Sunday Post #141

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.

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Ugh. I'm running late on my normal time schedule for days and Sunday. I rarely do, or get the opportunity to, sleep in. Today, the stars were aligned and both happened. I slept in! As it feels great, it also works my nerves as I feel as I'm behind in everything. *sigh*

Surgery went well on Wednesday. I was in and out like clockwork and went hope shortly after waking. Yes, my family and I are those that wake from anesthesia and rush out the door. We just can't wait to leave and feel the energy to do so. I went back to work on Thursday as there was no pain. Hard to believe no pain, but there really wasn't. I did feel a touch of pressure and uncomfortable, but I believe that was from swelling inside, another thing my body does like to do - swell. So Friday I could take Advil and it helped with the swelling. The test results also came back Friday morning. There is NO cancer and NO pre-cancer cells. Woot woot! That's always great to hear.

Kiddo has been busy wit two-a-day football camp and a scrimmage yesterday. So now I'm also a touch sun burnt. lol. That might be why I slept in this morning... hmmm...

Other than that it's time to try to get back on schedule with writing, reading, visiting, and commenting.

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The Fit Booker:

Goal:  Workout in any form of exercise (or on Wii Fit) 2x's a week. (to feel better and hope to drop a few pants sizes)

How did I do last week... I got 1 days of exercise in last week. One with trainer. I'm not allowed to do strenuous activity or even treadmill or lifting for two weeks. *sigh*

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What's Happening in Books:

Current Read:

Tempered Hearts by Starla Huchton
The Side of Good / The Side of Evil edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail


Current Audiobook:
The World Beneath by Rebecca Cantrell

Current Podcast Book Listen:
Stonebriar Casefiles: Bad Alchemy by Laura Nicole Spencer (You can listen for free too!)

Finished Last Week: 

Nothing yet

Audiobooks from Audible:

Extracted by Sherry D. Ficklin & Tyler H. Holley

Finished Podcast Book Listen:

Alight by Scott Sigler (You can listen for free too!) 

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Last Week on the Blog:

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

Guest Posts:

Posts:

Spellbound in a Flash:
This week I posted pictures of my birthday flowers: Birthday Sunshine, Flowers


Challenged Writers:
I'll post at beginning of September, but you can always see previous posts.

Around the Internet...


Reviews:

Queen Mab by Kate Danley

"In the end, Kate's words and Julian's voice brought pools to my eyes, all works in my heart with the way this ends. Kate has done a splendid job of mixing what Shakespeare created with Romeo and Juliet and Queen Mab with her own story involving Queen Mab and the reason she's the way she is. I thoroughly enjoyed the story while I listened to it."


Harbinger by Philippa Ballantine

"We see the world as it's falling apart around our characters. Things are not looking good, and they may not all live to see what happens to the world when the Otherside crosses over. Maybe they don't want to see it. But they all will do everything in their power to stop it from happening."

Podcast Review:

Mama Bitchstress Reviews:

GIVEAWAYS:

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This Week to Come on the Blog:

I have 2 reviews (maybe 3).

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Received Last Weeks:

Review & Review Consideration:

Audio Books Requested for Review:

Apocalypse Machine by Jeremy Robinson
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Goodreads Synopsis:
THE HUMAN RACE STARTED THE SIXTH MASS EXTINCTION ON EARTH. 

A chain of subglacial volcanoes erupt in Iceland. The melting ice floods the countryside. Poisonous gas descends on Scotland. A tsunami devastates the Norwegian coastline. An ash cloud rises into the atmosphere, blotting out the sun across Europe, ushering in a new Ice Age. Dozens of nuclear power plants, flooded by ocean water, experience meltdowns. Millions perish. Many more are displaced. All on the first day. 

On the second day, a series of earthquakes moving in a straight line, reveal the presence of something massive, walking across the landscape. Concealed by a thick, radioactive ash cloud, the ‘aberration’ heads west, toward Russia. 

Abraham Wright, a science writer for Modern Scientist, who wants nothing more than to be reunited with his family, finds himself at the center of the United States’ response to the crisis. Under his new title as Assistant Science Advisor to the President, Wright is sent to Europe with a team of Army Rangers, where he uncovers the truth about the ancient behemoth laying waste to the world: there have been five mass extinctions on planet Earth, and the aberration has been present at each. 

