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Monday, October 13, 2025

Writing the next story... #DarkRomance #SecondChanceRomance #OppositeAttract

Lost in His Spiderwebs banner

By Amber Daulton (Guest Blogger)

Lost in His Spiderwebs is the second book in the Lozano Cartel series, which follows Rubén Lozano and Drina Cabrera in a second chance dark romance neither of them expected.

Rubén is not a man to trifle with. He’s a ruthless, secretive cartel kingpin who will spill blood to further his end goals. Drina is a widowed mom who lives her life around her job and raising her daughter. These two people have nothing in common, or so it seems. After Drina’s life turns upside down and she finds herself at the mercy of a violent cartel, fate sends the one man she wants nothing to do with right into her path. Yet, Rubén is the only person who can help her.

Readers will first meet Rubén and Drina as supporting characters in Dark Hearts Aflame, book one in the series. Right away, I knew I wanted to explore and develop Rubén’s character and give him his own book, but I wasn’t sure who his heroine would be. After coming up with and discarding a couple of ideas, inspiration finally struck. Drina! She would be perfect for him. I love the opposites attract trope, so I plotted out the story with Drina as his love interest. But something didn’t feel right. At this point in my brainstorming process, Rubén and Drina were strangers when they meet in Chapter One. I didn’t like that. There wasn’t enough emotion or connection between them to satisfy me, let alone the reader.

What was I to do? I stressed over this for weeks, trying to figure out a way to add some pizzazz. Then it clicked. A second chance romance, another favorite trope. What if Rubén and Drina were lovers years earlier? What if he was the father of her daughter, and he doesn’t know it? Those questions whipped through my mind like lightning; I knew exactly what I had to do.

Once I got the beginning of the book figured out, the rest of it fell quickly into place. I had so many ideas, though some of them were cut for better pacing and word count. The final product is an edgy, angsty, erotic story befitting the dark romance genre, and I’m thrilled to share it with you.

Lost in His Spiderwebs is now on preorder and will be live on October 14, 2025. The next book, Corrupting His Wife, is in the draft stage and scheduled for release in April 2026. The Lozano Cartel series will span several standalone novels, so please subscribe to my newsletter or follow my social media to keep tabs on when these books will be out. Until then, add Lost in His Spiderwebs to your reading list. You won’t be disappointed.

Lost in His Spiderwebs cover

Blurb

Kidnapped by the enemy. Bought by the jefe. Will his smoldering touch thaw her frozen heart?

Rubén Lozano, the new leader of the Lozano Cartel, craves peace amidst a legacy of bloodshed and death. He never expected to find his ex-lover, Drina Cabrera, in the clutches of his vicious rivals. Her haunted eyes compel him to rescue her, but freeing her is another matter.

After five months of captivity, Drina trades one captor for another. Though she succumbs to Rubén’s masterful touch, the bittersweet memory of her daughter and the life she was stolen from is a constant wedge between them.

When Rubén’s darkest secret comes out, he will have to wash his hands in crimson. Will Drina let her king face the danger alone, or stand at his side as his cartel queen?

Book two in the dark romance series, the Lozano Cartel. All the books can be read as a standalone, but are part of an interconnected series.

Scenes featuring drug distribution, violence, kidnapping, and attempted sexual assault may be uncomfortable for some readers.

No cheating. HEA guaranteed!

Buy Links

Add to Goodreads

: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/231721773-lost-in-his-spiderwebs

Check it out on BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/lost-in-his-spiderwebs-lozano-cartel-book-2-a-dark-captivity-second-chance-romance-by-amber-daulton

Download Now

Download Direct from the Author: https://books.amberdaulton.com/LostInHisSpiderwebsDirect

Universal: https://books2read.com/LostInHisSpiderwebs

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4joCJUV

BN: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lost-in-his-spiderwebs-amber-daulton/1147318586?ean=2940184374895

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/lost-in-his-spiderwebs

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=7lNYEQAAQBAJ

Apple/iBooks: https://apple.co/4jpLyht

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1648364

Lost in His Spiderwebs teaser

Excerpt (R-Rated)

He snapped her bra strap.

Ahh!” She jumped, rubbing his erection.

Easy, little girl. You don’t want me coming too soon, right?” He clasped her waist and rotated his hips, pressing himself harder against her.

I don’t want you coming at all, at least around me.”

Again, he laughed. “So your mouth says. Your body wants me.”

