BOOK SPOTLIGHT THURSDAY: The Monsters They Made Us by Frank J. Camacho

It’s October! So be on the lookout for Spooky Book Spotlights all month long! Starting with THE MONSTERS THEY MADE US by Frank J. Camacho! “The Monsters They Made Us” is a haunting debut that blends dark fantasy, supernatural horror, and dark academia on the rocky coast of Massachusetts.

The Monsters They Made Us (The Heirs of Driftmoor Book 1)

Release Date: October 1, 2025

Genre: Dark Fantasy Horror/ Dark Academia

Featuring
⦁ Supernatural coming-of-age
⦁ Found family vs. bloodline
⦁ Monsters as a metaphor
⦁ Character-driven plot
⦁ Coastal decay
⦁ Generational trauma
⦁ Small-town lore
⦁ Faustian bargains


Some monsters are born. Others are made. But the worst are inherited.
Long before Driftmoor was a town, it was a threshold where the veil between the natural and supernatural ran thin. Where wicked bargains were struck in the dark. Bargains that cursed four bloodlines forever.

Dorothy arrives at Driftmoor Academy hoping to leave her past behind and become someone new. But after a car crash leaves her teetering between life and death, dark abilities awaken inside her. Whispers through the halls. Nightmares claw at her sleep. And death follows wherever she goes.

As Dorothy is pulled into the gilded world of Driftmoor’s elite, pieces of a forgotten legacy begin to surface—along with a power she doesn’t understand and a past someone tried to erase. And she’s not the only one marked by what came before.

There’s the boy touched by the sea, who’s drawn to a song no one else can hear. The socialite carved from gold and expectation, clinging to perfection before it shatters. And the son born in shadows, raised by a family that never intended to keep him.
Linked by the bargains of their ancestors, the heirs of Driftmoor must each decide: will they surrender to their curses, harness the power they’ve inherited, or let it destroy them?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Frank J. Camacho was born and raised in New Jersey. He grew up immersed in CW shows and fantasy books, which sparked his love for emotionally tangled characters, small-town secrets, and supernatural drama. When he’s not writing, he’s making overly specific Spotify playlists or redecorating a room he swore he was done with. The Monsters They Made Us is his first novel and the first book in The Heirs of Driftmoor series.

Follow Frank at @frankjcamachobooks

Book Spotlight Thursday: Flame In The Silver Storm by Rocio Carranza

Today I’m spotlighting the interesting FLAME IN THE SILVER STORM by Rocio Carranza. A dark fantasy gothic this is book 2 in The Eternal Curse series. How Far Would You Go To Save the Ones You Love? Let’s dive deeper to find out!

Flame in the Silver Storm (The Eternal Curse Book 2)

Release Date: September 30, 2025

Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Gothic

Tropes:
Witches & Pirates
Forced Proximity
Political Intrigue
Feminine Rage
Found Family


There is a darkness encroaching the lands of Serit. From the Givensmir kingdoms to the Blackthorn coven, bitter rivalries threaten the lives of magic and mortalkind alike.

With the truth of her mother’s demise fresh in her heart, Eve has fled her life of comfort to escape the clutches of Givensmir’s new and vengeful king. Stowing away on a pirate ship bound for destinations unknown, Eve and her familiars must place their trust in its captain. A man with a dark past and a proclivity for secrets.

But no matter how far she runs, the Blood of the Blackthorn continues to haunt her dreams, beckoning her to fulfill its fatal prophecy, and soon Eve is forced to choose her fate.

To risk the lives of those she loves or let the magic consume her.

PRE-ORDER PURCHASE LINK + SPECIAL COPIES Here

AMAZON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rocio Carranza, a multi-genre writer, spent most of her youth with a book in her hand, consuming stories of fantasy and horror as if her life depended on it.

This naturally led into a love of writing stories as an excellent way to get lost in worlds of her own making—fighting epic battles, undoing curses (or casting them), and confronting the things that go bump in the night.

When she isn’t typing frivolously at her computer, you can find Rocio galivanting about Austin, TX with her husband and two kids or with her nose in at least five different books she likes to read at a time.

Curious to know more?

You can find Rocio on social media on IG/Threads/TT @rociocarranzawrites and Bluesky @rociocarranza.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT THURSDAY: Beyond the Border Forest by Molly Haniszewski.

Spotlighting today is the upcoming beautiful  Snow White & Rose Red retelling, Beyond the Border Forest: Into the Prawdziwy Las Series: The Immortal Seasons Cycle Book 1 by Molly Haniszewski. Let us now step beyond the border.

