Reviewed: July 23rd, 2024 Released: March 23rd, 2013 Genre: Contemporary fiction
One USCG Commander + One Veteran Navy SEAL = Fireworks from Stem to Stern
When Coast Guard Commander Taylor Campbell returns to Rock Harbor, Texas, to tend to her uncle’s estate, she meets a veteran Navy SEAL, Jake Solomon, and learns her uncle didn’t drown accidentally. His murder was one in a string of murders of a group of Vietnam veterans who called themselves the Compass Points.
Before her uncle died, he sent Taylor a message with the location of his buried treasure. Unearthing it will place her squarely in the killer’s crosshairs, but she’s determined to fulfill her uncle’s last wish.
Jake, sent to protect her and find the killer, has other plans. Despite the fact she’s a feisty dynamo in a pint-sized package, his mission would be much easier to accomplish if he could forget how good she’d tasted when he kissed her. Read My Thoughts…
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:
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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.
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Reviewed: July 18th, 2024 Released: February 28th, 2021 Genre: Science Fiction
When a high-ranking businessman and two clones are murdered, Marshal Onima Gwok of the Confederation Bureau of Investigation (CBI) gets assigned the case. But nothing quite adds up. Is there something more insidious going on? There is just one witness – a clone. When the war ended ten years ago, the clones who had fought it were discarded, forgotten, and became second-class citizens of the new confederation. Jace Rojas, designated AC J7-2247, is an infantry clone. When he proves to be more helpful than just being a witness to a murder, Onima decides to bring Jace along to join her team as they look for answers across multiple solar systems. But every question seems to produce no answers – only more questions. Will this be the start of a new war – or something worse? Read My Thoughts…
Reviewed: July 8th, 2024 Released: June 17th, 2024 Genre: Space Opera
On a world where cake is a necessity, it takes the Grid to protect the civilized and the deaf from the dire influences of the ambient and to keep the chaotic Haosa at bay.
Having arrived at recently Dust-bound Colemeno, Trader Padi yos’Galan is essential to Master Trader Shan yos’Galan’s plan to recoup Clan Korval’s fortunes by establishing new routes for the clan’s tradeship. Shan’s inner Healer insists Padi come to terms with her as-yet unplumbed psychic abilities, which might place her in the top tier of dramliz, if she can learn control.
Padi yearns to concentrate on trade, but Colemeno’s fey ambient and deadly long-term politics combine to bring her face-to-face with the Haosa, and in particular with the mysterious and untouchable Tekelia, as Korval’s trade mission’s necessity of a port audit collide with a cruel history of murder, deception, and brutality. Amid the dangers, Padi unexpectedly finds herself eagerly exploring her dramliz side when faced with the unspoken powers of the ambient, the sky-filling energy of the ribbon dance, and Tekelia’s mutable eyes. Read My Thoughts…
Reviewed: June 7th, 2024 Released: December 15th, 2023 Genre: Fairytale Retelling
A beastly prince. A cursed land. One last hope.
Breaking his bargain with another fae has earned Revi, Prince of the Winter Court, a terrible curse: he lives as a beast and must watch his people suffer under a withering blight. The only cure? A heart freely given.
When a human patrol steals one of Revi’s magical roses, a sliver of opportunity strikes. He agrees to spare their lives in return for a woman who must live in his castle for a year and a day. But could such a beauty learn to love a beast like him?
Although Kienna was warned of conniving fae before her arrival at the Winter Court, the Winter Prince, while beastly, is not the monster she expected. Her dreams plague her—or more specifically, the enigmatic silvery man who walks them does. She’s determined to find him in the waking world and free him from his imprisonment.
Her dream prince begs her not to trust her eyes. But… can she trust her heart?
The Winter Prince, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, is book 12 of Once Upon A Prince, a multi-author series of clean fairy tale retellings. Each standalone story features a swoony prince fighting for his happily ever after. Read My Thoughts…
Reviewed: May 31st 2024 Released: February 4th, 2023 Genre: Dark Fantasy
Fate wants me dead. I won’t allow that.
