Tag Archives: Monica James

I Dare You (Ruin Me Duet 1) by Monica James-review

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I Dare You (Ruin Me Duet 1) by Monica James-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 23, 2026

One brutal night shattered Hallie Holiday’s life.
By morning, the girl everyone knew had vanished.

No goodbye.
No explanation.
Only silence.

Three years later, Hallie lives under a different name in a town where no one knows her past. Staying invisible is the only way to survive.
But fate has a cruel sense of humor because he is the last person she ever expected to see again.

Kit Rivers—her childhood best friend’s older brother.

The town’s favorite bad boy.
The boy every girl wanted.
But the boy she remembers is gone.

When their paths collide again, the pull between them is instant.
And in a town where men have mysteriously turned up dead…that kind of connection could get someone killed.

Hallie knows who’s responsible.

Jupiter Lemmings.

If Hallie tells the truth, she exposes the killer—and the truth about the night that destroyed her life.
But if she stays silent…Kit could be next.

Hallie has spent three years running from the past.
Now she must decide how far she’s willing to go to save the man who saved her.

However, some secrets don’t stay buried forever.
And when they surface…someone always ends up dead.

••••••••

REVIEW: I DARE YOU is the first instalment in Monica James’ contemporary, adult RUIN ME dark erotic romance duet focusing on Hallie Holiday aka Olivia, and brother Kit and Dandy Rivers.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there WILL BE triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from first person perspectives (Hallie) following several years in the life of our story line ‘heroine’ , I DARE YOU focuses on the aftermath of extreme betrayal and brutality against our story line heroine. Bullied throughout most of her life, having lost her parents at a very young age, life and everything it offered would send Hallie Holiday into a spiral, searching for something or someone to take back control. Befriended years before by brothers Dandy and Kit, Hallie would be forced to leave their friendship behind as she embarked on a journey of vengeance, a journey she would not be taking alone.

The world building is complex as Hallie goes from childhood to a nineteen year old woman who is seeking freedom from the demons and ghosts of her past. As a young girl she faced the wrath of her uncle, the brutality of the bullies, and the loss of her innocence at the age of sixteen.

I DARE YOU is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, power and control, murder and mayhem, obsession and madness.The character driven premise is dark, dramatic, gritty and intense with a twist I deciphered early on. The characters are desperate, determined, broken and dark. I DARE YOU ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Monica James spent her youth devouring the works of Anne Rice, William Shakespeare, and Emily Dickinson.

When she is not writing, Monica is busy running her own business, but she always finds a balance between the two. She enjoys writing honest, heartfelt, and turbulent stories, hoping to leave an imprint on her readers. She draws her inspiration from life.

She is a bestselling author in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, and the U.K.

Monica James resides in Melbourne, Australia, with her wonderful family, and menagerie of animals. She is slightly obsessed with cats, chucks, and lip gloss, and secretly wishes she was a ninja on the weekends.

TWITTER /  FACEBOOK /  PINTEREST / AUTHORGRAPH /  WEBSITE

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BLOOD OF THE STARS (In Love and War 3) by Monica James-review

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BLOOD OF THE STARS (In Love and War 3) by Monica James-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 3, 2026

My beloved England is finally saved, for I am now queen.

The rules have changed, and peace now settles over the Kingdoms. This is the life I was destined for.

However, this life isn’t without regret because I’m missing an integral piece of my heart. I believed we were forever. But for England to prosper, I had to give up everything for the only man I ever loved.

And that man is Skarth the Godless.

I do not know where he is. But this is the sacrifice I must make because a Saxon queen cannot love a Northman. But I do. I always have.

A love fated in the stars…stars which I wish to set alight—for what good is love if you cannot embrace it with both hands?

Skarth and I are connected in more ways than one. And when our children’s lives are at risk and everything I fought so hard for is about to be destroyed, I forget I am Queen Emeline.

I am Hugrekki. I must find Skarth, and only one person can help me. Ulf the Bloody.

This is our final battle—a battle of the heart—and I fear it’s a war we’re all about to lose.

••••••

REVIEW: BLOOD OF THE STARS is the third instalment in Monica James’ adult IN LOVE AND WAR dark, historical, Viking romance series. This is the continuing story of Northman Skarth the Godless, and Queen Emeline. FALL OF THE STARS should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up after the events of book one NORTH OF THE STARS. BLOOD OF THE STARS advances the series several years.

