The cover caught my eye, and the blurb was even more interesting, so happy to spotlight this baby with R&R BookTours. Enter TENEBRIUM It’s a romantic, dystopian, noir detective thriller set in a futuristic Gatsby Era by Elanor Miller. Think Peaky Blinders meets The Great Gatsby, with a dash of the game BioShock!
Tenebrium (Flappers and False Gods #1)
Publication Date: January 2023 Genre: Noir Thriller/Dystopian/Romance
Features
🏢Dystopian 🚬Noir 🕵️♀️Detective Thriller 🍸Set in a futuristic Gatsby era 🎷Jazz 👥Cults 🔫Mobsters 💔Forbidden Romance
The year is 2425, and the Jazz Age is in full swing—again.
Guys, dolls, gangsters and molls, drugs, and prohibition are just the tip of the iceberg for Detective Thea Williams and her mentor, Walt, as they struggle to solve a horrific series of murders, all the while dealing with the consequences and complications of their not-so-professional relationship.
Embroiled in the case and stymied at every turn by the corrupt District Attorney, who also happens to be her estranged father, Thea quickly discovers a much more sinister plot.
Thrown into a dark world of cults and corruption, Thea must fight for survival lest Tenebrium City eat her alive.
ALSO AVAILABLE CALIGO ( Flappers & False Gods Book 2)
This decopunk thriller is for lovers of The Great Gatsby, Blade Runner,and Altered Carbon will find a home in Tenebrium.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tenebrium is the debut novel from Glasgow-born Scottish author Elanor Miller. Elanor is an avid indoor climber, martial artist, and D&D player. She is also dyslexic. As well as a novelist, she is an award-winning screenwriter who has won several ‘Best Screenplay’ awards – many of which were for Tenebrium’s first iteration as a screenplay.
Elanor did NOT write the Fairfield Amish Romances, she just shares a name with the author!
Caught in our spotlight today is Veiled Scars, the second volume in The Timewalker Archives (see my spotlight on the first book), a young adult historical fantasy series perfect for fans of NBC’s Timeless and Alyson Noël’s Stealing Infinity. Let’s read on!
Veiled Scars (The Timewalker Archives)
Publication Date: May 7, 2024
Genre: YA Historical Fantasy
Features
⦁ Time Travel ⦁ Hidden Abilities ⦁ Secret Societies ⦁ Deadly Competition ⦁ Historical Descendants ⦁ Slow Burn ⦁ Trauma & Anxiety Rep ⦁ Rivals to Lovers ⦁ Women in History ⦁ Hidden Clues
History was not a block of clay to be molded. It was a story to be preserved. After a failed escape leaves her trapped in the past with a broken time machine, Adelaide Anson realizes the depth of the Red Rose Society's deceit. Lost, injured, and on the run, she and her companions must navigate early 1940s Asheville, NC to find a way back home. As Adelaide's connection to the past grows stronger, blurring the lines of reality, insidious secrets come to light, forcing her into a race against time to solve the clues her mother left behind. The deeper she delves, the harder it becomes to discern the sleight of hand from the truth. Every secret casts a shadow, and as old phantoms recall to life, she is faced with a vault of answers demanding a steep price. When Adelaide's search entwines with threads from Teo's past, she'll have to lean on those around her in order to confront the broken pieces of herself. Can she reconcile her scars to uncover what her mother died to protect, or will the cost of the truth shatter her?
Emily VanderBent is a natural-born storyteller. As a writer and historian, she desires to celebrate women in history. Through the Crimson Time series, VanderBent uses elements of history to creatively engage readers with the past. She hopes her writing will encourage young women to fearlessly pursue their passions and own the narrative of their individual story.
With a degree in history, Emily uses her talents for writing, research, and design to create blog posts, online content and design for Girl Museum. She also guides authors through the publishing process as an Author Coach for New Degree Press. While living in the real world, Emily dreams of days long past and stories yet to be told.
In a special book spotlight, ALL ROYALTIES earned from the title are donated to Doctors Without Borders, the Kurdish Red Crescent, and All For Armenia. Let’s dive in!
V FOR VENDETTA and BLOODBORNE mix in NON SERVIAM by Sfarda L. Gül. Written in the spirit of poetry and art cinema—suffused with visceral symbolism, its vividly complex worldbuilding is inspired by Venice, Sardinia, and Etruscan Civilisation, among many more. A dark and deadly web of intrigue.
The paperback edition features 25 illustrations by the author, Sfarda L. Gül, as well as one illustration each by Ayşe-Mira Yaşın, Nadia Sampellegrini, and Sophia Arnaout.