On the third day, the world fights back. 

And loses. 

Separated from his family by continents and oceans ravaged by countless disasters and populated by strange new life, Wright struggles to survive in an evolving world. Hoping to uncover the key to mankind’s redemption, he fights for answers, and to reach his loved ones—before the human race’s extinction. 

THE APOCALYPSE MACHINE WILL FINISH IT. 

Highlander Raven by Melanie Karsak
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Goodreads Synopsis:
Destined to become Queen of Scotland.

Bound by blood to the Celtic gods.

Scotland, 1026--Gruoch, descendant of the line of MacAlpin, should have been born into a life of ease. But fate is fickle. Her father's untimely death, rumored to have been plotted by King Malcolm, leaves her future uncertain and stained by the prophecy that she will avenge her family line.

Escaping to one of the last strongholds of the old Celtic gods, Gruoch becomes an adept in arcane craft. Her encounters with the otherworld, however, suggest that magic runs stronger in Scotland than she ever imagined.

Haunted by dreams of a raven-haired man she's never met, Gruoch soon feels her fate is not her own. She is duty-bound to wed a powerful lord, if not the Prince himself; however, she's not sure she can stop her heart when she meets Banquo, a gallant highlander and druid.

Fans of Outlander and Mists of Avalon will relish this sweeping Scottish Historical Fantasy that tells the tale of Gruoch, a woman struggling to escape her fate without blood on her hands.

Queen of Night by Craig Schaefer
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Goodreads Synopsis:
It all ends here. 

It ends as Livia Serafini returns to her homeland with an army at her back, an exiled refugee turned ruthless conqueror, bringing war and witchcraft to any who dare stand in her way. It ends as Renata Nicchi and her ragged band of hunters and outlaws infiltrate a city under siege, making a last, desperate bid to save her lover from the jaws of the criminal underworld and be reunited at last. 

And as the Owl and her coven work to unravel the mystery of Wisdom's Grave, a doom from the past threatens to consume them all. It ends here, in the final chapter of the Revanche Cycle, under the spreading shadow of darkness. In a land where poison is king, only one can become the queen of the night.

The Witch of Roan Mountains by Blaire Edens
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Goodreads Synopsis:
Maeve McMahan, a criminal defense attorney, has just blown the case of her career. When she returns home to the mountains of North Carolina to clear her head, she moves back in with her grandmother. On an easy hike, she meets the one woman she never expected to see: Delphine, The Witch of Roan Mountain. 

Accused of a terrible crime she didn’t commit, Delphine has been haunting the county since just after the Civil War and she can’t rest until her name is cleared. She’s counting on Maeve’s help to get to the bottom of the century-old mystery. 

Campbell Hyatt, a sheriff’s deputy, has never gotten over his first love, Maeve. When her grandmother breaks her leg, Campbell’s on duty and he finds Maeve at the top of Roan Mountain, convinced she’s seen a ghost. A cop who doesn’t believe in ghosts, he thinks Maeve needs to be focused on her grandmother not an old legend that hits a little too close to home for his liking. 
With Maeve’s car out of commission and Granny stuck in the hospital, Campbell and Maeve are thrown together in a quest to find out why Delphine was branded a witch. It will take both of them to get to the bottom of a nineteenth century story love story that may impact them more than they realize. Can they banish a ghost without rekindling an old flame of their own? 



Purchased/Winnings/Gifts:

Book:

Audio:

Black Rose by K.L. Bone
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Goodreads Synopsis:
“May the Black Rose protect you in life and avenge you in death.” – Vow of the Black Rose

Six hundred years ago, the Muir Court was wiped from existence, destroyed by an elite group known as the Black Rose Guard. Their Captain, Mara, has a reputation of being a harsh woman who leads the guard with a fierce formality. During her long years, she has known pain, loss, heartache…and one great love.

Edward was the Captain of the Royal Guard of the Ciar Court. He loved her once. However, it was a love that faded the day he met young Liza, the Princess who stole the heart he had once sworn belonged to Mara alone. Liza was also the woman Mara was fated to protect. When the Queen learns of her daughter’s forbidden love for Edward, she devises a series of punishments, torturing Edward while her daughter is forced to watch. In a an act of desperation, Mara takes Liza’s place and looks on helplessly as Edward endures torments which break his body and Mara’s soul.

