Friday, March 29, 2024
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Uncaged Review: Strange Tidings by Jim Stein

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Strange Tidings
Jim Stein
Fantasy/Science Fiction

Ed Johnson knows a secret…

Music is power…

Unfortunately, power attracts trouble…

The apocalypse didn’t arrive with nuclear war or a plague of zombies, just a quiet virus that sterilized most everyone and put humanity’s future in jeopardy.

Fifty years later, seventeen-year-old Ed Johnson plies his musical talents in New Philadelphia, jumping at the chance to help launch a coworker’s band. But Quinn, their beautiful bassist, is inexplicably cold toward him, and other strange things are afoot.

In spite of a growing unease, Ed shrugs off being stalked by a crazy, old Native American and a frightening crone. But when nightmare creatures threaten his sister, Ed discovers he is bound to the strangers. To get out of this mess, he must enlist the help of his friends and Quinn, who harbors her own dark secret.

But there is little time for Ed to discover the true power of music and save them, himself, and perhaps the future of the human race.

Uncaged Review: This is a bit of a surprising read, once you get past the first part. It’s a very slow starter – and to be honest, I struggled in the beginning. But it does jump into gear pretty well after Ed’s sister goes missing. The apocalyptic part of the book is the experimentation on a birth control medication that actually sterilized a majority of the population. Now, years later the population of the whole planet is under a million. Another very interesting part of this book is the Native American mythology brought in.

If you manage to get through the first 20% of the book, there is a pretty good story awaiting and it definitely picks up the pace. Tying it all together with the power of music, it makes for a good read.
Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review: Witching Hour by Nikki Landis

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Witching Hour
Nikki Landis
Paranormal/Occult

The witching hour has begun….
My essence has been stolen.

Tricked by the rogue witch that’s attacked Mystic Hallows from the beginning of Samhain, I’m drained and weakened in a dungeon cell far from home. Each passing hour brings me closer to the edge as I teeter on the brink of insanity. Fantasy and reality blur, my mind deteriorates, and I can’t distinguish between friend and foe.

My Cosan is too far away. I need their help to break me and Damian out of this hellhole. Secrets to Damian’s past and those of the Nosferatu bloodline are held within these stone walls and become the focal point in a ruthless battle for control. My only help comes from the sarcastic vampire that wants to drain my blood as much as seek revenge upon Dmitri. The vicious twin brother who tarnished the Rockcastle name and joined forces with the damned.

When everything is set in motion, each hour on the clock brings destruction closer. Every tick counts down. I only have twenty-four hours to restore my fractured soul before the changes are permanent. Confronting my enemy is the only choice. It’s time Roman English found out the power of the Salem bloodline once and for all – and I’m not the only one waiting to take him down.

Uncaged Review: The third episode finds Cassie prisoner in a cell with Damian out of commission chained to the wall and a necromancer in the next cell. She’s almost left for dead, when Damian’s brother Dmitri saves her. But what’s in it for Dmitri?

The action ramps up well, and the reverse harem is beginning to come into play, and we find out more about Damian and his past and his relationship with his brother. We also learn a huge whopping secret at the end of the book that is sure to be a complete game changer. The heat level is increasing as the author promised, and the Cosan bonding is closer than ever. Looking forward to episode four. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

Uncaged Review – Dangerous Duke by Scarlett Scott

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Dangerous Duke
Scarlett Scott
Historical Regency

He’s lethal and ruthless.
Suspended from his work as an agent for the Crown, Griffin, Duke of Strathmore, exists under a dark cloud of suspicion for crimes he didn’t commit. He’s on a desperate race to clear his name by any means until a grave error lands him under house arrest with the last sort of distraction he needs.

She’s the sister of his nemesis.
Lady Violet West is about to be married to the most boring man in England. When the disgraced Duke of Strathmore lands in her lap—literally—she decides he is the answer to her longing for adventure. Though her brother is convinced of Strathmore’s guilt, Violet isn’t as certain.

Falling in love is out of the question.
Griffin doesn’t want her interference. Violet won’t take no for an answer. So begins a secret partnership between the fallen duke and the determined lady. Their quest to uncover the truth leads to danger and desire. But the most perilous risk of all is losing their hearts.

Uncaged Review: This is by far, my favorite historical romance this year. From the time that Griffin trips over Violet’s crochet yarn and lands in her lap, you knew that these two were meant to be together. Griffin’s language felt more natural – where in so many historicals, everyone seems so stuffy in their speech and actions, you never feel that with Griffin. What a breath of fresh air!