Publication Date: May 7, 2024
Genre: Gridmark Political Mystery/ Gaslamp/ Gothic Fantasy
Features
❤️🔥Revolution & revenge 🫀Female hysteria, dark femininity, complex womanhood 🦷Found family 🥀Slow burn yearning enemies to lovers 🕯️“Whimsical grimdark” 🏛️Philosophy 🩸Bløød & gûts 🧠Mad scïence 💐Fully LGBT cast~ 🎭Baroque/Venetian setting ❤️🩹Tragedy & navigating tråuma
Expressing emotion is prohibited by law in the city state of Vencenza.
Beneath its tyrannical shadow, Giorgianna, a deranged former playwright turned political fugitive, flees a brothel to seek justice for the murder of a beloved friend.
When the last remnants of her bloodline are reaped by the incorrigible Minister of Dominion, Giorgianna’s crooked path to retribution crosses with Vencenza’s Machiavellian revolutionary hellbent on regime overturn.
All the while, the weight of unending tragedy erodes Giorgianna’s psyche into a vengeful bloodlust plagued by cabbalistic visions hinting at an ever-darker face of the violent Powers That Be.
The first in a grimdark political mystery duology with gothic fantasy undertones, NON SERVIAM is written with a unique, experimental style with heavy world building, several POV types with some parts in poetic prose which some readers may find detracts from the immersion experience.
Content Warnings: The book does feature sensitive topics dealing with government oppression, death, graphic gore, self-injury, mental illness, sex trafficking, sexual harassment, police brutality, violence against women and trans-identifying peoples, birth-related trauma, gun violence, religion, classism, discussions of sexual violence (humans, minors, corpses), child abuse, workplace violence, divorce, smoking (tobacco and opium), alcohol, mention of intravenous drug abuse, surgical procedures and needles (singular instance), fires and burns, strong language.
An artist and writer since her early childhood brought up in a police state, Sfarda L. Gül’s (alias) creative focus hones in on the macabre and introspective, the grotesque and juxtaposing—a deconstruction of social ideology and human suffering influenced by her upbringing, queerness, historically persecuted mixed ethnicity and dark-sided emotional disposition. Every story strives to be unapologetically anti-authoritarian, decolonial, anti-cop, anarchist, and pro-humanity.
When not engaging in art, Sfarda is enthralled in ethnography, linguistics, filmmaking, and social activism, aiding to uplift ethnic and queer minorities of her native Eastern Europe, SWANA, and Central Asia. She is the curator of independent publication Lacrimosity and Righteous Rage which hosts a Substack newsletter, and a YouTube video essayist at Anarchy on Page.
Sfarda is the May 2024 debut author of NON-SERVIAM, the first of THE HYPOSTASIS OF DISSENT duology.
EARTH HAGIOGRAPHY, a poetry collection exploring indigeneity and colonial pain, will be published in November of 2024.
Recently released (May 28th), A Cure for Magic is starring in our spotlight today. It is the first book in a New Adult romantic fantasy trilogy featuring dark elemental magic, hidden royals, and a medium-heat romance that is secondary to the plot. Perfect for fans of dark academia and the Netflix adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow & Bone. READ ON!
A Cure for Magic (The Ardor Magic Cycle Book 1)
Publication Date: May 28, 2024
Genre: NA Fantasy Romance
Features
💜 A Messy Bisexual Princess 👑 Black Royals 📕 Dark Academia 🔥Elemental Magic 💖 OT3/Throuple 🔮 Magic Training 🏕️ Only One Tent 🙊 Hidden Identity
Marika Cyran is destined to rule, if she survives her own power first. When rebels attack the royal compound, Marika learns the true price of her family’s legacy. The same deadly magic her ancestors outlawed now runs in her veins, and her royal blood paints a target on her back. Desperate to learn her powers before they destroy her, she takes shelter at Nella University, hiding her true identity. But it’s not quite the sanctuary she’s hoping for. Argent, the roommate she’s paired with, is a prickly woman who seems to despise her. The same rebels who want her family dead flourish here under the guise of a student society, and their most popular member, Harland, seems a little too interested in her dangerous power…and Marika herself. When a spark ignites between all three of them, it complicates Marika’s quest for control. To stay is to spit upon her family’s memory. To leave is to forfeit her once chance to corral the unruly magic. And to do nothing is to risk being consumed by the very forces she seeks to understand.
Talia lives in the mountains with her gamer husband and two chaotic cat children. When she’s not writing, she’s drinking iced coffee or watching truly terrible horror movies.
