Thursday, May 24, 2018

Review: FROZEN, by Christine Amsden



Review: FROZENby Christine Amsden
Release dateApril 11th, 2018
PublisherTwilight Times Books
GenreUrban Fantasy/Mystery
SeriesCassie ScotParaNormal Detective, Book 7

Get your copy on Amazon or Barnes and Noble


Fans of the Cassie ScotParaNormal Detective urban fantasy series will enjoy this the 7th instalment. This time, Cassie is married…but if you think life ends when you’re married, think again, especially in the small paranormal town of Eagle Rock, where everyone seems to have a magical ancestry and magic keeps popping up in unexpected placesIn fact, the magic seems to be getting greaterevery yearwith sorcerers growing stronger and mothers like Cassie channellingmore magic while pregnantThe Magical Underground tries to keep things at baybut sometimes it can get out ofcontrol, like now…

Two people are found frozen to death, a pack of hellhounds has appeared out of nowhere, and there appears to be a sudden outset of suicides. Who or what is causing all these happenings? It is up to Cassie to find out—only, this time, while nursing her baby and managing her new marriage and family life. 

Being a fan of the series and having read all of the previous books, I was happy to find out that the series didn’t end with Cassie getting married in the last book.  It’s not easy solving mysteries and facing dangerous situations in between diapers or arguments with a husband, that’s for sure! I found the story fresh and entertaining, with Cassie’s unpretentious, honest voice shining through the pages. She is both strong and vulnerable, which I love. The writing is engaging, smoothly flowing from chapter to chapter with the “quiet” tone of a cozy mystery. Though the book can be read as a standalone, without the intrusion of too much backstory, I highly recommend reading the books in order for a more satisfying experience.

Reviewed by Mayra Calvani
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book in exchange for my review.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

The Kingdom Queen by J.T. Page Jr.







Title: The Kingdom Queen
Author: J.T. Page
Publisher: iUniverse
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Format: Ebook

Two young American tourists, Carmen and Cubby, arrive at a mysterious church in present-day Austria. They meet Otto, their tour guide, who leads them to the Silver Chapel. There he weaves an enchanting story involving knights, intrigue, and true love. Otto takes their imaginations on a journey to twelfth-century Europe during the High Middle Ages, a decade after the end of the First Crusade. Princess Margarethe and Theo first meet as children when her father, King Johann, grants knighthood to Sir Josef, Theo’s father. The children are immediately drawn to each other despite the difference in social class. When Theo’s parents are tragically killed, Margarethe swears to love him forever—but is that true? Can their love survive even though they are destined to never marry? Carmen and Cubby have countless questions as the story unfolds, but Otto is always happy to explain and instruct. He tells tales of war, marriage, birth, death, and chivalry as Margarethe and Theo are constantly kept apart. Assassins abound, cultures collide, and the Knights Templar make their presence felt in sometimes surprising ways. Margarethe and Theo vow eternal loyalty, no matter the sacrifice. But will they get their happy ending or remain resigned to the duties of differing stations? Welcome to the new and timeless story of The Kingdom Queen.








Joseph T. Page Jr. has a doctoral degree in business management from Nova Southeastern University. He served as an officer in the U.S. Army for over twenty years, commanded military units on three continents, and is a combat veteran. He also worked as a Department of Defense contractor in Europe. He and his wife live in Hawaii.

GIVEAWAY

J.T. IS GIVING AWAY A $25 GIFT CARD!

  
Terms & Conditions:
  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
  • One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
  • This giveaway begins May 14 and ends on May 26.
  • Winners will be contacted via email on May 27.
  • Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone! 

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Tuesday, May 22, 2018

White Witch by Larry D. Thompson @ldtauthor


WHITE WITCH by Larry D. Thompson, Thriller, 291 pp., $14.95 (Paperback) $5.95 (Kindle edition)

Title: WHITE WITCH
Author: Larry D. Thompson
Publisher: Story Merchant Books
Pages: 291
Genre: Thriller
Jamaica is a place where the surreal is simply everyday reality. When a ruthless American aluminum company plans to strip mine the Jamaican rainforest, they send former Navy SEAL Will Taylor to Montego Bay to deal with local resistance on their behalf. But he’s unaware that the British had signed a treaty deeding the rainforest to the Jamaican Maroons, descendants of escaped slaves, over 300 years ago. The Maroons fought and died for their land then, and are more than willing to do so now, whether it’s the British or the Americans who threaten them this time around.