Beyond the Border Forest: Into the Prawdziwy Las
Series: The Immortal Seasons Cycle Book 1


Expected Release Date: September 30, 2025


Genre: LGBTQIA+  Snow White & Rose Red Retelling

Features


🍄 Fairytale retelling
🌈 Queer Rep
❤ Plus Size Heroine
🌲 Enchanted Forest
💙 Trans Love Interest
😂 Hilarious Banter
🦌 Slavic Folklore
☕ Studio Ghibli Vibes
💪🏻 Unlikely Heroes
🩷 Sapphic Romance
🌟 Riddles
❄ Seasonal/Elemental Magic


Two kings rule the ancient woods—the Oak King in summer, the Holly King in winter—and no mortal may cross into their realm without leave. But when eighteen-year-old Rowan Gwózdek’s sister vanishes, Rowan defies the old laws and enters the forbidden forest, desperate to find her. She isn’t alone for long. Keziah, a trans (and very handsome) hunter with a shadowy tie to the Oak King, offers his help—and a perilous path to the Bear Maiden, a creature said to grant wishes. Together, Rowan and Keziah face mossmen, a wood dragon, and other servants of the forest kings.


But danger lurks deeper still. Caught between the warring Oak and Holly Kings, Rowan is forced to take sides in a battle far older and fiercer than she ever imagined. Saving her sister could cost her everything—including her way home.

Join the Kickstarter! It is the only place you can buy a hardback of Beyond the Border Forest! And you’ll also be able to get discounted paperbacks, ebooks, and other fun book-related goodies.

KICKSTARTER

Book Spotlight Thursday: NEMESIS by Shania Scichilone

In our spotlight today is the first book in ‘The Wrath of Chaos series’, NEMESIS.

Nemesis (The Wrath of Chaos Book 1)

Release Date: August 1, 2025

Genre: Dark Romantasy

Features

• Morally Grey Shadow Mommy
• A Fae King who Yearns
• One Horse Trope — But it’s a Dragon
• Delicious Banter and Tension
• Dragons x Dragon Riders


The Asherian War has ushered Earth and its population into a new age. Humankind has gone, giving rise to a tenuous society of other races once confined largely to shadows and stories. The new paradigm is overseen by the Celestials, whose terrestrial ambassadors, the Legacies, wield a potent and manifold elemental magic—one ruled by the astrological sign one is born under. They were instrumental in banishing the dragons—ravenous and mindless beasts—to the gloomier land of a place known as the Outer Edge.

Astraea, the powerful general of the Legacy Legion, cannot stand by when two massive dragons descend on the Legacy Compound and abduct her younger sisters. Leaping on one of their great scaly backs, becoming a willing captive to the darker margins of their world, she and her siblings undertake a shocking and revealing journey, one where prior deceptions are lifted, where alliances fall and former enemies become allies and where new, unexpected dangers are born.


Dragons, Astraea learns, are hardly the mindless creatures she knew them to be—they are, as one named Nemesis tells her, thoughtful seekers of peace, with a wholly different perspective on the Asherian War, and their banishment to the Outer Edge.
As Astraea and her sisters reconcile themselves to this new reality, the fae king, Asher—so named for the war, and who is very much in love with Astraea—pursues them to the Outer Edge. Though he can be pompous and presumptuous, there is no doubt Astraea herself is drawn to him. Now, as she cautiously opens her heart, and arms herself with new understanding, she and the others must also prepare to confront those who stand in the way of peace.

* Content Warning*

AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Known to many as “Shania Fillmore” of YTV’s THE NEXT STAR SEASON 4 and THE NEXT STAR: SUPERGROUP, this small-town girl from New Brunswick, Canada, has taken a turn from singing on television to pursuing her writing dreams.

Music, visual arts, reading, and writing are what she lives and breathes. The art world is her truest passion.

Settled back in her hometown, Shania Scichilone has spent her time as Musical Director during show season, and the rest of her time has been filled with writing and learning digital arts.

Her debut series, FATES DIVINE, begins her new career as an author.

Follow Shania @shaniascichilone

BOOK SPOTLIGHT THURSDAY: To Kiss the Sea by C.H. Carter

This cover is so serene! Which is why it got caught in my spotlight! To Kiss the Sea by C.H. Carter is a sapphic fantasy fairy tale. Let’s dive deeper.

