This was supposed to be a blog post about story tropes I enjoy but, given the state of the universe, I don’t really feel like writing about that. I just want to talk about happy endings. If you have a pulse, you know that America is not in the best place right now. I’m not in a position to… Read more »
When an unlikely intergalactic alliance comes to light, Ixdahan Daharek (AKA Derek) and his human best friend, Lena Gabrilowicz, must save not only the Earth this time, but the very fabric of space itself. Between their search for alien cookware, stopping a clone army, and calming down a moody robot, Ixdahan and Lena must also figure out their feelings for… Read more »
Christian has repaid the Catholic church for their protection with his work as an Executioner, a killing machine charged with the extermination of supernatural threats to humanity. Vampires, werewolves, ghouls, Christian can handle it all. But when the church sends him to destroy a succubus, he quickly discovers that he’s over his head. Nothing about Lilith, his target, adds up…. Read more »
Bad Bloods is a solid work of dystopian YA that will delight any fan of the genre. It also includes an angle that is too often overlooked by other authors in the category. Serena was born a bad blood–a person with strange unique powers. In the city of Vendona, that’s an automatic death sentence. Before Serena can be executed, a prison… Read more »
Mary Beth McIntire just wants a quiet summer in 2017. Mark Ryan wants to know what’s hidden in the basement of the same house in 1959. When Mark discovers a key and a few mysterious crystals, he gets his answer and Mary Beth’s quiet summer is ruined thanks to his appearance. The summer vacation that follows was more than Mary… Read more »
This is the second novel of Heldt’s that I’ve read and I’m beginning to think he can do no wrong. His dedication to portraying history in all of its nuances, layers, difficulties, and beauty is admirable and his ability to craft brilliant and unique stories shines across the lines of genre and time alike. When Cameron Coelho began his doctoral… Read more »
Alpha Male is an interesting thought experiment about the world of superheroes and their actions, but the areas where superhero stories usually shine, the characters and the action, it falls a little flat. Thanks to Alpha Male, the city has grown quiet. As a result, few people see any real need for him and treat him either as a celebrity… Read more »
Fun, whimsical, and just a tad nostalgic, Emerald Child is a great fantasy adventure for young readers. Far away on a secret island, Indie as grown up in hiding surrounded with burning questions and no questions. When smoke starts to rise from a mysterious chest, Indie thinks it must hold more questions, but it actually holds all the answers: who… Read more »
Well researched and brilliantly executed, The Mine is a vivid, memorable step back in time with a love story that could “rival The Notebook (Pen Possessed).” In the year 2000, Joel Smith enters an abandoned mine in Montana out of simple curiosity. Thirty minutes later he emerges in the year 1941. With a band of colorful friends at his side,… Read more »
What sort of creature do you think of when you hear the world “fairy?” Odds are, thanks to popular media’s portrayal, images of Tinkerbell, tiny homes built into trees, and dresses made of leaves and flowers come to mind. While the innocent, playful, light-hearted fairy is familiar to most, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who saw them… Read more »
It’s October and you know what that means!!! HALLOWEEN!!!!! I don’t think I’ll ever grow out of Halloween. The costumes, the candy, the pranks, the movies, I love all of it. No other holiday captures our imagination and creativity like Halloween. No other holiday brings out the creepy, crawly, whimsical, and wonderful quite like Halloween either. That’s why, on every… Read more »
Growing up I was an absolute menace with a camera. Every museum, every landscape, every EVERYTHING was captured on film. I still have an old photo album from when I was a kid and a third of those images are of random city streets. Another third are of clouds and animals. The rest are friends and family members in mid-motion. Once… Read more »
If I Could Turn Back Time is a passable love story. Due to its short length and the fact that I’m not usually one for romance, there’s really not much else to say about it. For the sake of a decent word count, I’ll add that that the title made me want to break into song every time I turned on… Read more »
I don’t remember a single day of my life that wasn’t surrounded by human speech. If I wasn’t talking to family, I was talking to friends. If I wasn’t talking to friends, I was listening to teachers. If I wasn’t listening to teachers, I was listening to music or nearby chatter. If I wasn’t listening to music or chatter, well,… Read more »
The county of Aredia doesn’t handle magic very well. As a result, mages are enslaved and imprisoned for their powers. When the transfer of a mage named Kali goes haywire due to strange, demon-like bandits, both she and her guard, Stonewell, will have to learn how to trust each other if they want to get to the city of Whitewater… Read more »