The Brutal Time Christina Bauer (Angelbound Origins #6) Published by: Monster House Books Publication date: October 29th 2019 Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult
“I love the Angelbound Origins world and just can’t seem to get enough of it!” – The Avid Reader
As the Great Scala, Myla Lewis is the only being who can move Purgatory’s souls to Heaven or Hell. It’s a big job. Too bad Myla goes through assistants faster than a hot knife through brownies. Not that it bothers her much; Myla’s always been a solo fighter.
Then comes the problem of the fading angels. Millions of Heavenly residents are dying. According to a prophecy, the only way Myla can save them is by traveling back in time, meeting King Arthur, and creating her own knights of the round table. The catch? Doing so might end the after-realms in a bloody demonpocalypse.
Yipes.
Myla and her main squeeze, Lincoln, aren’t afraid of taking a few chances (in between kisses). But with so much at risk, the stakes may be too high, even for them. And the biggest challenge of all? Finding those knights.
Because Myla Lewis doesn’t play well with others. At all.
“These books don’t just capture your attention, they straight up demand it. Christina Bauer has created a fascinating and unique world that you do not want to miss out on.” – Bookhalolic Brittany
Christina Bauer thinks that fantasy books are like bacon: they just make life better. All of which is why she writes romance novels that feature demons, dragons, wizards, witches, elves, elementals, and a bunch of random stuff that she brainstorms while riding the Boston T. Oh, and she includes lots of humor and kick-ass chicks, too.
Christina graduated from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School with BA’s in English along with Television, Radio, and Film Production. She lives in Newton, MA with her husband, son, and semi-insane golden retriever, Ruby.
Be the first to know about new releases from Christina by signing up for her newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/CBupdates
Do you like urban fantasy and snarky heroines? Then you’ll want to meet necromancer Octavia Hollows and her sidekick Bacon.
We are celebrating the release of The Journals of Octavia Hollows by Stacey Rourke on Audio. This collection features all six journals in the series and was published by The Audio Flow. Come fall in love with this feisty heroine, her pet pig, and the brilliant narration provided by Brenda Scott Wlazlo.
With a touch of her hand, Octavia Hollows can restore life. Yet, she couldn’t save the man she loved from the horrific accident that stole him from her. Octavia thought she could outrun the pain, but ghosts from the past refuse to be silenced. Out of options, she chooses to retrace her wayward journey across the country in search of answers. Surrounded by baffling mysteries of the undead, what she learns about herself along the way might become her greatest weapon.
This six novella series chronicles Octavia’s adventures in:
Wake the Dead
Dead Man’s Hand
Caught Dead
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Dead Ringer
Dead as a Doornail
⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ Listen to A Sample ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇
⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ About the Author ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇
Stacey Rourke is the award winning author of works that span genres, but possess the same flare for action and snarky humor. She lives in Florida with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant dogs. Stacey loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction, and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head.
One lucky US winner will receive a signed paperback copy of the Journals of Octavia Hollows collection. The book will be signed by author Stacey Rourke and narrator Brenda Scott Wlazlo.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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.
An appaloosa horse is
the only eyewitness to a killing, a sack of Montana sapphires is
missing, and only Heaven knows the whole truth.
In “The Man Who
Fell from the Sky,” some themes of “Ghost” meet “The Horse Whisperer” in
this full-length, paranormal whodunnit mystery that is packed with
romantic suspense, danger, dark secrets and high spiritual stakes.
Cody
Bliss, angel detective, is assigned by Heaven to the mortal body of
J.R. Wilder, a paroled murderer, in order to solve his own previous
untimely demise and take care of unfinished business with Mariah, who is
unable to move on with her life until she knows what happened to her
missing husband.
Against the backdrop of a western Montana ranch
near Glacier National Park, and in the company of Mariah and her
tight-knit family, Cody (inside the body of J.R. Wilder) must solve the
murder mystery using forensic clues and the spiritual powers of an
angel. He must also yield to J.R., whose body he is using, as J.R. falls
in love with Cody’s widow.
This full-length novel’s compelling characters are all seeking truth and redemption. Only an angel detective can set things right, and the consequences for an entire family rest in his heavenly hands.
Angel detectives, a mix of the ghost and horse whisperer…what’s not to like? Sounds like a good one to me. How about you?
