Thursday, April 25, 2013

FYRELOCKE: JACK BOOMERSHINE AND THE PROPHECY UNTOLD by R. Christopher Kobb_Review


Fyrelocke: Jack Boomershine and the Prophecy UntoldFyrelocke: Jack Boomershine and the Prophecy Untold by R. Christopher Kobb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review of Fyrelocke

“Fyrelocke: Jack Boomershine and the Prophecy Untold” is a delightfully action-packed, uproarious adventure/fantasy with little or no suspension of disbelief necessary, as potential disbelief is checked at the door. Twelve-year-old inventor/electronics genius Jack and his finance-oriented best friend Chase find themselves mysteriously transported, after a series of text messages on his cell phone guide Jack to recover an amethyst geode, which is definitely a “fyrestone” and may be the inimitable “Fyrelocke.” Due to the magics surrounding this stone, Jack and Chase are transported to England, but it’s certainly not the England tourists usually view.

With smooth writing, good characterization, and a pace faster than any video game, “Fyrelocke” is sure to delight readers from middle-grade on up (even oldsters like this reviewer) and its fans will be hankering for further adventures of Jack, the boy who is nearly too smart for his own good.


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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

TROUBLEMAKER by Joseph Hansen (a Dave Brandstetter Mystery)_Review


TroublemakerTroublemaker by Joseph Hansen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review of Troublemaker by Joseph Hansen
5 Stars

I was privileged to read some of the mysteries in this wonderful series years ago, after first publication. Recently I had been remembering them, and wishing I could find them again, so I’m very pleased to find Open Road Media giving a new opportunity for readers to enjoy the mysteries involving Dave Brandstetter, Gay insurance death claims investigator. Dave is a very solid, laid-back type of individual. We hardly ever see him rush, except when a case comes down to the wire and he is in a position to save a life. In this installment, on behalf of the company his father owns and which employs him, Medallion Insurance, he is looking into a sudden death, which may be suicide, accident, or murder. Of course the easiest answer is not always the right one, and Dave will have to go to many locales, interview a plethora of individuals, and eventually peel away many lies and secrets and deceits, intentional and unintentional, in order to discern the correct and accurate answer.

Although this series is predicated on a Gay protagonist, it is not erotica. Dave is half of a committed life partnership, although the individuals he encounters run the gamut from frequent illicit encounters, to “falling in love too easily,” to generosity and kind-heartedness, to easily hoodwinked. Just like our “real world,” it takes all kinds; thankfully our investigator has a steady mind and integrity of character.


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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

THEYONLY COME OUT AT NIGHT by Frankin Kearney_Review


They Only Come Out at NightThey Only Come Out at Night by Frankin Kearney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Character study balanced with uproarious action scenes of horror and carnage characterize this novel, set in the subways and the aboveground locales of New York City. Riding the subways has always included an expectation of crime, including mugging, robbery, and assault. But murders aren’t expected, aren’t as common belowground, as now; suddenly someone –or perhaps something—is targeting lone commuters, those who stay out too late at work or at classes, and so are alone embarking on a subway train or departing one. Next are attacks on subway employees, including a conductor. Eventually it seems no one is safe in the subway; but what could be causing the extraordinary level of violence involved, of murders seeming to require superhuman or beyond human strength and agility? The race is on for law enforcement to target the culprit or culprits, and for the reader to race to the end to find out: Who? What? How? And Why now? One woman, Melissa, lost her mother and nearly lost her father in an unprecedentedly brutal subway assault some years back. Now she fears that the Subway Slayer may also be targeting her, or possibly her boss/boyfriend, or even her father, who had survived the initial attack which killed his wife.

I rate this novel at 18+, due to extreme violence and some sensual encounters.
I reviewed a complimentary e-book copy of this novel, provided in return for my fair and impartial review.


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Monday, April 22, 2013

JO JOE by Sally Wiener Grotta_Review


Jo JoeJo Joe by Sally Wiener Grotta
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jo Joe by Sally Wiener Grotta
5 stars

Set in Black Bear, Pennsylvania, a fictional milieu created by authors Sally Wiener Grotta and Daniel Grotta, “Jo Joe” is a multilayered tale of small-community life, bigotry, entrenched religion, and one individual’s need to break free to assert her individuality, in the face of community pressure to either conform or to disappear. Judith Ormand is a Parisian-born product of a black French Jew and a Pennsylvania mountains Moravian. Raised until adolescence in Paris, after the death of her Grand-pere and the dissolution of her parents’ marriage, Judith goes to Black Bear to live with her mother’s folks. Due to her dark skin and professed Judaism, much of the community shuns her, but he is inexplicably defended by Joe, a hulking product of childhood abuse and football star—until he suddenly shuns her as well, leaving her vulnerable to attack and assault.

