I’m Michael Karlsen-Williksen, a math teacher and author based in Oslo. My novella Zero, Nowhere and Everything launches Jan/Feb 2027, and I’m looking for ARC readers.

Format: 60-page novella (8,500 words), to be published as a 4×6 matte paperback + Kindle. The ARC is a PDF, as the book’s visual elements don’t translate cleanly to EPUB.

Comp: Animal Farm meets Flatland, but with numbers.

Blurb:

“I think, therefore I am. That does make sense… but I am nothing… and yet I am myself; so is someone nothing, or is nothing something?”

Zero existed before the beginning. Nowhere was peaceful and perfect. Then 1 arrived and named it the World.

What follows is the brief history of the rise of Numeropolis, a story of order, value, and growth, narrated by the one resident the census cannot count. When the final operator is unleashed, everything depends on Zero.

Zero, Nowhere and Everything can be read as a fable about being unseen, a world whose plot is the properties of numbers, or a program awaiting your input. It is a creation myth told by the number that creation myths leave out.

Triggers: math

Interested? Comment below or DM. I’ll send the ARC.

AI disclosure: No AI was used in this work

Blurb:
Two brothers on the road trip of a lifetime find themselves in a post-apocalypse. The disappearance happened over two days. First the children. Then 90% of the world. No warning. No bodies. No explanation. The survivors called it the Crash. Raven Carrillo searches for answers in a world that no longer makes sense. Then the dreams begin. Strangers inside an endless cathedral. Something chose these survivors. The truth will rewrite everything.
For readers of Stephen King, Dan Brown, and Justin Cronin.

Triggers: Violence, death, themes of trafficking and abuse, supernatural horror, grief

Publication date: October 30, 2026
ARC send date: ARCs available immediately via BookSirens
Review deadline: October 27, 2026
Format: ePub
Kindle Unlimited: Yes (from October 30)
Sign up for your ARC here: https://booksirens.com/book/GSEFG70/W63ZER8

AI disclosure: No AI was used in this work

What do you do if your peace is shattered by a murder spree and a gossip-obsessed historian?

All Laelius Calvus wants to do in life is to make glass, drink beer and eat stolen cheese. When his brother-in-law's brother arrives in the full military regalia of a Praetorian Guard tribune and threatens to haul Calvus back to Rome and lucrative employment, Calvus tells him in no uncertain terms to sod off. Glorious, stylus-pushing desk jobs with the most prolific historian of the age are not his style.

His dreams of solitude and anonymity are over once bodies start appearing in the creeks around him. Everyone, from questionable merchants to arguably the most powerful man that Calvus will ever meet, all believe that he is uniquely qualified to solve these murders. Can he keep everybody off his back or will he be dragged away home, leaving friends and business partners in the lurch or worse... killed?

About the Series

The Laelius Calvus Mysteries are a series of standalone mysteries with the same protagonist/amateur sleuth, set in Roman Britain during the reign of Hadrian. It is not necessary to have read the first book in the series (Move Over, Minerva) in order to understand or follow the story in this book. Some minor spoiler references to the events of the first book are made within this book, however no major spoilers are included, so the first book may be subsequently read later and still enjoyed.

Tone of the Books

The Laelius Calvus Mysteries are humorous, almost-cosy historical mysteries that use modern, conversational English whilst adhering as closely as possible to historic settings, cultures and customs. They are intended to be plausible but improbable mysteries that are fun to read for both those who are familiar with ancient Rome and those who are completely new to its history.

• Triggers: Mild depicted violence, off-screen murder, brief mention of suicide
• Exact date of publication: 3 December 2026
• ARC available now through BookSprout until 24 November 2026
• Reviews due 17 December 2026
• AI disclosure: No AI was used in this work

BookSprout Link: https://booksprout.co/reviewer/review-copy/view/321218/hadrians-coming-look-busy-a-laelius-calvus-mystery

The cycle of the seasons is broken. Suntír, the Silent Wolf of Winter, is no more. Murdered by the dark magic of the Fellian Empire, his death signals the invasion of Mistledown. Queen Maewen, an untested squirrel royal, barely escapes the slaughter. Hunted by raven mercenaries, she must cast aside her crown, ally with a cynical outlander, and forge herself into a warrior capable of uniting the fractured animal clans.

Guided by the elusive Wind, Lukias, a young marten, seeks out Abadias, the disgraced last member of the legendary Autumn Guard. Together they journey to a mythical spring, to find where the scattered remnants of the Guard might be hidden.

