I want to thank C D Kester for getting in touch with me and offering me The Bunker, a novella and his novel, Chasing Demons. Two great covers that make me want to pick them up and begin reading immediately, which I did.
A young girl named Madison has been trapped in an underground bunker with her 6 sisters for her entire life.
Did I get your attention? Just the thought of being trapped underground totally creeps me out and gives me shivers as I write this. How about you? Are you claustrophobic like me?
This novella is jam packed with the wickedness of humanity. It caught me so off guard that once I started it, I couldn’t stop. Every time I turned around, humanity sickened me even more. But, we do have a glimmer of hope. This is one small town you DO NOT want to visit!
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Bunker by C D Kester.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A young girl named Madison has been trapped in an underground bunker with her 6 sisters for her entire life. She is starting to understand that things are not as peachy as their mother would have it seem. Their mother confines them under the guise of religious fervor and zeal and would have them believe there is nothing but vile sinners in the outer world. Madison and her favorite sister Abigail will soon find that this is not quite the case and will venture together into the unknown world that awaits them outside the bunker’s surface. Jacob and Ronald have a dog in this fight as well. The nefarious goings on in the small town of Fern Hollow, Texas have a far reach and they have grabbed them both in a vice grip. Ronald has felt the crushing oppression of the town when something terrible happened to his young daughter. Jacob is from Fern Hollow but could not be further from the likes of any of its inhabitants. The extent of the town’s deception runs further than many who live as close as the next town over would be able to believe. If a breath remains among those who have been affected by the tragedies, the fight will continue. Journey on and see if you can fight through with them and discover all the secrets that are waiting for you in The Bunker.
Genre: Horror, Novellas and Short Stories
73 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 26, 2020
ABOUT C D KESTER
C. D. Kester is an author of fiction who does most of his work in the horror genre. He lives in Kingwood, Texas with his wife and two children. Kester recently published his first full length novel, Chasing Demons. His first self-published work is a novella titled The Bunker. He has also had many stories published in anthologies, ezines, and read in podcasts and YouTube videos.
ASIN: B0C7DQ18TW Publisher: Dropship Publishing (July 11, 2023) Publication Date: July 11, 2023 Language: English
Blade Runner meets Judge Dread and The Running Man in this no-holds-barred cyberpunk thriller from Dragon Award Nominee Stu Jones. Start this neon-soaked thrill ride today!
In a tech-addicted dystopia, a young cop struggling to survive is forced into a high-octane gladiatorial grudge match, where sinister corporate overlords pull the strings and humanity’s fate hangs in the balance.
ONE WAY IN. NO WAY OUT
In the super-city of Neo Terminus, millions of tech-addicted fans surround a walled-off inner-city wasteland to watch nano-boosted gladiators called Enforcers fight to the death in the Conglomerate-controlled event known as The Zone. Enforcers are promised wealth and celebrity—if they survive.
Officer Chance Griffin fights to clean up the mean streets of Neo Terminus, and scrape together enough money for his infant son’s vital surgery. Driven by his family’s need, Chance signs on as an Enforcer for The Conglomerate.
As Chance rises to the top of the Enforcer ranks, The Glom’s mysterious Founders coerce him into competing in the greatest Zone trial ever conceived. Chance knows he’s the favorite to win. He believes his family is safe. He believes his son will get the medical care he urgently needs.
Chance is wrong.
Too late, he uncovers a plot by The Glom to rig the trial and enslave the citizens of Neo Terminus, ensuring obedience—forever.
Blinded by fame and fortune, and used as a pawn by the corporate machine, Chance resists. But he is about to discover that every deal with the devil has its price…
You can purchaseThe Zone at the following Retailers:
MY REVIEW
I haven’t read a lot of cyberpunk, but I have read some of Stu Jones work and loved it. The Zone sounds like something different for me, maybe a little bit scifi, a little bit techno, and a little bit superhero? Either way, if Stu Jones wrote it, I’ll read it.
I love the wonderful illustrations and quickly immersed myself in the wold of Neo Terminus. A world that had me, at times, thinking of The Hunger Games, for its gladiator sports, and The Walking Dead, for its have and have nots and what the haves will do to keep it and the have nots do to survive. Even though I knew some of what is to come, I still found myself sickened and disgusted, rallying behind those who want to change their world for the better.
The cast of characters is phenomenal, and even those who passed quickly, I enjoyed my time with, even the baddies. Not much enjoyable about them, but they do supply their share of chills and thrills. After all, can there be good guys without bad guys? And, when I say guys, I mean both males and females.
