Library Love – What Lurks Beneath by Ryan Lockwood #ryanlockwood #whatlurksbeneath

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I am loving Ryan Lockwood’s books, Below and now, What Lurks Beneath. They are a couple of fabulous creature features that gripped me and never let me go. I was on pins and needles, the suspense and anticipation off the charts. Action and adventure were on every page.

It’s not all creature, but I love that it was always on my mind. Even when Valerie was trying to figure out her love life with Will. He has fallen off the wagon and she’s not having it. I hope Will gets his shit together because I think they will make a great couple and I do like happy ever afters. I hope that means that you are hard at work writing more novels, Ryan.

If you are a fan of creature features, I can’t recommend Ryan Lockwood enough. His books are filled with danger and intrigue, dysfunctional characters and a hint of the paranormal. The writing is easy to read and flows smoothly. I think you have to walk outside the line to live the life Ryan’s characters do. So, come on. Let’s walk on the wild side together.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

From the acclaimed author of Below comes a new breed of terror that rises from the depths of the ocean. To hunt. To devour. To kill.

The first attack occurrs in the underwater caverns of the Bahamas. Two professional divers exploring the unknown. A monstrous flesh-ripping predator they never see coming.

Now the attacks are coming closer and closer to shore. A sun-soaked playground for sea-loving tourists. A human feasting ground for whatever lurks beneath.

Now, in a desperate race against time, Eric Watson, an expert on remote control underwater vehicles, and marine biologist Valerie Martell, must identify a savage new species of killer—and piece together one of nature’s most horrific mysteries. But the most terrifying discovery of all waits for Val and her team at the bottom of the sea. A discovery too shocking, to comprehend.

Because up till now, this creature existed only in mankind’s darkest nightmares. Not anymore.

Genre: Action and Advenure, Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Format: 385 pages, Kindle Edition

Published: May 26, 2015 by Pinnacle Books

Ryan Lockwood experienced many interesting outdoor jobs before writing his first novel, requiring him to assist with mountain lion capture, scrape barnacles off submerged boat hulls, fight Western wildfires, and measure storm runoff in the middle of the night. He holds degrees in technical journalism and environmental science, and has been employed as a biological research assistant, professional editor and public relations coordinator. When not writing, Lockwood scuba dives, climbs mountains, hunts to fill the freezer, and strives to become a better sailor. He currently lives in Colorado with his family and assorted four-legged friends.

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Review – Beyond Reasonable Doubt by Robert Dugoni #netgalley @robertdugoni

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I’ve seen and heard about Robert Dugoni but hadn’t read any of his work. When I saw Beyond A Reasonable Doubt on NetGalley, I grabbed it. Now I know what I’ve been missing.

Beyond Reasonable Doubt is a mishmash of genres: mystery, police procedural, courtroom drama, legal, suspense and thriller. It sure kept my attention, from beginning to end.

I saw where it was the second book in the series, but I never felt lost. Robert Dugoni filled me in on what I missed and what I needed to keep my head in the game. A head that Robert kept spinning as I tried to figure out all the details. We do have multiple suspects with motives for killing their fellow workers.

We have characters with their personal struggles and a sociopath that could be responsible for two deaths. Is she too obvious a suspect? I bounced back and forth between the suspects, just as I did for the rating for Beyond Reasonable Doubt. As you can see, I rate up when bounce around. I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

A master manipulator accused of murder. An attorney sworn to defend her. Keera Duggan returns in a riveting novel of suspense by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.

When Jenna Bernstein, disgraced wunderkind CEO of a controversial biotech company, is accused of murdering her former partner and lover, she turns to Seattle attorney Keera Duggan to defend her. Keera is more than a master chess player who brings her intuitive moves into court—she’s Jenna’s childhood friend. But considering their history, Keera knows that where Jenna goes, trouble follows.

Three years earlier, Keera’s father successfully defended Jenna when she was tried for the killing of her company’s chief medical scientist who threatened to go public with allegations of corporate fraud. Keera knows Jenna too well. When she was a kid, Keera saw Jenna for what she a manipulative and frighteningly controlling sociopath. Now, with only circumstantial evidence against Jenna, Keera is willing to bury any trepidation she might have to defend a woman she believes, this time, to be innocent.

