Books From The Backlog – Matt Archer: Monster Summer @KendraHighley

Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread.  If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks.

If you would like to join in, swing by Carole’s Random Life in Books

My last Backlog post was in April of last year, but I am determined to mine through my TBR and clean it up…a bit.

Amazon / Goodreads

GOODREADS BLURB

In this companion short-story to Matt Archer: Monster Hunter, fifteen-year-old Matt Archer finds himself in the Australian Outback on the trail of his latest targets…and hunting hyper-intelligent, mutated Dingoes is not his idea of a great summer vacation.

Making things more complicated, Matt’s Uncle Mike–aka Major Tannen–is his C.O. for this mission. To Matt’s consternation, the major’s new fiancée, Captain Julie Hunter, is also along for the trip.

When Captain Hunter disappears during a routine scouting trip, it’s up to Matt to help his uncle find her before it’s too late.

  • Genre: Action and Adventure, Fantasy, Paranormal, Supernatural, Short Story, Young Adult
  • 41 pages, ebook
  • First published October 3, 2012 by Smashwords
  • Series: Matt Archer, #1.5

Goodreads Ratings: 4.10 – 247 ratings – 19 reviews

I added Matt Archer: Monster Summer by Kendra C Highley on 3.14.13 but got it as an Amazon freebie on 1.20.13. Why did I add it you ask? Just look at the fabulous cover, then add in the blurb and I am caught…hook, line and sinker.

How about you? Does that cover make you want to visit the Australian Outback?

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The Spotlight Is On – The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers by Laury A Egan @ireadbooktours

 


I am excited to have Laury A Egan here today, sharing her thoughts about whatever she wants. 🙂

Thank you very much for featuring The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers! Here are my interview questions:

1. What was the inspiration for writing this very unusual work?

To be honest, I haven’t a clue! The best I can say is that the beginning of the first novella (there are two, both linked, with the same main character) was strongly influenced by Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, in that it starts in a slow, introspective manner. After that, the plot picks up speed and begins a series of twists and turns, employing an Orlando-esque quality and magical realism. One of my main interests was telling a story about an older woman who is dealing with some physical infirmities and looking back on her life and investigating its mysteries.

2. Can you explain what you mean by magical realism and how did you use it?

This work is about an author, Sidonie Ross, who is depicted at age 64, 70, and at earlier ages as she tries to uncover memories and to look at her life as a narrative. In the book, I’ve intertwined the real, the half-remembered, and the forgotten and blended them together using a magical style. This is a difficult book to describe or categorize, but the reader is in for a dizzying ride.

3. How does this work compare to the other thirteen novels and story collection you’ve written and published?

Fog and Other Stories contained early short fiction and allowed me to experiment and try different styles, create a wide range of characters, and find the genres in which I was comfortable. Unfortunately—or fortunately—I discovered that my tastes were eclectic, from psychological suspense to coming-of-age to comedy to literary, as in this book. Of all of my writing, The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers is my most creative and unusual. I’m really pleased to have this one published!

4. The author in this book writes from a room within her home. Do you?

Yes. Although my office is in the same quadrant of my house as Sidonie’s office, her house is based on my childhood home, which is only a few miles from my present residence. In both cases, there were woods visible through the right window, and the ocean was on the far side of the building (better to avoid distractions). I work every day, almost all day.

5. Do you have other obligations? Family or career?

Other than a prolific number of doctor’s appointments? As for job demands, I’ve retired from my career as a book designer (Princeton University Press and 20 other publishers) and as a freelance live opera/theater photographer, but I still hold fine arts photography critiques every two months. When my publishers allow, I create photographic illustrations and do the typography for covers, such as I did for this book. My life’s philosophy—which might also be that of Sidonie Ross—is best summed up by a line from Andrew Carnegie: “My heart is in my work.” Since I attended Carnegie Mellon University, I took this sentiment very seriously from an early age. My mother, who was a brilliant artist, did, too, and my father, who was a building contractor, was imaginative in his fashion. I have no family still alive, except for a few far-flung cousins, so my life is mostly free of distractions.

