The New Year’s ‘Hidden Gems’ – Romance Edition
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on February 12, 2019
We’re only a month into 2019, but already subscribers to Hidden Gems have had a plethora of fantastic books to read and review. We offer FREE reading copies of books from over 15 genres, but today we’re going to take a look at the perennially-popular romance category and highlight five titles that subscribers have identified as true ‘Hidden Gems’ of the category. Exposed: A Miseducation Romance by Lulu Baxter Sometimes it’s nice for romance to be sweet. Sometimes you prefer it steamy. The latter is definitely flavor of the month in this thrilling stand-alone romance, in which aspiring romance writer Prynne stumbles into the hotel room of a sexy exhibitionist – and allows him to take her on an erotic and romantic journey that pushes the limits of all her secret desires. In her 5-star review, kingsfan writers: “Rhys and Prynne are alike and so much different. The is the… Read More >
Author Spotlight Interview: Melissa Foster
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on February 5, 2019
Every few weeks, Hidden Gems tracks down an author to try and gain some insight into their career, inspirations and plans for the future. Today we’re thrilled to be interviewing the inimitable Melissa Foster – a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with an incredible catalog of books to her name, and a fiercely loyal following of fans. In addition to being a brilliant writer – we even cited her in this article on using locations in your writing – Melissa is funny, sweet and interacts with her fans to create an even closer bond between writer and reader. HG: So, who IS Melissa Foster? Where do you come from and how did you get into writing? MF: When I think of myself, what I see is probably different from what others see! I’m a wicked tomboy, raised with six brothers, some of whom are very protective. I’m fiercely… Read More >
5 Books Every Aspiring Author Should Read
By: Craig | Posted on January 29, 2019
We’ve compiled a list of five carefully-selected books perfect for any aspiring writer. With the advent of self-publishing there are now hundreds of titles about how to become a successful writer – but sadly if you look at a lot of the reviews and the rankings for many of these books, you’ll suspect that the authors aren’t quite as smart about the subject as they promote themselves to be. Having said that, there are some gems out there about the art and craft of writing, and we’ve taken a little time to separate the wheat from the chaff and come up with five books about writing that you can’t help but learn from. The Elements of Style: Simplified and Illustrated for Busy People by William Strunk Jr. and Virginia Campbell First written in 1918, The Elements of Style is often considered to be America’s seminal work on writing in the American English… Read More >
Author Spotlight Interview: Kyle Prue
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on January 22, 2019
Every few weeks we try and pin down a talented author for a heart-to-heart about their career and books. This week we’re thrilled to be chatting to Kyle Prue, the teenage sensation behind The Sparks – part one of an epic fantasy trilogy that has been celebrated by critics and readers alike. Often, aspiring writers are warned that they might have to wait years to hit their stride. Talented teenager Kyle Prue deftly sidestepped that process when his first novel, The Sparks, received instant (and well-deserved) acclaim – winning the FAPA Presidential Awards for Best Fiction and Best Fantasy for Young Adults in 2015, earning a place as runner-up for Best Young Adult Fiction at the Florida Book Festival and Honorable Mentions at the New England Book Festival, Midwest Book Festival, Southern California Book Festival, and the International London Book Festival. Far from letting this go to his head, Kyle… Read More >
Ginger’s 2019 Reading List (With Tips for Creating Your Own)
By: Ginger | Posted on January 18, 2019
Despite knowing how important it is, or how much we love it, many of us find it hard to make regular time for reading. That’s why one of the best strategies is to start your year off with a reading list of books you want to get to, and commit to reading at least those. How many you add to your list isn’t nearly as critical as figuring out which books are important or interesting enough to include, so here are some tips from Ginger on creating your own reading list, along with plenty of his personal picks for 2019 in case you need some inspiration! “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.” With those words, in his brilliant On… Read More >
5 Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Thriller Books Like Bird Box
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on January 15, 2019