On November 10th, 2022, at 7 pm PST, I had the opportunity to attend a surprise press conference in Japan at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo with Japanese music legends YOSHIKI (composer, classically-trained pianist, rock drummer, and leader of the rock group X Japan), SUGIZO (a member of LUNA SEA and X JAPAN), and MIYAVI (The Samurai Guitarist). This piece was previously published on Vocal Media/BEATS, but unfortunately, my author profile got hacked (twice). I left the company and am now writing for someplace better. In honor of my upcoming piece on YOSHIKI, I am thrilled to have the chance to republish it, as it is one of my most significant journalistic works.
YOSHIKI, HYDE, SUGIZO, and MIYAVI Join Forces For THE LAST ROCKSTARS
By JannyC
November 10th, 2022, at 7 pm PST, Japanese music legends YOSHIKI ( composer, classically-trained pianist, rock drummer, and leader of the rock group X Japan.) SUGIZO (a member of LUNA SEA and X JAPAN) and MIYAVI (The Samurai Guitarist.) held a surprise press conference in Japan at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo.
Image courtesy of Anderson Group and Publications
Their announcement was even more surprising as they are here to take on the world as The LAST ROCKSTARS. Forming a brand new super rock band group, they will be going on a LIVE tour in 2023. They kicked off on January 26th & 27th at Ariake Arena and January 29th & 30th at Tokyo Garden Theatre, with U.S. shows on February 4th at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York and February 10th at Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. Tickets are on sale now. For more information, visit
To entice us even more, they released a teaser video of two new songs set to be released soon. “THE LAST ROCKSTAR” (lyrics by YOSHIKI, composed by YOSHIKI) and “PSYCHO LOVE” (lyrics by YOSHIKI/ HYDE, written by HYDE).
When asked why this new band, SUGIZO answered it beautifully, saying, “Rock stars are about to go extinct, and this situation must be recovered.” Then later, when asked how they came up with the name, YOSHIKI said it was MIYAVI that said. “What if we are the last rock stars.” They all agreed that was it. They are the last rock stars and are here to rock the world.
ABOUT LAST ROCKSTARS
YOSHIKI
Image courtesy of yoshiki.net
Yoshiki has created Hollywood movie soundtracks, a concerto for the Japanese Emperor, and the official theme song for the Golden Globes Awards, earning him the title of “one of the most important musicians and composers in Japanese history” by Consequence of Sound. He has played on some of the biggest stages in the world, including Carnegie Hall, Wembley Arena, Coachella Music Festival, and Madison Square Garden. Aside from being known for his music, YOSHIKI is also known for his philanthropy and received a Medal of Honor from the Japanese government.
HYDE is a prominent solo artist well-known worldwide as the lead vocalist for L’arc-en-Ciel, VAMPS, and other bands. L’Arc-en-Ciel performed at Madison Square Garden, sold more than 40 million CDs worldwide and made history by becoming the first rock band to perform at Japan National Stadium. Additionally, HYDE has enjoyed significant success as a solo performer.
As a member of the bands LUNA SEA, X JAPAN, and the U.K.’s JUNO REACTOR, which are credited with inventing psychedelic trance, SUGIZO has worked and performed all over the world. He has been pursuing his distinctive brand of electronic music as a solo artist and contributing to numerous film and theatrical soundtracks.
With his transcendent, unique “slap technique” of playing the guitar, MIYAVI, also known as “The Samurai Guitarist,” has captivated audiences worldwide and has traveled to over 30 countries on tour nine times. He made his Hollywood acting debut in the 2014 film Unbroken. He was the first Japanese public figure to appear in the GUCCI campaign and has been chosen to promote refugees as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNCHR.
I was honored to get a personal invite to attend this press conference. I’d like to thank Anderson Group and Publications for the invitation. What was teased sent me into a pure fangirl. Let’s ROCK!
Learn more about LAST ROCKSTARS by visiting them on their website and social media.
It’s Thursday! Today, caught in the spotlight, is The Shadows of Wren by Jen Bliton! The cover is stunning, and this is book one(#1) in what is to be “The Light in the Shadow series.“
Let’s read more!
