Archive for the ‘Dark Fantasy’ Category

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Rise Of Dresca organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Author Tim McKay will be awarding a $40 Amazon or B&N Gift ardC to a randomly drawn winner. Don’t forget to enter!

And you can click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Rise Of Dresca

by Tim McKay

 

https://i0.wp.com/blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-qJKw_NBfwA-GWNIAINguCLHvfbIesOVnF4RfJ4wMhsYXAeF07W6RJo_78bhthODHAn6unybvwbI6ExJ1x3n4Fx0poRpDERQatkKYRsdiDI4yGzbwyrBNfWdRFJmVJ1947dfLbjsXEaJ9Sxx8s2gnzS0oxXGNWvqsmSY4k_5oaz4I1Of1SzkBXVqrLac/s4950/BookCover_RiseofDresca_SC_Final_Front.jpg?ssl=1

 

Genre: YA / Dark Fantasy

Synopsis

From the pits of an ancient darkness, a new power is rising.

******

Ceremai has fallen.

After a decade of struggle for independence, a fledgling nation collapses under the unrelenting force of invasion.

Join an unlikely band of allies on a journey beset by shadow and intrigue, pulled by the strings of fate to the source of a new evil.

A lord’s daughter turns assassin. An orphan girl discovers her power. A captain plots in vain.

And the last soldier of Ceremai finds his destiny.

Witness the dawn of a new age, and learn if what evil intended for harm…

… can become something far more terrible.

 

Enjoy this peek inside:

“I’m not much of a teacher,” said Sevora. She unclipped her scabbard and pulled the long blade free.

“I’ll bet,” said Datha with a snicker, just loud enough to regret it when Sevora sent him her most withering look.

“I’ll do my best to keep up,” said Vald. As he pulled Seth’s korossa from its worn scabbard, the blade seemed to ring. Sevora could have sworn she saw a faint blue light glimmer along its edge. She’d have shrugged it off if not for Seth’s wide eyes, which quickly turned serious.

Vald handed the scabbard to Seth, then twisted the sword in a narrow flourish, gripping hard on the hilt and shifting down into a stance Sevora recognized. Vald wasn’t showing off. She was about to be challenged.

She drew herself up. “Read… ahem… ready?”

Vald nodded.

Sevora shot forward, left arm straightened and her sword piercing the air where Vald’s bulk had been. He’d stepped left, pivoting and catching her blade with a stiff but powerful undercut. The force pulled her arm up and around so she stumbled two steps over.

She’d left her side open and knew what was coming. Vald closed in with a sweeping diagonal slash that her hasty defense barely caught. He pressed his korossa on hers and it took all her strength to keep her own blade from digging into her shoulder. Their eyes locked.

For the first time since the dragon swarms flew east, she was afraid.

About Author Tim McKay:

https://i1.wp.com/blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJZA41ULLbr5hv1s0cssg7MH-3SJ98dnnwvIhDqqII4LK1sUSRAZFcYox4jkjoE2WE8_jB7SNRQ4veYiUitd65QFS7asHdo0YCVuM45dhrTWpKi3h_bEIg1Rt4CwdePTqWQBI_Wy23JSkcjdUdZ0MYcJUpSYTUFz8vqrACF2Rnv_Nse0RRUeN4trpB3Bg/s2880/Author%20Image%20TimothyMcKay0014_Resize.jpg?ssl=1

Tim McKay is a writer, editor, and marketer from Ottawa, Canada. He used to be a pastor, still cares about good and evil, and still strives to create meaningful experiences for others. He has degrees in history, theology, and public policy, along with a diploma in professional writing, but likes nothing more than hiking in the woods, running along the Rideau Canal, and connecting with the people he loves. Oh, and reading a good book.

Author Links: Website / Twitter / Instagram

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If you enjoy a darker spin on fairy tales, Upon a Wicked Tide is for you! Read more about the first book in this beautiful duology by Kate Craft!

Upon a Wicked Tide - Ebook

Upon a Wicked Tide (Wicked Tides Duology #1)

Publication Date: October 31st, 2022

Genre: Fairy Tale/ Dark Fantasy/ Romance/ Mermaids & Pirates

In a world of sirens, pirates and unspeakable danger, one might crave a quiet life on the Garden Isle…but not this blue-eyed girl.

Upon the death of her guardians, Emerelda Mirabel comes to inherit three curious things:

A book…

Not a diary or fable, but something almost sentient. This riddlesome book hums with power, each page offering strange warnings and temptations…Perhaps speaking to a future already written?

