Monday 29 February 2016

Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling


Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
by J.K. Rowling
Bloomsbury
YA Fantasy
5 Stars

Blurb:

Harry Potter is due to start his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His best friends Ron and Hermione have been very secretive all summer and he is desperate to get back to school and find out what has been going on. However, what Harry discovers is far more devastating than he could ever have expected...

Suspense, secrets and thrilling action from the pen of J.K. Rowling ensure an electrifying adventure that is impossible to put down.

Wednesday 24 February 2016

Release Blitz Improbables by Jonathan Charles Bruce

improbablesrelease

About the Book

i-m-so-bad-at-paranormal-romance-you-don-t-even-know-by-jonathan-charles-bruceTitle: Improbables
Author: Jonathan Charles Bruce
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Abigail Wren’s new life fresh out of college is dull, even with her (almost) dream job at the local newspaper. The only real excitement she can get is found between the pages of an endless stream of paranormal romance novels she can’t help but love. Then, on a snowy night in December, Abigail catches a glimpse of what could only be described as a werewolf. Enamored with the possibility, her investigation leads her to discover a paranormal population—improbables—harmoniously living in the midst of humanity. 

Between making eyes at a perpetually grumpy werewolf and hanging out with a vampire with a lust for life (and liquor), Abigail’s life takes a shaky step out of the ordinary and into the fantastic. Just outside of the sleepy town of Whitewater, however, a force of rage is building. Born of hate and delusion, a living cataclysm threatens to devour everyone in its path—human or improbable.

Author Bio

Jonathan Bruce began writing what amounted to terrible Star Trek: The Next Generation fan fiction when he was four… provided that you accept that “forcing other people to write what he said” is the same thing as “writing”. Although the original manuscripts are lost (or perhaps destroyed), we can rest assured that his prose has improved significantly since then. After high school, he began writing and directing plays which gradually improved depending on whom you ask. 

He discovered his love of a good fight scene after writing a Dracula knock-off which took a 19th century classic and made it less about Victorian yearning and 300% more about stabbing things in the jugular. He has a Master’s Degree in History, thanks largely to his thesis focusing on MUSIC, a Milwaukee-based school desegregation campaign during the 1960’s. He also enjoys discussing/making fun of pop culture of the 20th century and reading books of a non-historical nature. In his off moments, you can catch him writing for fun or making inane movies about nothing in particular.

Links



Tuesday 16 February 2016

Release Day Spotlight & Giveaway: The Astronaut's Princess by Lisa Medley





The Astronaut’s Princess
Cosmic Cowboys Series 
Episode 2
Lisa Medley
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Publisher: Big Cedar
Date of Publication:  02/16/16
ASIN: B01AKHG5KG
Number of pages: 111
Word Count: 33K
Cover Artist: Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs
Buy at Amazon


Book Description: 

Astronauts, Aliens, and Apaches? What could possibly go wrong?

Working for a billionaire space entrepreneur has its perks:  a nice paycheck, free room and board, and all the space flight hours a guy could want. But everything has a price.  Astronaut Noah Wright has survived an alien attack, time travel and a wormhole, but the Apache princess he brought back through time may be the death of him.

Ela, only daughter of Chief Itza-Chu of the Mescalero Apaches, finds herself out of place and out of time. Everything she knows of her early 1800’s life has vanished. Her savior and protector, Noah, is kind, but he’s not her family and certainly not Apache. Her only wish is to get home, but returning through the wormhole that brought her to the future threatens more than her past, causing her to have to rediscover what home really is.

***

Excerpt:

Noah sensed the tension the moment he walked through the sliding doors of the sick bay. The doors closed behind him with a whoosh, seemingly sucking the oxygen from the room as they sealed. The bay was in chaos. Broken glass and medical instruments lay scattered across the floor. The entire glass window of the ER room lay in shards before him. He raised his eyebrows, asking the question he already knew the answer to.

“Ela,” Dr. Alice Franklin said.

“Where is she? Is she injured?”

Dr. Franklin shook her head and motioned to the only closed door. “No, she’s fine. Pissed, but fine.”

“What happened here?” Noah asked.

“We cut a strand of her hair for further DNA testing. She took exception to it. Grabbed the scissors and nearly jabbed Curtis’ eye out with them.” Dr. Franklin swept a hand in front of her indicating the room. “Then she did this. She’s barricaded herself in her room. We can see from the video feed that she’s okay, but she’s been screaming for you for the past twenty minutes.”

Noah nodded. “Leave us.”