Sakura: When the hateful shogun murders my family, I flee through the mysterious Ancestors Portal. But instead of reuniting with my loved ones, I’m dragged into a realm inhabited by vicious shapeshifter clans locked in endless feuds. Bloody competitions have replaced outright war, but death haunts me at every turn. I must survive at all costs. My childhood love needs to know what became of us, and I want revenge, but I never expected to fall in love with the hellhound who hunted me. Or to be a prime candidate for the great lords’ barbaric, ritualized sacrifice. If I survive, it will only be to watch my lover compete in the champions’ death-match. He’ll be torn apart if I can’t save him, but what price will a powerful lord of the fox clan ask me to pay? Surviving fate seems impossible. Or maybe I misunderstood my fate in the first place. Read My Thoughts…
Reviewed: May 22nd, 2024 Released: January 4th, 2024 Genre: Cozy Fantasy
THERE’S A NEW SPY IN THE KITCHEN – AND IT TURNS OUT TO BE THE COOK . . .
Between his work for the King and Queen of Daxaria and a new (secret) relationship with Lady Annika Jenoure, Fin the cook’s life is anything but tidy.
Annika is being forced from the castle after there are threats to her safety. All the while tension is brewing with the kingdom of Troivack and war seems to draw ever closer.
As if he doesn’t have enough on his plate, Fin is soon promoted from cook to spy and sent into the city of Austice where he must sleuth out the plans of the Troivackian troops allegedly hidden there.
However, an unwelcome visitor is about to knock on his door, and Fin’s world starts to unravel even more . . . Read My Thoughts…
Reviewed: May 15th, 2024 Released: August 24th, 2023 Genre: Historical Romance
Lily Matthews had always known Aiden Donnelly, but nothing prepared her for the way their childhood friendship deepens into something more. Set in the turbulent years before World War I, and with preparations for the Coronation of King George and the suffragist movement in full swing, Lily and Aiden’s lives are about to change forever.
A chance encounter with Music Hall star and suffragette activist, Kitty Marion opens a world of possibilities. Lily, apprentice dressmaker, has dreams of designing theatrical costumes, Aiden, talented pianist and songwriter is waiting for his career break. One of them is left behind with a promise, the other is drawn into suffragette activism in the hope of creating a better world for them both. But will this opportunity bring them closer together or be the source of a devastating separation?
A Song for Kitty blends fictional and real-life characters to transport readers to a captivating time in history. If you love romantic historical fiction, you’ll be enthralled by this gripping story full of powerful emotions, strong characters, and a dangerous conflict. Read My Thoughts…
Reviewed: May 11th, 2024 Released: October 14th, 2022 Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Getting possessed by a demon wasn’t on my to-do list. I was just too busy for that sort of thing.
I had a fifty-hour work week, a hellraiser of a toddler, debilitating morning sickness and a husband who thought his only job was taking out the trash. I was at breaking point.
I don’t remember being possessed, or attacking Terry, or my local priest pulling the demon out of me and trapping her in a banana (with the help of a stranger, a badass girl who apparently wrangled supernatural creatures for a living.)
But the aftermath was wild. Terry promised he’d try harder, and give me more support.
He lied. And I broke.
So… I ate the banana. I absorbed the vengeance demon.
She’s a part of me now, sharing my body; we’re like two people in a car. Most of the time, I’m driving. Sometimes, I let her take the wheel. Read My Thoughts…
Reviewed: May 4th, 2024 Released: December 15th, 2014 Genre: Historical/Steampunk Fantasy
One spy. One dangerous book. One deadly mission. The first in a delightful fantasy mystery series, The Invisible Library is the astounding debut from Genevieve Cogman.
Irene must be at the top of her game or she’ll be off the case – permanently . . .
Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests fiction from different realities. Along with her new assistant Kai, she’s posted to an alternative London. Their mission – to retrieve a dangerous book. But lo and behold, when they arrive, it’s already been stolen. London’s underground factions seem prepared to fight to the very death to find her book.
In this world teeming with supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic, Irene soon finds herself up to her eyebrows in a heady mix of danger, clues and secret societies. And Kai is also hiding secrets of his own. Yet failure is not an option – the nature of reality itself is at stake. Read My Thoughts…
Helen Garraway 