Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – Weekly News – #Reviews – #Fantasy K.M. Allan, #Fantasy C.S. Boyack, #Poetry Colleen M. Chesebro

Welcome to the weekly news with recent reviews for authors on the shelves.

The first author today is K.M. Allan with a recent review for Blackbirch: The Dark Half

About the book

Now that the origins of his power have been revealed, Josh Taylor’s search for answers continues with the arrival of Kallie-a girl he thought only existed in his dreams.

Running from her own secrets, she shows Josh how to use his gift in ways he didn’t know were possible. But, as they push the limits of their abilities, they discover there are consequences to messing with magick.

Security guard Kered knows the repercussions. Finding a power-filled crystal, he starts a chain reaction that brings a dangerous foe from Kallie’s past to Blackbirch and forces a devastating choice. Is Josh and Kallie’s bond strong enough to save them? And wi

One of the recent reviews for the book

May 08, 2021 Katya Dibb rated it Four Stars really liked it

After the cliff-hanger of book one, how could you not be hanging out for book two?

Excited to see all the gang again as their adventure deepens and more mystery abounds. A lot of my questions from book one were answered but new ones woven in through an exciting witchy adventure mean I’m now dying for book three – why do you keep doing this do us, K.M?!

Definitely worth picking up if you enjoyed book one and want to know more about the magic that binds Josh and Kallie together 

Also by K.M. Allan

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – Follow K.M. Allan: Goodreads – Instagram: K.M. Allan Writer – Facebook: K.M. Allan Writer – Twitter: @KMAllan_writer

The next author with a review is  C.S. Boyack for Lunar Boogie (The Hat Book 4)

About the book

Lizzie and the hat are back in action, only this time they’re up against the most tragic monster of all, a werewolf.

This adventure is more like hunting an animal, and the werewolf is unlikely to come to any of their musical performances. This puts Lizzie out in the dark corners and wooded areas of the city. It may be more beneficial to get the monster to hunt Lizzie than to stalk him on his own turf. All she has to do is be quicker on the trigger than the wolf is on his feet.

At the same time, the police think they’re after a serial killer. Lizzie tries to keep them alive while also keeping them out of her way. As the body count rises, so do the pressures. It doesn’t help that people are blaming Lizzie and the hat for the killings. This involves an urban myth about them that the locals call Hellpox.

Pull on your boogie shoes and join the hunt. Designed as an afternoon read, this one is tons of supernatural fun.

An recent review for the book

writester 4.0 out of 5 stars Things Just Got Real!  Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2021

In the latest installment of this must-read series, Boyack upped the stakes. The creature on the loose is a werewolf, which means Lizzie is hunting a mindless killing machine—who is human the rest of the month. That weighs on her conscience. Especially when she fears the monster might be a dear friend.

Boyack also adds a new character to the mix, a detective who talks to the spirit of his dead wife. This is a supernatural franchise, so I can see this becoming a storytelling device, and I’d love to see it develop further as the tales continue.

We get all the elements we’ve come to expect from hat stories: a great musical playlist, witty banter between the hat and Lizzie, Internet jokes, the return of some favorite recurring characters, and even the radio show continues to speculate about their alter ego. These callbacks make each installment of the hat series extra special and more fun to read.

But Lizzie is getting further steeped in the supernatural world, that that comes with dangers and horrors, which means the story gets a little darker. And while I don’t mind dark, readers should know the light-hearted tone they’ve come to expect won’t always be there this time.

Lunar Boogie didn’t end on a cliffhanger, but it definitely told me there was more to come. This world is growing and changing, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

A selection of other books by C.S. Boyack

C. S. Boyack, Buy: Amazon US – and :Amazon UK – Follow Craig: Goodreads – blog:Cold Hand Boyack – Twitter: @Virgilante

The final author today is Colleen M. Chesebro with a recent review for Word Craft Prose & Poetry.

About the guide and collection

Are you ready to learn how to craft Japanese and American poetry? Consider this book the first step on your journey to learning the basics of how to craft syllabic poetry. Inside, you will discover many new forms, syllable combinations, and interpretations of the different Japanese and American forms and structures of haiku, senryu, haiga, tanka, renga/solo renga, gogyohka, haibun, tanka prose, the cinquain, and its variations, Etheree, nonet, and shadorma poetry.

So… what are you waiting for? Let’s craft syllabic poetry together!

