God's Surprising Way: The Path to Lasting Joy, Healing, and Love guides readers into the upside-down kingdom of God, where human expectations are consistently overturned. In this transformative journey, the humble are exalted, the last are lifted, and true greatness is found through servanthood, surrender, and sacrificial love. Through Scripture, theological insights, and historical reflections-from Augustine and Luther to Bonhoeffer and Nouwen-readers discover how God's surprising ways cultivate lasting joy, deep healing, and authentic love.
Each chapter explores a distinct paradox of the gospel, demonstrating how humility, generosity, and obedience can transform relationships, communities, and personal faith. Practical reflections and prompts invite readers to integrate these principles into daily life-choosing forgiveness over resentment, service over recognition, and trust over control.
With accessible scholarship, devotional insight, and concrete application, this book reveals the practical power of God's reversals. It challenges conventional assumptions about success, power, and happiness, inviting believers to live counterculturally in alignment with Christ's teachings. God's Surprising Way is both an invitation and a roadmap: to encounter God's transformative presence, embody the values of the Kingdom, and experience joy, healing, and love that endure.
In a world ruled by power, desire can be deadly.
Death Before a Hookup
by Alicia Rice
Genre: Romantic Suspense, Thriller
In the heart of two cities divided by rivalries, it unveils
a compelling narrative of passion, ambition, and transformation.
James, a steadfast
leader striving for progress, faces the complex dynamics of a changing world as
he partners with Evelleyne, a boss from a rival gang. Against an ongoing feud
between the Northside Ryders and the River Syndicates, a symbol of new
possibilities, the characters embark on a journey of self-discovery, secrets,
adoration, and resilience. The flames of change burn brightly, forging
alliances, shattering expectations, and ultimately illuminating the path to
redemption.
Prepare for a tale of love, loyalty, and redemption set
against conflict and transformation. As the characters navigate the
complexities of their choices, the story explores the resilience of the human
spirit and the indomitable power of love to endure even in the darkest times.
“The perfect enemies-to-lovers novel with Romeo and
Juliet vibes. Gritty, emotional and utterly unputdownable!”
“Evelyne and James’ love story was beautifully made. I
was torn apart by the tragic ending.”
Amazon * Author’s
Site * Bookbub
* Goodreads
Where are you, baby? You know I hate
waiting,” says Evelleyne, her breath briefly fogging the reflected outline of
her bare shoulder on her phone's screen."
“I just got out of the shower. Give me about fifteen minutes,
and I’ll be there,” said James.
“You could have waited on the shower, baby. You’ll be hot and
sweaty as soon as I let you in the door.”
“Is that so? Well, let me hurry up then. Sounds like I’m
going to have my work cut out for me tonight.”
“You have no idea.”
“Let me finish here. I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Okay, baby. Be careful. No speeding tickets this time.”
“I can’t make any promises. You know I can’t wait to get to
you, girl.”
“I know, baby, but I’m not going anywhere, so there’s no need
to rush. Just know your girl is waiting on you—with nothing on.”
“See, that’s what makes me break the law getting to your
house.”
Evelleyne laughs. “You’re so cute when you’re possessive.”
“Yeah, and I’m the luckiest man alive to have you in my life.
I’m gone; see you in a few.”
“Okay, baby.”
Evelleyne sits on the window ledge, gazing out into the
night. The moon is high, and its white light glistens on her voluptuous, tanned
body. Her heart beats faster, and she can barely catch her breath as she
tightens the grip on her cell phone.
James is rushing down the steps, ready to see his beloved. He
hears a soft, shaky voice as he’s about to hit the “end call” button on his
cell phone.
“I love you, James,” says Evelleyne.
“I’ll see you soon,” he shyly responds.
Evelleyne gazed at the night sky, and a tear rolled down her
cheek. She knows James loves her, but he won't say it—he’s proved that. Still,
she wants to hear it from his lips.
James hopped in his Chrysler 300. Though excited to see
Evelleyne, he’s nervous before starting the car. His mind drifted through the
chapters of his life, a journey marked by unexpected turns and profound
transformations.
He thought back to the days when he rose through the ranks,
becoming an underboss for the Northside Ryders. The choices, alliances forged,
and conflicts navigated shaped him into a formidable figure in the city's
underworld.
