Cover Reveal & Giveaway: Ever After by Kate SeRine

I am so in love with this tales series. Love the world and mystery and romance all tangled together. So I'm thrilled to see there is another to come. And, with Gideon. (He needs some loves too.)

Ready for the handsome cover? Here ya go...

Ever After

Transplanted Tales #4

By: Kate SeRine

Due Out:  August 21, 2014

Description:

To Catch a Thief…

For centuries, Gideon Montrose has served the King of Fairies without question and, often, without mercy. So when the King orders him to apprehend a notorious thief, Gideon obeys. But when he finally gets his hands on the beautiful culprit, Gideon’s in for a shock.

Arabella Locksley is none other than the spirited, unpredictable woman he knew back in Make Believe as Robin Hood — the love of his life whose tragic death destroyed his chance at Happily Ever After.

Now, he has an impossible choice. Betray the woman he once loved, or the king he’s bound to serve?

Sooo can't waif for this one! Gideon is in need of some lovings. ;) Excited to be back in the transplanted world and meeting more characters.

Giveaway Time!!

Kate has a giveaway going.
The Giveaway Ends March 6, 2014

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author Bio:
Kate SeRine (pronounced “serene”) faithfully watched weekend monster movie marathons while growing up, each week hoping that maybe this time the creature du jour would get the girl. But every week she was disappointed. So when she began writing her own stories, Kate vowed that her characters would always have a happily ever after. And, thus, her love for paranormal romance was born.

Kate is the author of the award-winning Transplanted Tales series, available from Kensington Books. She lives in a smallish, quintessentially Midwestern town with her husband and two sons, who share her love of storytelling. She never tires of creating new worlds to share and is even now working on her next project.



The New book is up for Pre-order as well!


Need the previous books? Well, you can get those NOW!

And Pre-order for April 17, 2014 release Nate Grimm's tale:

Book Review: God Save the Queen

God Save the Queen

By:  Kate Locke

Publish Date:  June 3, 2012

Publisher:  Orbit

Format:  Print, 342pg

Genre:  Urban Fantasy

Series:  1st book in The Immortal Empire series

Recommendation:  Aaah, yes. Crafty creation of the Vampires, Werewolves, and Goblins in this Victorian era set novel. And the story over Xandra, well done with timing of details and information.

Synopsis:
Queen Victoria rules with an immortal fist.

The undead matriarch of a Britain where the Aristocracy is made up of werewolves and vampires, where goblins live underground and mothers know better than to let their children out after dark. A world where being nobility means being infected with the Plague (side-effects include undeath), Hysteria is the popular affliction of the day, and leeches are considered a delicacy. And a world where technology lives side by side with magic. The year is 2012 and Pax Britannia still reigns.

Xandra Vardan is a member of the elite Royal Guard, and it is her duty to protect the Aristocracy. But when her sister goes missing, Xandra will set out on a path that undermines everything she believed in and uncover a conspiracy that threatens to topple the empire. And she is the key-the prize in a very dangerous struggle.

First Sentence:
I hate goblins.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles  /  Book Depository

**I entered for a copy of this book at Goodreads and agreed to do an honest review.

My Thoughts and Summary:
Xandra's sister has gone missing. She's hoping the goblins, which stay underground yet know everything topside, can help her find her sister. She learns her sister was committed to Bedlam, the Asylum, and the goblins feel sorry for Xandra. Something more is going on? If the strong and powerful goblins feel pity for you, instead of coerce you to stay for their pleasure, things are worse than they seem. Drusilla, Dede, attacked a peer and threatened him in front of many witnesses. She wasn't herself. In exchange from the powerful full-blood - Dede's ex - and his wife, no charges would be made if she was put in Bedlam. For a moment we start to think Dede will be okay, though Xandra will get her out of this horrid place, when the bad news follows. Then news of birth records being stolen, including Xandra in the year taken. Xandra finds herself learning secrets she never thought to exist. Slowly Xandra gets a different view of everything. Experiments are going on and Xandra never saw it happening, never suspected. Xandra will turn the kingdom upside down with what she learns. With looking for her sister, learning secrets, and running from someone after her, Xandra tries to remember her daily supplements. Xandra finds herself at the center of the Insurrectionists, those fighting against the Aristocrats and the secrets she learns that could upset the whole world and rule she's known and sworn her life to protect.

First I have to say, people are classifying this as steampunk. In my opinion, it's not. It's set in a Victorian Era, yes. Steampunk items present, well, maybe but not even close to enough to classify this steampunk. This book is Urban Fantasy to me. It's more about the plague that infected the aristocrats and created Vampires and Werewolves. Then when they tried to reproduce together, and the plagued blood didn't mix, goblins were created.

I'm taken with the tweaking to the British history. The plague is what has manifested and turned people to what are considered Vampires, Werewolves and goblins. Very well thought out and organized.

