Review: Indigo, the Deep by Kellye Abernathy – with Giveaway

16 July 2026 by Melissa

About the book, Indigo, the Deep:

Genre: Teen and YA / Coming of Age / Fantasy
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Publication Date: July 7, 2026
Scroll down for Giveaway

“In the heart of the deepest sea caverns, there is a stillness. Learn to surrender to it.”

Fifteen-year-old Condi Bloom knows the magic will happen again. The autumn equinox is looming. Strange currents are sweeping through her coastal town. Tides are turning wild, and a mercurial mist cloaks the lonely rock tower known as Windy Hollow, long believed to be haunted.

When a silent threat glides into the cove, altering the fragile ecosystem and drawing sharks close to shore, Condi ignores the danger. A fierce surfer, she insists on pushing her skills to the limit, hoping to heal a broken heart. Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Firth Cristo, a bold free diver, is tormented by a past he cannot reveal. Guided by the Beachlings, the mystical women who teach the secrets of the deep, he dares to explore remote underwater sea caverns, navigating the pulsing tides of a shimmering enchantment.

Inspired by the certainty of wonder and the uncertain nature of time, Condi and Firth dive into their rawest places, discovering that healing—of nature, of others, and of themselves—is found in the bounty of a limitless sea.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Amazon | Goodreads

About the author, Kellye Abernathy

An avid reader and writer, Kellye is the author of the YA science-fantasy series: The Aquamarine Surfboard (2022), Amethyst, The Shallows (2024), and Indigo, The Deep (2026). A former wireless business executive and a graduate of the University of Kansas, Kellye teaches practical life skills, creative writing, yoga, and mindfulness within the trauma-survivor community in Plano, Texas. She hopes to inspire healing through body and breath awareness, creativity, consistency, and compassion. Her joys are many and varied, among them neuroscience, oceanography, swimming, biking, family adventures, and great conversation. She believes in staying curious, showing up, and keeping her heart open.

Connect with Kellye

Website | Amazon | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram

Watch the trailer for this book:

Indigo, the Deep Reel

Giveaway

ENTER TO WIN!

My Thoughts

Indigo, the Deep is the third installment in Kellye Abernathy’s Yellow Cottage series, and the third time I’ve had the privilege of immersing myself in one of her stories.

I love the way Abernathy combines magical elements without turning the story into in-your-face fantasy. Dolphins communicate with humans, surfboards are imbued with ancient energy, and neurodivergence—specifically synesthesia—is almost a superpower. One character uses it to compose music, while another perceives moods as colors. The magic feels organic to Craggy Point and Windy Hollow, woven naturally into the lives of the people who call them home.

Abernathy takes a slightly different direction with this book. Where the conflicts in the previous stories were generated largely by the town, the beach, and their history, Indigo, the Deep introduces a biomedical research ship whose presence is disrupting the local ecosystem and drawing more sharks into the cove. There is still surfing, of course, as well as free diving, mysterious sea caverns, and the restless pull of the water.

What remains central, however, is the young people—and some of the older folks—discovering who they are and how they fit into the world around them. Condi may be the focal point, but it is the entire community that keeps pulling me back into these books. Kait, Abe the master surfer, Firth, the Beachlings, and the others are all dimensional and imperfect. They feel real, making it easy to become invested in their lives, their relationships, and the healing they find in one another and in the limitless sea.

This book can be read as a standalone novel, but reading the previous books in the series will make the experience richer.

Overall, this is a fantastic read for anyone who loves foggy coastal weather, salt air, leaping dolphins, and a bit of a mystery to be solved.

Goes well with: clam chowder, warmed baguette, and a mug of hot tea.

Visit the Other Great Participants in this Campaign

Click to visit the Lone Star Literary Life Campaign Page for direct links to each participant.

Review: Under the Stairs (An Anthology of Homebound Horror) edited by Adam Vine

9 July 2026 by Melissa

About the book, Under the Stairs: an Anthology of Homebound Horror

Listening Length: 4 hours, 24 minutes
Authors: Adam Vine (editor), Dean Liapis, Ryan E. Felton, Courtney M. Privett, Brandon Naylor, E.E. King, Chelsea Pumpkins, Jessica Peter, Robert Bagnall, Francescia Maria
Narrators: Dean Liapis and Hilary Halpern
Release Date: 15 May 2026
Publisher: Ossuary Press

Twenty short stories about losing one’s sense of home: a sleep study gone wrong, a pair of ghostly baby shoes that won’t leave a grieving father alone, a serial killer who lurks in the shadows of suburbia, a halfway house haunted by an unorthodox kind of ghost, a hallucinogenic plant that compiles the most gruesome elements of past and future; penned by some of horror fiction’s best upcoming authors, these are just a few of the terrifying tales in ‘Under the Stairs: An Anthology of Homebound Horror.’ Please note that the stories in the audiobook version of this anthology differ slightly from the print and ebook versions.

