"A Hundred Black Sunrises," by: Tamela Miles — Book Tour & Giveaway!

 Hi there readers. It's time for another bookish Saturday. And I got a book tour feature for you for author Tamela Miles and her book "A Hundred Black Sunrises." Dive into the details for this Dark Paranormal Romance that has a Friday the 13th theme to it. Hope you enjoy and purchase your copy today. Happy reading everyone. :)

****

Keeping secrets keeps you alive. 

Sienna would know.

A Hundred Black Sunrises

A Friday the 13th Story

by: Tamela Miles

Genre: Dark Paranormal Romance

Add to your TBR List!

GOODREADS

Check out Reviews and Recommendations!

BOOKBUB

A loud cracking sounded across the room and a huge, sil- ver gilded mirror fractured in half, splitting apart their reflec- tions. Elijah grabbed her hand and spoke softly. "Let me get you away from here, Poppy." 

As they moved toward the dining room entrance, one of the kit- chen servants appeared. Her brown eyes widened and then narrowed at the scene laid out before her. She hastily wiped her hands on her white apron and latched onto Poppy's other hand. 

"Run far, far away from this cursed place. Take nothing with you. His evil was contained while he was alive, but his death means..." she trailed off and shrugged her shoulders. 

"What...what did he mean by "a hundred black sunrises?" Poppy asked in a tremulous voice.

 The servant smiled sadly. "Nothing good, you can believe that." She gestured towards the hallway leading to the front door as a dozen other servants from the kitchen suddenly crowded around them. "Now, go! Take her and go!"

Elijah needed no further encouragement and pulled a dazed Poppy down the hallway, already filled with black smoke. As he opened the heavy door, she looked back one last time to say goodbye to every- thing she had ever known, and her gaze lit on Christianpaul's smiling portrait of himself as a much younger man. She shivered as Elijah led her out the front door and she clutched his arm fearfully. Poppy knew every brushstroke of that painting and never in her life had the bastard worn a smile in it. 

What readers are saying:

"A Hundred Black Sunrises is a haunting and emotionally charged horror short that blends reincarnation, cursed love, and inevitable tragedy. The story follows Sienna and Finn, two souls drawn together across lifetimes, only to face the same dark fate again and again. What begins as an intriguing connection quickly spirals into something far more sinister, as the truth behind their bond unravels. Though short, the narrative delivers a powerful mix of supernatural." horror and tragic romance. 

– Alicia Dean, Goodreads Reviewer

BLURB:

A hundred different ways to break your heart, a hundred different ways to take your last breath. Sienna and Finn are exploring their strange attraction to each other until strange becomes something sinister. The clock is ticking as they fight to unravel the mystery of what draws them together on fateful Friday, the 13th.

Purchase your Copy Today!

AMAZON

****

Tamela Miles is a California State University San Bernardino graduate student with a Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development and a former flight attendant. She grew up in Altadena, California in that tumultuous time known as the 1980s. She now resides with her family in the Inland Empire, CA. She’s a horror/paranormal romance writer mainly because it feels so good having her characters do bad things and, later, pondering what makes them so bad and why they can never seem to change their wicked ways.

She enjoys emails from people who like her work. In fact, she loves emails. She can be contacted at tamelamiles@yahoo.com or her Facebook page, Tamela Miles Books. She also welcomes reader reviews and enjoys the feedback from people who love to read as much as she does.

Learn more about Tamela...

WEBSITE | FB | INSTAGRAM | BLUESKY | BOOKBUB | AMAZON | GOODREADS

****

Enter to Win:

$10 Amazon or PayPal Gift Card

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

Next Stop on the Tour:

Craving Lovely Books 

Writing with a Selkie! A New Book & Return to Greatness! An Author's Journey One Word at a Time!

Hello everyone!!!

Happy late Mother’s Day to my momma readers! <3 I had a wonderful weekend full of spoils from all my loves. They’re always wonderful to me, but it’s always nice to be reminded that our hard work, love, and dedication to them is seen. I feel very blessed.

