Blog Archives
Bondwitch: Hybrid
Hybrid, book two in Chelsey M. Ortega’s Bondwitch series, is a paranormal fantasy romance about two sisters, Marianna and Annamaria Lyons, trying to find safety, family, and a place in a magical world that keeps redefining them. The book brings together witches, vampires, shifters, familiars, coven politics, arranged betrothals, old grief, and new romance, all while centering the sisters’ bond as they arrive in Concordia and face the consequences of Marianna’s transformation into a vampire and Annamaria’s role in the Lyons succession.
I liked how Ortega cares about the emotional cost of belonging. Marianna’s story, especially, has that ache of wanting to be accepted while knowing the room has already decided what you are. The early scenes in Concordia make that clear right away. She is welcomed, inspected, pitied, and judged almost in the same breath. I also liked how the book uses its genre elements without letting them sit there as decoration. Vampirism isn’t just cool teeth and night air. Witch politics are not just pretty spells. Shifters are not just muscle and mystery. The supernatural pieces carry real social weight, and that gives the paranormal fantasy side of the novel a stronger pulse.
There is a lot happening: family secrets, romantic tension, coven leadership, vampire ethics, magical law, trauma recovery, and threats still waiting in the shadows. Sometimes that abundance is fun, like opening a drawer full of strange, glittering objects. Still, Ortega’s choices kept me curious. I appreciated that Annamaria is allowed to be angry, messy, and blunt, while Marianna often moves through the story with a softer kind of fear and hope. Their differences make the sister relationship feel lived-in. I also found Libby frustrating in a productive way. She isn’t simply a villain, but she is absolutely someone whose love comes wrapped in control, tradition, and prejudice. That tension gives the book some of its best bite.
Bondwitch: Hybrid will work best for readers who enjoy character-driven paranormal fantasy romance with family drama at its center. I would recommend it to someone who likes witches, vampires, shifters, complicated sister bonds, magical communities, and romance threaded through larger questions about choice and identity. It’s dramatic, emotional, and busy in a way that suits its world. Readers who enjoy supernatural stories with heart, tension, and a strong “found and fought-for belonging” theme will probably have the best time with it.
Pages: 350 | ASIN : B0GP23FLMY
Red Ghost Trilogy: The Complete Series
Red Ghost Trilogy is a big, pulpy, wide-angle genre mashup in the best sense. It opens with a sixteenth-century sea disaster, swings into modern criminal conspiracies and cosmic horror, and keeps expanding until it becomes an apocalypse story with time travel, myth, telepathy, pirates, and spacefaring war. What makes it hang together is that author Gerry Eugene writes like he genuinely enjoys every strange ingredient he’s tossing into the pot. The book isn’t shy about being large, dramatic, and weird, and that confidence gives it a real charge.
What the trilogy really is, though, is an ensemble adventure built around people with mythic nicknames and very human grief. Anders Benson, Emerson Beekman, Anne Forcetti, Fred Collier, and especially Genevieve Cocklin all arrive with outsized abilities, but the story keeps grounding them in loss, loyalty, and stubbornness. Genevieve ends up being the emotional center of a lot of the book, which surprised me in a good way. She’s introduced with the blunt, perfect line, “Genevieve was a pirate,” and Eugene spends a lot of time proving how many shades that can hold: strategist, lover, killer, commander, and eventually something close to legend.
The thing I liked most was the book’s scale. Eugene doesn’t think in narrow lanes. He thinks in collisions: old Spain and future war, organized crime and folklore, fungal plague and sacred cure, helicopters and demons. Even the diction likes to leap upward. Early on, one of the villains offers a string of clues that sounds like a thesis statement for the whole trilogy: “Cosmology. Cosmic vortices. Conical wormholes. Triggering megahertz. Auditory mandalas.” That line tells readers exactly what kind of ride this is. It’s not interested in staying tidy. It wants to be vivid, maximal, and just a little feverish.
Eugene likes ornate prose, formal phrasing, dramatic entrances, and chapter-to-chapter momentum, and that gives the book an old-school storytelling energy. He also has a gift for giving emotional pain a clean, memorable shape. One of the strongest stretches in the first book is Genevieve’s rush toward Seattle after the world has started collapsing around her. That whole sequence works because the action never floats free of feeling. For all the telepathy, monsters, and battlefield planning, the trilogy keeps coming back to what catastrophe does to love, friendship, and chosen family.
