Blog Tour: Phantasma by Kaylie Smith

 

publication September 3, 2024

buy on Amazon

Welcome to Phantasma.

There are only two rules to the game. Stay alive. And don’t fall in love.

When Ophelia’s sister disappears, there is only one way to save her. Ophelia must enter Phantasma, a deadly contest inside a haunted mansion, and claim its prize—a single wish.

Phantasma is a maze of twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, of demons and temptations. Ophelia will face nine challenges, each more dangerous than the last. There can only be one winner, and the other contestants will stop at nothing to eliminate their rivals.

Every day the house creates new monsters. But just as Ophelia’s fears threaten to overwhelm her, a mysterious stranger offers her a bargain.

Charming, arrogant and infuriatingly attractive, Blackwell claims he can guide her through the lethal trials ahead. All he asks in return is ten years of her life.

Ophelia knows she shouldn’t trust him. Blackwell doesn’t seem dangerous, but appearances can be deceptive. Worse still, she feels a dark and irresistible attraction drawing them closer and closer.

Her life is on the line. But in Phantasma, the only thing deadlier than losing the game is losing your heart…

A Court of Thorns and Roses meets Caraval in this seductive fantasy adventure. With steamy romance, a sexy morally gray love interest, OCD rep and jaw-dropping twists, Phantasma is perfect for fans of Rebecca Yarros, Nisha J. Tuli and Carissa Broadbent.

MY REVIEW:

Phantasma by Kaylie Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this ebook from NetGalley, paperback from publisher and the audiobook from NetGalley.
So I listened to the audiobook for the first half and really enjoyed the narrator. Then read the ebook for the last half while looking at the beautiful cover of the paperback.
It says it is part of a series but it felt like a standalone.
Ophelia and her sister just lost their mother and then found out about a large debt on their house. Ophelia has also inherited her mother's powers. Then her sister goes missing when she decides to enter Phantasma to pay off the debt. Ophelia goes and learns if she wants to see her sister then she has to compete in everything that is put her way. It is kind of like Hunger Games and the rule is not to fall n love.
Thanks to NetGalley and Second Sky for all the copies to review,

View all my reviews

Kaylie Smith is a writer and lover of all things magical and fantasy. She grew up in Louisiana where she frequently haunted bookstores and practiced her writing craft. After getting her degree in graphic design, she decided to fully pursue her dream of being an author, and the first book in her YA fantasy series, A RUINOUS FATE, debuts in January 2023 from Disney Hyperion. When she isn’t writing or reading, she can be found at home with her menagerie of animals, fussing over her houseplants, or annoying people about astrology.

Social Media

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KaylsMoon

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylsmoon

Website: https://www.kayliesmithbooks.com/

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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21767301.Kaylie_Smith

Second Sky email signup: www.secondskybooks.com/kathryn-ann-kingsley

Book Review: Breaker by A.K. Nevermore

 

Published July 11, 2024

Buy on Amazon

Self-exiled to the Outside, Flynn Scot is oath-bound to a life of strict penance.

Cursed with a vicious temper and haunted by the blood-stained debauchery of his past, Flynn’s sworn off women, whiskey, and violence, and doesn’t give a damn about whispers of the coming war. He sure as hell isn’t in the mood to make good on a debt when it’s called in, especially when playing white knight outs him as a Talent, and the damsel in distress as his soulmate.

On the run from her future as a broodmare for the Source, escaped Talent Kara Jester is no distressed damsel.

And the last thing she wants is to be trapped in a blizzard with a surly—and frustratingly captivating—thug. Without the suppression meds holding her libido in check, her biology’s primed to procreate, and Flynn’s growled assurances that he won’t touch her doesn’t match the hunger in his eyes.

It doesn’t align with what fate has in store for them, either.

With elite troops hot on their heels and the border set to close, it’s a race to the North, away from Kara’s horrific future and towards the dark past Flynn wants to keep buried. Clinging to the shreds of his oath, he’s forced to choose between protecting the woman he’s afraid to love and letting out the animal he swore he’d never be again. Either may destroy him, if Kara’s secrets don’t get them killed first.

MY REVIEW:

Breaker by A.K. Nevermore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Flynn has a short temper and on his way to his grandfather's. He has sworn off Women, whiskey, and violence. He ends up finding Kara and they are traveling together. Things of course heat up with them and they end up as soulmates. This was so interesting to keep reading and her Talent gets them out of a lot of sticky situations along with his Talent. But when they get together or even n close proximity and the lust comes out then everyone around them can feel the intensity. I had to laugh at his family when this happened.
I received this ARC from the author.

