I can not WAIT to tell you guys about this book!

I’ve read it and I love it. So you all now need to go get your own copy and see how right I am.

As I said, this is Katie Zaber’s debut — wait. I didn’t say that. Well, now I am! It’s also the first in a series and I doubt I’m the only one foaming at the mouth for the next book. I use a mechanical keyboard, so this is NOT a good habit I’ve developed, let me tell you… plus the neighbors are a bit worried… okay, more than usual…

Katie, what song makes you think of your book?

Swan Dive by Ani DiFranco —
There is nothing like diving into an adventure, especially when you have no clue where your feet will land… or if they will ever hit solid ground again. And after impact, will you have the strength to get up?

The song “Swan Dive” reminds me of Megan, the main character in Ashes and Blood. She is more pragmatic and sticks to her morals. When faced with impossible decisions, she still does what she believes is right, even if the outcome destroys her.

Yeah, I can see this… this is also new to me. I love it when you guys expand my musical horizons. (Really, this is why I love this feature so much. I get to learn stuff!)

Need the cover copy?

“I’ll start at the beginning. Long ago, before roads, before we built structures, before medicine was discovered, before the government was created, before man gained any knowledge, there were The Five. Independent from each other, The Five had a mutual respect for one another. They knew their roles in the world and their duty. They were gods…”

An adventure begins when an otherworldly tree captures the attention of Megan and her friends. The environment morphs around them, transferring them to an exotic planet. Stuck in a rural town still maimed by the plague, a chance encounter with a familiar face gives Megan and her friends some security during their adjustment period.

While settling into new, promising lives, they are attacked and stalked by planet Dalya’s humanoid inhabitants, who focus on Megan. One dark night, after an epic, magical attack, the Fae King’s knight is sent to fetch Megan. When she wakes up a prisoner, she learns that there is much more to this strange world, and it is oddly more like her own than she ever would have expected.

Guys, this doesn’t do the storyline justice! There is SO MUCH to this story and it’s new and it’s fresh and if you can’t tell how high I am on it, well, you’re not reading carefully enough.

Get yours!
Smashwords (This is an affiliate link, so you know, but it’s also FREE until July 4!)
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

And, of course, connect with Katie! She is lovely and fierce and all sorts of good things. You’ll be glad she’s part of your life. I know I am.
Website

Remember, once you’ve read this, be sure to leave a review! Reviews help books find new readers, and YES it is okay to leave a thoughtful, negative review if the book doesn’t work for you. But this one will. No worries there. And if you’re struggling with reviews, be sure to reach out. I’m more than glad to help.

Also, be sure to send over your author friends for their turn in the spotlight! Here’s the link to the handy-dandy form.

Let’s welcome SD Hintz to West of Mars!

Honestly, I don’t know how SD found us, and I’m more than okay with that. I love adding new people to my radar, as you long-time readers well know. Of course, my wish list of books I want to get my hands on grows exponentially, and sometimes, so does my TBR mountain range, but even that’s worth it. I’ve found some fantastic stuff from what you guys ask me to feature. And that’s only one reason why I do this!

So, SD, what song makes you think of Vigilance and Vengeance?

Start A Fire by Unspoken

That was all SD had to say, but if you really listen to the song, you’ll understand it. Of course, it’ll help if you know what the book’s about.

Eighteen-year-old Seanna had a face that was hard to forget. A blood red birthmark emblazoned across her chin is the reason why. It made her the target of taunts from bullies and the bane of the headmistress of the orphanage where she lived since birth. Her mark possesses a fiery flair she struggles to control. Consumed by a pyrokinetic ability she can either learn to control it or let it control her.

In a world where no one can be trusted can she trust herself to save the world or will she be the one to end it?

Pick up a copy — this has a great premise, doesn’t it? And I like the song; Unspoken is a new-to-me band. It’s happy. It’s got great energy. What a contrast to a book about a pyrokenetic!

Unfortunately, this is an Amazon-only book, but if that’s your juju and you have Unlimited, you can download and read away. The rest of us will have to either cough up real money (what a horror! To pay money for a book!) or wait and hope our libraries or other retailers will carry it.

Connect with SD Hintz! You know you want to be around someone this creative.
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads

I hadn’t heard from my cross-state music-loving buddy AJ Krafton in awhile. I figured she must be busily writing in a cave somewhere. And, of course, I was right.

Ash is back with a paperback release of The Heartbeat Thief, and… well, let’s get right to it. I have a feeling I’m really going to like her song choice.

