​Dalia is a member of a Mayan tribe whose members rarely have contact with the outside world.  Her family has been chosen to keep the secrets of the Temple Cave and be the Bloodborne priestess to save her people.  In a prophetic dream, Dalia's mother saw her living in the city, so for the past several years Dalia has lived in the city with the nuns and away from her people; but with the Mayan calendar coming to an end, Dalia is called back home.  When she arrives, Dalia finds that the stories she has heard might just be true, her sister has died of a mysterious illness and now another sister is missing.  It is now up to Dalia to face the dangers and save her tribe.

This story intrigued me since it was set within a modern Mayan tribe and featured some Mayan lore.  Dalia's character grabbed me in her struggle between her two worlds.  I also enjoyed all of the supernatural elements, it was interesting how vampires and dragons were melded into the Mayan stories to fit so well.  I am very interested in the lohil- Carrick as well as the force within Dalia's amulet.  I really want to know what will happen between Dalia and Carrick as well as what Dalia decides to do with her life.  The story ends on quite a cliffhanger, so I will definitely be reading on. 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

​A woman so determined to be famous, she'll try anything.  So will her reflection.  Together, woman and reflection travel around until they find a place where they belong.  However, when they get separated, one is not sure how to function without the other. 

Written in the style of flash fiction, each chapter of Madam Velvet's Cabaret of Oddities ranges from a sentence to several paragraphs.  I have only read a few flash fiction short stories before, so reading an entire book in this style was definitely a new experience for me.  It did take me a few chapters to get into the story, but once I was in the groove, I was devouring page after page.  Much like the shards of the broken reflection, the story is told in bits and pieces.  Information is received out of order and sometimes out of context, there are flashbacks to the woman's childhood as well as visits from her future self.  There are peeks into the lives of other carnival workers like the Four-Legged Woman and the Human Skeleton as well.  With this style of writing, my imagination went wild creating the settings and characters in my mind.  Some of the settings and scenarios were outrageous, such as the Fantasy Hand-Job brothel, but the themes of self-worth and longing will be able to connect with any reader. Madam Velvet's Cabaret of Oddities is an eerie and different flash-fiction read, easily consumed in one sitting.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

​Lore is a collection of six short stories that re-imagines folktales and mythology from around the world and places interesting and romantic twists into each.   Written by six different authors, each story has a unique feeling and setting.  


Shimmer takes the mermaid tale and gives it a fresh spin with Draven and Coral.  Draven is spending the summer at his father's cottage after a heartbreak when he sees Coral alone at night, seemingly drowning herself. Draven is compelled to help Coral, but she may not need it.  I really enjoyed these characters for the short time that we know them as well as the modernized mermaid mythology.  I did think it wrapped up a little too quickly, but that is the nature of short stories.

Between is a modern story of the Arabic djinn brought to a modern high school. Lucy and Natasha have made peace with their bodies and have found love with each other at fat camp this summer.  When Lucy returns home skinny, everything changes.  She is finally accepted into the popular group, the Royals.  However, being a lesbian does not fit their mold.  This one made it difficult to like any of the characters, but there was growth even within the confines of the short story.  I enjoyed the arc of the djinn the most and that Lucy and Sienna were able to realize that love wins over popularity. 


Sunset Moon incorporates lore from the Blackfeet Native American mythology in order to reawaken a troubled teen.  Eloise takes the rap for her boyfriend and now has one strike too many, it's either jail time or nine months at a juvenile work home.  While there, Eloise is forced to learn about her heritage and meets Ven.  Ven is bound to help Eloise through the darkness, but she must accept the light.  I really liked learning about the dreamcatcher lore as well as watching Eloise find hope in her life.  This is one that I would have loved to see develop into a longer story.


The Jewish Golem and Frankenstein's monster are combined in The Maker.  After Brett is left with a traumatic brain injury, courtesy of his now ex-girlfriend Cassandra, his life is changed forever and he is bent on revenge.  Unable to get out and about much by himself, Brett unearths his family's hidden manuscripts and makes a creature that will be sure to seduce Cassandra and humiliate her.  The Maker is definitely the creepiest story of the bunch, but also the most surprising.  The Golem is the best character of this story.  

A Beautiful Morning was one of my favorite stories, a tale of the Mayan sun god Kinish and flower goddess Ishel.  Their love for one another made perfect sense, but was forbidden.  This was a sweet romance that incorporated the destructive nature of some of the other Mayan gods that may have led to the downfall of the civilization. I really enjoyed these characters and the glimpse into the complicated lives of the Mayan deities.

