Gina Rae Mitchell

Blood of Azure Series: Season of Sacrifice and Season of Suffering by Jonathon J. Michael | $50 Giveaway, Author Interview, Excerpts

A book blog tour from Goddess Fish Promotions.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Marianne & Judy at Goddess Fish for providing me with the information for this tour.

Series Details

Four races with powers dictated by the seasons seek balance and prosperity. However, life instinctively primes itself for survival, and when one race commands the touch of death, all others fall in line. Tyranny plagues Azure as an immortal ruler governs the knowledge of the seasons and those wielding its power.

 

Four young protagonists, Stone, Jaymes, Goose, and Astor, each navigate their way to escape his shadow and reclaim their freedom. Simple ambitions for young souls. But little did they know, they would uncover the secrets the realm is built upon, and the unique talents they each carry. Their ignorance allows the knowledge of the seasons to escape into the world around them little by little, and with it, a power loosing anarchy upon the realm. A power most aren’t worthy of wielding. It is up to Stone and his companions to tame that power and reclaim the balance.

 

Four seasons to balance the land. Four sages to balance the life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Season of Sacrifice by Jonathan J Michael
Series: Blood of Azure #1
Published by Independently Published on 03/20/2021
Genres: Epic Fantasy, Military
Format: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 565

Courage is for the bold. It is not for Stone McLarin. He’s been in hiding for four seasons after being orphaned by the Taoiseach. He doesn’t care for the heroic antics of avenging his parent’s death or securing his freedom. He only desires one thing—to protect his sister’s life.

This proves challenging when his sister, Jaymes, possesses a rivaling power of decay to that of the tyrant ruler’s. She’s a threat to his dominance, and there will be no escaping his shadow.

When the Taoiseach manipulates his way into Jaymes’s life and steals her away, Stone has no choice but to follow. He must venture into the heart of the tyrant’s domain and figure out how to penetrate the impenetrable.

And if he succeeds there, he will have to slay the most powerful man in Azure.

In a world ruled by decay, what chance does life stand?

Season of Sacrifice is part one of the Blood of Azure series—an epic fantasy full of grim encounters, heroic adventures, unique magic, and a captivating world to explore.

Author’s Note: Contains explicit language and some graphic descriptions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt from Blood of Azure: Season of Sacrifice, Book 1

EXCERPT I: SEASON OF SACRIFICE – GOOSE

My heart beats heavier. I inhale and, with the back of my hand, brush a drop of sweat that has found its way down my forehead. I know what these tracks be-long to. But why now? Am I projecting my ambitions—to slay a Creature of the Night? I grab a handful of Everweed from the ground and reluctantly head in the direction of the trampled vegetation.

My experience with these beasts is nonexistent, but then again, there isn’t another who can claim otherwise. They’re the type of animal man stays far away from, which was the primary reason for choosing this location as a refuge. We chose to risk being mauled by the Creatures of the Night over the public execution we would have inevitably encountered by hiding in a small village.

Some would consider us the biggest halfwits in all of Vedora, all of Azure even, for making the decision we made, but I know Harris Martelli personally, and the fact he is capable of persuading a strong-willed and morally sound man like my father to do what he did is far more threatening than any beast living in the wood.

Excerpt provided by the author/publisher for use in this post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Purchase Link for Blood of Azure: Season of Sacrifice, Book 1

Amazon – OneLink for every country   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love my Amazon Kindle Unlimited Subscription. So many books, so little time!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Season of Suffering by Jonathan J Michael
Series: Blood of Azure #2
Published by Independently Published on 03/20/2022
Genres: Epic Fantasy, Military
Format: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 400

A villain in his own mind, Stone McLarin is labeled the hero for murdering a man.

Not only is Stone weighted down as a hero, but he’s idolized by the dominant religion, and he’s the sole protector of the knowledge of the ages. The pressure of the entire realm is on his shoulders.

Carib Reign, a shapeshifter building an army of immortals, plans to purge the Crimson Capital to find this hidden knowledge. His motive, to give the people of Azure the freedom they deserve.

With many adventures along the way, Stone will lead the charge to defend the Crimson Capital against the Immortal Army. Should he fail, anarchy is inevitable. Death for all Azure, a possibility.

Where there is life, death anticipates. But what if death is abandoned? Life will rebel.

Season of Suffering is part two of the Blood of Azure series—an epic fantasy with both light and dark hearts. You’ll experience many fantasy tropes, clashing swords, unique magic, fantastical beasts, and a wide range of Azure’s scenic terrain.

Author’s Note: Contains explicit language and some graphic descriptions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt from Blood of Azure: Season of Suffering, Book 2

EXCERPT II: SEASON OF SUFFERING – FURY

I step away from the blood-soaked terrain and reach into my belt pouch, withdrawing a few seeds. I ponder over them for a moment. My fury subsides. But not completely. Just enough for me to regain my senses. Pain floods my body. I get down to one knee and drop the seeds into the soil, brushing remains of the decaying forest floor over top of them. I press hard into the soil with both hands.

One sprout emerges from the ground ahead of two others. All three grow to knee-high in size before a plumage of green needles sprouts from the top. Then branches spill away from the still thickening trunk and begin to form digits. The trunk itself, on all three saplings, rips from the ground and splits at the base, each forming digits as well. Dark eyes spring open and flutter as they wake.