Perfect amount of romance, danger, intrigue and a couple of people who fell in love back during that trip over the crochet yarn and wouldn’t admit it, this book hits all the right buttons. Highly recommended for the historical romance lovers. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

New Promotions for 2020 in Uncaged Book Reviews

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Beginning with the March 2020 issue of Uncaged Book Reviews, all ad purchases of *Full Page size ads or better, will receive one social media mock-up to use on social media
for free that will match the ad inside the magazine. See below for an example:

*Must be paid advertisements, free or web ads do not qualify for this promotion.

Uncaged Review: Running After a Heartbreaker by Jami Albright

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Running After a Heartbreaker
Jami Albright
Contemporary Romantic Comedy

“This is a bad idea.”

“The worst.” He placed his hands under her butt and lifted. “Should I stop?”

“I’ll murder you if you do.”

Hailey Odom’s life is out of tune. The bar she owns with her father is a Texas-sized money pit that she has four months to save. Her mean as a snake ex-husband is breaking their daughter’s heart daily. And the town of Zachsville hates her guts for something that was only fifty percent her fault.

And oh, right, she just ran out on her own wedding.

Beau Callen’s life is hitting all the right notes. Dubbed “The Heartbreaker” by his adoring female fans, he’s living the country music stardom dream. At least until an “altercation” lands half his band in jail and the other half in the hospital, this rising star could use a temporary place to crash.

The last thing Hailey or Beau needs is a scorching hot romance messing with their plans. So when Hailey rents Beau her backyard guesthouse and passions blaze hotter than the Texas sun, their dreams are in serious danger of going up in flames.

To make it all work, they’ll have to keep their hands off each other and their eyes on the prize. Too bad their hearts are singing a different tune.

Uncaged Review: Stupid book. Made me stay up way past the time I should have been sleeping and made me bust out the tissue box at the end. There was more than a few times that I wanted to stomp my feet at Hailey and tell her not to put up with the small town whiners, but she got there, with her friends, her daughter and Beau’s help. If you’ve been reading the Brides on the Run series, all of our previous characters from the books are all back in this one, a supporting cast this group, but it was so great to see them all again.

I think this series is getting better with each book as Jami Albright finds her voice more and more with each installment. Highly recommended series – start at the beginning and good luck getting to sleep on time. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

Feature Author: Christie Stratos

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Uncaged welcomes Christie Stratos

Uncaged: Can you tell readers more about the Dark Victoriana Collection?

Originally I was going to write just one book: Anatomy of a Darkened Heart, which focuses on the Whitestone family and the eldest daughter, Abigail Whitestone. The question that defines this novel is: what is stronger, a person’s true self or other people’s assumptions about them? Abigail must struggle through this concept. It takes place in Victorian America, and I ended up loving writing it so much that I decided to make it into a collection. There’s already a second novel, Brotherhood of Secrets, and the idea behind the collection is that all the books and short stories are intertwined but don’t necessarily follow in date order. I planned to write two novels and three novellas or novelettes in the collection, but I always let my creativity dictate, so I now have a third novel that I’m writing, and the length of these books is a little unruly—characters keep wanting to tell their full stories, so novel length seems to be the only option right now!

Uncaged: How much do you edit out of your books?

I usually end up adding to my books to make sure they’re fleshed out and developed properly more so than editing things out, but I have had occasion to cut scenes. That’s relatively rare for me since I tend to be on the succinct side as a fiction writer. I have plenty of ideas and scenes that never make it into my books, they’re just part of my notes, and I post those on my Patreon page.

Uncaged: What do you have coming up next that you can tell us about?

I’m currently writing the third book in the Dark Victoriana Collection, which is an unplanned addition to the original five books. It picks up from a particular place in the second book, Brotherhood of Secrets, with the character Timothy Kiddson, a locksmith apprentice who’s badly injured from a daring…actually, I’m giving away a little too much about the second book! You’ll have to read it to find out what’s going on with Timothy, but what I can tell you is that there will be a ten year jump in book three, so the majority of it will take place during the Civil War era. This is what I’m working on during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).

Read the rest of this interview in the issue below

Christie Stratos is an award-winning writer who holds a degree in English Literature. She is the author of Anatomy of a Darkened Heart and Brotherhood of Secrets, the first two books in the Dark Victoriana Collection. Christie has had short stories and poetry published in Ginosko Literary Journal, Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal, Andromedae Review, 99Fiction, and various anthologies.

An avid reader of all genres and world literature, Christie reads everything from bestsellers to classics to indies.

christiestratos.com

Anatomy of a Darkened Heart
Christie Stratos
Historical Thriller

Abigail Delilah is the firstborn of three Whitestone children – and she is the most regretted.

But is it really her fault?