The Barricades turned out to be another favorite of mine even though the premise seemed really strange to me.  Set in the future on another world, the Fae and humans have escaped a dying Earth.  They were set to live as equals, but the Ethernal Fae's powers have placed the above the humans in every way.  When the dying Eternal prince Daniel is found within the human area, a very caring human girl, Casey risks everything to save his life.  This was a very sweet and action packed story laced with magic, greed and romance.  A lot of development was packed into this short story that made it seem like much more.

The planet of Eldon, formerly Earth, controls its citizens with religion and a strict, but corrupt moral code that holds great consequences when broken.  Women are not allowed to go to school, except to train as wives upon their 19th birthday.  They are property of men that are held in high regard.  Education for all has gone by the wayside and knowledge of religion is revered.  Infrastructure is crumbling, everything is polluted and  people are dying.  Zelenka is unique, her parents married for love and educated her including how to read and write.  Now, Zelenka is spying for the  Amaryllians, the people who defected from Eldon.  Fianna, an Amyrillian is trying to set up an interplanetary trade in order to rescue some of the more enlightened Eldon's.  Zelenka makes the decision to follow Fianna to a new planet when the man she believed loved her, Fraco, refuses a love match.  With Zelenka's 19th birthday approaching, leaving Eldon is her safest bet.  Amyrillis is paradise for Zelenka, but not for long.

Days of Reign is a unique dystopian read that takes common elements of our current society and brings them to the extreme to create a horrific world, but one that is not to different from our own.  Zelenka's character was easily relatable, an educated women in a society where women were supposed to be owned or kept, she is working for a way out and takes it.  Fraco is a very interesting character, he seems motivated by love, but is stunted by the world he lives in and how he has been raised.  He is willing to destroy an entire planet in order to get back the woman he believes he owns.  The world building on Eldon and Amyrillis is detailed, I could easily picture degradation of Eldon and the serenity of Amyrillis.  The books is written from multiple points of view, some of which I didn't quite understand the purpose of, at least yet.  The first part of the book takes place on Eldon and is fast paced and laced with danger.  The second half takes place on Amyrillis and is idyllic and refreshing, but slower paced as Zelenka takes in a new culture.  There is foreboding danger lurking, however which rises to a shocking and sudden cliffhanger ending.  
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This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

​Far in the future, there are no remnants of human life left. In a distant solar system, the uplifted elephant-like species of Barsk, the Fant live out their daily lives excluded from the many other uplifted species.  However, Barsk is the only planet that can grow the plants for a variety of medicinal drugs.  One drug, called koph helps those with the talent of Speaking to interact with the dead.  Jorl is a Fant who is a Speaker and a historian who has specialized in the prophesies of the Matriarch.  Jorls often Speaks to his best friend, Arlo and helps to take care of his son, Pizlo.  While Speaking, Jorl notices that he cannot connect with several Fant's that have just passed, this knowledge combined with some interesting visions that Pizlo has begun to see, causes Jorl to believe that he is part of one of the prophesies.

Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard is a unique fantasy that pulled me into a different world.  This is a story that you have to allow yourself to go with the flow and immerse yourself into the world of Barsk.  The inhabitants of Barsk and the other worlds are all mammals that have been somehow integrated with human thought process, language and emotions while still having traits of the animal they originated from.  This made for an interesting conflicts between beings as well as a mystery as to why everyone else disliked the Fant.  Since there was so much going on, I focused on Jorl and his insights as well as Pizlo.  Pizlo was the most intriguing character for me.  He is an outcast, since he was born to parents who were not fully bonded.  Fant- besides his mother and Jorl ignore Pizlo, however Pizlo seems to have the greatest sense about what is going on with Barsk and those who are after its resources.  Once Jorl and Pizlo begin to investigate the issues with the dead, things get complicated. The draw of koph has pulled in many other inhabitants from around the galaxy and they are not about to play nicely.  Tensions rise as Speakers try to draw out knowledge from deceased Fant as well as almost deceased Fant.  From here the story got very political and could easily relate to many trade situations happening on Earth.  Pizlo's character added the elements of innocence and fantasy to keep the story on track for me.  The ending also surprised me with what they were all hiding.  Overall, a distinctive fantasy that has a lot to offer. 


This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

​Hugo is being tormented by ghosts.  They are the ghosts he summoned himself in hopes they would befriend him and keep him company at his boarding school.  However, the ghosts have done anything but, causing Hugo to become even more of an outcast and act out.  Hugo's uncle, Stephen has become concerned about him and has turned to the mother of the two boys who have seemed to befriend Hugo at school.  Tilda Gray and her boys, Nicholas and James seem to understand Hugo's problem more than Stephen can comprehend.  Tilda Gray's husband came from the land of Spellhaven where magic was used regularly, a gift from the spirits and unseen inhabitants of the land.  However, Spellhaven is no more.  The spirits are now free and there are those who would like to use their powers again.  When Hugo's ghosts attract the attention of a Spellhaven native who is using the spirits for evil. the boys, the Gray's and Stephen get pulled into the world of the Spellhaven natives, the Exiles club and the Unseen spirits that still roam then land.

