Raven Awards Voting Schedule
Raven Awards Voting Schedule
Eligible books that have been automatically entered into the semi-finals for the Raven Awards will begin voting on July 22. To see how books become eligible, see this link.
The top 5 books in each category will move to the finals voting.
Since there are more categories this year, the semi-finals will be split into 2 groups. For the finals, all categories will be voted on the same week.
Week 1 – July 22-28
Contemporary Categories
Historical Categories
Mystery/Suspense
Erotica
Holiday
Week 2 – July 29 – August 4
Paranormal
Urban Fantasy
Horror/Psychological Thriller
Fantasy
SciFi
Young Adult Categories
Anthologies
Short Stories (under 50 pages)
Novellas
Cover Categories
As last year, Uncaged will not be collecting emails. You may vote one time in each category. There will be no registering to vote.*
*One word to note, if I see anything suspicious going on for any particular book, that book will be disqualified.
Uncaged Review – No Coming Back by Jessie Salisbury
No Coming Back
Jessie Salisbury
Contemporary Romance
Rich, deeply embittered, is recovering from an accident he blames on his stepfather Jim. The injury has left him in pain, unable to play baseball, and may prevent him from ever returning to teaching physical education, a profession he loves.
Laura, now a nurse, knew Rich in high school and they reconnect in the emergency room. She knows how he should be, could be again, but is her growing love enough to get him there? Will he accept her help?
Ken, Rich’s stepbrother, has always known he would one day take over the family business, but will his father ever allow him to do so? And Ken can’t free himself from a teenage infatuation with his stepsister Wendy who has married someone else. And now Wendy’s marriage is in trouble and she is looking to Ken for support.
Susan, Laura’s cousin, saw Ken at a ballgame and fell instantly and hopelessly in love. But how can she meet him, and if she does, can she free him from his past and make him see he is an independent person?
And Jim, who has always controlled everything in his life, is watching his family disintegrate, as much because of his pride as anything else. Is there any way that he can let go in order to keep them?
Uncaged Review: This book is about a dysfunctional family who is torn apart then put back together. It starts with two friends, Laura and Susan, who are cousins, having brunch. Sue is mooning over a Kendall Weston who she wants to meet. Laura has just broken off her relationship with her boyfriend. Susan is the sister to Pete who is a minor league baseball player. Laura is a nurse.
Ken is the half brother to Richard Summers who is recovering from a major accident with a leg injury which has ended his career as a catcher for Pete in a minor league team and possibly his job as a physical education teacher. Laura is intrigued with Richard’s injuries, believing she might be able to help him but isn’t sure how to meet him again after losing track of him since high school.
Most of the book centers around Richard and his issues with his step father, Jim, and the recovery from his accident. At the beginning of the book, he is leaving the rehab with his current girlfriend, Gina, after refusing to return to his step-father’s house. He is leaving behind his mother who is a paraplegic but what happened between him and his stepfather was painful enough her refused to go home to recover.
The apartment he lives in is drab and depressing. He allows his roommate from rehab, Tex to live with him. Gina becomes unhappy as Rich is a wet blanket, unwilling to do much of anything other than drink. Thing fall apart at a party where Pete and his girlfriend, Sue his sister, Gina and Tex are there. Pete and his girlfriend leave first, not wanting to watch Rich get drunk. Rich runs Gina off with Tex but then has second thoughts about it, gets up, falls and hits his head. Sue calls 911 and then his family. She thinks she is talking to the father, but it is Ken.
Sue and Ken wait until they know Rich is going to be fine and to out for coffe. They start dating, Ken finding her good company. Rich meets Laura at the hospital and they make a connection. Tex moves in with Gina.
Laura and Rich date and she gently moves him from his depressing apartment into a house and then into making amends with his family. Meanwhile Ken is dealing with his father not trusting him to do a job and chaffs under his criticism. They have an argument and Ken leaves and moves out of the house into his own place, and quits working for the company he had expected to run when Jim retired.
Most of the book is tearing back the layers of the relationships of Ken and Richard with the stepfather Jim, who is blustery and gruff, unwilling to admit when he is wrong, alienating all his children other than his youngest child, Archie. Then there is Wendy, Richard’s sister who is attempting to draw Ken into a relationship even though she is married, aware he cared for her when they were teenagers. Her marriage is one where her husband ignores her and leaves her alone most of the time. Jim doesn’t like him but respects her choice. He does tell Wendy’s husband to pay more attention to his wife and less to his job.
You discover Archie lied to Jim about Richard talking money from his desk. Rich left in an ice storm and hit the telephone pole because of that lie. He refuses to return because of the lack of trust and accusations after Jim hit him.
