Showing posts with label new adult. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new adult. Show all posts

Monday, 12 May 2025

Skylark in the Fog by Helyna L. Clove - #bookspotlight #blogtour


Today I am shining the spotlight on something a little different. Skylark in the Fog by Helyna L. Clove is a new adult science fiction/fantasy title. It was the 9th place finalist in BBNYA 2024!

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists (16 in 2024) and one overall winner.


The Blurb

So when the universe falls to pieces, it doesn't mean your life has to, right? That comes later.

Jeane Blake, captain of the spaceship Skylark, makes her living by looting dead worlds, planets fallen prey to naturally occurring wormhole-like rifts plaguing the cosmos. She survives the only way she knows how: avoiding commitment and arguing with her dead foster father's ghost. But when her crew stumbles upon an alien device that could collapse the wormhole network and wipe out all sentient life, they catch the hungry eyes of the Union, a tyrannical empire hunting the sinister tech.

As she flees the Union's brainwashed agents, Jeane is forced to take on a shady mission and gets stuck assisting the runaway monarch of a technocrat planet. Queen Maura Tholis is seeking the aid of an interstellar resistance to reclaim her war-torn world, with another trouble-magnet device as her bargaining chip: a glove that allows her to command AI systems. Jeane couldn't care less about the whole deal, but things become personal when the Union annexes the place she calls home. And it might be her fault.

Reluctant to become weapons in the hands of power-hungry militants and desperate rebels, smuggler and queen join forces. But to save their homes, they must redefine themselves, work with the enemy, and face personal traumas they'd buried long ago-and only stars know which challenge might break them in the end. 


Book Details

ISBN:  978 1952876141

Publisher:  Story Well Publishing

Formats:  e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  524 (paperback)


Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon CA

Amazon US


About the Author

Helyna L. Clove (she/they) is a lover of the written word, hot comfort drinks, a universe full of stars, and all things neat and kind. She was born in 1988 in Hungary, and was raised in a small village a few miles off the shores of Lake Balaton. Described as someone always having “her head in the clouds”, she spent the first fifteen years of her life mostly consuming books from her dad’s home library, watching some great 90’s sci-fi series and movies, slowly working on her eclectic music taste, and dreaming about being abducted by cool alien friends.

After the arduous years of acquiring her astrophysics degree (because if they were not coming for her, she would damn well at least try and spy on those aliens) she worked as a researcher in Budapest, moving onto the green pastures of South-France in 2018, then Wales in 2022, where she currently lives with her small family of a wonderful boyfriend and Puddle, the tortoiseshell cat. She spends most of her time commandeering telescopes, staring at molecular spectra, writing/reading, cooking, playing video games, and trying her hand at different crafts.

Although she has been, as the Hungarians say, writing to her desk drawer since she was a kindergartener, it wasn’t until 2019 that she stepped out into the world with her stories. In the hell-year of 2020 she finished her first full-length novel, Skylark in the Fog, a light-hearted but honest space opera featuring a grumpy spaceship captain and her wayward friends on a quest to find their metaphorical (and maybe literal) homes, and, if everything goes well which it rarely does, to save the universe as well.

Her current projects include Imbued and Untwined, a new adult/adult dark fantasy duology about magic and love and how those might break the world, a paranormal horror about a team of demonhunters, several other speculative story ideas, and the so-far-untitled sequel to the adventures of the Skylark-crew.


If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.




(media courtesy of The Write Reads)

(all opinions are my own)

Thursday, 15 February 2024

Next of Kin by Hannah Bonam-Young - #bookreview

 


My phone rings, flashing a number that immediately sends a chill down my spine. I follow my instincts, ditching my cart and spot in the checkout line to find quiet in the grocery store's bathroom, which, thankfully is empty.

"Hello, this is Chloe." My voice already shaking.

"Hi, Chloe, this is Rachel Feroux calling from Child Protective Services. Is this a good time to talk?..

***

Two bickering strangers trying to foster their younger siblings team up to create a stable home, but the undeniable chemistry between them threatens to ruin everything.