When I began The Zone by Stu Jones, I never thought of it being a series, but we have more to come for The Zone, and I hope to be there for it. It has all the things I love about a book: mystery, danger, darkness and light, evil villains, inspiring heroes and heroines, romance, the struggle for survival in an apocalyptic/dystopian world…with more to come.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Zone by Stu Jones.
4 Stars
Photo Content from Stu Jones
A veteran law enforcement officer, Stu Jones has served in patrol, narcotics, criminal investigations, as an instructor of firearms and police defensive tactics and as a team leader of a multi-jurisdictional SWAT team. He is trained and qualified as a law enforcement SWAT sniper, as well as in hostage rescue and high-risk entry tactics. Recently, Jones served for three years with a U.S. Marshal’s Regional Fugitive Task Force – hunting the worst of the worst.
A Dragon Award Nominee, Jones is the author of multiple sci-fi/action/thriller novels, including the multi-award-winning It Takes Death To Reach A Star duology and Condition Black, written with co-author Gareth Worthington (Children of the Fifth Sun, A Time for Monsters).
Known for his infectious storytelling and blistering action, Jones strives to create thought-provoking reading experiences that challenge the status quo. When he’s not chasing bad guys or writing epic stories, he can be found planning his next adventure to some remote or exotic place.
Jones is represented by Italia Gandolfo of Gandolfo Helin & Fountain literary. He lives in Alabama with his wife, two children, and a golden-doodle who thinks he’s human.
How have I not read any Ross Harrison novels, or heard of the Nexus series? After reading Forge of the Assassin, I grabbed the FREE copy of the first book, Shadow of the Wraith.
I came across Forge of the Assassin by Ross Harrison by scrolling through NetGalley. The cover and the word Assassin in the title made me grab it, more so than the blurb. I mean, look at that badass protagonist holding the child’s hand? What’s not to like?
OMG! I had never read any of Ross Harrison’s novels or the Nexus series, but the cover and title drew me in and I had to have it. It is a long read, but every chance I got I was picking it up. I had to know about Ares. Because I was new to the Nexus world, it took me a moment or two to gather the necessary facts, but, once I did…
She became a character that grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. Most believed she was a ghost, buried in rubble. We know they are wrong. So wrong. And she will wreak her vengeance on them all. Never believe everything you are told. Things are not always as they seem.
Juni, a five year old girl thinks of Ares as her mother. In all sense of the word, she is.
The action is brutal, intense, catastrophic. Bodies fall, I mean, literally fall, only to rise again. I love the science fiction aspects and Ross Harrison took me deeper into the story than I thought I would go. I had moments when I thought, OMG, she is really dead. Then, I would think, no, she can’t be. What will happen to the little girl that someone is determined to make her an assassin at seven years old, like Ares.
Imagine a five year old girl saying:
I fell on it and now I’m wounded because you let go!”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Juni stole my heart and the dialogue and her thoughts made for some sweet, yet heartbreaking moments. Her belief that Ares would always be there kept her moving forward, trying to do the right thing. At times, I thought things were too grown up for her, but we have to remind ourselves where she comes from and the lessons Ares has taught her. They move constantly, barely staying ahead of those that want to kill them both. Ares has instilled in her the necessity of being aware of her surroundings at all times.
She felt a warm little hand on top of hers, and her hearts fluttered. “It’s not about the destination,” Juni said earnestly. “it’s about the journey.”
Isn’t that real life?
WOW! Forge of the Assassin by Ross Harrison wasn’t what I expected and I love it. Even though it took me a while to figure out all the players and what was going on, the constants were Ares and Juni. If anything happened to me I would love having either or both of them at my side. Just because Juni is a child, don’t count her out.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Forge of the Assassin by Ross Harrison.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Codename Ares. A legend. A ghost story. They say that seven years ago, she rained down hell from the stars, cutting through everyone in her path: cops, intelligence officers, assassins. All for a baby girl. They say that if she really was just one person, she died under a thousand tonnes of rubble.
They’re wrong.
Alexiares has kept Baby safe for seven years, staying one step ahead of assassins and hunters. But one step isn’t enough. Not when their new enemy reveals himself. Her worst nightmare becomes reality: Baby is ripped from her. Taken to be made into the perfect assassin – something Alexiares promised she wouldn’t allow.
The clock’s ticking and her failure is almost complete. She must work out why she’s still alive while staying ahead of the assassins, a government task force, and the malevolent whispers of her own broken mind. She must find a way to rescue Baby. And she must remind them all of one thing…
She is the only thing they fear.
Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction, Series, Stand Alone, Suspense, Thriller
580 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication July 15, 2023 by Shadow Archer Publishing
ABOUT ROSS HARRISON
Ross Harrison is the author of novels and short stories in the realms of science fiction – specifically space opera and science fantasy – thriller, noir, and steampunk. He has been writing since childhood, and occasionally likes to revisit those old stories for a good cringe and nervous laugh. He also talks about himself in the 3rd person because it seems more professional.
Ross lives on the UK/Eire border in Ireland, where he moved from England in 2001, hoping the rain will help his hair grow back.
Darcy Coates had me until the last head rolled and that was fantastic and very unusual. This dark and disturbing, graphically suspenseful novel had me so wrapped up I couldn’t stop reading until the last word was read.
I don’t even have the breath to scream. My face is to the sky, my back to the empty white void beneath me as I plunge, carrying a wave of snow in my wake.
And that is only the beginning of Christa’s nightmare. Nine people begin the tour and only one person will be left standing. I figure…it has to be her…doesn’t it? But, how will the others be taken out and who is the one doing it that is the question.
At first I rated Dead Of Winter by Darcy Coates a four, but as I wrote this review, seeing the novel had everything I could want in a suspense novel and an ending that deserves a star of it’s own, I had to raise my rating to a 5. I mean, I love a good storm, whether in the cold climes leading to a blizzard or the warm climes leading to a hurricane, an isolated location, a killer amongst them, bloody, gruesome and graphic deaths…I mean, what more could I possibly require for a mind numbing thrill ride into the depths of depravity and revenge?
We have those ‘don’t go out there’ moments…and I love it.
The writing and pacing keeps the suspense at a high level, the story flowing seamlessly. The list of suspects included all of the tour goers, Darcy Coates making me suspicious of them all, at one time or another. I couldn’t eliminate anyone, except Christa. Did I see who the villain was and the need for revenge? Sure, there was a hint or two here and there of the reason, but it did not lead me to the villain…until Darcy Coates exposed him. I bow to her for a job WELL DONE.
OH, I forgot to mention the gorgeous cover and the intriguing title that screams, “Read me!”.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates.
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
From bestselling author Darcy Coates comes Dead of Winter, a remote cabin in the snowy wilderness thriller that will teach you to trust no one. There are eight strangers. One killer. Nowhere left to run.
When Christa joins a tour group heading deep into the snowy expanse of the Rocky Mountains, she’s hopeful this will be her chance to put the ghosts of her past to rest. But when a bitterly cold snowstorm sweeps the region, the small group is forced to take shelter in an abandoned hunting cabin. Despite the uncomfortably claustrophobic quarters and rapidly dropping temperature, Christa believes they’ll be safe as they wait out the storm.
She couldn’t be more wrong.
Deep in the night, their tour guide goes missing…only to be discovered the following morning, his severed head impaled on a tree outside the cabin. Terrified, and completely isolated by the storm, Christa finds herself trapped with eight total strangers. One of them kills for sport…and they’re far from finished. As the storm grows more dangerous and the number of survivors dwindles one by one, Christa must decide who she can trust before this frozen mountain becomes her tomb.
Expected publication July 11, 2023 by Poisoned Pen Press
ABOUT DARCY COATES
Darcy Coates is the USA Today bestselling author of more than a dozen horror and suspense novels.
She lives in the Central Coast of Australia with her family, cat, and a collection of chickens. Her home is surrounded by rolling wilderness on all sides, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
My introduction to Kay Widow’s writing was Bloody Billionaire’s Baby. After reading it, I was looking for some more vampires and when I saw Blood Inheritance on Book Sirens, I snapped it up.
I think of Blood Inheritance as a vampiric twist of Pretty Woman. Ezra is looking for a human to help him die and in return she will receive his fortune. He is done with ‘living’. He chose Lydia Francesca DeSilva.
Someone good and pure. Young and healthy. Ambitious but not self serving. Intelligent, but not pretentious. It’s a lot to ask of someone, but I have high hopes this time.
The description is spot on. She is a twenty one year old virgin with some fabulous friends. She is everything he is looking for and more.
In this 210 page story, Kay Widow has packed a lot. The romance is slow burning. Her sweetness and openness got me wrapped up in the romance. I had moments of sadness and moments of happiness. Will she be able to give him a reason for living?
I have more I would like to share, but I feel less is more. I think we know where the story will go, but it is the wonderful journey that makes me want to read more of Kay Widow’s work.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Blood Inheritance by Kay Widow.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Being immortal is overrated.
So I found the perfect wife to inherit my fortune.
The Bloodline Dagger will give me my peace, but only humans can wield it.
Luckily my mate, who radiates sunshine from every pore, has agreed to help.