Meeting Evelleyne was a turning point. Her strength,
resilience, and unwavering spirit drew him in. Love blossomed amidst the chaos,
a beacon of light in the shadows of their tumultuous world. Together, they
dared to dream of a different future.
Alicia Rice is a multi-genre author, leadership development
strategist, and speaker whose work explores power, choice, resilience, and the
human condition. She is the author of several compelling titles, including
Historian of the Wasteland, a gripping dystopian series that challenges readers
to examine what survives when systems collapse — and what should.
By day, Alicia serves as a Learning & Development
leader, designing leadership programs that empower emerging and senior leaders
to lead with courage, justice, and accountability. By night, she writes stories
that explore generational trauma, moral conflict, and the quiet strength of
those history often overlooks. Her work is deeply influenced by her
grandmother’s encouragement, who nurtured her love of storytelling from a young
age and instilled in her the belief that her voice mattered.
When she’s not writing or mentoring, Alicia is either gaming
or building platforms that connect authors, leaders, and lifelong learners
through purpose-driven dialogue
Website * Facebook
* X * Instagram * TikTok * Amazon *
Goodreads
Follow
the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
Enter the Death Before a Hookup Giveaway Here!
Untether the
pleasure.
Reclaim the magic.
Interruption: Kingdom
of Paradimia
The Princess Annals Book 2
by Victor Pierce
Genre: Erotic Romantasy
Aaliyah’s journey continues in this erotic fantasy-scape as
she struggles to understand whether love includes depravity.
Exposed to a handful of soul dust, Aaliyah re-awakens and
sets off to free Gabriel from his prison within the Dry Woods. Outside, she is
again confronted by a gryphon but with no not-to-bright knight to defend her.
Good thing the gryphon only wants companionship. The flight of a wandering
heartsick gryphon is not a direct route to anywhere and after watching a raunch
of unicorns, Liyah tumbles into a magical river far from her desired
destination. Between encounters with dwarves who remember her forgotten promise
and fairies who sell favors for power, she must master the primal magics of
patterning and untether the pleasures she once bound to
fidelity. For Liyah has learned that Gabriel, the man who anchors
her, is not only trapped in the Dry Woods but also bound by primal locks that
will age him to death if opened incorrectly.
Every bit of new magics comes with a cost: soul-dust
addiction, bargains that entangle desire and duty, and adversaries who want her
power for themselves. With time collapsing and a witch’s spell hovering like an
axe, Liyah must decide whether the route to rescue is the same path she
promised never to tread—pleasure given away to reclaim what matters most. The
question is simple and brutal: how much will she sacrifice to save him?
** NEW RELEASE! **
Book of Venus Publishing * Apple * B&N * IngramSpark
Liyah
blinked and found herself back in her body in the castle’s kitchen. Edwin gazed
at her, concerned. “What happened? Are you all right?”
Indeed.
She looked down to where the bag of red dust should have been cupped in her
hand. The bag, along with its siblings on the table, had disappeared. For a
moment, Liyah mourned. She wanted to return.
Edwin
must have read her expression. “I removed it. It’s addictive. Soul dust. If I’d
known something so powerful was left hanging around in the kitchens, I would
have checked and removed it earlier. Perhaps magical royalty is less concerned
with lower magics. Are you alright?” He’d rounded the table and stood beside
her, rubbing her back.
She
wasn’t, but she didn’t want him focused on her. She needed him to return to the
dragon. “Lower magics?”
He
sighed. “I forget you do not remember certain things. Most things, it seems,
related to magics. In my kingdom, Paradimia, we are not generally born magics
users, but we do have access to lower magics—magics not of people, but of
things, like the soul dust. Low-level magics—from something inanimate, like the
dust—may be used by anyone, whether they are magical themselves or not.”
She’d
thought this land was without magics, but it seemed there were magics within,
just not many magics of living beings. She nodded. “So it is not likely
low-level magics would be hanging around in a kitchen. I understand.” She felt
around on her body. “I don’t seem to be injured, so perhaps it is time I
started my journey.”
“Do
you not wish for my company?”
