Amazon Review Tour & Excerpt: Breathe In by Michelle Bellon

Title: Breathe In

Author: Michelle Bellon

Genre: Thriller/Suspense

Published: June 27, 2017
Publisher: Limitless Publishing

“If you like dark thrillers THIS book is right up your alley! If you've never read a Michelle Bellon book-this one is, seriously, her best book yet! I have loved them all, but this one ..WOW!” - 5 Star Amazon Review

“I couldn't set it down!!” - 5 Star Amazon review

Breathe in, breathe out. This mantra gets Tessa Benson through the day.

The man she loves walks all over her, and she just wants to get by without her heart shattering to pieces. If she could find her voice, she’d scream.

Everything changes in one night, when she’s snatched from the streets and tied to a bed, a camera set up to capture her dying moment. And the person who paid to watch her die...is still out there somewhere.

Tessa prowls dark neighborhoods in a quest for justice, but she doesn’t find the killer. Not until they strike again…in the place Tessa is least expecting, and where it hurts worst.

Warning.  This book contains some major triggers.  It contains violence, sexual assault, and scenes of PTSD.  

Tessa has a complicated love life.  The man she likes, Tom, wants nothing to do with her.  The man who likes her, Gerald, she wants nothing to do with.  To unwind from her troubled life, Tessa goes out with a friend.  What started as a fun night ends up in violent despair.  Tessa is taken by two men, kidnapped and held hostage in a lone cabin.  They videotape the mental and physical torture she experiences.  Sure that she will not make it out alive, Tessa fights back and escapes.  Yet the pain of her experience lingers—she suffers from serious PTSD, often turning violent herself.  Determined to find out who orchestrated the kidnapping, Tessa and a cop Tobin, whom she begins to develop feelings for, seek out answers.

Breathe In is definitely not a novel for the faint of heart.  Tessa endures things that take her to the very brink of a dangerous edge.  It was hard to read what her kidnappers put it through.  The process of her grief and anger was realistic and heartbreaking.  The inner psychology of being the survivor of extreme abuse is well written and very emotional.  It is hard not to feel for Tessa.  And her anger?  You don’t dislike her for what she does because you sympathize and understand her pain.  The end came as a surprise, and the victory much needed.  I can’t say she that her pain was assuaged, but the cathartic revenge at the end was enough to satisfy the need for resolution.

Blindly, I run across the lot. As I round the corner, I run smack into someone as they are coming the opposite direction.  

“Tessa? Are you okay?”

I glance up through the stream of tears to see a blurry image of Gerald. “No, no. I just want to go home.” I push off his chest and stumble backward, then turn and flee the opposite direction without saying a word, ignoring Gerald’s plea of confusion as the distance between us widens. I pray he won’t follow. I just want to get away from this place. 

I keep running until I’m at least a few blocks away. Winded, fatigued, and little sick to my stomach, I stop. I lean against the wall of a building, taking in sharp gasps of air, and look around. Thankfully, Gerald didn’t follow. Where am I? Terin. I left Terin back at the club. I can’t go back there. I’ll have to call her and let her know I’ve gone home. She’ll be fine. 

My phone? Where is my phone? It was in my handbag. I had my handbag when I left the club with Tom. Shit. It must be in his car. Fear, pain, shame, anger, guilt, all well up tight within my chest and rise until I feel as if I will go mad. I run my fingers through my hair and cry so hard I start to gag again. I want to puke. Get that man out of me. Get him out!

“Can I help you? Are you okay?”

Startled, I spin around. The man from the library is standing at the corner, maybe fifteen feet away. My crying wanes as muddled thoughts spin around in my mind, trying to make sense of it all. Why is he here? Did he follow me from the club? His brow is pinched with a look of concern. He takes a step forward. “Are you okay?”

My knees and hands are trembling violently. “I’m…I’m fine.” I drag both hands across my face, swiping away the tears.

He takes another step forward. “Are you sure? You seem upset. Are you ill?”

I take a step back. I don’t want any further interaction tonight. I’ve had more than enough. All I want to do is go home. And this guy…he seems friendly, but he freaks me out. “No, really. I’m fine. I’m just on my way home.”

Another step forward. “Do you need a ride?”

Another step back. Why won’t anyone listen to me? “No. I’m fi…”

Something is pulled over my head from behind. The world is dark and muffled. I scream. Hands go around my waist. My arms arc outward, side to side, hoping to hit anything in my path. What is happening? Fear, stark and white, drains the blood from my head to my toes. I’m dizzy. 