A desire…

Adventure calls to the young captain, a hunger for something more than a simple fisherwoman’s life. Upon her ship, The King’s Arcana, she will sail the eight seas, venturing to strange lands with strangers amongst her crew. But at what cost?

A heartless prince…

Seemingly cursed with no heart, Prince Ryder could not care less about his kingdom, his family or even life itself. But when the king insists his son travel with Emery to find a cure for the affliction, something finally stirs within. Something he cannot explain. Something binding him to the blue-eyed girl.

Dark Fantasy / Slow Burn Romance / Adventure on the High Seas / Fairy Tales / Sirens / Pirates / Mermaids / Cannibals

Available for Purchase Here!

About the Author

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Kate Craft is a British, fantasy author who debuted in March 2022 with her first book in The Chaos Covenant series. Stepping into the world of indie publishing, she continues to chase her dream of weaving new tales filled with love and mayhem.

Born and raised travelling the world, Craft finally settled in the United Kingdom to complete a BSc in Psychology and Criminology, before joining the British Army in 2016. She is always eager to hear from readers and writers, so feel free to reach out!

Kate Craft

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October 31st

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November 1st

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November 2nd

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Black Raptor Books (Review) https://www.blackraptorbooks.com/

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November 3rd

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Invitation to hell copy

Welcome to the pre-order event for Invitation to Hell, a dark romantic fantasy by Amber Bunch! Read on for details, pre-order a copy, and enter the giveaway ($25 Amazon e-gift card – open to everyone)!

When you pre-order you get a few extras when your book arrives:

2 Stickers (Including Chibi Sticker of Asmo and Kali)

2 Bookmarks

Art Print of Asmodeus

Signed Book Plate

Casebound Cover ITH sample

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Invitation to Hell (Goddess of Death #1)

Publication Date: September 22, 2022 (First Edition)

Genre: Dark Romance/ Dark Fantasy/ Mythology

What if, all you’ve ever known was ripped away from you…

You were thrown into a world full of the same creatures that have haunted your nightmares for years. Magic, and the Gods are no longer a myth, but a part of your destiny.

Now, you’re about to lose everything and everyone you love to an evil King known as the Devourer of Souls.

Then, there’s Hades son…

The ruthless Prince that drives you crazy and thinks you are a waste of his time.

You can’t stand him, but he has been instructed to protect you, so now you have to deal with his arrogance on top of everything else.

The two of you must travel across the Realms to find a way to stop King Lucius before all is lost and you still don’t even know how to use your newly awakened power.

Well, this should be fun.

Pre-Order Here and at B&N!

About the Author

IMG_20220428_160110_936

Amber is an author of spicy romance with a twist… She isn’t committed to any one genre. She lives in Ohio with her family and her dog. She enjoys the outdoors, reading, playing guitar, and loves to stay active. She is a mother of three and her family is her biggest support group. She has also written a children’s book series that was inspired by her children and their play adventures together.

Amber Bunch | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Pre-Order Incentive:

Must sign up for newsletter via website for shipping updates

Must be ok with sharing mailing address with Amber Bunch for shipping book swag

Must have proof of purchase to receive Pre-Order Incentive (Either Print or Digital and sent to R&R Book Tours or Amber Bunch)

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R&R Book Tours

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Cinders

Good Tales For Bad Dreams Book 1

by V.M. Sawh

Genre: Dark Fantasy

As a slave in the bawdy Black House, Rella longs to escape the whips and chains of her existence. She is chosen for a dangerous mission and offered a chance at freedom. There is only one condition: first she must assassinate the Prince.

Quote: “Death by god or death by man… but never as a sister of the Black House!”

Welcome to Good Tales For Bad Dreams, a short-fiction series of re-imagined fairy tales. Each story is set in a different time and place. Some will be familiar, others will not. So, strip bare your assumptions, open your mind and see these tales told like never before.

Please note that this is a short-fiction piece (approx. 28 pages or 10k words) and only a taste of things to come…

(Suggested for Mature Readers, 17 and up)

**Only .99 cents!!**

Goodreads * Amazon

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It was quite peculiar to her at first, how the stillness enveloped her body. She watched her limbs slide through the
chilled water that swallowed her flesh. Their oncepowdered surfaces were cast blue by the undulating shafts of
moonlight floating down from the surface. The flotsam churned along with tumbled bits of ice and mud, the only
markers of her passage from the world above to the world which yawned black below. Unwinding into the light like an
uncoiled serpent, a single red ribbon floated above her, from her. Her hand drifted through it, not by her own volition,
causing it to cloud. It was warm.

