Alternate History – King Of Trees by Carmen Webster Buxton @CarmenWBuxton

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King Of Trees by Carmen Webster Buxton was a pleasant surprise, more than I expected. Why I was so surprised, I don’t know. After all, I have loved everything I have read of hers. Maybe it was the cover? The title?

King of Trees

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I have been reading Carmen Webster’s work for some time now, and she never fails to entertain me. Her writing is captivating and many times she creates an original story that keeps me reading until the last sentence is read, like with King Of Trees, a novel approach to time travel. Instead of going forward or back, we go sideways, into a parallel universe, and due to damage to their ‘vehicle’ they will not be coming back.

Their mission: stop the desecration of the environment. I love reading novels that include global warming, pollution…who knows what fictional ideas could become our new reality.

The world Carmen Webster Buxton has created took me back in time with the characters, looking through new eyes and an open mind. At this point, I became wrapped up in the paperback I was reading and quit taking notes. Now I regret it. There was so much I wanted to share and I waited too long.

As I sit here thinking, one of the first things that came to mind was how the characters learned to work together, grew to trust each other and become a community, each part of the whole. I love books that get me thinking and King Of Trees does that.

The story, for me, is about the characters…the personal sacrifices they make and their growth that Carmen has so richly developed.

King Of Trees by Carmen Webster Buxton is a complete novel, no series. The story is finished and I enjoyed my time in Albion. I look forward to more from Carmen. I feel my review does not convey how much I enjoyed the story, the fantasy, the perils…

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of King Of Trees by Carmen Webster Buxton.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREAD BLURB

In an alternate version of Britain, a group of sideways-in-time travelers have forever altered the course of their new world’s history. “What if the world we’re on is only one thread out of millions of threads in the rope of time?” The question the Outsider woman posed to him left Bardolph as confused as ever. He knew the Outsiders had appeared as if by magic many years before, during his great-grandfather’s reign, but he had never understood where they came from. He only knew they had changed Albion forever. Melissa York might have been grateful to her rescuer, who called himself King of Albion, but she saw no reason to let her gratitude influence her opinion of antiquated notions like monarchy and pagan religions. Let the Druids go back to their forests. She and her people were the best defense Albion had against the invaders. Bardolph knew better. All the people of Albion would need to work together or they would find themselves conquered again. Only this time instead of a Roman emperor, their tribute would be paid to one in faraway China. He only hoped the Outsiders were as clever and as powerful as rumor said they were, because Albion needed all the help it could get.

ABOUT CARMEN WEBSTER BUXTON

Carmen Webster Buxton

Carmen Webster Buxton spent her youth reading every book published by Ursula LeGuin, Robert Heinlein and Georgette Heyer. This combination of far-future worlds, alien cultures, and old-fashioned courting customs influenced her writing, especially in her ThreeCon series.

Carmen was born in Hawaii and experienced a peripatetic childhood, as her father was in the US Navy. Having raised two wonderful children, she now lives in Maryland with her husband Charlie, and a beagle named Cosmo. She writes science fiction (often including a romance, and mostly set in the far future), and the occasional fantasy.

Carmen has published many books:

WAKANREO SERIES
Alien Bonds
Alien Vows
Alien Skies

HAVEN SERIES
The Sixth Discipline
No Safe Haven

THREECON SERIES (can be read in any order)
The Nostalgia Gambit
Saronna’s Gift
Shades of Empire
Tribes
Worlds Apart

ALTERNATE HISTORY
King of Trees

YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION
Turnabout
Drifters

FANTASY
Where Magic Rules
Bag of Tricks
Hidden Magic

THE NAMELESS WORLD SAGA (coming in 2021)
The North Edge of Nowhere
Oaths and Promises

Carmen often blogs about ereaders, digital publishing, writing, and speculative fiction. Visit her blog to see what’s coming out next! To ask questions or to provide feedback on her books, send email to carmen.webster.buxton (at) gmail.com.

Website / Twitter / Facebook

MY CARMEN WEBSTER BUXTON REVIEWS

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Giveway – Yearning To Live by Shirley Anne Edwards @ShirlAwriter @XpressoTours

Yearning to Live
Shirley Anne Edwards
(Finding the Strength, #4)
Publication date: July 24th 2022
Genres: Contemporary, LGBTQ+, New Adult, Romance

A self-proclaimed ordinarily average girl meets the one larger than life person who will make her yearn for so much more.

Natalie Benton has nursed enough heartbreak in her twenty-one years. But she doesn’t like to complain even though her parents’ marriage might be falling apart, and she’s still mourning her brother, who committed suicide five years ago. On top of that, she was recently ghosted by her lover, an emotionally detached tattoo artist who ran off to California. She’s ready to graduated college in a few months but she’s not sure what her next steps will be. For now, she’ll take each day as it comes, which has become her mantra as an ordinary, average girl in Albee, Pennsylvania where nothing exciting ever happens.

But fate has other plans for Natalie, when a very not ordinary average girl enters her life. It’s the larger than life Gem Grove, one of the most popular singers of the past decade. Gem’s been hiding out in Albee while she also tries her best to take each day as it comes, but her addiction to bigger fame and fortune could lead to her downfall. The public may think she’s entitled and spoiled but she’s ready to prove them all wrong. She’s more than just a singer who performs on demand. She wants to create art with her songs and gain the respect she has always wanted.