To Kiss the Sea


Publication Date: October 31, 2023


Genre: Sapphic Fantasy/ Fairy Tale Fantasy

Features


🌊 Fairytale retelling
🌊 Mermaids, pirates, and spies – Oh my!
🌊 Force proximity
🌊 Enemies-to-friends
🌊 LGBTQ/Queer normative society
🌊 Found family
🌊 Mental health rep
🌊 Multi-POV

In the Birde Isles, there’s a saying: You cannot take what the sea is not willing to give.
Ally Kingfisher never gave it much thought until she experienced the sea’s wrath firsthand. But after a near-drowning leaves her with a deeply ingrained fear of the water, Ally still finds herself inexplicably drawn to its depths. As if something is calling to her from beneath the waves, and it only grows louder each year.
Pasha is being punished for something she didn’t do, sentenced to a life of solitude until her kin return. But mermaids aren’t meant to live alone. Desperate for companionship, Pasha makes a deal that goes spectacularly awry, affecting the lives of everyone on the Isles for years to come.
When a pirate captain kidnaps Ally’s mother and demands Ally deliver the ransom personally, she is forced to leave land for the first time. Turning to Pasha, the one creature whose help she doesn’t want but whose power over the water she needs, Ally strikes a new bargain to get her to her mother. But she’ll have to confront more than her fears along the way…
Because even those in favor are still at the mercy of the sea.


AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

C.H. Carter is a fantasy author with a lifelong love of the genre in all its forms. In middle school, she wrote a fan letter to Tamora Pierce and received the most encouraging reply! That experience cemented her desire to become an author. (She also still holds out the hope they can meet in person one day!)

When not writing, you can find her working on a number of rotating projects (Crochet, anyone?) and obsessing over her two rescue dogs.

TO KISS THE SEA is C.H. Carter’s debut novel.

ALSO DON’T FORGET

Book 2 and Book 2 in the KINGSPORT CHRONICALS

Book Spotlight Thursday: NEVERMORE by Monique Shepherd

Caught in my book spotlight today is the best-selling spicy forbidden age-gap college romance, NEVERMORE by Monique Shepherd. Intrigued? Let’s take a look!

Nevermore: A Forbidden Age-Gap College Romance

Release Date: May 20, 2025

Genre: Dark Romance

Features
🐦‍⬛ Forbidden age-gap M/F
💜 Broody Professor X College student
🐦‍⬛ Edgar Allan Poe Vibes
💜 He falls FIRST
🐦‍⬛ Touch her and 💀
💜 BDSM Exploration
🐦‍⬛ Impact play
💜 S/X in a library 📚🥵

“Sometimes the most forbidden fruit is the sweetest.”

Kieran McKnight: Ten years ago, my world crumbled around me. Losing my wife turned me into a shell of a man, stuck teaching entitled Ivy League brats by day and drowning my pain in meaningless sex by night. The club has saved me countless times, until she walks into my classroom. There’s something behind the pain in her eyes that pulls me in, and even though I know she’s forbidden, I can’t stay away, no matter how hard I try.

Deirdre Ravencroft: For the last year, I’ve been running from my tortured past, hiding amongst the shadows in hopes that he won’t find me. When I end up in a small town in Connecticut, I’m determined to take control of my life—so I fill my time as a cocktail waitress by night, and a student by day. I stick out like a sore thumb among these snooty frat boys and sorority girls, but one thing draws me in: the broody professor teaching my literature class.


I know I shouldn’t cross the lines of temptation. But when an embarrassing incident forces us together, we find ourselves caught in a whirlwind of heated moments, and I start to wonder if I can really stay away… or if I even want to.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Monique Shepherd is an author from Texas who has been an avid reader and writer since she was sixteen years old. Monique is very much a mood reader and mood writer.

When not writing, Monique is a nurse and a mother of four kids who keep her on her toes, and has four fur babies running around.

Monique enjoys exploring different worlds of romance whether it is writing about steamy cowboys in her small town contemporary romances, to obsessive vigilante and Mafia kings, to her Gothic academia romantic suspense duet.

Her favorite hobbies include writing, of course, traveling, attending concerts, improv comedy shows, and spending time by the water with her children.

Follow Monique on IG @moniqueshepherd_author & TIKTOK: @monique.shepherd6

BOOK SPOTLIGHT THURSDAY: All Gods Must Die by Soraya Cole

Romantic fantasy and Irish mythology combine in this week’s spotlight with the stunning ALL GODS MUST DIE by Soraya Cole! Full of mystery, betrayal, a unique magic system, and a prophecy, get ready to be brought on one epic adventure, and this is book 1! Let’s read on!

