North Woods Dani Ripley

 

North Woods

Dani Ripley

Genre: Horror, Eco-Apocalypse

Publisher: Dani Ripley

Date of Publication: Jan. 26, 2023

ISBN: 979-8375227313

ASIN: B0BT9W7CHL

Number of pages: 337 

Word Count: 64,537

Cover Artist: Dani Ripley

Tagline: Outrun the horde. Survive the ice.

Book Description:

Post-apocalyptic female buddy-western set against a backdrop of a sudden, cataclysmic ice age.

Hax can barely remember her real name, it's been so long since she's used it. “Hax” is a shortened version of the word Haxa – the Swedish word for witch - a nickname given to her by people afraid of her seemingly supernatural abilities: appearing out of nowhere then disappearing again just as quickly; uncannily accurate weather pattern readings; and extraordinary skill at tracking prey, human or otherwise. Or perhaps it was simply her propensity for sudden and extreme violence.

A natural loner, Hax isn’t bothered so much by the apocalypse as she is by other people. As such, she’s surprised to find herself traveling with a small group after a long solitary stint in the woods, but when a larger, more savage gang threatens her new people, she’s unable to convince the smaller group of the danger. Realizing it’s too late, she abandons them to their fate, but not before one of the younger members, Pip, sees her escape and decides to follow.

After witnessing the brutal slaughter of their fellow travelers, the two strangers set off through an icy northern wilderness to find Pip’s father, whose last known residence is a camp near the oil sands of Alberta, Canada. In order to survive, Hax and Pip will have to find a way to escape the ruthless horde of marauders still stalking them at every turn, as well as withstand extreme cold, starvation, and exhaustion. And above all, they’ll have to learn to trust each other. 

Amazon

Excerpt

In the middle of the night, I awoke to a low growl. Confused, I groggily fought my way up through thick layers of sleep to realize it was Misha. Fully awake now, I shushed him and listened. Faint footfalls crunched outside. Whoever it was, they weren’t on top of us yet, but they weren’t far away.  I shook Pip awake and held a finger to my lips as she blinked up at me. Misha growled again, making Pip sit straight up in her sleeping bag.

“Get the gun,” I whispered. “And hold onto him,” I gestured at Misha, who stared intently at the tent flap. I dug my large hunting knife out of my bag and unsheathed it. “And don’t shoot me,” I added.

“Don’t go out there!” Pip hissed.

“It’ll be ok,” I said. “You remember how to use that, right?”

“Yes, but I still don’t think you should go.”

“It’ll be ok,” I repeated, as much for myself as for her. I unzipped the flap as quietly as I could.

Misha twitched behind me, but Pip held him tightly in the crook of her left arm. In her right hand, she clutched the gun, her finger loosely on the trigger. “Be right back,” I whispered. “If you see anyone who isn’t me, shoot them.” I slipped out before she could answer, leaving the flap open in my wake.

Holding my knife in front of me, I crept away from the tent, every muscle in my body tense with anticipation. The clouds had dissipated, leaving a clear, moonlit night. I didn’t see anyone in the immediate area. Our fire had gone out. I crouched low and made my way around the smoldering pit to the check on the horses.

Dancer huffed and regarded me with huge, calm brown eyes, his scruffy coat in desperate need of brushing. I gave him a good scratch. Blitzen shook her head and whinnied, shoving her nose at me to be stroked too. They didn’t seem upset. Perhaps what we’d heard were simply sounds of the winter forest settling for the night.

Just as I had the thought, a huge arm covered in stinking fur grabbed me around my neck and a grimy hand clamped roughly over my mouth. I sputtered and backed up into what felt like a brick wall. Without thinking, I stomped down hard with my right boot and shoved my butt out as far as I could, surprising him and breaking his hold on me. I whirled around and got low, grunting like an animal and diving for his knees. I didn’t manage to knock him over, but I drove my knife deep into his inner thigh just above his knee. When I heard the solid wet ‘thock’ of its hilt hitting his flesh, I jerked it up all the way up to his groin, severing his femoral artery.

