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Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Book Review: Stay in the Light by A.M. Shine






Stay in the Light (The Watchers #2) by A.M. Shine
Genre:  Adult Fiction (Horror)
Date Published: October 22, 2024
Publisher: Head of Zeus

After her terrifying experience at the hands of the Watchers, Mina has escaped to a cottage on the west coast of Ireland. She obsessively researches her former captors, desperate to find any way to prolong the safety of humankind.

When Mina encounters a stranger near her home, she fears the worst - for she knows the figure is not what it seems. Soon, people she has encountered start to disappear.

Mina knows the Watchers' power is growing. She flees for her life, but when she reports her fears she finds her sanity questioned. Can she convince people that the Watchers are real, and ready to strike - or will she suffer the fate she has dreaded since she first encountered those malevolent beings?

A chilling modern twist on the Gothic horror novel, perfect for fans of Kealan Patrick Burke, T. Kingfisher and classic horror.


Stay in the Light is the second book in The Watchers series by A.M. Shine. This time we get some more information about the lore involving The Watchers. I enjoyed getting that information as much as what was going on in the story itself. There are interesting brothers. I’m so glad there was a sequel to The Watchers, because it was a needed thing, and I’m hoping there will be even more to come. I feel like there could be. Will there be more books in this series? I'm not sure, but I'd definitely read them.


The tide had retreated late that evening, laying a ledge of grey sand in its wake where all else now sparkled in the dusk like a desert of broken glass.
For too long, this was all she’d dreamt of – a sky pruned of black branches and a sun whose departure wasn’t chased into the night by a thousand screams. But nowhere was safe. Not anymore. The darkness, the light, even those grey areas in between reminded her too much of the coop’s cold concrete and those still, twilit moments before the light clicked on.
Mina’s growing repertoire of anxieties kept her tethered to the cottage’s open door. But she’d stretched her leash over time, leaving longer trails of footprints with each passing day. The sand was nothing like the soil. Its silver grains left no stain that she couldn’t dust away with her fingers. And when the sun shone, the shore resembled some magical seam holding the last threads of her sanity together.
She touched the mug to her lips, breathing in more warmth than she drank as her wary eyes scanned the whole beach; from its southern caves to where the rocks beetled out into the bay like a bed of black broken teeth on the far side. Mina had the good mind to drape a blanket over her shoulders; the massive, tasselled one that she toasted by the stove before the sun and the temperature began their nightly nosedives into the ocean.
It had become a ritual of hers to face the night, to force down those memories that were forever tearing their talons around every moment. In the woodland there’d been an echoing list of chores and duties to keep her mind occupied. Here, however, her fears grew restless. And though the waves washed ashore with the calmest whisper, the world as she knew it never ceased to tremor.
Mina swallowed back a mouthful, wincing as it passed her throat. She’d come to loathe the taste of it. But the whiskey hit her like a hard slap, and sometimes – on those nights when she upped her dosage – it’d even knock her into a dreamless sleep, though these blessings were rare and often too hazy in mind and memory to really be appreciated. Either way, she sure felt the impact the following morning; that familiar bruise on the brain, pulsating like a beating heart about to break.
Mina’s phone performed a nervous jolt in her pocket. She rooted it out as she padded her bare feet along the sand, taking care to keep in the dry.
‘Do I need to ask what you’re up to?’ Ciara asked, her voice on loudspeaker.
‘You should see the sky. It’s beautiful this evening.’ ‘It’s always been beautiful, Meens,’ she replied.
‘We just forgot.’
Ciara was the only one who understood what Mina saw when she closed her eyes at night, when the silence was at its most fragile and the softest breeze sang like a scream. She’d asked her countless times to call an end to her impromptu exile and come live with her in the house that she and John had built – the home she refused to abandon, like an altar to the dead man’s memory. But the watchers had been following her in the city. And Mina knew without being told that they were following her still.
‘How are you holding up?’ Ciara asked.
‘Could be worse, I suppose.’ Mina sighed wearily through a smile.
‘Still alive. Though my neck aches from looking over my shoulder.’ Ciara chuckled as a steel pan clamoured down the line.
‘What are you making?’ Mina asked.
‘I’m stir-frying some vegetables. What have we got here? Peppers, some red onion, those baby sweetcorn things, and a few tomatoes.’
‘Oh, wow, very healthy.’
‘I know, right? I’m not sure what I’m going to do with them.’
‘You eat them, Ciara.’
‘You know what I mean.’ She giggled.
Her voice washed over Mina like a balm; cooler and more comforting than any wave the ocean could offer. The implicit purpose behind their nightly conversations was to soothe and support and to help the other process the past into something that would someday crawl into a pit and die. But there were too many groggy mornings when Mina couldn’t recall a single word shared between them. Alcohol made the nightmares more tolerable, but it didn’t exactly make her the most riveting of company. She was meant to be an emotional crutch for Ciara to lean on, but there were times when Mina could barely stand herself up, never mind support another.
‘How’s the yellow one?’ Ciara asked.
‘Yeah, he’s good,’ Mina replied.
‘I brought his cage outside earlier but some of the seagulls started having a go at him, so we went back in.’
‘And I take it there’s still no sign of Madeline?’
Mina detected that familiar diffidence to her voice; the reluctance to ask a question that she’d already guessed the answer to. It’d been over a month now since she’d fled as far west as she could without getting her feet wet.
‘Not yet. But she knows where I am, kind of.’
Ciara chuckled. ‘Do you even know where you are?’
‘No idea.’
That last day in the city had yet to find its focus. It was though Mina’s mind had intentionally flicked a switch; some failsafe to keep her from revisiting those horrors before eventually there’d be no way to escape them.
They’re everywhere. They’ve been watching you.
Madeline’s eyes – once so stark and secretive – had burned with an eerie uncertainty as she’d gripped Mina by the shoulders, seeming in that second more human than ever before. For the first time, the woman looked terrified, and Mina remembered the feel of her long fingers trembling like tender, windswept stems.
She still couldn’t cleanse her dreams of the sight of them, watching her in broad daylight, breaking the one rule that she’d learned to live by. As Madeline had told her once – they were leaner and they were longer. But on that street, standing amidst the unknowing crowd, they were also so terrifyingly convincing. It was as though they wanted to be seen. Worse still, Mina was sure that one of them had smiled at her; the slyest curl of the lip, so effortlessly sinister, as if they had perfected it – the face, its form and utility.
Madeline had raised back her shoulders, standing tall so as to shield Mina in the shelter of her shadow. It was jarringly uncanny to meet her in the eye, for they were Madeline’s; two jewels she knew so well, set into a different face.
‘Mina,’ she’d snapped, drawing her closer, making sure the message delivered, ‘You can’t stay here.’
Words were vague, soundless letters in Mina’s mind. Her mouth opened, but it was more likely to expel the contents of her stomach than anything resembling sense.
‘I don’t know how many there are,’ Madeline said, peering back over her shoulder. ‘They’ve been following you.’
‘How did they…’ was all she managed to utter before her jaw tensed up.
‘How did they what, Mina?’
‘Find me?’
‘It doesn’t matter. You need to leave the city now.’ 

