Title: The Unfettered Child Author: Michael C. Sahd Publisher: Self-published Publication date: August 28, 2019 Genre: Fantasy Summary: Samara is a very special little girl, but she doesn’t know it. When elves capture many of the women from her tribe, a terrible power awakens, and a disembodied voice takes her as his apprentice to teach her how to harness her unexpected powers. With her tribe destroyed, she sets off to reunite with her mother, who was captured, and her father, who set off earlier on to find his wife, but the voice in her head isn’t completely honest. I previously reviewed this book at the time of publication at the request of the author. Unfortunately, I…
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Book Review: Still Death by Shauna Bickley
Title: Still Death Author: Shauna Bickley Publisher: Self-published Publication date: November 8, 2014 Genre: Mystery and Thriller Summary: Lexie is quickly realizing being a full-time mother to three young girls is harder than working a demanding job, but her husband Nathan’s job has moved them from London to the small town Nettleford once she was restructured out of a job. With my mind challenged only by small children, she quickly finds friendship with an elderly lady whose son was possibly involved with the murder of his girlfriend. Until he ends up dead, as well. Lexie, with nothing but time on her hands, sets out to not only find out why he and his girlfriend were killed,…
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Novel Excerpt: They Lived They Were at Brighton Beach by Ivan Brave
The Lily Cafe is thrilled to present author Ivan Brave and his novel They Lived They Were at Brighton Beach, released today! Title: They Lived They Were at Brighton Beach Author: Ivan Brave Publisher: Self-published Publication date: June 16, 2020 Genre: Literary Fiction, Coming of Age Amid loss, hope, and despair, They Lived They Were . . . is a story about the power to move on. It begins with a show at Brighton Beach, New York, where Ilya Gagarin performs a set of original dance music to a crowd of loyal fans. They know him as a rising internet star, only 22 years old, and the resident DJ at one of Brooklyn’s…
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Book Review: Last Memoria by Rachel Emma Shaw
Title: Last Memoria Author: Rachel Emma Shaw Publisher: Self-published Publication date: May 10, 2020 Genre: Fantasy Summary: Sarilla has the power to take memories, and is branded a monster because of it even though she is the king’s caged pet. Falon wants nothing more than to reclaim the 6 months worth of memories that were stolen from him. When fate throws them back together one night on a lake, they end up on a journey across the kingdom, one seeking to destroy and one seeking answers. The Characters: So Much Fun Oh my goodness, I loved the characters and the ways they interacted! And I really felt for Sarilla. Reading her hurt my heart. I understood…
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Book Review: On a Blue Moon by Willow
Title: On a Blue Moon Author: Willow Publisher: Self-published Publication date: January 27, 2020 Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy Summary: Willow is an exceptional individual who has lived across time and space. These are the tales of her life and the lives of those she has known. The first in the Daughter of Firth Tales series, this book documents her early life when she and her mother first encountered an Earth man named Sam and ended up traveling the moon they called home in search of a place they could settle, picking up friends as they went. When the author contacted me for a review, I was told this novel was of a very different sort. I…
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Book Review: The Worst Lie by Shauna Bickley
Title: The Worst Lie (A Lexie Wyatt Mystery Book 2) Author: Shauna Bickley Publisher: Self-published Publication date: December 9, 2019 Genre: Mystery and Suspense Summary: Lexie’s friend Helen needs her help: Helen’s university friend Eden is coming to visit and wants the whole university group to spend a weekend together in Little Stillford, just as they had days before their friend Madelaine was found dead, something that brings great anxiety to Helen. Lexie is there to soothe her, and soon finds herself enlisted by Eden to find out who murdered Madelaine over a decade before. Before she knows it, Lexie and her husband Nathan become entangled in the group, who have more secrets than Lexie could…
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Book Review: Esperanza by Tommy Tutalo
Title: Esperanza Author: Tommy Tutalo Publisher: Self-published Publication date: paperback: August, 29, 2017; e-book: January 2, 2018 Genre: Fiction Summary: As a young woman, Gabriela illegally crossed into America from Mexico, paying her way by becoming a drug transporter for a crime syndicate that would soon become far-reaching. As a young man, Dante found fame and fortune as an artist, but tumbled far after becoming tangled with crime syndicate Nada Mas. Despite the passage of years, the threads that bind both to Nada Mas prove to be unbreakable. But both manage to find the possibility of redemption, hope, and the American Dream in Gabriela’s young daughter Sarita. Despite growing up in Southern California and coming…
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Book Review: Special by Chino Chakanga
Title: Special Author: Chino Chakanga Publisher: Self-published Publication date: August 14, 2019 Genre: YA, Science fiction/Fantasy, Superhero Summary: Everyone in the world has a special ability, from flying to weather manipulation. Everyone, that is, except Hope. Hope is perfectly normal. She has zero abilities and has spent years undergoing treatments in the hopes of developing one. But it’s this specialness that makes it possible for her to help save the world she loves despite being different. Most people have, at one time or another, felt different from everyone else. As soon as the author contacted me for a review, I knew I had to read this one. It wasn’t quite what I had expected, wasn’t…
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Book Review: BloodStained Bliss by Elle Limpkin
Title: BloodStained Bliss Author: Elle Limpkin Publisher: February 12, 2020 Publication date: Self-published Genre: Science fiction, Mystery/Thriller Summary: Earth has been crime-free for 300 years. Advances in science and medicine have made it possible to eliminate the violence gene in unborn children, resulting in a world without violence and crime. Until now. Newly elected mayor of the island Roseside Reef Zeno is woken in the early morning hours because a body has been discovered on a beach. Faced with a murder and no clue how to solve it, Zeno and his aides rush to figure out who the killer is before more bodies drop dead, and instead discover Zeno’s own past may hide an important clue.…
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Book Review: The Omega Archives by Erik Melendez
Title: The Omega Archives Author: Erik Melendez Publisher: Self-published Publication date: December 1, 2019 Genre: YA, Science Fiction Summary: Born with scientifically engineered mutated genes into a training facility, Alex is anything but a normal teenager. When the facility is attacked and everyone either killed or taken, Alex is the sole survivor. Adopted by loving and patient parents who work hard to remediate him and assimilate him into normal society, Alex just tries to live a normal life. But he and his town are attacked and he ends up being recruited by a counter-terrorist group searching for the mastermind behind the attack on the training facility. And Alex will do anything he can to find answers…