As the investigation gets underway and disturbing questions arise, Keera puts her trust in a client who swears nothing but the truth. If this is all just another devious game, Keera might be working to set a murderer free.

  • Genre: Fiction, Legal, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
  • Format: 365 pages, Kindle Edition
  • Published: October 22, 2024 by Thomas & Mercer
  • Series: Keera Duggan
  • Setting: Seattle, Washington

Robert DugoniRobert Dugoni is the critically acclaimed New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and #1 Amazon bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite police series set in Seattle, which has sold more than 8 million books worldwide. He is also the author of The Charles Jenkins espionage series, the David Sloane legal thriller series, and several stand-alone novels including The 7th Canon, Damage Control, and the literary novels, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell – Suspense Magazine’s 2018 Book of the Year, for which Dugoni’s narration won an AudioFile Earphones Award and the critically acclaimed, The World Played Chess; as well as the nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. Several of his novels have been optioned for movies and television series. Dugoni is the recipient of the Nancy Pearl Award for Fiction and a three-time winner of the Friends of Mystery Spotted Owl Award for best novel set in the Pacific Northwest. He has also been a finalist for many other awards including the International Thriller Award, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, the Silver Falchion Award for mystery, and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award.

Robert Dugoni’s books are sold in more than twenty-five countries and have been translated into more than thirty languages.

Visit his website at www.robertdugoni.com, and follow him on twitter @robertdugoni and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorRobertDugoni

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Fan – Frickin’ – Tastic – Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros @RebeccaYarros

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“The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.” —Xaden Riorson

And that about sums it up. How many lives will be lost? Will I lose one of my favorite characters? Can the Fourth Wing stay whole?

Violet Sorrengail will be put to the test again and again, personally and professionally.

Once I started I didn’t want to stop reading. Unputdownable does not even begin to describe Iron Flame. It is riveting, engrossing, mind blowing, overwhelming…and looooooong, so be sure and put aside a lot of time. Lock the doors and hunker down in your favorite reading spot with your favorite beverage.

There is so much I want to say, but this is one of those times when I think less is more.

The cliffhanger ending is not unexpected. The problem is, waiting for my turn at the library.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

“The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.” —Xaden Riorson

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

  • Genre: Dragons, Fantasy, Fiction, Paranormal, Romance, Supernatural
  • Format: 895 pages, Kindle Edition
  • Published: November 7, 2023 by Entangled: Red Tower Books
Screenshot

Rebecca Yarros is a hopeless romantic and coffee addict. She is the New York Times bestselling author of over twenty novels, including Fourth Wing, The Last Letter and The Things We Leave Unfinished. She’s also the recipient of the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence for Eyes Turned Skyward. Rebecca loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for over twenty years. A mother of six, she is currently surviving the teenage years with all four of her hockey-playing sons.

Want to know about Rebecca’s next release? Check her out online at www.rebeccayarros.com.

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Review – The Shadows Rule All by Abigail Owen @AOwenBooks #netgalley #theshadowsruleall

The Shadows Rule All
The Shadows Rule All The Shadows Rule All
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Well, we start off with a gorgeous cover (by Elizabeth Turner Stokes) for the finale of the Dominions series, with the final chapter being told in The Shadows Rule All by Abigail Owen and it was a doozy. Abigail included anything and everything you could possibly want for a fantasy romance. We have a struggle for leadership, some magical machinations, battles, death and romance. I was lost in the , but because it is such a long book, I couldn’t finish it in one sitting.

The Shadows Rule All is the third book in the series, so I’m not going to give you the lowdown. I definitely recommend beginning at the beginning, if this sounds like a winner to you. I do love when a series is complete, don’t you?

I will tell you that their worlds are crumbling with the loss of the goddesses. To set things right, they would have to release the goddesses from the amulets they are trapped in. For them to be released, they are sent on a quest to recover Allusion’s heart.

I went teary eyed more than once as character after character fell. By killing off some of my favorite characters, Abigail makes the story seem real (for a fantasy), because in battle not all will survive. Even the peripheral characters have a pivotal role to play, adding their magic to the story.

We have Meren, the main character, looking for her soulmate. Reven. He is lost in the Shadows. Is she going to have her happy ever after? Will she ever be rid of the Shadows who threaten her and Reven? Can they release the goddesses and save their Dominions?