6. Since The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers features time regressions, what period of your life would you like to revisit?

My early forties. I had just begun my freelance design and photography business, had fallen in love with opera and was attending the Met Opera regularly, with some magical evenings spent photographing live opera productions such as Philip Glass’ premiere of The Voyage at the Met. I was meeting so many fascinating people and, at the same time, was starting my first novel, which I’ve recently unearthed and am attempting to revise (a very heavy lift). Everything was exciting; doors were opening into new worlds I had only previously glimpsed. And, yes, there was a romance!

Thank you so much for visiting and sharing your thoughts, Laury. Good luck with the tour.

Book Details:

Book TitleThe Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers by Laury A. Egan
Category:  Adult Fiction (18+), 306 pages
Genre:  Literary, with magical realism
Publisher:  Spectrum Books
Release Date: Dec 16, 2023

Content Rating:  PG + M.  Language is moderate; scenes of attempted incest and lesbian encounter.  

Horrorlicious – Dread by Kevin Bachar @KevinPangolin

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Isn’t that cover fantastic? Dreadfully awful, yet so very intriguing. Just imagine the possibilities inside. Ghosts, monsters, and so much more of those don’t go in the forest type of moments. A couple of my favorites was the ending for the woman plagued by blood sucking mosquitoes and the rare, tropical fish.

Kevin Bachar has created a collection of horribly terrifying short stories combining fact and fiction. So, like Kevin Bachar says at the end of the book….

Now head outside and go for a walk.

Ya never know what might happen.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREAD BLURB

A child died in an avalanche, and she won’t leave me alone.

A woman plagued by blood-draining mosquitoes on the Alaskan tundra figures out a horrific way to scratch her unending itching.

There’s something outside my tent…and I think it’s hungry.

A collector of rare tropical fish, receives a new species that is both fascinating and terrifying.

DREAD – Thousands of people have gone missing out in the wild and here is a collection of tales that offer up some horrifying reasons why. Emmy-award-winning National Geographic cinematographer Kevin Bachar has swum with sharks, climbed the peaks of mountains, and explored the darkest of forests. In DREAD, he weaves together terrifying true stories from his real-life adventures with twisted fiction from the depths of his frightening imagination. Flip open the pages to indulge in the dark side of nature— haunted forests, tree demons, monstrous snakes, and a search-and-rescue team terrorized by the ghosts of those they couldn’t save.

Read… if you dare.

  • Genre: Anthology, Fiction, Horror, Short Stories
  • 207 pages, Kindle Edition
  • Published November 8, 2023 by Black Widow Press

ABOUT KEVIN BACHAR

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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The Wolf I Want For Christmas by Abigail Owen @AOwenBooks

abigail owen, award-winning, author, paranormal romance
wolf shifter, paranormal romance, christmas romance
wolf shifter, alpha male, fated mates, ocd, allergies, romantic comedy

The Wolf I Want For Christmas by Abigail Owen was part of the Christmas After Dark anthology that is no longer available. I never got to read the anthology, but I was able to get my hands on Abigail Owen’s novella. I do want to cite the other author’s stories:

  • Christmas In Atlantis by Alyssa Day
  • Bewitched Before Christmas by Nina Croft
  • The Lone Wolf’s Wish by Lisa Kessler
  • Shifting Seasons by Sheryl Nantus
  • Bewitch You A Merry Christmas by Juliette Cross

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I love Abigail Owen’s writing, so I was super excited to see she had a Christmas novella I had not read. I have read most of her books and I loved them. Her writing style is a perfect fit for me, and I was not disappointed with The Wolf I Want For Christmas.

