The Qwillery

Gerald Brandt (2016) Threader Origins
Quantum Empirica 1
DAW, January 12, 2021
Hardcover and eBook, 384 pages

This first book of a new sci-fi series introduces an alternate earth where powerful Threads have the power to alter reality as we know it.

Pulled from his world by an experiment gone wrong, Darwin Lloyd is one of the few that can see the Threads—quantum strings that can be manipulated to change or control reality. On an alternate Earth ravaged by war, Darwin is torn between the Qabal and SafeHaven, his only goal to find a way back home and stop the same fate from happening in his time line.

Threads—thought of as a gift from the machine he helped his father create—and Threaders are both loved and hated, treated as gods by some and as criminals by others. Out of his element, Darwin must learn how to control the Threads and possibly join the hated Qabal to find the path back to his dad.

But Thread use comes at a price. Follow the possibilities and probabilities too far and the human mind shatters, leaving the Threader a mindless, drooling husk. Yet the Thread’s pull is almost irresistible, and a constant battle for those that can see them.

In this strange new world, Darwin discovers what he could never find on his own: friends, family, love, a mother he lost years before, and a younger sister he never had.

Dan Koboldt (2016) Domesticating Dragons
Baen, January 5, 2021
Trade Paperback and eBook, 352 pages

BUILD-A-BEAR WORKSHOP MEETS JURASSIC PARK WHEN A NEWLY GRADUATED GENETIC ENGINEER GOES TO WORK FOR A COMPANY THAT AIMS TO PRODUCE CUSTOM-MADE DRAGONS

Noah Parker, a newly minted Ph.D., is thrilled to land a dream job at Reptilian Corp., the hottest tech company in the American Southwest. He’s eager to put his genetic engineering expertise to use designing new lines of Reptilian’s feature product: living, breathing dragons.

Although highly specialized dragons have been used for industrial purposes for years, Reptilian is desperate to crack the general retail market. By creating a dragon that can be the perfect family pet, Reptilian hopes to put a dragon into every home.

While Noah’s research may help Reptilian create truly domesticated dragons, Noah has a secret goal. With his access to the company’s equipment and resources, Noah plans to slip changes into the dragons’ genetic code, bending the company’s products to another purpose entirely . . .

Stina Leicht (2011) Persephone Station
Gallery / Saga Press, January 5, 2021
Hardcover and eBook, 512 pages

Hugo award–nominated author Stina Leicht has created a take on space opera for fans of The Mandalorian and Cowboy Bebop in this high-stakes adventure.

Persephone Station, a seemingly backwater planet that has largely been ignored by the United Republic of Worlds becomes the focus for the Serrao-Orlov Corporation as the planet has a few secrets the corporation tenaciously wants to exploit.

Rosie—owner of Monk’s Bar, in the corporate town of West Brynner, caters to wannabe criminals and rich Earther tourists, of a sort, at the front bar. However, exactly two types of people drank at Monk’s back bar: members of a rather exclusive criminal class and those who sought to employ them.

Angel—ex-marine and head of a semi-organized band of beneficent criminals, wayward assassins, and washed up mercenaries with a penchant for doing the honorable thing is asked to perform a job for Rosie. What this job reveals will effect Persephone and put Angel and her squad up against an army. Despite the odds, they are rearing for a fight with the Serrao-Orlov Corporation. For Angel, she knows that once honor is lost, there is no regaining it. That doesn’t mean she can’t damned well try.

Happy Monday!

There is 1 debut this week:

The Oyster Thief by Sonia Faruqi.




From formerly featured DAC Authors:

Treason of Hawks (The Shadow 4) by Lila Bowen;

The Black Khan (The Khorasan Archives 2) by Ausma Zehanat Khan;

Dan Koboldt is the editor of Putting the Science in Fiction: Expert Advice for Writing with Authenticity in Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Other Genres;

Tomorrow Factory: Collected Fiction by Rich Larson;

The Wastelanders by K.S. Merbeth;

Shades of Magic Boxed Set: A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic) by V. E. Schwab;

and

Mutiny at Vesta (Sheildrunner Pirates 2) by R. E. Stearns.

Debut novels are highlighted in blue. Novels, etc. by formerly featured DAC Authors are highlighted in green.

October 16, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Beast Arises: Volume 1	Dan Abnett Rob Sanders Gave Thorpe David Annandale	SF - Warhammer 40,000
In the Vanisher's Palace (e)	Aliette de Bodard	F
Treason of Hawks	Lila Bowen	F/HistF/CoA - The Shadow 4
The Book of Magic: A Collection of Stories	Gardner Dozois (Ed)	F - Anthology
Trial by Treason	Dave Duncan	HistF/DF/F - The Enchanter General 2
Rejoice, a Knife to the Heart	Steven Erikson	SF/AC/LF/Pol
The Oyster Thief (D)	Sonia Faruqi	F
The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2018 Edition	Paula Guran (Ed)	DF/H - Anthology
Monsters of the Week: The Complete Critical Companion to The X-Files	Zack Handlen Todd VanDerWerff	PerfArts/LC
In the House in the Dark of the Woods	Laird Hunt	Hist/H/LF
Riddance: Or: The Sybil Joines Vocational School for Ghost Speakers & Hearing-Mouth Children	Shelley Jackson	GH/CoA/P/Occ/Sup/LF
Black Wings of Cthulhu	S. T. Joshi	H/DF/SupTh - Black Wings of Cthulhu 6
The Black Khan	Ausma Zehanat Khan	F - The Khorasan Archives 2
Gotrek and Felix: Volume 1	William King	F - Warhammer Chronicles 1
Putting the Science in Fiction: Expert Advice for Writing with Authenticity in Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Other Genres	Dan Koboldt (Ed)	Writing Skills
The Bartered Brides	Mercedes Lackey	HistF/Gaslamp - Elemental Masters 13
Tomorrow Factory: Collected Fiction	Rich Larson	SF - Collection
I Am Behind You	John Ajvide Lindqvist	H
The Wastelanders	K.S. Merbeth	SF/AP/PA
The Last Sword Maker	Brian Nelson	TechTh/Sus - Course of Empire 1
Creatures: The Legacy of Frankenstein	David Thomas Moore (Ed)	Anthology
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Seek: The Strange Case Continues	Anthony O'Neill	Gothic/HistM/HistTh
Melmoth	Sarah Perry	Gothic
The Robotic Imaginary: The Human and the Price of Dehumanized Labor	Jennifer Rhee	LC/SF/F/PopCul/PerfArts
Star Trek Designing Starships Volume 1: The Enterprises and Beyond	Ben Robinson Marcus Reily	PerfArts/SF/TV
The Consuming Fire	John Scalzi	SF/SO - The Interdependency 2
Shades of Magic Boxed Set: A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, A Conjuring of Light	V. E. Schwab	HistF/Gaslamp - Shades of Magic
Mutiny at Vesta	R. E. Stearns	SF - Shieldrunner Pirates 2
The Shadow City	Ryan Wieser	SF/CyP - Hunters of Infinity 3