Anyway, it’s been awhile, I know. I’m terribly sorry for that. As many of you know, this past year has been a wild one, and definitely not much of that wild ride has been a fun one. However, life has tossed a lot of beautiful moments my way as well. So, from here on out, my goal is to focus on the beautiful moments life has sent my way. I’ll still honor my losses, always. But not to where they threaten to pull me under as they did this past year.

I am thrilled to announce that I’ve finally finished my part in the “Mystical Society Series,” which I’ve been blessed to be a part of. I would have had it finished earlier, but I was midway through and scrapped it because I was unhappy with the direction I had found myself in. I just started the whole thing over, changing nearly everything about the original story. I suspect I had let too many other books I was reading influence me on my first attempt, and realized midway through that I wasn’t writing my way. However, I am pretty happy with the results. I would have liked to explore some characters deeper, and maybe I will down the road. I’ll add it to the massive pile of writing ideas I already have, I suppose! ;) 

About my latest book. As previously mentioned, it’s part of a really fun anthology called: “Mystical Society Series,” where I got to work with some really great authors. My contribution to the project is my book “Selkie’s Storm,” which follows a selkie named Serene, who through a horrific tragedy, is taken away from the sea and raised by a mage family. Once she comes of legal age, she enrolls at a magical school called Emberheart’s Lorekeeps Academy, where she not only learns more about who she is, but she’s also forced to face her tragic past head-on.

Currently, it is available as an E-Book for $1.99, but will soon be available in paperback as well, for $12.99. I’m just waiting on the last proofs to process.

If you’re interested in the E-book version, you can find it at these locations:

https://books2read.com/u/mlvNd9

 -OR-

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GZW9Z5Z5

To those of you who DO choose to order it, I’d love to hear from you!

Thank you, everyone, for your patience and all of your support. I love you guys. <3 I promise to try not to stay away so long this time around.

 

Love,

Joli

"The Carnelian Throne," by: Janet Morris — Series Tour & Giveaway!

 Hey there readers. It's time for our bookish Saturday here on Watch Us Sparkle. I have been working on getting back to posting more regularly but things have been complicated. But enough of that, let's talk about this series tour for Janet Morris. She just released the fourth book in her Silistra Quartet back in March. You can check it out below along with the additional books in the series. If you haven't started it yet you should looks like a good dystopian series to binge over the weekend. Any who, I got to get back to writing and I hope you all enjoy this post and the sneak peek. Happy reading everyone :).

****

Estri was a daughter of light;
Chayin, a son of darkness; 
Sereth, the son of all flesh. 
Are they the three foretold who will make the truth of prophecy?

The Carnelian Throne

The Silistra Quartet Book 4

by: Janet Morris

Genre: Dystopian Epic SciFi Fantasy Romance

Add to your TBR List!

GOODREADS

Check out Reviews and Recommendations!

BOOKBUB

“Gate!” he bellowed over the storm, his dripping lips at my ear. The deluge had made us sparing of words. Under leathers soaked to thrice their weight, I shivered in spasms. Arms clutched to my sides, I stared into the rain. The driven sheets slashed me for my audacity. Lightning flared, illuminating the riverbank white. A moment later, the bright noise cracked through my head. The hillock trembled.

Over the gate danced the lightning. Its crackling fingers quested down thick-crossed slabs of iron, seared flesh. Emblazoned as they tumbled were those six-legged amphibians, their streamered tails lashing, scaled, fangful heads thrown back in dismay. I saw their afterimage: beryl and cinnabar, aglow upon the storm. Then their charred remains splashed into oblivion, spun away on the fast current.

“Down!” One man shouted, the other shoved me, and as I staggered to kneel in the sedges, the god that washed this land shook it, grumbling. I crouched on my hands and knees on the bucking sod, between them. Little protection could they offer up against shaking earth and searing sky, not even for themselves, without divorcing themselves from the reality they had come here to explore. And that they would not do.