Voices bark out sharp orders but I’m flailing about and screaming so I can’t make out what they’re saying. Another set of hands grab my legs and pull them out from under me so now I’m being carried by two men…one by my waist and the other by my legs. I writhe and twist. I have to get out of this. I need to get away. What is happening? My breath plumes in and out in short, hot gasps inside the small bag over my head. Claustrophobia flares up. A stronger wave of panic follows. I’m…going…to pass…out.

Michelle Bellon lives in the Pacific Northwest with her four quirky and beautiful children. She loves coffee, Superman, rollercoasters, and has an addiction to chapstick.

She works as a registered nurse and in her spare time writes novels. As a multi-genre author, she has written in the categories of romance suspense, young adult, women’s fiction, and literary fiction. She has won four literary awards. You can visit Michelle’s website at http://www.michellebellonauthor.com/

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Cover Reveal: Dark Beam 1-3 by Adrienne Woods

About the Books

Titles: Dark Beam Part 1 -3

Author: Adrienne Woods

Genre: Fantasy, Dark, Adult

Everyone in Paegeia knows that only one Rubicon dragon lives at a time. If more than one, they will destroy Paegeia and eventually the rest of the world as they crave that constant power for dominance. Blake Leaf is this era’s Rubicon, and is destined for grate things if his darkness can be won. Darkbeam Part 1 follows the story of the Rubicon and how he tries to keep his beast, the darkness, at bay.

Links

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Comic Review: Scythe, Herald of Death (Issue 1) by Frederick Orozco and Catherine Humala

Title- Scythe, Herald of Death (Issue 1)

Author(s)- Frederick Orozco and Catherine Humala

Genre- Comic - Horror, Comic - Adventure

The initial plot is laid out on page one: before the earth there were four celestial beings. There is Life, Light, Time, Gravity, and Death. Death had to be confined, so he created reapers to do his bidding on earth in his stead. These are the Herald's of Death.

Enter April, a typical student who finds history boring and has a major, almost concerning, crush on a classmate. She even enters a dance contest to get close to him. After her audition, she walks home alone. All alone at night, she comes across two men who have just murdered a third. They can't let her live, right? A Reaper appears to take the soul of the man killed, but then he has the most concerning hallucination of what can be assumed as his daughter crying for help since she had no initial intentions of intervening to save April. Despite his effort, April is stabbed and the issue ends.

The story seems interesting. I can see how further issues can get very exciting. However, this first issue was dull and slow. The first issue should always captivate the audience and leave them thirsty for more, but Scythe just did not do that for me. It spends too much time on the mundane activities of school and everyday life. Not even the big event at the end had much of an impact. I also disliked the art style. It had the round-faced, cartoonish quality of a child's show and now a serious adult comic. I have every hope that the comic will amp up the action in the future series', but I don't know if I am willing to give it a shot.

Comic Review: Zombie Tramp (vol. 1) by Dan Mendoza

Name- Zombie Tramp, vol. 1 

Author- Dan Mendoza 

Genre- Comic - Mature, Comic - Horror 

Janey Belle is just a high priced Hollywood call girl who makes the wrong decision when she chooses to help out her Madame, George. When George is arrested, Janey is asked to spend a night with Sheriff Rudolph in exchange for George's freedom. Except the sheriff wants more than to spend a night with Janey; he also wants to feed her to his zombie son, Jason. Janey wakes up from the encounter a zombie herself, and bent on getting revenge against the people who caused her to die... and become reanimated. Aided by the Voodoo Queen Xula, Janey visits her old madame and then the sheriff, each one in turn satisfying the rage of betrayal and abuse in Janey. She possesses some interesting abilities, too, which I very much liked about the story. For example, Janey, if she loses a part of her body, can replace it with someone else's part. It was amusing to see her tear an arm off and stick it on her own body. And, it seems that each night Janey must sleep in the ground, and once she awakens she is regenerated. The book art is a gorgeous scheme of bold black, white, red and grey. I love the style of art that Mendoza is gifted with because it is sexy and yet still grotesque. Highly recommended to people who like horror comics, or just zombies in general.

Comic Review: The Crow Special Edition by J. O'Barr

Name- The Crow (Special Edition) 

Author- James O'Barr 

Genre- Comic - Mature, Comic - Horror

Eric and Shelly are a young couple in love, poor but happy. They are very deeply in love, in fact, Shelly remarking that her love for Eric was so deep that it sometimes frightened her. That immense a love. Well, imagine one night, broken down on the side of the road, a car full of drug-addled deviates pass by and then decide to stop. Unable to control their own impulses and high on the rock and the desire to inflict pain, they shoot Eric and brutalize Shelly before kicking her head in. Shelly is declared DOA and Eric lingers on though he is pretty braindead-- two shots to the skull will do that. But Eric didn't follow a piece of important wisdom given to him by the crow: Look away. Eric looked and watched as Shelly was violated and killed, and it would manifest such a hate and anger in him that, a year later, his specter would return for vengeance.