Archie puts a note from Wendy to Ken on his father’s desk. It drives a wedge between Ken and Jim and is one of the reasons Ken quits the company after Jim accuses him of not doing his job and having an affair with his stepsister. Archie’s actions were to cover up stealing the money to join a club and to get even with Ken.
There is a lot to recommend this book with the characters who have to deal with the family issues while delving into themselve to come to terms with what they really want. As the story unfold you feel the pain of the men as Jim’s actions and words hurt both Ken and Rich. You also want to reach out and smack Archie, who is a brat. Laura and Sue are wonderful supporting characters who add to the layers of the story. This book gets 5 stars and is a recommended read. Reviewed by Barbara.
5 Stars
Uncaged Review – Claimed by Gods by Eva Chase
Claimed by Gods
Eva Chase
Fantasy
The gods walk among us. And they just might steal your soul… or your heart.
I thought I’d survived everything life could throw at me. All I wanted was to keep my distance from the criminals I work for and get my little brother out of the hell that is our mother’s house.
Then I died and woke up to four stunningly hot gods telling me I’m now a valkyrie.
Sly, sharp Loki. Jovial but ferocious Thor. Dreamily compassionate Baldur. Grim and secretive Hod. They all have something to teach me. And around them, my walls start to crack.
But the gods didn’t summon me just for kicks. Their king is missing, and they need me to find him. The first three valkyries they sent on the job never made it back.
More power is awakening in me than I could ever have imagined—and the gods’ enemies are more devious than even they knew. It’s going to take every trick in the book for me to save myself, my brother, and these divine men who’re getting under my skin in the most alluring way.
I’m Aria Watson, and Valhalla ain’t seen nothing yet.
Uncaged Review: This book was quite the surprise, and in a good way. I didn’t expect to be greeted by a version of the Norse gods, but there you have it. When Aria died, she ended up being summoned by the gods to become a Valkyrie – to find the Allfather – Odin who had been taken by dark elves. Ari is a spitfire, and a survivor, having grown up on the streets with a horrible family life, and the only thing she loved, was her little 6 year old brother Petey. Aria is smart and resourceful and pretty badass in her own right and she’ll prove it to you.
The sex in the book didn’t even begin until you were about 80% in, but I doubt the next one will wait that long. But it did not in any way, distract from the story. Another thing I really enjoyed was the different POV’s. Even though this is written in first person, the author switched up from chapter to chapter, with the character name in the beginning of whom had the narrative during that chapter. It was easy to keep them straight, and I enjoyed what they all were thinking and feeling. This was a nice original take in the fantasy genre, and I am looking forward to book two.
Reviewed by Cyrene
5 Stars
Author Interview with Scarlett Kol & Review and Excerpt from Wicked Descent
As seen in the July issue of Uncaged Book Reviews.
Uncaged: Can you tell readers more about your book Wicked Descent?
Wicked Descent was actually the first book I ever finished writing, so it will always be special to me. It was inspired by a friend of mine who was looking for a gift for her new boyfriend’s mother and I suggested these cool glass ornaments I had seen that are often called “Witch’s Balls”. A story started turning in my head and became the following:
All families have secrets, but what Avery doesn’t know might try to kill her.
The day Avery Belmont was born, her father disappeared. Shortly after, her mother stole her away to Detroit, far away from the secrets buried deep in Shady Creek. But when her estranged grandmother dies, Avery is forced to return and face the rumors that she’s a witch, making her wish she’d never come back—until Drew Montgomery gives her a reason to stay.
Drew knows things no one else knows. Things about Avery, about her family’s past, and about what really happened to her father. However, the price for information may be too high as getting close to the striking, yet caustic Drew starts to have deadly consequences, and living with the lies may be safer than uncovering the truth.
Uncaged: What do you have coming up next that you can tell us about?
I have a few projects on the go right now, working on a dual POV YA romance based on Scottish mythology, a YA horror that is a cross between the Craft and the Exorcist, and also working on a new book in the Mercury Rises universe. Not sure when these will be out, but I’m trying to get them to my readers as soon as I can.
Uncaged: You attended the final RT Booklovers Convention in Reno as a signing author this year. What were some of the highlights from the convention for you?
“Final” RT Convention, such a sad thought. I’ve been to three now and I’ve met such fantastic people, it’s a shame that it’s all over. This year, the biggest highlights for me were; selling out one of my titles in the first hour of the book fair, getting to see my writer friends from all over the world and getting to talk books and writing for an entire week, discovering a ton of authors I’ve never read before, Damon Suede retelling the plot of the movie Wolves when the video stopped working halfway through (hilarious!!), and of course, all the free books!!
Uncaged: Do you read your reviews? What do you take away from them?
