Sadie's Spotlight

December 15, 2020December 14, 2020

Grand Finale Wrap-Up: Fantasy & Sci-Fi For Christmas

We hope you enjoyed getting a glimpse into these fantasy and sci-fi books and grabbed some for yourself or as gifts for other fantasy lovers! If you missed any of the stops, you can see snippets, as well as the link to each full post, below. And don’t forget to enter the giveaway…

November 29th: Launch

November 30th: R.J. Anderson – Swift

Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

The shadows were growing longer, the sun slipping toward the horizon. If Ivy didn’t get home soon, Cicely would come looking for her. Reluctantly she got to her feet, and started back toward the Delve.

A dark shape flashed by, and instinctively she whirled toward it. A little bird with wings like a bent bow, body tapering smoothly to a two-pronged fork of a tail. It swooped over the valley, moving so fast that Ivy’s eyes barely had time to focus before it was out of sight.

December 1st: Ralene Burke – Armor of Aletheia

Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

Karina sat down on a rock at the edge of the Continental River. She was tired. And sore. And now this. “What do we do?”

Tristan squatted by the riverbank, staring at the other side. He tilted his face toward the mid-afternoon sun. “River’s shallow enough here to cross without a bridge.”

“But the water’s freezing!”

December 2nd: Michelle Diener – Breakaway

Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

Leo Gaudier walked a dangerous path.

Sofie didn’t pretend that wasn’t part of what attracted her to him in the first place. She was all for sticking it to the Core Corporations. All for it with bells on.

And it didn’t hurt that she’d really liked the look of him since they’d met.

There’d been a little catch in her heart, a little hitch in her breath. A trembling, like fear or excitement. She’d never been affected like that before.

December 3rd: Sandra Fernandez Rhoads – Mortal Sight

Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

Flipping through a few pages, I imagine John Milton standing with quiet authority, patiently waiting for me to pick up on the meaning, the same way my old English teacher would do when I’d stare out the window. I stop on a page where I’ve circled and highlighted the verses:

Shine inward and the mind through all her powers
Irradiate; there plant eyes; all mist from thence
Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell
Of things invisible to mortal sight.

December 4th: J.M. Hackman – Burn

Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

Disappointment wrapped its fingers around my throat. I struggled to take one breath, then another. Baldwin was the same every day. Seeing the flash of clarity disappear in his eyes was crushing. Would he ever get truly better? And did I stay with him out of love or guilt? Probably both. If Baldwin didn’t recognize me, what did that do to our relationship? I couldn’t imagine what his parents were going through.

A woman’s voice slipped through my dark mood. “It’s been a long time, but it’s good to be back for a visit.”

December 5th: Sharon Hinck – Forsaken Island

Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

Across a sweep of waves, the new world called to me. The tangleroot shore of Meriel’s rim rocked beneath my bare feet, daring me to leave the island’s safety and venture to the smudge on the horizon. Sea breezes tickled my skin, stirring my excitement and making my muscles twitch.

Beside me, Brantley rolled a cloak and stuffed it into his pack. “We should have left at first light.” Wind brushed fair curls across his eyes, and he tossed his head like an impatient pony shaking his mane. A mottled brown tunic stretched across his broad shoulders, and a longknife rested at his hip.

December 6th: Ronie Kendig – Dawn of Vengeance

Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

“Zacdari! What in Void’s Embrace are you waiting for?”

Claxons rang in her helmet, a grating noise that made it hard to think. Her heads-up gave a visual on the target station, and another on the left displayed the corvette’s actual trajectory. The dots were not aligned.

Lance Corporal Eija Zacdari could handle it. She might be a mere candidate for the Tertian Intergalactic Hyperjump Program for Exploration. She might be a Tryssinian orphan with more scars than fingers. But she wasn’t a quitter. Getting onto the Prevenire, the first HyPE ship to access the hyperaccelerated slipstream to Kuru System, was her last hope.

December 7th: Carla Laureano – Oath of the Brotherhood

Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

“Welcome, my lord Conor,” Marcan said with a bow, his voice as calm and capable as ever. “Your old chamber has been prepared for you. Come.”

Dolan gave him a nudge, and, reluctantly, Conor followed Marcan up the front steps into the great hall. Torches threw flickering light on the cavernous room, from its rush- covered floor to the curve of the ceiling, though they could not quite dispel the shadows at its apex. Conor’s gaze settled on four unfamiliar men standing before the dais that held the king’s throne. From their elaborately embroidered clothing, he guessed three of them to be lords of the realm. The fourth’s clean- shaven head and plain robes marked him as a cleric.

December 8th: Belle Malory – Deviant Descendants

Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

“Let’s say by some miracle, the fire determines you’re worthy,” Redtree continued, his hawk-eyed gaze darting around the crowd. “Make sure you hold your hand steady. You must outlast the pain to complete the Summoning. Once it’s done, you and your weapon are bound for life.”

Well, this was just perfect. He was expecting each of us to go up there, in front of everyone. I wasn’t afraid of the pain, but I didn’t want to put my hand in while others were staring. I could already hear their boos and cackles coming for me. Thankfully, Redtree went in alphabetical order, which meant I would be one of the last to be called.

