Blog Hop, Kindle Vella

November Kindle Vella Blog Hop

Hi Everyone!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your friends and family and wishing you all a wonderful holiday season.

Here are some great reads to enjoy and unwind with during this busy time 🙂

Genre: Family, Coming of Age

An Operator’s Daughter
 
Finding inner strength to overcome the obstacles of changing living situations and high schools, 17-year-old Ashton overcomes severe anxiety, fights back against sexual harassment, and attempts to rebuild a relationship with her grieving Navy SEAL Veteran father.

When her own budding relationship with a Special Warfare Operator begins to parallel her parents’ love-at-first story, she must decide whether the life she grew up with is the one she wishes to continue living into the future.


Laurie Anne Brandon’s writing draws upon her experiences as a military educational counselor, high school teacher, and years working in television production. She contributes to the Kindle-Vella anthology group called Vellains Florilegium which released a horror anthology, Season 1: Horrors of SinteTek Anthology, in October and will release a collection of short stories with the theme of life after death in December.
 
https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09HGM2GJX
 
Find her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurie.brandon.12 (https://www.facebook.com/laurie.brandon.12)

Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy

Forsaken Beauty and the Etherbeast

Kelsey Josephson

A bookish strongwoman longs for freedom.

A beast searches for a cure.

Together, they’ll break man-made curses.

After her own father sells her to the unscrupulous Ringmaster, Belle thinks she’ll spend the rest of her days performing cheap stunts while the Nuzaran masses gawk at her ether-poisoned body. A chance encounter with a beast by her solitary campfire changes everything. Can they find liberation or will the past consume them both?

I have a deep love for Universal Monster movies, all things related to Nikola Tesla, and iced coffee. The first two things fuel my creativity and the latter keeps me motivated! You can check my other works on my website: https://simplykelseyjo.com/

Genre : Romantic Fantasy

My Time or Yours: King’s Road Season One

By Elizabeth Ash

She crossed time to save him. She wasn’t supposed to fall in love. “I don’t want to leave you,” she whispers, and his eyes swirl with intensity as he gazes up at her. “I’ll be here when you return,” he says. “I promise.” Maybe he doesn’t hate her. Maybe he will forgive her. Maybe she won’t have to figure out how to live without him. She came to stop a war and save a kingdom. Now all that matters is saving him.


I live in the middle of the woods of the Pacific Northwest, where I keep a wary eye out for sasquatch. So far, he hasn’t revealed himself, but the trees around me are the inspiration for many of the forest scenes in my stories. https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethAshBooks/

A Forest of Stolen Memories 

By Callie Thomas

Genre: YA Fantasy/Sweet Romance

Celebration turns to disaster when a mysterious curse goes awry. A reminder that the Sorcerer’s prophecy still plagued the royal family. Roselyn’s memory is suddenly erased, leaving her panicked at the altar. Confused, she flees to the place the prince fears most–the enchanted Mistbrooke Forest. Danger lingers closer than she can imagine, forcing her to seek help from a dark stranger who may be the key to recovering her lost memories. Can she break the curse without breaking her heart?

Author Note:

A lot of inspiration for my forest descriptions comes from the tropical island where I’m stationed: Okinawa, Japan.

** Check out my Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCallieThomas/

Genre: Romantic Comedy

FAKING IT WITH THE BACHELOR

THE BACHELOR meets MISS CONGENIALITY

After an Army vet who’s looking for love begins falling for the date planner of the reality dating program he’s set to star on, the show’s producers trick the jaded staffer into posing as a contestant for one night to save the show’s tarnished reputation. To keep her job, she needs this season’s star to find love. He needs her to give him her heart to get his happy ending.

What can go wrong when she gets a rose? Then another?

 I have four books out in my Bad Karma Special Ops romantic suspense series. Not only do I write Army heroes, I volunteer at the USO, but not singing and dancing (much.) I have a sense of humor and am not afraid to use it. I’m an extrovert writer and you can interact with me on Facebook and Instagram.

https://www.facebook.com/tracybrodyauthor/

https://www.instagram.com/tracybrodybooks/

Genre: Motorcycle Club Romance 

We Own These Streets 

A deadly accident. A fake identity only known by friends. And a truth that changes everything.

When Victor broke into Iris’ repair shop, she expected a profit raid, not an unknown racer fit for the pro-circuit. But their unintentional attraction provides a chance to get what they both want: a way out. When adrenaline remains the most addictive commodity in a corporate sponsored world, it’s hard to know who to trust and who is trying to sell you something. The race is on, but can they ever stop?

In addition to writing science fiction and fantasy, I always aim to infuse those genres with representation because I think stories become beautifully more complex and truer to life for it. You can check more about me at www.RoseSinclair.com or on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/roseoverchaos.

Genre: Romance

An Italian Christmas

Recently widowed, Casey Hargrove, returns to work in an attempt to get through the holidays without a constant reminder that she will spend it alone. Work isn’t exactly how she left it though. Lucas Santori, an Acquisition Consultant, has been hired to help sell the business. When the business is sold to an Italian company, Casey is offered an opportunity to spend the Christmas season in Italy.

Will her Italian Christmas be the fresh start she’s been looking for?