Eric doesn't return a normal man-- he is an immortal creature of purpose, pure intent purpose of meeting and destroying the collective who had destroyed his life: Tin Tin, Tom Tim, Fun Boy, Top Dollar... these are the men who must pay for what they did to Shelly. Using his immortality and strength, Eric meets each of these men and kills them. I don't want to go into detail about how because that would utterly spoil everything.

The artwork is dated, but beautifully so. It has that 90s vibe, the big rock hair, and long leather trench coats. The color scheme relies on black being the predominate color so that the comic appears dark and desolate as if it took place only under the canopy of stars. This makes the book even more mysterious, Eric more threatening, and the comic more beautiful. Heavily recommended to people who like dark comics, revenge comics, and bloody comics.

Graphic Novel Review: Interview with the Vampire: Claudia's Story by Anne Rice and Ashley Marie Witter

Title: Interview with the Vampire: Claudia's Story 

Author(s): Anne Rice (Author) & Ashley Marie Witter (Illustrator) 

Genre: Fiction/Horror & Fiction/Supernatural 

Finished: February 21, 2013

This comic book / graphic novel has gotten a fair bit of criticism because many feel it did not offer a fresh perspective on Claudia or the events of Interview with the Vampire, but was rather too close a story to the original written in Interview with the Vampire. I think that this is criticism too harsh. The novel Interview with the Vampire, told from the perspective of Louis, features Claudia as one of the main characters. This graphic novel does indeed follow the same timeline as Louis’s tale with little deviation to “new” event, but we do see a very distinctive Claudia perspective, with gives “new” insight into the events we know per Louis. The illustrations done by Ashley Marie Witter were absolutely, no question, beautiful. Every character exuded delicate beauty--the expressions and movements were all immaculately wrought. I found the usage of color to be quite effective, as well. The novel was done in an off-white and black tone, aside from the occasional use of colors like red to emphasize blood. I felt that this occasional use of bold color added emotion, passion, and indeed violence to the appropriate scenes. It also expressed how very important blood is to the immortal... the only true vibrant color in the dark world. It is true that the essential story is nothing new, but there were moments when the perspective of Claudia gave something new to an event. Because instead of seeing things from the eyes of Louis, we get to see Claudia as she was, as she thought, and come to understand a bit more about what motivated her. And, sadly, just how much she loved Louis. But yes, sometimes it was hard to keep track of the chronology. Maybe this was because I read this graphic novel at around 2am and my brain was not at full function. There were a few times when I had to reread a page or go back because I wasn’t sure where I was on a timeline. It was like in the span of one panel, we had gone forward in time and were now in an entirely different world location. But I blame this on my inexperience with comics and graphic novels in general. Claudia’s Story is a beautifully rendered tale of one of the briefest but important vampires in the Chronicles. I feel absolutely that it is a necessity in the collection of any Anne Rice and Vampire Chronicle fan. You must at least read this graphic novel once. Instead of judging the “originality” of the story, soak up the beautiful art, the emotion expressed in wonderful pen strokes. Enjoy the story you know and love now presented to you in a new format, made into a work of visual art as much as it is a work of written art.

Book Review: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Title: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch 