Aaah, loved the take of the plague turning aristocrats to Vampire and werewolves, and the blending of the two that doesn't work together well to create goblins. Loved this creation and explanation for the paranormal. Xandra is what they consider half-blood - one parent a plagued aristocrat (vampire) and one parent human. There are other half-bloods that are of a werewolf aristocratic blood line. Depending on where the parent is from as Scotland and England had different results from the plague, Werewolf and Vampire. And the two don't blend well, the different strands when tried to reproduce together create the horrid and frightening Goblins.

I found I was feeling with Xandra through out the story. The sorrow for her sister. The confusion with realizations of things she thought true, and were or were not. The eye opening secrets in a world she thought she knew. The paranoia of those thinking she'll go to the deep end like her sister and mystery unfolding.

And loved reading Xandra coming into her own and learning the truths and secrets kept hidden. This is DEFINITELY a world I want to revisit. There was a touch of a romance starting but the world and the creation here has my attention. I want to know what is to come for Xandra now that she knows what she does.

Cover Reveal: Red Blooded by Amanda Carlson

Ooooh yeaaaa! We've got a cover! :D

Amanda Carlson just shared the new sparkling cover for Red Blooded last night in her newsletter. (If you want to sign up...) Oh this is so cool!

You ready? Okay, here we go... Oh! If you haven't read the previous three books, look at the cover but don't read the description. ;)

Red Blooded

Jessica McClain #4

By:  Amanda Carlson

Due Out:  September 2, 2014

Description:
(Minor spoilers ahoy!)

Jessica is on her way to Hell. After settling a fragile truce between the vampires, werewolves and witches, the last thing Jessica wants to do is face the demons head on. But when the Prince of Hell kidnapped her brother, he set into motion a chain of events that even Jessica doesn't have the power to stop.

Now, Jessica must go into battle again. But Hell is a whole new beast -- new rules, more dangerous demons, and an entirely foreign realm. And when Jessica is dropped into the Underworld too soon, without protection or the help of her friends, she must figure out just how powerful she can be...or she will never make it out alive.



Tooootally psyched for it! :D Jessica in Hell. Oh yea. So much more to the world Amanda is creating.

Throwback Thursday (144)

I found this picture of Trinity College Library, and thought it would work for this meme with a little play with lighting and adding the words.

Let's talk about those books already on the shelves, yours or the stores.

I have a post for books I'm looking forward to coming out;

Looking Forward To...

But what about all those wonderful books that are ALREADY on the shelves.

Whether it be on your shelf waiting to be read or on the shelves in the stores waiting for you to give it a good home.

So, I thought I would share a book a week that is just waiting for me to travel through it's world.

Now... where do I start? Lets go by Published Date on the books...

This Week:

I am embarrassed. The lovely Melliane of Between Dreams and Reality gave me this as a gift. I don't like letting gifts sit for to long. But life has gotten in the way. I'm trying really hard to get caught up with review books so I can read what I have sitting on the shelves. I'm trying to get here.

But, from what I hear from everyone, this sounds like an amazing series to be into.

Goodreads Synopsis:
October "Toby" Daye, a changeling who is half human and half fae, has been an outsider from birth. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the Faerie world, retreating to a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, the Faerie world has other ideas... 

The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening's dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby must resume her former position as knight errant and renew old alliances. As she steps back into fae society, dealing with a cast of characters not entirely good or evil, she realizes that more than her own life will be forfeited if she cannot find Evening's killer.

I've heard back from a few bloggers that they would like to join in this meme post, so I'm adding a Linky for you to join in.  Grab the picture above, and join in.  All I ask, is if you can acknowledge my blog in the post so others know where to come back to.

Author Interview: Resa Nelson

I have enjoyed Resa's fantasy books and now her new book as well, All of Us Were Sophie. You can check out my review of her new book on the blog. Please do as it's new and different from her previous book. Well done!

I do hope you learn a bit about the book in this interview, and it sparks a curiosity to take a look at it.

Please give a warm welcome to Resa...


M:  Hi Resa! It is a pleasure to have you back to the blog once again.

I’m thrilled to announce you have a new book out, the center of your current tour – All of Us Were Sophie. Would you like to share a little about the new book with the readers?

RN:  Sure! Thanks so much for that warm welcome. All Of Us Were Sophie is a murder mystery with a science fiction premise: human duplication is possible. Not cloning, which is essentially growing a baby that has your exact DNA. But making exact copies of yourself in an instant, complete with your personality and life experience. Kind of like making real-life photocopies of yourself except they’re human, not paper. That’s what my main character Sophie does because she knows someone is trying to kill her and she believes making copies of herself is her best choice. But she also knows that the process of duplication will kill her. Once that happens and the copies of Sophie are created, they must figure out what’s happening, escape the killer, and find out what’s happening and why.

M:  Resa, I know you throw yourself into your work. You usually ‘try’ or talk too many about what you are writing. I think this is amazing as it really helps make the actions feel real.

