The Indie Books & Authors Newsletter #37
New releases, book review, news round-up, link to a free book, and more!
Editor’s Note
The Newsletter is back from a 2-week summer holiday break. New content is always welcome! Please click here for submissions via Google Forms. Read the T&Cs before you submit. New releases, pre-orders, reviews, news and free books are all wanted. Authors, remember to state the title of your book and/or share a link to it on the form :)
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Featured Promotion
The Narratess Indie Sale will run from August 26 - 28!
A sale of fantasy, sci-fi and horror, organised by Narratess, will include over 300 e-books! Grab some exciting bargain indie books this weekend!
New Releases
Dear Lottie by Mel Higgins
Three Decades, Two Hearts, One wish... to be together.
Lottie used to be a dreamer, but never did she see herself as a housewife to a controlling husband.
When Lottie's Nan unexpectedly passed away in the late 50s, her dreams died alongside her. Blinded by grief, her actions changed the course of her life and that of Henry Hollister, her first love.
With Henry haunting her dreams and a burden of regrets, Lottie and Henry wish for nothing more than to turn back the clock to a time of innocence. A time when no one was in the way to stop their plans.
Is it ever too late to follow your dreams?
Is it ever too late to be with the one you truly love?
Cursed by Mary Wills
First book in the Cursed series.
When Detective Alexander Hayes joined New Scotland Yard, he dreamed of big things. One being that one day he would bring a serial killer to justice.
Well, this dream came into fruition a serial killer started to plague London. What he just did not bank on, was finding a whole new world of magic and murder.
Now he is running out of time trying to save the world. Can he do it? Well he certainly hopes so.
Twin Landing by Rex Burke
Book 2 of the Odyssey Earth series – 'Wrong place, wrong planet, but right time. We’ve got to get on with life.'
Typical. Travel fifty trillion miles without finding a habitable planet, and then two come along at once.
The mission is not exactly going to plan for the New Earth settlers. Captain Juno Washington is feeling the pressure, and Reeves, the know-it-all AI, seems strangely out of sorts.
Meanwhile, the missing teenage castaways are coming to terms with their situation.
Dana, Karlan and Manisha are figuring out how to survive on an uncharted alien planet – they just need to work out the rules.
Dervla, Poole and Bryson can’t wait to explore, and are ready for adventure.
Which leaves their unwilling adult caretaker, Jordan Booth, with nothing much to do except complain – campfire cooking, outdoor showers, do not recommend.
As the unknown planet starts to give up its secrets, and new arrivals threaten the mission, friends become separated and family ties are tested. In the end, it all comes down to trust.
Who’s on your side? Who’s got your back? And who’s coming to the rescue?
The Woman I Befriended by Sara Kate
"You should know who is living in your neighborhood. I happen to think we might be living across the street from a serial killer. As neighbors, we should probably know that." - Ellie
As Ellie observes the strange routine and behavior of the woman across the street, her curiosity sets in. Whenever a guy goes into her neighbor’s house, they never leave. Ellie’s only conclusion: the woman must be a serial killer.
But Ellie has a past of exaggerating, so she has to tread carefully. When she looks into her town’s disappearances, her suspicions deepen.
Several men are reported missing, but for a relatively small town, why isn’t anybody talking about it? And why is she noticing connections in the disappearances that are strikingly odd to her neighbor?
Soon, Ellie becomes fully invested in secretly investigating the woman across the street.
Even if it means befriending her. And also deceiving her own husband.
Are Ellie’s suspicions right about her neighbor? Or is she imagining it all?
Pre-Order Now
Abandoned by Vicky Ball, release date 15th September
Maddie has spent a lifetime struggling alone with her alcoholic mother. Her unpredictable behaviour and unreliability makes Maddie wish she had someone who actually cared about her. Tired of being the responsible one and the person who keeps it all together, Maddie longs for a life she’ll never have. Her mother’s constant thoughtless actions lead to difficulties on more than one occasion and the unwelcome presence of her Mum’s boyfriend, Nick, only adds more stress to her life. The last thing she needs is a man in the house who doesn’t know how to behave. But that all changes when Maddie discovers the real reason why her Mum drinks.
Thrown into a confusing world of secrets and family that she’s never met, Maddie discovers that there is more to life than her world.
Could a girl she has never met have the answers?
As she figures out how she fits into it all, she embarks on a pursuitof truth. Through the uncovering of more shocking realities, Maddie questions her true identity. Can she ever move past all the lies and find the truth?
More importantly, will she ever find someone who will love her like a real family should?
News Round-Up
There is just about time for authors to enter the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) before it closes on 25th August.
The I Heart Sapphic Fiction Book Finder database now has more than 4000 entries, since launching in October 2022.
Book Bloggers Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) has been sharing what the panellists thought of the books which did not make the semi-finals.
Book Review
Real Ghost Stories: True Tales of the Supernatural from the UK by Tina Vantyler, reviewed by N S Ford
Do NOT read this book at bedtime. It's truly terrifying. I enjoyed it but I was genuinely scared, because these stories are encounters with ghosts as told to the author, who has written them up in very compelling short chapters. If the stories were fiction, they wouldn't be the scariest. It's their presentation as 'true tales' which makes them particularly spine-chilling and that some of the narrators do not seem to be the sort of people who would believe in ghosts. Some of the spooks in this book are benign, while others are evil. There is an interesting variety of locations and situations, from Blitz victims seen on the Tube, to a glove worn by an invisible hand who stalks a woman on a country walk, to a haunted old sewing box, to a girl standing on her grave on the anniversary of her death. One of the stories in particular was so frightening that I go cold every time I think of it even now. I almost wish I hadn't read it. This book is the first in a series. I know I shouldn't read the others... but I probably will.
Free Book
Mind of a Killer (A Reece Cannon Thriller Book 2) by Paul Knox
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.