My birthday was last month, so of course I treated myself to relistens of most of my favorites. I also read Sir Cameron, which I’ve had my eye on for awhile, and Thomas!
Vampires and knights and dragons, oh my! Not to mention werewolves, murder mysteries, and codependent heros with accidental child acquisition syndrome.
There once was a time when I had never listened to an audiobook, or had any interest to. Now that’s just about the only way I can get any reading done. I have favorite narrators, and favorite performances. Anyone who knows me will be able to spot them here immediately.
There’s also a great many here that I want to listen to, or are new to me entirely and recommended by readers or indie authors.
It’s Aromantic Awareness Week, here are a slew of aro-spec books for reading!
Phantom and Rook is a queer urban fantasy romance following a retired hedge witch and a mysterious immortal that is cursed to be forgotten by all those who know and love him.
We have found family, magical tattoos, starting over later in life, and lots of healing. It is the first in a series, a toe dip into the magical world of Levena and all of its mysteries.
Phantom and Rook’s ebook is free at (most) of your favorite retailers, and is also available in paperback and audio.
Look at me, listening to new books! I even conquered a paperback that’s been on my shelf for awhile now.
The To Kill a King series was full of ups and downs, I wanted to smash most of their heads together and the second one is likely my favorite because eldest child syndrome intermixed with a dragon for the win.
And yeah … I finished the Big Bad Wolf series, again. Can’t get enough Dayton and his wolf.
I am nearly done with the Perilous Courts series by Tavia Lark, I realized partway through Bodyguard that I had in fact already listened to it but continued on anyways. Love these books, and Betrothed especially.
Sorcery and Small Magics was recommended to me by several people, and MY GOODNESS what a book. It is so well written, beautiful, and just a heck of a good time.
American Hippo is like if OFMD had a baby with a heist movie and was parented by an old western, and babysat by hippos.
Lastly, I couldn’t start the year off without the Doomsday fellas. Gareth and Jos are my favorite, but Luke and his grief gets me every time.
They are chaos incarnate, or chaos just happens to spring up whenever they are around. Because let’s face it, a new year is just a new opportunity to cause havoc.
Can you guess which first line goes with which book? This should be a breeze for those of you that have read my books, but you never know 👀
Also the first lines for the anthologies are for my stories only, not for the anthology itself.
We return to the magickal world of Levena this year with a sassy star and their grumpy vampire. You do not need to have read the first two books to read Mochizuki and Xlato as it focuses on a different couple, but it helps with the 🌜lore🌛
For reading this year, it’s almost indie all the way for me. There are quite a few I have been wanting to get to, and some that I’ve started and need to finish. Especially the ones already on my shelves.
Commence the 2025 Wrap Up!
I published my first historical fiction and ran my first Kickstarter, and participated in an anthology with the Right Here Write Queer Podcast. I also was nominated in the Indie Ink Awards!
For reading, there was a lot of rereading (and rereading again in the case of the Big Bad Series) but I did discover a lot of new favorites and other stories I really enjoyed. There was only a few that I didn’t care for as much.
Stay tuned for this year’s hopes and dreams!
It is Indie Ink Awards season, and I had a hell of a time voting for my favorites. In doing so, I found a ton of new indies I want to read, and some old favorites.
Vote for your indies, and find some new reads for your TBR!
Neshama Publishing 