Review: Fractured Doors and Forgotten Gods (Hidden Realms #1) by Alice Winters

Rating: 3.75🌈

Even with a nice twist at the end, Fractured Doors and Forgotten Gods (Hidden Realms #1) by Alice Winters was a story that just didn’t connect with me.

There’s many stories from this author I’ve found absolutely entertaining and some are in my reread piles, but the main characters, their dynamics between themselves and even those who they are forced into working with are such that I don’t enjoy reading their scenes or didn’t think their relationships felt believable.

Issues like a lack of communication of major issues, especially when Riley’s “secret” he’s not telling anyone/has told anyone smacks of martyrdom. The other issue is that Torin, the god swings emotionally from irritating arrogance to impulsive toddler to sexual being to instant love partner, all without a credible relationship built between the couple.

The story has some interesting mythical creatures, fantasy familiars and the twist plays into another mythology that will play out into the second book.

But I’m not sure Winters has made me care enough about the characters to go further with the series.

Still deciding.

Cover design by Natasha Snow Designs

Hidden Realms

Fractured Doors and Forgotten Gods #1

Timeless Doors and Captured Gods #2 – July 9,2026

Buy link

Book 1 of 2: Hidden Realms

Blurb

Riley

Trying to keep my familiar out of the meat display while shopping is the hardest part of my day… until someone drops a god right into my humdrum existence.

Torin, a massive man claiming to be a god, is unlike anyone I’ve ever met. He insists on learning English through adult graphic novels, believes the pizza delivery guy is an assassin, and thinks he can kick a subway into submission (talk about adding a bit of spice to my life, which has been sadly lacking since I left the Magical Interference Unit).

The handsome and strangely charismatic god drags me (literally) right into his problems, starting with a creature who wants to tear my head off, yet I find myself following along with his whims.

He knows something is wrong when Doors to another realm begin to open up, allowing an ominous power to get a foothold in our world… but I’m afraid this quirky god and I might be the only ones keeping this world from ending.

Oh joy.

Torin

I never expected that simply stepping through a Door into Riley’s world would introduce me to so many amazing curiosities, like pizza and burritos! Oh, and a pesky human who really should recognize that I’m a god of war and love—emphasis on the love.

But there’s more to Riley than meets the eye; why else would their special forces place me with a man who can borrow magic from others? My attempts to woo this mystifying human are thwarted at every turn (I doubt that has anything to do with me tossing him on a horse or taking over his bed).

As Riley and I grow closer, I realize that he might be the very person needed to save this realm… because what is coming for them is beyond anything they can comprehend… one even worse than the atrocity called an “escalator.”

Fractured Doors and Forgotten Gods is the first book in a series that has a continuing storyline.

June 2, 2026

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Language

‎English

File size

5.3 MB

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Supported

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Print length

364 pages

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Book 1 of 2

Hidden Realms

Review : Long Live Evil (Time of Iron #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan

Rating: 4⭐️

There’s an interesting trope that has developed that features main female characters who decide, for a variety of reasons, to become a villain. The details leading up to this process depending upon the narrative. Some of these stories are fantastic, some great, some okay, and a few meh in their execution, but the premise has always been interesting. This fits somewhere in the middle.

Long Live Evil (Time of Iron #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan is a really well executed story. The premise, while not completely original, is intriguing and her main character’s dilemma is both relatable and compelling.

It opens the story with Rae, a young woman in a hospital bed, dying of cancer. With her is her younger sister who reads to her their favorite books, a popular fantasy series, Time of Iron. Rae’s cancer diagnosis has left her with little hope, a failing memory that’s left her unable to read, emotionally depressed and raging at her fate. And oftentimes angry at the very sister trying to support her and stay with her.

At times this is a very difficult and dark story, for all its realistic scenes and raw emotions.

Rae has created a natural mental and emotional tunnel vision for herself in order to deal cancer and all the treatments and everything that comes with it. Chemotherapy that’s no longer working, hair loss, body that looks and acts like a skeleton. And an absent mother who doesn’t seem to care.

One we find out later that is working many jobs because of the extreme expenses of Rae’s cancer treatments and hospital bills, and the fact that the family is losing their home over this. But Rae can see nothing but the fact that she is dying.

The point is made that Rae has skipped over the very important first part of the series and only really got into it when the Emperor arrives, a villain with a tragic story. He becomes her favorite character.

Just before her death a mysterious woman arrives and offers Rae a bargain, a quest. She’s to enter into the fantasy realm of the series, becoming a character, completing a quest and then she can return home healed.

Out of choices, she accepts and winds up as the female villain in the story. The one scheduled to die in the tower.

It’s clever, often funny and well executed. Especially as it relates to how the cancer has impacted Rae’s outlook and life now affects her relationships with the characters within the fantasy world.

I’ll give you a hint. Not well.

And that’s the thing here. While I absolutely understand Rae, the choices she makes, the reasons why she’s so stunted emotionally in certain situations, so unyielding, it makes her a character whose slow growth is also very frustrating to read about. I don’t agree with her choices or even like her for a majority of the story.

Other characters? Yes, absolutely solid creations and great characters you enjoyed spending time with.

