Book Blitz: Dangerous Passions by Elise Whyles

About the Book:

Can bitter enemies find love?

Haunted by visions, Calypso sets out to find the man who stalks her dreams. Calypso, an ageless fae, is convinced this man will enslave and torment her just like the one who held her long ago. Determined to track him down and kill him, she's prepared for anything, except for what she finds. The mortal male she encounters stirs embers she thought long dead, making her yearn for his touch.

Lucien has always believed himself to be a mortal slave. The truth, however, is more than he's ever imagined. Born to a fae mother and a warlock father, he is a falock, a being of mixed blood hated by both races. And he's destined for greatness…if he can survive the Roman gladiators' games long enough to grow into his immortality.

When the slim beauty rescues him from the depths of his prison, Lucien comes face to face with the truth of who and what he is. Determined to protect the woman who rescued him, he'll risk everything, including his chance at immortality.

Can a weary, distrustful fae and the falock she's claimed overcome the obstacles in their path?

Book Links:

Goodreads * Amazon

Read an Excerpt:

He leaned forward, her soft whisper echoing in his heart. It seemed she was a slave just as he had been. Heat swirled around him, stirring the embers of want, of need as he traced over her face with the backs of his fingers. Delicately made, she appeared so fragile, yet he knew her strength and her skill. His fingers burned where they touched her skin as he trailed them down her neck to curl around in a loose hold. “I shall protect you.”

The vow fell between them like a stone. He caught the flare of something in her eyes. Fear? Nay, something deeper, something richer.

Leaning forward, he stared into her eyes, her face turned up, lips parted. He could feel the warmth of her breath on his skin, the softness of her hands on his chest as he pulled her into his body. Lucien brushed his lips over Calypso’s, the barest of touches. Soft, moist, her lips yielded beneath his. Again and again, he pressed gentle kisses along her mouth, her nose, her cheeks. The soft whimpers escaping her added fuel to the fire in his blood. Her hands slid around his shoulders, her nails digging in as his fingers tangled in her hair. Tilting her head back, Lucien offered a hint of a smile before he captured her lips in a deep kiss. He licked along the seam, tasting the sweet traces of the fruit she’d eaten. He nipped at her bottom lip, drawing a startled gasp. With a low groan his tongue darted inside, tasting her. Lucien devoured her, claiming her lips repeatedly. Desire licked at him, pushing him closer and closer to the brink.

“We mustn’t.” Calypso’s whisper crept over him even as he felt her move against him. The faint note of fear in her voice like a bucket of water. He pulled back, resting his forehead against hers.

“Aye, we must keep moving. Come, my lady. We’ve a long journey ahead.” He wrapped his fingers around her hand and shot her a quick smile before stepping back. Lucien turned her slightly and fastened her bodice in place. “I will keep you safe.”

“But who will protect me from you?” Her words, spoken so low he knew he wasn’t supposed to hear them, added to the confusion within his mind. What kind of female was the one who even now held his hand as they moved through the growing darkness?

About the Author:

Born in Northern British Columbia, Elise is a small-town girl. She writes in a variety of genres including paranormal, contemporary suspense, m/m in various lengths. Currently, she lives in British Columbia with her husband and son, one dog, one cat, and a gecko. Elise enjoys reading as much as she does writing, with some of her favorite books being read until they fall apart. 

She is currently working on the next book in the Forsaken Series, Burning Rain. As well she has a new contemporary she’s working on. For more information on Elise, or to check out her books you can find her on Facebook, twitter, and her website.

Contact the Author:

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Goodreads

Book Review: I Am Thunder by Muhammad Khan

Title: I Am Thunder

Author: Muhammad Khan

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Muhammad Khan’s ‘I Am Thunder’ is the story of Muzna, a Muslim teenager who is struggling to find her place in the world whilst trying to balance her religion, culture, and keeping her parents happy. She is a warm, vulnerable, complex character and her search for identity is a universal one.

As the story progresses we see how some unforeseen events force her to move to a new school in South London. There she meets the charismatic Arif Malik. She is surprised to realize that he is interested in her and chooses to ask her out despite interest in him from several other girls at school. A friendship builds between the two and Arif encourages Muzna to explore her freedom.

Muzna’s happiness, however, is short lived and her delight wavers when she discovers how Arif, influenced by his manipulative brother Jameel, has become angered by Western culture. He gradually lures her into a world of Muslim extremism. He tries to radicalize Muzna by telling her his anti-Western views. Muzna realizes she is getting into something dangerous but fears taking a stand could mean losing Arif.

Through his debut novel, Khan raises questions on some issues that are very relevant in today’s society. He talks of terrorism and Islamophobia via his 15-year-old protagonist. His writing also deals with issues relating to living in the West while having conservative, immigrant parents. It is evident that Khan draws on his experience or that of those whom he teaches to unpack many of the West’s perceptions of Islam.

To sum up, while reading this book, readers will be able to relate with Muzna on several levels and, without trying, learn.

A timely YA debut whose salience and poignancy will be appreciated on many levels.