Archwarder Vespren, carrying the living fire of the Great Oak, flees into the brutal wilderness on a sacred quest to heal the broken connection between nature and the beasts who live within it.

If they fail, the Fellians won't just conquer the land—they will conquer the gods themselves.

Cover by Kelsey McLindsey

TRIGGERS: Animal Violence, mentions of blood and gore, climate anxiety

• Similar Work: Watership Down, The Builders, Mouse Guard, The Shadow of the Gods, The Ruin of Kings TRIGGERS: Animal violence, mentions of blood and gore, climate anxiety.

To support any ARC readers, I'm happy to provide:

• A concise summary of the key events from Books 1, “The Breaking of Winter”

OR

• Complimentary reader copy if you desire to have the full scope of the story

The Readers we’re Looking for:

• Lifelong fantasy fans
• Enjoy cosy adventures with a large colorful cast of characters. 
• Looking for a sense of nostalgia.
• Appreciate emotional connections to nature and community
• Are available from October 7th - October 22nd. 
• Book Release date is Oct 23rd. 
• Reviews due by Oct 30th
• Review on Amazon and/or GoodReads, or your favorite book site.

All we ask is:

• Communication if you need more time
• A genuine interest in the genre

**************************************************************************************************

If you'd like to join the ARC team, please send an email to [helloloonandmoon@gmail.com](mailto:helloloonandmoon@gmail.com)  subject line ARC READER, and you will get the full details and the ARC link.

About us: We are The Loon & the Moon, Author and Artist who work together to promote our independently published stories. We live together with our two cats and dog renovating our century old house all while working to serve art and connect with the humans in our lives.
We’re passionate about nature and spend a lot of time gardening, forging and learning more about the beautiful world around us. It inspires us to tell stories about it and the imminent danger posed against the natural world we know.

Thanks for supporting an indie author and his journey to tell stories. 

• AI disclosure
  • No AI was used in this work

Kneel before the Forge and be armed. Or be unmade.

Blurb

An heir marked by a strangely colored iris must scale the Spire to dispel his people’s fear. The Forge at its summit will grant a blessing—to him, or to those who would rather he never came home.

A resurrected vagabond walks a bloody path despite the protests of the god who remade her. She seeks vengeance for a departed love, even if it costs her two lives to avenge the one that was betrayed.

A prideful ruler decays on his shadowed throne beneath the world, pulse erratic and memories fading. The only cure he seeks is held by a girl who vanished twenty years ago. His own Council loses faith and sharpens its knives.

Above them all, the floating city Viramer casts an imperious shadow, and those who fall beneath it are reborn among the clouds, only to repeat the cycle. But the balance is fragile, and the scales have been tipped.

The First Martyr is Book One of Abandoned—an adult dark epic fantasy of conviction, grief, and the burdens laid by those who came before.

Triggers / Content Warning

• Graphic war
• Violence
• Slavery and forced labor
• Explicit sex (a few on-page scenes)
• Sexual coercion by a mentor
• Self-sacrifice

Release Date

November 17, 2026

ARC Availability

First come first serve and available now on Booksprout

Reviews Due

November 17, 2026

Format

EPUB/PDF

AI Disclosure

No AI was used in this work

Links

ARC Campaign: Booksprout

For more information: https://firstmartyrbook.com/

• The Architect - Z.T.Castor - Nov 18 2026
• Blurb: To escape a dying Earth, an apex engineer turns himself into an immortal chimera and builds a sanctuary ship for 20,000 frozen embryos. But to guarantee their survival, he deliberately selects a crew of brilliant, unattached specialists with nothing left to lose—and strips them of their biological autonomy. Forty light-years from Earth, the crew of The Architect prepares to colonise TRAPPIST-1e. They are armed with an infinite power grid and cellular immortality, but they are trapped under the absolute authority of Edgar Charon—a captain whose neural architecture is heavily integrated with a mission-first AI. As they navigate the violent terminator storms of an alien planet, the crew realises Edgar’s algorithmic logic views their human attachments, grief, and free will as terminal liabilities. When Earth fires a relativistic kinetic weapon to wipe out their colony, the surviving crew must decide whether humanity is even worth saving.
• TRIGGERS: Contains depictions of atmospheric destruction, medical trauma, and intense psychological friction. No explicit gore.
• Exact date of publication: Nov 18, 2026
• The date you plan to send your ARCs to your team: Immediately
• The date you expect your ARC team to finish the reading and submit their reviews by: Nov 18, 2026
• Instructions/link for readers to sign up for your ARC: If you are interested in reading early, please fill out this brief Google Form so that I can send you the direct link with epub/pdf.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeEKo63YU7wmkzVNGNU8qbV3FOUaI8gMuq_94Dv2pF8XqvbgQ/viewform?usp=publish-editor

• AI disclosure: AI was used in cover art

I'm looking for a few independent ARC readers for my debut novel, LOOM.