WARNING: Due to the nature of the story line premise there WILL BE triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Skarth and Emeline) BLOOD OF THE STARS follows in the wake of Emeline’s ascension onto the throne of England but the man she loves is unable to stand by her side. Seen as a betrayal to have fallen in love with a Viking, Emeline rules without her consort, raising her sons without their father but a betrayal will send Emeline in search of the man whom she loves, a man who has also been betrayed by the people he trusts.

BLOOD OF THE STARS is another dramatic, powerful, tragic and startling addition to Monca James’ dark, historical IN LOVE AND WAR. A tale of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, torture and abuse, death and reconciliation. The premise is gritty and edgy; the characters are desperate and determined. BLOOD OF THE STARS ends on a happily ever after for now-Skarth’s friend ULF the Bloody is missing, and I suspect the author has plans for his story line arc.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Monica James spent her youth devouring the works of Anne Rice, William Shakespeare, and Emily Dickinson.

When she is not writing, Monica is busy running her own business, but she always finds a balance between the two. She enjoys writing honest, heartfelt, and turbulent stories, hoping to leave an imprint on her readers. She draws her inspiration from life.

She is a bestselling author in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, and the U.K.

Monica James resides in Melbourne, Australia, with her wonderful family, and menagerie of animals. She is slightly obsessed with cats, chucks, and lip gloss, and secretly wishes she was a ninja on the weekends.

TWITTER /  FACEBOOK /  PINTEREST / AUTHORGRAPH /  WEBSITE

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BAD FOR YOU by Monica James-review tour

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BAD FOR YOU by Monica James-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 14, 2025

I am Valentina Ricci.

But I wasn’t born with a name.

My mother, Sister Margarette, was a woman of God, but she soon forgot her vows when she was sent by her parish to provide spiritual guidance to death row inmate #39280.

Many have said my mother and father’s meeting wasn’t fated in the stars, but rather, it was churned in the bowels of hell. Because nothing good would ever come from my mother falling in love with convicted and infamous serial killer Patrick O’Loughlin and having his daughter…me.

The day he was executed was the day I was born.

Again, another cruel twist of fate because I always felt like a part of his soul took over mine on that day. That can be the only explanation for why I do the despicable things that I do and like them…so very much. I am part monster, part saint. There is no salvation for a sinner like me. Saint Maria’s orphanage was my home as a child. And it was nothing but hell until I met him…

Lennon Shepherd.

We found one another in the direst of circumstances, and I thought he was my forever. But forever came with an expiration date when he became the enemy. Our adoptive mother, Gianna Ricci, has trained us to be her weapons in a war we never wanted to be a part of. Now grown, Lennon and I are on opposite sides. The boy I’ve loved since I was ten years old is the man I have to kill because if I don’t…he’ll kill me.

I am hunted.

But I am also the hunter.

••••

REVIEW: BAD FOR YOU is the first instalment in Monica James’ contemporary, adult, dark, erotic, romance duet focusing on Valentina Ricci and Lennon Shepherd.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise there WILL BE triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Valentina and Lennon) BAD FOR YOU follows several years in the life of Valentina Ricci and Lennon Shepherd. Valentina and Lennon grew up in a Catholic orphanage, used and abused by the men in charge. At ten and eleven years of age respectively Valentina and Lennon were ‘adopted’ by Gianna Ricci, a woman who trained our couple to become assassins and killers. Nearing her eighteenth birthday, Valentina wanted to find her birth mother, while Lennon struggled to locate his missing brother, and in doing so, both would set off a series of events that revealed the deep seated betrayals at the heart of their abuse and training. Molded into killers, pawns to be used, manipulated into believing everyone they met wanted something in return, Valentina and Lennon’s paths would eventually separate and diverge, each taking a stand, convinced each had betrayed the other.

The world building focuses on the growing but tempestuous relationship between our story line couple; the manipulation by the woman who claimed to have saved them from future harm; and the realization that not everything or everyone was what or whom they claimed to be.

The relationship between Lennon and Valentina begins as abused orphans who only trusted one another in the face of the ultimate betrayal but once ‘adopted’ by Gianna Ricci, their lives would no longer be entwined, ,purposely separated in the face of deception and lies. The $ex scenes are aggressive and intense.

We are introduced to Father Merry; Gianna Ricci, gem dealer Aldo Cattaneo, and his daughter Bria.

