Book Blitz || Dead to Me by Annie Anderson

There are only three rules in Darby Adler’s life. 

One: Don’t talk to the dead in front of the living.
Two: Stay off the Arcane Bureau of Investigation’s radar.
Three: Don’t forget rules one and two.

With a murderer desperate for Darby’s attention and an ABI agent in town, things are about to get mighty interesting in Haunted Peak, TN.

Author Spotlight || Georgina Jeffery

Do you love fantasy based on folktales? 

Georgina Jeffrey, today's Author Spotlight, might have just the book you need!

Author Spotlight || Christopher D. Ochs

Today's Author Spotlight is Christopher D. Ochs, author of YA Urban Fantasy/Horror 

Read on for the full interview.

What's your latest release? 

MY FRIEND JACKSON, a YA Urban Fantasy/Horror, is available for pre-ordering Kindle on

September 15, and available in print on October 1.

Can you start out by telling us a little about your latest work? 

MY FRIEND JACKSON centers on Jasmine Price, an inner-city teen who suffers daily psychological, cyber, emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her new school's queen bees. When the rivalry and jealousy reach a fever pitch, a deadly force intervenes.

Where did you get the inspiration to write this story?

I was doing research on girl bullying for a short story "Book Worm" in the Bethlehem Writers Group's 5th anthology "Once Upon A Time." I picked up Rosalind Wiseman's "Queen Bees & Wannabes," thinking I'd read one or two chapters to bone up on the bare minimum. I found her work so riveting, that I devoured the entire book. I knew I had to write a much larger story incorporating the subject.

When you developed the characters, did you already know who they were before you began writing or did they develop organically?

I knew what the 'Monster' had to be. Its place of origin and its mythology guided the development of the 'Mentor' and Jasmine characters. That trio drove the creation and crafting of everything else.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned (about your story, about
yourself, etc.) while writing?

Because the story revolves around several women of color, I hired a Diversity/Sensitivity Editor. It was during that same period that the tragedies of Breonna Taylor's and George Floyd's deaths occurred. Even after our work was done, I engaged in long conversations with her about racism, both outright and systemic. I will always remember her comment about dealing with racism on a daily basis -- "It's

exhausting." I may never fully understand her experiences or those of any person of color, but I'm trying to learn.

What books or authors influenced your own writing?

H.P. Lovecraft rattled my soul down to its roots, and I admired Kurt Vonnegut's wry observations on the human condition.

How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

That is a long and involved story. Maybe when I do a full interview.

What attracted you to the genre(s) you write in?

I was psychically scarred as a child by the original Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits television series. And I loved it!

What's one of your favorite words?

Schadenfreude!

What are you currently reading?

"The Heroes" by Joe Abercrombie. I need to up my game when writing hand-to-hand fight scenes for the next "Pindlebryth" novel.

A lot of authors have a soundtrack while writing. Are there any songs you had on
repeat?

I require silence. I cannot write while music plays. I am a classically trained organist and composer, and as a result, I cannot merely listen to music. I am drawn into it -- analyzing it, cringing when I hear a misplayed or off-key note, singing along with it, stealing riffs, or just plain rockin' out.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Don't take criticism, rejections, or bad reviews personally. 

But don't ignore them either. Learn from them if you can.

Grow a thick skin.

Would you rather live in a haunted mansion or a cottage surrounded by fairytale
creatures?

My home is one block away from an ancient Iroquois walking trail. I've already had several friendly visits from the forces and spirits that linger along that route. But I'd give a firm "No!" on the fairytale creatures. I've studied Grimm and Perrault. Those faerie critters are right bastards.

Are you on social media and can your readers interact with you? What are your links?

www.christopherdochs.com 

You can also like/follow me on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Pinterest.

Thanks so much for participating in the Author Spotlight! Anything you'd like to add?

A pinch of itching powder, and a shot of laughing gas?

Christopher D. Ochs’s foray into writing began in 2014 with his epic fantasy Pindlebryth of Lenland: The Five Artifacts. He combined his knack for telling stories in the Lehigh Valley Storytellers Guild with his writing style to craft If I Can’t Sleep, You Can’t Sleep, a collection of the mirthful macabre.

His short stories have been published in several anthologies: GLVWG Writes Stuff, Write Here Write Now, The Write Connections, and Rewriting the Past, by the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group; along with Untethered, Finalist in Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion, and Once Upon a Time, by the Bethlehem Writers Group; and last but not least, Meanwhile in the Middle of Eternity by Firebringer Press.

Chris has too many interests outside of writing for his own damn good. With previous careers in physics, mathematics, electrical engineering and software, and his incessant dabbling as a CGI artist, classical organist, voice talent on radio, DVD, audiobook, podcast and the Voice of OTAKON, it's a wonder he can remember to pay the dog and feed his bills. Wait, what?