Sometimes. It is a tough and terrifying thing to put your work out into the world and open yourself up for criticism, but it can definitely help put things into perspective. My work won’t appeal to everyone, I know that, so I don’t put too much stock in reviews that just weren’t a good fit for the reader, but for anyone who is a fan of the genres I write and takes time to put together their observations, I try to take what they say and see if I can apply it to future work. If I want to continue in this business, I know I need to make sure I’m producing books that readers want to read and if anyone out there is willing to give me insight in that, I am forever grateful. That said, I much prefer reading good reviews 🙂
Uncaged: What is one of the nicest things someone has said to you about your books?
Someone said Mercury Rises was like a sci-fi Six of Crows. Being compared in any way to work by the fabulous Leigh Bardugo – Best. Compliment. Ever.
Uncaged: What is your favorite parts about being an author? What have you found to be the least favorite?
There is so much I love about being an author. I get to create worlds and share them with other people. People want to talk to me about books all the time, and I’ve gotten the opportunity to meet so many of my favorite authors. It’s like getting a pass into this magical world of books I only dreamed of as a kid.
Least favorite though, is probably the pressure. I’m not the fastest writer, so I often feel like I’m not coming out with new material quick enough than I would want. I also, like most writers, have a full-time and then some day-job and other obligations, so I don’t keep up on my social media as much as I probably should. There is definitely something to the old adage of “publish or perish” and trying to keep your name out there, while trying to produce new material, and just do your regular everyday things, is a struggle sometimes.
Uncaged: What do you like to do when you aren’t writing? Where is one of your favorite places on Earth?
When I’m not writing, I’m a huge music buff. I really love to just find new songs and blare them as loud as I can, getting engulfed in the sound. I love to read (obviously), and travel when I get the chance.
As much as I love to travel, I really haven’t been too many places, but my favorite place on Earth would have to be Venice. It isn’t quite as beautiful as some of the other cities in Italy, but as strange as it sounds, Venice kind of whispers to you. It’s old world and exciting, but it also has this dark and twistiness to it, like a mystery to be solved. If I could just sit in a piazza and write forever, I think I could be extremely happy. I also wouldn’t mind hanging out on a beach all day either.
Uncaged: What can you tell us that is very unique about you?
Unique. That’s a very subjective word. Here goes: I have a gold medal in diving, I have two unrelated university degrees (Criminology and Accounting), I won my first writing contest at 16, and I talk insanely fast.
Uncaged: What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?
I would love to tell fans that I hope they enjoy my books, and I appreciate every single person who takes their time to read them. Reading was a huge escape for me as a kid, and if even one person falls in love with my characters the way I did with so many others it will all be worth it for me.
If anyone wants to follow me, I am on Twitter and Instagram @ScarlettKol, and on Facebook at ScarlettKolAuthor. I also have a reader group on Facebook called Scarlett’s Rebel Readers, and you can also sign up for my newsletter on my website at scarlettkol.com.
[symple_box color=”black” fade_in=”false” float=”center” text_align=”left” width=””]Born and raised in Northern Manitoba, Scarlett grew up drawn to the darker side of literature. Vampires were her first love, but that soon branched into ghosts, werewolves, demons, angels, and anything else that might make you sleep with the lights on. As an adult, she’s still afraid of the dark.
She began writing at thirteen, and completed her first novella at sixteen — a broody vampire romance–that has never seen the light of day. After a decade or so break for school and other pursuits, Scarlett returned to writing and has been creating ever since. Her debut novel, MERCURY RISES, a dystopian retelling of Robin Hood, released in early 2018, shortly followed by her second release WICKED DESCENT. Hopefully, there will be many more titles to come.[/symple_box]
Wicked Descent
Scarlett Kol
Young Adult/Paranormal
All families have secrets, but what Avery doesn’t know might try to kill her.
The day Avery Belmont was born, her father disappeared. Shortly after, her mother stole her away to Detroit, far away from the secrets buried deep in Shady Creek. But when her estranged grandmother dies, Avery is forced to return and face the rumors that she’s a witch, making her wish she’d never come back—until Drew Montgomery gives her a reason to stay.
Drew knows things no one else knows. Things about Avery, about her family’s past, and about what really happened to her father. However, the price for information may be too high as getting close to the striking, yet caustic Drew starts to have deadly consequences, and living with the lies may be safer than uncovering the truth.
Excerpt
“Then prove it. Try again. Really try.”
“No. I’m tired Drew, and I want to go home.”
“Do it,” he yelled.
“No.”
He opened his mouth as if to argue, but slammed it shut. Then he marched over and grabbed my hand with a firm, stinging grip and dragged me toward the trees, huffing and puffing until steam circled his head. “Let me show you something.”