Check out the first book!!

author
A. M. Shine is an author of Literary Horror from the west of Ireland. It was there that at a young age he discovered a passion for classic horror stories, and where he received his Masters in history, before ultimately sharpening his quill to pursue a life devoted to all things literary and macabre. His writing is inspired by the trinity of horror, history, and superstition, and he has tormented, toyed with, and tortured more characters than he will ever confess to.

To learn more about A. M. Shine and his books, visit his website. You can also find him on GoodreadsFacebookInstagram, and Twitter.


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Sunday, December 22, 2024

Book Reviews: Hare Moon and What Once We Feared by Carrie Ryan




Hare Moon (The Forest of Hands and Teeth #0.1) by Carrie Ryan
Genre: Young Adult (Dystopian/Post Apocalyptic)
Date Published: April 5, 2011
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers




Tabitha can’t shake the feeling that something exists beyond the fences of her village. And when she sneaks out, past the gates and down the path into the Forest of Hands and Teeth, she meets a boy who teaches her heart things she never knew. But love in a world surrounded by so much death doesn’t come without its sacrifices, and Tabitha gradually realizes just how much she’ll have to give up to live among the Unconsecrated. From New York Times bestselling author Carrie Ryan comes an original story of love after the Return.

Hare Moon is a prequel story in the Forest of Hands and Teeth Trilogy by Carrie Ryan. It’s been a while since I’ve read these books, so it was nice to revisit this world and see Sister Tabitha as a young girl. This short story really shows you how Tabitha became the character we met in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. 

I love the girl she was. I bet she could really see herself in Mary.. if she let herself remember. This is an excellent little extra for fans of this trilogy. 



What Once We Feared (The Forest of Hands and Teeth #0.5) by Carrie Ryan
Genre: Young Adult (Dystopian/Post Apocalyptic)
Date Published: May 14, 2013
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers


When the zombie apocalypse hits and the dead begin to rise, Jonah and his friends are on a class field trip downtown.  Panicked, they make a split-second decision to seek shelter in the Overlook, an apartment complex built like a fortress on the edge of town.  But as they begin to face the realities of what it will take to survive, they realize that while making the decision of where to run was easy, living out the consequences of that decision may be impossible.  From Carrie Ryan, the New York Times bestselling author of the Forest of Hands and Teeth books, What Once We Feared is an original digital short story about facing a world that is forever changed and in which survival means more than merely escaping the undead.


What Once We Feared is another prequel story in the Forest of Hands and Teeth Trilogy by Carrie Ryan. This takes place in the very beginning when people just start to get infected. I was hoping we’d get an explanation of where the virus came from, but there wasn’t one. Maybe there was an explanation in the trilogy, but it’s been so long since I’ve read it, I don’t remember. I was disappointed with this one. It was over and done before it really got started. These were unfamiliar characters. I’m not sure what the point was with this one, but it helped pass some time.


