3.45/5 Sword sand Stilettos by Kristin D. Van Risseghem

Run Time: 8 hrs and 35 min

Narrated by Sofia Willingham

*mild spoilers possible in discussion

Summary:

Zoe’s likely the Redeemer, so Satan’s out to get her. (Might be a mild spoiler, but it comes up quickly in the book.) Despite this, her main problem seems to be all the hot guys falling over themselves to protect her.

Additional Comments:

  • Story 3/5: It hits most of the normal Chosen One type tale points, but it really boils down to a very long introduction to Zoe since she doesn’t really do much until 8 hours into an 8.5-hour book. There are typical YA fantasy elements: Chosen One, multiple possible love interests (though she’s all team Shay from the get-go), prophecies, etc. There’s nothing wrong with having those elements, but there’s also not a whole lot unique to this particular story, except maybe the very high level of cooperation among the supernaturals.
  • World-building 4/5: There are some cool concepts. The interactions between the fairies, werewolves, and angels are pretty cool. You get a brief glimpse of their political structures.
  • Pacing and Plot 2/5: About 90% of this book is normal high school drama (mean girls, jealousy, the great mate hunt). There’s a bit of fantasy stuff thrown in, but way too many words are used to describe: Zoe goes to school, comes home, hangs with Shay, rinses and repeats, and occasionally runs into demons.  
  • Narration 4/5: It was fine. I think my favorite character voice was the Sidelle. That’s surprising to me because normally fairy voices tick me off the quickest. Not sure the character voices for others were totally unique, but one can tell male from female characters and it’s mostly first person pov from Zoe’s perspective.
  • Content warnings: Although the amount of curse words still passes my “clean” test and the kissing and innuendos also pass since nothing’s described, I’m a little surprised by the amount of times God’s name is used casually. In most books, that’s just a thing, but this book is about angels, demons, and so forth.

Conclusion:

If you’re in it for a standalone story, you’re probably going to be disappointed. If you don’t like YA, avoid. Flip side, if you love YA fantasy series with a heavy emphasis on trope and characters, give it a go. This is merely a very long intro. It looks like there’s a lot more to come in the rest of the series. Listen to the sample, read some of the reviews, and see if it’s something you’d enjoy.

Audiobook Promotions …

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Many of my 42 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Free codes are probably on audiobooks unleashed.
Normal links go to audible. *The Amazon labeled links are affiliate links. That means I get a very small payment from Amazon if you go through with a purchase.*
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest
There are plenty of UK codes, but not many US ones left.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
River’s Edge Ransom – Prequel to Redeemer Chronicles (Amazon) (email devyaschildren @ gmail.com for free codes)

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is DC-set-ad-1024x536.jpg

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian. (Amazon) (free codes)
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live. (Amazon) (Please email devyaschildren @ gmail.com for free codes)
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift. (Amazon) (free codes)
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma. (Amazon) (free codes)
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother. (Amazon) (free codes)
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble. (Amazon) (free codes)
More Scifi:
Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there. (Amazon) (free codes)

Guardian Angel Files:

Spirit’s Bane – Allister and Mina are training to be Guardians. Satan’s out to get them. (Amazon) (free codes)
Kindred Spirits – Mina’s exiled to Earth. Allister’s stuck in the Heavens. (Amazon) (free codes)

Author Interview: A. Nation – Multigenre

About you:

Tell me a little about your background.

I’ve always wanted to write stories since I was a child. I loved to read books all through my school years. My younger sister tells me she enjoyed my imaginary stories with our dolls growing up. I attained a Computer Information degree in my college days. Later I ran my own tshirt shop business. Well, after work, life, and no self-publishing available in my younger years during the 80s, I didn’t get the writing bug until 2011. I’m retired now and loving every minute of writing. Finally, I can put my imagination to good use.

What do you do for fun?

We used to get together with friends and have parties. But since that cannot be, we go jeeping into the desert here in Arizona. Jeeping means, we explore with our jeeps.

Who or what inspires you the most?

Our space technology, fictional historical accounts, and mysteries. The creative process fascinates me.

I have read lots of Agatha Christie, Isaac Asimov, and many others before I started writing. My genres cover science fiction, urban fantasy, and travel mysteries. I recently did a non-fiction about a bridge collapse in my home town. The proceeds from that are donated to the local museum.