In her thirties when her beloved Gramma dies, Judith returns to Black Bear for the first time in many years (with the exception of her mother’s funeral earlier), to discover that the home and acreage have been bequeathed to Joe, whom her Gramma always distrusted. Determined to find an answer, the why of this sudden recent change of heart, Judith begins to turn over metaphorical rocks to peer underneath at the secrets such stones hide.

Ms. Grotta effectively portrays the mind-sets of this small Poconos Mountain community, going far beyond the expected “small town-everybody knows everybody’s secrets and business” to delineate the layers of savage racism, indifference and fear of outsiders, cruelty and sadism, the hive-consciousness of mobs, and the ways in which such negatives grind at the individual, producing not joy and light but instead bitterness, resentment, and fear. If we are shaped by our environment, such shaping becomes clear throughout the residents, and former residents, of Black Bear.


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THE HYPOTHESIS OF GIANTS by Melissa Kuch_ Release Day Blitz!


Book Cover
Image- Hypothesis of Giants

Title: The Hypothesis of Giants (Book One: The Assumption)

Author: Melissa Kuch

Book Description:

For the past fifteen years no one questioned the Sacred Hour in the town of Candlewick. Until one night a mysterious conch shell sounds throughout the Sacred Hour, only to be heard by two young teenagers. Aurora Alvarez is a misfit amongst her peers, desperately trying to fit in but failing to live up to the expectations of her parents and society. She unexpectedly discovers she is fated to ally herself with none other than rebellious Boreas Stockington, who allegedly escaped from the impenetrable Candlewick Prison. These two young teenagers must embark on a perilous adventure where they need to help Otus, a thirty-foot giant, prevent a cataclysmic event from occurring—the Geometric Storm. The journey will take them far from the safety of Wishbone Avenue and into the depths of the unknown and the secrets of the past. However, nothing could prepare these unlikely heroes for facing their own inner demons and the realization that Aurora and Boreas are on this quest together, whether they want to be or not.

Social Media Links:


Twitter:  @kuchmelissa



Author Bio

Melissa Kuch Picture for Author Bio
Melissa Kuch first realized her passion for writing after her first story was read before her third grade class. That childhood passion never diminished and instead cultivated with each passing year. Today, Melissa’s stories and plays continue to inspire and entertain readers from all walks of life. Melissa’s short stories Cloud Pictures in the Sky, To Secure a Husband and Name Change can be found on Amazon.com. The Assumption is the first book in The Hypothesis of Giants series. Book Two, The Change Agent, will be available by 2014. The IDEAL has spoken. For more updates about this series and other works by Melissa Kuch, please visit her website at www.Melissakuch.com You can also follow her on Twitter @kuchmelissa

Friday, April 12, 2013

BORROWING MY MOTHER'S SAINTS by Olga G. Soaje_




Borrowing My Mother's Saints
by Olga G Soaje                                                                       

Published: september 2012
Genre: Contemporary Romance (Chick lit)

Interwoven with humor, romance and vital inspiration, Olga Soaje’s novel takes readers on a dazzling journey through the sudden unraveling of one woman’s life on her quest towards happiness.
Book description:
With a plum job at Nelson and Nelson ad agency, a Manhattan apartment, and a boyfriend named Michael who looks good enough on paper, Julianna is at the peak of her game. That’s when everything starts going south fast. Nancy, her nemesis at work with a fake smile (and other body parts!), has somehow stolen her account. Her boss, Peter, deems her burned out and sends her out the door with her cardboard box. And that’s just the beginning of the rapid-fire onslaught of serious woes.
After Michael dumps her squarely, her mom is diagnosed with breast cancer. Julianna is officially at her wit’s end. However, just as she’s in the deepest despair, enter a cast of characters that Julianna hasn’t seen since her childhood days at home and in her Catholic grade school. Tucked away in her mother’s recipe box is a bounty of saints cards, and soon, those the saints come marching in to represent a source of strength her mother had found in them and a way to develop other career paths she had not considered on her road to happiness. Julianna is greeted with new opportunities, for better and sometimes for worse, that help her forge her own road to a richer, more authentic life.
A warm hug of a book, Borrowing My Mother’s Saints is chock-full of insights, hope, humor, and a dash of modern romance. Inspiring and of-the-moment, this charming, lighthearted look at contemporary life will move you to muster the courage to follow your heart on a path that might just lead you to everyday miracles.

