The Travelling City (The Travelling City, #1)

The Travelling City (The Travelling City, #1) By Adrienne Miller
Publication date: April 21, 2023
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Action, Adult, Adventure, Fantasy
Summary:

After a hundred years of watching humans make bad decisions, anyone would be sick of their job as peacekeeper.
Reihan, a seaver created to deal with humans who lose control over their manifestation abilities, is no exception.

Worse still, virtually all humans in the Travelling City can manifest. 

That is, shape reality according to their more or less well-formed and often poorly thought-out designs. 

That alone would be enough to keep her busy, but then there are people like Phillippe. 

Phillippe, who drenched himself in the city’s collective subconscious to strengthen his inborn powers. 

Even though he shouldn’t be, he seems fine, crowned as the new star escort in the Brothel of Transformative Curiosities.
But Reihan has seen this story play out before. And Phillippe is far too charming, far too kind, and far too inconsolable for her to simply look away.

The Travelling City is a dark fantasy mystery packed with romance and even more existential dread; set in a whimsical, bizarre and ever-changing world. You’ll love the Travelling City if you’re looking for:

• Character-driven fantasy books
• A queer approach to gender
• Dark themes
• A painfully beautiful world
• A Grumpy and Sunshine romance dynamic
• A magic system that reflects the characters’ psychology
• Ambiguous but ultimately lovable characters
• Moral and existential philosophy

Epic Indie review: “Wielding a psychedelic array of bizarre imagery and space-distorting magic, The Travelling City boasts a truly fantastical setting for readers to dive in to. In a world where humans can manifest new realities for themselves, Adrienne Miller tests the limits of how weird and unfamiliar she can make her debut world, and it’s in this uniqueness that the book finds its shine […] the indie space is blessed to have another author trying new things.”

—

EXCERPT:

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”, she asked. She hadn’t expected that she would struggle to read Phillippe’s mood. Frustration gnawed at the edges of her desire, making her wonder if it wasn’t easier to retreat now that they could still laugh it off.

“Yes”, he replied, half-closing his eyes. He lowered his head to hers, impossibly slowly, impossibly softly, lashes fluttering against his cheek.

The Journey (Death Island, #1)

The Journey (Death Island, #1) By Kelsey Ketch
Publication date: November 25, 2020
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, New Adult
Summary:

With her family name tainted by her great-grandfather’s crimes, Meriden Cummings could only dream of fleeing her oppressive life. 

Then she unearthed a piece of tanned skin, and her blood revealed an ancient map adorned with Mayan glyphs, launching her on the journey of a lifetime. 

However, she finds herself bound to the map, and there is a cost to her newfound freedom. One that will torment her mind as well as her soul.

After being shanghaied by pirates, Gregory Wilson escapes to a small English village where he runs into an obnoxious auburn-haired beauty. 

When he learns she is about to set sail on dangerous waters, he signs up to join her crew, hoping to defend her from the pirates seeking her great-grandfather’s treasure. But, will he be able to protect her from the ghost that haunts her or the curse running through her veins?

—

EXCERPT:

[Meriden]

Tucker barked at something that had recently washed up onto the shore. Curious, I walked toward the obvious tangled mess. “What do you have there?”

I pushed him aside and grabbed the green and grey mass. I peeled off the debris and seaweed and rinsed the mud and sand off in the Mouth of the Severn. From the mess appeared an object, which I could only describe as an elaborate golden coin, about four inches in diameter. 

Yet, the slightest touch caused three outer rings of glyphs—similar to the ones painted on the map—to rotate around a sitting man with a long headdress, bowl, and club. 

Review: Centaur Redemption (Touched #4)

Centaur Redemption (Touched #4) by Nancy Straight
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: January 1, 2014
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ Barnes and Noble

Book Description:

Cami and Drake’s honeymoon is cut short as they escape attacks by the Council Enforcers and head to South Africa for the meeting of the Centaur Council, which has ordered a death sentence on Cami and all members of the Lost Herd. 

The Council Chairman is her grandmother, her most dangerous foe. 

Surrounded by family and friends, Drake and Cami face the Council, Cami’s power-hungry uncles, an ambitious twin, taking the battle all the way to Zeus to attempt to win the freedom of the Tak herd.



♥ ♥ ♥
I had already read the first three books in the "Touched" series so I was excited when I heard that the fourth book was out and ready to review. "Centaur Redemption" is meant to be the final book of the series (although there is still room to continue on with new books about these characters), and I was excited to see how Cami and Drake's journey in the world of Centaurs was going to come to a resolution.

"Centaur Redemption" begins right where the third book left off. Cami and her family are about to leave and go and address the Centaur council in order to ask for her family's safety. Cami is part of the Tak herd, which is referred to as "The Lost Herd" because centuries ago Zeus had decreed that every member of the Tak family be killed so that the line would be wiped out. However, another god of Olympus had interfered and worked to hide a Tak member, so the line lived on. Cami wants to go and hopes that she can make the other centaurs see sense, instead of just blindly pursuing her family.

Review: Medusa (Heroines of Classical Greece #1)

Medusa (Heroines of Classical Greece #1) by S.D. Hines
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: August 6, 2013
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

In one of the most compelling tales from classical Greece since Mary Renault's Bull from the Sea and Fire from Heaven, author Scot Hines retells the legend of Medusa in a way that makes her feel like a contemporary millennial girl with very special problems. 

