I'm back with another book review today! I listened to The Monster Under the Bed on Audible while I did a walking workout. It was the perfect length to get a good walk in while listening to an entertaining short story. This is a quick, steamy little tale about a no monster that I have ever thought about living under the bed! Flirty fun that makes the minutes fly by! This is an entire series my Rebekah Lewis and I definitely intend to read or listen to the rest! 4.5/5 stars for sheer fun! Link: http://a.co/3jVOJ47 Blurb:
An erotic paranormal SHORT STORY Maddy has an embarrassing secret: there's a monster under her bed. For some reason, it has followed her from one home to the next, always there but never seen. She's learned to live with it, but something has changed. It has set its sights on her, and its lust could very well be her undoing. Author's note: Best when paired with Volume 2, "The Monster in the Closet"
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Hey look who is back getting some book review written! Leona Bushman is one of my favorite romance authors, mainly for the fact that she mixes so many genres with her romance. Darkest Valentine is no different. This story blends history, romance and dark suspense in a seamless way. This is a very quick and entertaining read. The hero has some secrets, but not everything is as it seems with him. The heroine is feisty and full of life despite being a lady back in the days where women didn't have many rights. There are some well written side characters that help to add depth to this story. Overall its a great read and I look forward to hopefully reading more about these characters. 5/5 Stars! Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Darkest-Valentine-Leona…/…/B0788LD9Y1 Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Darkest-Valentine-Leo…/…/B0788LD9Y1 Blurb:
Heiress Lady Lilliana has been lonely most of her life. An overbearing father, abusive brother, and she's ready to toss the idea of marriage completely. But when her brother tries to have her kidnapped, she is saved by the Dark Duke, Clarence Leo Hardwick III, Duke of Cantebury, and all of a sudden, marriage doesn't seem such an awful prospect. He could keep her safe from her brother and provide the title Father expected. She enjoyed their kisses and the way he made her feel. However, despite saving her from an ugly fate, he kept secrets that she wasn't sure she could forgive. The Dark Duke enjoyed his reputation. The darker the better. It kept most mothers from throwing their daughters at his feet. While out at his secret warehouse by the London docks, he witnessed a female in distress and went to help. Something about her caught his interest, especially when he learned who she was. He determined he would marry her, gain himself a wife capable of courage and loyalty, and extract revenge all in one swoop. He wants her, but can she love him after he reveals his secrets? Fighting her father for her hand against a Marquess while protecting her from her brother's nefarious schemes proved a difficult task, especially when the spirited Lilliana kept his mind occupied on making her his. Continued attempts to kidnap Lilliana, as well as an attempt on her life convinces him he needs to marry her sooner rather than later and has to get her cooperation before it was too late. But how could he convince her to take a chance on him when his past held such darkness? With a distinctive voice, K.D. Rose illuminates and embraces the songs of our lives. Revelatory and urgent, her poetry combines fearless beauty with the strangeness of an other, watching and bearing witness to the exquisite and heartbreaking world while embroiled in the intensity and passion of life's dynamics. In turns ethereal, haunting, and brazen, Dream Poem invites the reader to the trance of what it means to be living today. For the first time K.D. Rose's literary published poetry and hidden gems are gathered together in this bold collection. Includes a bonus section with The Essay "I Have No Voice and I Must Write", and the short story "The Empath"! Amazon Link https://www.amazon.com/DreamPoem-K-D-Rose/dp/1545164738 About the author: K. D. Rose is a poet, essayist, and author. K.D. was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in poetry for "There are Species of Stars Yet to be Seen." K. D.’s book, Inside Sorrow, won Readers Favorite Silver Medal for Poetry. She has written books in multiple genres. Her poetry, essays, and short stories have been published in Word Riot, Chicago Literati, Poetry Breakfast, BlazeVOX Journal, Ink in Thirds, Northern Virginia Review, The Nuclear Impact Anthology, Stray Branch Magazine, Literary Orphans, Maintenant Contemporary Dada Magazine, Lunch Ticket Arts and Literary Magazine, The 2016 Paragram Press Anthology, Eastern Iowa Review, Bop Dead City, Santa Fe Literary Magazine, Hermes Poetry Magazine, Slipstream, Wild Women's Medicine Circle Journal and The Offbeat Literary Magazine. Twitter – https://twitter.com/KDRose1 Facebook https://www.facebook.com/authorkdrose/ Website: http://authorkdrose.net/ Tumbler http://kdrose1.tumblr.com/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?locale=en_US&trk=profile-preview Google + https://plus.google.com/u/0/102870988804959230001/about/p/pub Art and self doubt seem to go hand in hand, at least I know that they do for me. The thing is I am not alone in this aspect. Many artist suffer from self doubt, sometimes to the point that its crippling. What is it about the creative mind that leads it to doubt itself? I wish I knew the answer and how to stop doubting myself and my artistic endeavors.
