Free Read Armored Hours by Stephanie Hansen #Romantasy #MagicalRealism

Get it Free September 13- 17

Cable Girls meets Peaky Blinders meets Titanic

Armored Hours

Stephanie Hansen

The girls had forged a bond together like iron that could not be broken. Claudia, Kiersten, Lina, and Florian were on the brink of making history with their powerful feminist movement, but then they suddenly disappeared without a trace. Alexander was a desperate bootlegger who was willing to risk it all to search for them. 

Not only were they in cahoots with him to help smuggle feminist con-traband and forbidden booze, but Claudia had also unknowingly captivated his heart. He vowed to find them at any cost, but little did he know that their disappearance was part of a much bigger and sinister plot from the upper echelons of society. 

Set in 1920s Paris of the Plains, Armored Hours is a thrilling tale of love and mystery interwoven with hints of magical realism.

✨Light Romantasy set in the Prohibition Era

✨Strong Female Friendships

✨Magic Realism 

✨Mystery 

✨Found Family 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FLZSLFNY/ 

#Romantasy #MagicalRealism #FoundFamily #HistoricalFiction 

#ArmoredHours #FreeBook #FreeRead #KindleFreebie

K.T. Rose's Top 10 Favorite Dark Reads #Horror #DarkReads

 

1. Endless Night by Richard Laymon (1993)

Jody’s story begins at an innocent sleepover, which takes a horrifying turn when a group of intruders wearing human skin bursts in, wielding machetes. What follows is a relentless, pulse-pounding game of cat and mouse between Jody and Simon, a chillingly demented serial killer determined to eliminate any loose ends from that fateful night. I was so captivated by the tension and horrifying twists that I’ve read this book twice and plan to revisit it again. Simon stands out as one of the most terrifying and well-developed villains I’ve encountered; the shocking things he does throughout the story left me genuinely stunned. This book is the reason I love writing dark thrillers—it’s unforgettable, immersive, and absolutely riveting.

2. The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (2023)

Set in the shadowed landscape of the Jim Crow South, this haunting paranormal thriller left a lasting impression on me. The story moves along with the unsettling whispers of restless spirits and investigates the harrowing plight of two black children at the mercy of powerful figures. The blend of supernatural horror and poignant social commentary made this novel a definite favorite.

3. World War Z by Max Brooks (2006)

I enjoy apocalyptic stories that start with ordinary life suddenly upended. The shifting perspectives in this book highlight different characters’ beliefs, motives, and roles in restoring order, which adds depth to the narrative. This is one of my favorites.

4. All Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby (2023)

This book quickly became one of my favorites. It’s a deeply atmospheric crime thriller set in the Deep South, and I found myself totally immersed in its dark and twisted world. The characters are incredibly well-drawn, especially Titus, who feels real thanks to his genuine flaws and vulnerabilities. The antagonist is both sinister and surprising, ramping up the tension throughout. What I loved most was how the narrative’s moody tone and mysterious twists kept me turning pages late into the night. If you enjoy intense, character-driven crime dramas, I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

5. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (2019)

This was a brilliantly twisted psychological thriller that I recommend to everyone. The novel unfolds through two compelling stories, each centering on characters you can’t help but care about, while the supporting cast adds layers of intrigue and tension. I don’t want to spoil anything, but trust me—just go read it.

6. Holly by Stephen King (2023)

Holly is a compelling exploration of how both its characters and readers grappled with life during the pandemic. College staff mysteriously go missing and conspiracy theories spiral into real danger; the story captivates with its dark twists and deeply human moments. The suspense is thick, and Holly's an amazing PI, which made this a darkly fun book to read.

7. Ask for Andrea by Noelle Ihli (2022)

This novel surprised me in the best way and quickly became one of my favorites. The premise—ghosts returning to seek justice against the serial killer who targeted women—was unexpectedly engaging. I especially loved how the spirits and the living worked together, highlighting the power of solidarity and support. The book’s message is clear and resonant: always look out for one another.

8. Savage by Richard Laymon (1993)

What if Jack the Ripper escaped to the 1800s American West? A determined teenager pursues him across the ocean, leading to a suspenseful, dark adventure. The audiobook was so compelling I finished it in one day.  

9. Devil’s Unto Dust by Emma Berquist (2022)

Devil’s Unto Dust—This zombie adventure was exactly what I’d been craving. I was drawn in by the science fiction elements and found myself unexpectedly emotional at times (no spoilers!). The old-time western setting gave the story a unique flair I really appreciated. This one is for anyone who enjoys a well-written YA horror thriller with a gripping zombie apocalypse.

