Symbiote: Book #2 of The Peradon Fantasy Series
is due for release on December 25th.

 

To save the one you love, be prepared to risk it all. Five years have passed since the fateful day that led to her husband’s demise. Violetta prays that her daughter never learns the truth, but that’s not the only thing she hopes never rises to the surface. With a mysterious storm blanketing Peradon, Violetta, Lord Jork, and Xyhoni set out to uncover its source.

The last thing they expected was for her young daughter to vanish. As troubling rumours swell, Violetta reaches her wits end. Now she must journey through the four realms to find answers and recover her daughter before it’s too late.

Be sure to pop in at our launch event (online- Facebook) on December 23rd,

from 10 am to 5 pm GMT.

 

Symbiote Facebook Launch Party (Dec 23rd.)


Also, be sure to check out our fantastic giveaway below:
Symbiote Official Bookish Giveaway

Winter is here. The days are getting shorter, the weather's getting chiller and we cannot find a better way out of this situation than hiding under a blanket with a book pile nearby. If you're looking for some new titles for your December reading, have a look at the following 12 new releases and let us know what are you reading this winter season.

 

 

Year One by Nora Roberts 

A stunning new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author—an epic of hope and horror, chaos and magick, and a journey that will unite a desperate group of people to fight the battle of their lives. 

 

Preorder ->

The Pug Who Bit Napoleon: Animal Tales of the 18th and 19th Centuries by Mimi Matthews 

From elaborate Victorian cat funerals to a Regency era pony who took a ride in a hot air balloon, Mimi Matthews shares some of the quirkiest—and most poignant—animal tales of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Meet Fortune, the Pug who bit Napoleon on his wedding night, and Looty, the Pekingese sleeve dog who was presented to Queen Victoria after the 1860 sacking of the Summer Palace in Peking. The four-legged friends of Lord Byron, Emily Brontë, and Prince Albert also make an appearance, as do the treasured pets of Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson, and Charles Dickens. Less famous, but no less fascinating, are the animals that were the subject of historical lawsuits, scandals, and public curiosity. Preorder->

 

 

 

One of Us Will Be Dead by Morning by David Moody 

In One of Us Will Be Dead by Morning, David Moody returns to the world of his Hater trilogy with a new fast-paced, and wonderfully dark story about humanity's fight for survival in the face of the impending apocalypse.

 

 

New release & Giveaway

Winds of the Forest by Dele Daniel 

In the only surviving part of the earth sits the post-apocalyptic West-African kingdom of Nayja. In the only place where humans still exist lives four tribes, the Kingfishers, the Ammirians, the Rowans and the Arnazuris but one tribe is dominant and must remain so.

 

 

If the Fates Allow by Annie Harper 

During the holidays, anything is possible—a second chance, a promised future, an unexpected romance, a rekindled love, or a healed heart. Authors Killian B. Brewer, Pene Henson, Erin Finnegan, Lilah Suzanne, and Lynn Charles share their stories about the magic of the season.

 

 

Gun Kiss by Khaled Talib 

A stolen piece of history, an abducted actress and international intrigue… When the Deringer pistol that shot Abraham Lincoln is stolen and ends up in the hands of a Russian military general, covert agent Blake Deco is tasked by the FBI to head to the Balkans to recover the historical weapon. Meanwhile, the United States media is abuzz with news of the mysterious disappearance of Hollywood movie star, Goldie St. Helen. 

  

 

Enchantress of Numbers by Jennifer Chiaverini 

The New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker illuminates the fascinating life of the world’s first computer programmer Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace—a woman whose exceptional contributions to science and technology have gone unsung for too long.

 

Preorder->

The Last Governor: Chris Patten and the Handover of Hong Kong by Jonathan Dimbleby 

1 July 1997 marked the end of British rule of Hong Kong, whereby this territory was passed into the hands of the People’s Republic of China. In 1992, Chris Patten, former chairman of the Conservative Party, was appointed Hong Kong's last governor, and was the man to oversee the handover ceremony of this former British colony. Within the last five years of British rule, acclaimed journalist Jonathan Dimbleby was given unique access to the governor which enabled him to document the twists and turns of such an extraordinary diplomatic, political and personal drama. Preorder->

 

 

Taming the Alpha by Amara Lebel 

Welcome to Balls & Chains, a BDSM Club for gay men. Cross the threshold and see the worlds of humans and shifters collide as these alphas dominate, and betas submit.

