About Books

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    Some of Jennifer’s favorite books and series …

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    Note: This post will also appear tomorrow at Magical Musings.

    Hey, everyone! I am continuing our April posts about some of our favorite books and series. Here are my picks in no particular order:

    Sugar DaddySugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas: I know that many folks love Kleypas’s historical romances, but to me, her contemporaries  really shine, especially Sugar Daddy, the first book in her Travis contemporary romance series.

    This book focuses on Liberty Jones, who is growing up in a trailer park in Texas. Really, it’s more of a coming-of-age story than a romance, since Liberty deals with everything from losing her first love, to her mother dying, to raising her little sister by herself, to growing up and becoming a successful businesswoman. The thing that I love about Liberty is that no matter what happens, she never gives up, and she always finds a way to take care of herself and her family.

    The Dortmunder series by Donald E. Westlake and the Parker series by Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake): These series are both about thieves, and they are like the two sides of the same coin, since they are both written by Westlake.

    The Dortmunder series are comic crime capers, about a group of quirky, lovable (if sometimes inept) thieves who continually have the worst luck imaginable, but always manage to scrape by. Contrast that to the Parker series, which is about a loner, tough-as-nails thief named Parker, who usually shoots first and ask questions later. If you like crime fiction, check out Westlake’s books.

    Captain America Winter SoldierCaptain America: Winter Solider by Ed Brubaker, et. al.: Back in 2014, the Marvel movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier came out. I loved the movie so much that I got the comics collection that the movie was inspired by and read it.

    And it was fantastic.

    The basic story arc is that a deadly assassin called the Winter Soldier is on the loose, and it’s up to Captain America aka Steve Rogers to stop him. But surprise, surprise, the Winter Soldier turns out to be Steve’s old friend Bucky Barnes, who has been brainwashed into becoming the ultimate assassin. So it’s up to Steve to try to figure out if he can save his best friend — or if he’ll have to stop the Winter Soldier once and for all. This story has all the things that I love — action, adventure, superheroes, and a truly epic friendship between Steve and Bucky.

    The James Bond series by Ian Fleming: Just about everyone knows James Bond from the movies — a suave, supercool superspy who saves the world on a regular basis. But I discovered the James Bond books back when I was in high school. The books differ quite a bit from the movies, but I love the mixture of action, adventure, and spy shenanigans, in both the books and the movies.

    Where the Red Fern GrowsWhere the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls: If you’ve read my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series, you know that Gin Blanco, my heroine, has a blood-spattered copy of this book hanging up on the wall of the Pork Pit, her barbecue restaurant. Why? Because it belonged to her murdered mentor, and because the book is about love and loss.

    In fact, this is the first book that I remember just absolutely breaking my heart. It’s about a young boy named Billy who gets two dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann, and all the adventures that they have together. If you don’t know what happens at the end of the book, I won’t spoil it for you, but just be sure that you have some tissues handy. Because you will cry. A lot.

    So those are some of my favorite books and series. What about you guys? What are some of your favorite books?

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    Bright Blaze of Magic, Black Blade #3, up for pre-order …

    Book #3We’re only a couple of weeks away from the release of Bright Blaze of Magic, the third book in my Black Blade young adult urban fantasy series that will be out on April 26. Woot!

    This will be the third and final book in the series, and it will close out Lila’s story. As of right now, I do not have any plans to write any more books in this series.

    Bright Blaze of Magic will be available in print, e-book, and audiobook formats from all the usual retailers. The book is available for pre-order at the following sites:

    Amazon Kindle / Amazon print / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / Google Play / iBooks / IndieBound / Kobo

    The audiobook will be available through Audible and Amazon, and Brittany Pressley will once again be the narrator.

    And here is the book description. This doesn’t contain any real spoilers for the book/series, but if you absolutely do not want to be spoiled, you might want to skip reading the book description:

    BAD THINGS ALWAYS COME IN THREES…

    As a thief, I’m good at three things: hiding in the shadows, getting in and out unseen, and uncovering secrets. I put these skills to work for the Sinclair Family, one of the magical mobs that run the tourist town of Cloudburst Falls.

    Everyone knows Victor Draconi wants to take over all the other Families—and kill every last Sinclair. What they don’t know is that I’m on to him, and no way will I let the man who murdered my mom get away with hurting all the other people I care about. Especially when I’ve got places to break into, stuff to steal, and Devon Sinclair fighting right by my side…

    The heroine of Bright Blaze of Magic is Lila Merriweather, a 17-year-old thief who lives in Cloudburst Falls, West Virginia, a town dubbed “the most magical place in America.” Tourists come from around the world to tour all the magic-themed shops and attractions, as well as see monsters like tree trolls, copper crushers, and more in their natural habitats.