But tasting her blood was a mistake—tasting all of her was a mistake.
And denying myself is unbearable, knowing these are my last days alive.
She asked for three months to convince me to change my mind,
I’m being cruel, giving her hope.
But the Nocturn legacy is at stake–I should have pumped the brakes.
Kay Widow is a paranormal romance author. She writes page-turning romances that readers consume faster than she can produce. If you love spicy romances with protective and dominant alphas who fall for sassy curvy women, then you might just love Kay’s novels. Kay lives in Kansas with her husband, Irish twins, and all her book boyfriends.
I fell in love with these covers and Ken La Salle, along with the Miblart team of Ukraine have done an outstanding job creating a brand for the Breakthrough series, a science fiction series sure to capture your imagination. It did mine and I eagerly look forward to the next book in the series, The Deaths and Life of Arturo Delgado.
Ken La Salle left it up to me to title his guest post. What do you think? Did I do it justice?
BREAKTHROUGH BUCKET LIST IS A WORK IN PROGRESS
Do you have a bucket list?
I do.
Strange as it may seem, however, my bucket list has little to do with things I didn’t accomplish in the real world so much as it is about the stories I have not, yet, told and really want to. Every book takes a little more time from my life and I realized, sometime ago as I neared my mid-50s, that I should get to those stories I really want to tell before another month or another year or another decade passed.
You don’t put tiny excursions on your bucket list, though, so I decided to turn those tales into a series as grand as possible, one that would be “bucket list worthy.”
I began by writing a novel about Max Dedge, a guy who basically just wants to help. But he was put behind a gun, paid to kill people, instead. Years later, having put down his gun and taking his own path, he finds himself hired to solve some bombing only to end up with a wizard on his arm and the fate of a world in his hands.
This first novel in the series that I call “The Breakthrough” was Max Dedge in the Time of the Uniborg. Being an independent author spurred by inspiration, I slapped on a cover, released the novel, and moved on to the next book in the series.
That next book, which has just been released, is Sue Jorgensen: Queen of Space. Sue’s just a small-business owner, a single mom, who is thrust into an unscrupulous galaxy when her son is taken from her by aliens. While Max’s story focused on the fantastic, Sue tried to keep hers down to Earth… or, at least, in this solar system.
This is when I began to realize that The Breakthrough, filled with offbeat characters and otherworldly adventures, is a story about regular people saving what little of their lives they can from a cruel universe. If they’re lucky, they’ll save a bit more. And all of this happens as a terrible force is coming to destroy the solar system. They can see it coming. They know what’s going to happen. But is it too big for them? Can they possibly stop it?
But I couldn’t just slap a cover onto Sue. Sue, Max, and The Breakthrough demanded better. A story this big needed cover art just as expressive. I was fortunate to work with the Miblart team from Ukraine, who turned my covers from snapshots into murals that display the expansive story before you.
The third novel in this series, The Deaths and Life of Arturo Delgado, will be coming soon with more books to follow and I hope you join me for the rest of The Breakthrough, my personal bucket list.
Mr Wonderful kept me motivated and on the move for so many years, that now I am older I find myself content spending a lot of time at home, in our little piece of Paradise. I do have one thing on my bucket list that I have never done. I want to go down the Gulf side of Florida, from home, Pensacola, to the tip of the Florida Keys: air boating through the Everglades, swimming with the Manatees at Crystal River, visiting the mermaids at Wicki Wachee Springs State Park and seeing the green flash at the tip of the Forida Keys.
Ken La Salle has done an excellent job of creating a brand for The Breakthrough series with his covers. They are gorgeous and hint at the action and adventure inside…so, prepare yourself. Sue Jorgensen will definitely be a bumpy ride.
Sue Jorgensen’s worst day did not begin when the Golden Gage Bridge was destroyed….
“…you’re going to regret ever getting in this car if you don’t get out this second.”
And that is how the story begins. Sue and her son getting into her own ‘car’ and ending up on an alien ship. They take her son and Sue will not quit until she gets him back. When the car took off, I thought of Back To The Future and ET, with a little something extra
Ken La Salle has a twisted sense of humor that I love and it shines in Sue Jorgensen. Half the time I didn’t know whether to be pissed off or laugh out loud.
Sue Jorgensen does have sex with an alien. Do they do it different? Well, she does wonder if that explains the thing he does in bed.
Sue Jorgensen recruits help to rescue her son:
“A pirate can be a fighter, but also a lover, the kind of guy who rescues a maiden, steals her purse, and uses the money to save a puppy.”