10. Mary by Nat Cassidy (2022)

I never expected menopause to be so hauntingly dark—and not in the way you might imagine. This novel blends paranormal and psychological horror with a touch of speculative fiction, creating an atmosphere rich in vivid storytelling and unforgettable, quirky characters. The world-building is wonderfully eerie, and the monsters and villains are deliciously twisted. Listening to the audiobook was an absolute pleasure.

Blood 

Trish Vampire Horror Series 

BookOne

K.T. Rose

Genre: thriller/ dark fiction/ horror

Publisher: Kyrobooks LLC

Date of Publication: July 1, 2025

ISBN: 978-1966857006

ASIN: B0DSVNHBY8 

Number of pages: 238

Word Count: 68000

Cover Artist: Cha

Tagline: Hunger. Desperation. Terror. A mother's love knows no bounds - neither does her appetite.

Book Description:

A vampire's existence is a delicate balance between predator and pretense. For Trish, that balance includes a loving husband, an innocent son, and a trail of bloodless corpses. When her latest hunt at Miller University goes awry, leaving a witness in its wake, her carefully maintained double life begins to crumble.

Months later, Trish sets her sights on a pure-hearted professor, but his death brings unexpected consequences. Captured by the victim's vengeful cousin and her violent friends, Trish faces a harrowing choice. She must either break free to protect her family or watch her perfect life dissolve into chaos. Can she escape before her husband, Randel, discovers the true nature of the monster he married?

Blood introduces K.T. Rose's chilling vampire horror thriller series. If you're drawn to dark supernatural tales, complex characters, and blood-chilling suspense, this story of maternal instinct versus monster nature will leave you breathless.

Books2Read

Chapter 1 – Chad

 

Trish wasn’t a student at Miller University. In fact, she went to Radcliffe before women were allowed to take Harvard classes. No, she was at Miller with a different purpose in mind, and it had nothing to do with studying. She was sitting in some frat boy’s dorm room—Chad was his name—with her fangs deep in his wrist, sucking on his musky skin and careful to lick up the mess of blood that ran from the wound like water leaking from a faucet. She considered the meal subpar; it was a little too sweet for her taste. Chad had certainly eaten nothing but cookies and Jello shots all day, skipping protein and salt. Luckily, human blood naturally had enough protein and salt in each sip; Chad would sustain her for a month. Lightheaded and intertwined in gluttonous bliss, her body swayed with delight as she took him in.

Chad twitched at the shoulders as he lay on the extra-long twin bed, his body limp and lacking the oxygen needed for consciousness, let alone enough to put up a fight. Trish figured that he had been about twenty-one years old. He was tall enough to play sports, and his build was fair with a little weight around his middle. His face was empty of wrinkles, young and new, and his smile was pearly. Chad had taken the time to chat her up before they headed to his room. He said something about playing an instrument and liking computers. He certainly told the truth about that, judging by the black trombone case leaning against a desk with the biggest monitors she’d ever seen sitting on top of it. The room's small size—slightly larger than a walk-in closet—made the computer look enormous. She was surprised the tiny room possessed a closet. To keep the conversation going, she pretended to be intrigued as she shared some lies about herself. She couldn’t remember if she was Julie from the accounting firm or Tiffany from the dealership. It didn’t matter. Her meals’ backstories seem to run together anyway, making it hard for her to put hobbies, jobs, and names with the faces of the corpses in her wake. As she and Chad stood toe to toe at the party downstairs, the only thing she thought of was his sweaty pores; the chemical scent of alcohol still wafted from him as he lay on his bed dying. Trish hated the smell, but it signified easy prey, like most college boys, truckers, or, in desperate times, a person down on their luck left to dig through pub and restaurant dumpsters. They were all so easy to trap and drain.

Trish caressed the edges of the lacerations on Chad’s arm with her tongue, pushing his blood to flow into her mouth as the party raged on beneath her feet. The attendees roared and chanted, yelled for more beer, and demanded someone to take their shirt off. The voices were the familiar sounds of the naïve—too drunk and high on acid or pot to notice there was a monster upstairs.