    Lila does her best to stay off the grid and avoid the Families — or mobs — who control much of the town. But Lila finds herself caught in the middle of a brewing war between the Sinclairs and the Draconis, the two most powerful Families in town.

    I hope that everyone enjoys the conclusion to Lila’s story when the book is released. Happy reading!

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    Dark Heart of Magic, Black Blade #2, to be published in German …

    Estep Black Blade 2Attention German readers: I wanted to let you know that Dark Heart of Magic, the second book in my Black Blade young adult urban fantasy series, will be released in German on May 2.

    And here is the cover for Dark Heart of Magic. I always think it’s so interesting to see how the covers vary from country to country. I really like the white covers that my German publisher, Piper Verlag, has been doing for this series, along with my Mythos Academy series. (Although my favorite German covers are the ones with the flowers on the front and on the spines for my Mythos Academy series.)

    I’m not sure when Bright Blaze of Magic, the third and final book in the series, will be released in German. If I had to guess, I would say probably sometime in the fall 2016, but I don’t know for sure. If I get some more information about the release date later on, I’ll try to remember to share that here on my blog and social media sites.

    And of course Cold Burn of Magic, the first book in the series, is also available in German.

    I hope that all the German readers enjoy Dark Heart of Magic when it is released. Happy reading!

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    Unraveled, Elemental Assassin #15, cover revealed …

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    UnraveldToday, I thought I would share the cover art for Unraveled, Elemental Assassin #15, Aug. 30.

    The cover was once again done by Tony Mauro, and the model for Gin is Alexa Martino. I really like the red tone to this one, and I love the spider rune branded on the saloon doors.

    Unraveled is up for pre-order at the following sites:

    Amazon Kindle / Amazon print / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / Google Play / iBooks / Kobo / IndieBound

    It will be a while before the pre-order link for the audiobook goes online. That is usually posted about six weeks before the release date. The audiobook will be available through Amazon and Audible, and the awesome Lauren Fortgang will once again be the narrator.

    Here’s the description. Beware of spoilers for previous books in the series, especially Bitter Bite, book #14:

    What could go wrong when you’re trying to unravel a decades-old conspiracy? 

    As the current queen of the Ashland underworld, you would think that I, Gin Blanco, would know all about some secret society controlling things from behind the scenes. I might be the Spider, the city’s most fearsome assassin, but all my Ice and Stone elemental magic hasn’t done me a lick of good in learning more about “the Circle”. Despite my continued investigations, the trail’s gone as cold as the coming winter.

    So when Finnegan Lane, my foster brother, gets word of a surprising inheritance, we figure why not skip town for someplace less dangerous for a few days? That place: Bullet Pointe, a fancy hotel resort complex plus Old West theme park that Finn now owns lock, stock, and barrel. At first, all the struttin’ cowboys and sassy saloon girls are just hokey fun. But add in some shady coincidences and Circle assassins lurking all around, and vacationing becomes wilder—and deadlier—than any of us expected.

    Good thing this assassin brought plenty of knives to the gunfight …

    I love westerns, and I always thought about writing a western-type story. So this is sort of my version of that — Spider-style. 🙂

    You can read the first chapter of the book here. Scroll down and click on the Read Excerpt tab. Again, it does contain spoilers for previous books in the series.

    I hope that everyone enjoys the cover art.

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    Making time to read comics …

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    Note: This post will also appear tomorrow at Magical Musings.

    I love to read. I always have, ever since my mom started taking me to the library when I was a kid.

    But sometimes, the very last thing I want to do is read.

    Why? Because most of my reading is done as work on my own books, instead of reading whatever I want to for fun. After spending hours writing, editing, revising, and proofreading my own books day in and day out, sometimes I just don’t want to read. Instead, I’ll veg out in front of the TV or listen to music or do anything else but read. And with my writing deadlines, I often just don’t have time to sit down and read a 350-page book, not even if I break it up over several nights.

    Black Widow Last DaysBut I’ve found something that works for me, a way to keep reading in the limited time that I have these days. The answer? By reading comics collections.

    I’ve always enjoyed superhero stories as books, movies, and TV shows, but in the past several years, I’ve gotten more and more into reading comics. One series that I’m enjoying right now is about the Marvel superhero Black Widow, including Black Widow Vol. 3: Last Days by Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto.

    Why do I like reading comics? For starters, they are a great mix of stories, dialogue, action, and art. Plus, there are many, many different takes on just about every superhero character out there, so you’re bound to find a story or interpretation that you like. And depending on the size of the comics collection, I can usually read it in one night, which works great with my busy schedule these days.

    Don’t get me wrong. I still enjoy reading full-length print books, and I squeeze those into my schedule as often as I can. But when I want a quick escape to another world, I often grab some comics from my TBR pile. If you’ve never read comics before, give them a shot. You might just get hooked on them like I have. 🙂

    What about you guys? Is your reading time limited? How do you make time to read? Do you read comics collections?