Straight Browsing from the Library: Silent Scream by Marcia Colette

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Marcia Colette will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

READ THE BLURB

Psychokinetic teen Phaedra Thorne is back! Her life consists of balancing her high school and college courses while trying to keep the peace between her older brother Kurt and little sister Nadia. On top of that, their schizophrenic and psychokinetic mom remains locked away in the attic. Believe it or not, things are better than they have ever been.

Those "better times" go up in flames when the only sanctuary the Thornes have ever known--their home--is burnt to the ground. With Kurt severely injured and their mother missing, Phae and Nadia have been left in the hands of the supernatural foster care system. Just as the Thorne sisters start to settle in with her temporary family, a blast from their horrific past comes to their foreboding rescue. Phae has good reason to be apprehensive about the new arrangements, considering many supernaturals want to buy the burnt out husk of a home and have taken a liking to her psychokinesis and Nadia's uncanny prowess. There's only one thing Phae can do. Find their mother.

Having been kidnapped, assaulted, and sold to the highest bidder, Phae will have to learn how to trust other members of her estranged family, if she has any hopes of saving the immediate one she loves.

READ AN EXCERPT

Nadia’s moaning made me go faster. Keeping her head pressed into me, I hurried down the hall, ducked into a room that mom used whenever she came out of the attic. After lowering Nadia to the floor, I found the backpack on the shelf and slung it onto my back. There were things in there we would need like credit cards, cash, checks, and passports. Mason advised we all get one in case we ever need them in an emergency. I guess this counted. I grabbed Nadia’s hand, hurried us downstairs, and out the backdoor instead of the front. Neighbors would be watching, so the less they saw the better.

I pulled Nadia all the way to the worn fence line and dropped the bags by her. I fished around in my purse for my phone until I found it and dialed Mason’s number. He answered on the fourth ring.

“The house is on fire,” I said. “I can’t talk to you now because I have to go back in and get my mother and Kurt out.”

“What?” Any grogginess he might have had in his voice was gone. “No. Phaedra, wait!”

“I can’t talk.”

“Where are you? Are you anywhere around the house? Where’s Nadia?”

“She’s at the far end of the backyard.” I knelt down beside her for a tight hug and a kiss. “You have to come get her. Do you hear me? We may have our differences, but...you’re all that she has at the moment. I have to get the rest of my family out.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I'm Marcia Colette and I love to write urban fantasy, YA, horror, and paranormal romance. Since I was never a voracious reader until later in life, I try to write stories that I like to read, and for readers who don't have a lot of time in their busy lives.

My first published novel started with Half Breed (formerly known as Stripped) and my fantasy life took off from there. My next novel was a paranormal romance entitled Unstable Environment and I also released Bittersweet (YA), Hazardous Environment (Paranormal Romance), The Spider Inside Her (Urban Fantasy), and Deadlier by the Dozen (Urban Fantasy). I have sold several short stories and novellas to Mocha Memoirs Press and I continued my Alexa York series with Purple Sword Publications.

When I'm not reading or writing, I live my best life in the real world as an IT Manager and enjoy getting into trouble with my manga-loving daughter. I can't draw, so she's out of luck with that one. However, I always write a little piece of her into each of my characters.

And before I forget, I also write science fiction under another pen name.

Website: http://www.marciacolette.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marciacolette/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marciacolette
Blog: https://marciacolette.wordpress.com

Amazon Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08K7NPYMN

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Straight Reading from the Library: Stricken by Marcia Collette

This review is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Marcia Colette will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

READ THE BLURB

Personal tragedy convinces half-werewolf Alexa York to get away to the town of McCormick, Pennsylvania where she’s charged with protecting Dr. Aiden Joss, physician to the supernatural community. Not only does she need the money, she needs the distraction. Unfortunately, she gets it in spades when Joss’s personal issues and a myriad of dangerously sick patients make her new job nearly impossible.

A mysterious disease is running its way through the New York Order of the Amazons and leaving bodies in its wake. The same warrior who had chosen her clan over Joss has asked for his help. Even though the disease is real, Alexa has reason to believe his ex’s sincerity is not.