Shyla has not seen Cade since he left town ten years ago…and now he’s knocking on her door. They’ve both changed a lot, grown up into a couple of pretty impressive packages. I thought it was hilarious that she is allergic to dogs…because he’s a werewolf. LOL

He knows she’s his mate, but she doesn’t…

The Wolf I Want For Christmas by Abigail Owen may be short and sweet, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some issues to overcome, especially the fight for becoming the alpha of the pack…oh, and taking her as his mate.

I smiled and laughed my way through The Wolf I Want For Christmas, ending with a warm, fuzzy feeling and a happy ever after.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Cade Campbell has spent ten years in hiding, preparing to return to his small town, the pack his uncle stole from him…and the mate who doesn’t know she’s been waiting for him. When he shows up on Shyla’s doorstep a few days before Christmas he discovers the sweet, quiet girl he grew up with is all woman. The problem is she’s become a loner, is obsessively neat, and allergic to dogs. Bad news for this wolf. Still, Cade’s not giving up on her or on taking his rightful place as alpha. Maybe this year Santa could finally get things right.

Christmas After Dark anthology

  • Genre: Christmas, Fantasy, Novella, Romance, Paranormal, Shapeshifters, Supernatural
  • 86 pages, Kindle Edition
  • First published November 15, 2019

ABOUT ABIGAIL OWEN

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.  

Website & Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Bookbub

MY REVIEWS FOR ABIGAIL OWEN

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Short But Packs A Punch – A Day In the Life by Andrew Masseurs #AndrewMasseurs

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

A Day In the Life by Andrew Masseurs is one of those books that is very hard to review without spoiling any of the goodies inside. At only 86 pages, it packs a wicked punch.

I love apocalyptic novels, and Andrew Masseurs’ debut novella has Michael awakening to a desolate world where he is the only survivor. As he searches for his wife and daughter, he finds he is not alone after all. Each day passes with more strange and dangerous creatures making an appearance and I wondered how in the world Andrew Masseurs would wrap this up.

I was swept away by the story and had more than one OH NO moment that left me devastated. I felt like weeping with Michael and wondered how he would pick himself up and make it through another day. The ending…

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Michael awakens to a world where everyone has disappeared. Not only must he come to grips with the sudden loss of his family, but he must also survive in a changing, overgrown, dangerous world filled with new predatory creatures. A Day in the Life for a man on the edge.

  • Genre: Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
  • 86 pages, Paperback
  • Published November 10, 2023 by Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
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Flabberghasted – A Road To Nowhere by Ted Galdi @TedGaldi

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

A Road To Nowhere is a short story, 25 pages, by Ted Galdi, so there isn’t a lot I can say about it. I was reading along, thinking I knew what was going on. A guy picks up an abandoned girl, offering her a truck ride to town. It’s all about the ending, and it was a surprise! Ted Galdi got me and I loved that. I do have another book of his, and after being caught off guard in A Road To Nowhere, I am eager to see what he has to offer in Lion On Fire, a novella.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
3 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Where nowhere is the only place to escape

An empty highway at midnight in Montana. A serial killer on the loose. An abandoned girl who desperately needs a ride. A man in a pickup truck offering to help. The surprising consequences of her getting inside.

Do you like quick reads?

Do you like hold-your-breath suspense?

Do you like shocking endings?

Then you’ll love A Road to Nowhere, the first short story by Ted Galdi, an Amazon #1 bestselling author who’s won Reader Views and Readers’ Favorite awards, and been featured by FOX, ABC, and iHeartRadio. He’s the author of the novels Elixir, An American Cage, and Lion on Fire, and the short stories Hazel Is Missing, Intrusion, and The Split.

Get your copy of this hit short story today and take a ride in a pickup truck so surprising you’ll be thinking about it for days.

  • Genre: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
  • Format: 25 pages, Kindle Edition
  • Published: January 7, 2017 by Precipice Books

ABOUT TED GALDI

Ted Galdi, an Amazon #1 bestselling author, writes suspenseful, smart crime thrillers. His goal is to get your blood and brain pumping when you read his novels and short stories.