There is detective work here. Both professional and unprofessional. We have a cop that is trying to solve a crime then we have the Sophie’s trying to solve who is trying to murder them. Did you have a lot of research to make it feel so true from the detectives view?

RN:  I did a couple of things. I wrote the first version of this book 25 years ago, and at that time I interviewed a Boston homicide detective. It was fascinating, because I sat in his office and he answered all incoming calls during our interview. Just listening to his conversations gave me a lot of insight. But I also had a big list of questions, and his answers made me look at things differently. The first version of this book sold to a major publisher who later dropped the deal, and I gave up on the book. When I realized how I could rewrite it to make it more fresh and relevant, I decided to change the setting from Boston to a fictional bedroom community on its outskirts. This time I interviewed a detective in a small town, and the difference between the two experiences was jaw-dropping. Years ago, I dated a Boston cop and gained some insight from him, as well. Also, I’m a huge fan of the ID TV channel and series like The Closer, which a minor character mentions watching in my novel.

M:  Sophie has her own way of doing things, one that feels almost a tad OCD. How did you come up with Sophie’s ways? (By the way, I’m so glad there is a personalized feel to Sophie. Makes her feel real to the reader.)

RN:  I drew mostly from my own experience. Whenever I needed to figure out a way to make something work, I would think about my own idiosyncrasies. For example, within the past few years I’ve realized that I’ve always had my own unique way of communicating with myself – and that not everyone else does this! And it’s all about visual things. For example, if I need to take something with me when I leave my home, there’s a specific place where I’ll put it because I know that for some reason I also look at that place. If I put things anywhere else, I’m likely to walk off without them. Another example: last weekend I decided I wanted to eat the last bit of an Ethiopian lentil stew I’d made for breakfast. But I’m a creature of habit. I knew that I had to do something to remind myself or else I’d go on autopilot and make my regular morning oatmeal. So I took a bag of uncooked lentils out of my kitchen cabinet and put the bag on the countertop where I make breakfast. Sure enough, a couple of hours later when I started to make oatmeal, I saw my reminder and heated up the stew instead. I don’t know why I’m like this. I can’t explain it. It’s just how my brain is wired. And especially because I’m dealing with multiple versions of the same character, I felt that my best bet was to make Sophie as much like me as I could bear!

Resa, I think we all have our own idiosyncrasies. It's great to really focus on them and use them in the book.

M:  The Detective, Jeromy, touches on memory loss with his suspect. And there is an explanation of why the Sophie’s don’t remember the last two weeks. Did you do a lot of training on memory and memory loss for the book?

RN:  It’s a combination of things. In college my required courses included human biology, human physiology, and human anatomy (including dissection, which I initially dreaded but ended up loving). I also have a degree in sociology and a keen interest in psychology. Plus for many years I’ve been reading books about the brain just because I think it’s interesting. So there were a lot of things I already knew and understood about memory, but I also did some research. But most of the credit goes to my consultant, Dr. Geoffrey Landis, who is a scientist and a terrific science fiction author. When we’ve talked about the possibility of human duplication and how it would work, Geoff is the one who theorized that the duplication process would cause short-term memory loss.

M:  In this new book, you touch on science fiction. But, the nice thing, it creates the plot of the story yet is not overwhelming to people who love a great mystery story. Do you feel this book falls more in the mystery section?

RN:  Thank you so much for saying that! That’s exactly my intent. I’m a huge fan of mysteries, and I want this book to be easy to read for mystery readers as well as science fiction fans. My goal was to put in just enough science so that you can understand the most important things you need to understand. I think there’s a grand total of about four pages of science fiction spread throughout the book, and the rest I consider pure mystery.

M:  Did you find it easier writing of your local area as you went? Or more of a challenge to keep a close to home, real feel?

RN:  I’ve lived in different parts of the United States, and I feel that this country is more like Europe in that different regions (or even states) have their own culture. I once read a novel where one of the main characters was supposed to be the city in which it took place, but the authors did very little to describe the city or what made it unique! That’s what I thought about when I wrote this book, because I want anyone who has never lived in New England to get a glimpse of what it’s like – and it made the writing easy because I had a goal. I kept thinking about the culture shock I’d experienced when I first moved to Boston as well as all the things I love about it and the surrounding area. My goal is that no matter where you live, when you read my novel you’ll see my vision of what makes this region unique.

M:  Resa, thank you for stopping by. I wish you all the best in words and pages. And look forward to having you back by in the future, many times.