I have been reading and reviewing some books that authors have requested and they have been a pleasant surprise. Nightfall on New Babylon by Carmen Taxer and Richard Wheeler is one of these books.
Nightfall on New Babylon by Carmen Dominque Taxer and Richard T Wheeler is told from multiple character viewpoints. At times I found it confusing trying to remember who was who and what’s happening to them, but I do love my vampire stories, so I read on and I’m glad I did.
Things started falling into place. Characters are being exposed for who they truly are. Horrors arise and they are not only the vampire kind.
The women seem to pay the biggest price. As I learn more about the four main characters, I find their lives tragic and frightening. There is more going on than meets the eye and the ending set me up for wanting to know what comes next.
The setting seems like the time of Jack the Ripper in England, but I could visualize the street and ruins of Italy too.
Cliffhanger ending that hooked me.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Nightfall of New Babylon by Carmen Dominque Taxer and Richard T Wheeler.
3 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Nightfall on New Babylon (Gaslight Vamp #1)
A Gothic Political Thriller Serial in a Victorian Vampire Horror Setting
In a city built on sin, the immortal Lords of Night move all the pieces.
New
Babylon is a city of sin, built on lies told over generations. The
inhabitants may think they are the masters of their own destinies at the
dawn of the Scientific Revolution, but as night falls on New Babylon,
the true Lords of Night once again move their pieces across the playing
field in a secret war for dominance – Devika Templeton is a girl who has
it all, including a nightly visitor; Roald Black has lost it all, but
the truth is even more painful than the loss will ever be; Dalla Arnesen
must rebuild her scuttled career, a tenuous feat in a city set against
her; and Victoria Campbell has a secret that she must share with her
rich suitor if she has any hope of escaping the streets.
Binding
all four together with strings of obligation and pain is House D’Asur,
the disgraced Lords of the Glass Manor – Those who would be Lords of
Night again.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Carmen Dominque Taxer: Author, artist, and sometime philosopher, Carmen Dominique Taxer was born in South Africa with familial roots across the globe. She began her career with early scribblings of the dark and twisted, and this love of dark Gothic Horror, and equally dark Romance, has only grown over the years. Her first love was vampires, and to this day she cannot write without the words pouring out in the shape of roses, blood, and thorny kisses. Carmen uses the presence of vampires in a fictional setting to give voice to the struggles and successes of humanity, painting a portrait of the world that is both dark and beautifully highlighted with love conquering death above all else.
She and her husband and co-author, Richard T. Wheeler, have constructed a universe of these vampires with the affectionate title of Sanguinem Emere. All of these stories take place in the fictional city of New Babylon, a melting pot of cultures, ethnicities, and desires.
About Richard T Wheeler: Richard T. Wheeler is the co-author of the Sanguinem Emere Gaslight Vamp novel serial and runs Dauntlesswriting.com, helping writers become authorpreneurs.
Kendra is an author of mystery romance novels. A woman after my own heart. She is also a ghost whisperer. She doesn’t leave her comfort zone, whether in fashion or personality. That will all change when Jenna seeks her help
Jenna is her best friend and quickly becomes a ghost. Fantastic personality and I can relate to her. She is afraid for her FBI father and hangs around, refusing to go into the light. She wonders how Jenna could be her best friend and she not realize she was gay. It makes her question herself. Kendra’s mind just never went there.
The plot thickens and bodies fall.
Kendra will be working with Derek Knight, who Jenna was investigating the death of numerous FBI agents with. I feel a romance in the making. The attraction was quick and it developed rapidly, them being pushed together all day, every day.
Of course, I knew she would have to do something stupid, ignoring her intuition. It happens in all romantic suspense novels. It can be frustrating, but builds the suspense, knowing she’s in big trouble with a capital T.
Well, I was right about one thing, but it wasn’t the killer and it didn’t go down the way I thought. I love when an author can surprise me and keep me guessing. And…now I know.
There’s more to come in this series and I want to be there with the gang. I can imagine all the hoots, laughs and danger that will be coming their way.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Unorthodox by S Peters Davis.
4 Stars
Ghost-Riddance!