We have Abrogines, who want to destroy our world and everyone in it, Stinkers, who are a people from…well, I think you can guess what their planet is made of, and more. The Collective is an amalgamation of the other species. They are nonviolent.
I love when Pod, a sentient machine, puts her on a spaceship full of virgins. They talk like the Fonz and the simplest flirtation has them swept off their feet. When Sue kissed Zanks cheek, she never could have predicted what would ‘pop up’ and I did laugh out loud. OMG! I won’t tell you because it is so good and so funny, you need to be as surprised as I was to get the full enjoyment of Sue’s situation. Ken describes Zanks as a walking Muppet.
Aliens know that we are a violent species and the ‘idiots of the galaxy. Earth is in danger and it won’t end in Sue Jorgensen, so be ready for Book III.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Sue Jorgensen by Ken La Salle.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Sue Jorgensen never imagined she’d find herself standing on the deck of an alien ship, escaping the chaos on the Earth below, ascending in a heavily modified Plymouth – when aliens take her son!
She started her morning as she always did as a restauranteur in the wilds of Washington, making the coffee and cleaning the countertops when a stranger happened by and sat at the counter. He showed her news clips of a shattered Golden Gate Bridge, destroyed by aliens and a man named Max Dedge, a private investigator who he claims has brought doom to the world. All at once, the reality she has known is replaced with space-faring Plymouths, gravity drives, and a mad dash into space.
Somewhere between space and terra firma, Sue Jorgensen finds herself in a new galaxy – one that is being taken apart for scrap by interstellar corporations with no interest in human life. Now, she will have to find a strength she never knew existed, to pick herself up when she’s thrown back to Earth and find her son in the vastness of space.
With the help of semi-sentient machines, mind-controlled dreamers, and an iron will, Sue Jorgensen will travel to the farthest reaches of sanity drawn by the power of her love for her son – to find the Queen of Space within herself, to discover that nothing is what it seems.
And that we all need rescuing.
Book One of The BreakThrough took readers to a whole new world. Sue Jorgensen returns them to Earth, and nothing will be the same.
Genre: Action and Adventure, Aliens, Fiction, Science Fiction
Born on an 18th century mining ship, Ken La Salle is not his name. He just likes it. He writes about whatever he damn well pleases, hoping to build more of a cult following than a readership just for a cut on the robes. Looking for the mainstream but sticking to the shore, you can find out more about Ken La Salle at the imaginatively named www.kenlasalle.com.
Fear The Silence by Robert Bryndza is one of those books where I bounced between a three and a four rating. I can’t state a specific reason for it. Was it the book or was it me?
I have read two other books by Robert Bryndza and enjoyed them, so whenever I see the opportunity to read another, I am all over it. Soooo, let’s begin.
Maggie’s husband, Will, committed suicide…or did he?
He blew me a kiss and made Luna wave her paw. He looked so content. Deliriously content is how I’ll always remember that last view of him.
And the mystery begins. She travels to their island home in Croatia. Oh yeah, I think an isolated island is where she should be…alone. She discovers why he changed careers six years ago. The past never stays buried and now it has put her life in extreme danger.
I can’t imagine the terror…huddled, cowering, in the dark as someone rifles through your home…hoping, praying, not to be seen. It was…maybe…my favorite part of the book. I felt I was there with her, just waiting to be discovered. What do you think happens?
We have a hellacious storm rolling through, so it is impossible for her to leave the island. So many times, when a read a book, I try to think of what I would do. Would it be the same as the character? It’s one of those things where you have to be there to know. I think we all wish we would do something better than what gets the characters in such deep trouble.
They live in a smart home and I love when I learn something. Had me doing some surfing to see if it was true. A book that can make me do that, adds a little something extra…for me.
I kept trying to think of who it could possibly be that would want her husband dead. There weren’t that many suspects and until I found the reason, I couldn’t decide. Once the person was in my sights, it all began to come together and it read a bit like a spy novel.
As I said earlier, I went between a three and four rating. Whenever that happens, I take it up a notch. As I thought about it while writing the review and going through the highlights on my ereader, I still can’t think of what was wrong, me or the book. I guess you will have to read it for yourself. Robert Bryndza’s writing is easy to read and flows smoothly, so give him a try.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Fear O Silence by Robert Bryndza.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
‘Do you believe Will took his own life?’
The question echoed off the white tiles in the hospital’s cold, cavernous morgue, and I studied my husband in peaceful repose. I leaned down and put my forehead against his. Silent tears ran down my cheeks. They felt hot, and he felt so cold. It was five days since his death, and my grief felt heavy, like a vast, dark mass pushing down on me.
