I’ve mentioned elsewhere on this site that I love to read, something that I reckon almost all authors will say, so I’d like to take the chance to make recommendations for other authors you may like. Now, this page won’t be about the big name authors, like Pratchett, Adams, Gaiman, King etc. This is more about new or lesser known writers who deserve to be talked about.
Thanks to Twitter, and the wonderful #WritingCommunity hashtag, I’ve been introduced to some excellent works of fiction and amazing authors so here’s my list of people you should be checking out right now!
To learn more or buy their books, simply click on the logo to go to their website and click on the book cover to go and buy the book!
Jon Ford – Modern Fantasy, and superhero fiction
Kayla Hicks – Superhero, sci-fi, and romance fiction
Eaton Krone – Sci-Fi comedy fiction
Anna Mocikat – Sci-Fi and Cyberpunk fiction
N.T. Anderson – Erotic Romance fiction
Sarah Eriksen – Fantasy fiction
Peter James Martin – Fantasy Comedy fiction
David Chesworth – Dramatic Coming-Of-Age fiction
Ross Young – Fantasy Comedy
Halo Scot – Dark, Post-Apocalyptic and Sci-Fi fiction
Daniel Quigley – Modern Fantasy, Action and Comedy
Welcome to the new age…
Those left on Earth survived the Rising. They survived the War.
Humanity – pushed to the point of extinction – is forced to accept that monsters no longer dwell in the murky shadows of myth and legend. They are frighteningly real. An uneasy peace has settled across the globe on the cusp of an international Summit intended to gather the surviving Human factions with the new nations of Vampyrii, Werewolf, Troll, Ice Giant, and Fae. Their leaders, their delegates, their decision makers. A conference where the honorable strive to make the world a better place, and where corrupt politicians pursue their own selfish agendas. Alliances are formed…coups are plotted.
In Werewolf-held Canada, a girl is taken. A rescue mission ensues. In Europe, a grieving hybrid soldier in search of answers returns to London to face the ghosts of her past. In Vampyrii-occupied America, one of their race seeks to restore a small part of the world to its former self. But trouble is brewing beneath the surface as society teeters on the precipice of calamity. Mysterious forces work to threaten this new way of life. Threaten to reveal who are the hunted…and who are the Hunters.
Jon has been a friend of mine for a long time now (I’d say how long, but it makes us both feel old!) and we met each other in a game called City Of Heroes, an MMO where you design and play your own superhero, a subject we both love and bonded over easily.
It was City of Heroes that helped inspire his first book in the Songbird series, Hunters, with plans for several more to follow.
To say the book is excellent is to do it a disservice. For a first release by a new author, it’s truly excellent and I can’t recommend it enough!
In the aftermath of tragedy, when the past is laid to rest, blood returns to earth…
When catastrophic events in Nexus City tip the scales, skewing the balance of power in New Victus and forcing Lyssa Balthazaar to accelerate her timetable for revolution, she struggles to find allies in her time of need while wrestling with an impossible decision – Follow her heart or her commitment to family.
A vacation in Rio takes a sudden turn for Alexa Reynolds when an unexpected job connects to her recent past and leads her to untangle a mystery. A mystery she follows from Rio, to the Bahamas, and to Venezuela before she discovers a shocking revelation in the Pacific Ocean.
In London, Gayle and Allyson Knightley are coping with both loss and love. While Allyson is driven to find justice for the victims in Nexus, Gayle is faced with a stark reminder of her past. It is a discovery that will drive her to risk it all to uncover the truth of Bloody Valletta
When I read Hunters, the first book in the Ballad of the Songbird by Jon Ford, I was seriously impressed. Not just because a friend of mine had achieved his dream of publishing a book, but also because of just how good it was! Now Jon has released his second book in the series and, not surprisingly, it’s even better than the first!
Continuing on from the first book, we once again follow the the characters as they react to the events from the end of book one. The story flows along perfectly, reminding us of the characters we already knew and introducing new ones as they start to deal with everything that has happened and how it changes their lives around them.
We also get to see some more of the world that Jon is building and that’s one of the best things about the book. Instead of a massive amount of info being thrown at us too quickly, the author introduces us to everything gradually, with little titbits of lore and backstory being added subtly whilst at the same time leaving us wanting to know more.
This is a worthy and excellent second novel in the series that flows brilliantly, hinting at surprises to come, a couple of shocks along the way and some genuinely laugh out loud moments as well!
I can’t wait for book three!
How hard would you fight for your friends? Your family? Your freedom?
Would you lay it all on the line? Would you fight tooth and claw?
Deep in her heart, she always knew it would come to this.
From the moment Lyssa Balthazaar decided to free New Victus from the tyrannical grip of Sebastian StormHall, she knew it would end in civil war. Yet the coming conflict won’t be contained to just Vampyrii against Vampyrii.
In Pack Nation, Werewolf leader Damian Dane must balance his responsibilities to his people with the oath he swore to protect humanity.
In London, Gayle Knightley and Michael Reynolds are dismissing the cadets at the Human Fae Alliance Academy for the Christmas holidays. Looking forward to a quiet festive season with family, they, too, are drawn into the conflict.
As the war begins, Lyssa races to get her sleeping father back to the safety of New York City. She is not alone. But even with the help of Damian, her sister, Nykola, and her lover, Allyson Knightley, the clock is ticking, and time is running out
It’s just ridiculous how good Jon Ford’s books are. The first two books in the series were already excellent, now we have the third book, Tooth and Claw, and, once again, it’s a real page turner!