Upon Will’s arrival, a series of inexplicable murders begin, some carried out with deadly snake daggers that were owned and used by Annie Palmer, a voodoo priestess better known as the White Witch. She was killed 200 years prior, but is said to still haunt the island at night, and the local Jamaicans are certain she’s responsible for the gruesome murders, her form of retaliation against the new turmoil taking place in the rainforest.

And Will has been forced directly into the middle of it. After a few close calls, he’s finally convinced to leave his company and join forces with the Maroons, headed by Vertise Broderick, a Maroon who resigned from her position at the New York Times to return to Jamaica to stop the mining. Together they hire a Jamaican attorney to prove that the Maroon/British treaty is still valid to stop the mining, and they take it upon themselves to solve the White Witch murders, because the legend of the White Witch can’t possibly be true…
Order Your Copy!

https://www.amazon.com/Mistress-Suffragette-Diana-Forbes-ebook/dp/B06XG3G2TF

Will returned to his room, too wound up to sleep. He stripped to his
underwear and flipped channels on a large screen HD television until he ran
across First Blood with Sylvester Stallone. Having lived that life for a few years,
he never passed up the opportunity to watch it again. He settled back and had
drifted off to sleep when his cell chimed. He glanced at the television to make
sure it was not coming from there and found Fred Astaire waltzing Ginger
Rogers around a ballroom. He turned off the television and reached for his
phone.

Taylor.”

“Will, Alexa here.” It was nearly three in the morning and Alexa was still at
her desk. Smoke drifted from a cigarette in her ash tray while she sucked on a
Tootsie Pop. She was on the speaker phone. When Will answered, she walked to
her window and stared at the lights of Baltimore.

Will turned on the nightstand light, glanced at the clock, and swung his feet
into a sitting position on the side of the bed. “Yes, ma’am. Little late for a booty
call.”
“Cut the crap. Kaven was just found at Rose Hall. He’s dead.”

“What? Are you sure? I just saw him a few hours ago.” Will got to his feet
and began pacing the room. “Shit.”

“Must be those goddamn Maroons. He called me last night once he got
back from Accompong. He told me about what happened up there. By the way,
they let the pilot go. They said they had no beef with him.”

“So I heard. What was Kaven doing at Rose Hall? When I saw him, he was
going to his room.”

“How the hell should I know? I got a call from some local detective. They
found his employee identification in his wallet. When the detective called here,
the operator knew I was still in my office and put the call through to me. You need to get to Rose Hall now.
“Yes, ma’am,” Will agreed.
“And I’m flying down there tomorrow before this gets any more out of
hand. See if you can keep anybody else from being killed until I get there.”

Will’s cell went dead. He put it on the nightstand and picked up the hotel
phone. Pleased to find it working, he punched the key for valet parking.

“Good evening, Mr. Taylor. How can I be of assistance?”

“Bring my company Land Rover to the front as quickly as possible.”

Getting assurance that it would be there when he got downstairs, Will hung
up and walked to the bathroom. Five minutes later he was met at the hotel
entrance by a valet.

“Can I give you directions, Mr. Taylor? It’s a little late at night.”

“No thanks. I know exactly where I’m going.” Will got in the car, fastened
his seat belt, and left the hotel.
When Will got to Rose Hall, he turned onto the road they had just come
down the evening before. At the top of the hill he could see the mansion, now
well lighted. He dodged tree limbs and utility wires and parked among several
other vehicles. Police cars were positioned so that their headlights focused on the
steps of the mansion where Will could see the yellow police crime scene tape. He
walked up a path from the parking lot between the police cars that faced the
mansion to the yellow tape where an officer stood watch. The officer came to
attention as Will approached.

“Sorry, mon. I can’t let you past here. We’re investigating a murder.”

Will kept his voice even but controlling. “I know, officer. That’s why I’m
here. Name’s William Taylor. I’m head of security for Global American Metals.
Here’s my identification.” Will tried to hand him an ID. The officer just shook
his head. “Officer, the dead man is one of Global’s employees. Can you get
someone in authority to let me up there?”

Before the officer could reply, Miles Harper, the St. James Parish Chief of
Detectives, approached. Harper was a lean, fit man with a shaved head and a no
nonsense manner. He was dressed in a brown suit, yellow shirt, and matching
tie. He looked like he just stepped out of GQ Magazine, even at three in the
morning.