Author(s): Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett 

Genre: Fiction - Paranormal Humor 

Finished: July 18, 2012

People have been encouraging me to read Neil Gaiman for a long time, so when Paperbackswap sent me this particular novel, I figured that was a sign (no book reference intended) that I should begin with this one. Who wouldn't love an amusing, comedy-filled imagining of the end of the world? It suits the morbid in me. The plot begins with a baby switch at the beginning: two babies are being born, one being the child of an important ambassador, which is to be replaced by the son of the Devil. Unfortunately, a mishap places the Devil's only son, named Adam by his clueless human parents, with an innocent Lower Tadfield couple. They know nothing of what their baby is or what will happen. All information about the eventual "apocalypse" is found in a book of prophecy penned by a long dead witch known as Agnes Nutter, who wrote down her foretellings for her descendants to interpret. Enter in to the story a motley cast of characters. You have an angel and a demon who are residents on earth. Their duty is to handle various dealings for their respective sides in the eternal battle of good versus evil. They are friends. They are aware that the end of the world is coming. The both of them are also reluctant to see the world go because they rather like it. You also have the young Antichrist Adam who is, thanks to his raising, a normal kid with strange powers and a sweet Hellhound. Mixed in with this is a witch, a couple of witch finders, a medium, the horses (or in this case the motorcycles) of the Apocalypse, and a group of young human children getting into the messes that young children do unaware that their leader is the Antichrist. Beneath the comedy is a little theology to satisfy the intellectual in all of us. It makes us ask questions like what is good and evil? Does good and evil exist only to fulfill a role because we need them to? Both the resident angel and demon in the story aren't necessarily identifiable as what we think of as theologically good or bad... they just are. And sure, they enjoy a little morality and destruction, but not enough to destroy the world for it. Angel and demon both exist as pawns in a game that no longer has meaning, but continues because both sides want to win. It's like carrying a grudge because someone did something bad to you long ago, but you no longer remember what you did, just that it made you mad. Maybe also a little because that is what is expected. And consider young Adam, the son of the Devil, who lacks the capacity for true pure evil because he was raised as a normal kid. His "evil" isn't a part of his person, it isn't embedded in his gene code, and he is only a mischievous kid with powers he can't understand or make sense of. He doesn't want to be bad, he just wants to be a kid and create a world that would be perfect to him as a child. Which, yes, does ultimately lead to a near nuclear crisis. Of course you can read it just to enjoy being witness to a creative adventure that allows one little mix-up to snowball into a chaotic mess that almost sees the world to the brink of extinction. The book is funny, clever, well written, unique, and interesting. It's not some dramatic, edge of your seat apocalypse book full of military personnel speaking in code and superhuman main characters that perform heroic acts not possible for normal people. Just a bunch of people, both human and not, running in haphazard circles trying to stop the world from blowing up in a rain of nuclear missiles.

Book Review: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (#1) by Ransom Riggs

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Series: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Book Number: 1

Author(s): Ransom Riggs 

Genre: Fiction - Fantasy 

Finished: June 28, 2012

A young boy named Jacob recalls the strange stories his grandfather Abe used to tell him as a child. They were fantastical stories of children with special powers. Grandfather Abe was even able to furnish proof using old photographs of things like a floating girl, a boy covered in bees, and invisible boy. As children do, young Jacob believed his grandfather. Yet as the boy grew to a teenager, he began to doubt his grandfather's stories until they became just that: stories. It wasn't until the untimely and violent death of his grandfather at the hands of a horrific creature that it seemed only Jacob could see that Jacob began to wonder if the stories may be just a little more real than he imagined. His grandfather leaves him with a cryptic message that sends him off on a journey to find the old children's home in Wales that Abe was placed in as a child, of course Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Naturally, like most people who sincerely believe in monsters, Jacob is sent to a shrink who decides that it is for his own good that Jacob go to Wales. According to Dr, Golan, it is the only way for Jacob to truly see that what his grandfather told him cannot be real. Except what Jacob finds instead is that the home was real and the children do exist. They exist in a loop in the past, repeating the same day over and over, the very day that their home was bombed and all the children killed. Miss Peregrine is one of a special sort of peculiar person, a shapechanger (a bird) who can manipulate time. There are loads of other pockets of loops throughout the world and time, each sustained by a headmistress who maintains the loop. The plot thickens with the introduction of hollowgast, creatures that feed off of peculiar children. These monsters, remnants of a time experiment gone wrong, are aided by wights who find them their peculiars to consume. This book was a very quick read and it combines a number of photographs with the story. I both liked and disliked the inclusion of photographs. Yes they added to the story, but it's not a perfect system. You can see that some photos are obviously fake, some portray the same people in the story but are noticeably of different individuals, and some just seem thrown in there and mentioned in the text to make room for them. Sometimes it was obvious that the pictures were writing details of the plot, not the other way around. And I found that to be cheating a bit. Maybe I am just picky. I thought the story was unique enough to be novel because don't we all want to believe that something magical exists in our otherwise mundane world? And the thought of these kids existing in some infinite time loop the day they all were to die helps curb the sheer morbidity that sits at the foundation of the storyline. Plus, monsters. It's just disturbing enough to please those who like to be disturbed, but sweet enough that people who reject disturbing things can sleep at night. I feel like the wind up to the climax of the plot was too long, and the climax was too fast. Or really, not as powerful as I would have liked. I will admit that I very much enjoyed the story and don't regret reading it. I need to stop focusing so much on the bad in everything and start shedding more light on the good. It is undoubtedly a book worth a read, and it blurs the line between horror and fantasy, between heartwarming and disturbing, which are all things that I very much love and appreciate. I just look forward to the sequel one day so that I can feel satisfied.