RN:  Melissa, thank you so much for hosting my blog tour and for asking such great questions! I’m so happy and grateful that you read All Of Us Were Sophie and enjoyed it. Thanks for the kind words, and I’m already looking forward to coming back!

~~~~~~~~~~

All Of Us Were Sophie

What if the only way you could save your own life was to kill yourself?

Someone is trying to kill Sophie Rippetoe, and she has no place to hide. But Sophie has a unique option. Her husband designed and built a duplicator machine to make exact copies of complicated and sophisticated machine parts. She knows how the duplicator works.

Will it work for people? No one knows.

There’s just one problem: the duplication process destroys the original. The only thing Sophie knows for sure is that trying to make copies of herself will end up killing her.

Sophie isn’t sure who’s trying to kill her or why – but she has her suspicions and has gathered some evidence. Before she takes the leap of faith to use the duplicator on herself, she creates a trail of clues, hopeful that at least one of the Sophies she creates will figure it out in time to save herself.


Author Bio:
Resa Nelson’s first novel, The Dragonslayer’s Sword, was nominated for the Nebula Award and was also a Finalist for the EPPIE Award. This medieval fantasy novel is based on a short story first published in the premiere issue of Science Fiction Age magazine and ranked 2nd in that magazine's first Readers Top Ten Poll. The Dragonslayer's Sword is Book 1 in her 4-book Dragonslayer series, which also includes The Iron Maiden (Book 2), The Stone of Darkness (Book 3), and The Dragon’s Egg (Book 4).

Resa's standalone novel, Our Lady of the Absolute, is a fantasy/mystery/thriller about a modern-day society based on ancient Egypt. Midwest Book Review gave this book a 5-star review, calling it "a riveting fantasy, very highly recommended."

She has been selling fiction professionally since 1988. She is a longtime member of SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) and is a graduate of the Clarion SF Workshop. Resa was also the TV/Movie Columnist for Realms of Fantasy magazine for 13 years and was a contributor to SCI FI magazine. She has sold over 200 articles to magazines in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Resa lives in Massachusetts. Visit her website at http://www.resanelson.com and follow her on Twitter @ResaNelson.

Find Resa:
Resa’s website:  http://www.resanelson.com
Twitter:   @ResaNelson
Email:  ContactResa@aol.com

GoodReads giveaway (10 signed copies, U.S. only): https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/77022-all-of-us-were-sophie

Ebook ($4.99) and trade paperback ($12.95) are available directly from Mundania Press at:
http://mundania.com/book.php?title=All of Us Were Sophie
(get a 10% discount at checkout with the coupon code MP10)

Paperbacks and ebooks are available also from Amazon, and Barnes&Noble:
Amazon: All of Us Were Sophie
Barnes & Nobles: All of Us Were Sophie
Book Depository: All of Us Were Sophie

Blog tour schedule: http://www.resanelson.com/all-of-us-were-sophie-blog-tou/

Book Review: All of Us Were Sophie

All of Us Were Sophie

By:  Resa Nelson

Publisher:  Mundania Press

Publish Date:  December 17, 2013

Format:  ARC, 220pgs

Genre:  Science Fiction, Mystery

Series:  Stand-alone

Recommendation:  Yes. You enjoy mystery? This is a new blend of a touch of science fiction that created the 'Sophie's' that need to solve their murder, before it happens.

Book Synopsis:
What if the only way you could save your own life was to kill yourself? Someone is trying to kill Sophie Rippetoe, and she has no place to hide. But Sophie has a unique option. Her husband designed and built a duplicator machine to make exact copies of complicated and sophisticated machine parts. She knows how the duplicator works. Will it work for people? No one knows. There's just one problem: the duplication process destroys the original. The only thing Sophie knows for sure is that trying to make copies of herself will end up killing her. Sophie isn't sure who's trying to kill her or why - but she has her suspicions and has gathered some evidence. She has created a trail of clues, hopeful that at least one of the Sophies she creates will figure out who the killer is in time to save herself.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles  /  Book Depository

**I read this story for an honest review.

My Thoughts and Summary:
Sophie is on the run. Hiding. Someone is trying to kill her for the information she's uncovered. She suspects who, but not sure. She's left clues hidden where she'd find them, in a form only she would understand. The only thing she has left to do, before the killer gets to her...make replicas of herself to find the clues and figure it out. The problem, the replicating machine destroys the original. Hopefully, one of the multiple selves she creates lives and figures out the clues.

Resa had me from page one. Curiosity flared in me as I wondered what was going on with Sophie and what was happening. I had to keep reading to know. I found this suspenseful because you only know what the duplicate Sophie's know. Which, they have lost the memory of the original Sophie's last two weeks, and all the information and clues tie this time frame in as we acquire it.

We follow the lives of the different Sophie's as they hid and solve the mystery, without dying first. Watch, and learn, as they put the clues together in different areas and with different people that have impacted Sophie's life over the years. I fell into all the characters lives. You got to see how the same person could take different paths in life, one that is very possible for all of us.

I thought it was neat watching as multiples of the same interact, or have to do what needs done for the other selves. The duplicates that are together get to see how they look and sound from a viewing perspective, and know very well the thought that fuels it. It's an eye opener to the observer of ones self and know what they are thinking. Something they learn to try and improve on their selves.

The book has many different aspects it touches on. Their is the science side with the replicator. Which, I will mention, the story is NOT overly science fiction. Detective work to find the killer of Sophie's husband. There is a brief touch on memory psychology with memory. Very interesting seeing all these blended into this story. Even the relations of those you would never realize are there when you speak and see others.

Resa sucked me into the lives of several Sophie's. Made me worry for them and curiosity flare to life with the mystery of who and why. Resa has taken mystery and added an additional element that science fiction can add, creating a blend that keeps us reading.

Mythical Monday (38)

It seems there are many books based on or influenced by Myths and Mythological Beings.

There are so many different Mythology and Mythological Beings recorded. Some are very popular and well known, others not so much. There are many similar beings, yet different depending on the culture it’s based in.  The definition of Myth covers about anything in the Urban Fantasy/Fantasy realm to me.

I’ve invited authors to share briefly the Mythological being or Myth that influenced their character(s) or story, or what their character(s) are based on influencing their books.  Hosting here, one author and being or myth per week.

This week we have:

Adult & Young Adult Fantasy author Alma Alexander

Talking of the Coyote.

Let me tell you about my encounter with Coyote.