The author has quite a bit of interesting twists here. One is revealed immediately and I thought it was a great element. And it’s logical, given the facts laid down by the author and plot lines. I wanted to know more about this aspect of the story.

Another “reveal” was one I think is easily guessed at by a reader and leads to the haunting conclusion of the story. One that will be resolved in Book 2. The elements here could be found earlier in so honestly so surprise. But it’s horrifying and poignant at the same time.

I do recommend reading Long Live Evil (Time of Iron #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan. Especially if you’re a fan of the fantasy female villain trope.

Cover design by Ben Prior | LBBG Cover illustration by Syd Mills

Map by Rebecka Champion (Lampblack Art)

Time of Iron (2 book series)

Long Live Evil #1)

All Hail Chaos #2

Buy link

Book 1 of 2: Time of Iron

Blurb

This is a tale for everyone who’s ever fallen for the villain …

When her whole life collapsed, Rae still had books. Dying, she seizes a second chance at living: a magical bargain that lets her enter the world of her favorite fantasy series.

She wakes in a castle on the edge of a hellish chasm, in a kingdom on the brink of war. Home to dangerous monsters, scheming courtiers and her favourite fictional character: the Once and Forever Emperor. He’s impossibly alluring, as only fiction can be. And in this fantasy world, she discovers she’s not the heroine, but the villainess in the Emperor’s tale.

So be it. The wicked are better dressed, with better one-liners, even if they’re doomed to bad ends. She assembles the wildly disparate villains of the story under her evil leadership, plotting to change their fate. But as the body count rises and the Emperor’s fury increases, it seems Rae and her allies may not survive to see the final page.

August 27, 2024

Language

‎English

Print length

464 pages

Book 1 of 2

Time of Iron

Review: The Troll Bridge by Jenny Schwartz

Rating: 3⭐️

I usually like the writing of Jenny Schwartz but a story like The Troll Bridge highlights the aspects of her storytelling that I think are well done and the elements that I think make her stories underwhelming or perhaps problematic.

First the positive. This is a story about a young girl, a 6 yr old whose father runs a bar in a small village in a fantasy kingdom . They are unaware of magic until a sorcerer arrives and decides that their bridge should have a troll. Which he “makes “ with his magic and leaves there with certain instructions.

Turns out Morgana befriends the small stone troll as soon does the village, giving him a name and making him part of their family and community. Even though he’s essentially a slave to the bridge and the sorcerer.

The description calls them children. No. There’s one human child and a stone boy who’s basically a slave to a mage here.

When the mage returns, he tells her and her father and villagers that because Morgana has magical powers, she going away to a school where she can be taught to use the power of her powers. Threats ensue. Including those around Peter.

There’s a whole section about Morgana at the school, being pushed by the scholars towards studying the war mage powers and the long military battles and war that follow. She grows up among losses and the fears of losing Peter whose evolution and manipulation is a major part of the story.

The battles, the deathly impacts upon her and those fighting, the emotional trauma which is only briefly mentioned, but the physical pain is often accounted for on the page by both sides.

That I believe is strangely true but the author cannot decide whether to write a fairy tale about a girl who loves a troll or a realistic twisted fairy tale version about war, slavery, its impact on the children they conscript and then consume as battle fodder, then the ramifications after it’s over.

Instead Schwartz settles on an unrealistic narrative that leaves so many questions unanswered and gives Morgana and Peter an unreasonable HEA.

Spoilers: The King’s sorcerer who sees his creations, bridge trolls, as his slaves to do as he pleases continues on. That he sees Morgana as the most powerful mage next to him in the kingdom would make it unlikely that he would leave her alone. Especially since she “tinkers” with his possession.

And Peter treated as a slave such throughout the entire story. Morgana recognized his status as such. When he is made to “disappear “ and is replaced by another, who needs help, does she help him? No. She’s focused on Peter.

That’s an entire species left behind here that Morgana and Peter have no interest in helping. Sentient beings who have the same potential as Peter .

But the story ends with Morgana and Peter happily married and back in the very village where they began. No serious questions asked about war, or heinous sorcerers, or magic or the other trolls who are still locked under their bridges.

Yes, i wasn’t happy with this. It wants to include tough subject matter but not examine those subjects too closely. I guess fairy tales aren’t very satisfying anymore. Not when you look closely at them.

Three stars for Morgana’s schoolmate who was pulled out of school to go to sea and ended up bitter and in the navy, calling herself Vengeance.

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comThe Troll Bridge – Schwartz, Jenny: Kindle Store

Blurb

Magic is her birthright, but she’s fated for war.

Morgana is a witchling child from the Sighaway Forest. Taken to the School of Magic, she is taught healing and charms. As her power reveals itself, she is forced to learn battle magic.

Her best friend, Peter, lives outside the school, under a bridge. The troll boy was created to guard the kingdom.

War is coming.

To those in power, the two children are weapons. But children grow up. A Witch and a Guardian Troll will challenge the Emperor himself – and pay the price.

***

The Troll Bridge is an all-new fairy tale. Those who fight for justice never fight alone.