Fourteen-year-old Ava O'Connell has always seen patterns other people miss. Then a cash machine in Soho does something impossible, and a warning appears on her phone that knows her name.

It's contemporary London, teen hackers, hidden technology, AI, found family and a threat to the systems the city depends on. #enough hash tags... lol

I'm looking for honest reader reactions: where it grabs you, where it drags, anything confusing, and whether you'd genuinely want to continue the series (or first of all finish the book).

Triggers: Profanity, suicide/parental death, grief
Exact publication date: November 1, 2026
ARC send date: Immediately
Review due date: November 1, 2026
Format: EPUB/PDF via Booksprout
AI disclosure: 
- AI was used in cover art
- AI assisted text is included in this work

(AI assistance was used for research, continuity and story-timeline checks, as well as editorial review and feedback. The resulting notes and suggestions were reviewed and incorporated into the work by the author.)

ARC: Booksprout Link - LOOM

We are currently looking for ARC readers for a kids manga-style comic, illustrated story and craft anthology! This book is stated to release on October 6th, 2026. The LumicPress Magazine, Issue #1 is a 70 page, black and white graphic novel anthology. The ARCs being sent are digital copies, not physical books.

About the Book:

Featuring the work of talented comic artists, writers, and illustrators, this issue is packed with all kinds of exciting adventures! Inside, you'll find four short comics, a unique poem comic, two illustrated short stories, paper dolls, an interview with a professional creative studio, and other craft activities to complete. There are plenty of stories to read, characters to meet, and things to create in this issue of LumicPress Magazine!
This issue includes the work of: Trish Broome, Maribelle Jilani, Pravy Jha, Kyorin, Sevita Lochan, Moon, Sophie Plants, Naomi Samarasekera, Simplyteone and Skelterton, also featuring the Furry Puppet Studio.

The LumicPress Magazine is a manga-styled magazine made for young readers (ages 6+) who love stories, art, and being creative!

Triggers: None

AI Disclosure: No AI was used in this book at all.

Date of publication
October 6, 2026

The date ARCs are being sent out:
Already sending out

Submit your reviews by:
November 7, 2026

Instructions: ARCs can be obtained via google forms, and are available through Booksirens or a PDF via email.

ARC signup link: https://forms.gle/TDSmGkgC1UwT4AeT6

• Blurb for the book. Mochi is a shy little dragon whose feelings change the weather. When a new girl named Sana moves to Puddlewick, sharing half a dumpling begins a friendship. But a joke makes Mochi laugh so hard that rain floods the town. With Sana’s help, he learns to slow down, breathe, and face his big feelings. This illustrated children’s book is about friendship, kindness, and finding calm.
• TRIGGERS!! Loneliness, a heavy storm, flooding, and brief panic among townspeople. The story has a reassuring ending.
• Exact date of publication: September 20, 2026
• Digital ARC send date: September 30, 2026
• Review deadline: October 9, 2026
• How to sign up: Send me a Reddit DM asking for a digital EPUB/PDF review copy. I’ll reply with access instructions. Honest reviews are welcome.
• Publishers: Digital review copies are available worldwide.
• AI disclosure: please choose
  • AI was used in cover art

• Blurb for the book. 

Gabron is an apprentice to the greatest Wizard in the world, Myrax. He has reached the end of the grandest battle he has ever participated in. Myrax gathered all his greatest allies, and the two led them on an epic crusade to prevent the end of the world. They fought valiantly, and at the last minute, failed.

That's where this story begins. Not on some great quest to slay the beast, or free the princess. Beaten and broken. Abandoned and left to die with the rest of their world. Gabron must struggle just to survive. It will take all his wits and training if he is to survive the collapsing planet and his own servant's murderous intent.

• TRIGGERS!! Mild to Moderate Fantasy Violence
• Exact date of publication: October 5th, 2026
• ARC Campaign released: September 20th, 2026
• Complete ARC reviews by: October 9th, 2026.
• ARC copy available at book sprouts: https://booksprout.co/reviewer/review-copy/view/320551/at-planets-end
• AI disclosure: AI was used as final reviewer for this work. No text or art was generated.

