Tag: romance

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Princess and the Shepherd

princess and the shepherd novella

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A shepherd who can’t remember his past, a princess who is devastated by the idea of an arranged marriage. In Maisie’s attempt to flee from the arrangement only weeks before the wedding, she encounters Benjamin, a shepherd under the impression that she’s a thief trying to steal his sheep. When a relationship blossoms under the pretense of her being a kitchen maid, what will Benjamin think when he finds out the truth?

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by Sydney Winward

Bloodborn Release Date

Release Date: December 6

The time has finally come! Bloodborn has a release date, and I’m over the moon excited! A box of author copies came in the mail, and it’s surreal to hold the finished product in my hands. Years of blood, sweat, tears, and more blood went into this book. I have learned a lot about myself while writing and editing. The publishing journey has not been easy, but it certainly has been worth it! The pre-order links are below.

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by Sydney Winward

Book Review of Miss Kane’s Christmas by Caroline Mickelson

Christmas in October? You bet! I’m a Christmas all-year-long type of gal. I sing Christmas songs from January to December, and I still haven’t put away my wreath from last year (though that one is due to sheer laziness ;)) So when it comes to reading holiday books when it should be time for Halloween, I’m all for it.

I have to say that I absolutely adored this book! I found myself laughing throughout the entire thing, and I got plenty of warm fuzzies as I read. I think I have found myself another favorite author, and I look forward to reading more from her!

five stars
by Sydney Winward

Book Review of Four Last First Dates by Kate O’Keeffe

I enjoyed reading this! Sometimes it’s nice to step away from my regular reading genre and into a cozy little contemporary romance. I love cakes and I love romance, so this was a fun read.

There were a few things I didn’t quite like about the story. First, I didn’t know how Dan died until the very end, and I wish I would have known sooner. I didn’t see a point to keeping the information from the reader. Second, earlier, Ryan was looking at the photographs of Bailey and Dan. I wish he would have recognized that Jason the cater looked like Dan. It would have made for more of a punch. Third, I didn’t like the ending. It made me cringe in an “I’m embarrassed for them” way. But other than that, it was a great read!

I love that this book made me feel something. I found myself crying a couple times throughout the book, and not very many books can do that. A fun read!

four stars
by Sydney Winward

Bloodborn Series Comes to a Conclusion

sunset couple

I am so excited to finally say that I’m finished writing the Bloodborn series. Luca and Kirsa’s journey comes to a conclusion in book five, wrapping up at 91,000 words. I first started the Bloodborn series with the characters Adam and Willow, Bloodborn getting contracted with the Wild Rose Press. Only earlier this week did I send the second in the series to my editor, and now I’m crossing my fingers that it will get contracted as well!

Bloodborn started when I decided to use a writing prompt, which spurred an idea, which spurred a book, which inspired a series. At the beginning, I never thought this would gain the traction that it had, but I’m so excited it did! I do have an idea for a novella in mind for this series, but I hope to include it for free for readers in my upcoming newsletter.

What’s next?

I’ll likely be working on my regency romance series. I’m finished with the first book, I Am Marianne, and I’m two chapters into my second, Just Jane.

Now all I have to do is name this fifth book…

Edit: Is the series really over? Then why am I getting an idea for a sixth??? It never ends!!!

by Sydney Winward

1st Kiss Friday: WIP Bloodbond Chapter Excerpt

daisy

“Zachariah and Laurel continued splashing and laughing, at least until she jumped up on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Her lips smashed into his, and he grunted in surprise as a spark ignited inside him starting at his core and smoldering through him until searing fire shot to his fingertips. Passionate. Ravenous. Embers that fanned to life inside a dry forest.” 

by Sydney Winward

New WIP

Remember when I said I was going to start working on my Regency romance #2? Well, I lied (though not on purpose). I got wrapped up in my paranormal story, #5 in the Bloodborn series. 70,000 words in and nearing the end! (Sort of). It just keeps going, but at least the end is in sight! My new WIP focuses on Luca Dragomir and a special LITTLE (and I mean little because she’s a dwarf) lady he meets on his journey to break himself away from his family and discover who he is outside of being a vampire. But when he meets Kirsa Frey, he realizes there’s so much more at stake than himself. The dwarven race is dying, and he plans to stop the death before it takes the female he loves as well. Below are the models who inspired the characters, because who doesn’t love visual inspiration?!

lucakirsa

by Sydney Winward

Book Review: A Scandalous Request by Micki Miller

A Scandalous Request

This book is written by one of my fellow authors at the Wild Rose Press. The blurb drew me in immediately, as the idea was unique and intriguing, and it piqued my interest enough to not be able to turn away a chance to read it. The beginning is a fantastic whirlwind, the chapters jumping straight into the story right from the start. It’s far too easy to fall in love with the characters, and the relationships between each of them is fun to watch unfold. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

five stars

by Sydney Winward

Book Review of A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

Image result for a court of wings and ruin

Although I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the first and second in the series, it was still definitely worth the read. The focus on war and serious details often gave me a headache as I tried to figure out what was going on and remember who was who. And then suddenly some of the characters were gay or bisexual. I honestly didn’t think it needed to be there. It only distracted from the story, hounding the reader with pages and pages of details that I don’t care to read about when there is a bigger picture in mind.

I would have liked to see Feyre and Tamlin talk at the end. I felt like the ending was too “happy” for what was going on with the battle. And the part after page 666, the same exact thing happened again that happened to Feyre Under the Mountain. It would have been nice to see something different in that regard, some variety.

Also, if the Bone Carver OR the Suriel would have told Feyre she was pregnant or something while the war was just around the corner, now THAT would have been interesting. But I’m sure that will happen much later on instead.

Either way, the book was good, but perhaps too long and filled with unnecessary details. 4 out of 5 stars.

four stars

by Sydney Winward