Well, Not Steal Exactly… by Vivien Jackson – Guest Post

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artificial intelligence, guest post, romance, scifi, scifi romance, series, Vivien Jackson

Today is release day for More Than Stardust.  Congratuations to Vivien Jackson on her new book!  If you missed my review of this great new book, you can find it here.

Today I am please to welcome Ms. Jackson to Whiskey With My Book.  She has decided to confess…

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Guest Post
by Vivien Jackson

Writers don’t just make up stories out of a vacuum. We steal tons of stuff… well, not steal exactly, not like plagiarism because that is BAD AND DON’T DO IT, but more in the way of references to previous work we have found meaningful and influential. For instance, I’m not sure if you it’s possible to write a book about a manufactured post-human – be it cyborg or android or techno-zombie – without having bits of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein pinging around in your brain. That book certainly took up residence in my mind when I was writing More Than Stardust, a science fiction romance about a self-aware nanorobotic artificial intelligence who dreams of having a body and being a real girl. At one point my characters even reference Frankenstein because that book is so deeply hooked into concepts of manufactured persons. I mean, of course characters in such a situation would think about it.

They don’t overtly reference Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, but I echoed a line of hers in a scene where characters are hiking over a glacier. Points to anybody who finds that line.

I also reference, more obliquely, Theodore Sturgeon’s More Than Human. Like that classic science fiction novel, my book is about post-humans, the “what comes after us” what-of of personhood. Which is where I got the title More Than Stardust from.

There are also homage-type references to all my fandoms, too: Doctor Who and The X-Files and J. R. R. Tolkien and 1980s hair band metal… stuff like that. I wouldn’t be a deep-rooted fangirl if I didn’t throw in those things. When I’m reading a book, I look for the connections between the author and me, things that we might have in common, as evidenced in what the characters say and do. Those things make a character relatable. If the character is only interested in things that I don’t know very well or don’t care to know particularly, I might skip pages. That’s not to say I haven’t read books where I learned something new – those are super fun! – but it’s comfy, to me, to find bits of things I love inside the books I read.

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About More Than Stardust

She never wanted to be a god. She only wanted to be a girl.

Chloe, a self-aware, highly illegal nanorobotic artificial intelligence knows a thing or two about wanting. The growing Machine Rebellion wants her to become its god. The technocratic global Consortium wants to cage her, take her apart, and reverse-engineer her. Her family wants to keep her a secret. Her best friend Garrett wants her safe. Chloe is a thing made of wants.

And it’s time the world knew hers.

Available now at
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SY9KR5N
And everywhere else: https://books2read.com/u/mg0qGv

About the Author

Vivien Jackson writes fantastical, futuristic, kissing books. Her debut science fiction romance, Wanted and Wired, was selected as an Amazon Best Book of 2017 and a Romance Writers of America RITA finalist. A devoted fangirl and inveterate gamer, Viv lives in Austin, Texas, with a herd of small, hairy pets. Also a husband. Hang out with her on Twitter @Vivien_Jackson or on the web at VivienJackson.com.

Connect with Vivian at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Vivien_Jackson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VivienJacksonWriter/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vivien.jackson/
Web: https://www.vivienjackson.com

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Speak No Evil (Aldridge Sisters, #2) by Tanya Anne Crosby – Audiobook Review

Tags

5 stars, audiobook, Book Review, Charleston, creepy, dark, gothic, Julie McKay, romance, series, suspense, Tanya Anne Crosby

I rarely review audiobooks. I prefer to review e-books, which allow note-taking within the e-book.  I can’t do this with audiobooks. There have been a few I’ve reviewed. These are generally shorter, less time-consuming books.

Speak No Evil is an exception. It is in a genre that I rarely read, contemporary suspense/romance, so it made an impression. I just need to let you know how much I enjoyed this book. So today, something a little different….

About Speak No Evil by Tanya Anne Crosby

If you love a gripping Southern suspense, USA Today bestselling SPEAK NO EVIL is for you. Lifting the veil of secrecy on a grand Southern family in decline. New York Times bestselling author Tanya Anne Crosby explores the lives of Caroline, Augusta, and Savannah Aldridge, three sisters who share a dark past and an uncertain future…

After the death of their mother, a newspaper heiress, Caroline Aldridge steps up to head the paper. But a killer is making headlines, and Caroline may have unwittingly stepped into the crosshairs. Even as she mends the tattered bonds of sisterhood, a sinister force beyond their control may tear them apart forever…

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Review of Speak No Evil

Speak No Evil is not something I would normally read. I generally stick to SciFi and historical fiction. But I decided to pick up Speak No Evil because a) it is written by an author who’s historical fiction I enjoy and b) it was free (and still is as of when I am writing this.) Then I added on the audiobook for a very reasonable price.

Good decision. Speak No Evil is gothic and creepy. Maybe those are two words for the same thing, but I needed to write both of them. Dark, with a little bit of southern attitude too. Using genre terms, I would say romantic suspense, but all those other words are better descriptors.

First I want to review a bit of the blurb. “Lifting the veil of secrecy on a grand Southern family in decline.” Makes you think the plantation is going to hell. In reality, the Aldridge family has a complex and politically incorrect (former slave owners) history. But rather than decline, the family has evolved and adapted to the times. As for secrets, there are quite a few. That is what makes for a good story right?

Speak No Evil takes place around Charleston and Folly Beach, South Carolina, including the Aldridge’s Oyster Point Plantation. Southern living, including food, hot humid weather, coastal scenery and the area’s history are all part of the atmosphere of the story. Never having been in that part of the country, I soaked up the sights, sounds and sometimes smells of South Carolina just like a tourist.