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:

***** "Engrossing characters in a marvelous adventure." 

-- C. Brown, Locus Magazine

***** "The amazing and exotic adventures of the most beautiful courtesan in tomorrow's universe." 

-- Frederik Pohl

***** "The best single example of prostitution used in fantasy is in Janet Morris' Silistra series: High Couch of Silistra (originally entitled Returning Creation), The Golden Sword, Wind from the Abyss, and The Carnelian Throne." 

-- Anne K. Kaler, "The Picara: From Hera to Fantasy Heroine."

"[...] today I thought I'd look at one of the most successful fantasy debuts of all time, a series that became a huge international hit with its first release, launching the career of one of the most prolific fantasy writers of the late 20th Century: Janet Morris' The Silistra Quartet.

"The Silistra Quartet began with Janet's first novel, High Couch of Silistra [...] from Bantam Books in 1977 [, ] the far-future tale of the colony planet of Silistra, still recovering from an ancient war that left the planet scarred and much of the population infertile. With a dangerously low birth-rate, it's not long before the human colonists of Silistra develop a new social order, with a hierarchy based on fertility and sexual prowess.

-- John O'Neill in Black Gate Adventures in Fantasy Literature

BLURB:

Estri was a god, and the daughter of light.

Chayin was a god, and the son of darkness.

Sereth was hase-enor, the son of all flesh.

Lovers and friends, could they be the prophesied three

who would wield the Sword of Severance, Se’Keroth,

and bring light out of dark?

“One from the east, born of ease and destined,

“One from north of south, divine, exempt of question;

the third from out the west,

Astride a tide of death,” quoted Chayin. He was not

smiling. It is a long epic. All has been foreseen. We

all know that tale’s end.”

— Estri Hadrath diet Estrazi, in “Wind from the Abyss.”

Purchase your Copy Today!

AMAZON

****

Wind From the Abyss

The Silistra Quartet Book 3

Add to your TBR List!

GOODREADS

Check out Reviews and Recommendations!

BOOKBUB

Praise for Janet Morris' Silistra Quartet: 

"The amazing and erotic adventures of the most beautiful courtesan in tomorrow's universe." 

-- Fred Pohl 

"Engrossing characters in a marvelous adventure." 

-- Charles N. Brown, Locus Magazine. 

"The best single example of prostitution used in fantasy is Janet Morris' Silistra series." 

-- Anne K. Kahler, The Picara: From Hera to Fantasy Heroine.

“Morris, so good at giving us characters we can identify with, characters we can love and hate, strikes at the very heart of the human condition and the duality of humanity — both good and evil. Her prose is lean and spot-on, every word carefully chosen to enhance the milieu of her imaginary world and advance the plot, giving us access to the thoughts, emotions and machinations of the people whose stories she is presenting to us. Once again, she gives us a “thinking man’s” science fiction/fantasy that explores the nature of power and sexuality, and how they can be used, misused and abused. This is a brilliant, mature and very adult novel that will not only leave you thinking about your own place in the universe, but questioning the very nature of existence.” 

– Goodreads reviewer

This Perseid Press Author's Cut Edition is revised and expanded by the author and presented in a format designed to enhance your reading experience with larger, easy-to-read print, more generous margins, and covers designed for these premium editions. 

Wind from the Abyss starts with this . . . 

"Since, at the beginning of this tale, I did not recollect myself nor retain even the slightest glimmer of such understanding as would have led me to an awareness of the significance of the various occurrences that transpired at the Lake of Horns, I am adding this preface, though it was no part of my initial conception, that the meaningfulness of the events described by "Khys' Estri" (as I have come to think of the shadow-self I was while the dharen held my skills and memory in abeyance) not be withheld from you as they were from me. I knew myself not: I was Estri because the girl Carth supposedly found wandering in the forest stripped of comprehension and identity chose that name. There, perhaps, lies the greatest irony of all, that I named myself anew after Estri Hadrath diet Estrazi, who in reality I had once been. And perhaps it is not irony at all, but an expression of Khys' humor, an implicit dissertation by him who structured my experiences, my very thoughts, for nearly two years, until his audacity drove him to bring together once more Sereth crill Tyris, past-Slayer, then the outlawed Ebvrasea, then arrar to the dharen himself; Chayin rendi Inekte, cahndor of Nemar, co-cahndor of the Taken Lands, chosen son of Tar-Kesa, and at that time Khys' puppet-vassal; and myself, former Well-Keepress, tiask of Nemar, and lastly becoming the chaldless outlaw who had come to judgment and endured ongoing retribution at the dharen's hands. To test his hesting, his power over owkahen, the time-coming-to-be, did Khys put us together, all three, in his Day-Keeper's city -- and from that moment onward, the Weathers of Life became fixed: siphoned into a singular future; sealed tight as a dead god in his mausoleum, whose every move brought him closer to the sum total, obliteration. So did the dharen Khys bespeak it, himself. . ."

