The Indie Books & Authors Newsletter #75
New indie releases, a book review and a link to a free book!
Editor’s Note
The next Newsletter will be a Halloween special!
Content for the Newsletter is always wanted! Send in details of new releases, pre-orders, news items, reviews and free books! Please click here for submissions via Google Forms. Read the T&Cs before you submit.
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Featured Promotion
Motherly Stones: a paranormal mystery romance is the new release from Merlina Garance
Rish and Toni have been friends almost all their lives – despite Rish’s life long crush on her. When one day, Toni shows up excited to have been appointed to appraise the abandoned castle on Paicrich Island, off the coast by which Rish lives, he has a bad feeling and offers to go with her.
Little did they expect the castle to have a life of its own…
A dark, mysterious romance with bisexual and a-spec representation.
New Releases
Once Upon an Autumn by Various Authors
An orphaned girl finds more than she bargained for when she falls into a fairy ring.
A heartbroken wizard faces up to God to bring his dog back from the dead.
A newly-graduated witch discovers horror lurking in a small town’s apple orchard.
A sceptical tour guide takes an unusual job at a haunted house.
Once upon a time stories travelled from place to place on the tongues of merchants and thieves and kings alike. Pumpkins were carved, leaves turned golden, and whisperings from the darkening woods inspired tales of the strange and the dead.
In the spirit of these age-old stories comes Once Upon an Autumn, a seasonal anthology of folk and fairy tales from 14 authors across the globe. It covers the Gothic, the romantic, the whimsical, the frightening, and everything in-between.
The final of four planned seasonal anthologies from Macfarlane Lantern Publishing, Once Upon an Autumn is sure to have a story for just about everyone. Grab your copy in time for Hallowe’en today!
Bound by Blood by Shawn D Brink
A demonic cult and a Christian church battle for territory. Combat lines are drawn. Angels and demons square off as brother goes against brother. The spoils of war are human souls. Who will rise victorious, and at what cost?
Kookaburras, Cuppas and Kangaroos by S Bavey, now available as an audiobook read by the author
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!
Pre-Order Now
Of Lightning and Silver by Julianne Munich, release date October 28th
In 1810 England, Miss Phoebe Eaton trains as a Vampire Hunter.
Phoebe's Lightning magic often causes more trouble than good. Her kindhearted nature is hardly the trait of a fighter.
Constable Jakob Weber saves her life during a disastrous hunt, then mysteriously vanishes. When Phoebe witnesses a brutal massacre by a newly turned vampire, she's determined to uncover the truth.
Captured and taken to a vampire lair, she finds Jakob imprisoned and 'Glamoured' as a blood slave. Battling cruel magic and bat-shifting vampires, Phoebe must harness her powers to escape, reunite with her team, and rescue the man who has claimed her heart.
A Regency-era romantic fantasy with vampire villains, a chase across Europe on a Pegasi-driven carriage, and a swoony love story.
Book Review
Coil of Boughs by Penny Moss, reviewed by Charity
Little did I know when I started reading this book how much I would love it. How I would be swept into a place full of demons good and bad, magic, witches, strange beings, monsters, enchanted forests, and a romance that would grip my soul and make me mewl at least every other chapter. Besides being so lush with lore, this story is also full of characters, both lovable and loathsome, a full cast with found-family, found-home vibes exploding off the page. COIL OF BOUGHS has history and secrets and bonds old and new, and it's so WRETCHEDLY good, I want to be friends with everyone who loves this book as much as I do.
When I first started COIL OF BOUGHS, I knew I would like it, but I wasn't sure how much I would as I was presented with an MC, Ruri, who launched himself at a witch's ambling tree house and left the soldiers chasing him to the demons below. Immediately I knew Ruri was a bit of a morally gray character, and that realization was only confirmed as the story unfolded and I journeyed with this character willing to threaten and murder and steal but who, equally, felt the weight of his past and tried to find a way to kill the demons tormenting the kingdom.
Ruri is a bit of a scoundrel with a heart of gold who's more liable to act before he thinks and is careless with his own well-being but achingly protective of those he finds he cares about. And I loved him. I loved his stupid rashness, his endless ability to take a beating without complaint, his churlish snappy attitude, his willingness to have fun and leave a little chaos in his wake, and his clingy protectiveness once he finally allows himself to believe he has and deserves something good. I loved him. I adored him. He is precious boy and no one will ever change my mind.
But, while Ruri is the main character, he's still just one character in a book full of a cast of equally well-written folk with histories and secrets and personalities all their own. One favorite is his sword-wielding, magic-pipe-playing, stained-glass-enchanted-tunic-wearing sister. Another is the grumpy, ancient, squat witch of the forest who kills Ruri twice and tries a third time, full of her own history and reasons and who gives as good as she gets. And, of course, there's Ruri's counterpart, the immensely large, horned, dream-eating, goofy, loyally protective, incredibly powerful, forest demon, Awimak. It's hard for me to even begin describing my love for Awimak other than to say I would die for him. He's precious and silly and giant and ridiculously strong, and he's everything Ruri didn't admit he needed and then some, and I would protect the sweet, darling, tender demon with my life.
Basically? This story has an insane amount of HEART, and every time I picked it up I was sucked in and didn't want to come back out of their world ever again. The writing is gorgeous, rich with strong vocabulary, quick and light and easy to get sucked into. I already can't wait for this tale's sequel while book one has found its way to my Favorites shelf. This is a book I already look forward to coming back to, and I rarely re-read any more, so me wanting to already is saying a lot.
If you like a plotty fantasy M/M romance with incredible world and character building, this is for you. If you're remotely interested, try it out. It's so delicious, it's so much fun, and, just like me, you likely won't want to leave the world once you join it.
Free Book
Firefly Junction Cozy Mystery Series Box Set 1-3 by London Lovett
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.