View all my reviews

A.K. Nevermore

Website

https://aknevermore.com

Twitter

AkNevermore

Genre

Science Fiction, Paranormal, Romance

AK Nevermore enjoys operating heavy machinery, freebases coffee, and gives up sarcasm for Lent every year.

A Jane-of-all-trades, she’s a certified chef, restores antiques, and dabbles in beekeeping when she’s not reading voraciously or running down the dream in her beat-up camo Chucks.

Unable to ignore the voices in her head, and unwilling to become medicated, she writes full time around a nest full of ravens. Her books explore dark worlds, perversely irreverent and profound, and always entertaining.

AK belongs to a bunch of industry associations, volunteers for far too many committees, teaches creative writing, and on the rare occasion, sleeps.

Book Review: Breeder by A.K. Nevermore

 

 Published January 1, 2024

What you don't know can kill you...

Before Kara met Flynn, she was property of the Source.

The genetic research facility owned by a powerful international conglomerate dominates the Northern Hemisphere. Valued solely for her DNA and her talent to bind matter together, when she receives her summons to breed, she panics.

Rescued from the brink of death, she’s offered the chance to escape and find her own destiny.

But the journey through the desolation of the Outside is fraught with peril, and the golden halos marking her as a Talent also paint her as a target. Kept ignorant of everything beyond the facility’s walls, Kara grapples to survive in the hostile wasteland. Humanity purists and roving gangs are only a fraction of her problems, because the Source, and Riegel, her contracted mate, aren’t just going to let her walk away…

MY REVIEW:

Breeder by A.K. Nevermore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kara was property of the Source, a genetic research facility.She is being used for her DNA and being able to bind matter together. Someone helps her to escape and she goes on the run. Meets up with a man who she does not trust and goes back to running again when she meets Finn.Kara is finding it hard to survive before Finn but he will help her.
I really liked this world and it is a dystopian sci fi dark romance.
I received the arc from the author.

View all my reviews

                                                                   A.K. Nevermore


Website
https://aknevermore.com

Twitter
AkNevermore

Genre
Science Fiction, Paranormal, Romance


AK Nevermore enjoys operating heavy machinery, freebases coffee, and gives up sarcasm for Lent every year.

A Jane-of-all-trades, she’s a certified chef, restores antiques, and dabbles in beekeeping when she’s not reading voraciously or running down the dream in her beat-up camo Chucks.

Unable to ignore the voices in her head, and unwilling to become medicated, she writes full time around a nest full of ravens. Her books explore dark worlds, perversely irreverent and profound, and always entertaining.

AK belongs to a bunch of industry associations, volunteers for far too many committees, teaches creative writing, and on the rare occasion, sleeps.

Book Review: Hitched by Lauren Biel

 

Published January 25, 2023

buy from Amazon

"Ready or not, rabbit, here I come"

Lex

The moment I open the car door and see her sweet face, I know I'm making a mistake. By offering to give me a ride, so is she. I spot the rabbit’s foot hanging from the rear-view mirror. It's not her lucky day.

I take her with me as I run from the law. Despite being a felon and a documented sociopath, I only mean for Selena to be a ride to the border. But somewhere along the way she stirs up feelings I've long thought myself incapable of.

She's my rabbit, my sweet little bunny, and I need to teach her how to run from me so I can catch her and show her what it's like to be devoured by the predator she should be afraid of.

Danger lurks in every corner, and the risk of getting caught grows by the day. What will I do once she takes me to my destination? Will I let her go or do something much worse? Can we find some way to stay together when the world wants to pull us apart?

Trigger Warnings: Infidelity (not between mcs), domestic violence (not between mcs), detailed abuse in the past for both mcs, murder, violence, abduction, suicidal ideations, dubious/non consent, attempted non con (not between mcs), sociopathic behavior, somnophilia scene, c*ck stuffing scene, degradation kink, praise, spitting, outdoor/car scenes, primal play, c*m play, b*tt stuff (including anal and oral), voyeurism, exhibitionism, jealous/possessive behavior, sado-masochism

Hitched is a dual POV dark hitchhiker standalone novel with an HEA

MY REVIEW:

Hitched by Lauren Biel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There are some grey areas to me as far as sex/rape is concerned. He always gave her a choice but sometimes the choice was death. Whether he actually would have , I have no idea.
Lex escaped from prison and while hitchhiking he gets picked up from a young woman, Selena. she is married to an abusive husband. These 2 end up gong on the run together.
It is a dark story and lots of trigger warnings.
There were time I would like Lex and then he would turn around and be an asshole.
I don't know why she went on the run with him after confronting her husband. I would have stayed and never thought of or mentioned Lex again. Then I had to remember that she comes from an abusive relationship and maybe doesn't know any better. I did see this on TikTok for recommendation.

