Spawn of Lilith—A Review 4/5 stars

Spawn of Lilith—A Review 

4/5 Stars

I recently finished Spawn of Lilith by Dana Fredsti. I liked this book and would recommend it to others. It seems to follow none of the “rules” we have come to expect in books. There is no inciting incident (or ordinary world, I couldn’t tell which was missing), no rising action. Most of the book is simply Lee, the main character, doing things. Lee buys beer. Lee take a job on a bad movie.  Lee takes another job with another bad movie. Although she’s a stunt woman, I’m not sure any of those scenes are necessary for the story. In fact, I wasn’t sure what the story was until the end of the book.

According to Lee, the movie industry is full of supernatural creatures. But they are not on the page, at least not in a way that impacts the plot or characters’ development.

So why do I like the book enough to recommend it? I like the characters. They were well developed and engaging. I like Lee. I like Lee’s friends— Eden, an actress, and Randy, a stuntman and a shapeshifter who never shifts. In a roundabout way, they help her grow and become more independent. I might have found Sean and Seth (her father and pseudo-foster brother) more interesting if they had been around more.  

I’d put the book back on the shelf several times because one of the blurbs described Lee as snarky. I hate snarky characters, but eventually I decided to give it a try. I did NOT find Lee snarky. Snarky is just bitter and angry, which Lee isn’t. She had humorous moments that were well done.

All in all, I couldn’t put this book down.  I’m looking forward to reading Lee’s next adventure.

Click on the cover to go to Amazon.

Dress Up Dress Down with Stacy Juba

Join me in welcoming author Stacy Juba to Living After Midnight!

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Jaine, the protagonist of my chick lit novel Fooling Around With Cinderella (Storybook Valley #1) dresses in casual tops and jeans until she gets hired as a theme park Cinderella. Then her daily wardrobe becomes a rich gold ball gown embroidered with silver thread and gleaming pearls. It has lots of tulle, and she feels like a parade float. She also has to wear a tiara and translucent pumps that resemble glass slippers.

Wearing this outfit makes her identifiable as Cinderella. Children follow her around, dads flirt with her, and her coworkers nickname her Cindy.

She feels way out of her comfort zone dressing like a princess. On her lunch breaks, when the castle door is locked, she kicks off her glass slippers and puts on a pair of comfy flip flops. 

Jaine lets herself get talked into playing Cinderella as she is an out-of-work marketing professional, and her cute new boss Dylan has offered her a full-time office job in the fall. Unfortunately, the offer has strings attached - helping Dylan to break the Cinderella Curse by filling in as the park’s star princess. Accepting the Cinderella gig shows how desperate this Plain Jaine is for a job and for a happily ever after.

About the Author

Stacy Juba got engaged at Epcot Theme Park and spent part of her honeymoon at Disneyland Paris, where she ate a burger, went on fast rides, and threw up on the train ride to the hotel. In addition to working on her new Storybook Valley chick lit/sweet romance series, Stacy has written books about ice hockey, teen psychics, U.S. flag etiquette for kids, and determined women sleuths. She has had a novel ranked as #5 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. When she’s not visiting theme parks with her family, (avoiding rides that spin and exotic hamburgers) or writing about them, Stacy helps authors to strengthen their manuscripts through her Crossroads Editing Service. She is currently writing the next book in the Storybook Valley Series and teaching online classes for writers. Visit her website at www.stacyjuba.com to get your free Storybook Valley Welcome Kit. 

Find Stacy at these links:

Website: http://stacyjuba.com/blog/

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stacy-Juba/100155471301

Twitter:https://twitter.com/stacyjuba

Fooling Around With Cinderella - Storybook Valley #1

Ever wondered what those cheerful theme park princesses are really thinking? When twenty-five-year-old Jaine proposes a new marketing role to the local amusement park, the general manager Dylan charms her into filling Cinderella’s glass slippers for the summer. Her reign transforms Jaine’s ordinary life into chaos that would bewilder a fairy godmother. Secretly dating her bad boy boss, running wedding errands for her ungrateful sisters, and defending herself from the park’s resident villain means Jaine needs lots more than a comfy pair of shoes to restore order in her kingdom…

Buy Links:

Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Fooling-Around-Cinderella-Storybook-Valley-ebook/dp/B0173T2MMO/ref

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fooling-around-with-cinderella-stacy-juba/1122680940?ean=2940152324976

Kobo:https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/fooling-around-with-cinderella

iBookstore:https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1042194826

Excerpt:

Dylan scrutinized Jaine, arms folded across his royal blue shirt with the Storybook Valley logo stamped over the left in white block letters. “Do you wear contacts?”

