Daily Archives: March 1, 2022

Shade and the Vampires of Romania by Marilyn Peake #MarilynPeake

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Shade and the Vampires of Romania (Shade Series, #5)

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

It’s Shade’s junior year at Ocean View College and I am excited to begin another adventure with her and her magical friends. On the way to school, the go on a cruise. Shade had never been anywhere, so this was quite an adventure, and how fortunate that her BFF Kai is with her.

Shade is a Ghost Whisperer and I still watch The Ghost Whisperer TV show reruns in the mornings. I wonder how she will fare with vampires. She opened the pamphlet she was given, thinking it would be full of pretty pictures and ghosts. Not so. Instead she saw it was about vampires, strigori, troubled spirits that rise from the dead, causing her to have a panic attack.

The gang: Shade, Kai, Apple and Annie are together again and more excited about life than ever. They would be separated when they headed off on their student exchange adventure. She draws people to her, though if you asked her about it, she wouldn’t know what to say.

Dakota, Trinity, Summer, Maeve, Li…from ghosts whisperers to selkies…Whew…we dodged a bullet, along with Carrie and Selene. Ya know, the one where they go into the forest, into the cave, down in the basement…I couldn’t help but smile. I can see them in her cabin, scared…

WOW. Marilyn Peake created an amazing world filled with magic and wonder, danger and evil. I was so lost it was hard to come up for air. The characters may be young and inexperienced, but they are brave, courageous, loving and loyal.

How Marilyn merged ghosts and vampires together was creatively done, flowing seamlessly to the conclusion.

I love that I can get so wrapped up in a young woman’s life. Where there is no romance, no sex, but plenty of action and danger. I am finding it hard to express how wonderfully sweet it is. So much more than I expected.

I am so excited to head off to Scotland next.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

The undead cannot be saved. Once bitten, you walk among them.

As a foreign exchange student in Romania, Shade must deal not only with ghosts, but also with the undead. Her first semester trains her to deal with the in-between worlds, including that space between the dead and the undead. No amount of training can prepare her, however, for stepping into a world where vampires and other undead such as the strigoi and moroi are so much more than legend.

SHADE AND THE VAMPIRES OF ROMANIA is Book #5 in a YA Paranormal Mystery / YA Urban Fantasy series.

ABOUT MARILYN PEAKE

Marilyn Peake

Marilyn Peake is the author of both novels and short stories. Her publications have received excellent reviews. Marilyn’s one of the contributing authors in BOOK: THE SEQUEL, published by The Perseus Books Group, with one of her entries included in serialization at THE DAILY BEAST. In addition, Marilyn has served as Editor of a number of anthologies. Her short stories have been published in seven anthologies and on the literary blog, GLASS CASES.

Awards: Silver Award, two Honorable Mentions and eight Finalist placements in the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards, two Winner and two Finalist placements in the EPPIE Awards, Winner of the Dream Realm Awards, and eight Top Ten Finisher Awards in the Preditors and Editors Readers Poll.

Stalk Marilyn Peake:  Website  /  Twitter

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Giveaway – Audiobook Club by Jessica Frances @XpressoTours

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Audiobook Club
Jessica Frances
Publication date: February 25th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance

Being a police officer in a small town doesn’t often offer up many surprises. Working the night shift means I rarely see or do much of anything that doesn’t involve a speeding vehicle, or a drunken rant. And, while quiet nights are better than deadly ones, it still takes some getting used to after living in a big city for years.

So, I’m rather shocked when I pull over a driver and find the dirtiest audiobook playing from the car speakers. And, paint me intrigued when the hot driver struggles to get the enticing words to stop broadcasting to the entire street.

The embarrassing encounter has us both lowering our guard, and I find myself a new friend, one who suggests we start our own audiobook club.
Soon, we become more than just friends as we listen and fall into stories and new worlds together and, naturally, the sexy scenes we’re listening to become a blueprint for our own experiences to try … together.
But, when life intrudes and our audiobook club breaks up, I’m left wondering if everything was just fiction, or if maybe there is something real under it all.
Can we get our happily ever after, or will it all fizzle out before it has a chance to become something permanent?

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

Thirty minutes later, we have a functioning bedframe. Two minutes after that, with just a few grunts and one moan stating permanent back pain, the mattress sits on top of it.

“Should we test it out?” I ask, my hands on my hips, breathing just a little hard from the exertion to get the mattress on it.

“You mean, have sex on it?” Ethan asks around a surprised cough.

I laugh, since I’m definitely not that bold as to suggest something like that. “I more mean just jump around on it; see if it holds. But, I mean, if you’re offering …” I trail off and waggle my eyebrows, only a tinge sad when he laughs instead of taking me up on the offer.

“I haven’t jumped on a bed since I was a kid.”

“Me, neither. I wonder why we stop doing this kind of thing? Why does being an adult mean you can’t still have silly fun?” I ask, crawling up onto the bed, feeling all sorts of out of balance as I force my shaky knees to stiffen and hold me.

