I am back with another Top 5 Wednesday! If you want to check it out, you can go to the Goodreads group and read more about it.
This week the topic is top 5 self published authors! This is a very different topic for me, because while I read a lot of books, most of them are published by a major publishing house. Not everyone can be represented by a larger company, and in fact, many of my favourite authors started out as self-published. I am also going to be including indie authors/authors with smaller publishers to help spread the word on great, lesser known books and authors!
The Darkest Light by Ashley Earley
Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, this dragon-fantasy story is a wonderful almost-but-not-quite-love-triangle standalone that will leave you wondering how on Earth it was written by a then 18 year old. The main character is very relatable, she is battling depression after the tragic death of her father, and you can't help but feel for her. I enjoyed the romance, but to me, there was only one love interest, so that's why I don't consider this a love triangle. This book was a little reminiscent of Rebel Belle with the whole unknown magical powers thing.
Broken Stars by Theresa Kay
Originally published as an ebook by the author, this is the first book to a fast-paced paranormal trilogy. Told from the point of view of a feisty teenager living in a post-apocolyptic world who is trying to save her twin brother after he is kidnapped by aliens. Plus, there's the whole paranormal romance thing. Yeah, if that doesn't sound good, I don't know what does! At this point, the first and second book are out. I've read both of them. They are fantastic. Read them. This book reminded me a little bit of the Under the Never Sky trilogy mixed with Partials. and a splash of The Lux series.
Dearest Clementine by Lex Martin
This self published book is the first in a series of New Adult novels about a university student who, after getting burned by a high school sweetheart and stalked by a creepy professor freshman year, decides to swear off dating. Until she meets an RA, who, in the name of research only for her romance novel, agrees to play the part of the perfect book boyfriend. There's some drama with the stalker prof, and a missing girl from the university, making for a dramatic, romantic, whirlwind! I've only read the first book in this series, but I cannot wait to pick up the next books!
Volition by Lily Paradis
Ms. Paradis has also written another book, Ignite, her debut, but I have a special attachment to Volition because I was one of the few beta readers for this book. It's a dark and twisty romance. This book is exceptionally unique, it was unlike anything I've ever read. It's a very dark book, and some people may not enjoy that. I however, loved it, along with its gorgeous NYC backdrop, ah perfection!
**NOTE** As I am just now doing a little more research for this post, I have come across quite a few plagiarism accusations of this book, one blog in particular breaks things down a bit, here. I haven't read anything by Tarryn Fisher, the alleged plagiaree (is that a word?) so I cannot comment on that myself, but I will just say that I really enjoyed Volition as well as Ignite.
Rising by Jennifer Wilson
This book made it onto my Top 15 of 2015, so you know I loved it! In just over 200 pages, the author was able to give so much. Backstory, develop a world where the society is divided into tribes, and if you don't join you die. Much like what happened to the MC's parents six years before. There is some romance, but our female main character shows that she is kick butt and don't need no man to help her. Each page felt like 5, and in a good way. It was fast paced, but very descriptive. If I was going to compare this book to another, I would say Divergent but only because of the divided society and rebels, but it definitely stands on it's own!
Well, that was longer than I expected! I hope you find at least one new book, or pick up an indie book or one that was self published!