I rise above the forest children. They stand attentive, awaiting instruction. “Arbormen, there is no battle this time, my apologies.” I speak candidly to them. “I require you to send a message. Find Iron Valor and tell him of what happened here. Tell him it is time. Go.” The forest children scurry into the waking forest without hesitation and vanish amidst the undergrowth.

Retribution will be delivered. But first… First, I must deliver my family back to Azure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amazon – OneLink for every country   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An Interview with Jonathon J Michael

What is the sweetest thing someone has done for you?

I’m always whining about how nobody will play scrabble with me. It’s not a game my family enjoys, having a scramble of vowels and one consonant, or vice versa, and trying to spell words. Because it seems to happen too often, getting loaded up with an E-E-E-I-U-U-N, or something of the like. What do I do with these cursed vowels! I seem to enjoy the misery. However, my family isn’t fond of the game. One night, during the holidays when we’re mostly in generous moods (and I had just been whining a day or two prior), I asked if anyone wanted to play a game. My daughter said, “I’ll play a game with you, dad? Whatever you want to play. I’ll even play Scrabble.” My eyes lit up. I didn’t hesitate. We played Scrabble and watched the latest version of the Grinch.

This may not seem all that sweet, but it had an impact on me. My daughter is the least likely I’d expect to play Scrabble. She’s an avid reader, but when it comes to spelling, she despises it. I suspect a hint of dyslexia, too, but not severe enough to be diagnosed. So, for her to play Scrabble with me was a testament to how big her heart is. She put aside her own interests for an hour to put a smile on my face. And it did. And my ten-year-old almost beat me, I might add.

 

How would you spend ten thousand bucks?

Right now, in this moment, coming out of winter, I would spend ten thousand dollars to get me and my family to a tropical beach somewhere, and hope I had enough savings to cover the rest. I need to warm my bones up.

 

Where do you get your best ideas?

I get my best ideas whenever and wherever I don’t have a pen or computer to write it down.

I live on the border of suburbia and open country, so I go on long runs down the country roads quite often. Four to eight miles depending on weather, energy, and the like. This is probably where I get most of my ideas. I’ll usually have a podcast or some music going. And being alone in the open countryside with alfalfa, wheat, cows, horses… There is actually one ranch with zebra, flamingos, camels, and emus. I’m not sure what they do with them, but its only three miles down the road. Anyways, I digress. These runs spur many of my ideas, and the challenge is remembering them when I get home. The mind can wander rather quickly when alone on a country road. If I have more than one idea, I have to count them on my fingers, so I don’t forget. I’ll walk up my driveway with my fingers outstretched, tapping each one, trying to recount why I had that finger outstretched. Many ideas have been lost.

 

What comes first, the plot or characters?

The characters. The characters drive the plot. It is the characters we relate to. It is the characters reactions to their world, their plot, that draw us in. But I should clarify, I refer to characters with a point of view. All supplemental characters and their shenanigans are plot driven.

And a side note, the chicken came first. Whatever was before the chicken, evolved into a chicken, then the chicken laid the egg. Universal conundrum solved. It was Neil DeGrasse Tyson who enlightened me, so give him credit.

 

What does your main character do that makes him/her special?

How do I answer this without spoilers? He’s not special. Stone McLarin is my main character (among others) and he is rather boring, but the events surrounding him are not. He prefers to avoid conflict and hide from it. His deepest desire is to keep his sister safe, even though she needs no help doing this. Others believe him to be special, but he doesn’t think so. He merely chooses to do the right thing when the choices are laid out in front of him. Maybe that in and of itself is special.

However, he is a Healer, and has some magical abilities beyond this that are unlike any other in the entire world of Azure. I suppose he’s got that going for him too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giveaway!

One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Visit more stops on this Goddess Fish tour for extra chances to win!

Official Tour Page

Full Tour Schedule:

April 5: sadie’s spotlight
April 7: Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read
April 12: Andi’s Book Reviews
April 14: Viviana MacKade
April 19: Rogue’s Angels
April 21: Hope. Dreams. Life… Love
April 26: The Key Of Love
April 28: The Avid Reader

May 3: Author C.A.Milson
May 5: Coffee and Wander Book Reviews
May 10: Author Deborah A. Bailey Blog
May 12: Jazzy Book Reviews
May 17: It’s Raining Books
May 19: All the Ups and Downs
May 24: Seven Troublesome Sisters
May 26: Fabulous and Brunette
May 31: The Faerie Review

June 2: Dawn’s Reading Nook
June 7: Kit ‘N Kabookle
June 9: Reading With a Llama
June 14: Gina Rae Mitchell
June 16: Our Town Book Reviews
June 21: The Obsessed Reader
June 23: Gimme The Scoop Reviews
June 28: Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin’
June 30: Novels Alive

July 12: Westveil Publishing
July 14: Straight From the Library
July 19: BooksChatter
July 21: Long and Short Reviews

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shared on:

Twitter

Pinterest

Instagram

If you would like to review books for Goddess Fish Promotions, please click the link below:

Goddess Fish Virtual Book Tour Host