A short story by S. Peters-Davis
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve wandered around, waiting for someone to see me?” I studied her misshaped face. Her eyes read, ‘who gives a rip.’ A deep sigh later, I zoomed through the air to catch up with her. “So, what’s your name?” Something about her seemed familiar to me.
“Go find someone else to pester.” Only a short side-glance at me, and she hiked on, trekking through the forest, ever closer to where my bones lay.
“How long have you been able to communicate with the dead?” I would engage her, make her listen to my story, and why would that even matter? All of my family had long passed from this world. “Do you ever take a beat to rest?”
She stopped and glared at me. “If I talk to you for a minute, then will you leave me alone forever?”
“Forever?”
Her eyes misted over. “I’m not feeling friendly. I don’t wish to chat, and certainly not to a stranger. Can’t you see I’m upset?” A tear took a nosedive and slipped off her chin.
“Who’s responsible for your misery? I’ll haunt them ’til the end of time.” I stomped my foot, even though it made no sound and actually slipped below the ground surface for a second.
She laughed. Her voice rose above the birdsong and then ricocheted off the trees eerily like a haunted forest. She fell to the ground with uncontrolled gasps and guffaws of laughter. Her eyes leaked a lot as she rolled half in and half out of the ground, and then suddenly, she stopped with a hiccup. Her brilliant blues swept over me. She sat up with her legs stretched out in front of her.
“I meant what I said, not a joking matter haunting someone ’til the end of time.” I folded myself to the ground beside her, arms crossed over my chest to impress my seriousness on her.
Her full, shapely lips stretched into a smile. “So, why are you stuck in the forest? Who are you anyway?”
“Landus James, at your service.” I reached my hand toward her, and she grabbed it. My eyes went wide as did my mouth that we could actually touch each other.
“Yea, so…what does one ghost say to the other?” She grinned and stood.
I followed suit, rising from the ground as I recognized those lovely blues staring back at me. “Zee?” I held her at arms-length. “How? Why?”
“You’re not the only one wandering through this forest in search of your significant other.” She studied me, scanning. “What happened to you? Half of your face is gone.”
“It is?” I touched my cheeks, feeling raw tissue and bone on the right side of my face. Something I’d never been able to do before now. What a nightmare I must look like after being mauled by a grizzly. “I had no idea my spirit-self would be portrayed as I must have appeared in death.” I studied her face, parts swollen, discolored, and gory. “What happened to you?”
“Someone attacked me from behind. I don’t know who as I lost consciousness with the first blow to the back of my head. I had gone looking for you the next morning. You had taken the gun long before nightfall, looking for supper while I set up our camp.” She looked around me, her focus on the ground underneath the branches of a big oak tree, where my bones rested. “All this time I’ve been looking for you, and there you are.” Her attention drifted back to me. “Let’s go bless your bones, then I’ll show you where mine lay to rest.”
We ambled over to the tree. Zee spoke the words, “Blessed are those who live in love.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the south. “Let me take you to where I lay so you may speak a blessing for me.”
We moved with the wind as it hurled us between the trees and shrubbery. My heart lifted to heights it hadn’t visited for many centuries. Our fingers entwined a little tighter as we passed through miles of wooded terrain. Then suddenly, Zee drew my body closer, we slowed and settled beneath a huge walnut tree.
“Here I am,” she said, looking toward the ground.
Her remains resonated within my spirit, and I knew exactly where she lay. “You lay here.” I bent to touch the earth, and my hand vanished below the surface. “Blessed are those who live in love.”
As soon as the last word left my lips, everything went dark, and I wondered if I’d gone to hell…
* * *
My body shook incessantly to the words, “Wake up. Wake up right now! Landus, please wake up.”
I opened my eyes to Zee. Her lovely unmarred face hovered above mine, the sun creating a halo around her beautiful blonde hair. “Where are we?” I asked, raising to my elbows and looking around. The forest appeared the same.
She pinched me.
“Ouch. Why’d you do that?” I stared at her, noticing how beautiful she looked. How fresh and alive her cheeks blushed.
She started laughing like before.
The brambles, sticks, and dirt poked into my forearms, and I sat to brush it off, realizing I could actually feel the outside world.
My breath sucked in, my lungs filled, I breathed.
“We get a second chance, darling.” Zee settled on my lap, her lips gently finding mine.