I stared back as the view of town vanished under the treetops, lifeless wooden limbs stretching out above me and covering us from sight. Darker. Secluded. No one around to hear me scream. The last time Drew showed me something, I ended up trapped in a pile of mangled metal and shattered glass. My queasy stomach told me to leave, but he promised he’d never try to hurt me again.
If only I trusted his promises.
“Stand right here.” He stopped under a particularly ominous willow tree and clamped his hands on my shoulders, his thumbs at the base of my neck. I squirmed, but he held tight, his fingertips digging through my layers of sweaters, positioning me into some unseen perfect spot.
Moonlight filtered through the trees, casting inky shadows across his face, his lips a hard line. “Don’t move.”
I shrank my neck into my sweater. He stomped in front of me and scooped up a handful of snow as I shifted my weight to my toes, ready to run. He packed the snow between his palms, his eyes fluttering closed. He grimaced as he pressed his hands together until his knuckles turned white against his cold-reddened fingers. “Now watch.”
He fanned his hands open. Resting in the center was a flower. A peony or gardenia, or some other flower with delicate tiny petals, each one glistening in the moonlight as if it were made of tiny glass shards.
“Is that ice?” I reached out to touch it but stopped, lifting my eyes to meet his.
He nodded. “Take it.”
I cupped my hands and he gently passed the flower to me. A chill ran across my skin as it landed on my palm. It really was made of ice. Amazing. Drew created this perfect, beautiful thing out of ice—just for me. I studied it closer. The petals looked white, but they were clear, as though my finger would float right through if I tried to touch them. The ghost of a flower that never existed.
“Blow on it.” A crooked smile twisted Drew’s face. “Like a birthday candle.”
“Seriously?” I lowered my chin to my hands and softly exhaled. The flower exploded into a cloud of snowflakes. They whirled around my head, faster and heavier, making it impossible to see. My heart pounded as the cloud shrank around me. Closer. Tighter. Then it shot into the air, spun high above my head, and disappeared.
“What was that?” I looked up at the sky.
Drew stared past me and pointed up. I turned around. The branches of the tree behind me were covered in thick hoarfrost. No, not frost—the fluffy heads of ice flowers. Each branch hung heavy with them as if in full bloom. Moonlight reflected off hundreds of petals casting a brilliant glow around the tree. It was sunshine and summertime, all in the middle of the night. For the first time since I arrived in this town, I almost felt warm.
“It’s incredible,” I whispered. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It’s like—”
“Magic,” Drew said with a grin I could hear in his voice. “Now, what do you say about giving the water thing another try?”
Uncaged Review
This book starts out as a normal teen book, with Avery being the new kid in school, and all the normal angst that she’s going through, not knowing anyone and be uprooted from her Detroit home she’s grown up in. Avery’s grandmother passes away and leaves her house to her mom and they move to Shady Creek. Everything starts looking up for Avery as she makes some new friends. But one new friend is not like the others. Drew latches onto Avery, and for some reason she’s drawn to him, even though he’s the “bad boy.”
This book really starts ramping up around 40% through. The author does a nice job with a few twists and turns, and when you start finding out some of the answers, you may be surprised. This book had great dialog, and good action sequences – and all the lies will come to an exceptional ending. Reviewed by Cyrene
4 1/2 Stars
Uncaged Book Reviews – Issue 24, July 2018 Now Available
Feature authors: Scarlett Kol, Trakena Prevost, Magali A. Fréchette, Elena Kincaid, Laura M. Baird, Tara Vasser and Jolie St. Amant!
Catch up wth Rhonda Frankhouser
Short Story by Nathan Burrows and Author First Look at Nancy Thorne’s new novel, Victorian Town.
Click HERE.
Author Interview with Skye Andrews and Review of A Disturbed Mind
As seen in the June issue of Uncaged Book Reviews
Uncaged: What inspired you to write about a serial killer? What kind of research do you have to do for these types of stories?
I initially wrote an article for the Serial Killer Magazine on different torture methods. I did the research for the article and once it was published I thought it would make a great book.
Uncaged: What do you have coming up next that you can tell us about?
I am working on something different at the moment. The story is based on true life and it is called Dear Dad. I am hoping to release it on Father’s Day this year.
Uncaged: So far, your books are mostly shorter stories, are there plans to write a full length novel?
I would love to write a novel. I seem to have this weird writers block where I can’t seem to turn short stories into novels.
Uncaged: Do you read your reviews? What do you take away from them?
I am always nervous before a review comes out. But I read every one of them and take into consideration what the reviewer has said about my work. I try to improve where I can based on the reviews.
