Can’t Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings based on the meme Waiting on Wednesday by Breaking the Spine. In this weekly post people share a book that they’re excited about being released.
This week I have to talk about Where Dreams Descend. The first thing I head about this book was that it was Moulin Rouge meets Phantom of the Opera, and I had to get my hands on it. I’m excited to be included in the blog tour for it but sad that it’s publication date got pushed back to August 25th. Make sure to check it out!
In a city covered in ice and ruin, a group of magicians face off in a daring game of magical feats to find the next headliner of the Conquering Circus, only to find themselves under the threat of an unseen danger striking behind the scenes.
As each act becomes more and more risky and the number of missing magicians piles up, three are forced to reckon with their secrets before the darkness comes for them next.
The Star: Kallia, a powerful showgirl out to prove she’s the best no matter the cost
The Master: Jack, the enigmatic keeper of the club, and more than one lie told
The Magician: Demarco, the brooding judge with a dark past he can no longer hide
Where Dreams Descend is the startling and romantic first book in Janella Angeles’ debut Kingdom of Cards fantasy duology where magic is both celebrated and feared, and no heart is left unscathed.
Lyrics & Curses Candace Robinson
Published by: Filles Vertes Publishing
Publication date: November 10th 2020
Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
Lark Espinoza could get lost in her music—and she’s not so sure anyone in her family would even care to find her. Her trendy, party-loving twin sister and her mother-come-lately Beth, who’s suddenly sworn off men and onto homemaking, don’t understand her love of cassette tapes, her loathing of the pop scene, or her standoffish personality. For outcast Lark, nothing feels as much like a real home as working at Bubble’s Oddities store and trying to attract the attention of the cute guy who works at the Vinyl shop next door—the same one she traded lyrical notes with in class.
Auden Ellis silences the incessant questions in his own head with a steady stream of beats. Despite the unconditional love of his aunt-turned-mother, he can’t quit thinking about the loss of his parents—or the possibility he might end up afflicted with his father’s issues. Despite his connection with lyric-loving Lark, Auden keeps her at arm’s length because letting her in might mean giving her a peek into something dangerous.
When two strangers arrive in town, one carrying a mysterious, dark object and the other playing an eerie flute tune, Lark and Auden find that their painful pasts have enmeshed them in a cursed future. Now, they must come to terms with their budding attraction while helping each other challenge the reflection they see in the mirror. If they fail, they’ll be trapped for eternity in a place beyond reality.
Candace Robinson spends her days consumed by words and hoping to one day find her own DeLorean time machine. Her life consists of avoiding migraines, admiring Bonsai trees, watching classic movies, and living with her husband and daughter in Texas–where it can be forty degrees one day and eighty the next!
When a new student from Japan shows up at Bibi Blocksberg’s school, she fits in immediately. But Bibi’s suspicious; she knows Miyu’s hiding something, and she’s determined to find out what! Bibi’s journey takes her all the way to Japan, and while learning about all the new rules and magic in this foreign land, she realizes that maybe she and Miyu can be friends after all!
I loved the sound of this manga and it instantly gave me Kiki’s Delivery Service vibes so I wanted to pick it up. The art style is vibrant and fun while still having that classic manga style. I did feel that the story moved along really quickly as it was really more vignettes of Bibi and Miyu’s adventures together.
I would definitely be interested in seeing where this series go and what other situations they get themselves into.
Smothered by her backwater hometown and frustrated by its 1980s cult-movie fame (The Gloomies…have you seen it? It’s a real classic, y’know.), Wilder is pretty sure she’s seen everything Cannon Cove has to offer. She’s desperate to get away from home as soon as she can, and move on to bigger, better, and less annoying things…even if that might mean leaving her best friends behind. But when Wilder discovers a centuries-old pirate map, she may find out that REAL adventure was in their tiny town all along…and they need each other to get to the bottom of it! It’s a rip-roaring adventure written by award-winning screenwriter Kiwi Smith (10 Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde) and Kurt Lustgarten, and illustrated by Naomi Franquiz.
I picked this one up since it was an obvious reference to The Goonies and that is something I love, so I wanted to check it out. There are tons of references and similarities as it follows teens in the town where The Gloomies was set. Some of them at least are unsatisfied with where they are in their lives and looking for something to catch their interests, so in a twist they find a map that could take them on an adventure similar to that found in the movie.
There are a wide range of characters, including villians that give the story a Scooby Doo type vibe, but all in all it fell just a little short for me. It felt a little too much like a mirror of the movie it took inspiration from. I would still continue on with the series because I did enjoy it, but it didn’t blow me away.
Anyone who knows me or reads my blog knows that I’m all for audiobooks and love using them to up my numbers and chip away at my backlist, but as of late there’s a lot of opinions cropping up about them. There’s always been people who take issue with whether or not listening to audiobooks is reading or not, but now the issue of speed has come up.
