The Magi Manifesto Kale Lawrence (The Magi Menagerie, #2) Publication date: December 13th 2022 Genres: Fantasy, Historical, New Adult, Young Adult
After the true power of the Tablet of Destinies is revealed, Ezra grapples with the horrors of the night that changed everything. Haunted by the monster who claimed his father’s life, Ezra is determined to see his promise through and become a Magus. But when the Third Order of the Magi have him arrested for crimes he has yet to commit, Ezra is willing to do whatever it takes to prove himself, even if it means going after the very force that terrorises his dreams.
But there’s more at stake than the Magi realise and major risks must be taken to settle the score. Desperate to stop the Legerdemain Brotherhood from claiming infinite power, Jonas must lead a team into the heart of enemy territory and dismantle the Brotherhood from the inside. Can Ezra and Jonas successfully stop the Legerdemain from ushering in a new era of terror? Or will yet another unlikely foe rise from the deep?
Since the early age of 6, Kale Lawrence knew she either wanted to be an astronaut or an author. Obviously, the astronaut gig didn’t work out, so instead, Kale turned to fantastic fictional worlds. When Kale is not writing creatively, she works as a Marketing Manager at a pet product company, and pretends she’s an Olympic swimmer at the gym. She has also served as a board member for the South Dakota Writes organization.
In addition to books, Kale has lent her writing prowess to television, and her writing has been featured on nationwide PBS television programming, NBC newscasts, ABC newscasts, and the Travel Channel.
Kale currently lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with her feisty tortoiseshell calico cat, Emma Bug and sassy Siamese, Seattle Bean.
Mermaid of Venice Jincey Lumpkin (Mermaid of Venice, #1) Publication date: March 15th 2021 Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance
IndieReader Approved with 4.8 of 5 stars: “MERMAID OF VENICE is an electrifying series starter that immerses readers in a world filled with glamor, sex, murder, and mermaids.”
Dive into the extremely glamorous life of Gia Acquaviva, an ultra-rich Venetian mogul with a portfolio of clubs and casinos around the globe. Gia harbors dark secrets––and an underwater graveyard filled with the bones of her former lovers.
Her family’s roots descend from the mythological sirens of ancient Greece, but she’s taken every precaution to protect her anonymity and the existence of other mermaids. Gia lures in men with a beguiling façade, but inside lurks a deeply troubled soul, severely damaged by a mysterious past.
Despite her sinister desires, she longs for true intimacy and believes she may have found her match in Cameron Langley, a successful London-based banker and dead ringer for Chris Hemsworth. He offers Gia her first real opportunity for lasting love. They share an intensely passionate, deeply sensual connection… but is her growing affection for new lover enough to lull the murderous cravings she feels building within?
Fans of Killing Eve and Big Little Lies will love Mermaid of Venice, a sexy psychological thriller with lush fantasy elements. The setting is modern day Europe with all the chic locales, hot spots and vistas of Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley and a juicy splash of the lavish lifestyle in E. L. James’s 50 Shades series. This is not the Little Mermaid you grew up with. Gia’s out for blood.
Mermaid of Venice is the first installment in a series of 6 books about Gia Acquaviva.
Gia closed up the house and locked every shutter before climbing aboard her sleek speed boat. The wooden vessel, while practically brand new, looked vintage. Its soft-top cover glided over Gia’s head with a clean, electronic hum. She steered through thick rain toward Marco Polo airport, with only a small black Hermès Kelly bag in the passenger seat. After pulling into her VIP boat slip, she sauntered to her jet, obscured from prying eyes by an ordinary black umbrella.
It was not until she was above the black storm clouds that she truly began to relax. Her demeanor prior to that, with the jet captain and the flight attendant, had been cool and aloof as usual, but it was an effort to appear so calm. She’d informed the flight attendant that she would not be needing anything on the two-hour trip to London. So, he sat in the front of the plane, in case the captain had any requirements. Gia was alone, on the other side of the curtain in the cream-colored cabin, resting in a suede recliner. She liked being alone, almost more than anything else.
