Spotlight: Winter of the Wicked, by J.L. Vampa

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Congratulations to J.L. Vampa on the release of the HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED second novel in The Sisters Solstice series, Winter of the Wicked! Read on for more and get yourself a copy of this beauty!

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Winter of the Wicked
(Sisters Solstice #2)
by J.L. Vampa
Publication Date: February 21st, 2023
Publisher: Phantom House Press
Genre: Adult Fantasy/ Gothic Fantasy/ Dark Romantic Fantasy

Some witches cast spells. Others sacrifice everything.

A Sister forced to do the unthinkable. A kingdom on the brink. A quartet of witches intent on altering History. 

For centuries, Sister Winter’s life has been dictated by a Grimoire—the Book her Sister Autumn just destroyed. Despite the necessity of its destruction to end a vile shadow organization and the Sisters’ three hundred years of separation, Wendolyn is left adrift without its guidance.

As secrets from long ago begin to rise up around her, Sister Winter must face what haunts her, while the Prince of Mereville uses his abilities as Marchand de Mort to infiltrate The Order—the shadow regime that wants him dead.

Will the ghosts of the past keep Wendolyn from her Sisters? Will their differences spell the end for Midlerea? Or can they put aside what’s been to save the dark prince and the future of the realm?

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Autumn of the Grimoire

(Sisters Solstice Series #1)
by J.L. Vampa
Publication Date: September 22, 2022
Genre: Gothic Fantasy/ Dark Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Phantom House Press

Some witches cast spells. Others slay kings.

A mysterious Grimoire. A marriage full of dark secrets. A History sculpted by a quartet of ancient Sister witches.

For three hundred years, Sister Autumn has incited wars, burnt villages, killed kings, and released plagues at the bidding of the Grimoire. Meanwhile, her Sister Winter, Sister Spring, and Sister Summer have brought forth only peace.

When an Order from the Grimoire sends Agatha to the Kingdom of Merveille, she already anticipates the worst. Unless she wants to face the wrath of the Goddess, Agatha must keep her head down and do as she’s commanded.

But when the Grimoire Orders her to marry a pompous prince and play the role of a peasant “accepted” by vicious aristocrats, she finds herself at the center of a war between the classes and an age-old prophecy.

Within the court, many players harbor dark secrets—including her new husband. With her newfound influence, Agatha joins forces with the city’s Blacklisted in order to blur the lines between the common man and the elite, unravel the mysteries in her marriage, and decide once and for all if she will defy the Grimoire and face the brutal consequences.

As secrets unfold, will Agatha continue to slay on behalf of the Grimoire, or forge an uncharted History with her unlikely allies?

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About the Author

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Jane Lenore (J.L.) Vampa is a published author of Dark Fantasy and Victorian Gothic fiction. J.L. also owns a macabre-style bookish shop, Wicked Whimsy Boutique. She lives in Texas with her musician husband and their two littles who are just as peculiar as they are.

JL Vampa |  Instagram | Twitter | Wicked Whimsy Boutique


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Spotlight & Excerpt: Four Feasts Till Darkness series + Giveaway

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I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the FOUR FEASTS TILL DARKNESS Series by Christian A. Brown Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

Title: FOUR FEASTS TILL DARKNESS Series

Author: Christian A. Brown

Pub. Date: All books available now!

Publisher: Forsythia Press

Formats: Paperback, eBook, Audiobook

 

Leap into the mysterious, war-torn realm of Geadhain, where psychic witches clash with technocratic, godlike kings. A Lovecraftian world of steam, sorcery, romance and ancient mystery. The complete, spellbinding Four Feasts till Darkness omnibus, a veritable literary feast spanning five volumes and over 1.1 million words, is now available for your consumption in a single digital package.

Lauded by the critics as “unmissable,” “unputdownable,” “lavish,” and “poetic,” Feasts heralds the arrival of a unique new voice in dark fantasy.