Not true.” Pressure pounded through her arms as she clutched the balcony rail tighter. He could easily throw her over the edge, especially since she was already dangling half off it. Heat radiated from his powerful body and enveloped her.

Here’s the proof.” He gripped her hip with one hand while he snaked the other beneath the hem of her leggings and panties. His rings brushed her skin as he slipped his finger between her fleshy folds.

She gasped. Her body clenched.

Warm. Wet. You want me more than anything.”

Lies. P-please, stop,” she stuttered again, fighting back waves of pleasure. As he withdrew his hand, she bit her tongue to silence a scream of denial. She was so messed up. She couldn’t want him. Shouldn’t want him. Didn’t want him, but she burned for his touch.

He dragged her bottoms down her thighs.

Hot air rushed over her exposed core. “Ahh! Rubén, what—” Two thick fingers invaded, and his rings pressed tight against her needy center. She cried out and bucked her hips. His throaty growl raised the fine hair on her arms and nape. He pushed in and out, stroking her faster. Breathy mewls escaped her mouth. As he curled his fingers, she bit her lip and braced her face against her arm to muffle her moans.

Scream, Drina. Let everyone hear you.” He gripped a handful of her hair and jerked her head back.

She leaned against his hard chest, her head braced in the crook of his neck and shoulder. Her scalp smarted, the pain spurring her on. Tears pricked her eyes. Pressure throbbed in her core, pushing her closer to release. His arm gyrated against her belly, twisting and hiking up her tunic top, and bared her heated center for the world to see. An exhibitionist thrill shot through her. His magic fingers worked her into a throbbing bundle of nerves. Then he flicked her clit. The world crashed around her. A supernova blasted behind her eyes. Her guttural shout belted free. Liquid fire gushed from her long-neglected core.

That’s it, my dirty little girl. You belong to me. Your cum, your orgasms, your body—all mine. No one else will ever make you squirt so hard. Say my name.”

Ahh!” she cried out as he ruthlessly wrung the orgasm from her quivering body.

My name. Say it,” he bit out against the shell of her ear, plucking and prodding her even faster. “Let every man around hear who owns you.”

R-Rubén. Rubén. Oh my God. Rubén!” Another orgasm struck like a tsunami. She shouted in ecstasy, the sound ripping from the depths of her soul.

So wet. You love my fingers inside you.” He held up his hand and let her juices glisten in the daylight. “Fuck, Drina. My hand is soaked.”

Dizziness swamped her. Knees weak, she leaned against him, trusting him to support her weight. Sexual bliss and relief that she’d gone without for so many years now flooded her bloodstream. No one had ever revved her up like this, not even Jacinto. Her pounding heart skipped a beat. Jacinto—her sweet, kind, loving husband. Shame consumed her from the inside out.

About the Author

Amber Daulton author image

Amber Daulton is the author of the
Lozano Cartel, the Arresting Onyx, the Embracing You, and the Ramseys in Time series, as well as several standalone novellas. Her books are available in ebook, print on demand, audio, and foreign language formats.

She lives in North Carolina with her husband and demanding cats.

Social Media Links

Follow Me: https://linktr.ee/AmberDaulton

Check out my website, Daulton Publishing: https://amberdaulton.com

Sign up for my Exclusive Newsletter (free ebook to new subscribers): https://amberdaulton.com/newsletter-signup/

Remember! Every comment you leave on this post is an entry into my Haunted October giveaway. ~Lisabet

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Friday, October 10, 2025

Sample Her Lethal Crown Assassin – #DarkRomance #SteamyRomance #NewRelease

Her Lethal Crown Assassin cover

A stand-alone spin-off from the Untameable series! More than 450 pages of pure passion!

Ambrosia


I’ve been kidnapped by a gorgeous Brit killer from Switzerland and flown in his private jet to London.

He’s cultured and charming despite being a stone-cold Crown assassin. The plan is to use me to lure my father, a notorious international criminal, to come out of his secret lair. But my father and I have no love lost between us.

To the puzzlement of my to-die-for aristocratic abductor, I enjoy my captivity and the twisted attraction I feel for him. Even the mere scent of him.

Being cultured, he feels obligated to treat me with decency. I take advantage. I’ll charm the pants off his neat British ass. But he’s knighthood to the core and about as easily charmed as the Rock of Gibraltar.