Her hair floated about her face, the long strands gently caressing her skin. She kept her eyes open, straining her
pupils against the water’s icy embrace. The pillars of the moon`s reach were darkening before her.

She could no longer feel the cold nor the weighted tresses of her gown though she knew it was the latter that pulled
her down. As the last of the light finally gave way to encroaching darkness, she smiled.

“Anastasia! Drucilda!” The shrill pitch of an operatic performer long past her prime echoed through the dull wood
slats of the stacked house. “Come here girls!”

The eavesdropper dug her fingers and toes into the brick sidewalls of her hideaway in the chimney. She held her
breath tightly, lest the owners of the rapid approaching footsteps discover her. The sound of the older woman’s foot
tapping against the creaky floorboards filtered up from beneath the eavesdropper’s feet. Though the narrow space was
cramped, its unrepentant darkness gave her solace. The soot that caked her hair and fingernails was its price. She had
often suffered ridicule because of it, from the two older girls now entering the room.

“Yes Stepmother!” They answered in unison as they bounced into the room. She could hear the resignation behind
their gritted fawning when they spoke, though despite her best efforts, she could never quite imitate it.

“Girls, I want you to get the house together. Today is a very big day. The eavesdropper could almost see
Stepmother caressing the black feather boa that she often wore around her neck. “We have a very special visitor
today.”

Wot kinda visitor Stepmother? Is he a pony?” the younger of the two asked, running her tongue along her teeth. A
pony, as he was known to all the girls of their house, was a fledgling nobleman, one often in need of a strong but gentle
ride. Of the two of them, the younger was wellpreferred by many of the ponies that stopped in for a visit. Though just
shy of her twentieth birthday, her enthusiastic performance had already earned her a healthy list of clients.

“Oh not at all Anastasia,” Stepmother cooed, using her bejeweled finger to lift the girl’s chin. This one will be one of
our more unique clients. One in need of our specialized services.”

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Hontas

Good Tales For Bad Dreams Book 2

In this rip-roaring Wild West adventure, intrepid bounty hunters Pocahontas and John embark on a dangerous mission to stop a train run by a sadistic, slave-driving madman.

***
How many?” John was panting. His adrenaline kicked in at the sound of the shot.
One.”
There’ll be more. That car’ll empty out quick.”
That was bad. They’d be outnumbered by at least a dozen.
Did you do it?”
John shifted, scouting the opposite side of the train with a glance. “Not enough,” he pulled his own silver Colt and unslung his rifle. “This is more than a six bullet situation.”
***

Welcome to Good Tales For Bad Dreams, a short-fiction series of re-imagined fairy tales. Each story is set in a different time and place. Some will be familiar, others will not. This tale shifts the story of Pocahontas from Colonial Times to the Wild West. So, strip bare your assumptions, open your mind and see these tales told like never before.

Goodreads * Amazon

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1880, Western Wyoming
Digging her fingers into the wet mud of a nearby bank, she dragged herself from the water and collapsed
face down in the mud.

Get up, the thought pulsed in the back of her mind, if you don’t, then he wins.
She didn’t have much time left. Hontas could feel the warmth running down her torso. She rose, slowly,
carefully bracing herself on her knees and moved her arm to survey the damage. Her wound, though chilled by
the frigid river water, had not stopped bleeding. Beneath her ripped buttoned shirt, all that remained of her
left breast was an angry red flower of mutilated flesh. The missing weight of it was replaced with deep,
burning pain.

Her muscles and bones ached as she got to her feet and wrapped her leather duster around herself with a
wince. She trudged forward, her feet unsteady in her waterlogged riding boots.

The distant light from the dawning sun made it easier to take stock of her surroundings. The bank gave
way to the shore covered with lush green grass while heavy trees hung overhead. With every brush of the
wind, rainwater showered from the branches.

Moving through the trees, Hontas felt herself steadily growing weaker. Her vision blurred. She felt the soft
soil beneath her opening up, yawning wide, ready to accept her fall. It would be so easy. A simple buckle of
her shaky knees and it would all be over. This would be her last sunrise.

She found her way to a clearing and spotted the burnt remains of small village comprised of several
torched tipis, it appeared to have been abandoned long ago. Hontas gritted her teeth as she stumbled towards
the only tipi that was still intact. When she lifted the flap of the tent, the action tensed the muscles in her
chest, making her groan. She was dismayed to find that the rear wall of the tipi had collapsed, exposing the
back portion to the elements. As she manoeuvred carefully under the flap, she spied a small buckskin pouch
under a pile of wood. She shoved the wood aside with a grunt and snatched it up. Inside Hontas found small
black pearshaped seeds. She closed her fist around them.