Senza Fyne, Senzafine: The Musical Inspiration behind AJ Krafton’s THE HEARTBEAT THIEF

I’ve always been inspired by music. Words are powerful things but somehow, when they are sung, they gain an extra layer of strength and intent, especially when the singer pours their heart and their emotion into each note, each line.

I tend to listen to music that is emotionally-laden. My writing playlists lean heavily toward rock and metal—Type O Negative, Blind Guardian, My Chemical Romance, and especially the Italian band Lacuna Coil.

Lacuna Coil’s songs take me to a place where urban fantasy becomes real. Their song “Our Truth” from the album Karmacode even appeared in one of the Underworld movies. What can be more urbanly fantastic than a movie about vampires and werewolves and (quite literally) everything in between?

While I have lots of favorite LC titles, the top of the list is Senzafine, one of their Italian-language songs.

Senzafine is the Italian word for “without end” or “endless”. It’s the word that inspired the main character’s name: Senza Fyne. It also told her story.

It wasn’t only the title that inspired the character. The lyrics themselves and their underlying interpretation accurately portray the internal struggle Senza experiences and is the perfect companion piece to the story.

This video of Senzafine contains an English translation of the lyrics so that you can enjoy the song, even if you don’t speak Italian. (It also has live clips of LC, which makes me very happy. I love seeing them in concert!)

While the provided translation may not be perfect, it does get the gist of it. The female singer expresses her desire to break free of her life, her destiny. The male voice sings of darker things, the force that fights against the female. There is a constant battle between good and evil and the female admits that is sometimes hard to choose between them. There is also the realization that she must be prepared to live alone, dependent upon only herself.

And that, to me, sounds very much like the symphony of Senza’s determined heart.

Playing opposite to Senza is a tall, mysterious stranger who teases her with secretive smiles and suggestions of magic. From their first meeting, he calls her bien-aime, which is French for “beloved”. When she demands his name, he listens to the tolling of a nearby church bell before calling himself Mr. Knell.

But he has an older name. A much older name. And it will take Senza a very, very long time before she realizes just who he truly is.

The song “Senzafine” fits him, too. One particular verse fits Senza’s dark seducer perfectly. In fact, I believe the last lines belong to him.

Non c’e scelta senza me
Non c’e vita senza me

There’s no choice without me
There’s no life without me

And Senza utterly believes him.

I hope you’ll read The Heartbeat Thief and keep these words somewhere in the back of your heart. And when you finish, and you close the book, think back upon Senza and her struggle to escape her destined life. Think back upon Knell and think back upon those last lines. I hope you’ll find them as deliciously poignant as I do.

Most of all, think back upon your own feelings, and firmly resolve to resist destiny’s plans for you and choose your own, instead. The song will still be there to inspire you on your journey.

I’d never heard that song before; guess I’m only a casual Lacuna Coil fan (sorry, Ash!).

Ready for the book description? I sure am.

Haunted by a crushing fear of death, a young Victorian woman discovers the secret of eternal youth—she must surrender her life to attain it, and steal heartbeats to keep it.

In 1860 Surrey, a young woman has only one occupation: to marry. Senza Fyne is beautiful, intelligent, and lacks neither wealth nor connections. Finding a husband shouldn’t be difficult, not when she has her entire life before her. But it’s not life that preoccupies her thoughts. It’s death—and that shadowy spectre haunts her every step.

So does Mr. Knell. Heart-thumpingly attractive, obviously eligible—he’d be her perfect match if only he wasn’t so macabre. All his talk about death, all that teasing about knowing how to avoid it…

When her mother arranges a courtship with another man, Senza is desperate for escape from a dull prescripted destiny. Impulsively, she takes Knell up on his offer. He casts a spell that frees her from the cruelty of time and the threat of death—but at a steep price. In order to maintain eternal youth, she must feed on the heartbeats of others.

From the posh London season to the back alleys of Whitechapel, across the Channel, across the Pond, across the seas of Time…

How far will Senza Fyne go to avoid Death?

Yeah, this is cool stuff. What an original concept.

Get your copy now.
Amazon universal link to The Heartbeat Thiefhttp://viewBook.at/thief
(redirects international users to their local Amazon domains)

Aargh! What IS it with the Amazon exclusive books???

But remember: if you do pick it up, a few words in a review is a great way to show support for a book that touched you — good OR bad. (but it won’t be bad. It just won’t be.)