Rosie’s Book Review Team (RBRT) – Booklist

Writing Success by Susie Kearley (93 pages)

This book contains inspiring stories of writing success, with hints and tips for making money writing. It explores opportunities in writing for magazines, how much to charge, and covers inspirational stories of people who’ve quit the day job and become full-time writers. Whether you’re interested in writing for magazines or writing books, fiction or non-fiction, there are inspiring stories here for you.

Genre: Non Fiction

Format: Mobi

Landscape Of A Marriage by Gail Ward Olmsted (Arc now for July 29th publication) 314 pages

A marriage of convenience leads to a life of passion and purpose. A shared vision transforms the American landscape forever.

New York, 1858: Mary, a young widow with three children, agrees to marry her brother-in-law Frederick Law Olmsted, who is acting on his late brother’s deathbed plea to “not let Mary suffer”. But she craves more than a marriage of convenience and sets out to win her husband’s love. Beginning with Central Park in New York City, Mary joins Fred on his quest to create a ‘beating green heart’ in the center of every urban space.

Over the next 40 years, Fred is inspired to create dozens of city parks, private estates and public spaces with Mary at his side. Based upon real people and true events, this is the story of Mary’s journey and personal growth and the challenges inherent in loving a brilliant and ambitious man. 

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Mobi

Reckless by Carolyn O’Doherty (306 pages) Stand alone /Book #3 of a series

Alex and KJ have rescued their friends from the Center that held them captive all their lives, but they are not yet safe. Discovering a community of free spinners also reveals the full extent of the plots against them, and the true threat is not the Center, nor even the Central Office, but Kronos, a shadowy international organization that has masterminded the spinners’ suppression for centuries.

When their escape from the Center brings Kronos’s attention to the very refuge that is protecting them, Alex is determined to act. Back on the cold streets of Portland, she and KJ find out Kronos’s chilling new plan to eliminate spinners forever.

As the danger mounts, Alex has to decide how far she will go to save her friends. Time is running out and evading the enemy is no longer enough. To win this battle, Alex must face Kronos itself.

Genre: Ya scifi thriller

Format: Mobi /epub

How the Wall Crumbles (The Gray-Haired Knitting Detectives, #6) by D.E. Haggerty (100 pages)

The last place I expect to find myself on Halloween – in a Cinderella costume no less – is the scene of a crime.
A wall at a construction site fell and accidentally killed one of the workers. Naturally, the gray-haired knitters are convinced the wall didn’t fall all on its lonesome. No, they claim, murder is afoot! They’re just looking for an excuse to start another murder investigation.
When the police discover the wall didn’t crumble like a cookie, the knitters are determined to discover who used the wall to cover up a murder. It doesn’t matter that absolutely no one – including the police – has a clue why the victim was murdered.
The gray-haired knitters haven’t failed to solve a mystery yet. And they’re not going to now either.
Can the Gray-Haired Knitting Detectives find the killer when they’re plum out of suspects?

Genre: Cosy mystery novella

Format: Mobi / e-pub

Wolves of Adalore by Morgan Gauthier (383 pages)

Niabi killed for it once and is prepared to kill again.
Crispin wants it and is determined to have his revenge.
Salome wants nothing to do with it, but has to fight for it.
After years of people insisting she must be cursed due to her discolored left eye, Salome starts to believe they might be right. But when Harbona the Seer unexpectedly visits her, he reveals not only has the Year of the Hunter begun, but Salome’s distorted eye is in actuality the Mark of the Hunter, and she is charged to avenge the blood of the innocent.
With the Immortal Seer, their axe-wielding guardian, and a dangerous bounty hunter known as the Wanderer in their company, Salome and her brother, Crispin, embark on a journey to defeat their sister and reclaim the White Throne.

Genre: Na/ ya fantasy

Format: Mobi

Everlong by Raeta (236 pages)

Lily doesn’t remember her death, or even her reawakening, but she knows this: the sun is to be feared, words are her salvation, and—above all—the bench facing the playground is hers. She is the pin holding the hands of the clock, watching the world move and change around her while she remains fixed, lonely and unchanged… until a boy takes a seat beside her. A slow burn, friends to lovers, contemporary paranormal romance.

Genre: Ya paranormal romance

Format: Mobi / epub

Miss Wetherham’s Wedding by Linore Rose Burkard (196 pages)

Every step she takes to ensure his happiness is a nail in the coffin of her own.
Miss Wetherham, a matchmaker, must agree to the devious plan of a society rogue before she finds herself destitute. Helping him gain back his lost love will protect her independence and survival. But can any amount of money protect her guileless heart from falling for his charms?
Nick Dellacort is determined to restore his pride and gain back the bride he lost. Miss Wetherham is the woman to help him do it and he’ll make it worth her while. But once he sets the devilish wheels in motion, can he persuade her to abandon the scheme and choose instead a scoundrel like him for a wedding of her own?

Genre: regency Romance

Format: Mobi / epub

Kill List by Vicki Fitzgerald (360 pages)

Emilia has a secret hobby; killing.She’s hunting the Dark Web gamers who stole her life. The players underestimated Emilia’s will to survive and her thirst for vengeance. It’s her game now. Her rules, her kill list, and she has an unlikely accomplice teaching her how to get away with murder. But revenge has a price that’s both breathtaking and disturbing. Will Emilia overcome betrayal and tragedy to settle the score and end the game?

Genre: thriller

Format: Mobi / epub

 

Shadows in the Machine by Paul Boyson (328 pages)

The imminent release of a new computer game is causing a stir. Gamelan is rumoured to be the ultimate in Virtual Reality, indistinguishable from real life. However, when journalist Denny McCarthy, is handed a beta version of the software, he discovers that something is very wrong. Instead of a family-friendly game, he is lucky to escape with his life.
Louis Beideker has been sent from the States to check out Alphacorp, the UK makers of Gamelan, prior to a takeover by worldwide giants Paramundo. What he doesn’t expect to find is dead bodies.
Louis and Denny join forces when Denny’s girlfriend and 9-year-old son are kidnapped. There seems to be a connection to Gamelan, but what is it? The trail leads Denny back into the game and thence to a remote country mansion in Cornwall where a sinister death cult are planning the end of the world as they know it.

Genre: Action thriller

Format: Mobi

The White Rajah by Tom Williams (206 pages) Arc now for May 21st Publication

When James Brooke arrives in Borneo on the schooner ‘Royalist’, he plans to make a quick profit trading with the natives. Instead he finds himself taking sides in a civil war. And when his side wins, he ends up the ruler of his own country.

As the first White Rajah of Sarawak, Brooke is determined to show how the Britain of Queen Victoria can bring civilisation to the natives. But life in Borneo proves complicated. Soon pirates are exploiting the divisions in the country and, when the old rulers stage a coup, Brooke is forced to flee into the jungle.

Faced with the destruction of all he has worked for, Brooke is driven to desperate measures to reclaim his country. But is he bringing civilisation to Borneo or will his ruthless annihilation of the pirates just bring a new level of brutality to the people he meant to save?

The White Rajah is about a man fighting for his life who must choose between his beliefs and the chance of victory. Based on a true story, Brooke’s battle is a tale of adventure set against the background of a jungle world of extraordinary beauty and terrible savagery.