Muhammad Khan is a maths teacher in a secondary school in Tooting and takes his inspiration from the children he teaches, as well as his own upbringing as a British-born Pakistani. He lives in South London and will be studying for a creative writing MA next year at Roehampton.

Amazon

I'd like to thank the publisher for letting me review the book. I do hope you end up liking the book when you read it. Thank you so much for stopping by, and happy reading! 

* I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

** Picture courtesy: Amazon.in, Goodreads.com

Book Blitz: Forest Girl by Empi Baryeh

Title: FOREST GIRL

Author: Empi Baryeh

Genre: Multicultural Romance, Africa

Length: Full length novel

¸.•´¨❥¸.•´¨ BLURB¸.•´¨❥¸.•´¨

Esi Afriyie has been in love with Michael Yaw Badu since childhood. When he receives a scholarship to study in America, all hope seems lost ... until he returns to Ghana ten years later. An arranged marriage contracted by their families makes her dreams come true, but does the reality of being Mrs. Michael Badu live up to the fantasy?

Michael may have married Esi, but he is in love with someone else—Forest Girl, a mystery woman he encountered just once in the forest. His heart belongs to her, and he doesn't need his beautiful wife awakening his carnal desires. He is even willing to sacrifice his marriage for another encounter with Forest Girl.

Reality is not what either Esi or Michael imagined. Esi is disillusioned; Michael feels trapped.

Will Michael give in and allow his heart to discover a love that was always meant to be, before it's too late?

¸.•´¨❥¸.•´¨ TAGLINE¸.•´¨❥¸.•´¨

He fell in love with her at first sight, 

but didn't recognize her when he saw her again.

¸.•´¨❥¸.•´¨ BUY NOW¸.•´¨❥¸.•´¨

Amazon US: https://goo.gl/drinE5

Barnes and Noble: https://goo.gl/hoKgrR

Amazon UK: https://goo.gl/ixVj4k

Kobo: https://goo.gl/mbXwN5

Amazon CA: https://goo.gl/Y9xVx9

Smashwords: https://goo.gl/sgkfap

*Goodreads: https://goo.gl/GHkSj9

¸.•´¨❥¸.•´¨ BOOK TRAILER ¸.•´¨❥¸.•´¨

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHFDc6_ChIk&feature=youtu.be

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IHFDc6_ChIk" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

¸.•´¨❥¸.•´¨ EXCERPT¸.•´¨❥¸.•´¨

He didn’t want to get personal. He just needed to perform the act.

Michael had had every intention of sleeping on the floor tonight. He’d spent a good part of the afternoon fielding the suggestive comments a few bold men had made about tonight. It didn’t help that his manhood hardened with interest at the prospect, defying his own resolve not to touch his wife.

But she tempted him, standing there in her short night dress that barely reached the middle of her thighs. Her eyes stared at him, filled with innocence and passion all at the same time.

Turn around, Mike. Walk away before it’s too late.

She folded her arms beneath her pert breasts again, pushing them up in a manner he could not ignore. It may have been a manifestation of nerves, but his body sprang alive. He bit back a curse, realising he couldn’t walk away even if he wanted to.

He needed to consummate the marriage. If their union broke, as he wished it to, it couldn’t be because he hadn’t claimed her as his wife in every way. Such news never remained hidden. He’d be branded as something less than a real man, and that would certainly affect the elders’ already doubtful opinion of him.

However, when he took a step towards her, he knew at the back of his mind that it wasn’t out of obligation. He wanted to taste her lips again, feel her soft breasts press against his chest, know the taste of her tongue and every other secret part of her body.

“Put your arms around me, Esi,” he whispered.

Keep quiet, man. Talking made things personal. He didn’t want to get personal. He just needed to perform the act.

As she draped her arms around his neck, he lowered his head, so she wouldn’t have to stand on her toes. The gesture brought her face inches away from his. He closed the rest of the space between them, capturing her lips as he kissed her, gently at first, then more urgently as he lost control.

She tasted great; she smelled divine. Against all his convictions, he genuinely wanted her. At the core of it brewed an unexpected yearning in his heart that he didn’t attempt to understand. One thing was certain. Sex with her would be anything but casual—a thought that scared him, yet not enough for him to stop.

He didn’t know when he undressed her, but when they reached the bed, she was naked. He fumbled to take his clothes off.

¸.•´¨❥¸.•´¨ WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ¸.•´¨❥¸.•´¨

There are not enough words to describe how much I loved this story. The author painted a vivid picture with her fantastical storytelling. She crafted a story that made you fall in love with the characters and their stories that they had to tell. 

~ Cranky - The Book Curmudgeon

¸.•´¨❥¸.•´¨ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ¸.•´¨❥¸.•´¨

Empi Baryeh is the award-winning author of Most Eligible Bachelor (Book of the year, 2017 Ufere Awards). She writes sweet and sensual African, multicultural and interracial romance. She's been writing since the age of thirteen after stumbling upon an uncompleted YA story her sister had written. The story fascinated her so much that, when she discovered it was unfinished, she knew she had to complete it. Somehow the rest of the story began to take shape in her mind and she's been writing ever since. She lives in Accra, Ghana, with her husband and their two lovely kids.

