Lava Rains Down – Earth vs Lava Spiders by Candace Nola @candace_nola

Posted on October 27, 2023 by fundinmental

I found this novel through Uncomfortably Dark Horror and picked it up on Story Origin.

MY REVIEW

Hey all, we’re having a beach party…AND you’re invited. HA HA HA HA HA

No one is safe when the lava spiders come rolling through town in Earth vs Lava Spiders by Candace Nola. This was a super quick read and unfurled like film on a B movie reel. We start with a beach party, and any horror lover knows how bad that can end up., whether in the water or out. Blood and guts fly right out of the gate. You can run, but you can’t hide…from these guys. One touch, poof, up in flames.

Like a B movie, there is no depth and detail, but I got what I expected…and that is never a bad thing. With a little more…the rating may have been different, but that won’t stop me from grabbing more like Earth vs Lava Spiders by Candace Nola.

I thought it was funny that all the chapter headings were 1950s song titles.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos — 3 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Tonight’s special features takes place on a quiet Friday night in the small coastal town of Pine Grove. Strange lights appear over Shasta Island and an explosion rocks the beachfront. Fireballs rain down from the sky as lava bubbles from the hidden volcano, unleashing a nightmare of hellfire and blood on the town.

Watch in horror as the Lava Spiders surge across the land, devouring every bit of hot human flesh in their midst! Who will survive the blood frenzy?!

Earth vs The Lava Spiders! One of three 1950’s B-movie style horror stories.

Be sure to check out Earth vs. The Nudist Camp Freaks by Judith Sonnet and Earth vs The Star Mummy by Lucas Mangum!

Genre: Fiction, Horror, Novella
Format: Kindle Edition
Published: November 23, 2022 by Uncomfortably Dark Horror

ABOUT CANDACE NOLA

I am Candace Nola, and I am an award-winning author, editor, and publisher. I write poetry, horror, dark fantasy, and extreme horror content. My books include Breach, Beyond the Breach, Hank Flynn, Bishop, Earth vs The Lava Spiders, The Unicorn Killer, Unmasked, The Vet, and Desperate Wishes.

I have short stories in The Baker’s Dozen anthology, Secondhand Creeps, American Cannibal, Just A Girl, The Horror Collection: Lost Edition, and Exactly the Wrong Things with many more coming throughout 2023.

Beyond the Breach, won the “Novel of the Year” and my Debut Novel, Breach, was nominated for “Debut Novel of the Year”, for the 2021 Horror Authors Guild awards. I am also the publisher and editor of the 2022 Splatterpunk Award Winning Anthology “Uncomfortably Dark Presents: The Baker’s Dozen.”

My best-seller to date is Bishop, currently available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many other platforms. The second installment, Bishop: Man vs Monster, was released in April 2023, and is planned to be a five-part series.

I am the creator of Uncomfortably Dark, which focuses primarily on promoting indie horror authors and small presses with weekly book reviews, interviews, and special features. Uncomfortably Dark Horror stands behind its mission to “bring you the best in horror, one uncomfortably dark page at a time.”

Find me on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook and the website, UncomfortablyDark.com. Sign up for my Patreon for exclusive content, free stories, and more.

Giveaway – Cruel and Splendid Mermaids by Julie Catherine @xpressotours

Posted on October 27, 2023 by fundinmental

Cruel and Splendid Mermaids
Julie Catherine
(Broken Mermaids, #1)
Publication date: October 17th 2023
Genres: Adult, Dark Fantasy, Fantasy

For mermaids and humans, the rules are the same: be careful around strangers, be wary of magic and before you dive in, check what’s lurking under the waves.

Nineteen-year-old Ellara Merme’s whole life she’s known one purpose: to mate with men, to procreate, and to bear offspring to fight in Neptune’s underwater army. No problem… There’s just one hiccup. Her siren song doesn’t work.

No one can know.

She’s a broken mermaid with a faulty lure and she has only one week left to make the damaged song work. But all that can change with the ocean’s next deadly storm. Dragged from a shipwreck, mythology says a rescued sailor will be so grateful he’ll fall into anyone’s arms. Even a broken mermaid’s. Still, there’s a reason why merfolk and humans don’t get along. And a lot can go wrong when a girl from the ocean washes up on the shore.