Sometimes, Trish wondered if college students’ parents bothered to teach them the basics; namely, not to bring strange women into their rooms. But, no matter how thin and pale she looked in that dark dress, men always fell for her. Her lean figure and plump lips were effective bait—irresistibly mysterious, she was told. Still, when the police found their bodies, there was always mourning and a sense of loss for someone so young and talented. Someone that human society classified as potentially important. Chad believed that hype, having told her that he was working on a chemical engineering degree and minoring in music. He was so close to graduating and living that life. As he spoke, Trish pictured him getting married to some nurse, buying a house, and having kids, because that’s what humans did. But what Chad didn’t know—a tidbit that she decided to keep to herself— was that he was doomed to become an unhappy, overworked middle manager who flirted with the idea of sticking a barrel in his mouth. She’d seen many people like him over the last one hundred and thirty-seven years. Chad was a cliché; there was nothing special about his dreams because he wouldn’t live long enough to loathe them. In fact, Chad had done Trish a favor by curing her cramps and insufferable hunger pains, and for that, she was grateful.

Chad stopped jerking, and her belly was full. She slowly withdrew her fangs, allowing blood to drip onto her lap. She used one hand to get a tight grip on his arm, forming a tourniquet. There was no pulse, just as she expected. With her free hand, she pulled the pocketknife from her leather tote, which lay against her thigh.

Trish learned a long time ago that a murder could be hidden in plain sight. By the time prey was found, their bodies would bleed out from the wrist or the neck. It could be suicide. It could be murder. The police never really knew. Even though she had to leave Chad in his bed for everyone to find, she preferred getting rid of the corpse by burying it somewhere massive like the ocean, the lake, a construction site…a dump. She’d make the authorities look for months, years, decades, then wash her hands of the situation, because if they did find the body, there was no DNA—the biological code they used to match a crime with a killer.

She pulled the blade up Chad’s wrist, along her fang marks. The knife tore his skin in half and flooded the wound with his leftover liquids. His blood had gone syrupy and thick, tempting her to lick it dry. But it was close to clotting; it would taste bitter and have all the consistency of old, clumpy cottage cheese.

Trish laid Chad’s arm on his bed and considered his pale face. He was a different person from the man she made out with and strangled before she went in for the kill. His eyelids were at half-mast and he seemed peaceful.

She unclenched his fingers and dipped them into the new gash. Then she slid the knife into his palm, staging his body.

Then she listened. She listened hard and kicked herself for not doing so sooner. She didn’t think straight, or at all, when she was hungry, and Chad seemed reserved—she was sure that his room was empty and that no one knew about the woman that he allowed upstairs. He’d even locked the door behind them. During her quick survey upon entry, she didn’t see anything. As they huffed and made out, swapped tongues and giggled, she didn’t hear anything alarming. And as she subdued him and slurped his blood, she didn’t smell anyone.

But right then was the crucial time to listen and engross herself in her environment because she was done eating. It was time to leave unnoticed because anything could happen around them. Them, meaning humans. Them, meaning blood bags. Them, meaning food…

Trish heard a young girl vomiting outside, just below the window. She imagined it smelled like cheap vodka and tapas. The boys just beneath her feet slammed shots of what smelled like pure ethanol. A girl bawled her eyes out just next door as she yelled about how someone was a horrible boyfriend.

And then Trish heard heavy breathing in the closet. The hairs on her neck rose.

 

About the Author:

K.T. Rose is a horror, thriller, supernatural, paranormal, and suspense author based in Detroit, Michigan. She shares her passion for spine-chilling stories with readers through flash fiction on her blog. Her works include Trinity of Horror, The Haunting of Gallagher Hotel, the Netted Series, and the Trish Vampire Horror and Serial Killer Thriller Series.

Website: https://www.kyrobooks.com/

Subscribe: https://www.kyrobooks.com/subscribe-1 

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

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

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kyrobooks/

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@kyrobooks

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KTRose-bs1ld

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B01N4T91M2

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ktrosehorrorwriter.bsky.social

Ghost Hunting Tips with Lauren Carter

(Information collected by the Fourth Floor, Second Corridor dorm members and collated in this book by Esme Vill)

If you’d asked us a few months back if ghosts existed, most would have said no. Now, since being at Lakegrave School, we’ve seen too many to deny such a thing.

While we’re not experts, we’ve come to quickly understand how to “hunt” ghosts (though we do not like that term, we prefer simply “find” ghosts). Although every ghost is different, there are some things that can be considered for all of them. We’ve narrowed this down to five simple points. 

1. Hunt in the dark

Ghosts mostly haunt in the dark. They say, and assume, this is because they are most seen at night. An almost invisible person barely reflects against sunlight. And to be seen, is to feel more alive. Even though most ghosts are well aware that they are dead, it is lovely for them to feel as if they’re not. 