She can’t help that the revelation of Father’s wretched secret coincides with her birth. She can’t help the fear she feels during Mother’s psychological – and physical – assaults. As the shadows grow stronger over her soul and the noose of pain tightens around her neck, Abigail will find out which is stronger: her family’s wicked assumptions about her or her true self.

Excerpt

How could Mrs. Hinsley’s husband let her give something like that to a baby, especially in front of all those people? How could either husband let it happen?
Elizabeth was humiliated, outraged. That barely controlled sort of outrage that showed on her face through a mask of wide, black-hole eyes, eyes that could chew up their victim, mouth in a stiff sort of smile like a bracket on its side, like half a square—the bottom half.
Elizabeth’s fingers had gripped the brooch tightly, pinching it between her forefinger and thumb, the small bit of skin it touched completely white from the pressure. When she put it down on the table hard enough to scratch the surface, blood was left on her finger; the sharp end of the lover’s eye pin had stabbed her.
She’d had to say thank you. Graciously. Among whispers and stares, following a vicious act, she’d had to show genuine appreciation.
She wanted to break it. She wanted to force it into Mrs. Hinsley’s Cheshire cat mouth, force her jaw closed, make her choke on it as it scraped its way down her toxic throat and got stuck.
She hadn’t known this was going on. But now… The lover’s eye in Mrs. Hinsley’s eye color was bad enough, but the pearls represented tears—everyone knew that.
A realization pressed at her mind. There was one particular thing that had bothered her for quite some time. Elizabeth had always done the bookkeeping for their family. It was something Richard had once commented on as a particularly “moral” skill of hers, perhaps because it required pure honesty and so few people dealing with money had that quality.

Read the rest of this excerpt in the issue below

Uncaged Review: Death Among Us by Various

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Death Among Us
Various
Murder Mystery Anthology

Who knew death could be so eclectic?

Relish this mesmerizing murder mystery mash-up of short stories.

Murder and mystery have been the staple of literature and films for years. This anthology of short stories will thrill and entertain you. Some will also make you laugh out loud. Others will stop and make you think.

Think of this murder mystery short story anthology as a book version of appetizers or starters, hors d’oeuvre, meze, or antipasti. It can be read as fillers between books or, as is the case in some countries, as a bookish meze – in its own right.

There’s murder mystery styles and locations to suit all tastes: detective fiction, serial killers, scifi, histfic, England, Los Angeles, San Francisco, The Great Lakes, Las Vegas, the Nevada desert, Mexico and more in an exquisite exposition of the art of short story telling.

These stories come from an international cast of ten authors; some with bestselling books, others are emerging or new talents. Their roots, cultures, and life experiences are as diverse as their writing styles.

But one thing binds them together: they know how to tell a story.

The ten authors who have contributed to the anthology are:

Stephen Bentley
Greg Alldredge
Kelly Artieri
Robbie Cheadle
Michael Spinelli
L. Lee Kane
Kay Castaneda
Aly Locatelli
Justin Bauer
Posthumously by ‘G’

The stories include the 2019 SIA Award-Winning Murder Mystery Short Story ‘The Rose Slayer’ by Stephen Bentley.

Each author introduces his or her stories and the theme that lays behind them. By the time you finish the book, you will agree the result is a mesmerizing murder mystery mash-up.

Uncaged Review: This is a good anthology, for those that enjoy the crime thrillers. Some of the stories almost straddle the horror line. This is about perfect for my speed, since I’m not a huge crime thriller reader, each of these short stories were easy to pick up and read in a short span.

I particularly liked The Rose Slayer by Stephen Bentley, Robbie Cheadle comes up with some quick stories that were actually based on true cases, and Kelly Artieri came up with a couple that tells me that the same house in both stories needs to be burnt to the ground.

This is a good anthology, and I could easily see some of the characters within these stories easily translating to a full length novel. If you are a murder mystery lover, these should fit the bill. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review: Her Midnight Sin by Sofie Darling

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Her Midnight Sin
Sofie Darling
Historical Regency

Like a vengeful Norse God, Captain John Nylander has come from the sea to steal the only home that Callie has ever known. And that might not be all he’s after.

Can a Viking . . .

Orphaned as a child, Nylander has never known a real home. Now he is ready to leave the dangers of his past behind and put down the roots he has always longed for. The only thing standing in his way is a lanky aristocratic lady who is more at home on the farm than in the ballroom. And she has secrets . . .

And a Viscountess . . .

Callie, the Dowager Viscountess St. Alban, has poured all her energy into making Wyldcombe Grange her home. Managing an estate is not what she dreamed of, but her late husband’s rejection made it clear that love and a family would never be hers. Now she may lose even that to the sinfully handsome Captain. But Nylander is making her dream again . . .