When I set out to write the Worldweavers books, I wanted to write a story which was an American YA fantasy, something of an across-the-pond answer to the Harry Potter phenomenon which ruled the YA universe with an iron fist at that time. I wanted to get away from the usual Eurocentric fantasy and mythology, I wanted to ground the stories that I would write firmly in the New World… and the way that opened up for me to do this was by exploring themes in the Native American mythos. Avatars of the gods and spirits from that mythological sphere became characters in my stories. Grandmother Spider (who plays an imortant role in the creation of the world in several versions of the accounts dealing with this, particularly in the rich mythology of the American South West) became something of a mentor for my young protagonist – and since every light has to have a shadow associated with it, because otherwise the light has no form or feature, the Trickster God, Coyote, ambled onto the stage with a hat-tilt and a wicked grin aimed in my direction.

Initially, he was something of a simple stereotype – a literary equivalent of a simple pencil sketch, if you will, who was there to fill the hole in the narrative which required a touch of malice, a touch of trickery, a touch of the dark side. But then, partly because I have an aversion to writing two-dimensional characters even if they ARE just an incarnation of a Greater God and therefore iconic as an of themselves, and partly because there is so much more to Coyote than just this veneer in any case, the Trickster in my novels slowly Tricked me into becoming… well… something of a “real boy”. He developed tics and mannerisms and habits (he always wore cowboy boots which were always dusty no matter where he happened to be or how he had got there; he was given to flippancy – his response to one of my other characters taking issue with Coyote’s sweeping in to take advantage of her finding something that a lot of people had been searching for is a flippant, “Finders keepers. As in, you find it, and I keep it.”) For reasons initially known only to himself he appears to be working in cahoots with the enemy (not FOR the enemy, in the sense that Coyote is not altogether on anyone’s side, exactly, and just acts as a catalyst and a facilitator..) – and yet Grandmother Spider herself, the mentor, the wise one, the one who dispenses life-affirming advice, tells my protagonist: “Coyote will always be on your side”. And it is the joy and richness of this character that both of those are true, and true at once, and they don’t necessarily cancel one another out. Coyote is something of a Schrodinger’s cat of a character, both good and evil inside that box and you don’t know which until you actually open it up and look. (And often even then you are not sure. He is Coyote, after all.)

He still does the things that he does because he cannot help himself – this is who and what he is, and he is helpless to change that and become something different, something that he is not, and can never be. But underneath all this my version of Coyote became something larger and deeper, something that forced me to colour outside the lines and to ask harder questions and to glimpse all sorts of shadows into which my insights threw only the dimmest of lights, just enough light to know that there was more shadow beyond its reach than I would ever be able to understand or really do justice to within the scope of my story.

In one sense the story arc of the original trilogy kind of ran out before I had the chance to fully do justice to Coyote – and I was sorry for it, because in one sense that story was his own as much as it belonged to my protagonist. They both had a hand in shaping it. And because Coyote was an Avatar, it was at once more freeing and more complicated to allow him to mess with my narrative – the former because he already existed as an underlying figure and therefore did not need to be created from scratch with freshly minted urges and motivations (Coyote’s were already well known, pretty well established) and the latter because there was so much there that was given, that was considered to be understood, that fiddling with any of it carried its own set of problems. There was a danger of gilding the lily, if you like, that I would touch him up too much, that he would become the lesser for it. But then I realised that there was one more story to be told in this arc – and tell it I did, the fourth book in the Worldweavers trilogy,as it were, the book called “Dawn of Magic” – and Coyote CAME ALIVE. This is Thea Wintrhop’s apotheosis, where she faces her greatest fears and has to stand firm in the face of them; this is the story of the redemption of Nikola Tesla, and his transformation into something… that even I had not seen truly coming; and above all this is the story of Coyote, the Trickster, the creature who cares deeply about everything even while he pretends not to give a fig for anything at all, who trusts instinct and not reason and gives his whole existence up to the power of that truth, whose role in creation is to test the mettle of men and to bring out the best and the brighest in them when times to try their souls are thrust upon them but who does this work with equal measure of playful malice and unplumbed depths of empathy and love.

This is the Coyote I came to know.

And my own life is the richer for it.

www.AlmaAlexander.org

“Dawn of Magic” due out from Sky Warrior Books in 2014

Author Bio:

I was born in a town on the banks of the Danube in a country which no longer exists. When I was ten, I left the country of my birth, never to live there again. I have lived in five countries on four continents and now spend a good deal of my time in the realm of Cyberspace.

More than a score of my books are in print, including my YA series, Worldweavers, which Voya has recommended for those suffering from Harry Potter withdrawal. One of my novels, The Secrets of Jin-shei, is set in the country of Syai, a place which invokes imperial China but one I created from love and imagination. Published in 14 languages, it has touched readers around the world. Just recently, for example, a young woman talked excitedly about it in a video on her blog. I think she liked it, but since it was in Portuguese….

When I am not building my own new worlds, I read other authors’ books and embroider. I like music ranging from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” to Dvorak’s New World Symphony, animals, coffee, chocolate, snow, velvet. I dislike snakes, things with crunchy exoskeletons or more than four legs, high humidity, asparagus, and waiting.

I am a punaholic, a chronic worrier, sometimes honest to the point of being tactless. I’m sentimental and remember detailed trivia like dates, old song lyrics, and the occasional complete movie.

I was born on the fifth day of July (the day after America), six years before man walked on the moon, and I am married to a man who wooed me over the Internet and lured me to America. I am owned by a cat.

Find Alma:

Site:  Duchess of Fantasy

Twitter:   @AlmaAlexander
Facebook Page:  Alma Alexander
Goodreads:  Alma Alexander

Purchase the books:
Amazon:
  Gift of the Unmage
  Spellspam
  Cybermage

Barnes & Nobles:
  Gift of the Unmage
  Spellspam
  Cybermage

Follow with Bloglovin

My World...in words and pages is found on Bloglovin'. Please feel free to follow away.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Sunday Post #44

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It's a chance to share news ~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share new about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