2. Search places where said ghost loved

They often linger somewhere nice, somewhere they perhaps even loved. This isn’t always their favourite place and it needs to be connected to where they died (for example, within the same house and sometimes, in special cases, within the same city of their death). We are not entirely sure why this is, but we can of course guess based on the obvious. Being in-between it all (between life and passing on) is not something fun or enjoyable at all in fact, so being somewhere comforting or where they last lived, is a small relief. 

3. Noises aren’t always a factor

In books and tales, moaning and groaning is always mentioned when trying to find ghosts but we have found, however, that not every ghost talks. Or makes a single sound at all, in fact. We still do not know if this is because they can’t talk or simple do not want to, but silent ghosts are rather quite common. Most of the time, we’ve had to have loud ghosts point out the quiet ones. Hopefully, wherever you are, reading this, there is more than one ghost haunting the halls.

4. If they don’t want to interact with you, they won’t

As we already talked about, some ghosts don’t talk but even the ghosts that do, don’t always want to. This could be from trauma or simply just not having the desire to, whether that’s ever or just with you. You can try to get them to warm up to you and then they may talk, but please do understand that even then, they may not want to. And you should respect that.

5. Always be kind to ghosts

It’s important to remember a ghost is a person. Not was, is. So, they should be given the same rights and same attentiveness as someone living. The reason this is such an important point is, if you are not kind and considerate of them, they will simply shut down and ignore you. Perhaps even hide from you, never to be seen again. You hope they have passed on, but they have not. And you are only making their situation worse. Always, no matter what, start kind and keep it that way.

If you keep these five simple points in mind, you should have no trouble finding and communicating with the dead. But first ask yourself, why? Why do you want to seek ghosts? For what purpose? If it’s entirely selfish reasons, I would ask you not to. But if you want to try and help them, then I applaud and appreciate your efforts. 

Signed, Esme Vill

1902

Find out more about Esme Vill and the rest of Fourth Floor, Second Corridor members in LAKEGRAVE SCHOOL FOR YOUNG WOMEN out on the 9th of September 2025. 

Lakegrave School for Young Women

Lauren Carter

Genre: Horror, Dark Academia, Historical Fiction

Date of Publication: 9th September 2025

ISBN: 9781739376444 

ASIN: B0F74BRMC3

Number of pages: 237

Word Count: 54k words

Cover Artist: Grim Poppy Designs

Tagline: Lakegrave is unlike any other school

Book Description: 

Here, we do not care where you are from or who you are. We care that you are women. And we care about your minds. 

Lakegrave is unlike any other school. Hidden in the mountains of Scotland, it only accepts one bright woman per specialist subject. With no teachers and no curriculum, the self-taught establishment offers its students the tools to expand their skillsets to then go onto being masters in their fields.

When Raven and her cousin Rowan are accepted, they are excited to refine their crafts and converse with fellow classmates.

That is until students go missing.

Some come back but they are not as they once were. Something is off about them. 

Something is misplaced.

So when fellow student Esme wants to investigate and invites Raven to join, they uncover that there’s much more to the school than they thought with chilling secrets kept tucked away in its history. But with ghosts stirring and the cohort decreasing, will any of them make it to graduation?

Amazon

 

Excerpt:

There isn’t much known about Lakegrave School for Young Women due to its remote location and it being a new school, but it is the only school in the world known for its unique education style—it’s completely self-taught. There are no teachers, just one headmistress. The school only invites the best and brightest women from across the globe to study there for one year before being scouted to go on to their dream careers. This didn’t mean smart in absolutely everything but a genius in our own field.

That is the other unique thing—it also only invites one person per specialist subject.

That’s why Rowan and I were lucky enough to be accepted. Rowan is only just old enough to attend at one and twenty years of age; I, on the other hand, have two years on her. Luck was also on our side when we were encouraged to pursue different hobbies instead of the same, otherwise we wouldn’t have been accepted concurrently.

Leading up to the school, I can only make out the tops of the building as the hedge has overgrown so much. It’s as if the place has been neglected over the summer, if not over the years. Such an odd notion for a new educational establishment but, then again, it was something else before.

I reach the main gate and see a crest at the top. In the middle, there is a sprig of lavender and on each side of the shield are bees facing inward. This looks like it’s been cleaned recently.

Couldn’t say the same for the rest of the gate.

It looks like it once was black, but it is brown now due to the rust. I don’t want to touch it, so I nudge it open with my elbow and shut it again once I’m in.