BAD FOR YOU is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, power and control, manipulation and madness, murder and mistrust. The premise is dark, gritty, raw and haunting-you have to wonder from where the darkness comes? How deep one has to dig?; the characters are broken, disturbed and tortured. BAD FOR YOU ends on a cliff-hanger, you have been warned.

–>Heed the trigger warnings-they are dark, and numerous.<–

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Monica James spent her youth devouring the works of Anne Rice, William Shakespeare, and Emily Dickinson.

When she is not writing, Monica is busy running her own business, but she always finds a balance between the two. She enjoys writing honest, heartfelt, and turbulent stories, hoping to leave an imprint on her readers. She draws her inspiration from life.

She is a bestselling author in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, and the U.K.

Monica James resides in Melbourne, Australia, with her wonderful family, and menagerie of animals. She is slightly obsessed with cats, chucks, and lip gloss, and secretly wishes she was a ninja on the weekends.

TWITTER /  FACEBOOK /  PINTEREST / AUTHORGRAPH /  WEBSITE

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HEART SICK (Heart Memory Transfer Duet 1) by Monica James -review

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HEART SICK (Heart Memory Transfer Duet 1) by Monica James-review tour

 

 

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Add Goodreads: https://tinyurl.com/52ntc84c

ABOUT THE BOOK: release Date February 21, 2023

Piano has always been my one true love.

So when the music stops, I do whatever I can to hear it again.

But when I wake, all I hear is his heart and the memories that come with it.

This is my body.

My mind.

But not my heart.

Each beat hides a secret, and his voice now replaces the music, demanding I uncover the truth.

I’m sent to a place to get better, and that’s when I meet her.

Every artist needs a muse, and Luna allows me to hear the music again. But when her secrets soon become mine, I realize it’s because I’ve lived this life before.

Or rather, he has.

The man whose heart beats within my chest knows Luna…and everything she’s done.

•••••

REVIEW: HEART SICK is the first instalment in Monica James’s contemporary, adult HEART MEMORY TRANSFER dark, erotic, slightly paranormal, romance duet focusing on musician Dutch Atwood, and Luna Huxley.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Luna and Dutch) HEART SICK follows in the wake of a death of young man; the transplant of his heart into an ailing musician, and the ongoing abuse, terror and fall-out of madness, grief and obsession.

Dutch Atwood’s heart was failing when a call came that a donor heart had been found but to get a heart, someone must die, and that death is the precipice of a nightmare for two people connected by a beating heart. Luna Huxley lost everything, and in the fall-out finds herself trapped; imprisoned in both her mind and somewhere she was never meant to be. With her only companion, a young man whose familiarity sits at the periphery of her mind, Luna endures endless abuse and torture at the hands of the people claiming to help her heal but Luna is not the only victim, and soon she realizes that Dutch is as much a victim of the system that is determined to keep them down. On the run, Dutch and Luna become a modern day Bonnie and Clyde, in an effort to survive, but betrayal and lies push Dutch to do the unthinkable, threatening both himself and the woman that calls to his heart.

HEART SICK is a story of power and control, secrets and lies, madness and obsession, betrayal and vengeance, tragedy and desperation. Monica James pulls the reader into a dark, gritty, intense, tragic, emotional and heart breaking story where fantasy and reality are concepts of the mind. HEART SICK ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Monica James spent her youth devouring the works of Anne Rice, William Shakespeare, and Emily Dickinson.

When she is not writing, Monica is busy running her own business, but she always finds a balance between the two. She enjoys writing honest, heartfelt, and turbulent stories, hoping to leave an imprint on her readers. She draws her inspiration from life.

She is a bestselling author in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, and the U.K.

Monica James resides in Melbourne, Australia, with her wonderful family, and menagerie of animals. She is slightly obsessed with cats, chucks, and lip gloss, and secretly wishes she was a ninja on the weekends.

TWITTER /  FACEBOOK /  PINTEREST / AUTHORGRAPH /  WEBSITE

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Crybaby by Monica James /Michelle Lancaster-review tour

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Crybaby (Revenge is Sweet 1) by Monica James /Michelle Lancaster-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 11, 2022

My name is Rev.

I like long walks on the beach.

A neat scotch.

And I like stealing from rich losers who have no idea the town’s Big Bad Wolf screwed their wives six ways to Sunday.

Such a scandal, indeed.

I have one end goal—to get out of this town.

I’m a loner. And that’s by choice.

People aren’t really my thing. That is…until I meet her. The little firecracker who sets more than my soul on fire.