Continuing the storyline from the Ballad of the Songbird series, we catch up with the characters who survived the events of Blood To Earth, as well as meeting some exciting new people. Continuing with the intrigue we have come to love with the series, Jon Ford weaves another tapestry of mystery with amazing action scenes and plenty of humour.
Add to that the ever expanding world building that hints at future books and you’re left gasping at the shocks in the book and wanting to read the next one immediately!
Shame we have to wait for it, really!
When Earth faces an alien threat… how do you fight back?
Chicago. High in the sky above Lake Michigan, witnesses watch a tear in the very fabric of space open, and an enormous implacable black disc pushes its way through.
The media call it…The Breach.
From this mysterious invader, a swarm of insect-like aliens descends upon the city, tearing it apart building by building. As a city in terror tries to fight back, scientists Kyle and Melissa Jordan try to decipher the alien’s secrets. Where did they come from? Why are they here? And why is everyone getting sick?
The military machine falters under the alien assault, swiftly coming to the realization that a non-human threat requires a super-human response.
Superheroes exist. Standing alone all over the world, they are a disconnected force for good.
Kasai. Shield Maiden. Rogue. Knightingale. Reflex. Ecstasy. Honsou. Centurion.
Fire, forcefields, and energy blasts. Healing, speed, and illusions. The soldier and the robot.
Different powers, different nationalities, and different life experiences. Now they must all come together. One purpose. One place.
If they fall, if they fail, everyone will pay the price.
To defend our planet Chicago must become a city of heroes.
If you read either this site or Jon Ford’s own site, you’ll see very quickly how much the online game City Of Heroes was, and still is, a big thing in our lives. We both met in the game and our friendship grew from there so it’s no surprise that Jon has taken his love of the game and transferred it into another amazing book!
This is an excellent follow on from Jon’s previous works, the brilliant books in The Ballad Of The Songbird series. Taking it’s inspiration from the game, City of Heroes, Jon takes many of his own characters and adapts them into a whole new setting and origin story that really captures both the essence of the game and also his love of all things super-hero. The characters feel just right, and, if you’ve ever played the game, so much will feel familiar whilst also feeling fresh and exciting at the same time.
Equally as exciting is the way Jon has worked the heroes created by other players of the game into the storyline, some as minor characters, several of them as major players in the storyline!
Like his previous works, this is another great start to a new series of books, with so much potential for spin off works! I can’t wait to see what comes next, same Ford-time, same Ford-channel!
Gale Knightley always wanted to be a doctor.
Then her M-Gene powers manifested, granting her amazing abilities. Gifts that allow her to fix bones, cure sickness, and heal wounds. Seven years after arriving in Chicago to fight the Kriitani Incursion, Gale graduates medical school, excited to take the next step in her career as a doctor and hero. But, as she’s about to learn, there’s more to being a physician than fixing physical injury. And there’s more to being a hero than dashing in to save the day.
After losing her first patient, Gale must face her doubts and insecurities. What could she possibly have done differently? How did she fail? Was it her fault?
The questions that plague her lead to a mystery that could prove her guilt or innocence…but could also pose a huge threat to the security of New Chicago.
As an avid player of the game, City Of Heroes, I adored the first book by Jon Ford in his new Femme Fatales series, The Scorched Sky. It was a great introduction into his own world inspired by the game and used his own characters to tell a new narrative brilliantly, so I was looking forward to the first novella based on the events that happened in new Chicago.
This new book tells a wonderfully crafted mystery story that develops the character of Gail Knightley, better known as the titular superhero, Knightingale. With plenty of cameos from characters in the earlier books as well, we get to see how things have developed after the invasion of Chicago and see how the world is building, or should I say, re-building, after the action packed first novel.
I loved being able to leap back into this world and see how things have progressed. The storyline was cleverly thought out, with mystery and intrigue leaving you wondering what will happen next and I can’t wait for the next Femme Fatales book to come out!
Becoming a superhero isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Let’s be realistic, people don’t have super-powers. But if you have enough determination to make it through training, you have a chance to be the modern-day superhero, stopping one criminal at a time…or doing everyone else’s job and getting none of the credit.
After Tanser girl comes to terms with her non-celebrity level status in the superhero world, someone else from Level D decides it’s their moment to shine, shaking up the entire system, while leaving her to pick up the pieces.
If you’ve read anything about me anywhere on this site, you’ll know if there’s one thing I love, it’s superheroes, so getting to read The Backup Superhero by Kayla Hicks was great fun!
Taking a unique point-of-view compared to most superhero fiction, instead of focusing on the big names in the world of crime fighting, this books looks at things from the lower leagues, the super-heroic little people who do all the basic stuff and get none of the glory, something that’s not looked at enough in fiction.
It’s a short work. In fact, if you’re a fast reader like myself, you’ll have this done in a couple of hours, but don’t let that fool you. It’s an wonderful read with interesting characters that you want to know more about as well as the world they live in and you’re definitely left wanting to know what happens next!
Roll on the next one!
Every Superhero League needs an origin story, but who would have thought it would have been about a barkeep named Frank?
When Frank finds corruption within the Police Department, everything he thought was true starts to unravel.
