Book Reviews

From the Editor’s Desk: The Rose Master by Valentina Cano

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I wasn’t going to post this one yet, but I’m just too darn excited about it to hold back. This is the last one for a while though, so next week will return to my snarky, information-filled posts. (Was that a sigh of relief I heard just now?) But first, the blurb, for those who are uninitiated into this series of posts:

As an editor, (both freelance and under REUTS Publications), I have the wonderful opportunity to see amazing novels during their developmental phase. And I wanted to find a way to share them with all of you as they became available. (I also wanted to find a way to help support the authors that trusted me with their manuscripts.) So think of these posts as my own personal book recommendations, straight from the editor’s desk.

Today’s edition brings you the latest release from REUTS Publications (and I do mean latest — it just dropped on Tues):

The Rose Master

by Valentina Cano

 

The Rose Master by Valentina Cano

 

 

The day Anne Tinning turns seventeen, birds fall from the sky. But that’s hardly the most upsetting news. She’s being dismissed from the home she’s served at since she was a child, and shipped off to become the newly hired parlor maid for a place she’s never heard of. And when she sees the run-down, isolated house, she instantly knows why:

There’s something wrong with Rosewood Manor.

Staffed with only three other servants, all gripped by icy silence and inexplicable bruises, and inhabited by a young master who is as cold as the place itself, the house is shrouded in neglect and thick with fear. Her questions are met with hushed whispers, and she soon finds herself alone in the empty halls, left to tidy and clean rooms no one visits.

As the feeling of being watched grows, she begins to realize there is something else in the house with them–some creature that stalks the frozen halls and claws at her door. A creature that seems intent on harming her.

When a fire leaves Anne trapped in the manor with its Master, she finally demands to know why. But as she forces the truth about what haunts the grounds from Lord Grey, she learns secrets she isn’t prepared for. The creature is very real, and she’s the only one who can help him stop it.

Now, Anne must either risk her life for the young man she’s grown to admire, or abandon her post while she still can.

Where do I start? This book is amazing! A blend of Gothic literature and fairy tale with a splash of horror, it can best be described as Beauty and the Beast meets Jane Eyre. And since those are two of my all-time most beloved stories, it’s no surprise that I fell hard for this one.

The Rose Master starts with Anne, a parlor maid in a prominent London estate, being surrounded by falling birds. But that’s only the beginning of the strange events that mark her seventeenth birthday. She’s soon summoned by Lady Caldwell and informed that she’s being shipped off to one of Lady Caldwell’s distant relations in the middle of nowhere. Dismissed from the home she’s grown up in and torn away from the servants she views as family, Anne has no choice but to embark on the journey to Rosewood Manor.

She can tell instantly that there’s something wrong with the place. Silence cloaks its run-down exterior, and a profusion of roses covers everything, stifling the winter air with their pungent scent. The staff is small — only three others — and covered in suspicious bruises and scratches, the manor is colder inside than the frigid air without, and the Lord of the manor is nowhere to be seen. Confused, Anne tries to settle into the house’s routine, which can only be described as unconventional. She knows there’s something her fellow servants aren’t telling her, but she has no idea what.

When strange noises start following her around and eerie scratching haunts her door at night, she begins to realize that the manor is haunted. But it’s not until she finally meets Lord Grey and demands answers that she learns the truth — she’s the only one who can help save the manor from the creature roaming its halls.

The description sounds fairly benign, but don’t let that fool you. The Rose Master is definitely a horror; it will leave you creeped out and questioning what the heck is going on as surely as Anne herself does. Written in a style reminiscent of the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen, it’s lyrical prose is well-crafted, with some of the most beautiful analogies I’ve ever come across. A modern fairy tale, set against a Victorian backdrop, it’s sure to become a classic and would be perfect for adaptation to the silver screen (Disney, if you’re out there, this one has you written all over it!). Whether you’re a fan of the romantic, Gothic stylings of the Bronte sisters, or are simply looking for a creepy take on the fairy tale genre, I can’t recommend this one enough.

It’s currently available in eBook form via Amazon (with additional retailers coming soon), and will be in paperback on 7/8/14.  To find out more about The Rose Master, be sure to check out Valentina’s official website or the REUTS Publications page.

Happy reading! 🙂

From the Editor’s Desk: Flux by Ellie Carstens

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Another one?

I know, I know. You’d think this was turning into a bona fide review blog or something. (It’s not, don’t worry. These two just happened to release almost simultaneously. 😉 )

For those who haven’t seen it, here’s the blurb about what these posts are about: (everyone else, feel free to skip it!)

As an editor, (both freelance and under REUTS Publications), I have the wonderful opportunity to see amazing novels during their developmental phase. And I wanted to find a way to share them with all of you as they became available. (I also wanted to find a way to help support the authors that trusted me with their manuscripts.) So think of these posts as my own personal book recommendations, straight from the editor’s desk.

