DarkSide DownUnder: DarkSider News for February!

Welcome!

Fall in love with the DarkSiders this Valentine's Day...

NEW DARKSIDER

Welcome to Tima Maria Lacoba to the DarkSiders!

A former ancient historian and archaeologist, Tima Maria Lacoba accidentally smashed a 3,000 year-old Egyptian vase while on her first dig. Her supervisor made her glue it back together again. It took a week. From there she went on to specialise in Late Romano-British archaeology and the military forts along Hadrian's Wall, because buildings don't smash as easily. Now she's combined

her love of history with another passion - storytelling - to create a dark tale of Roman soldiers who've been waiting nearly two-thousand years to be released from an ancient curse.

Tima has always been a storyteller, but it wasn't until five years ago that she seriously ventured into writing. The result was BloodGifted and Laura's Locket.

In 2011 BloodGifted was shortlisted in the Atlas Award and eventually came fourth place.

In 2012 it was listed among the top ten in the Choclit Search for an Aussie Star Contest.

In 2013 Tima was offered a publishing contract but declined in favour of going indie, preferring to be in charge of her own creative work.

In 2017 BloodGifted was nominated for the Golden Stake Award in the International Vampire Film and Arts Festival.

Laura's Locket, BloodGifted, BloodPledge and BloodVault, are the first four books in the Dantonville Legacy Series. Book 5, BloodWish, is due for release later this year.

She also intends to satisfy her fans' requests by writing individual books on the other characters who feature so prominently. Terens, Cal, Jake and Sam will each have their own story.

Currently, Tima lives on the Central Coast, an hour's drive north of Sydney, in Australia. Between bouts of writing, she can be found in the kitchen baking her favourite chocolate recipes, or in her garden pulling out yet more weeds. These activities are responsible for forming more gothic, paranormal romance stories in her mind for future books.

NEW RELEASES

Blood Wish by Tima Maria Lacoba (Book 4, The Dantonville Legacy series) was released on 15 December 2018.

Escaping from a venomous gargoyle
Searching for a hidden diary
And running from a vengeful vampire hunter wasn’t how Laura Dantonville expected to end her family curse.

Alec and Laura’s story comes to an electrifying conclusion in this final instalment of The Dantonville Legacy Series.

What do you do when the price of ending a curse means losing the one you love?

As Laura and Alec await the birth of their child, the end of the curse seems in sight.

To fulfil the prophecy, they must travel to Drunvela, in Scotland, the place where everything began and where it must end.

But two deadly foes stand in their way.
Each determined to exact their revenge and destroy every last descendant of the House of Dantonville.

Buy links available at Tima's website.

Wicked Heat: Part 3 by Mila Young and T.F. Walsh (Book 3, Wicked Heat series- part of the larger Lick of Fire series) was be released on 2 October 2018.

A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance

When you spend your life with one foot in the grave, it’s best not to have the other foot in hell.
And with four guys trying to save my soul, things could be worse, well, only if I don’t find a way to save theirs first.

Available from:

Amazon US | Amazon Aus |

Path Unchosen by Kim Cleary (Book 1, Daughter of Ravenswood series) was re-released on 30 January.

When everyone lies, who can you trust?

Judy Hudson has no idea of her power, or vulnerability. Adrift without purpose, or ambition, all she knows is fear and suspicion. That is about to change.

Purah—a beautiful, otherworldly stranger—whisks her to a mysterious, old mansion and reveals a life-changing secret.

Judy is a witch who can raise the dead. She's dangerous, and she can do great harm. But her's is not the only secret in Winterhurst.

A powerful sorcerer is waiting for her and the perfect moment to strike. He must be stopped before an innocent town is destroyed. As Judy discovers her identity and heritage, she learns she is the key to stop an ancient evil.

Can she learn to harness her gift, and resist a lure that promises power beyond her wildest dreams?

Available from:
Amazon US | Amazon Aus |

Truth Unveiled by Kim Cleary (Book 2, Daughter of Ravenswood series) was re-released on 12 February.

Betrayed by the one person she thought she could trust forever, Meagan faces the most powerful necromancer who ever lived. Alone.

After a cold and lonely childhood, Meagan thinks she’s finally found peace in her ancestral home of Ravenswood Manor. But just as she tentatively starts to find friends, a strange voice in her head compels her with tempting power and abilities beyond her wildest dreams.