For a finale, I think Abigail hit the nail on the head. She left me with a heavy heart, but a feeling of satisfaction. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

Darkness ascends the throne in this electrifying conclusion to the Domionions trilogy, all wrapped up in a gorgeous cover package! Preorder coming soon!

The hidden princess, must find a way to stop the ageless king—and the Shadowraith she’s fallen for—in the upcoming final installment of Abigail Owen’s sprawling, sexy upper YA fantasy.

The Dominions series is best enjoyed in order.
Reading Order:
Book #1 The Liar’s Crown
Book #2 The Stolen Throne
Book #3 The Shadows Rule All

  • Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, Magic, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Supernatural
  • 512 pages, Kindle Edition
  • Expected publication November 12, 2024
  • Series: Dominions, #3

Multi–award-winning paranormal romance author, Abigail Owen, loves plots that move hot and fast, feisty heroines with sass, alpha heroes with heart, a dash of snark, and oodles of sexy shifters! Other titles include wife, mother, Star Wars geek, ex-competitive skydiver, spreadsheet lover, eMBA, organizational guru, Texan, Aggie, and chocoholic. Abigail grew up consuming books and exploring the world through her writing. She attempted to find a practical career related to her favorite pastime by earning a degree in English Rhetoric (Technical Writing). However, she swiftly discovered that writing without imagination is not nearly as fun as writing with it. Abigail currently resides in Austin, Texas, with her own personal hero (who she totally married!) and their two children, who are growing up way too fast.  

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5 Stars for Originality – Golden Blood: A Vampire Story by Tim Vee @_Tim_Vee_

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The gorgeous, eye catching cover is only the beginning of the deliciousness of Golden Blood: A Vampire Story by Tim Vee. I grab any vampire books that come my way and Golden Blood is a fresh take of a familiar tale. It’s pretty hard to come up with a new slant, seeing there are thousands of books out there. Good job ,Tim.

Balthazar Jiménez de Quesada’s greed has him transformed into a vampire, one of the most grotesque I have ever come across. He’s definitely not sparkly. He turns the wrong person when he slaughtered Yvette’s family and left her for dead. She plots her revenge.

She devotes her vampiric life to finding Golden Blood, the rarest type of blood. It can break the vampire curse, turning her back into a human. There are some bloods that can give a vampire the human feeling for a short period of time, but she wants Golden Blood. So does Balthazar, after he gets his first taste. He wants to kill her and take over her ‘company’.

I love what Tim Vee has done with Golden Blood. I would not change anything. These are not your Twilight vampires. Tim has some of the most vivid descriptions and I can see the flies buzzing, skin sloughing off…

We have a bit of a history lesson with our horror and I was all in. The more I read, the more engrossed I was in the story. I would have read it in one sitting, if I could have, but I did read until the wee hours of the morning.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

In 1540, conquistador Balthazar Jiménez de Quesada embarks on a quest for gold but encounters an ancient evil in the jungles of Colombia, La Pastola, transforming him into an immortal vampire. Centuries later, as Napoleon’s army clashes with the British in 1815, a brutal massacre near Walloon births a new vampire desperate to break her curse. In present-day Los Angeles, a man with the rarest blood type—Golden Blood—enters a dangerous world where the line between predator and prey blurs, as a secret society of vampires hunts for the key to their salvation…or their destruction.
Golden Blood is a gripping tale of horror, history, and the eternal struggle for redemption, spanning from the New World’s blood-soaked jungles to the underbelly of modern L.A.

Golden Blood is the story about one vampire’s search for Golden Blood that can reverse the vampiric curse and her need for revenge against the vampire that slaughtered her family and turned her into a vampire centuries before. Set in the jungles of Colombia in the 1500s, the Caribbean in the 1700s, Europe in the 1800s and 1900s, and present-day Los Angeles, Golden Blood is a dark, bleak, and gothic story.

  • Genre: Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Supernatural, Vampires
  • 231 pages, ebook
  • Expected publication October 31, 2024

My books are always free over at Smash Words. Download and have a read – and don’t forget to leave a review! https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi…

Tim works in digital marketing in Toronto and is well-traveled, having visited over 80 countries. When he is not working or writing he likes to spend time with his family and German Shepherd – and to go cycling.