Today’s edition brings you the latest release from REUTS Publications:

Flux

By Ellie Carstens

Flux by Ellie Carstens

The last thing sixteen-year-old Alaina Oftedahl-Miller expected was to watch her mom brutally destroy their life.

But, in the wake of tragedy, strength forms. Shipped off to live with her birth father, Alaina finds herself dealing with more than just being the new Canadian girl in a Norwegian school. Juggling the formation of a relationship with the man who abandoned her as a child, and a budding attraction to Kaius Vargøy — the mysterious, beautiful classmate who’s been assigned as her personal translator — Alaina can’t shake the feeling that every move she makes is being watched. Judged.

She soon learns there’s far more to this sleepy Norwegian town than she ever imagined. Kaius and his friends aren’t exactly what they seem, and the repercussions of that could send her traveling through the most unexpected experience of her life. Murder and relocation is one thing, but add in supernatural occurrences and Vikings, and even she may not have the strength to survive.

Okay, so before I jump into my review of Flux, can we just take a moment to admire that cover? Creative Director Ashely Ruggirello really outdid herself on this one. She’s a brilliant designer, and in case any of you are interested in acquiring some of her brilliance for yourself, she freelances. (Her website is here.)

All right, back to business. Flux is an intriguing title, blending historical fiction with paranormal romance in a way I really hadn’t ever seen before. It starts, quite literally, with a bang as fifteen-year-old Alaina witnesses the brutal murder of her step-father at the hands of her deranged mother. This event becomes the catalyst for her journey to Norway nine months later, where she’s reunited with the birth father she thought had abandoned her. What seems like a simple story of tragedy and healing soon takes an interesting twist though — otherwise known as Kaius Vargøy, the next-door neighbor who also happens to have been assigned as her translator at school.

It’s immediately apparent that Kaius and his friends are not entirely what they seem, and while there are shades of Twilight echoing through that mystery, the reality couldn’t be further from that. I won’t give away the twist, but suffice it to say, it’s not one you will be expecting. Once the truth is revealed, the story takes yet another unexpected turn, catapulting Alaina and friends back in time to 12th century Norway. Surrounded by Vikings, strange customs, and a looming war with an evil she knew nothing about, Alaina’s strength is put to the test.

But despite the fantastical elements, this is, at its heart, a very human story. Fraught with emotional struggles and very real choices, Flux is about the strength of the human spirit, overcoming demons, and ultimately, the importance of love and acceptance. Steeped in Norwegian culture, Carstens has provided a refreshing voice in a genre that is bordering on stale. It is the first in a trilogy, but doesn’t leave you with an intense cliff-hanger. For that, I’m thankful, but I’m also definitely looking forward to the next installment.

If you’d like to find out more about Flux or Ellie, be sure to check out the REUTS Publications official website. And if you just want to buy it, it can be found in both print and eBook at the usual online retailers. Happy reading! 🙂

From the Editor’s Desk: An Ember in the Wind by Robert Loyd Watson

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This week, I’m interrupting our regularly scheduled programming to bring you an announcement. (See what I did there? ;P )

As an editor, (both freelance and under REUTS Publications), I have the wonderful opportunity to see amazing novels during their developmental phase. And I wanted to find a way to share them with all of you as they became available. (I also wanted to find a way to help support the authors that trusted me with their manuscripts.) So think of these posts as my own personal book recommendations, straight from the editor’s desk.

Today’s edition brings you the latest release from Robert Loyd Watson’s An Orthogonal Universe series:
 

An Ember in the Wind

By Robert Loyd Watson

 
An Ember in the Wind by Robert Loyd Watson
 

Ideas are like embers; they spark from some great fire, fly free, and glow for a while on their own. Some flicker out before they land. Others, though, ignite a new fire, which will cast a great light upon the world.

Mara is a young girl living in the height of the Italian Renaissance. When she runs away from home to join a group of scholars, she is ushered into an unseen world of fantasies – where the forests, flowers, and fields all have words to say. They clue her into the existence of the “sequence,” an intangible medium that governs the world like the gears of a clock, and instruct her to uncover it.

Just as she is about to unravel the riddle, she is forced from her home by an unknown assailant. Her grief causes her to lose her grasp of the magical world she once knew. Desperate to not completely let go, she travels to the city of Locana and employs the help of “the Ori,” a mysterious tutor who promises to help her see the world with the clarity she once had.

Meanwhile, her activities in the city draw the attention of a powerful and rising cult. They know that knowledge of the “sequence” bears implications of powers beyond even Mara’s own wild imagination, and seek to stop her. Mara realizes that in order to unravel the inner clockwork of the world, she must be able to see it with unadulterated eyes. But this means turning a blind eye to the impending perils of the cult and a brewing war. She must choose between dealing with the realities of a cruel world, or attempting to regain the innocence she lost.