Uncaged: What is one of the nicest things someone has said to you about your books?
I have had many great reviews and I love hearing nice things about my work. But I think the nicest was from Pacific Book Reviews:
“What will be too much for some to handle also becomes what should be required reading by law enforcement and psychologists in order to know of the existance of people such as Walker exist and to learn some key elements in their behaviour patterns”.
Uncaged: What is your favorite parts about being an author? What have you found to be the least favorite?
My favorite part has got to be the day the book arrives on my doorstep finally finished and I can see my hard work in print. It is also a nice surprise when I see people reading one of my books. My least favorite part has to be marketing. Still working on how to do this.
Uncaged: What do you like to do when you aren’t writing? Where is one of your favorite places on Earth?
I love to read. My favorite place on earth has got to be my bed, curled up with a good book and some snacks while I read.
Uncaged: What is the hardest part of a book to write? What is the easiest? From start to finish, how long does it take to finish a complete book?
The hardest part has to be trying to make my short stories/novellas into novels. I haven’t figured out how to do this yet. The easiest is writing the story once I have the idea it just seems to flow onto the page. It can take several weeks to a month to complete a book as I go back and add to the story and edit it multiple times.
Uncaged: What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?
I would like to say to my fans THANK YOU. It is hard to be an author and I appreciate every one of you who has taken time to give me feedback, reviews and ideas for upcoming stories.
[symple_box color=”black” fade_in=”false” float=”center” text_align=”left” width=””]Skye Andrews lives in Christchurch, New Zealand.
She has written three books as part of an ongoing series I am Terry Walker, Living with the torture killer & A disturbed mind.
Skye’s next project is a story based on true events called Dear Dad which is due to be released on Fathers Day 2018[/symple_box]
A Disturbed Mind
Skye Andrews
Crime/Horror Short
Follow Terry Jnr on his journey. His father Terry Walker was the infamous torture killer while his mother Phillpa McDonald was a captive of Terry Walker who eventually made a name for herself.
How can this young man with parents such as this grow up and interact with those around him.
Find out in Book 3 of this series.
Uncaged Review: This book is the third book in the Terry Walker series, and you really need to read the first two, before settling down with this one. In this book, the son of the serial killer is finding his way in this world, but he slowly begins down a very dark path, working for a man he only knows as K to be a hired killer. But Terry Jr. seems to enjoy the killing a bit too much….
I did not see the substance in this short as I did with the first two books. I felt like there could have been a lot more meat added to this one, to give the reader more of a connection with Terry and to feel what he felt – which was more prominent in the first two books. Still, this is a hard subject to write and read, and the author does a nice job with it, I just wanted more. Reviewed by Cyrene
4 Stars
Uncaged Review – Between Venus & Mars by S.C. Mitchell
Between Venus & Mars
S.C. Mitchell
SciFi
Once Upon a Galaxy . . .
Zana Starchild is on a mission to restore her tribe’s livestock and save herself from one more meal of kelp. Sure, it’s technically illegal to visit Old Earth, but to a rim rat like Zana, galactic laws are really just guidelines. Her wrecked starship just means she’ll need to use her backup plan to get off the abandoned world, an old Earth legend her uncle passed down to her.
Pulled from a relaxing shower, across the galaxy to Old Earth, Galactic Marshall Kyle Kepler finds himself naked and marooned with a quirky rim rat. Zana’s broken more laws than Kyle can count, and he plans to arrest her, just as soon as he can find transport off the planet and a pair of pants.
A junk heap of a starship, a magical tree, and a roving gang of mutant kangaroos are just the beginning of rollicking intergalactic journey filled with laughs, love, and adventure.
Uncaged Review: This is the second of the Soul Mate Tree books I’ve had the pleasure to review and the third in the series. You will need to obtain a book to read the poem about the tree, but the premise is the tree will gift you with your soul mate if you believe. (Too bad one doesn’t really exist.)
Chapter one opens with Zana Starchild from Konga 10, a rim world, piloting a TRS-90 starship. Her uncle had salvaged the ship after it crashed on their planet and the pilot died. Zana is using the ship to get to old Earth. She is accosted by pirates at the last jump point. They let her go when they scan the ship only to discover she is telling them the truth when she said the ship wasn’t worth the time to steal.
Zana crash lands on Earth. Her uncle Onwin sent her there to get cells from animals so they could restart the herds which had been stolen by another group leaving their clan to starve on a planet which was mostly ice and snow. Her uncle had also told her about the Soul Mate Tree which had sent him to their planet where he stayed after falling in love with his wife.