View all my reviews

Lauren Biel

Lauren’s stories are often emotionally raw, with lots of twists and turns. She describes her writing as “where light meets dark”, which represents how her witty humor compliments the darkness in every story. Instead of trying to mold her writing to fit in a box, she chooses to be unapologetically herself. While her focus is on Romance with dark elements, subgenre is no constraint for her. The common theme in every book is finding love when you least expect it. She enjoys putting her characters through tribulations, allowing their triumphs to be that much more poignant. Make sure you have your seatbelts secured. It’s always a bumpy ride.

When she’s not working, she’s writing. When she’s not writing, she’s spending time with her husband, her friends, or her pets. You might also find her on a horseback trail ride or sitting beside a waterfall in Upstate New York. She has a pretty normal life, yet her stories are anything but.

Book Review: The Finish Line by Kate Stewart

 

                                                    Published January 24, 2021

                                                    buy on Amazon

Secrets and Lies...

I’ve lived the entirety of my life wrapped up in subterfuge for one purpose—revenge.

Through the years, I lived more as an enigma than a man.

For so long, I denied I had a beating heart of my own.

Until her. Until she unearthed the starving vessel inside, forced me to acknowledge it, forced me to understand that I’m capable of bleeding the same as any other.

For that, we paid. We're still paying.

Yet, she demands it still, the useless heart of the ruthless thief and shameless villain she fell for. My fear is, I’m no longer that man.

With the lies I’ve told, the life I’ve led, my mistakes are beginning to catch up with me, day by day, one by one.

This is my last chance, and I have no intention of losing her again, but as the deception of my past starts to unravel and close in, shedding my humanity may be the only thing that can save us both.

Maybe it’s already too late.

                                      MY REVIEW:

The Finish Line by Kate Stewart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I want to rate this more than 5 stars.
This is my last chance, and I have no intention of losing her again, but as the deception of my past starts to unravel and close in, shedding my humanity may be the only thing that can save us both.

Oh shit!!! We get more of Tobias's POV and the battle of his feelings for Cecelia and her feelings towards him.
But the twist at the end oh booy!!!
I have never had a series book hangover in a long time and need to wait a few days before I pick up another book.

View all my reviews

USA Today bestselling author and Texas native, Kate Stewart, lives in
North Carolina with her husband, Nick. Nestled within the Blueridge
Mountains, Kate pens messy, sexy, angst-filled contemporary romance, as
well as romantic comedy and erotic suspense. Kate’s title, Drive, was
named one of the best romances of 2017 by The New York Daily News and
Huffington Post. Drive was also a finalist in the Goodreads Choice awards
for best contemporary romance of 2017. The Ravenhood Trilogy,
consisting of Flock, Exodus, and The Finish Line, has become an
international bestseller and reader favorite. Her holiday release, The Plight
Before Christmas, ranked #6 on Amazon’s Top 100. Kate’s works have
been featured in USA TODAY, BuzzFeed, The New York Daily News,
Huffington Post and translated into a dozen languages.
Kate is a lover of all things ’80s and ’90s, especially John Hughes films and
rap. She dabbles a little in photography, can knit a simple stitch scarf for
necessity, and on occasion, does very well at whiskey.

Contact Kate- Email-authorkatestewart@gmail.com

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/79348...

Newsletter signup:
http://www.katestewartwrites.com/cont...

Website-www.katestewartwrites.com

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/authorkatest...

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/?hl=en

Book Review: Exodus by Kate Stewart

 

                                                   Published July 31, 2020

                                                  buy on Amazon

Can you live a lie?

It’s a ghost town, this place that haunts me, the one that made me.
It’s clear to me that I’ll never outgrow Triple Falls or outlive the time I spent
here.
I can still feel them all, my boys of summer.
Even when I’d sensed the danger, I gave in.
I didn’t heed a single warning. I let my sickness, my love, both rule and ruin
me. I played my part, eyes wide open, tempting fate until it delivered.
There was never going to be an escape.
All of us are to blame for what happened. All of us serving our own
sentences. We were careless and reckless, thinking our youth made us
indestructible, exempt from our sins, and it cost us all.
I’m done pretending I didn’t leave the largest part of me between these
hills and valleys, between the sea of trees that hold my secrets.
It’s the reason I’m back. To make peace with my fate.
And if I can’t grieve enough to cure myself in my time here, I’ll remain sick.
That will be my curse.
But it’s time to confess, to myself more so than any other, that I’d hindered
my chances because of the way I was built, and because of the men who built me.
At this point, I just want to make peace with who I am, no matter what
ending I get.