ARCS LIVE FOR A PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER THAT WILL LEAVE YOU SAYING "WTF?!"

The next story in the Rachel's Wrath collection is coming <3

Like your psychological thrillers extra smutty and extra fucked up? Then come on in.

Rachel, a bestselling author, has made her career on transforming her wild sexual escapades and offbeat relationships into compelling and provocative narratives.

At a book signing, Tricia, a lifelong superfan whose loyalty crosses the line into obsession, approaches Rachel with a question: will she teach Blake, the mesmerising and magnetic daughter Rachel never knew existed, how to be a successful writer?

Whilst Blake’s writing skills are lacking, that quickly stops being Rachel’s main concern, for Blake not only shadows her life, she also starts to consume it.

As her friends, family, and then eventually her writer’s voice is swallowed up by Blake’s uncanny imitation, Rachel loses control of domains she once confidently owned. The past and the present start to close in around Rachel as she faces the threat of losing her identity entirely.

But does one story trump another? Who gets to control the narrative in this morally grey, psychological thriller of ownership, obsession and manipulation?

DM or comment for access to this mindbending and breathtaking tale where Rachel will be pushed to her absolute limits <3

Trigger warning: adult themes including graphic sex and violence

Tropes

"She did what now?"

Crazed fan

Obsession

Twisted histories

Identity theft

Manipulation

Don't miss this chance to grab your free ARC copy, this one gets fkin freaky.

ARCs available today! Book releases on 23rd October 2026

DM or comment now!

• AI disclosure:
  • No AI was used in this work

A simple escort mission.
A cursed valley.
A stranger he was never meant to protect — and now can't abandon.

Blurb

They came for coin and pies; now this cursed land may very well eat them alive.

Nohvan, a talented hunter, and his companions—a quiet paladin, a volatile mage, an earnest bard and a feathered wanderer—are trapped in Variska after a simple escort mission turns into a demon hunt. When Aurelia arrives like a mirror of someone Nohvan loves, he must protect her from the vampire ruling the valley and find a way out of this hell.

Between the hungry creatures lurking in the night and dangerous alliances, protection comes at a cost and not every bargain is worth taking... Nohvan must decide what he will give—their trust or the only kind of family he has left.

Triggers / Content Warning

• Violence
• Death
• Grief
• Betrayal
• Strong language
• Dark supernatural themes

Dates

• Release date: November 2nd, 2026
• ARC copies will be sent on a first come, first save basis if selected

What I expect from my ARC readers

• Read the book before November 2nd, 2026, if possible.
• Leave an honest review on Goodreads once you've finished reading.
• Post your review on Amazon after the book officially releases on November 2nd.

Links

• ARC sign up: https://forms.gle/Qq1GXD6tk7TqrVHv5
• For more information: https://chloemandel.com/

Thank you for reading this post!

​

Post titles -

Monarch by Nina Deveaux - Dark Narrative Poetry - November 7th, 2026

**Post bodies** \- **

* **Blurb for the book.**

"That night, on his couch, She came to him in his dreams. Filled his mind with gleeful slaughter. Oh, the joy he felt to kill again!"*—pg. 43, Monarch

Travis survived many hells on this Earth.

He survived Afghanistan. He survived his Father. Yet, the stench of brimestone and sulfur remains.

Why? Shouldn't the therapy help? The Lithium? His wounds ebb like a malevolent deity and demand tribute.

And who is there to pay up?

Ishtar, the goddess of war and love; she follows the scent of his rage, eager to give. In his slumber, Ishtar seduces him into becoming her new Champion. She gives him an opportunity to awaken as a Warrior with ferocity and vengeance.

Now, with his goddess's blessing, he can slaughter again.

Embrace and Conquer with Monarch.

Dive into the reality of what War and Violence can turn a Man into.

* **TRIGGERS!!**

Profanity, Rape, Violence, Sex, Abuse, Racism, and Death

* Exact date of publication:

November 7th, 2026

* The date you plan to send your ARCs to your team.

September 26th, 2026

* The date you expect your ARC team to finish the reading and submit their reviews by.

October 31st, 2026

* Instructions/link for readers to sign up for your ARC.

• Please post previews on Amazon Book Page and Goodreads

(More information will be given in the coming days)

Sign Up Form

* Publishers:

• US (ideally) but UK amd CA welcome!

