Happy Thursday! Happy to be joining R&R Book Tours today for their blog tour of Short Stories for the Long Haul by John T. Buckley. To find out more, read on down below!
Short Stories for the Long Haul Expected Publication Date: August 12th, 2022 Genre: Anthology/ Fantasy/ Sci-Fi/ Crime Fiction & More A collection of short stories that explore the human condition. Everything from a self-absorbed wannabe quarterback who gets his shot to a woman who marries her dog…
John T. Buckley is a 47-year-old writer from Maine who’s been writing most of his life. He also loves to paint and seeing the world. He studied at University of Southern Maine as well as at SMTC in Cape Elizabeth. Fun fact, John T. Buckley was once the lead singer in a band called Mammyth.
Today’s spotlight is for the crime fiction mystery lovers. Introducing GROUNDERS by Leonard Love Matlick. Enjoy this stop on R&R Book Tours for GROUNDERS!
Grounders
Publication Date: April 30th, 2022
Genre: Police Procedural/ Crime Fiction
Grounders is cop slang for easy open and solved cases. A husband kills his wife, a bar-fight with a knife or a gun, and cases are quickly solved in two or three days. Cops love this and get credit for promotion for easily solving cases. In Grounders, the NYPD cops find that this murder of a cook is much more than a simple grounder. It involves the Chinese Tong gangs in NYC, Peruvian rebels who want to overthrow their government by using “magic rocks” that were left from an alien civilization like Stargate in Machu-Picchu, and a love story between a detective and a Tong leader’s granddaughter. Grounders combines everything; murder, love, greed, drugs, and rebels amid the backdrop of detectives trying to solve a murder mystery.
Leonard Love Matlick is an engineer, writer, and life coach. He works designing and maintaining NYPD police precincts. He has previously published Cops lie! and The success and confidence manual.
The summer heat is on, so stay inside, be cool and read a book. This Thursday, we are spotlighting Heros & Harbingers,the first book in Ark Horton’s Secrets of Pantheons Series. Read on and have a chance to win a great giveaway at the end hosted by R&R Book Tours.
Secret of Pantheons (Heroes & Harbingers #1) Publication Date: June 11th, 2022 Genre: Adult Fantasy Academia
Food fights. Detention. Dissecting fairies for science class. Just another day for teachers at a Magical Public School. Ms. Sirin’s fate as a death harbinger has ruined her life. She longs to be more than a herald of doom, aspiring to impact lives in her teaching career. But when a new student with bold dreams joins her class and is picked as this century’s Chosen One, Ms. Sirin’s dark power senses a terrible sacrifice to come. Finn MacCool’s warrior past didn’t prepare him for a hundred years of teaching for his community service. Spending the last decade of his sentence at a new school, the immortal develops a crush on his tempting but aloof coworker. The Irish legend blows his chance when he butts heads with the Council of Pantheons’ latest brave heroine—who also happens to be Ms. Sirin’s favorite pupil. However, the Chosen One’s quest isn’t all it seems. Pavlina’s lethal prophecies come to pass, and her gift warns of more to come. Will this daring trio of heroes have what it takes to make the grade, or will they fail before they even make it to Summer Break? Set in an alternate reality of Jacksonville, Florida, this adult urban fantasy is the first book in the Secret of Pantheons series. If you enjoy a hearty helping of mythology, found family, and unbreakable bonds, this book is for you. Class is in session with Heroes & Harbingers—delve in now before the bell rings!
CONTENT WARNING: This is a book written by an adult, mostly about adults and for an adult audience. While many teenagers may appreciate this book and even learn positive things from it, please read ahead if you intend to gift it to anyone under 18, as it may contain some content you may deem inappropriate for them, such as: ⦁ Grief ⦁ Death ⦁ Kidnapping ⦁ Pregnancy Loss ⦁ Substance Abuse ⦁ Life-Threatening Situations
A.R.K. Horton is a small woman made of round shapes and long sighs. Children and animals surround her in her Florida home. Her vice is hoarding responsibilities, and she has the tired eyes to prove it. They still have a sparkle, though, seeing the next project ahead. She began writing as a child when she became obsessed with learning about the most obscure fairytales, folktales, and myths. Now, as a Pagan Witch, she uses the stories she loved growing up with and her own spiritual journey to inspire her blogs and novels.