No one has ever stuck around.

But Darcie is different. She seems to be as broken as me, and when our worlds collide, nothing but trouble looms.

Watch out, baby…down the rabbit hole we go

•••••

REVIEW: CRYBABY is the first instalment in the contemporary, adult REVENGE IS SWEET dark, young adult romance series co-authored by Monica James and Michelle Lancaster. This is high school teenagers Augustine ‘Rev’ Blackwood, and Darcie’s story line.

WARNING: Due to the nature of the story line premise including graphic violence and sexual assault, there will be triggers for more sensitive readers. Although the characters are teenagers, high school aged, the topic and content is not intended for younger readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Darcie and Rev) CRYBABY follows high school teenagers on a tear seeking revenge and retribution for pain, suffering and humiliation at the hands of so-called friends in the aftermath of the prom from h*ll. With the help of bad boy, lady-killer, gigolo and her absent prom date Augustine ‘Rev’ Blackwood, Darcie goes on a journey of vengeance, a journey not unlike Bonnie and Clyde, or Natural Born Killers™, or any number of couples whose lives are spiralling out of control. Taking aim at everyone, and anyone standing in their way, Darcie and Rev find themselves on the run, targeting the guilty and the damaged on their bloody adventure. What ensues is an odyssey of madness, mayhem and murder in which Rev discovers the truth about his past, and Darcie must come to terms with the world as a whole.

The relationship between Darcie and Rev is one of mutual delusion and unbalance. Rev’s childhood has created a young man determined to take down the people who destroyed his life, while Darcie’s grief and inability to forgive herself, sets her on a path towards the ultimate betrayal.

CRYBABY is a dark, gritty, graphically detailed story of betrayal and vengeance, power and control, secrets and lies, assault, abuse, murder and madness. The premise is shocking and unconventional; the $ex scenes are aggressive and intense; the characters are broken, betrayed, and determined.

Although I do not consider the content suitable for young adult readers, the main characters are teenagers caught up in a world of adult problems. The premise contains many YA scenarios including bullies, mean girls, evil or oblivious/controlling parents and vindictive adults, secrets and lies.

MONICA JAMES

Monica James spent her youth devouring the works of Anne Rice, William Shakespeare, and Emily Dickinson.

When she is not writing, Monica is busy running her own business, but she always finds a balance between the two. She enjoys writing honest, heartfelt, and turbulent stories, hoping to leave an imprint on her readers. She draws her inspiration from life.

She is a bestselling author in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, and the U.K.

Monica James resides in Melbourne, Australia, with her wonderful family, and menagerie of animals. She is slightly obsessed with cats, chucks, and lip gloss, and secretly wishes she was a ninja on the weekends.

TWITTER /  FACEBOOK /  PINTEREST / AUTHORGRAPH /  WEBSITE

ABOUT MICHELLE

Monica and Michelle are best friends who have combined their love for dark comedy, crime documentaries, and bad boys to write dark romance that will steal your heart and haunt your mind.

Follow the white rabbit…

Connect w/Michelle:

Instagram: @lanefotograf

Instagram: @lanefotograf_2

TikTok: @lanefotograf

Tik Tok: @MichelleandMonicaBooks

Website: www.michellelancaster.com

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Someone Else’s Shadow by Monica James-Review Tour

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Someone Else’s Shadow by Monica James-Review Tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /Apple/

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 20, 2022

My name is Peyton Lane, and I have no idea who I am.

Six months ago, I woke from a coma with no recollection of anybody, anything.

My family tells me that I’m a good woman, that I’m loved. It seems I’ve lived a full, rewarding life, but I would give all of it up in a heartbeat to remember who I was.

My mind is a blank slate. Every moment in time wiped clean.

But there is one thing I can remember, something I haven’t dared to tell anyone about—a mysterious oak tree, a red ribbon, and a vision of drowning.

I know the answers I seek lie buried at the bottom of a lake. And that’s why I’m here in South Carolina. The memory I have is something I witnessed…

So I wonder what it would feel like to remember…remember who I was, but more importantly, remember what I did.

•••••

REVIEW:SOMEONE ELSE’S SHADOW by Monica James is a stand alone, contemporary, adult, romantic suspense story focusing on single father/renovator Cayden Coachman, and twenty-seven year old Peyton Lane.