When Maggie’s husband, Will, is shot dead in their London home, she thinks he is the victim of a burglary until the police tell her the shocking news that Will was the one who pulled the trigger.
Maggie is consumed with grief and questions. Will wasn’t suicidal. He had so much to live for.
After the funeral, Maggie travels to their holiday home on a small Croatian island to escape London. She finds a disturbing letter written by Will, containing clues to a dark secret.
As Maggie puts the pieces together, she discovers Will’s death is connected to someone from his past… Someone who will go to extreme lengths to keep Maggie silent.
Three can keep a secret… If two of them are dead.
The international multi-million bestselling author of The Girl in the Ice is back with his first stand-alone thriller, a heart-racing, hold-your-breath read that will keep you hooked until the very last page.
Expected publication July 6, 2023 by Raven Publishing
ABOUT ROBERT BRYNDZA
Robert Bryndza is an international bestselling author, best known for his page-turning crime and thriller novels, which have sold over five million copies.
His crime debut, The Girl in the Ice was released in February 2016, introducing Detective Chief Inspector Erika Foster. Within five months it sold one million copies, reaching number one in the Amazon UK, USA and Australian charts. To date, The Girl in the Ice has sold over 1.5 million copies in the English language and has been sold into translation in 29 countries. It was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Mystery & Thriller (2016), the Grand prix des lectrices de Elle in France (2018), and it won two reader voted awards, The Thrillzone Awards best debut thriller in The Netherlands (2018) and The Dead Good Papercut Award for best page turner at the Harrogate Crime Festival (2016).
Robert has released a further five novels in the Erika Foster series, The Night Stalker, Dark Water, Last Breath, Cold Blood and Deadly Secrets, all of which have been global bestsellers, and in 2017 Last Breath was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Mystery and Thriller. Fatal Witness, the seventh Erika Foster novel, is now available to pre-order and will be published 7th July 2022.
Most recently, Robert created a new crime thriller series based around the central character Kate Marshall, a police officer turned private detective. The first book, Nine Elms, was an Amazon USA #1 bestseller and an Amazon UK top five bestseller, and the series has been sold into translation in 18 countries. The second book in the series is the global bestselling, Shadow Sands and the third book, Darkness Falls, has just been published.
Robert was born in Lowestoft, on the east coast of England. He studied at Aberystwyth University, and the Guildford School of Acting, and was an actor for several years, but didn’t find success until he took a play he’d written to the Edinburgh Festival. This led to the decision to change career and start writing. He self-published a bestselling series of romantic comedy novels, before switching to writing crime. Robert lives with his husband in Slovakia, and is lucky enough to write full-time.
I won a paperback copy of She Who Rides Horses by Sarah Barnes in a tour giveaway and I immediately picked it up and began reading..and didn’t quit until the last word was read.
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.
What is essential is invisible to the eye…
People have forgotten this truth…But you mustn’t forget it.
You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.
Antoine de St – Exupery, The Little Prince (1943) Chapter XXI
Everything about She Who Rides Horses by Sarah Barnes intrigued me. I love horses, all animals really, so I was super excited to read about a young girl with a connection to a young horse and how it will change their world forever.
Horses are a food source, but Naya wants to ride the red filly. Her patience pays off as she earns the filly’s trust and willingness to let her ride. Naya uses no ropes, no force, just asks permission, allowing the filly to choose the time. I have a feeling it won’t be long before her imagination comes up with more uses for the horses.
I love the visionary aspects, the psychic connection Naya has with the filly.
When Naya is injured and she and her mother are forced to accept the help of strangers, I watched her grow as they struggled through the winter. The filly, a stallion and a pregnant mare choose to stay close to them.
Naya is approaching adulthood. For the first time, she feels an awareness of her sexuality. Will she be able to make her own choice of a mate or will one be chosen for her?
I am hooked on the series and I had to read the intro to Book Two, to see what was over the cliff that had captured everyone’s attention in Book One.
She Who Rides Horses by Sarah Barnes is a must read for horse lovers…maybe even all animal lovers.
At the end of the book is a section on domestication and the language of the characters. a glossary, references, an acknowledgment and an intriguing afterword by Linda Kohanov.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of She Who Rides Horses by Sarah Barnes.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Set more than 6,000 years ago, She Who Rides Horses: A Saga of the Ancient Steppe (Book One) begins the story of Naya, the first person ever to ride a horse. Daughter of a clan chief, bolder than the other girls but shunned by the boys because of her unusual appearance, Naya often wanders alone through the vast grasslands where her people herd domesticated cattle, sheep and goats, and hunt wild horses for their meat. But Naya dreams of creating a different kind of relationship with the magnificent creatures. One day, while out roaming by herself, she discovers a filly with a chestnut coat as uncommon as her own head of red hair. With time running out before she is called to assume the responsibilities of adulthood, Naya embarks on a quest to fulfill her vision of galloping with the filly across the boundless steppe. Unwittingly, she sets in motion forces and events that will change forever the future of humans and horses alike.