Enlisting two other trustworthy officers to help him uncover the mystery, Frank’s path goes where he never thought it could.
He becomes the Dark Vigilante.
After reading the first book in the series, The Backup Superhero, I was really looking forward to the next one, The Original Superheroes by Kayla Hicks, and I’m not disappointed!
Serving as both a prequel for the first book and a setup for the next one, this work shows the origins of the Superhero League and starts to fill in some of the backgrounds for characters we were introduced to previously.
I raced through this book as I’m a massive fan of the superhero genre and love this very different take on something we are all now familiar with. It’s definitely a page-turner as you are always wanting to know what is coming next as the origin is revealed brilliantly and I can’t wait for the next one to come out!
If you are looking for something a little different from the world of crazy superpowers, this is definitely one to read!
Backup superhero Dwighter’s hopes and dreams felt dead in their tracks the day he was placed as a Level D superhero. Among the superhero community, he is known as the drunk backup superhero that no one can count on.
One night, however, Dwighter’s luck changes when he overhears two backup superheroes discussing a plan to cross over to the criminal world. The only problem is, when Dwighter tries to tell Tanser Girl what he overheard, he’s questioned and speculated as to how drunk he was when he overheard it.
Now Dwighter needs to prove himself and uncover a plan that could give all backup superheroes in Level D a bad name in order to show everyone he’s more than the alcohol that controls him.
Kayla Hicks does it again with her newest instalment of the Backup Superhero series, The Backup Who Cried Wolf.
Continuing the world building she started with the first two books, this is another novella similar to the first instalment. It’s a short but very sweet read that sets up a new storyline and introduces interesting new characters and villains, as well as bringing back the already excellent Tanser Girl and her interactions with the other backup heroes in the world
It’s not a long story by any means, but that works well for it. Think of it like an episode in an your favourite ongoing TV show, this is something designed to come in quick and get you wanting more and I can’t wait to see what happens next with out intrepid, lesser-known heroes!
Make sure to read the first two books in the series and dive into this one, it’s great fun!
When Tanser Girl, a backup superhero, faces her first major failure, she discovers a threat to the entire Superhero League, forcing her to embrace her true identity and confront the danger head-on.
In a world where superheroes are revered, Tanser Girl stands as a symbol of hope despite her status as a backup hero. But when a mission goes awry, she uncovers a sinister plot that threatens the Superhero League itself. With the fate of the league at stake, Tanser Girl must embrace her secret identity and embark on a perilous mission to save the day, confronting her deepest fears along the way.
Will she prove that even backup superheroes can be true heroes, or will she succumb to the darkness that threatens them all?
The next book in the Backup Superhero series from Kayla Hicks is The Undercover Backup and this time it’s a simple short story. Indeed, it’s a very short story, but it’s also a great read and one that introduces us to several new characters, who I hope we get to see again in future books.
As the title suggests, this one is a little different as our favourite backup, Tanser Girl, goes undercover to help the authorities and shows the world Kayla has created from a different perspective.
If you enjoyed the previous books, you’ll enjoy this one as well!
Leena’s life has been anything but perfect. An alcoholic mother creates an unbearable homelife and her longtime boyfriend, Chase, dumps her at her most vulnerable moment. Worse yet, Leena is forced to live in her truck. Leena’s mantra is to make it through the summer, just long enough for college to start.
In steps Leena’s best friend, Sydney, helping her start the next chapter of her life. After finding an apartment that’s cheap, not slummy for them to share together, Leena finds her life in an upswing.
But now, two love interests step into the picture. Brent, the sexy wildcard who has secrets that fall too close to home for Leena. And Garrett, her ex-boyfriend’s best friend. He’s handsome, kind, and loyal and could be the one she never knew she wanted.
Who will Leena choose to start her new chapter with?
The thing about the book that surprised me was how much I enjoyed it!
Don’t get me wrong, the books by Kayla Hicks are always great, I’ve read several of hers now and they are excellent, fun reads, but Anywhere Else is a romance novel and I don’t read romance. Ever!
However, after reading her Back-Up Superhero books, I gave this a try and was surprised at just how much I enjoyed it! The characters are believable, the situations they are all in worked and I found myself really hoping for Leena to find the love she wants and rooting for the one she ends up with as well!
And now I like romance books! My whole world view has been shaken!
Definitely a recommended read for any romance lover and well worth a shot if you want to try something different to your normal stuff!
When tragedy strikes, Sadi is left orphaned and adrift, forced to live with her estranged aunt as her college dreams crumble. But as she grapples with loss and rejection, a long-hidden family secret emerges, threatening to unravel her world completely.
After losing her parents in a tragic accident, Sadi’s life takes a sudden turn as she moves in with her unfamiliar aunt, Hayley. Rejected by every college she applied to, Sadi faces the daunting task of breaking the news to Aunt Hayley that she’s not ready to leave.
As Sadi navigates grief and uncertainty with the help of her best friend Parker, a shocking revelation shakes the foundation of her existence. Hidden family secrets come to light, forcing Sadi to confront her past and question everything she thought she knew about herself.
In a quest for truth and self-discovery, Sadi must confront her deepest fears and embrace the uncertain future that awaits her. With each revelation, she edges closer to understanding her true identity and finding the strength to forge her own path forward.