Christopher, thank you so much for being a guest on Cats Luv Coffee Book Reviews!

Ready for a fall reading challenge?

• Read a book that fits the category. You can check off multiple squares with one book if it fits multiple categories. 
• Complete a row - up, down or diagonal!
• For extra credit, go for a blackout. That means every square filled!
• All books must be started and finished in the months of September and/or October 2020 to count.

That's it! Pretty easy huh? And don't worry if you don't really do the spooky stuff. Any of these categories could work for urban fantasy as well. You don't have to have a blog to play either. Anyone is welcome to jump in!

The Z Word

Walkers, Zeds, Deadheads, Biters. Whatever you call them; If it should be dead and it's not, it counts!

Strange Fiction
This is that category for the book that you say "Wow, WTF did I just read?"

Don't Sneeze
Ebola? The Plague? Kellis-Amberlee? Whatever ails you, this is the category for you. 

Under the Sea

It's a big, big ocean out there. And I doubt it's full of red-headed mermaids pining for princes named Eric.  

Short Story Collection

Variety is the slice of life. 

Let's Summon Demons

Don't do this. Gates of Hell should stay closed and your arms should remain in the circle at all times.
Any book with a demon or possession gets you a square.

Howl at the Moon

Shapeshifters. Werewolves. Were-rats. (Yeah, they are a thing. Ask LKH.) Shifty people don't count.

Bite Me

Walk softly and carry a sharpened stake. Vampires aren't the only thing that suck.

Crazy Town

Straight jackets are surprisingly comfortable...so I'm told. This square is for location - asylum, mental hospital, etc.  or just a book that's bat sh!t crazy.

Scooby Dooby Doo

Any book that has an investigation, or just some bumbling kids searching for clues while saying things like "Zoinks!".

Afterlife Express

10:15 to Boo Town. Tickets, please! Ghostly apparitions, haunted dolls, and the house on Haunted Hill all count in this square.

Monster Mash

It was a graveyard smash. It caught on in a flash. Here's your catch-all monster square. 

Up Close & Personal

Pick a book that scares you. 

Eye See You

This one can be literal. Either an eye on the cover, eye(s), or seeing in the title somehow, or body horror for you crazy horror fans.

Witching Hour

Spells, Curses, or good old fashioned witchcraft. 

End of the Line

Post-Apocalyptic, natural disaster or dystopian get you this square.

Bloody Good

Either a red cover, blood on the cover, or splatterpunk

Killer Instincts

Is there a killer on the loose? Then, yes, check this square if you dare.

Cabin in the Woods

This one is for those great abandoned locations, like a cabin in the middle of the woods, or a bunker in the middle of the artic. Home sweet home.

Lost Highway

Count this one if your book has a road trip, hitchhiker, or songs by the Eagles.

I Come in Peace

The truth is out there. It doesn't matter if they are little gray men or plants from outer space. 

Stock up on tin foil and bandaids. You're gonna need them. 

Camp Crystal Lake

Any book with a campground or tent camping. Hockey mask optional. 

Oh, the Humanity

Sometimes the monster is more human than expected. This square is for when the monster is us.

Don't Fear the Reaper

Count this square for any book with Death incarnate or anyone with a scythe.

Ready for the board? 

Feel free to download and use the board for your fall reading! Just link back to this page if you do. :)

Book Blitz || Witch and Wolf by R.J. Blain

Life is never easy for those with the strength to change the world.

These are their stories.

Inquisitor

When Allison is asked to play Cinderella-turned-Fianceé at a Halloween ball, the last thing she expected was to be accused of murder. She has to find the killer or she’ll be put to death for the crimes she didn’t commit. To make matters worse, the victims are all werewolves.

On the short list of potential victims, Allison has to act fast, or the killer will have one more body to add to his little black book of corpses.

Winter Wolf

When Nicole dabbled in the occult, she lost it all: Her voice, her family, and her name. Now on the run from the Inquisition, she must prove to herself—and the world—that not all wizards are too dangerous to let live.

Blood Diamond

The world is full of corpses, and Jackson knows them by name. When a group strives to destroy the Inquisition, his powers may be all standing between the supernaturals and extinction.

Silver Bullet

Finished with being a victim, Vicky will do everything in her power to put an end to Basin once and for all, even if it means she must make the ultimate sacrifice and bite a silver bullet for the sake of her family, her friends, and the rest of the supernatural world.

This collection also contains Tales of the Winter Wolf Vol. Six.

Review || Balthazar's Bane by Kat Ross

A bungled murder.
A ridiculous quest.
And a hero with extremely dodgy credentials.

