Five on Friday

Five reads for March

These five books are on my to-read list this month.
I have four books to read for blog tours coming up on Just Books, and an ARC from by one of my favourite authors.

Tooth and Blade
by Julian Barr

Parts 1-3 of the legendary TOOTH AND BLADE series together for the first time!

Two worlds. One destiny.

Dóta has dwelled sixteen years among the trolls. She knows nothing but the darkness of her family’s cave. Her mother says humans are beasts who would slay them all. Yet the gods of Asgard whisper in the night: Dóta is a child of men, a monster unto monsters.

To discover her human side, Dóta must take up her bone knife and step into the light above. Secrets await her in the human realm–beauty, terror, the love of a princess.

Soon Dóta must choose between her clan and humankind, or both worlds will be devoured in fire and war.

A monster sheds no tears.

Norse mythology meets historical fantasy in TOOTH AND BLADE. Step into a realm of haunted meres, iron and magic.

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Helene
by Karl Drinkwater

Dr Helene Vermalle is shaping the conscience of a goddess-level AI.

As a leading civilian expert in Emergent AI Socialisation, she has been invited to assist in a secret military project.

Her role? Helping ViraUHX, the most advanced AI in the universe, to pass through four theoretical development stages. But it’s not easy training a mind that surpasses her in raw intellect. And the developing AI is capable of killing her with a single tantrum.

On top of this, she must prove her loyalty to the oppressive government hovering over her shoulder. They want a weapon. She wants to instil an overriding sense of morality.

Can she teach the AI right and wrong without being categorised as disloyal?

Lost Tales of Solace are short side-stories set in the Lost Solace universe.

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Five Minutes, Alfie
by Lily Mae Walters

Alfie snuggles down in bed,
dreams still in his little head.

He dreams he’s a king going out for a ride.
“A dragon sleeps in front of the gate,” they cried.

How will they succeed in waking him up?
By helping each other and lots of luck.

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On a Falling Tide
by Georgia Hill

Two women. Connected by heartbreak, separated in time. Can Charity save the man she loves, or will Lydia’s vengeful spirit prove too strong?

Two haunting love stories and a hundred and fifty-year-old curse…

When the beloved grandfather who brought her up dies, Charity is left struggling to cope. Alone and rootless, she’s drawn to the sleepy fishing village of Beaumouth near Lyme Regis and begins to research her family tree.

A chance encounter with attractive boat-builder Matt sparks a chain of mysterious and unsettling events and leads Charity to uncover the story of a young girl who lived in the village over a hundred years before.

In 1863 all Lydia Pavey wants to do is follow in Mary Anning’s footsteps and become a ‘fossilist.’ Instead, she is being forced into marriage to a man she barely knows.

Charity’s obsession with Lydia becomes all-consuming and she risks losing everything. With a longed-for family tantalisingly in reach, will Charity find the happy ever after she’s yearned for and, most importantly, can she save the man she loves?

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The Breaking (ARC)
by K.S. Marsden

Mark thought being a witch would be easy, but it has ruined everything.

Now, he has to fight for his friends and the guy that he loves.

Which would be challenging enough, without school being a living nightmare; more demons than he can handle; and witches that have strayed from the light.

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Five on Friday

 

Five reads for February

 
These five books are on my to-read list this month.
I have three books to read for blog tours coming up on Just Books, plus one for a review here on Rainne’s Ramblings. I’ve also added one from my kindle.

 

Tales of the What the F*ck
by D. A. Watson

Billionaire terminal cancer patient John Longmire’s going to die today, and he’s going out in style in the classiest euthanasia clinic in the world. But the strange nurse with the clipboard and the look of a goddess is spoiling the mood, with all her irksome questions about how he’s lived his life.

Recent retiree Gerald loves his wife Barbara and he loves his garden, but Barbara hates the garden. Because the garden’s taking Gerald over, and Barbara says he has to stop before he has another ‘incident’.

Bullied, ridiculed and unloved, moustachioed schoolgirl “Hairy” Mhairi Barry has never had any friends but the ones she finds on the shelves of the library where she’s spent most of her lonely childhood. But tonight, she’s going to a party with all the cool kids, to show them what she’s learned in all those books.

A suspicious smelling smorgasbord of lovelorn psychopaths, vengeful mugging victims, pawn shop philosophers and rhyming Glaswegian alien abduction, Tales of the What the Fuck is a dark, touching, horrific and hilarious collection of short stories, flash fiction and epic poetry from People’s Book Prize nominated author D.A. Watson. Things are about to get weird.

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Rage and Retribution
by Lorraine Mace

Can two wrongs ever make a right?

A man is found by the side of a canal, comatose and brutally attacked.

It quickly becomes clear that someone is abducting men and subjecting them to horrific acts of torture. After three days they’re released, fighting for their lives and refusing to speak.

A councillor is accused of fraud.

Montague Mason is an upstanding member of the community. That is until he’s publicly accused of stealing the youth centre’s funds – an accusation that threatens to rip through the very heart of the community and expose his best-kept secret. But how far would he go to protect himself?

Two cases. One deadly answer.

As the two cases collide, D.I. Paolo Sterling finds he has more questions than answers. And, when torture escalates to murder, he suddenly finds himself in a race against time to find the killer and put an end to the depravity – once and for all.