Genres: Action and Adventure, Fiction, Historical Fiction
Kindle Edition
Published April 2, 2022 by Little House Press
ABOUT SARAH BARNES
Once upon a time there was a little girl who loved stories. She especially loved stories that happened a long time ago, in a land far, far away. At first, others had to tell her the stories, but then, like magic, she learned to read them for herself out of books. And then, even more magical, she discovered that there were stories inside her that she could write down using her own words.
But just as she made this discovery, the girl came under a spell that made her believe that the only way that she could tell stories about long ago and far away was to become something called an historian. And so that is what she did. What she was not told, but had to learn for herself, was that becoming an historian meant relying more and more on facts and evidence and less and less on her own imagination, and soon the girl forgot all about the stories that had once been inside of her, waiting to be told. The girl – now a grown-up professor with a Ph.D. – wrote lots and lots of words but with less and less joy, for the stories were lost. Then one day, a special creature appeared, beckoning to the girl to leave her life in the ivory tower where she had become imprisoned. The creature came in the shape of a horse, for the girl had loved horses all of her life but never had one of her own. Realizing she wanted to be with the horse far more than she wanted to keep on being an historian, the girl fled her old life and went to live with the horse in a barn. There, little by little, the horse helped the girl to remember the stories long buried in her heart until one day, she began to write them down. And the rest is history.
When Sarah is not writing stories, she practices and teaches riding as a meditative art. She holds a Ph.D. in history from Northwestern University and spent many years as a college professor before turning full-time to riding and writing. She has two grown daughters and lives with her husband, her dogs and her horses near Boulder, CO. She is currently working on books two and three of the She Who Rides Horses trilogy.
I have been loving Carmen Webster Buxton’s novels and have come to the final one on my reading list, Turmabout. This apocalyptic/dystopian, science fiction novel is about a teenage boy who loves jazz, carries a flip phone and Turns.
One day, caught in a girl’s bedroom, trapped in a closet he finds himself teleported to his home. How did this happen? He discovers that left handed people are the only ones that Turn and it only happens to him when he is turned on and scared to death.
The next time he Turns, he finds himself in Makoro, a place where women rule and men are in very short supply. The Folly happened when scientists tried to create a biological weapon that would kill enemy soldiers, but instead it killed a lot of men. The Rage was the women’s response, taking over the government through whatever means necessary.
He is a prisoner, protected and used to procreate.
It was hilarious when he escaped and dressed like a woman to hide in plain sight.
I had fucking boobs. Small as they were, they got in the way when I moved my arms.
It was almost like wearing a cup, but one that someone had stepped on first.
I loved this wonderfully original coming of age science fiction novel. Carmen Webster Buxton’s creative writing makes it easy to place myself in her character’s world, walking in their footsteps. I had some laughs and some sad moments, as Jason finds friends in the strangest places. The loss of one broke my heart and made me angry. I do love an author who isn’t afraid to kill off their characters for the good of the story.
I sincerely hope Carmen is busy writing. How about it, Carmen? Anything in the works?
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Jason Miller’s biggest worries were keeping up with his homework, paying for his classic jazz habit,and hiding the fact that he carried a flip phone. But then one day he finds himself teleporting from place to place, a talent he can’t control. It gets worse when he lands in an alternate world, one that has many, many more women than men. It sounds great until Jason learns the downside to being a precious commodity: Having a harem is no fun when you’re the one who’s locked up.
List: Apocalyptic and Dystopian Fiction, Science Fiction
Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2017 by Cracked Mirror Press
ABOUT CARMEN WEBSTER BUXTON
Carmen Webster Buxton spent her youth reading every book published by Ursula LeGuin, Robert Heinlein and Georgette Heyer. This combination of far-future worlds, alien cultures, and old-fashioned courting customs influenced her writing, especially in her ThreeCon series.
Carmen was born in Hawaii and experienced a peripatetic childhood, as her father was in the US Navy. Having raised two wonderful children, she now lives in Maryland with her husband Charlie, and a beagle named Cosmo. She writes science fiction (often including a romance, and mostly set in the far future), and the occasional fantasy.