Damien

A mission for the Crown. To catch the elusive global criminal, the Phantom. As a Royal Marines Commando, I’m all in for the challenge. I kidnap the Phantom’s daughter to smoke her father out of the woodwork.

Now I’m stuck with babysitting her in the London apartment 24/7.

But the broken rebel mafia girl is high-octane, lethal enchantment in black lipstick and piercings. Ambrosia makes sin amazingly gorgeous.

I'm tempted to taste the lethal darkness looming around her...

Note from the author: This book contains scenes that might trigger some readers. Please read responsibly.

Excerpt

The Adonis—the less controlled one of the two Brits, who nearly slapped me while looking like the commanding lord for submission—lowers his ass on the couch opposite mine. I immediately long for my lollypop in my mouth to comfort me.

I have to talk to you, Spitting Cobra,” he begins as I fix him with my eyes. His pale lashes scream at the world to clip them.

That’s not my name.”

It is,” he says, scowling at me from under those scythe-blade-long lashes.

His eyes are an electric indigo that straddles blue and violet, buzzing with energy. The sort of gaze that activates a woman’s heartbeats to race, her nipples to pearl, and heat to descend to between her legs and drum there like conga beats. A towering six-three-or-four, with the near-white blond hair, he had gazillions of Viking genes nestling in his blood. If I hadn’t heard him talk with that distinct upper crust accent, I’d have placed him squarely on the Scandinavian turf. Even when he said Bloody American cunt

, it sounded like a meritocratic compliment.

Either that or Sewer Rat. Take your pick.” He eases back into his seat like the quintessential lounge lizard.

I almost hold my breath expecting his forked tongue to blitz out and lick me into him by my eyeballs. The intensity of the moment makes me shoot my eyes at his partner, Yellow Eyes, walking down the aisle away from us towards the aft section. His eyes are glued to the phone he’s fiddling with in his hands.

I yank my eyes back to Scandinavian. “I prefer my name to your judgemental fantasies.” I leave it there as he pins me with the electric indigo-violets that spear my guts. Like receiving a steady stream of double laser swords aimed below the chest at the viscera.

Heavens forbid, Sewer Rat. The last things I’d ever fantasize about are reptiles and rodents.”

Calling me sewer rat reminds me of Dad’s pet name for me: Topolina. Little Mouse. Only that Dad means it affectionately.

What do you want to talk about?” Might as well get it all behind me.

Let’s clear the name angle first, Spitting Cobra. Which is it?”

I have a name, s—”

All humans and most domesticated animals do.”

He says that in a tone that explicitly asserts that he, of course, is light years above humans; forget animals, domesticated and otherwise. He’s unto himself a unique special species.

Lounge lizard by way of his posture on his seat, but not in manners. He’s as controlled as a nuclear plant and as confident as the proud peacock. I presume he relies on his Norse god looks and British imperial superiority aura to steer him through life among his peers. I’ve never met anybody who makes me feel fucking inferior. I’m a Giannovecci Derossa. We own the world and subject everything in and around it.

Buy Links for Her Lethal Crown Assassin

US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DWFD96G9

UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DWFD96G9

CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DWFD96G9

AU https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0DWFD96G9

NL https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0DWFD96G9

DE https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0DWFD96G9

FR https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0DWFD96G9

About the Author

A P von K’Ory writes romance, psychological thrillers, and nonfiction. She loves diversity – it’s in her aristocratic DNA. She has won more than half a dozen prizes and awards from four continents. Her family stretches from the Nilotes of the Eastern African Nile Delta to Germany, France, and the Walloons (Belgium). She lectures Economics and Sociology in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. She’s married and has a son. Being migratory – and weather willing – she lives in Germany, France, Cyprus, and Greece.

Connect with A P von K'Ory

A P VON K'ORY can be reached under the links below.

Visit her Website: http://apvonkory.com

Signup for her Newsletter: https://apvonkory.com/contact

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/apvonkory

Amazon Author Central: https://www.amazon.com/stores/A-P-Von-KOry/author/B00MDHD7ZS

The latest interviews and news about Shana und Roman on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Goshanaliterotic

It would be lovely if you could visit and like her author page and read more bites about Alyssa and Prince Carl-Theodor, Leo and Adrian, the Coming Soon(s), Cover Reveals and even about what she had for breakfast, the dinner she burnt to cinders the night before or the perfect cake she baked for Sunday family coffee.