Her great-grandfather, Quintus – a man known both for his magical talent and cruelty – is at play, and she turns to her father’s spirit for help. But when he disappears, Meagan must properly raise him from the dead for the chance to be rid of Quintus. During the incantation, the one person Meagan thought would never betray her – does. Quintus rises instead of her father.

Now walking again and determined to recover his power, Quintus will turn everyone Meagan holds dear into mindless slaves unless she joins him. Can Meagan find a way to defeat one of the most powerful necromancers who has ever lived, or will she lose everything in the battle?

Available from:

Amazon US | Amazon Aus |

Wicked Games by M.J. Scott (Book 1, TechWitch series) is now available in paperback.

My mother was a wicked witch. And all her spells ever brought was trouble. Since her death, with no power of my own, I’ve stayed far, far away from magic . . .

In a San Francisco struggling to recover from earthquakes and rising seas, and where technology can do things that are close enough to magic anyway, Maggie Lachlan is a computer whisperer. The one they call when no one else can find the elusive bug bringing a complex system to its knees. They call her the Techwitch. But she knows there’s nothing magical about what she does. It’s just hard-earned skill.

So when Damon Riley, owner of the world’s biggest virtual reality gaming company comes calling with a problem that his entire empire of geeks can’t fix, Maggie leaps at the job. Riley Arts is the kind of place she feels at home. Wall-to-wall tech. No magic. Except, perhaps, for the unsettling chemistry she has with the man in charge.

But she never imagined stepping into one of Damon’s games would reveal her mother lied about Maggie’s magic. Or that technology could break a spell she never knew she was under. Now she has a demon hunting her and a whole world she knows nothing about to navigate. To save herself—and the world—she needs to learn fast.

Because, when it comes to magic, too many games are wicked. And if you lose, the price can be very, very high . .

Available from:

Amazon US | Amazon Aus | Booktopia |

Sinner by Lana Pecherczyk (Prequel, Deadly Seven Originals series) was released on 12 February.

The selfie generation grew up.

And with them, the sin of greed exploded on an astronomical scale. Of course, where one went, the rest were sure to follow. Wrath, sloth, gluttony, pride, envy, lust… all climbed in severity until deadly sin consumed Cardinal City. Violence, murder, and mayhem were only the beginning. To save their city, top scientists created a band of brothers and sisters as deadly as the sins they were destined to fight. But before they were waging a war on crime, they were children born in a lab with no one to look out for them… except a deadly assassin pretending to be a nun and a tortured man running from his past.

Biolum Industries think Sister Mary Margaret is an innocent nun caring for children in their lab, but she has a dark secret: one that could destroy the world, or save it.
Flint Fydler wants the simple things in life, to do his job and to pay off his shameful debt. But no matter how hard he tries to ignore the secret project behind a guarded door at Biolum Industries, and the beautiful and fearless nun who works there, he can’t avoid the inevitable fact he is being lied to.
When Flint’s mission to reveal the truth uncovers more than he bargains for, Mary bribes him to help with her rescue mission. As their quest draws them closer together, Mary has no choice but to reveal her own deadly secret, and Flint must face the undeniable truth: paying his debt may have nothing to do with money, and everything to do with his heart.

If you're obsessed with superhero movies, but want more romance, then The Deadly Seven is for you. Featuring fated mates and a band of brothers and sisters, tortured alpha heroes, kick-ass heroines, vigilante justice and a steamy romance in each book. It's The Black-Dagger Brotherhood meets Batman.

Available from:

Amazon US | Amazon Aus |

Non spec-fiction

Hero of Heartbreak Hill by Imogene Nix was released in 1 December 2018.

Second chances can be a killer...

When Connor meets Kelly it's clear that she's been hurt before and the reason she fights the growing attraction between them.

When her past raises its ugly head, the question becomes: can the outback town of Heartbreak Hill—and Connor—heal her broken heart?

Buy links available on Imogene's website.

Lawson's Bend by Nicole Hurley-Moore was released in February 2019.

For a long time Lawson's Bend had held little for Henny. Almost ten years ago she'd got out and vowed never to come back. But sometimes things change . . .

In the hot summer of 2008, Henny Bolton loses her best friend on a night they should have been celebrating their futures. It's a loss about which she remains grief-stricken.

Right after the accident, Henny flees the small country town and true to her word, she's not been back.

Stephen Drake never left Lawson's Bend. He once had ambitions for a different life but staying close to family became more important after that tragic night.

But when Henny's mother dies suddenly in a fall near the old quarry, and Henny is forced to return to Lawson's Bend, it's apparent that questions need to be asked. Was it really an accident?

