Thursday 27 September 2018

Excerpt of Apollo is Mine by Mila Young




About The Book:
Title: APOLLO IS MINE (Harem of The Gods Book 1)
Author: Mila Young
Pub. Date: September 18, 2018
Publisher: Mila Young
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 200
Find it: GoodreadsAmazon













I’m a warrior. Cursed to fight monsters. Sworn to act as Zeus’ sword to protect mankind.

But I’d give it all up for one last kiss with the god who stole my heart…Apollo.

I never wanted to carry my family's legacy. But blood ties cannot be broken, and I’ll keep the promise I made my father on his dying bed. Legendary monsters hunt in city streets of Chicago, and my job was to take down the worst. 

I’ve trained with Heracles.

Been blessed with super human powers.

What I’ve never done is fallen in love—until Apollo crossed my path. But he isn’t the only god to catch my attention. Hades is here too, and with him comes a darkness that leaves behind a trail of human bodies. Heracles and my gut instinct urges me to destroy this creature, but each step brings me closer to the truth…

Darkness cannot win…or the Earth will tumble into chaos and I’ll lose the god I’ve come to love…Apollo is mine.


Apollo is Mine is book 1 in the Harem of the Gods reverse harem series.

Content Warning: Steamy love scenes, dominating alphas who protect their female, and plenty of sexy Greek gods who will leave you breathless.



About Mila:
Bestselling Author, Mila Young tackles everything with the zeal and bravado of the fairytale heroes she grew up reading about. She slays monsters, real and imaginary, like there's no tomorrow.

By day she rocks a keyboard as a marketing extraordinaire. At night she battles with her might pen-sword, creating fairytale retellings, and sexy ever after tales. In her spare time, she loves pretending she's a mighty warrior, walks on the beach with her dogs, cuddling up with her cats, and devouring every fantasy tale she can get her pinkies on.



Giveaway Details:
1 Winner will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card, International.


Tour Schedule:
Week One:
9/17/2018- BookHoundsInterview
9/17/2018- Two Chicks on BooksExcerpt

9/18/2018- Reese's ReviewsReview
9/18/2018- ParajunkeeExcerpt

9/19/2018- Book Sniffers AnonymousExcerpt
9/19/2018- Books a Plenty Book Reviews- Review

9/20/2018- bookishbibliophileReview
9/20/2018- To Be ReadReview

9/21/2018- Smada's Book Smack- Excerpt
9/21/2018- That Artsy Reader GirlInterview

Week Two:
9/24/2018- Lisa Loves LiteratureExcerpt
9/24/2018- Jaime's WorldExcerpt

9/25/2018- Cindy's Love of BooksReview
9/25/2018- AbellafairytaleReview

9/26/2018- FirstbookloveReview
9/26/2018- Twirling Book PrincessExcerpt

9/27/2018- Finding Magic In BooksInterview
9/27/2018- Writer of WrongsExcerpt

9/28/2018- A Crave For BooksReview
9/28/2018- Adventures Thru WonderlandReview

Wednesday 26 September 2018

Your Mid-Week Update for 09/26/18

I’ve been thinking a lot about poisons.

For centuries it’s been considered the “women’s” tool for murder, considered clean and tidy, devoid of the pure violence involved in killing someone with your bare hands. To that I say: bullshit.

Poison is messy. It’s dirty and cold. It is by no means a coward’s way out and the men who say that it’s only for women are wrong and just too scared to actually work hard at their murder. Poison takes careful planning and an iron will. You can’t claim to accidentally lace the soup with arsenic. You can’t claim self-defense. You must stand up to the world and proudly declare that you would rather society didn’t exist without this one person.

That being said, historically, poison – and in particular arsenic – has been used almost exclusively by female serial killers.

Every time I have the idea to poison a victim, I spend hours contemplating if I should because it would feel like a step back for feminism and the divide between male and female killers. I don’t want to contribute to the stereotyping and misogyny of my fellow women. But I also don’t want to censor or stifle myself because I’m worried about society will think of my choices. I want the freedom to do what I want – even something traditionally feminine without feeling like my every move is being scrutinized.

Do you see my dilemma?

I want to call myself a feminist, but I also constantly question my actions and whether my moves are motivated by pure desire or a desire to move away from stereotypes.

Killing in general is considered a masculine act anyways- the act of destroying – the act of tearing things apart with your bare hands or otherwise spilling blood. This doesn’t take into account the murder that doesn’t involve loin cloths and guns and otherwise bloody messes. And why is blood considered masculine anyways? Bleeding is very much a feminine thing.

I remember seeing some joke about how more women get away with murder because thy are better and getting blood out of things – at least I think it was a joke – I don’t know how accurate those statistics would be. But honestly? Yeah. I got really good at scrubbing out blood from my clothes long before I started killing. It’s made my job a lot easier.