All Gods Must Die by Soraya Cole (All Gods Must Die #1)

Release Date: September 2024

Genre: Romantasy/ Irish Mythology

Features

✨A strong female lead who can fight
✨Fated mates
✨“Who did this to you?”
✨ Fae. Gods. Monsters.
✨Competition with trials
✨Irish Inspired Mythology
✨Shadow and Light powers
✨Sloooww burn (But definite spice in book 2)
✨A prophecy
✨Action. Adventure. Mystery

ENTER A WORLD OF SHADOWS AND LIGHT…

Seren was born into a world divided by shadows and light. And yet… she can wield both. She fights against the corruption plaguing her kingdom, but when dark creatures breach the shield and begin slaughtering under the cover of night, her world is thrown into chaos. To save her people, she enters the savage guards’ competition. A deadly game of betrayal, bloodshed, and lies with hopes of winning an audience with the royals.
But the competition is only the beginning.


As secrets unravel, Seren discovers a world far larger and more dangerous than she ever imagined.


Gods. Fae. Monsters. And a prophecy that could destroy everything.
In a world of Sidus and Caligo, where fae, humans, and beasts collide, one truth remains:
All Gods Must Die.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Soraya Cole is a fantasy romance author. All Gods Must Die is her debut fantasy series and is inspired by Irish Mythology.

When she’s isn’t creating fantasy worlds with strong female leads and swoon-worthy heroes, she is spending time with her family in Ireland or trying to chip away at her never-ending tbr that only seems to grow bigger.

Soraya can be found on TIkTok and Instagram @sorayacoleauthor.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT THURSDAY: Realm of Silk and Starlight by Ashley J. Vinson

Featured in the spotlight this Thursday is the romantic fantasy REALM OF SILK AND STARLIGHT by Ashley J. Vinson.

Realm of Silk and Starlight (The Divine Realms) 

Release Date: April 8, 2025

Genre: Romantasy

Features


✨Lovers to Enemies
💙Enemies to lovers
✨Slowburn
💙Morally gray characters
✨He falls first
💙Touch her and ☠️
✨Fated Mates
💙Spice
✨Unlikely Allies
💙Found Family
✨Forced Proximity
💙High Stakes
✨Divine Beings

In a world torn between the mortals and the divine, Aerilyns life took a shocking and unexpected turn. She heard the stories, that those who die the most brutal of deaths can be blessed by the Gods and join the divine in their respective realm, but she never imagined that her own tragic death would unveil a destiny beyond her wildest dreams.
Aerilyn goes from being a slave to the crown to pay off her fathers debt, to a tragically brutal death. Awakening within the realm of the divine, she finds herself the object of affection for a charming high lord, but beneath his alluring surface lies a treacherous tapestry of lies that could dismantle everything she’s come to cherish.


Haunted by guilt and betrayal, Aerilyn must confront her tumultuous past as she fights against encroaching darkness that threatens the balance of the world as they know it. Will she be able to utilize her fiery spirit to help unify the realms of the divine, or will her passion only deepen the rift between her and her fated mate? Dive into the pages of Realm of Silk and Starlight and discover a tale where love and vengeance collide in the most unexpected ways.


Will she harness her inner strength to bridge the worlds as the bringer of peace – or will she be the reason that it all comes crumbling down once and for all?

AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ashley J. Vinson writes romantic fantasy inspired by the stories and ideas she fell in love with as a child. Born in Michigan, she studied in Michigan and Florida before beginning to travel the world, as her husband was in the Military. With experience working at Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Studios, her love for stories and romance started with the classic tales of happily ever after that we grew up with. After she was introduced to the idea of happily ever after, she began writing stories of her own at the age of five.

Now, she writes stories primarily for an adult audience.

When Ashley is not writing or reading, she enjoys exploring wherever her husband and she are stationed, watching movies, or playing the Nintendo Switch.

Follow Vinson on Instagram @authorashleyjvinson

BOOK SPOTLIGHT THURSDAY: Potions & Prejudice by Tee Harlowe

Okay, witch hates warlock. Warlock hates witch. Warlock falls for witch. . . . Things are about to get very, very complicated in Potions & Prejudice by Tee Harlowe. Let’s see more!