Christmas 1889. Count Balthazar Jozsef Habsburg‎-Koháry tries to lead a simple life.

Oh, he enjoys a few hobbies.

Collecting ancient Egyptian artifacts. Hunting necromancers with a wire garrote. Impersonating dead Hungarian nobility. Seducing an endless string of women who never suspect the price of the count’s attentions.

But considering what Balthazar used to be like, these pursuits are harmless. And surely he deserves a reward for assassinating the elusive necromancer John Mortlake in the middle of Cairo’s teeming bazaar. What could be better than a holiday cruise up the Nile with his secretary Lucas Devereaux?

There’s just one thing that might ruin his mood.

If, for example, someone stole the talisman that’s kept him alive for two thousand years.

That would really suck.

Book Blitz || Queen of Fate & Fire by Annie Anderson

A crown I don’t want. A bargain I can’t take back. A life I refuse to sacrifice.

After four hundred years on my own, one would think I’d be able to walk away and never look back. I’d done it a thousand times before with nary an inkling of guilt. But with my brand new predicament, there is no way I can turn down the offered bargain—not if I want everyone I love to stay alive.

Now, all I have to do is trek through the very realm I nearly died to keep sealed. Sure. Because there’s no way that could go wrong.

Unseelie Court, here I come.

Author Spotlight || Kristen Brand

I'd like to welcome Kristen Brand to Cats Luv Coffee today as she tells us about newly released novel Poison and Honey!

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? #27

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by The Book Date. 

This meme lets you show fellow readers what you have read, what you are reading, and what you will be reading.

Review || Night Moves by Gail Z. Martin and Larry N. Martin

Mark Wojcik is back and his life is getting weirder than ever!

Someone is messing around with the cryptids in his part of the Pennsylvania backwoods, and when he’s called in to deal with a rogue sheepsquatch, Mark has more on his hands than he’s used to! There are rogue government agencies, a coven of witches, the Catholic Church, and a brand new Scooby Gang of magically talented young adults to deal with, all while he tries to figure out who’s bespelling normally peaceful mythical creatures into raging monsters. Mark hasn’t had a week this bad since the last time he had to fight a butt-nekkid gnome.

Night Moves is the fifth novella in the Spells, Salt, & Steel series by Gail Z. & Larry N. Martin. This comedy urban fantasy series takes place in the universe of John G. Hartness’ Bubba the Monster Hunter series, and shares crossovers with other Falstaff Books titles by Eric R Asher, J.D. Blackrose, and Theresa Glover. The first volume, Spells, Salt, & Steel Season 1, is available now from Falstaff Books.

Book Blitz | Entangled Secrets by Pat Esden

A searing battle of hearts, minds, and magic . . .

The Northern Circle coven’s future is in question once again. But this time, hearts and souls are on the line, making the stakes higher, the magic more crucial, and the battle more fateful than ever before . . . 

Pregnant and alone at twenty-one, Chandler Parrish sought refuge within the Northern Circle coven’s secluded complex. Never revealing the identity of her child’s father, Chandler has raised her now eight-year-old son, Peregrine, in peace, and used her talent as an artist and welder to become a renowned metal sculptor. But her world is shaken to the core when Peregrine shows signs of natural faerie sight—a rare and dangerous gift to see through faerie glamour and disguises that could only have come from his father’s genes. Worse yet, the boy has seen a monstrous faerie creature trailing Lionel Parker, a magic-obsessed journalist determined to expose the witching world. 

But the very man who threatens the witches’ anonymity may also be key to healing Chandler’s long broken heart. As dangerous desires and shocking secrets entangle, new faerie threats and demonic foes close in on the coven and High Council. Loyalties will be tested. Fierce magics will be called upon. And Chandler will have to face her past to save all she holds dear: her coven, her child—and perhaps even her own soul.

Review || Poison and Honey by Kristen Brand

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Leigh Morgan has known that magic existed ever since an unearthly monster abducted her sister. It’s why she’s in Otherworld now, posing as a servant in its dark, decadent palace. She’s gathering intelligence and working with a small band of allies to bring down the Others and free their human captives. Her mission depends on blending in, so the last thing she wants is to attract the attention of a cunning prince.

Dredarion Rath wants one thing: to disgrace his older brother and prove himself the worthier heir to the throne. And out of all the servants in the palace, he chooses Leigh to help him. Just her luck.

Now Leigh has to keep her work a secret from a bewitching man who sees right through her--and who's not nearly as cold and inhuman as he seems. She can't screw this up, or the humans forced into servitude will never go home. But juggling two conspiracies at once, it's only a matter of time before it all comes crashing down, and the man she's falling for has her executed for her betrayal... 

