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About the book
This book is a prequel to the Sorceress of Truth series by J.D. Groom.
Blackpool, 1894, and a deadly creature lurks in the shadows…
Shadows of the Circus by J.D. Groom
My thoughts
This is my first Historical Fantasy. The story is set in Blackpool, 1894, and tells the story of vampire Kylan.
Kylan is working at Blackpool Tower in construction and getting things ready for the grand opening of the famous landmark. He is struggling with managing his vampire urges.
Then he meets Mary, a well established vampire who takes him under her wing and gives him a crash course in control. When Kylan finds Mary in a dangerous situation, the fangs come out and everything is ruined.
Although this novel is a prequel to Sorceress of Truth (YA Contemporary Fantasy), this has a different feel with a male voice, more adult themes, spicy scenes and violence. There is a glossary of Victorian slang at the end, I particularly liked the words for idiot.
Read it for vampires, historical settings, and a little spice and gore.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
You can get this book from:
This book is currently only availabile for free direct from the authors website by joining her newsletter: https://jdgroom.com
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About the book
Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew (Blurb)
My thoughts
Book Review of Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew on YouTube
Frankie lives next door to her bestie. Together they love to hang out in their tree house planning to take pictures of the moon. But, they don’t agree on everything. Her BFF is boy crazy, and Frankie finds it embarrassing.
There is an internship at the Planetarium and there’s a few hoops to jump through to get the role. Both girls decide to go for it. Frankie works hard on her essay and gets her science teacher to check it over and write her reference.
When she finds out her BFF sent an inappropriate photo to the science teacher instead of an essay, Frankie worries how their friendship will affect her reference. Her BFF knows she screwed up and is hurt that Frankie won’t stand by her side when she needs her most. The girls have a massive fight and are no longer friends.
To make matters worse, her now ex-BFF tells their mutual friends her version of what happened, and now Frankie is alone. Being alone enables Benjamin to get to know Frankie better. The pair get closer, and closer, and one thing leads to another.
The best feeling in the world, rapidly turns into a dirty secret. Someone knows the sordid details of what Frankie and Benjamin did that afternoon. And, now it’s all over the internet, one meme after another.
How can Frankie get the bullies to stop and who can she trust? This is a fast paced emotionally driven story of friendship, bullying, and first love. With an epic ending.
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About the book
Balanced Scales blurb
My thoughts
This started off feeling very reminiscent of the Little Mermaid story that is so popular, but then it turned into something else.
Instead of loosing her voice, she loses her soul. Now she’s on a mission to get it back. This brave mer might get more than she anticipated. An unexpected, but enjoyable quick read.
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About the book
My thoughts
This story is told through two POVs. The MC is Silver, and the other is Eden. Their missions are similar – to find their mother – but their journeys are different.
Silver is a very loveable character. She is a gynoid that was raised within a human rebel camp. She knows very little about her kind, and embraces her mission and all the challenges it encompasses. Her training involves rooms with virtual scenarios but real life consequences.
Eden is a human with a mechanical heart. He grew up within the cruel gynoid queen’s castle and trained as a tinker. Although he isn’t in a jail or guarded, he isn’t free. When he finds himself outside the castle walls, he takes the opportunity to escape and find his mum. This leads him on an adventure of pirates, sirens, and man eating giants – just to name a few.
If you love fantasy and adventure, and want something a little different, this is well worth checking out! Plus, the cover is stunning and there is character art inside.
Taking those next steps towards publishing book two is very exciting. It’s still a way off, but I’ve reached out to my cover designer to discuss ideas and book in.
An update on what I was doing in July. Originally I’d toyed with the idea of doing a project for Camp NaNo.
Instead, I was busy planning my husband’s secret party, and attending all the end of school/nursery events for my kids.
In the end, I was working on remaining present on social media by developing content. This included opportunities to feature in Felixstowe Magazine and interviews with other bloggers.