“I don’t think that’s a great idea. We would have sedated her, but we’d need a tranquilizer gun. She’s like a wild animal. She still has the scissors by the way.”

“I’ll be fine. Go. I’ll take her out for a while so you can set your lab to rights. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I just don’t know what we’re going to do with her while you’re gone.” Dr. Franklin turned to her remaining team. “Everyone, out. Let the lion tamer work his magic.”

Noah watched Ela on the computer monitor through the video feed.

Dr. Franklin put a hand on his shoulder. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

The staff’s footsteps faded down the hallway as the doors closed slowly behind him. With everyone gone except him, the room was silent. Ela pressed her ear to the wall, trying to listen. Her face scrunched up, and her lips thinned into a grim line. He knew that look. She was curious and trying to determine what was happening outside her room. Her instincts were to be wary, but her curiosity won every time.

He pressed the intercom button then held down the translate button. “Ela, its Noah. Please let me in.”

She looked up at the speaker on the wall then sent a torrent of angry words toward it. Noah pressed the intercom/translate buttons again. “Use the transcom, please.”

She didn’t. Instead, she began flinging the furniture and equipment away from the door, dismantling her barricade so he could enter. Several long minutes later, she backed away from the door and sat on the quilt-covered bed, arms crossed, and waited.

The transcom was helpful, but only when she used it. The transcom’s universal software learned the user’s voice. Once a user had utilized the device long enough, it recognized dialects and characteristics. It worked with any Wi-Fi or satellite connected device, static or personal mobile units. High tech algorithms then translated from the speaker’s language into any language in one’s natural voice milliseconds after they started to speak. It was a bit off-putting at first, like the un-synced sound and picture of a television, but it was a million times better than pointing and grunting.

If only she’d use it more.

Noah took a deep breath, steeling himself against the confrontation to come. He crossed to her door and turned the handle, pushing against it with his shoulder, and swung the door open slowly. He hadn’t seen the scissors in her hands. That didn’t mean she didn’t have them at the ready.

He scanned the room quickly, left to right, but found her where he’d left her on the monitor, sitting on the bed, back straight, her expression fuming. For a quick second, he imagined cartoon steam rolling out of her ears and stifled a chuckle. It wouldn’t do to laugh at her, and he’d never be able to explain the reference to her anyway.

“Ela,” he said.

She ran to him, burying her face against his chest. His arms wrapped around her in automatic response. A tumble of words flew out of her, undecipherable even if she had used the transcom. When she quieted, he pushed back from her, lifting her chin to look into her eyes.

“What have you done?” he asked, unable to keep the disappointment from his voice.

She shrank a little under his hard gaze, casting her eyes to the floor briefly, the tone of his words clear even if the message wasn’t. When she looked up at him again, though, her resolve was evident. She’d had enough.

***

About the Author:

Lisa has always enjoyed reading about monsters in love and now she writes about them, because monsters need love too.

She adores beasties of all sorts, fictional as well as real, and has a farm full of them in her Southwest Missouri home, including: one child, one husband, two dogs, two cats, a dozen hens, thousands of Italian bees, and a guinea pig.

She may or may not keep a complete zombie apocalypse bug-out bag in her trunk at all times, including a machete. Just. In. Case.

Website http://lisa-medley.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lisamedleyauthor

Twitter https://twitter.com/lisamedley

Newsletter http://eepurl.com/9Zhcz

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7824406.Lisa_Medley

Google + https://plus.google.com/u/1/+LisaMedley/posts

***

Giveaway:

One $10 Amazon Gift Card

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Friday 12 February 2016

Release Day: Grim Fate by S.L. Bynum

grimfatebanner

About the Book

Grim Fate coverTitle: Grim Fate (Grimly Ever After Series Book 2)
Author: S.L. Bynum
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Buy from Amazon

After achieving the impossible by saving her boyfriend, Shilah, from Death, Xia learned she is to become the next Angel of Death. Luckily she has years before she must accept her new position, so there’s still time for her to be with Shilah without interruption…that is, until the current Death begins training her. As she learns more about her upcoming responsibilities, she realizes a future with Shilah might be difficult, especially when a tragic event nearly tears them apart. After they get through it, they end up closer than ever and become more physically intimate with each other, leading Xia to terrifying new heights and making her wonder how far a grim reaper can go with a human being.

During one of her training sessions with Death, Xia meets the other Three Horsemen: Pestilence, War, and Famine. They feel she isn’t worthy of the title “Death”, and she wonders if they’re right. However, if she can’t fulfill her duty as the new Angel of Death, the consequences for the world of the living will be dire.