Genre: Histfic

Format: Mobi

The Last Tiger by Anthony Lavisher (Arc now for June publication)

Jon Galnia is a husband, a father, a Mafia Don, a man who believes that Fate and Destiny are two sides of the same fickle coin. Rich beyond his wildest dreams, his inherited empire expands beyond America, far beyond the streets of his bloody playground, currently far beyond the reach of the authorities desperate to pin even a traffic violation on him.

Fate is about to intervene.

Plucked from the sky by those who hate him, or perhaps by those who want what he has, Jon’s private jet crashes in central India, sabotaged by fate, though, perhaps, guided by destiny.

Unbeknownst to him, Jon is about to play a daring hand in an even bigger power struggle, one that will shock the world and, perhaps more importantly, the self-centred, ruthless Don.

A tale of corruption, of adventure and heroism, The Last Tiger is a thrilling tale of one man’s quest for survival and his uncertain hand on the pages of history.

Genre: Contemporary thriller

Format: Mobi

The Wilderness Between Us by Penny Haw (ARC now for July 31st publication)

Faye and her friends’ anorexic daughter, Clare are thrown together after a flood separates them from their group during a multi-day hike in the remote, mountainous Tsitsikamma region of South Africa. When Clare is critically injured, Faye takes control, builds a shelter and nurses the younger woman. Her resilience and resourcefulness prove to Faye that she is not the fearful, helpless person her husband, Derek has long insisted she is.

As they battle the elements and Clare’s failing health, the women discover they share a demon—that is, shame. The women’s new friendship and growing appreciation of the wilderness take Faye and Clare on an unexpected journey of recovery and self-discovery—but not everyone survives.

Genre: Literary fiction

Format: Mobi or e-pub

Nearly Wed by Katie Frey (ARC now for May 15th publication)

Ellie Sharpe is the good twin. Responsible, dependable, she’s a survivor. Jill, her flighty identical sister, is her opposite in all but appearance. But when media darling Luke Hamilton enters their family diner, Ellie seizes the opportunity and invites Jill, staging a meet-cute. Always put your best foot forward, right?

Marrying into the Hamilton family would solve their financial worries, but Ellie can’t help but feel jealous at the ensuing proposal. But when Jill falls in love with someone else, a last minute opportunity presents: Take her place at the altar with a twin-switch for the ages.

For Luke it’s simple: prove he’s not the untrustworthy playboy the media portrays, and cement his newest business initiative as a married man. For Jill, being arm candy is quid pro quo, a part she’d gladly play for the financial security to settle her family’s medical debts. But Ellie? Can she marry with the same calculated ease as her identical counterpart? Will Luke notice the difference between them or is the whirlwind courtship fast enough to blur most of the details? And what happens when Jill comes back? Will a twin by any other name taste as sweet?

Genre: Contemporary romance

Format: Mobi

Fish Town by John Gerard Fagan (200 pages)

“For years my life had been a string of temporary work in factories and call centres or unemployed. Approaching 30 and disillusioned with life in Glasgow, I sold everything I had and left for a new life in a remote fishing village in Japan. I knew nothing of the language or the strange new land that I would call home for the next seven years. Fish Town is an eye-opening true story that paints the reality of living in Japan as an outsider.”

John’s debut memoir, written entirely on his phone, reads like a book of poetry or perhaps a long text message. This gifted writer captures the experience of a Scottish man living in Japan – with humor, wit, honesty, and by all means without an ounce of political correctness.

Genre: Memoir

Format: Mobi / E-pub

Kings And Queens by J.N. Eagles (164 pages)

Kings and Queens is a coming of age poetry book. The story follows a young queen as she struggles to find herself while dealing with the king’s rule, the fire-breathing dragon, and the evil queen.

Genre: Coming Of Age Poetry

Format: Mobi

Foxe and the Path into Darkness by William Savage (297 pages)

When the mayor of Norwich disappears without trace roughly half-way through his term of office, the entire city government is thrown into chaos. Every thought turns to Mr Foxe, who is told to make finding the mayor his single priority. Nothing must stand in the way of achieving that goal. Nothing.

Foxe, listless and bored, has not had a mystery worthy of his attention for several months. He’s also still hurting from Lady Cockerton’s treatment of him. Even his oddly platonic friendship with Mrs Danson must end in two days, when she finally leaves Norwich for good. Perhaps a mystery will put some life back into him?

Before he can even begin, an unexpected encounter in Alderman Halloran’s hallway turns Foxe’s life upside down, so that for three days of confusion and anguish he can do nothing but struggle with an overwhelming crisis in his own life. The search for the mayor is forgotten.

At length, with help from an unexpected source, Foxe sets out doggedly on the trail of the missing man. He soon finds he must unravel a complex and unexpected tangle of events to get anywhere. Blocked and frustrated many times, he finally reveals the slow descent into darkness and an inevitable fate that lies behind what seemed a simple puzzle.

All the time, he is still struggling with a problem that threatens to wreck his entire future. Just as he sees a path ahead that offers the possibility of undreamed-of joy and happiness, he finds he may well have managed to block it completely before he can even set out. Can he find his way through this tangle as well?

Genre: Historical mystery

Format: epub

Essex – Tudor Rebel by Tony Riches (352 pages)

Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, is one of the most intriguing men of the Elizabethan period. Tall and handsome, he soon becomes a ‘favourite’ at court, so close to the queen many wonder if they are lovers.

The truth is far more complex, as each has what the other yearns for. Robert Devereux longs for recognition, wealth and influence. His flamboyant naïveté amuses the ageing Queen Elizabeth, like the son she never had, and his vitality makes her feel young.

Robert Devereux’s remarkable true story continues the epic tale of the rise of the Tudors, which began with the best-selling Tudor trilogy and concludes with the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Genre: Histfic

Format: Mobi

The Trickster’s Sister by R Chris Reeder (350 pages)

After getting kidnapped by a demigod and imprisoned in another dimension, Makayla was really hoping that her life would get back to normal. Or at least as normal as life could be when you had a goblin for a best friend.

But now her sleepy midwestern town is being invaded by shadows. Her neighbors are being stolen away and replaced by changelings. And when she tries to escape, her path threatens to take her to the one place she never wanted to return to: the mysterious and dangerous Land of Annwfyn.

In this sequel to The Changeling’s Daughter, Makayla and Brynn must confront their deepest fears and their worst enemies as their journey takes them to the farthest ends of the Earth and beyond.

Genre: Ya fantasy

Format: Mobi

It’s Not Never by Louise Gregory and N.G. K. (293 pages)

Ambitious and hardworking, astronaut Jessica Gabriel refuses to let love get in the way of becoming the first person to walk on another planet. Or maybe she is just afraid of losing her best friend?

Fellow astronaut, John Eden, is determined to prove he is more than his family name. Yet his insecurities might cost him his place on the mission.

Neither of them are looking for love, and mission protocol forbids it. But love doesn’t follow the rules, and the two friends have to decide whether they want to risk everything they’ve worked for to be together.

Genre: Love Story

Format: Mobi

Backstories by Simon Van der Velde (116 pages)

Dreamers, singers, heroes and killers, they can dazzle with their beauty or their talent or their unmitigated evil, yet inside themselves they are as frail and desperate as the rest of us. But can you see them? Can you unravel the truth? These are people you know, but not as you know them.Peel back the mask and see.