Here’s my Author page link:

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAPVonKOry

Follow her on Twitter under: @Apky11162 https://twitter.com/Apky11162

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7063572.A_P_Von_K_Ory

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/a-p-von-k-ory

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/APvonK'Ory

Google Play: https://play.google.com/books/publish/u/0/a/14014035798980597784#list

Verve Romance: https://ververomance.com/app/APVonKOry

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.de/akinyi100/

Autorenecke (German): https://www.autorenecke-gelsenkirchen.de/autorenecke/a-p-von-k-ory 


Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Do not tempt me again, girl... #PNR #Vampire #FreeBook #MFRWHooks

Haunted October banner - Fin d'Espoir

Welcome to this week’s MFRW Book Hooks blog hop – and to another opportunity to win prizes as part of my Haunted October event.

My hook today is from my bisexual vampire romance Fin d’Espoir. A reviewer once called it “a philosopher’s erotic tale”, and I think that’s an apt summary.

I hope you like the hook. I’ll give away one copy of the book to a randomly selected reader who leaves a comment on this post. Furthermore, every comment is an entry toward my grand prize of a $25 gift certificate.

Blurb

Bitter and alone, Etienne de Rémorcy haunts the forest around the ruined plantation of Fin d'Espoir. He has sworn to never again taste human blood. Then a fierce storm and a runaway horse bring a slender, raven-haired beauty to his lair. When she begs him to take her, he cannot resist.

Madeleine and Troy hope that a carefree vacation in tropical Jamaica will reignite their faded passion. On a mountain trail ride, Maddy's horse bolts, carrying her deep into the jungle. Injured and lost, she is saved by a giant of a man whose mere presence kindles unbearable desire. By the time she understands his dark nature, it is far too late for her to escape.

When Maddy returns, Troy finds her greatly changed : ravenous in bed, restless and disturbed otherwise. The elegant stranger he meets on the beach holds the key to her transformation - and soon has seduced Troy as well.

Tortured by his conscience, Etienne is determined to set the young couple free. But their love may be his last hope for redemption.

The Hook

Iron and salt. The taste woke Madeleine from voluptuous dreams. For a moment, she clung to the fleeing visions of naked flesh. She didn’t want the pain of consciousness. Her shoulders ached, her neck burned and her pussy felt raw and sore. Something sticky was smeared across her lips. She opened her mouth. Iron and salt flowed over her tongue.

Swallow, now.” The elegant French-tinged voice was irresistible. She obeyed, only to have another gout of the thick liquid dripped into her mouth. Wearily, she opened her eyes.

Etienne sat beside her, wearing a grim expression. He held his hand close to her face. Crimson fluid dribbled from a two-inch gash across his wrist, a shocking contrast to his inky skin. “Drink, Madeleine. It will restore your strength.”

The bright droplets called to her, but she was too weak to raise her head.

Here.” He pressed his oozing flesh to her lips. She lapped at the blood, then fastened her mouth on the wound and sucked. The flavor grew on her, became complex and nuanced. She tasted cinnamon and pepper, almonds and ripe plums. The scent of roses filled her nostrils, making her head swim. She closed her eyes in bliss and increased her suction, each swallow making her want more.

That is enough.” Etienne removed his wrist. “That should be sufficient to restore you.”

Just another few drops,” Maddy pleaded. Her myriad pains had vanished. She felt alert and invigorated. She heard the bleak call of an owl outside the shack and the groan of branches in the wind. She smelled the charred coals on the grate, rotting wood, and her own sweat. She searched Etienne’s somber face, trying to read his thoughts. “Please?”

No. It would be too dangerous.”

Maddy wriggled lasciviously on the damp sheets. She fondled her breasts, which were outrageously sensitive, and parted her sticky thighs.

Etienne’s brows knitted together in a scowl. “I said no, and I mean no. Do not try to tempt me again, girl. I have done enough damage already.”

His obvious misery slightly dampened her blood-lust. She took his hand in both her own, noting in passing how her wrists were chafed from his belt. “It’s all right. You only took what I offered. It was not your fault. You’re not responsible.”

Of course I am responsible!” He tore his hand from her grasp. Rising like a black colossus, he hovered over her. Maddy had the fleeting notion that he wanted to strangle her. Instead, he paced back and forth, oblivious to the splintered floorboards under his bare feet.

You are a fool. A child. You do not understand who or what I am, not even now, after I came close to drinking you dry. All you can see is my glamor, my cursed beauty that makes every mortal desire me.”