She
needed him elsewhere. “It isn’t that I don’t want you with me. My parents need
your assistance. Bethela will need another story for the spell needed to put my
parents back to sleep. And I am going to the Dry Woods to free Gabriel. You
see? We are fated to part ways now.”
It
was a pity his expression grew suspicious, for she had relayed the truth. His
voice broke as he spoke. “Is it what I did with the gargoyles? Is that why you
no longer wish for my assistance?”
She
had only briefly thought of the gargoyles since she died. It must have weighed
on him. “It is not the gargoyles, although I know you to be the true knight you
are from what I witnessed. And I know you to have love in your heart, even when
you sometimes speak to me without consideration. No. Here I ask you to be the
guardian I know you to be.”
“But
why is it important that your parents go back to sleep? Surely they can be of
greater assistance awake. They will eventually remember who you are.”
Liyah
reached out and squeezed his arm. “I already know who I am, Edwin. That is
thanks to you. I am Aaliyah, and I am kind and courageous and determined. I
know those things about myself because of you.”
Edwin
sighed and leaned back against the table. His golden locks fell against his
handsome face. “So now I need to help your parents go back to sleep.”
“Yes.
If anyone remembers who I am, a spell will find and kill me. Like the spell
that protected the castle.”
He
frowned. “Yes. That was very dangerous.”
“And my father says this spell is far worse than the one that chased us about Haven. So, you see, it is imperative that they go back to sleep. I do not wish to separate, but I must free Gabriel. When I left him, he was afire again.”
The Princess Annals:
Kingdom of Haven
The Princess Annals Book 1
In this fantasy world of the erotic, Aaliyah must journey to
find her lost identity. Aaliyah awakens in an empty castle with no memory and
only an enchanted clock to send her on her quest. Seduce by one not-to-bright
knight, Aaliyah finds herself hunted by an unseen force yet imbued with
powerful magic. She must coerce horny pixies, swap sex stories with a dragon,
and rely on that same not-too-bright knight to seduce the gargoyle king and his
coven in order to secure the incantation that will reveal who she is. And her
unknown enemy is catching up to her fast.
Aaliyah’s journey sends her to Gabriel imprisoned in a magical wood. She grows
to love Gabriel and discovers that the only thing which can release him now is
love, absolute. But how can she love completely if she doesn’t know who she is?
Beware gentle reader; thread carefully through this erotic
romp as a woman awakened to her innate powers risks all to discover her true
self before an unseen enemy annihilates her.
This is the first Aaliyah story in the series.
Amazon * Book of Venus Publishing * B&N * Goodreads
Victor Pierce is a seasoned writer with a focus on erotic fiction. He
enjoys classic mythology and horror novels. His first series, The Princess
Annals, draws together his love for mythology and the erotic. He resides in
College Park with his partner and her anxiety-ridden black cat and
overly-social gray cat. You may reach him at victor.pierce@bookofvenus.com or at or at https://www.bookofvenus.com/connect-with-us/
Where loyalty shatters, legends are forged.
The King’s Fall
The Broken Crown Saga Book One
by Orlan Drake
Genre: Epic Fantasy
A Gripping Tale of
Royal Betrayal and Hidden Romance
When darkness falls on the kingdom of Ardanthia, readers
will find themselves caught up in a story where nothing is what it seems.
Princess Eloise faces impossible choices as murder and betrayal tear her world
apart. Her secret love for the Prince of Caladorn adds another layer of danger
to an already deadly situation. This isn't just another royal romance - it's a
heart-pounding adventure where love and loyalty clash in the most dangerous
ways possible. You'll feel every moment of tension as Eloise walks the razor's
edge between duty and desire.
Mystery and
Investigation That Keeps You Guessing
Sir Cedric Blackthorn brings detective skills that would
make any crime solver jealous. His brilliant mind works to solve puzzles that
could save or destroy an entire kingdom. As Ambassador Zafir arrives with
hidden motives and Baron Gorgo schemes from the shadows, every character
becomes a suspect. The investigation twists and turns through palace halls
filled with secrets. You'll find yourself trying to solve the mystery alongside
Cedric, picking up clues and second-guessing every revelation. The chase scenes
will have you on the edge of your seat as our heroes race against time through
a kingdom ready to explode into war.