October 18, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers	Trent Hergenrader	Composition and Creative Writing
Garden of Eldritch Delights	Lucy A. Snyder	H/SF/F - Collection

October 19, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Waking Nightmares (e)(ri)	Christopher Golden	CF/DF - Peter Octavian / Shadow Saga 5

D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - Editor
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
Il - Illustrator
ri - reissue or reprint
tp2mm - Trade Paperback to Mass Market Paperback
Tr - Translator



AC - Alien Contact
AH - Alternate History
Anthro - Anthropology
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CoA - Coming of Age
Cr - Crime
CW - Contemporary Woman
CyP - Cyberpunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
FL - Family Life
FolkT - Folk Tales
FR - Fantasy Romance
GenEng - Genetic Engineering
GH - Ghost(s)
GN - Graphic Novel
Gothic - Gothic
H - Horror
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
Hist M - Historical Mystery
Hist R - Historical Romance
HistTh - Historical Thriller
HSF - Hard Science Fiction
HU - Humor
LC - Literary Criticism
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legend and Mythology
MedTh - Medical Thriller
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PCM - Parnormal Cozy Mystery
PerfArts - Performing Arts
PNR - Paranormal Romance
Pol - Political
PolTh - Political Thriller
PopCul - Popular Culture
Sc - Science
SE - Space Exploration
SF - Science Fiction
SFR - Science Fiction Romance
SH - Superheroes
SO - Space Opera
SocHist - Social History
SocSc - Social Science
SP - Steampunk
SpecFic - Speculative Fiction
SS - Short Stories
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
TechTh - Technological Thriller
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
UF - Urban Fantasy

Note: Not all genres and formats are found in the books, etc. listed above.

Hello! I am writing this while watching highlights of the royal wedding. I am not really a royalist and but I decided to tune in anyway. Partly it was a good excuse to eat orange scones....which I have to say are delicious. It also meant I could use the antique tea set that I barely have an opportunity to take out of my china cabinet. Did you watch?

This wasn't one of my more prolific weeks reading. It was Wednesday when I realised I wasn't even halfway through a single book. In my defense it was the release of the season finale of both Lucifer and of Dynasty so I had to watch those.  So what did I read?


I read The Master, the 3rd Gameshouse Novella, by Claire North. I had reviewed the two previous books months ago and loved them. The final instalment does not disappoint. Silver decides to make a stand and challenge the Gamesmaster to the ultimate game - for control of the Gameshouse. The Gameshouse has sustained him for centuries along with the other elite players but he has decided he has had enough.  This is the ultimate game. The largest and most deadly game of chess ever played where not just the pawns are sacrificed.

This is a fantastic novella. Your head will be positively spin at the number of locations that Silver finds himself. North has a real gift of describing her characters and their environment without a lot of prose which means that she is able to send Silver on a manic journey from one country to the next and next and next in just novella. In this series North creates characters who you can't help but like even though they are pretty uncaring and rather evil. I was really cheering on Silver from the sidelines and I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. If you want a great series of novellas that are both standalone but interconnected then look no further! These are must reads.


I was determined to finish The World Awakening by Dan Koboldt so that I could tell you all about it. So now I have a confession. I just couldn't finish it. I had planned to cheat as I got over halfway through and was going to skip to the end but I just couldn't. I discussed my inability to finish this book with the hubinator. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was that meant I couldn't face reading it. As I mentioned book two was pretty dull and not much happened whereas in book 3 it was almost non stop action. The closest reason that the hubs and I could agree on was that it was just too juvenile and the hero wasn't very heroic. Its a shame as I really liked the first book. Sorry!


Well that is it for me for this week. I am planning to have more to tell you about next week. Promise! Until next week Happy Reading!

The Master
Gameshouse Novella 3
Redhook, November 3rd 2015
eBook, 100 pages

The Gameshouse is an unusual institution.

Many know it as the place where fortunes can be made and lost though games of chess, backgammon – every game under the sun.

But a select few, who are picked to compete in the higher league, know that some games are played for higher stakes – those of politics and empires, of economics and kings . . .

And now, the ultimate player is about to step forward.

The World Awakening
Gateways to Alissia 3
Harper Voyager Impulse, February 13, 2018
   eBook, 448 pages
Harper Voyager Impulse, April 3, 2018
   Mass Market Paperback, 448 pages

"The World Awakening is a great conclusion to what is a very readable and highly enjoyable series. Characters that are more than the sum of their parts, a world that has so much to offer, and a story that races along apace – the Gateways to Alissia books have it all." -- SFFworld

Quinn Bradley has learned to use the magic of another world. And that world is in danger.

Having decided to betray CASE Global, he can finally reveal his origins to the Enclave and warn them about the company’s imminent invasion. Even if it means alienating Jillaine…and allying with someone he’s always considered his adversary.

