#BookReview: Any Sign of Life by Rae Carson

Synopsis: When a teenage girl thinks she may be the only person left alive in her town—maybe in the whole world—she must rely on hope, trust, and her own resilience.

Paige Miller is determined to take her basketball team to the state championship, maybe even beyond. But as March Madness heats up, Paige falls deathly ill. Days later, she wakes up attached to an IV and learns that the whole world has perished. Everyone she loves, and all of her dreams for the future—they’re gone.

But Paige is a warrior, so she pushes through her fear and her grief. And as she gets through each day—scrounging for food, for shelter, for safety—Paige encounters a few more young survivors. Together, they might stand a chance. But as they struggle to endure their new reality, they learn that the apocalypse did not happen by accident. And that there are worse things than being alone.

#BookTour @RABTBookTours: You Have the Right to Remain Silent by Mark M. Bello @MarkMBello

Zachary Blake Legal Thriller, #8

Legal Thriller

Date Published 04-25-2022

 

 

Conservative talk-show host Mia Folger is in therapy with Dr. Harold Rothenberg. Mia and her husband, progressive Congressman Bradley Crawford, are not getting along these days, personally or politically.

When Crawford is found brutally dismembered and murdered, the evidence points to Mia as his killer. While the prosecutor pushes for a murder indictment, Dr. Rothenberg, convinced of his patient’s innocence, turns to an old friend—high profile attorney Zachary Blake, Detroit’s self-proclaimed ‘King of Justice.’

Blake will do anything for Rothenberg, the man who successfully treated his kids in their battle with a predator priest. Zack takes Mia’s case, but has his work cut out for him because Mia has been hospitalized, shocked into a catatonic state at the discovery of her husband’s mutilated body, unable to assist in her own defense.

Sensing he must prove Mia’s innocence to avoid an eventual life sentence, Zack enlists the aid of his crack investigator, Micah Love, and Micah’s cyber-specialist, Reed Spencer to dissect and poke holes in the case. But, for this case, Micah in convinced that Zack needs more—he recommends beautiful, sharp, brash, foul-mouthed, cocky-confident New York based jury consultant extraordinaire Shari Belitz and her team of mock trial/focus group gurus.

Shari is the best of the best. Her assignment in the Folger case? Flyspeck the evidence and unleash her arsenal of psychological techniques and predictive skills—use focus groups or mock juries to determine what evidence or circumstances would cause the real jury to declare Mia Folger innocent of all charges. Zack wants no part of Shari; one cocky lawyer-Zachary Blake-should be sufficient to prove Mia’s case. Blake knows what he needs for an acquittal; a brash jury consultant from NYC will only get in his way. But Micah persists and persuades Zack him to give Shari and her team a try.

Zack, Micah, Reed, and the irrepressible Ms. Belitz join forces in an all-out attack on the evidence, while evil characters lurk in the background, engaged in a sinister plot to assure Mia’s demise.

Expect the unexpected in this whodunit legal crime thriller, the 8th installment of the Zachary Blake Legal Thriller Series, featuring all your favorite series characters and one brash, exciting newcomer who gives Blake all he can handle.

#BookReview: Jade Fire Gold by June C.L. Tan

Synopsis: In an empire on the brink of war...

Ahn is no one, with no past and no family.

Altan is a lost heir, his future stolen away as a child.

When they meet, Altan sees in Ahn a path to reclaiming the throne. Ahn sees a way to finally unlock her past and understand her arcane magical abilities.

But they may have to pay a far deadlier price than either could have imagined.

Ferocious action, shadowy intrigue, and a captivating romance collide in June CL Tan’s debut, a stunning homage to the Xianxia novel with a tender, beating heart, perfect for fans of The Bone Witch and We Hunt the Flame.

#BookReview: Enough: A Memoir of Mistakes, Mania, and Motherhood by Amelia Zachry

Synopsis: A bicultural child of a Malaysian mother and an Indian father, Amelia Zachry was different from the get-go, never quite fitting in. In this raw, inspiring memoir, she chronicles the long, winding journey that brought her from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Kentucky, USA--the place she and her family now call home.