It’s called a school, but it would be better off compared to a castle, just like every other boarding school that exists. The windows stretch tall and look like they are modelled after a church. Although it is a fairly new build, its appearance is like it has been designed as old-fashioned on purpose, fitting in with something from the 1600s rather than the 1800s. And it almost looks like it’s falling apart, the brickwork cracked and turning the walls into a darker colour rather than its usual sand. It is preposterously big for a school that doesn’t admit too many students. There is definitely some sort of beauty to the building but for some reason, even in the daytime, it appears a little ominous—as if the place is lifeless. It seems as though the garden has overtaken everything as greenery and moss is growing alongside the building. To the west of the school there are some greenhouses and to the east of the school is a church.

The ground crunches as I walk up to the building. There is a huge fountain which is bordered by the driveway on either side but appears not to work, and a huge statue coming out from the middle of it. I’m not that knowledgeable about Greek gods but I know it’s Aphrodite.

It seems fitting to have her standing guard over us.

I pause by the front door, already hearing voices coming from within, so I grip my violin case tighter and push the double doors inwards—letting them shut me away for the next year.

About the Author: 

Lauren (she/they) is a library assistant by day and writer by night. She is the author of WHEN THE DEMONS TAKE HOLD and YOUR DARLING DEATH. She has published several short stories including: ALIVE, JUST with The Horror Tree, THE CHILDREN OF OWL WILDS with Haunted Words Press, and THE SACRIFICES WE MAKE with Rooster Republic Press.

https://x.com/writerlcarter

https://sleekbio.com/writerlcarter

https://www.instagram.com/writerlcarter/ 

https://bsky.app/profile/writerlcarter.bsky.social

Top 10 Vampires in Fiction According to Gail Z. Martin

1. Dracula—the original and best

2. Barnabas Collins (Dark Shadows)— I’ve loved this show since I was 6 years old.

3. Lestat De Lioncourt (The Vampire Chronicles)—aristocratic but vulnerable

4. Bill Compton (True Blood)—the vampire next door

5. Benny Lafitte (Supernatural)—the vampire best friend

6 and 7. Spike and Angel (Buffy)—the romantic rivals

8. Sorren (Chronicles of the Necromancer)— my own series and one of my favorite characters

9. David (The Lost Boys)—wayward youth with fangs

10. Damon Salvatore (Vampire Diaries)—because he’s so pretty!

Who are your favorite vampires?

Times Change

Joe Mack Shadow Council Files 

Book Five

Gail Z. Martin and Larry N. Martin

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Falstaff Books

Date of Publication: July 23, 2025

ISBN: 979-8293995790

ASIN: B0DFDZ4S4T

Number of pages: 122

Word Count: 30,000

Cover Artist: GetCovers.com

Tagline: When you ask a god for favors, be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.

Book Description:

Joe Mack is back, solving cold cases that eluded Eliot Ness and kicking demon butt.

Josef Magarac was a brave man, a strong man, a hard-working immigrant who only wanted a better life for his family. Then he was murdered, and an ancient Slavic god brought him back to life, gave him new abilities, and a mission to protect those who can’t protect themselves. Now he's Joe Mack, immortal thanks to the Slavic god, and a champion against dark magic, demons, and things that go bump in the night.

Joe's previous collection of adventures spanned the Roaring Twenties and Prohibition. Now he's in the modern era, working with new partners and adjusting to a whole new century. But old cases have resurfaced, and demons never die. A supernatural serial killer has returned, and some of the evil Joe thought was done and dusted has returned to wreak havoc. It will take all of the supernatural abilities, wit, and will of Joe and his partners—past and present—to stop the dark forces once and for all. If they fail, it will unleash a wave of demonic vengeance, blood, and death unlike anything Cleveland has ever seen.

Times Change is a non-stop thrill ride full of paranormal action, found family, dark magic, and loyal friends.

Amazon     BN     Kobo       Apple

Excerpt 1:

I’d burned her bones, but she was back again.

And now she was pissed.

I fired my shotgun filled with salt rounds, but she vanished between when I pulled the trigger and when the shells fired. Then she materialized behind me and gave me a shove that sent me sprawling.

I’m a big guy, and thanks to a favor from a Slavic god, I’m immortal and pretty damned hard to injure. That doesn’t mean I like being tossed around by ill-tempered ghosts who have overstayed their welcome.

I rolled and came up with the shotgun locked and loaded, firing into the ghost’s midsection. That bought me a moment or two since salt fritzes ghosts’ ability to manifest, but I knew she wouldn’t be gone long.