Fantasy Adventure
That Brings Legends to Life
The Broken Crown Saga starts with this incredible first book
that mixes political drama with fantasy elements that feel fresh and exciting.
Secret groups work behind the scenes, pulling strings that control the fate of
nations. The world-building draws you in completely, making you believe in a
place where magic and politics dance together in dangerous ways. This story
proves that sometimes solving one crime can prevent an entire war - and that
the most important battles happen in the shadows.
For readers of David Eddings and Terry Brooks, this
sweeping tale of betrayal, magic, and destiny will leave you breathless.
Amazon * Audiobook
* Apple
* B&N
* Kobo * Books2Read * Bookbub
* Goodreads
The
King's Fall opens not in a throne room, but underground. A secret order — no
names, no titles, only cloaks and the authority of old purpose — has gathered
around a rune-carved table to debate an incident that should not have happened:
a full diplomatic party has been wiped out on the road between two kingdoms,
and neither king ordered it. Someone is pulling strings that no one can see.
The council is about to do something dangerous. They are going to look.
There existed beneath the old earth a sanctum
kept from all maps and memories, shielded by corridors that twisted into each
other with a geometry of deliberate confusion. In the deepest of its halls, a
chamber circular and primeval waited in perpetual shadow. The room's
centrepiece, a stone table whose circumference rivalled a city well, had been
carved from a single slab of basalt. Its rim and surface bore etched runes and
ancient sigils, their purpose unclear to any but initiates of the silent order
that convened there.
Around this table, shrouded figures gathered,
their cloaks indistinguishable but for subtle variations in the weave — one a
blue so dark it drank in the torchlight, another a coarse grey laced with fine
metallic thread, a third in deep forest green that shed a dusting of spores
with every movement. Even in the heart of stone, the air hung moist and cold,
saturated with the scent of burnt tallow and the musk of old water. From
sconces in the arched walls, torches spat and guttered, casting orange light that
slithered across faces as pale and anonymous as death masks.
No titles were spoken here, only the functional
necessity of names earned and worn like invisible crowns. The magister at the
head of the table, tall, angular, motionless save for the slow folding of
gloved hands, did not need to identify himself. When he spoke, the voice cut
through the stillness as though it had been whetted on the stone itself.
"Our watchers are not in agreement."
The words were uninflected, carefully measured.
A murmur passed around the circle, not of
dissent but of discomfort. The second figure, smaller but with an evident
coiled energy, leaned forward. Her hands were bare, fingers long and stained
black along the creases, and she tapped the table where the runes formed a
broken circle.
"It is a minor border skirmish,
Sentinal," she said. "Bloodier than most, but hardly unprecedented.
Let the kingdoms squabble among themselves — Ardanthia and Caladorn have always
warred at the fringes." She sounded impatient, as though summoned for a
lesser concern.
The magister in blue, whose hood cast his face
into shadow, spoke with a slight tremor. "The killing was not so minor. An
entire diplomatic train vanished — every courier, every retainer, every guard.
The ambassador's body was not even left for ransom. That is new. That is
calculated."
The Sentinal allowed the words to settle,
scanning the circle with a gaze that seemed to fix on each magister, regardless
of where his face was aimed. "Six months ago, an envoy of Ardanthia, Lord
Marcus Blackbriar, journeyed south with full ceremonial escort. Their course
was direct: Eldoria to Delrith, then through the corridor to Mirashar. Before
reaching Delrith, they were set upon and destroyed. Only one man survived, and
he staggered back to Eldoria."
"Coward's tale," said the woman with
the ink-stained hands. "Most witnesses die of their wounds, the lucky ones
first."
The Sentinal ignored the snipe. "Our
watcher in Eldoria heard the testimony. The survivor told King Leofric himself
that the attackers wore the livery of Caladorn. Our watcher in Caladorn,
however, tells a different story: they found no evidence of a sanctioned
operation. If anything, Caladorn's own patrols have increased since the
incident. Their court desires peace. Their king is tired of war."
A rustling of fabrics, the weight of suspicion
shifting around the table. The green-cloaked figure finally broke his silence,
voice low and gravelly. "If both kings are ignorant, then who profits from
the attack? It's no longer a border dispute. It's something else."
A pause, broken only by the hiss of a torch
collapsing into itself. The Sentinal's next words fell heavier for the silence.
