Random Fun for the Halloween Season

Beauty of the dying ferns

I love October! The chilly weather gives me energy, the creepy Halloween decorations thrill me, the Village Halloween parade is just around the corner, and I love to cook apple pie, yams, kale, and all root veggies, especially parsnips. Here are some fall photos I took, including the dramatic transformation from the morning to afternoon photos of October 18 up in the Catskills where I spend some weekends.

Morning, OCT 18

Afternoon, OCT 18

My creepy frog lamp

Creepy frog lamp side view

Manhattan store display

On another note, 

I finally found a moment to write a review of Christine Rain's Of Blood and Sorrow. Her fabulous novel fits right into the ghoulish October spirit, so if you've not yet loaded this baby onto your eReader by all means, go for it now! At Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Smashie

My review:

I’m enjoying paranormal novels more and more. Christine Rain’s Of Blood and Sorrow put me through breakneck twists turns that made the ride quite worth it. With her creative concepts and gallows humor I can tell she has wicked fun as she writes. Oh, and it’s sexy, too.

Erin, the leading lady and a demoness, gains energy from sucking up the sorrow of others—a totally weird but great concept. Rains explores Erin’s character and motivation in depth. Erin is ashamed of how her on mother fed so completely on one of her “victims” she killed them. This is partly why Erin takes sanctuary in the Putzkammer Mortuary. There, she can “safely” feed on the natural sorrow of the grieving, while sparing random outsiders a fatal feeding fate. Erin hates her spots, which engorge as she feeds. They remind her of her mother’s appetite and of her own, which at any moment could rage out of control. There are so many fascinating analogies with these elements: the consequences of any type of appetite gone amok, the dread of potential inherited tendencies, the effects of shame on one’s life and even love. Constrained by the people around Erin and by the demands of her job, she hopes her dark past will never come to light.

But when Nicolas Reese lands in the mortuary and is decidedly undead, Erin’s failsafe shrouds are ripped away. For one, she is falling for the dashing vampire. And then there’s the fact that vamps and demons don’t trust each other. Nicolas’s creator, Hessa a terrifyingly powerful and evil being, is stalking him. He needs Erin’s help but when the Putzkammers, who took her in and gave her a home, start to die off in scary ways, Erin starts to doubt her own allegiances.

I recommend Of Blood and Sorrow to readers who like inventive paranormal with dark humor and spicy romance. And I look forward to the next in this series.

Have a fabulous October. And stay tuned for the Untethered Realms launch of Mayhem in the Air, our Enchanted Drink post on OCT 30 and my regular Village Halloween Parade photo cornucopia! Oh, and the cover reveal for my newest YA novel, Heart in a Box, which launches from Inkspell Teen in early December!

More Fabulous Fall Reads & Cover Reveals!

October brings cool weather, Halloween fun and great books to cozy up with. Today Idea City showcases the work of Christine Rains, S. D. Wasley, Stephanie Keyes, Christy Centeno and River Fairchild! Want to see some wonderful covers and read alluring blurbs? Sure you do.

Here is Christine Rain's Ghost Dancer. It's the first sexy book in her The Paramours romance series with Ellora's Cave. 

The Paramours - ghost hunting with a kiss.

When Nina Azure’s talent as a ghost dancer doesn’t persuade a handsome phantom to talk, she entices him with sizzling sexual energy. Ben Moore’s spirit is tied to this world with guilt, but he breaks his self-imposed silence for the beautiful Nina. Lust makes him fully physical and she loses herself to desire. She must help him carry on to the afterlife, but her attraction to him is immensely powerful. She must push aside her own feelings and let him go—and perhaps find romance among the living.
***
Buy it on Amazon, Kobo, Ellora's Cave
Put it on your Goodreads TBR List
Visit Christine's website

Next, a cover reveal for The Rift by SD Wasley. Pretty, huh? It's the sequel to The Seventh and it launches in November! Put Rift on your Goodreads TBR list here.
The Rift blurb:
“I longed for normality. Even our own, off-the-wall brand of normality.”
She’s finally got things together. Mimi’s dating a hot guy and has a place in the school’s Gifted Program with her awesome friends. Yes, she still attracts the dead. But there’s only one ghost these days, and he doesn’t seem to have an awful lot to say.

Just when Mimi’s life is looking pretty good for the first time in years, the unthinkable happens ... one of the seven gifted teens is torn from their close-knit group. The unity of their circle shattered, things begin to go terribly wrong. It’s ruining their focus—and with the threat of the Astarion cult growing stronger each day, the gifted seven need all the focus they can muster.

In The Seventh, Mimi found her place in a circle of seven extraordinary teenagers. In The Rift, she must face what happens when the circle of seven is broken.

Read book one while you wait for book two! Find it at Amazon, B&N
Visit SD Wasley: website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads

Next we have a cover reveal for Blood in the Shadows written by acclaimed authors, Stephanie Keyes and Kristy Centeno. It launches in early November!

Stephanie and Kristy bring you two stories that prove love and light can overcome the pain and shadows.

With secrets hidden in the night, and dangerous creatures prowling the woods, trusting the enemy can mean either life or death. Two dark worlds...One night that will change their lives forever...Where evil lurks, only goodness can prevail.

Featuring Shadows by Kristy Centeno and The Boy In The Trees by Stephanie Keyes.

Preorder Blood in the Shadows from Kobo
Put Blood in the Shadows on your Goodreads TBR list

Visit Stephanie: website, Twitter, Instagram.
Visit Kristy: website, Facebook, Twitter, blog.

And if you like your books dark, here's River Fairchild's Demon in the Basement, a story collection that may have you shivering under your covers. It's available now!

Thirty-two stories, including a novelette by the same title, to keep you awake at night. 

A time-traveling Chevy, an ancient church of evil, a house possessed by black magic. Stories to fill you with dread, draw you into places you'd rather not go, smack you in the face with ironic possibilities. Meet the monsters of myth, the creatures that lurk under your bed, the phantoms you thought didn't exist. Travel to the real Atlantis, strap in for the Bermuda Triangle. Terror lurks in the ocean, while an asteroid hides a secret.
Leave a nightlight on before you go to sleep. Something's coming for you. 

Get it now at Amazon, Smashwords, 
Visit River: her Amazon author page, blog, Facebook.

Enjoy chillingly great reads this October.