He’s been featured by Kirkus magazine, ABC, FOX, iHeartRadio, and many other media outlets. He’s a winner of a Reader Views Reviewers Choice Award and a Silver Medal in the Readers’ Favorite Book Awards. Ted is a graduate of Duke University.

To learn more about him and download a free bestselling crime thriller, visit his website at tedgaldi.com.

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A SciFi Western Novella – Sunset On Maior Pales by Benjamin X Wretlind @bxwretlind

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Law 1: Not to kill

Law 2: Obey

Law 3: And here is the conundrum…Cletus, a robot, cannot harm a human, but he cannot let humans come to harm by not acting, and that is where he falls into the trap.

I have read several of Benjamin X Wretlind’s in depth novels and loved them, so when I saw Sunset On Maior Pales, a SciFi, western novella, I had to give it a shot. I love the cover, but the story fell a bit short for me. Is it because my expectations were very high, or it wasn’t a good fit for me, but I loved the ending. Regardless, I will read anything Benjamin writes.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
3 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

CYN-4329-2316-ACBS-092134853a–known to itself as Cletus and assigned a male gender in one of its first acts as an AI consciousness–has a bug in its programming. Against all logic, the ghost of a young man has muddled its circuits and promised to give it a soul…provided one small thing that only a self-aware robot with a yearning to self-actualize can do.

After centuries of exploration, humans are finally on the move to settle new worlds. To better facilitate settlement, advance teams of sentient robots have been sent ahead to build new towns and roll out the red carpet for the arrival of their masters. Now, just one month before the big event known as Arrival, Cletus is about to mess it all up.

The ghost of Boone Richards claims his family was murdered hundreds of years ago, and on board the shuttle that will deliver the humans to the western-themed town of Free Point, the direct descendant of that murderer has put together a gang of other outlaws to wreak havoc on the newly dubbed planet Maior Pales. When the ghost of Boone’s sister, Delphine, speaks up, Cletus finds himself faced with a dilemma for which its programming is incapable of processing.

How do you follow orders when doing so would break one law but not doing so would break another? And just how does a robot gain a soul?

  • Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction, Novellas and Short Stories, Western
  • 115 pages, Paperback
  • Published January 16, 2022

ABOUT BENJAMIN X WRETLIND (from Amazon)

Benjamin, a multi-genre author, ran with scissors when he was five. He now writes, paints, uses sharp woodworking tools and plays with glue. Sometimes he does these things at the same time.

He is the author of the dystopian novel Beneath Gehenna, the psychological horror Castles, Sketches from the Spanish Mustang (literary fiction), Sunset on Maior Pales (a sci-fi western) and other novels and novellas.

Benjamin lives with his wife Jesse in Colorado.

Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Etsy

MY BENJAMIN X WRETLIND REVIEWS

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Giveaway – Vampire Witch by Eileen Shehan @RoxanneRhoads



Ghost Dream by Eileen Sheehan

I first saw a photograph of the abandoned house on Twelve Maple Lane about a decade ago. My immediate impression was what a wonderful inn it would make for those who appreciated the days gone by.  So, without so much as a walk through, I bought it.

It was nightfall when I approached the old house that had been wholly unoccupied for years with reverence and a touch of trepidation. Its residents had long left it to the mercy of rodents, dust, and cobwebs. I felt as if I was invading the privacy of the ghosts who were left behind. Ghosts of occupants over the centuries since the building was little more than an idea in the mind of the builder.

Holding my flashlight firmly in one hand, I turned the porcelain doorknob that would allow me entry. It, like the door, was cracked with age. My mind pondered over how many hands had turned that knob and pushed their way into this dwelling in its glory days. Days when vibrantly colorful rooms glowed with the softness of gas and candle light and radiated laughter and happiness. My ponderings quickly left me when, for the first time in my life, my level head -that had always ignored and given no credence to superstition- experienced an overwhelming dread as an invisible cobweb clung to my face. I shuddered. It was only a cobweb, but it felt as if I’d walked through someone. Or, better yet, someone had walked through me.