Bio:  Since I can remember I loved to read, always having a book in the car or in my bag just in case I got the opportunity for a few more lines. What I didn't see so clearly was this love for "writing". I sensible studied Business and Finance working determination in my career, until I discovered another type of challenging career called "motherhood". It was in this new job providing a source of love,  education and many,many other hats you have to figure out along the way that I allowed myself the opportunity to write and discovered one on my greatest unexpected joys.

Links to purchase the book
Amazon:
Barnes & Noble:

Connect with Olga:














Review by Mallory Heart Reviews:


Review of Borrowing My Mother’s Saints by Olga G. Soaje
5 Stars

Although Chick Lit is not my favourite genre, “Borrowing My Mother’s Saints” has a depth and warmth and heartstrings-tugging that kept me interested, intrigued, and enjoying. Julianna (“Julie”) is a Manhattan career girl, eight years in advertising after graduation from NYU, with a “serious relationship” with hard-driving egotistical Michael, and a couple of long-term warm friendships. Julie was raised staunchly Catholic and attended parochial private schools. She fondly remembers her mother’s prayer cards to saints. When something or someone (such as colleague Nancy, who is determined to flow up the career ladder no matter how many others she stomps on) pulls the thread of Julie’s intact life and everything starts to unravel, she begins to remember those saints and to ponder on whom to ask to intercede to fix her life again.

Almost every reader can identify with Julie’s dilemma, and how sometimes it is only when we hit rock bottom that we find a new way out, a new pattern of life, a new path and life purpose. I anticipate future novels from author Olga G. Soaje.

THE MEMORY THIEF by Don Donaldson_Review


The Memory ThiefThe Memory Thief by Don Donaldson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review of The Memory Thief by Don Donaldson
5 stars

An engrossing, complex, utterly suspenseful mystery, “The Memory Tree” will appeal to readers who like their mysteries with a lot of meat on the bones. Marti Segerson, psychiatrist, arranges to be hired at a mental institution in rural Tennessee, precisely in order to get close to Vernon Odessa, the killer who slaughtered Marti’s older sister Lee when Marti was just a child. Marti has to go through and around Administrator Oren Quinn, a scientist who is sociopathic enough to be committed himself, and who is quite possibly performing memory experiments which would be both illegal and unethical, utilizing the patients at Gibson.

Convoluted but never confusing, suspenseful and emotional, “The Memory Thief” is a rereader, and a fine introduction to the novels of Don Donaldson, an accomplished and riveting writer.


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RAVELED by Anne McAneny_Review


RaveledRaveled by Anne McAneny
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review of Raveled by Anne McAneny
5 stars

Allison Fennimore is a woman with a bitter, wry wit, and she comes by it naturally, given her circumstances. Now a bartender in New York, when she was fifteen her father was charged, tried, and convicted of two killings. Even where circumstances couldn’t quite convict, the small town of Lavitte, North Carolina, did so; and Artie Fennimore did some prison time and then died. Allison’s older brother Kevin, deep in alcoholism, recently was involuntarily sentenced to rehab after an accident in which an also intoxicated adolescent, recklessly driving, died. Now Kevin wants their father’s name cleared, or at least, the lies of Lavitte exposed; and since he is in mandatory rehab and can’t do so himself, he wants Allison to return to Lavitte and find out, while she’s simultaneously arranging to put their mother, suffering from dementia, in assisted living, and sell Mother’s residence.

Author Anne McAneny has a true gift for delineating small town life, peeling away the layers and turning over the stones that conceal the ugly truths: a long-term Mayor with likely crime connections in New Jersey; neighbors and other citizens who leap to convict by gossip; and the life expectancy of rumours, which seems to be eternal. Her characters are delineated sentence by sentence, and almost immediately, they are sufficiently realized to be people we know or could know, not just fictional individuals drawn on a printed page. I highly recommend this engrossing mystery.