Genre: Short stories

Format: Mobi

Buried Treasure: is Not Always What It Seems by Gilli Allan (317 pages)

Jane Smith is hyper-sensitive about her lack of education, and damaged by a disastrous relationship. Constantly driven to shore up her fragile self-esteem and to prove herself, she is in the early stages of carving out a career as an Events Organizer. Jane arrives at Lancaster College to scope it out as a possible venue for a conference she is organizing.
Theo Tyler is a ‘desk’ archaeologist working as a part-time teacher at Lancaster College. His background makes him a curiosity to some – had his mother not been a rebel his own passage through life would have been gilded. The reality was chaotic. He hates people’s fascination with his past rather than with his present achievements.
There is no necessity for these two, Jane and Theo ever to meet. He is part of the faculty, but she is there to meet and be shown around by the hospitality manager, so their first encounter is unplanned and very unpromising, but….
Jane has a family connection to a significant historic archaeological discovery and Theo wants to organize a conference.
Their backgrounds and levels of educational attainment are poles apart, Their initial response to one another is hostile, but the story follows the gradual interweaving of their interests and the breaking-down of their preconceptions. The unlikely friendship that grows up between them leads to a place neither expected, proving that treasure is not always what it seems.

Genre: Contemporary love story

Format: Mobi

The Book Of Skulls by David Hutchison (260 pages)

A Victorian tale of gender-bending, hidden identity, obsession and gruesome murder, set in Edinburgh’s Old Town.

1875. Liz Moliette; a poor orphan of unknown heritage, and Amulya Patel; from a wealthy Indian family, are the only female students at the Edinburgh Medical School, where a hostile attitude towards women is driven by Professor Atticus. However Liz and Amulya have allies in fellow student Campbell Preeble, The Reekie reporter Hector Findlay and the charming Dr Paul Love.

In dire need of funds, Liz becomes assistant to gruff lecturer and police surgeon Dr Florian Blyth. When a series of grisly murders take place the doctor and Liz help Inspector Macleod in his investigation, which leads to the Edinburgh Asylum, the Burry Man festival and the quack science of phrenology

The search for the killer comes dangerously close to Liz as she uncovers her own family secrets.

Genre: Historical crime fiction

Format: Epub

Roller Rink Starlight: A Memoir by William Hart (255 pages)

William Hart’s true coming of age memoir begins when at fourteen he joins an amateur roller racing team comprised of both sexes and loaded with RSROA national champions. A varsity sprinter in track, he soon excels at speed skating.

Insiders know roller rinks are conspiracies to turn singles into couples.

The main storyline follows Hart’s early education in romance—piquant, humorous, harrowing, and laced with major life lessons. The setting: Wichita, Kansas, early 1960s, when the sexual repression of the 50s still prevails, except in rare zones of marked liberation. Adults have their watering holes, teens the rink, where they can experiment with their budding sexualities. Immersed in powerful mood music they glide in pairs through darkness under stars and make out in the bleachers. Falling in love is ridiculously easy, as we see in the adventures of teammates, parents, and certainly the author. Hart fell hard for a gifted racer, his kindred spirit, costar of many of his most indelible memories.

This sports memoir about love and roller skating chronicles poignantly the ecstasies and perils of 60s high school romance against a backdrop of flat-out athletic competition.

Roller Rink Starlight is nostalgic nonfiction for seniors and educational nonfiction for young adults interested in love and sex in another time.

Genre: Memoir / Coming Of Age

Format: Mobi / epub

I Am Mayhem by Sue Coletta (249 pages)

As bloody, severed body parts show up on her doorstep, Shawnee Daniels must stop the serial killer who wants her dead before she becomes the next victim.

But can she solve his cryptic clues before it’s too late? Or will she be the next to die a slow, agonizing death?

With crows stalking her every move, Shawnee can barely function. Things worsen when body parts show up on her doorstep. An unstoppable serial killer wants her dead. Mr. Mayhem threatens to murder everyone she loves, sending Shawnee a piece at a time.

As Mr. Mayhem sits in judgment, his cryptic clues must be solved before the final gavel drops. The game rules are simple—win the unwinnable or submit to a slow, agonizing death.

When Shawnee tries to fight back, she discovers her very existence is based on lies. But the full impact of the truth might become the headstone on Shawnee’s grave

Genre: Thriller

Format: Mobi

Five Minute Mindshifts by Kevin M Cavanagh (243 pages)

Do you want to make your goals a reality, upgrade your life, or finally achieve the happiness and fulfilment that you so long desired? Five Minute Mindshifts could be your perfect guide.Designed to inspire you to seek more from your life, this book offers easy to read, simple and actionable advice to help you get the life you long for. Forget about the complexities and theories because Five Minute Mindshifts is packed with inspiring quotations followed by short and clear explanations. It will give you the tools and techniques you need to change your beliefs, develop positive lifestyle habits and go after life with a real purpose. In 90 days or less, you will transform your current mindset and life into a positive and success-oriented one! “On average, we get 3754 weeks on this planet. Are you making the most of yours?”

Genre: Self Help

Format: Mobi

The SEAL’s Temptation by Jacquie Biggar (203 pages)

DEA Agent Maggie Holt knows what Hell is like…

After eighteen months undercover in a Mexican cartel, Maggie is broken. The kickass agent she once was, is gone, leaving her riddled with guilt and nightmares. Forced to take paid leave, Maggie accepts the offer of a vacation on the ranch of the man who’d rescued her from an almost certain death.

Frank Stein knows the signs of PTSD, he’s suffered the symptoms himself as Chief Petty Officer of SEAL Team Five. Honorably discharged from duty, Frank has found peace at the family ranch and hopes it will do the same for Magdalena. Ever since he’d first met her when she was interrogating his buddy, Jared, Frank has been fascinated by the raven-haired beauty and wants the chance to see where their relationship could go.

Adam O’Connor is Maggie’s partner. He knows her. He loved her once and could again, if she’d let him in. But he’s also angry she took the chances she did by going undercover against orders. And now, things are different. She’s different.

When a right-wing militia group infiltrates the area, will DEA Agent Maggie Holt, her partner, Adam O’Connor, and ex-SEAL Chief Frank Stein be able to set aside their differences to stop them before someone dies? And who will Maggie choose, the handsome cowboy, or her charismatic DEA partner?

Genre: Military Romance

Format: Mobi or epub

Clementine Lane by Eoghan Brunkard (ARC now for April 26th publication) 332 pages

“No man is an island but in Dublin an inner-city lane can be… Welcome to Clementine Lane, where everyone knows everyone’s business and respectfully keeps it to themselves and everyone else. Unwelcome news has struck this close-knit community that a rehabilitation centre has been granted permission for development in the lane, prompting its residents to unite in protest. Their cause, already dripping with NIMBYism, is made more unlikeable by the mysterious death of a local homeless addict.

Elsewhere, a mystery that has haunted the lane for a century intertwines the fates of a teenager and a homeless alcoholic.

Finally, a young blow-in into the area from a well-heeled part of the city is about to lose his father. His friends now only exist in the digital world, having given up on the real one, leaving him to face this problem alone; but then, no man is an island….”

Genre: Contemporary

Format: Mobi

Untouched by Jayme Bean (Arc now for May 17th publication)

Dr. Julia Morrow and her graduate students, David and Marisol, embark on a research trip to explore a remote section of the Amazon rainforest. When their trails seem to change direction at will and they find themselves lost and without communication, the trio worry they may be in for more than just the latest scientific discovery. Banding together, they’re left deciding which is more important – finding out how to escape the unexpected horrors lurking within the rainforest or getting back home in one piece. The deeper they travel into the jungle, the more they realize that some places are meant to remain untouched.