Book Review: Changeling Moon (Changeling, #1) by Dani Harper

Title: Changeling Moon

Series: Changeling

Book Number: 1

Author: Dani Harper 

Genre: Fiction - Supernatural Romance 

Finished: June 15, 2011

Zoe Tyler is an editor with a unique gift that allows her to see things happening in her head. Desperate to start a new life far from her reputation and the stresses of the city, Zoey moves to a small Canadian town where she becomes editor for a tiny local newspaper. All is well until one night Zoey is attacked by a wolf, a werewolf. Enter Connor Macleod, veterinarian and werewolf, who rescues her, though not before Zoey is bitten. It is love at first sight, at least for Connor, who makes it his mission to ensure that Zoey does not become a werewolf. Problem is, her sire is insane and set to destroy the local wolf pack, which he has chosen not to join. The sire is out for blood, killing man and human without hesitation. He also wants Zoey. It’s a dangerous situation for wolf and human alike. Yet, even among the life threatening drama, there is still time for love to grow between Zoey and Connor. Dani Harper clearly knows her way around a word. She has a very clean but elaborate writing style that is both entertaining and accessible. Her book does not falter or linger too long in drawn out description, though it certainly does not lack in detail. 

Unlike those who just seem to have just gotten lucky publising their books, Dani Harper clearly has a natural writing talent, so she well deserves the praise she receives. I will admit that romance is not my cup of tea or preferred genre. As a result, I tend to be a bit harder on it than romance genre fans. Problem is, I think that most romance tends to be contrived and fails to convince me. It is almost formulaic the way a perfect, rugged, handsome loner (or playboy) falls in love with an equally perfect but firey woman who is certainly the first to resist his charms or fight against his possessive/protective/etc nature. And of course, when they have sex, lightening sparks behind her eyes and she has screaming orgasms that leave her shaking. Sound familiar? I bet it does. Because it’s probably somewhat or in part true for 95% of the romance books you’ve ever read. And it to me, it all feels very forced. What was the point of the above rant? Because if I were to pin the one part of the book that I disliked, it was because it fit the formulaic and forced romance model outlined above. Because, as I said, I just do not like romance as it all seems to be like the above and I want something new, something real, something full of complications. Something about discovery, not love at first site with cookie cutter personalities. This is not meant to insult the book because I am sure romance fans would love it. 

So you may be asking yourself: do I like the book? And the answer to that would be a definite yes. Here is why: because Dani Harper has created a believable preternatural world. I respect anyone who can approach an unexplainable situation and say simply, “this is how it is and we don’t know why” such as Connor did when he explained how during the shift their present clothes seem to fall into an invisible third dimension that return as soon as the shifter turns back into a human. Why? Because I think people over think things and sometimes fail to see that sometimes some of the best things are the things we cannot possibly answer. The world of the hidden wolf and normal human was also very believable. I also liked how Dani threw in her own little invention of silver suppressing the change as a way to control those who lack proper control. As a story of a supernatural world, I very much enjoyed reading Changeling Moon. The reader is neither flooded with a complex supernatural world, nor confronted with something that is impossible to believe or simplistic. Dani Harper fuses the natural and supernatural worlds together with flawless ease, and in that way convinces me that there just may indeed be hot werewolves veterinarians with a small auditorium full of brothers and a quaint, quiet farm out there.

Blog Tour & Book Review: Deep Kiss of Winter (Immortals After Dark, #8) by Kresley Cole & Gena Showalter

Title: Deep Kiss of Winter

Series: Immortals After Dark

Book Number: 8

Author(s): Kresley Cole & Gena Showalter

Genre: Fiction- Paranormal Romance 

Finished: December 21, 2009

Comprised of two novels, Deep Kiss of Winter combines the talents of Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter in to a compelling, riveting two story novel full of romance and drama. In Cole's Untouchable, Murdoch Wroth will stop at nothing to claim Daniela the Ice Maiden -- the delicate Valkyrie who makes his heart beat for the first time in three hundred years. Yet the exquisite Danii is part ice fey, and her freezing skin can't be touched by anyone but her own kind without inflicting pain beyond measure. Soon desperate for closeness, in an agony of frustration, Murdoch and Danii will do anything to have each other. Together, can they find the key that will finally allow them to slake the overwhelming desire burning between them? In Showalter's Tempt Me Eternally, Aleaha Love can be anyone -- literally. With only skin-to-skin contact, she can change her appearance, assume any identity. Her newest identity switch has made her an AIR (alien investigation and removal) agent and sends her on a mission to capture a group of otherworldly warriors. Only she becomes the captured. Breean, a golden-skinned commander known for his iron will who is at once dangerous and soul-shatteringly seductive, threatens her new life. Because for the first time, Aleaha only wants to be herself.