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Thursday, April 11, 2013

BLOOD ECHO by Melissa Simonson_Blog Tour & Review








Review of Blood Echo-reviewed by Mallory Heart Reviews





Review of Blood Echo by Melissa Simonson
4 stars

Iris and Estella are hard-charging, party-animal, trust-fund babies, good-looking, well-dressed and styling. That’s the façade, but underneath are two souls marching through a wasteland, a void, empty shells encasing empty hearts—until—Estella’s self-mutilation reaches the extreme, and she dies at her own hand. Now it’s just one empty shell, Iris, surrounded by people who almost without exception don’t understand her, or Estella. When a close family member of Estella’s is brutally slain, with cocaine dumped on the corpse in some sort of message—to the police? To the remaining family? To Iris?—focus turns to Iris, whose addiction, just as Estella’s, often ran rampant and obsessive.

The characters and settings of this novel put me in mind of those of Noel Coward and Edward Albee: upscale, society scions, disenchanted, and eternally bored and jaded. Their disenchantment is well illustrated, and their backgrounds well-delineated and easy to visualize in the reader’s imagination.



Here are the book, author, and tour pages on our site:




Here is Melissa’s Blog:            



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http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0510ed12/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway


KINSLEY CIRCLE by Kevin Cowan_Review: When the Paranormal Won't Take No For An Answer


Kinsley CircleKinsley Circle by Kevin Cowan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Review of Kinsley Circle by Kevin Cowan
3 Stars

On an isolated rural road in Virginia is a cul-de-sac inhabited by only three homes. The oldest, belonging to George and Alice Kinsley, has been there for 42 years; the other two homes, only 20 years. Chief of Police Paul Thompson, his wife, and two children live in one; Attorney Ellen Reinhart and her husband, psychologist professor/administrator David reside in the other home. The Kinsleys are unfortunately childless, but have always very much enjoyed Nancy and Thomas, the Thompson offspring.

Alice’s sudden death in her sleep propels George into a self-imposed state of isolation and sleeplessness; but when he begins claiming to hear wolves and dogs howling in the woods in the wee hours of the night, a tremendous change in his personality takes place, almost as if he had become possessed. The neighbors are deeply concerned, and anxious to get George committed for therapy—but what if this is not a case that psychiatry can answer? Circumstances go from bad to worse as whatever has changed George is now causing strife and disruption among the remaining neighbors.

The emphasis of this story is that the paranormal does exist; whether a given individual believes or is a skeptic doesn’t matter. The residents of Kinsley Circle consider themselves skeptics: one is a career law-enforcement official, another a trained Ph.D. psychologist. Both believe in the scientific approach. But when what you hear but can’t see occurs, for hours, every night at the exact same times, and the auditory “hallucinations” soon are accompanied by visual “hallucinations,” something has to be done—even if it means admitting that  “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” [Hamlet, William Shakespeare]


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LORD KELVIN'S MACHINE by James Blaylock_Review


Lord Kelvin's MachineLord Kelvin's Machine by James P. Blaylock
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Reviewing for Hearts on Fire Reviews;

I found this entry in James Blaylock’s Langdon St. Eves series, set in Victorian London and throughout England, and seriously Steampunk, to be much more gritty than either “Homunculus” or “The Aylesford Skull.” Now granted, in the latter, the evil mastermind hunchback Ignatius Narbondo did kidnap St. Ives’ son; but still, St. Ives maintained his composure for much (if certainly not all) of the time, and so did the reader. In “Lord Kelvin’s Machine,” Narbondo (never satisfied with the evil he’s done, always wanting more) has abducted St. Ives’ beloved wife Alice, the light of his very life, and now St. Ives has no composure. In fact, he is bound and determined (and armed) to destroy Narbondo forever, if only he can reclaim Alice—and even if he can’t. The reader’s hook in this novel is incredibly taut and compelling, almost more than the reader can stand at a given moment (stand it I did, however) and there is no pause for contemplation here.

Another reason for what I term the unexpected grittiness in this novel is the understandable evolution of the character of our staunch protagonist, Langdon St. Ives, once the poet-physicist and explorer, man of intellectual and exploratory adventure, a man who despite the depredations wreaked upon him and upon the world in general by the evil Narbondo, could still find the glass to be “half full” rather than “half empty,” because he had sufficient love, light, and joy in his life to so ground him. Now, pursuant to a terrible tragedy, he is at the point of wondering why he even tries to save the world from Narbondo—certainly this world holds nothing for him, he is lost and a wandering soul. Only duty and honour keep him moving. This is not a state to which I’d ever wanted to see Mr. St. Ives reduced—but it is a state which makes for rousing and constant adventure, and will rivet readers just as much as it has this reviewer.