Tim has written ten books; The Secret Policemen and The Secret Service – both dystopian dark comedies; as well as seven science fiction novels – Extinction, Annabelle, Fission, The Children of the Third Reich, The Child of Mars, and The Children of Andaalwaald.

Tim has also written Magpie – a dark and intense journey into the world of international espionage and terrorism.

Tim mostly enjoys writing transgressive fiction – mainly about aliens and psychopaths.

Comments and feedback are always welcome.

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Don’t Let Her In – The Crone by Kevin Bachar @KevinPangolin

The Crone Horror Book House of Horror series Witches and scary evil in a haunted house.
The Crone Horror Book House of Horror series Witches and scary evil in a haunted house.
The Crone Horror Book House of Horror series Witches and scary evil in a haunted house.

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The Crone by Kevin Bachar is one of the best horror novels I have read in a while. It’s part of his stand alone Houses Of Horror series. Most people think of their home as places of comfort and safety. Not so, Kevin Bachar’s homes. They are filled with horror and terror.

The fabulous cover hints at the horror awaiting new homeowners Paul and Tina Nimos. They are house flippers. Buying homes, fixing them up, and then selling them. This time, the house is in good shape and they are going to make it their forever home…Or so they think. The Crone will have something to say about that.

A sharp piece of wood, a drop of blood, and The Crone is released. What started out as hope for their forever home quickly feels like a curse. But the Crone never faced anyone like Tina before. Tina had served in Afghanistan, and she will put up one hell of a fight to protect her family and claim the house as their own.

I had moments of familiarity, like when she goes to the grocery store and has to put items back because she didn’t have enough money. I’m happy those days are over for me, I just hope it’s over for Tina too. It is small moments like this, that make the characters relatable and realistic…even The Crone…if you believe in that sort of thing.

I found myself smiling at the cute dialogue between Tina and her daughter, Katie.

“How about the Daddy doll? Does he listen to the Mommy?”

“No, he never does…..”He’s always in time out. Not very good at listening.”

Thrills and chills abound in The Crone by Keven Bachar. Sometimes the horror is subtle and anticipatory, other times it’s in your face. To add to the ambience, cozy up in your favorite reading place, turn out the lights, and read The Crone.

The Crone was unpudownable and has a great ending. I was soon flying through the pages, I read The Crone in one sitting, so take note, once you start you may not be able to stop.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Star

Paul and Tina Nimos are like a lot of young married couples, they’re madly in love but finances are putting a strain on their relationship. Their home renovation business is struggling, and with a new baby in the house, bills are piling up. When Paul finds a cheap house to buy and flip, he thinks their problems are solved. It’s an older New England home, with plenty of history and once it’s repaired it should command a great price.

But as Paul and Tina begin the daunting task of restoring the new house, they struggle with the reconstruction. It seems the home doesn’t want to be repaired. As they fall behind in their renovation they realize that unexplained forces are conspiring against them and that helpful friends might not be who they seem.

Soon the couple realizes that a Crone could be the source of their troubles. But it might be too late, as the house and the Crone prepare to extract a horrific toll from Paul, Tina, and their baby. Will they be able to fight back against a centuries-old evil? The Crone, don’t ever let her in.

  • Genre: Fiction, Horror
  • 266 pages, Kindle Edition
  • Expected publication October 30, 2024

Kevin Bachar is a national EMMY award-winning natural history documentary filmmaker and WGA writer. The elevated horror film he wrote – The Inhabitant – https://www.lionsgate.com/movies/the-inh… – was released through Lionsgate and is available on most streaming services.

If you’ve watched National Geographic, PBS, or The Discovery Channel over the years you’ve seen his work. He’s the idiot in the water filming sharks or crawling into caves to photograph vampire bats. You can see Kevin at work filming sharks here – https://www.imdb.com/video/vi2703407897/

The natural world has always captured his imagination and the supernatural world inspires his stories. Through his journeys, he’s interviewed scientists who’ve enlightened him, heard folk tales that have frightened him, and seen quite a few things that have challenged his skeptical mind.

His collection of short stories that weaves together the natural world and the supernatural world entitled, DREAD, is available on Amazon. He’s currently working on his second collection entitled – CREEP.