I responded, fervent for more but not fully understanding how we could be together after being apart for so long.
She pressed her body against mine. Her heart thrummed against my chest.
We were alive.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she drew back, licking my lips as we parted. “I want you right now, right here.”
I sucked in another breath, fully aroused and on fire for her. “Blessed are those who live in love.”
“Ghost riddance,” she muttered against my lips and then proceeded to rip my shirt from my body.
Unorthodox
A
Kendra Spark Novel
Book One
S. Peters-Davis
Genre: Paranormal
Suspense-Thriller Romance
with a good dollop of
Supernatural
Publisher: Books We Love
Publishing
Date of Publication: September
15, 2017
ASIN: B073MZZPVM
ISBN 978-1-77362-303-0
Number of pages: 153 pages
Word Count: 63,000
Cover Artist: CoverUp.Net
Book
Tagline:Kendra’s ability of
communicating with the dead is requested by her FBI criminal analyst friend to
stop a killer from murdering agents.
Series
Tagline: Kendra sees ghosts, and then her BFF, Jenna, becomes one. The two
friends and FBI agent Derek Knight fight for justice to the victims of heinous
crimes.
Book Description:
Kendra Spark, suspense-mystery
romance author and communicator with the dead, is requested to hop on the first
flight to D.C.
Jenna Powers, FBI criminal
analyst and estranged best friend of Kendra, gets ghosticized in a fatal
accident before relaying all the details of the FBI killer case.
Derek Knight, a dedicated FBI
Special Task Force agent, takes lead on the case.
The investigation into the FBI
agent killings continues as Kendra, Jenna – yes, even after death – and Derek
work together on the case before Director of the Special Task Force Jackson
Powers’ number is up. He’s Jenna’s father and the end-game of the killer’s
target list.
Somehow the elusive killer
remains undetected, until Kendra’s unique ability produces results and a final
possibility at stopping his killing spree before it’s too late.
Tagline: Trafficked girls marked to lose their souls by a malevolent
supernatural entity require someone with explicit abilities for their rescue.
Will Kendra be able to save them?
Book Description:
Kendra Spark, suspense-mystery
writer and communicator with the dead, signs on to the next FBI Special Task
Force case, trafficked girls that are marked to lose their souls.
Jenna Powers, ghostified criminal
analyst, sticks close to the case as she and Kendra are also marked by the same
malevolent supernatural force.
Derek Knight, lead FBI Agent on this
case, learns of the malevolent entity and the deeper paranormal realm of
danger.
Kendra’s unfiltered feelings for
Derek struggle to take a backseat, and as the menacing threat grows more
intense, so does her passion for Derek.
Derek faces uncertainties he’s
never dealt with in his past, like malicious entities and the loss of his heart
to love. How can he protect Kendra against forces he can’t see?
As boundless supernatural danger
intertwines with the future reality of the trafficked teens, Kendra and Jenna
realize only they can shoulder the rescue by calling in a voodoo priestess…
Tagline: A cold-case
investigation ends in facing the ultimate psychopaths, a highly-accredited
police director gone crime lord and a beautiful malevolent “albatross of a
spirit.”
Book Description:
Kendra Spark, Derek Knight, and
“ghosty” Jenna Powers, members of an FBI special task force, investigate a
cold-case and end up facing the ultimate psychopaths, a highly-accredited
police director gone crime lord and a beautiful malevolent “albatross of a
spirit.” Both want Kendra for her unique abilities but might settle for Jenna
instead.
Derek stops at nothing to keep
Kendra and Jenna safe, but what if the worst-case scenario happens, an
unstoppable villain and villainess of the dark plane that picks the earth plane
as their stomping ground?
S. Peters-Davis writes
multi-genre stories, but loves penning a good page-turning suspense-thriller,
especially when it’s a ghost story and a romance. When she’s not writing,
editing, or reading, she’s hiking, RV’ing, fishing, playing with grandchildren,
or enjoying time with her favorite muse (her husband) in Southwest Michigan.
As DK Davis, she also writes YA
and NA paranormal, supernatural novels that involve diverse and mature subject
matter.
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 could hear the
thoughts of every person for three blocks around–the regrets,
rationalizations, commercial jingles, the lies that hide what they can’t
bear to think—how could you ever trust anyone? And if you could make
them believe anything you wanted, how could you ever trust yourself?
