The Indie Books & Authors Newsletter #19
Celebrating amazing indie authors! Find your next indie read today!
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New Releases
Mandate: Thirteen by Joseph Dowling
In a world with dwindling birth rates, all young women must submit to compulsory fertility checks at the age of thirteen. For those able to conceive, a docile existence inside the Birthing Schools beckons—far worse if they fall into the wrong hands.
When the clandestine Baby Farmers, and their brutal leader Miko, arrive to snatch his daughter, Michael must make a split-second choice: risk his own freedom to protect hers… or lose her forever. Mandate Thirteen is a gritty dystopian thriller for fans of Children of Men, A Handmaid’s Tale, and The Running Man.
Yet You Cry When it Hurts (Nothing is Promised Book 4) by Susan Kaye Quinn
When the world is drowning, diplomacy is more than handshakes and headlines.
Nitara Desai has spent her life negotiating international agreements, easing points of conflict, and averting disasters. Worst-case scenarios belong in her nightmares, not the IEC’s daily reports. On a calm day, being a director at the International Energy Consortium only requires fixing CarbonCon translators for flustered Brazilian delegates. A thankless job, but the world is still drowning in CO2—there’s no choice but to keep treading.
On a bad day, it’s not just the Brazilians acting up, but the Americans walking out, and now the Governor of Southern California insisting on a clandestine meeting. Then a text comes from Matti, her solid rock in the stormy seas: Guess what? We’re getting married!
Suddenly, an earthquake is slow-rolling through her personal life as well.
She waited too long: to tell Matti how she feels, to quit the unwinnable race to net zero, to grab hold of the things that make life worth living, not just trying to stay afloat. When the governor reveals an impossible technology that could save the planet, but it’s in the hands of a murderously ambitious man, it’s a catastrophe she can’t turn away from. And it’s almost enough to distract her from everything falling apart. Work first, always.
And maybe that’s been the problem all along.
Yet You Cry When It Hurts is the fourth of four tightly-connected hopepunk novels in a near-future climate-fiction series. It’s about our future, how the forces of greed are ever-present, how the fight for a just world never ends, and how it’s not strongmen who will save us but the bright cords of connection that hold the world together.
HMP BlackRock by G S Burroughs
As a young man, Ethan Mackay’s mother was brutally murdered by a convict freed on parole. Motivated by a powerful sense of social justice, Ethan Mackay is now one of the world’s wealthiest men. Billionaire philanthropist and prison reformer, Mackay now runs half a dozen private prisons across the UK. HMP BlackRock is his most ambitious plan yet.
On a small jagged rock, thirty miles off the Scottish coast, lies the island of BlackRock, now one of the most sophisticated and secure Super-Max facilities anywhere in the world. Designed to hold Britain’s most evil men and women, BlackRock is the place where evil goes to die. No one sent to BlackRock will ever leave. The locals have named it Devil’s Island…
Proud to show off his achievements, Ethan Mackay hosts a tour of the prison, inviting his primary backer, Sir Malcolm Lambert MP and most vocal critic, Esther Friedman, a columnist for The Times, to a carefully planned visit.
Also on the island is Lovelace, daughter of the infamous Jack Lovelace, the Cherwell Valley Strangler, who has flown to the island to visit her father. When the helicopter that flies her to the island develops a technical fault, and a brutal winter storm cuts them off from the mainland, Lovelace is forced to join the VIP tour and is given a room at the Governor’s Residence, The Mansion House. She joins Mackay’s PA, Grace Mahone, the island’s governor, Johnathon Preece and his enigmatic wife, Elouise, as they take refuge from the storm
However, not everything, or everyone, is as they seem, and secrets thought hidden begin to be exposed.
By the following morning, one of them is dead. But the killer hasn’t finished yet…
Will anyone survive HMP BlackRock?
Lanterns by Bonnie Torbet
TO FLEE FROM ONE LIFE TO FIND ANOTHER CAN BE EXCITING... BUT WILL IT BE MORE THAN SHE IMAGINED...?
Struggling with the death of her boyfriend, Summer leaves a life in Australia to study overseas where she meets the enigmatic Lincoln, who becomes an instant distraction for her.
Despite the numerous rumours warning her about Lincoln, they find an intense chemistry and Summer cannot seem to keep her distance from him.
Lincoln has been trying to escape his past and is haunted by his mistakes. His past isn't the only thing Lincoln is running from, and he knows the dangers that come with allowing himself to get close to Summer.
Yet, when he realises she is the one keeping his deepest demons at bay, he cannot keep away from her.
Summer and Lincoln need each other to help face the past and overcome painful grief... but when secrets come to light, will they make it through?
Or will the truth destroy everything...?
Pre-Order Now
Wild Heart of the Crown (Wild Heart Book 2) by Erica Sebree
With Orianna defeated, Esme takes her rightful place on the throne. But unraveling dark secrets and ancient deceptions may be the only way to save her kingdom.
As Esme navigates the expectations of her new role amid scheming court members, the land beyond the city walls is dying. Barrenness spreads; rivers run dry. With no high-priestesses left to summon raw magic from the source, Esme must uncover the origins of the Order and all its secrets.
Ancient texts and hidden memories reveal long-concealed truths about the nature of magic and threaten to crumble the faith of an entire kingdom. So when members from a secret sect claim to possess the gods-blessed gifts of the late priestesses, Esme must decide if they can be trusted. Do they know the dark history of the Order? Will their fledgling magic be enough to restore the land?
Desperate for answers, Esme finds that certain knowledge comes at great cost, and that inconvenient desires of the heart can only be denied for so long. Will she make the necessary sacrifices to save her kingdom…to save herself from heartache?
*** New indie releases and pre-orders wanted! Send in details for the opportunity to be featured! ***
News Round-Up
Book fans, bloggers and writers are promoting independently-published books this month for #indieapril - post on social media using this hashtag.
Small independent press Brigids Gate will be accepting short story and flash fiction submissions for a Sapphic Villains Anthology during May.
There is still time for indie authors to submit to the Book Bloggers Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) 2023.
*** News wanted! Send in your positive news about indie books & authors! ***
Book Review
The Guard of Woestynn by E M McConnell, reviewed by Lee Hall
When new recruit ‘Ford’ arrives on a desolate planet to report for duty at ‘Woestynn’ prison, it appears he may have bitten off more than he can chew and this short but unique story follows his journey.
E.M. McConnell presents this original tale with some cool concepts and wonderful description that kept me reading and I completed this experience in just a few late night sittings. The idea of a prison that requires inmates to earn their rehabilitation is an interesting concept that could easily be explored in further tales or even expanded and the same goes for the main character’s journey from intimidated newbie to someone with an applied mind to make better of everyone’s situation. The descriptive vibes in this book are its true strength and McConnell’s writing style is very much on display here in this sci-fi/dystopian story set in an original universe.
5 stars
*** Book Reviews wanted! Send in a review of an indie book you enjoyed and get a FREE promotional ad for your books/website/services in an edition of the Newsletter! ***
Free Book
The Road to Truth Collection (Books 1 - 6) by Quell T Fox
(Available for free on Amazon US and UK at the time of this Newsletter issue)
*** If you are an indie author with a free book promotion coming up in the next few weeks, or have a book available perma-free, send details to the Editor for the opportunity for inclusion in the Newsletter. ***
The Indie Books & Authors Newsletter is compiled and edited by N S Ford, indie author and book blogger.