Amelia was nineteen years old, her future wide open, when a fellow student from her Kuala Lumpur university spiked her drink and sexually assaulted her. After that night, she felt sullied--and convinced that what had happened was her fault. In the months and years that followed, she spiraled, first into isolation and then into promiscuity, as she attempted to try to take back some of the power that had been stripped from her that night. Eventually, she met the man who would become her husband and greatest advocate, Daniel, and began to emerge from that dark place--but even he couldn't fight her demons for her. In her late twenties, Amelia was diagnosed with PTSD and bipolar II disorder, both of which would go on to shape her adult life as an individual, a wife, and a mother.

A memoir of trauma and healing, mental illness and resilience, culture shock and new beginnings, devastation and triumph, Enough is one woman's story of learning to make peace with the fact that things are as they should be, even if she sometimes wishes they were different--and of discovering that however far away it may seem, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. 

This title will be released on October 18, 2022.

#BookBlitz @RABTBookTours: The Cave of Ruin Area by @AMatthewsAuthor

 

The Cross of Ciaran, Book 3

Paranormal Romance

Date Published: 05-25-2022

 

 

Ciarán Donnelly is ready to leave his past behind and concentrate on his new life, but his past may not be finished with him. His dreams have returned with a vengeance, and this time they’re telling him Ruadhán, the long-dead priest who entombed him fifteen hundred years before, is threatening to kidnap his unborn twins. Of course, his dream interpretation leaves a lot to be desired, especially when it comes to those he loves.

As if the dreams are not bad enough, his anxiety over them is causing stress on his new marriage, which is the last thing Caitlin needs in her current condition. The twins are on the way, and everyone advises him the dreams stem from his own insecurities over becoming a father. After all, Ruadhán was the chief priest, a member of the high council, loyal to his goddess unto death. What are the chances he suffered the same fate as Ciarán and survived fifteen centuries?

The theory sounds reasonable, and he’s happy to accept it, until Aodhán comes across an empty tomb in the Hills of ár Sinsear that looks as though it may have been occupied at some point. Could Ruadhán have survived after all? And if so, where is he now? To complicate the issue, Aodhán stumbles across another piece of information that could alter the possible meaning of his brother’s dreams. But will Ciarán manage to put the pieces together before it’s too late, or will he lose his family to an ancient adversary?

#BookReview: The Excalibur Curse (Camelot Rising #3) by @KierstenWhite

Synopsis: The gripping conclusion to the acclaimed Arthurian fantasy trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White finds Guinevere questioning everything—friends and enemies, good and evil, and, most of all, herself.

While journeying north toward the Dark Queen, Guinevere falls into the hands of her enemies. Behind her are Lancelot, trapped on the other side of the magical barrier they created to protect Camelot, and Arthur, who has been led away from his kingdom, chasing after false promises. But the greatest danger isn’t what lies ahead of Guinevere—it’s what’s been buried inside her. 

Vowing to unravel the truth of her past with or without Merlin’s help, Guinevere joins forces with the sorceress Morgana and her son, Mordred—and faces the confusing, forbidden feelings she still harbors for him. When Guinevere makes an agonizing discovery about who she is and how she came to be, she finds herself with an impossible choice: fix a terrible crime, or help prevent war.

Guinevere is determined to set things right, whatever the cost. To defeat a rising evil. To remake a kingdom. To undo the mistakes of the past...even if it means destroying herself.

Guinevere has been a changeling, a witch, a queen—but what does it mean to be just a girl?

#BookReview: The Bone Shard Emperor (The Drowning Empire #2) by Andrea Stewart

Synopsis: Andrea Stewart returns with The Bone Shard Emperor, the second installment of this unmissable, action-packed, magic-laced fantasy epic. 

The Emperor is Dead. Long live the Emperor.  
 
Lin Sukai finally sits on the throne she won at so much cost, but her struggles are only just beginning. Her people don’t trust her. Her political alliances are weak. And in the north-east of the Empire, a rebel army of constructs is gathering, its leader determined to take the throne by force.  
 
Yet an even greater threat is on the horizon, for the Alanga – the powerful magicians of legend – have returned to the Empire. They claim they come in peace, and Lin will need their help in order to defeat the rebels and restore peace.  
 
But can she trust them?