Synopsis Taryn planned for an easy out and back hike into the Sawtooth Mountains to scatter her wife’s ashes. Gemma had been the outdoorsy type, while Taryn preferred the city, though an alpine lake at the end of the trail held a special place for them both. They had spent time together there in that […]
Reviews
The Harvest of Moondew Valley: Well of Shadows (The Harvest of Moondew Valley) by D. R. R. Hatch
Synopsis Alden Bramblethorn’s job at The Whispering Willow is wearing on him. But it’s not just that. His family is broken, and he has no living relatives. Lonely, he seeks answers from the GoldenRoot Ancestral Repository. It doesn’t take long for him to strike gold. There, he finds an ancient letter with a deed to […]
Review: Kraken Rider Z by David Estes and Dyrk Ashton
TL;DR Review A wonderfully fresh, upbeat, and enjoyable entrant into the world of progression fantasy. Compelling yet easy reading from start to finish. Synopsis If there’s one thing dragons fear, it’s a kraken. Even lowly hull-scrubber Zee Tarrow knows that. Like everyone on the island kingdom of Tosh, he grew up frightened by fables and […]
Review: Blood Sugar by Daniel Kraus
Synopsis From the co-author of the New York Times–bestselling novelization of The Shape of Water comes the blood-curdling story of a Halloween night where trick-or-treat becomes life-or-death In a ruined house at the end of Yellow Street, an angry outcast hatches a scheme to take revenge for all the wrongs he has suffered. With the help of three alienated […]
Review: The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo
Synopsis Leslie Bruin is assigned to the backwoods township of Spar Creek by the Frontier Nursing Service, under its usual mandate: vaccinate the flock, birth babies, and weather the judgements of churchy locals who look at him and see a failed woman. Forged in the fires of the Western Front and reborn in the cafes […]
Review: Merciless Waters by Rae Knowles
There’s worse things than drowning, folks… Synopsis The sea never changes. Neither do Lily and Jaq. Aboard the ship Scylla, there is no future or past. Jaq, her fickle lover Lily, and their all-female crew exist in an endless present. It’s better this way. At least it keeps Lily by Jaq’s side, where she belongs. […]
Australian & New Zealand Author Showcase No 13 – Damien Francis
Today I have the honour of hosting the lucky thirteenth author showcase focusing on the awesome talent originating from Australia and New Zealand. The idea came to me whilst seeing so many of the book community gathering at recent conventions in the US and UK. And once my FOMO had subsided, I got to thinking […]
Review: The Forbidden Realms (Fallen Light Series #2) by H.C. Newell
Synopsis Book II of the Fallen Light series. Nerana is a sorceress. An exile. The Child of Skye. And she isn’t alone. After a vicious attack against the Order of Saro, Nerana finds herself lost in the wastelands of Aragoth. Forbidden of humans or evae, the desert is a land teeming with fire and […]
Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
Synopsis Magic has made the city of Tiran an industrial utopia, but magic has a cost—and the collectors have come calling. An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by […]
Review: Dreamtaker (Zodiac #2) by Azshure Raine
Synopsis: Fate and Time are forever intertwined, but what about Fate and…Eternity? Fate smiles upon a thriving Chall under the rule of its new king. A time of celebration has come to the once guarded metal walls. Flowers bloom and people arrive in anticipation of the royal wedding of the King of Chall to his […]
Review: Chaos Terminal (The Midsolar Murders #2) by Mur Lafferty
Everything that was fun and entertaining was still as amusing and fulfilling in this second entry, with Lafferty’s sharp wit and humor shining as expected. The pop-culture references remained on point and the homages to Agatha Christie continued. Getting to reunite with all of the characters aboard the sentient station Eternity felt like revisiting old friends that you’d almost forgotten how much they can amuse and entertain you
Review: Apparitions by Adam Pottle
Synopsis Violence was his first language. A nameless Deaf teen escapes his father’s basement after years of imprisonment. Bloody, alone, and without language, he stumbles through the Saskatchewan prairies and lands in a psychiatric facility, where he meets Felix, another Deaf teen. Felix—cunning and ambitious—teaches the nameless narrator Sign Language and begins to mold the abused […]