Book Review Alert: Scale of the Dragon by Richard Fierce

Reviewed: March 27th, 2026
Released: July 5th, 2021
Genre: YA Epic Fantasy

Her key to freedom is also her torment.

Mina is an outcast. A childhood accident left her scarred and with a curse that her master exploits to hunt dragons for sport.

She wants freedom, from both her master and the curse, but unless the right dragon is killed, she’ll be a bondservant for the rest of her days.

With Mina’s uncanny ability and her master’s magical strength, the beast responsible for her misery will fall … even if she has to take matters into her own hands.

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Book Review Alert: Kiss and Tell : How to Write Unforgettable Sex Scenes by Michelle Hazen

Reviewed: March 19th, 2026
Released: August 15th, 2026
Genre: Writing Aide

Dawn approaches…

Learn how to confidently write smoldering sex scenes…even if the idea of it has you nervous-giggling into a glass of Chardonnay.

This book is the holy grail for all spicy romance authors. Whether you’re a newbie who isn’t sure where to start or you’ve banged out so many sex scenes that your keyboard needs a cigarette break, this one’s for you.

As the author of nine critically-acclaimed—and very steamy—romances, I understand that lecturing yourself to “write this hotter!” isn’t enough. I’ve been a certified writing coach for nearly a decade, so I can lead you step-by-step through ACTUAL THINGS YOU CAN DO to turn your open-door scenes from “okay, let’s get this over with” to “melt your Kindle.”

Here’s a taste of what you’ll get:

Take the guesswork out of what makes something sexy or not.
Stand out from the herd by writing sex scenes with depth: character specific, emotionally complex, and hot as h*ll.
Deploy sneaky sentence-level tricks that will drive your readers’ subconscious experience.
Choose vocabulary that doesn’t sound like you’re teaching sex ed.
Advice that works for queer and straight romances alike. Nope, we’re not going to be hetero-norming over here!
Break down how to write a Big Kiss scene that has the trumpets swelling.
Analyze examples from authors at the top of their game, like Katee Robert, Tiffany Reisz, Natalie Naudus, and more!
BONUS: I’ll reveal the dirty secret of sex-scene writing that no one is supposed to say out loud–the one that’s going to revolutionize the way you look at sex scenes!

So go ahead. Grab some popcorn, kick your feet up, and let’s have a laugh along the way to making your happy couple even happier!

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Book Review Alert: The Vein Severed by Estelle Tudor

Reviewed: March 13th, 2026
Released: August 25th, 2025
Genre: Dark Historical Fantasy

Dawn approaches…

Lady Roselle Lamont made an impossible choice a century before. Torn between the life of her twin sister, or new husband Lorcan’s freedom, she paid the ultimate price, resulting in one hundred years of punishment.

For love exacts a sacrifice, one coated in blood and betrayal.

With the century drawing to a close, Roselle resigns herself to facing retribution as she clings to the last vestiges of her humanity. When Lorcan discovers her on route to London, after being summoned by their punisher, Roselle must prove her love to him while plotting out her own revenge.

But the past is not all it seems, and new lies are revealed.

Roselle and Lorcan must decide who to trust in the dark and twisted dance of Court politics if they are to ensure their survival and any hope of a chance at a future together. Yet those who crave power cling to it with every last bloodied fang, and will not relinquish it so easily…

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Book Review Alert: Flames Over Frosthelm by Dave Dobson

Reviewed: February 20th, 2026
Released: June 11th, 2019
Genre: Epic Fantasy

An Investigation Gone Awry Sometimes, your case takes a left turn. Or three or four. Marten Mingenstern and Boog Eggstrom are provisional inspectors, fresh out of Inquisitor’s Guild training and eager to prove themselves.

Assigned the mundane task of tracking down stolen jewels, they instead uncover a mysterious cult set on destroying the city.

After a thief explodes, they earn the enmity of a vicious noble, the Chief Inquisitor gets bought off and goes rogue, they are seized by barbarians, and they are sentenced to death at least a couple of times. In a final, frantic race with prophecy, they face ruthless fanatics, a city turned against them, and terrible forces long buried.

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Book Review Alert: The Quiet Light by Casey Blair

Reviewed: February 1st, 2026
Released: March 10th, 2026
Genre: Cozy Fantasy

Kickstarter

Immortal dragons can’t mate with humans… or can they?

500 years ago, Yora went into magical stasis to escape her violent life as the Sage of Wrath. Now she’s awoken because a hunted dragon shifter needs help, but the last thing she wants is to go back to war.

She’d much rather stay in her cottage with the dragon, Zan, and eat every kind of ice cream she can imagine. Even if she knows better than to give in to the rush she feels around him… Dragons can’t mate with humans, and soon Zan will have to leave again.