All of their pain is put aside when Liza is murdered by the rulers of a rival court. Haunted by her failure to protect the Princess and adhering to tradition, Mara takes the vow of the ‘Black Rose.’ It is an ancient oath which compels those under its power to abandon the lives they knew for the sake of a single goal: vengeance. Her quest leads her on a dark path of violence, rage, and bloodshed.

Tormented by a fate they can neither accept nor escape, Black Rose is a tale of retribution, love, and above all, honor—at any cost.

Heir of Koloso by K.L. Bone
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Goodreads Synopsis:
“Fear to the fearless. Hope to the hopeless. Mercy to those who hate you. Death to those who love you. That is your destiny, Princess of Kale, Princess of Koloso, heir to both.” – Prophecy of the Kalian Twins 

The struggle for the throne intensifies as twin Princesses Ameria and Mariana are forced to contend with their bitter rivalry and haunted past. In this sequel to Heir to Kale, the sisters learn that they must first expose the secrets of their past before they can begin to unveil their shadowed destiny. 

Awaiting the Temple bout which will determine her fate, Princess Mariana struggles to unite a Kingdom long bereft of leadership. She must navigate a labyrinth of rival families, powerful lords, and the ever-widening rift between those who serve the Temples and those who do not. Unprepared and still grieving the loss of her mentor, Mariana must decide for herself what is right for the kingdom and who, if anyone, can be trusted. 

Meanwhile, Princess Ameria is more determined than ever to discover the true identity of her father’s killer and is willing to risk everything in order to find the answers she seeks. Embarking upon a quest which takes her from gleaming Temples to darkened castles, she endeavors to learn the truth about her family, the Prophecy, and the future of the Kingdom. Eventually turning to her estranged grandfather, the powerful and dangerous Lord Riccard, Ameria uncovers a truth about her family’s past from which will threaten to challenge the very foundations of her beliefs. 

However, as the sisters come closer to revealing their past and the prophecy which haunts their future, the wraiths watch from the shadows, an ever-present reminder that time is running out and that the fight for the throne looms upon the horizon.



Free Ebooks:

(On my Kindle App) Links to books under title. They may or may not be free at this time.

Revolutionary Magic by Thomas K. Carpenter
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Goodreads Synopsis:
Exile. Princess. Thief. 

After years of running from the Emperor of Russia's assassins, Ekaterina "Kat" Dashkova has finally found an unlikely home in Philadelphia under the tutelage of Benjamin Franklin. 

When a mid-level government official is found wandering colonial Philadelphia without his clothes—and his last two years of memories—Ben and Kat suspect otherworldly forces at work. Neither of them know that a dark revolution lurks beneath the veneer of civilization, ready to unleash its malevolent magic unless Kat makes a grim sacrifice. 

SuperNova by Liz Long
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Goodreads Synopsis:
The streets of Arcania are overrun with crime, deteriorating as a madman named Fortune makes himself at home. He shows no mercy, striking down anyone in his path – including Nova Benson’s little sister. Devastated, Nova vows to seek justice for her family, but aside from her freak strength and impenetrable skin, how is she supposed to stop a monster like Fortune?

Cole Warner wants to help people. Entrusted to keep his family’s secret, he’s also frustrated at having to hide his gift. He knows he could do more to help in the fight against Fortune. If he could convince his sister Penelope to join him, they might even have a chance at beating him. When Cole meets Nova, he realizes his whole world is about to change. And he’s going to welcome it with open arms.

Falling for each other wasn’t part of the plan.

Then again, neither was becoming a superhero.


Free Audio Books/Stories:

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Reviews to Come:

Soulless by Skyla Dawn Cameron

The Sentinel by Chris Lester

The Muse by Chris Lester
Metamor City: Making the Cut by Chris Lester
Metamor City: Whispers in the Wood by Chris Lester

Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan

Lex Talionis by Starla Huchton

Spark by Starla Huchton
Heir to Kale by K.L. Bone

Tales from the Archives Vol 4 #5 - Old Sinner's Bones

The Death of Dulgath by Michael J. Sullivan

Solomon's Seal by Skyla Dawn Cameron
The Machines of Bellatrix by Cary Caffrey

Ancient Magic by Linsey Hall

Hidden Design by Tia Tormen
Alight by Scott Sigler
Extracted by Sherry D. Ficklin & Tyler H. Holley