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Dark Secret
by Danielle Rose

There’s no wrath like that of a witch scorned.

Seventeen-year-old spirit witch Ava López is the self-appointed guardian of the witches and humans of Darkhaven, an idyllic village nestled between the forest and the sea. Her watch: vicious and bloodthirsty vampires.

Ava is a novice in the eyes of her coven. If she expects to protect them and the secrecy of their powers, she must gain better control of her own. When a full moon ritual goes awry, control may be lost forever, and Ava is exiled from her coven. Forced to seek refuge among the beings she had always sworn herself to hunt, she vows revenge on those who have upended her life.

But the more time Ava spends away from her coven, the more she discovers a startling truth: the witches haven’t been honest with her. Ava’s quest to strip the truth from everything she’s ever known begins with the toughest realization of all—coming to terms with who she has become.

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MISSING, Past and Present (ARC)
by Diana M Jackson

 

Behind Closed Doors
by Karen J. Mossman

Dear Diary,

Kerry O’Brien has a hot new boyfriend! Yay!

His name is Tommy. He’s a biker and he’s gorgeous. He seems to like me too. He makes me feel good about myself and it’s been a long time since anyone has paid me that much attention. I also have a monster for a stepfather.

But I’m scared. I’m scared Bill will find out about Tommy and scared Tommy will find out about Bill. Tommy has a temper and he’s very protective of me. If he ever found out my secret, I think he would kill Bill.

He started again last night. Jodie and I hid under the bed. I don’t want him to ever touch her. Secrets like mine are only whispered about. But the bruises are getting harder to cover and I know once Tommy finds out the truth, I’ll lose him. I just can’t let that happen.

Everyone needs a guy like Tommy in their life.

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Five on Friday

Five New Releases

The following five new releases have caught my eye this month, and are going on my to-read list

Hidden Danger
by Kathleen Harryman

Release Date: January 11, 2020

 

Death is coming for you…
And it’s wearing a familiar face.

Meet Rita Jackson, a child serial killer who loves to deprive her victims of oxygen. Hidden behind her youth and innocence is a monstrous killer who cannot be satiated.

At a very young age, her murderous tendencies were known to her father, who’s as addicted to death as she is. He fed it and encouraged the monster to grow.

She will steal your last breath and watch you die with a smile on her face in this chilling and captivating story.

Their house in Crossroads Farm will echo with the cry of her victims. Forty people will be held captive. Thirty-seven will die.

When the police arrive at Crossroads Farm, will Rita be amongst the living?
Or will she lose her life to her own madness?

Amazon

Lullabies For Suffering
by Caroline Kepnes, Kealan Patrick Burke, Gabino Iglesias, John FD Taff, Mercedes M Yardley, Mark Matthews

Release Date: January 14, 2020

 

Addiction starts like a sweet lullaby sung by a trusted loved one. It washes away the pains of the day and wraps you in the warmness of the womb where nothing hurts and every dream is possible. Yet soon enough, this warm state of bliss becomes a cold shiver, the ecstasy and dreams become nightmares, yet we can’t stop listening to the lullaby. We crave to hear the siren song as it rips us apart.

Six stories: three novellas, three novelettes, written by a powerful list of talent, all featuring the insidious nature of addiction–damaged humans craving for highs and wholeness but finding something more tragic and horrific on the other side.

Amazon

133 Hours
by Zach Abrams

Release Date: January 20, 2020

Arriving at work to find she’s lost more than five and a half days of her life, Briony has no recollection of where she’s been, or what has happened. Has she been ill or had a breakdown – or could she have been drugged and abducted?

Doubting her own sanity, Briony is fearful of what lies beyond the surface, yet driven to discover the truth. Going through her scarce memories, she realizes that something terrible might have happened to her during the time she has no recollection of.

Assisted by her friends Alesha and Jenny, they team up with a retired detective to uncover the truth. But where was she for 133 hours… and why?

Amazon

Damaged
by Dan Scottow

Release Date: January 20, 2020

Do you believe everything you’re told?

Journalist Emily Blake is sent back to her hometown to investigate the disappearance of a young girl called Becky Clarke. Emily takes the assignment willingly as the case echoes the disappearance of her childhood friend, Alice Abbott, twenty-five years earlier.

Returning to the village, Emily renews old acquaintances and rivalries. She reconnects with her estranged brother Adam, who has never quite recovered from tragic events from their past.

While she looks into the disappearance of Becky Clarke, Emily revisits Alice’s case but not everyone welcomes her investigation.

As lies that have been told for twenty-five years surrounding Alice’s disappearance begin to unravel, Emily is drawn deeper into the mystery.

What happened to Alice?

Will Becky ever be found?

And do the answers lie closer to home than anyone ever imagined?

Amazon

The Doctor
by Erica R. Stinson

Release Date: January 21, 2020

A night out turns to terror for Avery Hansen when she wakes up in a locked hospital room with no recollection of how she got there.

A nurse arrives and informs Avery that the doctor will see her shortly, and that is all the woman will say.

Nothing more.

Avery soon discovers, to her horror, that she is not alone.

Other women are being detained throughout the facility and she is further horrified to recognize one of the women, reported missing by the media in recent weeks.