But war makes for strange bedfellows, and uniting Alissians against such a powerful enemy will require ancient enmities—as well as more recent antagonisms—to be set aside. The future of their pristine world depends on it.

As Quinn searches for a way to turn the tide, his former CASE Global squad-mates face difficult decisions of their own. For some, it’s a matter of what they’re willing to do to get home. For others, it’s deciding whether they want to go home at all.

Continuing the exciting adventures from The Rogue Retrieval and The Island Deception, The World Awakening is the spellbinding conclusion to the Gateways to Alissia fantasy series from Dan Koboldt.

Hello! Have you missed me? I realise I haven't been around for a couple of weeks.  I was on holiday in Seville, Spain in mid April. It was a fantastic holiday. We were there during a big festival called the Feria. Every woman was dressed in full flamenco clothes and men in traditional Spanish suits while riding horses. It was great with some book reading but not much. I then over-estimated what I could finish when I got back so alas no WIR last week but I'm back now. What did I read?


So I have a confession to make. I had fully intended to tell you all about books 2 and 3 of Dan Koboldt's Gateways to Alissia series however I only managed to finish 1 of them. All will be revealed soon.

In book 2 - The Island of Deception the magician Quinn Bradley is about to make the big time. A big show in Vegas and his name in lights. His life is finally on the right track until his former colleagues at Case Global Enterprises call him back to Alissia. Bradley is asked to return to the alternate universe of Alissia to try to stop the former head of Case Global, Richard Holt from taking control.

The story is told from multiple POVs including Quinn, Logan, Mendez and Kiara who we met in the previous installment but mostly from Quinn's. The POVs give us a modicum of character development as the story is told from that character's voice. I have to say that I didn't enjoy book 2. Second books are always challenging when the first book of a series is really good as they don't always live up to expectations. This is definitely the case for the Gateways of Alissia series. This book was too much of a filler for me without a lot of substance and I really struggled to finish it. I would love to tell you, in detail what happened, but basically Quinn arrives, he travels around and Richard Holt is still in charge at the end.

I really tried to finish book 3, The World Awakening to tell you about this week but it was too much of a struggle. I got just over halfway through and it was either skip a bunch of chapters or try again next week. It came down to 'try again'. I will endeavor to finish it next week!


While I was trying to finish The World Awakening I looked for something else I could read and discovered that book 4, Gaslight, of Dannika Dark's Crossbreed series was out. It was pretty inexpensive and I knew the previous books were quick reads. As I was pretty desperate for a quick read (it was Thursday by this point!) I decided to buy it.

After the events of book 3, Deathtrap, Raven is determined to search out and punish those who have been trafficking humans to vampires while her colleagues in Keystone have their own troubles and challenges to face. When Raven goes missing and is in the hands of her former tormentor allegiances are forged and torn apart. Christian and Raven's budding relationship is put to the test and no one is sure who will survive.

The first half of the story is pretty straight forward with Raven and Christian and what happens when Raven goes missing. Had that been constructed properly that could have been the whole plot of book but Dark decided to make it more complex and a lot more confusing. The main plot was resolved halfway through and then Dark decided to add in gratuitous sex, sentiment and some minor character development. Overall it was too disjointed with POV chapters that went nowhere or didn't contribute to the overall plot. If I compare this to the other books of the series I would have to say it was a bit of hot mess.


That is it for me this week. I know it sounds like a bit of a disappointing week and my fingers are  crossed for a winner for my next Week in Review. Stay tuned to find out if I find a perfect read. Until then Happy Reading!

The Island Deception
Gateways to Alissia 2
Harper Voyager Impulse, April 11, 2017
    eBook, 352 pages
Harper Voyager Impulse, May 30, 2017
    Mass Market Paperback, 496 pages

Continuing the exciting adventures from The Rogue Retrieval, The Island Deception blends fun and mystery into a brilliant new portal fantasy from Dan Koboldt.

What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas. But what happens after you step through a portal to another world, well…

For stage magician Quinn Bradley, he thought his time in Alissia was over. He’d done his job for the mysterious company CASE Global Enterprises, and now his name is finally on the marquee of one of the biggest Vegas casinos. And yet, for all the accolades, he definitely feels something is missing. He can create the most amazing illusions on Earth, but he’s also tasted true power. Real magic.

He misses it.

Luckily—or not—CASE Global is not done with him, and they want him to go back. The first time, he was tasked with finding a missing researcher. Now, though, he has another task:

Help take Richard Holt down.

It’s impossible to be in Vegas and not be a gambler. And while Quinn might not like his odds—a wyvern nearly ate him the last time he was in Alissia—if he plays his cards right, he might be able to aid his friends.

He also might learn how to use real magic himself.

Gaslight
Crossbreed 4
Dannika Dark, February 16, 2018
Trade Paperback and eBook, 373 pages

Raven Black returns in another heart-pounding installment of the USA Today bestselling Crossbreed series.

Vampire trafficking is a sinister business, and nobody knows that better than Keystone. After Raven discovers hidden clues in a cold case, the group sets a trap in hopes of catching an elusive criminal. But when the plan backfires, Raven’s world is thrown into chaos, and Christian’s loyalty is put to the ultimate test.

Buried secrets come to light, and the only thing keeping Raven grounded is her insatiable thirst for vengeance. The stakes are high as they travel to a place where the landscapes are as treacherous as the immortals who live there. This time, there’s no room for mistakes.

Will Raven have the courage to tame the violence in her heart before it swallows her whole?

Happy Monday!

There are 5 debuts this week.

The Wolf (Under the Northern Sky 1) by Leo Carew;

The Waters & the Wild by DeSales Harrison;

The Oracle Year by Charles Soule;

Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic;

and

Wonderblood by Julia Whicker.