A recent review for the guide and poetry collection

Andrea L. Stoeckel 5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing resource  Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2021

“Syllabic verse is all about the brevity of words. For this reason, we’re forced to choose words pregnant with meaning to get our experiences across to our reader.”

Poetry is a very personal form of art (Yes, word craft is art) that blossoms from emotional stuff both positive and negative. From the 17th century haiku master Basho to today’s ad jingle we are in contact with it more than we may notice. Syllabic poetry is both easy and hard as Chesbro challenges the reader to look beyond haiku to other forms such as tanka, haibun, renga, cinquain shardoma, nonet and others.

This is a very well written, easily accessible book that if I had the resources would sit on my shelf in paper form. Colleen Chesbro is a writer I have followed and communicated with through Tanka Tuesdays and other forums. I’ve even been prompted to restart my own poetry journey [ note I am an award winning poet on my own merits published in 2 anthogies in the 1980s and 90s]. I love the fact that this book being a non fiction contemporary look at a very old form of art as communication also reminds the reader to keep trying. one of the best non fiction books I have read this year and highly recommended. 5/5 

Also by Colleen M. Chesebro

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – And:Amazon UK – Goodreads: Colleen at Goodreads – Website Wordcraft poetry – Author blog: Colleen Chesebro – Twitter: @ColleenChesebro

 

Thank you for dropping in today and I hope you are leaving with some books.. Sally.

 

Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – Meet the Authors 2021 – #Fantasy K.M. Allan, #Supernatural Jessica Bakkers, #Family Johnnie Bernhard

Since the last series of meet the authors in June last year another 25 authors have joined the Cafe and Bookstore. This is an opportunity to get to know them and their books a little better. I will also include their blog social media links and it would be great if you could follow them there too.

Meet K.M. Allan

K.M. Allan is an identical twin, but not the evil one. She started her career penning beauty articles for a hairstyling website and now powers herself with chocolate and green tea while she writes books and blogs about writing.

Her debut novel, Blackbirch: The Beginning, was released February 2020, followed in July by the second book in the Urban Fantasy series, Blackbirch: The Dark Half. Both books have been a hit with readers, receiving multiple 4 and 5 star reviews.

When K.M.’s not creating YA stories full of hidden secrets, nightmares, and powerful magic, she likes to read, binge-watch too much TV, spend time with family, and take more photos than she will ever humanly need.

Visit her social media to discover the mysteries of the universe. Or at the very least, some good writing tips.

Books by K.M. Allan

One of the recent reviews for Blackbirch – The Beginning

Jan 26, 2021 Tomas Grizzly rated it Five Stars

This is slightly out of my usual genre preferences. And I’ve read it in 3 days. I admit I’m not even sure what genre it is. Paranormal/thriller with fantasy elements, maybe? So, take the 5-star rating with a grain of salt because it’s mostly based on how it dragged me inside but I can’t comment on genre specifics.

Either way, I was easily gripped by the story. The dream sequences were quite livid and nailed their purpose, and the ending raises just the right questions to make me interested in how it may play out next – to the point I’ll likely return to the story sooner or later.

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – Follow K.M. Allan: Goodreads – Instagram: K.M. Allan Writer – Facebook: K.M. Allan Writer – Twitter: @KMAllan_writer

Meet Jessica Bakkers

I am a creative writer with over twenty years of writing experience. I am a speculative fiction writer, and have written in the genres of fantasy-romance and paranormal-romance, however my genre of choice when it comes to writing for myself is dark fantasy where I can allow myself to fully explore the anti-hero characters that pepper my stories. I dabble at poetry and have written professionally for clients locally and internationally.

My debut novel, Guns of Perdition, The Armageddon Showdown Book 1, is a dark fantasy stroll through a weird wild west setting, pitting bad heroes against worse villains.

My major love affair is with the written word; specifically creative writing. I allow myself to indulge and rendezvous with this secret lover whenever time allows… and then we make beautiful poetry together!

One of the recent reviews for the book

Jacqui Murray VINE VOICE 5.0 out of 5 stars A paranormal western with demons, saloons, guns, and wolves as partners Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2020

In Jessica Bakkers’ Guns of Perdition, Book 1 in The Armageddon Showdown (2020), female bounty hunter Grace Dyer and her oversized dire wolf (not really a dire wolf but with those characteristics) Kava are tracking a ruthless killer who murdered Grace’s parents when she was only eleven. Now, she’s grown up, trained herself to be one of the best bounty hunters of demons and monsters in the Old West, and she wants revenge. She funds her search for this personal demon by capturing the worst of the magical monsters, those that often look benign but are as bad as they come. In one small town, hunting a fanged demon that looks like a beautiful saloon girl, Grace gets unexpected help from a seventeen-year-old bar cleaner, Jessie. He saves her life and she allows him to tag along as she pursues her trade despite that he is not brave, not gun-savvy, and doesn’t even own a hat to keep the sun off. Why? He confesses he has nowhere else to go. Grace, Kava, and Jessie become a fighting unit, each with their own strengths but all with one goal: justice for the murders of Grace’s parents.