So what do I do when self doubt comes knocking? Well when I start to feel like I am the worst author in the world, when I feel like no one will ever want to read my books, when I feel like people are laughing behind my back about my art, I tend to go into a downward spiral of despair. I usually wallow in the feeling of not being good enough for quite some time, fighting to pull myself out of my funk. It's hard to get out of that mindset, but I struggle until I feel some confidence slipping back in. How do I get my confidence back? Sometimes it helps for me to look at cold hard facts. Like the number of readers on this blog for instance. All of the books that I have already published and sold. Sometimes I remember that many great artists feel the same way and yet they continue to make art. Sometimes looking at art, listening to music, or reading great books can pull me out of my own mind for it is my mind that is my biggest enemy at times. So my fellow creatives reading this, do you sometimes suffer from self doubt? How do you get your confidence back when it strikes? What helps you stop the doubt in its tracks? History branded him a coward. Prophecy labeled her his destruction. Some legends are born of lies. Others begin when the lies end. And not everything remains myth... "If you could live forever, what would you choose to live for? I chose power..." Born of darkness and raised on revenge, Mordred Lothian spent an eternity fighting for the honor of a woman who had none. Free of her hatred, his only goal is to pick up the pieces of betrayal and attempt to forge a new life in a world that never wanted him. Raised by one of Hollywood's most scandalous actresses, Jenalyn Rhodes knows true illusion begins when the end credits roll. Damaged by the one person who should have protected her most, she is determined to have no master and only one mistress: Herself. Thrown together to stop an ancient evil hell bent on vengeance, can the sacrifice of one be the salvation of the other? TIMELESS SURRENDER BUY LINKS: Books2Read Universal Link: https://www.books2read.com/u/49PqWY Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078WMLZS5 Excerpt: “Stop being a baby. Let me help you,” Jennie chided, rounding the bathroom doorway and standing stock still as Mordred studied the sizable chunk of flesh missing from the seeping bite wound centered on his left hip. Even wounded, he was magnificent. Honed, deadly muscles which flexed and coiled as she drew nearer distracted her for a moment. But only for a moment. Because the thing brought actual tears to her eyes were all the old scars and puckered wounds decorating his back; thick and rigid, the skin drawn up in patchwork manner and covering his entire torso as well. She'd noticed them the other night when they'd been in the kitchen talking. He'd only worn a towel then. She'd felt them last night under her questing fingers. Yet, today, now, this moment, it took her breath away. She met his ocean blue eyes in the mirror’s reflection, her long fingers reaching out to lightly trace above a curving scar along his tailbone, its length unknown as it dipped below the waistband of his jeans. “Go away, Jenalyn. I don’t need your help. It’s not my first rodeo.” His voice, rugged and sensual made her ache in places she'd never felt before. Everything about Mordred either fascinated or annoyed her and she couldn’t say it to be necessarily a bad thing. Yes, he oozed arrogance, he embodied chauvinism, he came off demanding and bossy. He underestimated her, provoked her and habitually patronized her. She liked it, twisted, fucked up ball of yarn she knew herself to be. Again, she let her fingers trace the air above a long, thin jagged scar stretching from his nape down to the middle of his back. Ignoring his dismissal, she met his gaze in the glass again. "How did you get this?" He swallowed, she watched the tendons in his neck stretch taut before he answered. "My stepfather, Lot. I didn't fetch his food fast enough." "And this one?" She touched a puckered patch of skin on his hip. "Lot's wife, Dilys. She poured hot water on me for daring to touch her newborn son, my brother." Jennie's jaw dropped. She pointed to a nasty looking section of discolored skin on his back left shoulder. "What about this one?" "I said no to one of Lot's knights. He didn't take it kindly and bit me." "Jesus, Mordred. How did you endure this?' "I didn't have any other choice." "I thought you told me you were invincible?" She bit off a light laugh, nearly strangling on the knot in her throat imagining the things he told her. "I am. Still here aren’t I?" "Why didn't you Wolverine yourself?" "What?" "Heal yourself? I thought you could." "At the time, I couldn't. And when I could, these scars remained." Shadows danced over his hard, handsome face before he turned to face her, wrapping his hands around her upper forearms. Dear Gods, she wanted to give his chest a repeated tongue bath. Despite the grievous wounds blanketing the marbled flesh, she found it mouthwatering. The heat from his touch raced through her and she had to bite her own tongue to keep from moaning when the sight of one scar, in particular, caught her attention. Right over his heart, it looked like someone had tried to cut him open once. A vicious wound, angry looking despite the passage of time. Raising her fingers again she touched the air above it, traced it gently, tenderly. “This one? What happened?” He dipped his head low, warm breath washing over her ear as his grip on her tightened. “Jenalyn. Go. Away.” Despite the words, he made no move to release her, she heard his harsh breathing kick up a notch, saw his fangs punch down, peeking from under those lips she knew she wanted to kiss. “Tell me what happened and I’ll bail.” His lips brushed her temple, dipping lower along her right cheek. “I got it because I don’t listen well at times. I'd a rather harsh teacher back in the day. I admitted a weakness and an attempt to purge it followed. Warriors can’t have weaknesses. Let alone the son of Morgan Le Faye.” Jennie's eyes