Untouchable was my first experience with Kresley Cole. I am always a little hesitant, too, when authors add a lexicon or a glossary to their books when the book isn't a series. Yet, I dove into Untouchable with an open mind and a significant amount of interest in this world Cole had created. I rather liked the idea of there being a 'Lore' full of strange creatures and magical beings. Though, I have to say that I wish the book were a fantasy series, and not paranormal romance. I think the world, the creatures, and the premise was excellent, but the overdone romance elements takes away from the pure fantasy creativity behind it. Or maybe that is just my biased dislike of romance in general talking. Let me not make it seem as if I did not like the story, because I did! I thought it was excellent. The characters were great, the plot was amazing, and I just fell in love with the world Cole created, which is why I totally plan to read more of the Immortals After Dark series that the book is a part of. Cole's world seems complicated, but it breaks down into a few easy things. You have the Lore, which are these creatures. Within it are creatures such as Valkyrie, Vampires, Demons, and Icere. Vampires are on an eternal search for a Bride (I guess there are no female vampires out there looking for Grooms?), who will once again make his heart beat and his passion boil. Once he meets his bride, he is blooded to her. His longing for her is almost unbearable. 

Well, Murdoch the Sexy becomes blooded to a half ice fey, half Valkyrie woman he cannot touch because touch burns her cold skin. They can't do it, naturally, since his touching her would cause her a lot of pain and possible death. So, not only must they work together to overcome other preternatural creatures, but also learn how to surmount their difficult romance. I admit, I did get a little annoyed with how the storyline just moved from one thing to the next. There was this great build up about wars and vampire rivalries and then, out of nowhere, the book just moves on past them and says, "oh well, everything was fixed" and introduces all new plots. It was very disappointing and made me wonder why all the build up for a resolution we don't even get to experience? Showalter's story Tempt Me Eternally is part of her Alien Huntress series, though I have never read any of the other books in the series and walked into it sort of clueless as to Showalter at all. I have heard the name before since a few of my friends are fans of her other series', but I was a Showalter novice until this point. In the novel, Aleaha Love is a shapeshifter of sorts, but she cannot let anyone know for fear of her own life. This is romance, though, so a hot, hunky guy has to come in somewhere. And that guy is Breean, a Rakan, who imprisons Aleaha in the hope of using her for ransom in order to be allowed to live on Earth since they cannot return to their own home planet. It is only natural in the course of a romance plotline for the Rakan Breean and Aleaha to decide they like each other complete with the banter of two people who are opposites but eventually discover they are perfect for each other. Okay, so the endings of romance novels are very predictable. How often do the couple decide not to be together? Or that their differences are too insurmountable? Or hey, someone dies? Not often, and only in a series when there is lots of time to work everything out by the end to wrap up a happy ending. I like happy endings, I do. Which is why books like Deep Kiss of Winter are so fulfilling. You get what you want! No anti-climactic endings to make you walk away numb and disappointed. Though, of course, the nature of predictability gives very little in surprises. Which is why, of course, authors have to ultimately make up for this shortfall by creating good plots, great characters, and amazing stories. Cole and Showalter did. Excellent book!

Blog Tour & Guest Post: Stewards of the Flame (The Hidden Flame, #2) by Sylvia Engdahl

About Sylvia Engdahl

Sylvia Engdahl is best known as the author of highly-acclaimed Young Adult science fiction novels, one of which was a Newbery Honor book and a finalist for the 2002 Book Sense Book of the Year in the Rediscovery category. However, her trilogy Children of the Star, originally written for teens, was republished as adult SF, and she is now writing fiction only for adults. Engdahl is a strong advocate of space colonization and has maintained a widely-read space section of her website for many years. She lives in Eugene, Oregon, and currently works as a freelance editor of nonfiction anthologies. For more information about Sylvia Engdahl, visit her website here. If you would like to read up more about Stewards of the Flame, visit the book website here.

About Stewards of the Flame

When burned-out starship captain Jesse Sanders is seized by a dictatorial medical regime and detained on the colony planet Undine, he has no idea that he is about to be plunged into a bewildering new life that will involve ordeals and joys beyond anything he has ever imagined, as well as the love of a woman with powers that seem superhuman. Still less does he suspect that he must soon take responsibility for the lives of people he has come to care about and the preservation of their hopes for the future of humankind. This controversial novel winner of a bronze medal in the 2008 Independent Publisher (IPPY) book awards, deals with government-imposed health care, with end-of-life issues, and with the so-called paranormal powers of the human mind. Despite being set in the distant future on another world, it's not intended just for science fiction fans. Blogcritics said, "The story is compelling, and drew me in from the first few pages. . . . Stewards of the Flame is a thought-provoking novel that may make you question the authority and direction of modern Western medical practices. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading genre fiction with some substance to it."