Secrets They Never Told by Kayla Hicks is more in keeping with her earlier work, Anywhere Else, than it is with her Backup Superhero series. It tells the tale of a young woman, Sadi, who suffers a tragic loss and has to live with an aunt she barely knows. As she tries to adapt to her new life, she goes on a trip away with friends and starts to rediscover herself, only to have her life explode once more.
I really enjoyed this book, even more than Anywhere Else, which was more in the romance genre I don’t normally read. Secrets They Never Told is beautifully written and really brings you into the lives of the characters in a way that feels very real and authentic.
Definitely a book to read if you like drama and realism.
What if someone gave you a code and told you to use it to save the world?
For seventeen-year-old Jeremy, the world has been an unforgiving place. His father was killed by bounty hunters, his mother is dying of a deadly virus sweeping the Outskirts, and he is surrounded by people who have been abandoned by a broken system from the six cities that decide everyone’s fate.
After his home is burnt down, his mother is kidnapped leaving Jeremy alone with a code and no way of knowing how this code will save the world.
You’ve got to love it when an author tackles a different genre to what you are used to from them and does it well. Kayla Hicks does that with Kale Stone, the first in the Outliers Tale series. Instead of the familiar superhero or romantic books she’s written, this time we get a sci-fi story set in a dystopian world.
Telling the story of a young man who has undergone a harsh life already, Jeremy must go on a hard journey when his mother is kidnapped and he is left with information that may help save the world. On the way he must decide who he can trust and how to use the secret information he has.
The world we are introduced to is both interesting and dangerous with plenty of scope for future stories, which is good as it’s left very open for plenty of sequels. There are also some excellent characters along the way as well as exciting action to keep you reading.
If you’re a fan of dystopian worlds or end-of-the-world science fiction, Kale Stone is worth checking out.
In a perfect world, Guy Leatherman would be a first-class journalist with a greater passion for life, a bigger circle of friends (i.e. more than one), a loving family and a goldfish that lived longer than the last one.
In a perfect world, Guy would be blissfully unaware that life out there exists, and he certainly wouldn’t be stupid enough to step into his closet to be teleported from Earth to an alien planet in an alien body. Nor would he allow himself to get caught up in the biggest conspiracy the Charted Universe has ever seen.
In a perfect world, Guy’s alien body wouldn’t be nearing its degeneration date, and he wouldn’t have to pin his hopes of survival on a street-sweeping doppelgänger, a trash-hating side table, a spy who can’t remember much and an elusive Grey with a milk problem.
In a perfect world, Guy would have the courage to do what needs to be done and, more importantly, he’d know what needs to be done.
Unfortunately for Guy, the universe is not a perfect world…
I’ve always been a big fan of sci-fi comedy stuff. Authors like Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams are two of my favourites and I also love TV shows like Red Dwarf and The Orville, so I was looking forward to this one when it was recommended and boy, was I not disappointed!
One of the best things about reading books by new, indie authors is that they often come up with some really unusual ideas that wouldn’t normally see the light of day and A Life Spectacular by Eaton Krone is one of those ideas!
Stepping into a closet and waking up as an alien is a great concept and the rest of the book follows suit with some amazing characters, really unique sounding alien planets and lots of genuinely laugh-out-loud moments! In fact, some of the footnotes alone had me giggling like a loon and are almost worthy of the great Sir Terry Pratchett himself!
Racing through at a rip-roaring pace, this is a highly recommended book and I can’t wait to dig into the next one!
Welcome to the year 2095.
Society has overcome everything that made human life miserable. It has become perfect — so perfect that it needs killer cyborgs to hunt down anyone who disagrees with it.
Nephilim isn’t just any elite death squad member, she is the best. Genetically and cybernetically enhanced, she and others like her strike terror wherever they go. Knowing nothing besides this lifestyle, Nephilim believes that she’s part of a righteous cause.
But everything changes for her after a hostile EMP attack.
She suffers a severe system glitch. Disconnected from the grid, for the first time in her life, she begins doubting the system.
Shortly after the attack, she meets Jake, a 100% biological human, and she falls in love with him. Jake helps her discover that everything she had believed in was a lie.
But there is no walking away from the system. And soon, Nephilim finds herself hunted by members of her own death squad.
In an era of deception, who can she trust? And in this brave new world, is there a place for love between a human and a cyborg?
Behind Blue Eyes is a fast-paced, cinematic action story in a dystopian setting. It’s a modern-day version of 1984 – on steroids.
Cyberpunk and Noir aren’t my usual kind of read. Normally I go for fantasy, comedy, that sort of thing. This was recommended to me by a friend and I am NOT left disappointed!!
Behind Blue Eyes by Anna Mocikat is the first book in what I believe is a duology and is an excellent read!
We’ve seen lots of different dystopian futures in literature so it might seem a bit cliched to read another, but this one really drew me in from the very beginning. The main character is interesting, flawed and very exciting. The setting is very different to other futures I’ve read and the action sequences are so well realised I could visualise it in my minds eye easily and it had me totally hooked!
This is one book that I heartily recommend and I can’t wait to read the sequel!
Olympias City is shaken by a series of unspeakably brutal murders. No one is allowed to know the shocking truth about who the victims are: Guardian Angels.
Someone is hunting the almost invincible cyborgs with the neon-blue eyes. Someone who knows their secrets and who uses a formerly unknown technology.
Promoted to Archangel, Nephilim is in charge of the investigation. It leads her into the underbelly of Olympias’ most notorious district, Oldtown, and also into the Inner Circle, where the elites reside.