“Mr. Taylor, I’m Miles Harper, Chief of Detectives in this parish. I was
told by your company to expect you.”

Will extended his right hand. Harper ignored it. Instead, he nodded at the
officer and motioned for Will to follow him. Harper went up a dozen steps and
turned to Will as he stood beside Kaven’s body, sprawled on his back with dagger in his chest. Will bent over for a closer look and found that the handle of
the dagger was in the shape of a snake. At the top of the handle was the snake’s
head. The snake’s eyes were two bright rubies.

“Shit,” Will muttered, “He was almost killed because of one snake on the
road today and now someone finished the job with a, what would you call this, a
snake dagger?”

“That’s as good a name as any, Mr. Taylor. My officers reported what went
on up in Accompong and the incident with the boa.”
Will continued to study the body. “Looks like he’s been dead a couple of
hours. I last saw him about ten last night. Who found him?”

“The hotel has a security guard that roams the mansion grounds and up to
the club house in a golf cart. He spotted the body.”

“Where’s your coroner?”

“He’s a local Justice of the Peace, not a medical doctor. He won’t set foot on
these steps until morning. My men here won’t go past the tape either. They
believe the White Witch did it.”

Will shook his head in disbelief. “Come on, Chief, this is the twenty-first
century.”

“Old beliefs die hard, Mr. Taylor. Come on. Let me show you something.”

Harper stepped around the body and climbed the steps with Will behind
him. Entering the ballroom, Will said, “I was just in this room yesterday evening during the storm.”
Harper turned to study Will. “Would you care to explain?”

Will covered the details of the previous day and their time in the mansion
while they waited out the storm. “You know a woman named Vertise?”

Harper nodded his head. “She’s a local. Works for the paper and tends bar
for the hotel. Since you were in this room a few hours ago, come over here.”
Harper led Will to a glass display against one wall with pictures of two snake
daggers above it along with the history of the daggers. The glass had been
broken and the daggers were gone.

“You see this case when you were up here?”

Will studied it and thought back to the day before. “Can’t say I did, Chief.
It was pretty dark in here, lit only by candles since the storm knocked out
power. I wandered around the room but never glanced toward this case. And I
don’t believe anyone else mentioned it. Now that I think about it, Vertise told
us the legend of Annie Palmer and her using a snake dagger to kill an overseer.
evening during the storm.”

Harper turned to study Will. “Would you care to explain?”
Will covered the details of the previous day and their time in the mansion
while they waited out the storm. “You know a woman named Vertise?”
Harper nodded his head. “She’s a local. Works for the paper and tends bar
for the hotel. Since you were in this room a few hours ago, come over here.”
Harper led Will to a glass display against one wall with pictures of two snake
daggers above it along with the history of the daggers. The glass had been
broken and the daggers were gone.

“You see this case when you were up here?”

Will studied it and thought back to the day before. “Can’t say I did, Chief.
It was pretty dark in here, lit only by candles since the storm knocked out
power. I wandered around the room but never glanced toward this case. And I
don’t believe anyone else mentioned it. Now that I think about it, Vertise told
us the legend of Annie Palmer and her using a snake dagger to kill an overseer. Surprising that she didn’t show us these daggers when she was telling the story.”

“Interesting,” mused Harper. “You have any idea why your man would
come up here in the middle of the night?”

“Not a clue. Have you checked his cell phone? He always carried it.”

“Yeah. The last calls were with you yesterday afternoon and one with Ms.
Pritchard later in the evening.”

Will nodded. “He called me from Accompong, warning me of trouble up
there. I should have gone with him.”

Harper shook his head. “Whether you were there or not wouldn’t have
made any difference. Just would have been one more person that was in my
police car that rolled, assuming, of course, you didn’t take a bullet up on the
mountain.”

“Understood.”

“How did you get in the mansion?”

“Vertise said she knew where a key was hidden and let us in.”

“Strange that she could get into the locked mansion. It was my
understanding that only the manager of Rose Hall had a key. He locked it and
left when the storm was hitting. The hotel spent a fortune on period pieces to
recreate how it looked two hundred years ago. One of his jobs is to make sure
they are not stolen.”

“Any signs of a break-in?” Will asked.

“This is not for publication, you understand, but when I got here the
mansion was locked and the lights were off.”

“So, you’re saying that someone got into the mansion, stole two daggers, let
themselves back out, killed Kaven, and left no trace.” Will paused to absorb all
that he had just said. “Wait a minute. If someone wanted to kill Kaven, why not
just use a gun? Why go to all the trouble of getting that dagger to do it?”