Guest Post with Sylvia Engdahl

I've always had ideas about the future, and about humankind's relation to the universe, that I wanted very much to express. More often than not, my view of such issues contrasts with prevailing views. I'm inspired mainly by the wish to explore them, but I want to do it through the thoughts and feelings of characters who have to deal with them, rather than in the abstract. It's generally hard for me to think of events -- action -- through which the characters can confront them; I've come up with story ideas during only a few short periods of my life. But when I do get a plot idea, then I'm completely absorbed in the story until it is finished. I don't write, or even read, typical science fiction. My novels are not action/adventure stories, and they focus neither on strange environments nor on the details of hypothetical technologies. They're about characters portrayed like real people of today. Stewards of the Flame is set on a world colonized in the distant future by settlers from Earth. Its problems are more like today's problems, extended just a little beyond today's reality, than how the distant future will really be. But the story required a separate planet with a history of prior generations, and interstellar travel isn't going to occur for centuries considering that we're still dragging our feet on colonizing Mars, so I had no choice about its placement in time. In many ways the novel appeals more to readers of mainstream fiction than science fiction fans, but there is just no way to market a book about the future on another planet as mainstream; no matter what I say about it, it gets an SF genre label, making it hard for readers not looking for that genre to find. I hate the "genre" concept, but that's another topic. . . . I combined two issues I wanted to explore in fiction when writing Stewards of the Flame. In the first place, what might be the logical conclusion of today's trend toward government control of health care? My own feeling is that it could end in the takeover of the government (at least in a small colony) by medical authorities, depriving the citizens of their personal freedom. The people of the story live under what is essentially a dictatorship, but it wasn't imposed on the population by force -- they voted it in through misguided placement of health issues above all other values. The protagonists can't aim to overthrow it because it was established democratically, so they oppose it in another way, which involves the development of "paranormal" mind powers. I don't think of such powers as weird or supernatural. To me, they represent the future evolution of humankind. My view of the future is less pessimistic than the one common today, and I'm impatient with fiction that suggests we're not progressing. That, more than anything, impels me to create fiction of my own.

Guest Post: Roxanne Rhoads (Eternal Desire)

About Roxanne Rhoads

Story strumpet, tome loving tart, eccentric night owl...these are all words that can describe freelance writer and erotic romance author Roxanne Rhoads. When not fulfilling one the many roles being a wife and mother of three require, Roxanne's world revolves around words...reading them, writing them, editing them, and talking about them. In addition to writing her own stories she loves to read and review what others write. She operates a book review site, Fang-tastic Books, dedicated to her favorite type of book- anything paranormal. Her favorite genres are paranormal romance and urban fantasy but she'll read just about anything featuring vampires, ghosts, witches and whatnot. Roxanne writes everything from articles to web content as a freelance writer and poet. Her erotic and romance stories and poems have appeared in Playgirl Magazine, several print anthologies, in ebooks and on numerous Web sites including: JustusRoux.com, OystersandChocolate.com, TheEroticWoman.com, FortheGirls.com, AssociatedContent.com/roxanne, BareBackMag.com, LucreziaMagazine.com, and RuthiesClub.com She has several ebooks available through Eternal Press: Tasty Christmas Treats, Eternal Desire, the soon to be published Insatiable and 2 of her short paranormal erotic stories appear in the anthology Sexy Paranormal Bedtime Stories. All of these can be purchased in print at Amazon.com. Her story "The First Brick" appears in Lasting Lust: An Anthology of Kinky Couples in Love available at RavenousRomance.com A double shot of her paranormal erotica- Torrid Teasers Volume 59 is available through Whiskey Creek Press Torrid. When not reading or writing Roxanne loves to hang out with her family, craft, garden and search for unique vintage finds. You can visit her at www.roxannesrealm.blogspot.com and www.fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com.

About Eternal Desire

 

Liz Beth, a paranormal researcher, is haunted by the seductive vampire, Quillon, who may or may not be real. She arrives in New Orleans the week of Halloween to search for the elusive vampire of her dreams and instead encounters a handsome stranger, Christien, with whom she begins a passionate affair with. Soon she is torn between her dream lover and a flesh and blood man, both of whom are a mystery to her. The closer it gets to Halloween the wilder things become. LizBeth gets closer to the truth about Quillon while Christien has her under his own spell. Will all be revealed at the Vampyre Ball or will the masks stay in place? In New Orleans at Halloween anything is possible.