Genre: Thriller

Format: Mobi / e-pub

Persephone’s Curse by Sandra Bats (490 pages)

A future USA wrecked by a horrific virus provides the dystopian backdrop for this genre crossing speculative fiction. Elin has escaped a horrible past in the government run labs designed to find a cure. But can she overcome the trauma of her past as a lab rat for the government?

Elin is running out of options to survive in the streets after her escape. Winter is coming and when charismatic Jayden, himself a fugitive hiding from the government, offers her shelter she reluctantly takes it.

Jayden’s past is not very different from Elin’s and yet they couldn’t be on more opposite sides. After years of being forced to work as a guard at the government labs and trying to find and free his kidnapped twin sister he has developed his own, cynical ways to cope.

After reluctantly trusting Jayden Elin fights to overcome her trauma. As both work toward freeing their sisters from the labs their budding friendship develops. But when Jayden’s past is revealed to Elin she needs to decide: Is he the man she knows and trusts now or the corrupted boy he was in the past?

As Jayden tries to improve his self-destructive tendencies an old friend turned foe, reeling from his own loss and bereavements, recognizes an opportunity to settle a debt he deems owed.

Genre: Dystopia

Format: Mobi

The Mother We Share by Jennifer Soucy (ARC now for April 6th publication) 350 pages

Evie Bonaventura is terrified when a strange girl breaks into her room, a creature with her dead mother’s eyes. Dad confesses Evie had a twin, but she died along with their mother who was unable to survive the devastating childbirth. Mom swore on her deathbed that her baby was kidnapped by fairies—a changeling, but that was impossible. Myths aren’t real.

Yet the otherworldly girl continues to stalk Evie before attacking their father and others. Tragedy strikes, forcing Evie to act. She embarks on an adventurous rescue mission from Boston to Ireland, aided by an unlikely band of brave friends, legendary creatures, and a colorful coven of witches. Evie has a choice: destroy her twin sister or save her, in honor of the mother they once shared.

Genre: Ya dark fantasy

Format: Mobi or epub

Cucina Tipica: An Italian Adventure (281 pages)

Cucina Tipica: An Italian Adventure is the story of Jacoby Pines, a disheartened American who arrives in Italy on vacation and decides he never wants to leave. What follows is a food-filled, wine-soaked, travel-laden adventure about one man’s quest for an antiquated existence in the modern world.

Genre: Food and travel

Format: Mobi

A Change Would Do You Good by Pinar Tarhan (255 pages)

Janie desperately needs a change, and she needs it yesterday.

Ever since her boyfriend died and their mutual best friends moved to Canada, she’s been lost and unable to enjoy life.

So she gets a new wardrobe, job, car, and place. In another city.

The new job and apartment are great, but her colorful neighbors will be a challenge to get used to:
Agoraphobic Michelle and her car-crash happy son who is obsessed with curing his mom,
Part-time model/fashion designer Ben who seems to be competing for the worst boyfriend award and his miserable girlfriend Linda who hates her career,
Goth metal chick Ashley who loves drugs, guns, and weird parties,
Lackluster cops Sam and Tom who want a more exciting life.

Luckily Janie has met Greg, a handsome therapist who might be the best friend a person can have. And her downstairs neighbor Kevin, a pro surfer with the looks of a Norse god, seems fun and friendly enough.

Genre: Contemporary romance

Format: Mobi / epub

 

The Jailbird’s Jackpot by PJ Colando (374 pages)

AMY BREEDEN manages to hold herself together for two thousand days in a penitentiary with a single-minded focus: to take down the dude who did her in.

So, when she wins a mega-million-dollar lottery within moments of prison release, it’s on.

Post-prison mentors advise her that “living well is the best revenge” and persuade her winnings (felons can win a lottery, but it’s difficult to open a bank account) to invest in a spa for plastic surgery recoverees.

All goes well initially. Soon, however, problems stalk her emerging self-worth, as well as the build-out of her posh money-pit.

Ultimately, Amy’s ambitions are realized. She gains reward, revenge, and redemption – as well as having a zany romp of a good time!

Genre: Humorous contemporary women’s fiction

Format: Mobi

Saving Seymour by L.N. Lock (ARC now for June 15th publication)

In a parallel world, black-and-white vision is the norm, and only a small minority who meet their Soulmate can see in color.

Ivan Notte has just met his Soulmate, and he isn’t happy about it. Maybe he could have handled seeing the world in color if his Soulmate hadn’t turned out to be a troubled artist. Winston Jinx is everything Ivan prides himself on hating. He’s a painter (so, without a real job), an activist (so, entitled), and he’s a giant smartass. Ivan knows things aren’t going to work, especially given Winston’s passion for the local orca pods that Galaxsea Theme Parks (Ivan’s company) stole its star attraction from.

Winston is equally miffed when he meets Ivan. After all, Winston is way too busy planning to jailbreak Seymour the orca to deal with some bigot who sneers at the word “orange.” And yet, said bigot keeps finding excuses to show up at Winston’s apartment with questions about the wild orcas, why Winston isn’t bothered by seeing in color, and what mysterious project is keeping Winston’s fridge stocked with salmon.

If Ivan is already slightly disturbed by his own infatuation, he’s mortified by it when he finds out about Winston’s plans to free Seymour. Not because he’s worried about the theme park—Galaxsea’s corporate culture is nightmarish—but because his coworker and ex, Mike Swan, would love an excuse to rid Seattle of one more activist, and he has already demonstrated his personal disdain for Winston.

Saving Seymour is an adult coming-of-age story about the trials that come with choosing happiness, discovering one’s sexuality, and love’s power for change.

Genre: LGBT speculative novel

Format: E-pub

This is Us: Black British Women and Girls (272 pages)

This is Us is a collection of poetry and prose by Black British women and girls aged 4 to 86. With over 100 pieces, the book ties together the lives of women across generations to capture a lifetime of lived experience.

Collected by Kafayat Okanlawon from strangers, acquaintances, friends and family, the stories here are more than words on paper; they are a representation of resistance, freedom and sisterhood.

Genre: Poetry and Prose

Format: Mobi

The Cotillion Brigade: A Novel of the Civil War and the Most Famous Female Militia in American History by Glen Craney (590 pages)

Georgia burns.
Sherman’s Yankees are closing in.
Will the women of LaGrange run or fight?

Based on the true story of the celebrated Nancy Hart Rifles, The Cotillion Brigade is a sweeping epic of the Civil War’s ravages on family and love, the resilient bonds of sisterhood amid devastation, and the miracle of reconciliation between bitter enemies.

Genre: Histfic

Format: Mobi

Wild Shadow: A Sweet Paranormal Romance by Martha Dunlop  (288 pages)

Only Dylan can see the tiger. Is it real? His muse? Or something else entirely? 

Dylan wants to launch a solo music career and move out of the flat he shares with his old school friends, but he feels trapped by his life in Wildley Forest Village. When a mysterious artist catches his eye and a white tiger starts appearing only to him, Dylan finally feels things changing. But is this apparition all in his imagination, or is something more magical happening?