~~~~~~~~~~

Where did the weekend go? I was so excited for it to come and it's almost over. I know what happened. My husband's project. Yesterday was spent painting the bathroom. He took it apart and was ready to start when the kiddo's friend wasn't able to go throw football with him. So husband took him and I took over the painting. *grumble, grumble* I had lots of things of my own to get done. And now the week will be starting and I'm behind the eight ball already.

I can't believe we are on the last week of February either! Okay, I seem a bit grumpy. Sorry. I'll work on that.

I'm hoping for a productive week. Lots to get accomplished around here. And I want to go get a new laptop today too. So, if they have what I want, it might start off good. ;)

What's Happening in Books:

Current Read:
What Kings Ate and Wizards Drank by Krista D. Ball

Flash in the Can by Danielle Ackley-McPhail (audio book)

AND have been reading as chapters come up:
Soulless by Skyla Dawn Cameron (2 chapters a week for free on her site!)

Current Podcast Book Listen:
Morevi by Tee Morris & Lisa Lee


Finished Last Weeks:
Evolution: ANGEL by S.A. Huchton

Finished Podcast Book Listen:
The Secret World Chronicle: World Well Lost by Mercees Lackey,Steve Libby, Cody Martin, & Dennis Lee
Tales from the Archives Vol 2: A Hanukkah Special

~~~~~~~~~~

Last Week on the Blog:

Cover Reveals: (click titles to go to post & learn more)

Posts:
At Challenged Writers I shared my writing update for January. And...there might be a little secret about how I'm spending my time there.

Reviews:

Digital Magic by Philippa Ballantine

Murder at Avedon Hill by P.G. Holyfield

Podcast Review:

Mama Bitchstress Reviews:

GIVEAWAYS:



Weekly Posts:

***NEW*** Mythical Monday - Alma Alexander with the Coyote

Throwback Thursday

~~~~~~~~~~

This Week to Come on the Blog:

Mythical Monday This week will be the Coyote! (Mon)