February 15, 2018

Language

‎English

Print length

215 pages

Check out the new tour for “Fire’s Ally“by D.M. Kannapan (Other Worlds Ink Tour and excerpt)

D. M. Kannapan has a new YA fantasy cli-fi book out: Fire’s Ally.

For most of her life, Eleg has been obsessed with the eerie, persistent, wildfire claiming parts of her home. No amount of rain seems to be able to put it out.

She belongs to a gentle, bookish society, and her people have been fighting the fire back for decades. But they are not ready for the turmoil it is about to unleash.

Eleg understands the fire better than most. She has already once failed to protect the innocent in its path.

Though she would rather be alone with her charts and graphs, Eleg must become the unlikely hero her people need, and bring the continent together in an ambitious technological endeavor to save their home.

Fire’s Ally is a YA fantasy climate-fiction with queer characters, sci fi elements, and coming of age themes. It is cozy-adjacent but has high stakes. You’ll like it if you like deep, immersive worldbuilding and political intrigue.

Warnings: natural disasters, high control groups

Universal Buy Link

Excerpt

Eleg followed Aizl and Ovvet, glad to be in motion, and glad to be walking with Aizl. She wondered how much Ovvet had intuited about her desire to see the fire. For Eleg, insight came in short flashes and incomplete information. It was probably the same for Ovvet.

He didn’t act worried about Eleg wanting to observe the fire, though, as she suspected most adults would.

Her cousin Zott skipped beside her. The Pavilion Plateau touched the front of Urmetten, their village, and the hill it was built into, from the north.

From there, the children followed an eastward path into a narrow ravine. It was filled with towerlike rock formations that Aizl loved to climb.

As they approached the ravine from above, they had a view of its twin stony walls zigzagging into the distance, and between them, irregular rock pillars growing like stalks out of the ground.

Another few steps, and they were in the cool, craggy depths with the clear sky above and a network of paths ahead, among the bases of towers. The quiet dialect of the ravine creatures surrounded them. Eleg should come here more often. Maybe with Aizl.

There wasn’t usually much reason to come to the ravine. Its hardy denizens survived without any particular tending from the Urmettians. Nearly everywhere else, the villagers studied the soil, rock, and the water, gleaned insight about the health of their continent, Ervu, and offered whatever service a plant may want from their human hands.

And the gatherer parties didn’t favor the canyon for foraging when richer groves were a short walk away. Gathering for the kitchens was one of the few activities that pulled Eleg away from her hiding places.

“This is the best place to practice climbing!” Aizl said. She dashed ahead, her wavy hair bobbing, pointing out towers she’d scaled and the challenges each posed to even a skilled climber.

Eleg smiled at her enthusiasm and quietly hoped there weren’t too many good climbing towers ahead of their destination. The shapes in the fire wouldn’t wait for Aizl, even if Eleg wanted to.

Ovvet walked more slowly, his long robes dragging on the rocks, and looked back to check that Eleg and Zott were keeping up.

“This is the one!” Aizl rested her hand on an imposing tower, both taller and wider than its neighbors. Its lumpy shape formed natural steps. “Best to climb from this side.”

They scrabbled up with Aizl’s supportive guidance. Ovvet boosted Zott the first step. Eleg stopped on the second to adjust the drawing materials strapped to her side.

After a short but invigorating climb, they sat on the smooth top and gazed out across the expanse.

Aizl spread her arms. “Isn’t it marvelous?”

They were above the surrounding stone pillars, and each was sliced cleanly by the early-afternoon sunlight into a bright section and a deep shadow cast by the canyon walls.

Behind them were the vast hill ranges, with decorative stonework marking the entrances of the carved rooms that made up Urmetten.

On the Pavilion Plateau, which abutted it, small figures were still hanging art. The sacred river of Paclellic, lined with chirp-filled amber-and-yellow foliage, meandered into the valley. Along its banks, groups of visitors to the village made their camps, resting before entering the pavilion for the feast. A distant herd of goats made its way across the grassland, rippling the green around it.

And beyond it all, that fire, looming over so many lives with its tower of black smoke and stark flames. It was partially obscured by the mountain range that it intertwined.

Where it wasn’t obscured, its base was ringed with dead earth and black ash, and gray and yellow liquid leached into the earth in fine rivulets.

In the flames, the jagged shape Eleg had seen was still there, unlike in any of her previous sketches. She unrolled her drawing paper and looked over her shoulder at the others. They were looking the other way, toward the village.

Eleg followed their gaze. The air that filled the canyon was shimmering and changing. Thin tendrils formed, like corn silk blowing in the wind, but made of light or mist. The tendrils drew closer to each other in a bundle and began to cohere in an image.

“Look, it’s Puvvel!” said Ovvet, pointing out the image to Zott. The tendrils formed a cloud with a faintly recognizable expression—not quite a face, and yet it left the sense of looking at one. The expression was of playful excitement.

Zott took a look. “He looks like a cactus today!”

Eleg gave Zott some of her paper and charcoal to draw what he saw. Ervu’s Messengers looked a bit different to everyone, but Zott was still learning his plants and probably hadn’t actually meant a cactus. Aizl reached out a hand toward Puvvel, as if coaxing a butterfly to land on it.