It’s been alarming, to be honest, seeing comments on people’s videos and posts that chide people for listening to audiobooks at more than 1x speed. There’s a lot of negativity and honestly hate, towards those of us that listen at faster speeds, saying there’s no way we could comprehend it, or that we’re not listening at all.
This, my friends, is not true. Now, not every audiobook can be listened to at faster speeds and not everyone can handle listening to them at faster speeds, it’s going to vary by person and/or by narrator. It’s true that some people can’t listen at fast speeds, everyone’s ears and brain are different and there’s nothing wrong with that. People shouldn’t be shamed for only listening at 1x and people shouldn’t be yelled at for listening at 3x. I often listen to audiobooks anywhere from 2.5-3x, but there have been some where I can’t because of the narrator. Each book is different and each person is different.
Honestly, I think the debating and shaming should stop – we’re all reading and enjoying books, why does it matter how we consume them?
From Nancy Drew to Veronica Mars, we really dig girl detectives! Eisner award-winning writer Hope Larson (Batgirl) and Brittney Williams (Patsy Walker, A.K.A Hellcat!) present the newest gal sleuth on the block with Goldie Vance, an exciting, whodunnit? adventure that mixes the fun of Eloise with the charm of Lumberjanes. 16-year-old Marigold “Goldie” Vance lives at a Florida resort with her dad, who manages the place, and dreams to one day become the hotel’s in-house detective. When Walter, the current detective, encounters a case he can’t crack, he agrees to mentor Goldie in exchange for her help solving the mystery utilizing her smarts, random skills, and connections with the hotel staff and various folks in town.
I knew very little going in to Goldie Vance, but I had heard it compared to Nancy Drew so obviously wanted to check it out. It was adorable and fun, as well as fast paced. The characters were very easy to get to know as they were introduced and given individual identities pretty quickly. There were times that Goldie’s actions were very extreme, so that made some of it even less believable, but the whole story was a fun caper that you had to suspend disbelief for in some ways.
If you’re looking for a humorous whodunit with characters that practically jump off the pages with personality, this is definitely a great one.
Goldie Vance volume one is currently available in kindle unlimited, so if it interests you be sure to give it a try. Happy reading!
We’re already a month into May and my days are still blending together, so we’ll see how much of this I actually adhere to, but I’m going to do my best to get some solid reading done.
As always, I concentrate on books I’ve received for review and then try to fill in more around them. Since I’m working from home right now (and in a weird head space) I admittedly haven’t been listening to as many audiobooks as usual. I’m hoping to get that number back up as that’s partly how I knock out some of my backlist.
Beyond that, I’m participating in the TBR and Beyond monthly challenge for Middle Grade May. Since the first week of the month has been hectic work wise I haven’t yet decided on my TBR for that, but I have a whole pile of middle grade books pulled that I can read from.
So I guess what I’m saying is that besides review books I have no really solid plans, but I am looking forward to chipping away at my TBR.
Author Candace Carrabus and the Audio Flow are delighted to share Cold Backed: A Dream Horse Mystery Prequel narrated by Melissa Moran. You can listen for FREE. Come check out this murder mystery and look for the rest of the audio series coming this summer! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway.
Cold Backed: A Dream Horse Mystery Prequel
Viola Parker can’t land a job since the famous jumper, Wastrel, crashed to his death with her aboard. She can barely afford her whipped-cream-in-a-can addiction. When she finds her mentor unconscious, she suspects foul play and wonders if her old friend, Harry, has answers. But Harry disappears with the truth, leaving behind a mysterious delivery and cryptic confession.
A short story prologue to the Dream Horse Mysteries with a preview of On the Buckle: Dream Horse Mystery #1.
Dream Horse Mystery series:
On the Buckle, Dream Horse Mystery #1
Run Out, Dream Horse Mystery #2
Wrong Lead, Dream Horse Mystery #3
Listen to the Dream Horse Mystery Prequel For Free
3 ways to enjoy it.
Listen to the sample above.
Download the mp3 and listen on your desktop or favorite app.
Candace Carrabus writes from the Lincoln County, Missouri farm she shares with her husband and daughter. A scoliosis diagnosis at age 11 changed her life. A horse lover from a young age, she signed up for riding lessons and learned much more than posting trot. With quiet power, horses provided comfort and a sympathetic ear, never judging or poking fun at her cumbersome back brace. Those years, though often difficult, taught Candace the value of persistence, the healing power of believing in oneself, and how strength can be gained through kindness. Her stories are imbued with the irresistible wonder, mystery, and solace her equine friends have provided.
Frasier Anderson is one of the hottest teenage actors in the UK, but he’s virtually unknown in the US. Now he’s landed the leading role in a big-budget Hollywood film that could make him an international star.
So how do you prepare a Scot for a role as a Texas high school student? Give him a fake name, a fake accent, and embed him in a Texas high school. He only has to follow three rules:
No drama. No girls. And no telling who he really is.
Jenna Wiley is smart, funny, and has a few no-drama, no-dating rules of her own. Her friendship with new kid Ethan Smith is perfect and might even lead to something more. Except for a few things that don’t add up. Like his mom being afraid to have company. Or their house, which is more staged than lived in. Or his sister, whom nobody talks about.