“I have plenty of media contacts. Wait. Did you say wear contacts? You mean instead of these?” Jaine fingered the earpiece of her gold-rimmed glasses.

“Right. Contact lenses.”

She gave a nervous chuckle. “I scheduled a consultation in college, but was too squeamish to insert the lens. I was more comfortable in glasses.”

Was she really justifying her vision enhancement choices to her prospective new boss? Maybe he intended to discuss medical benefits. Or did he think she looked nerdy? What was the saying? Guys don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses? Not that she wantedhim to make a pass even if he washot.

“How blind are you without glasses?” Dylan persisted.

“You wouldn’t want to drive with me.”

“How about if you’re walking around a building? Are you in danger of hurting yourself?”

This interview had taken the Mad Hatter Freeway from Fairy Tale Land into Wonderland where nothing made a damn bit of sense. Did this guy have a glasses fetish, like those weirdoes with shoe fetishes?

“I should be okay. I take them off for special occasions.” In fact, Jaine’s older sister Bree, who was getting married in August, remarked just last week, “You are losing the glasses for my wedding pictures, right?”

What the hell. She’d be a good sport and hope Dylan would be so grateful to pick the brain of a real, flesh and blood, bespectacled person that he would appoint her marketing director. Jaine removed her glasses and the fine details of her surroundings fuzzed. She nodded toward the framed print hanging on a side wall, the picture a wash of symbols and colors. “I can tell that’s a park map, but the words and images smear together.”

And that was myopia in a nutshell. Jaine adjusted her glasses back into place so she could see his reaction. Dylan examined her with such intensity that a blush stained her cheeks. She patted her blonde French braid, in case stray strands were straggling out.

“Here’s the situation,” Dylan said. “I took over the general manager position a few months ago. I’m evaluating possible changes and researching how other theme parks run. My grandfather and father have worked with a marketing firm for years to create our brochures, billboards, print, and radio ads.”

Jaine’s shoulders caved, imperceptible to him, but it felt as if her whole body was sinking.

No fairy tale job ending for her.

Dress Up Dress Down with Helen B. Henderson

In this week’s post, Anastasia of Clan Weiss shows off her style from Dragon Destiny(Book 1 of the Dragshi Chronicles.) 

Tell us about your heroine’s typical style of dress. What is the condition of the clothing?

Unlike the ladies who reside in towns and even some of her own kin, Anastasia of Dragon Destinyis usually found in pants rather than skirts. A jacket keeps out the worst of the crisp breeze and winter’s grasp.

Is this how she wants to dress?  If yes, why? If not, what would she choose to wear and why?

As t why she dresses in something other than the popular style? Anastasia is the teacher for her train and teaching little ones often requires speed and flexibility unhampered by a long skirt. Another reason she wears pants is that by her own choice, she often rides rear guard for the caravan for the solitude it provides. Her trail clothes are well worn leathers suitable for long hours in a saddle or the seat of a wagon.

There are times in the Dragshi Chronicles where Anastasia dreams of wearing a fancy gown at a formal ball, but practicality takes precedence. 

Does your heroine change her style of dress over the course of the book? If so, how, and what does it mean, if anything?

As one of the few true humans who can communicate using mindspeech with either true dragons or the dragshi (humans with a twinned dragon soul), she is chosen for a special mission to find a missing dragon. To accomplish her goal she goes undercover as a sailor and trades in her leathers for the garb of the sea. Among the changes she makes is to cut her hair short. The impromptu disguise causes heartache when she wonders if the man she loves with hate her new look, but saves her life when she comes face to face with his enemy, the pirate Lady Broch. At least at that encounter, Broch did not see her enemy, the black-haired trader girl with long tresses, in the short-haired sailor with sun-streaked curls.