“An unmissable dark fantasy romance,”—Kirkus (starred review)

Find them:

Feast ofFates (Four Feasts Till Darkness Book 1):
Goodreads, Books2Read

Feast of Dreams (Four Feasts Till Darkness Book 2):
Goodreads, Books2Read

Feast of Chaos (Four Feasts Till Darkness Book 3):
Goodreads, Books2Read

Feast of Darkness, Part I (Four Feasts Till Darkness Book 4):
Goodreads, Books2Read

Feast of Darkness, Part II (Four Feasts Till Darkness Book 5):
Goodreads, Books2Read

Complete Boxset:
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Read all of the eBooks for FREE with a Kindle Unlimited Membership!


Excerpt (from Feast of Fates)

Poor lass. I wonder what the brothers grim have planned for her. All that trouble and all that death, and she is what it amounts to.

To the right of Morigan, and thinking these dire thoughts, was a brown-haired woman lined by evening shadows: a fellow prisoner on this craft. Akin to the prison marches of old, when slaves were herded into the mines of Menos to toil until they fell, the two of them were cuffed in black manacles with chains that connected their feet to their wrists and their wrists to each other. In the swaying, wind-rapped skycarriage, the heavy iron links beat against their bruised shins and shivered their bones with a song of hopelessness. The two sat hip to hip, though Morigan was mostly slumped on her fellow captive until a sand ago when she had groaned herself awake, out of an abyss of unconsciousness that had surely held her for a day, or longer. With her first gasp of awareness, she cried out for Caenith using her body and mind. But her communication was twice stymied: her mouth muzzled by a cloth gag, and the bees never left her head; they only circled and buzzed. A power was restraining her gift, at least the far reach of it, and her instincts told her that the iron she was bound in had more of a burden than mere weight. Aye, it burned her wrists and ankles coldly, like the bite of frost.

She could still sense and hear the unseen by touch, however, and the proximity of her fellow captive was enough to catch echoes of what the other thought. This prisoner wasn’t a warm woman; that much Morigan learned in only a short exposure to her. Which was good, figured Morigan, for the soft had no chance of surviving whatever was in store for them. The cool cunning of the Wolf or another boldness reined Morigan, and she counted her enemies. First, the grim men in fitted black clothing that stood steadied by an assassin’s grace in the shaking cabin. Next, the dead man down the bench, who was calmly stitching an overcoat that Morigan vaguely remembered perforating with her dagger. The biggest concern with that adversary was that it didn’t appear that he could be killed, not by any weapon she knew of, aside from magik, perhaps. The nekromancer and that silver-mouthed thing were not in the cabin, though she recalled them well. Calculating the odds of two chained women against seven very dangerous men left Morigan short of a solution.

Irrespective of her cunning, she would not get far in chains, not without help or an understanding of her fate. Morigan nudged closer to the other prisoner and was given a look of reproach.

Don’t pull away, and don’t show surprise that I am speaking in your head, whispered Morigan.

Little perturbed Mouse’s steely demeanor, but the hollow voice, the shout in a mental room of her skull almost had her leaping to the ceiling. She made a small noise of surprise behind her gag, and then shrewdly acted as if she was coughing when attentions snapped upon her. The dead man dropped his coat to the floor and was rubbing her back at once. Mouse made him stop with a glare, and he sheepishly chased down his thread and garment, returning to his task in a speck. When the situation had calmed, and both women were bleakly focused ahead like the preoccupied prisoners they were supposed to be, Morigan whispered again.

We need to talk, you and I. This is the only way that I think it is safe to do so. As long as we are touching or relatively close, you can hear my words, and I can hear yours. Respond if you understand me.

Mouse concentrated on what she was to say. Can you…can you hear me? A pause, as the message was relayed—and was that a tinny buzz, wondered Mouse—and then the woman next to her replied.

Yes. What is your name?

