books – Page 181 – Sincerely Karen Jo

It’s time to celebrate the amazing 2017 titles from Month9Books!

Today we are showcasing just a few of the books that you need to get and enjoy while relaxing during the holiday season.

While your here, be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

Be on the lookout for Part 2 of the Year in Review with Month9books!

WHAT YOU MAY HAVE MISSED IN 2017:

Darkness can only be controlled by those with the darkest of hearts.

Ellison lost her mother at an early age. Now, sixteen, her father has found love again. He’s happy and doesn’t quite notice that Ellison does not get along with his new wife or her vicious daughters.

When Ellison discovers a necromantic tome while traveling the secret passages of her father’s mansion, she wonders if it could be the key to her eventual freedom.

Until then, she must master her dark new power, even as her stepmother makes her a servant in her own home. And when her younger brother falls incurably ill, Ellison will do anything to ease his pain, including falling prey to her stepmother’s and stepsisters’ every whim and fancy.

Stumbling into a chance meeting with Prince William during a secret visit to her mother’s grave feels like a trick of fate when her stepmother refuses to allow Ellison to attend a palace festival where she might see him once more.

But what if Ellison could see the kind and handsome prince again? What if she could attend the festival? What if she could have everything she’s ever wanted and deserved by conjuring spirits to take revenge on her cruel stepmother? And what if she actually liked watching her stepmother suffer?

As Ellison’s power grows, she loses control over the evil spirits meant to do her bidding. And as they begin to exert their own power over Ellison, it becomes harder to tell whether it is she or her stepmother who is the true monster.

CINDERELLA NECROMANCER is CINDER meets ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD and was inspired by a real medieval grimoire of necromancy from 15th-century Germany

Cinderella, Necromancer by F.M. Boughan
Publication Date: September 5, 2017
Publisher: Month9Books

F.M. Boughan is a bibliophile, a writer, and an unabashed parrot enthusiast. She can often be found writing in local coffee shops, namely because it’s hard to concentrate with a cat lying on the keyboard and a small, colorful parrot screaming into her ear. Her work is somewhat dark, somewhat violent, somewhat hopeful, and always contains a hint of magic.

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads

Now that Lia and Clay’s love has broken the Little Mermaid’s curse, everything has changed. Will Lia’s family remain on land, leading the only life she and her sisters have ever known, or will they move below the waves, to the sparkling new capital city? Lia is adamant about staying on land with Clay for her senior year. But at Melusine and her father’s trial, new revelations threaten what Lia holds most dear.

The verdict will shake Lia’s whole world, calling into question her future with Clay, her feelings for Caspian, and the fate of all Merkind. As she wonders who to trust, Lia sets out on a treacherous path that will lead her away from her sheltered Malibu home to a remote and mysterious school for Mermaids—Mermaids who may hold the secret to ancient magic Lia can use to either get back all she’s lost or to embark on a thrilling and dangerous journey.

Submerge (Mer Chronicles #2)
by Tobie Easton
Publication Date: September 12, 2017
Publisher: Month9Books

Tobie Easton was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, where she’s grown from a little girl who dreamed about magic to a twenty-something who writes about it. A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Southern California, Tobie hosts book clubs for tweens and teens. She and her very kissable husband enjoy traveling the globe and fostering packs of rescue puppies. Learn more about Tobie and her upcoming books on www.TobieEaston.com.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

It is 1890, and London has secrets. For sixteen-year-old Will Winchester, born Willow Winchester and raised as a young man, the safety of his own secrets rests one atop the other. Hiding his gender queerness is important. But so is hiding the ghostly voices of the Missing, which Will hears when no one else can … until the Spiritualist Black Cross Order of Occult Occurrences wants him in their service to keep peace between London’s living and dead.

The freedom to be himself may come with a price. Working alongside a patchwork team of misfits and unlikely allies, Will finds he isn’t the only one keeping secrets. Someone does not want him to uncover the truth about the ghosts who aren’t just missing from the world of the living, but missing from history itself. Can he find the Missing before he ends up becoming one of them?

The Missing by Jerico Lenk
Publication Date: October 10, 2017
Publisher: Month9Books

BAM | Chapters | Indies | Amazon | B&N

Undergraduate studying Creative Writing, Classics, Russian and Western European History. Unabashed weeb probably burning incense and drinking too much coffee at this very moment. Out for queer representation and great sex hair. Beyond ready for the upcoming Vampire Chronicles TV series.

Lenk writes Young Adult/New Adult, spec fiction, poetry, and screenplays. He is currently unagented.

His poems have appeared at/in USF Tampa’s Thread Literary Inquiry, biannual 6×6 creative writing showcase, and placed second in National Poetry Month 2015; Tethered By Letters’ F(r)iction Spring 2016 poetry contest finalist; winner of the 2017 Bettye Newman Poetry award.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Goodreads

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No Vain Loss

(No Ordinary Star #3)

M.C. Frank

novainloss

5 ★ – EPIC CONCLUSION

PUBLISHED BY CREATESPACE INDEPENDENT PUBLISHING PLATFORM DECEMBER 5, 2017

GENRE(S): YOUNG ADULT, SCI-FI, FANTASY, DYSTOPIA, ROMANCE

PAGES: PAPERBACK 302

Synopsis

A soldier is summoned to the North Pole, days before the year changes, told to fix the great Clock for a celebration. He has no idea what to do.
A girl, hunted for the crime of being born, almost dies out on the ice. She is rescued by the last polar bear left alive.
A library waits for them both, a library built over a span of a hundred years, forgotten in the basement of an ice shack.
The world hasn’t known hunger or sickness in hundreds of years. It has also forgotten love and beauty.
This is the One World.
The year is 2524.