Book Review All of Us Were Sophie by Resa Nelson (Wed)
Interview with Resa Nelson (Wed)
Book Review God Save the Queen by Kate Locke (Thurs)

~~~~~~~~~~

Received Last Weeks:

Review:

The Lascar's Dagger by Glenda Larke
Goodreads Synopsis:
Faith will not save him.

Saker appears to be a simple priest, but in truth he's a spy for the head of his faith. Wounded in the line of duty by a Lascar sailor's blade, the weapon seems to follow him home. Unable to discard it, nor the sense of responsibility it brings, Saker can only follow its lead.


The dagger puts Saker on a journey to distant shores, on a path that will reveal terrible secrets about the empire, about the people he serves, and destroy the life he knows. The Lascar's dagger demands a price, and that price will be paid in blood.


Purchased/Winnings/Gifts:

I purchased this as I have plans for the future. Maybe it will give you a clue as to the plans. ;)

I won a signed book plate to go in my copy of Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells. :D

Free Ebooks:

The Girl Who Wasn't by Heather Hildenbrand
(This is the adult book of Imitation)
Goodreads Synopsis:
The Girl Who Wasn’t : a New Adult novel
a SEXY retelling of Imitation

Everyone is exactly like me.
There is no one like me.
The rough fabric of my cotton nightgown chafes so I lie very still. They say my discomfort comes from being built like one accustomed to niceties. How is that fair when I myself have never experienced anything but copies of the real thing?
My entire life is an imitation.
I am an Imitation.
I’ve been here five years. Training. Preparing. Waiting.
And now I have a letter.
My assignment has begun.
I am a prisoner.
I am not Raven Rogen.
I am here to die.

**Adult content. Not suitable for young readers**

Hybrid by Brian O'Grady
Goodreads Synopsis:
A virus engineered for genocide has been released in Colorado Springs, leading to mass, and seemingly unexplained violence. Some of the survivors of the infection begin to evolve into something that is both less than and more than human. The race is on to prevent world-wide release of the virus.




Free Audio Books/Stories:

~~~~~~~~~~

Reviews to Come:

Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell - a podcast reading of the book

Half Share by Nathan Lowell - a podcast reading of the book

Full Share by Nathan Lowell - a podcast reading of the book
Double Share by Nathan Lowell - a podcast reading of the book

Captain's Share by Nathan Lowell - a podcast reading of the book

Owners Share by Nathan Lowell - a podcast reading of the book

Ravenwood by Nathan Lowell - a podcast reading of the book

Working for the Devil by Lilith Saintcrow
Shadow Sight by E.J. Stevens (in audiobook while at work)

Marco and The Red Granny by Mur Lafferty (in audiobook while at work)

Seducing Her Rival by Seleste deLaney

Heaven by Mur Lafferty (in audiobook while at work)
Hell by Mur Lafferty (in audiobook while at work)
Earth by Mur Lafferty (in audiobook while at work)
Wasteland by Mur Lafferty (in audiobook while at work)

War by Mur Lafferty (in audiobook while at work)

Earth Girls Are Difficult by Frances Pauli (in audiobook while at work)

Tales of the Children by P.G. Holyfield (in audiobook while at work) An Anthology collection in the setting of Land of Caern.

The Secret World Chronicle: Invasion by Mercedes Lackey & Steve Libbey (in audiobook while at work)

All of Us Were Sophie by Resa Nelson

Hope's End by Brian McClellan

The Secret World Chronicle: The Hunt by Mercedes Lackey & Steve Libbey (in audiobook while at work)

The Girl of Hrusch Avenue by Brian McClellan

Rusted Veins by Jaye Wells

God Save the Queen by Kate Locke

Haunted by Amanda Bonilla

Grimm Consequences by Kate SeRine
Evolution: ANGEL by S.A. Huchton

The Secret World Chronicle: World Well Lost by Mercees Lackey,Steve Libby, Cody Martin, & Dennis Lee

Tales from the Archives Vol 2: A Hanukkah Special

Audio Book Review: Murder at Avedon Hill

Murder at Avedon Hill

By:  P.G. Holyfield

Publish Date:  2008

Format:  Podiobook

Genre:  Fantasy

Series:  1st book in The Land of Caern series

Recommendation:  Yes! A murder mystery set in a fantasy world with magics, gods, Elves, Dwarves, moon beasts, and vampires. The city of Avedon Hill and it's residents are much more and deeper secrets than originally viewed.

Synopsis:
Lord Avedon has a problem. Generations of Avedons have watched over Avedon Hill and controlled the only pass through the Lantis Mountains. Traditions are important to the Avedon family, but one tradition has tragically come to an end. Gretta Platt, Housemistress of Avedon Manor, has been murdered. A member of the Platt family has always served the Avedons as Housemistress. until now. Only a handful of people live at Avedon Hill, and most are suspects. Arames Kragen, retired Aarronic Advisor and scholar of prophecy, arrives at the gates of Avedon Hill, hoping to gain access to the mountain pass. Lord Avedon is not in a giving mood, however.

This is the story of Arames Kragen and his attempt not only to discover who killed Gretta Platt, but also to uncover the truth about a town that apparently has more secrets than inhabitants.

The Land of Caern: It is a world where the gods, the Children of Az, can choose to be born as mortals to directly affect events in the world, and often do. It is a world where the Priests of Caern frantically search for the mortal incarnations of any of the Children, in order prevent the Prophecies of Iberian from coming to pass.

Welcome to The Land of Caern... Welcome... to Murder at Avedon Hill, the podcast novel by P.G. Holyfield.

First Sentence:
Gretta Platt sat on a well-crafted stone bench in the southern quarter of the open courtyard.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles  /  Book Depository

Listen For Free:
iTunes  /  Podiobooks

*I listened to this story for my own enjoyment.

