Last week happy to welcome Mishell Baker for an interview, and also ran a 5 star review for her book Borderline. Now, here’s an excerpt from Borderline so you can check it out for yourself:     ABOUT MISHELL BAKER Mishell Baker is a 2009 graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop, and her short stories have appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Redstone Science Fiction, and Electric Velocipede. She has a website at MishellBaker.com and frequently tweets about writing, parenthood, mental health, and assorted geekery at @MishellBaker. When she’s not attending conventions or going on wild research adventures, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and children. Borderline is her debut novel.   About the Book

Eleanor is an emotional journey of a book, a journey that takes you to some dark and uncomfortable places. But don’t let that scare you away, because the author did an amazing job balancing the darker parts. It was actually a touching and magical story that happened to have some sad, tragic and painful elements.  Eleanor and Esmerelda were inseparable twins until a tragic accident kills Esmerelda, leaving Eleanor’s life forever altered and inevitably darker than the one she remembers from before, back when her sister was alive and at her side. It is a story about hindsight, dreams, letting go and moving forward. It is a story of loss and recovery. It is a story that really packs a lot in its pages. It may not have taken me very long to read (maybe 2 days), but it is a story that will stick with me. While this book is undeniably emotional, it was not as depressing of a read as I had anticipated, there felt to be more to it than just heartache. But definitely be prepared for some serious feels. The structure of Eleanor does contain time jumps, but they are easy to navigate and help piece together…

Here’s a rundown of the books we think you should look out for in coming in the week. See any that you are really looking forward to? Find any you had not heard of yet? Know of books we missed? We know we don’t have everything and would love to hear what you feel we may have overlooked.   FANTASY             A Shadow all of Light Fred Chappell 4/12/2016 Tor Masks and Shadwos Stephanie Burgis 4/12/2016 Pyr Bloodmage Stephen Aryan 4/12/2016 Orbit Illidan: World of Warcraft William King 4/12/2016 Del Rey

Today we are excited to share an interview with Stephanie Burgis, author of Masks and Shadows which releases April 12, 2016. If you missed it, be sure to check out our review. Also, don’t miss the GIVEAWAY at the bottom of this post!   Hi Stephanie, I found your book Masks and Shadows to be a very enjoyable and fun read! Thank you for joining us today to answer a few questions.   Could you tell us a bit about Masks and Shadows in your own words? Sure! Masks and Shadows is a romantic historical fantasy novel brimming with alchemy, opera, and forbidden romance. It’s set in the isolated palace of Eszterháza, where dangerous schemes are brewing behind the golden walls, and the drama on the stage of the court opera house may soon be supplanted by a much more deadly drama in the audience.   Music plays a wonderful role in your book. I noticed that you have worked for a British opera company and also studied music history. Do you have any fun or interesting stories or facts you can share with us that relate to either of those?   I first fell in love with opera when I was…

Here’s a rundown of the books we think you should look out for in coming in the week. See any that you are really looking forward to? Find any you had not heard of yet? Know of books we missed? We know we don’t have everything and would love to hear what you feel we may have overlooked.   FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR     FANTASY                   FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR   URBAN FANTASY       FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR SCIENCE FICTION                   FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR   HORROR                 FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR     Visitor Cherryh, C. J. 4/5/2016 DAW The Demonists Sniegoski, Thomas…

When I saw the description of this book, I was definitely intrigued. A Western Fantasy with a sharp-shooting female protagonist? Oh, yes please! I couldn’t help but immediately think of Wake of Vultures, which I loved and had hopes of loving this one just as much. So, how did it hold up to my expectations? Well, it was a fun read, I will definitely give it that. Amani lives in a small town that survives off of their local gun factory. But even with that, their town does not seem to be thriving. The culture here is one were women take a lesser and more subservient role, they are pretty much second class citizens. Needless to say, that means this is a male centered society, where they make the rules. They also get to take multiple wives. It’s not at all a a desirable place when you are a woman, especially a woman with no one to look after you. Amani has lost her parents, and has been living with her uncle and his plethora of wives and children. You quickly assess she is not valued or loved, but she does soon learn she is a commodity. Facing the prospect of a…

Masks and Shadows is a delight of a book full of mystery, music, court politics and romance. Oh, and lets not forget the nefarious shadows and disturbing deaths. This was a quick and wonderful read for me, I read it in about a day and really enjoyed just immersing myself if the world and characters Burgis created. While we get several different POVs in this, I really felt Charlotte was the central character. A young widow, she has decided to visit her younger sister at Eszterháza Palace. This is a wonderful place, or appears to be at a surface glance, where Prince Niko has built his own opera house complete with one of the most renowned conductors of the time. The music and opera were a wonderful feature of this story, giving rich details and wonderful characters and interplay. Maybe I am just a sucker for stories that feature theaters and performers, but regardless, this was very well done. We quickly learn that Charlotte is a person who is always scrambling to please others and abide by the rules. If anyone has expectations of her, she does whatever she can to not let them down, even when their expectations may not match…

Here’s a rundown of the books we think you should look out for in coming in the week. See any that you are really looking forward to? Find any you had not heard of yet? Know of books we missed? We know we don’t have everything and would love to hear what you feel we may have overlooked.   FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY FANTASY       URBAN FANTASY       FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY     The Mortal Tally Sykes, Sam 3/29/2016 Orbit Battlestorm Susan Krinard 3/29/2016 Tor The Second Death T. Frohock 3/29/2016 Harper Voyager Downfall of the Gods K. J. Parker 3/31/2016 Subterranean Press

The Last Day of Jack Sparks is the story of a successful pop culture journalist, who made his fame writing books that focus on his experience as he explores a given topic. Books like Jack Sparks on Drugs, where he throws himself into the world of drugs and experiments to his heart’s delight, all in the name of research for his book. Not surprisingly, his books can be controversial, they are type of thing people will read to find out why everyone else is talking about them. For his latest book idea, he decides to delve into the world of the supernatural. There is definitely some humor in places as Jack Sparks clearly does not believe in the supernatural, but for the benefit of his book, he has to give things a try. The interesting thing about this book, is you know going in that Jack Sparks is dead (it’s right there in the title!), and he died in some mysterious way while writing this book on the supernatural. It definitely casts a little darker edge to things as Jack is very honest in that he finds the idea of there being truth in the supernatural as being rather ridiculous. As opposed…

Here’s a rundown of the books we think you should look out for in coming in the week. See any that you are really looking forward to? Find any you had not heard of yet? Know of books we missed? We know we don’t have everything and would love to hear what you feel we may have overlooked.   FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR     FANTASY       SCIENCE FICTION       FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR Shadow and Flame Martin, Gail Z. 3/22/2016 Orbit World’s End Will Elliott 3/22/2016 Tor Transgalactic James Gunn 3/22/2016 Tor Eagle in Exile Alan Smale 3/22/2016 Del Rey Titan’s Fall Zachary Brown 3/22/2016 Saga