December 9th: Sara Schaller – The Genesis of Seven

Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

“Run!” Sister Helen shouted.

Somehow, my body obliged. My legs carried me down the alleyway, past dumpsters and trashcans. At the street, I stopped briefly to figure out where to go next. I glanced at the paper and realized I had a bit of distance to cover. The address was near Central Park, but the orphanage was in the opposite direction. In fact, the orphanage wasn’t even in Manhattan. There wasn’t time to figure out a route though. At the sound of running footsteps, I looked over my shoulder and saw two men dressed in black fast approaching.

Without a second thought, I broke into a sprint and headed right.

December 10th: Jennifer Silverwood – Stay

Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

The city was beautiful and wicked, but it was a false beauty compared to the things I had seen. When he cursed me I could feel everything, from contentment to sorrow, but never love. Seid had given me the ability to see it in others and destroy it when it was false or save it if true. Yet the only thing that managed to stir me these days was the memory of my death. Only my memories kept me going. Vengefully I often wished he still knew my every thought and suffered the recall of our every moment together.

Thinking of Seid made my cloak slip enough to expose an outline of my features. I never would have noticed my mistake if the boy coming my way hadn’t pointed and began to shout a stream of curses to his friends. Other people were turning and beginning to take notice, the old couple clutching onto each other to ward away the winter chill, the little girl picking their pocket for loose change, Black Market vendors dealing on the side.

December 11th: Anne Wheeler – Treason’s Crown

Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

“So. This is Riette Kaleveld. She is rather lovely, don’t you agree?”

Willem made a non-committal noise, and I cringed at the idea of them talking about me like I wasn’t there.

“Though I should have known her hair would be brown. They always are from Elternow.”

December 12th: Melissa Wright – Between Ink and Shadows

Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

It was not Calum at all. He was only holding her. The magic was something else, something he wanted her to feel.

They’d gone lower than she realized, farther toward the depths of the undercity. Toward the queen’s lair. The magic always flowed and ebbed, but Nim had not felt it, an unfathomable power that had drawn her, that had allowed her to believe she was only walking through the corridors and not into another trap. There she was snared, so it rose toward her, swelling through the room and washing over her. Her body came alive with tingling heat, her flesh on fire beneath her clothes. It wanted to burn her, wanted to devour whatever was not part of it. Whatever did not belong.

December 13th: Morgan Wylie – Silent Orchids

Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

Daegan heard the whispered voices in unison chanting what he assumed had to be the ancient prophecy he was told about. Over and over again the whispered chants rang in his mind until Daegan, hands clutching his head to keep it from exploding, couldn’t take it anymore and yelled out loud, “Silence!”

The Orchids. They were speaking to him. The words of the prophecy cycled through his head. This time he controlled it. He paid attention to the words, making every effort to make sense of them. Sadness and despair were heavy in the undertones of the voices, but as the chant went on they gained strength… and hope. As Daegan reflected upon what his part could be, for the first time in a long time, he dared to believe… and to hope.

December 14th: Kristen Young – Apprentice

Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

Some things should never be forgotten—at least, that’s what they tell me. I can’t forget anything. Not what I had for breakfast last week (regulation protein cereal). Not the Collective News broadcast from last month (Supreme Lover Midgate wanted to wish us all “a very happy Triumph of Love season.”). Not even my first Hater Recognition Sign (Haters can’t love. Period.).

Usually I can block most of it out, but sometimes it bubbles over, and I end up getting in trouble. Like when I recite my Dorm Leaders’ exact words back to them. Or worse: when I recite what they said four years ago.

Blogs & Bookstagrammers Participating

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Heidi Reads…
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Jennifer Silverwood
@jhannabass
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Rockin’ Book Reviews
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Wishful Endings

Tour Giveaway

One winner will receive a $75 (USD) Amazon eGift Card

Open internationally
Ends December 19, 2020

ENTER HERE

December 14, 2020December 14, 2020

Spotlight & Excerpt: Apprentice + Giveaway

On tour with Prism Book Tours

Apprentice
(Collective Underground #1)
By Kristen Young
Christian YA Sci-Fi Thriller, Dystopian
Hardcover & ebook, 247 Pages
October 13, 2020 by Enclave Escape

The Love Collective is everywhere.
It sees everything.
Be not afraid.

Apprentice Flick remembers everything, except the first five years of her life. And for as long as she can remember, Flick has wanted to enter the Elite Academy—home to the best, brightest, and most loyal members of the Love Collective government.

Flick’s uncanny memory might get her there, too … even if it is the very thing that marks her as a freak. But frightening hallucinations start intruding into her days and threaten to bring down all she has worked so hard to accomplish. Why is she being hijacked by a stranger’s nightmare over and over again?

Moving to the Elite Academy could give Flick the future she’s always wanted. But her search for truth may lead to a danger she cannot escape.

Excerpt

Welcome to the Nursery, children.
Here, you are safe.
Here, no Haters can harm you.
Here, you are never beyond our sight.
Love all.
Be all.
—Supreme Lover Midgate.

The name “Memory Freak” sticks to me like static electricity.