Max
Renn is a legend of the Soviet mind control program, a genetic
experiment, the product of three generations of psychics bred by the
state for their power. Before his first mission, the Soviet Union
collapses and he disappears.
We meet him twenty years later in
the Everglades, keeping as far from people as he can get, until his best
friend–his only friend–is murdered and he is forced to assemble a team
of people like him to fight the international conspiracy behind the
murder.
“A dead-on thriller for the decade . . . . I can’t
imagine anyone reading this and not wanting more” — Thomas F.
Monteleone, author of the NY Times bestseller The Blood of the Lamb and
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing a Novel
“Ted Krever has been a writer to watch, now he’s a writer to read. Do not miss MINDBENDERS.” -F. Paul Wilson
“Ted Krever is a great storyteller but more importantly, the stories he creates and writes are ones that I want to read. In this ADD era, where even e-mails are considered too long, Ted’s work commands my attention. It is definitely worthy of yours, too.” -David Leaf, biographer and award-winner writer/director/producer of such films as ‘The Night James Brown Saved Boston,’ ‘The US Vs. John Lennon’ and ‘ BEAUTIFUL DREAMER: Brian Wilson and The Story of SMiLE.’ (less)
I love the subject matter and have read more than one book about mind control and government programs. Add in the Everglades and this one was a no brainer.
Spooktacular
Guest Blog – Binge-worthy Shows for Halloween
Halloween month is the perfect
time to binge on surreal, spooky, otherworldly shows. Here are some of my top picks for your
viewing pleasure. Enjoy!
* Wacky witches and a good vs.
evil struggle: Chilling Adventures of
Sabrina
* Zombies in a quarantine zone,
aka Seattle: iZombie
* Vampire Diaries spin-off, a
school for all the preternatural folk: Legacies
* Surreal setting and quirky
people with powers: Legion
* One sexy devil and a kickass
cop: Lucifer
* Harry Potter-esque fantasy with
magicians/college students: The Magicians
* Flawed superheroes and some
“wibbly wobbly timey wimey”: The Umbrella
Academy
Happy viewing and Happy
Halloween!
Xo,
Celia
ORIGINS
Tranquilli Bloodline
Book 3
Celia Breslin
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Champagne Book Group
Date of Publication: September 9, 2019
Number of pages: 250
Word Count: 94,000
Cover Artist: Melody Pond
Tagline: The Chosen One is home. Bad little vampires beware…
Book Description:
In HAVEN and DESTINY, San Francisco nightclub owner Carina Tranquilli finds love and fights her vampire family’s enemies. Now, in ORIGINS…
En route to reunite with her estranged father in Italy, Carina is kidnapped by a human organization intent on vampire genocide. Beaten, starved, and forced to fight fellow captives, she finally manages to escape. Along the way, she encounters the group’s leaders—their identities shock her to the core.
Once home, Carina warns her family of this new threat, but dear old dad is missing. In his absence, the Tribunal, the governing body for all vampirekind, lies in disarray, with an old enemy making a bid for her father’s throne. What’s worse? The usurper wants her for his queen…and slave.
With a human-vampire war looming on one side and a vampire-vampire battle brewing on the other, Carina will have to rally her troops, take back the throne, and fulfill her destiny as the Chosen One. If not, her whole world will fall, taking everyone she loves with it.
The car stopped. I couldn’t convince myself to step out. What if this was a freaking, injection-induced hallucination? What if I was still back in the damn prison?
Besnik helped me out.
The mansion’s mammoth double doors eased open. The man illuminated in the doorway chased away the numbness, pumped my heart so hard it might pound right out of my chest. He opened his arms wide, calling me. My lips curled upward in the first true smile I’d cracked since the last time he’d held me in his arms. That man, my man, loved me more than any other on this whole damn planet.
“Alexander.”
I ran to him.
Alexander’s arms closed around me, his hold so tight I could barely catch a breath. Tremors ran through his hard body, again and again.
“Carina,” he croaked, voice sandpaper rough. “Carina.”
Nuzzling his neck, I planted fevered kisses along his tan, heated skin. He’d fed recently to be this warm under my lips. Temptation had me licking his pounding pulse, nipping at the vein. Couldn’t resist it. My fangs slid home.