Like a frightened child, I rushed to the one room that I had made certain was prepared for my occupancy by the workmen who were hired for the house’s resurrection. As I locked the door, a sense of security swept over me. I had not only locked out the moldy darkness, but the eerie feeling of unseen eyes was no longer hovering about. Someone had been thoughtful enough to make sure that there was a cheery fire burning in the oversized fireplace. Its flickering flames did wonders to give a sense of warmth and safety to the room. I sat down before it with a comforting sense of relief. The electricity was turned off, requiring the soft flickering lights of candles to illuminate my surroundings. Seeing the antique furnishings in such ambiance brought up visions of days gone by.

From the color and print of the faded wallpaper, and the delicacy of the bed and dressing table, I deduced that the room had once belonged to the gentler sex. I closed my eyes as I allowed my imagination to summon visions of faces out of the mists of the past. Faces that were long forgotten and voices that long ago grew silent for all time.

As a storm brewed outside of the thick leaded window panes, my reverie shifted to sadness. The singing of the voices from the past was replaced by the shrieking of the winds outside. The laughter in the ears of my mind shifted to a softened wail. The incessant beating of the rain against the panes stripped the room of all tranquility. The eeriness that I’d left beyond the closed door slowly crept through the cracks beneath it.

A nervousness overtook me as the fire burned low. An overwhelming sense of loneliness consumed me. Eager to shake it, I arose and changed into my night clothes. I moved about the room, stealthily preparing for slumber as if I was amongst others whose dreams would be lethal to interrupt. Diving onto the mattress, I slithered beneath the covers. With my head barely exposed, I lay listening to the rain and wind and the faint creaking of distant shutters until a blissful, deep sleep overtook me.

The acute stillness of the home when I awoke filled me with a shuddering expectancy. All, but the beating of my heart, was silent as I lay in the pre-dawn light while I debated what to do. The workmen would not arrive for several hours. My stomach was announcing the need for the breaking of my fast, but my cowardly nerves refused to budge. So, I lay in the warmth and false security of my bed until an unseen force took matters into hand.

Slowly. Very slowly, the bedclothes slid toward the foot of the bed. It was as if someone was pulling them from me. Instead of being too nervous to move, I was now scared stiff. Not only couldn’t I move a muscle, but I could make no sound. I finally regained control of my body enough to allow me to grab the edge of the blankets and pull them back over my breast until they reached my chin. It took an even greater effort to pull them over my head. Beads of nervous sweat formed upon my forehead as a result.

I lay in frozen silence while I waited for what might happen next.

After a brief interval, that steady pull on the coverings returned. I roused my energies, snatched the covers with a vice grip, and pulled them over my head again. Suddenly the sound of heavy footsteps permeated my room. I felt a sense of relief that they sounded like they were moving away from me instead of toward me. When the footsteps reached the bedroom door, I waited for the creaking sound of it opening and closing, but it didn’t come. The footsteps, however, continued to exit the room and fade as they walked further into the empty house.

I lay trembling while contemplating what just happened until I had myself convinced that it was a dream. My nerves were further soothed when I crawled out of bed and found that the bedroom door was still bolted on the inside.

The day passed as normal. I exerted a good deal of emotional energy overseeing the workmen in my effort to keep the integrity of the old house in place. Once nightfall arrived and the men retired, I eagerly took my exhausted self to my bedroom once again.

I had just blown out the candle and snuggled beneath the bedclothes when I heard a grating noise overhead. It sounded like a heavy box was being dragged across the floor. When the dragging sound ended, a loud thud occurred. It was so loud that the windows shook.

Beyond my locked bedroom door, I could hear the muffled sound of doors slamming throughout the house.

A part of me wanted to get up and search for intruders, while the other part of me said to stay put and wait to see what would happen. I regretted not taking the precaution against intruders by having a bat or some other type of self-defense weapon in my room as I listened to the sound of stealthy footsteps creeping about the corridors, as well as up and down the stairs.