Inspired by the short stories of Ray Bradbury, this futuristic young adult novel in three parts is set in a world where Christmas -among other things- is obsolete and a Clock is what keeps the fragile balance of peace.

Written in three parts, this is the breathtaking story of how two unlikely people change the world, and each other, one book at a time.

In No Vain Loss, the world is on the brink of the greatest war humanity has ever known. Lives will be lost. New truths will be revealed.

Review

It’s ten heartbeats to midnight. Ten heartbeats to the greatest war humanity has ever known…

Where do I even begin… M.C. Frank wonderfully concluded this series with so much epicness that I’m still reeling and my emotions are just all over the place. No Vain Loss just blew my mind away!

Before I started NVL, I just knew it would be a quick and beautifully painful read. Frank’s writing never ceases to amaze me – it’s utterly beautiful, positively emotional, and breathtaking through and through. With that being said, I decided to take my time and read NVL as slowly as I could. I wanted to enjoy this insanely lovely story for just a little longer and spend more time with Felix and Astra… And I can honestly say that it was not easy. The story is so much more thrilling than the first two installments — incredibly fast-paced with plenty of nerve-wracking action, unexpected twists every which way that kept me on edge, sweet moments that surely pulled my heartstrings, and an electrifying ending that was absolutely satisfying. This book… this series… it will become your addiction that you’re going to want to devour every single page and then do it all over again because it’s just that amazing!

It was definitely an absolute pleasure going on this journey with Felix and Astra. They were such wonderful characters who stole a huge piece of my heart with their bravery, their sacrifices, and their love. Even with their losses and pain, Felix and Astra fought for a new world. A better world where beauty, hope and love can exist. I really don’t want to say anything more because you just have to experience this mesmerizing series for yourself.

No Vain Loss is a lovely and heartwarming ending that left me feeling so full of hope and joy and understanding. It’s a story about friendship, forgiveness, acceptance, love and so much more. It’s such a beautiful series about what it means to be human and while I’m quite sad to see it end, I know that I will always have a special place in my heart for Felix and Astra and this breathtaking series. It’s thrilling, ugly at times, incredibly emotional, and so real in every way.

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If you’re looking for a book/series with gorgeous writing, exhilarating plot, inspiring themes, and lovable heroes, then I highly recommend this. I promise you… you will fall head over heels in love with this series.

As a member of the NOS Street Team, I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest and fair review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Author Interview

Describe this series in 3 words? Frozen, heartbreaking, Christmassy.

What was the hardest scene for you to write in the No Ordinary Star trilogy? The battle scene.

Who are you more like Felix or Astra? I’m like Astra in that I love books and stories, but my dark side is all Felix.

What was your favorite scene in No Vain Loss? The scene that happens right after the Clock is unveiled *wink (spoiler).

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? When I was five or six and realized that was my dad’s job. I wanted to be like him. Two years later, when I started reading books, then I knew for sure (but I thought it would be the impossible dream).

Which author(s) have inspired your writing? Ray Bradbury’s short stories inspired the entire No Ordinary Star series. In general, all the great classics, like Austen, Bronte, Dickens and Shakespeare… and many more. These were my writing “teachers”.

Favorite snack while writing. I don’t think it counts as a snack, but I drink tons of water.

What was the first book that made you cry? The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (from the Chronicles of Narnia).

If there was a zombie apocalypse and you can only choose one book to take with you, what would it be? Ahhh you’re killing me with this question. I don’t know… Could I take a kindle reader?

If you were a superhero, what would your name be and what power would you have? I don’t know about my name (I’ll need to think about it, that’s serious stuff right there) but I know my power: flying.

Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead? Neither.

If you won the lotto, how would you spend your winnings? Would you believe, I’ve thought really extensively about this. I’d build a school. Yep, I’m dreaming big.

Favorite movie of all time? You’ve Got Mail.

Are you working on any other projects right now that you could talk about? Any new books coming out? Yes, I am writing a Robin Hood romance, and I’m so excited to finish it and get it into the hands of lovely readers like you!

Other Books in the Series

ADD NO ORDINARY STAR ON GOODREADS

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Read my Review for No Ordinary Star

ADD NO PLAIN REBEL ON GOODREADS

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Read my Review for No Plain Rebel

About the Author

(Taken from M.C. Frank’s Website)

mcfrank I am M.C. Frank: writer, reader, designer, editor, physicist and teacher. (To mention a few.)

I have been living in a world of stories ever since I can remember (that’s before I knew how to write). I started writing them down when I could no longer stand the characters in my head screaming at me to give them life and while those first scribblings weren’t exactly good (nor were they books, although I insisted on calling them that), they were enough for me to discover my passion in life.

I started writing seriously a few years back, pursuing my dream of a writing career. I started small, in a magazine, but ever since I’ve been dreaming of doing what I absolutely love for a living, and finally I am getting there! I feel so blessed and happy.

I got my university degree in physics a few years ago. People look at me weirdly when I tell them I’m a physicist, so I say, I know what you’re thinking, and yes, I’m like Sheldon, only a bit crazier! I am now free to pursue my love of reading and writing, as well as my free-lance job of editor-in-chief. I live with my husband in a home filled with candles, laptops and notebooks, where I rearranges my overflowing bookshelves every time I feel stressed.

Which is often, since (as you might have noticed) I don’t pick the easiest subjects for my novels. I put my characters in icy-cold dystopian worlds where kissing is forbidden (among other things), or place them in green forests ruled by evil Sheriffs. If they’re in Jane Austen’s London, they have to be running away from a traumatic childhood, or if they are in our current, contemporary world, they’re scared they’ll die before they have finished high school. That sort of thing.

Don’t worry, though, I know we all are in need of a little hope and joy in our lives, so there’s a good dose of those as well in everything I write.