Smashwords Summer Sale (July)
I posted at the start and end of July to make people aware that Ocean Heart was in the Smashwords sale at 50% off. This needed some prompting and content to spread the word.
Coming Soon – Author Diaries
I’ve also been busy working on this collaborative project, and developing content to start promoting.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel and stay tuned for more info coming soon.
Follow me on Ko-Fi
It’s free to follow me on Ko-Fi and be sure you don’t miss out on my latest news, or any freebies. You can buy me a virtual cuppa or merchandise from my shop, including a signed copy of my book.
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About the book
My thoughts
This was a wild card, as I wasn’t sure what to expect. I don’t often read graphic novels but the promise of a mermaid intrigued me.
I whizzed through this, and found it very entertaining. The story is set in 1800s on a steamboat. I’m not a history buff but learning via a comic book (with a bit of fantasy) made it lots of fun. It’s funny too.
An unexpected treat were the pages at the end. Here the author shares how the characters first came to him, all the research, and more of his artwork. I love discovering more behind the book.
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About the book
My thoughts
This book held so much promise as it has everything I love. So, I was surprised when I struggled to enjoy it.
I had the audio version, and this was my first audio book. The story was very dialogue heavy, it was hard to know who was speaking at times.
For the first third of the book, the main character was confused and had no idea what was going on. The other characters would talk in riddles about what they couldn’t tell her. I found this annoying.
Eventually they started sharing with her about the worlds she never knew existed, and training her to control her powers. There was a lot of telling rather than showing.
The main character still had a lot of questions and towards the end of the book, everything she’d been told came into question. Then she was confused again. Everything she’d been told was a lie and turned out she still had no clue.
Sadly, I got to a point where I was determined to finish the book just to get it over with. I wonder if I’d have enjoyed this more if it hadn’t been an audio book. I don’t think audio is my thing. Sad to say, this book wasn’t for me.
I was surprised I didn’t love this book as it had all the ingredients I usually go crazy for. This leads me to believe the issue might have been that I had an audio version. My first ever audio book.
I found the narration very slow. A top tip I got from TheBrightSideGirl on Instagram was to increase the speed. This faster pace of narration was much more appealing for me. I hadn’t realised before that I could do this.
I know a lot of people love audio books and I’ve had requests for Ocean Heart to be made into an audio book. It’s expensive to do but one day I’d love an audio version of Ocean Heart for people that prefer it.
I feel it is important to have books available in different formats. People have different learning styles and this affects their preference for divulging information.
So, although audio books don’t work for me, I know they do for others. You can try audible for free, sample an audible chapter to see if you like it, and many libraries will lend out audio books.
NB: I am only posting my review here & on Goodreads (for my reading history). I think part of my disconnect with this book was the audio format. Usually I blast my reviews everywhere to help readers find and buy the book. But, I don’t feel it’s fair to the author due to this not being for me. I feel bad for not loving it as I really thought I would.
I joined Maci Dierking’s Instagram challenge with a mermaid bookish theme. Her Instagram is thebrightsidegirl and I felt the prompts were fun and would encourage me to post more.
Mermaid Marathon Reads
Click here to see my posts for Mermaid Marathon Reads week one. The challenge encouraged me to post everyday and that continued into week two (almost).
Current read
In hind sight, I could have used this for my Wednesday post as I currently have a few books on the go.
So that’s it for this challenge. But now would probably be a good time to remind you that Ocean Heart is currently half price in the Smashwords Summer Sale (July 2022).
I can’t wait for the holidays and to relax. My best friends wedding was a busy weekend but the lead up to finishing school has been crazy. I’m literally taking one day at a time.
This is a HUGE milestone. I can’t wait to see what my editor has to say. She is fabulous at slapping me with the truth in a way that doesn’t hurt and helps me make my story better. I know there will be a lot of work but I’m ready for it.
It’s free to follow me on Ko-Fi and be sure you don’t miss out on my latest news, or any freebies. You can buy me a virtual cuppa or merchandise from my shop, including a signed copy of my book.
