Fantasy and Sci-Fi for Christmas and Giveaway: Michelle Diener

On tour with Prism Book Tours

The Turncoat King

(The Rising Wave, #1)

By Michelle Diener

Fantasy, Romance

Paperback, Audiobook & ebook, 312 Pages

January 12, 2021 by Eclipse

A thirst for revenge . . . Ava is committed to vengeance against the man responsible for the death of her parents. The same man, the Queen's Herald, kept her prisoner for two years, until she escaped with Luc, a warlord bent on vengeance just as fierce as her own. He's forged a powerful army of people from all through the region, called the Rising Wave, to march on the Kassian royal family and smash its corrupt power under the weight of their anger. But for Luc, just as for Ava, his true motive is a lot more personal.

A hidden magic . . . Luc suspects Ava has magical abilities, suspects he's benefited greatly from them, but he's no stranger to the burdens of power, and he's prepared to let her tell him in her own time—after all, she's his heart's choice and he will give her all the time she needs. Except time is running out for both of them. As they near the Kassian stronghold, forces from within their own camp and without will use every trick they have to stop both Luc and Ava and tear them apart.

A secret laid bare . . . Luc knows Ava has a secret she's keeping from him—but what he doesn't realize is she has many. And when those secrets are exposed, everyone will have to grapple with the consequences. Ava is prepared to sacrifice her happiness and even her life to save the Rising Wave and Luc—but she would prefer to use her heart and her head to outwit her enemies instead.

Author's note: The Rising Wave series begins with a prequel novella, The Rising Wave. It isn't necessary to have read The Rising Wave to enjoy The Turncoat King, but it will give readers a better grounding in the world of the story.

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Excerpt

The guard assigned to lead them to the Skäddar warrior paused to speak to someone in low tones. When he turned back to Luc and Dak, he was grinning.

“The Skäddar warrior is this way. He's sparring with one of our best fighters and we're hoping he wins.” His smile widened as he led the way.

“Why are you hoping he defeats one of your own?” Dak asked.

“Because she's from the mountain border with Skäddar, and has been teasing us steppe-dwellers about how the highlanders are superior. It will be very good to see someone land her on her arse.”

“None of you have been able to?” Dak lifted his brows.

The guard gave a grunt. “Not yet.”

Luc could tell they were close to the sparring match. The sound of cheers and whistles started up, and ahead of them was a circle of soldiers, all looking inward.

The guard led them around the side, to where the crowd wasn't as thick.

The sun had almost completely set, so two torches had been driven into the ground to illuminate the fighting ring, and the opponents were already circling each other.

The man was obviously Skäddar. Luc had met only a few of the northern dwellers before, but they all had markings on their faces like this one.

The Venyatux highlander was much smaller than her opponent, and had her back to them.

Luc felt the air freeze in his chest and throat as he recognized her hair first—a little longer than it had been since he'd last seen her a month ago but still much shorter than everyone else's.

Ava.

Excerpted from The Turncoat King by Michelle Diener. Copyright © Michelle Diener. Published by Eclipse.

About the Author

Michelle Diener is the bestselling, award-winning author of historical, fantasy and science fiction romance novels. Having worked in publishing and IT, she’s now very happy crafting new worlds for her readers to escape into. She lives in Australia with her husband and children.

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Tour Schedule
(Posts go live on the day they're scheduled.)

November 28th: Launch

November 29th: Elayne Audrey Becker - Forestborn

November 30th: Michelle Diener - The Turncoat King

December 1st: Jes Drew - Agents Adam and Eve

December 2nd: Sharon Hinck - Windward Shore

December 3rd: Kara Linaburg - The Broken Prince

December 4th: Cathy McCrumb - Recorder

December 5th: Sandra Fernandez Rhoads - Realms of Light

December 6th: Chawna Schroeder - The Vault Between Spaces

December 7th: Melissa Wright - Beneath Stone and Sacrifice

December 8th: Kristen Young - Elite

December 9th: Grand Finale

Tour Giveaway

One winner will receive a $50 (USD) Amazon eGift Card

Open internationally
Ends December 13, 2020

ENTER HERE

Fantasy & Sci-Fi For Christmas and Giveaway: Breakaway by Michelle Diener

On tour with Prism Book Tours

Breakaway

(The Verdant String #1)

By Michelle Diener

Sci-Fi Romance, Space Opera

Paperback & ebook, 282 Pages

October 8, 2018 by Eclipse

The planets of the Verdant String, the green, fecund sources of life spanning five solar systems, comprise the Verdant String Coalition. This is the setting for a new science fiction romance series from award-winning science fiction romance novelist Michelle Diener. While the people of the Verdant String know they have a common ancestor, a group of explorers who colonised the planets at the same time a thousand or more years ago, the mysteries of who they were, and where they came from, persist.

Dee had been fighting one war, only to find herself caught up in another . . .

When circumstances leave Dee stranded on the Breakaway planet of Lassa, she has to choose--take the easy way out, or stand and fight an enemy much like the one she left behind on her home world of Garmen.

For Sebastian, leading the Lassian resistance has come at a heavy price. Forced to gamble the last of his resources on a risky ploy to get some leverage over the Core Companies that run Lassa, he stares defeat in the face when it fails. There's no backup plan left. Nothing more to work with. And all around him, people are starving, and it looks as if the Cores have entered a deal with a hostile alien force, to enrich themselves even more.

But Dee inspires him. Even though it's his fault she's on Lassa to begin with, her courage and steady calm are the assets he needs, and unbeknownst to both of them, she has with her the key to bringing the Cores to their knees.

Now they just have to turn the lock in time.

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Excerpt

Chapter 1

Leo Gaudier walked a dangerous path.

Sofie didn't pretend that wasn't part of what attracted her to him in the first place. She was all for sticking it to the Core Corporations. All for it with bells on.

And it didn't hurt that she’d really liked the look of him since they’d met.

There'd been a little catch in her heart, a little hitch in her breath. A trembling, like fear or excitement. She'd never been affected like that before.

And it didn't hurt that he'd been interested right back.

Well, generally men all seemed interested, all did a little chasing, but she wasn't into hooking up with some guy in an Upper Reaches bar.

That wasn't in her plan. She’d just been there to eavesdrop on loose-lipped Cores employees.

Until Leo.

Leo Gaudier was the first one she hadn't actively run from too fast for him to catch her.

She'd run a little, but it was more out of habit.

He'd been just tenacious enough, but not obnoxious with it.

If she'd said no, it would have been no.

No matter how fast he made her heart beat, she'd never have taken the next step with him if it had been any other way.

Now she sat watching him on their third dinner out together with almost embarrassing stars in her eyes, even though the dangerous stuff he was into had just reared its head and interrupted their evening.

Because it was part of the package, and she'd already acknowledged she liked everything she saw when it came to Leo, she didn't show so much as a flicker of displeasure when his comm sounded and he'd stood and excused himself from the table.

It wasn't as if she was all that unencumbered herself. He just didn't know it yet.

They were halfway through an excellent dinner at the best restaurant on Felicitos, the ground-tethered way station on the planet Garmen, otherwise known as Breakaway 1.

The views were spectacular.

From where she sat, up against the window, Sofie could see the curve of Garmen below, the blue of the ocean glimmering far in the distance as the last of the evening light touched it.

Higher up, in the levels of Felicitos that edged out beyond Garmen's atmosphere, it was harder to see the details of the green, blue and rose planet.

Excerpted from Breakaway by Michelle Diener. Copyright © Michelle Diener. Published by Eclipse.

Other Books in the Series

(Linked to Amazon affiliate links.)

About the Author


Michelle Diener is the bestselling, award-winning author of historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction. Her Class 5 science fiction romance series has won multiple awards, and her novel SKY RAIDERS won the RT Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Futuristic Romance. Michelle was born in London and currently lives in Australia with her husband and children.

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Tour Schedule
(Posts go live on the day they're scheduled.)

November 29th: Launch

November 30th: R.J. Anderson – Swift

December 1st: Ralene Burke – Armor of Aletheia

December 2nd: Michelle Diener – Breakaway

December 3rd: Sandra Fernandez Rhoads – Mortal Sight

December 4th: J.M. Hackman – Burn

December 5th: Sharon Hinck – Forsaken Island

December 6th: Ronie Kendig – Dawn of Vengeance

December 7th: Carla Laureano – Oath of the Brotherhood

December 8th: Belle Malory – Deviant Descendants

December 9th: Sara Schaller – The Genesis of Seven

December 10th: Jennifer Silverwood – Stay

December 11th: Anne Wheeler – Treason’s Crown

December 12th: Melissa Wright – Between Ink and Shadows

December 13th: Morgan Wylie –  Silent Orchids

December 14th: Kristen Young – Apprentice

December 15th: Grand Finale

Tour Giveaway

One winner will receive a $75 (USD) Amazon eGift Card

Open internationally
Ends December 19, 2020

ENTER HERE

Book Blast and Giveaway: Trail-Blazer by Michelle Diener

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Michelle Diener will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

He's on a mission . . .

She's running for her life . . .

And if they get off-planet alive, she'll have to trust he won't reveal her darkest secret.

Tally Riva is not what she seems, and even she's not happy about it. Infected, invaded, she's not quite sure how to describe it, but on a disastrous mission to a ghost ship, something burrowed its way into her body. Into her mind.

When her commander decides the best cure for what he thinks is Tally's trauma is to send her on the famous Veltos Trail, Tally goes without revealing what's really behind her mental anguish. Anything to be seen as normal again, anything to ignore what she's afraid is happening to her.

But Veltos isn't the safe place it seems. The chosen military personnel lucky enough to be offered the chance to walk the Trail are supposed to be the only people on Veltos. But Ben Guthrie, a captain in Arkhoran Special Forces, knows they're not. He and his team have been on Veltos for a month already, tracking suspicious enemy activity, and he's gone undercover on the Trail in search of a satellite his superiors are sure has been shot down.

When Ben's worst fears become reality, and they find themselves hunted by a cunning enemy through the thick forests of Veltos, Tally and Ben fight together to survive. And Tally has to decide if accepting the changes inside her will save them both, or be her doom.

TRAILBLAZER is part of the Verdant String series but can easily be read as a standalone novel. Other books in the series include Interference & Insurgency (Two Novellas of the Verdant String), and Breakaway and Breakeven.

Read an Excerpt

Ben stood outside to watch the military runner come in.

The flare of the engine was visible because dusk had already fallen and the sky was the indigo blue that shouldn't be unique to Veltos, but somehow was. There was just something special about the color here.

“Nervous?” Irwin stepped out to join him and looked up, following the runner as it fell toward them.

Ben glanced at him, wondering if the guide actively worked to be this annoying, or whether it was just a gift.

“Should I be?” He kept his tone mild.

Irwin glanced at him, shrugged. “Most people are a little nervous to meet their fellow Trail walkers. It's a two week journey, and there's no getting away from anyone who's difficult.”

And certainly no getting away from them if they were the guide.

Ben crossed his arms and watched the runner touch down lightly on the hoverpad a thou away. It was close enough that he could hear the hum of the engine and the silence when it cut off.

“So you never said which warship dropped you off.” Irwin had turned to watch the runner, too.

“No, I didn't.” Ben kept his answer short.

Irwin gave a snort. “Super secret, huh?”

Ben said nothing.

“Do you Arkhorans actively try to irritate the living shit out of the rest of us, or is it just how you're made?”

Irwin's comment was so similar to what Ben had thought about the guide, he couldn't help the laugh that burst from him.

“Let's leave it at 'super secret'.”

About the Author:

Michelle Diener writes historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction. Having worked in publishing and IT, she’s now very happy crafting new worlds and interesting characters and wondering which part of the world she can travel to next.

Michelle was born in London, grew up in South Africa and currently lives in Australia with her husband and children. When she’s not writing, or driving her kids from activity to activity, you can find her at her website, or online at Twitter and Facebook.

Website: https://www.michellediener.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/michellediener
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/michelle.diener.author
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/michelle_diener/

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Trailblazer-Verdant-String-Michelle-Diener-ebook/dp/B07P6PJ51H

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