Struggling with memory loss, Nephilim barely survives an attempt on her life.
It seems that the Guardian Angels have some very powerful enemies. If this wasn’t dangerous enough, the two other corporate global players, Rosprom and TogbuaXiang, scheme in the shadows to not only bring down the Angels but the entire city of Olympias.
Everything changes when Nephilim accompanies Metatron on a trip to Olympias City III, formerly Rio de Janeiro. There she discovers that nothing is what it seems and that Metatron is much more cunning and dangerous than anyone suspects.
Things get even more complicated when old friends from Nephilim’s past appear. Nephilim will have to decide on what side she wants to stand …
When I wrote my review for the first book in the Behind Blue Eyes series by Anna Mocikat, I said that noir Cyberpunk novels weren’t my normal taste in fiction.
After reading the sequel, Behind Blue Eyes: Fallen Angels, I may have to change that opinion!
Fallen Angels carries on the story of Nephilim and the Angels from the first book brilliantly. Picking up not long after the events of Behind Blue Eyes and grabs your attention right from the start. Building on the story of Nephilim and the other characters we met, it also introduces several new characters that I found myself really wanting to know more about, especially the human police duo that play a major role.
Once again Mocikat brings us a combination of wonderfully written action sequences, (that really deserve to be seen on the big screen!) characters that you love to read about and a plot that keeps you wondering what will happen next all the time!
Roll on book three! I can’t wait!
Every story has a dark side.
After learning of the Broker’s true identity, Nephilim battles contradicting memory flashes from her past. In horror, she realizes Metatron has erased her memory.
When she confronts him, he admits to the truth, but the stand-off takes a twist, and her world changes forever.
Meanwhile, the murder of the Guardian Angels continues. This time, the most gruesome one so far, the victim is someone very close to Nephilim.
Enraged, Nephilim sets out to find those responsible, but the whole thing’s a trap. The ones pulling the strings want to set an example on her to deliver a message to Metatron.
They’ll soon learn the wrath of a killer cyborg. But Nephilim won’t emerge from the battle without paying a horrible price.
And the war has only just begun…
The Behind Blue Eyes saga continues!
Anna Mocikat does it again!
As the third book in the ongoing saga of Nephilim and the Guardian Angels in the dystopian city of Olympias, this one had a lot live up to and, once again the author knocks it out the park!
Following on from the cliff-hanger ending of the second book, in Behind Blue Eyes: War Games, we find our hero in a surprising place and the story takes in a direction I wasn’t expecting. In fact, the whole book often does that and I loved that about it! Instead of the using the obvious and cliched tropes you might expect, we are shown everything in a different way and the books works all the better for this.
Add to this an ever growing world full of mystery and intrigue and excellent characters that you are intrigued to know more about, this is a series that always leave you wanting the next book to come out quickly!
Have you ever thought about a person from your past and wondered what if? You know who I mean…the one that got away. I have, and his name is Jack Perry.
He’s fun and flirty. Sexy and mysterious. But there’s also a dark, brooding side where he hides a secret bedroom desire. A provocative veiled persona no one knows about.
Well, no one except me.
You see, years ago, we had an internet relationship. After trading countless emails about our private thoughts, he went deeper, confiding in me what was missing from the most private side of himself.
It intrigued me, and I never forgot about it.
Now my life has been thrown into a tailspin. I feel invisible these days. Lost…and after all these years, Jack and his soulful eyes have been on my mind. A lot. I made the decision to experience the tall and handsome Mr. Perry in the flesh. To stop being invisible. To start feeling alive again.
So, here I am, standing on his front porch, ready to meet him for the first time. No matter what happens, this evening is destined to be full of surprises. You’re welcome to come along. Within these pages is a story you don’t want to miss…
I originally bought this one for my wife. I mean, erotic fiction is really not something I normally read but I know she likes this sort of thing so she got the first read on it. I already had far too many books to work through!
Unfortunately, as I bought her the Kindle edition, her tablet died and she hasn’t had the chance to read it, so I got another copy, this time for myself, and I’m glad I did!
The premise and concept for Acts of Closure by NT Anderson is excellent and one that really will resonate with a lot of people, that nagging feeling about “The one who might have been!” Told over a single day, through the eyes of Natalie as she reconnects with J, and the very clever use of e-mail flashbacks, the story is perfectly paced, never rushing you through or slowing down too much at the wrong time.
Bear in mind, this is a book aimed at open-minded adults, definitely not one for the kids, but if you like your reading clever, interesting and steamy, this is definitely for you and I’m really looking forward to finding out what happens next with Natalie and J.
A year ago, I took the opportunity to spend one night with the mysteriously sexy man I had been dreaming about for two decades. When reality beckoned the next morning, I walked away from him and resumed my life, carrying my broken heart with me.
Now, the one thing I never expected to see has happened, and I am about to reenter the timeless world of Jack Perry. Where his fame impresses no one, least of all himself. Where days and nights become blurry, and clocks cease to exist. A place where passion and lust will land me on the doorstep of an explosive confession.
Above all else, this is the moment when the door to my closure will be kicked wide open. This time, will I stay?
The “Will they, Won’t they” concept in romantic fiction is one that is both classic and overused, but it’s also one that can work, if written well. After the start of the trilogy in Acts of Closure, it’s great to see that NT Anderson is one such writer who knows how to write the story wonderfully in the second book of the Acts series, Acts of Confession.
