C Gockel Writes

And Now for Something Completely Different…

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Fallen Angel by Charlotte Louise Dolan
This book was traditionally published in 1993. It had an okay cover then. It looks like they didn’t even try to make the ebook pretty. Sigh.

A book review of Fallen Angel by Charlotte Louise Dolan.

I have no idea how I wound up picking up this book, I think I was looking for historical cross-class romance after getting hooked on Alyssa Cole’s amazing books. I think that I found it on someone’s favorites list. I am usually not a big romance reader; I like my books to have romance in them, but I usually don’t like the story to be all or mostly about the romance. (Alyssa Cole really walks the line.)

That said…this book is definitely all about the romance, but it is really funny. It’s a Regency romantic comedy. How true is it to the culture and events of the Regency period in Great Britain? I don’t know. I know more about the mores of Late Imperial China than I do about Regency England. (Had a bit of a diversion in college, it took me to Japan and got me my first real job, so I can’t feel bad about it.) Anyway, it might not be completely historically accurate, but I didn’t feel someone had taken a modern romance and given everyone silly pants and long dresses.

There are no steamy bodice ripping scenes, just one fade to black scene and it happens after the characters are married. I do admit, when I read about non-married couples having sex in historical romances my eyelid twitches: no concern about pregnancy? Really?

Both characters grow through the book, too. The hero, a definite misogynist, finds redeeming qualities in women by the end, and not just in the heroine. The heroine, something of a doormat, learns from the hero to stick up for herself. They don’t set out to change each other, but they do.

Did I mention it’s funny? Laugh out loud funny in some parts. If you need a gentle diversion from what we shall call “Come on Eileen,” this might be the book for you.

Available at Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany

Book Review : The True Believer by Eric Hoffer

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I found myself naming an alien Eric Hoffer in Admiral Wolf, and it seemed like a good time to leave a review of this book. The True Believer is a brilliant observation of the workings of mass movements: the psychology of the people who follow, the people who create the positive buzz (beware frustrated artists), and the people who fund them (beware the idle rich.)

Mr. Hoffer wrote this book after World War II, but this book is timeless. You’ll recognize the players if you are in a country that has experienced a mass movement of late. Mr. Hoffer does point out that they aren’t always bad–but they are always chaotic.

Eric Hoffer was a stevedore, and he wrote the True Believer in his spare time. The author’s biography ties in with some of the themes of the sci-fi I’m writing. Mr. Hoffer was brilliant…and he worked on a dock. He could have written this book today and self-published it, but he would never be traditionally published. He simply doesn’t have the credentials. As it was, he was noticed by President Eisenhower. I don’t believe that could happen today. If Ike mentioned this book before today’s press, they’d skewer him for praising the intellect of a man without a college diploma.

This book is one of a kind. Highly recommended.
Available at Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia

Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, GooglePlay, and Scribd.

Box Set List Featured Sci-Fi

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Rhett Bruno Children of Titan Books 1- 4

99¢ as of May 11, 2020
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FROM USA TODAY BESTSELLING & NEBULA AWARD NOMINATED AUTHOR RHETT C. BRUNO.

The Children of Titan Series Quadrilogy is four complete books and 1200+ pages of gritty, space-opera action, perfect for fans of The Expanse and The Mandalorian

There are two sides to every rebellion…

Earther corporations have extended their reach through our solar system: greenhouses on Mars, gas mining on Saturn, casinos in the Asteroid Belt—they control everything. Using bounty hunters known as Collectors, they erase offworld problems before they escalate. 

But Saturn’s moon, Titan, is done fighting for scraps.

Malcolm Graves, a corporate collector from Earth, is sent to investigate a bombing carried out by a rebel cell known as the Children of Titan. At the same time, a lowly offworlder with a dark past is hand-selected to serve as the face of Titan’s uprising. 

When these two opposites collide, war is not just inevitable, it’s catastrophic. Titan must fight to earn its freedom. But when the dust from their bloody revolution settles, will they even want it?

Buy this Special Edition Box Set to experience a fast-paced, space opera thrill ride, telling the complete story of the Titan Conflict. Betrayal, intrigue, and high-octane action make this a perfect choice for fans of everything from Star Wars to Blade Runner.

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Box Set List Featured Fantasy

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The Immortal Series Books 1 -3 by Gene Doucette

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The first three books in the Immortal Series, in one box set!

Surviving sixty thousand years takes cunning and more than a little luck. But in the twenty-first century, Adam confronts new dangers—someone has found out what he is, a demon is after him, and he has run out of places to hide.Worst of all, he has had entirely too much to drink.

Immortal is a first person confessional penned by a man who is immortal, but not invincible. In an artful blending of sci-fi, adventure, fantasy, and humor, Immortal introduces us to a world with vampires, demons and other “magical” creatures, yet a world without actual magic.

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Box Set Featured Fantasy

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99¢ as of May 9, 2020
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Witch. Warlock. Whatever. Four witch mysteries, ready to be solved in these series starters.

Magically Bound: My name’s Devon Jinx, and, yes, I’m half warlock, half witch. But I couldn’t care less about which kind of magic is better. All I want to do is keep my head down and get on with my new job as an investigator at the Hunted Witch Agency.

Spells & Death: I had always imagined what my obituary would be. Gemma Abbott – that’s me – a witch, a complete book nerd, and an agent for Paranormal MI5, succumbed to the bullet that blah blah blah… nah, I’m not ready to die, which means I have to work hard to live.

Undercover Witch Academy: First Year: As the first illusionist witch able to syphon magic from everything and everyone, I’m a little sought after. Hundreds of supernatural academies have offered me a place, but there’s only one I’ll attend. The Undercover Witch Academy. Why? Dracian Dread.

Demon Hunter: Witches, vampires and shifters used to fear me in their sleep, afraid that I would kill them for their dealings with demons. Now I, the ancient Norse warrior, grandson of Thor, hunter of demons, am little more than a myth. That’s about to change.

Set in the same magical world of London, these first in series are full novels featuring witches. Enjoy!

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Box Set Featured Sci-fi

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The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

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For fans of Artemis—the visionary tour de force from “one of the grand masters of science fiction” (The Wall Street Journal).

Widely acknowledged as one of Robert A. Heinlein’s greatest works, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress rose from the golden age of science fiction to become an undisputed classic—and a touchstone for the philosophy of personal responsibility and political freedom. A revolution on a lunar penal colony—aided by a self-aware supercomputer—provides the framework for a story of a diverse group of men and women grappling with the ever-changing definitions of humanity, technology, and free will—themes that resonate just as strongly today as they did when the novel was first published.

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress gives readers an extraordinary, thought-provoking glimpse into the mind of Robert A. Heinlein, who, even now, “shows us where the future is” (Tom Clancy).

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