When she discovers her biological mother has had a new baby, Chloe doesn't hesitate to provide a home for her. Failing to meet social services' financial evaluation, she's forced into a new initiative: joining households with another prospective guardian.

Surly garage mechanic Warren, who is trying to gain custody of his deaf teenage brother, does not make a great first impression. But as their lives intertwine, Chloe and Warren discover they have more in common than they thought. So much so that the chemistry between them threatens everything they've fought for...

***

Publishing today, this funny, lovely book is well worth getting your hands on.

The main character, Chloe, is in her early twenties and finds herself in the unusual position of fostering her newborn baby sister when her biological mother gives birth. Instantly, the reader expects Chloe to be kind-hearted, and it is this, coupled with her protectiveness of her sister that propels her and the story along.

The love interest in this book is Warren, who teams up with Chloe as he is also caring for his teenage younger brother. However, although these two are thrown together and take a dislike to one another, the reader can happily anticipate the potential relationship that they might fall into.

The book does not disappoint in this respect. In fact, some scenes are a little racy at times. However, this felt natural, but you may choose to avoid this book if you prefer the hanky panky to remain out of sight in your reading. The budding relationship between them played out really well, and I was completely hooked by this book. Both Chloe and Warren are flawed characters but with the turn of each page I was rooting for them more and more.

The book deals with themes of identity, belonging and what constitutes family. It is written with humour and is also romantic and highly readable.  I enjoyed it very much. It is a heartwarming read with a feel-good factor, and I turned the final page with a satisfied smile. 

If you enjoy the friends to lovers romance trope, infused with humour and chemistry then you will love this book every bit as much as I did. I highly recommend it.


ISBN: 978  1835010938

Publisher:  Bedford Square Publishers 

Formats:  e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages:  368 (paperback)

About the Author:



Hannah writes romances featuring a cast of diverse, disabled, marginalized, and LGBTQIA+ folks wherein swoon-worthy storylines blend with the beautiful, messy, and challenging realities of life.

When not reading or writing romance you can find her having living room dance parties with her kids or planning any occasion that warrants a cheese board. Originally from Ontario, Canada, she lives with her childhood friend turned husband, Ben,  their two kids, a feisty orange cat, and a sleepy bulldog near Niagara Falls on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples.


(ARC courtesy of the publisher)

(author media coutesy of the author's webiste)

(all opinions are my own)

Monday, 5 December 2022

The Vicar Man by Amelia Crowley - #BBNYA2022 #spotlight #semifinalist

 


This year, the Book Bloggers' Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) is celebrating the 55 books that made it into Round Two with a mini spotlight blitz tour for each title. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner. 

I have had the honour of being one of the judging panel and I am delighted to be spotlighting some of these books.

Today in the spotlight is The Vicar Man by Amelia Crowley.


Dora is a barmaid.

Usually her life is fairly simple: she gets up, cleans the inn, feeds the chickens, argues with the increasingly obstreperous cockerel, listens to the woes of her fellow barmaid, avoids doing the laundry, and serves drinks to the motley crew of islanders who lurk about the taproom every night.

The same old routine, day in, day out.

Tonight, though, is different.

Tonight, just one week before the vernal equinox, after a catastrophically bad harvest the year before, a stranger has walked into the bar…


Publisher: Self-Published

Length: 196 Pages 

Genre: Historical Fantasy, Comedy, Satire

Age Category: New Adult, Adult

Date Published: 20 August 2021 


About the Author:

Amelia lives in Yorkshire with her family.

At least she definitely had a family around here somewhere, but to be honest she's spent so much of the last year staring into a word processor she thinks they may have wandered off.

Her writing is fuelled by mugs of terrible, over-sugared coffee, much better chocolate, and the occasional macaron, and is punctuated by her soulless whimpers and the sound of her head hitting the keyboard. 

She posts updates on her books and writing at https://www.ameliacrowley.com/ When she remembers.


If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.