Given the other numerous problems she has to deal with that are outside of her job description, Dr. Joss might be the biggest threat to his own safety. But, protecting him comes first. That’s difficult to do when his efforts to find an antidote put everyone in his remote clinic in danger, including Alexa.

READ THE REVIEW

I've read Marcia Collette before, but not this series. Still, even though this was book two, I snapped it up because I'm a fan of her writing prowess.  I wasn't disappointed.

Mostly, she lets us know the important facts from book one that we missed. I likely still didn't catch some things because I haven't read it, but mostly I didn't miss reading it (though I think I'm going to have to go back and do so, just because it sounds like a good read!).

Alexa is a hybrid werewolf, and the pack hates her for her human blood.  She's married to Matt, a purebred werewolf and it's created a lot of strife for them, but Matt's a good guy and sticks by her. Shortly before the start of this story, though, they suffer a loss that tears them apart (sort of).  As a result, Matt's only in this story for a few pages, and honestly, I missed him because I'm a huge romantic.  And that missing romance for our heroine was really the only downside to the book.

The author creates an amazing group of secondary characters here and I got attached to them all pretty quickly.  I love the idea of a doctor who only treats paranormals... certainly made life interesting for all!  Sammy and Joss and Claudia and maybe even a couple of the Amazons ... boy do I hope they show up again in future books. 

There is a whole bunch of action, and the author does a bang up job with it. I think writing a fight scene has to be one of the hardest things to do, but she handles them perfectly. Plenty of clear description and enough of the internal thoughts that I could "see" what was happening so clearly.  The mystery of who was poisoning the Amazons, too, was well handled and kept me guessing for some time.

I feel like a bit of a fan girl, but this is my second book by the author and my admiration is only growing for her.  She's got a great imagination and the skills to translate that clearly to paper.  I only hope the next book has just a little more romance for the primary character .... my soft heart craves it!

4.5 Stars!

READ AN EXCERPT

“Sounds like you’ve already given it enough thought and gave up.”

“Well, what do you propose I do, Ms. York? Put out a want ad?”

“No, but you ask around. Start with people you trust. Hell, I know one guy in Boston who might actually be interested enough to hear your proposal.” That was assuming my husband’s friend, Tate, wanted to risk being ostracized by the Boston Pack, too.

Heck, Matt wasn’t even ostracized as much as he was chased out like a putrid mutt because he’d decided to mingle with a lower, half-bred species like me. Just like Matt who was a lawyer — another skill that was hard to come by in the supernatural community — Tate was a nurse practitioner who worked in a human hospital and was as close to a doctor as the Boston Pack would ever have.

Dr. Joss sighed and started back through the clinic.

I hurried after him and touched his arm. “I’m not letting you off the hook about the drinking, you know. If you care about your patients, you won’t be falling down drunk right before they call you out to their homes. Send Sammy or Macy, but not you.”

“I’ll have you know, Ms. York, I’m able to metabolize alcohol faster than the average human.”

“Funny. Your making out with the carpet said otherwise.”

“When I care for your opinion, I’ll ask for it. In the meantime, you’ll do as you’re told or walk.”

“Finally. A sound piece of advice.”

I left him standing there.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bestselling author Marcia Colette didn’t discover her love for reading until her late teens when she started reading John Saul and progressed to works by Bentley Little, Stephen King and Laurell K. Hamilton. Her reading tastes convinced her to write paranormals where curses cause people to shift into spiders, psychotic and telekinetic mothers are locked away in attics, and murderous doppelgangers are on a rampage. Let's not forget about the hunky werecheetah coalitions who live throughout North Carolina. As long as she can make it believable, that's all that matters.

Born and raised in upstate New York, Marcia now lives in North Carolina with her mom and beautiful daughter. They’re not raising zombies in the backyard. There aren’t any hellhounds living in the den, only a rabbit and a cockatiel. So where she gets her ideas is as much a mystery to her as anyone else.

The best place to find her--when she's not stirring up trouble--is on her blog where she loves connecting with readers.

Links:
www.marciacolette.com
http://marciacolette.wordpress.com
http://twitter.com/MarciaColette
www.facebook.com/marciacolette
www.goodreads.com/marcia_colette
http://www.amazon.com/Marcia-Colette/e/B002BOHDOE/
http://purplesword.com/

WIN A PRIZE

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Straight Reading from the Library - Marcia Colette

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Marica will be awarding a $10 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

READ THE BLURB

Evelyss Nontage is a housekeeper at the Talbert Estate who has been hired to keep order. Her family is also relying on her to learn of the location of a mysterious portal that allows those from the Fringe Line to pass into the human world. For her and her loved ones, it’s a matter of life and death.

Brahm Gushon is an occupant who has been with many of ladies in waiting. He’s tired of them, too. He’s drawn to the solitary housekeeper who has her mind two things. Her duty and her loyalty to the household. No one will break her concentration. Not even him.

Evelyss and Brahm must work through their frustrated feelings to send a deadly intruder back to hell...assuming he doesn’t take both of them with him. It’ll take another leap of faith in each other to overcome the second enemy they don’t see coming.

MY REVIEW

This is a very quick read --my only complaint is that I wish it were longer.  It felt more like it was part of a larger story.  Because of the shortness of the story, we don't get a lot of what went in to the relationship building between Evelyss and Brahm, and I would have been interested in seeing that relationship grow. There was a very strong attraction between them, especially on Evelyss's part that she tries hard to fight.

The world building we do see is intriguing--it takes place in a world where paranormals roam freely--as long as they don't try to pass over into the human world.  I would love to see more of this world and hope Ms. Colette will revisit the Talbert Estate and the Fringe Line and bring us more stories of this world and its inhabitants.  3.5 stars.

READ AN EXCERPT

Evelyss hurried down the hall. That infuriating man was supposed to bring the girl down. She wasn’t supposed to have to go up and get her. But time was short and those who had already brought down their women were headed into the darkness to patrol the path to the portal before finishing their Sixth Night celebrations.

The entire town of Naya would be there, including just pretty much everyone on staff. Nobody dared miss the rounds of alcohol and fireworks in the street. Sixth Night only happened once a month during the spring, summer, and fall seasons. Everyone worked so hard throughout the region and needed a break, so Sixth Night was the answer to that. Whether you were human or otherwise, old or young, it didn’t matter.

Evelyss wouldn’t be there. This was her night to work before taking the next three days off. Thankfully, the door was open. Evelyss wouldn’t have to knock and interrupt something that would surely leave her red-faced and upset.

Just as she was about to enter the room, Brahm flew out, tucking his shirt into his pants. He slammed into her so fast and hard that she fell backward, with the full length of him on top of her.

Fury roared inside her. She opened her mouth, ready to light into him, when she noticed something else below his waist. Though it wasn’t standing erect at the moment, there was no missing the warm member that rested against her crotch.

Evelyss gulped. “C-c-can you get off me, please?” Great. As if that was supposed to sound angry at him for invading her personal space.

“Uh...”

MEET THE AUTHOR

Bestselling author Marcia Colette didn’t discover her love for reading until her late teens when she started reading John Saul and progressed to works by Bentley Little, Stephen King and Laurell K. Hamilton. Her reading tastes convinced her to write paranormals where curses cause people to shift into spiders, psychotic and telekinetic mothers are locked away in attics, and murderous doppelgangers are on a rampage. Let's not forget about the hunky werecheetah coalitions who live throughout North Carolina. As long as she can make it believable, that's all that matters.

Born and raised in upstate New York, Marcia now lives in North Carolina with her mom and beautiful daughter. They’re not raising zombies in the backyard. There aren’t any hellhounds living in the den, only a rabbit and a cockatiel. So where she gets her ideas is as much a mystery to her as anyone else.

The best place to find her--when she's not stirring up trouble--is on her blog where she loves connecting with readers.

www.marciacolette.com
http://marciacolette.wordpress.com
http://twitter.com/MarciaColette
www.facebook.com/marciacolette
www.goodreads.com/marcia_colette
http://mochamemoirspress.com/
a Rafflecopter giveaway