I walked to where the tracks had been and stopped when the toe of my boot struck an old spike left from the long-ago rails. A scream reverberated through the forest. I pumped my shotgun and blasted her again before she could fully re-form. Then I set a salt circle around myself to keep her from knocking me around, dumped lighter fluid on the spike, and dropped a match on it.

People called the ghost the Lavender Lady. The stories said that she had been gathering the flowers back in the early 1900s when she was struck by a train—back before the tracks had been pulled up when trains still ran.

The town of Moonville was nothing but ruins now; the railroad was long gone, and the tunnel had fallen into disrepair, but the Lavender Lady still wandered the forest, surprising hikers and scaring thrill-seekers.

The Lady’s real name was Henrietta Austin, and while her body was found amid the flowers for which she was nicknamed, the evidence suggested foul play, covered up by the train accident story. Since the culprit was long dead, I couldn’t give Henrietta justice, but I might be able to give her peace.

But first, she would try her best to kill me.

Henrietta’s ghost hurled herself against the salt circle’s iridescent barrier, angry at fate and desperate to take it out on someone. Her corpse-pale face, marred by fury and decomposition, pressed against the scrim, and a terrible screech threatened to make my ears bleed.

“Depart from here, Henrietta Austin, and trouble the living no more,” I commanded. “Your time is long past, and your killer is dead. Let go and move on.”

The fire flared around the old rail spike, and I could see Henrietta’s spirit fading. The accelerant I’d poured on the metal stake wouldn’t melt iron, but I took the chance that flames would burn away enough of the coating to drive her off. Then I could pull the stake out of the ground, put it in the lead and iron box I’d brought, and make sure Henrietta never bothered anyone again.

Henrietta gave one last blood-curdling scream and vanished. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe her energy had dissipated that quickly after haunting these woods for a century, but perhaps she needed to recharge before attacking again.

By that time, I intended to have her anchor—the spike—out of her reach forever.

About the Authors: 

Gail Z. Martin writes urban fantasy, epic fantasy, steampunk and more for Solaris Books, Orbit Books, Falstaff Books, SOL Publishing and Darkwind Press. Urban fantasy series include Deadly Curiosities and the Night Vigil (Sons of Darkness). Epic fantasy series include Darkhurst, the Chronicles Of The Necromancer, the Fallen Kings Cycle, the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, and the Assassins of Landria. 

Together with Larry N. Martin, she is the co-author of Iron and Blood, Storm and Fury (both Steampunk/alternate history), the Spells Salt and Steel comedic horror series, the Roaring Twenties monster hunter Joe Mack Shadow Council series, and the Wasteland Marshals near-future post-apocalyptic series. As Morgan Brice, she writes urban fantasy MM paranormal romance, with the Witchbane, Badlands, Treasure Trail, Kings of the Mountain and Fox Hollow series. Gail is also a con-runner for ConTinual, the online, ongoing multi-genre convention that never ends.

Larry N. Martin is the author of the new sci-fi adventure novel Salvage Rat, and the new portal fantasy series, The Splintered Crown, A Tankards and Heroes novel. He is the co-author (with Gail Z. Martin) of the Spells, Salt, and Steel: New Templar Knights series; the Steampunk series Iron and Blood; and a collection of short stories and novellas: The Storm and Fury Adventures set in the Iron and Blood universe. He is also the co-author (with Gail) of the Wasteland Marshals series and the Joe Mack - Shadow Council series from Falstaff Books.

Website: www.GailZMartin.com

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dd5XLj    

X.com:  https://x.com/gailzmartin 

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/gzmartin

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

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/gail-z-martin

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

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/GailZMartin

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Gail-Z-Martin/e/B002BM8XSQ  

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

Cover Reveal: YOU’RE DEAD TO ME, REED WALKER by Gwenyth Reitz #CoverReveal #YAPRN #PNR #RomCom

YOU’RE DEAD TO ME, REED WALKER

Gwenyth Reitz

Genre: YA supernatural romcom/ YA PNR

Publisher: Macmillan / Roaring Brook Press

ISBN: 9781250404176

Kindle ISBN: 9781250404169

Number of pages: 368

Word Count: 85,000

Cover Artist: Jacqueline Li

Tagline: They’d kill each other…if they weren’t already dead

Book Description: 

A swoonworthy YA supernatural romcom where two academic rivals are trapped as ghosts to haunt the same house. 

They'd kill each other...if they weren't already dead. 

Tessa Sinclair is a winner. Winner of spelling bees, science fairs, and scholarships. So when she finds herself unexpectedly dead in an abandoned mansion graduation party, she's none too pleased. 