 

Fin d'Espoir book cover

Find the buy links at: https://www.lisabetsarai.com/findespoirbook.html

Leave me a comment to enter my giveway for a free copy of the book (chosen next Wednesday) and a $25 GC (on Halloween).

I hope you’ll visit the other authors participating in today’s Book Hooks, too.



Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Censorship is so 1984... #Censorship #FreeSpeech #BannedBooksWeek

Banned Book Week banner

Didn’t you grow up reading? I did. Throughout my youth, I spent much of my free time in the fascinating fictional worlds I found in books. Now, having lived more than seven decades, reading continues to be a singular joy in my life. I spend at least some time reading for pleasure almost every day.

Even when I was a kid, I was fortunate in that I could read pretty much whatever I wanted. My parents weren’t worried that I’d be “corrupted”. They trusted me—and wanted me to develop the ability to read critically and to make my own decisions.

Alas, fewer young people have that freedom every year. Requests to ban books from libraries and even bookstores have reached epidemic proportions. I suspect that quite a few of the “adult” titles I read during my teens aren’t nearly as available now.

From October 5th through 11th, the American Library Association is observing its annual Banned Books Week (https://www.ala.org/bbooks/banned). They note that the number of requests to ban books has increased dramatically in the past five years. More than two thirds of these requests come from organized, partisan pressure groups—not from concerned individuals or parents. We’re facing a war against reading freedom. Readers and authors need to organize and fight back.

What can you do?

Become a member of Authors Against Book Bans: https://www.authorsagainstbookbans.com/ Join your voice to those of your colleagues.

Apply for a grant from the Freedom to Read Foundation: https://www.ftrf.org/page/Grants They support libraries, students and individuals working to promote intellectual freedom and the right to read.

 

If you’re an author, sign up for one of the Author Safety roundtable events highlighted in the image below. Today’s ubiquitous social media make it all to easy for disapproving so-called readers to harass authors on-line. Learn how to protect yourself.

Author Safety Roundtable

Buy a copy of one of this years ten most often often challenged books from 2024. https://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10

Top Ten challenged books

ALA compiles a list like this every year. I just ordered a copy of The Perks of Being a Wallflower – tied for number 3 on the list.

Don’t give up, and don’t give in! Spread the word about Banned Books Week. Fight back against censorship. 

Cherish your right to read.

Monday, October 6, 2025

Fighting for survival – #Dystopian #SciFi #Giveaway #Review

Above the Clouds tour banner

Blurb

In a ruined, distant future of our world, filled with rain, gloom, and danger, Squirt and her sister Dara fight to survive as part of the underground clan, hunting meat to survive and clinging to the edges of existence.

When Squirt encounters a mysterious figure above ground, her life is upended. Taken to a gleaming paradise above the clouds, she finds herself trapped in an idyllic prison, where everything seems perfect—but is danger hiding in plain sight? Does Charlotte, her enigmatic and gentle companion, hide secrets behind her perfect smile? Does Mrs Wallis, the tower's cold matriarch, watch Squirt with a predator's patience?

Below, Dara hunts alone, trying to find meaning in her life and haunted by her sister's disappearance while whispers of betrayal within the clan force her to choose between being a victim or fighting for her survival.

As the sisters' paths converge, truths are exposed: immortality comes at a terrible price, and the ones they've trusted most may be their greatest enemies. Above the Clouds is a haunting tale of the fight for survival and identity, asking the question: What does it truly mean to be human?

Excerpt

She made it to the side of the ruins, ducked under a concrete slab, and crouched silently, listening and watching the darkness. She allowed her ears and eyes to acclimate to the noises and darkness of the ruins, the dripping water, the scurrying of a rat, the rattle of a falling piece of rock, and the sounds men made.

She sniffed and smelled something. Something cooking.

Rat! she thought.

Moving slowly and cautiously, she crept out from her hiding place, not making a sound. She climbed onto a slab of concrete laying diagonally and crawled upward until she was looking down at where Chagga sat on a rock, roasting a pair of skinned rats above a fire. Adam was standing, shaking and banging the water off his furs. Chagga was speaking.

...Tomorra, when the hunters head out, make sure our men are on guard at the big tube that comes in by the butcher…”

Hidden in the shadows above, Dara silently slipped her quiver from her shoulder.