Then Avery begins to notice that women disappear from the facility, never to be seen again, and new ones replace them.

The evasive director of the secured facility, known as Doctor Perritt, has plans for Avery and the other women also being held against their will.

But Avery has always gone against the grain and immediately proves to The Doctor that she is nothing like his other patients.

What is going on in this sterile, medical institution and what could they possibly want with Avery, a complete and unwilling stranger?

Please have a read…..The Doctor will see you shortly.

Amazon

Five on Friday

Five free reads

The following five books are free for a limited time. All prices were checked prior to posting, but please be sure to verify the price before downloading a book.

 

Echo Saga Books 1 & 2
by Skye Genaro

Echo Across Time

Fall in love with the achingly beautiful story of Echo and Connor, supernaturally gifted teens, as they fight to live out their destiny together.

Echo had it all–she lived in a mansion in the wealthiest neighborhood and was a member of the Partychicks, the elite high school clique. But her enviable life was ripped apart when a bullying incident put her in a coma. When Echo wakes up, she’s gained paranormal powers that she can’t control.

Objects magically fly through the air. Lights flicker. Trees snap in half. Echo’s untamed paranormal abilities wreak havoc on her life, and she will do just about anything to get rid of them. Even if it means sharing her secret with Connor, the gorgeous, frightening stranger who appears out of thin air and possesses shocking supernatural abilities. He promises to teach her things beyond her wildest imagination–if Echo has the courage to trust him.

Soon, she is pulled into a world of mystical possibility and starts falling hard for the enigmatic Connor. As Echo uncovers the truth about him, she discovers a dark secret brewing within her city: people with paranormal gifts are being kidnapped and murdered. Escaping with Connor would keep Echo alive, but at a high cost to him and to the future they both believe in. Echo must choose between her love for Connor and her own safety, but she can’t have both.

Echo Into Darkness

The exciting sequel to the award-winning Echo Across Time.

So close to death that he could probably taste it, Connor set his gaze on his hidden audience. At a moment when most prisoners would lash out in panic, he stared down his tormentors. Behind that stormy, warring face was a tenderness that only I knew. A devotion that ran so deep, he had risked everything to search for me beyond the boundaries of time.
Now, his life was in my hands.

As Echo tries to piece her life together after the devastating separation from her soulmate, she finds herself in a cat-and-mouse game with bewitching criminals whose paranormal terrorism threatens to take over her city.

When a frightening turn of events puts Connor’s life at risk, Echo must unveil the depths of her power or lose him forever.

Echo Into Darkness is a story of power, passion and deceit that will keep you turning pages and leave you breathless.

Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iBooks

 

Wings of Steele – Destination Unknown
by Jeffrey J. Burger

 
Life as Jack Steele knows it, is about to irreversibly change, calling into question his very perception of reality. As an ex K9 cop, Steele is no stranger to a judicious application of force to control or resolve an issue. But when events go drastically and violently sideways, in a direction and magnitude that no one could have ever imagined, he quickly learns control is an illusion.

A nearly perfect life as a globetrotting pilot for hire, Steele, accompanied by his German Shepherd, Fritz, experience an abrupt and violent detour, their lives swept into chaos. Every secret intelligence agency on the planet is hunting for them – leaving only one option. Run. But to where?

Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iBooks

 

 

 

No Place to Vanish
by Jaden Skye

NO PLACE TO VANISH is book #2 in the new romantic suspense series by #1 bestselling author Jaden Skye.

Olivia, back in New York and trying to resume her normal life, receives a shocking phone call: her best friend from college has gone missing. She never returned from her bachelorette party.

Olivia, implored by her friend’s husband to help, flies back down to Miami, determined to find her. She meets the woman’s friends, and finds herself lead deeper and deeper into a maze of lies, strippers, secret lovers, and jilted husbands. As the trail leads her back to Key West, she finds herself working side by side with Wayne again, stirring up old memories. Yet, even so, the trail has seemed to gone cold.

Olivia can’t help but wonder: did her friend run off? Kill herself?

Or was she murdered?

NO PLACE TO VANISH is book #2 in an explosive new romantic suspense series filled with love, tragedy, heartbreak, betrayal and suspense, one that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #3 will be released soon.

Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iBooks • GooglePlay

 

The Secret Bunker: Darkness Falls
by Paul Teague

A secret bunker. A sinister darkness. Can Dan Tracy put the pieces together before the whole world is lost?

On a family trip to a disused Cold War bunker, Dan Tracy’s family gets caught up in life­ threatening events which have cast a sudden and terrible darkness over the surface of the planet.

All known life has been put to sleep, causing havoc throughout the world as planes drop from the skies, vehicles career off the road and governments seem powerless to intervene.

24 hours after the darkness descends, the bunker undergoes a massive transformation and it emerges that the dusty old tunnels form a state-­of­-the-­art operations centre which has been hiding in open view for many decades – but its present­day purpose is unclear.

Dan soon realises that he and his family are part of something bigger than they could ever have imagined and the world is in perilous danger from a malevolent organisation based on earth and intent on destroying the planet.

If you like fast-paced apocalyptic action, captivating characters, and stories that keep you reading all night long, then you’ll love Paul Teague’s Secret Bunker Trilogy.

Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iBooks • GooglePlay

 

Protected Mate
by J.H. Croix

A shifter romance with a guaranteed HEA from USA Today Bestselling Author J.H. Croix! If you like smoking hot paranormal romance with a twist of suspense and adventure, you’ll love this series!

Dane Ashworth, a solitary mountain lion shifter, comes from one of the founding shifter families of Catamount, a town deep in the woods of Maine where mountain lion shifters have existed in secret for centuries. The community is in turmoil after the startling death of a shifter. In the midst of upheaval in Catamount, Dane encounters the unassuming, curvy and delectable Chloe Silver.

Chloe set out to hike the famed Appalachian Trail in the aftermath of heartbreak. She’s lived a well-planned life, only to learn that the best laid plans could blow up in her face. She’s looking for a fresh start, but trust doesn’t come easily for her. The mere idea of shifters has never crossed her mind, but Dane calls to her in a way that no man ever has. She finds herself tossed and turned by the depth of her attraction to him. The mountain lion in Dane knows Chloe is meant for him, but he has to find a way to earn her trust and make her believe in him and in what lies between them. Passion burns like wildfire between them while events in Catamount put them both in danger. In a love story filled with passion, romance, adventure, betrayal and secrets, Chloe will have to decide if she can accept Dane for who he is, and if she’s willing to believe in the power of love.

Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iBooks • GooglePlay

 

Five on Friday

Five reads for January.

These five books are on my to-read list this month.
I have three books to read for blog tours coming up on Just Books and I’m adding a couple of books from my bookshelves.

 

Victory Day (ARC)
by Rachel Churcher

 

Bex Ellman and Ketty Smith meet in London. As the war heats up around them, Bex and Ketty must learn to trust each other. With her friends and family in danger, Bex needs Ketty to help rescue them. For Ketty, working with Bex is a matter of survival. When Victory is declared, both will be held accountable for their decisions.

The Battle Ground series is set in a dystopian near-future UK, after Brexit and Scottish independence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Black Ditch
by Simon J Lancaster

LAURIE STERNE feels like he’s been cut adrift in space. His father has been shot dead, caught in the crossfire of a gangland war that has also claimed his boss’s life. Laurie is a refugee who lost his adoptive mum years before and doesn’t know where he was born, let alone who his birth parents were. But he’s not alone in the world: someone is trying to kill him.

This is London, 2050, a dumping ground for climate refugees and dissidents. Gangs rule, murder goes unpunished and the police make sure you can’t escape.
In his struggle to stay alive, he finds an ally: his former boss’s secret daughter.

But with the killer predicting his every move, is the man without a past being betrayed by the woman who seems to offer him a future?

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Hunter’s Blood
by Val Penny

 

DI Hunter Wilson never has just one problem to solve.

Three elderly women he knows have died in mysterious circumstances. Hunter appears to be the only link.

A little girl goes missing on a cold winter’s night. When his team discovers cocaine hidden at the farm where she was living, the search becomes even more urgent.

Why did the women die? And what did the child witness?

Hunter must find the answers to these questions to ensure his family and his city are safe.

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The Case of The Spectral Shot
by T.G. Campbell

The Bow Street Society is a fictional group of amateur detectives, operating in Victorian London. Each of its civilian members has been enlisted for their unique skill or exceptional knowledge in a particular field derived from their usual occupation. Members are assigned to cases, by the Society’s clerk, Miss Trent, based upon these skills and fields of knowledge. This ensures the Society may work on the behalf of their clients regardless of their client’s social class or wealth; cases that the police either can’t or won’t investigate. From an artist to an illusionist, from a spiritualist to a journalist, the Bow Street Society’s aim is to provide justice by all and for all.

When Miss Trent, is paid a late night visit by a masked stranger, the Bow Street Society is plunged into its most bizarre case to date. New faces join returning members as they encounter unsolved murders, the contentious world of spiritualism, and mounting hostility from the Metropolitan Police. Can the Society exorcise the ghosts of the past to uncover the truth, or will it, too, be lured into an early grave…?

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Carousel
by Chris Turnbull

 

Jonathan was supposed to be getting married today, but instead he is in Paris; and what’s worse he is now over 120 years in the past.

Transported back by an old amusement carousel, Jonathan finds his life turned upside down as he finds himself stuck in 1889.

Desperate to return home, he goes in search of the carousel. Although his wish to return is high, he soon learns that his reasons to stay could be just as compelling.

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Five on Friday

 

Five New Releases

The following five books caught my eye this month and have been released in the past four weeks.

 

A Midnight Clear
by Collected Authors

Release Date: November 5th, 2019

 

This short story collection includes six stories of not-so-merry Yuletide whimsy. A woman so cold she hardens to ice on a winter’s eve. Risen from his grave before his time, a winter god alters the balance between seasons. A wolf’s holiday season is interrupted by a strange curse. From a murder at the Stanley Hotel to demons of Christmas past, present, and future, and a mad elf and Santa’s Candy Court, these authors share their love for winter holidays in this collection of dark winter tales, destined to chill your bones and warm your heart for the Yuletide season.

