Spotlight: Willow’s Way + Giveaway

Willow’s Way
by Cheryl Headford
Genre: YA Fantasy, LGBTQ

 

Cale always told Tay that fairy tales were dark. But they always have happy endings, right?
Taylor Preston is a normal sixteen-year-old whose biggest worries are his GCSE exams. He’s right in the middle of them, but he has a summer of fun with his parents to look forward to after. Or not.
Despite their promise to spend the summer focusing on their one and only son, Tay’s parents, Local Authority specialist foster carers, take on one more special case.
Willow’s arrival throws more than Tay’s summer into chaos. Suddenly, his best friend is possessed by a demon, his parents aren’t his parents after all, and he’s literally living a nightmare in a fairy tale world that as dark as anything Cale ever warned him about. All he has is Willow and a burning desire to save his friend before he succumbs to the demon and Willow kills him.
 
 

Cheryl was born into a poor mining family in the South Wales Valleys. Until she was 16, the toilet was at the bottom of the garden and the bath hung on the wall. Her refrigerator was a stone slab in the pantry and there was a black lead fireplace in the kitchen. They look lovely in a museum but aren’t so much fun to clean.

Cheryl has always been a storyteller. As a child, she’d make up stories for her nieces, nephews and cousin and they’d explore the imaginary worlds she created, in play.

Later in life, Cheryl became the storyteller for a re enactment group who travelled widely, giving a taste of life in the Iron Age. As well as having an opportunity to run around hitting people with a sword, she had an opportunity to tell stories of all kinds, sometimes of her own making, to all kinds of people. The criticism was sometimes harsh, especially from the children, but the reward enormous.

It was here she began to appreciate the power of stories and the primal need to hear them. In ancient times, the wandering bard was the only source of news, and the storyteller the heart of the village, keeping the lore and the magic alive. Although much of the magic has been lost, the stories still provide a link to the part of us that still wants to believe that it’s still there, somewhere.

In present times, Cheryl lives in a terraced house in the valleys with her son, dog, bearded dragon and three cats. Her daughter has deserted her for the big city, but they’re still close. She’s never been happier since she was made redundant and is able to devote herself entirely to her twin loves of writing and art, with a healthy smattering of magic and mayhem

 
 
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Book Blitz: Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf + Giveaway

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
(The Big Bad Wolf Trilogy, #1)
Janie Marie
Out October 27th 2020
Coming of Age, Fairy Tales, Young Adult

Fantasizing about Trevor Grimm is Kylie Hood’s favorite escape from her cruel reality. So, when he asks for her help on a school project, sparks are bound to fly and her dreams are going to come true . . .

Not in this fairy tale.

No, everything changes when Kylie meets Logan Grimm, Trevor’s older cousin and a professional MMA fighter some call the Big Bad Wolf.

He’s the first person to peer under the hood she hides beneath. He’s the first person to see the signs that something is wrong. He’s the first person to give her any attention. And he’s offering to help protect her.

But Logan’s world isn’t safe. It’s dirty, exhilarating, and dangerous. It’s everything Kylie needs to stay away from.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

“I’ll be there,” came a male voice that wasn’t Trevor’s. “Put five on me. Yeah, I have it.”

Kylie snapped her head up and forgot the growing pain behind her eyes, because what she was seeing could only be a gift from God.

It was a boy. No, he was a man. A man-boy. He was more mature than the boys she went to school with, but not that much older than her—maybe early twenties. A hot twenty-something, at that. With the perfect body, glistening with a light sheen of sweat, he was glorious. Solid and lean—not an inch of fat. Just pure muscle and sun-kissed skin painted with beautiful tattoos along his arms, chest and—dear God—the attractive V dipping below his low-sitting shorts.

Breathe, girl.

She sucked in a breath. Thank goodness he hadn’t noticed her sitting there. He rummaged through the fridge, his phone still pressed to his ear. It looked as though he’d found what he wanted because he stood, shutting the door as he lifted an apple to his lips.

The man was a god. And he was about to see her sitting there. Staring at him.

“Nah, I think I already fucked her, didn’t I?” He took a bite of the apple, finally making eye contact with her. He froze, staring at her with the same shocked expression she had stamped across her face.

Kylie gulped, unsure of how to explain who she was and what she was doing there, eavesdropping, all while admiring the apple juice dripping down his chin.

“What?” he said, shaking out of his daze but not looking away from her. “No, I’ll pick one later.” He wiped his chin, and with a jerk of his head, his black hair shifted away from his dark-brown eyes. “I said, I’ll pick. Yeah. See ya.”