Set one year after the first book, we catch up with Natalie as she carries on with her normal life, until, unexpectedly, she is dragged back into the world of love, romance, and lust with Jack Parry once more.
The storyline continues in a clever and realistic way that keeps you reading from the start as you constantly wonder what will happen between the two lovers and how can their lives connect again. The steamier side of the book is, once again, well written and definitely one for mature readers, but the whole book feels very authentic in its portrayal of the characters making it easy to highly recommend. I can’t wait to see how it ends!
What if endings really are…new beginnings?
It all started with a simple need. A desire to seek closure on a passionate crush that burned within me for decades. Incendiary memories drove me to the doorstep of the sexy and mysterious Jack Perry.
That fateful night led to another, exactly one year later, where the backdrop to a dreamlike romance was exposed…and confessions were made.
But that is all in the past. A closed book, complete with an ending and an understanding from both of us that we had our moment. Cherished and full of love…but over.
However, fate has intervened, bringing all that came before sharply into focus. Now I must decide…should I dwell on the past or embrace the future? Fear threatens to hold me back from the man who is the sentry at the doorway to my every fantasy. Will I let it keep me from a love more passionate than I could ever have imagined?
After so many months of wondering, we finally come the grand finale in the Acts series by NT Anderson and it does not disappoint!
The beginning of the end starts with a bang and leaves you stunned, before taking you back to the steamy and heart-wrenching lives of Natalie and Jack. After the first two books teased us with an uncertain future, Acts of Commitment takes you on an emotional journey that leaves you breathless, wondering if things will ever come together for the lovestruck couple.
Will Natalie and Jack end up together? How will her family react to their relationship? How can their very different lives connect and how will it all end? The final part of the trilogy ends in this book and keeps you rooting for the beautifully written couple right to the end!
A fantastic end to the trilogy, this is a series for all fans of romance and erotica alike.
Everything began with Chaos.
Chaos created the universe and the gods. Chaos then created boundaries between worlds. These borders were placed across all of existence to prevent various forms of life from traveling to worlds, planets, and realms they were forbidden to exist on for countless reasons. Chaos tasked one of the gods with monitoring and defending the borders. This god searched for beings that had the potential to manipulate creation energy. These individuals became guardians, magic users and warriors who fight to keep the borders defended from anything and everything that crossed through them.
Skye Kelly is a guardian. Monsters, magic and evil plots are a part of her everyday life, along with running a coffee shop and hanging out with her twin brother and her friends. When horrific creatures from another world start targeting guardians on Earth, it’s up to Skye and her friends to unravel their evil scheme before it’s too late
Chaotic Devices is the excellent first book in the Chaos Guardians series by Sarah Eriksen.
Telling the story of a group of Guardians, young men and women chosen by Chaos to defend the Earth from numerous invading monsters, this is a great first work by a new author and one I really enjoyed.
Packed with amazing battle sequences and characters that you could see easily in a new, hit TV show, the premise of the book is easy to get into and holds your attention from the very beginning. I was especially intrigued by the glimpses of other guardians that appear sporadically throughout the story, something that definitely left me wanting to know more about them! Hopefully we’ll more in the sequel!
If you like your fantasy with plenty of action, great characters and a burgeoning mysteries that leave you asking lots of questions, this might just be the book for you!
Zombies are inconvenient…
Reanimated dead are making random appearances in Skye’s hometown. Obviously, necromancers are involved, but to what degree?
When a connection is made to the world of Meriten, Skye goes undercover to a dangerous world full of undead horrors, feuding clans, and scheming necromancers to find those responsible for this sudden influx of inconvenient zombies. What should be an easy investigation quickly turns into a deadly dance of intrigue, revealing a far more sinister plot.
Because when are zombies ever convenient….
Wow! What a book!
When I read Chaotic Devices, the first book in the Chaos Guardians series, I really enjoyed it. It was a fun and exciting introduction to the world Sarah Eriksen had created and left me interested to see what would happen next, but Undead Chaos is such a massive leap forward in so many ways, it’s truly impressive!
Continuing on from the events of book one, we follow Skye to a whole new world and learn more about her and friends. Everything about the book builds on the mythology the author is creating and adds new ideas, monsters, enemies, action sequences and even a perfectly balanced love story that never feels forced or obvious.
This is an excellent story that is both clever and gripping, and I can’t wait to get on to the third part!
More power just meant more difficult jobs.
After foiling a nightmarish plan to destroy Earth, Skye was thrown into a conflict on another world, saving it from hordes of undead and the necromancers behind them. She had become the most powerful Chaos Guardian in all of Creation. But controlling her new powers was proving it be difficult, and her life was anything but normal.
When mysterious doors start appearing in haunted houses around the world, Skye and her friends are asked to investigate. With increasing ghost activity, strange doors to another dimension, missing space pirates, and the deadly creatures drawn to the chaos—it’s up to Skye and her friends to figure out who is behind it and stop them.
Life for Skye and the Chaos Guardians just keeps getting weirder and weirder!
I really enjoyed the first book in the Chaos Guardians series and loved the sequel, so I was excited to finally get the chance to read the next book in the series, Chaotic Haunts, and I wasn’t disappointed! Starting with an unexpected sci-fi twist, we find out more about the world of Skye and her fellow Guardians as they investigate the unusual events happening at haunted locations around Earth.