The point I’m trying to make is that killing of any kind – not just poison – is not a men’s game. It is very much a feminine action to deal with the life of another being. Destruction may be considered masculine, but women are much better at it.

Should we even be considering “acts” masculine or feminine? They are actions that anyone is capable of – here’s just some societal stigma around one person or the other committing those actions.

Why am I so preachy today?

I guess I spent a lot longer than I realized worrying about whether to poison this woman in the coffee shop. I started thinking about it and even as I dropped the rat poison in, I still wondered if it was too cliché to use poison as my weapon of choice.

But you know what? It shouldn’t matter. I want the freedom to kill people however I want, and I will damn well do what I please.

I feel a lot better getting all that off my chest. Thanks for listening to my rant. I know you don’t have a lot of options when it comes to learning about the inner workings of a serial killer, but I appreciate your readership nonetheless.

As always, dear readers,

Stay Safe

Monday 24 September 2018

Excerpt of Trial of Three by Alex Lidell



About the Book:
Title: TRIAL OF THREE (Power of Five #3)
Author: Alex Lidell
Pub. Date: September 26, 2018
Publisher: Danger Bearing Press
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 192
Find it: GoodreadsAmazon
Read For FREE With Kindle Unlimited!

Four cords of power. Three trials. Two soul-crushing secrets. 

For Lera, training has never been so hard. With the males’ power roaring in her veins and River’s cold demand that she master the magic before the third trial, something has to give. Worse still, River is keeping something from her. Something about his past and Lunos’s future.

For River and Coal, the past must stay buried. Though one male’s nightmare sits on a throne and the other’s hides in his soul, they are equally unprepared for Lera’s startling determination to undress the truth. 

But when Mors’s Emperor Jawrar makes a play for Lunos, neither Lera’s fledgling magic nor the males’ old wounds can remain untouched—not if their world is to survive.

TRIAL OF THREE is a full-length reverse-harem fantasy novel, third in the Amazon bestselling, KU-All Star POWER OF FIVE series. 

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Shade
“Throwing apples?” Shade says, picking up the fallen fruit and holding it out toward me.

When I reach for it, he pulls the apple up and out of my reach, a corner of his mouth lifting. “Much better,” he murmurs. “I’d forgotten just how short you really—”

My toes push me up of their own accord, my head tipping back to meet Shade’s lowering mouth. Large, soft lips cover mine as muscled arms brush my shoulders, my arms, my—

I squeak as Shade tosses the apple into Sprite’s stall and grips my hips. Lifting me easily, the male brings my face even with his and deepens the kiss. With no ground beneath my feet, I wrap my legs around Shade’s hard waist, feeling his low growl all the way through my core.

The smell of earth fresh from rain fills me, soothing the jagged, stinging wounds in my heart. Mate. Shade’s wolf is my mate, and the two of us . . . My body folds perfectly into his, alive and fulfilled in a way that only the shifter can offer.

Coal
This isn’t what I came here for. Isn’t something I should like. Isn’t right.

“I will count to three.” Coal swallows, his arms now trembling with the effort of holding rock-still above me. “And by the time I’m done, you are going to be out of this room. If you are not . . . then I imagine you will be a great deal more sore in the morning. Because I am a breath away from showing you exactly what happens when my control falters. And we both know that is not what you want.”

Stars. What do I want? I can’t think. Can barely breathe. I should get out of this room, run as fast as I can. Never look back. My body pulses, the throbbing in my chest sliding lower with each dizzying breath. My thighs quiver. My body defying my mind, as I defy Coal’s words.

“One,” Coal says.

I draw a breath, my gaze skittering across him. Large and powerful and dark. Raw.

“In case you’ve not worked it out, my room is warded to contain sound. No one will hear your screams.” Coal’s words are cold and hard.

My sex aches. My mind searches for escape. I brace my hands on the bed—the path to the door is wide open to me. Not for long, but for now.

Coal follows my gaze, nodding approvingly. Yes, his flashing eyes tell me. Yes, go. Leave. RUN. “Two.”

Tye
I wrap my hands around my shoulders, snuggling into Tye’s pine-and-citrus scent. “I don’t know why it feels so different from Shade,” I confess before catching myself. Between coupling with Shade and now with Coal, I’m not sure where I stand with Tye.

“Of course it feels different.” Tye snorts. “You’d likely feel uncomfortable walking into the supper hall naked, though that little seems a problem at other times, aye?”

My cheeks flush and Tye chuckles softly, running a knuckle down my cheek in a way that sends a blaze of heat down to my toes. Maybe he does want me. Between all the teasing and lack of follow-up, the confusion is starting to eat at me. Ask. I should just ask. I make my voice light despite my suddenly pounding heart. “If you are maneuvering to drag me into a bedchamber for the sake of testing Autumn’s theory, you should just confess now.”