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A SHARD OF ICE by Alivia Anders (a BLACK SYMPHONY Novel): COVER REVEAL!!! April 11, 2013


Title: A Shard of Ice
Series: Black Symphony Saga
Publisher: Red Alice Press
Release Date: April 14th, 2014
Synopsis:
THEIR SOULS, REAWAKENED
When 13-year-old Lilix Morgan is found alive and floating on a bed of ice at sea, everyone counts it a miracle. Kidnapped nearly four weeks earlier, she remembers nothing of her mysterious abduction. When she tries to remember what happened, she hears only a melody – a faint and delicate set of notes, strung together in a tune she doesn’t understand. 
THEIR POWER, UNMATCHED
A year later and desperate to put the lingering nightmares of her past behind her, Lilix crosses the country to enroll at Baelmorte Academy, aiming to become the violinist she once dreamt of. Things seem to be finally going well, and Lilix settles into a routine of sheet music and inspiration among new friends.
Then the dreams start. 
The melody and night terrors she thought she’d left behind return with a vengeance, threatening to ruin her fragile version of normalcy. Then an unlikely ally tells her that she isn’t alone. That there are others just like her, fighting to hide their own shocking truths from coming to light. That they know who she is, and what she’s been through. Now, accompanied by four other girls, Lilix discovers her nightmares are larger than a single trauma; they’re a window to a hidden part of her soul, a place of immense power with a destiny that cannot be ignored. 
THEIR BATTLE, IS ONLY BEGINNING
With this knowledge comes a new and frightening reality. For Lilix has been reawakened to stop an age-old enemy, one thought to have been destroyed centuries ago. Trapped by her destiny, Lilix is torn between what feels right and what she remembers. Her memories tell her of a star-crossed love waiting to be reunited, of friendships and trust broken in the past. But can she save that love when reality brings her an enemy, and an evil that will be the undoing of them all if they don’t destroy it?

LINKS: 
Facebook for Alivia Anders: http://www.facebook.com/aliviaanders
Twitter for Alivia Anders: https://twitter.com/AliviaAnders
Blogger for Alivia Anders: aliviaanders.blogspot.com
Official author website (still under construction): aliviaanders.com





Link to the voting contest that started it all: http://aliviaanders.blogspot.com/2013/01/vote-for-shard-of-ice-cover.html 



Monday, April 8, 2013

HALO OF THE DAMNED by Dina Rae_Blog Tour and Excerpt Post



Title: Halo Of The Damned 
Author: Dina Rae 
Genre: Horror/Paranormal Fiction/touch of romance
Number of Pages:  256 
Publisher Eternal Press 
Blurb:
A chain of advertising agencies, a new breed of humans, and a fallen angel to worship... Andel Talistokov is known for his slick advertising agencies across the globe. He is a fallen angel that uses advertising as a weapon for Satan's work. His growing power emboldens him to break several of Hell's Commandments. Furious with his arrogance, Satan commands him to return to Hell after finding his own replacement. Yezidism, an ancient angel worshiping religion, quietly expands throughout the West. Armaros appears as a guest of honor during their ceremonies. He mates with young women to produce nephilim, a mixed race of humans and angels. They are alone and unprepared for their supernatural power. Joanna Easterhouse, a recovering drug addict, steps out of prison shortly after her mother's fatal accident. She and her sister, Kim, unravel their mother's secretive past. Intrigued, they learn their bloodline is part of a celestial legacy. Both worlds collide. Halo of the Damned is a horrifying tale that weaves research together with suspenseful twists and turns


Author Bio:
Dina Rae is a new author here to stay.  As a teacher, she brings an academic element to her work.  Her three novels, Halo of the Damned, The Last Degree, and Bad Juju weave research and suspense throughout the plots.  Her short story, Be Paranoid Be Prepared, is a prequel of sorts to The Last Degree, focusing on the James Martin character.  In the spring of 2013, her latest novel, Halo of the Nephilim, will be released.  Dina also freelances for various entertainment blogs.
Dina lives with her husband, two daughters, and two dogs outside of Chicago.  She is a Christian, an avid tennis player, movie buff, and self-proclaimed expert on several conspiracy theories.  She has been interviewed numerous times in e-zines, websites, blogs, newspapers, and radio programs.  When she is not writing she is reading novels from her favorite authors Dan Brown, Anne Rice, Stephen King, Brad Thor, George R.R. Martin, and Preston & Childs. 

