The Indie Books & Authors Newsletter #58
New indie releases, book review, news and link to a free book!
Editor’s Note
Important notice: the Newsletter is now fortnightly, due to other commitments.
Calling all writers, reviewers and supporters of indie books! New releases, pre-orders, reviews and news are all wanted for future issues. Please click here for submissions via Google Forms. Read the T&Cs before you submit. All reviewers will get a Featured Promotion at the top of the Newsletter for themselves or someone they nominate.
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Featured Promotion
Kookaburras, Cuppas & Kangaroos is the new book from Sue Bavey, author of the award-winning Lucky Jack.
Fueled by her spirit for adventure and with her £10.00 ticket in hand, Elizabeth Isle leaves 1960s England, determined to see it all, not just Australia and New Zealand, but as much as she can on the way, too. She surrenders her passport to the Australian government and must find work to support herself on the other side of the world from her family and friends. There can be no going back for two years. Join this intrepid young woman on the adventure of her lifetime. Share her amazing experiences, discover what exotic animals await, get travel tips and meet her new friends through her letters home and over plenty of cups of tea. Beware - the travel bug might prove infectious!
Visit the author’s website for a link to download a free copy of the prequel.
New Releases
Mercy and Starlight: A High Fae Romance (The Merciful Fairy Tales Book 1) by Bridgette Valentine
For the last year, both the earth and fae realms have been cursed with a botanical plague known as The Becoming. The old gods have abandoned them and leave no trace that The Ether ever existed.
Mercy Brittlemore's reality as a mage's apprentice consists of concocting potions, ripping vines out of men, and toying with fae tavern folk just to feel something. Between nursing a catatonic princess back to health and contracting The Becoming herself, Mercy's life is already a whirlwind when she's thrown into an enchanted portal to the celestial realm.
Trapped in The Ether, Mercy's luck is tested when she's offered sanctuary by the high fae lord, Evander. An idyllic kingdom with lavender moons, extravagant balls, and swans who transform into princesses.
With her feelings for Evander growing daily while her condition worsens, Mercy is forced to face herself and find a way home. But when she gets there, will she find her old self?
A romantic fantasy with dark undertones grounded in concepts of found family, self love, and redefining home as an adult. Embedded with both whimsy and gothic imagery, Mercy and Starlight is a love letter to fairy tales both modern and classic.
Apple Seeds in the Snow (The Zemkoska Chronicles) by Helen Rygh-Pedersen
All great trees felled start as a single seed…
Now that her schooling is over, pampered princess, Ouna Domonov must turn her attentions to the needs of the realm; one of which is marrying a Waterborn Descendant of the Naiads to help uphold the Balance.
But she doesn’t want her hideous intended, nor her responsibilities. All she wants is to have fun with her best friend, who must also soon face the call of duty as a princess. As a last hurrah before the wedding bells sound, the pair make their way to Bergam for Vinterfest. The only problem is L’adu, the grumpy guardsman her betrothed has hired to protect his “interests”, who seems intent on spoiling her fun and shielding her from the attentions of the dashing King Olaf von Oderberg.
When her freedom is under threat and the destruction of her country at stake, Ouna must put her naivety and prejudices aside to fight for what and who is truly important.
Paisley's Breakthrough (Worlds Apart Romance Series Book 3) by Amber Perez
When life hands you the unimaginable, you can either have a breakdown or a breakthrough.
Paisley, a successful psychologist, runs a thriving practice in downtown Knoxville. She’s worked hard to build a lucrative career and it shows, from her tailored designer wardrobe to her luxurious penthouse condo. But, when she encounters a patient who makes her face her hidden past, her carefully contrived lifestyle begins to unravel. She seems to have all the answers except when it comes to her own life.
Rae, a tough on the surface paramedic with a heart of gold, wants more out of life than the meaningless hookups her coworkers seem content with. Determined to put her energy into her career, running, and playing grease monkey with her collection of vintage vehicles, Rae is convinced she has all she needs to live a fulfilled life.
Thrown together in the wake of a tragedy, both women struggle with the attraction they instantly feel for the other. More than aware of the dangers associated with trauma bonding, Rae questions every interaction as Paisley questions who she is.
Will they find a way to triage the hardships they face? Or will Paisley’s inability to break through leave them both in need of counsel?
Pre-Order Now
Beautiful World by Bill Sharrock and Edouard Artus, release date March 10th
In the future, a disease has appeared causing stain-like marks to develop on people's skin. This was the beginning of a downward spiral that slowly saw humanity regress and eventually split in two with very little in between.
Now, on one side, disease free people inhabit the over-dominant kingdom of Serenity. Scientific breakthroughs have thrusted it technologically and culturally centuries ahead of all other nations.
But these privileges come at a cost: image culture is everything. People are judged and divided into castes according to how they look. Everyone's DNA is registered through a biological pool for cleansing and monitoring. Masks are mandatory. Imperfection is taboo and only the flawlessly beautiful can sit at the kingdom's apex.
On the other side, the Outlands: where stain-born and Serenity cast-outs live a backwards lawless life ruled by chaos and warlords.
As both sides clash over resources from the old world, Chesterman, a mysterious, ruthless leader rises to power and plans to pull everyone into a conflict that will bring the kingdom of Serenity to its knees and shake its values to its very core.
Subscribe to the newsletter to get a free digital ARC.
News Round-Up
The Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) semi-finalists have been announced.
Nominations are open for the Indieverse Awards until the end of February.
Indie Visible Services, hosted by Hayley Anderton, is open for reviewers of indie books. There is also the chance for authors on the review team to get free tours.
Book Review
Tales of Lunis Aquaria by Tessa Hastjarjanto, reviewed by Sue Bavey
Tales of Lunis Aquaria is a collection of nine short stories which all take place in the same whimsical world with a female deity, who brought to mind Mother Nature. She has five animalistic ‘watchers’ keeping an eye on all the areas of her realm on her behalf, the bear, wolf, fox, dolphin and phoenix. The stories have the feel of old fashioned folktales or fairytales with talking animals, a witch, dryads and a sea monster, plenty of heroic deeds and even time travel.
My favourite story was The Witch from Monterra Mountain. The witch was an outsider reviled by the villagers even though she didn’t earn such dislike or mistrust. It took a man falling in love with her to give her the confidence to face them and eventually be accepted.
This collection acts as a perfect palate cleanser between heavier, longer, more complicated novels.
Free Book
Flash Point: A Romantic Suspense Novel (The Blackwells Book 1) by Tracey Devlyn
Free on Amazon US and UK at the time of composing this edition of the Newsletter.
The Indie Books & Authors Newsletter is compiled and edited by N S Ford, indie author and book blogger.