fluttered shut when his warm mouth brushed the outside of hers, hovering. “W-what weakness?” She felt her lower belly constrict, moisture flooding her thighs at the slight contact with him. He pushed her away gently. “I confessed my love for someone. So she tried to remove my heart.” A sharp pang of jealousy hit Jennie in the gut at his admission. “That's ...what? I'm glad it didn’t work." “The procedure? No. The lesson? Yeah. It worked. I'd turned ten years old that day.” Jennie stiffened, rage washing through her at the admission. A child, a little boy! She looked into his eyes. “Where the fuck was your mother?” “With me.” Mordred bit off a dark laugh and stepped further back, leaving a good three feet of space between them. Jennie watched as the hazy lust smearing his face hardened back into battle mode. “And she didn’t stop it?” He shrugged, reaching around her to turn on the shower. Steam instantly filled the bathroom. "Who do you think taught the lesson?" Author Bio: Born on the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous,I am the illegitimate love child of Han Solo and Daenerys Targaryen. Rescued by Gandalf shortly before my home planet was destroyed in the last days of the Clone Wars, I was raised in relative obscurity by my foster parents, Severus Snape and Pippi Longstocking. At the tender age of 113, I inherited the best little whorehouse in Texas and it's been rumored that I am bringing Sexy Back. A self- confessed chocoholic, I've been engaged to Willy Wonka for several years despite gossip surrounding millionaire Bruce Wayne and myself. And clearly, I practice delusion on a daily basis. Fact is nowhere as fun as fiction! Growing up, I could be found nearby falling down rabbit holes, catching second stars to the right, and stepping through wardrobes into mysterious lands and countless adventures. When those stories ended, I made up her own and kept going. This later on translated into a strong passion for writing that has helped keep my feet on the ground while my head stayed firmly in the clouds. My first brush with romance novels came at the tender age of 8 when I filched a Barbara Cartland dog eared paperback from my unassuming aunt and fell into a world of magic, wonder and entirely innocent G rated writing. (Seriously, the farthest Dame Cartland ever took any romantic scene was a chaste kiss and that generally didn’t occur until the very end.) I went on to greedily consume Johanna Lindsey, Jude Devereaux and Anne Rice when older. Now, I'm a middle aged woman with moxie, no shame and a vivid imagination who loves to write and share her crazy with the world. Her future plans include, hopefully, buying a lovely Scottish castle and convincing Queen Elizabeth I that I'd make a fab addition to the Royal Family. I live in Southern California, a stone's throw from Disneyland, with my family and the most ridiculously spoiled pets anyone could imagine. My goals are simple: Keep reading, keep writing and never lose the determination to make life as random, quirky and beautiful as it can be. Blog and Website: http://torienjames2.wixsite.com/thetoriezone FB: https://www.facebook.com/WriterGurl216 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Writergurl216 Instagram: @queenofsquee Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7054839.Torie_N_James Amazon Author: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CTBYH0M Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/torienjames So as I have mentioned here on my blog before, my husband and I love to play games and make the local game store our hangout. So that is why I have started giving some board and card games reviews here on this blog. This is part of my everyday life and why not share it with all of my lovely readers.
Today I am reviewing the deck building card game Heart of Crown. I love this game. Love it. I am a big fan of deck building games to begin with, but this one has to be the best that I have played. The basic concept of this game is that you build enough wealth to "back" a princess in a race to claim the thrown. Then you build a domain and try to get enough influence for your princess to win the thrown. There are two different markets from which you build your deck and there is a lot of strategy as to which cards you add to your deck as well as which princess you choose to back. My husband and I have played quite a few games in just a short time and are never bored. There are so many different card combinations that you can get from the basic market that you are always playing a different game. You also can alter your playing strategy so that you stayed challenge. The mechanics of the game are easy to understand and games go by at a fast pace. I personally love the art work, being a big fan of anime. I have already bought the two expansions that are currently available (which both fit in the base box, something that is rare in the game world at times). The only small complaint is that you need to buy card protectors right away as the cards started to bend after one play. No real big deal though since we were planning on that anyways. Though there are 300 cards in the base game and 60+ cards in each expansion, so that is a little chunk of money. Still, this is my favorite game at the moment. A+ review. If you like card games, deck building, and having fun go get Heart of Crown! So I recently came across a question in a fantasy readers/authors group on Facebook and I thought that I would ask all of you, my lovely readers. The question is whether or not blogging is necessary for authors? Meaning, should authors even take time out of their other writing work to blog? Since I am posting this question on my blog, I bet you know what my answer is. However I was really shocked that almost every one on that particular post seemed to think blogging was a waste of time. Most people there said they don't read blogs, that they believe that authors should just be writing their next book, that blogs were no longer relevant. I was couldn't believe that no one thought blogging was relevant.