Potions & Prejudice (Moonflower Witches Book #1)

Release Date: June 3, 2025

Genre: Cozy Fantasy

Features
⦁ Enemies to lovers
⦁ He falls first
⦁ Slow burn
⦁ Cottagecore
⦁ Cozy fantasy
⦁ Only one closet

Elspeth Moonflower just wants to cast a spell. Unfortunately, that’s impossible due to a curse her grandmother cast that forces every witch in her family to marry before using magic. As a result, Elspeth and her sisters are outcasts, helping their mother run her traveling apothecary shop—while she complains that her daughters are all magicless spinsters.
When their cart breaks down and strands them in the charming village of Thistlegrove, Elspeth’s older sister meets a handsome warlock who’s smitten. If only the warlock’s best friend wasn’t completely insufferable. Draven Darkstone is broody, arrogant, wealthy—a perfect example of why Elspeth never wants to marry. But for the sake of her sister, she needs to be nice.
Which is hard when all Draven does is glower at her. It’s even harder when the glowering turns to longing glances. It’s downright impossible when he kisses her.
Little does Elspeth know, the line between love and hate just got thinner.

Potions & Prejudice is a low-stakes fantasy of Legends and Lattes meets the romance of Bridgerton, in this spicy cozy fantasy romance with a grumpy sentient cottage, an anxious miniature dragon, and all the cottagecore vibes.

AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON

BOOK SPOTLIGHT THURSDAY: Shadow of the Yew Tree by Kate Gateley

Teaming with R&RBookTours this week to help celebrate the release of “Shadow of the Yew Tree” by Kate Gately! You must heed our warning and check it out!

Shadow of the Yew Tree (The Mythic Bones Duology #1)

Publication Date: May 27, 2025

Genre: Contemporary Fantasy Romance

Features
⬇️
🌙𝙳𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝙿𝙾𝚅⁠
🌿𝙶𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚢 / 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎⁠
🌙𝙼𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚢⁠
🌿𝙾𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎⁠
🌙𝙷𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍⁠
🌿𝙰𝙳𝙷𝙳 𝚛𝚎𝚙⁠
🌙𝙼𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚘𝚛 / 𝙼𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚎⁠
🌿𝙰𝚍𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜-𝚝𝚘-𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜⁠
🌙𝚂𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝙱𝚞𝚛𝚗⁠
🌿𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚍 / 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚡𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚢⁠
🌙𝙳𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚍𝚜 & 𝚂𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎⁠
🌿𝙵𝙼𝙲𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 30’𝚜 (& 𝙼𝙼𝙲𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 40’𝚜😉)⁠

Synopsis

It seemed a lifetime ago that Dr. Ronan Gallagher had succumbed to his obsessive need to uncover the deepest secrets of the Codex Druidicus, a grimoire of the very darkest magic. Though he’d tried to protect his closest friends from a threat that had followed them through multiple lifetimes, the choices made by the Druid doctor had been a betrayal of not only his friends but his own sacred oaths—a betrayal he would pay for with his life.
Through the intervention of the Otherworld, he was given a second chance on this earthly realm to set things right. Yet, while the curse of the evil Sorcerer Cassius, ancient Child of Rome, might have been vanquished together with the Codex, the torturous tendrils born of Ronan’s pride and obsessive weakness still thrive in the shadows, their reach extending further every day.
When his fellow Druids learn of a massive explosion that has reduced a secret experimental Wraith facility to ruins, none can understand how Phoebe Ashburn, the sole survivor of the tortured experiments, has survived the blast’s devastation … and evaded their capture. With dark and volatile Wraith magic now trapped inside her—threatening her control and sanity—Phoebe is determined to discover how to rid herself of this inner darkness … even if it means accepting the assistance of the very Druid doctor whose actions had led to her torture in the first place.

GET IT NOW

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Author KATE GATELEY has always been fascinated by history, Celtic Ideology, ancestral memory and generational wounding, and the “Divine Feminine,” and those personal studies continue to influence every aspect of her life, on the pages of her books and off.

When Kate published her first book, Tides of the Sovereign (FriesenPress 2022), Book One of the Lost Wells Trilogy, she knew that it was only the beginning of a story she has always wanted to write—one with heart and meaning that was actually worth sharing. In December, 2022, Tides of the Sovereign was announced as the winning title in the Fantasy/Sci-Fi category of the Canadian Book Club Awards. Continuing now in Book Two, Mantle of the World Ruler, and beyond into the next volume still to come, that story has grown far beyond what she could ever have imagined … into something that she dearly hopes can one day find—and deserve—a cherished spot among those volumes of both contemporary fantasy and historical romance that so inspired her growing up.

Kate currently lives, and writes, on a small farm in the Cowichan Valley on beautiful Vancouver Island, with her amazing husband, two incredible sons, an adorable dog, several barn cats who don’t earn their keep, and some decidedly ungrateful chickens … all of whom are very dearly loved. She is a member of The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC), Federation of BC Writers (BCFW) and Independent Book Publishers Association (IPBA).

To connect with the author, visit:

www.kategateley.com