Book Review Alert: Ribbon Dance by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

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…

Book Review Alert: The Winter Prince by Constance Lopez

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…

Book Review Alert: The Fate in the Flames by Sierra Knoxley

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…

Book Review Alert: The House Witch and the Charming of Austice by Delemhach

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 . . . Re ad My Thoughts…

Book Review Alert: A Song for Kitty by Angela Cairns

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…

Book Review Alert: Oops I Ate a Vengeance Demon by Laura Hignett

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…

Book Review Alert: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

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…

Book Review Alert: Revelations by Nikole Knight

Reviewed: April 14th, 2024
Released: February 7th 2020
Genre: PNR Fantasy

Riley thought he knew what to expect from college, but he never planned for angels, demons, or a team of attractive, overprotective Guardians.

When one fateful night opens his eyes to a world he never knew existed, Riley Shepard must navigate a host of supernatural dangers, all while struggling with new and confusing feelings for his guardian angels. With the promise of friends, family, and freedom finally within his grasp, he fears not only for his heart but for his life as well.

Lucky for him, some things are worth dying for. Read My Thoughts…

Book Review Alert: The Iron Crown by L.L. Macrae

Reviewed: April 7th, 2024
Released: May 28th 2021
Genre: Epic Fantasy

Fenn’s first and only memory is finding himself in the middle of a forest, face to face with a dragon spirit mocking him, all knowledge gone apart from his own name.

Lost and confused, his only hope for answers is Calidra—a woman living on the edge of the world with her partner. Forced to return home when her father dies, Calidra has put off facing her estranged mother for seven years, and she begrudgingly helps Fenn, forging papers for him so he can avoid the Queen’s Inquisitors.

But her mother is the least of her worries when they discover an ancient enemy is rising again. It should be impossible with the Iron Crown in power—and Fenn is terrified he might unwittingly be playing a part in the war’s resurgence.

Surrounded by vengeful spirits and powerful magic, Fenn’s desperate attempt to find his way home might well alter the fate of Tassar, and every power in it. Read My Thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Shadow of the Sword by C.J.R. Isely

Reviewed: April 4th, 2024
Released: October 31st, 2022
Genre: YA/Epic Fantasy

He is imprisoned and bound for death.

But could his captor be his savior?

Laster has always wanted to prove himself to his father by becoming a knight of Alamore.

Only months away from the end of his training, he has his chance when his own mentor, Sir Dasroch, gives him the honor of riding in place of a knight on a borderland patrol.

But the perfect dream he has lived is shattered with the strike of a single lethal arrow.

After a nightmarish attack, Laster finds himself captured by the enemy, chained and imprisoned.

As his plans to escape are thwarted one after the next, Laster knows time is running out. It seems there is only one hope left. But can he really trust his life to the very Prince who put him in chains? Read My Thoughts…