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[Book Blitz] The Heartbeat Thief By A.J. Krafton – Guest Post + Giveaway
Haunted by a crushing fear of death, a young Victorian woman discovers the secret of eternal youth—she must surrender her life to attain it, and steal heartbeats to keep it.
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[Book Review] Venomoid By J.A. Kossler & Starbucks Komodo Dragon Blend
Seventeen-year-old vampire Lorin has been an operative for the International Paranormal Organization, a human-run agency that studies paranormals and regulates their behavior, for the last four years, and under the organization’s watchful eye since he was turned into a vampire at the age of ten. Now weeks from his eighteenth birthday, the IPO board member are keeping an even closer eye on him, and Lorin lives in fear of stepping even a hair out of line least he gives them an excuse to torture or kill him – something the IPO does to other paranormals on a daily basis.
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[Anthology Review] Grim Edited By Christine Johnson & CoffeeAM Black Forest Cake Flavored Coffee
All of the short stories in Grim are retellings of classic fairy tales – and not the sanitized, Disney versions, oh no, these stories stay true to the essence of the original tales, which are much darker, grittier, and, in some cases, bloodier. There’s a good selection here with some modern retellings, some set in the fairy tale settings of olde (in a kingdom far far away during an indeterminable time), and yet others set in a technologically advanced future with a definite Sci-Fi feeling. To give you an idea of the many different characters encountered throughout this collection, you will find psychics who live in a trailer park, a…
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[Novella Review] Nightlife: Hazardous Material By Matthew Quinn Martin & Joe Coffee Wake Up Joe
If you've never heard the real life urban legend of the Polybius arcade games, I highly recommend Googling it before reading this novella – I really think it will increase your enjoyment of the story. According to the legend, which may or may not have some basis in reality, in the early 80’s a handful of Polybius game cabinets were placed in a select few arcades in Portland, Oregon. Apparently, the game was highly addictive, to the point of long lines forming and fights breaking out over who got to play next game, and reports were made of players exhibiting symptoms such as blackouts, amnesia, and night terrors. Periodically “men in…
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[Book Review] Jillian Spectre & The Dream Weaver By Nic Tatano & Paramount Coffee Almond Amaretto
When last we saw seer/astral projector/healer Jillian Spectre and her also-paranormally-gifted friends, they were busy getting through their senior year of high school and stopping Jillian’s deadbeat, technopathic (and kind of psychopathic) dad from taking over society. Now, while facing the challenges of their first year of college, the group is once again called upon to save the world as they know it – this time from the Dream Weaver, a powerful enemy who can bend a person’s reality and manipulate them into a dream-like state, even if they’re wide awake at the time.
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[Anthology Review] Lovecraft’s Monsters Edited By Ellen Datlow & Boca Java Spiced Vanilla Bean Coffee
I've only ever been a casual fan of Lovecraft, having never delved much into his work or Mythos, but I love his monsters – their intense otherness, the fear of the unknowable they strike in the heart of readers. An anthology paying homage to these monsters, kicked off with the work of Neil Gaiman, was a perfect fit for me.
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