Check out other book in this World!!

author
About the Author:
Carrie Ryan is the New York Times bestselling author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, The Dead-Tossed Waves, The Dark and Hollow Places, and the original ebook Hare Moon. She is also the editor of Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction and the author of Divide and Conquer, the second book in Scholastic's multi-author/multi-platform Infinity Ring series.

She has contributed to multiple story collectons, including, most recently, Zombies vs. Unicorns, Kiss Me Deadly, and Enthralled. Her work has been translated into over eighteen languages and her first novel is in production as a major motion picture. Born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, Carrie is a graduate of Williams College and Duke University School of Law. A former litigator, she now writes full time and lives in Charlotte, NC.

To learn more about Carrie Ryan and her books, visit her website. You can also find her on GoodreadsFacebook, and Twitter.


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Friday, December 13, 2024

Book Review: Heartless Hunter Series by Kristen Ciccarelli






Heartless Hunter Series (The Crimson Moth #1) by Kristen Ciccarelli
Genre: New Adult Fiction (Paranormal/Fantasy Romance)
Date Published: February 20, 2024
Publisher: Wednesday Books

On the night Rune’s life changed forever, blood ran in the streets. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating revolution, witches have been diminished from powerful rulers to outcasts ruthlessly hunted due to their waning magic, and Rune must hide what she is.

Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe – a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution – who she can't help but find herself falling for.

Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?

Kristen Ciccarelli’s The Crimson Moth is the thrilling start to a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch… is falling in love.


Heartless Hunter is the first book in The Crimson Moth duology by Kristen Ciccarelli. I absolutely love a good enemies to lovers story, and this one did not disappoint in that department. Their interactions were entertaining. They challenge each other, but will they be lovers with all the lies and mistrust on both sides? He wants her dead for Pete's sake. They've known each other for a long time, but in reality, they barely know each other. There is so much to unwrap with these two, and I feel like it's just getting started. I'm here for it guys! The world and character building was fantastic. I could easily see it all play out in my mind. I'm more than ready for the next book! 


author
Kristen Ciccarelli grew up on a grape farm, dropped out of college, and worked various jobs before becoming an author. Some of her previous trades included: baker, potter, bookseller, and NGO worker. Kristen lives in Canada’s Niagara Peninsula with her husband and daughter. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Heartless Hunter (Book 1 in The Crimson Moth duology), as well as Edgewood, and the internationally bestselling Iskari series.

To learn more about Kristen Ciccarelli and her books, visit her website. You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, InstagramYouTube, & Pinterest.
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Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Book Review!! Fallen Demon by Juliana Haygert





Fallen Demon (Rite World: Fallen Angel #3) by Juliana Haygert
Genre: New Adult Fiction (Paranormal Romance)
Date Published: December 5, 2024
Publisher: Dark Witch Press LLC

I thought I'd already lost everything. Now, I might lose him forever...

The moment Levi vanished into the underworld to save me, my world shattered. Our bond is the only thing keeping him alive in that hellish realm, but it’s unraveling fast. The powerful magic I’ve been cursed with is more unstable than ever and its control is slipping through my fingers.

But guess what? Giving up isn’t my style. I’ll tear apart heaven, hell, and everything in between to get Levi back. With a war brewing in Elysium and Rhodes plotting to become king of everything, I’m caught in the middle of a nightmare—and this time, the fate of the world is at stake. Great timing, right?

Falling for Levi was never part of the plan, but now I’ll stop at nothing to save him. Because if I lose him for good, that’s one fight I won’t survive.

FALLEN DEMON is an intense and steamy paranormal romance set in the dark, dangerous world of Juliana Haygert’s Rite World. With epic battles, scorching passion, and forbidden love, this book will keep readers on the edge of their seats!


Fallen Demon is the third book in the Rite World: Fallen Angel series by Juliana Haygert. Ariella goes through a lot in this one. She's forced to trust. There are unexpected plan changes. She's kept on her toes. She goes through some great realizations and character growth as well. As a reader, it took me until about halfway through to really feel invested. I felt like something was missing with Levi being MIA, but I'm weird like that, I suppose, but he helps carry the story. And, once he was back in the picture, no matter the form, all was well. The characters and worlds this author creates are detailed, well thought out, and pull you right into the characters’ lives. I'm anxious for what's next, because you just never know what will happen.

The ARC of Fallen Demon by Juliana Haygert was kindly provided to me by the author for review. The opinions are my own.


Have you read the previous books in this series?

Check out my reviews of other books by this author!

author
While USA Today Bestselling Author Juliana Haygert dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting—but equally gratifying—life of a wife, mother, and author. Thousands of miles away from her former home in Brazil, she now resides in North Carolina and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.

To learn more about Juliana Haygert and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on GoodreadsFacebookInstagramPinterestTikTok, and Twitter.


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