Natalie and Gem shouldn’t fit together but they do. The ordinary average girl and the larger-than-life diva might be destined for more, but only if they can achieve it together.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

“How did you know I’d be here?” I finished my juice with a loud pull on my straw.

She tapped her now painted silver thumbnails together. “Yesterday morning I went back to your work to check on the dog but then I saw you get in a car with some guy. I, ah, followed you home. After your boyfriend dropped you off and you walked inside your house, I was going to ring the doorbell, but I didn’t want you to think I was a stalker.”

“Israh’s not my boyfriend. He’s my best friend and next-door neighbor who—” I shut up before I told her too much about him, and me. “But you knowing I’m here now isn’t being a stalker?”

She stopped fidgeting with her fingers and stared out the window. “I drove away and decided to stop by your house again this morning. But then you were walking on Main Street, and I saw you come here.” She turned back to me with a confused expression. “You really do like to walk instead of driving?” Her eyes widened dramatically. “Unless you don’t have a car? But you live in a nice neighborhood in what I would say is an expensive house for this type of small town.”

The front door opened, and the bell rang. She slouched in her seat and tugged down her hood. She looked nervous, and even though I should have been offended by her rambling speech, I grew concerned. She was too twitchy and perhaps scared? She was really paranoid about being spotted.

“You’re that worried someone might recognize you and rat you out to the press? Why do you think it would happen here, in such a small town like Albee?”

“I’ve been hounded by the press since Gio and my first album was released. It’s been nonstop for twelve years.” She hugged herself and glanced out the window again when Savannah came over.

“You and your friend ready to order?” She focused on me first, not appearing to recognize Gem.

“I’d love another juice. My friend is still deciding what she wants.” I expected Gem to face me, but she kept staring out the window.

“Sure. Take your time.” She grabbed my glass and left.

Gem exhaled and gave me her attention.

“See? Savannah didn’t recognize you. This is a safe place.” I tapped her shoe with mine.

“Guess so.” She stared at the meu. “What’s good here?”

“The pancakes.” My stomach growled, but Gem didn’t seem to notice.

“Too many carbs and too much sugar.” She turned the menu over. “I ate breakfast already, but I’d kill for a chai tea.”

“Sorry, only regular coffee here.” I thanked Savannah when she brought my juice.

“I can’t sit here while you eat and I don’t.” She held up her hand as I started to speak. “I can’t drink any type of coffee. I have standards.”

I paused in taking a sip of my juice, afraid it would go down the wrong way or I’d spray it on the table or on Gem.

“Unless you have something important to tell me, I’m staying and enjoying my banana pecan pancakes I have every Sunday.” She might be used to people doing what she wanted, but I was sticking to my routine.

She checked behind her when the door opened, and a group of six girls around my age came in. She cursed under her breath and turned back around. “I want to explain why I left so suddenly after the phone call Friday night, but I’m really not comfortable talking here. Can we go somewhere more private? Please?”

The pleading tone in her voice, and her use of the word please, which I had a feeling she rarely used, stopped me from telling her no. But I was curious, well more than curious.

A waitress brought over the meals to the table nearest us. I watched the couple dig into their breakfast, and I sighed.

Gem curled her fingers around mine holding my glass. “Pretty please?”

“Not many people say no to you.” I finished my juice, even though she kept her hand on mine. I should have told her to let me go, but having a celebrity like her touch me was something I’d never expect in a million years.

“I can’t remember the last time I was refused something I wanted.” She pressed my hand and let me go.


Author Bio:

Shirley Anne Edwards is a Northeast girl who first found her love for books when she read Nancy Drew’s The Secret of the Old Clock Tower at thirteen. Shirley found her love for writing at a very young age, and since then has let her imagination run wild by creating quirky characters and vast worlds in her head.

Shirley lives in New Jersey and works in the entertainment industry in New York City.

In the immortal words of Mark Twain: “Life is short, Break the Rules. Forgive quickly, Kiss SLOWLY. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably and never regret ANYTHING that makes you smile.”

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Giveaway – Shielding Her Son by K D Richards @dollycas

Shielding Her Son (West Investigations) by K.D. Richards

About Shielding Her Son


Shielding Her Son (West Investigations)
Romantic Suspense
4th in Series
Harlequin Intrigue (July 26, 2022)
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1335582088
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1335582089
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09N1PY2PH

She thought she’d escaped her past…

Has it caught up with her?

Erika Powell has lived in hiding for years to protect her son from his wealthy, tyrannical grandfather. Wary of strangers, she’s suspicious of James West, who’s renting a neighboring cabin, despite their sizzling chemistry. But when attempts are made on Erika’s life, James fears he may have endangered her—because the undercover PI’s investigation of Erika may have led someone dangerous right to her.

From Harlequin Intrigue: Seek thrills. Solve crimes. Justice served.

Discover more action-packed stories in the West Investigations series. All books are stand-alone with uplifting endings but were published in the following order:

Book 1: Pursuit of the Truth
Book 2: Missing at Christmas
Book 3: Christmas Data Breach
Book 4: Shielding Her Son

About K.D. Richards

K.D. Richards was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs just outside of Washington, D.C. A writer since a young age, after college Kia earned a law degree and worked as an attorney and legal instructor for fifteen years but never stopped writing fiction. She currently splits her time between Toronto and Maryland with her husband and two sons.

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