Cover Reveal || May Day by Josie Jaffrey

If the murderer you’re tracking is a vampire, then you want a vampire detective.
Just maybe not this one.

Book Blitz || Fury of the Gods by Amy Braun

Fate brings consequence.

Separated from his brother by curses and lies, Derek Areios is forced into hiding. With rogue goddesses on his side, he begins his search for the Mind of Cronus. But his plans come to a screeching halt when the Olympians send nightmarish warriors to hunt him. Creatures even the gods themselves fear.

Liam Areios, lost without his brother and trapped in service for the Olympians, continues the hunt for the Mind of Cronus. The remaining gods refuse to trust him—or any human—and Liam begins to see just how mad power has made them. Becoming entangled in the schemes of mortals and immortals, Liam will have to fight or lose everyone he loves.

Deadly monsters, betrayal, and pulse-pounding action fill the pages of the third novel in the AREIOS BROTHERS series.

Book Blitz || Oath Sworn by K.N. Banet

Jacky Leon isn’t someone who goes looking for trouble. She owns a bar, pays her taxes, and serves her drinks cold outside a small town in Texas. The fact that she’s a werecat is just something she’s had to live with. Alone in her territory, she’s lived a secretive life for six years: under the radar, avoiding her past and the baggage that comes with it.

Trouble finds Jacky, though, in the form of an eleven year old girl and a werewolf turf war just outside her borders. Forced to honor an ancient treaty and the Laws of the supernatural world, Jacky swears an oath to protect Carey Everson, the human daughter of a local werewolf Alpha from Dallas.

When his enemies come after Jacky and her charge, she’s going to have to embrace the more dangerous side of who and what she is. She’s going to have to challenge the very Laws that govern her kind.

And nothing is going to stop her from honoring her word.

Book Blitz || Outfoxed by R.J. Blain

Death is a way of life outside of the safety of Inner Tulsa, and Jade means to keep flipping Mother Nature off until old age claims her. With one eye always on the sky, the last thing she needs is a pack of bounty hunters out for her living head. With no idea of why anyone would want her, her wits might keep her free, assuming she can resist the charming lures of Sandro, one of the men out to claim her as his own.

Left with the choice of being the evening snack of a tornado or taking shelter with the bounty hunter, she does what she does best: she lives on the edge.

Striking a bargain with the handsome bounty hunter buys her another day of life, but it also dumps her into the heart of a sinister plot, one meant to enslave the residents of the storm-tossed city—and the others brave and foolish enough to call the Alley home.

Review || Ballistic Kiss by Richard Kadrey

Sandman Slim is back in Los Angeles and kicking more supernatural ass in this inventive, high-octane page-turner—the next to last volume in the popular and acclaimed fantasy adventure series from New York Times bestselling author Richard Kadrey.

As the battle between warring angels continues, James Stark is focused on seemingly simpler matters now that he’s resurfaced on earth: an invasion of ghosts. L.A.’s Little Cairo neighborhood has suddenly been overrun by violent spirits, and Thomas Abbott knows if anyone can figure out why they’ve appeared—and how to get rid of them—it’s Stark. 

Top Ten Tuesday || Books That I Liked but Rarely Talk About

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Today's Top Ten prompt is Books That I Liked but Rarely Talk About.

Review || Twilight Seeker by Pippa DeCosta

Stay in the light, avoid locked doors, and resist silver whispers.

Meet Lynher Aris. Hostess extraordinaire. By night, she entertains the Dark Ones passing through the Night Station: vampires, demons, shifters, and worse. By day, she undermines them all, working with the resistance to unravel their enslavement of the human race.

But Lynher has a dark secret of her own, and with the imminent arrival of Ghost—a vampire overlord few have seen but all fear—she must play her role as the queen of the Night Station to perfection, keeping the resistance and her secret safe, or risk losing everything, including the powerful Night Station itself.

A new gothic urban fantasy series by acclaimed fantasy & sci-fi author, Pippa DaCosta.

Book Blitz || Darkness by L.C. Mawson

Freya thought her fight was over.
She was wrong.

After finally defeating Lord Uther, Freya fell into a holding pattern. With her husband and daughter gone, there was nothing for her to do except wait for change.

But when her girlfriend lights a rescue beacon, it becomes apparent that all is not as quiet as Freya thought.

And saving those she cares about might mean facing the darkness that has always plagued her…

DARKNESS is the fifteenth and final book in the Freya Snow urban fantasy series, which starts out as YA and follows Freya’s magical adventures through to university and into adulthood. If you like kick-ass, sarcastic heroines, immersive magical worlds beneath our own, and love that crosses the lines of magical feuds, then you’ll be instantly hooked on L.C. Mawson’s fast-paced urban fantasy series.