Each Victory is another day I get to continue breathing. Each Victory is a reprieve from Death.
Ever since I was betrayed and taken from my home planet, ever since they pumped me with poison and abandoned me on this asteroid to fight or die, I’ve been surviving.
But I’m not alone.
There are others with me, alien to me, just as I am to them. Separated into Houses we fight as a team on the blood-soaked sands while the elite watch.
Each day is about survival until him.
An outsider, he brings death, but he might also be our salvation.
There can be no us and them. There can be no prejudice. There can only be the team, because together we are stronger.
This is a good start to a scifi series. Women from Earth are abducted by two races on a planet, the Trads and the Athlon for reasons that they lost their females on their planet from a virus, and the women on Earth may be the only way to continue their races. The Trads used fertility drugs on the women that misfired and turned the women infertile. Of these infertile women, the lone survivor, Rogue is thrust into battle units, or a fight club – which is for the bigwigs entertainment, and these are fights to the death. The drugs have changed Rogue into almost a Berserker, and is a tough opponent.
I can’t give away too much, as this a shorter story, but the story is a good start to this series. I wasn’t blown away, and depending on my time and TBR pile as to whether I get back to the series.
Good girls go to Heaven. Bad girls go all the way…Ash MacLeod has to be a good girl if she wants to trade up her dump in purgatory for a high-rise in heaven. If only she wasn’t tempted by a sexy grim reaper in tight denim.
FIVE REASONS WHY PURGATORY SUCKS!
1. PMS is just as miserable when you’re dead.
2. I can’t unsee my grandpa in that leather thong.
3. My dating options have been reduced to a hydrophobic grim reaper with an aversion to commitment, a guy with a hammer stuck in his cranium, and a sadistic drill sergeant with a big whistle and an even bigger ego.
4. I left my battery-operated-boyfriend back on Earth.
5. Demons want to burn my eyes out.
This is a fun book, and it had me laughing in several spots. From Ash killing herself with a blow dryer, to being sent to the top floor, only to find out it was a mistake and she has to go back down a few floors, it was a lot of fun. Very original, a lot of sexual innuendo and sex itself, and if you don’t like the sex part, this is not a book for you. For me, it was a good time and the side characters are fun and original.
Did you know ordinary people can be turned into demons? I sure didn’t. Until it happened to me.
One day, I was a regular college student, working a boring job and studying for finals—and the next, I was transformed into some strange creature of the night.
Now I’ve got powers I don’t understand, I can change my appearance with a thought, and I’m having all kinds of odd… cravings.
If I thought all this was gonna get me out of going to college though, I’ve got another think coming. Nope, I still need an education. Except the classes at Fallen University are on things like “Curses and Hexcraft” and “Magical Combat”.
It’s not all bad. There are these four sexy as sin guys I keep bumping into—Kingston, Jayce, Xero, and Kai. I’m not sure if I should trust them; they’ve each got secrets of their own, and they’re definitely dangerous.
But that craving I’ve been having?
It’s pulling me right toward them.
Yup, things are about to get real interesting at FU.
In this world, normal people can be turned into demons, by the fallen that are roaming the streets recruiting for the underworld. Guardians find newly turned fallen and recruit them into a university to teach them how to protect humanity from the underworld’s demons.
On her way home from breaking up with her cheating boyfriend, Piper feels someone following her, so starts talking to a girl on the sidewalk outside a bar. Both girls get snatched by a monster and when they wake up, they have been transformed into demons. Guardians grab them and teach them to shift into their human form, like a shifter. When they are taken to the university, they are given the option of staying and learning how to protect humanity from the underworld, or be shipped to the underworld themselves.
This is a clever setting for the university books that have flooded the market, but don’t be fooled that it’s a young adult book, this is a fantasy book with hard hitting sex scenes and a reverse harem. Piper discovers that she’s a succubus and to stay alive, she’ll need her 4 bonded men around her all the time. There is a good mystery pending in this series, and it kept my interest and a quick pace. I would like Piper to go back to being her snarky self, and we will see how that goes in the future editions.
Billionaire playboy or the devil? A fallen angel can be both.
Not only is Dominick Vicario tall, dark, and wickedly attractive, he’s also the head of the world’s most powerful underworld family. And the leader of the Fallen—former heavenly Watchers banished to earth who’ve become wealthy playboys.
When I meet him, my life is circling the drain. My job is going nowhere, my boyfriend is a jerk, and I’m in debt up to my eyeballs.