After a devastating betrayal, Alex, a geology student, flees to the Mojave Desert to do research and rock climb. But she can’t escape her thesis advisor, Petro, who tries to control her from afar. Then she meets another desert dweller, Nick, a young cowboy who lives with his father, Everett, on a struggling cattle ranch. They become friends, bonding over climbing and the challenges of desert life. But then Alex’s research takes off—prompting Petro to demand she return to publish—just as a mistake she makes as an outsider threatens the ranchers’ livelihood. Alex must decide what matters more: a self-interested choice of a safe path toward a successful career or doing what’s right to support a friend and diving into the unknown.
Jack Mulhern( Nick Devale), Jeremy Holm ( Everett Devale) in Unconformity
REVIEW
My first impression of the premise was uncertainty. A film about a geologist? I was surprisingly delighted at how wrong I was.
We meet Alex (Alex Oliver), an aspiring geologist and rock climbing lover. When she discovers some old rocks to study in Norway that will make a mark in the rock science world, she gets betrayed by a fellow geologist (Ben Baur). She then sets her sights on the Nevada desert, much to the protest of her thesis professor Pedro Stein (Drew Gehling), who seems just out to use Alex for her skills. When Alex happens on Nick ( Jack Mulhern), a young cattle rancher, and his father (Jeremy Holm) on her trip, Alex’s trip becomes a bit more of a self-discovery journey as she learns what is worth more than friendship or career.
Alex Oliver ( Alex Haynes) in Unconformity
Written and directed by Jonathan DiMaio, he is the co-founder of the education non-profit, Yspaniola. His 2014 short film, Without the Ancestors, played at numerous festivals in the U.S. and Europe, including the Pan African Film Festival and ZINEBI in Bilbao. DiMaio shows off his talent again in Unconformity. Shot breathtakingly in the rural deserts of Nevada and Utah, the film’s cinematography (Hana Kitasei) is gorgeous, capturing the film’s feel and message, which is nature vs. human nature.
Performance-wise, the cast does a stellar job. What happens to Alex, in the beginning is a jaw dropper and is what makes me invest in her character, and Alex Oliver (Alex) does a good job. Her chemistry with Jack Mulhern (Nick) is awkward and natural… it is real, and you fall in love with them. Jack Mulhern is brilliant in his performance as Nick. He gives Nick an endearing shy awkwardness that makes your heartache. I was calling him “sweet baby Nick” throughout the whole film. Unconformity is a solid film, flows smoothly, and is a visually beautiful film with a story that holds you till the end.
I didn’t think I would want to watch a Covid-19-inspired film, but Love N Quarantine is a delightful film. Filmed during ACTUAL Quarantine, writer and director David Espinosa and his crew gets it done. Never before have I rooted for a romantic couple so much since my teen soap opera days!
NJ Brown working on Love N Quarantine
Plot-wise, Love N Quarantine flows smoothly. We are introduced to Ben and Caroline Marshall. They are a rock-solid super couple in love as the Covid lockdown madness and Black Lives Matters Movement hits. Locked in with the love of your life sounds romantic. Right? Let’s say you’ve never seen cabin fever get this volatile before as day 23 of quarantine hits. The couple’s hidden feelings start to surface in minor petty instances as the days go on, even climaxing to the point that they think each other is out to kill them. A pretty humorous scene, by the way.
Filming of Love and Quarantine
Soon they start to realize their ideal marriage; they thought they had perhaps only succeeded because they had never really deeply talked to each other before. But when Covid hits close to home, can the hurt feelings, disappointment, and anger subside enough, or is Ben and Caroline’s marriage doomed?
Performance-wise, the whole cast was stellar, with standout leads in NJ Brown (Ben Marshall) and Jeanne Young (Caroline Mashall). Their chemistry was investing; you cared about them instantly. In a blink, and you might miss a moment, Producer and often Espinosa’s collaboration partner, Craig Ahrens, makes a cameo playing the role of the Process server.
While Love N Quarantine is a drama-comedy, Espinosa carefully and truthfully weaves in the George Floyd case and the Black Lives Matters Movement that took place simultaneously during the pandemic. It hits home hard for Ben and Caroline being Ben and Caroline are an interracial couple, which I loved seeing being I am a product of interracial love. I could not have imagined any other actors better to portray Ben and Caroline Marshall than Jeanne Young and NJ Brown. Their acting prowess is potent and leading.