Amazon • B&N • Kobo

 

 

 

 
 

Witness in the Woods
by Michele Hauf

Release Date: November 1st, 2019

 

He’ll fight tooth and nail

To keep her safe.

When shots are fired, wildlife officer Joe Cash responds to the call and finds himself face-to-face with Skylar Davis and her pet…wolf. It’s Joe’s job to protect all endangered species—including the pretty vet’s menagerie of rescues. As the threats intensify, Joe realizes Skylar could be the key to busting a ruthless poaching ring. But she’s keeping a secret that could cause more harm than either of them can imagine.

Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iBooks

 

 

 
 

Fire & Ice
by Collected Authors

Release Date: October 30th, 2019

Fire and Ice… they are two of the most powerful elements known to man.

From the tiniest of sparks to a blazing inferno, fire is an intense energy that
can consume anything in its path.

Ice is it’s unrelenting and frigid counterpart that can startle your senses
and make you shiver.

When put together, you’ll find a force that is stronger than anything you’ll ever encounter.
If you love the paranormal and can’t get enough of romance, then this set is exactly what you need in your library.
With mythical creatures, vampires, shapeshifters, and supernatural of all kinds, you’re sure to find something that will awaken your senses and set your soul on fire as you tremble with delight.

Including stories from:
USA Today Bestselling Author Laura Greenwood
USA Today and International Bestselling Author, Nicole Morgan
USA Today Bestselling, and Award-Winning Author, Desiree Holt
Award-winning and Amazon Bestselling Author, Nikki Landis
USA Today Bestselling, and Award-Winning Author, Suzanne Jenkins
Two-time EPIC award winner, and Amazon Bestselling Author, Lesli Richardson
USA Today Bestselling Author, Author Candace Sams
USA Today Bestselling Author, Jocelyn Dex
International Bestselling Author, Laurie Treacy
International Bestselling Author, Krista Ames
International Bestselling Author, Deelylah Mullin
International Bestselling Author, Mercer Norris
Author Tricia Schneider
Author Trevann Rogers
Author Jeffrey Bardwell
Author Jessica Ripley
Author Ashlee Nicole Bye
Author Stacy-Deanne
International Bestselling & Award-Winning Author, K.L. Bone
Author Jayelle Morgan

Amazon

 

Like, Follow, Kill
by Carissa Ann Lynch

Release Date: October 25th, 2019

 
What if your stalker could become your saviour…

Badly scarred after the accident that killed her husband, Camilla Brown locks herself away from the world. Her only friendships are online, where everyone lives picture-perfect lives.

In private Camilla can follow anyone she likes. And Camilla likes a lot. Especially her old school friend Valerie Hutchens.

Camilla is obsessed with Valerie’s posts, her sickening joy for life, her horribly beautiful face. But then Camilla spots something strange in one of Valerie’s posts – a man’s face looking through her window, watching, waiting…

And then Valerie goes missing.

Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iBooks • GooglePlay

 

 
 

The Midnight Hour: All Hallows’ Brides
by Collected Authors

Release Date: October 24th, 2019

When doors creak and ghostly whispers are heard in the midnight hour, this stunning collection of Gothic Regency Historical Romance novellas are sure to leave you breathless with Poe-inspired, romantic dreams…

Welcome to the All-Hallows’ Brides collection. Seven of your favorite Historical Romance authors have come together for a collection of never-before published stories that will give you a chill, a thrill, and have you reading them again and again. Inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe, you’ve never seen a collection like this by some of the biggest names in Historical Romance.

The title of each story is named for their ‘Bride’:

Emma by Kathryn Le Veque
Aislin by Meara Platt
Sarah by Scarlett Scott
Madeleine by Mary Lancaster
Beth by Maggi Andersen
Hyacinth by Chasity Bowlin
Eleanor by Sydney Jane Baily
Raven by Violetta Rand

So, grab your candle and lock your door, and settle down to read this smashing collection of darkly-tinged romantic tales with unforgettable heroes and magnificent ladies. Romance has never been so daring… or so Gothic.

And if you hear a knock on your door… don’t answer it.

Unless you are prepared to welcome a wandering wraith in a tattered wedding gown…

Amazon

 

Five on Friday

 

Five reads for November

 
These five books are on my to-read list this month.
The first two are for blog tours over on Just Books. The third was offered to me by the author, and the other two I requested from Voracious Readers Only.

I have already read two of the books for this month, and will probably fit in a few more, although I’m spending a good bit of my free time making Christmas cards.

 

Honor Among Vampires
by Elizabeth Guizzetti

Principality of Moldovia, 1509

While her beloved husband is away at war, Agata manages their estate and dairy. One night, she is called to assist a first-year heifer. She does not know a vampire lurks in the darkness. Agata wakes in the birthing barn disoriented, wounded, bitten, and defiled. Her son is injured, but alive. The herdsman is discovered with his throat gnawed open. Several cows are missing.

Plunged into a strange existence of monstrous cravings, she moves to secure her children’s futures before the details of the attack is known. News spreads quickly in her village. With the conviction she might regain her honor by defeating the vampire, Agata leaves her parish. Unaided, she crosses the mountains to an ancient crumbling Roman fort where it is said the vampire resides. However, the vampire doesn’t live alone.