To read a blurb, go here. View the trailer:

The novella is scheduled to be released October 7, 2009 through EternalPress.ca. E-books can be purchased at EternalPress.ca, Fictionwise.com and BarnesandNoble.com Print copies can be purchased at Amazon.com

Guest Blog by Roxanne Rhoads

Dark Beauties By Roxanne

I guess I've always been attracted to the dark side, even when I was really young my favorite things were witchy, spooky and creepy. I can remember rushing home every day after to school to watch Scooby Doo my all time favorite cartoon. I laugh at my husband because he said he couldn’t watch Scooby when he was little because it scared him. He still isn't a big fan of scary movies either. Though he can handle going to all the crazy Halloween haunted houses when I can't. Weird. Anyway, I digress. When I was a child my bookshelves were lined with all kinds of creepy, spooky and scary ghost stories and kids books about Halloween and anything just a little supernatural. By the time I was 10 I was already reading Steven King and Dean Koontz. I loved watching Tales from the Darkside, Twilight Zone, and of course- reruns of The Munsters and The Addams Family. Morticia Addams and Lily Munster were idols of mine, dark, scary, beautiful. Especially the original Morticia (not so much Angelica Houston). Then later came Elvira- now there was a frightening figure of femininity that men everywhere lusted after. The "Otherness" portrayed by these women was always intensely sexual. Lily was a nurturing mother but like mother nature her sexuality was apparent. Morticia was always appeared so slinky and darkly beautiful, and the refreshing flirtation between her and Gomez is something to hope for in a relationship isn't it? And Elvira, well, she was just sex incarnate wasn’t she? Did you know that Lily and Herman Munster were the first television couple to actually appear in bed together and Morticia and Gomez were always sexy and flirtatious while all the other couples on television sit coms during that time period (1960s) had no apparent sex lives and were never seen in bed together. With television showing such bland lifestyles how could you not want dark sexiness in your world? For a little girl who dreamed of wild times and fantastic places emulating the dark beauties promised a much more interesting life. And now look at the popularity of paranormal erotica and paranormal erotic romance today. These books are flying off the shelves. A lot of people are catching on to the allure of the dark side of sex and I couldn't be more thrilled. For those fans of vampires and other supernatural sexiness I hope you'll like my new novella, Eternal Desire. 

Here's a quick blurb: Liz Beth, a paranormal researcher, is haunted by the seductive vampire, Quillon, who may or may not be real. She arrives in New Orleans the week of Halloween to search for the elusive vampire of her dreams and instead encounters a handsome stranger, Christien, with whom she begins a passionate affair with. Soon she is torn between her dream lover and a flesh and blood man, both of whom are a mystery to her. The closer it gets to Halloween the wilder things become. LizBeth gets closer to the truth about Quillon while Christien has her under his own spell. Will all be revealed at the Vampyre Ball or will the masks stay in place? In New Orleans at Halloween anything is possible. 

E-books can be purchased at EternalPress.ca, Fictionwise.com and BarnesandNoble.com. Print copies can be purchased at Amazon.com 

Book Review: Hex in High Heels (Hex, #4) by Linda Wisdom

Title: Hex in High Heels

Series: Hex

Book Number: 4

Author: Linda Wisdom

Genre: Fiction - Paranormal Romance

Finished: October 13, 2009

Hex in High Heels was my introduction to the world of Linda Wisdom and Blair Fitzpatrick. Though it is book four in the series, I decided to start from book four and then see how the series struck me, if it was something I would be into. As it seems to be, the books are all loosely connected with the same characters reoccurring, but different ones taking the starring roles. So, though the series was new to me, I hoped that I wouldn't have to know too much about Blair and her life previously to enjoy Hex in High Heels. Blair Fitzpatrick is a witch who just so happens to run her own vintage store and has a thing for a were-collie carpenter named Jake Harrison. The drama is hot enough between the two of them as they work out mutual feelings for each other that could soon blossom into something more. Yet, it is never enough to simply have relationship drama. No. There is always more. Jake's family ad former pack come to town looking to buy some land from Blair and ease in close to. This pack is made up of wolves, far stronger than the mere collie that Jake becomes. The worst part is that the alpha of the pack is Jake's brother, working in tandem with their vicious mother, who wants him dead! Blair is as determined to keep Jake as the pack is to have him and see him dead. Good thing for the pair of them that Blair is as powerful a witch as she is. Does make it any easier that some trouble making elves are also causing Blair a considerable amount of distress. This book was a lot of fun, for sure. Throughout the story, even in times of drama and distress, the story was infused with humor. At the same time, the characters were not all lighthearted parody's of magical creatures and things. There was a really great balance to the story, to the drama versus the humor. I really liked Blair and rooted for her the whole time, though of course, we all know that the good guys generally win in the end. I did, however, feel like I may have gotten more out of the cameos made by other characters if I had read the previous novels. A few times, characters were brought in or things alluded to that I had no idea about and could only assume they happened in one of the previous books. Suffice to say I am going to put the other books on my wish list and get them one by one. If they are anything like Hex in High Heels, I know I am going to enjoy them immensely.