So, when the dangerously seductive mafia don offers me a deal that will solve all my problems, I take it. All I have to do is spend the rest of the summer with the mysterious billionaire. A couple of months of jet-setting on private planes and yachts isn’t too high a price to pay, right?
But Dominick believes I’m destined to be his mate—and the key to all the fallen angels being restored to their rightful place in the celestial order.
And it doesn’t matter if I think he’s crazy. He’s convinced I’m his for eternity. And so are the demons chasing us.
Can I escape from his immortal curse? Or will his dark past come back to haunt us both?
This is a decent read for the start of a series, and the characters are likeable and the places that are visited in the book are well described. The leader of the Fallen, Dominick, comes off as a mob boss, and “most” of his businesses are now legitimate and legal. Having been alive forever it seems, he’s amassed quite a fortune. Ella is a down on your luck woman who didn’t get the promotion that she was working so hard for and is in major debt. One thing that bugged me about that debt, is part of it was her own student loan debt, but the other part was the debt her parents had left behind when they died. No one is responsible for their parents debts, whatever is left of any estates or personal holdings is all they get, the child is not obligated to pay anything.
When Ella goes to blow off steam after a party from her company, she goes to a hotel bar that she’s read about. Of course, this is Dominick’s hotel, and as soon as he sees her, he knows that she’s been Angel touched, although Ella has no idea.
This is a good start, but I have a hard time enjoying books that cut off on a major cliffhanger, just as a grab to get a reader to the next book, and this one did that.
Welcome to Uncaged! Your recent release, Chasing the Captain is the second book in The Jessica Ramirez Thrillers series. Can you tell readers more about the book and the series?
Jess is based on a real-life Latina cop who had to navigate some significant challenges as a trailblazing female and minority in what was then a male domain. I was drawn to the series as an opportunity to showcase a diverse cast of heroes to inspire readers who lived similar lives to want to grow up to be like them. Chasing Vega introduces the core characters, Jess, Alexandra Clark and the ensemble of fascinating personalities that surround them. The response to Jessica’s pursuit of a serial killer with dark intentions encouraged me to pursue a trilogy. Chasing the Captain is the story of Jess’ pursuit of “the one that got away.” Readers told me after Captain that they wanted to see more of Jess working in her hometown, so the third book in the series, Chasing Karma takes place primarily in the fictional town of Paloma, Illinois.
What is the most difficult scene for you to write? What is the easiest?
I’m constantly gut checking myself when I write female characters. It’s very important to me to make them believable and authentic. Thankfully, almost all my support team are women, and they make sure I get it right.
Dialogue seems to be the easiest for me to write. I love being in the cast’s heads. They always take me to interesting places and sometimes the scene, and the plot go in directions I didn’t expect.
Read the rest of the interview in the magazine linked below
Terry Shepherd wrote his first short story at age eleven and was first published as a non-fiction author in 2008. He created Detective Jessica Ramirez in 2019, publishing his thriller “Chasing Vega” in 2020. The book earned 5-Star ratings on Amazon and is also available in audio book and Spanish language editions. The second installment in the trilogy, “Chasing The Captain” was released this fall When his grandchildren asked to star in their own stories, he created the “Waterford Detective” stories for his grandson and published the popular “Juliette and the Mystery Bug” series, co-authored with his wife, Colleen, when his granddaughter wondered how kids could protect themselves during a pandemic. His forthcoming books include “Students In Time,”(September, 2021) a time travel adventure that parallels the 4th grade public school history curriculum.
Terry is also a prolific book narrator and audio-artist, voicing 7 novels, along with dozens of commercials and promotional trailers. He hosts the popular Authors on the Air podcast, was a moderator and panelist at Bouchercon 2020 and is co-chair of the Sisters In Crime – Capitol Crimes Chapter’s 2021 Anthology project. He was an early social media adopter, authoring “Social Media and Your Personal Brand” in 2012.
He has written over 400 motivational essays since 2004, the best of which were aggregated into three popular self-help books.
Terry and Colleen live on the ocean in Jacksonville, Florida and are co-founders of “Down Syndrome Nation” a web resource for friends and families of persons with Down syndrome. Terry is a graduate of Michigan State University, has studied at both Harvard and Oxford and toured South America as a rock drummer in the summer of 1972.
In Jessica Ramirez’s second outing, she’s once again a fish out of water, chasing the bad guy who got away. When forced to witness a questionable execution, Jess follows a tiny thread across the Atlantic, linking up with DI Liyanna Evans, a cop with London’s Metropolitan Police. The two quickly discover that their antagonist’s reach is both worldwide and deadly.
