Guest Post: New Release from Elle Klass!

Award winner, Elle Klass, is one of my favorite authors. She has a gift for creating characters who jump off the page then dropping them into plots saturated with nail-biting suspense.  Fortunately for her fans, she’s extremely prolific, so keeps ’em coming.

Her other works include the Baby Girl series, which I absolutely loved, as well as the ongoing Zombie Girl series, Bloodseekers series, and Ruthless Storm trilogy.  Another one I love is As Snow Falls, which is entirely unlike the others,  yet a classic in its own category, showing her talents span numerous genres.

As she’s gravitated toward the horror genre, her writing easily compares with greats like Mary Higgins Clark. She has just released her latest in that category, Scarlett. Check it out! –MF

Mistress of Death may be strong language, but it’s a title that describes my thriller/horror books well. Today I’m celebrating the release of Scarlett, Book 1 in the Evan’s Girls series.

The writing that comes easiest to me is dark, demented, and terrifying. Scarlett is a girl who, under other circumstances, might be quite normal. She seeks that balance anyways, but life has something else in store for her. She is surrounded by death. It follows her and yes, many people die.

At one point in the story she goes to Mystics and Broomsticks, a metaphysical store, and buys materials to protect her from malicious spirits. I guess I forgot to mention, not only do lots of people die, but she see’s spirits. She buys a bracelet made with a dark stone. It isn’t specified in the book, but my research led me to magnetite. 

This doesn’t end the drama in her life because it only wards off evil spirits, not evil people, and her life is filled with them. Scarlett faces more than her fair share of weirdo’s, one after another, while she fights for normalcy. At some point, she just accepts the strange and wicked, but not after her most terrifying ordeal.

Reading the reviews I’m a proud Mama. There are two points they all agree on:

1. The book is seriously twisted.

2. There are some very high points and really low points. I encourage you to read them. Click here.

The best news is the book will remain $.99 for the first few days of its release!

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Connect with Elle on social media:

Blog: http://thetroubledoyster.blogspot.com/
Website: http://elleklass.weebly.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElleKlass
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElleKlass

More FREE Sci-Fi Fantasy Novels!

Here’s another chance to download dozens of FREE science fiction and fantasy ebooks! You can also enter the drawing for a chance to win a $50 gift card! Is that cool or what?

With this particular promotion you can grab an ecopy of Star Trails Tetralogy volume iv, Refractions of Frozen Time, which means, if you’ve been paying attention, at this point you could have the entire Star Trails series including The Terra Debacle at no cost to you!

Please bear in mind that giving away books  does not pay my bills. I don’t like working for free any more than anyone else, but without readers it’s pretty pointless to be an author.  All I ask in return if you like my book is to PLEASE leave a short review on Amazon or Goodreads. That will help other potential readers decide whether they might like it and perhaps actually buy it. The same goes for all the other authors. That’s all we ask in return for providing you with hours of no cost entertainment. Thank you so much!

“The Student and the Slave”– An New Adventure Novel with a Giveaway!

Take a look at this exciting new young adult action and adventure novel, The Student and the Slave, now available for purchase! This is the third book in the Krillonian Chronicles, after The Collar and the Cavvarach and The Gladiator and the Guard.

The series is set in an alternate world that is very much like our own, with just a few major differences.  One is that slavery is legal there.  Slaves must wear metal collars that lock around their neck, making their enslaved status obvious to everyone. Another difference is the popularity of a martial art called cavvara shil.  It is fought with a cavvarach (rhymes with “have a rack”), a weapon similar to a sword but with a steel hook protruding from partway down its top edge.  Competitors can strike at each other with their feet as well as with the blades.  You win in one of two ways: disarming your opponent (hooking or knocking their cavvarach out of their hands) or pinning their shoulders to the mat for five seconds.

Cavvarach

First, a Little Information about Books 1 and 2: 

Book 1: The Collar and the Cavvarach

Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is desperate to see his little sister freed. But only victory in the Krillonian Empire’s most prestigious tournament will allow him to secretly arrange for Ellie’s escape. Dangerous people are closing in on her, however, and Bensin is running out of time. With his one hope fading quickly away, how can Bensin save Ellie from a life of slavery and abuse?

Click here to read chapter 1 of The Collar and the Cavvarach.
Click here to read about life in the Krillonian Empire, where the series is set.

Book 2: The Gladiator and the Guard

Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is just one victory away from freedom. But after he is accused of a crime he didn’t commit, he is condemned to the violent life and early death of a gladiator. While his loved ones seek desperately for a way to rescue him, Bensin struggles to stay alive and forge an identity in an environment designed to strip it from him. When he infuriates the authorities with his choices, he knows he is running out of time. Can he stand against the cruelty of the arena system and seize his freedom before that system crushes him?