Peyote

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GR3T3L-1

Good Tales For Bad Dreams Book 3

When they are stranded on the surface of a hostile alien world, two sentient robots H4NS3L-671, the military-minded combat drone, & GR3T3L-1, the advanced surveyor prototype, find themselves with neither memory nor mission.

With no resources and no one to count on but each other, the robots must learn to work together in order to endure the brutal landscape, unlock the mystery of their missing memories, and plan their own rescue, all before their power runs out.

What they don’t know is that the dangerous planet holds a terrible secret that could ruin their chances of ever escaping alive…

This is “Hansel & Gretel” told like never before. This is “GR3T3L-1.”

***
Welcome to Good Tales For Bad Dreams, a short-fiction series of re-imagined fairy tales. Each story is set in a different time and place. Some will be familiar, others will not. So strip bare your assumptions, open your mind, and see these tales told like never before.

Goodreads * Amazon

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Year: 2136
Day 1

Turning end over end as they plummeted toward the surface of the planet, the twin metal crates blazed
hot and white in the glow of the setting sun. They hit with the force of a small explosion, scattering red sand
on impact. A thick cloud billowed up around them, shrouding their bulk as the metal cooled. Despite their
landing, both crates were intact.

There was a metallic buzzing inside one of the containers and the screws that held its walls in place began
to vibrate. One by one, they rotated out of their housing and floated slowly down to the red sand. There was a
small click and the wall came loose, drifting away from its container. It hung in the air for a few seconds,
floating in low gravity, before sinking to the ground.

A metal hand extended out from the open container, flexing its four fingers. The bronze coloured plates
which made up the hand’s metal skin shifted in geometric patterns, revealing a fine mesh of sensors
underneath. The hand rotated smoothly in every direction, taking readings and measurements of the
surrounding area. It was joined by a small metal foot which sank its angled treads into the ground with a
crunch, testing for stability and density. Once satisfied that the terrain was sound, the roughly humanoid body
emerged. Its form was monochromatic, illuminated by a spread of small blue and yellow lights embedded
along its chest, shoulders, arms, and legs. The motors in its neck whirred as it looked left and right before
stepping out of the crate. A fine layer danced just above the surface, scattering as it bounced off the robot’s
bronze metal skin.

Reaching down, the robot scooped a handful of red sediment up, allowing its tactile sensors to analyze the
composition. The robot brought its hand close to its glassy face and watched the sand drift from its fingers.

“Curious…”

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Setsuko & The Seven Samurai

Good Tales For Bad Dreams Book 4

Good Tales For Bad Dreams invites you to take a journey back to 16th century Japan for a wicked interpretation of a classic fairy tale. This is the story of love, honour and revenge. This is your samurai Snow White.

Jealous of Setsuko’s beauty, the wicked geisha Izanami orchestrates the murder of her father, the daimyo of a mountaintop castle. After an assassination attempt leads to a coup, Setsuko suffers a catastrophic injury and is forced to flee the only place she’s ever called home and take refuge in the woods with a group of exiled samurai. Orphaned, abandoned, and disabled, Setsuko must learn the truth of what it means to be a samurai, if she ever hopes to reclaim her family’s honour and take her revenge.

Welcome to Good Tales For Bad Dreams, a short-fiction series of re-imagined fairy tales. Each story is set in a different time and place. Some will be familiar, others will not. So strip bare your assumptions, open your mind, and see these tales told like never before.

Goodreads * Amazon

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Japan 1543, Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan
The cool cast of the moon through the open window gave birth to creeping shadows that tugged at
Izanami’s elegant form like a long, black cape. Padding softly into the bedroom on the balls of her bare feet,
holding aloft a lit oil lamp, she let the mountain breeze part her evening robe and chill her skin; a greeting
that made the fine hairs on her neck prickle. Out of habit she reached back and smoothed them into her
neat, upswept bun which yielded not a single oiled strand out of place. Her throat tightened as she laid
eyes upon the lone form shrouded in blankets on the thin mattress. Setsuko…

Izanami crept closer, holding the lamp out in front of her, pouring its dim yellow glow over the younger
woman’s sleeping form, and drank in all the details.

She was curled on her side, her face blank and peaceful on the soft cushion she used for a pillow. Wisps
of fine, silky hair fell across her cheeks and brow, undulating over her porcelain skin like incense smoke. Her
lips, flushed pink in youthful perfection, were full and plump. And striking down to shade Setsuko’s high
cheekbones were long dark lashes, which fluttered like butterfly wings as she dreamed. Her slender fingers
were splayed against the mattress, casting cranewing shadows in the lamplight.