But the dragon’s flight has brought danger to Yora’s doorstep. Dark powers are desperate to claim her destructive powers for themselves, and they’ll stop at nothing to bring her under their control.

Yora knows how to use her wrath to destroy. But if she can harness that same magic to build instead, maybe she can protect her found family in Crystal Hollow—and find a way to stay with Zan for all of their days, too.

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Book Review Alert: Flames of Gold by Liz Delton

Reviewed: January 20th, 2026
Released: August 24th, 2024
Genre: Epic Fantasy

The silverswords have held Tytan in an iron fist for centuries. That fist has crushed the last hope for the continent.

After quitting mage training, fire mage Fig thought her dealings with the crown and the ruthless silverswords who rule Tytan were over. That is, until she’s summoned by her old friend, Prince Devryn Verrence. His father is dead, betrayed by the silversword enclave. And now Dev is on the run, a king without a throne.

They’ll need to escape Tytan on a quest for allies, because it won’t just be the throne of Tytan they’re fighting for… but the fate of the continent, and the freedom of mages everywhere.

Flames of Gold is book one in Legends of Gold and Silver, an epic fantasy series full of hopeful determination featuring a ragtag cast of mages, dwarves, dragonets and dryads in a sprawling saga of twisty politics, magic, and myth.

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Book Review Alert: Wolfsong by TJ Klune

Reviewed: January 11th, 2026
Released: September 1st, 2022
Genre: M/M Fantasy

Ox Matheson was twelve when his father taught him a lesson: Ox wasn’t worth anything and people would never understand him. Then he left.

Ox was sixteen when the energetic Bennett family moved in next door, harbouring a secret that would change him forever. For the family are shape-shifters, who can transform into wolves at will. Drawn to their magic, loyalty and enduring friendships, Ox feels a gulf between this extraordinary new world and the quiet life he’s known. He also finds an ally in Joe, the youngest Bennett boy. Joe is charming and handsome, but haunted by scars he cannot heal.

Ox was twenty-three when murder came to town, and tore a hole in his heart. Violence flared, tragedy split the pack and Joe left town, leaving Ox behind. Three years later, the boy is back. Except now he’s a man – and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them. Read My Thoughts…

Book Review Alert: The Silent Blade by Jacob Peppers

Reviewed: January 8th, 2026
Released: October 5th, 2017
Genre: Grimdark Fantasy

Sometimes, coin isn’t enough.

Sometimes, blood is the only payment worth taking.

The Downs, the poor district of the city of Avarest, is home to cutthroats and thieves, pickpockets and prostitutes, all of whom pay tribute to one of two powerful crime bosses. It is also home to Aaron Envelar, a disillusioned sellsword known as the Silent Blade, who cares nothing for the criminal overlords or their schemes, who only wants to survive and make a little coin in the process.

But when a group of unwitting thugs steal his mother’s necklace, the only link he has to his murdered parents, and leave him for dead, Aaron decides that sometimes, surviving isn’t enough. Sometimes, vengeance is the only answer.

After all, when you take everything from a man… What else does he have to lose?

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Book Review Alert: Daughter of Flood and Fury by Levi Jacobs

Reviewed: January 5th, 2026
Released: April 13th, 2021
Genre: YA/Epic Fantasy

Aletheia was born a heresy: a girl with a man’s magic, in a city where monks and witches are mortal enemies. Training in her powers only under her father’s protection, head of the monastery, she shocks everyone by becoming the best seer in generations.

Until her father is murdered. A suicide, they call it, but she knows the truth: he was murdered for his heresy. For her. Now she must make a harrowing choice: disown everything her father stood for to stay alive, or flee the temple and seek to expose his killers, even as they hunt her down.

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Book Review Alert: The Blade Mage by Phillip Drayer Duncan

Reviewed: December 12th, 2025
Released: June 5th, 2020
Genre: Urban Fantasy

The sword chooses its wielder.

I never asked to be Blade Mage. My fellow wizards weren’t thrilled, either. Unfortunately, those weird old druids have a strict no returns policy.

So I left, and for the past few years, I’ve hidden from my responsibilities. But I always knew one day the Cabal would come looking for its precious sword.

And so they have, but only because a heinous crime has occurred…

A sorcerer has used forbidden magic to slay a fellow wizard. It’s an open and shut case. The killer admitted it. He also stands accused of kidnapping a child, who is still missing, but they say that isn’t my problem. No, as Blade Mage, I’m not supposed to play paranormal detective. The Cabal only expects one thing of me—they want me to play executioner.

Problem is…

The accused is my best friend.

And before I chop off his head, I want to know the truth. But the path is filled with shifty wizards, fearsome witches, insidious demons, and supernatural conspirators at every turn.

It ain’t easy being the Blade Mage.

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