Eleg took a deep breath. The visible presence of Puvvel must mean Ervu’s patterns were especially understandable to humans now—a brief moment of clarity, insight, and connection.

More often, when a Messenger didn’t appear, the land’s signals were mixed. Even then, the village scholars’ gentle lives of peace and study sharpened their ears, trained their eyes, and deepened their understanding, creating a sensitive perception that reached across Ervu and into her perennial workings—through the vibration of the earth, the ripples of the river, and the currents of the air.

It fell to the Urmettians to use their understanding to tend to the ailing land. They led the efforts of Ervu’s many peoples to beat back the fire and evade its effects, to replan their walking routes so they weren’t choked with smoke, and to heal landscapes when they were ravaged by ash.

The village youths had years of study ahead of them to develop their perceptual reach. But Eleg couldn’t wait that long—not when there were questions to be answered about the fire now.

Author Bio

D. M. Kannapan is a writer, engineer, and climate activist in the Los Angeles area. Apart from books, she works on space technology, paintings, and cartoons. She gave a TEDx talk in 2023 titled The Climate Movement Needs Your Creativity, Not Your Guilt.

Author Website: https://www.deeptikannapan.com/

Review: Warlock’s Menace: Magical Usage Council Misadventures Book 1 by MJ May

Rating: 4.5🌈

MJ May is one of those authors whose books and enlarging universe get keeps getting better and more intriguing with every new addition.

First, May introduces us to the fabulous world of the Perfect Pixies, which wasn’t frankly all that wonderful but full of past trauma and a series plot of enormous horror and unimaginable violence. One that carries over subtly into the next series. We meet incredible characters and their moving stories.

Then it’s the next series.Necromancer Tales, where a character we’ve met, Erasmus Holland, the son of a human woman and one of the world’s most powerful warlock, Nikodemus Holland, gets his story told. It’s a fantastic tale of family, magical creatures, deathly powers and an unexpected path to a great loving relationship with a police detective.

And many of the fantastic characters will cross over into this series, because of the intense storylines, the interconnected plots that the author continues to weave together throughout this universe, and how each of them are part of each other’s lives now.

Warlock’s Menace starts with Nikodemus returning home from Erasmus and Franklin’s wedding. That’s his necromancer son from the series and his detective SIL. And the warlock has picked up an unexpected surprise from the wedding.

Well, not unexpected for anyone who read that last book. Because we’ve been waiting for this.

The Kitsune, Hikaru, who is a tragic character, has taken a very serious interest in Nikodemus. Why is a great element of the story and magical world.

The magic that surrounds the warlock and the usage is revealed and seen from Hikaru’s perspective, which makes him even stronger a character.

The plot, or plots are again tied to various events and other aspects of the world, this is simply one angle that will be explored by May. Its suspense filled, emotional and so well written.

I absolutely adore the way the characters were allowed to build their relationship. And bring in other characters too that Nikodemus usually isn’t well acquainted with.

It’s just another fantastic story and great start into expanding on this outstanding universe. Can’t wait to see more.

Cover design by cheriefox.

Connected Series starting with the first:

Perfect Pixie Series (5 book series)

Necromancer Tales (4 book series)

Magical Usage Council Misadventures:

Warlock’s Menace #1 -Nikodemus Holland and Hikaru

Buy link

Book 1 of 1: Magical Usage Council Misadventures

Blurb

Warlock Nikodemus Holland is a master of his craft. Arrogant, powerful, and reserved, Nikodemus is the epitome of a warlock in every way save one—his love and commitment to his necromancer son, Erasmus Boone.

Hikaru is a seven-tailed kitsune still mourning the loss of his eighth tail and the betrayal that took it from him. Crafty, mischievous, and easily bored, Hikaru needs a distraction, and he needs it now. Lucky for him, he’s found the perfect candidate in a handsome and stuffy warlock. Hikaru just knows he’ll be oh-so-good for his Niki.

Returning from his son’s wedding, Nikodemus has acquired an unwanted tagalong kitsune that he just can’t shake. Walking through his front door, Nikodemus discovers Hikaru is the least of his worries when he finds a letter from the Warlock Council informing him that they’re investigating damning allegations and threatening to bind Nikodemus’s powers if he’s found guilty.

Someone’s been tampering with Nikodemus’s charms, turning them deadly. Nikodemus has no idea what the Warlock Council’s endgame is or what it has to do with the struggling Magical Usage Council. What he does know is that he’ll be damned if he sits back and allows himself to be framed, or worse, his loved ones threatened. Oddly enough, that category has expanded to include an ornery kitsune.

If pressed too far, the Warlock Council won’t just have a livid warlock to contend with, but the unleashed fury of a smitten kitsune. Nikodemus’s enemies are about to learn the word menace isn’t always an endearing sentiment but can be a vicious threat.

Warlock’s Menace is a mm supernatural fantasy/mystery. Expect to find arrogant warlocks (some with redeeming qualities and some sadly lacking), a mischievously ornery kitsune who is confident he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to Warlock Nikodemus Holland, an off the morality rails Warlock Council, seven fox tails that don’t know the meaning of personal space, misbehaving charms, the satisfaction proper payback brings, and HEA’s.