Red Ghost Trilogy is a sprawling speculative epic that runs on sincerity, imagination, and momentum. It’s the kind of book that wants to entertain generously. It gives readers haunted history, end-of-the-world stakes, magical combat, and a found-family core sturdy enough to carry all that spectacle. Anyone who likes fiction that blends science fiction, fantasy, horror, and adventure, this collection has a lot to offer. It feels less like a neatly engineered machine and more like a huge, eccentric saga told by someone who loves stories too much to keep them small.
Pages: 748 | ASIN : B0GKXKF9Z6
Dunya: The Mages of Ersa
Dunya: The Mages of Ersa is a work of fantasy, more specifically epic or high fantasy, built around a fractured realm, old magic, political struggle, and the burden carried by a handful of powerful figures trying to hold peace together. The book opens in a world shaped by past wars and prophecy, then moves through the lives of mages, witches, rulers, and ordinary people whose fates keep crossing as conflict grows across Ersa and beyond. What stayed with me most is the sense that this is not just a story about magic as spectacle. It’s a story about inheritance, duty, loss, and the hard question of what kind of power protects a people and what kind destroys them.
What I responded to first was the book’s sincerity. Author R.A. McKee writes like someone who genuinely loves the old building blocks of fantasy: maps, lore, lineages, rival realms, ceremonial moments, named chapters, and characters whose journeys feel tied to something larger than themselves. There is a handmade quality to the novel that I found appealing, especially with the inclusion of the author’s own artwork and the attention given to place and atmosphere. The writing feels almost oral, like a tale being told beside a fire rather than polished into something cool and distant, and I think that works in the book’s favor. It gives the story warmth. Even when the plot moves into war, coronation, and darker magical intrigue, I kept feeling that human thread underneath it.
I also liked that the book seems more interested in moral weight than in empty grandeur. The mages are not treated as shiny fantasy pieces on a board. They carry history, responsibility, and damage. The glimpses of characters like Fionn, Orin, Elias, and Primus suggest a world where magic is bound up with kinship, choice, and consequence, and I appreciated that the story gives room to both large political events and quieter exchanges between people trying to understand what they owe one another. This is the kind of fantasy that asks the reader to lean in and accept its cadence, names, and lore on their own terms. It’s not trying to be brisk. It wants immersion. For me, that made the book feel earnest and distinctive.
I would recommend Dunya: The Mages of Ersa most strongly to readers who enjoy classic-feeling fantasy with deep worldbuilding, mythic stakes, and a clear affection for the genre’s traditional pleasures. If you like fantasy that values lore, kingdoms, mages, prophecy, and the slow gathering of larger destinies, this book will probably speak to you. For someone who wants a heartfelt fantasy novel with ambition, atmosphere, and a genuine sense of lived-in magical history, this is a worthwhile read.
Pages: 421 | ASIN : B0GML5J38Q
On Emerald Wings
On Emerald Wings opens like a fireside tale and then keeps widening until it feels like a full sky. It begins with the Green Wizard Verridon carrying a hidden infant to the hermit Althea, who becomes Godmother to Andreana, or Andi, and raises her deep in the Emerald Forest with the horse Zalaryn as her other guardian. Years later, Andi is a practical, tree-climbing forest girl whose life is split between herbcraft, Green magic, and her wonderfully unruly friendship with Rowan, a pooka with mismatched eyes and a talent for turning any quiet moment into chaos. When Andi’s attempt to save the Emerald Stag leaves the forest wounded, the story shifts into a larger quest involving a fallen kingdom, the rise of the Raven Queen, and the mystery of Andi’s true identity, all building toward battles in Oakfield that are both personal and political.