This was not the only time that Anastasia was in disguise. During her training with the Ceoltier Guild which she was given in preparation of serving the dragshi, she wore boy’s clothing. There were those who would have hunted her down and killed her. But since everyone knew that no female could be a ceoltier, her role as an apprentice (and as such a boy) gave her added protection beyond that provided by the weapons training provided by the guild.

How do his or her outfits set your hero apart from other characters?

At a special birthday dance, even though she wore a long skirt and vest for the event, her outfit still set her apart as a trader rather than a townsman. The dark blue fabric contrasted with the browns and reds worn by the local girls. The new vest she wore showed how she was neither a local nor a trader. The one was by birth and the other by circumstances as Anastasia was trapped by duty with no foreseeable escape. The vest did not have the usual colored embroidery of a trader’s clothing. In fact, the only adornment was a stylized dragon in flight embroidered in gold on the shoulder. It might be just a simple design, but it meant more to her than the fanciest gown worn by any of the other girls. Anastasia’s mother once told her the flying dragon marked a bond between the old ones and her kin, Clan Weiss.

How can readers keep in touch with you?

I love to hear from my readers and I always invite them to join me on journeys to worlds of imagination. They can find me in the virtual world on my blog: helenhenderson-author.blogspot.comor at the following spots:

Facebook— www.facebook.com/HelenHenderson.author

Twitter— twitter.com/history2write

Goodreads— www.goodreads.com/author/show/777491.Helen_Henderson

Dragon Destiny

Blurb:

Lord Branin of the dragshi, is more than just a man, but two beings—one a dragon, the other a human. The pair share one body in space and time and are able to change forms with the other at will. From the time Branin's twinned soul, Llewlyn, awoke, Branin knew the freedom of flight. However, being a shifter came with a price. Branin and Llewlyn are the only two of their kind who have not found their intended mates, despite millennia of waiting... and searching.

When a faint thought impinged on Branin's mind, hope for an ending to eons of loneliness soared. Plagued by doubts because no signs of a dragon shifter's birth have been seen, he searches the world for the mysterious girl he only knows by the name, Anastasia.

However, the firebrand raider, Lady Broch of Ky'port has her own plan--to wed the dragon lord -- with or without his willing cooperation. And she will not tolerate anyone, not even a dragon lord or his twinned soul, from standing in her way.

Since we’ve been discussing clothing, an excerpt dealing with her presentation ceremony. The event is made even more special since it is being held on Anastasia’s birthday. Her life on the trail meant that celebrating her birthday was a simple affair and the customary presentation party was not held when she became of age.

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Excerpt from Dragon Destiny:

A soft knock on the door shifted Anastasia’s attention and changed her mood to a more dignified one. At her lilting, “Come,” Lady Eirwen entered on Ranald’s arm. Dealan and Karenina followed close behind in a hiss of starlton. Chains of silver-filigreed rosettes and beads circled all three women’s upswept hair. The cut of Eirwen’s pale blue gown and the embroidered silk trim on the bodice and sleeves reflected a style long out of fashion. Anastasia smiled at her aunt’s own vintage dress, which harmonized perfectly with the ones worn by Eirwen and Dealan.

“You look beautiful, Anastasia,” Karenina said. Tears shimmered in her eyes. “Your mother would be so proud of you. Here, dear, it’s almost time to leave, let me finish your hair.”

A hint of winter roses wafted past. Anastasia bent her head for Karenina to complete a final detail of crystals.

The strains of an old mountain tune floated into the room when the servant opened the double doors that led outside. A glance in the mirror showed a shimmering crown of sparkling diamonds woven into the curls of her dark braids. With a deep breath, Anastasia stood, took Ranald’s offered arm, and followed her aunt and the two dragshi out the door to her future… and she hoped... Branin.