Another delectable tale that blends technothriller with suspense and police procedural adventure, Chasing the Captain picks up where Chasing Vega left off, giving Jess the chance to find the answers she seeks, even if it endangers her life and career in the process.
Excerpt
“Damn, that hurt,” Jess muttered to herself. “Remind me never to fire an RSH-12 revolver with one hand ever again.”
And what was wrong with her? Jumping onto a moving helicopter at the edge of a damn skyscraper? Jess’s mind was in full fear-of-heights terror. Dropping 557 feet with a rappelling rope felt like an elementary school playground compared to this insanity.
But the man who ordered her father’s murder and the man who contributed to Vincent Culpado’s death were inside that cabin.
Jess intended to make them pay.
Her shooting hand was still numb but managed to slide the cannon back into her pants. She intertwined her arms and legs around the skid, holding on for dear life.
It occurred to Jess at this moment that putting a bullet into the engine of the only thing keeping her from falling to her death might not have been the wisest move. She didn’t like the sounds of shattering metal and the black smoke that vomited out of the back of the enclosure.
And what if the bad guys knew she was right below them? Jess was a sitting duck.
One poor decision after another, Jess. When you make it personal, you make mistakes.
As the terror swirled around Jess’s insides, the outside world snapped into focus and she beheld the sight below.
London at night was a picture postcard on its worst days. A carpet of stars painted a ceiling above the city lights. The full moon cast the dark concrete silhouettes below into stark relief. It was breathtaking. Whatever building Jess had been in was perched on the edge of the Thames. She didn’t know enough of the city yet to pick out landmarks, except one.
The London Eye was dead ahead.
“Don’t call it a ‘Ferris wheel,’” Lee had warned her. “You’ll make the locals think you’re a tourist for sure.”
The gargantuan trademark stopped taking passengers at 9pm. LED lighting covered its spokes in blinking dot matrix, painting pixilated scenes throughout the night that resolve into pictures at a distance.
Jess could see a colorful depiction of the Union Jack as the aircraft approached it.
You reap what you sow, and when you sow death…vengeance comes to collect.
The Dark Council threatens everything Simon holds dear. They want to erase Monty, kill Peaches and remove Simon’s immortality—permanently. When Michiko goes missing, Simon realizes there is more at stake than he realizes. When Ken, Michiko’s brother asks the Montague & Strong Detective Agency to find her. They must act, before the Dark Council implodes in violence.
There’s only one slight problem…a renegade group of Blood Hunters blames Michiko for the loss of their weapons, one of which is bonded to Simon. They want the blades…and they want revenge.
Now, Monty & Simon must travel to Japan, find Michiko and stop the Blood Hunters before they eliminate an ancient vampire, without becoming the next target! Will they find Michiko in time? Will they stop the Blood Hunters?
As we jump back in with Monty, Simon and Peaches, I have to admit, that this was not my favorite of the series, but that’s all relative with this series, it’s still a fantastic series. Lots of things are happening in this book, including kidnapping, a dragon shifter and a crazy Blood Hunter. Things are going to go all kinds of wrong before they go right, and even Peaches is targeted. As promised, we still learn more about Monty and Simon, and the world continues to develop. I can’t pinpoint the exact reason that this wasn’t a favorite in the series, but for some reason, some places felt a bit rushed, and others too slow. I guess this isn’t the easiest to balance out. There is plenty of action and magic, and all the fun banter we’ve come to love from Simon, and this is a worthy addition to the series.
Samuel dreamed of being a lot of things, but a monster trapped in a forest realm never entered his mind. The Blacknoc Curse wasn’t supposed to be true, only a children’s story meant to persuade them away from evil. Yet, here he was tasked with hunting cursed kids. There’s nothing left for Samuel except the horror surrounding him.
Layla, a young girl tormented by the same curse, is dropped into the terrifying forest every night, running from the monsters intent on taking her life. She meets Samuel and vows to save all the children, especially Samuel, from their torment.
Working together can they defeat the Blacknoc Curse?
Uncaged Review: Within the first chapters, you are tossed into a dark forest, and I was wondering what I got myself into, but I’m glad that I kept going. Children who commit a terrible sin are cursed into a dark forest where monsters eat them, spit them out and then the child becomes a monster. Each night, new kids are tossed into the fray. One of the monsters, Samuel, has been fighting off the monsters and trying to save kids every night. When he meets Layla, he feels more than ever the need to protect her. Each night he saves Layla, and each day she tries to find the cure for the curse to free the kids and Samuel. And the solution could be within a book at the library.