Mouse entered a short debate about how much to reveal to a woman who apparently could enter her head. Hiding the truth from a seer seemed a pointless endeavor, she decided.

Mouse. You may call me Mouse. And you, strange witch?

Along with Mouse’s words, the bees returned with a few droplets of stolen memory nectar. Morigan was silent a spell while she sifted through images of a metal eye; the rank smell of a man’s unwashed sexual sweat; a handsome, dark-haired face hidden in a hood—even with only his thin jaw showing, she knew this man was charismatic—and lastly, a gloomy manor with a rusted playground and scattered cricket set. Feelings of pitiful sadness tainted this final scene, and Morigan was stirred. This Mouse had lost something: her love, her innocence. After requesting that the bees behave in their travels, Morigan sent another thought to Mouse.

Morigan is my name. Where are they taking us?

Menos.

Morigan swallowed her distress. Every speck in this craft took her farther from the Wolf, though she knew in her heart of hearts that he was on the chase. The hope was there; she needed only to fan the flame.

Why have they taken you? asked Morigan.

The living one that looks like the dead man beside me, he’s mad as a bull with a hornet up its ass. Master Blackbriar, he is. Sorren by first name. A nekromancer of the sickest kind, which is saying a lot for those folks. He stole, well, paid my employer to own me, and I can only imagine what he will do to you or me after seeing what he has done to others. Stitched a woman—a living woman, ghastly as that sounds—with bags of powder, whistling while he did it. He thinks that I’m someone I am not.

Again, Morigan saw the dilapidated black manor, its windows frosted with grime. She demanded that the bees stop their foraging. While Morigan’s mind had slipped, Mouse had been repeating a question over and over, wanting it to be heard: Why have they taken you?

They want something from me, replied Morigan, and delayed before further explaining herself. Yet the same desperate trust that won over Mouse, that sinking reality that there was no one here to help them besides themselves, persuaded Morigan to be honest—within reason.

I have seen things, she continued. I have information that I think would be of value to those who wanted to abuse it. I should have realized sooner that I was putting myself in danger, but I…well, I was distracted. I propose that what we think of next is our escape.

Our escape? replied Mouse. This woman was as much guile as she was surprise. Cautious to her core, Mouse didn’t fall into like with people, though she felt a curious tugging of respect toward this daring stranger.

Yes, our escape, Mouse. For I do not think I could do any of this alone and I don’t need my gifts to tell me that you are as doomed as I.


 

About Christian A. Brown:

Bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Feast of Fates, Christian A. Brown received a Kirkus star in 2014 for the first novel in his genre-changing Four Feasts Till Darkness series. He has appeared on Newstalk 1010, AM640, Daytime Rogers, and Get Bold Today with LeGrande Green.
He actively writes a blog about his mother’s journey with cancer and on gender issues in the media. 
A lover of the weird and wonderful, Brown considers himself an eccentric with a talent for cat-whispering.  Find out more at www.christianadrianbrown.com

 

Website | FacebookInstagram | YouTube | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub


Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a a full set FOUR FEASTS TILL DARKNESS Series (all 5 books), paperback, signed giveaway anywhere within the US + Canada.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ends March 10th, midnight EST.


Tour Schedule:

Week One:

2/1/2023

Two Chicks on Books

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2/2/2023

Mythical Books

Guest Post/IG Post

2/3/2023

#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog

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Week Two:

2/6/2023

A Dream Within A Dream

Guest Post

2/7/2023

The Momma Spot

Excerpt

2/8/2023

read dog reviews

IG Spotlight

2/9/2023

Writer of Wrongs

Excerpt

2/10/2023

Sadie’s Spotlight

Excerpt/IG Post

Week Three:

2/13/2023

Jazzy Book Reviews

Excerpt/IG Post

2/14/2023

Books With A Chance

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2/15/2023

Review Thick And Thin

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2/16/2023

@traceyreadsandrambles

IG Review/TikTok Post

2/17/2023

A Blue Box Full of Books

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Week Four:

2/20/2023

@carlysunshinebooks

IG Review/LFL Drop Pic

2/21/2023

Emily Ashlyn

IG Review/Facebook Post

2/22/2023

OneMoreExclamation

Review/IG Post

2/23/2023

The Real World According To Sam

Review/IG Post

2/24/2023

mindyourshelf

IG Review

Week Five:

2/27/2023

GryffindorBookishNerd

IG Review

2/28/2023

Books and Zebras

IG Review

3/1/2023

Country Mamas With Kids

Review/IG Post

3/2/2023

@froggyreadteach

IG Review

3/3/2023

More Books Please blog

Review

 

Cover Reveal: A Kingdom of Death and Despair, by Whitney Dean

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Every cover in The Four Kingdoms series have been gorgeous but I think this may be our favorite yet! Make sure you pre-order this beauty today!

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A Kingdom of Death and Despair
(The Four Kingdoms #3)
by: Whitney Dean
Expected Publication Date: June 27th, 2023
Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Romance
Publisher: Phantom House Press

Darkness doesn’t die.

Once upon a time, there was a half-witch of three who walked on the land where creatures roamed free.

Once upon a time, there was a prince of one who danced with the waves under the sun.

Once upon a time, there was a prince of two who hid amongst the shadows where fear only grew.

But when time became impatient, a prophecy was conceived of twins born of darkness, who would live their lives aggrieved but coupled with their misery was the answer all sought but the question remained, which one would be left to rot?

Pre-order Here


Previous Books in Series:

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A Kingdom of Frost and Fear
(The Four Kingdoms #2)
Publication Date: December 6, 2022
Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Romance

Tropes: Arranged Marriage, Forced Proximity, Hidden Identity, Chosen Family, Dark Magic, Grumpy/Sunshine, Dual POV

After years of wondering where she came from and what her story was, Raven received the answers she had been craving: she has a family and is the true heir to the throne of Seolia. But the answers she so hopelessly sought only bred more questions. As she digs deeper into her past, she wonders if maybe she should have stayed hidden in the shadows, safe from the pain and agony of knowing her happily ever after may not be so happy after all.

Zeke had been right all along: she hates him for what he’d hidden from her. Now, with Raven desperate to learn who she is, he’s desperate to win her back. But while still holding secrets of his own, doing so will come at a price he may not be able to pay.

And all the while, magic is slowly reawakening in the realm of The Four Kingdoms and not a soul is prepared for the new black magic Raven is now in possession of.

This is book two of an epic dark fantasy adventure series and contains scenes of graphic and mature content. Reader discretion is advised.

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A Kingdom of Flame and Fury
(The Four Kingdoms #1)
Publication Date: May 26th, 2022
Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Dark Romance

At ten years old, Raven was mysteriously willed to be the next ruler of Seolia, a kingdom nestled within the realm of The Four Kingdoms. Orphaned as a baby, she has spent fifteen years ruling over a kingdom she believes she did not earn all while hiding secrets: she possesses dark magic and she thirsts for blood. Now at almost twenty-five years old and with a sudden addiction to stealing life, Raven must fight through her new procured darkness to save her soul, but when a mysterious stranger arrives in her kingdom, she starts experiencing vivid dreams that detail who she truly is. As she slowly starts to unravel her story, what she uncovers at the end of the spool will change the course of her life and her kingdom forever.

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About the Author

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Whitney was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas and raised in Allen, Texas. She resides in a quaint little town in Arkansas with her husband and two children, along with her labradoodle, Simba.

Her love of reading came from the Harry Potter series when she was seven years old, and frequent trips to the most magical place on earth. Because of it, the fantasy realm has taken up residence in her brain for a very long time.

While her writings include real-life pain and angst, she is a fan of happily-ever-after’s and always strives to bring that forth in her stories.

Whitney Dean | Instagram | Facebook | Amazon | Linktree


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