Energy exploded between us, our mate bond bursting to life and tearing away whatever magical wall had separated us for far too long. My bite, the catalyst, his blood the cure. Awash in the force of our reunion, Alexander staggered then clutched me closer while I pulled out of his neck and laved the rapidly healing holes.
As our power continued to bubble and stitch us back together, he whisked us into the grand entryway, planted my ass on an ornate, antique cabinet, and devoured my mouth like a starving man. His hands roamed everywhere, searching, cataloguing, as if to reassure himself this wasn’t a hallucination, that I was really here, in his arms, relatively unharmed.
The more he kissed me, the more those wonderful, golden threads of our connection resurrected inside me, around me, between us, and I felt like freaking Sleeping Beauty awakened from her magical slumber by a kiss from her fated handsome prince. The silly thought made me giggle against Alexander’s seeking mouth, and then I was crying while my love cupped my face between his hands, wiped away my tears with his thumbs, and pressed tender kisses to my forehead, my cheeks, the tip of my nose…
“Alexander.” I fisted his shirt tight. Please, God, let him be real. “I… I don’t want to wake up.” Please, don’t let this end.
His smoky blue eyes bored into mine, his brown hair spiked in every direction, a bit longer than in my memory. It’s not a dream, baby. You’re here. You’re home.
Oh my God, I can hear you. I swiped some willful bits of hair away from his forehead, touched his full lips, ran my fingers along his strong jaw, taking in the whole handsome, bad-boy package. You’re back in my head. I’d never been happier to have someone inside my mind. Silence was seriously overrated.
And back in your arms.
About the Author:
Celia lives in California with her husband, daughter, and two feisty cats. She writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance, and has a particular fondness for werewolves, vampires, and the Fae. Her stories are action-packed and typically include one of the many varieties of romantic entanglements: fated mates, second chance, rescue romance, opposites attract, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, and more.
When not writing, you’ll find Celia exercising, reading a good book, hanging with her family, or indulging her addiction to Joss Whedon’s TV shows and movies, as well as everything in the Marvel Universe franchise. Of course!
The Long Night: Blood Will Be Served M.G. Darwish (Fortier, #2) Publication date: September 9th 2019 Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Suspense
The Vampire Alfred, is known as the Fortier. Vicious, renowned and feared.
Alfred Zeidan is proclaimed Fortier, the Strongest amongst the vampires. After ending a century old feud between the two most prominent vampire houses, he sets out to rid his race of a shadow that has long haunted them.
The Elders have been the deciding factor in the fall of so many civilizations that date back to Carthage and the Romans. So many have fallen to them, but now Alfred as the Strongest takes on this challenge.
No one has ever considered a world without the Elders running it, would it spread chaos in the Underground? Or will it shift the balance of the supernatural completely? One thing is for certain: Alfred intends to see this through. Will he succeed? Or will succumb as those before him?
Excerpt 1
They mentioned the City Morgue and the name Lexa Sonej. She wasn’t a native. Only then, any doubt I had about the existence of the Beast perished. Only the Beast could inflict wounds similar to mine.
Time to visit the dead.
I leapt over the roofs of houses until the City Morgue came into sight. That was the safest way to travel on the surface, you see. Humans are always looking below.
I jumped down right at the entrance. It was late, so probably the best time for me to examine an unattended body. Perhaps I could find a trail or two. I noticed a light emitting from inside. The coroner could still be around.
With luck, he probably used another door and left it unchecked so that he could leave too. So, I went behind the building and sure enough, found another door. The gate was locked, but it didn’t matter. I jumped, high enough to pass right over it. I opened the door into pitch darkness. He probably knew the place so well that he had it completely memorized.
Lucky for me, I didn’t need light to see anyway. I could smell the rotten corpses. Even when humans freeze the bodies, they emit a smell – undetectable to humans but not to me. I followed the smell, using it to find the clear route to where I needed to go.
I strolled through a narrow corridor, staying completely silent; no breaths, footsteps, nothing. I am more comfortable amidst darkness than I am in light, for the dark accepts all, while the light judges harshly.