"Our order exists not to shape events, but
to understand them. Yet this affair grows more opaque with every new witness.
Either our watchers lie, or we are being lied to. That alone is reason to
intervene."
"There's little evidence it threatens the
Balance," the woman pressed. "What can it matter if kingdoms grind
each other to salt? We have seen worse in the east. Nothing endures but the
Pattern."
"Unless the Pattern itself is being
rewritten," the blue-hooded man said.
At this, the Sentinal brought his palms flat on
the runic table, producing a hollow note that echoed into the stone. "We
are not theorists. To maintain the balance we need clarity, not further
confusion. We will look. Tonight, we summon the memory of that day and see for
ourselves."
The woman's upper lip curled. "The power to
see through time is not borrowed lightly, Sentinal. It leaves marks on both the
living and the dead."
"We risk more by not knowing," the
Sentinal said. "If our council cannot agree on what is, how can we guide
what must be?"
The blue-hooded man lifted a hand, uncertain.
"If it is as you say, and both sides are being manipulated, then the
ritual may be hazardous. Memory is often trapped by the will of those who
shaped it."
Twilight’s Dominion
The Broken Crown Saga Book Two
The peace was always a lie. They just didn't know whose.
Queen Eloise of Ardanthia has done everything right. She
negotiated the alliance with Caladorn, married the prince, held her court
together through blight and borderland attacks and the whispered threat of an
ancient secret order. Now, with villages vanishing overnight — crops blackened,
livestock dead, people simply gone — she does what any good
ruler would do. She sends her best.
Sir Cedric Blackthorn, the precise and principled
knight-investigator. Captain Elira, a soldier who has survived too much to
flinch at anything. Tomas, a scholar more at home with footnotes than
fistfights. Ryn, a street thief from the Saltspire docks whose instincts are
worth more than anyone's education. And Auralias — the Court Mage, brilliant
and unsettling in equal measure — who brings knowledge of old magic that none
of the others possess, and who may be the only thing standing between Ardanthia
and the League of the Moon.
Together, they are hunting the League before the League can
finish what it started.
What they find will change everything they think they know —
about the attacks, the conspiracy, and the true scale of what is being
assembled in the dark. There are artifacts, older than any living kingdom,
whose power was thought lost to history. There are secrets buried so deep that
uncovering them will cost more than anyone is prepared to pay. And there is a
question, growing louder with every mile: who, exactly, is the enemy?
Twilight's Dominion is a story about loyalty
tested to breaking, courts where every smile hides a calculation, and the
particular horror of realising that the enemy has been in the room all along.
It is about a queen learning that the peace she built was built for her
— and a company of mismatched, battle-worn companions who keep fighting even
after the ground gives way beneath them.
Set across mountain fortresses carved from living rock,
fog-wrapped port cities, a besieged royal palace, and the treacherous corridors
of two kingdoms in collision, this is epic fantasy for readers who like their
politics sharp, their magic consequential, and their betrayals earned.
Perfect for readers who love:
*The political intrigue of A Song of Ice and Fire
*The ensemble loyalty of The Lies of Locke Lamora
*The world-building depth of Robin Hobb
*Characters who are competent, scarred, and worth caring about
"There's no certainty in what's ahead. But I'd
rather die among friends than watch the world go to monsters."
The Broken Crown
Saga:
Book One: The King's Fall
Book Two: Twilight's Dominion
Book Three: Echoes of Kings - coming soon
Amazon * Apple
* B&N
* Kobo * Smashwords * Books2Read * Bookbub
* Goodreads
Twilight's
Dominion opens on two stories running in parallel. In the first, Lady Seraphina
D'Argent — a diplomat travelling alone through the unforgiving Crownspine
mountains — has just been surrounded by armed strangers on a mountain pass. She
has been riding for ten weeks on orders she doesn't fully understand, heading
toward coordinates her queen gave her without explanation. She is about to
discover something that will change everything she thought she knew about the
world she serves.
~820 words
The figures came on in absolute silence,
fanning out across the trail with the efficiency of wolves. In a matter of
seconds they had closed off her retreat and were sliding, almost bonelessly,
down the talus to encircle her.