“I’ve been wrestling with that very question,” Harper said. “It’s illegal for a
private citizen to own a gun in Jamaica, but that doesn’t mean they are not
available if you know the right people. My working hypothesis is that the killer
or killers wanted the public to think voodoo was involved, or maybe even the
White Witch. The only other possibility that comes to mind is that the Maroons
are trying to send a message to Global. They tried to kill Tillman in Accompong
and failed. Maybe the message is that they finish what they start. Either way,
someone is trying to make trouble for your company. I have another problem
that may not be apparent.”

Will looked quizzically at the detective.

“As you can see, there were two snake daggers in this case. One’s accounted
for out on the steps. The other is gone. Nearly everyone around here thinks that
they are voodoo daggers with magical powers. They were found in an overseer’s
grave during the restoration of the mansion thirty years ago.”

“Does ‘everyone’ include you? Looks to me like the killer or killers are just
trying to mess with the minds of my co-workers, maybe keep some locals from
hiring on with us.”

Harper stuck his hands in his pockets. “Not up to me to decide if they’re
magic or not. I’ve got a murder with one of those daggers. My job is to solve the
murder and along the way, find that other dagger before someone uses it.”
Will’s eyes searched the room in a futile effort to see any clues to the crime.

Then he focused on the chief. “Look, I’m going to need a gun. My company is
obviously under attack. I’m licensed to carry back home.”

“No way, Mr. Taylor,” Harper exploded. “Foreigners are not permitted to
have guns in Jamaica. For that matter, as I just told you, neither are Jamaicans.
And I want you to stay the hell out of my investigation. We don’t need your
help. Understand?”

“Yeah, I understand. You know that each of our mines on this island is
permitted a certain number of guns for our guards. I’ll just get one of those.”

“The hell you will. Don’t you dare go behind my back. Those guns never
leave mine property. I have an officer that inventories them. If one turns up
missing, I’ll confiscate every damn weapon that Global has and put you under
house arrest. Clear, Mr. Taylor?”

Will clinched his fists and tried to hold back the anger that was apparent in
his face. Without another word, he turned and stormed out of the mansion,
pausing only to gaze at Kaven and say a prayer for him and his family. At the
bottom of the steps, he got in his car and glanced toward the mansion. The
lights from his car somehow caught the ruby eyes of the snake, making them
appear briefly to be alive. Will shook his head, put the car in reverse, and
returned to the hotel.

Book Trailer:








After graduating from the University of Texas School of Law, Larry spent the first half of his professional life as a trial lawyer. He tried well over 300 cases and won more than 95% of them. Although he had not taken a writing class since freshman English (back when they wrote on stone tablets), he figured that he had read enough novels and knew enough about trials, lawyers, judges, and courtrooms that he could do it. Besides, his late, older brother, Thomas Thompson, was one of the best true crime writers to ever set a pen to paper; so, just maybe, there was something in the T hompson gene pool that would be guide him into this new career.  He started writing his first novel about a dozen years ago and published it a couple of years thereafter. He has now written five highly acclaimed legal thrillers. White Witch is number six with many more to come.

Larry is married to his wife, Vicki. He has three children scattered from Colorado to Austin to Boca Raton, and four grandchildren. He has been trying to retire from the law practice to devote full time to writing. Hopefully, that will occur by the end of 2018. He still lives in Houston, but spends his summers in Vail CO, high on a mountain where he is inspired by the beauty of the Rocky Mountains.
His latest book is the captivating thriller, WHITE WITCH.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK

 

http://www.pumpupyourbook.com

 


Monday, May 21, 2018

Urban Fantasy Author Christine Amsden Talks about Redoing her Book Covers


Christine Amsden has been writing fantasy and science fiction for as long as she can remember. She loves to write and it is her dream that others will be inspired by this love and by her stories. Speculative fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but great speculative fiction is about real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. Christine writes primarily about people and relationships, and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.

At the age of 16, Christine was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease, which scars the retina and causes a loss of central vision. She is now legally blind, but has not let this slow her down or get in the way of her dreams.

Christine currently lives in the Kansas City area with her husband, Austin, who has been her biggest fan and the key to her success. In addition to being a writer, she's a mom and freelance editor.