Warlock’s Menace is the first in the Magical Usage Council Misadventures series and is meant for adult readers. Each book will concentrate on a different couple. This is a spin off of the Necromancer series. While characters from this series are mentioned and/or make occasional appearances, one does not have to have read the Necromancer series to enjoy Warlock’s Menace.

March 19, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

331 pages

Book 1 of 1

Magical Usage Council Misadventures

Check out the latest Tour for “Children of Anzulla: Draxton & Kellan“ by Kashel Char (Other Worlds Ink Tour and excerpt)

Kashel Char has a new MM paranormal/sci-fantasy romance book out: Children of Anzulla: Draxton & Kellan.

DRAXTON:

Have you ever looked for something you know is there but can’t find it?
I was born to explore caves, and when it comes to finding the door to another reality, I become a tire-screeching, hyper-focused maniac.

When I use my charm, I know, no one can refuse me, especially when I’m wearing my sexy jean shorts and wide-brimmed hat, even if I pair them with flip-flops.

I will do anything to secure an extension to explore the Star Caves, nestled in the Cradle of Mankind, South Africa.

With my grandfather’s map in hand, I set out to barter for more time.

The plan was simple. Entice, seduce, and bribe the man responsible for my future. He accepted the bribe, my priceless map, but as soon as he started showing up at the site, he refused my body, three times!

KELLAN:

How do you keep a bubble from popping when you want to catch it? Easy, don’t try to catch it at all.

I’m so in love with Draxton that I’d do just about anything to keep him around a little longer—even if it means shoving him into another guy’s arms! It’s my way of saying, I’m not trying to build a Draxton prison over here!

But, how will I do that if I have to protect him while he’s going on all these missions to help my brother free Atlas, a dragon who was the only one who could take us back home?

Recommended pre-read: New Beginnings Trilogy.

Warnings: Themes of rescue missions, human oppression, invasion, slavery

Universal Buy Link | QueeRomance Ink | Goodreads

Excerpt

His eyes flicked to mine. “You know, Mr. Dubois, I call bullshit. You didn’t preserve it. You were hiding something.” He was correct. I hid my great-grandfather’s code that he had written with milk on the side of the map.

I waved off the statement. “Look, the passages on the map turn left upon entry and pass in front of the chimney, but then it turns sharply down and to the right. We need more time because we’ve been scanning that wall repeatedly. We can’t go right. We need time. Here, Tobias and I found a fine line. I call it a line, but he insists it’s a crack. It’s unusually straight and long. No human could have scraped that with a piece of rock. It’s not rock carvings. Look, the door has to be there, somewhere in this exact spot, either up or down. You know the rock carvings look just like these.” I pointed to ladders, triangles, and squares. “I know the door is there. All I need is time, Professor. Once I find the door, all the credit goes to you and your faculty. You won’t have to spend a cent. All you have to do is say yes. Let National Geographic pull out, as they planned to today. I need space to work without any interference or distractions. Give me three months. That’s all I ask. If there’s no sign other than what we’ve found up until today, I will gladly pack up and call it quits. I’ll go home and start my research all over again. Because then I’m wrong. So wrong.”

I tipped my head down to catch my breath and waited. Usually, people hated it if I stayed quiet for so long, it made them uncomfortable. My grandfather told me it’s not my fault if people got impatient and thought I was rude. The silence in the office finally doused my echoing words. When I looked back up, he sat patiently waiting for me with a smile. This man was really at the top of the food chain.

He pointed a finger at me. I wanted to sink to my knees for him. Not to beg, but to crawl closer and smell him like a dog. I bet he smelled like soap and tasted sweat. “I will give you three months, but I will be visiting and checking on your progress. No one else goes into those caves but you and Tobias. You work for me now. Without pay, of course. Anything new—be it the door, any bones, or anything, I don’t care if it’s just a hair. It belongs to the Wits, to my department.”

A broad smile spread across my face. “Thank you.” I stood up weak in the knees, to shake his hand. “You just made the best deal of your career. I won’t disappoint you.”

“Famous last words, Mr. Dubois.” He unfolded his new map, then rolled it back up and slipped it back into the protective tube.

“Famous indeed, as you’ll see. You are about to become very famous.” I chuckled. “I was about to flirt with you and persuade you with my body.” I laughed, awaiting a reaction.

“No need for that. We’ll see more of each other, Mr. Dubois.”

“Please, I asked you earlier to call me Draxton.”

“Only if you call me by my name, Kellan.” He looked like a Kellan. I liked the alliteration of the k’s.

“Professor Kellan Kilroy, I look forward to working with you.” We shook hands longer than necessary. His long, slender fingers were surprisingly callused for a man who spends his days in an office. I shivered at the thought of those rough calluses scraping against my skin down my spine on their way to separate my butt cheeks.

Gods, I have to stop gazing into his all-knowing eyes. I can’t…I can’t look away.

