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Book review: Courting the Sun

BJ Sikes, authorLeave a comment

Courting the Sun, a novel of Versailles by Peggy Joque Williams is one of the better historical fiction novels I have read this year.

It’s a beautifully written, evocative story of a country girl swept into the court of the Sun King. I felt immersed in the world of 18th century Amiens and later Paris and Versailles, as seen through the eyes of an innocent (but thankfully not stupid) young girl, Sylvienne. She was excited to experience life beyond her small town but I loved that she didn’t make any truly reckless decisions despite being completely out of her element at the Sun King’s Court. She acted more like a girl of the time period not a modern teenager and I deeply appreciated that veracity to history. The other characters were all well crafted as well, from King Louis and his mistress Athenais to the people of Amiens and Sylvienne’s friends in Amiens.

The descriptions of the clothing worn at Court were swoon worthy and so vivid. As you may remember, I LOVE fancy dress and this book has ALL the clothes. Yum.

I also loved that difficult emotional situations were resolved realistically with respect to both the characters and the society of the time. No hand waving magic fixes for romance here.

The book really took me back in time which was so much fun.

Truly an enjoyable read!

I received an advance review copy for free.

WAStanley reviewed the Cultist’s Wife!

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How lovely it is to get a deep, thoughtful review. I am so appreciative of W.A. Stanley for this delightful writeup of The Cultist’s Wife. He really enjoyed my Roboticist of Versailles books and I was a little nervous about the reception of this one since it’s so different. Happily, he had only positive things to say!

Click on the book cover to read the review.

The Cultist’s Wife

Book review: Stars of Twilight Fair

BJ Sikes, authorLeave a comment

Stars of Twilight Fair by K. Lyn Smith

To be released 24 May 2024.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It was irresponsible, really, the way he wielded his smile without a care for where it landed. – Miss Amelia Thorne

I mean how swoony is that? I love historical romance but they’re not always that romantically written, if you know what I mean.
I was drawn in by the set up: a noble scientist photographer and a scandalous recluse. What could possibly go wrong?
It’s billed as a sweet Victorian romance and in my experience, those can be kind of bland. I was pleasantly surprised that this was most certainly not bland. The author packed in all the glorious, tumultuous emotions of a forbidden love without resorting to the usual smoldering looks and harsh kisses (and totally unrealistic trysts, looking at you, my beloved Bridgerton).

The love between the protagonists felt real and believable. And I liked them both, something uncommon for me. It was also beautifully written, almost as poetic as the many Wordsworth quotes scattered through the book.

The author has a bunch more books on her website: https://www.klynsmithauthor.com/allbooks

I had the pleasure of receiving an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.



It’s Release Day for The Cultist’s Wife!

BJ Sikes, author1 Comment
Paperbook of the Cultist's Wife on a shelf with a witch's cauldron, antique glass bottles, a crow statue, and an amethyst cluster.

This book o’ mine had a long, strange, and winding journey to publication but it’s HERE.

Long time readers of this blog first encountered it as a story about a little girl going to the Bahamas called Sand and Bones. Then I re-wrote it to be Clara’s story, and it became Escaping Andronicus. And then I let my Beta readers (thank you Dover and Thena!) at it (again) and it was finally titled The Cultist’s Wife.

Then it sat in my To Be Edited folder while I worked on The Vitruvian Mask because I had people asking me for a sequel to The Archimedean Heart and I am nothing if not responsive to my readers. <grin>

But finally, I returned to this book and polished it up to a shine. I had my developmental editor give it another pass. A sensitivity reader took a look at it from a Black Bahamian perspective. I hired a proofreader (thanks, Alison!) and got a great cover designer (Kelley York at Sleepy Fox Studios). I think it’s the story I wanted to tell now.

I have had some lovely people look at the ARCs and wanted to share snippets of their reviews:

The book took my breath away…

It had everything that I was looking for…

I was so enthralled in this story I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I couldn’t be reading it.

This was a quick read and it sucked me in right away!