The scene in Venice had become too frenzied. If the city had been busy during the festival, everything was three times as hectic now. Gia felt suffocated. They may as well have projected Nico’s face over the city like the Bat-Signal. Therefore, it was better for her to leave town.
When she arrived at her apartment in London, Gia poured herself a glass of Kentucky bourbon on the rocks—the cheap stuff, which in her opinion, was the best. This was maybe the one time in history when London was sunny while Venice got soaked. She slid the terrace’s huge glass doors into their pockets and invited fresh air into the space. Whisky in hand, she gazed out over the top of Harrods to Hyde Park. Kensington Palace sat on the horizon to the west, and Gia pondered where the Queen might be today and whether the old woman ever drank a strong whisky, or if it was tea all day, every day. Surely the Queen endured situations that called for stiff spirits?
Gia placed her nearly-empty glass on the Carrara marble that encased her bath. She drew steaming hot water from the tap and poured in the contents of a cylinder of French sea salt, as well as several drops of rose oil. She pressed a button that transitioned the window from opaque to clear, so that she might be able to spy on the Duke and Duchess a little longer.
Sinking into the bath, Gia stared out across the city as her tail came in scale by scale. The transformation from skin to scale tickled at first, and afterward had the intensely satisfying sensation of an itch that had scratched itself. She laid back, her tail swaying softly in the bathwater. Legs were fine, and hers were long and strong—good legs, if such a thing exists—but her tail… her tail was part of her soul. It’s what linked her to generations of mythical creatures through millennia. Man came from ape. Man, by nature, was competitive and clumsy and impulsive. Mermaid, however, had evolved in a completely different way. Certainly the sea had its brutality, but there was also much cooperation and an alien beauty that Man would never understand. The sea is in constant motion, while being on land is deceptive. The world itself changes all the time, but when you’re on bedrock, you feel that time stands still,as if the planet’s not moving, as if you’re the center of the fucking universe—and you’re not.
Many of the mermaids back in the colony were of the opinion that climate change was the ocean’s revenge, and that the days of Man were nearing their inevitable and welcome end.
Author Bio:
JINCEY LUMPKIN is a writer and creative director in Luxury Beauty. She is the author of the Mermaid of Venice fantasy thriller series. Recognized as a thought leader on women and culture, Jincey has written more than 50 columns for the Huffington Post and Playboy. She headlined Sex Week at Harvard and gave an infamous TEDx talk, “Are Robots the Future of Sex?” She has been profiled by Dateline NBC, Vice, and GQ, among others. Out Magazine listed her in its “OUT 100”, naming her as one of the world’s most influential LGBTQ+ people, alongside celebrities like Laverne Cox and Ricky Martin.
Life is good. Our business is growing. We’re successfully building our fight club empire and everything’s going to plan. Until one of the crime bosses asks me for a favour. Will I watch his daughter while he’s out of town? I know I should say no. I don’t do favours – for anyone. But in a moment of weakness, I agree. How hard can it be? I’m a champion fighter, after all, respected by all the crews, there’s no one who can take me on and win.
But I don’t reckon on Daleylah Martinez, the twenty-two-year-old daughter of the Spanish boss…
Dale
I’ve been waiting for this moment: Papa out of town- I can finally escape the house and enjoy myself. Then he turns up, Slater; one of my father’s gangster friends moves into our house to keep an eye on me. That’s the last thing I need. Well, he can forget it if he thinks I’m doing what he tells me. And there’s no way he’s stopping me going out with my friends. No way.
She curls her top lip in a faint look of disgust, which ignites a flash of anger within me.
‘I’ve got to study.’ She goes to walk away but I catch her wrist and pull her back. Her eyes widen with shock at my physical action.
‘Dale, I appreciate this is your house and everything, but let’s just set some rules up front, shall we? I’m here for two weeks while your dad’s out of town, at his request, not mine. We don’t have to be best friends. I don’t care if you like me or not. I couldn’t care less, even. But while I’m here, I’m in charge, which means you will not leave this house without informing me first. I don’t care what you do, as long as it’s in this building, but I’d appreciate it if you would do me the honour of being civil when you speak to me.’