...That is where we attack…Once we have taken control, all those who have no faith will be butchered, and we will call Major Tom, and he will pick up, and he will send the riders, and we leave for Marbro Country!”

She rolled onto her back and slid two arrows from the quiver.

Can you trust this bandit, Barg, father?” said Adam.

Gently, she laid one of the arrows on the concrete, and the other she notched.

No,” said Chagga firmly. “But I need them to do in the guards while you kill the chief.”

She rolled, holding the bow with her left hand, pulling the bowstring back.

Kill Adam, and the others won’t know the plan? she thought. Or kill Chagga, and there is no plan?

She closed her left eye, pulling the string tighter.

Kill them both!

Above the Clouds book cover

Review by Lisabet Sarai

For centuries, the Clan has clung to life in the subway tunnels of a long-ruined city, sheltering from the incessant rain and the toxic residues of a nuclear apocalypse. Only rigid adherence to strict social rules has kept the community alive. Scarce food is shared and rationed. Unpleasant but necessary jobs are assigned based on skill, not preference. Infractions are punished by mutilation or death. And every member of the Clan, even the Chief, is subject to the “hard goodbye” when they turn fifty years old, forced to leave the tunnels to survive or perish on the surface, so as not to burden the Clan as they age and are no longer useful.

Squirt and her younger sister Dara are trained Hunters, responsible for trapping and killing whatever animals they can find to supply the Clan with desperately-needed meat. Exposed to the dangers outside the tunnels, they must be quick, clever, observant, courageous—and ruthless when threatened. But the world becomes more perilous daily, as vicious bandits grow in strength and plot against the tunnel-dwellers.

Then Squirt discovers that not everyone in the world is struggling, when she’s spirited away to a seeming paradise atop tall towers that pierce the perpetual layer of cloud. Who are the people that inhabit these privileged realms? What is their history? And why have they rescued Squirt?

Above the Clouds is an engaging and powerful story that kept me riveted through most of its length. The vivid depiction of life in the Clan felt eminently plausible. Human beings are incredibly adaptable; I could see how the Clan society might evolve, a harsh but mostly fair adjustment to the devastating realities of a shattered world.

Squirt and Dara are both admirable despite the violence they so easily can inflict. I am a cat lover, so it was difficult to read about them hunting strays, but they clearly are forced to do so. The interesting thing is that despite the indoctrination and social pressures exercised by the Clan, they prove that they can make independent choices. Again, I find this a valid observation about human nature. We balance social good against individual needs, trying to find a path that can satisfy both.

One aspect of the story that particularly rang true was the home-grown religion of the Clan. I won’t spoil things by going into detail, but the author shows how superstition and hope intertwine—as well as how unscrupulous individuals can manipulate spiritual beliefs for their own benefit.

Squirt’s experiences above the clouds, and the revelations about her hosts, did not impress me as much as the sections about the Clan. I was left with many questions about how the parallel society managed to evolve, although it’s clear, looking at the world today, that apocalypse would not have nearly as devastating an effect on the wealthy and powerful as on ordinary people.

Above the Clouds is generally well-written, but there was one aspect that bothered me. As she becomes involved with the tower people, Squirt encounters objects and phenomena that are completely unfamiliar. The author had a tendency at these points to slip out of the character’s point of view; he explains too much, rather than allowing us to experience the incomprehensibility of the new world through Squirt’s eyes. As a result, this section of the book felt less compelling than the earlier parts involving the Clan. It seemed to me that given her background, Squirt adapted too quickly and easily to her new world.

Given the youth of its heroines, I wonder if the author intended Above the Clouds for a young adult audience. In any case, I enjoyed the story and would recommend it for its gritty, detailed picture of life after nuclear devastation, as well as for its insights about society and civilization.

About the Author

Tim works in digital marketing in Toronto and is well-traveled, having visited over 80 countries. When he is not working or writing, he likes to spend time with his family and German Shepherd and go cycling.

Social Links

Website: https://timvee.com/

X: https://x.com/_Tim_Vee_

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21960899.Tim_Vee

Buy Links

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/above-the-clouds/id6741713791

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=ddhFEQAAQBAJ

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Above-Clouds-post-apocalyptic-Tim-Vee-ebook/dp/B0DTJL73QM/

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1704940

Note that this post counts as part of my Haunted October event. Every comment counts as an entry toward my grand prize of a $25 gift certificate.


Haunted October banner

Tim Vee will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Enter below!