The Sacrifice and the Spare (Bound by Blood) is here!

At long last, the first of the Bound by Blood spicy vampire romance novellas is here! For those of you who don’t know, Bound by Blood is the multi-author novella series I co-organized with Ophelia Wells Langley. We started planning this since January and I can’t believe it’s finally here!

Each of the 8 novellas are standalones by 8 unique authors. Many of our stories are also diverse, with LGBTQ+ rep, chronic illness representation and diverse characters.

The Sacrifice and the Spare is the first BBB novella to be released (today!). A new novella will launch every Friday from September 1st until October 20th. You will be able to read all of them in Kindle Unlimited, too!

About The Sacrifice and the Spare

An other world paranormal romantasy

  • Royal arranged marriage
  • Murder mystery
  • Vampire-human prince pairing
  • Political intrigue

Synopsis:

When a human prince takes a vampire bride, can love bloom where death is sown?

As the spare, Prince Kallan is duty-bound to wed the woman chosen for him–even if it means marrying a vampire. After Bria is selected from the neighboring vampire clan, Kallan can’t deny the heat that sparks between them, but his cautious optimism goes up in smoke when the heir to the throne is found dead and Bria is the top suspect.

Bria can’t remember her life before she became a vampire, but she knows she was made for one purpose: to wed the second prince of Dolbryn–a human prince. In a kingdom of strangers, Bria anticipates being a lamb to slaughter, but the last thing she expects is to be framed for killing the heir. Now, she must trust that the fledgling bond between her and Kallan is enough to see her rightfully freed.

Start reading The Sacrifice and the Spare here.

About the Author

Elle Backenstoe lives in Eastern Pennsylvania with her husband, son, and two dogs. She grew up with her nose buried in a book and sometimes emerges long enough to write some words of her own. She writes fantasy and romance, often together. Elle runs on pop punk music and Coke, and will always choose sweet over salty. When she’s not reading or writing, you can find her at her home-away-from-home, the dance studio.

You can find Elle on:
Twitter
Instagram
Tiktok

Snow-Swept is here!

It’s Valentine’s Day, so you know what that means…

Snow-Swept moodboard: Hope flies in on a gargoyle's wings. Sweet Fantasy Romance. (Images of winter, night, and winter clothing.)

It’s release day for Snow-Swept!

This no-spice fantasy romance novelette is now available on Kindle Unlimited.

Featuring hearts in need of healing, grief, and a sweet romance that blooms alongside a gargoyle’s protective instincts, I can’t guarantee this little story won’t make you cry!

Snow-Swept: A Gargoyle Romance Novelette, by C.K. Beggan (pale wings, snowflakes and intricate lacy designs over a background the color of night)

Visit the book page for Snow-Swept for more info!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Cheers,

CKB

Find your next Kindle Vella read!

The first Potions & Passions Kindle Vella promo is LIVE, my friends, and you can find it here. How excited am I?

This promo runs January 8 – February 7, 2023, and has scifi, fantasy, romantic fantasy and fantasy romance (aka romantasy!) titles. With 18 stories and 13 authors to choose from, the BookFunnel page will help you find your next Kindle Vella read!

You’ll also find my stories Stone Circles: A New Fairy Tale (based on Irish myth) and A Court of Swords and Sugar Plums (which I describe as The Nutcracker meets The Cruel Prince).

This is my first time creating a BookFunnel promo, and I look forward to helping everyone find some new Vella readers. As Vella authors, we’re usually scouring Facebook posts for readers with tokens to burn and interest in what we’re writing, so I think this makes a lot more sense for writers and readers both!

Wondering what the heck Kindle Vella is?

Potions & Passions Kindle Vella BookFunnel Promo January 8-February 7, 2023
Potions & Passions (Kindle Vella) inaugural promo

Kindle Vella is an Amazon platform for serial storytelling.

If you’ve never checked out Vella before, there’s a good chance you have some free tokens just waiting for you to claim them. Besides that, the first three episodes of every Vella story are always free to try. Pretty cool, right?

Every episode costs a certain number of tokens, depending on the length. As readers, you can like, follow (and even favorite, if you have paid tokens) the stories you love, so Vella incorporates a bit of social media into its platform in that way. You can still review stories, too!

Vella authors often break their stories up into “seasons,” which they may break up into separate stories (or not). Anastasis Blythe, whom I’ve interviewed and reviewed ARCs from, is a prolific romantic fantasy author on Kindle Vella, but there are LOADS of authors and genres to choose from. 