Tabitha moved to Wildley Forest to paint the tigers at the zoo. A reclusive young artist with a big reputation, she protects her privacy fiercely. Nobody knows her biggest secret: When she paints, she astral projects and her awareness walks as a white tiger. People don’t usually see her tiger form, but then she encounters Dylan and her defences begin to crumble.

Dylan’s friends aren’t keen on the new girl and the tiger keeper at the zoo wants Tabitha’s attention for himself. But as the tiger walks, change becomes inevitable for everyone. Can Dylan and Tabitha find their way to love? And will the truth unite them or will it tear them apart?

Genre: Paranormal romance

Format: Mobi or epub

Survival (Part 1 of a trilogy) by Chris Wright (244 pages)

It was just a normal week for Danny. At least it was, until Olivia disappeared. His friends have no memory of her, leaving Danny to start doubting his sanity. Did he imagine her? Was she ever real? One by one, his friends become hunted by something terrifying and Danny is helpless to stop it. What follows is a mind-bending chain of events that cast Danny’s view of the world into question, as he struggles to survive, all the while questioning what his reality really is.
What starts out as a Mystery/Horror soon flips into inventive Science-Fiction.

Genre: Horror scifi

Format: mobi / epub

In The Shadow of Ruin by Tony Debajo

Set in ancient Nigeria, Jide Adelani is the king of the most renowned tribe in the lands that claim to trace their lineage directly from the gods. His reign is threatened by his half-brother, Olise, whose mother is known to belong to a cult of witches.

Jide is forced to abandon his morality and seek support from men of the underworld, at the risk of provoking the wrath of the deities, to save his kingdom. Jide’s three sons, separated by their city in flames, are hunted by Olise, as he sweeps through the war-ravaged lands, purging it of the remnants of Jide’s fading alliances.

Each of Jide’s sons’ destinies is irrevocably altered by the events they bear witness to. Their journeys are beset with mystery, treachery and the unseen hands of the capricious gods, and take them across diverse and hostile landscapes, while their father fights to preserve what little of his legacy and dignity remain to him.

Genre: West African Mythology

Format: Mobi / e-pub

Kings, Conquerors, Psychopaths: From Alexander to Hitler to the Corporation by Joseph N. Abraham (336 pages)

Conquest is murder and theft.
Conquerors are vicious criminals.
Vicious criminals become kings.
Kings designed civilization.

We are the products of civilization.

Right wing populists increasingly draw attention around the globe, but the attention is misdirected. The real problem is not the authoritarian leader, but the blinkered supporters who unquestioningly follow him. Without them, the despot is irrelevant.

Why do we attach ourselves to demagogues and mountebanks? Why do we defend even their most obvious hypocrisies and lies?

The answer lies in the roots of civilization. Despite our romantic traditions, monarchs were never wise, just, nor generous. Even the briefest review of history shows that, without exception, kings were the most vicious psychopaths, narcissists, and sadists who ever lived.

And the only path for survival in the ancient world required unquestioningly obeying— and blindly believing— anything the king said.

Genre: Political history

Format: Mobi / e-pub

Star Eater by Kitty Shields (Arc now for April 6th publication) 324 pages

Enter a different kind of L.A., where mobsters are daemons, high school students are possessed, and frozen yogurt is the first step to solving every problem.

Kai is possessed by his demon, Akuma, and has been for eleven years. And for eleven years he’s managed to keep that tidbit of information a secret. His parents think the strange side effects of having a pet demon are due to a physical disability, but boy and demon have reached a happy equilibrium, and leaving Kai’s parents in the dark is essential to that.

Life is, well, not grand but serviceable until a mobster recognizes Kai and Akuma for what they are, and he needs their power to break out a very dangerous criminal. As Kai gets sucked into the supernatural underground, he finds that the mob knows more about his demon than he does and what he doesn’t know is very, very dangerous.

As Kai and Akuma try and navigate through the sea of other monsters in the dark, they have to do it while pretending to be the most mysterious creature of all: a normal teenager.

Genre: Ya urban fantasy

Format: mobi / epub

Ever rest by Roz Morris (Arc now for June 21st publication)

In 1994, 19-year-old Elza Jones receives the devastating news that her fiancée has died while climbing Mount Everest. His body cannot be retrieved and twenty years later, she is still unwillingly bound to him – he was the front man of the iconic rock duo Ashbirds. Also tied to him is the musical genius Hugo, who formed the band and is now a recluse in Nepal. And Robert, a struggling session player who is both blessed and cursed by his brief time with Ashbirds, and yearns for recognition in his own right. While the music is eternally beloved and celebrated, Elza, Hugo and Robert remain as stranded as the man in the ice.
How will they come back to life?

Genre: Contemporary

Format: Mobi

The Bodies That Move by Bunye Ngene (139 pages)

Stranded in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea on a dinghy, Nosa reflects on the events that brought him to his present predicament.Abandoned by his father as a child, he is forced to bear the responsibility of caring for his mother and siblings. Seeing no future in Nigeria, Nosa is persuaded by an old schoolmate to migrate to Europe. In order to achieve this, he employs the services of smugglers.His journey takes him through many transit cities, safe houses and detention camps in Nigeria, Niger and war-torn Libya, and sees him cross the Sahara Desert. On his journey, he meets other travellers, each with unique stories. They are all united, however, by the desire for a better life in Europe.

Genre: Contemporary fiction

Format: Mobi

Twilight’s Fall by J. Steven Lamperti (189 pages)

On his way back to his capital to face down a rebellion, the young king Twilight is ambushed in the forest. Who wants to kill him, and why?

His companions, Aela, Blaine, and Corentin, all rise to the occasion in ways the king never expects. Is there more to them than he sees on the surface?

The journey back to the King’s Seat is fraught with danger, ghostly trials, and survival, but once there, they still must struggle to face down the rebellion.

In the final battle for his kingdom, Twilight faces his end, his doom. Will he and his allies be able to save his kingdom, or will this be Twilight’s Fall?

Genre: Fantasy

Format: Mobi /epub

Kimura: A Tale of a Japanese Murderess by R.G. Honda (324 pages)

A Japanese tale of murder, hold ups and car chases. Naoko Kimura, a woman with a history of spontaneous violence, unintentionally murders her husband on the same night she learns of the whereabouts of her long lost half-sister. Believing her sister to be the victim of a mass kidnap scheme, Naoko and her closest friend, Akari Sato, resolve to travel across the length of Japan with no transportation and a pittance to their name in order to find her. All the while, they are subjected to a manhunt by the national police force.

Genre: Thriller

Format: Mobi

Five Times Lucky by P. David Temple (304 pages)

In Five Times Lucky , an intrepid traveler gets more than her share of tabloid celebrity. In this fast-moving comedy by P. David Temple, the quest for fame has no boundaries…but celebrity has its downside.
Genre: Comedy

Format: Mobi

If She Dies by Erik Therme (325 pages)

Nine months ago, Tess’s five-year-old daughter was killed in a car accident. The driver, Brady Becker, was sentenced to two years in prison. It didn’t make Tess’s pain go away.

Brady also has a daughter: A twelve-year-old named Eve who walks to Chandler Middle School every day. Tess knows this because she’s been watching Eve for the last three weeks. It isn’t fair that Brady’s daughter gets to live, while Tess’s daughter does not.

When Eve goes missing, all eyes turn to Tess, who doesn’t have an alibi. But Tess isn’t guilty.

Or so she believes.

