Fantasy Friday: Lori Devoti

Hello, and welcome to another Fantasy Friday🙂

I first read Amazon Ink by Lori Devoti in 2009, when it was released through Juno Books. I absolutely loved it. Not only was the story a different take on Urban Fantasy, but the main character was a strong female who was easy to relate to. I was so happy when the sequel, Amazon Queen, was released in 2010. The book stood on its own but had the same qualities that I loved in the first.

BLURB:

Meet Mel: Business owner. Dedicated mom. Natural-born Amazon.

It’s been ten years since Melanippe Saka left the Amazon tribe in order to create a normal life for her daughter, Harmony. True, running a tattoo parlor in Madison, Wisconsin, while living with your Amazon warrior mother and priestess grandmother is not everyone’s idea of normal, but Mel thinks she’s succeeded at blending in as human.

Turns out she’s wrong. Someone knows all about her, someone who’s targeting young Amazon girls, and no way is Mel going to let Harmony become tangled in this deadly web. With her mother love in overdrive, Ms. Melanippe Saka is quite a force…even when she’s facing a barrage of distractions — including a persistent detective whose interest in Mel goes beyond professional, a sexy tattoo artist with secrets of his own, and a seriously angry Amazon queen who views Mel as a prime suspect. To find answers, Mel will have to do the one thing she swore she’d never do: embrace her powers and admit that you can take the girl out of the tribe…but you can’t take the tribe out of the girl.

BLURB:

Being an Amazon ruler just became a royal pain.

Amazon queen Zery Kostovska has never questioned tribe traditions. After all, these rules have kept the tribe strong for millennia and enabled them to live undetected, even in modern-day America. Zery is tough, fair, commanding—the perfect Amazon leader.

At least, she was. A new high priestess with a penchant for secrecy and technology is threatening Zery’s rule. Plus, with the discovery of the Amazon sons, males with the same skills as their female counterparts, even Zery can’t deny that the tribe must change. But how? Some want to cooperate with the sons. Others believe brutal new leadership is needed—and are willing to kill to make it happen.

Once, Zery’s word was law. Now, she has no idea who to trust, especially with one powerful Amazon son making her question all her instincts. For Zery, tribe comes first, but the battle drawing near is unlike any she’s faced before . . . and losing might cost her both the tribe and her life.

If you haven’t had the chance to check these books out, and you want a fresh take on UF, I recommend giving them a try. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed🙂

The First Day of Autumn

Happy first day of Autumn! The very best time of year😀 In my opinion, anyway LOL

picture of Vermont in the Fall courtesy of Pinterest

I love this season- the temperatures are perfect (although it’s a bit too hot today- 80 degrees!- but it’s supposed to drop later in the week), hot chocolate, hoodies, the leaves are changing colors…just perfect. Then there’s late autumn, where the leaves crunch under foot, and the sweet smell of dying leaves lingers in the air (another scent I quite love). This is also, for me, baking season. The lowering temps and cool nip in the air always make me want to bake🙂 I made dark chocolate brownies yesterday (yum!), and pretty soon my house will smell like apple pie, cookies, and other treats. I can’t help it- this time of year all I want to do is bake, bake, bake!

I hope you all have a great day!

A Recommendation

Today is the release day for Solomon’s Seal by Skyla Dawn Cameron. Those who’ve read the blog for awhile will know that I’m a huge fan of Skyla’s books. I highly recommend checking this book out- it’s the first in a new series🙂

click on cover to go to Amazon

BLURB:

EX-DEBUTANTE. SINGLE MOTHER. TREASURE HUNTER.

Disowned and left penniless for getting pregnant as a teen, former celebutante Olivia Talbot was willing to do whatever it took to provide for her daughter…including become a treasure hunter. After the Pulse hit, activating relics of legend, there are plenty of artifacts to be had—not to mention wealthy clients willing to pay top dollar for them.

Just as her daughter’s private school tuition cheque bounces, Livi gets an offer that could be the break she needs to return to some semblance of her former life. A powerful man wants her to travel to Ethiopia and retrieve the Seal of Solomon—a mythical ring said to control demons and djinn—and this bounty comes with one hell of a financial pay off.

The deadline: a week. The team: unreliable. The competition: her world-renowned archaeologist older brother. Nothing Livi can’t handle… Except the danger goes beyond a few subterranean serpent-dragons she might encounter or tangling with her employer’s deadly second-in-command. This client isn’t all he seems, and handing him the ring might be worse than what he’ll do to her—and her daughter—if she doesn’t.

Fantasy Friday: The NeverEnding Story

Welcome to another Fantasy Friday!

I’ve been in love with the movie The NeverEnding Story since I first saw it as a child. I still watch it as an adult every now and then and think I’m fonder of it now than I was then🙂

The cast is wonderful- the two leads, Bastian and Atreyu, were very easy to root for and feel for. And yes, I pretty much looked like this (see picture below) when a certain scene came around…and I still tear up!

 

I always wished I had my own luck dragon, just like Falcor🙂 He was pretty awesome.

 

The secondary characters were fantastic as well. A great cast all around.

 

I even loved the Gmork❤

 

I will be honest and say that I’m not a fan of the sequel. They change in actors and the script really didn’t do much for me- I didn’t even like it as a kid. But the original will always be one of my favorites movies, and I suspect I’ll be watching it when I’m old and gray as well🙂

Over the River and The Duchess are FREE

This is my reminder post that Over the River and The Duchess are FREE from today to the Sunday! Links are below🙂

NOTE: Right now, only the The Duchess is listed for free on Amazon. Over the River should follow by midnight.

OVER THE RIVER

THE DUCHESS

A Bit of This and That

Hello🙂  This is going to be a quick one, so I’m going to bullet point what’s going on.

*As a reminder, The Red Barn comes out as a FREE read (permanently free) on October 29th- perfect time of year for it!

*September 16th-18th: Over the River and The Duchess will be FREE. I’ll post a reminder on Friday🙂

*I’m almost done with the first draft of the dark paranormal cozy. Hopefully by the end of this month I’ll be working on revisions and such. My new goal with this one is to have it submitted to agents by the end of October, and I’m on track for that.

*I’m working on one other book in the Isles and West world, but with different characters and location. All I’ll say right now is that it takes place in Ghoultown (aka, Boston, for those who haven’t read Ghoultown).

*I’m working on two slayer books and have another one outlined (yes, one does feature Tuck🙂 ).

Of course I’ve written a bit on other books, but these are the ones that I’ve been working hard on.

To answer a reader question: yes, there will be more books with Delilah and Milly, but after Aequitas comes out in December, that will wrap up the initial trilogy. There’s a lot to explore in that world, things far darker (and lighter), more gifts…etc. I can’t write it all from Delilah and Milly’s point of view🙂

That’s about it for the writing and releases…at the moment. Gods know I’ve plenty of ideas in the pipeline!

Finally!

Yay! Finally, we get an Underworld: Blood Wars trailer!!! And it looks awesome😀

 

I have so many questions about the ending of that trailer, and who the Hell those blonde haired people are…and where are Michael and Eve!? Still, I can’t wait to see where they take the franchise. It’s one of my favorites, and if this movie is a lead-in to a tv show, I’ll be very happy about that as well🙂