My Thoughts and Summary:
Arames and his student, Arrin Perti, come to the city of Avedon Hill, the city all had to go through to get to the mountain pass because there is no other way around, as they were heading to a conference. Arames's cousin tells him he can't get him granted passage, there's been a murder and the city is closed. Lord Avedon won't let anyone leave until the murder of the Housemistress of the Avedon Manor is solved. Arames offers to solve the murder to open the pass on the opposite side. The secrets Arames unveils on his investigation could prove to be very dangerous to him and Arrin. Secrets worth killing for...

I listened to the audiobook version, and LOVED it! All the voices to many different characters and the background to go with the happenings. I would love to have read this book as well. I know there are a few sections about the gods here that I would have re-read a few times. I know there is a lot of information that goes with the building here and my sticky notes would have been loved so. And I could easily go back to my notes and see about figuring out the mystery too. ;) I did have times where visualizing in my minds eye was a bit hard with the gods information. I think reading would have helped me in these small sections. The beginning of each chapter kind of confused me at times too, these were short phrases about the worlds gods. However, in Chapter 14 P.G. Holyfield explains these are religious text from in the world and will be read by another to lessen confusion. This change helps greatly in listening to the book, in reading it probably won't affect you.

A murder mystery to solve in a fantasy world! Who done it? I like mystery shows/movies but usually struggle with the reads (I love my fantasy and usually not set in a fantasy world). P.G. Holyfield blends all I love here! Yes! Thank you for writing my kind of mystery! And in investigating the murder and along with wanting to know who did it, I became exceedingly curious of the secrets people were hiding. I wanted to know it ALL! And in the end, I do...mostly. ;)

We start in the prologue with being in Gretta's head. Then she is attacked and murdered. We got a glimpse at the killer's thoughts as well. There is a connection here, and I'm curious as to what it is. Then we are with Arames and Arrin, venturing the investigation through both their eyes. The powers Arames and Arrin have are amazing, and they are strong fighters.

As the story goes I become increasingly invested in the secrets Arames and Arrin find along with my growing curiosity as to who and why kill Gretta. What we learn along the way with the gods of this world, as mentioned in the description (they do choose to be born into the world), draws me to the vast world here. We have a vast fantasy world here. There are elves, dwarves, vampires, moon beasts (werewolves), and much magic in different specialties. All of which attract my attention. And then there are the gods and their stories.

We are graced with many stunning happenings in this world. Murder mystery. Secrets of those at Avedon Hill. Action. Supernatural. Magic. And fantasy. I never knew for sure what Arames and Arrin would come across in they investigation, and I looked forward to it! I'm now on the search for anything and all set in this world.

P.G. Holyfield has caught my attention with this world and his writing style along with an amazing mystery story. But in the end, he cinched the deal making me curious of Arrin Perti and the Perti family as a whole. There is more to come, and I WILL be around to see what it is.

Throwback Thursday (143)

I found this picture of Trinity College Library, and thought it would work for this meme with a little play with lighting and adding the words.

Let's talk about those books already on the shelves, yours or the stores.

I have a post for books I'm looking forward to coming out;

Looking Forward To...

But what about all those wonderful books that are ALREADY on the shelves.

Whether it be on your shelf waiting to be read or on the shelves in the stores waiting for you to give it a good home.

So, I thought I would share a book a week that is just waiting for me to travel through it's world.

Now... where do I start? Lets go by Published Date on the books...

This Week:

Oh yeah. I forgot about this one. Oh shame on me. But this is why I love doing this, remembering books I have on shelves (physical & electronic).

This one is an author I want to try and a series that sounds delicious. I think it was free one day and I had to snag it up, as a ebook of course.

Goodreads Synopsis:
To find her destiny, she must trust him with her life...and her heart. 

Jackson Holt makes a decent living as a private investigator in New Orleans, home of one of the largest underground supernatural populations in the United States. He and his partners have never met a case they couldn't crack...until a local bar owner asks him to do a little digging on her newest hire.

New Orleans is the fourth destination in as many months for Mackenzie Brooks, a woman on the run from a deranged stalker. After all, any man who shows up on her doorstep claiming to be her destined lover has more than a few screws loose. But crazy doesn't explain why he always finds her no matter how far she runs.

When her well-meaning boss puts a PI on her case, Mackenzie comes face to face with the incredible truth: magic is real, and whatever spell has kept her hidden and separate from the paranormal world is rapidly deteriorating.

With time running out, she has no choice but to trust Jackson as he struggles to uncover the truth of her past-and her destiny. 

This book contains devious schemes, epic battles, forbidden love between a shapeshifter and a spellcaster, nosy secondary characters, furniture-endangering sex and a woman fighting to choose her own destiny.

I've heard back from a few bloggers that they would like to join in this meme post, so I'm adding a Linky for you to join in.  Grab the picture above, and join in.  All I ask, is if you can acknowledge my blog in the post so others know where to come back to.