Dreamspring: Awesome Authors and Badass Books

Rex Rising - In a world where parasites create new human races, Elei leads a peaceful life -- until a mysterious attack on his boss sends him fleeing with a bullet in his side. Pursued for a secret he does not possess and with the fleet at his heels, he has but one thought: to stay alive. His pursuers aren't inclined to sit down and talk, although that's not the end of Elei's troubles. The two powerful parasites inhabiting his body, at a balance until now, choose this moment to bring him down, leaving Elei with no choice but to trust in people he hardly knows. It won't be long before he realizes he must find out this deadly secret - a secret that might change the fate of his world and everything he has ever known - or die trying.

YA Science Fiction novel. 76 thousand words/approx. 300 pages

Chrystalla Thoma is a fantastic writer. Her prose borders on poetry, with lovely description and a wonderful way with words. I love her characters, and the fact that she doesn't shy away from letting them be who they are. Her books Rex Rising and Rex Cresting are tremendous and I highly recommend them.

Rex Rising - $2.99 - Available at Amazon
Rex Cresting - $3.99 - Available at Amazon

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Becoming Nadia - “What’s one more little white lie?”

There's only one thing that pretty, popular TV reporter Nadia Velasquez is missing: her memory from before the explosion that killed everyone else in the room, including the President of Nigeria. But from the moment she meets FBI agent Jon Daniels, all hell breaks loose. Friends turn into deadly enemies overnight, and no one can be truly trusted.

When Jon and Nadia investigate further, they discover the living terror that is the truth behind Nadia's existence, a truth that could mean the death of millions.

Cyrus Keith is another really awesome writer, with a vary down-to-earth and practical style. His current series, starting with Becoming Nadia and continuing with Unalive, is great, fast-paced read with a lot of characters to get to know and love.

Becoming Nadia - $5.95 - Available at MuseItUp
Unalive - $5.95 - Available at MuseItUp

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Ice Blue - Anthony Hetheridge, ninth Baron of Wellegrave, Chief Superintendent for New Scotland Yard, never married, no children, no pets, no hobbies, and not even an interesting vice, will turn sixty in three weeks. With the exception of his chosen career, too sordid for his blue-blooded family to condone, his life has been safe and predictable. But then he meets Detective Sergeant Kate Wakefield – beautiful, willful, and nearly half his age. When Hetheridge saves the outspoken, impetuous young detective from getting the sack, siding with her against Scotland Yard’s powerful male hierarchy, his cold, elegantly balanced world spins out of control. Summoned to London’s fashionable Belgravia to investigate the brutal murder of a financier, Hetheridge must catch the killer while coping with his growing attraction to Kate, the reappearance of an old flame, and the secret that emerges from his own past.

Emma Jameson's Ice Blue is a cozy mystery, which is not always the first thing I pick up off the shelf. However, I really enjoyed her writing, and her characters. She writes some of the best character interaction I've read, with good banter and I wonderful feel for their personalities. I couldn't book this book down and I can't wait for the next in the series!

Ice Blue - $3.99 - Available at Amazon

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Wolf at the Door -
Being an ex-teen vigilante comes with its own set of problems.

Housewife, ex-teen vigilante…and shape-shifting wolf…Jan Xu has enough problems without adding her sister's to the mix. Marianne is returning to Singapore and she's filled with strange ideas. She's also not alone. She's coming home with a new boyfriend who has a dark agenda of his own.

With sibling rivalry threatening the inevitable: a battle-to-the-death with fang and claw, Jan and Marianne must overcome their issues if they're ever going to find peace within their troubled relationship.

Content warning: Violence, fang-and-claw fighting.

J Damask writes with an understated beauty that really drew me into the world she created. Her characters are real and interesting with subtleties and quirks. I absolutely loved Wolf at the Door, and I need to snatch up the next in the series, Obsidian Moon, Obsidian Eye!

Wolf at the Door - $4.50 - Available at Lyrical Press
Obsidian Moon, Obsidian Eye - $4.50 - Available at Lyrical Press

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The Black God's War - Against the backdrop of epic warfare and the powers of ten mysterious gods, Lucia struggles to understand The Black One.

Her father-king wants war.

Her messianic brother wants peace.

The black god wants his due.

She suffers all the consequences.

King Vieri is losing his war against the lands of Pawelon. Feeling abandoned by his god, he forces his son Caio, the kingdom's holy savior, to lead his army. Victory ought to come soon.

To counter Caio's powers, Pawelon's prince enters the conflict. Rao is a gifted sage, a master of spiritual laws. He joins the rajah to defend their citadel against the invaders. But Rao's ideals soon clash with his army's general.

The Black One tortures Lucia nightly with visions promising another ten years of bloodshed. She can no longer tell the difference between the waking world and her nightmares. Lucia knows the black god too well. He entered her bed and dreams when she was ten.

The Black One watches, waiting to see Lucia confront an impossible decision over the fates of two men--and two lands.

Moses Siregar III has done a wonderful job with his fantasy novel The Black God's War. It's full of allusions to classical Greek writing (namely Homer's Iliad), but with a spin and world that is wholly the author's own. I very much enjoyed this tale and found it quite lyrical.

The Black God's War - $.99 - Available at Amazon