The book has that rare middle-grade or young YA fantasy quality where the world is enchanted, but the feelings inside it are recognizably human and sometimes sharply painful. The scene with Andi and Rowan facing the hexenwolves is thrilling on its own, but what lingers is the cost of it, the terrible moment when Andi realizes that saving the stag has stripped the trees bare and placed her out of balance with the forest she loves. That choice gives the book moral weight. I also found the found-family thread genuinely affecting. Godmother and Zalaryn feel authentic, bruised by history, loving in slightly guarded ways, and the mystery around their past gives the early chapters a quiet ache. Rowan, meanwhile, is the spark in the tinder. The prankster energy, the blunt loyalty, the sheer comic force of that personality kept the book from ever becoming solemn for too long. I was especially taken with the Starlight Vow because it turns friendship into something ceremonial and binding without draining it of warmth.
As for the writing itself, I found it earnest, vivid, and often charming. Author Jesse Whipple has a strong instinct for comic voice. The owl in the prologue, Rowan’s dead-serious nonsense, and even Andi’s dry reactions to pompous figures like the absurdly titled Corvinous give the book a buoyant rhythm that kept me smiling. I also think the author is at their best when writing movement and transformation. Andi crashing through branches, discovering the physical fact of her dragonwing body, or hurling herself into danger on the steps of the library all have an immediacy that makes the action easy to picture. This is not fantasy trying to reinvent the genre from the ground up. I felt it was more interested in restoring old pleasures with sincerity: balance versus corruption, magic as stewardship rather than domination, courage as something tied to loyalty and grief rather than swagger. That old-fashionedness mostly worked on me.
I admired the way the book lets wonder coexist with responsibility, and the way Andi’s growth never feels abstract but bodily, costly, and intimate. The final stretch, with its exhaustion, aftermath, and hard-won survival, left me satisfied while still making room for more story. My overall feeling is that this is a deeply likable fantasy, generous in spirit and grounded in affection for its characters. I’d recommend it especially to readers who want classic quest fantasy with warmth, younger heroes who feel emotionally real, animal and forest magic, and a strong found-family core.
Pages: 243 | ASIN : B0CW1J2QQH
Emotional Depth
Emerland: The Return of the Dark Lord follows a girl revealed to be the Starborn, as ancient rivalries, forbidden magic, and a love bound to destiny converge in a struggle against the darkness rising. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration to write Emerland: The Return of the Dark Lord was my desire to escape reality and step into a world where dreams were possible. Even though that world carried its own fights, fears, and darkness, victory still had its day.
Over time, I reached a point where I became so detached from reality that Emerland began to feel real. It was then that the story began to shape itself in its own way, becoming something I could clearly visualise unfolding. It reached a point where I was experiencing Emerland rather than writing it, and that is the experience I wanted to offer readers—the ability to see the story unfold as they read. That, to me, is the real joy and the inspiration to write.
How did you balance prophecy and destiny with Diamond’s need to discover herself as a person?
For me, prophecy was never meant to define Diamond—it was meant to challenge her. While it sets a path before her, it does not decide who she becomes.
This is reflected early in the story, where the elves grant Baba Yaba two visions and one life for the chosen one, knowing that one life would never be enough to overcome what lies ahead. In both visions, Diamond fails to fulfil the prophecy—once as a princess, and again despite strength and alliances. Those failures were important, as they show that prophecy alone is not enough.
In the end, the balance comes from making Emerland’s victory feel deserved, rather than something simply written in the stars. It becomes a shared victory—one that others can feel and share in, because they have witnessed Diamond’s fights, failures, struggles, tears, and fears.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
For me, the story was not built around a single theme, but rather a collection of emotions. Each character, dialogue, and moment was shaped by how it felt, and that emotional depth became the foundation of the novel.
For example, love is a strong driving force in the beginning. It is what moves Diamond—she leaves home out of love to find her steward, and later parts from Onyx to continue her journey. Yet, despite those choices, she does not always save what she sets out to protect, and in many ways, she experiences loss.
As the story unfolds, love returns in a more complex form. She fears it, resists it, and questions it, but eventually learns to live with it and draw strength from it.
In contrast, darkness carries its own presence—vast, powerful, and unyielding. It was important for me to do justice to that strength. Even in defeat, it does not simply give in, and that gives weight to the story.
