Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – Author Updates – #Fantasy C.S. Boyack, #Romance Lizzie Chantree, #Truecrime Sue Coletta

Posted on March 5, 2021 by Smorgasbord - Variety is the Spice of Life.

Welcome to the Friday Edition of the Cafe and Bookstore update with recent reviews for authors on the shelves.

The first book with a recent review is Voyage of the Lanternfish (The Lanternfish Series Book 1) by C.S. Boyack.

About the book

An honorable man is mistaken for his disreputable father. Now he’s pushed into a political scheme to start a war that will spread across multiple kingdoms. James Cuttler’s fiancé is being held captive to ensure he goes through with the plan.

He soon decides his skills are at sea and procures a ship to wage war upon those who disrupted his simple life. He can’t do it alone, so he recruits a band of cutthroats to help him. But first, they need guns and munitions to outfit the ship properly. Deception and trickery will only get them so far. Eventually, they’re going to have to engage the enemy.

James’ goals aren’t necessarily the same as his crew. It’s a delicate balancing act to collect enough loot to keep his crew happy, while guiding them back to rescue the girl.

Voyage of the Lanternfish is filled with adventure, magic, and monsters. Lots of monsters. Hoist the colors and come along for the ride.

A recent review for the book

D. W. Peach The root monsters will “grow” on you in this pirate adventure.

James Cuttler’s sweetheart, Bonnie, is bricked into a tower by the Earl of Grandelur and won’t be released until James and Dan (Bonnie’s brother) incite a war between two rival nations. This demand kicks off the adventure as James and Dan travel through the fantasy world—first by wagon and later by sea as pirates. They assemble allies and a ship’s crew and cause havoc everywhere they go.

The book is a jaunting quest with a focus on a unique collection of characters and worldbuilding detail. The pace is moderate, and the plot ambles in places, but there are also bouts of intense action, and readers who enjoy pirates will appreciate the sea battles.

As other readers have mentioned, the real stars of the book are the root monsters. They “grew” on me, and their scenes are hysterical from start to finish. Boyack has a wonderful way of creating magical characters and imbuing them with distinct—and frequently outrageous—personalities. The root monsters are impressive.

I recommend this fantasy read to anyone who enjoys rambling quests with fabulous characters, sea battles, and plenty of humor.

Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK

A selection of other books by C.S. Boyack

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – and :Amazon UK – Follow Craig: Goodreads – blog: Cold Hand Boyack – Twitter: @Virgilante

The next review is for Lizzie Chantree for the holiday romance Babe Driven.

About the book

A sizzling romance read full of giggles, sunshine and searching for a soul mate in paradise, by international bestselling author, Lizzie Chantree. If you love bad boy romances with strong women, you’ll love Lizzie Chantree’s exciting and irresistible reads.

A millionaire, rock star romance.

Driving straight out of trouble and into paradise!

Harriet’s crazily successful business idea is under serious threat, and the danger seems to be coming from inside her own family. She whisks her sisterand her friends away to an exotic location to try and work out whose side they are on. It’s time to start damage limitation.

When the girls arrive at the glorious villa owned by Harriet’s maverick business partner Nikki, they find a gorgeous band and their sexy lead singer Max staying next door, out to entice their new neighbours into all kinds of trouble.

This isn’t a holiday for Harriet and she can’t afford to be distracted. She has to sell her business idea to the powerful resort owner, the elusive Mr Grant, while she is there, or she may not have a business to go back to. Harriet will have to choose between family and friends, business or pleasure. For someone who stays out of the limelight, even though her new company is the hottest ticket in town, she’s going to have to avoid the front pages of every newspaper if she wants to survive the ride!

One of the recent reviews for the book

Amazon Customer Beneath the bubbles and froth lies a labyrinthine veiled mystery.

I have now read all of Lizzie Chantree’s books and loved every one of them. They all seem to have uncommon and fascinating plots leading the reader in so many direction whilst being captivated by the study in the personalities of the characters and their relationships. This book is no exception:

Harriet has built a successful business and it needs to expand but the offers of funding come with conditions, some obvious and some downright devious. Is Harriet a match for the front runner, Ben Grant? She thinks she is, but…

With the offer of a luxury villa in an exclusive sun drenched resort owned by the Ben Grant, she takes her sister and some of her friends for a week’s holiday. It is not as generous as it sounds as someone has been sabotaging Harriet’s business and she could narrow this down to this pool of friends or maybe their spurious associates, even her sister. And then there is her jealous step-brother, left back in London to create havoc.

In the next door villa is a famous pop group: cue lasciviousness, lust and love from both groups of the beau monde. In the meantime Harriet lays mantraps, red herrings, and a trail of bait, but she is not immune to the leader of the band, or indeed the Funder (everyone is gorgeous).

What follows is an Agatha Christie like mystery but with no bodies, unless you count the youthful easy on the eyes, ladies and hunks of men. There are veils and layers of subterfuge to satisfy anyone and it all leads to the final pages before we know how things will pan out, by which time you have sweated buckets and become thoroughly engaged.
Yes, it is frothy. Yes, it is sort of contrived, but it works on so many levels and I loved it. Highly recommended along with all of Chantree’s other books – 5 stars

Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US

Also by Lizzie Chantree

Read the reviews and buy the books:Amazon UK – And:Amazon US – Follow Lizzie: Goodreads – website:Lizzie Chantree – Twitter: @Lizzie_Chantree

The final author with a recent review is for bestselling crime author Sue Coletta and Pretty Evil New England: True Stories of Violent Vixens and Murderous Matriarchs

About the book

For four centuries, New England has been a cradle of crime and murder—from the Salem witch trials to the modern-day mafia. Nineteenth century New England was the hunting ground of five female serial killers: Jane Toppan, Lydia Sherman, Nellie Webb, Harriet E. Nason, and Sarah Jane Robinson.

Female killers are often portrayed as caricatures: Black Widows, Angels of Death, or Femme Fatales. But the real stories of these women are much more complex. In Pretty Evil New England, true crime author Sue Coletta tells the story of these five women, from broken childhoods, to first brushes with death, and she examines the overwhelming urges that propelled these women to take the lives of a combined total of more than one-hundred innocent victims. The murders, investigations, trials, and ultimate verdicts will stun and surprise readers as they live vicariously through the killers and the would-be victims that lived to tell their stories.

A recent review for the book on Goodreads

Feb 16, 2021 Rebecca Hill rated it four stars really liked it

Fascinating and interesting read! For those who are interested in serial killers, this book is for you!

Meticulously researched and well put together, this book is going to take you down the poisoned path of murder, and reveals the story in-depth along the way! This is one that you do NOT want to miss!

Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK

A selection of books by Sue Coletta

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – follow Sue : Goodreads – website/blog: Sue Coletta – Twitter: @SueColetta1