The only downside is that this is still a relatively new platform, so it’s only available to US Amazon users. (I know, I have quite a bit of readership outside the US, but authors always have the option of publishing their stories 30 days after removing them from Vella, which IS my plan).

That’s all for now!

Cheers,

CKB

Read A Court of Swords and Sugar Plums on Vella!

Vella readers, rejoice! You can now read the next installment in the Season of the Fae series, A Court of Swords and Sugar Plums, on Kindle Vella!

Right now, the plan is to later publish this story as winter-themed novella duology, so don’t worry if you don’t have access to Vella. (Vella is still relatively new, and is currently for U.S. Amazon users only.)

Check out the full cover!

A Court of Swords & Sugar Plums, by C.K. Beggan - Cover image of a sword topped with holly and surrounded by plumes of smoke

For the synopsis and more, visit the Season of the Fae series page here.

Cheers!

-CKB

Warrior of Blade and Dusk review

A review of Warrior of Blade and Dusk

(The Zheninghai Chronicles #2)

Other books in this series:
Maiden of Candlelight and Lotuses (#0)
Guardian of Talons and Snares (#1)

romantic fantasy, Eastern-inspired fantasy, clean romantic fantasy

Note: I received an ARC and this is an honest, voluntary review.

If your favorite parts of Guardian of Talons and Snares were the pursuit on the road and the developing, complicated romance between Aranya and Kai, you will love book two, Warrior of Blade and Dusk, as much as I did.

This was such a fun, exciting and satisfying conclusion. Truly action-packed, it takes the best parts of book one and amplifies them. Kai, for one, has softened a lot, without losing too much of his sparky edge. (Though we do see him requesting snuggles!)

The romance also kicks into high gear on this one. Araya also stays her plucky self, but continues to strengthen mentally. I love that an action and romance-forward story focuses so much on its character’s psychological development.

Though the series continues with the story of Princess Meiling, there were some scenes suggesting interesting storylines to come. I’m really looking forward to it!

My rating:
5/5

Married by War review

A review of Married by War, by Sarah K.L. Wilson

Note: I received an ARC and this is an honest, voluntary review.

What a beautifully written story, and the darkest in the series so far. Full of grim depictions of war and its effects on those fighting it, Married by War has its Goose Girl moments in the plot and no shortage of heartbreaking scenes. But dog lovers should be careful! My heart still aches when I think back on certain scenes.

The cover of Married by War, surrounded by fall leaves and lights

There were so many wonderfully written lines in the book that I highlighted, most of them full of the heartache of its characters. The romance is born of genuine shared kindness and humanity amidst a lot of darkness, and I very much rooted for the two narrators.

I think it’s not a spoiler at this point to say these are all HEAs in the series, and this one is incredibly hard-won. My heart still aches a little after this one, but it was also so gorgeous, like finding a bit of goodness after wading through dark times.

My rating:
5/5

To learn more about this author, visit sarahklwilson.com.

Guardian of Talons and Snares

A review of Guardian of Talons and Snares, by Anastasis Blythe

Note: I received an ARC and this is an honest, voluntary review.

Enemies to lovers romance meets a (mostly) cozy mystery in this East Asian-inspired fantasy novel by Anastasis Blythe (Maiden of Candlelight and Lotuses). Full of action and a comrade/enemy best described as considerate Loki, the budding romance feels legitimate and the mysteries are thrilling.

Like much of Blythe’s work, Guardian of Talons and Snares began as a Kindle Vella serial. There’s more to come, so don’t expect a tidy ending—and better still, the dance between ultimate morning person Aranya and trickster Kai will keep you guessing throughout the book. From the very first prank Kai plays on her, it’s clear these two have a long way to go. Their developing (and then collapsing) romance is so well done, I can’t wait to read what comes next for them!

The mockup cover of Guardians of Talons and Snares with candles, a Kindle and a plush background

The villains are very villainous, the mysteries are well-plotted and there is political intrigue tied throughout the story. Better still, it’s also the story of a young woman caring for her grandfather, who would do anything to protect him and return to him. The story (and the stakes) really heightens as Aranya and Kai set out on assignments together. I’m really looking forward to see where their multi-layered journey will take them.

My rating:
4.5/5

To learn more about this author, visit anastasisblythe.com.