He didn’t so much fall as crumble to a sitting position on the snow. He grabbed at his leg and looked at me. I scuttled backward on my butt like a crab, putting a couple more feet between us even though I was pretty sure he was bleeding out. “Demon,” he hissed. “I know you.” I crept forward again, my bloody knife held before me like an offering. “Get away from me,” he said.

“You’re dying,” I said back. “How many of you are there?”

“All of us. We’re coming for you.”

“Yes, but how far away?” I asked, exasperated. We didn’t have time for this. I was absolutely sure he was part of a group.

“We’re everywhere,” he said, fading. The blood beneath him was turning black, growing like a cartoon shadow. “You and your little girlfriend are going to die.”

“Not before you,” I said, rising. I looked around in the gloom. The horses huffed and stomped their feet. Was it possible he’d been alone? Maybe just a scout?

As I turned to go back to the tent a single gunshot shattered the stillness of the night. I broke into a run, skidding through muddy snow, sliding to a stop just beyond the fire pit. A body lay in a heap outside the tent. It was too large to be Pip. Cautiously I approached and leaned over. I could tell it was a man, or formerly a man, but that was all. His face had been completely obliterated from the point-blank shot. I peered into the tent, saw a smoking barrel, and Pip’s pale face beyond. “Are you ok?” I asked her.

“Misha’s gone!” she cried, pushing her way out of the tent. “He ran away when I fired the gun!”

“We’ve got to go, Pip. Others are coming.” I began throwing things into my pack and stuffing them down. Gently I took the gun from Pip. Her hands were shaking.

“We can’t leave Misha!” she yelled at me.

“Pip, we have to go. They’ll kill us, or worse. Get your stuff now!”

She rolled up her sleeping bag quickly and secured it to her pack, zipping up her parka. Mine was already done and strapped to my pack. “I’ll get the horses. You stay here,” I ordered.

About the Author 

Dani Ripley lives in Michigan and loves writing.

https://daniripley.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/27332690.Dani_Ripley 

Shifted The Shifted Series Book One Roxanna Mason

 

Shifted

The Shifted Series 

Book One

Roxanna Mason

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Date of Publication: 12/18/2022

ISBN: 979-8-218-12243-0

ASIN: B0BNCBQT61

Number of pages: 516

Word Count: 109,379

Cover Artist: Benjamin Richard

Book Description:  

Jacey Lange has everything she has ever wanted. She is newly engaged, and her menswear line is one of the fastest-growing in the country. Beautiful, successful, and deeply in love, Jacey feels like she's on top of the world.

That is, until she catches her fiance in bed with her assistant.

Everything around her comes crashing down.

Thankfully, her best friend, Leon, welcomes her back to her old apartment with open arms. The people in Jacey’s life watch for months as she wallows in her misery, until Leon hatches a plan: if Jacey agrees to get herself back out there and promises to go out with the next five guys that ask her, no matter who they are, then not only will he give her the master bedroom in the apartment, but both Leon and Jacey’s sister, Elise, will agree to stop meddling in her love life.

In rapid succession, Jacey finds herself falling for five completely different men. Yet despite all their differences, there is something oddly familiar about each one. When she finds out why, it won't just change the way she feels about love, it will make her question everything she once thought was real.

Amazon      BN

Excerpt:

I didn't know what Owen had in mind, but it was already obvious to me that I would go anywhere this man was leading. He kept his hand in mine as he guided me through the crowded bar and toward the pool tables. Thankfully, because the band was still playing, the back of the bar was far less populated.

"Is playing pool normally part of a first date with you, or are you just trying to get me alone?" I teased.

Owen took a step towards me, pinning me between him and the pool table.

"Both," he said with a smile on his face that I could only describe as wicked.