 

 

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden 

A remarkable young woman blazes her own trail, from the backwoods of Russia to the court of Moscow, in the exhilarating sequel to Katherine Arden’s bestselling debut novel, The Bear and the Nightingale.

 

 

Killman Creek by Rachel Caine 

Every time Gwen closed her eyes, she saw him in her nightmares. Now her eyes are open, and he’s not going away. Gwen Proctor won the battle to save her kids from her ex-husband, serial killer Melvin Royal, and his league of psychotic accomplices. But the war isn’t over. Not since Melvin broke out of prison. Not since she received a chilling text.

 

 

No Time to Spare by Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin has taken readers to imaginary worlds for decades. Now she’s in the last great frontier of life, old age, and exploring new literary territory: the blog, a forum where her voice—sharp, witty, as compassionate as it is critical—shines. No Time to Spare collects the best of Ursula’s online writing, presenting perfectly crystallized dispatches on what matters to her now, her concerns with this world, and her unceasing wonder at it: “How rich we are in knowledge, and in all that lies around us yet to learn. Billionaires, all of us.”

 

Happy reading!

 

I am a little late to the party with this one (it's September and this sampler came out in May for these Fall books), but I thought I'd check out this sampler from NetGalley as I enjoyed getting a preview with another similar excerpt round-up. Plus I'm a new reviewer so it was something I could get my hands on!
There are so many great books coming out in the YA category at the moment, so some of these books are already getting buzz (even without sending out samplers) and for some, it may be easy to get lost in the fray. There's a pretty broad range of books here (13 in all!) so there's something for everyone. Here are some standouts:

'Solo' (Kwame Alexander) - This obviously will not be the right book for everyone, and you can tell that immediately when you start reading the poetic verse. It's a coming-of-age story, written in song, about a teenager called Blade Morrison and from seeing the buzz around this book, this might be one I would actually prefer to go the audio route; it's narrated by the author, which is something I love, and would help with any struggle with the fact that it's verse/poetry. Actually reading along at the SAME TIME as hearing it would be amazing too, because I think this might just be a groundbreaker, and it may be easy to dismiss this one based on it being verse. Perfect for music and poetry lovers. Fascinating.

'Girls Made of Snow & Glass' (Melissa Bashardoust) - This is one of those that has had a lot of buzz around it; for me, I was initially drawn in by the simplicity of that beautiful monochromatic cover design of the icicles! Stunning. 'Snow & Glass' is described as a 'feminist fantasy reimagining of the Snow White Fairytale'; although we've had quite a few retellings of fairytales of late, what I hear is that this is a complex and magical look at the relationship between stepdaughter/stepmother and this is NOT a damsel-in-distress story (thank goodness). The excerpt is a slow introduction into the story but I would love to read this one in its entirety.

'All Rights Reserved' (Gregory Scott Katsoulis) - The title sticks with me right away (I'm a photographer), and it's honestly genius with respect to the premise of the book. Set in a world where every word and gesture is copyrighted (are we that far off?), a girl called Speth chooses to stay silent in protest, and refuses to speak, rather than to pay every time she opens her mouth. When I read this synopsis I immediately began to think about the current day's debates over the right to protest, and THEN the excerpt immediately starts with references to suicide (so trigger warning right away); I know pretty quickly this is not going to be the book for everyone either. Quite a bit of controversial content and lots to talk about. I want to keep reading this dystopian novel as I'd love to see how Speth navigates this frustrating world.

'Warcross' (Marie Lu) - Without a doubt, this was/would have been/is the highlight for me, and by this point, I'm happy to say I've read the book. I read a sampler ahead of time, and preordered the book; after picking it up, I had read it by the next night. Had I not had photos to go take, a dog to walk, and my child to keep alive, I expect I would have read it quicker! Needless to say, I devoured Warcross faster than just about anything I've read of late. While this is about a teenage hacker and a virtual-reality game that has taken over the world, which before this, wouldn't sound like anything I would read, this book is amazing. The imagery and plot take you to a colorful and exciting world very quickly and you become so immersed in it that suddenly Marie Lu has you wanting Book 2 (and she says it's in the works) immediately upon finishing. LOVED it. And all because I read the sampler.