Because I can no longer live a lie.

                                               MY REVIEW:

Exodus by Kate Stewart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I can still feel them all, my boys of summer.
Even when I’d sensed the danger, I gave in. Tobias is now in Cecelia's life and I really did not like him at first. I wanted Sean and Dominic back.
This book had me crying so hard that the tears were pouring down my face and I didn't know how I was going to get to the 3rd book. OMG these feelings had me so wrecked and emotionally drained. I had to pick up the next book right away.

View all my reviews

USA Today bestselling author and Texas native, Kate Stewart, lives in
North Carolina with her husband, Nick. Nestled within the Blueridge
Mountains, Kate pens messy, sexy, angst-filled contemporary romance, as
well as romantic comedy and erotic suspense. Kate’s title, Drive, was
named one of the best romances of 2017 by The New York Daily News and
Huffington Post. Drive was also a finalist in the Goodreads Choice awards
for best contemporary romance of 2017. The Ravenhood Trilogy,
consisting of Flock, Exodus, and The Finish Line, has become an
international bestseller and reader favorite. Her holiday release, The Plight
Before Christmas, ranked #6 on Amazon’s Top 100. Kate’s works have
been featured in USA TODAY, BuzzFeed, The New York Daily News,
Huffington Post and translated into a dozen languages.
Kate is a lover of all things ’80s and ’90s, especially John Hughes films and
rap. She dabbles a little in photography, can knit a simple stitch scarf for
necessity, and on occasion, does very well at whiskey.

Contact Kate- Email-authorkatestewart@gmail.com

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/79348...

Newsletter signup:
http://www.katestewartwrites.com/cont...

Website-www.katestewartwrites.com

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/authorkatest...

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/?hl=en

Book Review: Flock by Kate Stewart

 

                                                      Published July 27 , 2020

                                                       Buy from Amazon

Can you keep a secret?
⁣
I grew up sick.⁣
⁣
Let me clarify.⁣
⁣
I grew up believing that real love stories include a martyr or demand great sacrifice to be worthy.⁣
⁣
Because of that, I believed it, because I made myself believe it, and I bred the most masochistic of romantic hearts, which resulted in my illness.⁣
⁣
When I lived this story, my own twisted fairy tale, it was unbeknownst to me at the time because I was young and naïve. I gave into temptation and fed the beating beast, which grew thirstier with every slash, every strike, every blow.⁣
⁣
Triple Falls wasn’t at all what it seemed, nor were the men that swept me under their wing. But in order to keep them, I had to be in on their secrets.⁣
⁣
Secrets that cost us everything to keep.⁣
⁣
That’s the novelty of fiction versus reality. You can’t re-live your own love story, because by the time you’ve realized you’re living it, it’s over. At least that was the case for me and the men I trusted my foolish heart to.⁣
⁣
Looking back, I’m convinced I willed my story into existence due to my illness.⁣
⁣
And all were punished.

                                                     MY REVIEW:

Flock by Kate Stewart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If I could rate this more than 5 stars then I would. This book wrecked me!!
Triple Falls wasn’t at all what it seemed, nor were the men that swept me under their wing. But in order to keep them, I had to be in on their secrets.⁣
Cecilia is 19 and is told she has to go live with her father for a year before she can have her inheritance. She meets Sean on her first day at work and invites her to his house for a party. There she meets Dominic who can't stand her and wants her to leave. But she sticks it out.
I didn't know anything about this book when I picked it up and when she first got to the party I was thinking to myself are these guys vampires? Nope, they are human and are the Ravenhood. The secrets that bind this group will keep you rooting for them as you read and find out what they do.
When we get to know Dominic then I ended up liking him but I wanted Cecilia with Sean. I can't even describe into words exactly how I feel but it has ALL the feels into one book.
I could not stop reading and had to pick up the next book right away.