What's worse, her academic rival—the Harvard-bound, Mr. Perfect Reed Walker—is there too, deceased, smug, and annoying as hell. Being a ghost is hard enough, but it's a thousand times worse having to haunt the same house with your nemesis. 

But as Tessa and Reed retreat to R.I.P in their respective corners of the mansion, a mystery begins to unfurl about the exact cause of their deaths. Though they'd rather die (again) than work together, they'll need to find a way to overcome their differences in order to hunt down a murderer on the loose. 

And should they happen to fall for each other along the way...Who ever said you can't find love after death?

Bookshop     BN     Amazon     Kobo

About the Author:

Gwenyth Reitz was born in Sri Lanka, and has since lived and worked in California, Washington, Alaska, Montana, Japan, and Mongolia. When not intrepidly exploring, she writes genre-blending young adult stories with swoony romance, mystery, humor, and heart. Gwenyth now lives with her husband and two kids in New York City, where she can often be found scribbling late into the night on her rooftop like the caffeine-obsessed night owl she is. You're Dead to Me, Reed Walker is her debut novel.

Website: https://www.gwenreitz.com/ 

Newsletter: https://www.gwenreitz.com/newsletter 

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

Twitter/X: https://x.com/GwenythReitz 

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gwenythreitz.bsky.social

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@gwenythreitz 

 

Release Day Blitz & Author Interview Oaths and Vengeance by Susan Illene #Romantasy

- What is the hardest thing about being an author?

Juggling my personal life with children and finding time to write and do author stuff.

- What is the best thing about being an author?

The ability to be creative and work anytime my sons will let me.

- What book changed your life?

When I was in fifth grade, there was a book fair.  My father had given me just enough money to buy one book, and I had the worst time deciding.  I am grateful for my teacher recommending “Black Beauty” because I read it so many times.  It showed me how to look at life in different perspectives and gave me a deeper appreciation for animals.

- What were some of your favorite books growing up?

I used to love checking out books from the school library from a series called the “Scariest Stories Ever Told.”  Loved reading them, and then when I visited my cousins, I’d recite the stories so they’d have nightmares for weeks after I left (according to my aunt).

- What books are currently in your to-be-read pile?

“Rain of Shadows and Endings” by Melissa Roehrich, and “Dire Bound” by Sable Sorenson.  Things are so busy at the moment that I don’t know when I’ll get to them since it takes a week or two right now to get through one book, and I’m already listening to one while reading another on Kindle.  Looking forward to those, though!

- Which do you prefer ebooks, print, or audiobooks?

Usually, audiobooks because I can listen while doing chores, cooking, or watering the garden.  If I have time to physically read, I could be doing author stuff, but sometimes I like to read on the Kindle app for a bit before bed if I don’t work too late.

- If you could live inside the world of a book or series which world would it be and why?

How am I supposed to choose just one?  There are so many great worlds!

Oaths and Vengeance

Realm of Zadrya 

Book One

Susan Illene

Genre: Romantasy

Date of Publication: August 22nd, 2025

ISBN: 979-8-9876902-3-9

ASIN: B0F6D6566B

Number of pages: 505

Word Count: 148,000

Cover Artist: Hannah Sternjakob

Book Description: 

Darrow has so many secrets that even those closest to him don't know them all, but she's about to become his favorite.  He is powerful, ruthless, and her sworn enemy. The wickedly good-looking elf is also cursed never to love.

Aella should stay far away from him, especially considering he could kill her from a distance with little effort. Except that someone close to her is dying, and he is the only person in the realm with the means to help. She has strong powers of her own to offer in exchange, but to her dismay, Darrow wants a secret marriage as part of the bargain.

Fae marriages are forever, so she'd always be his.

With other factors pushing her toward it, she agrees to a private wedding that the king himself officiates while hiding the ceremony from her disapproving family. Aella suspects there is far more to Darrow’s motives if Zadrya's monarch is involved. It isn't long before she discovers that dark forces are circling, and it’s her rare magic they want to use or eradicate by any means necessary. Her new husband has drawn her into a dangerous conflict started centuries ago that could either end in the salvation or destruction of their world. If she wants to survive, she’ll need to trust Darrow with her body, but never her heart.

Note- This novel is an enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn romantasy. It contains adult content, including violence, foul language, spicy scenes, torture, and ruthless plants and creatures. Read at your own discretion.