Where to find Dina:
Twitter: @haloofthedamned
Buy Links:



 EXCERPT ONE
As Andel waited for his servant and slave, Marcus, to come and clean up his sinister mess, he noticed blood all over his Armanisuit.  He licked the sides of his face, still savoring the taste. The Turkish rug that lay under his daughter’s corpse was also ruined. Unlike the suit, the rug was irreplaceable. He remembered when an Iman had given it to him hundreds of years ago. It was priceless, and now he had to part with it.
He looked at the decapitated, beautiful head one last time and remembered what a true bitch she turned out to be. His intercom buzzed. “Come into my office,” he hissed, as he remotely let Marcus inside.
“You called, Master?” he obediently asked, as he stepped into his office, looking at the floor. He zeroed in on the remnants of the cadaver. Pieces of flesh, bone, and organs were chewed upand stringy. This was not the first time he had cleaned up Andel’s mess.
“May I ask what she did that brought your wrath upon her?”
“I’m downsizing,” Andel smirked.

THE CAVALIERS Series by Georgiana Derwent_Blog Tour and Reviews















Title: Oxford Blood
Series: The Cavaliers #1
Author: Georgiana Derwent                           

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, New Adult, Vampire
Publisher: self-published
Format: Ebook, Paperback
Length: 304 pages

Buy Links: Amazon |

Book Description:

A Tale of the Posh, the Privileged and the Paranormal...

The Cavaliers are the most elite society at Oxford University - rich, powerful, and beautiful. No one realises that they are no ordinary students, but a group of aristocratic vampires from the English Civil War. For four hundred years they have groomed the most promising students to run the government, police, and finance in the way the vampires wish, granting them eternal life in return for absolute obedience.

When Harriet French arrives at Oxford University from her working class northern state school, she’s prepared for a culture shock, but not to become embroiled in the Cavaliers’ scheming and bloodlust. Harriet thought she'd be busy enough juggling her demanding tutor, new friends, and the murky world of student politics. But now, she must find the rebel vampire who is killing off the members, stop the Cavaliers from orchestrating a massacre of the year’s most beautiful and successful students, and defy the Society to be with the man of her dreams.

Oxford Blood is a British, adult, paranormal romance. It's a tale with vampires that aren't afraid to kill and a heroine who's not afraid of sex or her own ambition.

Title: Screaming Spires
Series: The Cavaliers #2
Author: Georgiana Derwent
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, New Adult, Vampire
Publisher: self-published                                                                  

Format: Ebook, Paperback
Length: approx 100 000 words

Release Date: April 12th 2013

Book Description:

A Tale of the Posh, the Privileged and the Paranormal...

The Cavaliers are the most elite society at Oxford University - rich, powerful, and beautiful. No one realises that they are no ordinary students, but a group of aristocratic vampires from the English Civil War. For four hundred years they have groomed the most promising students to run the government, police, and finance in the way the vampires wish, granting them eternal life in return for absolute obedience.

In her first year at Oxford University, Harriet French became inextricably tied to the Cavaliers. Now Harriet’s back at Oxford for her second year. Armed with a vampire boyfriend, some great friends and the truth, she’s expecting an easier time.  She’s wrong.  Her best friend is now a vampire and the Cavalier who turned her to save her life is facing death for the one good deed he’s ever done. Just when it seems that things can’t get any worse, the Cavaliers’ ancient enemies decide to strike at the heart of the society and they’ve got Harriet in their sights. 

Screaming Spires continues the story of an ancient vampire conspiracy and the ordinary girl caught in its web begun in Oxford Blood.

About the Author:

Georgiana Derwent read History at Oxford University. Aside from the vampires, The Cavaliers Series is an exaggerated but fairly accurate portrayal of her time there. She now works in London and lives with her fiancé. He’s been very supportive throughout the writing of her books, mainly because he likes to claim that all the most attractive characters are based on him.
Georgiana fell in love with vampire novels after reading The Vampire Diaries back in 2000. At the time it was a struggle to find any similar paranormal romances, a situation that it’s fair to say seems to have been rectified in the last few years. She now loves paranormal series, fantasy novels, and modern literary works in roughly equal measure.

Ever since her teens, she wanted to write a vampire series. Ever since going to Oxford she wanted to write a book about her experiences there. During a dull few months between finishing university and starting her graduate job, she had the idea of combining the two and The Cavaliers Series was born.