Genre: Thriller

Format: Mobi

Strait Sets by Mark Cunnington (320 pages)

Many love stories are tender and heart-warming, others are predictable or mundane. A few veer towards the outer edges of normality… and some stand scandalously alone.

Set in a Covid-free contemporary England, Strait Sets is dark, comic and wordly-wise.

Partnering his wife in a mixed doubles final at his local tennis club, college lecturer, Paul, misses an easy smash on set point, one that subsequently marks the end of his marriage. Now single, he blows the divorce settlement on an expensive beach hut located on the Suffolk coast, an area where he spent many happy summer holidays as a child. Hoping to use his new acquisition as a base camp retreat to heal his ravaged life, a blisteringly hot Easter bank holiday turns out to be far more than the beach-hut-revamp trip he first envisages.

Genre: Romcom

Format: Mobi

The Drowning Land by David M. Donachie (272 pages)

The Drowning Land is set in Doggerland, the landscape that now lies at the bottom of the North Sea, during the mesolithic, eight thousand years ago. It is a story of tribes, traditions, monsters, madmen, and love, set against the inevitable destruction of climate change.

Follow the story of Edan the Fisher, and Tara seer of the Troll People, as they search for a way to save the Summer Lands from the inexorable rising of the sea. Can they find a way to undo the doom that Tara has foreseen, or does their salvation lie with Phelan, master of the wolf clan taboo-breakers?

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Format: Mobi

Doubt The Stars by Emily Shelleck (312 pages)

A hologram cries murder. A hidden lie. Can she expose her father’s killer?

Crown Princess Henley is reeling after the sudden death of the king. But when her mother quickly marries her father’s brother, Henley’s shock gives way to anger. And after a ghostly hologram cries betrayal, she takes on a galactic quest for revenge.

While Henley scours the space station for evidence, she alienates her girlfriend with an obsession for justice. But after her plot to draw out a confession ends in bloodshed, Henley’s search could end in banishment…

With vengeance in her grasp, how far will one daughter go to avenge her father?

Doubt The Stars is the first book in the Shakespeare in Space series of captivating LGBT sci-fi novels. If you like brooding suspense, strong female characters, and fascinating retellings, then you’ll love Emily Selleck’s engrossing tale.

Genre: Ya scifi LGBT

Format: Mobi / epub

Her Mad Song by C. J. Halbard (111 pages)

The strange and haunting tale of rediscovering yourself in a time of madness.

A man and his adopted daughter come to Tempest Bay seeking a mystery. The world outside is aflame with anger and turmoil, but here in this tiny coastal town the old ways still hold. They take shelter with an obsessive meteorologist, in the shadow of a dark tower on the clifftops. From here they must navigate the labyrinth of small-town secrets and their own fears as a long-awaited storm approaches…

Her Mad Song imagines a world on the cusp of emotional climate change: a profound shift in how our inner lives connect to the places around us. The warring forces of this world are kindness and cruelty, creativity and death, history and memory and possibility and the deep primordial terror that echoes from the ocean to the stars.

Welcome to Tempest Bay.

Genre: Speculative fiction / horror

Format: Mobi / epub

Not Having It All by Jennie Ensor (325 pages) Relaunched for Feb 18th, new book cover soon.

This is the story of four middle-aged people who are definitely NOT having it all… Meet Bea, Kurt, Maddie and Colin.

Senior lecturer Bea Hudson is barely managing to combine her job at the ‘Psycho Lab’ with looking after a demanding five-year-old daughter, badly-behaved dog and next-to-useless ex-au pair. When her chief exec husband is sent overseas and she’s left without childcare, Bea resorts to scribbling in a tatty W.H. Smith exercise book to save her sanity. Stranded Scientist, Weary Wife and Make-do Mum is fast approaching the end of her tether.

Kurt, downing whiskies in his hotel room as he imagines what his wife could be up to, is convinced that Bea is becoming a little too friendly with her best friend, Maddie. With characteristic obsession he enlists a neighbour’s help in his remote, top-secret surveillance operation, the details of which are recorded in his seven-levels-deep iPad document ‘What To Do About Madeleine?’.

Try-anything-once artist Maddie meets divorced, risk-averse Colin in a lift after arriving late for a job interview.

Colin, a manager at ‘the nation’s number one pussy insurer’ is smitten and resolves to displace Maddie’s feline companions on her sofa. But he starts to fear that Maddie sees him only as a handy stud with a fat wallet…

Can Bea and Kurt make a fresh start and find happiness again, before it’s too late? Can Maddie and Colin overcome their fears of being hurt, and risk falling in love?

Not Having it All is a sparkling, feel-good comedy about the perils of relationships in middle age. If you enjoy wry British humour and laugh-out-loud reads, you’ll love this razor-sharp romantic comedy with a difference.

Genre: Comedy

Format: Mobi

Songwriter Night: A Musical Romance by D.G. Driver (93 pages or request an audio copy with 12 extra songs)

Lyle and Trish are two aspiring Country music songwriters that meet at a Nashville coffee house. With Trish being new in town, Lyle invites her to his monthly gathering of songwriters to get to know her better. The evening of quirky characters and light-hearted singing is interrupted by the arrival Aiden Bronson. He’s got a hit song on the radio, and he’s back to show off, stirring up some rivalry while he’s at it. How will Lyle compete against Aiden’s charisma and talent in order to win Trish’s heart?

Genre: Romance novella

Format: Mobi or code for an audio download

House of Rougeaux by Jenny Jaeckel (310 pages – re-released for March)

For Abeje and her brother Adunbi, home is the slave quarters of a Caribbean sugar plantation on the Antilles Island of Martinique. Under the watchful eye of their African mother, the children thrive despite what threatens to break them. After a night of brutality changes their lives forever, it is their strength and extraordinary bond that carries them through.

At the dawn of emancipation, Adunbi’s daughter Hetty finds her way to Quebec City as maid to the slave owner’s daughters. There she discovers a talent for piano and meets a bold saddler’s apprentice named Dax Rougeaux. After buying her freedom, Dax and Hetty join a growing community of Afro-Canadians living free.

Genre: Historical fiction (does contain magical realism)

Format: Mobi

Stalking Gideon Cain by Kerry Alan Denney (ARC now for May 21st Publication)

Bestselling author Gideon Cain is losing his mind. Everywhere he turns lately, the femme fatales from his psychological thrillers show up—live and in person. Are they actresses playing a cruel joke on him, figments of his increasingly terrifying delusions, or fantastical vigilantes sprung to life from the pages of his books? All he knows for certain is if he doesn’t find answers soon, he’s bound for the psych ward.

When one of his fictional antagonists poisons him on a flight home from a book-signing tour, he realizes that someone isn’t just messing with his mind—they’re trying to kill him.

Now he’s running for his life from an enemy with a weapon so deadly it can kill with the touch of a button. Only an enigmatic woman from his tragic past can help him discover the truth behind his adversary’s vendetta. And time is running out to stop the madman who is stalking Gideon Cain.

Genre: Thriller

Format: Mobi / epub

Layers by Zuzanne Belec (136 pages)

A debut collection of imaginative short stories celebrating life and the human spirit despite the ever-present spectre of melancholy in our lives today. With their distinctive blend of wit and humour, they light up any underlying darkness.