Writer/ Director David Espinosa on the set of Love N Quarantine
Shot-wise, Love N Quarantine flows smoothly with well transitional cuts and edits that are impressive for an Indie film. It is hard to believe they shot this during the pandemic, as you can not tell. It’s a well-polished film. I give it 5 out of 5 stars for me! Love Quarantine is available to watch on Amazon Prime and Tubi TV.
Today in the spotlight via R&R Book Tours is I Didn’t Ask To Be Crazy by Sadee Bee.
I Didn’t Ask to Be Crazy
Publication Date: April 24th, 2022
Genre: Mental Illness/ Poetry/ Essay Collection
I Didn’t Ask to Be Crazy is a collection of poetry and personal essays centered around mental illness. Sadee Bee shares her journey with bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and PTSD through creativity and raw honesty. It is a collection designed to convey the message “you are not alone.” Sadee Bee is an up-and-coming poet with great interest in helping others understand that mental illness exists on a spectrum and that not every experience is the same. She hopes others in need find solace in her words and understand that even if suffering cannot be seen on the surface, it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.
“I Didn’t Ask to Be Crazy is only the beginning. Yes, the theme is dark and that is intentional. As I write about my life with mental illness, I wanted to highlight the fact that not everything ends up being positive. Sometimes dark moments are just dark moments. This collection itself is representative of my dark moment. While I am on the other side for the moment; take everything written with the knowledge that a lot of people have been where I have. I Didn’t Ask to Be Crazy is only a snippet of time in the wild world that is my mind.” – Sadee Bee
Sadee Bee is a poet and author residing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts and has been writing since she learned to hold a pen. An avid reader from a young age, Sadee Bee spent her time creating her own stories both on paper and in life. Diagnosed in her early twenties with Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, and PTSD; she spent a long time trying to make sense of her own world and mind. Poetry, personal essays, and occasionally fiction have been an outlet for heavy feelings and past traumas. Sadee uses her work to shine a light on the hidden parts of mental illness and the effects of childhood trauma. She also speaks about her specific experiences regarding trauma and mental illness as a black queer woman in black communities. Sadee Bee is ever-evolving, as living with mental illness is never a straight line, and hopes to be a voice and advocate for those like her. Sadee Bee currently lives a quiet life with her husband and two cats. A chronic homebody, Sadee relishes in a day of silence to read, write, or sleep.
While former paramedic Emily tries to live a low-key life to cope with her PTSD, her new roommate has other plans and a long-held vendetta against medical personnel.
REVIEW
Written and directed by Lauren Barker in her feature film debut Barker does a pristine job with her drama thriller Cohabitation. We meet Emily (Tiffany Streng), a former paramedic who is battling PTSD. Ready to move on, deal, and heal, Emily moves into her a new place, putting an ad up for a roommate. After a fun montage of roommate hopefuls, Emily meets Sarah (Stephaine Rose Quinnell), who out of all seems the most normal, and bonus, they like the same book. The problem is something is not quite right with Sarah.
Reminiscent of the roommate from hell and Single White Female scenario, Barker reinvigorates it reminding us how much we love my roommate/babysitter/ coworker is a psycho motif. Also, a lesson reminder that we never know anyone, really.
Still shot from Cohabitation
Performance-wise the cast did well. Tiffany Streng gives a good performance as Emily. She even won the Best Actress in a Feature Film at the Milwaukee Twisted Dreams Festival. To do your best, you need good actors to bounce off of, and Carly D. Anderson (Heather) and Zachary Kruger (Cardyn) are two of my standouts. I especially loved Kruger and Streng’s believable chemistry together as siblings. In the closing scene, boy, they tugged at my heart strings with their performance in that scene. I felt it. Oh! Let’s not forget Dave Payton as slimy landlord Ron, who delivered creepy dirty to perfection.
Being Indie and filmed with a small budget Barker does a phenomenal job as Cohabitation flows well with nice edits and transitions that keeps you in your seat, even for this action-loving junkie, Yet I was left wishing for a bit more. Especially about Emily’s trauma and PTSD. It baffled me a bit as to why arriving at an emergency scene, which I am sure she had encountered before, caused her to leave. I think Barker leaves it up to us to conclude, and I theorized that maybe she never had someone die on her at the job before. When it did, it hit her out of the left-field, making her think she was not worthy enough of her job.