Sometimes these noises stopped outside of my bedroom door, hesitated, and went away again. I heard muffled sentences and occasional half-uttered screams that were faint, but discernable. Then, a light breeze passed by me as the swish of invisible garments reached my ears.

The eerie feeling that I’d felt the night before returned with a forcefulness unmatched. I sat up in bed and held my hand to my heart while I did my best to slow the beating that threatened to get out of control. Unlike the night before when the fireplace was ablaze with illuminating light, I had lit only a small fire that rapidly turned to embers. With the candles snuffed out, I was forced to rely on the glow of the embers and the filtered rays of the full moon through the window to see my surroundings. The shadows bounced about, but I was still able to make out a cloaked figure hovering in the corner of the room.

“Who are you and what do you want?” I nervously asked. The figure remained silent as it slowly moved toward me.

“This is my home,” I said with a boldness that I didn’t feel.  “You are not welcome.”

“Why do you wish to have this home?” the figure asked in a deep voice that had a hint of echo to it.

Surprised by the question, I was even more surprised by the way I calmly replied with, “I wish to bring it back to its glory days and to share it with others.”

“Glory days?” the figure mockingly said. “Those were times long gone. The house belongs to me now.”

“I purchased this house,” I insisted. “I have the deed to it.”

“You may have the deed, but I have lived in it,” the figure argued. “It belongs to me. You will leave.”

Fear was replaced by indignation over the shadowy figure’s demand that I leave a home that I’d put so much of my heart and soul into and would require even more before its beauty could shine through once more.

“If you care so much for this home,” I challenged, “Why have you let it go into such disrepair?”

“It is as I desire it to be,” the figure firmly announced.

“It is not as I desire it,” said a female’s voice from seemingly nowhere.

“Josephine!” the figure bellowed. “Why have you come?”

“I never left,” the voice replied. “I simply saw no reason to negate your occupancy until now.”

“Why now?” the figure asked.

“Finally, there is someone who is willing to return the life and love to the walls of my home,” Josephine said. “I have cried decades of tears for want of such a thing to occur. Now that it has, I will not allow you to prevent it. You must go.”

“I have occupied this place too long for you to be able to push me out,” the figure bitterly announced.

“Perhaps, if it were just myself doing the pushing,” Josephine said with conviction.

Too stunned and amazed by what was occurring before my very eyes, I stayed motionless while I listened to what I discovered to be two discarnate beings verbally debating over who should take control of the house that I now owned. I was tempted to ask them both to leave, since the house now belonged to me, but, since I was only now being exposed to the reality of a world beyond the here and now, I was uncertain what the protocol for such a request would be. So, instead, I remained stoic and silent while I waited to see what the outcome of this verbal debate might be.

To my surprise and dismay, the arguing grew quite potent. So potent, in fact, that the stillness of the air left the room. It was replaced by what I could only describe as a violent wind. The bedroom door rattled, along with the windows. A fleeting fear that the glass might shatter flashed through my head before my attention was turned to the fact that the room seemed to expand in the darkness as the figure of a woman in a Victorian gown appeared before me.

Although I had already become aware of the presence of the cloaked figure, he was merely a shadow. This woman, on the other hand, was as opaque as myself.

She was neatly put together with not one hair out of place. Her dress was of vibrant colors that glowed in the moonlight. As I stared in startled wonderment, several equally opaque spirits, both male and female, in Victorian attire joined her. Soon, the room was filled with what I inherently knew were former occupants of the grand house.

The shadowy figure stood his ground, alone against a roomful of spirits wanting him out. At first, as the energy he projected blew like a hurricane through the room to the extent that I clung fast to the bedpost, I thought for sure that he would win. It took a moment for them to gather together with hands firmly clasped, but when they did, the wind changed direction and forced the shadow into oblivion.

