Thank you for all your support in 2024!

Another year has passed, and it’s that time of year when you look back at what you achieved last year and plan for the next. It is still quite amazing that I have been published for four years and have 12 books published and three short stories released to Patreon/Newsletter subscribers.

I hope you downloaded the bonus free novella set in the world of the SoulMist series which I wrote as thankyou to all my newsletter subscribers. Your support makes writing so fulfilling, and your enthusiam for my characters makes me want to write more! My newsletter subscribers voted for a short story on how Felather and Adriz met.

Anyhow, back to what I achieved in 2024, and what’s in store for 2025?

I published two books, one novella and two audiobooks.

I launched my Online shop – making it easier to buy ebook and audio direct from me!

My books won Awards!!

  • Sentinals Justice
  • Sentinals Across Time:
    • Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal for Epic Fantasy
    • Global Book Awards Spring 2024: Finalist/GOLD Epic Fantasy
  • Harmony: Global Book Awards Spring 2024: Finalist/SILVER for Dystopian Science Fiction
  • Sentinals Banished
    • Global Book Awards Winter 2024 Finalist/GOLD medal for Epic Fantasy
    • Semi-Finalist for the 2024 CIBA OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction
  • SoulBreather
  • DragonBound
    • Global Book Awards Winter 2024 Finalist/Bronze

It has been a busy year, a highlight of which was seeing my BookFest Gold Medalists, Sentinals Justice and SoulBreather up in lights on the Nasdaq board in Times Square in New York. A real bucket list moment!

So what’s in store for 2025? Well I have plans for more books!

  • Sentinals Origins-Part I. Release date May 5th, 2025
  • Sentinals Origins-Part II. Release date TBC
  • Book One: Celestial Throne series. Release date TBC 2H25
  • Kickstarter: My contribution: Secret Alliance Reign of Dragons Anthology. Kickstarter go live: March 2025

Other goals:

  • Revitalise my Patreon and gain some supporters
  • More formal Marketing plan
  • Audio for OblivionGate
  • Create a Sentinals Wiki site (stretch goal!!)

So plenty to keep me busy outside of the day job! 

2024 was a busy year, lots of writing, though I was distracted by work as it was quite a tumultous year as the company I work for was acquired and so we’ve had lots of changes, but a year full of opportunity all the same. I am very excited for 2025 and the new opportunities it will bring. I look forward to sharing the results with you throughout the year. Once again – Thank you for all your support, I hope you stay with me as we continue this amazing journey.

If you enjoy fantasy books then you will love my epic fantasy Sentinal series or the Romantic Fantasy SoulMist series. Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and also Sentinals Discovery, the first few chapters of Sentinals Awaken from Birlerion’s POV and get notified when my next books are published.

By clicking the sign up button above, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and the newsletter platform provider to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

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DragonBound wins Bronze in the Global Book Awards

I am so thrilled to announce that DragonBound, the second book in the Fantasy Romance SoulMist Series won the bronze medal in the 2024 Global Book Awards in the Fantasy Romance /PNR Fantasy category.

The 2024 Global Book Awards for Self-Published Authors.

The Global Awards aim to discover new talent as well as recognize fine examples of self-published books. As such, we hope they will give self-published authors the recognition they deserve, whether that is in their writing creativity, or in the way they have marketed their books to attract new readers.

In this modern age of self-publishing, books need to be appraised not only by their content and writing style, but also by the way they present and market themselves to the prospective buyer, whether that is in the good ratings it has on important stores like Amazon, its book cover and description, or the number of reviews it has collected. They must also appeal to new readers so part of the evaluation included a survey asking avid readers to select the top 5 books they enjoyed the most.

The awards are grouped by category (or genre) and divided into Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Award Finalists.

Grab your copy today!

DragonBound is the second enthralling book in the Fantasy Romance SoulMist series full of vibrant characters, political intrigue and betrayal.

How could so much go awry in so short a time? Crossing the divide between gloomy Eidolon and sunny Puronia was the least of their problems.

Solanji
Her brother is still soulless and lost in Eidolon. Having exchanged tantalising promises of love with the mesmerising fallen angel, Demavrian, she led him straight into a trap, and he is running out of time to prove his innocence. She has no idea how to use her SoulBreathing skills or to control the dragon that comes with it, and to top it all, the Heavenly Host kicked in her door. They had better repair it!

Demavrian
Ageing isn’t fun. If he didn’t reconnect to the citadel fast, he may even die of it, if the queue of angels wanting him dead didn’t get to him first. Unexpected enemies and surprising allies surface as he navigates the dark web of corrupted politics in the angel’s assembly. Let’s hope his newly independent oathsworn can keep him alive long enough to unravel his memories of what really happened the day he was cast out – and his beautiful SoulBreather, Solanji, may be the key.