The ending was redemptive, though, and it made me smile. Therefore after the credits roll, I give Cohabitation 8 out of 10 stars.
Today I am spotlighting with R&R Book Tours this gorgeous dark fairy tale retelling by Hailey Jade called Her Dark Reflection! Read on with a chance to win a great giveaway at the end!
Her Dark Reflection (The Dark Reflection #1)
Publication Date: June 15, 2022
Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Dark Romance/ Fairytale Retelling
“They called me the Whore Queen. Some even called me the Evil Queen. But they could call me whatever they wanted. I was still queen.”
Rhiandra Tiercelin hungers for power and her charm has always been her sharpest weapon in hunting it. So when a brutal attack leaves her physically scarred, desperation drives her to make a deal with Draven, a magic-wielding stranger who is inexplicably compelling and definitely dangerous. She knows she can’t trust him, but he when he offers to make her a queen, the temptation is too enticing to resist.
Armed with a glamoured face and an enchanted apple, Rhiandra is determined to scheme her way into a crown, even if it means risking the deadly punishment for unsanctioned magic use. But Draven is playing a bigger game, and she is just one piece on the board.
Can she keep her wits about her long enough to uncover his secrets, or will he lure her down a path she will come to regret?
Her Dark Reflection is the first book in a new dark romantic fantasy series perfect for fans of Raven Kennedy, Jennifer Armentrout,and Sarah A. Parker. If you like cunning, ambitious heroines, morally ambiguous men, and romance that toes the line between love and hate, then you’ll love Hailey Jade’s dark reimagining of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
The Winking Nymph was always flooded with patrons after the Burnings.
The atmosphere wasn’t the same as it would be on a busy night at a regular tavern; the dim lighting fed rather than banished the shadows, encouraging them closer, leaving pockets of space where patrons could lurk without being recognized. Men – and the occasional woman – drank, sometimes in groups, but for the most part they didn’t engage themselves with singing bawdy songs or telling dirty jokes. Perhaps the place was debauched enough on its own and so they didn’t feel the need.
Women drifted in and out of the shadows, flirting with the light as it caught on their spangled wrists and ankles and throats, and at the front of the room a beautiful redheaded girl sang with a voice as sweet as sun-warmed strawberries. It was going to be a big tipping night; the city was beginning to bulge with visitors attending the treaty celebrations, and the moon cycle holiday had beckoned them all to the streets, thrilled by the morning’s violence and drunk on bloodlust.
I was eager to get out on the floor, but Madam had saddled me with initiation duties, so I was instead lingering in a corner by the bar, doing breathing exercises with the novice.
Aalin’s perfume was thick, a ghastly confection of jasmine, violets and something sugary that made my head ache. I could pick a new girl a mile away – they wore thick makeup obscuring their faces, chains and sparkles everywhere one could hang a jewel, and gowns in gaudy colors that revealed more than they concealed. They thought they were channeling desirability, but in reality, all the decoration was just a screen to hide their nerves behind.
I was long past those sorts of naïve assumptions. I’d worked at the Winking Nymph long enough to know that calculated vulnerability earns more than donning the generic armor of maisera. Aalin wasn’t ready to hear that, though. That night she just needed to feel like she belonged, and all that perfume was a part of the uniform.
‘They’re just men,’ I soothed as she chewed on her lip and smoothed her dress over and over again. ‘And they’re mostly drunk men. They want to be pleased. And they’ll be excited to see a new girl.’ I tucked a lock of wiry hair back into her updo.
‘I don’t think I know how to be sexy,’ she admitted in a small voice. ‘I thought I did, but now that I’m standing here…’
Hailey Jade has tried to quit writing, but alas, the characters who live in her head will not stop yammering. She’s hoping that building them ink-and-paper homes will make them pipe down long enough for her to get some sleep. She likes creating fantasy worlds populated by complicated, morally-grey characters who try to resist their attraction to other complicated, morally-grey characters, but who inevitably fall in love because everyone needs a Happily Ever After.
Hailey has completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Teaching at Flinders University and spends her daylight hours trying to convince reluctant teenagers to love books. She lives in regional South Australia with her partner, bouncy baby boy, and feline overlord.
