetic here, sometimes. Because she is vengeful and full of rage, bitter and constantly trying to bring Zeus down. But she is also a victim of his cruelty, her children never really seem to love her, the monsters she favours go off to serve or hide elsewhere, even her sisters don’t really bother with her. She seems very alone on Olympus.

Despite being Zeus’ partner in bringing down the Titans, seated at his right in the hall of Olympus, he doesn’t give her a domain of her own or a particular place to belong. She becomes the reluctant goddess of wives and marriage – and reluctantly a wife. Her anger and spite is born of resentment and perhaps if she’d been given more to do she wouldn’t have so much time on her hands.

I couldn’t decide whether I liked her or not – she wasn’t very likeable, spiky and disdainful, but I didn’t dislike her. This version of Hera seemed less black and white than the more commonly portrayed version I know from mythology. Jennifer Saint does this very well, her books are always very enjoyable, even when the protagonists do questionable things. Her Ariadne and Elektra – neither all good or all bad are certainly like this (Atalanta is more a straightforward hero).

I am really into these modern day re-evaluations of mythic figures – and Jennifer is one of the best at this, they feel like real women, even if they live in worlds peopled with gods and monsters.

*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: One Little Nightmare/One Saccharine Dream – Dawn Darling

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OneLittleNightmare copy

We are thrilled to be working with Dawn Darling and her Of Gods and Monsters series. Check out what our readers are saying about One Little Nightmare and One Saccharine Dream!

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One Little Nightmare (Of Gods and Monsters Book 1)

Publication Date: October 2023

Genre: Dark Romance/ Dark Romantic Fantasy/ Greek Mythology

A paranoid schizophrenic with a dark passenger lurking in the shadows.
A broken Siren who would give anything to end her curse.
A mystery girl with the traumas of her past written on her body.

A Beautiful Nightmare

Brooks wakes in an insane asylum with a broken wristwatch and no memories. He spends colorless days ignoring beautiful hallucinations and adrenaline-inducing nights fighting the monsters inside, but they’re only the beginning. After a mystery girl shrouded in secrets and painted with scars appears in the asylum, Brooks wakes from a vivid nightmare to discover that not all is as it seems. As plague looms and patients disappear, Brooks works against the clock to uncover the shattered pieces of his past, but what he finds may mean the downfall of Olympus.

A Sinister Dream

Damned to a glass prison, Xia has never known a life of freedom. The Gods of Olympia covet her Siren song and when she’s not dancing for them, she’s feeding The Lord of Nightmares her soul. Solace is found only with the man she meets in her dreams, but he doesn’t even think she’s real. Pity, because Brooks is the only one who can save her.

Pandora’s Box has been opened and an evil moves in the asylum that even the gods cannot contain.

For fans of Scarlett St. Claire, Raven Kennedy, and Amber V. Nicole, this gripping tale of ruthless gods and ancient power will satisfy all of your darkest desires. If you love romantic fantasy with a touch of poison, characters coming into their own, and an MMC who would watch the world fall to save her, this tragic tale of longing and destruction is for you.

This is a dark romantic fantasy intended for mature audiences. If you like the ruthless side of the Greek Gods, this series is for you. Please check the author’s website for CW’s.

Content Warnings:

  • graphic violence on the page
  • sexual abuse (not on the page and left up to reader interpretation. Never explicitly stated)
  • Suicide/sacrifice
  • Forced birth and kidnapping
  • Mentions of self harm
  • Mental illness including schizophrenia, auditory hallucinations, and stalking
  • Graphic sexual content
  • Murder
  • Torture and archaic asylum treatments
  • Explicit language

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813nDRmMb0L._SY522_

One Saccharine Dream (Of Gods and Monsters Book 2)

Publication Date: April 9, 2024

Genre: Dark Romance/ Dark Romantic Fantasy/ Greek Mythology

“I am the Father of Darkness, the Void Between the Stars, Creator of your Gods, and the Eater of Souls. I am Chaos, the Deathless God, and I will find you.”

Still reeling from his trauma in the Asylum, Brooks is hell-bent on saving the Siren who holds his heart. Fighting the Deathless God lurking under his skin is only part of the battle, though. When Brooks discovers the great cycle of chaos has been broken, he’s left near powerless and out of control.

After a deadly battle in Club Hel with the Lord of Nightmares, Xia realizes he’s no longer the most dangerous monster in the room. She must find a way to balance who she was with who she is becoming, but the path to righteousness is most often paid in blood and her Siren is ravenous for a taste.

Defiance was not obedience, and good girls were obedient.