As they look into what is happening, things take a turn for the weird and you find yourself drawn into a fascinating mystery. Why is it happening all over the world? What is the connection to the strange new dimensions and, what does it have to do with a space station far across the universe?
Sarah Eriksen is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors with this series. It’s intriguing, clever, action packed and full of great humour. Certainly one to read if you love the fantasy horror genre!
No courier job too small, no pest control problem too big. Strange goings on? Customers getting spooked? Paranormal crime gone unsolved? You need Brennan and Riz on the case.
Ever wonder what Fae creatures, ghosts and goblins inhabit our abandoned buildings, riversides and hills, even lurking in the tunnels beneath our high streets? They’re not all troublesome and most jobs pay well… but for paranormal detective and other-worldly trouble-shooter Brennan and his best friend Riz, a talking rat with a penchant for Rune magic, a greater, darker danger is never far behind.
Based on real folklore and real locations, combined with witty characters and a dry dynamic between Brennan and Riz, this collection of short stories from Peter James Martin is packed with the familiar and the unusual.
I love humour in books. I love fantasy and horror in books. I love great character pairings in books. and I LOVED The Strange Tales Of Brennan and Riz by Peter James Martin!!
Telling the adventures of the supernatural detectives Brennan and Riz, one a human and the other a talking rat, through ten short stories, this book is full of brilliantly dry and laugh out loud humour and also some chills as well.
It takes some familiar tropes of the genre and twists in ways that I loved, subjects like ghosts, subterranean monsters and more, all set in the Tees area of the UK for that added extra realism.
Add to all of this with humour that genuinely had me laughing throughout, I can’t wait for the book to explain how this bizarre partnership came into being!
The story of how a boy and a rat met… and how their magical adventures began.
With the human race under threat from an evil Fae overlord, it falls to Brennan, a teenage boy from Thornaby-on-Tees, to step up and fight.
The only problem is he has to do it with Riz, a talking rat with darker origins than Brennan could ever realise…
Based on real folklore and real locations, combined with witty characters and a dry dynamic between Brennan and Riz, the debut novel from Peter James Martin is packed with the familiar and the unusual.
I really loved the first book in the Brennan and Riz series by Peter James Martin. It ticked a lot of the boxes for books I like and I enjoyed the short stories in The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz. The only thing it left me wanting for were the details of how this strange pairing of a man and his rat got together! Luckily, Peter has answered that for us brilliantly in A Boy and a Rat, the origin of Brennan and Riz
This book goes back to the beginning and tells us exactly how the titular pair met up and how they became friends. Filling out a lot more of the strange and realistic world they inhabit, the book also sets up a potential plotline for future books as well, something I’m now looking forward to!
If you like your fantasy horror books with plenty of great humour, this is definitely one to check out. After you’ve read the first book, of course!
Every evening after school, eleven year old Karl Bunton spends the remaining hours of the day fooling around in his father’s scrapyard. Along with his best friend Colin, they decide to make use of all the spare car parts and come up with a plan to build a time machine.
Karl’s mother died some years earlier and he is desperate to travel back so he can hold her just one more time. But on the night of their launch, the boys soon discover that messing with time doesn’t always take you to where you want to go…
THE NEXT MORNING… The boys awake to find themselves in the middle of woodland. Has the time machine really worked or is there a more sinister reason why they are there?…
MEANWHILE, BACK HOME IN LIVERPOOL…It takes two days for Karl’s guilt-ridden father to realise that his son is missing, and now he faces a race against time of a different kind in order to save the boys’ lives… A coming of age story that will test loyalty, trust and friendship, right up to its heartbreaking, climatic end…
Humorous and emotional, all at the same time!
Now, here’s a book that will take you from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other! Worse Than Nowhere tells the story of two young boys from Liverpool in a bizarre tale of time travel and friendship, all set in the realistic world of Liverpool that really captures the imagination and the emotions all in one go.
David Chesworth really writes from the heart, and it shows in the way the characters talk and behave. The kids are extremely believable right from the first few pages, making you fall in love with them both immediately. The adults in the story are also extremely realistic with their own issues and feelings that the older reader will often recognise in themselves, and this draws you in to a wonderfully written story that leaves you guessing and really packs an emotional punch as well.
This is a great book and definitely worth a read, just be ready for all the emotions that hit you hard!
What happens when we die?
Why are dead people scared?
Who would take the Grim Reaper’s head?
Welcome to Gloomwood, the city of the dead and the Grim Reaper’s personal slice of the afterlife. In a city where the rules of the living don’t apply, Detective Blunt’s drowning in trouble and he’s never been much of a swimmer.
With the aid of a reality challenged scientist, a bumbling bureaucrat, and a self-titled ‘reporter extraordinaire’, he’s on a case where everyone’s already kicked the bucket.
Dead gods, forgotten dreams, broken promises, lost hopes – They all end up in this city, and any of them could have a reason for exacting revenge.
Can Blunt uncover the villain decapitating the city’s elite before the afterlife implodes?
Feel like laughing in the face of Death?
We better find his head…
You’ll love this afterlife adventure because we all want to know what comes after death… if anything at all.
The afterlife isn’t a subject you would normally associate with humour, but in Dead Heads, the first book in the Gloomwood series by Ross Young, it works perfectly.