It all comes to a boil when Frasier’s biggest secrets hit the tabloids and the paparazzi swarm Hillside with Jenna in their sights.
Can Frasier convince Jenna that shy, goofy Ethan Smith is closer to real than the image the tabloids have created?
And can she ever forgive him for breaking the most important rule of all? Because for Jenna, when it comes to love and science, the truth is all that matters.
If you’re looking for something lighthearted yet with an appropriate dose of angst, this will fit the bill. Though this is the 4th book in the Hickville High series it can be read as a standalone. It features Frasier and Jenna, the former being an actor from Scotland who is having to take a crash course in American high school so that he can better prepare for his new role.
I really enjoyed the humor in this story, it had it’s quirks while still being serious at times. It is written a little younger but is a fun story and a heartwarming romance.
Mary Karlik has always been a dreamer. When she was a teen, she read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and then sat in every wardrobe in her Nanna’s home, trying to open the door to Narnia. She didn’t find it, but she did discover her voice as an author: one filled with her young adult self, and grounded in her roots as a Texan and her Scottish heritage, nourished by obscure Scottish folklore.
You can find her Texas roots in her indie published, YA contemporary romance Hickville series , which has been described as “100% solid storytelling,” and begins with Welcome to Hickville High, a “lovely story about growing up.”
She digs deep into her Scottish roots – there is magic there, she just knows it – for her YA epic fantasy Fairy Trafficking series published by Ink Monster Publishing LLC. Her first book, Magic Harvest, debuted in September of 2018. It reached #1 in 3 categories of YA Fantasy on Amazon. Magic Heist, the second in the series has been described as “a fun twisty read which will never let you guess what will happen next.”
Mary recently moved from the beautiful Sangre de Cristo mountains of Northern New Mexico where she was a certified professional ski instructor to Texas. She loves visiting Scotland where she is currently earning a degree in Gaelic Language Studies at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in Skye—part of the University of Highlands and Islands system. Mary also earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, has a B.S. degree from Texas A&M University, and is a Registered Nurse.
Mary is an active member of Romance Writers of America and serves on a national committee of RWA. She formerly served on the board of the Young Adult Romance Writers of America. She is an active member of the Dallas Area Romance Authors and looks forward to raising a glass or two of gin and tonic with her fellow writers every year at RWA’s national convention.
GIVEAWAY! Enter to win the Anderson tartan (her Scottish character is Anderson), a $25 Amazon gift card + 2x ebook copies of Hickville Crossroads Click Here to Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway!
Want to check out more posts on the blog tour? Check out the schedule below!
When a little white lie becomes the story of your life, what if the truth comes out?
For three woman, it’s a life-changing trip: one finds the man of her dreams, another discovers inspiration amidst Italian food and culture, while a chance encounter with a handsome local ushers in the ultimate life change for the third. But most importantly, it’s the beginning of a deep and lasting friendship between all three.
Now years later, Kim Weston – entrepreneur and owner of internationally successful Italian food and lifestyle business, The Sweet Life – has bought and restored the tumble-down villa to its former glory — and plans to reopen Villa Dolce Vita as a wellness/cultural retreat – a fitting honor to the root of her business inspiration.
To celebrate the villa’s grand opening, she and her Italian business partners are throwing a huge three-day party; flying a group of family, business and media contacts to the Amalfi Coast to join in the celebrations. And most importantly, the (still) close friends who started the journey with her: Annie and husband Nate, whose love story began at the villa, and single mum Eva, whose son was the result of an ill-advised Italian fling.
But in the run up to the planned weekend in Italy, it becomes clear that not everyone is happy about the party, nor are they on board with such ambitious plans for the location. And, as Villa Dolce Vita’s grand relaunch draws closer, old memories and past secrets come to light, and the three old friends are forced to question if anything that happened on that first fateful trip to the villa is at all what it seemed.
I really enjoyed this story as it slowly unwound to reveal the different timelines for the three women featured. There were some moments that were perhaps predictable and the beginning did take a little getting time to really get invested, but as it continues on you get sucked into the three women and their respective stories. The descriptions of the Amalfi coast are vibrant and wonderful, really painting a picture of what the setting is.
I did really enjoy as things got more and more intense, what with the teasing of secrets and the feeling that something was coming. It was that fact that kept the story going and really picked up the pace of the book.
MELISSA HILL lives in south Dublin with her husband and daughter. A USA TODAY and international #1 bestseller, she is the author of 13 novels, including The Gift of a Charm and A Gift From Tiffany’s. The Gift of a Charm was a USA TODAY bestseller. Hailed “the queen of the big plot twist,” she combines all the warmth and humor of contemporary women’s fiction with plots that keep readers guessing from page to page. Melissa also cowrites forensic thrillers with her husband, Kevin, under the pseudonym Casey Hill, featuring crime scene investigator Reilly Steel. For more information, visit www.caseyhillbooks.com.