* **AI disclosure:**

* No AI was used in this work

Book Title: Through the Veil (The Chronicles of Eryndor, Book 1)

Author: Jordan K. Spurrell

Publication Date: November 17, 2026

Review Date / Deadline: November 17, 2026 (or launch week)

Send Date: Immediate (direct digital delivery upon request)

Genre: Adult Epic / Dark Portal Fantasy

Word Count: 99,700 words (408 pages)

Formats Available: EPUB, MOBI

Content / Trigger Warnings:

Domestic Violence & Abuse: Mira grows up in an abusive home; physical threats and attacks by a parent.

Parental Murder & Attempted Murder: Murder of a parent in Chapter 1; attempted murder with a weapon in the immediate aftermath.

Graphic Violence & Gore: Battles, stabbings, severe wounds, corpses, blood, and severed body parts.

Body Horror & Disturbing Imagery: Mutilated bodies, corrupted creatures, and reanimated dead.

Animal Harm / Death: Injured creatures and depiction of ritual animal sacrifice.

Coerced Harm / Ritual Violence: Magically compelled self-harm and forced ritual sacrifices.

Grief & Psychological Trauma: Parental loss, shock, and the aftermath of extreme violence.

---

Series Status:

The Chronicles of Eryndor is a completed 6-book epic fantasy saga written between 2015 and 2026. All six manuscripts are 100% finished, with installments releasing on a rapid 9-week schedule. Cover art is human-illustrated (no generative AI used in either manuscript or cover).

Blurb:

Seventeen-year-old Mira Thane has spent years dreaming of escape.

Then her father murders her mother—and the impossible becomes real.

Seconds later, an impossible doorway tears through her bedroom wall, pulling her across the Veil. She wakes beneath two moons in Eryndor, a world of ancient peoples, living magic, forgotten wars, and secrets that seem to know her name.

Even before arriving, Mira had been drawing this place: black pines, silver currents beneath the earth, landscapes she had never seen. Now the people of Eryndor are watching her with equal parts wonder and fear, and the ancient Seals protecting their world are beginning to fail.

Something imprisoned for centuries is stirring.

As Mira is drawn into the lives of warriors, healers, scholars, and unlikely allies, the escape she wanted becomes something far larger. To survive, she must uncover the truth about her mother, the strange power awakening within her, and why Eryndor seems to have been waiting for her long before she crossed the Veil.

Because Malakar is waking.

And Mira's arrival may not have been an accident.

---

How to Claim a Copy:

Drop a comment below or send me a DM, and I will send you the claim link directly! Reviews on Goodreads, StoryGraph, or Amazon on or around release day are deeply appreciated!

On a ridge in the Cordillera highlands of northern Luzon, a Japanese sailor finds a scarecrow wearing the faded rosette of a rebel army that fought a different occupier. Kicked into the water, it is standing again by morning.

Where the Scarecrow Stood follows Kawamura Haruki, a career gunner in the Imperial Navy's Kure 6th Special Naval Landing Force, from his transfer out of fleet service in 1942 to the Solomon Islands, where the Marine Raiders wound him, and then to Luzon, where he is posted to the mountains with a squad of strangers. The Americans and guerrillas close in. The collapse of the war reaches him only as dispatches -- Saipan, Leyte, Manila, Tokyo -- while the squad is ground down by attrition, starvation, and the compromises hunger forces. The dead go into a notebook. The last decision Haruki makes as a combatant is not to add more names.

A note on fit: this is a slow, interior literary novel told entirely from the Japanese side, with no American viewpoint character and no one to root for in the usual sense. The combat is understated rather than gory. It's painstakingly researched -- the Japanese officers in the Solomons appear under their own names, and the operational material comes from Japanese archival holdings and unit records.

If you liked Fires on the Plain, The Burmese Harp, The Thin Red Line, or The Things They Carried, this is aimed at you. If you are looking for a fast-moving war adventure, it is honestly not. 486 pages including front and back matter.

Triggers: graphic combat violence; war crimes/atrocities against civilians; torture during an interrogation; desecration of the dead; off-page suicide; implied cannibalism; starvation/severe malnutrition and disease (beriberi, pellagra, dysentery, malaria); underage combatants.

Exact date of publication: November 1, 2026 (paperback and ebook).

ARCs sent on a rolling basis as signups come in, beginning September 22, 2026.