From the Americas to India, from Africa to Europe, and through a range of genres, voices and styles, layers are unraveled, revealing the textures and contrasts of old and new in the environments and cultures of today’s fast-paced world. With vivid descriptions, we are drawn into enchanting worlds with characters that leap off the page, leaving the reader lingering long after the pages have been read.

Genre: Short stories

Format: Book funnel download code

NEANDER: Exploitation by Harald Johnson (Book #2 of the series) 299 pages

Time traveler Tom Cook is living a long-sought-after “normal” life with his
Neanderthal family 40,000 years ago.
When Tom carries his hybrid daughter who’s facing a life-threatening crisis
to the future for medical help, he’s entangled in the modern world and discovers that she is in even more danger.
Now, caught up in a biomedical plot to exploit his daughter’s unique Neanderthal DNA, Tom must find a way to save both his daughter and his prehistoric family.

Genre: Timetravel Histfic

Format: Mobi / e-pub

This Is Lockdown – MJ Mallon And Others (169 pages)

This anthology and compilation is for everyone, wherever you live in the world. We are all experiencing the impact of COVID19 and lockdown. As writers, bloggers and creatives we express our thoughts and opinions in writing: in heartfelt poetry, pieces on isolation and the impact of COVID19 and the ‘new normal.’
There are twenty eight talented contributors, including the creative NHS Mask Making Fundraising Team of Jane Horwood and Melissa Santiago Val. The contributors come from as far afield as Australia, Canada, USA and Zimbabwe, or closer to my current home in England – in Ireland, Scotland and Italy.

It is as Willow Willers, a contributor said, ‘A piece of living history.’
This extraordinary and unexpected time period will be shared with future generations one day. Compiling and editing this anthology has given me a purpose over the period of Lockdown and for that I am grateful. The book showcases several authors and their thoughts on what it is like to experience ‘isolation’ as a writer. In the final part of the book I include my latest short story idea: a YA romance and various short pieces of poetry, and flash fiction inspired by the pandemic.

Genre: Anthology

Format: Mobi

Visitor’s Blood by Sahreth Baphy Bowden (556 pages)

When an alien craft lands on planet Earth, Maj. John and Dr. Connie Shinn are eager to learn about its all-too-human passengers. However, when the peaceful aliens are forced into further compliance, the Earthlings are thrown into an unimaginable battle against one of the passengers…a vampire. Unwittingly, the couple find themselves aboard the spaceship with its captain, Malook, and his vampiric companion, Sulru, as they head for Galdelier where they find the beautiful foreign world on the brink of civil war between the ruling humans and the malcontent vampires, strained under decades of subjugation. But amidst struggle, the lines between friend and foe can be easily turned askew. When you begin to question everything you once thought was noble or evil, where will you find your loyalties lie?

Genre: Scifi

Format: Mobi/ epub

Pariah’s Lament by Richie Billing (ARC now due out March 17th) 480 pages.

When an attempt is made on the life of Ashara, Keeper of Yurr, his young, hapless advisor Edvar must uncover and stop those behind it. With enemies in the capital city and the belligerent Tesh, Keeper of neighboring kingdom Karrabar stirring trouble in the Borderlands, can Edvar hold together Ashara’s brittle reign?

The troubles ripple throughout Yurr, affecting an ancient race of people known as the Amast, who in their time of utmost need, turn to pariah Isy for salvation. Rejected by society, kith and kin, can Isy guide the Amast to safety during the greatest turmoil Yurr has known since the War of the Damned?

Genre: High Fantasy

Format: Mobi /epub

Spiral by Khaled Talib (275 pages)

Laurence Turner, a pharmacist from Sydney, is wracked with guilt after his fiancé dies on a sailing trip. The tragedy is followed by yet another fatal incident when he dispenses the wrong medication to a customer.
Laurence moves to the Clare Valley in South Australia for a fresh start, but when he stumbles across the dead body of a visiting American reporter, things take a turn for the worst.
The case explodes into far more than Laurence could ever expect with the arrival of a beautiful American woman, Skyler Hawthorne. Her troubles put Laurence in the path of both domestic and foreign agents, including a dangerous Russian spy who believes Laurence is hiding a secret.

Genre: Thriller

Format: Mobi / epub

The Dead Boxes Archive by John Leonard (381 pages)

The Dead Boxes Archive is a chilling collection of short horror stories and horror novellas. Together for the first time in one volume, seven tales from the critically acclaimed Dead Boxes series.

Dead Boxes are scary things. Wonderful and dreadful secrets hiding themselves in plain view.
On the surface, they often appear to be ordinary, everyday objects. Items which are easily overlooked at first glance. Perhaps that’s just as well because the Dead Boxes are as far from ordinary and everyday as you can get. They hold miracle and mystery, horror and salvation, answers to questions best not asked and directions to places better left unfound.

This collection offers an insight into some of these delightfully eerie articles. A stunning omnibus of old school inspired horror, the brooding and ominous variety. Includes: Linger, The Screaming Mike Hawkins, Call Drops, Doggem, A Plague Of Pages, The Burntbridge Boys and Night Service.

Genre: Horror

Format: Mobi

A Rainbow Like You by Andréa Fehsenfeld (322 pages)

An iconic rock star with everything to prove. A teen runaway with nothing left to lose. Are you ready for the most unexpected journey?

Adrian ‘Jazzer’ Johnson’s gilded rock and roll career is the stuff of legend. From out of the dive bars of Long Beach, this high school dropout rocketed his band to the pinnacle of success. But after a whirlwind decade ended with him broken and questioning, Adrian disappeared.

Now back on tour after a year in exile, Adrian’s still struggling and under pressure to deliver his next hit. The last thing he needs is to find a teen runaway hiding in his tour bus. As it turns out, Hastings Sinclair is a synesthete who can see music in color. But her offer to help color-blind Adrian unpack his creative block upends their lives in ways they never imagined.

Because Adrian’s troubles run deep—beyond what any song can fix—and Hastings hasn’t been upfront about hers. When calamity strikes, a perfect storm of fates unleashes and caught in the crossfire are Adrian’s band mates, a fame-shy beauty he falls hard for, and a scheming journalist with a vendetta. With everything he values suddenly on the line, can Adrian reconcile his own brash history? Or will he be forced to face the music in a way he never has before?

Genre: Contemporary

Format: Mobi

Cyberblade: The City of Five Skies by William Z. Stone (408 pages)

Dive into the dystopian world of Neo Mars!
Lex, a part-time roboticist from a family of Empyrean refugees, is the lone hope of her family to overcome Graexian oppression and earn them a place above the steel skies, where the air is clean, and the people rich.
Yet when every door is shut, and every opportunity closed, Lex decides to forge her own path of blood and bone. With a talking battle-droid at her side, insane cyborgs in her way, and strange power awakening-Lex will either force the Graexian elite to treat her people with the compassion they deserve or drag the highborn deep down into the enginecity where they can burn together.

Cyberblade: The City of Five Skies, is a world inspired by Cyberpunk 2077, the Hunger Games series, and the author’s long period of isolation during the Covid-shutdown and Australian wildfires. William Z Stone aimed to turn the feeling of being indoors and days of ash-clogged skies into its own dystopian world, where the people live in city-sized engines, and the citizens treated as mere cogs to be used and replaced by those in power.

If a dystopian story, with deep-dive questions about self-identity and a cybernetics-fueled revolution interests you, then read Cyberblade now!