Reviews by Mallory Heart Reviews:

Review of Oxford Blood by Georgiana Derwent
5 stars

I don’t know that it’s appropriate to call a vampire story a “cosy,” but this is the way I felt reading “Oxford Blood.” As with a cosy mystery, or any enticing, enrapturing story, I just wanted to curl up around my Kindle Fire and tell the world to go away and leave me alone: I’m reading! I just fell into this story from the first page, and believe me, I had no difficulty with suspension of disbelief. I heap extra kudos on author Georgiana Derwent, because usually, I avoid vampire stories like the Black Plague; but I love this series and hope it continues on and on and on.

As an Anglophile, I was of course enraptured with the descriptions of Oxford and its environs. Ms. Derwent takes great pains to explore these wonderful historic locations, while at the same time maintaining her cast of multiple characters, and threading throughout the plot line of the Cavaliers, with additional subplots as these Oxford students do what they know best: meet, form relationships, break up, consume lots of alcohol, party, club—and oh yes, occasionally study.

I know that fans of paranormal romance will leap to bite into this series; but even those who don’t normally “do vampires” will love it do. Keep it up, Ms. Derwent!


Review of Screaming Spires by Georgiana Derwent
The Cavaliers #2
5 stars

The War between the Cavaliers and the Roundheads—Royalist supporters of English King Charles I vs. the Puritan followers of Oliver Cromwell who opposed Charles—began in 1642, but in this series it’s still raging, with the difference being that where British humans have primarily left the War behind (except for historians), among Vampires there are still two diametrically opposed groups, and they’re still named “Cavaliers” and “Roundheads.” It’s still a matter of who can get over on whom, and right now the focus is on Harriet, a young Oxford student from Yorkshire, whose family connections are far more involved with both sides of the War than she could ever have a reason to suspect.

I love this series because Georgiana Derwent simply doesn’t settle for routine, two-dimensional characters, neither vampire or human. Sure, we get the sexy, sensually appealing vampires; we also get the “scaries.” But these individuals are just as fully fleshed out as are the humans, and reading these novels is like peeking in through a one-way window into the lives of our characters (both mortal and eternal). Additionally, Ms. Derwent has an excellent background in the history of the English Civil War Era, and of her settings, and she elaborates both so that even readers who have never been to England, or know nothing of the history, can be just as fully involved in these stories as readers who are acquainted with locale and history.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

HALO OF THE DAMNED by Dina Rae_Blog Tour: Review and Giveaway


Title: Halo Of The Damned 
Author: Dina Rae 
Genre: Paranormal Fiction/touch of romance/ Horror Number of Pages:  256  
Publisher Eternal Press 


Blurb:
A chain of advertising agencies, a new breed of humans, and a fallen angel to worship... Andel Talistokov is known for his slick advertising agencies across the globe. He is a fallen angel that uses advertising as a weapon for Satan's work. His growing power emboldens him to break several of Hell's Commandments. Furious with his arrogance, Satan commands him to return to Hell after finding his own replacement. Yezidism, an ancient angel worshiping religion, quietly expands throughout the West. Armaros appears as a guest of honor during their ceremonies. He mates with young women to produce nephilim, a mixed race of humans and angels. They are alone and unprepared for their supernatural power. Joanna Easterhouse, a recovering drug addict, steps out of prison shortly after her mother's fatal accident. She and her sister, Kim, unravel their mother's secretive past. Intrigued, they learn their bloodline is part of a celestial legacy. Both worlds collide.