WARNING: Due to the nature of the story line premise there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from first person perspective (Peyton) using present day and memories from the past, SOMEONE ELSE’S SHADOW focuses on Peyton Lane’s need to uncover the truth. Six months earlier, Peyton suffered critical injuries in a car accident that left our heroine in a coma, resulting in her current state of amnesia. Struggling to make sense of everything, including the bits and pieces of dreams and memories that do not make sense but a ‘need’ to move away from home sends our heroine to South Carolina, to a familiar place where everything began. Enter Peyton’s neighbor Cayden Coachman, and the man with whom Peyton will fall in love. What ensues is the acrimonious but building relationship between Peyton and Cayden, and the fall-out when the truth is revealed, and the past returns determined to destroy them all.

Peyton Lane is unable to remember anything about her past but for the ‘snippets’ of memory that do not make any sense but her arrival in South Carolina pulls at the horror of what happened and why, and with the help of the man with whom she is falling in love, does the reality of the past begin to seep into our heroine’s life. Cayden Coachman is a man battling his own demons including the demons of the man that destroyed his life.Living on the ‘wrong’ side of the lake meant Cayden was never good enough but Peyton does not see the line, a line that divides between the haves and the have-nots.

The relationship between Peyton and Cayden is one of immediate attraction but Cayden knows Peyton’s secrets, and struggles in the wake of our heroine’s amnesia but the ghosts from the past refuse to let go, and with it the return of the pain that all but destroy Peyton Lane. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Cayden’s daughter Ellie, and his sister Lacey, as well as Cayden’s ex Hazel; Peyton’s mother Stella Lanes, her step-father Augusto, and Peyton’s less than accommodating siblings and their families, and the locals who may or may not accept our story line heroine.

SOMEONE ELSE’S SHADOW is a story of secrets and lies, the present and the past, obsession and rejection, acceptance and love. The premise is intriguing, suspense-filled and engaging; the romance is seductive and fated: the characters are broken, desperate and determined.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Monica James spent her youth devouring the works of Anne Rice, William Shakespeare, and Emily Dickinson.

When she is not writing, Monica is busy running her own business, but she always finds a balance between the two. She enjoys writing honest, heartfelt, and turbulent stories, hoping to leave an imprint on her readers. She draws her inspiration from life.

She is a bestselling author in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, and the U.K.

Monica James resides in Melbourne, Australia, with her wonderful family, and menagerie of animals. She is slightly obsessed with cats, chucks, and lip gloss, and secretly wishes she was a ninja on the weekends.

TWITTER /  FACEBOOK /  PINTEREST / AUTHORGRAPH /  WEBSITE

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FALL OF THE STARS (In Love and War 2) by Monica James-Review Tour

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FALL OF THE STARS (In Love and War 2) by Monica James-REVIEW TOUR

 

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Goodreads: https://tinyurl.com/4k52f25v

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 11, 2022

England is bleeding.

And there isn’t a thing I can do about it.

I am once again a prisoner to Wessex, captured by King Egbert because holding me hostage will bring them to him—my two Vikings who will risk heaven and earth to save me.

But I don’t need saving.

I am Princess Emeline, and I was taught by the best, and his name…Skarth the Godless.

The man whom I love more than anything in this world.

But things begin to blur when Ulf the Bloody reminds me of the promise I made, and that promise is that I belong to him.

We must work together to overthrow King Egbert, but the war I fight within my heart is far more dangerous than anything I will ever face on the battlefield.

The choice is not simple because we all must make sacrifices. But I soon realize that all is not fair in love and war.

Lives will be lost.

Hearts will be broken.

And come dawn, life as we know it will be changed forevermore.

••••••

REVIEW:  FALL OF THE STARS is the second instalment in Monica James’ adult, IN LOVE AND WAR dark, historical, Viking romance series. This is the continuing story of Northman Skarth the Godless, and Princess Emeline. FALL OF THE STARS should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up immediately after the events of book one NORTH OF THE STARS.

WARNING: Due to the nature of the story line premise there WILL be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Skarth and Emeline) FALL OF THE STARS picks up immediately after events and cliff hanger of book one NORTH OF THE STARS in which Princess Emeline, once again, finds herself the prisoner of another man, a king who sees the benefit of aligning his land with those of our story line heroine but secrets are revealed, alliances and allegiances are made, betrayal is but a daily occurrence and Emeline is caught between mother and son, brother and sister, son and father, a man and his past. As Emeline struggles to barter for her freedom she is yet another pawn, a bargaining chip between kings, to be used and abused by at every turn and rescue. Once again, God and Christianity are a force between the Vikings and other men, a force used to separate Emeline from the man that she loves.