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The Moon Hunters
by Anya Pavelle

 
The Pestilence sweeps the globe with terrifying speed. A group of survivors finds an island sanctuary.

Three generations later, no one has heard from the outside world in years. The old radio only crackles with static. The Pestilence either finished its job or the world tore itself apart.

In the Village of Lehom, Leilani has been called to court as a Virtue by the King. Going to court means losing her independence and self-respect. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have a choice.

Leilani decides to take a stand; the King be damned. She plans a daring escape and sets in motion a series of events that will shake the foundation of her village and the island to its core.

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Knowing Rogan
by Valarie Savage Kinney

 
Knowing Rogan.

Unwanted. Neglected. Unloved. The proverbial luck o’ the Irish had never smiled much on Rogan O’Connor. After losing his parents to a heroin overdose, Rogan aches for a sense of stability. Though his childhood left much to be desired, it’s even worse floundering along with no family at all. Unsure how to manage his burgeoning psychic ability or his increasingly problematic temper, he struggles to grasp his place in the world. In the midst of it all, he meets someone who changes his life forever… but will the scars of his past sabotage his chance for a future with the woman he loves?

Knowing Rogan is the fifth book in the Secrets of Windy Springs series. Grab your copy today and find out what mysteries await within the magical forest at Windy Springs.

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Mortom
by Erik Therme

Andy Crowl barely knew his recently deceased cousin, Craig Moore, so he’s especially surprised to be named as the sole beneficiary in Craig’s will. Not that there’s much to inherit: just an empty bank account and a run-down house.

Once Andy arrives in the town of Mortom, however, he’s drawn into his puzzle-obsessed cousin’s true legacy: a twisted and ominous treasure hunt. Beckoned by macabre clues of dead rats and cemetery keys, Andy jumps into the game, hoping to discover untold wealth. But unsavory secrets—and unanswered questions about Craig’s untimely demise—arise at every turn, leading Andy to wonder if he’s playing the game…or if the game is playing him.

Something’s rotten in Mortom. And this dead man’s game might not be all that Andy is doomed to lose.

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Aki’s Gift
by Howard Scarrow

 

Clarence Stodden will never forget the day he received that package. Aki’s Gift follows Clarence and his oldest friend, Maggie Bauer, as they attempt to rid Clarence of Aki’s terrible curse before it takes him over completely. Inspired by classic horror, Aki’s Gift takes place in a small Southern Ontario town where things like this aren’t supposed to happen. Clarence must learn to finish something for the first time in his life before he is consumed by Aki’s curse.

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Five on Friday

 

Five free/discounted reads

 
I’ve added the following five horror books to my kindle for Halloween.

They were free/discounted when I downloaded them, but might not be for long, so please be sure to verify the price before downloading a book.

 

Angel Manor
by Chantal Noordeloos

A beautiful house – with a dark and deadly secret.

When Freya inherits her mother’s childhood home, she sees it as an opportunity. A chance for a new life with her best friends, as they convert the crumbling mansion into an exclusive hotel.

Instead, they’ll be lucky to escape with their lives.

As the first hammers tear through the bricked up entrances, a dark, terrible and ancient evil stirs beneath the house. An evil that has already laid claim to Freya and her companions’ souls.

Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kurtain Motel
by A.I. Nasser

“Confess!”

Patrick Lahm is down on his luck. Late for his book signing, out of gas and stuck in a storm. He hitches a ride to the Kurtain Motel where he is forced to spend the night. The small motel seems harmless enough at first, but as the night drags on, Patrick and the other guests slowly begin to realize there is a lot more to their temporary lodging than meets the eye.

Something evil is at work at the Kurtain Motel; something that creeps into the deepest, darkest corners of your mind and tugs at the chords of sanity until they finally break. On the longest night of his life, Patrick soon finds out that there is a reason why skeletons are kept in closets. He realizes that your sins always find a way to catch up with you, no matter how hard you try to run.

Welcome to the Kurtain Motel, where all your nightmares come true.

Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iBooks • GooglePlay

 

 

 

From Away
by Deke Mackey Jr.

Dawn Lesguettes has always wanted to know where she’s from.

So, when work forces her father to reluctantly return to his remote North-Atlantic island birthplace, Dawn insists on tagging along, hoping to reconnect with the broken family he’d abandoned so long ago.

But Mossley Island is not welcoming to those from away, and investigating her unusual family origins will soon lead Dawn to uncover chilling secrets best left buried, even as her arrival heralds the return of a darkness long thought vanquished.

Because for fifty years, an arcane and eldritch horror has waited in the cold, black waters surrounding the island. Fading into half-forgotten myth as those who defended against its last invasion slowly succumb to age, leaving the island in the hands of disbelievers. All but unprotected as the ancient evil prepares to mount a new attack.

Featuring creepy nuns with mysterious motives, a sinister cabal of strangely robust senior citizens, and lighthouse keepers watching the ocean for unspeakable terrors rising from the depths, the first suspenseful episode in this eerie seven-part serial will draw readers in with atmospheric tension and surprising twists, refusing to let go as it hurtles towards a startling cliffhanger conclusion sure to leave everyone desperate for the next gripping chapter.

Amazon • Kobo • iBooks

 

Fallen Gods: Sanctuary 12
by T.W. Malpass

Follow her voice.