Despite a semi-miraculous birth in the temple of Athena, Medusa is nothing more than a devoted priestess of the goddess, distinguished only by her beauty and piety. But after she is raped by the god Poseidon, her entire world is ripped asunder and she flees Poseidon's wrath through ancient Greece and beyond for the inconceivable crime of resistance. In her wanderings, she encounters dangers and horrors, but also friends in unexpected places. 

Pursued by Poseidon's fury and his assassins, she is finally cornered in Egypt with only two choices: fight back or be destroyed with all she loves. But her only hope lies with the father of her children, the great love of her life and the man who is prophesied to kill her: Perseus.

♥ ♥ ♥


"Medusa" by S.D. Hines is a tale of epic proportions. It's also a story of Medusa like we've never seen before. We're used to seeing Medusa as the bad guy – the one with creepy snakes for hair that turns innocent victims into stone with just one look into her eyes. That's the Medusa that we're used to, but it is not the one Hines portrays.

The Medusa from this story is a kind hearted and gentle woman, who is on the run after being raped and having her life threatened by the god Poseidon. Instead of being on the offensive like the monster she's been portrayed over the years, she goes out of her way to help people and makes friends with the people she encounters on her journey.

Medusa's travels take her far and wide. She goes all through Greece, and even as far as Egypt, in her trek to save herself from Poseidon's wrath. This is an epic journey that reminded me of the one Odysseus faced. Both had to go on an adventure that lasted for years that also threw challenges and smaller battles in their way. Medusa was forced to protect herself and others during her wanderings, and as a result, was able to grow as a person and become stronger.

Promotional Event: Flyover

Flyover by Desiree Holt
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Romance, Erotica
Release Date: January 11th 2013
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

Enroute to their 1Night Stand dates, Chelsea Haller and Alec Ramsey are stranded in the airport during an unexpected snowstorm.

It doesn’t take long to discover they’re each other’s one-night stand. Lucky for them, they’re drawn together by sizzling electricity and soon forget the icy snow. As the heat between them nearly melts the sheets in Alec’s hotel room, their night of erotic adventure surpasses anything they expected from a 1Night Stand.



♥ ♥ ♥
Excerpt:

He walked up behind her and hesitated a moment before resting his hands on her shoulders. When she didn’t try to shrug him off or move away, he knew she felt the same attraction he did. Was he moving too fast? Hell, sex was the main item on the night’s agenda, anyway. They both knew it. If she shut him down he’d be no worse off than before.

Promotional Event: Disintegration

Disintegration by Thea Landen
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Erotic Fantasy, Futuristic Romance, Adventure
Release Date: January 28, 2013
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ Double Dragon Publishing

Book Description:

Dutiful soldier Callum Renwick wakes up in the underground laboratory of a mercenary organization. He learns he was the sole survivor of an attack that destroyed his unit, his hometown, and his family. In addition to the loss of his loved ones, he discovers that due to his injuries, half his body has been supplanted by artificial skin and cybernetic parts. Once he has recovered, he is assigned to the care of Ro Bernard, who leads the effort to turn him into a powerful assassin.

She is outspoken, yet secretive, and uses unconventional means to mold him into a depraved killer. Mind games and rough sex are in her repertoire of training tactics, and Callum is both infuriated and fascinated by her. As he comes to terms with his grief and his new role, many of his biological body parts fail and must be replaced. Will he adapt to survive in Ro’s world and exact vengeance on the woman who ordered the attack that changed his life?

Warning: This title is intended for readers over the age of 18 as it contains explicit sex scenes and/or situations and adult language, and may be considered offensive to some readers.

♥ ♥ ♥
The Spectrum of Happy Endings By Thea Landen
Most romances end “happily ever after” (HEA). It makes sense – we’ve invested so much time and emotion into the main characters getting together, we can feel cheated if we don’t get the resolution we want by the end. But what makes a happy ending? Are there different flavors of HEA? If the characters don’t get the HEA we’ve been rooting for, is that really such a bad thing?

The first (and perhaps most common) is your standard HEA, where the characters have successfully fallen in love and ride off into the sunset together. We the readers breathe a sigh of relief when we realize that they’ll continue to walk together through life hand in hand beyond the last page of words. It fills us with the warm fuzzies.

There’s nothing particularly exceptional or thought-provoking about this type of ending, but you’re also not going to have your readers coming after you with pitchforks because they’re not satisfied. Some readers only want to read stories with a fluffy HEA, and there’s nothing wrong with that, considering how real life is filled with plenty of scenarios that don’t have a happy ending.

Book Blitz: Byzantine Gold

Byzantine Gold (Dangerous Waters) by Chris Karlsen
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Adventure, Romance
Release Date: December 31, 2012
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

A sunken warship from the Byzantine Era carrying an unusual cargo of gold has been found off the coast of Northern Cyprus. News of the valuable cache has attracted the attention of a terrorist cell. They plan to attack the recovery team’s campsite and steal the artifacts. On the Black Market, the sale of the relics will buy them additional weapons.

Charlotte Dashiell, an American archaeologist, and her lover, Atakan Vadim, a Turkish government agent, are scheduled to be part of the recovery team that brings up the artifacts. While en route to Cyprus, they find themselves caught in the crosshairs of Maksym Tischenko, a Ukrainian contract killer bent on revenge. Charlotte, Atakan and Tischenko share a grim history. As a result, Tischenko is a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal—seeing them both dead.

♥ ♥ ♥

Excerpt:

Atakan didn’t answer as he sped out of camp, spraying dirt and stones behind them.

“What’s going on? Why are you in such a hurry?”

He stared straight ahead, silent.

“Atakan?”