I sat in silence on the edge of the bed while I debated what to do next. The spirits faded away, one by one, until only Josephine remained.

“You need not fear us,” Josephine said. “We are pleased that you bring to this home the life and love that it deserves. It has been our desire for decades. We will protect you and it from this moment on.”

With that, she also faded away.

Feeling safe and satisfied, I silently smiled and retreated to the security of my bedcovers. Within moments, I fell into a deep, exhausted slumber.

I awoke the following morning to the sounds of workmen bustling about the house. Surprised that I’d slept for so long, I raced to join them. As the day progressed, my thoughts, and memories of the battle between spirits the night before faded. By the time nightfall returned, I considered it nothing more than a vivid dream.

The restoration of the house continued until it was restored to its original glory with no more incidents from the unseen world. Since there were no more bumps in the night, bedclothes mysteriously sliding off me on their own, or spirits appearing before me, I eventually completely dismissed the dream as a reaction to the unsavory ambiance of a neglected home.

Today, I operate an historic inn that offers tours that are accompanied by the history of the house and its occupants that I acquired from the local library and town records. On rare occasions, I will receive a report from one of my overnight guests reporting vivid dreams of a woman in Victorian dress smiling as she stands at the foot of their bed.

Vampire Witch
Vampire Witch Trilogy
Book One
Eileen Sheehan

Genre: Paranormal/thriller/romance
Publisher: Earth Wise Books
Date of Publication: 01/01/2016
ISBN: 978-1726737524
ASIN:  ‎ B0195YJ1Q0
Number of pages: 378
Word Count: 91,903

Tagline: She falls for two handsome vampire brothers. Now, she must choose…. Lovers of VAMPIRE DIARIES or TRUE BLOOD will enjoy this story.

Book Description: 

Discovering the mother that you thought was dead for over a decade is very much alive will shake your world.

And so begins Casey’s dilemma. Add to that her mother has become a mutant vampire and has promised her in marriage to a wicked vampire king in order to unite the two kingdoms. Now, let’s combine that with the fact that the bearer of such news is a hot and sexy guy who turns out to be a vampire and he steals her heart. Then, to top it off she finds that he has an equally hot vampire brother vying for her love and who she just might have feelings for too.

Ready or not, Casey’s life just took a turn for the strange.

Join Casey in this sizzling, action-packed first book of a paranormal romance thriller trilogy.

Book Trailer: https://bit.ly/3PDgAWJ

Amazon      BN     Kobo     Apple     Smashwords



Luthias groaned and raised his hand to his head.  Gwendoline was at his side in a flash.  She lifted him into a position that allowed him to easily drink the liquid she held to his lips and then lowered him back down again.

“This will help him regain a bit of his strength, but he’ll still need blood,” she said. She went to a tall refrigerator in the corner of the room and inspected its contents. “I doubt I have enough to bring him back to normal.”
“How much do you need?” I asked.

“He’s almost bled dry,” she said.  “I have enough to keep him alive, but not much more than that.”

I bit my lower lip while I watched Gwendoline pull every bag of blood she had in her supplies and place them on a tea cart to roll next to the table.  She emptied the first bag into a glass and urged him to drink.  He weakly obliged. By the time she’d fed him the last bag, the hollow around his sunken eyes was beginning to disappear and his wounds were starting to shrink.

I pointed this out to Gwendoline and she smiled faintly.

“If he has more blood will they heal completely?” I asked.

“Within seconds,” she said.

“Where does he usually get his blood?” I asked hesitantly.

“He hunts deer or wolf. Large animals are generally the best,” she replied.

“No humans,” I mused admiringly.

“Verso vampires refrain from drinking human blood whenever possible.  The risk of developing an addiction is too great,” she explained. “We live peacefully amongst ourselves and rarely venture out into the rawness of what’s left of our planet. An addiction to human blood would require they leave Verso.”

“There are some who drink it,” I said.  “A maid told me humans don’t last long in Verso because rogue vampires drink their blood until they’re dead.”