Think mating is easy? Think again.

Cruel and Splendid Mermaids is a first-person dark and playful underwater fantasy. Book one in the Broken Mermaids series.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT

This was the best part of every day. Floating in the surf, watching the earthy pinks, bathing in the heavy, orange glow. The manner in which the morning sunlight hit the beach and the other beautiful things on the shore.

He was early today.

Just a bit.

Always running like clockwork.

His tanned, heaving chest, warm brown and stretched firm over muscles. Blood pumping to his heart and lungs. The way his whole body flexed in his gait. The steady footfalls landing in the sand. Little divots tossed up with each tread. His body moved forward, reconnecting with the earth. Over and over. I couldn’t look away.

I would take any, of course. But this man was my favorite.

So deliberate in his path.

Though human and mermaid timelines didn’t one hundred percent line up, I liked to think we were of similar age. I eyed him up. Close, anyway. The backwards cap over wavy brown curls. Hair that only got curlier as he started to sweat. I liked his gray, cotton running shorts. That bare chest. I loved his strong, limber legs. It would be nice if he could be my first.

Not just nice. A dream.

The only dream of my heart.

I wasn’t picky, I wouldn’t be, I knew that. A man was a man was a man. But there was something about him. Every step that he ran. So damn firm and so upright. I rubbed my belly everyday as he passed.

“Put a baby in me,” I sometimes whispered, although he couldn’t hear me. That was clear, because no coughing fit overtook those simple words. I was out here in the waves and he was up there. Running home. Running for sport. Running somewhere. And anywhere. And everywhere.

I just floated.

Waiting.

Watching every day ’til he passed.

Then, I’d kick up my fin, dive beneath the waves and head for home. Another day in the life of a mermaid. A new beginning. A brand new chance to finally, finally show all of Merme my true worth.

Author Bio:

Julie Catherine is an author, screenwriter and playwright.

Website / Goodreads / Newsletter

GIVEAWAY!
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Giveaway – In The Wick Of Time by Valone Jones @dollycas

Posted on October 27, 2023 by fundinmental

In the Wick of Time (Magic Candle Shop Mystery) by Valona Jones

About In The Wick Of Time

In the Wick of Time (Magic Candle Shop Mystery)
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Savannah, Georgia
Crooked Lane Books (October 17, 2023)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1639105077
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1639105076
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BSKWTKZN

Tabby Winslow will help her twin sister Sage with anything and everything—and that includes putting out the flames of suspicion when Sage’s boss is found murdered in this magical mystery, perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Sofie Kelly.
December in Savannah, Georgia, is a sight to behold. With all the festivities—including the traditional riverfront luminary display during the boat parade—twin sisters Tabby and Sage Winslow are busier than ever setting up for the big celebration. But that isn’t the only thing on the sisters’ minds. Both Sage and her fellow employee Mary Nicole are vying for the sought-after assistant manager job at the plant nursery. But when Loren Lee, their boss, is found dead, and Sage becomes the police’s favorite suspect, both Winslow girls know that they’ll need more than a flicker of magic and their sisterhood to solve the murder and clear Sage’s name.
Soon, Tabby realizes that this is just one of the many problems they have. If being a suspect for murder wasn’t enough, there are more magical problems that they have to fix: Sage’s boyfriend is having a paranormal experience of his own he can’t control, there’s an energy vampire searching for his supposedly lost cousin, her cat suddenly dislikes her, and oh—every time Tabby hiccups, she turns completely invisible. The suspect list grows with each day and it seems everyone has a reason or a connection to Loren Lee.
Tabby and Sage are burning the candle at both ends—but will it be enough to keep their friends safe and find this killer? Or will they be burned by their efforts?

About Valona Jones

Valona Jones, also known as Maggie Toussaint, writes paranormal cozy mysteries set in coastal Georgia. A former scientist, she’s drawn to the study of personal energy. She sharpened her people-watching skills as a lifelong introvert and had a bank vault of personal observations when she began to write fiction. Her newest release is In The Wick of Time, book 2 in the A Magic Candle Shop Mystery, preceded by Snuffed Out, which released Jan. 2023. She’s a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime with more than twenty-five published works of fiction. She lives in coastal Georgia, where she’s seen time and tide wait for no one.

Author Links