Her plan was to get out of town again as quickly as possible. But then there is Stephen . . .

Available from:

Print

Allen & Unwin | Dymocks | Angus & Robertson | Amazon Aus |

ebook

Amazon US | Amazon Aus | Kobo | iBooks |

Non fiction

Cultivating Creativity: reconnecting with yourself and becoming more self-aware through writing by Lilliana Rose was released on 8 January.

When writing it’s too easy to become stuck or confused, and unsure of what direction to take. Writers are adventurers. All explorers are scared and suffer setbacks. They may think they’ve mapped out the path where they are going, but life doesn’t go to plan.

Adjust. Adapt. Be fearless. Keep creating. Swim on in the sea of words, drinking it all, and following the natural flow of the ideas until you are making your own path, either on land or sea or even in between the stars. But how can you do this day to day? Especially when life is busy, and writing is solitary and slow. How do you find your own writing journey when there are so many directions to take?

There is much advice out there, some of it conflicting, how do you decide what is right for you? And what can be done to help the creativity to keep flowing?

Cultivating Creativity will help you become more self-aware and connected to your own individual writing process so the words will flow easily onto the page. And you can go forward, writing with confidence, and enjoy the journey.

Available from

Amazon US | Amazon Aus |

PRE-ORDER

Emerald Fire by Donna Maree Hanson (Book 2, Cry Havoc series) is expected to be released 28 February.

A book of manners, magic and mayhem.

After Edward and Jemima’s honeymoon is cut short by a severed head landing in their marriage bed, they must away to London to devise a way to defeat the ravenous beast, Geneck and Jemima must be the bait.

Newspaper headlines reveal carnage in London streets and the police and the secret brotherhood of magicians are pounding at the door, demanding answers from Edward.

Joined by Fulton, Edward and Jemima begin to scour the dark places of London: sewers and newly-constructed underground railway tunnels. Their only chance is to find Geneck’s lair and end him in daylight, when he is weak. But the monster’s minions protect him and the road to safety is not clear.

When Jemima is taken, Edward is beside himself. Who has taken her and how is he going to get her back? Deeper into magic he must go, and Milly and Aunt Prudence join in the fight to rid the world of Geneck. But will that be enough?

Pre-order from:
Amazon US | Amazon Aus |

The Chocolate Affair by Imogene Nix will be released on 14 February.

Secrets, hidden truths and demons will find their way… Especially when chocolate is involved.

When Scheherazade Chocolates is bought out by an off-world consortium, Deanna's livelihood and that of her employees’ are jeopardized.

When that same consortium sends JD Ruan to assess the situation, Deanna is sure things can't get any worse...until they do.

What no one knows is JD's secret. He’s a demon and not just any kind of demon. He’s a pleasure demon.

Deanna has to come to terms with loss, second chances and pleasure demons before she can release herself to a future filled with so much more than she could ever imagine.

Pre-order links on Imogene's website.

Non spec-fiction

Best in Show by Lilliana Rose is part of the collection, Outback Heroes (Australian Romance) and will be released on 21 February.

The Outback Governess - Sarah Williams

Jasmine Sea - Phillipa Nefri Clark

The Art of Dust - Mel A Rowe

Shadows in the Dust - Suzanne Cass

Torn Between Two Loves - Cheryl Wright

Best in Show – Lilliana Rose

Maxwell is a farmer who once burned by love has decided never to open his heart again. When exhibiting his cattle at the Show he meets Zoe, a city girl. Can she get this tough farmer to open his heart without being hurt? When circumstances force Zoe and Max together, will their love help them find a future together?

This collection become number one in Westerns Romance in America AND #1 in ALL romance categories on Amazon Australia.

Pre-order links available on Books2Read.

COVER REVEAL

Burn by Keri Arthur (Book 3, Kingdoms of Earth & Air series) is expected to be released 4 June.

Blame the Wine by Imogene Nix will be re-released soon with a new cover.

Cara is stuck with a job going nowhere and a hankering for the sexy gorgeous boss who doesn’t even know she exists. Fate, in the guise of a temp position arrives… Where will it lead?

James is a geek. No other word could possibly describe him. He may be sexy and super brainy, but he’s totally clueless with women and especially the sexy plus size Cara. But when his PA takes emergency leave before her wedding, the luscious Cara is the best applicant for the position. It’s an opportunity he can’t pass up.

What will happen when two clueless, wannabe lovers get a little divine intervention.

EVENTS