Izanami stared, unblinking at the sight. She soars, even when she sleeps. Izanami crouched down by the
mattress, blocking the moonlight from the open window and creating a dark pocket between herself and the
sleeping girl. She leaned down, bringing her face close to Setsuko’s, till she could feel the girl’s exhalations
on her skin. Izanami opened her mouth wide and sucked it in. She let Setsuko’s breath fill her mouth and
cascade into her throat before she swallowed it down. She could almost taste it that which made this girl
so beautiful. Izanami leaned closer, extending her tongue, greedy for more, when Setsuko stirred.

Izanami drew back, lowering her lamp. For a few seconds, it looked as though Setsuko would wake, but
instead the younger woman kicked a little before snuggling back into her pillow.

Infuriated by the interruption and for nearly being caught, Izanami’s expression darkened. She raised a
hand, tipped with pointed fingernails, to touch Setsuko’s perfect face. To probe and pierce. To see if she
could fracture the beautiful visage before her, even for a moment, and reveal whether Setsuko’s blood ran
red. Wretched girl. You do not deserve this gift.

But she stopped herself. She caught sight of her hand. Her knuckles bloomed like skeletal roses sitting
atop a garden of teal veins and white tendons, all held under a layer of translucent skin. So many flaws.

Izanami wrangled the thunderclouds brewing in her breast with chains of iron will. Not now, she thought.
Not yet.

She rose and departed the room, wrapping her robe around herself as the moon cast its silver light on
her back, hiding her shadows from view.

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V.M. Sawh didn’t always know he was going to be a writer, but from the age of six he’s been putting pen to paper, creating serialised fiction. Hailing from the humid jungles of South America, Sawh crossed oceans to arrive on Canada’s snow-covered shores at age nine. He continued writing, creating serialised fiction year after year until he challenged himself to write a novel. His first trilogy of novels was completed by age sixteen. He continued writing poetry and fiction for the next decade and a half until a chance meeting with Academy Award winning director Guillermo del Toro changed everything and led to the release of Cinders, which landed at #1 on Amazon.

V.M. Sawh is a proud supporter of independent artists and authors. His Good Tales For Bad Dreams series of dark fairy tales is currently available on Amazon.

V.M. Sawh resides in Toronto, with his beloved wife and three cats. He continues to spin fairy tales that will haunt your dreams.

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Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

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I am so excited that DARKEST MATE by Alexis Calder is available now and that I get to share the news!

If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book, be sure to check out all the details below.

This blitz also includes a giveaway for a $10 Amazon GC courtesy of Alexis, & Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, check out the giveaway info below.

 

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Title: DARKEST MATE (Rejected Fate Book 1)

Author: Alexis Calder

Pub. Date: December 21, 2021

Publisher: Alexis Calder

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 346

Find it: GoodreadsAmazon, Kindle

Weakness
means death. Or worse.

After I was abandoned as a child, I was taken in by the Shadow Pack. A group of
ruthless, lawless, shifters who have only one rule: never let anyone see your
weakness.

In exchange for them keeping me alive, I owe them. The leader of the Shadows is
as handsome as he is ruthless. And he’s offered to wipe my debt in exchange for
marriage. He’d offer protection, but it would cost me my freedom.

Survival in the Shadows depends on back alley deals and shady alliances. It’s
become a way of life that I stopped questioning years ago. When a routine
burglary goes wrong, I find myself captured by the one family I never should
have crossed.

The Umbra family owns this city. They make us Shadow wolves look like the good
guys. They should have killed me for my crimes, but there’s a tiny problem… It
turns out Madoc Umbra is my fated mate.

Instead of killing me, I’m a prisoner. The rest of the family doesn’t know of
our bond and I intend to keep it that way. Madoc’s brothers want to end my
life; he wants to break the bond. I just want to get the heck out.

As long as I don’t let them see any weakness, I might have a chance of making
it out of here alive.

Darkest Mate is a full-length paranormal romance. 17+ for dark content,
steamy scenes, and language. This is book one in a trilogy and is not a
standalone. Mind the cliff.

Upcoming Release Dates:
Darkest Mate: December 9, 2021
Forbidden Sin: January 20, 2022
Feral Queen: March 3, 2022 

EXCERPT:

I glanced over at the ring, hoping to catch a glimpse of the undefeated
Dark Wolf. He had removed his hoodie, revealing a muscular back, strong
shoulders and short dark hair. I couldn’t even see his face, but I was frozen
in place, looking at him wide eyed. There was something about him that pulled
me in, forcing me to stare.