Her gaze is fixed on mine; she doesn’t answer, her teeth biting into her lower lip.
‘Do we have an agreement? Because if we don’t, you’re gonna have to stay by my side the whole two weeks I’m here. And I can tell you, that wouldn’t be very pleasant for either of us.’ I don’t let go of her wrist, holding her close as I speak, waiting for her to react to give me something back that I can work with to understand where she’s at. Her eyes are the colour of warm caramel. The smell of her shampoo fills the air with floral and fruity tones. She is stunningly beautiful, even more so, up close. I rethink what I just said; maybe spending two weeks with her by my side wouldn’t be too unpleasant after all. If she’d only drop the attitude.
Author Bio:
I am a mum, reader and indie author. I love spending time at home with my girls or with my nose in a book. My debut novel The Executive Floor was published in 2019 following many years of stockpiling manuscripts. I write in the evenings after finishing work with a glass of wine in my hand.
Oath-Breaker River Starr (Angel of Death & Demons, #1) Publication date: May 5th 2022 Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
No one survives their meeting with the Angel of Death—except for me.
After being accused of rallying citizens to revolt against him and breaking the rules of engagement with demons to save my best friend—guilty as charged on both accounts—the Angel of Death demands to personally oversee my sentencing in his obsidian castle of demons and death.
I’m done for. This is the end. But my death won’t be in vain—I’ll die a martyr to the Paladins Order’s cause, and I’ll rescue my best friend at the same time. She’ll be safe and the paladins will pick a new leader. They’ll thrive and continue the fight.
Or so I think. When judgment day arrives and I’m knelt before the Angel of Death, with his onyx eyes, his ebony hair, and his seductively imposing stature, my soul doesn’t leave me.
It soars.
Because when I dare to look the Angel of Death in the eyes, everything changes. And what unfolds in my anger and vengeance’s stead is a thread of events I never could have foreseen.
I survived my meeting with the Angel of Death. But can I survive his love?
OATH-BREAKER is the first of a M/F paranormal demon romance duology full of steamy goodness.
River Starr writes books that help you escape, especially fantasy romance full of magic and supernaturals. Favorite things: coffee, wine, chocolate, and a heavy dose of books to chase away the dark… or invite delicious darkness in.
From Crown to Blade J.H. Dark (Crown & Blade, #1) Publication date: December 31st 2022 Genres: Fantasy, New Adult, Young Adult
Twin sisters. One destined to rule; the other destined to fight. A quest that will destroy the fabric of magic.
Princess Naomi, the rightful heir of Wildbriar, learned at a very young age she must neglect her heart in favor of duty, even as she jealously watches her twin sister, Nayeli, do as she pleases.
But the seemingly carefree Princess Nayeli, the King’s Champion, has duties of her own. Despite her passion for training with the soldiers, Nayeli nonetheless dreads the day she’ll become Commander of Naomi’s army and be forced to uphold their father’s legacy—to protect Wildbriar from the war currently raging between three powerful kingdoms on the other side of the continent.
During their eighteenth birthday celebration, the castle is attacked by unknown rogues—and Naomi is poisoned.
In view of her sister’s perilous condition, Nayeli sets her sights on the deadly Mist Isle to find a rare ingredient for the antidote that will save Naomi’s life—and the life of their dear kingdom.
For if Naomi dies, so does her unique magic, the one power that feels and feeds the land.
While Nayeli undertakes her dangerous quest, Naomi becomes a prisoner inside her own body. Yet, the coma that overtakes her doesn’t steal her powers, and with those she discovers the assault on them is just one small piece of a much bigger puzzle.
That the war isn’t as far away as it seems.
And that Wildbriar may be lost—with or without her.
JH Dark is the pen name of a USA Today Bestseller author. As JH Dark, she writes fantasy with strong women, dreamy heroes, and endless adventure and action. Her passion for books started when she was very little, and her first novel was penned at only thirteen years old. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, two kids, and way too many books!