'Beasts Made of Night' (Tochi Onyebuchi) - The short excerpt that I read in this sampler was one that I had been looking forward to reading for a while (the book, which is about dark magic, appropriately debuts on Halloween). The book is set the city of Kos, where a young sin-eater called Taj wrestles with his livelihood and his desires; this novel immediately throws you into the Taj's world, and you can just sense this will be a book filled with rich imagery, complex world-building, and I have high expectations for vivid fantasy and great characters. I hope the buzz delivers!

*Thanks for making my book list even longer!

Note: The whole of this excerpt edition can be found at buzz.publishersmarketplace.com

I really love these samplers--usually--because it's a great way to find not only new books by authors I already like, but to find new books I might have otherwise not heard of.

This one was kind of a let down for me, though. I normally come out of reading one of these with anywhere from 5-15 books I've added to my TBR, or have made a note to look up after release. Of those, I buy a few (or, sometimes, almost all of them), and check out the rest from the library.

But with this one, I only came out of it with one book I definitely want to read ([b:We're Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True|34884359|We're Going to Need More Wine Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True|Gabrielle Union|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1503004181s/34884359.jpg|56136466] by Gabrielle Union), and seven that I might be interested in, but almost certainly won't buy unless I find them used or on sale.

The others I'll probably look for at the library and such were [b:Fever|34273721|Fever|Deon Meyer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1492790509s/34273721.jpg|52017495] by Deon Meyer, [b:Little Fires Everywhere|34273236|Little Fires Everywhere|Celeste Ng|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490351351s/34273236.jpg|52959357] by Celeste Ng (this one I'll definitely keep an eye out for), [b:The Black Painting|34888106|The Black Painting|Neil Olson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1492607325s/34888106.jpg|56141918] by Neil Olsen, [b:Sourdough|33916024|Sourdough|Robin Sloan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490804609s/33916024.jpg|51600167] by Robin Sloan, [b:Stay with Me|32969150|Stay with Me|Ayobami Adebayo|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481563711s/32969150.jpg|52027766] by Ayobami Adebayo, [b:Seven Days of Us|33357622|Seven Days of Us|Francesca Hornak|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499074945s/33357622.jpg|54097363] by Francesca Hornak, and [b:The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion - Surprising Observations of a Hidden World|35697904|The Inner Life of Animals Love, Grief, and Compassion - Surprising Observations of a Hidden World|Peter Wohlleben|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1500356347s/35697904.jpg|57189746] by Peter Wohlleben. A few of those were on my radar before I read the excerpt, and I was hoping to be more excited by them, but I'm still on the fence.

So, I think these samplers are always very useful, and I love them in general, but this particular one didn't really have many books I'm interested in, and only one I'm looking forward to reading.

I've read several of the Buzz Book Publications and have greatly appreciated the reference they provided in helping decide what to read, and specifically, what to read next! The YA 2016 fall/winter edition was certainly no exception. I've been on a bit of a YA kick as of late, fueled in part by all the attention the genre gets on book tube and blogs that I follow but there are always so many new books coming out all the time in this genre, that it's hard to narrow it down to the one book I'm capable of reading at one time. I've found that often I either love ya or hate it and can usually tell with in the first chapter or two what category a book will fall into, not always, but most of the time. With that being said this handy dandy little reference is must have for me and readers like me and I've found it to be an excellent tool for helping me find excellent reads, beefing up my tbr shelf significantly, and also in steering me away from books that have gotten good reviews but either aren't what I was expecting or don't appear to be something I would enjoy. This particular edition is of 20 different fall/winter 2016 YA reads and it includes, for each novel sample featured, a brief summary, a lengthy excerpt from the books, and a small bio about the author, in that order. I believe that any and all readers who enjoy reading from the YA genre need this little gem on their bookshelf. I easily rated it 5 out of 5 stars - now that's not to say that all 20 of the featured books with samples within deserve, or will receive, 5 stars individually, but this publication as a whole, which readers the opportunity to gain insight and reference on their next read, is certainly deserving of 5 stars, in my opinion.

I received a copy of this publication from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.