In Grim Fate, the second novel of the Grimly Ever After trilogy, S. L. Bynum continues the love story of Xia and Shilah, filled with more stakes and tension than before…and delivers another shocking ending that will change everything.

Author Bio

Author photo(1)S. L. Bynum fell in love with writing at the age of twelve, when she wrote a rendition of The Three Little Pigs for her little brother’s homework assignment. Her grim reaper character, Xia, from the Grimly Ever After series, is based off her own experience with romance in her teen years. S. L. Bynum is twenty-six now and besides books, she loves desserts, fashion, dancing (when she’s alone), warm weather, and playing video games. She lives in Greensboro, North Carolina with her family.

Links

Giveaway
Win eBook copies of both books in the Grimly Ever After Series.
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Tuesday 9 February 2016

Cover Reveal: Last Dance of the Roses by CS Patra

lastdanceroses

About the Book

Last-Dance
Title: Last Dance of the Roses
Author: CS Patra
Genre: Romance

Rose Xu had two passions in her life. One was her boyfriend of many years, Blake Chen, a talented pianist and her constant support. The other was dance. She grew up dancing from a young age and vowed that she would never stop dancing. Despite injuries and mental issues, she told herself that she would always be the prima ballerina. Unfortunately, one incident in her past tends to haunt her. It’s an incident that Blake knows about as well and he’s sworn to protect her at all costs.

Then one night, everything changes for both of them. That one moment is enough for Rose to realize what she’s been doing. It’s enough for her to want to give up everything that she’s worked hard for. It’s also enough for her to push away everything she loves including her two passions. Her decisions cost her a lot of things including Blake. However, her mind has been made up. She is going to perform the final dance of her life.

Author Bio

CS Patra is the author of several book series. They include but are not limited to The Reaper’s Apprentices, Operation: Genome, Cirque Macabre, Portman’s Creamery mysteries, The Patterns & Parallels Saga, Ghosts of Burning Inn, and Flavors of Love. She loves to dabble in different genres and loves to cross over. Her personal favorite thing is write about female characters in different situations.

Although she does work during the day, most of her nights are taking up by writing. Currently, she lives in North Carolina with her family. She loves ladybugs, yellow roses, movies, book signings, mysteries, watching old Youtube videos, ghost stories, gossip, music, people making her fanart, museums, ice cream, and being a wisecrack though not all in that order. Writing and peacocks hit the top of her list though.

Feel free to contact CS Patra on Twitter @ CyberPeacock. You can also check out her instagram: https://www.instagram.com/citharapatra/ And browse her blog: cspatrawork.blogspot.com

Links



Saturday 6 February 2016

Release Day: Timeshaft by Stewart Bint

timeshaftrelease

About the Book

9781513706887_cover FRONTTitle: Timeshaft
Author: Stewart Bint
Genre: Time Travel

By the twenty-seventh century, mankind has finally mastered time travel—and is driving recklessly towards wiping itself out. The guerilla environmentalist group WorldSave, with its chief operative Ashday’s Child, uses the Timeshaft to correct mistakes of the past in an effort to extend the life of the planet.

But the enigmatic Ashday’s Child has his own destiny to accomplish, and will do whatever it takes within a complicated web of paradoxes to do so. While his destiny—and very existence—is challenged from the beginning to the end of time, he must collect the key players through the ages to create the very Timeshaft itself.

“Do our actions as time travellers change what would otherwise have happened, or is everything already laid down in a predetermined plan?” he asks. Stewart Bint’s Timeshaft is an expertly synchronized saga of time travel, the irresistible force of destiny, and the responsibility of mankind as rulers of the world.

Author Bio

Stewart Bint author picStewart Bint is a novelist, magazine columnist and PR writer. He lives with his wife, Sue, in Leicestershire, in the UK, and has two grown-up children, Christopher and Charlotte.

He is a former radio presenter, newsreader and phone-in show host, but always wanted to become a fiction writer — a dream that came true when his first novel was published in 2012 at the age of 56. Now the author of five novels, a collection of short stories and a compilation of his early magazine columns, he was signed by Booktrope in 2015, who published a revised edition of his paranormal novel, In Shadows Waiting, in August.
They are publishing a revised and re-edited edition of Timeshaft shortly.

As a member of a local barefoot hiking group, when not writing he can often be found hiking in bare feet on woodland trails and urban streets.