A large double door stood before me. This was the way to the corpses, of that I was sure. I gently opened it and slid inside. The coroner was looking at me straight in the eyes. “What are you doing here?” he said, sharply. His heartbeat increased.
“I’m looking for Lexa Sonej,” I said to him. I figured it was best to avoid spilling his blood, and if I could somehow get his help, it would save me quite the trouble.
“Well, you’re in the wrong place, buddy,” he said, then cracked up. “Only dead men linger here.” His beats returned to normal, I wonder if he knew how correct his statement was about to be.
“Need to examine the body, if you don’t mind.”
“You with the cops?” he asked, as he narrowed his brows.
“Not exactly.” He probably hated cops. I could even smell traces of drugs in his possession. “Her family hired me to find the killer,” I added.
“A PI, eh? Well, you definitely look the part, but you should tone down the Sherlock look. Holy shit, it’s not the sixties,” he laughed before he got up from his chair and walked towards what appeared to be little cupboards with numbers on them.
“Sherlock died in 1957.”
“A smartass too apparently,” he whispered as he pulled open one of those cupboards, revealing a bed with a body on it. I’ve never seen such a barbaric thing in all my life.
“You have quite the stomach I’ll tell you that,” he said to me, then paused for a second. “Most people freak out or even puke their guts out when they see a body like this.”
“A body like what?”
“Like this,” he said as he removed the covers. I didn’t budge, but that sight was not right. Her throat was hollow, completely empty and void, she had sewing marks on both of her arms and towards her stomach.
“She was dismembered?” I asked.
The coroner nodded. “That’s very observant. We had to sew back the parts just for the burial. His poor family almost feinted at the sight of her. What kind of an animal does this in your opinion?” he asked me. His pulse didn’t change, so he was merely making small talk.
“No animal can do this,” I said, leaning closer towards the corpse.
“Then what can?”
“A beast,” I said.
M.G. Darwish is an award nominated author who writes dark, twisted and action-packed fiction. He tries his best not to base his characters on anyone he knows in real life to avoid that extra weird conversation about how they were brutalized and killed in the book. Oh and he’s terrified of a penguin uprising more than ghosts and demons.
He is best known for his Secret of the Moonlight which was featured on Wattpad.
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.
When teen psychic Dawn Christian gets involved with a fortuneteller mentor and two girls who share her mysterious talents, she finally belongs after years of being a misfit. When she learns her new friends may be tied to freak accidents in town, Dawn has an important choice to make – continue developing the talent that makes her special or challenge the only people who have ever accepted her. This novel is aimed at young adults, and at adults who enjoy paranormal YA such as the Twilight series, House of Night, and The Vampire Diaries series, Meg Cabot’s The Mediator series, or Lois Duncan books.
I love a good paranormal young adult story and when I saw they compared
it to the Twilight series, House of Night, and The Vampire Diaries
series, Meg Cabot’s The Mediator series, or Lois Duncan books, I thought
it was hard to go wrong.
Halloween is the perfect time of
year to binge-watch supernatural shows. For your viewing pleasure, here are my
top ten favorite movies and TV shows featuring wolf shifters in either a
primary role or as fun supporting characters.
In no particular order…
MOVIES and TV
1. The Underworld movies. Seriously badass Lycans.
2. Wolf (1994), starring Jack
Nicholson. Can’t go wrong with Jack
Nicholson.
3. An American Werewolf in London
(1981). A classic. Humor + Horror.
4. Ginger Snaps (2001). Teen angst. Dark humor + horror.
TV
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Seth
Green as Oz, the musician/werewolf who loves Willow.
6. Vampire Diaries. Michael
Trevino as Tyler Lockwood, a broody bad boy with heart.
7. True Blood. Joe Manganiello as Alcide
Herveaux = soooo sexy.
8. The Originals. Joseph Morgan
as Niklaus Mikaelson. A vampire/werewolf hybrid, 100% badass. So are the other
hybrids on the show.
9. Supernatural. Entertaining
werewolves on both sides of the “good vs. bad” fence.
10. Legacies. A Vampire Diaries
spin-off chock-full of werewolves and other teens from the preternatural
community.