Here are five recent recommendations similar to the hit post-apocalyptic thriller Bird Box. Netflix recently released a fantastic post-apocalyptic movie called Bird Box, starring Sandra Bullock and John Malkovich. The movie was based on the 2014 novel by Josh Malerman, lead singer of The High Strung (they wrote the theme tune to Shameless) and the New York Times described it as: “A book that demands to be read in a single sitting, and through the cracks between one’s fingers. There has never been a horror story quite like this.” We highly recommend Bird Box – but if you’ve already read it, here are some more recent post-apocalyptic and near-future thrillers that will also leave you on the edge of your seat. Written By Blood: Conviction by Dwayne Gill The Written by Blood series is the work of author Dwayne Gill, who envisioned the concept when he was just twelve years old, and… Read More >
Author Spotlight Interview: Anna Brees
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on January 8, 2019
With the rise of digital technology, smart phones and social media, you don’t have to turn on the television to catch the news any more. But has this led to an era of ‘fake news’? Or is it finally highlighting the bias of the ‘mainstream media’? That’s one of the questions raised by veteran television journalist Anna Brees, who recently published a book about how to harness the power of mobile journalism and get your voice heard. We spoke to Anna about her book, and the mission behind it. HG: Anna – you’re originally a television journalist, and now you run a business training people in ‘mobile journalism.’ What inspired this shift in your career? AB:It all started off with looking at documentaries on YouTube, about situations that were reported one way, but which the evidence suggested happened differently. I became angry with the mainstream media and my… Read More >
The Best Books of 2018 – Our List of True “Hidden Gems”
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on January 1, 2019
Each and every day, subscribers to Hidden Gems get offered the chance to review the latest and most exciting books from all their favorite genres. 2018 has been an incredible year for the program; with dozens of top-ranked books and authors featured. As we wrap up the year, we thought we’d take a look back at some of the best books of 2018 as judged by our subscribers. It was definitely not easy to select just ten from the more than 1000 different titles we’ve sent out this past year, but in addition to this list-of-the-year, you’ll also see we regularly post our recommendations from different specific genres. Arklight: Operation Nightfall by J.M. Myrick Author J.M. Myrick was both a former Marine and a current SWAT commander – and his breadth of military and law-enforcement experience served him well in crafting this incredible tale of a modern-day special forces unit thrust back… Read More >
Five Fantastic Festive Romances Recently Reviewed
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on December 18, 2018
Hidden Gems offers subscribers the chance to review FREE books each and every day, from over 15 different genres. As a continuing feature of this blog, we’ll be looking back every now and again at the best recent books from individual genres or themes; and sharing why we liked them. Keep checking for the latest lists, and become part of the action yourself by signing up to Hidden Gems. Whether you’re a fan of Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or Festivus, there’s no denying that there’s something magical about the holiday season. In addition to all the real-life family fun, it’s the perfect backdrop for countless timeless stories – from It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol and A Christmas Story to the ultimate holiday-themed tale of all time – Die Hard. In the lead-up to the holidays, Hidden Gems shared a few festive-themed romance reads with our subscribers – and here are five… Read More >
Author Spotlight Interview: Rachel Ellyn
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on December 11, 2018
Writing successful children’s books is anything but child’s play – which is why we were excited to sit down with Rachel Ellyn, author of the popular Hamlet the Pig books, which have become especially popular as audio books. A self-described ‘publicists nightmare’, Rachel has written in multiple genres – from kid’s books to romance and thrillers – and continues to focus on telling stories in whatever format she feels suits them best. There are countless quotes about how everybody is several different ‘people’ throughout their lives – and that certainly seems to describe Rachel Ellyn. With degrees in finance and economics, Rachel’s first career was in the high-flying world of I.T. and financial process consulting – which took her all over the world, including an extended stint in London. Yet that life wasn’t true to what Rachel truly wanted – and the Rachel we talk to today seems the antithesis… Read More >