When I’m not writing, you can find me on my paddleboard or snuggling my chocolate lab. https://www.instagram.com/darling_davenport

Genre: Supernatural/YA

True Vision

Do the past, present, and future exist simultaneously? Is it really possible for Heaven and Earth to intersect?

Marcus Hanes is struggling to cope with the death of his grandfather, when he comes across a few of his vintage belongings. The items are an odd looking compass, a pair of reading glasses, and a journal. For sentimental reasons, he toys with the compass and suddenly finds himself facing in the opposite direction. Upon sharing the experience with his cousins, they discern that the glasses could hold power as well. What they discover next is a level of truth that will alter their existence forever. 

Writing about ordinary people who experience extraordinary things is my passion. To learn more about my other literary works, please visit the link below. https://linktr.ee/MHandy1

Genre: Fantasy

Elianora

Driven by her past to the very edge of the kingdom, Elianora vows to spend the rest of her life atoning for that day when her world was shattered.

But fate, as it turns out, is not done with her yet.

With a soulmate trying to win her heart and the threat of war looming on the horizon, will she be able to cling to her vow of atonement or will she end up taking a path that she never expected?

In addition to writing Urban Fantasy, one of the things I love to do is write fanfiction. You can check it all out here on my blog in addition to my original works.

https://theseekerfiles.wordpress.com/

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Slow Burn Romance A fast pace, Urban Fantasy tale with slow burn romance. Suggested age for reading is 18-up.

I never thought I’d be running the family business alone, but a freak hunting accident left Fenris, my Direwolf companion and me half-dead. Luckily, we pulled through, but my dad he didn’t make it. Now I am searching for the people responsible for his death while digging up the pieces of secrets he kept.


About the author: Adalynd Grayves is the name  and writing darker fiction is my game. When writing my stories, I like to take a pinch of monster, a dash of myth, and add a sprinkle of fairytales into the mix. I’ve been in anthologies in the past, but I’m currently working on publishing my first novel releasing  in 2022 ( official date TBA) and I  have my Kindle Vella serial out and ready to read now.  You can find all my links here:
https://linktr.ee/AdalyndGrayves

Monday Misc.

Genre: Urban Fantasy

What is Urban Fantasy?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

: a genre of imaginative fiction featuring supernatural characters or elements in an urban setting … a sub-genre that has become increasingly popular—urban fantasy. A number of authors have recently told stories of elves and other fairy folk coming to our mundane world, usually setting up shop not in the wooded groves of the past but in crowded modern cities.— William Marden, The Orlando (Florida) Sentinel, 26 Nov. 2000

http://www.m-w.com

Also:

: a work of urban fantasy It’s an elaborate urban fantasy about sisters Makeda and Abby—the offspring of a human mother and benevolent demigod. — Mindy Farabee, The Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2013

http://www.m-w.com

According to Wikipedia:

Urban fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy in which the narrative uses supernatural elements in a 19th-century to 21st-century (or equivalent) urban society.[1][2][3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_fantasy

(The Wikipedia article contains much more info, I recommend checking it out if you’re interested in learning more about the genre, sources at the bottom of the article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_fantasy)

Basically, the way that I understand it, Urban Fantasy is a world where magic and technology co-exist. Where there are all the modern conveniences like cars and cell phones, but there is also magic in the world. For example, in an urban fantasy story, your cab driver could have the ability to teleport to your destination. Or maybe instead of going to college for a business degree, college is mandatory so that people can master their magic gifts before going out and getting hired into the workforce. Or there is some sort of incursion of magical creatures and now the world has to embrace their magical gifts in order to survive and save humanity.

Seriously, the possibilities are endless.

Another popular aspect of Urban Fantasy is alternate historical timelines. For example, what if the Titanic didn’t sink because a magician who could wield fire was on board and melted the iceberg? Or what if the reason that Marco Polo traveled so much was because he was looking for a magical artifact? What if the Mount St. Helens eruption was really the rebirth of a phoenix?

It’s a popular way to take what if questions and look at the world through a different lens, one imbued in magic.

When it comes to Urban Fantasy, the only limit is your imagination, so let it run wild, you never know what amazing thing you will discover around a familiar corner.

Thursday Reads

Thursday Reads – Bunnicula

Here is where I shall share my favorite books.

Summary according to the Library of Congress: Though scoffed at by Harold the dog, Chester the cat tries to warn his human family that their foundling baby bunny must be a vampire.

I have never been able to accurately pin down what genre it is I write. Is it mystery, fantasy, science fiction? All I can say for certain is that I write fiction. I write what I want to, what my characters tell me to write. In a very real sense, I am only the narrator or the scribe for the stories that they tell. But I think that this broad type of writing can trace it’s roots back to my reading. I was a voracious reader that read everything I could get my hands on. So I thought that it would be fun to start sharing the books that mean a lot to me.

I’m starting off with one of my all time favs, Bunnicula. It is told from the viewpoint of Harold, a very patient dog and it is a joy to read.

When the family brings home a baby bunny after going to see the movie Dracula, it’s up to the family pets to determine whether or not this new pet is a threat to the family or not. It combines mystery, vegetables are turning white and being drained of juice, and humor, with the snarky and paranoid actions of Chester the cat.

It is an entertaining read and one that I return to again and again. What is a childhood favorite read for you?