Solanji and Mav may be immortal, but they are running out of time to discover who is behind all the scheming and how to redeem the soulless. When the timepiece makes it last turn, they will not be the only ones to suffer if they fail.

If you enjoy fantasy books then you will love my epic fantasy Sentinal series or the Romantic Fantasy SoulMist series. Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.

By clicking the sign up button above, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and the newsletter platform provider to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

By signing up to my newsletter, you agree to receive commercial information from Helen Garraway, located at 61 Bridge St, Kingston, Hertfordshire, UK (Data Administrator). You can withdraw your consent at any time. The data will be processed until the consent is withdrawn.

Book Review Alert: Quicksilver by Callie Hart

Reviewed: October 10th, 2024
Released: September 10th, 2024
Genre: Fantasy Romance


Do not touch the sword. Do not turn the key. Do not open the gate.

In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn’t much a girl wouldn’t do for a glass of water.

Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen’s reservoirs for as long as she can remember.

But a secret is like a knot. Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.

When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently re-opens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares… but it turns out they’re real, and Saeris has landed herself in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.

The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist’s magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him . . . or her.

Death has a name. It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate. His past is murky. His attitude stinks. And he’s the only way Saeris is going to make it home. Read My Thoughts…

Book Review Alert: May Day by Josie Jaffrey

Reviewed: September 23rd, 2024
Released: July 9th, 2020
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy


If the murderer you’re tracking is a vampire, then you want a vampire detective. Just maybe not this one. It’s not that Jack Valentine is bad at her job. The youngest member of Oxford’s Seekers has an impressive track record, but she also has an impressive grudge against the local baron, Killian Drake.

When a human turns up dead on May Morning, she’s determined to pin the murder on Drake. The problem is that none of the evidence points to him. Instead, it leads Jack into a web of conspiracy involving the most powerful people in the country, people to whom Jack has no access. But she knows someone who does.

To get to the truth, Jack will have to partner up with her worst enemy. As long as she can keep her cool, Drake will point her to the ringleaders, she’ll find the murderer and no one else will have to die.
Body bags on standby.

May Day is the first book in Josie Jaffrey’s Seekers series, an urban fantasy series set in Oxford, England. Read My Thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Shards of Hope by BL Jones

Reviewed: September 22nd, 2024
Released: January 19th, 2023
Genre: Superhero Fantasy


Hope can be a prism of scars from which light shines.

Twenty years ago, an infamous scientist created Liquid Onyx, a world-changing chemical which led to the rise of superheroes and supervillains.

Jack Roth is not a superhero. He’s an assassin, a killer, a lethal weapon forged and controlled by the evil organisation Obsidian Inc.

Leo Snow isn’t a superhero either. He’s a British secret agent who spends his life protecting the world and saving everyone he can.

When these two men’s lives collide on the streets of Danger City just as Obsidian Inc is gearing up for another cataclysmic scientific discovery, they’ll both need to reckon with their dark past, messy present and potentially hopeful future. Read My Thoughts…

Book Review Alert: The Others by Evette Davis

Reviewed: September 15th, 2024
Released: September 17th, 2024
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy


True Blood meets Supernatural in the kickoff of this urban paranormal fantasy series from an acclaimed author. Readers enter a dystopian San Francisco filled with empaths and vampires embroiled in political unrest—and Book 1 is just the beginning.

Much as she wishes otherwise, superstar political consultant Olivia Shepherd was born a powerful empath. It’s a legacy she walked away from long ago—but when she wakes up one morning to find Elsa, a tenacious time-walker, standing in her kitchen, she realizes she can no longer ignore her gifts. She is quickly plunged into the hidden world of powerful “Others” and drafted to work for the Council, a shadowy organization that summons the fog to San Francisco to obscure their involvement in human affairs.

Complicating matters further is Olivia’s new love interest, William. A centuries-old vampire, William is far too jaded to take an interest in human affairs—but Olivia no longer has the luxury of remaining impartial. As shocking details from Olivia’s own past emerge and her role in the Council begins to take shape, will she rise to the challenge of her destiny? Read My Thoughts…

Book Review Alert: The Haunted Hotel by Vawn Cassidy

Reviewed: September 10th, 2024
Released: August 24th, 2024
Genre: Contemporary Paranormal Fantasy


Have a frightfully good stay…Morgan Ashton-Drake hasn’t given his ancestral home in Yorkshire a second thought in decades. He has a great life in the States, running his stepfathers hotel empire with his brother. So what if he’s all work and no play. He’s not missing out on anything important.