I’ve been living here in the Nursery Dorms for as long as I can remember. And that’s where my head gets weird. Because as far as I can tell, my memories only start when I’m already a kid. Before that first day in the dorms? Nothing. After that day? Picture-perfect recall, all ten years of it.

I get it. In Nursery Dorm 492, every day is almost a mirror image of the day before. At precisely 0630, our stim-beds wake us up. Like drones we all file into the communal bathrooms. Then it’s across the dorm campus to breakfast—hundreds of kids in regulation white jumpsuits, names embroidered on our lapels in case we forget. Not that I ever would:

Apprentice Kerr Flick
#540/187503

There’s drill practice at 0830. Hater Recognition lessons at 0945. Love Collective History from 1030 until 1300. More drills. More apps. By the time 2030 kicks around, we’re tired out and ready for the warm tickle of our stim-beds again. In between, it’s a case of learn-as-much-as-I-can and avoid Myk, Bez, and Fedge. I call them the Three Fists because that’s all they know how to use.

I don’t have to worry about them for too much longer, though. I’m not going to be in the Nursery Dorm forever. No way. One day, I will get so far away they can’t find me. One day, I’ll get out of here and fly all the way to Elite Academy.

About the Author

A Scottish-born Australian author, Kristen Young has worked with children and youth for decades. She writes fiction and non-fiction for teens, and always has a notebook on hand to capture stray story ideas. In her spare time she loves hanging out with her family, watching movies with subtitles, and enjoying a little too much chocolate.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Tour Schedule
(Posts go live on the day they’re scheduled.)

November 29th: Launch
November 30th: R.J. Anderson – Swift
December 1st: Ralene Burke – Armor of Aletheia
December 2nd: Michelle Diener – Breakaway
December 3rd: Sandra Fernandez Rhoads – Mortal Sight
December 4th: J.M. Hackman – Burn
December 5th: Sharon Hinck – Forsaken Island
December 6th: Ronie Kendig – Dawn of Vengeance
December 7th: Carla Laureano – Oath of the Brotherhood
December 8th: Belle Malory – Deviant Descendants
December 9th: Sara Schaller – The Genesis of Seven
December 10th: Jennifer Silverwood – Stay
December 11th: Anne Wheeler – Treason’s Crown
December 12th: Melissa Wright – Between Ink and Shadows
December 13th: Morgan Wylie – Silent Orchids
December 14th: Kristen Young – Apprentice
December 15th: Grand Finale

Tour Giveaway

One winner will receive a $75 (USD) Amazon eGift Card

Open internationally
Ends December 19, 2020

ENTER HERE

December 12, 2020December 14, 2020

Spotlight & Excerpt: Between Ink and Shadows Series + Giveaway

On tour with Prism Book Tours

Between Ink and Shadows
(Between Ink and Shadows #1)
By Melissa Wright
Epic Fantasy
Hardcover, Paperback & ebook, 236 Pages
December 1, 2020

She’ll win back her freedom, even if she has to steal it.

Nimona Weston has a debt to pay. Her father’s dealings with the dark society known as the Trust cost Nim her freedom. There’s one way out of the contract on her life and that’s to bide her time and pay the tithes. But when the Trust assigns Nim to a task in the king’s own castle, her freedom is not the only thing she’ll risk.

Warrick Spenser has a secret. As king’s seneschal, he should be the last soul in Inara to risk association with dark magic, but long-hidden ties to the Trust are harder to shed than simply cutting the threads. When the Trust sends a thief to his rooms, Warrick thinks he’s finally found a way to be rid of them for good. But Nimona Weston is hiding secrets of her own.

Magical contracts, blood-debt accountants, and a deadly game. A dark and twisty fantasy that pits magic against kings, perfect for fans of Sorcery of Thorns and Serpent & Dove.

Excerpt

It was too late to think, too late to be clever. She was trapped in a dark alcove, the pressure of Calum’s magic nearly crushing her beneath its power. But the power swelled, and Nim’s nausea rose again.

It was not Calum at all. He was only holding her. The magic was something else, something he wanted her to feel.

It was the queen, the current head of the Trust.

It was what Calum might someday become.

His body pressed near hers, holding her against the wall. In the enveloping darkness, she felt him lean closer, sensed his face slide beside hers. “To remind you,” he said, his voice a caress, so at odds with the way the magic was suppressing even her knowledge of how to breathe. “Should you be tempted,” he told her. Should you begin to believe you might someday get away.

“I own you.” Calum’s whisper strung tightly around her, a physical thing. A promise that she could never be free.

Other Books in the Series

(Linked to an Amazon affiliate link.)

About the Author

Melissa is the author of more than a dozen YA and fantasy novels, including The Frey Saga and SEVEN WAYS TO KILL A KING. She is perpetually working on the next book and encourages readers to stay updated on works in progress at Instagram and Twitter. Contact her through the web at www.melissa-wright.com.

Tour Schedule
(Posts go live on the day they’re scheduled.)

Tour Giveaway

One winner will receive a $75 (USD) Amazon eGift Card

Open internationally
Ends December 19, 2020

ENTER HERE