Thus, giving words the weight of emotion is something I see as central to any story. In Emerland: The Return of the Dark Lord, each character carries its own emotional presence, and those emotions grow alongside them—something I found important in keeping the story natural and true. It may be a darker thought, but I found that even when characters are lost, their emotions do not fade; they remain with others and continue to shape the story—and in many ways, that is what keeps it alive…..
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
Writing is my passion. The stories and characters stay with me, often returning as thoughts in moments of quiet reflection—something I enjoy, though at times I set it aside to focus on life.
At the moment, I am not actively working on a new project, but I feel there is still much more to uncover within Emerland: The Return of the Dark Lord. Each character carries more of their story yet to be told, and it is a world I would certainly like to return to and continue exploring.
For now, my focus remains on Emerland: The Return of the Dark Lord and sharing its journey with readers.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website | Amazon
A sweeping tale of prophecy and rebellion, of mothers and monsters, Emerland: The Return of the Dark Lord is a lyrical epic where light is fragile, hope is costly, and even the stars are not silent.
The Faded Wonders
The Faded Wonders, by Olex Mayen, follows four little adventurers who crash into each other’s lives and end up following a strange glowing map that hints at forgotten “wonders” hidden all over their world. They hike through wild places, solve odd little mysteries, and meet some pretty weird, magical stuff, all while trying to figure out what these wonders actually are. It feels like being dropped into a cozy fantasy game where every new area has its own mood, its own challenge, and a tiny hint that something bigger is waiting just out of sight.
Reading it, I felt wrapped up in a really cozy yet big adventure. Like a video game level select, married to a bedtime story. The writing is rich and cinematic, with waterfalls that hiss like silver curtains and caves that hum with trapped songs and strange guardians. I liked how each character brings a different flavor to the journey. Blukky is pure wonder, Scouty is the careful map nerd, Vroomy is all speed and swagger, and Chippy keeps cracking grumpy jokes and practical comments, so the story never gets too serious. The structure is very questy. Forest puzzle, ice puzzle, ocean puzzle, sky puzzle, fire puzzle, space puzzle. That rhythm feels satisfying, especially for kids who enjoy “what’s the next level” stories.
The book keeps nudging at softer ideas, and that hit me in the feels more than the big magic. The Starforge scene, where they are told that power fades but wisdom sticks, lands gently but is impactful, and I really appreciated that choice. The theme of “wonder that never disappears, it just waits” runs all the way from the opening note to the final key that is meant for future dreamers, and that gave the whole thing a warm echo in my head after I finished. I also loved that the friends are allowed to be scared, or annoyed, or tired. Vroomy is not just a show off; he learns patience. Chippy complains, then steps up anyway. Blukky worries and still moves forward. Those little emotional beats make the big cosmic stuff feel more grounded.
The pictures in this book pop right off the page, all bright colors and soft glowing details that feel kind of like a Pixar movie in book form. The characters are super cute with big, expressive faces that make them feel alive. Every scene has a strong mood, from cozy and warm to cool and mysterious, and the art makes the world feel magical.
I would recommend The Faded Wonders to kids who are ready for a longer, chaptered adventure and for children who enjoy reading something lush and imaginative out loud. It feels like the start of a series that readers can grow with, and I can see this working great as a shared nighttime read for ages roughly seven to eleven, depending on reading level. If a child loves fantasy worlds with talking animal heroes, glowing artifacts, and a gentle lesson about curiosity and courage, this book fits nicely on their shelf. It suits readers who like maps, quests, puzzles, and that feeling of “one more chapter, then bed, promise.”
Pages: 198 | ASIN : B0G9M82SV3
Magical Adventures
Mari-chan and Roboto Bunny follow a fearless six-year-old who, after her father goes missing in an avalanche, sets out on an adventure with her magical stuffed bunny to rescue her father. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
When my daughter was a baby, a friend gave her a white bunny stuffie with a blue tummy that lights up and plays music when you press it. The bunny was her favorite stuffie. I used to imagine them going on magical adventures together.
I rock climb as a hobby, not seriously like the dad in the book. But I thought, what if a rock climbing dad got trapped in an avalanche and it was up to his baby daughter and her stuffie to rescue him? I had to write the story to find out.
Mari-chan has to turn into a baby to get through the secret passage so she can find her father. This is a unique setup for a valuable lesson in bravery and perseverance. What were the morals you were trying to capture while creating your characters?