BLURB:

Dystopia. Fantasy. Science fiction. Allegory. Political. 

Wind from the Abyss is the third volume in Janet Morris' classic Silistra Quartet, continuing one woman's quest for self-realization in a distant tomorrow. 

Aristocrat. Outcast. Picara. Slave. Ruler .... She is descended from the masters of the universe. To hold her he challenges the gods themselves. 

Purchase your Copy Today!

AMAZON

****

The Golden Sword

The Silistra Quartet Book 2

Add to your TBR List!

GOODREADS

Check out Reviews and Recommendations!

BOOKBUB

What readers are saying:

“Pure excellence…. A heroic quest of the highest calibre.” 

- Goodreads

“This is a book which makes one’s blood sing and one’s mind ponder. I loved the first in the series and enjoyed this as much, perhaps more. The ending leaves the reader desperate to know what happens to Estri next – courtesan, slave, warrior, lover, rebel. What is next for our heroine?” 

– Goodreads

“Call it what you like: science fiction, space opera, sword and planet or erotic fantasy . . . The Golden Sword is all these things, and so much more. A highly intelligent and sensual novel filled with ideas and revelations, this is a gripping story that explores human sexuality and the role it plays in politics. Although the memorable characters are bisexual, toss away all your preconceived notions, for there is a humanity, a strength of will and determination, a realism and depth of emotion to these characters that will have you thinking twice about all you know and all you think you know. This is a book for mature and discerning readers who like some meat on the bones of the books they read. Janet Morris led the way for all the science fiction authors, both male and female, who came after. “ 

– Joe Bonadonna, Goodreads

BLURB:

Dystopia. Biology shapes reality. The further adventures of the most beautiful courtesan in the galaxies of tomorrow. 

She had the power to create planets. The sixty carved bones of the Yris-tera foretold her ancient fate. Her heritage of power took her beyond time and space and stole from her the one man she loved. 

Enslaved on the planet Silistra, tomorrow's most beautiful courtesan unleashes the powers of the gods.

Purchase your Copy Today!

AMAZON | BN 

****

High Couch of Silistra

The Silistra Quartet Book 1

Add to your TBR List!

GOODREADS

Check out Reviews and Recommendations!

BOOKBUB

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:

"Engrossing characters in a marvelous adventure." 

- Charles N. Brown, Locus Magazine

"The amazing and erotic adventures of the most beautiful courtesan in tomorrow's universe" 

- Frederik Pohl

"The best single example of prostitution used in fantasy is Janet Morris' Silistra series... Estri's character is most like that of Ishtar who describes herself as "'a prostitute compassionate am I'" because she "symbolizes the creative submission to the demands of instinct, to the chaos of nature ...the free woman, as opposed to the domesticated woman". Linking Estri with these lunar and water symbols is not difficult because of the moon's eternal virginity (the strength of integrity) links with her changeability (the prostitute's switching of lovers). [...] 

Morris strengthens the moon imagery by having Estri as a well-keepress because wells, fountains, and the moon as the orb which controls water have long been associated with fertility, [...] In a sense, she is like the moon because she is apparently eternal, never waxing or waning except in her pursuit of the quest; she is the prototypical wanderer like the moon and Ishtar. She is the eternal night symbol of the moon in opposition to the Day-Keepers [...]