Mixing a humorous take on what happens to us after we die with a sort-of-murder mystery (I mean, is it murder if you’re already dead?) Dead Heads introduces us to new concepts and ideas about what comes next and indulges us with fascinating and often hilarious world-building to create Gloomwood, the place where some of us end up after we leave this mortal coil!
Throw in a wonderful array of excellent characters, from the almost stereotypical grumpy detective, balanced out by the outlandishly brilliant forensic scientist that isn’t always completely there, and you get a brilliant start to what I’m sure is going to be a very funny series of books!
We all become monsters at the edge of the breach. In a post-apocalyptic world where season of birth determines power — spring healers, summer mages, fall shapeshifters, and winter shields — a man and a woman emerge from tragic childhoods to lead humanity on opposite sides of an interrealm war.
There is a hole in the sky. They call it the Rift. A portal to the gods. The scar of a suffering world. Through it, the gods rule the last scraps of civilization, harkening war. As chaos beckons, two leaders emerge from the ashes of a dying planet.
Julian Kyder is the son of an abusive rape victim who compensates for his abandonment through psychopathy. Sira Rune is a cancer survivor who dedicates her life to living free and fearless while experiencing the taboo and the unorthodox. Rune is the only one unafraid of Kyder, and that terrifies him, because he only knows how to function through fear. Even though she gives him more chances than he deserves, how much violence can she forgive? When is a person beyond redemption? While he struggles to control his demons and she struggles to find purpose, the gods drag the ruined world into war.
I was warned! “Careful, Steve!” they told me. “This book, Edge of the Breach by Halo Scot, it’s seriously dark!”
And it is! It’s very dark, full of disturbing thoughts, gut-wrenching writing and characters that will make you squirm at some of the things they do!
What I didn’t know is just how excellent it is!!
Set in a dystopian future, we are introduced to a world of superpowered beings that live in giant cities filled with run down streets and gleaming, tall buildings, gods that control people every day, and street kids who live their lives their own way. Very much what you might expect to see in this kind of book.
What sets this apart is the thoughts and actions of the two main characters.
Both Julian and Sira are very different people from different backgrounds and the tale Halo spins that brings them together is both disturbing and wonderful at the same time, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the Rift Cycle series!
Dystopian Earth buckles under the gods’ wrath while two mirrored souls seek reason and revenge.
Kyder is the boss of the Apolli, the most notorious gang on the planet. Rune is a recruit at the Four Towers of Ma’at, a military academy. They were born on opposite solstices in a world where season of birth determines power—spring healers, summer mages, fall shapeshifters, and winter shields. As they struggle through war, their fates orbit while they battle their own demons and the demons from the sky.
How do we rebuild after we lose everything?
How do we rise again after we fall?
Return to the Rift.
Welcome back to the breach.
I loved book one of the Rift Cycle series, Edge Of The Breach by Halo Scot. so I was looking forward to the second book in the series, Echoes Of Blood, and I was not disappointed!
After discovering the darkness of the first book, I was massively impressed at just how good Halo Scot’s writing style is. It’s dark, yes, but it’s clever, witty, deep and keeps you hooked from start to finish.
We continue to learn about the lives of the two main characters, Rune and Kyder, as their lives take them in very different directions, whilst still keeping them connected. Full of action, thrills and fantastic world building, Echoes of Blood is a must read if you liked the first one, and I’m really anticipating book three!
Kyder learns the cruel truth of his heritage while Rune takes a massive risk that could save or doom them all.
What? You want a teaser? You’re too far in the series to get more than a taste. There’s more of the same. Blood and sex. Death and destruction. Sobs and screams and swears. You know the drill, you greedy savages.
It’s dark. Sightless and soundless. Without sensation. The absolute void of the truth we all fear. That there is nothing after death. That we are, as we always have been, nothing.
Return to the Rift.
Dear gods, these books are dark and amazing! After the thrill ride that was Echoes of Blood, the third book in the Rift Cycle series, Eye of the Brave, is even better!
Once more Halo Scot takes us on another dark journey through the lives of Rune and Kyder as we find out what happened to them and where their lives are now, using her beautiful writing style that captures you as you read,
Building brilliantly on the previous release, we are taken on another amazing ride throughout the worlds built by the author and it leaves us set up for what promises to be an amazing next book, one I can’t wait to read!
The world is full of magic that most of us should never see. Covert organizations are tasked with keeping this magic in check, and for centuries, they’ve been able to do so. That is, until Zev O’Connell showed up on the scene.
Zev never wanted to be special. He was happy with his quiet life in hiding, running an antique store and occasionally using his unique magical abilities to play around with electricity. But when a mysterious tycoon sends Zev on a mission to Savannah, Georgia, to purchase a cryptic artifact on his behalf, Zev begins to realize there may be more to himself and his world than he ever imagined.
As the first book in the Crytpid Protection Agency series, Thunderstruck by Daniel Quigley is a fun and exciting read.
We are introduced to Zev O’Connell, a guy who just wants a simple life working in his antique shop. Unfortunately for him, he finds himself dragged into a mysterious adventure full of monsters, special agents, and bad guys. Luckily, Sev has an advantage. A special ability that is much more than even he knows.
For a first book, this is a great start! With plenty of action and a lot of humour, I found myself rooting for the reluctant hero, as well as wondering what was going to come next. There’s plenty of action, a clever plotline and characters you really want to know more about.
Can’t wait to see what happens next!