C Gockel Writes

Featured Fantasy: Discovery of Magic – A Jayne Thorne, CIA Librarian Collection by Joss Walker, R.L Perez, and Alisha Klapheke

by

Featured Fantasy: Discovery of Magic - A Jayne Thorne, CIA Librarian Collection by Joss Walker, R.L Perez, and Alisha Klapheke

New Release
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

Follow Jayne Thorne, CIA Librarian’s discovery of magic in this collection of contemporary fantasy adventure stories…

This collection contains two full-length novels and a prequel short story set in the Jayne Thorne, CIA Librarian cosmere. A Discovery of Witches meets Mercy Thompson, with a splash of Indiana Jones and Gilmore Girls, in this unique new magical world, perfect for fans of McKenzie Hunter, Linsey Hall, and Illona Andrews.

[Read more…]

Book Review: Lilith’s Brood by Octavia Butler

by

As of December 4, 2022 $2.99 … check for current price: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, Amazon Au, Amazon DE, Nook, Apple, Kobo, and GooglePlay

Ah, the classic alien abduction for purposes of breeding trope…innocent human women abducted by hot, blue, warlike aliens whom the human women inevitably tame with the power of sexy times.

If you’re looking for that story, Lilith’s Brood by Octavia Butler is not it. Her aliens are not sexy–think giant sea anemone–but they do want to breed. They’re not particular when it comes to male or female.

I recently reviewed Sue Burke’s Semiosis and Interference, and praised those for having genuinely alien voices. Sue’s aliens are very alien, but Butler surpasses even her. This is one of the most disturbing series I have ever read, and I highly recommend it. 

It asks a lot of the biggest questions that sci-fi is so good at addressing. What does it mean to be human? If you sacrifice your humanity in order to survive, have humans survived at all? A great, weird, and wonderful read. I highly recommend it.

Lilith’s Brood is available at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, Amazon Au, Amazon DE, Barnes&Noble, iBooks, Kobo, and GooglePlay

Featured Science Fiction: Tropical Punch (Bubbles in Space Book 1) by S.C. Jensen

by

Featured Science Fiction: Tropical Punch (Bubbles in Space Book 1) by S.C. Jensen

FREE as of December 1, 2022
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

Apple, Nook, Kobo, GooglePlay

Strippers, drugs, and headless corpses? All in a day’s work for Bubbles Marlowe, HoloCity’s only cyborg detective.


Does she like her job? No. Is she good at it? Also no.

She can’t afford to be too good. The last time she got curious it cost her a job, a limb, and almost her life.

But when a seemingly simple case takes a gruesome turn, and Bubbles discovers a disturbing connection to the cold-case death of an old friend, she is driven to dig deeper.

And deeper.

Until what she uncovers can never be buried again…

[Read more…]

Featured Fantasy: Trial of the Sun Queen (Artefacts of Ouranos Book 1) by Nisha J. Tuli

by

Featured Fantasy: Trial of the Sun Queen (Artefacts of Ouranos Book 1) by Nisha J. Tuli

New Release
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

The Bachelor meets the Hunger Games. Ten women. A deadly contest. Only one can win the Sun King’s heart.

Lor has endured twelve long years of torment under the Aurora King’s rule. Her only desire is to get free and pay him back for every moment of misery she’s endured.

When a surprise release finds her in the hands of the Sun King, Lor is thrust into the spotlight as she competes against nine other Tributes for the role of queen. If she wins his heart, she’ll earn her freedom and finally get her revenge.

But Lor doesn’t belong in the Sun Queen Trials. Not only does she not understand why she was freed, she isn’t a citizen of the Sun King’s court. The other Tributes resent her presence and will stop at nothing to ensure Lor is wiped off the gameboard, permanently.

Now Lor must win, because if she loses, she dies. Or worse, she’ll be sent back into the hands of the Aurora King.

This glittering fae romance is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer Armentrout, and Raven Kennedy. Trial of the Sun Queen is the first book in a series with an eventual happy ever after.

Featured Fantasy: Midlife Tremors (Druid Heir Book 2) N.Z. Nasser

by

Featured Fantasy: Midlife Tremors (Druid Heir Book 2) N.Z. Nasser

99¢ as of December 4, 2022
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom

Available without discount: Canada, Germany, Australia

“You have neither your grandmother’s talents, druid, nor her beauty, but you can make something of yourself yet.”

My friends and I might have saved the day against a vengeful god, but I still don’t know the first thing about the Otherworld. There’s training sessions with my mentor Ezra, history lessons with the vampire Orpheus, plus my haunting dragon dreams. It’s not easy to stay on track, especially given how distracted I am by Ezra’s crinkly eyes and hot bod. Who knew that a new love at forty would give me dewy skin and a renewed zest for life?

When a series of earthquakes hits London, the Prime Sorcerer advises me to focus on my upcoming magical trial at Wildwoods. But I’m my own woman, and my instincts tell me to dig deeper even before the goddess Gaia invites me to tea. It’s not like I’m going to pass the trial anyway. I’ve already made enough enemies in the Otherworld to fill a granny annex.

To find my place in the Otherworld, all I have to do is gather my allies and trust myself. How hard could that be?

Featured Fantasy: Midlife Dawn (Druid Heir Book 1) by N.Z. Nasser

by

Featured Fantasy: Midlife Dawn (Druid Heir Book 1) by N.Z. Nasser

99¢ as of December 4, 2022
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom

Available without discount in Canada, Germany, Australia

Shivers of excitement shot up my spine. It was time to draw a line under the past and find a new me.

By forty, I thought I’d be living my best life. When my idiot husband gambles away our savings, I divorce him and try not to kick him in the nuts when he fights me for custody of my cat. I throw myself into teaching English and survival skills to anyone unlucky enough to land in my night class in godforsaken London.

That is, until my mum dies in a car crash and I suspect foul play. That’s when it really gets weird. Mum’s barely cold in the ground when my cat goes missing. To top it all, the Metropolitan Police don’t seem to have heard of the detective investigating the accident. My first instinct is to have a nap and hope it all goes away, but I’m my mother’s daughter. Secrets set me off like a bloodhound.

When a mysterious man tells me I’m the last of an ancient magical druid lineage, I laugh in his face, but I’m intrigued. I want to believe there’s more to life than a messy divorce and a dead-end career. It doesn’t seem crazy to follow him into the undergrowth in Crystal Palace Park. Not even when I hear my cat telling me to stop.

To avenge my mum and survive a new magical world, I just need to pull on my control pants and hold on for the ride.

[Read more…]