Now I blog three times a week, about my work, about art, about my writing of course, and any other thing that pops in my mind. I also like to share other authors and artists. And I have hundreds of readers each week, thousands each month. So obviously people are still reading blogs. You are reading blogs my friends. So I thought that I would ask you some questions. Why do you read blogs? How many do you read on average? What draws you to certain blogs? Do you find new authors through blogs? Do you buy books you read about on blogs? Where else to you find authors? On Facebook and Twitter? Podcasts? This inquiring author really wants to hear from you! I am finally back with some book reviews! Yay! I bought the BadRedHeaded Media 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge for the same reason that most people do, to try to improve my book marketing and hopefully sell more books. I found that this is a well written book with several useful and easy to implement tips that did indeed help my marketing. It is the reason I set up my 3 day a week blogging schedule. I have gained followers on my blog, twitter, and fb to a degree. I think that I learned a lot that can help me continue improving as an author who has to market her books. If you are an author looking for something that you can do today to help market your books, I recommend giving this challenge a try. 5/5 stars for the results I saw. Link: https://www.amazon.com/BadRedhead-Media-30-Day-Marketing-Challenge-ebook/dp/B077R8B8SG/ The last half of last year was a tough one for me on the writing front, I had lost my writing mojo and lacked inspiration. Taking this into consideration it should come as no surprise that I am seeking to become inspired once more. Not only do I want to be inspired, but I really want to learn and grow as an author, as an artist. I want to learn to be a more authentic author. Recently I watched the interview with Jack White (below) where he said something about his music that really stuck me. He said that he makes music in pursuit of trying to capture the truth. I like that. I feel that is probably what most artist in any field are trying to do. That is what I want to try to do more in my writing. Now I'm sure some people are going to laugh at that statement as I do tend to write a lot of romance, but I ask those naysayers this: What is more true than love? Though I do intend to branch out even more in my writing, exploring other genres and themes as I go. Sorry, I digress, this post started out being about finding writing inspiration and one of the things that inspires me the most is music. Music has the power to move the soul and how can you not find inspiration in that? I listen to a lot of music not just when writing, but when I'm plotting and thinking about characters. Selecting music to write to can help me set the mood for whatever I am working on at the moment. For instance while writing Quest for Redemption I listened to a lot of Arch Enemy, a metal band with a female singer whom I felt had the femininity and toughness that I wanted Zanna to represent in that story. As I am working on the long awaited sequel to Quest, I have found myself listening to a lot of Jack White (hence the interview that I talked about above). Why? He certainly does not inspire my female protagonist Nyx, but his music fits her journey none the less. She is unique, she is searching for something even she doesn't know. She has power and mystery and maybe that is why this music is inspiring her story. Who really knows where inspiration comes from? I know it sometimes comes from anywhere, from your own life, from music, from interviews with musicians, from nature, this list can go on forever. Personally I am just trying to slow down a little and actually listen and pay attention for these bouts of inspiration. I am so proud to be part of this horror anthology compiled by Samie Sands! You can check out my story, The Price of Greed, and so many others for only .99 cents! Available in paperback as well! What is your biggest fear? Delve into these nightmares and phobias to see if you can handle it! Links: ebook: https://www.amazon.com/Its-Behind-You-Samie-Sands-ebook/dp/B07BC2VFFT/ paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Its-Behind-You-Samie-Sands/dp/1984305506/ Addiction by M. Earl Smith Who’s Afraid of a Stupid Clown by Alex Winck Entomophobia by Katie Jaarsveld The Pond by Rob Shepherd The Price of Greed by Sheri Velarde Sleeping Cyberbeauty by Alex Winck Triskaidekaphobia by Samie Sands Reflection by Rick Eddy Heliophobia by Fernanda Oz The Second Clourophobia Massacre by Kevin Hall Nightwalk by Stefan Vucak The Symbiote by Alex Winck Threshold Dreams by McKenzie Richardson The Hunt by Dave Suscheck Fear by Kally Jo Surbeck The Reason We Run by TW Iain Time and Rewind by Katie Jaarsveld Wide Awake by James Bryant |
AuthorAuthor, artist, jewelry maker and all around creative person. I write in many genres and have a lot of fun doing so. Please take a look around and enjoy! Archives
January 2022
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