Turn passion into love?

Nylander inspires a recklessness in Callie that she can’t control. Soon she finds herself conspiring with pirates and contemplating midnight trysts with the very Viking who has turned her life upside down. For Nylander, being with Callie embodies everything he’s always wanted–home. As midnight strikes, will all their secret, sinful dreams come true?

Uncaged Review: This is an enjoyable regency that is quite original in the genre. Callie has been running an estate since her husband passed away, an estate that has been profitable – and an estate that is going to be sold out from under her to a man who looks like a Viking god. But when Captain Nylander is taken back to the estate to recover from malaria, and she gets to know him and he gets to know her, they find they may have more in common than different.
This is a slow burn romance, but not a slow burn sexy novel. The sex in the book does start out early, but the romance takes time to brew, for two people who don’t believe they deserve to be loved to find and trust each other. There is some twists, suspense and danger – that keep the reader involved and turning the pages. One of the issues I did have, is that Callie had always run the estate honorably, and when she was going to stoop low enough to try and save the estate, she knew how to get in touch easily with a pirate – almost too easily. One other caution I have, is that the cover of this book does not represent the main characters at all, and although it didn’t affect my rating, it was still very distracting that the time wasn’t given to it. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars

Feature Author – Tosca Lee

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Uncaged welcomes Tosca Lee

Uncaged: Can you tell readers more about your latest releases, The Line Between series? How many books are you planning on for this series?

The Line Between, which released earlier this year, is the story of a young woman named Wynter Roth, who has just been expelled from a self-contained doomsday cult right as a pandemic begins to sweep across the nation. As she struggles to start over in a world she’s been taught to regard as evil, she finds herself face-to-face with the apocalypse she’s feared all her life—until the night her sister shows up at her doorstep with a set of medical samples and Wynter learns there’s something far more sinister at play.
It’s a thriller set on the American prairie filled with action, conspiracy, and even a touch of romance.

Wynter’s story continues—and concludes—in A Single Light, which released September 17. Right now, there are just these two books in the series. The duology is, however, in development for TV, so I always say that if the series got made and there were demand for more, I could probably be arm-twisted into writing another. ;D

Uncaged: How much do you edit out of your books?

Mostly just the repetitive or boring or stupid stuff. Anything unnecessary that will slow the story down. I used to really, really overwrite my books—by tens or hundreds of thousands of words. Thankfully, experienced helped me grow out of that!

Uncaged: What do you have coming up next that you can tell us about?

The TV development—by Radar Pictures (Jumanji) and Ed Burns’ Marlboro Road Gang Productions—is fun and exciting to follow. Meanwhile, I’m about to start pitching two new historical novels to publishers, so we’re a bit in an in-between phase, project-wise. Writing-wise, however, I’m really excited to announce that two of my writing friends, bestselling authors Nicole Baart and Kimberly Stuart and I are putting on a writing intensive this coming June called Alchemy Writers, in which we’re basically teaching our participants everything we wish we’d known. You can learn more about that at https://alchemywriter.com/.

To read the full interview, see the issue below.

TOSCA LEE is the New York Times bestselling author of eleven novels, including The Line Between, A Single Light, The Progeny, The Legend of Sheba, Iscariot, and the Books of Mortals series with New York Times bestselling author Ted Dekker. Her work has been translated into seventeen languages and optioned for TV and film. She is best known for her meticulous research, masterful prose, unexpected points of view, and high-octane thrillers.
Lee is the recipient of numerous awards including a Literary Titan award for The Line Between and the 2014 ELCA Book of the Year in Fiction for her portrayal of the infamous betrayer of Christ in Iscariot, which Publisher’s Weekly calls “impeccable and masterful.” The Legend of Sheba was a finalist for the same award the following year. In addition to the New York Times, her books have appeared on the IndieBound and Christian bestseller lists, Library Journal’s Best Of lists, and as part of Target Stores’ “Target Recommends” program.
She has been called the “queen of psychological twists,” and “in a league of her own,” her work praised by Publisher’s Weekly, The Historical Novel Society, Kirkus, Booklist, Woman’s World, Romantic Times, BookReporter, BookRiot, The San Francisco Book Review, The Dallas Morning News, and The Midwest Book Review as “deeply human…” “powerful…” and “mind-bending.” She can currently be heard on American Airlines’ in-flight entertainment system on the Beautiful Writers podcast alongside writing luminaries Lee Child, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Dean Koontz.
Lee lives with her husband and two of four step-children still at home in Nebraska and shares her adventures as an author, city-girl-turned-farmer’s-wife, and insta-mom of four (or five, if you count her 140-pound puppy)—on social media.Kristal primarily writes for her publisher, The Wild Rose Press, although she self-released “Hand-Carved Wolf” and “Thief of Hearts.” She writes paranormal, contemporary, and erotic romance.