Raised to be the perfect bride, Persephone lived a life of seclusion and proprietary under the watchful eye of her mother. After a string of handsome strangers claim more interest in her soul than her beauty, the Goddess of Spring finds the cost of disobedience is more than she can afford to pay.

When a scrappy thief with more secrets than truths proves to be the missing link between salvation and damnation, will they wake from a nightmare only to be caught in a saccharine dream?

This is a dark romantic fantasy intended for mature audiences. If you like the ruthless side of the Greek Gods, this series is for you. Please check the author’s website for CW’s and proceed with caution. You’ve been warned, Darling. Welcome to the Freakshow.

Content Warnings

  • Graphic Violence
  • Graphic Language
  • Grahpic sex
  • Murder
  • Torture of an mc
  • Drowning
  • Non-con
  • Narcissism
  • Mentions of suicide
  • Religious sacrfices
  • Starvation
  • Manipulative sex
  • Trauma
  • PTSD
  • Gaslighting
  • Capture

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

About the Author

“Wow! Dawn Darling? Are you a detective? Superhero? Burlesque star?!”
Erm, the answer is no. I am a super socially awkward weirdo who never wanted her small town to know what thoughts and characters lived in her head. (Spoiler alert, that cat was out of the bag when I stood in front of my classmates sophomore year and read an excerpt of New Moon for a project).

I’m a bipolar mom of two who is a professional at disassociating and building wild fantasies in my head while I do it. I say way too many curse words and start every day with six shots of blonde espresso over ice without fail. Don’t worry, I have ADHD too, so the caffeine makes me normal, not crazy eyed.

I grew up in a small town who encouraged women to become a nurse or a teacher and, while those are valiant careers full of men and women stronger than I’ll ever be, I was quick to say fuck that. When I was pushed to use my degree in creative writing to work at the local newspaper, can you guess what I said then? If your answer was fuck that, you were right.
I write adult fantasy/paranormal romance with dark themes (always check the TWs) and characters with as many personalities as me.

I live in the USA and my dream home state is Washington, but my husband refuses to move there because he says he’s afraid I’ll find a coven of vampires and run away with them. He’s probably right. So, I’ll settle for Alaska where the sun can only touch me for 6 months out of the year and I’ll have all the snow my heart could desire.

Dawn Darling

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Blog Tour: The Heart of Winter – Shona Kinsella

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Brigit is a young woman living in a Scotland still ruled by tribes and largely Pagan.
As Christianity is beginning to find a foothold, Brigit pays lip service to the church, but truly venerates the old gods. She does not support the changing position of women through the teachings of the
church.
A cool, damp summer and an early winter threaten the harvest. A harsh winter means starvation, so the elders of Brigit’s village panic. They petition Aengus, the god of summer, to protect them. He agrees on the condition that they provide him with a bride. He chooses Brigit and the deal is made without her knowledge or consent.
When Brigit learns of this arrangement, she flees into the Highlands to seek out the Cailleach, the goddess of winter. The Cailleach is uninterested in Brigit’s plight; humans have hated and feared her for generations, and she is tired of their complaining.
Brigit is not discouraged. She sets up camp outside the Cailleach’s cave and makes offerings to the Winter Queen every day. Aengus comes looking for his bride but cannot approach the cave because he and the Cailleach are opposites.
Caught between two gods and finding an unlikely ally in the Fae witch, Nicnevin, Brigit will be tested to her limits and beyond.


Scottish fantasy author Shona Kinsella is the author of The Heart of Winter, The Vessel of KalaDene series, dark Scottish fantasy novella Petra MacDonald and the Queen of the Fae, British Fantasy Award shortlisted industrial novella The Flame and the Flood, and non-fiction Outlander and the Real Jacobites: Scotland’s Fight for the Stuarts. Her short fiction can be found
in various magazines and anthologies. She served as editor of the British Fantasy Society’s fiction publication, BFS Horizons for four years and is now the Chair of the British Fantasy Society.
Shona lives near the picturesque banks of Loch Lomond with her husband and three children.
She enjoys reading, nature walks, and spending time with her family. When she is not writing, doing laundry, or wrangling children, she can usually be found with her nose in a book.
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My thoughts: inspired by Celtic folklore, this is the story of a young woman who is determined to choose her own path, and flees the Summer god Aengus for the winter, Cailleach, hoping the opposite god can help her.

Brigit just wants to be free of the agreement her village elders made binding her to Aengus in return for a good harvest. But the Cailleach isn’t really interested in helping a human. Until she has no choice unless she’s willing to let Brigit die.

This sets in motion a change that will affect Brigit, Cailleach and Aengus, and change the way they govern the seasons.

A beautiful and enchanting tale of gods, different kinds of love and finding your own path.

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