Amazon US     Amazon UK      BN      Kobo      Google Play      iTunes

Oaths & Vengeance (excerpt 2)

The room was bigger than I expected. To my right, about ten elves sat at a large oak table littered with bronze mugs. The booth had custom seats on three sides attached to the hunter-green walls, plus a few chairs at the fourth end. They drank and chatted, not even noticing me for the first minute I stood watching them after shutting the door. I took a few steps closer, debating what to do. This was going to be awkward with such a large audience.

“Darrow!” I said just loud enough to reach over all the other voices.

It quieted to a murmur, and nearly everyone turned to look at me.

A man with familiar brown and black hair that he’d tied at the nape of his neck had his face buried in a female elf’s ample chest. He lifted his head without turning, keeping his eyes on the woman.

“Who is asking?”

Here goes nothing, I thought, and lowered my hood to reveal my blonde hair. “Aella from Therress.”

The room went from quiet to deathly still.

He stiffened and turned to face me. It was all I could do to keep from gasping. He was unlike any other man I’d seen before, with startlingly good looks that should have been criminal. His slate-gray eyes stared at me as if he could penetrate my soul. He had firm, high cheekbones and a strong jaw that might as well have been carved from stone.

His skin was a light sand color, telling me he saw a decent amount of sun, but I couldn’t recognize the shade as common anywhere. At best guess, that was because he was half-light elf and half dark elf. He had a muscular build with broad shoulders. I was certain that even without his powers, he could knock down almost any opponent with a hard punch. The man was even larger than I’d estimated on the battlefield. I’d never seen a more beautifully lethal elf, which made me wish to the nameless ones he wasn’t my enemy. Recalling the memory of my father’s fire-scorched body, burned by Darrow’s sire, helped me put this deadly man into perspective.

“Aella?” he asked, lifting an arched brow. “The same half-elf who sent me flying off my horse last week?”

Oh, good. I left an impression on him. “Yes.”

Darrow lifted a hand, and the next thing I knew, my back slammed against the wall behind me. The air whooshed from my lungs. I had expected an adverse reaction from him, but not exactly this. It was all I could do to keep from trembling.

“Hmm, you’re prettier than I expected. It was difficult to tell from a distance.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“It’s the only reason I haven’t broken your slender neck already. What are you doing here?” Darrow asked, arching a dark brow.

I swallowed. He had me plastered against the wall so I couldn’t move, but he’d applied just the right amount of pressure so I could still breathe and speak. It wasn’t as bad as him gagging me with my hair the other day. That was at least something. Maybe he was going to do me the courtesy of asking questions first, as I’d hoped.

“I need to request a favor from you,” I said, keeping my gaze on his.

Laughter burst from everyone at the table.

Darrow’s eyes danced with merriment. “Did I rattle your brain a little too hard?”

Wonderful. The half-dark elf had a sense of humor.

“Would I come into your territory alone at night and announce myself to a room full of enemies—some of them powerful killers—if I didn’t have an extremely good reason?” I asked, surprising myself with my courage to speak to him in such a way. Why couldn’t I be that bold with anyone else?

He appeared to mull that over momentarily and then gestured at several elves across the table. “Go check outside and make sure she didn’t bring company. Considering her special talents, it’s possible. If there’s no one suspicious out there, stay on guard for now.”

Four elves rushed from the room, each glaring at me as they passed. I’d ruined their fun night. Darrow ordered the others to leave, except one female sitting at the table's far end. Based on her matching hair, skin, and eyes, I assumed the woman was his twin sister, Faina. She was rumored to be a formidable warrior and close to her brother, but that was all I knew about her.

“I didn’t come here to fight you,” I said, annoyed by my awkward position. “Or become a wall ornament.”

Darrow rose from the table and sauntered toward me with lethal grace. I was tall at 5’10”, but he had to be half a foot taller. He stopped just before me. It was all I could do to keep my breath steady as his close presence threatened to overwhelm my senses. I had to remind myself of all my family members that his side had killed—their faces swimming before my mind’s eyes. We were enemies, and that would never change.

He brushed a stray hair from my face, almost like a lover would do, but I knew he was playing with me. “Imagine the notoriety I could claim if I made you a permanent fixture on this wall. Your head would look lovely here.”

 

About the Author:

Susan Illene served in the U.S. Army for eleven years, working first as a human resources specialist and later as an Arabic linguist. She served primarily in Airborne units and did two deployments to Iraq.  After leaving the army, she studied history at the University of Oklahoma. She currently lives with her husband and two sons.

Website: https://susanillene.com

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/-pb-L

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanIllene1

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