Hello and a very happy Monday to you! I hope you had a good weekend, full to the brim of bookish delights.  As it’s Monday I am delighted to welcome another brilliant blogger to damppebbles to share the #R3COMM3ND3D2018 book love – the lovely Steph of Bookshine And Readbows. If you love books then Steph’s blog is one not to be missed.  Her thoughtful and considered reviews are a thing of beauty.  If I could write reviews that were even half as good as Steph’s, I would be a very happy bookworm.

What’s this #R3COMM3ND3D2018 you speak of? Well, allow me to explain (although I do want to know where you’ve been for the last few months…lol!).  At the end of every year, I run a feature on damppebbles where I invite bookish types – authors, book bloggers and people who work in publishing – to shout about three books they love. Because of an unexpected spate of poor health towards the end of 2018, I wasn’t able to finish sharing last year’s posts. So I’m making up for lost time now.  After all, do book recommendations age? I don’t think so.  At the start of November the focus will switch to books published this year (any genre, any publisher, any author – but all three picks must have been published in 2019) so if you would like to take part then please complete the form at the end of this post.

Here are Steph’s three #R3COMM3ND3D2018 picks…

Hero Forged: Volume 1 (Ethereal Earth) by Josh Erikson
Hero Forged combines my two personal favourite genres of urban fantasy and mystery/crime, with a healthy helping of snark as a bonus.

Whilst I am a voracious and eclectic reader, I always have a special place in my heart for characters (and authors) who don’t take themselves too seriously. I feel it makes the touching moments more effective if they are tempered and contrasted with humour.

Hero Forged’s Gabe and Heather are a force to be reckoned with, of the kind I haven’t seen since Dresden and Murphy! And my sneak peek of the second book in this series has cemented Josh Erikson as my new favourite author.
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpress.com/2018/06/06/hero-forged-josh-erikson/

Fallible Justice (Wilde Investigations) by Laura Laakso
You won’t be surprised to find my second recommendation is also an urban fantasy-mystery mash-up!

Laura Laakso’s worldbuilding in Fallible Justice is just superb. She takes familiar mythical beings like the Fae and hearth spirits and gives them her own fresh twist, plunging them into a social structure and justice system that is unique and intriguing.

The main character has magic, but also a chronic illness that her magic cannot cure. Yann is an empathetic and complex character and Laakso portrays her issues honestly and sensitively, yet remembers to keep the focus on the murder plot.
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpress.com/2018/11/04/fallible-justice-laura-laakso/

The Eye of the North by Sinéad O’Hart
The Eye of the North is a superbly thrilling children’s fantasy adventure that I cannot recommend enough.

Emmeline and Thing are witty, resourceful and deeply touching as main characters and the plot is fast-paced and action-packed.

This is a great book for fans of books like Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events and similar, and I have everything crossed that it is the first in a long series!
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpress.com/2018/02/08/the-eye-of-the-north-sinead-ohart/

Thanks so much, Steph. Excellent choices and a few additions to my wishlist too!

If Steph has managed to tempt you, or if you would like to find out more about the books she recommends, please see the following links:

| Hero Forged by Josh Erikson | Fallible Justice by Laura Laakso | The Eye of the North by Sinéad O’Hart |

About Steph:
I’m Steph and I’m a bookaholic. I have been reading since a very early age – my mum taught me in self defence as I developed a habit of following her around the house banging her shins with a book, droning ‘Read it. Read it.’ Now I live with my husband, two small children, two large cats and a puppy, so I grab my moments when I can!

Steph’s Blog and Social Media Links:
| Bookshine And Readbows | Twitter @bookshineblog | Facebook |

If you’re a book blogger, author or you work in publishing and have three books published this year that you want to shout about then please complete the following form (or click this link: https://forms.gle/PE483qCyrKEgV5Uq6)