Genre: Ya Scifi / Dystopia

Format: Mobi

The Shard by Jane Shand (274 pages)

Darkness is falling…

Something is happening to the children of the land. Slowly they are being turned, their magic twisted by the dark energy spreading its tentacles across the country, until what’s left is only a Darkling abomination. Only those in possession of a special Gift are immune and can drain away the energy to heal the children – but only as and when the Gift chooses.

Nalani has this Gift but considers it to be something of a curse. Believing it drove away her beloved father literally and her mother emotionally, she lives a lonely life doing what she can to help others. When the Gift suddenly demands that she journey to the mainland, the chance for escape, for a new life and purpose, beckons. And with both hands, she grabs for it.

Except as she settles into her new life in the city of Karas, she soon discovers more questions than answers when she stumbles across a series of magical experiments on creatures rumoured to have created the energy unique to the city. When she learns that this could be responsible for the dark forces sweeping the land, she decides this time she will take her life into her own hands. With the help of those she encounters including a Darkling boy and Luca, a young man whose research seems to hold the key, Nalani sets out on a path that will forever change her life. But will she figure out all of the answers, including ones shadowed inside herself, before the darkness overpowers them all.

With its young adult protagonist and themes of self-discovery, coming of age, and setting out on one’s own, this novel should appeal to adults and YA alike.

Genre: Fantasy

Format: Mobi

Unnatural, Erica Rosen MD Trilogy, Book 1 by Deven Greene (ARC now for Jan 7th 2021 publication)

Dr. Erica Rosen, a San Francisco, California pediatrician, is perplexed when she sees a young Chinese girl with blue eyes in her clinic. The girl’s mother, Ting, is secretive, and Erica suspects she has entered the United States illegally. Later, Erica encounters Ting’s son and discovers he has an unusual mutation. Erica learns that Ting’s children underwent embryonic stem cell gene editing as part of a secret Chinese government-run program.
The Chinese government wants to murder Ting’s son to prevent others from learning about his unusual mutation and the secret gene-editing program. At Ting’s urging, Erica heads to China to expose the program and rescue the infant Ting was forced to leave behind, all while attempting to evade the watchful eye of the Chinese government.

Genre: Medical thriller

Format: Mobi or epub

Everything That Came Before Grace by Bill See (ARC now, for publication early December)

A music obsessed, wannabe writer and single-father comes of age as he discovers whether it’s love or fatherhood that could save him. Haunted by his mother’s death and a series of serendipitous events from his past, Benjamin Bradford desperately tries to keep his mental illness under control while raising his daughter Sophia. Set against the iconic streets of Los Angeles, there’s music always playing, heavy therapy sessions and private emails to discern, shattered friendships and betrayal, and the specter of a true love that got away. Think: Silver Linings Playbook meets High Fidelity with a dash of Eighth Grade. Can Benjamin find redemption? Can he escape his demons and find love again? Come along for the ride and find out.

Genre: Coming of age

Format: Mobi or epub

Psychopath’s Diary Vol.I: Inner world of a serial killer through his own bloodthirsty entity by Kirill Khrestinin (268 pages)

It was a cold, rainy night when I came home and found a package on my front porch. The sender’s name and address were missing from the label. I opened the package and discovered inside of it a manuscript titled “Psychopath’s Diary Vol. I” I was instantly pulled into the mind of a serial killer and introduced to a reality that far surpassed any definition of normal in today’s society. “Psychopath’s Diary Vol. I” is the essence of taboo. It can only be described as a poetry of violence. A symphony of torture. A tale of sexual deviance with a drop of incest and necrophilia. You want to stop reading, but you simply cannot. It is like taking a bite out of a forbidden fruit even if the taste of it spoils the sensitive stomach of our morality.
One question ran through my mind over and over, why me? Why did the killer send his confession of the crimes he had committed to me? I searched for an answer within the pages of the manuscript, but could not find one, not even a hint. There is something that has to link him and I, but what?

Genre: Psychological/crime/horror fiction

Format: Mobi

His Castilian Hawk by Anna Belfrage (355 pages)

For bastard-born Robert FitzStephan, being given Eleanor d’Outremer in marriage is an honour. For Eleanor, this forced wedding is anything but a fairy tale…
Robert FitzStephan has served Edward Longshanks loyally since the age of twelve. Now he is riding with his king to once and for all bring Wales under English control.
Eleanor d’Outremer—Noor to family—lost her Castilian mother as a child and is left entirely alone when her father and brother are killed. When ordered to wed the unknown Robert FitzStephan, she has no choice but to comply.
Two strangers in a marriage bed is not easy. Things are further complicated by Noor’s blood-ties to the Welsh princes and by covetous Edith who has warmed Robert’s bed for years.
Robert’s new wife may be young and innocent, but he is soon to discover that not only is she spirited and proud, she is also brave. Because when Wales lies gasping and Edward I exacts terrible justice on the last prince and his children, Noor is determined to save at least one member of the House of Aberffraw from the English king.
Will years of ingrained service have Robert standing with his king or will he follow his heart and protect his wife, his beautiful and fierce Castilian hawk?

Genre: Historical Fiction / Historical Romance

Format: Mobi or e-pub

Ascension of the Phoenix by Jessica Piro (371 pages)

To rise from ashes, one must be a phoenix.
Detective Leila Wells has apprehended every criminal to cross her path, except for one. And when Bryan Foster returns, he devastates her world. To cope, she finds release in street fighting. Successes with her fighting partner grant them an invitation to participate in the Rulers of the Realms Fighting Tag Tournament. But as she fights, a power begins to rise within her—a dark and angry blaze urging her toward revenge.

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Format: Mobi

The Lumbermill by Laya V. Smith (333 pages)

Los Angeles, 1954.
Sending a pair of mass murderers to the chair got his name in the papers, but veteran fighter pilot turned detective, Augy Small, couldn’t celebrate. The culprits confessed, but the cops only ever found one body. Who had the killers died to protect?
Katya Tyler, a Russian enigma with a wad of cash in one hand and a hit list in the other, claims to have the answers. First, she wants Augy’s help to bring down a massive underground network of human traffickers.
As the case unfolds, every clue is an echo of his past. The horrors he experienced in the Pacific, shadows of scars he still carries, and rumors of a place long since destroyed. The Lumbermill is back in operation. Every day more innocents are harvested, their screams muffled in darkness. And the only way Augy can stop it is to go back into the nightmare he thought he’d escaped forever.

Genre: Dark neo-noir thriller

Format: Mobi / epub

Of Magpies And Men by Ode Ray (312 pages) ARC now for Feb 2021 release)

Can any good come of longings that a person can never satisfy? If so, good for whom?

At the heart Of Magpies and Men are impossible yearnings and an illicit confession that will transform the existence of many in its path…
Two corpses wash ashore in a picturesque Italian village, the violence that put them there is bound to a long held secret and two strangers living worlds apart with seemingly nothing in common.
Benedict Grant a high achiever, wealthy Londoner, leading a lonely life.
Marie Boulanger a nurse and single mum, struggling to make ends meet in Marseille.
However, a mother’s revelation will set in motion a chain of events that will reshape their identities, stir poignant family affairs and delve into the by-products of lawless decisions.

Discover a captivating and moving story weaving mystery, drama and romance peppered with humour. A tale that will stay with you long after its final page and a twist you won’t see coming.

Genre: Mystery / family saga

Format: Mobi