I have never been great with heights and, apparently, even being just a bed high off the ground is too much. Still, I need to save face now. So, I do a small jump and watch Ethan roll his eyes at me.

“If that was supposed to test the bed out, then you must have the most boring and lifeless sex in here.”

“Who says I don’t like boring and lifeless sex?” I say somewhat defensively, and then I regret it immediately. “Fine, release your inner child and jump all over my bed to prove your handyman skills and impress me,” I tease, moving off the bed, grateful to be back on steady ground.

Ethan removes his shoes, and then, much more confidently, he gets up on the bed, standing to his feet with an ease I never had. While I shook and probably went three shades paler, Ethan grins widely and is as steady as a seasoned yoga instructor.

“Ready to have your bed and world rocked?” he asks me with a cheeky smile.

“Fuck yes,” I breathe out, meaning it in more ways than just jumping on my bed. I think he knows that, given the heat in his gaze. Then he proceeds to do a small jump, perhaps testing out the strength of the bedframe.

So far so good.

Another couple of jumps, and he begins to laugh. The carefree way he does this has me grinning back up at him. He looks so joyful, so happy, and so … close to the ceiling.

“Ethan, maybe you—”

His next jump has more oomph to it, and the top of his head slams straight into the ceiling.

Drywall and paint rain over him, while his legs collapse out from under him, and he lands down hard on the mattress. This is apparently too much for the newly erected bedframe, since it cracks, perhaps the wooden slats that are there breaking, and the middle caves in.

Shock silences me, and my heart is in my throat. I fear Ethan could have been knocked unconscious. He’s not moving.

Did I just kill my neighbor? How the hell am I supposed to explain this to anyone?

Then Ethan coughs while moving his hand to cover his mouth, and then that cough turns into a laugh, and that laughs has him folding in half as tears start to run down his face.

“Ethan?” I hesitantly reach out to touch his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

I’m not sure I’m ready to find the situation funny, given he could have a head injury.

“I think … I …” He can’t stop laughing, and I have to wait a good two minutes for him to get himself under control. “I think I just figured out why adults don’t do this shit anymore.”

I look up at the head-sized hole in my ceiling and chuckle. “You could be right.”

Author Bio:

Jessica lives in Adelaide, South Australia. When she is not writing, you can find her reading, napping or watching excessive amounts of TV. Connect with her on Facebook and Goodreads.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram


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Giveaway – Secrets of a River Swimmer by S S Turner @GoddessFish

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Secrets of a River Swimmer by S.S. Turner

GENRE: Literary Fiction

BLURB:

As Freddy gazes at the majestic river gushing past him in the depths of a Scottish winter, he’s ready to jump in and end his life. But what happens next is not what Freddy expects. From the moment he enters the river, Freddy starts a journey which is more beautiful, funny, and mysterious than he could have imagined. And through this journey Freddy’s story becomes interweaved with a cast of unforgettable characters who are equally lost and in search of answers. Eventually they all unite in their quest for an answer to the biggest question of them all: will the river take them where they want to go?

In the tradition of inspirational works of fiction like The Alchemist and Life of Pi, Secrets of a River Swimmer is at once a profound exploration into living with meaning and an affecting story of people on the cusp of change.

EXCERPT

From Page 7

I dip my toe in.

It’s fucking freezing.

I sit and watch the majestically sinister Scottish river hurtle along below me. I’m not sure whether to be in awe or terrified, but that was always going to be the case today, my last day. The idea of jumping into the river reminds me of the feeling you experience when you arrive at the beach, and you’re thinking about jumping into the sea, but you know it’s going to cause you grievous bodily harm from your nether regions up. For some reason, your legs are the one part of your body which can handle intense cold without too much stress. But all body parts above your legs are a whole different story. My voice just rose an octave, and I’m not even talking.

So you sit and watch the sea while contemplating your next move, as if this thinking time will give you the required mental strength to leap into the cold blue water. However, this thinking time just gives the water an opportunity to look you in the eye with laughing menace, because the water knows the questions you are grappling with deep in your soul. The water understands it is strong and you are weak—the eternal power imbalance at play.

The waiting period only makes it worse, of course. All it does is allow you to hand more mental power over to the cold water than a short and simple jumping-in maneuver would have done. Why do we employ such counter-productive strategies in our lives?

AUTHOR Bio and Links

S.S. Turner has been an avid reader, writer, and explorer of the natural world throughout his life which has been spent in England, Scotland and Australia. Just like Freddy in his first novel, Secrets of a River Swimmer, he worked in the global fund management sector for many years but realized it didn’t align with his values. In recent years, he’s been focused on inspiring positive change through his writing as well as trying not to laugh in unfortunate situations. He now lives in Australia with his wife, daughter, two dogs, two cats, and ten chickens.

Buy Links: Amazon / B&N / AppleBooks / Indigo / Kobo

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