I tilted my head to the side as I looked up at him. "Let's make it interesting, then."

"Interesting?"

I took a step to the side, sliding out from between him and the ancient wooden table. I grabbed a pool cue off of the rack and tossed it to him before grabbing a decidedly smaller one for myself. "We're going to need more shots," I said to him.

A smile crept over his dark features. "My kind of girl..." he murmured as he lowered his head towards mine.

"Nope, if you want to kiss me, you better plan on winning."

Owen shook his head and left me at the table while I started to rack the balls. A few minutes later, he returned with four shots; two of whiskey, two of tequila. I took one of the shot glasses filled with dark brown liquor straight out of his hand and threw it back. I winced as the alcohol made my throat close in on itself. The truth was, I might have been putting on a show. I enjoyed the way I felt around Owen, but I didn't know if I was as wild as I wanted him to believe.

"So what are the stakes here?" he asked me as he set the remaining shots on a nearby hightop.

"If you win, you get to take me home..." I said in a voice I barely recognized as my own. It was breathy and seductive. Those two shots apparently went to my head faster than I thought.

"And if you win?" Owen asked with a raised brow.

"If I win, I get a second date."

"Who said we can't do both?" he said with a chuckle.

I rolled my eyes. I didn't have this whole impulsive, whiskey-drinking, short skirt-wearing Jacey completely figured out yet.

Owen took a step towards me. He reached for my hips and pulled me toward him. "What do you really want?"

I could feel my pulse banging in my ears, and the loud, crowded bar faded into the background. He reached around my head, threading his fingers into my hair and tugging me towards him. I leaned forward, expecting him to kiss me, but his mouth hovered over mine.

"What do you want?" he asked again.

"You," I said, my voice caught in my throat.

"What was that?" he asked teasingly. His deep voice, vibrating through me.

"I want you."

Finally, he brought his lips to mine and kissed me deeply. Kissing Owen wasn't new to me; we couldn't stop kissing the night he drove me over the Brooklyn Bridge. But this was something else. I wasn't sure I even knew my own name anymore.

"When I take you home, it's going to be because you're begging me to...not because I won at pool."

About the Author: 

Roxanna Mason is a debut paranormal romance author and formally trained actor from Los Angeles, California. It was her deep love of storytelling that led her to study theatre and that same love of storytelling that drove her to write her first novel. When not writing, Roxanna is binge watching horror films, creating vegan recipes, and dancing around her living room to Fleetwood Mac.

https://www.roxannamason.com/

https://www.instagram.com/roxannamason/ 

https://www.tiktok.com/@roxannamason

  

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23217624.Roxanna_Mason 

Bright Blue Planet The Jovian Universe Book Three Kim Catanzarite

 

Bright Blue Planet

The Jovian Universe 

Book Three

Kim Catanzarite

Genre: Sci-fi Thriller

Publisher: Forster Publishing

Date of Publication: March 1, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-7359522-4-6

ASIN: B0BT2ZKJRS

Word Count: 65,000

Cover Artist: Damonza

Tagline: At a time when humans and clones begin to clash, two men—one Jovian, the other, human—struggle to navigate the new world order and their own families within it.

Book Description: 

Continuing the story that began with They Will Be Coming for Us and Jovian Son, Bright Blue Planet, Book 3 in The Jovian Universe, takes readers behind the scenes of the otherworldly Jovian family, revealing their most startling secrets. 

Former three-term President of the United States, Evander Peterman, does his best to uphold the promise he made his human mother, Svetlana, to protect ordinary humans from the stronger, more-intelligent race of clones the powerful Jovian family has created.

 

Fran Vasquez, former FBI agent and current head of the Jovians’ security squad at Starbright International, not only works with clones and hybrids but recently hired his young, struggling son, who immediately creates tension between members of the squad.