Jasmine Moon
Black Hills Wolves
Celia Breslin
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher:Decadent Publishing
Date of Publication: June 3, 2016
ISBN:9781683610458
ASIN:B01GKB9WMO
Number of pages:108
Word Count:36,400
Cover Artist:Fiona Jayde
Book Description:
Tech mogul and workaholic Wolf Evan Luparell has little time for distractions but takes a break for his brother’s wedding in South Dakota. When asked to escort another wedding attendee from the airport to Los Lobos, he agrees. Then he meets the curvy spitfire, and she ignores him.
Designer and Wolf Mina Carver didn’t mean to be rude to the handsome, glowering man claiming to be her ride, but she was busy working. Now she must endure a ride to the Black Hills with the cranky but sexy Dominant Wolf. Unexpected mating energy sparks between them, but still—should she dismiss, or kiss him?
Kisses win and they agree upon a no-strings fling. But with each wedding activity throwing them together, and their powerful chemistry and mate compatibility complicating matters, can two workaholics truly have their fun then walk away?
Evan tipped his
head and eyed the ceiling. Prompt replies, punctual people. Striking deals and
hitting deadlines. These items made his world tick. Not loitering around a miniscule
airport pulling a Waiting for Godot moment on infinite repeat for a no-show, flakey
designer from California.
God grant him
patience and balls of steel when he showed up without the designer and the
all-important wedding dress, because his future sister-in-law Darci would
certainly be unhappy. […]
He took a deep
fortifying breath and froze. Airport smells assailed his senses—the sharp tang
of bleach and lemon-scented cleaners, […] coffee, donuts, fried fast food, and
under it all, the distinct musk of wolf.
Female wolf.
She smelled damn
good. His wolf perked up, and his legs propelled him toward the empty baggage
claim, where one bright-pink suitcase covered in Hello Kitty stickers sat,
unclaimed, on the unmoving L-shaped conveyor belt. Her scent, stronger here,
socked his gut, and his gaze shot to the corner.
The chaos around
the woman stunned him silent. Large, paper coffee cup, half-eaten banana, and a
quarter of a powdered doughnut perched on a brown paper bag next to her. Crumbs
splattered the linoleum and the woman’s long-sleeved blue blouse in a thick
layer of white, sugary dust. On her other side, two pink garment bags lay like
corpses, along with a bubblegum-pink unzipped duffel as long as her
outstretched, denim-clad legs. Some of the bag’s contents—pads of drawing paper
and large swaths of fabric—protruded over the opening, the fabric splaying over
her legs in a rainbow-colored blanket. Her feet peeked out of the mess, encased
in sparkling pink UGGs. Good grief, sequins? She smacked her shiny boots
together in a poor imitation of Dorothy and bobbed her head from side to side
in time to some music only she seemed to hear. Her shoulder-length red hair,
the color of ripe dark cherries—his favorite fruit—gleamed under the harsh
airport lighting and curtained most her face from his view, save a pert nose
and small chin, both speckled with a generous amount of freckles.
He’d
always liked freckles.
Clearing his
throat, he stepped closer, but she didn’t flinch in surprise or look up. Her
attention remained on the tablet on her lap, the stylus between her pale,
freckled fingers swiping without hesitation over her screen. […]
He positioned
himself right in front of her wiggly, booted feet. “Excuse me, J—”
“Sh.” She raised
her arm and flicked her hand in the universal get lost gesture.
He gaped at her.
“Excuse me?”
Another wave of
her hand while her stylus streaked across her tablet screen with the other.
“Not interested.”
Nice voice. Low
and husky. Her attitude, on the other hand… “But—”
“Go away.” Her velvet
voice carried a stubborn edge.
In other
circumstances, he would’ve admired her strength. But he’d wasted copious
amounts of time hunting for the clearly inconsiderate and irresponsible female.
“Fine. Get your own damn ride to Los Lobos. Jasmine.”
About the Author:
Celia lives in California with her husband, daughter, and two feisty cats. She writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance, and has a particular fondness for werewolves, vampires, and the Fae. Her stories are action-packed and typically include one of the many varieties of romantic entanglements: fated mates, second chance, rescue romance, opposites attract, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, and more.
When not writing, you’ll find Celia exercising, reading a good book, hanging with her family, or indulging her addiction to Joss Whedon’s TV shows and movies, as well as everything in the Marvel Universe franchise. Of course!