Anastasia clung to Ranald’s arm. She kept her gaze focused on the backs of her aunt, Eirwen, and Dealan, as they led the way toward the great hall where the presentation guests waited. One corridor led to another, each one brightly lit by hundreds of candles. Although she had traveled the same path many times since arriving at Cloud Eyrie, the walls seemed to glow with a special magic. The river of light ended at a staircase that curved down to the main hall. Granite treads gleamed from the moonbeams filtering through massive skylights.

Dealan sneaked a look over the railing at those below. “It looks like everything is ready,” she whispered. “It just needs you, Anastasia.”

Anastasia’s fought to slow her racing pulse. Not trusting her voice, she nodded.

Dealan waved at Vivel and Oran, before moving to stand behind Eirwen.

Oran left the small gathering of dragshi and strode to the bottom of the staircase. Pride showed in the journeyman’s face. “Lords and ladies, honored guests. Acting on behalf of Arianrhod, matriarch of Clan Miller, Lady Eirwen of Cloud Eyrie claims the right of eldest kin.”

Anastasia, watching Eirwen glide down the stairs, hoped her descent would be as graceful as the dragshi’s.

Next Oran introduced Dealan, sponsoring Anastasia on behalf of the women of Clan Miller who had passed beyond the veil. Dealan walked with a light step down the stairs to her waiting husband. Karenina stepped forward. Silence filled the hall, enabling her voice to carry to the far ends and echo back. “As head mistress of Clan Miller, I present to you Anastasia, daughter of Voirrey and Yunka.” After a final smile at Anastasia, Karenina, her head high with a reserved dignity, joined the others gathered below.

Despite having Ranald for support, Anastasia felt alone standing at the top of the stairs. Don’t trip. The light embrace Ranald gave her reminded Anastasia of her mother’s hugs. The trembling in her legs vanished. “I’m ready,” she whispered.

Trumpet flourishes rang out. On the third bar, Anastasia started down the stairs in the stately tread of the presentation march.

Ranald stopped on the lowest landing, a mere dozen steps from the bottom. “I’m glad I claimed the right of elder kin,” he murmured. Anastasia felt his lips graze her cheek in a chaste kiss, then, he stepped to the side, leaving her standing alone. Although she heard the words with her ears, Anastasia swore she also heard in silver tones in her mind, “Welcome, Anastasia of Clan Miller.”

Straightening from her deep curtsy, Anastasia now had no choice but to look out over the crowded hall. Cloud Eyrie was so big she had not realized there were so many people living there. Her eyes searched the throng until she found Branin standing off to one side. The wink he tossed removed the last of her nerves.

Dress Up Dress Down with Viviana MacKade

Join me in welcoming author Viviana MacKade to Living After Midnight

•   Tell us about your hero’s or heroine’s typical style of dress.

Summer is very casual. She likes to be comfortable, especially at work (she’s a GP). Her signature style is jeans and sneakers, hair in a ponytail.

Aidan doesn’t care. Much like Summer, he wants to be comfortable. Jeans and boots, throw in a leather jacket, and he’s perfectly at ease. Now, the state of said clothes changes based on his work (he’s a sculptor). He can end up covered in dust and crumbles of stone, or with only a few specks. 

•   What happens when or if your character wears the opposite style?

Summer enjoys the occasional dressing up, but to her is a game, something to do for fun every once in a while. 

The only time Aidan ever accepted formal wear was for his wedding. In that occasion, wearing a suit and tie wasn’t a stretch or an imposition, he was actually happy to do it. 

•   What would she/ he never wear? Why?

Summer would never wear something extremely sexy. She’d probably laugh and shake her head. 

Aidan would probably shred to pieces any suit coming his way. 

•   Does your hero or heroine change his style of dress over the course of the book? If so, how, and what does it mean, if anything?

No, they stay the same. There’s no reason for them to change it. 

His Midnight Sun 

by Viviana MacKade

Tormented, fierce, and broken, sculptor Aidan Murphy has judged himself guilty. He yearns for love but pushes everyone away. He longs for acceptance but has lost the key to open his heart. Until he meets Summer Williams. Beautiful and smart, Dr. Williams promises haven for a man who believes he deserves none. All he has to do is let her in and risk his heart and soul.