 At her majority (her three hundredth birthday), she is given a silver-cubed hologram letter from her mother, containing a videotape of her conception by the savage bronzed barbarian god from another world. [...] If Estri's mother then acts as a bawd, willing her lineage as Well-Keepress to her daughter, then Estri's great-grandmother Astria as foundress of the Well becomes a further mother-bawd figure when she offers her prophetic advice in her letter: "Guard Astria for you may lose it, and more. Beware of one who is not as he seems. Stray not in the port city of Baniev ...look well about you, for your father's daughter's brother seeks you". Having no brother that she knows of does not stay Estri from undertaking the heroic quest of finding her father."

 - Anne K. Kaler, The Picara: From Hera to Fantasy Heroine

BLURB:

Biology shapes reality...

One woman's mythic search for self-realization in a distant tomorrow...

Her sensuality was at the core of her world, her quest beyond the civilized stars.

Aristocrat. Outcast. Picara. Slave. Ruler.

Purchase your Copy Today!

AMAZON | BN

****

Best selling author Janet Morris began writing in 1976 and published more than 30 novels, many co-authored with her husband Chris Morris or others. She contributed short fiction to the shared universe fantasy series Thieves World, in which she created the Sacred Band of Stepsons, a mythical unit of ancient fighters modeled on the Sacred Band of Thebes. She created, orchestrated, and edited the Bangsian fantasy series Heroes in Hell, writing stories for the series as well as co-writing the related novel, The Little Helliad, with Chris Morris. She wrote the bestselling Silistra Quartet in the 1970s, including High Couch of Silistra, The Golden Sword, Wind from the Abyss, and The Carnelian Throne. This quartet had more than four million copies in Bantam print alone, and was translated into German, French, Italian, Russian and other languages. In the 1980s, Baen Books released a second edition of this landmark series. The third edition is the Author's Cut edition, newly revised by the author for Perseid Press. Most of her fiction work has been in the fantasy and science fiction genres, although she has also written historical and other novels. Morris has written, contributed to, or edited several book-length works of non-fiction, as well as papers and articles on nonlethal weapons, developmental military technology and other defense and national security topics.

Janet said: 'People often ask what book to read first. I recommend "I, the Sun" if you like ancient history; "The Sacred Band," a novel, if you like heroic fantasy; "Lawyers in Hell" if you like historical fantasy set in hell; "Outpassage" if you like hard science fiction; "High Couch of Silistra" if you like far-future dystopian or philosophical novels. I am most enthusiastic about the definitive Perseid Press Author's Cut editions, which I revised and expanded.'

Learn more about Janet...

WEBSITE | FB | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | BOOKBUB | AMAZON | GOODREADS

****

Enter to Win:

Choice of Print or eBook of The Carnelian Throne,

$20 Amazon or PayPal Gift Card

— 1 Winner Each!

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

Next Stop on the Tour:

Chapters Through Life

Now on Preorder: "When June Haunts May," by: Celaine Charles

 Hi everyone. Today I am featuring a Preorder Announcement for Celaine Charles. She is releasing her book "When June Haunts May," later this month and I hope you enjoy this sneak peek she provided for us. Please preorder your copy today if you enjoyed this post and hope your excited for release day! Happy reading everyone :).

****

One visible spirit. Two phantom thieves. Three courageous friends.

When June Haunts May

The Haunting of Pinedale High #10

by: Celaine Charles

Genre: Cozy YA Paranormal Ghost Story

Add to your TBR List!

GOODREADS

Check out Reviews and Recommendations!

BOOKBUB

“Have you ever seen her in a class?”

What was he getting at? “We don’t have any classes together. But I don’t have any classes with you either.”

“Okay, so how about the fact that she was cold as ice when I touched her shoulder?”

The chills she’d sensed from June had felt like relief in the blazing sun, but she had noticed them. “What are you saying?”