The male stiffens, the sudden hurt flashing in his face almost too quick to catch. “I never confess to anything, lass,” he says with a wink. “It’s safer for me that way.”

I catch Tye’s arm before he can pull away, the humor leaving my voice. “What did I say?”

“Nothing.”

“Tye.” I pause, an unwelcome feeling now burning in the pit of my stomach. “Do you . . . do you not want me that way?” I ask quietly.

He pulls his arm back, his hands going into his pockets. His usually sparkling green eyes are opaque, the angles of his beautiful face carefully expressionless. “If by that way you mean as a curiosity or a training aid or a bloody toy, then no, lass. I don’t.”

My breath catches. I open my mouth to protest, but Tye shakes his head. For a split second I see a whole new male behind the forever-amused mask, a whole life and past that I know nothing about. For a split second, Tye seems all of his five centuries old.

Leaning forward, he brushes a soft kiss over my lips. “We’ll know when it’s time, lass,” he whispers into my ear. “And it isn’t just yet.” The mask of mischief is back on his face before I can respond, and he pokes my newly healed ribs. “Let’s get back to the suite. Autumn was cleaning when I left, and if there is a greater sign of trouble than that, I’ve yet to learn it.”

River
“While I am offering confessions,” River says, his gray eyes flashing, focusing on mine with thunderous intensity. “There is one other lie that I feel the need to correct.” Without waiting for a response, River lowers his mouth to mine, his fresh scent drifting around my body in a caress. As one warm palm moves to cup the back of my head, his tongue opens my lips.

I gasp as River claims my mouth, pressing into me so thoroughly that I feel the pounding of his heart echo through my flesh. His tongue dances and twists against mine, marking its territory with a visceral need that leaves no room for doubt of what he wants. Of how much he wants it.

My heart jumps. I press back against River’s kiss, the pressure of his lips waking my body, pulling a moan from me before I can stop it. River growls against my mouth, the hand on the back of my head tangling in my hair until I can no more escape his kiss than I can give up breathing.

And stars, I do not want to escape it. Not with my thighs tingling, an ache starting low in my belly. When River pulls away, leaving my lips swollen and empty, my breath hitches from the loss. “What was”—I struggle to remember the start of this conversation—“what was the other lie?”

“When I asked to couple with you,” River says quietly. “I said I wanted you for prudence’s sake. That wasn’t true.” He leans down, biting my lip and groaning softly at my gasp of arousal. His hardness presses into me. “I want you because I want you. And I want to prove it.”

******************************

About Book 2:
Title: MISTAKE OF MAGIC (Power Of Five #2)
Author: Alex Lidell
Pub. Date: June 29, 2018
Publisher: Danger Bearing Press
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 193
Find it: GoodreadsAmazon

FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED!!!

Three trials stand between Lera and exile. Unless the training kills her first.

Quint magic has never chosen a human before, and the Elders Council is convinced Lera is a mistake. 

When the quint refuses to be cleaved apart, the enraged elders give them a choice: exile from Lunos or demotion to the lowest of trainees. Subject again to the humiliations and deadly trials they endured centuries ago, the males now face a new challenge—training Lera to survive. 

River, Shade, Coal, and Tye will do whatever it takes to keep Lera safe. But Lera will do whatever she must to keep them together—even if it means putting herself in mortal danger.


About Book 1:

Title: POWER OF FIVE
Author: Alex Lidell
Pub. Date: May 4, 2018
Publisher: Danger Bearing Press
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 312
Find it: GoodreadsAmazon

FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED!!!

Four elite fae warriors. One mortal female. A magical bond they can’t allow—or resist. 

Orphaned and sold to a harsh master, Lera’s life is about mucking stalls, avoiding her master’s advances, and steering clear of the mystical forest separating the mortal and fae worlds. Only fools venture into the immortal realms, and only dark rumors come out... Until four powerful fae warriors appear at Lera’s barn. 

River, Coal, Tye, and Shade have waited a decade for their new fifth to be chosen, the wounds from their quint brother’s loss still raw. But the magic has played a cruel trick, bonding the four immortal warriors to... a female. A mortal female. 

Distractingly beautiful and dangerously frail, Lera can only be one thing—a mistake. Yet as the males bring Lera back to the fae lands to sever the bond, they discover that she holds more power over their souls than is safe for anyone... especially for Lera herself. 

Power of Five is a full-length reverse-harem fantasy novel. 

About Alex:
Alex Lidell is the Amazon Breakout Novel Awards finalist author of THE CADET OF TILDOR (Penguin, 2013). She is an avid horseback rider, a (bad) hockey player, and an ice-cream addict. Born in Russia, Alex learned English in elementary school, where a thoughtful librarian placed a copy of Tamora Pierce’s ALANNA in Alex’s hands. In addition to becoming the first English book Alex read for fun, ALANNA started Alex’s life long love for YA fantasy books. Alex is represented by Leigh Feldman of Leigh Feldman Literary. She lives in Washington, DC.