He rolled his shoulders, then tilted his head from side to side slowly.
As I watched the muscles in his back ripple and his arms flex and relax, my
breath hitched. Warmth radiated from my center, and the unmistakable sensation
of longing rushed through me.

What the fuck was wrong with me?

I shook my head, trying to break the spell he had over me. Something was
very wrong with me. I’d seen shirtless men more times than I could count. It
was part of being a shifter. We didn’t get freaked out by nudity. But that man
wasn’t just a normal shirtless male, he was a work of fucking art.



About Alexis:

Alexis
Calder writes sassy heroines and sexy heroes with a sprinkle of sarcasm. She
lives in the Rockies and drinks far too much coffee and just the right amount
of wine.

Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

 

 

 

 

 

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For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

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Novice Necromancer

Northern Necromancers: The Island Book 1

by Amy B. Nixon

Genre: Romantic Dark Fantasy

Novice Necromancer is a revised edition of my discontinued book Nordstrøm Necromancer. It includes new content, sprinkled throughout the story.

Intrigue, monsters and a forbidden affair. What could go wrong?

Learyn Dustrikke didn’t believe in black magic, until her aunt’s secrets forced her to flee San Francisco and seek shelter on the ominous Nordstrøm Island – an obscure Norwegian holm uprooted from the realm Vanaheim.

Ensnared by the island’s magic, Learyn finds herself in deadlier peril than ever before.

Between juggling the principles of necromancy, waltzing with intrigue and monsters, and falling for a man whose love is forbidden by the gods, can Learyn untangle the web of family secrets before it’s too late? Or will the threat she fled from catch up with her?

Hop on a ride to cinematic lands of atavistic Norse mythology in this NA Dark Fantasy series, as Learyn learns why black magic should not be taken lightly.

(Disclaimer: Every book in the series contains swearing, deaths and occasional gore. The main characters are also featured in my other series Northern Necromancers: The Dragons.)

Goodreads * Amazon

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The excerpt features one profanity, but if you prefer to spare some language-sensitive bloggers, you can stylize it as “f-ck” (I did the same on Amazon to bypass Author Central’s restrictions, so I’m totally fine with that if you have to censor it). I also left line breaks above and below the paragraphs in Italics since they’re a scene during which the character has a vision of the future, and the Italics/ line breaks would make it less confusing for the bloggers.

 

“Miss Dustrikke, I’d like a word with you.”

Confused by his request, I waited for everyone to leave before I stepped onto the raised podium.

He studied me from head to toe with that pair of unnaturally light blue irises. Cold and intrusive, like an avalanche sliding across every inch of me. Hoar-frost scalded my guts. My heart dropped in my stomach with the weight of a glacier. Why did he always look so freakishly intimidating?

When his icy blues finally trailed back up, I barely prevented myself from squirming. And then the world unraveled around me.

 

I was standing in what was supposed to be a spacious hall, or at least it had been once before.

Erosion had struck the stony walls, demolishing them to nothing more than crumbled ruins. They laid bleak and barren in hues of fading grays. Jagged outlines of damaged columns spanned up to an open sky, devoid of stars. A pale crescent moon barely illuminated its onyx darkness, shedding light on a thinning haze.

My eyes darted down as I stepped onto something hard and uneven — a serrated piece, chipped off the marbled tiles. Disarrayed, aegean patterns covered the icy floor, like protrusive veins running under pale skin. Shudders slithered up my spine at the sight of hollow trunks and tarred roots, mere footsteps from where I stood. Those trees were dead. They shouldn’t have been able to break through the stone.

I navigated my way across the ruins carefully, diving deeper into the remains of a dead world.

Until it wasn’t dead anymore.

Eerie tones flew past my ears. A haunting rock ballad, coming from somewhere ahead. I braved the freezing temperatures and kept walking. A man and a woman, locked in a tight embrace, appeared out of the blue and spun around me. I barely caught a glimpse of their formal clothes before they disappeared. Just as I wondered if they had been some crazy mirage, another couple broke through the haze.

More and more people manifested before my shocked stare, all of whom were waltzing. Trying to tell mirages from reality, my eyes lingered on the formal suits and puffy dresses. Torn and battered, they revealed naked flesh. Rotten, flaky, decomposing flesh.

A horrified gasp ruptured my throat. The cloud of somber mist lured out my breath, robbing me of my fleeting warmth. A sinister thought rushed through my mind — the haze was sucking away my life, like it had sucked away theirs.

 

I panted, writhing like an aspen twig.

The haze had disappeared, as had the ruins and the waltzing corpses. I was standing back on that podium, facing Dann’s creepily intense stare.