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Title: Halo Of The Damned 
Author: Dina Rae 
Genre: Horror/Paranormal Fiction/touch of romance
Number of Pages:  256 
Publisher Eternal Press 
Blurb:
A chain of advertising agencies, a new breed of humans, and a fallen angel to worship... Andel Talistokov is known for his slick advertising agencies across the globe. He is a fallen angel that uses advertising as a weapon for Satan's work. His growing power emboldens him to break several of Hell's Commandments. Furious with his arrogance, Satan commands him to return to Hell after finding his own replacement. Yezidism, an ancient angel worshiping religion, quietly expands throughout the West. Armaros appears as a guest of honor during their ceremonies. He mates with young women to produce nephilim, a mixed race of humans and angels. They are alone and unprepared for their supernatural power. Joanna Easterhouse, a recovering drug addict, steps out of prison shortly after her mother's fatal accident. She and her sister, Kim, unravel their mother's secretive past. Intrigued, they learn their bloodline is part of a celestial legacy. Both worlds collide. Halo of the Damned is a horrifying tale that weaves research together with suspenseful twists and turns
Sequel:
Halo of the Nelphilim  
Can a fallen angel, his band of broken souls, and his nephilim children change the world?
Armaros the Cursed, Satan’s favorite of the Fallen, falls once again after breaking the rules. Fearing an eternity of punishment, he desperately attempts to save himself by sending a bird to his island. The SOS message is received by his beloved congregation. They prepare the great Armaros’ kingdom for his return. Can his loyal worshipers rescue him from the pit?
Halo of the Nephilim is the sequel to Halo of the Damned. The story begins with Armaros’ arrest. Reporters are duped into believing he was gunned down while awaiting trial. Declared dead, his only known surviving daughter, Joanna Easterhouse, proves her relation and inherits everything. She catapults her career from an entry-level advertising assistant to the head of Armaros’ advertising empire. Life couldn’t be better: a windfall inheritance, real power within a major industry, a loving relationship with a former demon, and a baby on the way. She should be on top of the world, but knows everything good must come to an end.
Joanna’s sister, Kim Easterhouse, becomes Kim Slattery after marrying Sean, her dead mother’s probate lawyer. Joanna generously includes them as key players in her advertising chain. They, too, have much to smile about, but a string of events leads them back to old family secrets.
Wickedness looms over the Easterhouse family once more, forcing them into an unlikely showdown filled with page-turning excitement. Like Halo of the Damned, Halo of the Nephilim is filled with conspiracy and angel lore taken directly from scripture and other ancient writings. Nephilim meander the earth in confusion, constantly questioning who they are and where they stand in terms of good and evil. More mind control themes top off this tale of doom. Dina Rae delivers the darkness in the most entertaining light

Giveaway on Dina’s blog:
Rafflecopter code for the giveaway:
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First Place Winner:
Decorative box containing peacock themed items, File folders, File folder holder, beaded shawl, scarf, brooch, jeweled picture frame, silver winged earrings, hairband, hairclip, stationary ($135 value!)
Second Place Winner:
Rhinestone angel winged ladies medium sized black t0shirt of Halo Of The Damned 
Third Place Winner:
Peacock candle, pen, journal, and dishtowel


Author Bio:
Dina Rae is a new author here to stay.  As a teacher, she brings an academic element to her work.  Her three novels, Halo of the Damned, The Last Degree, and Bad Juju weave research and suspense throughout the plots.  Her short story, Be Paranoid Be Prepared, is a prequel of sorts to The Last Degree, focusing on the James Martin character.  In the spring of 2013, her latest novel, Halo of the Nephilim, will be released.  Dina also freelances for various entertainment blogs.
Dina lives with her husband, two daughters, and two dogs outside of Chicago.  She is a Christian, an avid tennis player, movie buff, and self-proclaimed expert on several conspiracy theories.  She has been interviewed numerous times in e-zines, websites, blogs, newspapers, and radio programs.  When she is not writing she is reading novels from her favorite authors Dan Brown, Anne Rice, Stephen King, Brad Thor, George R.R. Martin, and Preston & Childs. 

Where to find Dina:
Twitter: @haloofthedamned
Buy Links:





Review by Mallory Heart Reviews:

Review of Halo of the Damned by Dina Rae
5 stars

Dina Rae is a very special kind of author, as I discovered with the very first novel by her that I read, “Bad Juju.” Then I moved on to read “The Last Degree,” and now “Halo of the Damned.” Of course I was a Dina Rae convert from the first novel . She has a certain aura in her writing I’ve not experienced anywhere else, and if someone were to put a document before me, or a set of printed pages, without a title, author, or blurb listed, and tell me to read it, and then to guess the author’s identity—well, if it were one of Dina’s, I’d know on the first or second page.

Dina Rae is also a fearless author. She isn’t fazed by organizations or corporations or religious groups or secret societies. If she desires to write about it, she’ll take it on, and scrape off the façade, revealing the marrow. No secrets left unturned! Here she takes on the topic of Satan and his Earth-walking minions, those demonic troublemakers who start out as Fallen Angels and then spend the centuries seeing how many humans they can bring over to the Dark Side. Not a subject just any author would want to take up, but Ms. Rae is braver than many. Pick this one up and find out! While you’re at it, if you haven’t yet read “Bad Juju” (vodoun) or “The Last Degree” (Secret Societies), why are you missing out? Go get ‘em.

Excerpt to be posted tomorrow (Tuesday April 9) 


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