From formerly featured DAC Authors:

The Night Dahlia (Nightwise 2) by R.S. Belcher;

Archangel (Spectre War 2) by Margaret Fortune is out in Trade Paperback;

Scourge (The Iron Druid Chronicles 9) by Kevin Hearne;

Radiate (The Lightless Trilogy 3) by C.A. Higgins is out in Trade Paperback;

The World Awakening (Gateways to Alissia 2) by Dan Koboldt is out in Mass Market Paperback;

and

Grey Sister (Book of the Ancestor 2) by Mark Lawrence.

Debut novels are highlighted in blue. Novels, etc. by formerly featured DAC Authors are highlighted in green.

April 3, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Ruinstorm	David Annandale	SF - The Horus Heresy 46
Warlord: Fury of the God-Machine	David Annandale	SF - Adeptus Titanicus 1
School for Psychics	K.C. Archer	Occ/Sup - School for Psychics 1
What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky: Stories	Lesley Nneka Arimah	CulH/MR/LF
Origamy	Rachel Armstrong	SF
The City Where We Once Lived	Eric Barnes	Dys/SF/AP/PA/LF
The Night Dahlia	R. S. Belcher	UF/H - Nightwise 2
A Magical Match	Juliet Blackwell	PCM - Witchcraft Mystery 9
Box Office Poison	Phillipa Bornikova	CF/DF/UF - A Linnet Ellery Novel 2
Witchy Winter	D.J. Butler	HistF
The Wolf (D)	Leo Carew	F - Under the Northern Sky 1
The Wounded Shadow	Patrick W. Carr	F - The Darkwater Saga 3
Star Trek: Light-and-Sound Borg Cube	Chip Carter	PopCul
The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Three	Neil Clarke (Ed)	SF - Anthology
Sodom Road Exit	Amber Dawn	SupTh
Sleepwalker's World	Gordon R. Dickson	SF/SO
Though Hell Should Bar the Way	David Drake	SF - RCN 12
Archangel (h2tp)	Margaret Fortune	SF - Spectre War 2
Bottom of the Sky	Rodrigo Fresán Will Vanderhyden (Tr.)	LF/SF/Future Studies
Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing	Ursula K. Le Guin David Naimon	LC
Ferrus Manus: The Gorgon of Medusa	David Guymer	SF - The Horus Heresy: Primarchs 7
Legendary Shifter	Barbara J. Hancock	PNR
The Waters & The Wild (D)	DeSales Harrison	LF/PsyTh/FL
Scourged	Kevin Hearne	CF/P - The Iron Druid Chronicles 9
Shattered Roads	Alice Henderson	SF/PA
Radiate (h2tp)	C.A. Higgins	SF/SO - The Lightless Trilogy 3
The Barrow Will Send What It May	Margaret Killjoy	CF/DF/H - Danielle Cain 2
Seducing the Dark Prince	Jane Kindred	PNR
Dutchman	Richard A. Knaak	UF
The World Awakening	Dan Koboldt	SF/TT - Gateways to Alissia 2
Grey Sister	Mark Lawrence	F - Book of the Ancestor 2
The Beloveds	Maureen Lindley	PsyTh
The Unforeseen	Dorothy Macardle	GH
The Body Library	Jeff Noon	SF/TT/VisM/MR
The Dark Angel	Seabury Quinn	P/Occ/Sup - The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin 3
The Nightfall Duology	Mickey Zucker Reichert	F/DF - Nightfall
The Queen of Storm and Shadow	Jenna Rhodes	DF/FairyT/FolkT/LM/F - Elven Ways 4
Firewalkers	Chris Roberson	UF/P/SupTh/H - A Recondito Novel 2
The Sisters Mederos	Patrice Sarath	HistF
River's Child	Mark Daniel Seiler	SF/F
The Tale of Genji: The Authentic First Translation of the World's Earliest Novel	Murasaki Shikibu Kencho Suematsu (Tr)	F
Earthcore (ri)	Scott Sigler	TechTh
The Oracle Year (D)	Charles Soule	Fict/Sup
A Fistful of Elven Gold	Alex Stewart	F
Change Agent (h2tp)	Daniel Suarez	TechTh/GenEng/SF
Fair Rebel	Steph Swainston	F
Resurrection Bay (D-US)	Emma Viskic	PsyTh/Sus
Wonderblood (D)	Julia Whicker	SF/AP/PA/Dys

April 5, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time: 12th Doctor Novelisation (e)	Paul Cornell	SF/MTI
Doctor Who: City of Death (e)	James Goss	SF/MTI

D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - Editor
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
ri - reissue or reprint
tp2mm - Trade Paperback to Mass Market Paperback
Tr - Translator



AC - Alien Contact
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CoA - Coming of Age
CulH - Cultural Heritage
CW - Contemporary Woman
CyP - Cyberpunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
Fict - Fiction
FL - Family Life
FolkT - Folk Tales
GenEng - Genetic Engineering
GH - Ghost(s)
GN - Graphic Novel
H - Horror
HC - History and Criticism
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HU - Humor
LC - Literary Criticism
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legend and Mythology
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PCM - Paranormal Cozy Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
PopCul - Popular Culture
Psy - Psychological
Psy Th - Psychological Thriller
SF - Science Fiction
SO - Space Opera
SP - Steampunk
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
TechTh - Technological Thriller
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
UF - Urban Fantasy
VisM - Visionary and Metaphysical

Note: Not all genres and formats are found in the books, etc. listed above.

Happy Monday!

There are 3 debuts this week:

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi;

The Philosopher's Flight by Tom Miller;

and

Gunpowder Moon by David Pedreira.




From formerly featured DAC Authors:

Blood of Assassins (Wounded Kingdom 2) by RJ Barker

Olympus Bound (Olympus Bound 3) by Jordanna Max Brodsky;

Amberlough (Amberlough Dossier 1) by Lara Elena Donnelly is out in Trade Paperback;

Echoes of Understorey (Titan's Forest 2) by Thoraiya Dyer;

The World Awakening (Gateways to Alissia 3) by Dan Koboldt;

Shadow Hunt (Disrupted Magic 3) by Melissa F. Olson;

Thirty-Seven by Peter Stenson;

and

Unclean Spirits (reissue) by Chuck Wendig.