“What the fuck was that?” I whispered, still trembling from the lingering aftertaste of what I had just experienced.

“What was what, exactly?”

“That! The ruins, corpses, music and… everything!”

His face hardened in an obscure grimace.

“You were there!” I pressed when he didn’t say anything. “You were there with me all the time!”

“I never stood from my chair, Miss Dustrikke, and you never left this room.”

My mouth fell open. I peeked over my shoulder to see nothing more than rows of tables and empty chairs, stacked neatly in their ascending formation. I could swear on the creator of the Python programming language, moments ago we had both been in that dreadful, gothic, post-apocalyptic excuse of a ruined hall.

Tearing my gaze off the empty room, I faced his stone-cold features.

Incorporeal blades raked through my spine while the waltzing corpses still glided through my head, possessing my thoughts with images of their rotten, festering flesh. Between the livid skin and the soul-sucking haze, his familiar presence had felt like the only factor that had prevented me from losing myself to the cold, ghastly darkness. Which was a paradox on its own, considering I didn’t even know him well, least of all trust him.

Still, why was he pretending nothing had happened?

“We both walked through those ruins.” Treacherous notes of desperation bled from my shaky voice. “You were right behind me.”

“As I said, neither of us left the room.”

So, I’d had… a hallucination, or something? A vision? Was it even possible? Did necromancers have visions? Omens? Predictions about the future? Past lives? What the hell was going on?

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Rampant Necromancer

Northern Necromancers: The Island Book 2

My life got freakier than a black metal music video. Ironic, since my blood runs with black magic.

Newbie necromancer Learyn Dustrikke quickly learned why leaving San Francisco and moving to a chunk of Vanaheim land nestled in Norway was a bad idea.

Nordstrøm Island is anything but the fairytale land she thought it would be. Murderers run rampant in broad daylight. Freshly deceased human flesh rots before her eyes. Wrongfully cast spells serve as a one-way ticket to a soulless eternity. And sneaking out means getting exposed to lethal forces, which are impervious even to necromancy.

The last things on Learyn’s mind are worrying about Dann’s eerie secrets or the furtive warnings of a mysterious dark elf. But in a world where reality is more terrifying than any nightmare, seeking love and friendship will cost her more than she’s prepared to lose.

And that’s just the calm before the storm…

Hop on a ride to mythical lands of ancient Norse mythology in this NA Dark Fantasy series, as Learyn learns why black magic should not be taken lightly.

(Disclaimer: Every book in the series contains swearing, deaths and occasional gore. You’ll also see some characters and events from my series Northern Necromancers: The Dragons.)

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Amy B. Nixon is a designer and columnist by day, an aspiring fiction author by night and a 24/7 caffeine addict.

When she’s not working or writing, Amy enjoys cooking, playing board games, taking roadtrips, shocking the people around her with dark humor, playing the piano and ruining group photos due to not being able to pose seriously for a proper picture.

