It’s a lushly written urban fantasy, stand-alone but set within a richly detailed version of Paris that has lots and lots of understated backstory to it (and you can read another taste of Kate’s intertwined worlds at Smashwords for free). For all its wit and darkness and elaborate language, what truly sold me on this book were the incisive, full-bodied portraits of the female characters: lots of them, all flawed and living their own lives that don’t revolve around the hero, as charming and modest as he is. This is a gem of a book and Winterbourne is proud to present it.

Illumé by Kate Smith
Where there is light, there are shadows
Thane da Silva works for the Subrosa Negri, a secretive department charged with keeping the peace between the mundane and the Pale, those beings with a little touch of the supernatural in their genetic makeup. As the full blue moon casts a glow over Paris, Thane’s search for a pair of romantics performing a doomed ritual is just the beginning of an elaborate charade of mirrors and strange communiqués.

By turns macabre and whimsical, gothic and pop-cultural, Illumé will take you on a lavish journey into the shadows of the City of Light.

Learn more about this book, including places to buy, at the Illume information page. Via that link, you can read the opening chapters of the book online or as an ePub or pdf download.

By turns macabre and whimsical, gothic and pop-cultural, Illumé will take you on a lavish journey into the shadows of the City of Light.

Read more about this book, get a free excerpt, and find out where to buy it, here.

If you’re already convinced, you can buy it in our bookstore now.

Illumé is a beautifully gothic urban fantasy with pop culture references, whip-smart dialogue, and some laugh-out-loud moments of dark humour — in fact, even putting aside a few explicit Buffy references (who hasn’t had the “Spike or Angel?” conversation?), it reminded me of Joss Whedon’s works. All in a lush prose style designed to envelop you like a warm bath. As a taster, here’s a little excerpt that left this Aussie expat as homesick as if she’d heard that bloody Qantas song.

A rustle among the books drew Thane’s attention to their mistress seated cross-legged under the trestle table sagging beneath bibliomaniac battlements. ‘Are you okay?’

‘I want red meat.’

Thane stood firm against the quivering fierceness bound up in a ribbon-trimmed cardigan, a slate blue t-shirt featuring the characters from Mr Froggy Went A Courtin’ parading across the bosom, and a frothy confection of petticoats pretending to be a skirt. Bobbly blue knee-high socks completed her couture de jour. ‘If that’s all, I’ll get you red meat.’

‘I’m sure you can.’ An unrepentant flirt, Erica dimpled provocatively, sparks in her eyes lighting up the gloom under the table. ‘But you can’t get me saltbush mutton barbequed in the sun or the smell of a dry sclerophyll forest after rain. You can’t bring me the stomp of storms rolling in with the full force of the Roaring Forties behind, or the relief when the three-day northerly winds swing round. And don’t get me started on the stars.’

He heard the love in her voice, the possessive intent polishing her normally light accent to a sun-drenched shine.

‘You’re going home,’ Thane concluded.

‘Oh, yeah.’

Coming soon in print and digital formats, Illumé by Kate Smith.

A comedic fantasy with a uniquely Australian flavour and a steampunk twist, Glide in Slowtime will take you on a romp where science is magic and magic is science.

Read more about this book, get a free excerpt, and find out where to buy it, here.

If you’re already convinced, you can buy it in our bookstore now.

It’s a stand-alone comedic fantasy, Australian in flavour but with distinct overtones of British humour (not surprising, when its author, Barry Rosenberg, is originally from the UK). It’s a light and cheerful read just in time for the summer holidays and it’ll make you miss your favourite pub.

Glide in Slowtime by Barry Rosenberg
It’s in Dreamtime … in steam time
Glide has the pen pusher blues until the day his black cloud of depression turns into a magic man who whisks him off to Auslan, a former paradise in need of a hero to fight the wicked witch and free the princess. But first Glide has to untangle the secret of Slowtime. A comedic fantasy with a uniquely Australian flavour and a steampunk twist, Glide in Slowtime will take you on a romp where science is magic and magic is science.

Learn more about this book, including places to buy, at the Glide in Slowtime information page. Via that link, you can read the opening chapters of the book online or as an ePub or pdf download.