Complimenting his writing, Kevin has lectured and given presentations at prestigious institutions such as Rutgers University, American University, and the Rubin Museum of Art.
To keep up to date with Kevin’s movies, documentaries, and books –
www.kevinbachar.com
https://twitter.com/KevinPangolin
https://www.instagram.com/kevinbachar/
https://www.tiktok.com/@kevinbachar?l…
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjEKM_m
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1423190/

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Review – I’ll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong @KelleyArmstrong #netgalley #illbewaiting

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I’ll Be Waiting is one of the best Kelley Armstrong novels I have read in some time.

“I’ll Be Waiting”, were some of Anton’s last words. Nicola had thought their short time together would be because of her illness, Cystic Fibrosis. She cannot accept that he is gone, so she hops from one seance to another.

Don’t we all know, don’t go in the basement. Yet, she does.

I didn’t trust the right person and did trust the wrong person. That’s some great writing. Sucked me right in.

I love that Kelley Armstrong had my head spinning. I couldn’t figure out if Nicola was being played or if it was true. I do love a convoluted ghost story. One that I am not able to figure out for myself. I was fooled and when I found the truth, I loved the book all the more. It’s nice to be surprised. I couldn’t figure out who to trust and was sucked into the ghostly mystery.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

From New York Times Bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes a spellbinding new tale of supernatural horror involving a haunted-house, seances, lost loved ones, and a sinister spirit out for blood…

Nicola Laughton never expected to see adulthood, being diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a child. Then medical advances let her live into her thirties and she met Anton, who taught her to dream of a future… together. Months after they married, Anton died in a horrible car, but lived long enough to utter five words to her, “I’ll be waiting for you.”

That final private moment became public when someone from the crash scene took it to the press—the terminally ill woman holding her dying husband as he promised to wait for her on the other side. Worse, that person claimed it wasn’t Anton who said the words but his ghost, hovering over his body.

Since their story went public, Nicola has been hounded by spiritualists promising closure. In the hopes of stopping her downward spiral, friends and family find a reputable medium—a professor of parapsychology. For the séance, they rent the Lake Erie beach house that Anton’s family once owned.

The medium barely has time to begin his work before things start happening. Locked doors mysteriously open. Clouds of insects engulf the house. Nicola hears footsteps and voices and the creak of an old dumbwaiter…in an empty shaft. Throughout it all she’s haunted by nightmares of her past. Because, unbeknownst to the others, this isn’t her first time contacting the dead. And Nicola isn’t her real name.

That’s when she finds the first body….

In this atmospheric, thrilling new ghost story, Kelley Armstrong’s full talents are on display to thrill, chill and leave the reader guessing how Nicola escapes with her life–if she can.

  • Genre: Ghosts, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Thriller
  • 336 pages, Hardcover
  • Expected publication October 1, 2024 by St Martin’s Press
Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the author of the NYT-bestselling “Women of the Otherworld” paranormal suspense series and “Darkest Powers” young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

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Review – Poppy and Marigold by Meg Welch Dendler @MegWelchDendler

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My first introduction to Meg Welch Dendler’s writing was when I met Bianca. She is one of those authors that quickly added to my must read list. I am excited to be back with Poppy And Marigold, two young girls that come from two totally different worlds.

Poppy is a twelve year old Blue. All her life she was taught that Blue is superior to all the other colors. When she meets Marigold, a tangerine colored girl and her family, her world is turned upside down. She found she isn’t superior in their world. In fact, she is the ignorant one. Her eyes are opened. How can she return and obey the 50 Rules governing her world after all she has learned? If she is found out, she will be sent to the Detention Center, but how can she go back and pretend nothing has happened?

When Red attacks them the answer presents itself.

Poppy And Marigold is written for ages six to eighteen, but it is so thought provoking, for me, that I think it is a book for all ages. Anything that gets my mind spinning is a good thing, and Poppy and Marigold did just that, in a fantastic and wonderful way. I think it sends a message in an easy to understand way. Just because we’re different doesn’t mean we’re better…or worse.