Read this in 2 days. Very readable!

Blushing emoji

Awww, you folks are so sweet! <BLUSH> I was so pleased to read these reviews!

If you want your own copy, The Cultist’s Wife is on sale through the month of May.

It’s part of a promo package with a ton of other horror, mystery, and suspense books here or by itself here.

It’s all my grandad’s fault

BJ Sikes, author1 Comment
Daily writing prompt
What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?
View all responses

For most of my young life, I HATED my middle name. It seemed so boring. So Plain. It even rhymes with plain. Plain Jane. I mean, yuk, right? That was young me. I appreciate it a bit more now. But back then, Belinda Jane just struck me as a terrible combination. It was my grandad’s idea. Apparently, there were a couple of newspaper comics during WWII that he was fond of. He told me when I was little that he named me after the characters, Belinda and Jane.

Let’s unpack that for just a moment, Grandad. So One: my parents let you name their firstborn? Okay, I guess they were young? And Two: you decided to name me after a couple of comic strip characters? WTH?

It gets better. I finally looked up these comic strips and they were not exactly as described to me by my dearest grandfather. He said they were a couple of cute blonde-haired, blue-eyed girls, just like me. Not that I was particularly blonde but okay…

So here’s Belinda. Uh huh. Cute little blond-haired girl. I can see that my grandad would’ve seen his baby granddaughter here.

But back to the topic of this post, my middle name, Jane. Apparently not everyone thought that Jane was Plain. Here’s the inspiration for my middle name, Jane from the Misadventures of Jane.

By http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=6323978, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21760001

Well. Grandad. Weren’t you the lad?

The Hencha Queen by J. Scott Coatsworth

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An author friend of mine, the prolific and talented Scott Coatsworth is releasing the third book in his Tharassas Cycle series, The Hencha Queen, a sci-fi fantasy with queer romance elements.

SILYA COMES INTO HER OWN, BUT WILL SHE BE ENOUGH?

Silya finally has everything she always wanted. She’s the Hencha Queen, head of the Temple, and is working to master her newfound talents. So why does the world pick now to fall apart?

Her once-nemesis Raven is off riding dragons, and their mutual friend (and her ex) Aik is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, a new threat menaces the Heartland from the East, and if she can’t convince a reluctant Gullton city council to prepare for the worst, she may lose everyone and everything she’s ever cared about.

As she uses her magic-like abilities, wit and sheer determination to try to save the city, she’s joined by Raven and his new friends. Will their help tip the scales? And will they finally find out what happened to Aik as a dark storm threatens to sweep them all away?

Forget messy. Things just got apocalyptic.

Universal Buy Link: https://www.jscottcoatsworth.com/book/the-hencha-queen/

The Tharassas Cycle is a four book sci-fantasy series set on the recently colonized world of Tharassas. When humans first arrived on planet, they thought they were alone until the hencha mind made itself known. But now a new threat has arisen to challenge both humankind and their new allies on this alien world.

The First Two Books are On Sale (& Get a Free Book)

Books 1 & 2 are on sale through March 31st for just 99¢ each (eBooks, all vendors). And if you buy one (or all three) of the main series books, email scott@jscottcoatsworth.com and let him know and he’ll send you a free copy of Tales From Tharassas, the prequel.

Sale Details: https://www.jscottcoatsworth.com/the-hencha-queen-pre-release-deals/

Ban the word “utilize”

BJ Sikes, authorLeave a comment

If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?

I have an irrational hatred for the word “utilize” for REASONS.

Okay maybe just one. It means practically the same thing as “use” but sounds more, I don’t know, fancy? Educated? And people just drop it in here and there for no good reason. Just say use, folks! Really. You don’t sound more intelligent when you say utilize.

I dug around looking to see when it’s the right word. Basically, if you’re using something for an unintended purpose. So if you are hammering something with your shoe, you are utilizing your shoe. You can still say use and it’s correct though.

That’s it. So I am in favor of banning “utilize.” Please?