 
An Ember in the Wind is the second book in the An Orthogonal Universe series (book 1 was featured here). Picking up where A Foundation in Wisdom ends, it continues Watson’s unique blend of thought-provoking fantasy and quirky humor.

John (the traveling history professor) and Sheridan (the eccentric hitchhiker who isn’t quite what he seems) have escaped the ominous clouds that threatened to swallow them at the end of book 1, but that doesn’t mean things are back to normal. The world still seems suspiciously empty, and Sheridan still insists that it’s ending. With Marcus’s story finished though, he has to turn to a new protagonist — Mara, a young girl living in the Italian Renaissance — to try and support his claim.

Like Marcus, Mara is exceptionally curious about the world around her and after drinking from the Well of Enlightenment, soon finds herself on a quest not unlike the one Marcus was sent on — though hers starts under slightly more traumatic circumstances. Having lost everything except her enhanced insight into the world’s workings, Mara travels to a nearby city, finding a few quirky companions (and even love) along the way. Once there though, she comes face to face with the uglier side of humanity. She is shunned for being different, and the prejudice being spread by the local cult eventually turns the city’s distrust into fear. But Mara ignores the brewing unrest, trying to unravel the mysterious “sequence” she’s been charged with finding before it’s too late.

Meanwhile, John and Sheridan are continuing their trip west, punctuating the long hours with witty interjections and thought-provoking insights gleaned from Mara’s tale. John doesn’t care for the picture Sheridan is painting of him though, and eventually decides to do something about it, resulting in one of the worst (and I mean that in the best possible way) cliff-hangers I’ve come across.

An action-packed, emotional roller coaster, Watson will leave you on the edge of your seat, hoping that book 3 drops soon. Posing questions like “what it means to be human” and “what the true definition of free will is,” Watson has once again created a story that will resonate with readers looking for a dash of intellect in their fantasy. With a decidedly Alice in Wonderland feel, An Ember in the Wind is easily my favorite of the series. Book 3 has some big shoes to fill, but I look forward to seeing what comes next.

If you’d like to check it out for yourself, it is available in both print and eBook formats at all the usual locations (handy list located here). For more information on the author and series as a whole, be sure to meander your way to the official website, where, for a limited time, you can find book 1 (A Foundation in Wisdom) as a free download.  And for anyone in the Jacksonville, NC area, there’s this:

 
Book Launch Part Flier

 
Next week, we’ll return to the post I promised last week. Until then, happy reading, writing, or whatever! 😉
 

Introducing Two New Features (of Interest to Writers)

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Some of the observant out there may have already noticed a couple new additions to the site. But those who don’t regularly stalk my online hub of awesome may not be aware yet. So, here’s your handy little announcement. (Listen up, writers! I think you’ll find what I’m about to say especially interesting. ;))

The first new addition is an expansion of my freelance editing menu. I understand that hiring a freelance editor can be extremely expensive, and that sometimes, you simply don’t have the budget for that. So, in the interest of assisting authors, I’ve created a few (more cost effective) options. You can check out the full details of everything I offer here. But these are the new items, what I’m calling the Misc. Editorial Goodies:

  • Back Cover/Query Blurb: $50 (eARC of entire manuscript required)

Whether you’re a self-published author who loathes writing jacket copy, or a querying author searching for the perfect hook, I can help. With a background in film, and experience as an acquisitions editor, I have the insight to help you make your blurb shine.

  • Reader Report: $200-$500 (depending on page count)

Curious what reviewers/acquisitions editors think when they read your story? Here’s your chance to find out. Using my talents as a developmental editor, I’ll read your work and analyze it from top to bottom, providing you with an in-depth response that will help you refine your work and possibly even land that elusive publishing offer. 😉

  • First Chapter Polish: $0.02 per word

Are you querying and would really just love to make your first chapter sing? Then this is the option for you. Let me guide you to the strongest opening chapter for your book. Because, as we all know, first impressions are everything. Why not make a good one? (Includes content/line edits and proofreading on the first chapter only.)

  • Technical Martial Arts Fight Scene Editor: $75-$150 (depending on number of fight scenes)

This is perhaps the most unusual item on the menu, but it’s one I think many of you could find valuable. Capitalize on my 15+ years of martial arts experience and championship-winning choreography skills. Let me help your fight scenes be dynamic, and most importantly, believable. Whether you just want the seal of approval, or need a little assistance in figuring out the logistics of a fight, I’m your girl. (Requires full disclosure of the entire manuscript, but I will only offer critique and advice on the fights specifically, including adjustments to the choreography, as well as the standard editorial assistance.)

Interesting stuff, yes?