“That’s true,” she said with a nod. “It takes a strong vampire to be able to stop drinking a human’s blood before they drain them dry. In my centuries of life, I’ve known of only a few who could do it.”

“Is it the magic that keeps you alive?” I asked.

“Indeed,” she replied with pride. “As it will ye.”

“I plan on becoming a vampire,” I reminded her.

“Yes, but until ye do, the magic will slow down the aging process,” she explained. “There’s no need to rush things.”

“How old was Geo when he was turned?” I asked while I mindlessly stroked the length Luthias’s arm.

“He was twenty-eight. He had a wife and three children, poor lad,” she said.

 “I never thought about him having a family,” I gasped. “What happened to them?”

“They were killed by the raiding vampires. Geo was saved because of the strong magic in his veins.  Luthias found him and brought him to me to tend to.  He looked much like Luthias does now,” she said.

“When did Luthias turn vampire?” I asked.





About the Author:

Sitting at her antique rolltop desk in her home in upstate New York, Internationally Published and Award Winning author, Eileen Sheehan, writes steamy romance thrillers for the mature adult with a sexy male and strong female. The majority of her novels are paranormal, but some are just plain novels about people in love. As the years progressed, so did her writing style. Although she still includes romance and has a happily ever after ending, her stories tend to have more mystery, thrills, and horror in them.

She makes it a point to write a novel length that will allow the busy readers to be able to sit down in an evening (no more than two) and be taken on a journey that was created by her active imagination without having a week go by before they gets to the end of the story.

An incurable romantic, she has a love affair with at least one of her characters… one book at a time. She hopes the same thing happens to you.

Eileen started out as a freelance writer for periodical magazines and newspapers. From there, she tried her hand at writing screenplays. Her screenplay, “When East Meets West” was a finalist in the 2001 Independent International Film and Video Festival at Madison Square Gardens, NYC. Finally finding her niche, she lets her imagination loose with paranormal romance/thrillers. 

If you want to see more quality writings at a reasonable price, please support her efforts by leaving a review and becoming a follower










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

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

Amazon / Goodreads

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.

Nibble Nibble – One Night With A Vampire by Katya Ensmore @KatyaEnsmore @booksprout

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Ashleigh and Marci are chatting. You know…girl talk. Marci has her sights set on the bartender, so she slips Ashleigh a card, insisting she call the exclusive escort agency. Maybe she can end her dry spell.

When Ashleigh talks about her vibrator, she had me cracking up, as did the dialogue between the two girls. I am always up for some laughs.

I had a fabulous time hanging out with the girls and the Monster Escort Agency has me intrigued. Sure, we had hot, steamy, instalove, but that’s okay. I expected no less with a story told in 52 pages. I loved the idea of requesting a ‘book boyfriend’ and Ashleigh’s was a vampire. No surprises, but lots of fun. I think I will enjoy making a return visit and see who does what to who.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
3 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

After a considerably long dry spell, Ashleigh finally succumbs to peer pressure and does the unimaginable.

She contacts an exclusive escort agency.

To her astonishment, they unveil a unique service catering to her preferred literary realm: paranormal romance. Yet, what she could never have foreseen was the agency’s arrangement for a night of passion with a creature straight out of her beloved books—an actual, bona fide vampire.

  • Genre: Fiction, Novella, Paranormal, Supernatural, Vampires
  • 52 pages, Kindle Edition
  • Expected publication October 13, 2023
  • Series: Monster Escort Agency, Book I

ABOUT KATYA ENSMORE

Katya Ensmore resides in rural Saskatchewan with her #writingbuddy a Great Dane aptly named Khaos. When she is not spending time with Khaos, she can be found writing or hiding behind her iPad buried in the digital pages of a book.

When it comes to literature and film, she enjoys all things supernatural. She has been writing since she was a child. She currently has several works in progress with hopes to publish more in the near future.

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok

  • 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’.
  • I am an amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!