Carmen has published many books:
WAKANREO SERIES Alien Bonds Alien Vows Alien Skies
HAVEN SERIES The Sixth Discipline No Safe Haven
THREECON SERIES (can be read in any order) The Nostalgia Gambit Saronna’s Gift Shades of Empire Tribes Worlds Apart
ALTERNATE HISTORY King of Trees
YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION Turnabout Drifters
FANTASY Where Magic Rules Bag of Tricks Hidden Magic
THE NAMELESS WORLD SAGA (coming in 2021) The North Edge of Nowhere Oaths and Promises
Carmen often blogs about ereaders, digital publishing, writing, and speculative fiction. Visit her blog to see what’s coming out next! To ask questions or to provide feedback on her books, send email to carmen.webster.buxton (at) gmail.com.
Protecting Dove by Jane Blythe is Book VI of the Prey, but the series is part of something so much bigger. There are many more books and authors putting their own spin on the Operation Alpha World.
About Operation Alpha
Operation Alpha is the fan fiction world for Susan Stoker’s SEAL of Protection, Delta Force Heroes, and Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Worlds. The books all have at least one of Susan’s characters in them. Check it out at Aces Press.
When I first saw the cover of Protecting Dove, I thought of a cyborg. Dove looks like a china doll, unreal, but as we delve into the story, all is revealed. She is an albino. I have never read a book about an albino character and I love that one of my favorite authors has given me that experience. Sun can be deadly and Dove will be put to the test in Protecting Dove.
Dove is a member of Prey security, the chief financial officer. Her favorite thing about being wealthy is the clothes. She rarely wore things more than once and had all the accessories to go with them. Another passion is her ability to give back.
She is dressed for the charity ball, but when she opens the door for her bodyguard, she never expected to see him, Isaac Anderson. He had saved her life two years ago, but because he had seen her at her worst, she wanted nothing to do with him. Of course, we know things will not stay that way.
We know with romantic suspense, there will be some push and pull with the romance, and some danger and action. Even though most things are predictable, Jane Blythe creates fascinating characters with their own personalities that make them stand out as individuals and puts them in intriguing situations.
Dove quickly captured our hearts, mine and Isaac’s with her:
“I’m sassiness not sweetness.”
Dove grew up, with the rest of her family, learning how to defend herself. Looking at her, small in stature and pale as a china doll, makes her seem fragile and defenseless. She was always aware of her surroundings, could cry on cue, and used all her ‘disabilities’ to her advantage. Beware those who underestimate her.
For the first time in her life, she is at the center of danger and wants to show her family that she is not defenseless, that she has skills to defend herself…and those she cares about.
“You smell delicious, like cake.”
I had to share this quote because of Jane Blythe’s writing…
She doubted it was possible to smell like cake down there, but she wasn’t going to ruin the mood and tell him so.
Every character in the series has a tragic story to tell and Jane Blythe comes up with a story that is unique to each character. She can write some sappy romance and I love it. Sprinkle in some steamy sex here and there, danger and intrigue, and a happy ever after, and I will forever be a Jane Blythe fan, eagerly devouring every word she writes. Whenever I think the worst is over, she will come up with something else, and even when I know something is coming, it can still be a surprise.
Just because this series is over, don’t fret. Jane Blythe will be spinning off in another direction that is sure to visit these familiar characters again. I do love these ongoing series, where the characters almost seem real and I become heavily invested in them.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Protecting Dove by Jane Blythe.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
He saw her at her most vulnerable and she never wanted to see him again.
Dove Oswald never expected to come face to face with the man who saved her life ever again. Nor did she expect him to save her a second time. Surprised by the spark of attraction between them, when she realizes he’s hiding something she’s determined to figure out what it is. When she inadvertently puts both their lives in danger she’ll finally get the chance to prove to everyone that she’s every bit as strong as the rest of her family as she and Isaac fight side by side for their lives.
Isaac Anderson fails the people he cares about. When he accidentally spots a crime scene photo and recognizes one of the perpetrators he knows he’ll do whatever it takes to save someone he once cared about, try to even the score. Instead he winds up falling for the woman he used, and now he’s faced with a whole new challenge, caring about someone means he could fail them, and he and Dove are going to find themselves in a danger neither of them saw coming.
USA Today bestselling author Jane Blythe writes action-packed romantic suspense and military romance featuring protective heroes and heroines who are survivors. One of Jane’s most popular series includes Saving SEALs, part of Susan Stoker’s OPERATION ALPHA world! Writing in that world alongside authors such as Janie Crouch and Riley Edwards has been a blast, and she looks forward to bringing more books to this genre, both within and outside of Stoker’s world. When Jane isn’t binge-reading she’s counting down to Christmas and adding to her 200+ teddy bear collection!