He beamed at me knowingly, and we paused for a moment. In that instant, for the first time ever, my entire world went silent as I made eye contact. It didn’t make me nervous—no buzzing noises urging me to find silence—just a profound and unexpected comfort that settled deep within my bones. All the usual frantic chatter in my mind faded, replaced by a singular, unwavering focus as we shared the understanding of mutual attraction.

“We’ll see each other again the day after tomorrow. Please tell Tobias I said hello.” He patted my arm, and my skin prickled where he had touched me.

Swirls of heat detonated inside me. “I…I will, until then,” I said hurriedly, opening the office door, flustered and eager to resume my trek through the Johannesburg traffic—with a victorious grin.

Author Bio

Kashel is a Canadian speculative fiction author, writing in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and paranormal.

Their writing explores who we are, where we come from, and where we are heading as a human race on Earth, by weaving unpredictable, twisted stories with a dash of humor, centered on gay characters.

Author Website: https://kashelchar.com/
Author Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KashelCharAuthor"
Author Instagram: https://instagram.com/kashelchar
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21728488.Kashel_Char
Author Liminal Fiction (LimFic.com): https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/51543/
Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/kashel-char/
Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/kashel-char

Review: Dragon Blood Curse (Emperor’s Assassin Book 4) by Kai Butler

Rating: 4.5🌈

Dragon Blood Curse was an exciting, immersive experience all around, as Butler’s penultimate story brings more mythical characters and magical regions into play with this fantasy action adventure.

Prince Airón and King Tallu have multiple schemes at work and not all are going according to their intended intentions. With their enemies bringing larger powers and armies against them, Airón and Tallu race to find a cure for the deadly curse that affects both brothers. And their own council falls into chaos and loyalties are divided as the enemy attacks.

It’s high politics, subterfuge, magical terrorists, and wars between enemies being waged across their borders and territories, and everything and everyone suffering.

Of course, there’s a prophecy or two, sacrifices that figures mightily in the coming novel, angst and some really great layering of information and people (look to the North) that just ups the stakes here.

No spoilers but this just grabs the reader from start to finish. For me, the relationship between Airón and Tallu is the least compelling element here. So many other great aspects of the series and story to focus on.

Great job. And I love the Spider. Awesome.

Cover by Hannah Latham at oexasart Lettering by Laura at Covers by Aura

Emperor’s Assassin (5 book series)

Betrothed to the Emperor #1

Emperor’s Wrath #2

Shadow Throne King #3

Dragon Blood Curse #4

Crown of Ash #5 – Oct 26,2026

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Dragon Blood Curse (Emperor’s Assassin Book 4)

Blurb

The generals that once served Emperor Tallu now pursue us across the continent. General Bemishu and Kacha have made their move and we find ourselves trapped by the role Tallu has been playing his entire life. As we search for allies, the rules of imperial politics force Tallu to act more and more like his deranged father.

Still, we have a hint of hope: somewhere in the dangerous Tavornai swamps, another animalia spins her webs and rearranges fate to her own desires. Can she change ours?

We have one chance to save our lives, one hope at a future that we both so desperately want. With new allies and old nemeses, we have to risk our lives to create a world for our love.

March 16, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

362 pages

Book 4 of 5

Emperor’s Assassin

Review: A Dragon Inside: Morntag Dragons & Kingdoms Book 1 by Anabelle Raven

Rating: 3⭐️

This book was a recommendation so I picked it up to see what I would find. A Dragon Inside is a sweet, unsurprising fantasy novel that includes dragons, dragon riders, princesses and kingdoms in peril. But adds little to the already overwhelming world of books written about this genre.

It’s the first book in a series but wrapped up the first storyline and romance pretty well by the end of the novel. King realizes he has traitor close to him, his sister, the princess helps save the day, by rescuing the dragonrider. Who ends up with the princess.

King also looks to have a HEA too.

There’s a weird magic aspect that unexpectedly occurs towards the end that doesn’t make sense and has no foundation whatsoever laid out for it.

Perhaps it’s coming in the future books.

Some readers might excuse this by saying that the story is meant for YA but all writing, no matter what age the author is aiming for, should have depth in the characters, layers to the world building and intricacies of plot. None of which happens here.

The characters should be entirely believable or engaging enough for the reader to invest their time and emotions.

For me, I thought this was just a simple, sweet, and uncomplicated plot that didn’t ask much of the reader.

If that’s something that you’re looking for, here’s a book and series for you.

This author imo does not compare with KM Shea who was mentioned in the description. Not even close.

Cover art is by Turtle Trails Publishing. Interior art (part two) is by Legowo P. Interior art (after Chapter 31) is by Sidney Brady.

Morntag Dragons & Kingdoms:

A Dragon Inside #1

A Dragon Outside #2 – Sept 30, 2025

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A Dragon Inside: Morntag Dragons & Kingdoms Book 1

Blurb

She is a princess. He is chained in the dungeon. They don’t trust each other, but they are Solvar’s only hope for escaping war.

Ellie

When I discovered that my brother imprisoned a dragon rider, I plunged head-first into a whirlwind of political drama, mysterious history, magic, and an alluring prisoner.

