The Book: Burden of Blood

The Author: Wenona Hulsey

The Story: A police officer in a sleepy county town … content in her denial.

She can hide her secret for only so long before an ancient grudge and the power hidden inside her burst to life.

Dance with fierce warriors and Gothic fairies as southern tradition collides with Irish folklore. Nicole learns about love, heartbreak and The Burden Of Blood.

The Kindle Book Review: If you are into paranormal thrillers this is a MUST READ – a brilliant start to a promising series.

Nicole is a young police officer in a small southern town. She is using her new abilities to help keep the peace and put criminals behind bars. She likes to ride solo and not draw attention and questions to how she obtains her collars. However she has a persistent partner who isn’t just another pretty face, he has a few tricks up his sleeve as well, and must gain Nicole’s trust to help her, help herself.

The two uncover many secrets about her past and ancient relatives while trying to overcome the problems at hand. A psychopath is trying to capture her. He will go to great lengths to get to Nicole. No one she loves is safe.

Review by Tiffany’s Bookshelf: After a strange encounter, Nicole realized she had some special abilities. She is now a police officer, who uses her seemingly psychic abilities to help catch the bad guys. When her life is endangered, she realizes that her abilities are not psychic, but instead mystical powers due to her mystical heritage. And to top it all off, her hunky partner is actually an ancient warrior sworn to protect her. Life will never be the same for Nicole.

Southern gothic meets Celtic paranormal. Sounds like an odd combination, but in this book it really works. I loved learning about Nicole’s mystical heritage, and particularly liked that we learn it along with her, as opposed to being privy to information she does not have. I liked that the reader gets to experience these discoveries through Nicole’s eyes. It makes them seem even that more fantastical.

I think the characters in the story are well developed, though I would like to see more of Nicole’s friend as opposed to her big scene being at the end of the story. I love the ancient warrior romance angle, it puts an interesting spin on things. I am a big fan of the fact that Nicole is a much stronger character than Luke, both in terms of her character as well as in terms of her literal strength.

I found the ending of the book to be a bit surprising, and an interesting artistic choice for the author. It will lead nicely into a sequel. I think this book will appeal widely to fans of paranormal or fantasy romance, as well as those interested in Celtic folklore.

The Book: What Thing Had Escaped

The Author: Winston Emerson

The Story: Survival is a daily struggle for Eugene and Darryl, who walk the filthy, crowded streets of Louisville searching for a day’s work or an abandoned house to loot for salable goods. Though Darryl has a job catering to an elderly rich man who lives in a private suburb lined with stone walls and razor wire, his wage barely feeds him, much less Eugene.

Then one evening there’s a knock on the door and a mysterious man in a suit tells Darryl he’s just inherited the entire fortune of his employer.

The two are quickly whisked away into a life of luxury, peace, and pleasures they never imagined, and as Darryl gets more and more involved with the company in which he now owns a large share, Eugene stumbles upon a shocking discovery: a teenage girl, locked away in a secret room in his and Darryl’s new mansion.

And the story of how she got there uncovers a horrible truth about what the world has become.

What Thing Had Escaped is a dystopian serial novel in five parts.

Review by J. Eric Laing: A very stylistic narrative with a dark, gritty feel to it. I’m not sure how to feel about the main character, Eugene. Compared to Darryl, he seems to have more of a conscience, but at the same time he relies upon Darryl for survival.

The story takes you to some dark corners of the city, including dens of drunks and addicts nearly killing themselves with some kind of synthetic super-drug.

Part One ends at just the right place to leave me eager for the next installment.

Review by Stephanyb3636: This has topped my list of serial books and I will be buying everything in the series as soon as it comes out! The world in which the brothers live is sad and intriguing at the same time.

Certain chapters made me physically cringe but there was no way I could stop reading! While the style of writing is new to me (certain conversations were a little hard to follow) I honestly do believe Mr. Emerson is brilliant. My favorite line in the book literally made me pause and ponder my own exsistence ….. it reads as follows :

“Needs demand wants though some wants want for needing and even Daryll who carries nothing and wants everything must wonder which want is the fabric of subterfuge for the self and the soul ”

if I could give this book 10 stars I would…..please write more.