 

Meanwhile, Caroline, matriarch of the Jovians, may be at odds with her husband, Edmund, who abruptly left Earth for no known reason. She doesn’t seem to care that humans and clones aren't getting along—and suggests something much more menacing looms on Earth’s horizon.  

As the story unfolds, Evander and Fran must do their best to navigate not only the rising world order but their own families as well.

https://amzn.to/3YLtOlX

Excerpt 1

“I’m sure you’re aware of what’s going on with the humans in Philadelphia?” Evander said.

Uncle Jimmy pulled some dried leaves from the plants to his left, then began to pluck the dead blossoms from a tray to his right. Without looking up, he said, “The human beings are doing fine as far as I can tell.”

That was a disappointing statement if ever Evander heard one. “They may be on the cusp of warring with the clones you created,” he said. “Something needs to be done.”

Uncle Jimmy removed his focus from the flowers and met Evander’s gaze. A gentle innocence settled over his face. “I’ve never made a human clone. I was against making the clones from the very beginning.”

“And yet somehow, with your help, an entire race of them lives on this planet. How is that, I wonder, and please don’t tell me it was written in the stars. Things like cloning don’t just happen.”

“Cloning has been and always was sewn into the tapestry of human fate, even if that’s not what you want to hear,” he said, his cheeks pinkening. “You seem upset, are you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

Jimmy went back to tending to the various plants. “You’re human. It’s to be expected.”

“Yes, you’re right. I’m human and I’m Jovian and I have emotions. From what I’ve been told you experience them, too. Is that correct?”

Jimmy gave up on gardening and stepped up to Evander, tilting his head in a contemplative way.

“I feel empathy. Empathy and all that comes with it.”

“So you can understand when I tell you that I made a promise to my mother to protect the human race, and I intend to follow through because she means a lot to me.”

“But you’ve already followed through. You’ve protected them with your legislation. You saved their planet, made it inhabitable again, safe again. I suspect you’ve done more for this planet than any other individual ever has … or will, for that matter.” He paused before placing a heavy hand upon Evander’s shoulder. “Your mother would be proud of you.”

“That may be so, but what’s happening in Philadelphia would concern her nonetheless,” he said, stepping aside so he could get out from under Jimmy’s hand. “I thought you cared about my mother. She always spoke so highly of you.”

Jimmy blinked as if some dust had fallen into his eye. “I care for her just as I care for you.” He rubbed the back of his head, the thin shock of hair left standing in a whirl. “And, for your information, it was the humans who came up with the science that led to cloning. I only nudged them in the right direction. Either way, it had to be done in order for other occurrences to … occur.”

 “In spite of that,” Evander said, “the humans and clones are at odds. The humans are the physically weaker species, and they know it. They’ve been fearful of the clones from the start.

The only leg they have to stand on is a societal one. They are purebred. ‘Real,’ as they like to say. But they’re not stupid. They know the clones are smarter and stronger, and therefore destined to take over the species.”

“What you describe may be an issue now,” Uncle Jimmy said with optimistic light in his eyes, “but it won’t always be. Minds will change. In time, all of the genes will have mixed.

There will be no such thing as a purebred human. No reals or fakes, clones or hybrids. Only humans with varying degrees of Jovian DNA. That’s the beauty of it.”

Uncle Jimmy argued with ease and self-assurance, but Evander knew it wasn’t that simple. Life never was. Humans, in particular, never were.

About the Author:

Kim Catanzarite is the author of the award-winning Jovian Universe sci-fi thriller series. She is a freelance writer and editor for publishers and independent authors, and she teaches copyediting for Writer’s Digest University. Her Self-Publishing 101 blog discusses the ins and outs of indie life as well as all things writing craft. When she’s not writing or editing, Kim enjoys hiking, drawing, and talking to her cats. She lives on the east coast USA with her husband and daughter. 

For more information, visit:

https://www.AuthorKimCatanzarite.com

 

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https://www.facebook.com/KimCatanzariteAuthor

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