My current Reads/audibles are The Lightning Thief, Savage Road (the first of the two books that I started this reread because!) and Wolf-Speaker (book 2 of the Immortals series) I’m pretty sure that I’ll be able to finish the Torpedo Ink series this month (if not by this weekend) I’m also starting to work my way through Cambria Hebert’s Take it Off series, they are standalone’s in that the characters are unique for each book but are all part of the same world/series.
I’m also diving back into the Regency Romance books, I hadn’t even realized that Julia Quinn had released a type of prequel for the Bridgerton’s, but I’m not mad about it.
Here it is just halfway through February and I’m just now getting this posted. Last year I read so much that I had to update my Goal 3 times, and ended up at 137 books. This year, while I set a goal of 100 Books, I’m not really going to push myself beyond if I feel like reading to do so.
I found something super cool (at least to me… but I’m nerdy that way), there are some fanfiction stories that are on GoodReads, that can be added to my tbr. You can bet that I added them. Some of these stories are longer than actual books, and I have been reading them for years. Most are based on Harry Potter, which probably is where my nerdiness started.
I’m keeping a reading journal again this year, but it also includes my TV series tracker … and my movie tracker. Figured it would be better to have them all in one place. I’ve found that sometimes using both Audible and the ebook/physical book helps me when I’m reading to get so many books finished, because I spend at least 1-3 hours on the road back and forth to work.
There were a few times this month where I’d start a book one day and finish it the next. It was a pretty good month for reading.
My reading Roundup:
BOOKS
Dark Melody by Christine Feehan
I’ve been working my way through this series since probably last summer… and I’m nowhere near finished, this is book 10 out of around 30 books or so. There were some new releases in the series that I found and knew that I needed to re-read the series so I could get to the new ones. I’ll be doing that quite a bit the next few months probably.
Spells Trouble by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
I actually won a giveaway on TikTok for this book, the wonderful Sedona Feretto, you can find her here. hosted it last year and I was super excited to win. It took me a while to get to reading it, but I’m so glad that I did and can’t wait until the second book gets released in April.
#Finishline by Cambria Hebert
This was actually a fully audible listen. It is also another of those series that I tend to re-read… especially when I get into a reading slump. There are I think two more books after this one and I’ll have it finished again. Pretty sure it’ll be re-read again this year.
The Twilight Before Christmas by Christine Feehan
Technically I started this series in December, as I read Magic in the Wind … well I listened to it anyway, after we went on winter break from the campus and I began to drive back and forth for work in Corpus. It’s a tiny book and passed the time quickly. I started the series because there was a new book that was released in December and another one in January. But it had been close to two years since I had read any of them. I both listened and read this one physically.
Oceans of Fire by Christine Feehan
This book is the 3rd in the Drake sister’s series by Christine Feehan. Expect to see her a lot on my reading roundups. I’m actually pretty sure it was the first book that I read in the series… even though there are two before it.
Dangerous Tides by Christine Feehan
Can you see what I have been obsessing over? This one was also listened to fully through audible rather than reading physically.
Safe Harbor by Christine Feehan
This was the final novel that I read this month and the 5th book of the Drake Sister Series. Really though… if you haven’t read them you totally should. I mean, it’s paranormal romance and bit of (ok a lot of) smutty scenes. But I’m not afraid of people reading over my shoulder. I grew up knowing that my mom would randomly decide to pick up whatever book I was reading to see what it was. (This was basically how I got her to buy me the Harry Potter books when they came out.)
FANFICTION
The majority of these I read at the same time as I was reading other books.
Oh God Not again! by Sarah1281 (on goodreads)
There wasn’t an actual cover on goodreads for this, but you can search it. This one is about Harry getting thrown back in time and having to relive his life starting at age 11 and decides that he’s going to have fun and mess with everyone.
Harry Crow by RobSt (on goodreads)
Another Harry Potter Fanfic, this time his life is for the better. The Dursley’s decide that they don’t want him, and go and “deposit” him at the bank. I mean… that caught my attention, and I read it in like two days.
Proud Parents by Robst
What would happen if Harry had someone in his corner to fight for him? After believing that his dad was the one to save him from the Dementors he goes looking when he and Hermione go back in time. Only it wasn’t his dad… it was his mom, and he can’t say that he’s disappointed either.