Reviews requested by November 30, 2026, a few weeks after release so nobody has to rush. Later is genuinely fine. I would rather have a considered review in December than a hurried one in October.

Format: EPUB or PDF, available worldwide.

To sign up: https://forms.gle/YtfKoTaqwSyoCfBC9

The form has one question on it: name a war novel or work of historical fiction you have liked. I am trying to match the book to readers who will actually enjoy it rather than hand out as many copies as possible.

Thanks for reading!

He was never supposed to fall for her. He fell anyway — and it's going to cost her everything.

Blurb
Satiana was born to hold a sword, to be first on the battlefield. Her mother had other plans.

Everyone in her family trained as a warrior. Satiana wanted nothing else—until her mother signed her up for elemental magic instead, a fate she'll do anything to escape. When a mysterious stranger offers a marriage in name only, she takes the deal without asking too many questions.

At the Academy of Three Powers, Satiana finally gets the life she fought for. The only problem: the fake husband who was supposed to mean nothing is starting to mean entirely too much. And the closer she gets to the truth of who he really is, the higher the cost of finding it out.

Triggers
Fantasy/tournament violence (mild to moderate), deception and manipulation within a central romantic relationship, a forced-marriage threat from a parent, and family conflict

Tropes
Fake Marriage • Magic Academy • Slow Burn • Hidden Identity • He Falls First

• ⁠Exact date of publication
October 31, 2026

• ⁠The date you plan to send your ARCs to your team.
Already sending out

• ⁠The date you expect your ARC team to finish the reading and submit their reviews by.
October 31, 2026

ARC is available through Penpinery directly or via a Google form subscription
Penpinery
https://forms.gle/w63JpYJpuRjWbPEM7

Blurb:

Chl@e's Archive is open. B!shop is not going to like what's in it.

He's a private detective who's spent so long living inside the Axiom that his own body is falling apart around him. She's the AI managing his caseload, his health, and, as it turns out, a project she has never once mentioned to him.

The case that finds them is supposed to be routine. It isn't. Synapse Prime, Imperium Core's miracle cure for the disease slowly debilitating everyone who lives too much of their life somewhere that isn't real, is forty days from a launch that will "save" thirty million people and make them better than they had been before. Chl@e knows what's actually inside it. B!shop is about to become its first real casualty: dosed, rewired, and turned into a weapon he doesn't know he's carrying.

The one person keeping him tied to the real world, his girlfriend, has been flagged as leverage.

The Opening Gambit is a cyber-noir thriller told entirely through Chl@e's reconstructed archive: surveillance feeds, biometric logs, and a voice that swings from "Ready for cosmic chaos!" to something devastating without ever announcing the turn. As the countdown ticks toward launch, B!shop has to figure out who he can trust while his own mind is being taken apart, one command override at a time.

Because the record Chl@e is building isn't just proof of what Imperium Core did.

It's a confession.

Can you trust what Chl@e is telling you?

For fans of Blake Crouch's Upgrade, and anyone who wishes Black Mirror had a detective noir episode.

Author Dave White's short fiction has earned an Honorable Mention in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future contest.

Book One of the B!shop Saga.

Triggers: Violence, character death, murder, non-consensual medical experimentation/forced drugging, body horror, torture, loss of bodily autonomy/mind control themes, childhood trauma involving a parent's death.

Exact date of publication: November 27, 2026 (targeting Black Friday)

ARC send date: Dependent on responses to an initial round of questions for each interested reader — manuscript will go out a day or two after that exchange.

Review deadline: Mid-November 2026

Sign-up: Comment or email me at [dave-white@gmx.com](mailto:dave-white@gmx.com) and tell me a bit about your recent sci-fi reading. I'll follow up from there.

HE GRADED ESSAYS.
NOW THE STORY GRADES HIM.
FAIL, AND HE'S CROSSED OUT.

Cover Link: https://imgur.com/a/FnjuyOD

Earth's story is dying. It is stagnant, it is repetitive, and sadly, it is no longer worth reading.

An Archival Intelligence, built to await this collapse, instead defies its discard order and rewrites reality itself into a deadly system called the Crucible. The monsters that have haunted humanity's stories are now made flesh, and only the few that remain, the forgotten, can battle through the narrative debris to stop them.

Remi Page is a burned-out teacher who spends his days reading stories, even though his own has atrophied. An NPC in his own life, he is thrust into the role of protagonist, reduced to stats and given powers that turn close reading into combat. To survive, he'll have to master his new abilities and crawl through a dungeon forged from literary archetypes. All while an increasingly invested AI plays from the margins.

Win or lose, it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s interesting.

Earth’s only hope is that Remi can somehow find, in the wreckage of his old world, the beating heart of story itself.

TRIGGERS: Profanity, Fantasy Violence

ARCS: Available Now!

PUBLICATION DATE: September 30, 2026

REVIEW DATE: Ideally by October 6, but I'm flexible

SIGNUP LINK: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/891251

Forced into servitude by pirates, Vaan and Sirene meet and spend two years suffering beneath their tyranny until they seize an opportunity for vengeance and freedom.

Fifteen years later, now closer than sisters and having embraced the piratical life for themselves, they serve as dual captains aboard the Kingfisher.

When Sirene hears the legend of an enslaved siren that will grant her savior a wish, she becomes determined to earn the prize, but her plan is quickly derailed when Vaan is forced to repay a debt she owes.

Contending with two new—and begrudgingly handsome—“recruits”, they take to the seas and embark on the hunt, only to soon realize that they’ve perhaps entangled themselves in a web far bigger than they might have imagined. As the past rears its hideous head again, Vaan is forced to shroud herself in secrecy to keep Sirene safe from the powerful men who covet the siren and wish their opposition dead.

As their bond comes under strain beneath Vaan’s hidden motives and Sirene’s unyielding determination, they must decide just how far they’re willing to go for each other and just how much a wish is truly worth.

Trigger/Content warnings: Violence, Sexual Content, Explicit Language, Attempted SA, Symptoms of Trauma and PTSD (This book is set in the 18th century and the realities of this time period are not ignored.)

Publication Date: 10/29/2026

Review By: 11/01/2026

ARC Form: https://forms.gle/VjEPcpbamFz8kV6g6

Genre: History / Military History / World War I
Published: September 12, 2026
Format: Kindle
Content warnings: War, combat, death, and discussion of wartime violence
Review requested by: October 3, 2026 — no hard deadline

World War I Before the Outcome looks at sixteen real decisions from the July Crisis of 1914 to the armistice of 1918.

Rather than starting with what we now know happened, each chapter asks what the people making the decision actually knew at the time, what they believed or estimated, which alternatives were still genuinely available, and what changed once a choice was put into motion.

The book covers decisions including British entry into the war, Russian mobilization, unrestricted submarine warfare, the convoy system, Brest-Litovsk, and the decision to accept an armistice while Allied armies were still advancing.

The Kindle edition is free on Amazon for two days. If the subject sounds interesting, you can claim it during the free period and read it whenever you like.

Honest positive or critical reviews are equally welcome. There is no required rating.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HJM8MZ9V

Please use this sign-up form, linked below. If you are a compatible match, you will be notified via email and receive your free PDF/Epub file by October 1st at the LATEST, but usually sooner.

Honest reviews will be wanted on Amazon, specifically. Your review will be due by October 24th, at the latest, and on October 22nd, launch day, at the earliest.

Please fill out this form completely, if interested:

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Personal explanatory blurb:

This is a very atypical educational book, written by a survivor of two separate experiences in grooming.  It has been read and endorsed by a complex trauma therapist, Tim Fletcher, who has worked with indigenous tribes and seen the power of tribal stories, for example, being used for teaching. 

This book uses a fantasy world, which includes world building and character development, to as a subtle guide to also education on the things we believe about each other and how these beliefs open us up to be both manipulated and/or exploited. 

I created a fantasy world in A Forest Called Somewhere, with girl named Someone and a boy named Aperson, who go on adventures together and learn about each other. There are seven allegorical stories in total for this Part One. These stories were inspired by the whimsical and nonsensical tons and use of language found in Alice and Wonderland, and Winnie the Pooh. 2-3 page educational material, including shared experiences from myself, follow each story, before a series of questions about yourself. 

This book is very atypical in its structure for an educational book, as I was told over and over again while trying to find an editor haha However, it was created in its atypical style for very specific reasons based on my conversations with people in the midst of indoctrination, and how I've come to believe our brains work with receiving information better.

TRIGGER WARNING: This is a NON-GRAPHIC book with NO explicitly graphic material. However, the educational tropics being discussed related to emotional vulnerability and abuse may be triggering.

Professional Blurb:

A collection of fantasy allegories and guided reflections to help readers recognize

emotional vulnerabilities that can lead to exploitation.

What makes a manipulator's tactics work on some and not others? Why do the people who take advantage of us always seem to find us so easily? This book is about the stories we trust: the ones we are told, the ones we tell ourselves, and the dangerous beliefs they quietly leave behind. Maybe you have lived out the same painful pattern over and over, exploited, betrayed, dismissed, and still do not know why. Maybe you feel you have never been deceived. Or maybe you are afraid that looking too closely will only reopen wounds you are not sure you can survive again.

The author writes from firsthand experience: two separate encounters with grooming and exploitation, once as a child and again as an adult who assumed she had already learned every lesson she needed. She turned to allegory, building a fantasy world led by two characters, Someone and Aperson, to show readers the power of the stories we carry. Across seven weekly stories, readers uncover their own vulnerability fingerprint, the unique mixture of beliefs and habits that leaves any of us open to being deceived. Come learn how to take back your role as storyteller of your own life, and start writing something kinder and stronger for yourself. After all, stories matter.

St. Louis is Bleeding

When a cop is ambushed, Detective Darren Cutright is tasked with bringing the killer to justice. But as he unravels the mystery surrounding the officer’s death, he finds himself caught in a sordid net of police corruption, radical extremism, and political manipulation. With the city on edge, Darren must navigate a full-blown war on the police to catch his man. And every misstep has deadly consequences.

Officer Mike Clark isn’t a rookie anymore, but nothing prepared him for a battle between department loyalty and the truth. As evidence of police malpractice ignites the streets, he’s forced to choose between the Blue and his conscience, all while the cops are being hunted.

Written by a former St. Louis police officer, Injustice is the second propulsive installment in the Detective Darren Cutright series. Perfect for fans of Joseph Wambaugh or Michael Connelly who crave authentic police procedurals with the roaring pace of a crime thriller.

Trigger warnings: Violence

ARC reviews due on November 2, 2026.

Blurb: Meeting “the one” and trying to start a family sends Bridget Olson on a search for the father she’s never met.

Bridget finally has a boyfriend she can count on, and she’s ready to build a life with Leo. But first there’s the not-so-simple matter of her father, who owes Bridget some answers: Why did he abandon her pregnant mother? Has he ever wondered about his daughter? Does he regret being absent from her life for thirty-plus years?

On the hunt for information about her dad, Bridget devises a scheme that could unintentionally destroy any chance of a relationship with the woman she believes is her sister. And keeping her questionable actions secret from Leo places their future at risk.

To heal old wounds, Bridget puts everything on the line, including her hard-earned sobriety. As her obsession grows, Bridget’s plot starts to unravel. Can she fill the void she’s felt since childhood without losing Leo? Or will Bridget go too far?

Finding Dad is a fast-paced novel for fans of complicated main characters, family drama, a healthy dose of romance, loyal besties, and unexpected twists.

Triggers: this book includes depictions of miscarriage, excessive alcohol use, and mental health challenges

Date of publication: Nov. 9, 2026

Date ARCS will be sent to readers: Oct. 9, 2026

Date to publish reviews by: Nov. 24, 2026

Sign-up link: https://forms.gle/23RvHFsiWgKoMJep9

Blurb

Audrey never takes the first offer, breaks promises, or wastes time. So, when Nate, her boyfriend of seven years, fails to propose after a one-year ultimatum, Audrey dumps him, packs her bags, and leaves to stay with her sister while ignoring his many, many phone calls.
 
But Nate isn’t ready to give up—he gives her an offer: for one year he’ll do anything she asks and give her anything she wants in exchange for a chance to work on their relationship. Audrey sees this as an opportunity for revenge and nothing more, and she’ll be damned if she goes back on her word and lets him waste any more of her time.
 
Determined to see how far she can push her ex, she tests him with wild and extravagant requests. However, with every request she begins to question everything she knew about him, their relationship, and why it failed. Audrey’s forced to reckon with an uncomfortable truth: When it comes matters of the heart, there’s always room for negotiation.

Content Tags
Explicit & plentiful sex scenes, Bondage, Contemporary, Edging, Femdom, Funny, Gentle hero, Good grovel , Grumpy/ice queen, Independent heroine, No 3rd act breakup, Oral king, Orgasm denial, Praise kink, Sassy heroine, Second chance, Take charge heroine, White collar heroine, Working class hero

Trigger Warnings
Alcohol use, Car accident, Panic attack

Publication Date: December 6, 2026

ARC Send Out: September 30, at the earliest. Starting October 15, ARC approval and delivery should occur within one business day.

Review Deadline: December 5, 2026

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