Their leader wore a helm that entirely
concealed his face, its visor painted with a crude snarl of animal fangs. The
others carried composite bows at the ready, arrows nocked, but pointed down — a
gesture that managed to be both merciful and contemptuous at once. Seraphina
drew Cassia to a halt and set her hands openly on the pommel, every muscle
rigid with calculation.
"State your business," the leader
growled, voice rendered inhuman by the tin of his visor.
Seraphina debated, for perhaps two breaths,
whether to attempt bluff or bravado. The bows decided the matter. "I am
Lady Seraphina D'Argent, of Armathor," she replied, "on a mission
from Her Majesty Queen Evelina."
The leader turned, a lazy gesture that made
mockery of her authority, and a snort went up among his lieutenants. "And
your escort?"
"Was not permitted." Seraphina kept
her gaze level, though the blood pounded furiously in her ears. "I am to
meet with a representative of the Riders, if you are such."
The mention of the Riders produced a shift in
the circle. The archers exchanged glances, some wary, some almost amused. The
leader drew closer, boots crushing the shallow crust of snow.
"You speak too much for a courier,"
he observed. "But too little for a spy." He swept a gauntleted hand
at her pack horse. "Open your satchel."
She untied the travel case from the gelding,
working fingers gone numb in the cold, and fished out the scroll tube. It was
heavy, made of dark wood and brass, the wax seal untouched. She held it up so
they could all see the sigil of Caladorn: a pair of crossed sabres over a
seven-pointed star. There was a stillness, then a slow, careful release of
tension among the archers as the leader nodded, almost respectful.
"Walk forward. Slowly," he said.
They escorted her up the ridge, off the
trail, through a section of scree so loose that even Cassia balked. For an
hour, maybe more, they wound through impossible switchbacks and across narrow
spines of rock, each step a new exercise in balance and terror. Finally, the
leader raised his hand and the party halted at a narrow saddle between peaks.
Seraphina caught her breath, took a long
swallow from her water skin, and paused as she noticed what lay beyond the
saddle.
The city was carved into the living stone of
the mountain's interior, hidden from the world by both geometry and design.
Terraced galleries spiralled down the inside face of a gigantic crater, studded
with windows and fire-gleaming vents that gave the place an eerie, hive-like
vibrance. Slender bridges of bone-white stone spanned the void between rocky
spurs, connecting to massive towers whose roofs gaped open to the sky. Far
below, at the crater's deepest point, a plaza of blue granite caught the light
of a hundred lanterns, transforming it into a pool of shimmering stars.
She had never seen such a thing. She had
never heard of such a thing. And yet, as she stood there, wind plucking at her
cloak, Seraphina understood instantly, with a sick clarity, that Queen Evelina
had always known.
They did not take her down the public steps.
Instead, the archers led her along a narrow spiral cut into the stone,
half-tunnel, half-balcony, with just enough space for one person and a horse at
a time. The air grew colder with every turn, and the hum of unseen machinery —
bellows, pulleys, some kind of water-driven elevator — echoed from deep within
the walls. At last they emerged onto a flagstoned platform where the leader,
visor now up, gestured for her to dismount.
"Wait here," he said, less
threatening now. "You will be summoned."
Seraphina did not ask how long. She
untethered her gloves, flexed her hands, and tried not to shiver in the thin
mountain air. The view from the platform was staggering; across the chasm, the
terraces of the city glimmered with what looked like glass or ice, and tiny
figures moved between the arcades.
A boy in a grey tunic arrived, bearing a tray
of tea and something that looked like bread but tasted of cedar and salt. He
smiled at her with a gentleness that belonged to another world. When she asked
him his name, he merely gestured for her to drink.
Time stretched, then snapped back when the
leader returned, flanked by two more guards in matching visors. "You will
come," he said.
I am a new author writing under the pen name Orlan Drake, my
real name is Chris Hills Farrow. I've
worked as a freelance writer for magazines in the past but have always wanted
to write fiction, and after having more free time during the lockdowns, I have
made some progress. I enjoy fantasy because it opens my mind to other worlds or
ways of life that do not exist in real life, or have ever existed.
Website * Facebook * Instagram * Bluesky * Amazon *
Goodreads
Follow
the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
Enter The Broken Crown Saga Giveaway Here