What other writers/people do you consider inspirational? If they’re authors, what about their work captures your interest?

I believe I have read all of Rita Mae Brown books including the ones about fox hunting. I’m not interested in that but I like her style. She had talking animals that would save the day, so I have added some to my sci-fi books. When I catch an interesting story in the news. I use the theme of the story. I’ve used a few of those in my Desert Shock book.

What got you into writing?

I walked into the library one day to pick up my usual 5-8 books and saw a sign that said, Do you have a story in you? Writing class at 1:00pm on Tuesdays.  So I signed up. At that point I really didn’t know much about writing since my college days long, long ago. I took a couple of classes online and aced those. Since I was a snowbird at the time, it took me almost two years to finish my first book and know how writing and publishing operates. Since then, I write three books a year plus a few novellas.

What is your writing process?

After breakfast, I sit down and write the movie in my head. I have found taking a break and walking around the neighborhood creates more scenes to add. I write most of the day until 4:00pm unless there is some shopping or housework to do. After 4:00, it’s my time to do something else.

When do you consider a work complete?

When the story problem has been resolved or if I have to tie up loose ends.

About your book(s):

Are there any deep themes or messages in the book the readers should be aware of?

Good overcomes evil and sometimes after all the work my MC does, evil gets away. My sci-fi is how we might live on Mars in the future, if we do. The detective books focuses on mother nature getting revenge, killers getting their karma, and how people with power can fail.

In my UF series, I explore witches and elves. My fiction mimics life. The same goes for all of my stories. The person next door may not be who you think they are.

What gave you the idea for this book?

For my first sci-fi book, it was becoming the never ending story for my writing class. I had this idea of us interviewing aliens and what would happen if one of them was murdered.

For my UF, I had this story about a woman who lost her husband to a terrible car accident and finds herself in another world. This was my first nanowrimo book. I wrote this in 11 days.

For my Travel stories, I went on these trips and wove a story around my experiences.

How long did the book take to write?

Each book takes about 3-4 months depending how long it is and when my beta readers come back to me. One is a good editor. I started my latest book, The Magic Within, in July and after it was edited, I placed it into preorder until the end of November of this year.

Who designed the cover?

I design my own covers. I ran a screen print shop for 20 years and did all the design work on a Coreldraw program. I use that and send it through my writing group for a yea or a nay.

About your other book(s):

Do you write in other genres?

Science fiction, urban fantasy, travel, and one non-fiction

Tell us about one other book or series and why it’s important to you.

I’ll tell you about my sci-fi called Fatal Error. Parts in the beginning I was a witness. A person died in the hospital due to negligence by a family member. Then my fictional story takes off. In the end, the killer gets her deserved end. A back story to this is when a robot becomes sentient.

That’s a lot of cool books.

Random Questions:

What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Vanilla

Me: Solid, classic choice.

What are you non-writing hobbies or interests?

Writing is my hobby or traveling with my husband

Me: Oh, cool. Now I want to know what’s the best place you’ve been.

Website:

Social Media Links

Author FB Page

Facebook page

Audiobook Promotions …

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is rc-1-3-audio-ad-1024x536.jpg

Many of my 42 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Free codes are probably on audiobooks unleashed.
Normal links go to audible. *The Amazon labeled links are affiliate links. That means I get a very small payment from Amazon if you go through with a purchase.*
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Dark Side of Science.
There are plenty of UK codes, but not many US ones left.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
River’s Edge Ransom – Prequel to Redeemer Chronicles (Amazon) (email devyaschildren @ gmail.com for free codes)

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is DC-set-ad-1024x536.jpg

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian. (Amazon) (free codes)
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live. (Amazon) (Please email devyaschildren @ gmail.com for free codes)
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift. (Amazon) (free codes)
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma. (Amazon) (free codes)
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother. (Amazon) (free codes)
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble. (Amazon) (free codes)
More Scifi:
Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there. (Amazon) (free codes)

Guardian Angel Files:

Spirit’s Bane – Allister and Mina are training to be Guardians. Satan’s out to get them. (Amazon) (free codes)
Kindred Spirits – Mina’s exiled to Earth. Allister’s stuck in the Heavens. (Amazon) (free codes)