One major problem her uncle warned her about was the roo gangs, who were dangerous fast breeding creatures. But she needs to find livestock and obtains cells to save her planet with or without roo. After touchdown, which was more of a crash, Zana gets to work finding animals, hoping the repair droid could make the ship fly again to get her back to her planet. She keeps thinking about the tree her uncle had told her about, thinking she could use a nice stud to help her.
Meanwhile, Kyle Kepler, a Galactic Marshal, is due for a long vacation. He thinks about calling a girl he had met, but realizes it would only be a short relationship as most women wouldn’t put up with his schedule. He goes home and decides to take an old fashioned shower before going to bed.
Back with Zana, she is having success with finding pigs, chickens and cattle, a wild turkey and elk. She is looking for sheep when she is startled by a voice saying, “Hello hummie.” It is a roo gang and they want her for dinner. These are kangaroos who have mutated to be able to speak and reason after residual radiation sped up their evolution. She has reason to be afraid of the slow witted creatures as they were very strong but they musculature changed to where they were slow, so Zana hopes to be able to outrun the group.
Zana races away from the roos who follow her up a hill to a tree. She believes it’s the Soul Mate tree her uncle Onwin told her about and believes she is about to meet the man of her dreams. She puts her hands on the tree, but instead of being transported elsewhere, a man who is naked with white stuff in his hair shows up. He is large and well-muscled, not that Zana is interested. Kyle snaps at her, telling her how teleporting sentient beings is against galatic law before the roos notice there are two of them. When Kyle asks where they are, she tells him old Earth.
Okay, you now have the set up for a fun book where Kyle and Zana go back and forth with the should I or shouldn’t I while attempting to stay safe from the roos and getting her ship to running so they can get off Old Earth and back to civilization. Of course, things don’t go smoothly. Kyle at first believes she is a criminal until he discovers she is here to save her clan on a rim planet. Kyle curses out the government who hadn’t come through to help the people on Konga 10, vowing have the rim planets visited more frequently.
Even though Kyle classifies Zana as a rim rat, he comes to respect her and her unorthodox beliefs and ways. The longer they are together, the closer the couple become.
This is a book filled with scenes where you laugh and root for Zana and Kyle. It becomes the haves and have nots and Kyle ends up wanting to help her and her people if they are able to leave Earth in her old dilapidated starship.
I found the book a fun read. It was as good, if not better than the first one I read which was set in the sixties and seventies. I loved the sci-fi future with the emphasis on finding a soul mate. You can’t help but root for Zana who is desperate to save her people, doesn’t want a soul mate so much as someone to help her get home.
There is some foul language and a few love scenes which fit the book and didn’t detract from the story. I give the book five stars since I had to keep reading to discover what happened next even though I knew they would end up together and it was a matter of where. Give it a try and discover a wonderful author who tells a fun story. Reviewed by Barbara
5 Stars
Catch Up with Author Amy Shannon and Preview of The Relic: A Savvy Macavoy Story
As seen in the June issue of Uncaged Book Reviews.
Amy Shannon was a Feature Author in December 2016. Today she is back to tell us about her sequel to Smashed: A Savvy Macavoy Story.
Uncaged: You were a Feature Author in Uncaged in December 2016. How was your experience with Uncaged?
I enjoy my experience with Uncaged, as I am a Book Reviewer contributor. I believe that Uncaged is great exposure not just for authors and their work, but also the book reviewers. As both an author and book reviewer, I know the importance of reviews, and sharing our work with others, putting it out there to be critiqued, criticized, and even praised can be daunting.
Uncaged: What have you been up to since you were a Feature Author? You are soon releasing the sequel to Smashed: A Savvy Macavoy Story. Can you tell readers more about this series?
Since I was a featured authored, I have released my books “Fettering Shadows” (June 2017) and I rereleased my book “Contrary Measures” (October 2017). I continue to market the work I have already published, and future work. I am in the process of rebranding my entire Sars Springs Saga (now called the MOD Life Epic Saga, which has more than 65 volumes).
I am proud to announce that the sequel to “Smashed: A Savvy Macavoy Story” will be released on June 9 (My birthday). It’s called “The Relic: A Savvy Macavoy Story.” The series (and I hope to bring more stories to it) is about Savvy Macavoy, a hippie-ish female private detective. She has a unique style, red hair with purple streaks with pigtail braids, colorful corduroys and linen shirts, and her brown sandals. In the first book, she meets Strick, a homeless veteran, who she takes in, feeds, and gives a job and home. They become fast friends and later, a couple. Leonard is Savvy’s best friend and office manager. He could be a lawyer, if he took the bar. The first case was “The case of the Missing Harold” where they were hired to find a wealthy woman’s dead (but preserved) husband.