Social Media Links:
· Blog

About the Book:

Apparently, life doesn’t end when you get married.
When a couple freezes to death on a fifty degree day, Cassie is called in to investigate. The couple ran a daycare out of their home, making preschoolers the key witnesses and even the prime suspects.
Two of those preschoolers are Cassie’s youngest siblings, suggesting conditions at home are worse than she feared. As Cassie struggles to care for her family, she must face the truth about her mother’s slide into depression, which seems to be taking the entire town with it.
Then Cassie, too, is attacked by the supernatural cold. She has to think fast to survive, and her actions cause a rift between her and her husband.
No, life doesn’t end after marriage. All hell can break loose at any time.

 

Buy Links

Frozen (Cassie Scot Book Seven)

Print Release: July 15, 2018
Audiobook Release: TBA
Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective (Cassie Scot Book One)


Please tell us about your book cover below:

Designed by Lou Harper, the beautiful cover art for Frozen is far more than it appears. It is actually the culmination of years of struggle, of adversity, and of serious backlash over misleading, inadequate, and unprofessional series covers.

Let me back up, because this story doesn’t begin with Frozen at all. It begins with the first book in the Cassie Scot series, which has recently had an incredible makeover.

Many of my reviews for the early books in the series say, “Don’t judge this book by its cover!” They go on to say that the cover is awful, but the book is great. Well, obviously, I’m glad they liked the book, but I’ve been discouraged for years by the flack I’ve received for the covers.

One of the worst consequences of my original covers was the mistaken belief (by some) that my books were mid-grade novels, or at least young adult. They are not! These were written with adult audiences in mind.

As a picture is worth a thousand words, let me show you the before and after images, one over the other:





 The original cover artwork for the Cassie Scot Series were hand painted originals done just for me. And saying that is bittersweet, because when my publisher first suggested going this route, I felt incredible pride at the idea of having artwork created just for me. It made me feel special. At this point, I have something of a love/hate relationship with the original covers because I can’t deny they were mistakes. Yet, some part of me still sees something special in them, something unique that the modern practice of photo manipulation can’t capture.

Take Secrets and Lies, for instance, the second book in the series and the one with the greatest backlash. “It looks too romantic,” many or my readers said to me. And maybe it does. None of these books are romances, exactly, but there is a strong romantic subplot (like it or not), and that pose on the original Secrets and Lies perfectly captures the tension in that book – Evan wants Cassie; Cassie is unsure.

Photo manipulation is incapable of creating such a scene. To do the same thing with photography, I would have to hire my own models, and a photographer, and do a prohibitively expensive photo shoot to make it happen.

But I get it. I really do. The original cover artwork has terrible, manican-like faces, and they lack the sharpness, the zing, the edge of professionalism that people are used to seeing on urban fantasy novels.

I asked my publisher to hire a new cover designer for Madison’s Song and Kaitlin’s Tale, two spin-offs following secondary characters, and she did a nice job. Not so nice that I wanted her to redo my whole series, but definitely an improvement. And at that point, I thought I was done writing the series.

When Cassie told me, “Life doesn’t end when you get married,” and made me write Frozen, the first book in her new plot arc, I knew I needed something different for the cover. My publisher gave me some choices, knowing I was unhappy with the earlier artwork, but ultimately I refused them all and asked her if she would hire Lou Harper, who was recommended by some fellow authors.

Enter the cover art for Frozen, the intended subject of this blog post! :)

We found a stock photo model for Cassie, and when I did, I tried to find someone with enough poses that she could be used on additional books and maybe … if I liked Frozen well enough, on a series overhaul. I told Lou about some magical creatures that appear in the book, including a hellhound, which she depicted beautifully standing atop a frozen lake. The mist obscuring the background is another important plot element, and really holds the scene together.

When I revealed the cover art for Frozen to my loyal readers, I got immediate, positive feedback. Some claimed that Cassie looked just like they’d pictured. Many said it was beautiful, and professional, and when I floated the idea of the series makeover, I was met with enthusiastic encouragement. So I went for it.

The result is … breathtaking, I think. I particularly love the covers to Mind Games and Stolen Dreams (books three and four), though I am enthusiastic about all of these. They are obviously more professional, cleaner, and state clearly, “These are adult urban fantasy novels.”

I hope you like the new covers half as much as I do, and that regardless, you’ll give the books a chance. You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but we often do. I sometimes do, even though I know how the process goes, and how hard it is to find the right representation for a book!

I present these before-and-after covers proudly, but know the books are far more than their covers. Cassie Scot is a labor of love that only comes alive when you peak inside.