Barry’s new book is Glide in Slowtime, and it will be available very soon in print and digital formats. Here’s a taster.

‘I’ve been thinking.’ John, son of a long line of Johns, screwed up his face to signal thought. ‘John is okay but I also want another name for the boy.’

‘Another name?’ Mary was quite taken aback.

‘Yes, another name,’ John sang, sounding like a character in a Gildert and Sulliban chorus.

‘What name?’

‘Glide.’

‘Glide?’ Mary looked askance at her husband. ‘Well, that’s an unusual name for a baby.’

‘His second name can be John. Or Jack.’

‘But why Glide?’

John, an average man of average ability, pursed his lips. ‘Well, you know how I always wanted to fly?’

‘Oh?’ Mary had the vague idea that her husband was about to flap his arms and go cluck, cluck.

‘But mostly, I’ve just worked in Accounts.’

She raised her eyebrows. ‘Yes.’

‘Well, there you are.’ And John pulled back his shoulders as if he’d actually braved the air.

‘Right.’ Mary became silent. She didn’t like to argue, especially when John had made such a rare and definite statement. She did think, however, that you couldn’t call a person Glide and expect him to be normal.

John, used to his wife’s silences, said, ‘Still waters run deep. What’re you thinking?’

‘Oh, nothing.’ Mary rocked the baby.

John peered over his glasses. ‘Ah-ha, you’re not Tolkien about it, eh? You’ll develop bad hobbits.’

Mary smiled. Except for their son’s name, she knew where she was with her husband – safe, secure and terribly punny.

It’s a stand-alone science fiction novel that plays with time and space and asks that important question: if you knew the ultimate fate of those around you, would you try to change it … would you accept it … would you warn them? Would you want to know?

Bus Stop on a Strange Loop by Shaune Lafferty Webb
Would you want to know?
When brothers Nicky and Ethan escape the degraded, dangerous world of the future, they are seeking only sanctuary and peace. All they want is to leave their past behind them, but Ethan’s unique talent, the instrument of their escape, means the past can never be forgotten — Nicky and Ethan have been followed … and their fate is intertwined with that of lonely schoolteacher Olivia.

Learn more about this book, including places to buy, at the Bus Stop on a Strange Loop information page. Via that link, you can read the opening chapters of the book online or as an ePub or pdf download.

As Olivia and the brothers are about to discover, sometimes paths intersect more than once.

Read more about this book, get a free excerpt, and find out where to buy it, here.

If you’re already convinced, you can buy it in our bookstore now.

Nicky came up beside her and, stretching over the sink, repositioned the glass dome. ‘Where did you say that came from?’

She’d often argued with Alex about which face was meant to be the forward. Nicky’s interpretation, she noticed, concurred with hers.

‘It was Elizabeth’s — my foster mother’s.’ She leaned in closer to look at the thing again. It seemed that the crack had grown bigger, but the hazy little radials of light were still spinning stoically. ‘What do you think it is? It has that indentation in its base, like it was attached to something.’

‘I believe,’ Nicky said, sounding completely serious, ‘that it came off the front of a bus.’

Bus Stop on a Strange Loop will be widely available through online bookstores, or you can buy it directly from us at a substantial discount — and if you sign up for our newsletter, you’ll not only receive notification of its release and lots of other little tidbits, you’ll also get an additional discount offer.

It’s a stand-alone fantasy novel with epic overtones — grand battles, the clash of dark and light — but with attention paid to memorable characters and a dash of humour.

Half Moon by Dale Renton
New paths must be taken, ancient fears overcome – and the world must change beyond all expectation.
Akri of the Half Moon discovers a murdered man, the black hilt of a sword protruding from his chest. Meanwhile, the lowlands mage Raffin Andelaran makes an unpleasant discovery of his own when he finds corruption at the very heart of his guild.

Their two peoples face a threat both new and ancient that will overwhelm them if they stand alone. Only together can they hope to triumph over evil. But to unite their strengths, new paths must be taken, ancient fears overcome – and the world of some must change beyond all expectation.

Learn more about this book, including places to buy, at the Half Moon information page. Via that link, you can read the opening chapters of the book online or as an ePub or pdf download.