Nine strangers, linked by the inner whisperings of a mysterious little girl. Each must piece together the origins of their other-worldly abilities and the location of the white manor, where they will be reunited, and the questions that have plagued their existence will finally be answered. But someone else marks their every step. The sinister Mr Cradleworth has other plans for them, plans that could bring about catastrophic consequences, not just for earth, but the whole universe.

This epic tale covers half the globe, as it follows each character into the darkest recesses of their soul. Combining eighties-style horror with science fiction, this dark fantasy will take you on a journey you will never forget.

Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iBooks

 

 

 

Edge of Shadows
by Cege Smith

A tragic childhood left Ellie Coulter with a supernatural gift that tells her a person’s true intentions. But even that didn’t protect her from a cheating husband with his own self-destructive secrets. After finding the strength to leave, she retreats from the world to heal.

She’s drawn out of her protective shell when a friend insists on playing matchmaker. After some persistent coaxing, Ellie warms to the idea that she may have found a reason to let her walls down, and his name is David Mitchell.

With things looking up in the romance department, Ellie finds herself the caretaker of the Bradford mansion, an impressive home that is also rumored to be haunted. Curious about what happened to the mansion’s former owners, Ellie finds herself entangled in the events that happened over a hundred years ago.

Far too late, Ellie discovers that It’s all part of the trap with a link to her past that was set by a puppet master hiding in the shadows. And Ellie fell right into it.

Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iBooks • GooglePlay

 

Five on Friday

Five reads for October

These five books are on my to-read list this month. All five are for blog tours coming up on Just Books. I hope to also fit in a book or two from my shelves and/or kindle.

 

The Hive
by Jane Holland

The Hive: a brand-new thriller for 2019 from Kindle #1 bestseller Jane Holland

Scarred by fire from infancy, with a persistent stammer, Charlotte has always been in the shadow of her glamorous theatrical parents. So it’s a shock when her mother commits suicide.

Left to care for her sick father in the dark maze of her childhood home, Charlotte begins to unravel. First, there’s the mysterious arrival of a box of dead bees. Then buzzing noises in the attic. People are watching her. Listening to her.

Everyone thinks she’s losing her mind. But an old photo suggests another, more sinister possibility …

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Tangled Roots
by Denise D. Young

A witch lost in time. A man with magic in his blood and a chip on his shoulder. Dark secrets and shadowy magic. Steamy romance meets contemporary fantasy with a time slip in the first book of this new series.

Cassie Gearhart casts a spell in the forest in the summer of 1974. The next thing she knows, she wakes up to find the world irrevocably changed.

It’s 2019, for one thing. For another, all of her coven members have vanished, leaving behind only one man who holds the key to their secrets, Nick Felson, the grandson of her high priestess and a rough-around-the-edges farm boy who wants nothing to do with twenty-year-old Cassie.

For twenty-three-year-old Nick Felson, there are two worlds: one, Willow Creek, Virginia, before everything went to hell. And the other, after.

He’s sworn off magic, until a confused Cassie knocks on his door in the middle of the night, somehow missing forty-five years’ worth of time. But Nick knows falling for Cassie means letting magic back into his life—and that’s one line he swore he’d never cross.

Can Cassie unravel the mystery that transported her decades into the future? And can Nick resist the powerful magic and heart-pounding passion that swirl in the air whenever he and Cassie are together?

The Tangled Magic Series is intended for readers 18-plus who enjoy short but steamy reads, wild and witchy magic, swoon-worthy kisses, and small-town charm. The series is best read in order.

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Darkest Hour (ARC)
by Rachel Churcher

Bex Ellman and Ketty Smith are fighting on opposite sides in a British civil war. Bex and her friends are in hiding, but when Ketty threatens her family, Bex learns that her safety is more fragile than she thought.

​

The Battle Ground series is set in a dystopian near-future UK, after Brexit and Scottish independence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To Snare A Witch
by Jay Raven

A chilling historical tale of lust, sorcery and devastating revenge.

No female dares spurn the lecherous advances of Sir Henry Cruttendon, 17th Century England’s most reviled nobleman. To do so risks a retribution that would terrify the Devil himself.

But Elizabeth Fiennes is no ordinary woman, blessed with stunning beauty, intelligence and guile. Coming from an influential family, she believes she is safe.What she doesn’t understand is that the Earl is determined to satisfy his lust at any cost and plans to use the wave of witch trials, fear and superstition sweeping the countryside to force her into his clutches.

And as he springs his malicious trap it triggers a chain of unholy events plunging hunter and prey into a maelstrom of deceit, terror and depravity – leaving them both staring into the face of true evil…

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The Haunting at Paradise House
by Killian Wolf

If you were given the chance to become a powerful sorceress, would you leave behind everything you thought you knew?

When Addison is offered the position of her dreams through a mysterious phone call, she rises to the occasion and moves to the Florida Keys to a mansion called Paradise House.

Footsteps from playful ghosts, a room of killer dolls, and an all too intelligent owl lead her to the mysteries that lie within the walls, to reveal the true reason behind her invitation. When dark forces get a hold of her and her patient, Addison is left with no choice but to take extreme measures to protect the ones she loves.