Summer’s managed to keep her inner light alive, even through tragedy. She’s created a new life for herself and her daughter in Crescent Creek with loving, caring and fun friends–well, except brooding, breathtaking Aidan. She’s used to keeping away from his type, though. All she has to do is ignore the pull of a man who’s turning up to be much more than snarls and storms. Will her compassion and medical instincts let her?

Love can heal a broken soul and shake up a timid heart. Or it can unleash devastation and revenge. 

Will Aidan and Summer survive the hurricane?

Release September 15, available for pre-sale 

$ 0.99 FREE with KU

Buy Link

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GDP26VB?

https://goo.gl/L8okF6

THE AUTHOR

Beach bum and country music addicted, Viviana lives in a small Floridian town with her husband and her son, her die-hard fans and personal cheer squad. She spends her days between typing on her beloved keyboard, playing in the pool with her boy, and eating whatever her husband puts on her plate (the guy is that good, and she really loves eating). Besides beaching, she enjoys long walks, horse-riding, hiking, and pretty much whatever she can do outside with her family.

Find me:

On my websitehttp://www.viviana-mackade.blog/

On FB

On Twitter

Amazon Author page

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Excerpt

Prolog

Fire.

Fire would eat all.

The simple, brown casket entered the cremation chamber accompanied by the soft crying of the mourners.

A sister. So-called friends. No mother or father in the crowd–a small blessing, as no parent should live to see a son’s death. Even more so when he’d committed suicide. Grabbed a gun, let the black hole of desperation drench his mind and pulled the trigger. The maid said he’d cursed one name right before he ended all: Summer.

Pain and anger rattled through Lilith Chapman. Along with Stephen’s brain, her heart had shattered that day.

Lilith had known she could save him, had always known. With time, she’d have made him forget he’d ever loved anybody but her.

He didn’t give her time.

His sister had pressed him to visit doctors. Depression, she’d called it.

Bullshit.

Love killed Stephen.

Sweet Stephen. A gentle, caring soul who only wanted affection and care. No harsh word ever left his mouth; his hands knew no fists.

With him, Lilith never had to face fear. She knew all about it thanks to her father first, and her deceased husband later. Not with Stephen. Never with him. For the first time in her life, she’d been the strong one, the one leading. Day after day she’d listened to him, to the winnings and the losses of a man who possessed everything. Money, power, a place in society. Not someone to share it with, though. Until, silly man, he’d believed he’d found The One: Doctor Summer Williams. A woman who had left him with a few words and no remorse.

Lilith had heard his heart shatter with a singing soul. With patience, had watched Stephen spiraling down and downer in a place always darker and more desperate. She only had to wait. Once he hit the bottom, he’d realize Summer was not worth it. Stephen would finally open his eyes and see her, Lilith.

At the bottom though, he’d found a gun.

And now she had nothing.

Sure, he’d left money to her, a lot of it, enough she didn’t have to worry about working or anything else anymore. Too bad she didn’t care for it.

She wanted Stephen, but Summer Williams had taken him away forever.

And for that, Lilith would bring tears and blood.

Summer’s tears and blood.

She, Lilith, was going to own his final words of hate, carry on his vengeance and make sure Summer Williams witnessed the crumbling of her world. Everyone she held dear would perish in front of her eyes. And then Lilith could go to him where they would be together. Forever.

“I promise you,” she whispered to the burning casket. “I promise you, love will kill again.”

Dress Up Dress Down With James DiBenedetto #MFRWAuthor

Join me in welcoming Jamies DiBenedetto to LAM!

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•   Tell us about your hero’s or heroine’s typical style of dress. What is the condition of the clothing?

Sara is the heroine of the Dream Doctor Mysteries. She starts off as a quiet and studious college student, but over the course of the series, she gets married, becomes a doctor, has a family, and solves murders and other mysteries with the help of her supernatural dreams.