Stewart Bint online:

Links

Buy the Book on Amazon (Kindle)
Buy the Book on Amazon (Paperback)


Friday 5 February 2016

Cover Reveal: Demonic Pact by Majanka Verstraete


Title: Demonic Pact
Author: Majanka Verstraete
Series: Angel of Death, Book Two
Publication Date: March 2016

Sixteen-year-old Halfling Angel of Death Riley Scott is on a dangerous mission. To save her friend’s life, she must make a pact with the man who just tried to kill them both and break him out of the Celestial Prison, guarded by Angels of War—fearsome warriors who can squash her like a fly. If caught, she’ll be sentenced to eternity in that impenetrable prison. Riley will have to make deals with demons and her number one enemy, turn her back on her most loyal friends, and risk losing her family forever. Worst of all, her very existence is in the hands of her devious new allies.




Book 1: The Soul Thief
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23168992-the-soul-thief

When sixteen-year-old Riley is injured in a car crash and sees a girl stealing a boy’s soul, she’s convinced she’s hallucinating. But when she sees the same girl at the hospital later, she knows she wasn’t dreaming. That’s when Riley learns her secret heritage and who she really is: a halfling Angel of Death.

Riley must come to terms with her new reality and supernatural abilities, but before she can do this, girls her age start dying in mysterious circumstances. It’s up to Riley to figure out why, what the innocent victims have in common, and what she can do to stop them.

***

Visit the Author:

http://majankaverstraete.com/

Wednesday 3 February 2016

Release Day: The Running Game by L.E. Fitzpatrick

runninggamerelease

About the Book

712_0.858705001445480899_screen-shot-2015-10-21-at-9.28.40-pmTitle: The Running Game
Author: L.E. Fitzpatrick
Genre: Dystopian

Rachel’s father called it the running game. Count the exits, calculate the routes. Always be ready to run because they’ll always be coming for you. Whatever happens, they’ll always be coming for you.

On the surface, Rachel is just an ordinary doctor, trying to stay alive in war-torn London, but she has a secret. Rachel is a Reacher – wanted by the government and by the criminal underworld – for her telekinetic powers.

Charlie and his brother John had a reputation for doing the impossible. But after losing his family, Charlie is a broken mess and John is barely keeping him afloat. In desperation, they take a job from a ruthless ganglord only to discover the girl they are hunting is a Reacher – one of their own kind.

James Roxton, a conman and thief, is searching for the man who tried to kill his mother. Suddenly embroiled into the plan to kidnap Rachel, he decides he can turn things to his own advantage.

Even with the help of dangerous and dubious allies, can Rachel turn the game around and save herself?

Author Bio

L E Fitzpatrick is a writer of dark adventure stories and thrillers. Under the watchful eye of her beloved rescue Staffordshire Bull Terrier, she leaps from trains and climbs down buildings, all from the front room of a tiny cottage in the middle of the Welsh countryside.

Inspired by cult film and TV, L E Fitzpatrick’s fiction is a collection of twisted worlds and realities, broken characters, and high action. She enjoys pushing the boundaries of her imagination and creating hugely entertaining stories.

The Running Game, her latest book and the first instalment of her dystopian Reacher series, is due for re-release in October 2015 under the Booktrope label.

Buy the book on Amazon today!


Tuesday 2 February 2016

Release Day: Forever Tied by Amanda Kimberley

forevertiedbanner

About the Book

forevertiedcoverTitle: Forever Tied
Author: Amanda Kimberley
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Raine the Rom Borro of the Kersh Gypsy Witch clan and Skye his lover are being chased by the King of the Vlad Vampires because he blames the two of them for his lover’s death in The Were Rebellion.

Alec and his twin brother Armand will stop at nothing to exact revenge for Obsidian, even go back in time to vanquish the Kersh Gypsy line.

Will both Raine and Skye be able to defeat the King of the Vlads before he ends their line? Will they be able to survive the test of time and remain forever tied?

Author Bio

forevertiedauthorAmanda Kimberley has been writing in various genres for a little over three decades and has received much recognition for her writing.
Kimberley is nationally recognized for her blog, articles, and books
 on the health subject of fibromyalgia. Her most recent article about intimacy and fibromyalgia will be featured in the National Fibromyalgia Association’s magazine, “The New FM Aware”. Health.com (“Health Magazine”) has featured Kimberley’s Fibro and Fabulous blog as one of the best for fibro sufferers. The blog has also been rated highly by many other professional health sites like Healthline and Pain Doctors.

Within the past several years, Amanda Kimberley has been writing in fiction in conjunction with nonfiction. And she enjoys chocolates while she gets to know her paranormal characters.

Links

Buy on Amazon




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