Will Addison be able to acquire the necessary skills fast enough in order to protect her patient, and defeat the evil entities that thrive in the mansion?

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Five on Friday

Five new releases that I’ve added to my to-read list!

 

A Means to an End

Lissa Marie Redmond

September 8, 2019

Buffalo police detective Lauren Riley risks her life to close the book for good on a killer who’s never paid for his crimes.

When cold case detective Lauren Riley returns to work months after being stabbed by a fellow police officer, it’s clear that her troubles are far from over. The body of a young woman has been found in the same woods as a murder victim from one of Lauren’s most horrifying cases. It doesn’t take long for Lauren to be back at square one confronting David Spencer, the quietly deranged man she could never prove was a killer. Lauren convinces the police chief to put together a task force to uncover the connections between the brutal slaying of both women and the murder of two cops. But things go south quickly, forcing Lauren into a deadly game that she can’t afford to lose.

Amazon • B&N • Kobo • GooglePlay

 

 

 

The Hag

Erik Henry Vick

September 6, 2019

War is hell and a war with hell even more so…

Broken by terror, separated by time and circumstance, drawn back together again by insufferable evil, friends stood against the maleficent horror and survived once. But the demons have a new leader, and Toby, Benny, Shannon, Mike, and Scott now face the collected might of the demons inhabiting Oneka Falls.

They hunted the Demon King in the forest around the town and sparked a war with an enemy they barely understood. Worse yet, by attacking Herlequin and disrupting his plans, they painted a bright target on their own backs for the rest of the demons in the town. Led by Chaz Welsh and Lee LaBouche, the demons strike back, forcing the demon hunters to run for their lives.

How can Toby, Benny, Shannon, Mike, and Scott hope to win a war against the demons entrenched in Oneka Falls? How can they even hope to survive?

Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iBooks • GooglePlay

 

The Extinction Agenda

Michael Laurence

September 3, 2019

An FBI agent fights to stop a conspiracy to unleash a deadly virus on the world in this propulsive, exhilarating new thriller.

The discovery of a deadly virus being smuggled across the border pits FBI Special Agent James Mason and his strike force against an unknown adversary hell-bent on humanity’s destruction. In a desperate effort to contain the pathogen, they launch a predawn raid, only to find that their enemy knows they’re coming…and it’s not about to be taken alive. An explosion rips through the building, killing the majority of Mason’s team, including his partner and mentor.

Tormented by guilt, Mason returns to his home division, but he can’t seem to let go of the tragedy. He remembers seeing something inside the building before it went up in flames, something that convinces him that not only is the virus still out there, it’s merely the first stage of an even more nefarious plan. Obsessed with unraveling the plot, he launches his own investigation and uncovers a shadow organization on the brink of enacting its genocidal agenda, one carried out by a sinister mass murderer who’s been photographed at the epicenter of seemingly every historical pandemic…without appearing to age. An evil man who attempts to derail Mason’s investigation by murdering his wife.

With the help of his longtime friends—Gunnar Backstrom, a corporate espionage gun-for-hire, and Ramses Donovan, a sin merchant of questionable morality—Mason’s hunt for his wife’s killer leads him from a dark union at the dawn of the twentieth century to a network of Nazi collaborators and a conspiracy against mankind more than a hundred years in the making. Fueled by anger and driven by the promise of vengeance, he must overcome a monster preparing to unleash his virulent wrath upon an unsuspecting world if he’s to have any hope of exposing a deep-state entity that’s rooted in every facet of our society, an entity known only as…The Thirteen.

Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iBooks • GooglePlay

 

Crossings

Ashley Capes

September 1, 2019

Deep in the Australian bush, something dark is stirring.

When wildlife ranger Lisa Thomas finds a pile of animal entrails on her doorstep she immediately suspects her abusive ex, but the sudden spate of deaths that follow seem beyond even Ben’s vindictiveness.

Worse, her father’s health is deteriorating fast and when the harassment and deaths continue, it only fuels her feelings of powerlessness. To add confusion to growing fear, Lisa must also investigate reports of a giant white kangaroo, reports that suggest the creature is no mere hoax.

Yet the mysterious kangaroo is impossible to track down and the more Lisa searches the more she’s sure an even greater threat lurks in the wilderness…

Amazon • B&N • Kobo

 

 

 

Shadows Among Us

Ellery A. Kane

August 31, 2019

Evil is closer than you think.

Psychologist, Mollie Roark, had it all. A hotshot husband, a beautiful daughter, a successful career, and a fancy house on the Napa hillside. She’d finally made it. Left her troubled past and her crazy father far behind her.

But two years ago, the unspeakable happened. Her daughter’s burned body turned up on the shores of Lake Berryessa just days after her fifteenth birthday. The police seem certain Dakota fell victim to the Shadow Man, the prolific serial killer who had terrorized the Napa Valley for two decades. Mollie’s normal life is now anything but. Childless, divorced, and unemployed, she’s barely staying afloat. She’s got one mission. To find the scumbag who killed her daughter and make him pay.

When a mysterious old man shows up at her door seeking absolution and promising answers, it’s impossible to resist. But the deeper she goes inside his mind, the shakier her sanity becomes. Everyone is a suspect. No one is innocent. Because Mollie knows evil may be as close as her own shadow.

Amazon