The Shadows of Wren (The Light in the Shadows)
Publication Date: August 30, 2023
Genre: Romantic Fantasy
Features
⦁ Ancient Magic ⦁ Mythical Creatures ⦁ Friends to Lovers/ Insta Love ⦁ Large Scale Battles ⦁ Trauma Healing ⦁ Mental Health Rep
May the Valiant Prevail. After decades of peace within the lands of Caldumn ruled by the Red Kingdom, the southern towns have come under attack. Their libraries burned and ancient texts stolen by an ominous force. An unlikely alliance between two magic kinds is formed when Wren, a nineteen-year-old Mage, finds herself in the middle of a conflict that will take her outside of the peaceful life she's known. Along her journey, she meets Tyran, whose Necromancer magic is not widely trusted, and learns they share a deeper ancient magic that has long since disappeared. Together with the help of all magic kinds, they must unite the towns to save their lands, and themselves, while the threat of the Red Kingdom looms.
Jennifer lives in Southern California with her husband, a tiny human, and five cats.
Coming from a background in Content Creation, she and her husband livestream gaming content on Twitch and gaming content on YouTube, where you can find her playing World of Warcraft and Diablo IV. She loves being out in her garden and tries her best to grow various fruits and veggies throughout the year among any flowers, bulbs, or roots she can get her hands on.
The Shepherd and the Horned Girl (The Tales of the Shepherd #1)
Publication Date: March 3, 2023
Genre: YA Horror
Synopsis
In the quaint seaside town of Loch Lomond, an ominous fog descends, shrouding the landscape in mystery and fear. As the locals whisper of lurking terrors within its depths, the fog thickens, casting an eerie pall over the town.
When a girl goes missing, simple shepherd Ivas Sbarg has the only clue to what happened, and he ventures into the mist to find her. He stumbles upon a chilling revelation: something far more sinister than the monstrous fog is on the horizon, and it hungers for the souls of all who dwell in Loch Lomond.
In a desperate bid to unravel the mystery and save their town from impending doom, Ivas, a girl with horns and an incredible cast of villagers, must navigate the treacherous fog and confront otherworldly forces. But as they delve deeper into the heart of darkness, they soon realize that the true enemy may lie closer than they ever imagined.
A gripping tale of unlikely alliances and unwavering courage, The Shepherd and the Horned Girl plunges readers into a world of ancient legends and supernatural horrors. With its richly developed characters and palpable sense of dread, this haunting narrative explores themes of grief, resilience, and the unbreakable bonds of friendship.
Earning the title “Sister Grimm” from me, The Shepherd and the Horned Girl captures the tone and haunt of old Brother Grimm tales but with a modern twist. We meet Ivas, a sheep farmer, and the fog that seems to haunt the small portside town of Loch Lomond. When Ivas, out in the fog one night looking for his lost sheep, sees a creature and a young girl named Ruby disappear. Ivas knows that creature. Ivas swears not again and sets out to find her.
Ruby, battling the grief of her father being lost at sea, gets a letter from a strange creature and sets off to find her dad, knowing the fog took him. The fog can change you, though. To survive in the fog, Ruby had grown horns. Rescued by Ivas and the horns removed, Ruby is reunited with her mother with life to go back to normal, but then the horns start growing back. It’s the fog…something is coming, and when Ruby’s horns are revealed to the townfolk, chaos ensues. The Death god is coming, coming for them all.
I love old folk tales, and The Shepherd and the Horned Girl reads like a modern-day folk tale to me. While evil lurking fog and monsters host the surface of this book, The Shepherd and the Horned Girl holds a deeper meaning in dealing with death, grief, and fear. On how it can consume us if we don’t deal with it. Bright weaves this intelligently in her tale, which is wrapped in ominous supernatural and superstitions.
Bright writes with a haunting tone that holds you on the edge of your seat with each page turn as she makes you feel every word she writes. I got choked up in some parts, and a book has never, NEVER made me teary-eyed.
The Shepherd and the Horned Girl is book 1 in “The Shepard Tales”, which I love because it feels like the seaside town of Loch Lamond has a lot more stories to tell, and once you’ve been touched by the supernatural, you are never quite the same.
My rating 5 out of 5 stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Breanna Bright is the author of ‘In The End’ and ‘The Shepherd and the Horned Girl’. She lives in the American Midwest but is always on the move with travels and adventures, searching for the next story.
The third in our triple book spotlight (yeah, I overbooked myself again, but these books are so pretty!) is The Crystalline Crucible by Adam Rowan. If you are a lover of treasure-hunting action adventure, read on!