Buy, read/listen to, and discuss this book:

Amazon (US) | Audible (US) | Amazon (UK) | Audible (UK) | Goodreads

About the Author (and Editor), Adam Vine

Adam Vine was born in Northern California. By day, he is a game writer and designer. He has lived in five countries and visited forty. When he is not writing, he is traveling, reading something icky, or playing the guitar.

Connect with Adam:

Website

My Thoughts

I listened to the audiobook edition of Under the Stairs, and I have to say that these stories feel even more unsettling in audio than they might on the page. There is something about hearing horror aloud that brings me right back to ghost stories shared at slumber parties or around campfires, where every creak in the house suddenly seems significant. I also appreciated the choice to use two narrators, alternating between stories and giving the collection an extra layer of texture.

The stories themselves range from quietly spooky to genuinely sinister, touching on subjects including domestic violence, hunger, and homelessness. Despite the variety of voices and styles, the anthology is held together by its central question: what happens when home is no longer a place of safety? That theme works remarkably well. As I listened, there were some pieces that didn’t resonate with me personally and others that felt eerily familiar—not in their actual content, but in their tone and worldview, occasionally echoing elements of my own writing.

Anthologies have always appealed to me because they invite a different kind of reading experience. You can dip in and out, listen for a while, set the book aside, and return later without feeling as though you’re trying to keep track of an intricate plot. Under the Stairs offers a satisfying mix of shorter and longer tales. There were certainly a few stories that I would happily have seen expanded into something larger, but for the most part, each one seemed to occupy exactly the amount of space it needed.

For listeners who enjoy horror that explores the uneasy spaces closest to us, this anthology offers a thoughtful reminder that sometimes the most frightening things are the ones waiting behind our own front doors.

Goes well with: crisp apples, sharp cheddar, and a handful of lightly salted cashews, along with a glass of wine or cup of tea.

Visit the Other Great Participants on This Tour

Flowerpot Romeo ebook cover- PNG - 15 June 2026

Review: Flowerpot Romeo by Simone Goodman – with Giveaway

5 July 2026 by Melissa

About the book, Flowerpot Romeo

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cloudesley Press
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 28, 2026
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 317 pages
Scroll down for Giveaway

Warning: this is not a romance (but it is a love story)

Sebastian Wilson wasn’t aspiring to be anybody’s hero. He just wanted to be an actor.

Instead, spurred on by his unimpressed agent, he pretends to be an Irish busker. Charmingly drifting through London’s Islington, burdened by an inability to face himself, he unwittingly changes the lives of the women he meets.

A lonely dame of the stage and screen.
A single mother making ends meet.
An underworld wife on the brink of divorce.
And Fiona, whose best friend he’d sooner avoid…

Life rarely consults the script — especially when Romeo the cat enters the scene, a tiny agent of chaos.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Goodreads

About the author, Simone Goodman

Simone Goodman is a London novelist, reluctant romantic, and full-time CFO who spends her days in spreadsheets and her evenings turning questionable experiences into taller tales – always in the hope that things will somehow work out.

Connect with Simone:

Instagram

Giveaway

Win a £25 Amazon Gift Card (Open Internationally)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Gleam box below. The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

My Thoughts

Some books grab your attention with dramatic twists. Others win you over because you simply enjoy spending time with the people on the page. Flowerpot Romeo is firmly in the second camp—a warm, funny, and quietly thoughtful novel about identity, belonging, and the unexpected ways our lives intersect.

Simone Goodman was a new-to-me author, but I slipped into her writing almost immediately. Her pacing is spot-on, allowing the story to unfold naturally without ever feeling rushed or dragging. Even with multiple storylines weaving together, everything remains easy to follow.

Sebastian Wilson is an aspiring actor whose latest “role” leads him into the lives of a wonderfully eclectic group of people. What I found especially interesting is that the male lead is a catalyst rather than the center of everyone else’s story. Without even realizing it, Wilson becomes exactly what several people need at pivotal moments in their lives, even as he struggles to accept himself for who he really is.

The characters are the heart of this novel. Each one feels like a fully realized person rather than a supporting player, and I found myself invested in all of them. There is plenty of humor throughout, but Goodman also explores universal questions about where we belong, whether we can truly be ourselves, and whether we’ll ever find the people who see us as we really are.