Though at its most basic, Guns of Pardition is a paranormal story, it includes plenty of popular western elements–guns, bounty hunters, saloons, whores, owlhoots, and the natural justice that tamed the West. Grace is strong, clever, and tenacious. She doesn’t back off and has a few tricks up her sleeve that few bounty hunters or lawbreakers can match. Recommended for those who love wolf stories, Westerns, and original paranormal.

Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – More Reviews: Goodreads – Author pages: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – Website – JessicaBakkers.com – Facebook – The Written Word – Twitter – @JessicaBakkers

Meet Johnnnie Bernhard

A former teacher and journalist, Johnnie Bernhard is passionate about reading and writing. Her work(s) have appeared in the following publications: University of Michigan Graduate Studies Publications, Heart of Ann Arbor Magazine, Houston Style Magazine, World Oil Magazine, The Suburban Reporter of Houston, The Mississippi Press, the international Word Among Us, Southern Writers Magazine, The Texas Review, Southern Literary Review, and the Cowbird-NPR production on small town America essays.

A Good Girl (2017) was shortlisted in the 2015 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Writing Competition, as well as featured novel for panel discussion at the 2017 Mississippi and Louisiana Book Festivals. The novel was shortlisted in the 2017 Kindle Book Award for Literary Fiction, a nominee for the 2018 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, shortlisted by the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Fiction of the Year Award, and placed in the permanent collection of the Texas State Library and Archive Commission, Texas Center for the Book.

Johnnie’s second novel, How We Came to Be (2018) was a finalist in the 2017 Faulkner-Wisdom Competition. Named a “Must Read” by Southern Writers Magazine, the novel was featured for panel discussion for the 2018 Louisiana Book Festival and Mississippi Book Festival. It was selected for the 2019 Deep South Magazine recommended reading list and shortlisted by the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters for 2019 Fiction of the Year. It is the recipient of the Summerlee Book Prize, HM by the Center for History and Culture at Lamar University.

Her third novel, Sisters of the Undertow (2020) was chosen for discussion at the 2020 national AWP Conference, the Pat Conroy Literary Center of South Carolina, the Southern Book Festival/Humanities Tennessee, and Words and Music Literary Feast of New Orleans. It was an official selection for the 2020 international Pulpwood Queens Book Club and Deep South Magazine’s recommended reading list for 2020. Named “Best of the University Presses, 100 Books” by the Association of University Presses, Sisters of the Undertow was shortlisted in the Kindle Book Awards for literary fiction. It was placed in the Texas Center for the Book, State Library Collection.

Johnnie was chosen as a selected speaker in the 2020 TEDx Fearless Women Series. She also supports young writers in public schools through the Letters About Literature program with the Texas Center for the Book and with the Write for Mississippi program.

Books by Johnnie Bernhard

One of the recent reviews for Sisters of the Undertow

Jody A. 5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read page-turner for those with siblings  Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2021

Sisters of the Undertow by Johnnie Bernhard is a well-written, thought-provoking book about two sisters – Kimberly caught in the undertow of self-absorption and isolation and Kathy caught in the undertow of a premature birth with hearing aids, thick glasses and a low IQ. Those of us with siblings relate to Kimberly and Kathy as they move through their own undertows and respond to the undertows of their sibling. They both need saviors – Kathy chooses Jesus and Kimberly chooses books. Kathy spreads love and joy while Kimberly rejects it. The sisters begin life sharing the same bed, loving each other. The book ends with one of the sisters in bed hoping the other will come home. This is a must-read page-turner for those with siblings. In the end don’t we all wish our siblings will come home?

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – Follow Johnnie: Goodreads – Website: Johnnie Bernhard Author – Facebook: Author Johnnie Bernhard – Twitter: @JABernhard – LinkedIn: Johnnie Bernhard

 

Thank you for dropping in today and I hope that you have enjoyed meeting some of the recent authors in the Cafe and Bookstore and discovering their books. Thanks Sally.