CONNECT WITH EMPI

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/empibaryeh

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/EmpiBaryeh

Website: http://www.empibaryeh.com/

Google+: https://www.google.com/+EmpiBaryeh

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/empibaryeh

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5625111.Empi_Baryeh

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/empibaryeh

https://www.facebook.com/TurnedOnByWords/

http://wtmowordsturnmeon.blogspot.com/

Book Review: Nagin by Mayur Didolkar

Title: Nagin
Author: Mayur Didolkar
Publisher: Juggernaut

Mayur Didolkar’s Nagin is a collection of nine short stories, each dealing in supernatural beings. The stories do not conform to a particular time and place and this makes it all the more appealing. The age old concepts of vish kanyas, vidrupas, and ichhadhari nags and nagins all come together — both in urban and rural settings — to create a world that is different yet bearing similarity with the realities around us.

The blurb reads: “Loving wife, obedient daughter, loyal friend. But if you provoke her, she will raise her hood and spit venom.” It is a little misleading since it’s not just women who are protagonists in all nine of the stories. But there’s nothing to complain since the stories themselves fulfill the promise of being entertaining.

All nine stories are exquisitely crafted. Some of the stories hold a sense of hope and humanity in bleak situations. One will be left guessing while reading the stories since each is replete with unforeseeable twists and turns. Didolakar’s writing is simple and straight forward. However, some stories are more successful than others. ‘Ranbhool,’ ‘A Little Poison Doesn’t Hurt,’ and ‘Watching You’ are stories that will keep you guessing till the very end about what to expect.

The author emerges as a capable player in a game of shape-shifters, ruthless babas, malevolent masterminds, and sundry secrets in settings that wander between natural and supernatural worlds, alternate realities blending with elective affinities.

Quirky in presentation and good read throughout, Didolkar’s yarn pleases at every turn.

Mayur Didolkar has published two novels – The Dark Road and Tears for Strangers – and several short stories, all with Juggernaut. A crime and horror writer, the possibility of things going dreadfully, irrevocably wrong in ordinary situations inspires his work. Mayur is also a marathon runner and occasionally tries his hand at stand-up comedy. He lives in Pune where he runs an investment advisory firm.

Amazon

I'd like to thank the publisher for letting me review the book. I do hope you end up liking the book when you read it. Thank you so much for stopping by, and happy reading! 

* I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

** Picture courtesy: Amazon.in

Book Review: Who Owns That Song - The Battle for Subramania Bharati's Copyright by A.R. Venkatachalapathy

Title: Who Owns That Song - The Battle for Subramania Bharati's Copyright
Author: A.R. Venkatachalapathy
Publisher: Juggernaut

Not many know why there’s such a fuss about Subramania Bharati or his literary works. That he’s a gem of a poet is known only to a fraction of the Indian population. The reason is not exactly ignorance or lack of interest. It’s more to do with the fact that his genius remains untapped in the global language. An activist, journalist, and a freedom fighter, Bharati wrote in Tamil and only a fraction of his works has been translated. Some of these have failed to evoke the true essence of the magic that his own words spun in Tamil. Till date he remains an unsung poet whose work has been exploited and gathered momentum only at the face of a legal battle.

Born in Ettayapuram in 1882, Subramania Bharati was a social activist, journalist, and poet. He wrote thousands of verses throughout his lifetime on subjects as diverse as nationalism, the Tamil way of life, religion, children’s poems, and elegies to freedom fighters. However, he only attained fame posthumously when his half-brother, who held the copyright of his work, went on to publish the same. Others were profiting out of Bharati’s works even as his own family was in the doldrums. With filmmakers and publishers vying to acquire copyright to his works, legal battles for the rights were fought.

AR Venkatachallapathy’s ‘Who Owns That Song? — The Battle for Subramania Bharati’s Copyright’ is a story of the events that led to the nationalisation of the great poet’s work. In this book, Venkatachallapathy chronicles Bharati’s journey as an artist and how his works changed hands several times before finally being released by the government into the public domain, free of any copyright claim.

The way this book has been assembled is commendable. It is not Bharati’s biography even though it provides the readers with a glimpse into the author’s life. One can also get a sense of the narrow world of publication and of copyright laws of the past years. It is a valuable resource for those burning with the desire to understand the question – who does an artist belong to? This book raises the question of whether an individual's work should be dropped into the public domain for people to make use of as they wish instead of being passed down generations as family heirloom.

A skillfully written, well-researched account of one of our greatest poets and his posthumous fame.

A.R. Venkatachalapathy, historian, writer and translator, is a professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai. He has taught at universities in Tirunelveli, Chennai, Singapore and Chicago, and published widely on the social, cultural and intellectual history of colonial Tamil Nadu.

Amazon

I'd like to thank the publisher for letting me review the book. I do hope you end up liking the book when you read it. Thank you so much for stopping by, and happy reading! 

* I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

** Picture courtesy: Amazon.in, Goodreads.in