But when a suspicious death and rather public scandal at his childhood home forces Morgan to return to England for the first time in years, he’s not keen to confront his past. What he didn’t count on was the seriously cute little blonde disaster who seems to be single-handedly running his eccentric grandfather’s hotel.

Ellis Sparks has worked at the Ashton-Drake Manor House Hotel since he was sixteen and he loves it from the bottom of his soul. Always the eternal optimist, he’s never met a frown he can’t turn upside down; that is, until he meets Morgan Ashton-Drake, the grumpy grandson of his employer.

With the hotel in danger of closing, and convinced Morgan is the only one who can help to save it, the resident ghosts decide to try their ghostly hand at a little matchmaking as an incentive to get him to stay. After all, how hard can it be to get a grumpy workaholic to fall in love with a twinky ray of sunshine? Read My Thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Apprentice’s Luck by K.L Noone

Reviewed: August 25th, 2024
Released: July 22nd, 2023
Genre: MM Fantasy Romance

Apprentice magician Talisman Morning has always been lucky. It’s a problem.

Talis knows his luck is a magical talent — but he can’t control it. And good luck for him can mean bad luck for other people, and a lot of trouble. He’s beginning to wonder whether he belongs with the magicians at all, or whether he should give up and run away … until he meets a royal guard who asks for his help.

King’s guard Jeryn de Machaut could use a magician. He thinks he’s overheard a plot against the king, but he has no evidence and no support. But a wayward apprentice with a knack for being in the right place — and stumbling over hidden objects — might be exactly the luck Jer needs.

Together, Jer and Talis will uncover a palace conspiracy, save a king, and find their own best chance at love. Read My Thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Scarlett Legacy by Shelli Rosewarne

Reviewed: July 26th, 2024
Released: April 4th, 2024
Genre: Fairytale Retelling

Natalia doesn’t believe in fairytales. Until she’s thrown headfirst into one. Now she has to trust a big bad wolf with both her life and her heart.

Natalia is done with men. Her cheating scumbag of an ex-boyfriend just the latest in a line of disappointments. She’s definitely not going to be taken in by a sexy Scotsman with an honest-to-God castle, a disturbing affect on her libido, and a shit-ton of secrets.

Damian knows she’s his fated mate. He’s waited his whole life for her after all. But Natalia doesn’t believe in destiny, or wolf shifters, and she sure as hell won’t trust him to keep her safe. But if she doesn’t then her life and his whole pack are in danger.

Scarlett Legacy is the first in the Highland Wolves series, a set of stand-alone but interconnected paranormal romance stories. If you like fairytale retellings and sexy Scotsmen in kilts, then you’ll love this fast-paced shifter romance. Read My Thoughts…

What a busy month! Interviews, Events, Blogs and Author talks.

Goodness, July has been a busy month for my writing journey. A month of firsts! I was a guest on BBC Radio Berkshire on July 17th, talking about my books and attended the Bracknell Book Fair at the Easthampstead Works on July 20th, where I gave my first ever formal live Author talk.

I was up early on wednesday, though not as early as Paul Coia the host of the BBC Radio Berkshire Breakfast show, thank goodness. I am typically a night owl, and early mornings and I do not mesh!

I met the Bracknell Book Fair organiser and fellow Fantasy author, Emma Williams, at the radio studio in Reading, and we were live guests on the breakfast show. It was a great experience and the team were very welcoming.

We talked about the Book Fair and my writing journey, and you can find the recording on my press and events page.

I then went on to the Bracknell book fair at the Easthampstead works, which was a great venue and spent all day chatting about books. There were 20+ plus authors in attendence and it was a really well organised.

At 1pm I was off to the Bracknell Library to give my first ever live author talk which went really well, and I had lots of wonderful questions, and I must admit I could have talked for an hour instead of my allotted 30 minutes.

And then back to my table to meet more readers and talk books, books, books! Such fun, and the day flew by!

And then, home to soak in a bath and early bedtime! I was exhausted. But it was well worth it.

I was also a guest on two blogs in July, you can find my interviews here:

Tranquilo Retreat Blog:

Christina Consolino Blog:

Want to know more and follow my journey? Then make sure you sign up to my newsletter below.

If you enjoy epic fantasy then check out my award winning Sentinal series, which is now complete. If you like fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love my SoulMist series, start with SoulBreather. Prefer Dystopian Science Fantasy? Then try Harmony. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.

By clicking the sign up button above, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and the newsletter platform provider to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

By signing up to my newsletter, you agree to receive commercial information from Helen Garraway, located at 61 Bridge St, Kingston, Hertfordshire, UK (Data Administrator). You can withdraw your consent at any time. The data will be processed until the consent is withdrawn.