View all my reviews

Kate Stewart


Born in Chicago , The United States

Website
http://www.katestewartwrites.com

Twitter
https://twitter.com/authorklstewart

Genre
Contemporary, Romance, Suspense




USA Today bestselling author and Texas native, Kate Stewart, lives in
North Carolina with her husband, Nick. Nestled within the Blueridge
Mountains, Kate pens messy, sexy, angst-filled contemporary romance, as
well as romantic comedy and erotic suspense. Kate’s title, Drive, was
named one of the best romances of 2017 by The New York Daily News and
Huffington Post. Drive was also a finalist in the Goodreads Choice awards
for best contemporary romance of 2017. The Ravenhood Trilogy,
consisting of Flock, Exodus, and The Finish Line, has become an
international bestseller and reader favorite. Her holiday release, The Plight
Before Christmas, ranked #6 on Amazon’s Top 100. Kate’s works have
been featured in USA TODAY, BuzzFeed, The New York Daily News,
Huffington Post and translated into a dozen languages.
Kate is a lover of all things ’80s and ’90s, especially John Hughes films and
rap. She dabbles a little in photography, can knit a simple stitch scarf for
necessity, and on occasion, does very well at whiskey.

Contact Kate- Email-authorkatestewart@gmail.com

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/79348...

Newsletter signup:
http://www.katestewartwrites.com/cont...

Website-www.katestewartwrites.com

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/authorkatest...

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/?hl=en

Release Blast: Sully's Fantasy by Pepper Winters

Release Date: July 28

"Seductive, addictive, and unforgettably soulful, Goddess Isles is everything you love about dark romance and dangerous alphas." - Pam Godwin 

This book will feature Sully's utmost desires. It will be a perfect bite of heart-fluttery spice. The best thing? It will be held at Hawksridge Hall when Sully travels to introduce Eleanor to Jethro and Nila (Indebted Series), and also meets Elder and Pim (Dollar Series). It will have long length cameos of Jethro and Nila, along with old locations from the New York Times Bestselling series Indebted.

Please note YOU DO NOT HAVE TO READ these novellas to finish Goddess Isles. The story concludes in FIFTH A FURY. These are just spicy bites with visits to Euphoria!

Grab Your Copy Here:

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Apple | Nook | Kobo | Google Play

Meet Pepper Winters

Pepper currently has thirty-one books released in nine languages. She’s hit best-seller lists (USA Today, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal) thirty-seven times. She dabbles in multiple genres, ranging from Dark Romance to Coming of Age.

After chasing her dreams to become a full-time writer, Pepper has earned recognition with awards for best Dark Romance, best BDSM Series, and best Hero. She’s an #1 iBooks bestseller, along with #1 in Erotic Romance, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary, and Erotica Thriller. She’s also honoured to wear the IndieReader Badge for being a Top 10 Indie Bestseller.

After releasing two books with Grand Central, Hachette (Ruin & Rule and Sin & Suffer) Pepper is a Hybrid Author of both Traditional and Self-published work.

For all film and foreign rights please contact Erica Silverman at Trident Media.

Connect with Pepper Winters

Newsletter | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon Author Page

Hosted By:

#pepperwinters #Sullysfantasy #wildfiremarketing

Blog Tour: Diamond in the Rough by Skye Warren

Diamond in the Rough
Skye Warren
Publication date: July 7th 2020
Genres: Adult, Romance

I’m on my way to meet my birth parents when it happens. A white van. A dark hood. Every woman’s worst nightmare. Now I’m trapped in an abandoned building. The man who took me says I won’t be hurt. The man in the cell next to me says that’s a lie. I’ll fight with every ounce of strength, but there are secrets in these walls. I’ll need every single one of them to survive.

DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH is a new dark romance from New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren. Finding yourself has never been so dangerous…

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo






                                                   MY REVIEW:


Diamond in the Rough by Skye Warren
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had a really hard time with the romance in this book. First let me say the writing was great and descriptions and everything else flowed really well throughout the book. The description does say dark romance and I guess that is how I would describe it. I had a hard time with Holly being a smart woman falling for someone like Elijah and felt that a lot of this relationship was controlling and abusive.
The end left you completely hanging so you know that there is another book. I don't mind series that have story lines that continue but this just ended abruptly.
It just was not a book for me.


View all my reviews

Author Bio:

Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of dangerous romance. Her new book ESCORT is out now!

“ESCORT is perfection only Skye Warren can deliver—a poetically erotic tale of exquisitely damaged characters, devastating secrets, revenge and redemption.” – Samanthe Beck, USA Today bestselling author

“Hypnotically romantic…this book reads like a sensual dream and I didn’t want to wake up.” – Tessa Bailey, New York Times bestselling author

Don’t miss a release! Sign up for the newsletter to get new book alerts: www.skyewarren.com/newsletter

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