FALL OF THE STARS is another viscerally dark, gritty, raw, tragic, twisted and often difficult read. Monica James pulls the reader into an intense, impassioned, and dramatic tale of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, torture and abuse, acceptance and love. Like book one, there are no lighthearted moments, and the happily ever after, for now is questionable. Heed my warning, there will be triggers,

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one NORTH OF THE STARS

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

 

Monica James spent her youth devouring the works of Anne Rice, William Shakespeare, and Emily Dickinson.

When she is not writing, Monica is busy running her own business, but she always finds a balance between the two. She enjoys writing honest, heartfelt, and turbulent stories, hoping to leave an imprint on her readers. She draws her inspiration from life.

She is a bestselling author in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, and the U.K.

Monica James resides in Melbourne, Australia, with her wonderful family, and menagerie of animals. She is slightly obsessed with cats, chucks, and lip gloss, and secretly wishes she was a ninja on the weekends.

TWITTER /  FACEBOOK /  PINTEREST / AUTHORGRAPH /  WEBSITE

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North of the Stars (In Love And War 1)by Monica James-Review Tour

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NORTH OF THE STARS (In Love and War 1) by Monica James-Review tour

 

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.UK /Amazon.AU /B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 1, 2021

England is burning.

And the cause…men are too afraid to utter in nothing but a whisper.

The Northmen.

My father is King Eanred.

And me?

I am Princess Emeline.

My father wants to protect our kingdom against the ruthless Vikings who continue to raid England, so he has betrothed me to Aethelwulf, the son of King Egbert of Wessex—the most powerful realm in all of England. Without this union, Northumbria will fall, which is why I must submit. I must do this for my people.

However, it is not in my nature to surrender. So when my father captures the most savage Viking known in our land, I do what no good, God-fearing Christian would do—I help him.

His name…Skarth the Godless.

People fear what they don’t understand, but I will not allow that to control me. Fear makes us blind to the truth, and I refuse to cower because Skarth soon becomes my teacher—in all things. And when his rival, Ulf the Bloody, shatters my world, it becomes clear the lessons have only just begun.

My soul is tarnished.

I am a sinner.

Lord, hear my prayer

••••••••

REVIEW: NORTH OF THE STARS is the first instalment in Monica James’ adult IN LOVE AND WAR dark, Viking, historical, fiction story line focusing on Northman Skarth the Godless, and Princess Emeline.

WARNING: Due to the nature of the story line premise there WILL be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Skarth and Emeline) NORTH OF THE STARS covers approximately five years in the life in ninth century AD. Princess Emeline was only twelve years old when her father captured a clan of Northmen including Viking Skarth the Godless, and our heroine took an immediately liking to the man who would break her heart but life was never easy in Northumbria, and our heroine had been promised to the son of a man who reigned another kingdom. To prevent the execution of Skarth the Godless, our heroine made a deal, that would find her on a dark and dangerous journey wherein Emeline became nothing more than property sold to the highest bidder, a pawn to be used and abused by every man with whom she would come in contact but throughout the years Emeline always remembered the Viking that had stolen her heart, a heart that was now broken along with her body and mind. While our heroine suffered five years of abuse at the hands of so called ‘God fearing men’, Skarth never forgot about the young woman that had claimed his soul.

NORTH OF THE STARS is a dark, gritty, raw and often times difficult read. There are no hearts and flowers, no solace for a woman who never felt loved, no lighthearted moments to take a breath of fresh air. NORTH OF THE STARS is an intense, dramatic, heart breaking and powerful tale of survival for one woman who is unable to escape the destiny her God and men have wrought.

NORTH OF THE STARS ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

 

Monica James spent her youth devouring the works of Anne Rice, William Shakespeare, and Emily Dickinson.

When she is not writing, Monica is busy running her own business, but she always finds a balance between the two. She enjoys writing honest, heartfelt, and turbulent stories, hoping to leave an imprint on her readers. She draws her inspiration from life.

She is a bestselling author in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, and the U.K.

Monica James resides in Melbourne, Australia, with her wonderful family, and menagerie of animals. She is slightly obsessed with cats, chucks, and lip gloss, and secretly wishes she was a ninja on the weekends.

TWITTER /  FACEBOOK /  PINTEREST / AUTHORGRAPH /  WEBSITE

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