I did not realize that this was a second book in a series and I think it would have helped me a lot to read the first book, however I was still able to understand everything.  I was pulled in by Hugo's ghost problem, although it is Tilda who pulls everything together for me. Her nature was sweet and surprising considering the danger her children were in.  I enjoyed the fantasy elements with the ghosts and the spirits, especially Tilda's interactions with Thistlebeard.  I did get confused for a few parts in the middle especially with Lyulf, but was able to pick things back up.  Part of the suspense was not knowing who to trust throughout the story, although I'm still not sure about a few characters.  Overall, Ghosts and Exiles is a good combination of suspense and fantasy for young adult to adult readers.  

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Aliens have come to Earth.  The Ba'ren have come to Earth looking for peaceful diplomacy, trade and to help with medical research.  Part of the diplomacy efforts include two human student ambassadors paired with two Ba'ren ambassadors at the University of Nebraska where ongoing osteosarcoma treatment is taking place that the Ba'ren believe they have a cure for.  Emma Smith has been chosen to be one of the student ambassadors to the Ba'ren; as a freshman, Emma hopes to advance her career in biomedical engineering and get to know the Ba'ren. Sepporinen is one of the Ba'ren ambassadors chosen.  Unlike Emma, he has no desire to meet another species.  Sepporinen would much rather explore the mining opportunities of the asteroids that orbit our Solar System.  Emma and Sepporinen are paired together for classes and diplomacy for better or worse, and things quickly get worse as some humans push back against the Ba'ren's involvement on Earth.  Things take another strange turn as Emma and Sepporinen find themselves inexplicably drawn towards one another. 


Star City is an interesting Young Adult Science Fiction story that follows a story line that we know well, boy meets girl, boy hates girl and then boy and girl and girl fall in love.  One aspect that makes this story unique are the reasons why they fall in love.  Emma and Sepporinen are both unlikely candidates for the student diplomat positions, the reasoning is not clear until the end, but creates another layer of suspense throughout the story.  Another aspect of the story that created tension throughout was the very realistic way that the human population responded to the Ba'ren. There were many parallels between the perception of the Ba'ren coming to Earth and any change that we try to implement on Earth.  When the Ba'ren attempted to help humans, there were factions of people that became violent and racist, people that protested, people who responded with fear as well as governments from other countries that attempted to interfere with the way the USA interacted with the Ba'ren.  I was very interested in the Ba'ren, their planet and the many cultures and technology that they have.  I hope that this is explored more in the second book.  I did like the diversity in the book as well, although I felt that Emma's character could have been fleshed out a little more.  The uncertainty between the two species reaches it's apex near the end and the truth of the relationship that each species wanted with the other comes out.  Overall, Star City complements inter-species romance with plenty of action and adventure and I can't wait to read the next installment.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

In the not-to-distant future, things in Southern California look a little different than they do now.  Everything is taken to the extreme, but this isn't exactly a good thing and many people suffer from the effects. Ernesto is a product of the prison system and some sort of genetic engineering that they test on the inmates there.  After getting knifed in the throat, Ernesto has some magic worked on him by the doctors at J. Smyrna and is subsequently released as a success story.  Ernesto works as a bouncer at a bar near his home.  Madeline frequents the bar and hits on any guy for a place to stay and any cash they might have.  When Madeline witnesses a bank robbery committed by a high school friend of hers, she thinks she has found a new way to make easy money and has just the friend to help her do it.  However, the plan doesn't go  smoothly and Madeline and Ernesto both find out just what the J. Smyrna Transfection Lab and Corrections Management has been up to.

A dark and heavy tale about what happens to people who life has forgotten, people who believe they have nothing left to lose.  I was struck by how little I liked any of the characters.  Madeline, Jake, and Blondie were all deplorable. Ernesto had redeeming qualities, but a dark past.  What kept me reading was the interest in all of the characters motivations as well as what exactly happened to Ernesto in prison.  I do wish there was a little more depth to the setting, some backstories and how exactly J. Smyrna was pulling off what they were able to achieve.  Since things worked slightly differently in this world, I felt just a little lost at times; although, this is a shorter story and can easily be read in one sitting.  Overall, an unconventional story featuring characters that usually go unnoticed.
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