There are three Aldridge sisters, but oldest sister Caroline is the focus of this book. Caroline broke up with Jack Shaw 10 years ago. Seeing him at her mom’s funeral did not bring back fond memories. Or did it? It soon becomes obvious that neither have forgotten their feelings for one another.

A murder may tear them apart again. As the detective in charge, Jack has a conflict of interest with Caroline who is digging for information to print in the paper. This ongoing conflict keeps them both arguing and making up for most of the book. Relationships are never easy.

The murderer is not identified, but the reader is treated to a third person perspective. This is where the description of creepy comes in. He or she may start having ordinary thoughts, but quickly they turn dark, judgmental and anticipatory. So – creepy. If you read the book, these sections are italicized.

Listening to the audiobook, you can’t hear italics, but you can sense the mood change. Overall, Julie McKay’s narration was well done and eventually led me to purchase the next audiobook in the series. Ms. Mckay’s voice makes me think she is of an age as the sisters Aldrige, so she is a good fit for the books.

You would think the book is about the murder mystery and the family secrets. And it is, but there is so much more. In Speak No Evil, for Caroline, the story is about her choosing who she wants to be, where she wants to be and who she wants in her life. One assumes each sister will get that opportunity in the Aldridge Sisters series, and I am looking forward to Augusta’s and Savannah’s stories.

Near the end of the book, the police investigation results in an arrest, but I have to tell you, I was really skeptical. But I don’t consider this to be a spoiler, because the book blurb for Tell No Lies suggests that the guilty party may still be out there. So, kind of a cliffhanger, but only sort of. No star-deductions from me on this one. Gothic, creepy, dark with southern attitude, Speak No Evil gets 5 stars!

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Links

Add Speak No Evil to your Goodreads shelf:

Purchase Speak No Evil:

 

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Since I am into this series, I will also leave you with blurbs from the 1st and 3rd books (click on cover for purchase link). I’ve already read (listened to) book 3, so now I am anxiously waiting for Savanna’s story.

Leave No Trace: The Final Moments of Florence W. Aldridge (Aldridge Sisters, #1)

Every event in a person’s life is connected. The state of our lives, at any given time, is the sum of everything we have done and everywhere we have been. Our next decision determines, not merely where our lives end, but who we become along the way. How far can one lost woman go to redeem herself by the time the clock stops ticking?

These are the final moments of Florence W. Aldridge…

Note: This is not a short story. It is a vignette, a snippet of time, meant to be used as a companion to SPEAK NO EVIL and Tell NO LIES. This book does not contain spoilers, so it can be read in advance of the books, but it does not stand alone.

Tell No Lies (Aldridge Sisters, #3)

Augusta Aldridge believes in Ian Patterson’s innocence, even after he was arrested for killing two young women. She was with him the night one of the crimes occurred, hidden in the shadows beneath a beachside pier, locked in a wild, unthinking embrace with a man whose dangerous fascination may have fatally lured other victims. Now that another body has been discovered, and a thirteen-year old boy has gone missing, the police suspect a copycat killer, but Augusta is certain they have the wrong man. She’s going to risk her reputation—and her life—to prove Ian’s innocence and save young Cody. But the clock is ticking…

Kingdom of Exiles (The Beast Charmer, #1) by Maxym Martineau – Review

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, fantasy, Maxym M. Martineau, romance, series

About Kingdom of Exiles by Maxym Martineau

Exiled beast charmer Leena Edenfrell is in deep trouble. Empty pockets forced her to sell her beloved magical beasts on the black market—an offense punishable by death—and now there’s a price on her head. With the realm’s most talented murderer-for-hire nipping at her heels, Leena makes him an offer he can’t refuse: powerful mythical creatures in exchange for her life.

If only it were that simple. Unbeknownst to Leena, the undying ones are bound by magic to complete their contracts, and Noc cannot risk his brotherhood of assassins…not even to save the woman he can no longer live without.

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Review of Kingdom of Exiles

This book has received a lot of pre-release press, including the ability to ‘Read Now’ on NetGalley. Which means, you don’t have to request and be approved to receive book – just download it and start reading. So I wondered…..what is going on with this debut novel?

It is good. Really good! Kingdom of Exiles may turn me into an annoying fan that starts asking about the next book in the series.

I love the characters. Leena and Noc have a pretty immediate attraction to each other, despite the fact that they started out as adversaries. The reader can sense it. They have both had difficult pasts and neither is forthcoming about details. But their interest in each other will not go away and because of their pasts, the attraction is pure danger.

Noc’s brotherhood of assassins proves to be a great supporting cast of characters. Each have their own personality quirks and I am guessing, each will get their own story in future installments. If they don’t, I shall be quite disappointed 🙂 .

There is a third set of characters that I enjoyed. The beasts. As a charmer, Leena is able to befriend and control a wide variety of creatures with different skills sets. Each is a potential ally in sticky situations. But they are also creatures of heart and the ability to bond with the right people. These creatures add to the creativity of this fantasy setting and some of them will also need to get their own story.

The situation seems impossible. There is no way Leena and Noc can ever be together. The hopeless circumstances weigh oh, so heavily on Noc and later on Leena when she learns the facts. The emotion is at times heartwarming and other times heartbreaking. The bond between Noc and the assassins is heartfelt. Combine all this with plot thick with action and intrigue and I dare you to go to bed early.

I am so glad I decided to be among the early readers of Kingdom of Exiles. This is going to be a heck of a series. Now, Ms. Martineau, when is the next book coming out?

Through Netgalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Links

Add Kingdom of Exiles to your Goodreads shelf:

Pre-order Kingdom of Exiles (releases June 25th):

 

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