Click here to read about life in the arena where Bensin and other gladiators are forced to live and train.

And now, The Student and the Slave, with another awesome cover by the talented Jack Lin!

Book 3: The Student and the Slave

Is this what freedom is supposed to be like? Desperate to provide for himself and his sister Ellie, Bensin searches fruitlessly for work like all the other former slaves in Tarnestra. He needs the money for an even more important purpose, though: to rescue Coach Steene, who sacrificed himself for Bensin’s freedom. When members of two rival street gangs express interest in Bensin’s martial arts skills, he realizes he may have a chance to save his father figure after all … at a cost.

Meanwhile, Steene struggles with his new life of slavery in far-away Neliria. Raymond, his young owner, seizes any opportunity to make his life miserable. But while Steene longs to escape and rejoin Bensin and Ellie, he starts to realize that Raymond needs him too. His choices will affect not only his own future, but that of everyone he cares about. Can he make the right ones … and live with the consequences?

Click here to order The Student and the Slave from Amazon for $2.99 a discounted price of just 99 cents through November 31st!

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Read an Excerpt:

In this excerpt, Bensin meets a character he encountered earlier in less than favorable circumstances.

 In the parking lot, Bensin noticed a man who seemed to be watching him. Choosing not to make eye contact, he quickened his steps as he crossed toward the buildings. 

He bought his envelopes, addressed one of them at the counter, slid the folded letter inside, and stuck it in the mail slot. Now we just have to wait for Officer Shigo to reply. Then he and Ellie could contact Coach and start to figure out a plan for freeing him.

When he stepped out of the post office, the man was standing just outside the door. “Hey.”

Instinctively, Bensin jumped back to gain room for self-defense. There was something about the man’s burly build and the way he was sizing Bensin up with his eyes. And the silver threads spiraling their way through his dreadlocks. 

Bensin brought his arms up, ready for action. “What do you want?”

“Take it easy.” The man backed away a step or two, hands raised to show he wasn’t a threat. He grinned. “You’re a good fighter. Where’d you learn those skills?”

“In the arena. I was a gladiator back in Jarreon.” It wasn’t something Bensin would normally boast about, but if his violent past discouraged a gang member from attacking him, so much the better.

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About the Author:

Annie Douglass Lima spent most of her childhood in Kenya and later graduated from Biola University in Southern California. She and her husband Floyd currently live in Taiwan, where she teaches fifth grade at Morrison Academy. She has been writing poetry, short stories, and novels since her childhood, and to date has published fifteen books (three YA action and adventure novels, four fantasies, a puppet script, six anthologies of her students’ poetry, and a Bible verse coloring and activity book). Besides writing, her hobbies include reading (especially fantasy and science fiction), scrapbooking, and international travel.

Connect with the Author Online:

Email: AnnieDouglassLima@gmail.com

Blog: http://anniedouglasslima.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnieDouglassLimaAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/princeofalasia

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnGoodreads

Amazon Author Page: http://bit.ly/AnnieDouglassLimaOnAmazon

LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnLinkedIn

Google+: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnGooglePlus

Now, enter to win an Amazon gift card or a free digital copy of the first two books in the series!

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“Immortal: The Soulmate” by Terra James

This suspenseful sequel was another great page-turner, which picked up where “The Chosen” left off. While unconventional, the author’s technique of writing each chapter in a different character’s first-person viewpoint works nicely for understanding the characters and their motivation. More insights into the different cultures, particularly the link between Emmaline as a witch and Dravon as a vampire were illustrated, as well as a closer look at the Fae, with a bit more magic introduced.

One of the best parts of this series is the way the author gradually takes you into a fantasy world, which eventually feels normal with its supernatural population of witches, vampires, werewolves, and fae, and how these different cultures interact. There’s a great lesson and analogy in this story for human races in general with regard to getting along, that it’s together in cooperation that great power is achieved. However, there will always be opposing sides of good and evil, so nothing is ever simple.

I especially liked Sadie’s blessings as a healer where she used another language. I didn’t bother dropping it into Google Translate to find out if it was real or not, but it looked convincing and added a really nice touch of authenticity.

This is an excellent story with engaging characters. The cliffhangers are done skillfully, i.e., in a way that makes you want to find out what happens next without making you growl at an abrupt non-ending. It was suspenseful enough for me to keep reading, but my emotional involvement was fairly low. If a book can make me both laugh and cry it will easily earn five stars. This one didn’t do either, but it’s generally imaginative and well-written so I’ll give it four and a half.

Pick up a copy on Amazon here.