Now the secrets I uncovered keep growing deeper. I wanted to save my people from war, but that was only the beginning. My brother and our inheritance complicated everything, and I must find new ways to deal with rebellions, assassinations, and an attraction to an impossible prisoner.

Deryk

I expected to die, but everything changed when the fearless princess swept into my prison cell. Now I must choose between loyalty to my family and dragon or a dangerous trust to an unnerving princess.

Publisher: Turtle Trails Publishing LLC
Accessibility: Learn more
Publication date: July 2, 2025
Language: English
Print length: 440 pages
Book 1 of 2: Morntag Dragons & Kingdoms

Review: There Be Dragons Here: A Cozy Fantasy Adventure (Tales of Aedrea) by S.L. Rowland

Rating:5⭐️

My reading stars have been aligned lately because There Be Dragons Here by S.L. Rowland is the third stellar book by an undiscovered author in a fantasy genre that I’ve read in a row and I’m just overjoyed to with my reading lucky stars.

This is a side story to the Tales of Aedrea series of four fantasy novels, so I also have an additional world to meander through. I’m so excited.

But let’s start with this book, an amazing emotional journey of friendship, loyalty, and rediscovery of one’s inner fire.

Hilda Rockfall, 182 years old, grandmother, mother, beloved wife. But once, for 70 years she was renowned throughout the world as a Ranger in the Stone & Splendor adventurer group, a tight found family of four beings, who fought and explored together. Until she retired and married, putting that life behind her.

Now a funeral calls her away from home and leaves her the last remaining member of her group.

I love this book and Hilda so much. Her grief in losing her old friend, the journey his last quest takes her on. The stories that she tells, the people who she meets, and the inner person she rediscovers along this tortuous path, so inspiring.

And yes, there be dragons.

So many fantastic stories here. Memorable scenes, heartbreaking moments. And there’s war goats. Amazing!

This is one that’s both shiny and beautiful, a gem to treasure.

I’m highly recommending it.

Beautiful cover and stunning maps!

Cover design by Brent Minehan

Map by CartographyBird Maps

Tales of Aedrea (4 books):

Cursed Cocktails

Sword & Thistle

The Halfling’s Harvest

There Be Dragons Here

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comThere Be Dragons Here: A Cozy Fantasy Adventure (Tales of Aedrea) eBook

Blurb

At 182 years old, Hilda Rockfall thought her adventuring days were long behind her.

For over seventy years, she roamed the realm as a ranger with the adventuring party Stone & Splendor—taking quests, slaying beasts, and collecting monster teeth like trophies from the boundless sea to the edge of the wilds. But for the past eight decades, she’s traded her sword for slippers, living the quiet life of a proud grandmother nestled in the mountains, telling tales no one quite believes and baking a mean honey crumble.

That peace is shattered when an old friend—and former party member—passes on and leaves Hilda one final quest: scatter his ashes at a secret location marked on a map they looted back in their glory days.

Hilda figures it’ll be a nice little hike. Maybe a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

But then she opens the map.

And scrawled across the bottom in faded ink are four unsettling words:

There be dragons here.

About the Series: Welcome to the enchanting world of Tales of Aedrea, where small-scale stories, low-stakes adventure, and cozy fantasy come to life within an epic, high-fantasy realm. Each tale can be enjoyed as a standalone novel.

There Be Dragons Here is a cozy, low-stakes fantasy of family dynamics, friendship, and proving that it’s never too late to find adventure. Perfect for fans of The Hobbit and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End.

Publisher

Aethervale Publishing

Publication date

January 20, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

290 pages

Part of series

Tales of Aedrea

Check Out the newest release and tour for “Forrest House“ by E.M. Hamill (Other Worlds Ink Tour and excerpt)

E.M. Hamill has a new MM urban fantasy out: Forrest House.

Blood is Stronger Than Magic

Ander Forrest renounced blood magic to become a nurse-healer in his rural hometown, far from the drama of wizardry and espionage his sister Kate craved. When Kate goes missing in action, Ander finds himself the legal guardian of her gifted twins and receives a cryptic warning from Kate’s husband to protect them before he, too, disappears.

Six months later, his former lover crash lands in the kids’ bedroom via a spell only Ander’s sister could have cast. Druid Cai Piper doesn’t remember how he got there, but he knows he never stopped loving Ander, and that he was sent to protect him and the twins. Cai is strangely drawn to Forrest House and the land it stands upon.

With the secrets of a clandestine wizards’ order hanging between them, Cai and Ander must remember how to trust each other as sinister forces move against the Forrest family—magical terrorists who want to exploit their rare sorcery and bring the world to its knees.

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Excerpt

Cai slept the rest of the afternoon. Ander managed to distract the twins from sneaking into their uncle’s room by helping them make chocolate chip cookies. As snow-blue darkness began to gather in the valley, he peered into the guest room again.

His bloodstained long coat was draped over the footboard. Cai sat on the side of the bed, his drooping head leaning in his hands. It was a disconcerting flashback of the night Ander left their flat. That scene was seared into his conscience like a brand.

“Headache?” Ander asked softly. Cai startled, raised his head quickly, and winced.

“Blinding,” he admitted.