I can see how there can more books in the making, as we discover how the other colors live and how they are closer than Poppy could possibly know.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

Blue citizens are absolutely superior to all others, especially ignorant, uncivilized Orange. Poppy has been taught this relentlessly for twelve years. But when she accidentally crosses the forbidden border and is befriended by Marigold—a tangerine-skinned girl—and her kind-but-quirky family, Poppy is forced to rethink everything. Questioning that Blue is Best or the rest of the 50 Rules governing Poppy’s world would get her sent to a dangerous Detention Center. Or worse. But how can she return to her blindly obedient, anti-Orange life now that she knows the truth?

  • Genre: Childrens, Science Fiction, Teen, Young Adult
  • 218 pages, Kindle Edition
  • Expected publication October 1, 2024 by Serenity Mountain Publishing

Meg Dendler has considered herself a writer since she was honored in a picture book contest in 5th grade. Beginning serious work as a freelancer in the ’90s while teaching elementary and middle school, Meg has over one hundred articles in print, including interviews with Kirk Douglas, Sylvester Stallone, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. She has won contests with her short stories and poetry, along with multiple awards for her best-selling Cats in the Mirror alien rescue cat children’s book series. “Bianca: The Brave Frail and Delicate Princess” was honored as Best Juvenile Book of 2018 by the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, and “Snickerdoodle’s Shenanigans” won that same honor in 2024. Now a retired teacher, Meg holds a BA in Journalism/Public Relations, an MA in Early Childhood Education, and has been teacher certified in three states. Meg is also an editor/proofreader for independent and self-publishing authors, with over 80 books completed since 2015.

Meg and her family live in NW Arkansas. Visit her at www.megdendler.com for more information about upcoming books and events and all of Meg’s social media links.

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BLEW MY MIND – Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros @RebeccaYarros

A #1 New York Times bestseller • TV series in development at MGM Amazon Studios with Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society • Amazon Best Books of the Year, #4 • Apple Best Books of the Year 2023 • Barnes & Noble Best Fantasy Book of 2023 • NPR “Books We Love” 2023 • Audible Best Books of 2023 • Hudson Book of the Year • Google Play Best Books of 2023 • Indigo Best Books of 2023 • Waterstones Book of the Year finalist • Goodreads Choice Award Winner • Newsweek Staffers’ Favorite Books of 2023 • Paste Magazine’s Best Books of 2023 (from Amazon)

Amazon / Audiobook / Goodreads

Hold onto your seat, because Fourth Wing is sure to have you flying high.

Normally I am a patient person, but waiting for Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros had me checking my library app repeatedly. Now, that I have read it, I am checking every day for the second book in the series, Iron Flame, and am not being the least bit patient. I need it NOW.

At first I thought, “This is a great book and Book II would be the one to blow me away.” Due to the length of Fourth Wing, 650 pages, Rebecca had me overwhelmed with emotions. The characters jumped off the pages and the dragons had me flying high. I didn’t want to stop reading. Even though I am a fast reader, it took me a couple of days to read it.

I know they are working on a TV series, and I feel I will end up disappointed, because they’ll probably try and force me to buy an app to watch it. We shall see. I thing the Empryean series will be like Twilight and Lucifer. A series I will binge watch over and over again.

Romance, friendship, and battles…all will be tested.

If you are thinking of buying Fourth Wing, you might as well buy the whole series. Once you get attached to the characters, they won’t quit talking atcha.

Fourth Wing is amazing and sure to be one of my favorites of the year.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Star

Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders…

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

  • Genre: Dragons, Fantasy, Fiction, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
  • 517 pages, Hardcover
  • First published May 2, 2023 by Piatkus
  • Series: Empyread, Book I
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Rebecca Yarros is a hopeless romantic and coffee addict. She is the New York Times bestselling author of over twenty novels, including Fourth Wing, The Last Letter and The Things We Leave Unfinished. She’s also the recipient of the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence for Eyes Turned Skyward. Rebecca loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for over twenty years. A mother of six, she is currently surviving the teenage years with all four of her hockey-playing sons.

Want to know about Rebecca’s next release? Check her out online at www.rebeccayarros.com.