Debut novels are highlighted in blue. Novels, etc. by formerly featured DAC Authors are highlighted in green.

February 12, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Night of the Hunter	Susan Harris	PNR/FairyT/FolkT/LM/ - Ever Chace Chronicles 4

February 13, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Blood of Assassins	RJ Barker	F - Wounded Kingdom 2
Madness is Better Than Defeat	Ned Beauman	LF
The Edda of Burdens Trilogy: All the Windwracked Stars, By the Mountain Bound, Sea They Mistress (e)	Elizabeth Bear	SF - Edda of Burdens
Olympus Bound	Jordanna Max Brodsky	UF - Olympus Bound 3
Michael Chabon's The Escapist: Amazing Adventures	Michael Chabon	GN
The Expanse: Origins	James S. A. Corey Hallie Lambert Georgia Lee Huang Danlan Triona Farrell Juan Useche	GN/MTI
The Ghost Notebooks	Ben Dolnick	LF/Sup
Amberlough (h2tp)	Lara Elena Donnelly	HistF - Amberlough Dossier1
Echoes of Understorey	Thoraiya Dyer	F - Titan's Forest 2
Freshwater (D)	Akwaeke Emezi	LF
Shadowbahn (h2tp)	Steve Erickson	LF
Malazan Book of the Fallen: Books 1-4: Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, House of Chains (e)	Steven Erikson	F - Malazan Book of the Fallen
The Turn of the Screw and Other Tales	Henry James Philip Horne (Ed)	GH
Pride and Prometheus	John Kessel	HistF
The World Awakening (e)	Dan Koboldt	F - Gateways to Alissia 3
The Complete Glamourist Histories: Shades of Milk and Honey, Glamour in Glass, Without a Summer, Valour and Vanity, Of Noble Family (e)	Mary Robinette Kowal	HistF - Glamourist Histories
Tomorrow's Kin (h2tp)	Nancy Kress	SF/HSF - Yesterday's Kin Trilogy 1
The Philosopher's Flight (D)	Tom Miller	HistF
Altered Carbon (ri)	Richard K. Morgan	SF/MTI - Takeshi Kovacs 1
Shadow Hunt	Melissa F. Olson	UF - Disrupted Magic 3
Gunpowder Moon (D)	David Pedreira	SF/HSF
Black Sheep Boy: A Novel in Stories	Martin Pousson	MR
Monsters, Animals, and Other Worlds: A Collection of Short Medieval Japanese Tales	Haruo Shirane (Ed)	LitCol - Translations from the Asian Classics
Thirty-Seven	Peter Stenson	LF
Art of War: Anthology for Charity (Ke)	Petros Triantafyllou (Ed)	F - Anthology
Annihilation: A Novel: Movie Tie-In Edition	Jeff VanderMeer	LF/MTI - The Southern Reach Trilogy 1
Starlings	Jo Walton	F - Collection
The Shape Of Things To Come	H. G. Wells	SF - S.F. Masterworks
Unclean Spirits (ri)	Chuck Wendig	F
The Book of Joan (h2tp)	Lidia Yuknavitch	Dys

February 14, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Enchanted (e)	Barbara Bretton	PNR - Sugar Maple Chronicles 5

February 15, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Eleanor Cameron: Dimensions of Amazement	Paul V. Allen	HC

D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - Editor
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
ri - reissue or reprint



AC - Alien Contact
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
FolkT - Folk Tales
FR - Fantasy Romance
GH - Ghost(s)
GN - Graphic Novel
H - Horror
HC - History and Criticism
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HSF - Hard Science Fiction
LF - Literary Fiction
LitCol - Literary Collection
LM - Legend and Mythology
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
NR - Near Future
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PCM - Paranormal Cozy Mystery
PM - Paranormal Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
SF - Science Fiction
SFR - Science Fiction Romance
SO - Space Opera
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
UF - Urban Fantasy

Note: Not all genres and formats are found in the books, etc. listed above.

Melissa Caruso (2017)

The Defiant Heir
Swords and Fire 2
Orbit, April 28, 2018
Trade Paperback and eBook, 480 pages

Across the border, the Witch Lords of Vaskandar are preparing for war. But before an invasion can begin, they must call a rare gathering of all seventeen lords to decide a course of action.

Lady Amalia Cornaro knows that this Conclave might be her only chance to smother the growing flames of war, and she is ready to make any sacrifice if it means saving Raverra from destruction.

Amalia and Zaira must go behind enemy lines, using every ounce of wit and cunning they have, to sway Vaskandar from war. Or else it will all come down to swords and fire.

“Charming, intelligent, fast-moving, beautifully atmospheric. I couldn’t put it down.” – Genevieve Cogman, author of The Invisible Library

“The best kind of fantasy.” – Rosalyn Eves, author of Blood Rose Rebellion

The Defiant Heir is the second novel in a spellbinding new fantasy series.

Swords and Fire
The Tethered Mage
The Defiant Heir

Swords and Fire 1

Christopher Husberg (2016)

Chaos Queen - Blood Requiem
Chaos Queen 3
Titan Books, June 5, 2018
Trade Paperback and eBook, 400 pages

When a series of dark rituals devastate the fledgeling Church of Canta, Jane and Cinzia realize they have ignored the movements in the shadows for too long. Daemons lurk at the edge of the world, and they are done knocking. With Knot at her side, Cinzia deals with dark beings to fight the greater evil. Meanwhile, Astrid’s attempts to elude the Black Matron backfire, and she faces that which she fears above all things: her own past.

Winter, in hopes of regaining something of her old life, returns to Pranna to find the village nothing like it used to be. She soon finds herself wrapped up in the Druids, a tiellan faction in fierce conflict with the humans. With Urstadt the soldier and Galce the tailor at her side, she must choose how to use her still-growing, all-consuming power--if she can manage to control it at all.