Reid pulled her underneath a yellowing oak in an empty yard. Ignoring her look of annoyance, he glanced over his shoulders before whispering low and close to her ear. “Did you know Pinedale High is haunted?”

First the woods and now the whole school? May stepped back, hands up in feigned surrender. “Okay-okay, I get it. Prank the new kid. You know, I’m sorry I even thought about checking in on you. I don’t have time for this.” She about-faced and strode down the sidewalk without him.

“Wait, what? I’m not pranking you.” He caught up in only a few strides, his long legs veering her off to the side. “Please, hear me out.”

May’s mind flipped through any example of a high school boy wanting her to hear him out. This had to be a trick. “No, you listen to me. I’ve been the new girl far too many times than I care to count. And I get it. I’m easy prey…perhaps even a challenge.” She thumped him in his too-close-to-her chest. “But I’m not playing.”

“I think June’s a ghost. I’m not kidding or pranking you. And I need you to listen.”

Flashes of her strange interactions with her new friend…if she could even call her that…flickered through May’s mind. They’d only known each other for a couple of days, but she had sensed something off. 

She turned away from him, trying to put everything together. Bouts of June’s chilliness, yes. But earlier, it had been strange how fast she’d flown down the spectator stands. Before that, she struggled to push open the main school doors. 

May had attributed June’s glossy hollow eyes to the lighting, but maybe it was because of something else. She closed her own eyes for clarity, kicking her foot into the grass. Maybe allergies?

She tucked her hair behind her ear, running the strands between her fingers as more details registered. June’s peculiar way of speaking was odd, and her clothes that first day, like a blast from the past. She was still wearing her penny loafers…with pennies inside.

May dropped her backpack, shook her head at Reid, who was waiting for her to process. But her brain wasn’t cooperating. “Ghosts?” The word spat off her tongue like she’d swallowed a flick of her cat’s tail.

“I know I sound insane. I’m not. I promise.” He glimpsed her with creamy brown eyes. They were the color of Great-Grandma’s sweet tea, and she was overheating inside and out, ready for a tall glass.

“Is this why you’ve been crying at the pond during lunch?”

“What?” His face scrunched, cheeks burning past the eighty-degree temperature outside to a brighter shade of full-blown embarrassment. “No. I mean—I’m not crying at the pond. What are you talking about?”

“What are you talking about?”

They stood at an impasse, shock etching along both their eyebrows and drawn lips. Her mind raced for something to say, and if she had to guess, he was in the same boat.

BLURB:

June Brookes has haunted the library at Pinedale High for decades, without attention. Until one day, new sophomore, May Blakely, notices. Could this be June’s chance to cross over to the hereafter? If only she knew what needed to be finished from her old life.

Angsty May prefers solitude. Her deadbeat dad may have ditched her in this small town, but she has no interest befriending this strange girl, or the cute boy across the street.

June’s hereafter hustle goes haywire when two phantom soldiers plot to hijack her passage to peace, at the expense of hurting fellow students. June saves May’s life, igniting their joint efforts to protect the school. Can May help June to her happily ever afterlife?

Preorder your Copy Today!

AMAZON | APPLE | BN

Don't miss the rest of the Haunting of Pinedale High Books!

Find them on AMAZON

****

Celaine Charles lives in the enchanted Pacific Northwest, teaching elementary school by day and writing by the stars at night. She’s an award-winning, multi-genre author who balances her dual life creating poetry, fantasy, and contemporary romance shorts, while blogging about her journey on Steps in Between. In addition, she’s embarking on the world of children’s picture books.

She’s published collections of poetry through Egret Lake Books and Palmetto Publishing Group, and fiction through The Wild Rose Press and Eliza Storm Books.

Celaine is a member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, Storyteller Academy, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and reads poetry regularly with the Museum of Northwest Art, Writing’s on the Wall series.

Learn more about Celaine...

WEBSITE | FB | INSTAGRAM | BOOKBUB | AMAZON | GOODREADS

****

Enter to Win:

$40 Amazon or PayPal Gift Card

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

Next Stop on the Tour:

Jody's Bookish Haven

May 3rd