In the next story, they are hired by Mr. Stein to find his prized collectible, a skull, which he has to show that evil can truly be killed. It’s the case of “The Missing Dictator”, but there’s more to Mr. Stein than just being a client, and more to Savvy’s relationship with her brothers.
Uncaged: You are also a heavy book reader and reviewer, how did you get started reviewing, and does it inspire your own writing?
I started doing book reviews in 2014, when I met another author online, and she wanted to share her work with me. I shared mine with her and she enjoyed what she read, so she wrote a review. The two of us were planning on creating a blog to do our reviews, and expanding what we read. Unfortunately, she passed away and to honor her and the love we both had for reading and writing, I created a simple blog posting my reviews. Eventually I moved the blog, along with all the reviews I wrote, and created “Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews.” It was at first just reading work that I loved, and then as I got involved in writing the reviews, I realized I could expand by accepting requests. So, I continued on, posting my reviews on book buying sites, and my blog and Facebook. I have rules and requirements, but I review books of ANY genre, and from ANY author, though I specialize in Indie Authors, and support them whenever and however I can. The only way I can maintain and keep track of what I do, is to have my policies and rules followed. I also do not give any book under 3 stars, so if a book may not be a 3 star or above, I send it back to the author with an explanation.
Uncaged: Tell us something unique about you.
Besides being a writer and reviewer, I am also a single mother of (now) four adult boys (they probably want me to call them men, but they’ll always be my boys). I am pursuing my MBA, but have a BA in English and MA in Adult Education. I homeschooled my youngest (twins) since 2015 and they will be graduating in June. When I write, I like to listen to vinyl records, and depending on what I’m writing depends on who I listen to, as I like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, James Taylor, Led Zeppelin, and sometimes, when I need to be reminded of my childhood, The Beatles, Patsy Cline or Knuckles O’Toole (He’s a Honky Tonk piano player). I like music as it inspires me, whether I’m reading or writing, the music is always in the background.
[symple_box color=”black” fade_in=”false” float=”center” text_align=”left” width=””]Amy Shannon is a storyteller, writer, poet, and blogger. Amy Shannon runs the book review blog “Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews,” which has become extremely popular for Indie authors and their books. She runs her own “author blog.” Amy Shannon is the author of over 100 stories, with more than half as part of different series or sagas. Once she falls in love with her characters, it’s hard to let go of them.[/symple_box]
http://writeramyshannon.wixsite.com/stories
The Relic: A Savvy Macavoy Story
Amy Shannon
Mystery/Suspense
Savvy Macavoy isn’t a typical private investigator, but she’s one of the best. Known for solving unique cases, she works alongside her partner and lover, Deklin Strickland “Strick” and her best friend, Leonard. Savvy is well-known, maybe too well-known to the NYPD, especially since she has what they refer to as an attitude, where she thinks it’s protecting her client’s privacy.
With her red hair with purple streaks and pig-tail braids, she tries to stay true to her hippie roots, and herself. Savvy and Strick get closer as they try to help Leonard, all while dealing with Savvy’s large band of brothers. And that’s just the beginning, especially when Mr. Stein hires Savvy to find something of great value to him, and so begins The Case of the Missing Dictator.
Excerpt
[Mr. Stein] waited for Savvy to sit and then he sat down. “I thought your name was Sunshine. That’s what Friend referred to you as.”
“My full given name is Sunshine Rainbow Savvy Macavoy. I go by Savvy, but all my brothers still call me Sunshine. Do you know any of my other brothers?”
“I do have a few paintings from your late brother, Cloud Dancer.”
“I have one and it’s my prized possession,” she pointed to the painting on the far wall of the Agency.
He turned his head slightly and nodded. “It’s very beautiful. I don’t know what Friend told you about me.”
“Just that you two were close friends and that you were a collector. That’s all. The rest should come from you. He mentioned you needed my services. Let’s start from there. What do you need me to do for you?”
He cleared his throat and focused on Savvy. “Ms. Macavoy, Friend was right. I am a collector. Sometimes I lend my collection to be on display at National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington D.C.”
“I never heard of it,” she flicked her eyes over to Strick.
Strick instantly stood up and walked over to Savvy’s desk. He pulled up a chair to the side of her desk, where he could face both Mr. Stein and Savvy. “I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never been,” he sighed and looked at Savvy. “Sorry, but this sounds interesting. May I sit in? I guess I should have asked before.”
“No, that’s fine. Mr. Stein, this is my partner, Mr. Strickland.”
“Oh, yes, Friend has mentioned you as well. An Army vet, correct?”
“Yessir. I was a sergeant in the Army, more like a company clerk slash MP, I’m sorry. It’s nice to meet you,” Strick shook his hand.