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I fell in love with Lord Hades – Seduced by M C Frank @mcfrank_author

Amazon / Goodreads

I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT SEDUCED by M C Frank. The beautiful cover, because of the butterfly, makes me think of my mother. She loves butterflies. The title made me think there would be some hot lovin’, but the seduction was so much different than I thought it would be and I am always up for something different, when it works well. The blurb, I want to read anything about the Lord of Hell. It made me think of Lucifer, the TV series. It was the same….but different and I read until the early hours of the morning because I had to know how it would end.

The cruelty of Poppy’s hypocritical, vicar brother is beyond comprehension. He has browbeat Poppy to submission, to believing that she is undeserving…of anything good in her life.

I love the part about Poppy’s period. I don’t often read a novel where it goes into that much detail and Hades reaction was sweet.

I love when Poppy says, “You do realize that I am right here.” There was a time when she would never have commented, where she felt that anything she had to say was worthless.

It was fabulous watching all the characters grow and change, becoming more than they were before Poppy came into their lives and how they affected Poppy herself, allowing her to become the person she was meant to be.

Of course, if we have Hades, we need God to make an appearance, at least in thought.

The only downside to the story was the ending, which had me urging Hades and Wilder to dig faster, seemed rushed and we don’t find out what happened to Nicholas. But, hey, that’s a story for another day.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Seduced by M C Frank.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

Poppy and Lord Hades

Lord Hades owns a gaming hell that sprawls underneath the city of London like the underworld. It is no the Hell Club is notorious all over Europe. Peers and millionaires travel from Vienna and Paris to enjoy the Turkish baths or play cards with the great political leaders of other countries.

Money and power exchange hands nightly underneath the sparkling ballrooms and gentlemen’s clubs, and no one knows. Until Hades discovers a boy sent to spy on him. But the boy is not a boy.

And she will pay.

Seduced is a dark and sparkling romantic story inspired by Greek myths, folklore and fairytales, as well as by the glittering world and the roguish gentlemen of Regency London.

It might look like a quick, fun read, but don’t be this story is going to break your heart into a million pieces.

Information on this

Seduced, a dark Regency romance retelling of Hades and Persephone is part of the Retold fairytale retellings collection. It is the third of the three stories included in that book, but here you can read the story by itself. It is a shorter book and a standalone. It is being published separately due to popular demand.

If you prefer, you can find Seduced as well as two more dark fairytale retellings included in one volume Retold.

*Important This book has already been published as part of the A Regency Fairytale Retellings Collection (Rakes and Ruin) book. This is a separate sole book release of the same book that is included in that collection, with no changes.

  • Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Fiction, Retellings, Romance
  • 315 pages, Kindle Edition
  • Published June 1, 2024
  • Series: Rakes and Ruin, #2

Welcome to the world of M.C. FRANK’s books, where characters aren’t going to have an easy time of it: They will find themselves in icy-cold dystopian worlds where kissing is forbidden (among other things), or in green forests ruled by evil Sheriffs. If they’re in Jane Austen’s England, they have to be running away from a traumatic childhood, or if they are in our contemporary world, they’re scared they’ll die before they have finished high school. That sort of thing.
Don’t worry, though, she knows we all need a little hope and joy in our lives, so there’s a good dose of those as well in everything she writes.
M.C. Frank (writer, reader, designer, physicist and teacher, to name a few) has been living in a world of stories ever since she can remember (that’s before she knew how to write). She started writing them down when she could no longer stand the characters in her head screaming at her to give them life, and while those first scribblings weren’t exactly good (nor were they books, although she insisted on calling them that), they were enough for her to discover her passion in life.
She got her university degree in physics a few years ago (yes, she’s like Sheldon, only a bit crazier!) and is now free to pursue her love of reading and writing, as well her free-lance job as editor-in-chief. She lives with her ‘dude’ in a home filled with candles, laptops and notebooks, where she rearranges her overflowing bookshelves every time she feels stressed.
Which is often, since (as you might have noticed) she doesn’t pick the easiest subjects for her novels.
Learn more about her and her New Adult, Young Adult, scifi, Greek mythology and historical novels at mcfrankauthor.com

Website: mcfrankauthor.com

Twitter: @mcfrank_author

Instagram: @mcfrank_author

Tumblr: @litlereddoll

Facebook Page: M.C. Frank

Goodreads: M.C. Frank

Youtube: M.C. Frank

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
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  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • Product images are linked/I am an Amazon affiliate.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!