Website * Facebook * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

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Amden Bog
A Novel in Stories
by David Rose
Genre: Dark Fantasy
The second book to expose the grim world of Mulgara:
Loner, bumpkin, self-destructive teenager, Matina thought her life’s adventures would reach no further than paddling under night cypress or falling through the parchment of a good book. But she owns a great secret, one coming with her approaching womanhood like the mouths of gnashing teeth.
Boraor Rehton, the inept shaman, would love nothing more than to leave this wretched town, continuously appointing him their spiritual leader. He knows little about the earthly arts, but the same cannot be said for black magic; tools he uses, which, if caught, would earn him a place on Amden’s impaling stakes.
Add Pauthor Quithot, recluse, Grubilius Motty, lowlife drunkard, and other malcontents all involved with a mysterious force let loose upon the bog.As the force’s mystery wanes, old feuds are inflamed, murder is ready to run rampant, and the threshold separating the living from the dead is hopped over with wicked glee.
Alluring, unpredictable, dripping with idiosyncratic folk, AMDEN BOG is dark fantasy where beauty and brutality often hang from the same sagging vine.
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David Rose (1983-) is both a hybrid author and a former dilettante. His works include No Joy, From Sand and Time, Mulgara, and Amden Bog. One of which won an award.
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Undying Witch
A Dysfunctional Family of Witches Prequel
by B. Austin
Genre: Dark Fantasy
“I will live forever. If I could make you, my daughter, live longer than a human, I would. I do not want to be alone again.”
A 97-YEAR-OLD FORTUNE-TELLER DISCOVERS THE MAGIC TO BE YOUNG AND LIVE FOREVER.
DIMA seems doomed to live a life of poverty until she steals the Starostavne Books of Magical Spells and Enchantments. Monks wrote the wizardry books centuries ago. In the Tree of Life Magic and Time Spells book, Dima learns the secret of never aging.
Years later, Dima’s teenage daughter resents a mother who is 112 years old but shifts into a woman young enough to be her sister. MEDEA loathes a mother who loves her 17 cats more than she does her daughter. Medea despises a mother who claims all witchcraft as her magic and treats her daughter like a slave. In secret, Medea develops her own sorcery.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a standalone book in this series and does not have to be read first or in any other particular order.
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**Get it FREE June 22nd – 26th!!**
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Coming Soon!
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The Witch With Nine Lives
A Dysfunctional Family of Witches Book 1
MEDEA TURNS INTO A CAT AT NIGHT, due to her mother’s curse. In Undying Witch, DIMA found a shapeshifting stone. She is 130-years-old but appears to be 18, the same age as her two daughters. Medea works in the family witchcraft business of fortune-telling, seances, and other witchery-for-hire. NIKKI works as a maid. Medea is tortured by a secret that can destroy the sisterly tie between her and Nikki. Her sister was born a Marilyn-Monroe lookalike. Despite her beauty, jealousy eats away at Nikki because her mother and sister have magic. Nor is Nikki allowed near the books of spells, enchantments, and potions Dima stole from Russian monks. Unknown to her family, Nikki, is developing a magical gift which she cannot control, a sorcery that will threaten Medea and pit two powerful sisters against each other.
(Please note: This is a standalone series. The books can be read in any order.)
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B. Austin writes Science Fiction and Fantasy, spellbinding tales filled with suspense, mystery, and unique magic. She loves creating future worlds with cool technology.
B writes under two other names. BELINDA AUSTIN writes Psychological Thrillers, Suspense, and Hysterical Fiction. BELINDA V. GARCIA has written award-winning Historical Fiction and middle-grade fantasy.
Before writing fiction full time, B. Austin was a Computer Programmer, Web Developer, and Software Engineer. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Mathematics. If you are still curious about Belinda, she has written a series of memoirs entitled: MEMOIRS OF A BIGAMIST’S DAUGHTER. She thanks you humbly for your interest.
In her own words: “I would like to have a dinner party on Halloween with all my fans, and Edgar Allan Poe as guest of honor. I fell in love with his writing when I was a kid. We will have chocolate cake, chocolate-covered strawberries, and fudge for dessert. With bated breath, we will ask Eddie the real story of how he died. Everyone loves a good horror tale.”
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Big Cranky: Fall Into Darkness
by James Pyne
Genre: Dark Mythological Fantasy, Action
Forget everything you think you know about myths and legends, James Pyne’s
Big Cranky connects them all in an epic web of deceitful betrayal,
love, and loyalty. A capricious tale of gods, showing human quirks
are not only wasted on the mortals. A tale of many deities treading
lightly around a superior as the world begins.
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James Pyne hails from Nova Scotia, Canada, and has been a scribe for the
Universe much of his life. He’s a firm believer in being able to
write in every genre, to make his world building and characters
hopefuly come out genuine. No matter what he writes it will have some
form of darkness, nothing is pure light in any worlds James creates
and rumor has it, his surviving characters are plotting his demise.
When it comes to his past time, much of it is spent learning the
craft, but he does enjoy gardening and playfully tormenting those he
loves. When he’s not writing, or working his day job, he’s traveling.
The Andalusia region of Spain the last place that tolerated him.
Favorite authors: John Gardner (Grendel, Sunlight Dialogues). Fyodor
Dostoevsky (The Brothers Karamazov). Clive Barker (Imajica,
Weaveworld, Books of Blood). Terry Pratchett (Good Omens, Bad Omens).
J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings). And all the scribes who carried
on the tradition of myths throughout the ages.
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Among these gripping tales you’ll encounter. An exiled dragon filled with
rage. A queen chosen from among the commons not her bloodline. A
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leprechauns against bullies. What lurks through the window at 2 am.
This collection of enchanting stories and poems is not for the weary.
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Prepare to be impassioned on a heart throbbing journey within the pages of, A
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Among these alluring tales you’ll encounter forbidden love, broken hearts,
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This collection of enticing stories and poems is not for the chaste. Enter
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Calendar Anthology Dark
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Prepare to be crippled with fear on a white knuckled journey within the pages
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Among these harrowing tales you’ll encounter. A violent organization of
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Snake-like demons seeping through the gates of hell. All horror and
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This collection of daunting stories and poems is not for the faint of
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**scroll through the slideshow to find out more about the authors!!**




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