The Gift by Cristina
What would happen if Buffy ended up in the middle of the Death Star? Wackiness ensues and we get a different point of view.
Periculum by Aglaranna
Buffy ends up on Tattooine and gets sold to Watto… and finds herself a new family in the process.
Force of a Slayer by DracoTamer
Buffy ends up on Tattooine and gets sold to Watto… and finds herself a new family in the process… again… but wait, what is she exactly?
Code of a Slayer by DracoTamer
The second part to Force of a Slayer
Prodigies of the Force by DracoTamer
The third part to Force of a Slayer
Growing Force by DracoTamer
The fourth part to Force of a Slayer
Lycanthrope Factory by Starlight_Massacre
Harry finds himself in the middle of Saint Louis and in the midst of the preternatural world of Anita Blake, when he ends up the only survivor of a factory that was built to create different types of lycanthropes (more than one in his case). (Not a wizarding world fic)
Not all of my reads are on goodreads, but that’s ok because I’m tracking them on my own. I’m pretty sure that a few of these fanfics are longer than some of the books I read. In total for the month of January I read/listened to 7 books, and read 10 Fanfics.
I can’t wait to see what I finish up next month. As of right now, I’m at a total of 10 books finished, 2 I’m currently reading and only 1 fanfic that I’m going through.
I hope everyone had an amazing… or at least a good Valentine’s Day, and that their week has been productive. Me, I’m a bit better than last week, but was totally lonely and bored as I was all by myself in the office this week.
But let’s talk about what we’re reading this week!
So far since my last post, I finished up reading the Sisters of the Heart Series. And started on the Torpedo Ink Series, I will say that if you have triggers about sexual abuse and human trafficking, this is probably not the right series for you, or the Drake Sisters, or Sisters of the Heart. Each one deals with it in some capacity.
I am currently reading Vengeance Road as well as Existence, and Because of Miss Bridgerton (I’ve got an eclectic taste in books), I will probably finish up with Vengeance Road sometime tonight, and try and get done with both Existence and Because of Miss Bridgerton in the next few days. I’m finally at the series that started my massive re-read of two other series to get to be able to read just two books.
I wrote about it in my last post, as well as a bit in the beginning, but these three series are not for everyone, they contain so many triggers that are hard to read and get through, especially if you are not expecting them. But for those of you who can, I would recommend Christine Feehan to any and everybody.
I’m totally a person who can read multiple books at once, as can be seen above. I’m actually surprised that it’s only two books right now. What is/are your current read/s?
Hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday and a great week so far! Me… I’m doing ok. Let’s just say it’s been a long week, and it’s only halfway done.
Enough about that! Let’s talk about what we’re reading this week!
This is never an easy question for a reader, especially one that reads as fast as I do sometimes.
As I write this I’m only about a third of the way done with Earth Bound, but should be finished tonight. I actually read and listen to these books with audible, sometimes at the same time, sometimes while I’m driving I’ll just listen then pick up the book when I get to where I’m going.
Hidden Currents is the last book in the Drake Sisters Series by Christine Feehan. Water Bound, Spirit Bound, Air Bound and Earth Bound are all books in the Sea Haven/Sisters of the Heart Series, the spin-off series to the Drake Sisters. There are two more books in this series that I expect to finish this week as well. You can find the Goodreads link to this series here.
I have been flying through these books trying to get to the next series, Torpedo Ink, which released two new books, one on December 28th, 2021 and the other on January 25th, 2022. However, since it had been nearly a year since the last book was published and a year before that for the book before it, I decided that I wanted to re-read the entire series to refresh myself on the characters.
I will say that these books are probably not for everyone, they contain so many different triggers that are sometimes hard to read, and are graphic in detail of what is going on (sex scenes, killing and fighting scenes) But I still love to read them, Christine Feehan is an author that I will try to read every book she’s published just because I love her writing style and the worlds that she creates. I’m pretty sure I’ve read all but one of her series… maybe two of them, but she has 8 Series out and I’ve read 6 of them. And one of these series has 31 books, I’m currently re-reading that one as well.
Home Town Girl Living in a Writers World 