Chaos Queen 1

Chaos Queen 2

Dan Koboldt (2016)

The World Awakening
Gateways to Alissia 3
Harper Voyager Impulse, February 13, 2018
eBook

Quinn Bradley has learned to use the magic of another world. And that world is in danger.

Having decided to betray CASE Global, he can finally reveal his origins to the Enclave and warn them about the company’s imminent invasion. Even if it means alienating Jillaine…and allying with someone he’s always considered his adversary.

But war makes for strange bedfellows, and uniting Alissians against such a powerful enemy will require ancient enmities—as well as more recent antagonisms—to be set aside. The future of their pristine world depends on it.

As Quinn searches for a way to turn the tide, his former CASE Global squad-mates face difficult decisions of their own. For some, it’s a matter of what they’re willing to do to get home. For others, it’s deciding whether they want to go home at all.

Continuing the exciting adventures from The Rogue Retrieval and The Island Deception, The World Awakening is the spellbinding conclusion to the Gateways to Alissia fantasy series from Dan Koboldt.

[description from the Author's website]

Gateways to Alissia 1

Gateways to Alissia 2

Have you ever wished you could enter another world through a magic wardrobe, or take a stargate to a parallel dimension? If so, my friend, you’re a fan of the portal fantasy. This is a loose term for science fiction and fantasy stories that connect one world – often Earth, but not always – to another time, place, or dimension. The portal that does the connecting might be of magical, technological, or natural origin. No matter the type, the concept of a portal fantasy is easily defined: someone goes through a thing and ends up somewhere else.

If this concept sounds familiar, that’s because portal fantasy has pervaded literature for decades. Robert Heinlein’s Tunnel in the Sky (1955) offers a classic take on the idea. The main character, Rod Walker, is a high school student who dreams of becoming a professional colonist. The final test of his advanced survival course is a brutal challenge: to stay alive for several days on a hostile planet. Students reach the planet by way of a “Ramsbotham portal” – a man-made teleportation device that promptly malfunctions, stranding Rod and the other students on an uninhabited world.

Not all portal stories take the reader to hostile worlds, however. In C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, the children depart wartime England for a fantastical world where the beavers can talk and they get to rule as monarchs (the children, not the beavers). Having sold more than 100 million copies in 47 languages, Narnia is probably the work that most readers think of when they hear portal fantasy.

In the last few years, however, some in the publishing world have grumbled that the portal fantasy fad might be over. Done with. Absolutely cannot sell. Some have gone so far as to proclaim that the portal fantasy is dead.

This is a falsehood. Portal fantasy is alive and well in the publishing world. To prove this, I went to Twitter and asked people to share their favorite portal fantasies published in the last couple of years. The responses overwhelmed my feed, and demonstrated just how diverse and vibrant the portal fantasy subgenre has become. Take a look at these recent examples, and you’ll see that we’re well beyond wardrobes, now.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
In this series, there are four parallel versions of London: Red London, where magic is revered, White London, where people fight to control magic and monarchy both, Grey London, where no magic exists at all, and Black London, the forbidden realm no one speaks of. The main character is a rare breed of magician who travels between them as a sort of diplomat, until he unwittingly stumbles upon a dangerous artifact from Black London that must be returned there.

Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan
Ellis Rogers is just a regular guy who, upon learning that he has a terminal illness, decides to try out the time machine he’s built in his garage. If it works, he might find more than just a cure for his illness: he might find paradise. But first, he’ll have to survive the Hollow World that lies between.

Thief of Lies by Brenda Drake
Don’t you hate it when you finally work up the nerve to talk to that hot guy in the library, only to have him disappear? That’s what happened to Gia Kearns. When she examines the strange book about world libraries that he abandoned, it transports her to a library in Paris. And summons a demonic hound that pursues them until the hit guy and his friends – who are actually magical knights charged with protecting humanity – show up to rescue them. And that’s just the beginning of this adventure.

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
I love the synopsis to this book: “Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.”

Nancy tumbled through such a gateway once, but now she’s back. It changed her, but the other children under Miss West’s care understand. They’ve had similar experiences, and each of them searches for a way back to their own fantasy world.

An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows
Saffron Coulter’s dreads going to school every day, where a boy harasses her without mercy. When a stranger shows her a moment of kindness, Saffron follows her and stumbles through a hole in reality. She finds herself trapped in a magical realm on the brink of civil war. She falls in with the wrong faction and must flee to the dubious safety of another country, and it’s still better than a day at high school.

Gateway to Fourline by Pam Brondos
College student Natalie Barns takes a job at a costume shop because she needs tuition money, and in spite of her reservations about a weirdo co-worker. When she stumbles through the strange door in the back of the shop, she finds (of course) a magical world on the other side. But unlike the children in Narnia, she’s not granted royalty status or special abilities. All she knows how to do is run. In a world filled with deadly magic and decaying monsters, she’ll be doing quite a lot of that.

The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley
In the world of this book, magic is governed by the rise and fall of celestial bodies. At their peak, certain forms of magic are strong enough to create a portal to other realms (none of them Earth). Whether it’s frozen tundra where very little can survive, or a tropical clime where semi-sentient plants can kill, each realm is uniquely complex. Now, a dark chaotic star’s rise will bring all of these worlds together, and only one can survive.

The Island Deception
Gateways to Alissia 2
Harper Voyager Impulse, April 11, 2017
eBook, 352 pages

Continuing the exciting adventures from The Rogue Retrieval, The Island Deception blends fun and mystery into a brilliant new portal fantasy from Dan Koboldt.

What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas. But what happens after you step through a portal to another world, well…

For stage magician Quinn Bradley, he thought his time in Alissia was over. He’d done his job for the mysterious company CASE Global Enterprises, and now his name is finally on the marquee of one of the biggest Vegas casinos. And yet, for all the accolades, he definitely feels something is missing. He can create the most amazing illusions on Earth, but he’s also tasted true power. Real magic.