Enjoy an excerpt from
The Line Between

The Line Between
Tosca Lee
Dystopian Thriller

When Wynter Roth finally escapes from New Earth, a self-contained doomsday cult on the American prairie, she emerges into a world poised on the brink of madness as a mysterious outbreak of rapid early onset dementia spreads across the nation.

As Wynter struggles to start over in a world she’s been taught to regard as evil, she finds herself face-to-face with the apocalypse she’s feared all her life—until the night her sister shows up at her doorstep with a set of medical samples. That night, Wynter learns there’s something far more sinister at play: that the prophet they once idolized has been toying with the fate of mankind, and that these samples are key to understanding the disease.

Now, as the power grid fails and the nation descends into chaos, Wynter must find a way to get the samples to a lab in Colorado. Uncertain who to trust, she takes up with former military man Chase Miller, who has his own reasons for wanting to get close to the samples in her possession, and to Wynter, herself.

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE
IOWA, SEPTEMBER

Conventional wisdom dictates that there’s an insurmountable divide—an entire dimension of eternity and space—between Heaven and Hell. Lucifer managed to make the trip in nine days, at least according to Paradise Lost. That equates to a distance of about 25,920 miles, assuming standard rules of velocity.
But I can tell you it’s closer to a foot and a half. The distance of a step.
Give or take an inch.

Magnus stands near the gatehouse, shirtsleeves rolled up, collar unbuttoned beneath his brown vest. He nods to the Guardian in the booth and the industrial gate begins its mechanical slide. There’s a small door to the side of it just large enough to admit a single person, but I won’t be leaving by the Narrow Gate. My departure must be a spectacle, a warning to those assembled behind me.

I can feel their eyes against my back like hot iron. The glares mottled by anger and fear. Sadness, maybe, but above all gratitude that they are not me.

Two Guardians stand at my sides ready to forcibly walk me out in case I balk or my twenty-two-year-old legs give out beneath me. I glance at the one to my right and swear he looks impatient. Hungry, maybe; it’s just before lunchtime. I’m crossing into eternal damnation, and all he’s thinking about is an egg salad sandwich—and not even a good one. It’s Wednesday, Sabbath by the solar calendar. Rosella is managing the kitchen, and that pious sandwich is full of chickpeas without a single real egg in it.

The gate comes to a stop with an ominous clang. The road beyond is paved with gravel, a gray part in a sea of native grass strewn with gold and purple flowers in stark contrast to the carefully and beautifully manicured grounds behind me. A meadowlark sings somewhere nearby as a combine rumbles in the distance.

To read the rest of this excerpt, please see the issue below:

Uncaged Review: Taming a Wicked Rake by Tammy Andresen

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Taming a Wicked Rake
Tammy Andresen
Historical Regency

A wicked rake and a ruined lady…

Lady Madeline Maddox has a secret. Actually, Maddie has several. The worst one isn’t that she accidentally kissed a known rake, Lord Adam Ridgely, in the garden at the Everston’s Ball. Nor is it that the editor of the London Standard published her scandal for all of London. Her greatest error was sending a series of letters to that same publisher detailing her deepest desires for social change. Even though she sent essays under a nom de plume, they have the power to bring real harm, not just to herself, but to her family as well. But how can she protect herself and them as a ruined woman? And why can’t she stay away from the rake who ruined her? Lord Ridgely will only make her problems worse, won’t he?

The Earl of Ridgely learned long ago to keep his dalliances short and sweet. He has no use for emotional attachments, they only provide unnecessary complication. But when there is a case of mistaken identity in the garden and he inadvertently ruins a respectable lady, Adam has no choice but to offer marriage to Maddie. Except that the duke’s daughter grows more and more interesting with each passing day and her past… well it’s not so innocent. In fact, the lady needs his help. The question is, can he give her what she requires without losing his heart?

Uncaged Review: I think this is probably one of my favorite books I’ve read from this author. This was a shorter read, and I think my only real complaint is it could have been a bit longer, there were a few areas that seemed a bit rushed. This is a fun and romantic historical, and the characters were easy to enjoy. There was just enough intrigue to keep me guessing what the bad guy was going to do, and I cheered the strength of Maddie. All in all, this is a good story for a quick afternoon read.

The author has a fantastic way of creating characters that makes a reader want to hear their story, and enough of a romantic build up with suspense to keep you turning the pages. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars