Monday Madness

I promised everyone I'd be starting some new stuff and I meant it. Welcome to Monday Madness. Every Monday I will dedicate the day to a book I've read that I loved. Just one book, be it a singular title or part of a series that stands out as an excellent read. Now here's the first book:

Dark Needs At Night's Edge: This is book 5 in Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series and is my absolute favorite. Books 1 thru 4 introduced us to the world of the Lore and the many species who inhabit it. The Valkyrie, Witches, Vampires, Lykae, Sirens, Furies and Elves just to name a few. But with book 5 we meet a whole new member.

Conrad Wroth is a vampire who's gone insane. Turned against his will by his older brothers, his rage was beyond measure. Throw into the mix that he'd been a vampire hunter before the switch and he's got real issues. Determined to save his sanity, his brothers, once again against Conrad's will, kidnap him and lock him up in a spooky old house. They chain him up with magicked chains so he can't break free.

The house is spooky for a damn good reason. It's haunted by the spirit a woman who'd been murdered. Neomi Laress has her own problems. No one can see her yet she's stuck in limbo. The house that she'd once loved and lovingly restored is now her prison. She has immense power in her home, but she physically cannot leave the property. To make matters worse, once every month she is forced to go to her ballroom and physically experience her murder all over again.

But Conrad, due to being nuts is able to see her, hear her, and communicate with her. His brothers think he's just manifesting delusions as part of his madness and discount his claims. But Neomi is real and help from a powerful witch will be needed to save her. The question is, will the witch's spell bring her back wrong? Or will she take a place among the Lore as one of the most powerful and rare beings in their world?

I LOVE this book. Conrad is a total hottie and Neomi is an awesome and strong woman despite being a ghost. In life she'd been a burlesque dancer turned ballerina killed by a spurned lover. That strength of spirit, to overcome her poor past and rise to high society translates to her fight to become more than just a ghost.

And Conrad's struggle to overcome years of madness and years of anger and betrayal by his brothers make him one super hot sexy nutso vampire. If anyone threatens Neomi or his connection to her he goes beserk to the point that he becomes stronger than even the Rage Demons or Lykae when they fully embrace their dark sides. Only Neomi can bring him back from the edge of total madness.

I love the Immortals After Dark series, but Dark Needs At Night's Edge is my total favorite hands down. This book is awesome and Kresley Cole tells a fantastic story. For a full list of Kresley's books, go to her website. Trust me, these books are worth getting. I got my first copy from the library and have since bought them all...in hardbound.:-)

Coming Tomorrow

Her Last Day, my first co-authored novel with my Mother, L.J. Holmes is releasing tomorrow from Muse It Up Publishing. I am so excited. This story, a historical romance that takes place in Ancient Rome was a labor of love for both of us. Get your copy by clicking below.

https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=610&category_id=8&manufacturer_id=287&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Back Cover:




The date was August 24th 79 A.D. and it started like every other day in Pompeii. But the clock is ticking and disaster is about to strike. Daria, the wife of a selfish businessman, is about to find out that there are worse things than a loveless marriage. But through it all, is there any cause for hope?

Stellar New Cover

I am so thrilled to unveil my new cover for book 2 in my Artica Lights series. Reflections Of Ice will be releasing from Muse It Up Publishing this December. The extremely talented Suzi Safi did the cover and I LOVE it!

In To The Past!

Do you believe in past lives? That we have lived before and will again? I do. When I was a child, before I ever spoke English, my mother will tell you I spoke fluent German. My grandfather immigrated to the United States from Poland, but he was a social climber and refused to ever allow his native language or his culture to be spoken anywhere. So I didn't learn German from my family. Yet I spoke it and to this day I still say certain phrases in German rather than English.

I also have very vivid memories of the Nazi death camps and know I died in one. So I firmly believe in reincarnation. They also say if a certain period in history draws your interest to the point you have to know everything about it, you probably lived in that time.

For me, the historical points that hold my interest besides the Holocaust are many. I have always loved learning about the Scottish Clan wars, ancient Greece, the Gothic histories of Romania and Bulgaria, and the history and culture of Nepal.

My mother is drawn to the American Revolution, medieval Russia, the Mary Queen of Scots period of Scotland, & the Anasazi period of American history. She is also completely in love with the time period of Vesuvius's eruption in Pompeii.

It is because of her love for that time period that I decided we should write a story about Pompeii. Her Last Day, our first co-authored tale releasing in October from Muse It Up Publishing is the result. It follows a Roman noblewoman named Daria through the events of August 24th 79 AD.

Those are the times that matter to us historically. What time periods catch your eye?

Fury Of Nature

They had no word for volcano back. To them, Vesuvius was just a beautiful backdrop to a land lush and fertile. But such fertile soil comes with a terrible price. Though looking at the mountain while it sleeps, you can understand why no one suspected the danger that boiled beneath the surface.

The day started like any other with people milling about the markets attending their business. It was just another hot summer day.



But come lunchtime that all changes as Vesuvius roars to life.

Now is the time to make decisions, to stay or flee. Many will choose to stay not recognizing the peril they are in.

Roofs weren't build to withstand more than rain. Pebbles build up and roofs collapse.



People flee to find refuge anywhere they can with stronger supports like this bathhouse. But it will only keep them safe for so long.

Those in the streets and heading for the bay don't even have as long as those who have sought shelter.

But for Daria and Acteon, all they can do is hold each other as the storm heads right for them.

Do you think the people of Pompeii knew they were going to die? I'd say based on their death casts they knew. And they didn't die quickly or without terrible suffering.



HER LAST DAY, co-written by mother L.J. Holmes and daughter Kat Holmes is coming in October from Muse It Up Publishing. The mountain is waking.