“Here. You need to drink water.” Ander uncapped the bottle and handed it to Cai. “You took a nasty hit to the head. I healed the cut, but it’s a bad bruise. I have some acetaminophen—paracetamol—if you want it.”

“Not yet.” He drank deeply and stood, unfolding his tall frame with caution. “The vertigo is gone.”

“Good.” They stared at each other for a long moment. Ander’s insides still did flip-flops beneath Cai’s golden-brown gaze, bringing warmth to his cheeks.

Cai cleared his throat. “You said I’m in America?”

“Yeah.”

“And if I was sent by a bloodspell, does that mean Remy and Raven are here?”

“Well, of course.” Ander blinked as Cai closed his eyes and sighed. He wasn’t sure if it was relief or defeat. “You didn’t know,” he said.

“No. Edwyn kept it a secret, even from me.” His fingers touched the blood-matted knot at the back of his head in tentative exploration. “I must have been out. I would never have let him send me otherwise. He was bleeding badly.” His hand tapped an area high and to the outside on his left leg. “Shot in the thigh.”

Ander thought of all the major blood vessels there and breathed a plea to the Goddess that none were severed. “I didn’t think the Fellowship used bullets.”

“We don’t. We were on a joint mission with intelligence agents. Someone started lobbing spells at us and our allies turned and shot each other. He was hit in the crossfire.”

“A Judas spell?” Ander frowned.

“I think so.”

“Were you working with British intelligence?”

Cai opened his mouth to answer, then flinched and rubbed both sides of his head. “Some of my memories are missing. It’s painful to think about.”

“I think you might have a concussion.”

“Maybe. But this feels more like it was blocked by a spell.”

“By Edwyn?”

“I don’t think he would have had time. Not surrounded by guns and magic.” His breath became uneven again, and he sat unsteadily on the bed. “The harder I try to think about it, the more it hurts.”

“Don’t try right now.” Ander came closer and put his fingers under Cai’s jaw, forcing him to look up so he could peer into his eyes. Still no signs of a more serious head injury, but he wasn’t satisfied until he ran his fingers under Cai’s clotted hair to cradle the bruised lump beneath his palm, his senses open for new bleeding. He didn’t discover any.

Cai stared at him as he pulled away, his face inches from Ander’s. They both became aware at the same time of how close he was standing, his hands gentle on the back of Cai’s head as if he were going to draw him into a kiss. Ander slowly stepped back.

“I have to find a way to get back to…” Cai frowned. “To…damn it! They took that, too. I don’t know where we were.” He looked to Ander with a desolate gaze. “I don’t even know if Edwyn’s alive.”

“You can’t ask the Fellowship?”

He stiffened. “No, I can’t.”

“I’d feel better if I could get you to a hospital.”

“I’ll be fine. I think it’s clear I’m meant to protect you and the twins.”

“Protect us from what?” He sat on the bed next to him. “What’s going on, Cai? Why wouldn’t Ed tell you where the kids were?”

He didn’t answer, his gaze slipping sideways.

Ander had not missed this infuriating silence. Kate had pushed Ander away with it, Edwyn maintained it, and Cai had used it to shut down questions when they were together.

He’d left Wales and come home because the people he loved most in the world could barely talk to him unless he was inducted into the Fellowship.

Fury rose in scarlet floods with Cai’s refusal to speak. Ander let it crest. “That’s fantastic. Of course you can’t say anything. Then tell me how to protect them and get the fuck out.”

“You don’t—”

“They’re all I have left of Kate! I need to know how to protect them!”

“If you’re going to shout at me, then I will take that paracetamol now.” His voice was soft, defeated. A crease furrowed the skin between his brows, and the tight lines of his body spoke of more pain than a headache. Ander didn’t have to imagine the grief of not knowing if his brother was dead or alive. He knew only too well.

“I’m sorry.” Ander exhaled, forcing himself to calm. “We aren’t done,” he said in a less strident tone. “You will tell me what’s going on. Fuck the Fellowship and your code of secrecy! Those kids are my priority now. They’ve already lost their mother, and now maybe their father. No more.”

To his surprise, Cai nodded. “I promise I will tell you what I know.”

Disconcerted by his unexpected victory, Ander reluctantly let his anger drain away.

“Are you hungry? I’m making dinner.”

“Starving. I can’t recall when I last ate anything.”

“It’ll be ready in half an hour. Make sure you drink the rest of that water.” He turned to go.

“Ander.” Cai’s expression was gentle as Ander looked back over his shoulder. “It’s good to see you.”

“Good to see you, too.” The flutters inside were ridiculous despite the tug of war between Ander’s anger and worry.

Author Bio

Award- winning author Elisabeth “E.M.” Hamill is a nurse by day, unabashed geek, chocoholic, sci fi and fantasy novelist by nights, weekends, and whenever it’s possible to steal quality time with a laptop.

Lisa lives with their family, two dogs, and a cat in the wilds of eastern suburban Kansas, where they fend off flying monkey attacks and prep for the zombie apocalypse.

Author Website: https://emhamill.wordpress.com

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/lisa.millham

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Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/e.m.hamill/

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Author Liminal Fiction (LimFic.com): https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/e-m-hamill/

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