Kylie started sweating under his intense stare as he ended the call. At first, he just kept staring at her. His gaze drifted over what he could see of her face and body, which couldn’t have been much, but even with her hood up, she felt as if he could see right into her soul.

Too afraid to speak, Kylie looked back down at the table, hoping he would just leave her alone. He was too intense for her, and she didn’t need to know him to understand that.

“What’s your name?” He spoke roughly and to the point.

She knew he wouldn’t care that she was the freak of their school. It was easy to see he was the kind of person who demanded and received.

She started to say, “Ky—” but Trevor’s return prevented her from answering him.

“Hey,” Trevor greeted the man who had yet to stop his inspection of her. “I didn’t think you’d be here today. Don’t you have a fight tonight?”

Trevor dumped his work on the table, causing her to flinch.

The man-boy narrowed his eyes on her. “I do,” he told Trevor, still watching her. “Are you going to ignore your friend, or introduce me?”

Trevor looked over at her and said, “Oh, this is Kylie. Kylie, this is my cousin Logan. I live with him while my dad is overseas.”

Logan took another bite of his apple as Trevor took a seat. She nodded in acknowledgment and looked away. She wasn’t used to meeting new people anymore, especially sexy guys like Logan.

“What’s your last name?” Logan asked.

Kylie couldn’t stop herself from jerking her head up. He had moved closer, standing opposite her now. His eyes never left her face. He no doubt figured she was a freak like everyone else did.

“Hood,” she said, wringing her hands together on her lap. “Kylie Hood.”

The small twitch at the corner of his mouth threatened to turn into a smirk, but he took another bite of his apple, finishing it and tossing it into the trash.

“Well, Kylie Hood,” he said, sounding amused, “it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He stuck out his hand as he cut Trevor a dark look, but he focused on her as he grinned. “Logan Grimm.”

About the Author

Janie Marie is a native Texan and resides in her hometown north of Austin, Texas, where she devotes her time to family, pets, and her writing.
Much of her life experiences–good and a lot of bad–are where she has chosen to draw inspiration from to create her characters and stories. It’s important to her to create the kind of characters she needs or needed at one point in time because she wanted to create something only the saddest souls would recognize as brave and strong.
Be ready for raw, emotional tales, as Janie never holds back. With her darkest thoughts she found light is still possible, that the sad girl can sometimes glow the brightest. Because she is beauty surrounded by darkness.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook Page / Facebook Group / Twitter / Instagram / Newsletter / Bookbub

 

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Book Blitz: Shadows of Atlantis, by Amara Powers

Shadows of Atlantis
Awakening, #1

Mara Powers

Fantasy
326 pages

 

Publisher: SOA, LLC

 

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Brigitte is an emissary of nature chosen to renew the treaty between Atlantis and the ancient bloodline of Lemuria. Her sacred betrothal would renew the function of the Crystal Grid that powers the ten kingdoms of Atlantis. But her people are attacked by a storm of shadows, and now she is running for her life.

Upon her arrival in the ruling city, she meets D’Vinid, a dejected musician who lives the quintessential Atlantean lifestyle of revelry, escapism and apathy. Under the eclipse of a holy festival marking the union of Atlantis’s mystical technology with nature, they are swept into an attraction they cannot resist. They become the embodiment of two gods whose union is meant to protect humanity from a deadly enemy – the Shadows of Atlantis. But this man is not her betrothed.

Brigitte discovers the Grid is corrupted by psychic parasites that feed off human suffering, a sweeping epidemic called “The Madness.” The rituals required to charge the Grid with psychic emanations have been poorly attended, and this has caused the Grid to malfunction. But as nature always strives toward balance, the crystals have activated a genetic upgrade, and the youth have begun to express supernatural powers. Could it be that Brigitte and D’Vinid are meant to be leaders among the awakened? And if so, why does it seem impossible for them to be together?

A mysterious tale of romance, seduction and betrayal that reaches just enough into the modern mind to ask – will we learn the lessons of Atlantis?

 

 

About the Author

 

Mara Powers is a modern Renaissance woman, scholar, traveler, musician, producer and philosopher, all of which feed her writing. She has been researching the mysteries of lost civilizations since she was a teenager, a quest that has become a personal hero’s journey. She hails from the mountains of Colorado and the west side of Los Angeles where she spends her days wandering the shores of the ocean, dreaming up Atlantis.

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