The second addition to my site is a new section for book reviews. As part of my continuing efforts to provide content that’s both helpful and inspiring, I’ll be reviewing and/or recommending books I come across that I feel are deserving of your attention. In a marketplace inundated by titles, it’s hard to know where the gems are. I’d like to showcase the ones I stumble across, and in the process, help my fellow authors and indie publishers gain some much-needed exposure.

I’ll use my insight into storytelling to help you wade through the ocean of books out there, and promise to give honest, thoughtful opinions with only a modicum of snark. 😉

If you have a book you’d like me to review, please let me know via the contact page. I will happily accept ARCs (in any form) in exchange for my opinion, and will read just about anything (although I’d prefer if it were in the realm of Fiction, and preferably not Erotica). Due to my fluctuating schedule, I can’t give a flat turn-around time, but you can always inquire before sending me your book.

I’ll still be featuring those titles I’ve had the privilege of working on under my “From the Editor’s Desk” series, so make sure you check that as well. Otherwise, click on the book review link above and potentially discover your next favorite read!

Well, that’s all I’ve got for this week. I’m pretty excited about these new features and hope you are as well. If you’d like to see even more awesome added to the site, please feel free to send me suggestions! 🙂

From the Editor’s Desk: A Need So Insatiable by Cecilia Robert

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As an editor, (both freelance and under REUTS Publications), I have the wonderful opportunity to see amazing novels during their developmental phase. And I wanted to find a way to share them with all of you as they became available. (I also wanted to find a way to help support the authors that trusted me with their manuscripts.) So think of these posts as my own personal book recommendations, straight from the editor’s desk.

This week’s edition brings you the latest release from self-pub powerhouse Cecilia Robert:
 

A Need So Insatiable

By Cecilia Robert

 

A Need So Insatiable by Cecilia Robert

 

“You’ve owned me from the moment I walked into that music room. You’ve wrapped yourself in my heart and mind. I can’t get you out. I don’t want to.” ~ Rafael Van Rees

Sophie Fisher’s life is on fire. If she’s not ducking around corners or slipping out of windows to escape the debt collectors her father’s death has left knocking on her door, she’s dealing with her rebellious, fifteen-year-old sister, Lilli. And, as if that’s not enough, Rafael Van Rees crashes into her life—literally—bringing with him a past the public has no idea of. Can she unravel his mysteries before he unravels her, or will his presence finally force her to face the demons she’s trying to outrun?

Rafael Van Rees prides himself on being in control of his destiny, music and women. As far as he is concerned, his past is a black cloud in the distance–until he meets Sophie, that is, and his world spins out of control in more ways than one. He knows the darkest sins and secrets eventually reveal themselves, but when it comes to Sophie, he’ll stop at nothing to protect her from his past. Even if it kills him.

 
A Need So Insatiable is the first installment in a new Romantic Suspense series. Featuring a split POV between the female and male leads, it’s a fast-paced, high-intensity read that combines all the strengths of romance and mystery.

Sophie is a budding opera singer dealing with a bad hand in life. Orphaned at 24, she’s trying her best to raise her teenage sister and deal with the overwhelming debt her father left her in — debt that comes with a side of vicious loan shark.  She’s a snarky heroine who manages to keep her head up throughout all the turmoil. But the one thing she doesn’t expect is the storm known as Rafael Van Rees.

A prominent maestro and music director, Rafael is a mystery. As far as the public knows, he appeared fully-formed, lacking any shred of a past — an illusion he created on purpose. But that past slaps him in the face when Sophie waltzes back into his life. The only thing he can’t figure out is why she doesn’t remember him. He’s waited for this reunion for 14 years, and he’ll stop at nothing to win her over, even if it means confronting the demons he’s tried so hard to outrun. Moody, passionate, and gorgeous, he’s everything the male lead in a romance should be. I dare any female to read this and not swoon, at least a little bit. 😉

Sophie and Rafael aren’t the only great things about this book, though. There’s also a supporting cast that fills that role to a tee, providing everything from comic relief to the voice of reason for the main characters. And the writing is grounded and realistic. Romances that keep everything flowery and perfect in the love scenes are one of my personal pet peeves. Ms. Roberts didn’t choose that approach, portraying everything (yes, even the sexy parts) in a realistic tone that was both relatable and refreshing. Some people may not like that level of realism, but I did. It made the characters feel more human.

Classified as a New Adult book, A Need So Insatiable does contain some adult (as in mature) content. So if swearing, sex, and moderate violence isn’t your thing, I would recommend against reading this. But if you like your romances with a bit of action, realism, and lots of steam, this book will more than satisfy. And, as a bonus incentive, it’s currently on sale! So take advantage of the release week extravaganza and pick up this little gem for only $0.99! You won’t be disappointed. 😉
 
Sale Banner
 
To learn more about Cecilia and her other YA/NA books, visit her website, or follow her on Facebook/Twitter. And if you simply want to purchase A Need So Insatiable, click here!