Six-year-olds tend to be very active. This is when a lot of kids start trying sports, like climbing, gymnastics, and swimming. Their confidence can become linked to that skill. But what if they can’t do gymnastics anymore? What if they lose the ability to do the thing they think makes them special? Would their confidence crumble? It’s important to realize that bravery isn’t just about physical ability. It’s a lesson that both the daughter and the dad have to learn.
What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children’s book?
The most important thing for me was to write a story that my daughter would want to read because I think reading is very important, especially for young children. My daughter complained that a lot of books I tried to get her to read were boring, so I made up my own story with things she likes: cute animals, adventure, songs, and riddles. By the way, parents who read this to their kids need to sing the songs.
Education wasn’t my primary goal with Mari-chan and Roboto Bunny, but to tell an interesting story, I had to introduce words and concepts, like avalanche and ferry, which are new to many six-year-olds. Whenever my daughter asked what something meant, I would explain and then move on with the story. This approach helped integrate the educational aspects into the story naturally.
I think it worked. I would read Mari-chan and Roboto Bunny to my daughter from my phone at bedtime, and she sometimes got so into the story that she took my phone and read it herself. She said it was the bestest story ever.
What is the next story that you’re writing, and when will it be published?
Mari-chan and Roboto Bunny was loosely based on Dante’s Inferno. I’m planning a sequel that will loosely follow Purgatorio (the next book in Dante’s The Divine Comedy), which I plan to publish before Christmas. I’d like to do a full trilogy, but I’ll see how it goes.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website | Amazon
On their journey, baby Mari-chan and Roboto Bunny must outwit hungry animals, alligator bridges, three-headed “beasts,” silly thieves, grumpy talking trees, a Bunny Kingdom gate test, and a wise owl tribunal. Along the way, Mari-chan discovers that even in a tiny body, her courage, creativity, and kindness are bigger than she ever imagined. But will her bravery and wits help rescue her dad, before it’s too late? It’s up to Mari-chan and Roboto Bunny to find out.
This heartwarming and imaginative allegory, reminiscent of Dante’s Inferno, shares that a difficult journey often has the best destination.
Soul of the Saviour
Soul of the Saviour drops you into a wild mix of brutal training grounds, smoky alleys, ancient magic, and the strange heat of Hell itself. The book follows Saxon Payne as he crawls back into life after years in a mystical retreat. It weaves through his past, the rise of lethally gifted assassins, demonic lovers, grim prisons, tender memories, and the looming clash between Heaven, Hell, and everything in between. It moves fast and swings between action, horror, and raw intimacy. Sometimes it feels like half spiritual odyssey and half grindhouse myth. I found myself swept up in the momentum because the story rarely slows down enough for you to catch your breath.
The writing goes for broke. Scenes in Hell’s kitchens shimmer with disgusting brilliance, and scenes of training in the mountains bristle with physical grit and stillness. There is a real commitment to showing bodies under strain and souls under pressure. The prose jumps from grim to tender in a heartbeat, and it gave me that sense of watching someone flip through different emotional filters just to see what hits hardest. The violence is bold. The sensuality is bold. The humor sneaks in with a wink. I liked how messy it all felt, because it made the characters feel lived-in and not staged.
The whole thread around becoming more than human through suffering made me uneasy and fascinated at the same time. I found myself rooting for characters who should have terrified me and shaking my head at choices that were obviously doomed. The story loves duality. Hope beside despair. Faith beside hunger. Love beside something darker and stranger. Sometimes it veers into excess, and sometimes the emotional beats come so fast I had to take a moment to reorient. But even then, I felt drawn along by the sheer confidence of the storytelling. It feels like the author trusts you to surf the chaos, and I liked that.
By the end, I felt satisfied and also curious because the book leaves a lot of questions humming under the surface. I would recommend Soul of the Saviour to readers who enjoy high-energy dark fantasy, intense character arcs, sharp edges, and worlds that bend myth with modern grit. If you like stories that mix heart with horror and beauty with brutality, this one will keep you turning pages long after you planned to stop.
Pages: 325 | ASIN : B0FCDT2J11