The Crystalline Crucible
Publication Date: May 14, 2024 Genre: New Adult/ Action Adventure
Synopsis Maxwell Jacobs, a neurodivergent 21-year-old with a passion for knights, Tetris and cheese sandwiches, harbours an audacious dream-to become the greatest treasure hunter in England. His chance comes with The Crystalline Crucible, a treasure-hunting contest promising untold wealth and answers to the world’s biggest secrets. However, Max’s mission gets off to a rocky start when he’s arrested for breaking into a museum in search of a clue. His fear of leaving his hometown, Stapleford, his cynical best friend, Rosie Shaw, and his clumsy, awkward nature only serve to complicate things further. Overall, his prospects seem dim. That is, until Max crosses paths with Khalil Ahmed, a former criminal seeking redemption and quick cash. Despite their differences, their shared desperation draws them into The Crystalline Crucible. Together, they’ll decipher cryptic clues and embark on an epic nationwide adventure, with high stakes and a singular goal: to find treasure!
Author Adam Rowan’s passion for writing began in childhood, although he admits his early attempts were far from perfect. After a hiatus during his teenage years, Adam rediscovered his love for writing in his early twenties and has been dedicated to improving his craft ever since. In 2022, MotherButterfly Books published Adam’s first novel. His second book, The Crystalline Crucible, is published by Spinning Monkey Press and is inspired by his experiences growing up in England.
When he’s not immersed in the world of writing, Adam is an electronic musician and avid film fan. With the support of his family, Adam continues to pursue his writing dreams, understanding that patience is key in the journey of creating a book.
Nominated for Victorian Premier’s Literary Award 2024, Aurealis Award 2023, and State Library of Queensland Literary Award 2023. Caught in our Triple Book Spotlight this week ponder whether love can endure, life after life in Descended by Ingrid J. Adams.
Descended Publication Date: March 15, 2024 (Second Edition) Genre: Coming-Of-Age Fantasy Romance/ Takes Place in the 90s
1990s SYDNEY. A LOVE THAT SPANS LIFETIMES. FOR SOME, THE VEIL BETWEEN REALMS IS STRETCHED THIN...
An imaginative tour-de-force debut about the big and small decisions we make every day and the ripple effect they have on the rest of time – even if they’re celestially pre-determined.
Indigo Wolfe, the mysterious high school heart throb everyone wants to be or be with, is barely holding on by a thread. Because he isn't what he seems. He has secrets – secrets that consume him. Pain. Emptiness. The unending noise of all that he sees, and feels and hears that no one else can.
Why is he cursed by abilities others are not?
When he meets the ethereal Cordelia Carlisle, he's hit with a sense of recognition that traverses lifetimes. Only she can make his world silent. He’s welcomed into her family, and as they grow closer he lets her see the parts of him he keeps hidden.
The only thing he can't show her is that she's everything to him.
When they're torn apart, Indigo descends into darkness and is left standing on the precipice. He must search the depths of his soul – and his powers – and choose, whether to give up, or to fight: for himself, for answers, and for Cordelia, the one he seems destined to love and to lose over and over, life after life after life…
Descended is the award-nominated debut in the first gripping four-book series that melds paranormal romance with magical realism.
Caught in the spotlight this Thursday is A Chain Of Pearls by Raemi A. Ray. A Chain of Pearls is the first book in the Martha’s Vineyard Murders series. The second novel, The Wraith’s Return, will be available later this summer, followed by Widow’s Walk in the fall.
A Chain of Pearls
Genre: Murder Mystery/Suspense/ Thriller
Published: April 9, 2024
The last thing she wants is to dig up the past…
When the body of a celebrated journalist is fished from the Edgartown Harbor, the official report rules his death accidental. But why was he alone on a senator’s yacht during a nor’easter? That’s only the first question London-based lawyer Kyra Gibson has when she arrives on the idyllic island of Martha’s Vineyard to settle her estranged father’s affairs.
She’s not looking for closure. She’s not seen him in decades since he left her with her aunt following her mother’s death. But as Kyra delves deeper into her father’s life, she learns he had many regrets and wasn’t as retired as she believed. The more Kyra discovers, the more questions she has. With the help of world-weary detective, Tarek Collins, they uncover a web of intrigue and corruption involving a powerful senator, a dubious energy company, and brutal murder.
As they chase down clues, Kyra and Tarek flirt with danger and race against time to solve the murders and uncover the dark secrets lurking beneath Martha’s Vineyard’s picturesque façade of old money wealth and privilege.
Raemi A Ray’stravels to Martha’s Vineyard and around the world inspire her stories. She lives outside Boston. When not writing or traveling, she earns her keep as the personal assistant to the resident house demons, Otto and Dolph Lundgren.
Follow Raemi at raemi.com. Visit her on Instagram @miss_raemi
Freelance Writer Janny(Jan Marie)C 