“Strick, what do you know about this museum?” Savvy asked.
“That it was created as a civil war Army Medical Museum and that there are interesting and unique collections, such as President Garfield’s vertebrae where the assassin’s bullet passed through. I really like American Presidential history. I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I know that some of the displays can be listed as morbid. I think it’s interesting and intriguing.”
“Mr. Stein, why do you need me?” Savvy asked.
“I, like the museum, have a unique collection. A few of my pieces are missing, but, one of my most treasured pieces has been stolen.”
Savvy wrote down some notes, including Mr. Stein’s name on the top of the yellow legal pad. “What piece is it?”
“The skull of Adolph Hitler,” he looked around the room to see if there was any type of reaction, but Savvy just nodded as she wrote it down.
Uncaged Review – Druid’s Portal by Cindy Tomamichel
Druid’s Portal
Cindy Tomamichel
Historical Fantasy/Time Travel
A portal closed for 2,000 years.
An ancient religion twisted by modern greed.
A love that crosses the centuries.
An ancient druid pendant shows archaeologist Janet visions of Roman soldier Trajan. The visions are of danger, death, and love—but are they a promise or a curse?
Her fiancé Daman abandons her before the wedding, her beloved museum is ransacked, and a robed man vanishes before her eyes. Haunted by visions of a time she knows long gone, Janet teeters on the edge of a breakdown.
In the shadow of Hadrian’s Wall and 2,000 years back in time, Janet’s past and present collide. Daman has vowed to drive the invaders from the shores of Britain and march his barbarian hordes to Rome. Trajan swears vengeance against the man who threatens both his loves—Janet and the Empire.
Time is running out—for everyone.
Uncaged Review: The book opens with a man in robes entering the museum as Hugh, the local constable and Janet, an archeologist and museum curator watch. They follow him and watch as he opens a casket from a case and takes what it contains as a dark cloud with sparkles begins to envelop him while beasts are snapping with slavering jaws behind him. Janet grabs the chain the man is holding only to have it break off at the darkness as the man disappears.
Neither Janet nor Hugh understand what happened. All Janet knew was the man was taking more things from the museum, putting it closer to being shuttered. The man had the key to the museum, so it had to be someone they knew.
Janet examines the gold pendant she rescued from the robed man. It had a stylized tree on it with dots and symbols indicating it was in the old language of Ogham of the druids. She begins to have weird visions as she holds the pendant where she is at Hadrian’s wall, only it is fresh and new looking instead of in pieces. She feels danger, hatred, death, and love as she is pulled to a battlefield where she see only shadows before returning to the museum. She tells Hugh she is fine, not wanting to tell him about what she saw.
She hides the episodes as they continue, each one more explicit than the last as she watches the battle unfold until only one person is left standing. She learns the man she saw fighting was commander Tajan Aurelius, the cousin of Marcus Aurelius. Janet wants to help him, but stays in her time to learn as much as she could about the time period in the area while trying to find the man in the robe. She wishes her ex-boyfriend, Daman was there to translate the Ogham which seems to connect the pendant to Roman times and the Druids. It was his area of expertise.
When she does go to the time period where the Romans and Celts are warring, she ends up landing atop of Tajan on a sacrificial slab. She plays like she is a Goddess and is upset with the Celts who end up running away. She rescues Tajan and they run back to the Wall and safety even though Tajan has multiple wounds from the battle he had fought.
Janet finds a job at the bathhouse and meets Tajan again. She offers to work with him to find a Druid the locals are calling ‘the stealer of souls’. As I’m sure you have guessed by now, Daman is the man in the robes and is the chief Druid and the stealer of souls. He is using modern technology to make the Celts afraid of him and to keep his supporter with him.
I’ll not give a spoiler here, other than to say the real Druids end up helping Janet and Tajan and give her the secret to the pendant.
When I started to read this book, my first thought was it was another time shifter novel to slog through. Only I didn’t slog through it. The book had several twists and turns even though it was somewhat predictable. The author kept you wondering what was going to happen next and how they were going to catch Daman who believed Tajan was going to die and he would be able to sacrifice Janet to Bridgette, the God he believes will save him and become all powerful and control the known world.
I loved the use of the wall and the Romans since that is a historical period in Scotland I enjoyed studying. The descriptions of the Roman fort were within the time period along with the dress of the Celts and Romans. I could almost feel like I was there with the realistic visuals the author wrote.
I highly recommend this if you like any form of time travel books. It is different enough to keep you turning the pages to see what is going to happen. This book gets five stars from me for the enjoyment I had while reading and not wanting it to end as I followed Janet and Tajan, hoping Daman got his just dues. Reviewed by Barbara
5 Stars