He misses it.

Luckily—or not—CASE Global is not done with him, and they want him to go back. The first time, he was tasked with finding a missing researcher. Now, though, he has another task:

Help take Richard Holt down.

It’s impossible to be in Vegas and not be a gambler. And while Quinn might not like his odds—a wyvern nearly ate him the last time he was in Alissia—if he plays his cards right, he might be able to aid his friends.

He also might learn how to use real magic himself.

The Rogue Retrieval
Gateways to Alissia 1
Harper Voyager Impulse, January 19, 2016
     eBook, 384 pages
Harper Voyager Impulse, March 1, 2016
     Mass Market Paperback, 416 pages

In the tradition of Terry Brooks' Landover series, Piers Anthony Xanth books, and Terry Pratchett's Discword novels, scientist and blogger Dan Koboldt weaves wonder, humor, and heart into his debut novel, The Rogue Retrieval.

Sleight of hand…in another land

Stage magician Quinn Bradley has one dream: to headline his own show on the Vegas Strip. And with talent scouts in the audience wowed by his latest performance, he knows he’s about to make the big-time.

What he doesn’t expect is an offer to go on a quest to a place where magic is all too real.

That's how he finds himself in Alissia, a world connected to ours by a secret portal owned by a powerful corporation. He’s after an employee who has gone rogue, and that’s the least of his problems. Alissia has true magicians…and the penalty for impersonating one is death. In a world where even a twelve-year-old could beat Quinn in a swordfight, it's only a matter of time until the tricks up his sleeves run out.

About Dan

Dan Koboldt is a genetics researcher and sci-fi/fantasy author from the Midwest. His novel The Rogue Retrieval – about a Vegas magician who infiltrates a medieval world – was published by Harper Voyager in 2016. You can find him on Twitter (@DanKoboldt) and on his website at dankoboldt.com.

Happy Monday!

There are 3 debuts this week:

Sputnik's Children by Terri Favro;

Abigale Hall by Lauren A. Forry;

and

Celestial Mechanics by William Least Heat-Moon.




From formerly featured DAC Authors:

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders it out in Trade Paperback;

The Witch of Torinia (Tale of Valdur 2) by Clifford Beal;

The Island Deception (Gateway to Alissia 1) by Dan Koboldt;

The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis is out in Trade Paperback;

A Murder in Time (Kendra Donovan Mysteries 1) by Julie McElwain is out in Trade Paperback;

and

The Mirror Thief by Martin Seay is out in Trade Paperback.

Debut novels are highlighted in blue. Novels, etc. by formerly featured DAC Authors are highlighted in green.

April 10, 2017

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Blood From Stone (e) (ri)	Laura Anne Gilman	UF - A Retrievers Novel 6
The Nymph King (e) (ri)	Gena Showalter	PNR - Atlantis 3

April 11, 2017

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Wine-Dark Sea	Robert Aickman	H
All the Birds in the Sky (h2tp)	Charlie Jane Anders	CF/SF
Indomitable (h2tp)	W. C. Bauers	SF/SO - Chronicles of Promise Paen 2
The Witch of Torinia	Clifford Beal	F - Tale of Valdur 2
Fate of Devotion	K. F. Breene	SF - Finding Paradise 2
Generation Decks: The Unofficial History of Gaming Phenomenon Magic the Gathering	Titus Chalk	RP/F
Starcraft II: Heaven's Devils	William C. Dietz	SF - Blizzard Legends
The Alchemists of Kush	Minister Faust	CF
Sputnik's Children (D)	Terri Favro	LF/SF/AP/PA/CoA
Abigale Hall (D)	Lauren A. Forry	PsyTh/SupTh/H
The Regional Office Is Under Attack! (h2tp)	Manuel Gonzales	LF/SF
Starcraft: Liberty's Crusade (ri)	Jeff Grubb	SF - Blizzard Legends
Celestial Mechanics (D)	William Least Heat-Moon	LF
The Loney (h2tp)	Andrew Michael Hurley	LF
Razr: A Demonica Underworld Novella	Larissa Ione	PNR - Demonica Underworld
Proof of Concept	Gwyneth Jones	SF
The Island Deception (e)	Dan Koboldt	F - Gateways to Alissia 2
The Wolf Road (h2tp)	Beth Lewis	PsyTh/SF/AP/PA
Thirteen Views of the Suicide Woods	Bracken MacLeod	Occ/Sup/H - Collection
The Last Adventure of Constance Verity (h2tp)	A. Lee Martinez	UF - Constance Verity 1
Void Star	Zachary Mason	LF/Dys
A Murder in Time (h2tp)	Julie McElwain	TT/M - Kendra Donovan Mysteries 1
Starcraft: I, Mengsk (ri)	Graham McNeill	SF - Blizzard Legends
Hystopia (h2tp)	David Means	LF/AH
Cold Welcome	Elizabeth Moon	SF/SO - Vatta's Peace 1
Waking Hell	Al Robertson	SF
Once Upon a Summer Night	Nancy Scanlon	TTR - Mists of Fate 3
The Mirror Thief (h2tp)	Martin Seay	HistF/M/VisMeta
Special Purposes	Gavin Smith	SF
The Last Machine in the Solar System	Matthew Isaac Sobin	SF/Dys/AP/PA/LF
Avengers of the Moon	Allen Steele	SF/SO
Great With Child	Sonia Taitz	F/FR
Take Us to Your Chief: And Other Stories: Classic Science-Fiction with a Contemporary First Nations Outlook	Drew Hayden Taylor	SF/Aboriginal - Collection
WarDance (e)	Elizabeth Vaughan	F
Blue Plague: The Fall	Thomas A. Watson	DF - Blue Plague 1
Thrawn	Timothy Zahn	SF/SO - Star Wars

