#BookReview: We Unleash the Merciless Storm (We Set the Dark on Fire #2) by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Synopsis: In this nail-biting sequel to Tehlor Kay Mejia’s critically acclaimed fantasy novel We Set the Dark on Fire, La Voz operative Carmen is forced to choose between the girl she loves and the success of the rebellion she’s devoted her life to. Perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale and Anna-Marie McLemore.

Being a part of the resistance group La Voz is an act of devotion and desperation. On the other side of Medio’s border wall, the oppressed class fights for freedom and liberty, sacrificing what little they have to become defenders of the cause.

Carmen Santos is one of La Voz’s best soldiers. She spent years undercover, but now, with her identity exposed and the island on the brink of a civil war, Carmen returns to the only real home she’s ever known: La Voz’s headquarters.

There she must reckon with her beloved leader, who is under the influence of an aggressive new recruit, and with the devastating news that her true love might be the target of an assassination plot. Will Carmen break with her community and save the girl who stole her heart—or fully embrace the ruthless rebel she was always meant to be?

#BookReview: The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne

Synopsis: Engagement season is in the air. Eighteen-year-old Princess Leonie “Leo” Kolburg, heir to a faded European spaceship, only has one thing on her mind: which lucky bachelor can save her family from financial ruin? 

But when Leo’s childhood friend and first love Elliot returns as the captain of a successful whiskey ship, everything changes. Elliot was the one that got away, the boy Leo’s family deemed to be unsuitable for marriage. Now, he’s the biggest catch of the season and he seems determined to make Leo’s life miserable. But old habits die hard, and as Leo navigates the glittering balls of the Valg Season, she finds herself falling for her first love in a game of love, lies, and past regrets.

#BookReview: Belle Révolte by Linsey Miller

Synopsis: From the author of the Mask of Shadows duology comes a standalone fantasy where two young women must trade lives, work together to stay alive, and end a war caused by magic and greed.

Emilie des Marais is more at home holding scalpels than embroidery needles and is desperate to escape her noble roots to serve her country as a physician. But society dictates a noble lady cannot perform such gruesome work.

Annette Boucher, overlooked and overworked by her family, wants more from life than her humble beginnings and is desperate to be trained in magic. So when a strange noble girl offers Annette the chance of a lifetime, she accepts.

Emilie and Annette swap lives—Annette attends finishing school as a noble lady to be trained in the ways of divination, while Emilie enrolls to be a physician's assistant, using her natural magical talent to save lives.

But when their nation instigates a terrible war, Emilie and Annette come together to help the rebellion unearth the truth before it's too late.

#BookReview: Seven Deadly Shadows by Courtney Alameda & Valynne E. Maetani

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Kira Fujikawa has never had it easy. She’s bullied by the popular girls in school. Her family ignores her. And she’s also plagued with a secret: She can see yokai, the ghosts and demons that haunt the streets of Japan. But things accelerate from bad to worse when she learns that Shuten-doji, the demon king, will rise at the next blood moon to hunt down an ancient relic and bring the world to a catastrophic end.

Not exactly skilled at fighting anything, much less the dead, Kira enlists the aid of seven powerful death gods to help her slay Shuten-doji. They include Shiro, a kitsune with boy-band looks who is more flirtatious than helpful, and O-bei, a regal demon courtesan with covert reasons of her own for getting involved.

As the confrontation with Shuten-doji draws nearer by the day, the fate of Japan hangs in the balance. Can Kira save humankind? Or will the demon king succeed in bringing eternal darkness upon the world?

#ReleaseBlitz for Naughty Heart by @AuthorAKEvans and @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Naughty Heart

The Westwoods Series Prequel

Author: A.K. Evans

Genre: Holiday Romance

Tropes: Rags to Riches/Office/Holiday Romance

Release Date: January 1, 2024

BLURB

Good things don’t happen to a woman like Evelyn Fisher. In a few short years, she’s experienced a lifetime of disappointment. But her latest setback has proven to be a bigger debacle than she ever imagined.

Malcolm Westwood wouldn’t know hardship if it smacked him in the face. The heir to his family’s business and massive fortune, he’s lived a good life. Maybe a little too good.

And that’s why it’s all on the line.

Fed up with Malcolm’s carefree—and careless—attitude, his parents have given him an ultimatum. Either he straightens up, or he doesn’t get a dime.

With his future hanging in the balance, the upcoming holiday season is proving to be anything but festive. But when he meets Evelyn, learns about her situation, and is desperate to secure his legacy, he makes her an offer she can’t refuse.

Malcolm just never expected his plan would lead him to love.

#BookBlitz: Sun Tzu's Cafe by Dr. Eric Bornstein @RABTBookTours

 

Historical Fiction / Medical Thriller/ Espionage

Date Published: January 1, 2024

 

In the era of legalized marijuana in the United States, the Chinese government has nefarious plans to exploit America's best and brightest graduate students using synthetic Hallucinogens and THC compounds. To accomplish their goal, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has partnered with a disaffected American CIA agent who was instrumental in the CIA's domestic hallucinogen experiments on American citizens known as Project MKULTRA during the Korean and Vietnam wars. The CCP have surreptitiously funded upscale cafés in each American city where marijuana has been legalized and there is an American university within walking distance of their café.

In each café, the CCP secretly adds a designer hallucinogen to the coffee. This drug opens the graduate student's minds to the power of suggestion and allows the baristas (Chinese security agents) to easily question the students for technical information concerning their graduate studies and labs. The methods used are similar to what the disaffected CIA agent learned during his MKULTRA project missions in the 1950s and 1960s. This allows the  Communist Chinese to gain a head start on America's most crucial security and technological innovations.

But there is a problem. The synthetic hallucinogen is beginning to have strange effects on some students, and these effects are being noticed. A bright Israeli E.R. doctor and his wife (an addiction counselor) living and working in Burlington, Vermont, have encountered some of these students suffering from bizarre psychotic symptoms. They suspect that there is more than meets the eye in these Chinese cafés and have started investigating. If the Chinese plan is discovered, it will open the CCP up to significant charges of international terrorism against the United States. With current congressional committee hearings focused on banning Tik Tok and other Chinese technologies, the CCP will stop at nothing to prevent this from happening.

#BookBlitz: The Diary of Katy Yehonala by Robert Barclay @RABTBookTours

 

Literary Fiction

Date Published: 01-11-2021

Publisher: Shawline Publishing Group P/L

 

A SWEEPING SAGA OF THREE GENERATIONS OF EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN WHO LIFTED THEIR GAZE BEYOND THEIR TURBULENT HISTORY, EACH TO FULFIL UNIQUE DESTINIES.

 

The first is a proud matriarch who believes honouring family is worth any sacrifice.

The second is born into a revolution and travels the world, still scarred by her childhood demons.

The third soars to breathtaking heights on the world stage, a mother's selfless love beneath her wings.

 

The Diary of Katy Yehonala brilliantly evokes another time and place, laying bare its drama and beauty in haunting landscapes and vivid portraits of unforgettable women, so exquisitely narrated that they resonate long after the final page is turned.

 

"... an immersive and gripping book that resonates deeply with the reader. Throughout, the characterisation is strong, memorable and nuanced suited to the intricate, powerful, compelling narrative." Rebecca Black, AM