Join Alex's newsletter for news, bonus content and sneak peeks: 
www.subscribepage.com/TIDES 


Giveaway Details:

1 winner will win a $10 Amazon GC International.


********************************

Tour Schedule:
Week One:
9/24/2018- BookbriefsReview
9/24/2018- Writer of WrongsExcerpt

9/25/2018- Books a Plenty Book ReviewsReview
9/25/2018- Mythical BooksSpotlight

9/26/2018- Bri's Book NookReview
9/26/2018- A Dream Within A DreamExcerpt

9/27/2018- WhyChooseReview
9/27/2018- Smada's Book SmackExcerpt

9/28/2018- Ace ReadsExcerpt
9/28/2018- Oh Hey! Books.Excerpt

Week Two:
10/1/2018- Reese's ReviewsReview
10/1/2018- Two Chicks on BooksExcerpt

10/2/2018- Love in a time of FeminismReview
10/2/2018- Jaime's WorldExcerpt

10/3/2018- My Mundane LifeExcerpt
10/3/2018- ParajunkeeReview

10/4/2018- BookHoundsExcerpt
10/4/2018- Patriotic BookaholicExcerpt

10/5/2018- Book-KeepingReview
10/5/2018- Don't Judge, ReadExcerpt


Thursday 20 September 2018

Review of Pathogen: Outbreak by Kai Kiriyama

It's not often I get an opportunity to read books written by local authors. There's something so wonderful about being able to actually see them on the street and thank them for their contribution to the English language. They are not these far off beings you can only interact with online; writers are living, breathing artists working in the community and I love that I get to read their words and soak in the local talent in my own backyard.

That said, lets talk about this gruesome zombie book.

A lot can happen in 24 hours.

A virus can kill a patient.

A doctor can end up in quarantine.

An outbreak can occur.

And all hell can break loose.

Still reeling from the loss of the patient who he had affectionately referred to as "Zero," Doctor Liam Alexander wakes up in  quarantine, only to discover he'd been abandoned. With no explanation, he wanders into the hospital, only to discover a nightmare hell scape he'd never imagined.
Battling his own grief, he teams up with a nurse who hadn't escaped the hospital when the dead began to rise. Together, they must escape the outbreak that has spread beyond the hospital walls, or else become victims of the illness they'd fought to prevent. 

********************************

The prequel to Calgary-based writer Kai Kiriyama's 2015 novel Pathogen: Patient Zero, Outbreak picks up where the first story ended, with the death of Zero and the subsequent rising of the zombie apocalypse - spoilers? Admittedly I'm quite behind the times as the second book in the series was released in 2015 and the third book (Pathogen: Revolution) has been out since 2016. While I may have missed out, I want to introduce to you, my dear readers, this engaging series. You can find my review of Patient Zero (which also came out in 2015) here.

In the sequel to Kiriyama's tragic first person zombie tale, we now follow lead doctor Liam as he awakes to find Patient Zero has spread her zombie-like disease across the city (at least). He now has to get a nurse he may or may not have feelings for, two bad ass brothers, and a walking corpse to the CDC in the hopes that someone can cure this plague before it takes over everyone.

This book is perfect for the 28 Days Later, World War Z zombie lovers, with a medical perspective to ground the drama and a sincere main character who hasn't entirely become desensitized the violence and destruction around him. I actually really enjoyed that Liam wasn't a big strong hero-type. He made bad choices and hated killing people - an instinct I like in my medical professionals. I trusted him to act with good intentions and tell us a coherent, only slightly biased, story. 

Of course, I made some Random Notes While Reading, chronicling my adventure with Dr. Liam. 
  • Oh no!
  • His thoughts are very clinical. Interesting
  • Smart boy
  • Repeating yourself...
  • Right to the doomsday. You've thought about this before
  • I mean...those are words
  • Yes you are, Doctor McDreamy
  • Glad you can control it
  • Of course
  • Don't leave her in the car!
  • *Insert Evil Dead pun here*
  • Priorities, boys
  • It's been a day
  • Aww...yeah :(
  • Aww...yeah :(
  • Epic cliffhanger!
Not only do I want you to support local artists, I want you to support writers who tell unique stories in interesting ways and the Pathogen series is a perfect example of that: a first person zombie apocalypse told from the perspective of the doctor who was on the front lines of the outbreak - more gore than horror.

I really enjoyed Kai Kiriyama's storytelling, leading us on this emotional journey with clear cut goals and intentions. I never felt lost or bored and  might have fallen for Liam - just a little bit. Trust me when I tell you, if you like zombies, you'll like Pathogen.

You can find Pathogen: Outbreak (as well as all Kiriyama's books) here