April 12, 2017

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Dark Warm Heart: A Tor.com Original (e)	Rich Larson	H

April 13, 2017

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
And the Rest is History (e)	Jodi Taylor	HistF/TT - The Chronicles of Saint Mary's 8

April 14, 2017

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe (e)	Gwendolyn Kiste	H

D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - Editor
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
ri - reissue or reprint
tp2mm - Trade to Mass Market Paperback
Tr - Translator



AC - Alien Contact
AH - Alternate History
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CoA - Coming of Age
CulH - Cultural Heritage
CW - Contemporary Women
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
FolkT - Folk Tales
FR - Fantasy Romance
GB - Genre Bender
GenEng - Genetic Engineering
GH - Ghost(s)
H - Horror
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HistM - Historical Mystery
HU - Humor
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legends and Mythology
M - Mystery
MR - Magical Realism
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PCM - Paranormal Cozy Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
PolTh - Political Thriller
Psy - Psychological
PsyTh - Psychological Thriller
R - Romance
RP - Role Playing
RSus - Romantic Suspense
SF - Science Fiction
SH - Superheroes
SO - Space Opera
SP - Steampunk
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
TechTh - Technological Thriller
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
TTR - Time Travel Romance
UF - Urban Fantasy
VisMeta - Visionary and Metaphysical
WM - War and Military

Note: Not all genres and formats are found in the books, etc. listed above.

Let's all wave goodbye to January.  I am sure that quite a few of you are glad to see the back of it. Apart from January being both mine and the hubinator's birthdays it was also a month where I read some stonkingly good books. So last week was a bit lack lustre but this week was, what can only be described in the trade as, amazeballs. Want to find out why?


I was pretty lucky when the publisher approved my NetGalley request for J.C. Nelson's The Reburialists. Agent Brynner Carson is the star of the Bureau of Special Investigations. The Bureau's role is to save society from those who don't want to stay dead and Brynner has staked more undead than any other agent....well except for his father, Heinrich. When one of the corpses writes a message for Brynner in hieroglyphics in its own blood the Bureau call in their Senior Analyst, Grace Roberts to translate. Brynner's father seems to have stolen the heart of a god and now she wants it back. Brynner and Grace have to team up to find where Heinrich left the heart before an army of the undead kills anyone and everyone they hold dear.

The Reburialists is a great read. Nelson paces the action at just the right level so that you are interested from start to finish but not at the expense of the plot or characterisation. Both Brynner and Grace were flawed and this was what made them interesting to read about. Nelson also resisted the temptation to get the characters together too early in the story and let the attraction build as the story developed. I did guess a couple of the big reveals before they happened but this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. I hope this is the start of a new series as I want to read more about the hunky hero Brynner and the bookish Grace.


Another fantastic book I read was The Rogue Retrieval by Dan Kobolt. This is Kobolt's debut and he was interviewed here on The Qwillery so check it out. As this was a debut I wrote a full review which was posted during the week. Suffice to say I thoroughly enjoyed Kobolt's first foray into urban fantasy but rather than re-writing all the great things I said about it have a read of it here.


I have been very book greedy recently and have read a few books waaaay before their publication date so I can't review them quite yet. Sorry folks but you are going to have to wait to find out what I thought of Patricia Brigg's latest in the Mercy Thompson series - Fire Touched - and Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. I will try to be more organised next time (or maybe not...I can't resist!)


The final book I am almost too embarrassed to tell you about is C. J. Archer's The Sinner. I was caught in a moment of weakness on a really long train journey where I needed a book that I didn't need to concentrate too hard on. This was pretty standard historical fiction with the 'plain Jane' Cat finding herself widowed and in need of a husband. Enter stage left is the playboy Hughe who in his spare time is an assassin.  Hughe feels obligated to see the now impoverished Cat safe and sound after killing her husband. That is pretty much all I can say as that was the sum of the plot. It did it's job however as it was short and easy to read.


That is almost it for me. Just one more thing.  For fans of the  Innkeepers Chronicles  - the first chapter of the upcoming third book, One Fell Sweep, is up at Ilona Andrews' Innkeeper Chronicles site here. Don't forget that Sweep in Peace was in my top 5 for 2015 and I was super excited that the first instalment of the latest book is up already. HURRAH!

The Reburialists
Ace, March 1, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 416 pages

The author of Wish Bound and the Grimm Agency novels returns with an all-new urban fantasy novel!

Burying the dead is easy.  Keeping them down is difficult.

At the Bureau of Special Investigations, agents encounter all sorts of paranormal evils. So for Agent Brynner Carson, driving a stake through a rampaging three-week-old corpse is par for the course. Except this cadaver is different. It’s talking—and it has a message about his father, Heinrich.

The reanimated stiff delivers an ultimatum written in bloody hieroglyphics, and BSI Senior Analyst Grace Roberts is called in to translate. It seems that Heinrich Carson stole the heart of Ra-Ame, the long-dead god of the Re-Animus. She wants it back. The only problem is Heinrich took the secret of its location to his grave.

With the arrival of Ra-Ame looming and her undead army wreaking havoc, Brynner and Grace must race to find the key to stopping her. It’s a race they can’t afford to lose, but then again, it’s just another day on the job . . .

The Sinner
The Assassin's Guild 4
C. J. Archer, August 2014
Trade Paperback and eBook

Elizabethan England

Lies, desperation and an offer she can’t refuse sends impoverished widow Lady Catherine (Cat) headlong into marriage with the man who killed her husband.

Guilt and desire battle within Hughe, Lord Oxley’s, soul. When the enigmatic leader of the Assassin’s Guild learns that the widow of one of his targets is at the mercy of a cruel man, he does the only thing left in his power to do. He marries her. Then the worst thing happens. He falls in love with her.

With more than one person trying to kill him and a family to rescue, Hughe needs the help of all his Assassins Guild friends to stay alive and keep his wife from learning the truth. Because he knows, and dreads, what will happen when she discovers what he did.