C Gockel Writes

Featured Fantasy: Cobble – Elves and Shoemaker Retold (Romance a Medieval Fairytale Book 18) by Demelza Carlton

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Featured Fantasy: Cobble - Elves and Shoemaker Retold (Romance a Medieval Fairytale Book 18) by Demelza Carlton

New Release
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Three siblings. Two shoemakers. One curse that could change everything.

Once upon a time…

All Alba ever wanted was to be the royal shoemaker, like her father. But her despicable brothers have a very different future planned for her. When a good deed backfires, leaving her cursed for her brothers’ crimes while the real culprits walk free, Alba will be forced to fight for her freedom, or face losing her dream forever.

Can Alba and her new allies bring the true villains to justice?

Featured Science Fiction: Lies the Guardians Tell (Lies of the Guardians Book 1) by Herman Steuernagel

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Featured Science Fiction: Lies the Guardians Tell (Lies of the Guardians Book 1) by Herman Steuernagel

FREE as of December 8, 2022
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The Guardians have lied to humanity for centuries . . . Now she’ll be forced to uncover the truth.

**With a well-paced storyline and thrilling action scenes, this story will keep readers on their toes. — Reedsy Discovery**

Sierra Runar calls the Sphere her home, where the Guardians claim to protect humanity from the toxic world outside. But when Sierra discovers the framework of their perfect society might be built on a lie, she begins to ask dangerous questions and is unprepared for the chain of events she triggers, including the murder of her best friend.

Plunged into a deadly hunt for forbidden secrets, she stumbles into a world that shouldn’t exist. On top of everything else, she discovers she can somehow bring malfunctioning technology to life, making her a valuable commodity in an unscrupulous world, but also humanity’s potential savior.

Not knowing who she can trust, Sierra must decide who is friend and who is foe, and must choose between the fate of the world and the lives of those closest to her.

Can Sierra discover the secrets of the past before it’s too late?

Lies The Guardians Tell is the explosive first book in the Lies of the Guardians series. If you like bold heroines, captivating dystopias, and epic adventures, then you’ll love Herman Steuernagel’s pulse-pounding story.

Tap “Buy Now” to join Sierra on her adventure today.

Featured Fantasy: A Forest of Stolen Memories by Callie Thomas

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New Release
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I didn’t care that he was a prince—they would not force me to marry a stranger.

A royal wedding turns to disaster when a sinister curse goes awry. A victim of the Sorcerer’s prophecy, Roselyn’s memories are instantly erased, leaving her panicked at the altar. Unwilling to marry a stranger, she flees to the place her prince fears most—the enchanted Mistbrooke Forest. Lost and afraid, she seeks help from a dark, mysterious traveler who may be the key to recovering her stolen memories.

After years of solitude, Cedrick is lost in the horrors of his past. He never expected to find himself face to face with the future princess of Cadell. The longstanding feud between their kingdoms doesn’t douse the fiery connection he feels to her, so when she requests safe passage through the forest, he can’t ignore her plea—even though it puts both their lives at risk.

Rose is determined to regain her memories, but with Cedrick as her reluctant guide, she experiences the magic of the forest through new eyes. Does true love really exist? She is beginning to think it might—with Cedrick. But when her past collides with her present, sparks explode, and the very memories she’s been seeking are the ones she most wishes she could forget.

Can she break the curse without breaking her heart?

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

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

New Release
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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.

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Book Review: Lilith’s Brood by Octavia Butler

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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

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

FREE as of December 1, 2022
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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…

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