I also loved the layered nature of the title. As the story unfolds, you’ll find yourself wondering whether “Romeo” refers to Wilson, the mischievous cat, or perhaps both. It’s a clever touch that reflects the novel itself.

If you’re looking for a book driven by memorable characters rather than nonstop action, Flowerpot Romeo is a delightful choice. It’s charming, funny, heartfelt, and ultimately hopeful—a reminder that sometimes the greatest changes in our lives come from people who have no idea they’ve changed us at all.

Goes well with: Irish breakfast tea, a generous slice of lemon drizzle cake, and a dog (or cat) curled up beside you who occasionally insists on helping you turn the page.

Visit the Other Great Participants On This Tour \

Review: The Catalyst by Andrea Goyan

2 July 2026 by Melissa

About the book, The Catalyst

When human bodies are found with scales and tails, DNA Detector Kat Crocker is tasked with determining what caused the victims’ abnormalities.

She’s teamed with Detective Greg Prescott, a partnership that neither of them is happy about. Prescott doesn’t believe she should be on a murder investigation, while she blames his father for mishandling the investigation into her father’s death years earlier.

But this is the opportunity Kat’s been waiting for. She wants to prove her DNA Detector—a device created by her late father—can revolutionize police investigations.

Then her device produces impossible results.

The first victim’s DNA is no longer entirely human.

When a second victim appears hours later with similar unimaginable results, Kat and Greg race to find the cause before more people die.

But even as they hunt for answers, someone hunts Kat. Unbeknownst to her, the people behind the mutations need Kat—at least a piece of her—to complete their plan. They will stop at nothing to get what they need.

Kat’s trail leads to a newly released VR game powered by impossible genetics—and to the scientist behind the mutations. The man who has put her in danger. The person she trusted more than anyone in the world.

Buy read and discuss this book:

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | GoodReads

About the author, Andrea Goyan

Author Bio – Andrea Goyan is an award-winning author and an avid animal person who grew up being called Goat-Girl and Raccoon-Mama. She is a grateful part of a flock of collaborative Magpie Poets whose first collection, An Illegal Feast, was released in 2025. Andrea also co-hosts MetaStellar Magazine’s “Long-Lost Friends” and “Storytime.” In her spare time, she walks her dogs and loves to paint, especially animal portraits.

Many of her stories are available for free on her website.

Connect with Andrea:

Website | BlueSky | Facebook

My Thoughts

Science fiction is often at its most satisfying when it combines imaginative ideas with believable human stakes, and Andrea Goyan’s The Catalyst does exactly that. The novel balances scientific intrigue with questions about responsibility, identity, and the unintended consequences of discovery, creating a story that’s as engaging intellectually as it is entertaining.

Rather than relying on spectacle, Goyan lets the tension build steadily. The scientific elements provide a solid foundation for the mystery, while the story continually expands its focus to examine how individual choices can have far-reaching effects. There’s a quiet confidence to the storytelling that makes the world feel authentic, allowing readers to settle into the narrative even as the stakes continue to rise.

Kat Crocker is an easy protagonist to root for. She comes across as capable, thoughtful, and refreshingly grounded, making her a strong guide through increasingly extraordinary events. I especially appreciated that the book opens with Kat collecting dog feces from a suburban lawn in order to make sure the offending owner was ticketed for the misdeed. The “Double-D” nickname for the DNA detective made me laugh out loud, and that touch of humor helps establish her personality before the larger mystery unfolds.

One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its pacing. Each revelation arrives at just the right moment, encouraging readers to keep turning pages without feeling manipulated. The scenes are vividly realized, and the various plot threads come together in a way that feels intentional and satisfying.

If I have one reservation, it’s that I wanted the novel to venture even further into its scientific foundations. The central concept is fascinating, but I found myself wanting a deeper explanation of the biological mechanisms at work, particularly how genetic material could move between organisms in the way the story suggests. Readers who prefer harder science fiction may find themselves asking the same questions. Similarly, expanding the world-building just a bit more would have given the speculative elements even greater impact.

Even with those reservations, The Catalyst is a compelling read. Its intriguing premise, memorable protagonist, and carefully constructed suspense make it an enjoyable science fiction thriller that keeps its focus on both ideas and people. While I would have welcomed a little more scientific depth, the novel’s strengths easily outweigh that omission, making it one I’d happily recommend to fans of speculative fiction with a mystery at its core.

Goes well with: A perfectly grilled steak with asparagus tips, enjoyed outdoors under the ever-watchful eyes of a dog absolutely convinced that every bite belongs to them.