Hello readers it is a thirsty Thursday so today on Book Spotlight Thursday I shall quench your reading thirst with From The Deep by Kateri Stanley (which is currently on tour with R&R Book Tours.).
SECRETS LURK BENEATH…
Title: From the Deep
Publication Date: May 6, 2022
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Burton Mayer Books
Julian Finch, widower, and fisherman, awakes to learn that the bodies of two colleagues have washed up on the beach of Drake Cove. The close-knit community is under fierce public scrutiny due to a long-standing tradition called “The Culling”, the annual slaughter of pilot whales for consumption. An act which divides the nation.
The suspects are the extreme animal rights group, the Fighters Against Animal Cruelty (FAAC) who go wherever the politics is trending. They’ve been harassing the small fishing town for many years, smashing up their boats and sending vicious hate mail.
Tensions mount after a viral video, uploaded by the FAAC of Julian killing a pregnant whale, causes uproar online and in real life. In the aftermath, Julian becomes the victim of a hate crime. In order to avoid further life-threatening attacks, Julian and his daughter take refuge in the home of Frank Blothio: an ex-fisherman turned writer and political activist who does not have the best history with the animal rights movement or Drake Cove as a whole.
As Julian integrates into the Blothio way of life, he discovers heinous secrets and disturbing truths lurking beneath the skin of his hometown that will change his life forever.
Kateri Stanley is a pseudonym for the multi-genre fiction writer. Since being a child, Kateri has been inspired by the wondrous mediums of books, music, TV, and film. After working in the healthcare industry for eight years and studying for an Arts and Humanities degree, she made the decision to move cities to the West Midlands and live with her ever-suffering partner and their two cats. Her debut novel Forgive Me was published by indie press house, Darkstroke Books in 2021 and became an Amazon bestseller reaching #1 in the US Horror Fiction charts. She is currently working on her third novel, Bittersweet Injuries, and would love to pursue a full-time career in writing.
Welcome to Today’s Thursday Book Spotlight! As well as a stop on theR&R Book Blog book tour for From Brick & Darkness, a gritty Y.A. novel steeped in Djinn mythology. Read on for an exclusive excerpt and a chance to win a signed copy!
From Brick & Darkness
Publication Date: May 16, 2022
Genre: YA/ Modern Fantasy/ Retelling
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
The most powerful wishes aren’t said with words.
Bax always fantasized something remarkable would happen in his life. So when a decrepit man with glowing purple eyes offers him a ring intended for his estranged father, Bax accepts.
The ring speaks to Bax in a dream, tempting him with a vision of a powerful djinn. Desperate to make his fantasies a reality, Bax unleashes a creature called Ifrit but soon learns this djinn isn’t what the ring led him to believe. Feeding off the depths of his subconscious, the sinister demon fulfills what he thinks Bax wants by manipulating, threatening, and murdering. With everyone he loves in danger and a trail of crimes pointing back at him, Bax must scramble to solve the puzzle that will banish Ifrit forever.
Neck bones popped as his head rotated toward me, his face eclipsing the rays of the streetlight. His irises were dull purple, glazed over with a foggy film, and deep-set wrinkles radiated from the corners of his eyes like arrows drawing attention to them.
A shudder caused the keys to slip from my hand and clank on the ground. My face burned with shame that the poor man’s appearance had startled me. My rudeness would have disappointed Mom.
“I’m sorry, but really—” I snagged my keys.
His hand slithered out of the brick-colored sleeve as his arm rose, trembling as he strained to hold the weight of his own limb. Gloved in loose, veiny skin, his skeleton hand had yellowed fingernails, so overgrown they grew in on themselves like curly birthday ribbons. As his fingers unfurled, he revealed a ring nestled in his palm.
It was large. Too large. The ring resembled the toy jewelry Jason’s sister played with or something from a Halloween costume. Grimy gold with a single dull purplish jewel that matched his eyes.
His hand trembled under the heaviness of the ring. “Take it.”
Shifting my backpack to my other shoulder, I took it. “What is this?”
The corners of his thin lips curled into a grin as a gust of warm, dry wind cut through the chilly October night and swirled around me.
J.L. Sullivan writes young adult stories inspired by gritty urban environments and the tales that percolate within abandoned buildings and desolate alleys. He lives in St. Louis with his wife, two daughters, and a dog named Princess Penelope Picklesworth.
Freelance Writer Janny(Jan Marie)C 