Sara is a pretty conservative dresser, which goes along with her shy and reserved personality, especially when we first meet her. She’s in college, so it’s usually jeans and a sweatshirt, without regard to style as long as it’s clean.  But as events force her out of her shell, and she finds herself in new situations, she changes things up on a few occasions.

•   What does the choice of clothing tell us about him/her?

Sara’s preferred style goes along with who she is at first – she’s quiet, and her clothes don’t make a big impression, either. When she does dress up (for a New Year’s Eve dinner at a fancy restaurant with her new boyfriend), she barely recognizes herself in the mirror.  

•   What happens when or if your character wears the opposite style?

When Sara dresses against her usual style, she usually finds herself acting against her usual behavior, too – almost as if she’s wearing a costume and acting out a part.

•   Does your hero or heroine change his style of dress over the course of the book? If so, how, and what does it mean, if anything?

As the book goes on, and in later books, Sara becomes a lot more confident, and while she’s still has a pretty conservative style, she’s much more willing to try new things, and to try to make a statement with her outfits when the occasion calls for it.

EXCERPT:

It’s nine o’clock, and everyone’s waiting downstairs for Beth and me.  She looks great, which is no surprise.  She generally does.  What isa little surprising, at least to me, is just how good Ilook.  That sounds immodest, but what the heck.  I’m allowed to be immodest once in a while, right?   

Beth spent the last two hours helping me do my hair and makeup, and she absolutely demanded that I wear the dress I bought with my birthday money.  It doesn’t quite say “do me”–nothing I own says that–but it might say “buy me some drinks and dance with me and I’ll think about it” if I wear it with the proper attitude.  It’s black and strapless and–for me, at least–very short.  It’s such a change from my usual wardrobe that I barely recognize myself in the mirror.   Especially with my hair up and the way-more-than-usual makeup job.

She gives me a final once over, and claps her hands.  She’s thrilled.  “There may be hope for you yet!”  She doesn’t need me to check her over, she knows without even looking in the mirror that everything’s right, not a hair or anything else out of place.  

I have to take one last good long look at myself, though.  The woman staring back at me has my eyes, but the rest of her…

I hear my own voice asking, “Who is that?”  

Blurb:

 College junior Sara Barnes thought her life was totally under control.  All she had to worry about was her final exams, Christmas shopping, applying to medical school – and what to do about the cute freshman in the next dorm with a crush on her.  Everything was going according to plan, until the night she started seeing other people’s dreams.

It’s bad enough that Sara is learning more than she ever needed to know about her friends and classmates, watching their most secret fantasies whether she wants to or not. Much worse are the other dreams, the ones she sees nearly every night, featuring a strange, terrifying man who commits unspeakable crimes.  Now Sara wonders if she’s the only witness to a serial killer – and the only one who knows when and where he’s going to strike next.

Dream Student is the prequel to the Dream Doctor Mysteries.

BIO:

J.J. DiBenedetto is author of the Dream Series and the Jane Barnaby Adventures and lives in Arlington, Virginia with the love of his life and a white cat who rules the roost. 

His passions are photography, travel, the opera, the New York Giants, and of course writing. 

Mr. DiBenedetto is devoted to writing books with a sense of mysticism to entertain and perhaps invite his readers to suspend belief in a way they might never have.

Since he was very young , he has always been intrigued with the supernatural and things that can't be explained rationally.

By always asking way too many questions, it piqued his interest to the point of setting his writing off and running when he grew up! All the curiosity building up all those years were finally getting put into words to captivate readers. And it hasn't ended. His main goal is to share all the stories he has inside, putting pen to paper. And that's how the Dream Doctor Mysteries were born.

Mr. DiBenedetto welcomes queries and feedback from his loyal readers. You can email him at jj@jjdibenedetto.com or at his website www.jjdibenedetto.com.

The next Jane Barnaby Adventure will be ready soon and he's anxious to hear what you think!

Social Media:

www.jjdibenedetto.com

www.facebook.com/jjdibenedettoauthor

www.twitter.com/jjdibenedetto

www.tinyurl.com/jjdaudio

www.tinyurl.com/jjdvideo

http://viewAuthor.at/JJDiBenedetto

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Thanks for stopping by, James!