This is a pretty gory book, and it’s not for young teens as it might give them pause. But I really liked the author’s poetry that she uses for the riddles of the Blacknoc Curse. This is set in a historical time, I’m not sure exactly when, more like old western times, as they use wagons and horses. But the book is an easy read and once you get past that first chapter so you aren’t so confused, it’s a decent tale and a quick read. Reviewed by Cyrene
Well, to be honest, Bash has several. His father, the Demon Duke, might have been the cruelest man in all of England. Bash hates his own title, the very one he inherited and all the trappings that come with it. And most secret of all, he hopes never to marry and carry on that family legacy. Which is downright scandalous for a duke to even think.
Miss Isabella Carrington is trying not to be seen…
When a young lady of a certain age sneaks into a gaming hell, dressed as a man, she doesn’t wish to be discovered. While her and her sisters need the money, and she could win with her ability to count cards, it would be best if no one discovered she was there. With no male protector and no financial means, this high-stakes game of cards was their last hope.
But of course, the shrewd Duke of Decadence learns all of it in the course of a single evening. And when he comes to her with a proposition…work at the Den of Sins in exchange for his protection and her sisters’ launch into society, she isn’t certain how she can refuse. But Isabella doesn’t want to accept either. The man is everything she hates with his lavish life and decadent ways.
And worse still, he manages to steal her breath each and every time they meet…
Uncaged Review: The ninth book in this series brings us the story of Bash and Isabella. This book has Isabella trying to disguise herself to be able to gamble at a gaming hell, to get money for her and her sisters, but Bash sees through her charade and offers her a job at the gaming hell, Den of Sins in exchange for his protection. Isabella can’t see a way out of it, but Bash is everything she despises, so theirs is more of a hate-to-love romance.
This is a great addition to this series and Bash and Isabella’s story is sometimes intriguing and sometimes humorous with likeable characters. Even characters that you can see will be featured in a future addition to the series, and some from the past are making their appearances. A good story and a heartwarming epilogue. Reviewed by Cyrene
Hannah will resort to anything to save her mother’s life. Including blackmail. Even if the target is the former boyfriend of her goody-goody best friend, Stacy.
Except, he just moved to the West Coast, and now it’s up to Hannah to convince Stacy to hitchhike with her cross-country to confront him.
It’s 1971. Change is happening. And Hannah’s understanding of the world is about to be tested by those she encounters along the way, including a gorgeous draft dodger.
Someone is about to face a deathly experience. But it’s not Hannah’s mother.
Uncaged Review: This book is set in the early 70s, and around the time of the Vietnam war. This story is an intricately woven coming of age story that will capture the crazy and over the top emotions of young women as they hitchhike across the country. The adventures and the people that they meet along the way keeps this book a true page turner, and the author magically transports you into the story.
This is a story that’s hard to put down, and will have you thinking about it long after you set it down. As a child of the 70’s myself, it was easy for me to picture the world as I saw it within the pages. Even though this is a fictional story, it very well could have been an experience in a real life. Reviewed by Cyrene
No matter how far you run, you can never really escape a haunted past.
Darrell Henshaw—teacher, coach and paranormal sensitive—learned this lesson the hard way. Now, with his job gone and few options, he heads for Cape May to coach a summer football camp. The resort town, with gorgeous beaches, rich history and famous Victorian mansions, might be just the getaway he needs.
Only, no one told him Cape May is the most haunted seaport on the East Coast.
When a resident ghost, the Haunted Bride, stalks Darrell, begging for help, he can’t refuse and joins forces with Cassie, another sensitive. As Darrell and the street-wise teen investigate the bride’s death, they uncover something far more sinister than a murder.
Can Darrell and Cassie expose those behind the crimes before they end up becoming the next victims?
Uncaged Review: This is the second book that we meet up with Darrell Henshaw, but in my opinion, a reader could jump in to this book without reading the first one and not be lost. Reading the first one would enhance this book because of all that happened and the characters, but it’s not required to enjoy this one. This is not the genre I normally read in, but the author did a great job yanking me into the story and I always love a paranormal twist, in this case – ghosts that need help. This time around, they could be digging their own grave in finding the answers and the criminals.
This book has a great pace along with the great dialog. There isn’t a lot of fat in this book or anything that will throw you out of the story. With some good twists, this book kept surprising me. Mystery lovers who are looking for something just a bit different, will enjoy this book. Reviewed by Cyrene
