Author: sharisakurai

Shari Sakurai is a British author of paranormal, horror, science fiction and fantasy novels that almost always feature a LGBT protagonist and/or antagonist. She has always loved to write and it is her escape from the sometimes stressful modern life! Aside from writing, Shari enjoys reading, watching movies, listening to (loud!) music, going to rock concerts and learning more about other societies and cultures. Japanese culture is of particular interest to her and she often incorporates Japanese themes and influences into her work. Shari loves a challenge and has taken part and won the National Novel Writing Month challenge ten times!

Shari Review’s Stuff: Magical Apothecary Miniature Potions Replicas

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Shari Reviews Stuff

Purchase: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1181302599/magical-apothecary-miniature-potions

IMG_8645Today, I am reviewing these adorable miniature potions bottles I bought on Etsy! Honestly, they are so cute! It was very difficult to decide which ones to get but in the end I chose the miniature pumpkins and dried rose petals.

Each bottle is approximately 4cm tall and contains tiny dried pumpkins and dried rose petals. There is a little cork in the top of each bottle with some twine around it. On the pumpkin bottle there are 3 mini pumpkins threaded through it and a cute silver leaf on the rose petal bottle. These finishing touches, together with the beautifully designed labels finish them off so well.

I have a Gothic inspired display and these fit in so perfectly! I will be definitely getting some more to grow my collection!

Disclaimer: These are my own thoughts on the above product, and I have not been asked or paid by the seller to provide a review.

Shari’s Life: Day in Brighton

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Shari's Life

IMG_8699Yesterday me, my sister and nephew went to Brighton for the day. We went to the Sea Life Centre first, which we all really enjoy! It is in the original Victorian building so as well as seeing some amazing sea creatures, I got to enjoy the Gothic architecture too! My nephew loved it. He has been a few times before but always gets so excited! We were also able to watch them feeding the turtles and piranhas. As well as sea creatures they had a colony of leaf cutter ants. It was fascinating to watch them carrying leaves about four times the size of them up and down the tube tunnels and into their ant hills. My favourites are always the sea horses though. They are so adorable!

We’re going to try and do at least one outing like this a month with my nephew as he enjoys them so much. He’s been asking to go back to ‘see the Romans’ so next month we will probably do the Roman Palace at Fishbourne. As it gets more to the summer we can also do more out-doorsy attractions again like the Wetlands Trust at Arundel and the Weald and Downland Museum which is a firm favourite with all of us!

0181E382-E9D3-4BA9-82E6-C125A9EAE65FAfter the Sea Life Centre, we got some lunch and went to look round some of the shops. It was very busy so we didn’t linger, but we did visit the Miniso store which I loved! We had been once before but it was before Covid I think! Honestly, I could have spent so much in there but I was very restrained and only bought 3 things!  I bought two blind capsule beach dolls that look absolutely adorable! I cannot wait to open them and see who I got! I also bought this lego-ish Fragrance Store model! They also had the fan shop and sandwich bar, which I want to go back and get when we go back to Brighton next month!

My plans for today are to walk down to the Tesco Superstore in a bit to check for the Valentines Day squishmallows. I have been checking for weeks now and they haven’t had them 😦 My sister found a few of the ones we wanted in the Tesco Extra at Fishbourne but we still need to find Leon the Monster so I am hoping today will be the day!

When I get back from there I have some overtime booked for work and then I am going to do some more writing. I really want to hit Chapter 30 of Demon’s Past today if possible! I have also got back into Animal Crossing and hope to finally finish Mallepa 2.0!

I hope you are all having a great weekend!

New Release Blitz: Our Valentine’s by S.J. Coles

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Our Valentine’s by S.J. Coles

Book 2 in the Once Upon a Holiday series

General Release Date: 31st January 2023

Word Count: 13,249
Book Length: SHORT STORY
Pages: 61

Genres:

CELEBRITIES
CONTEMPORARY
EROTIC ROMANCE
FAKE RELATIONSHIPS
GAY
GLBTQI
HOLIDAYS

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Book Description


We’ll make it our Valentine’s—and the best show on Earth.

Everyone believes movie star Charlie Kearney lives a charmed life, not least because he recently returned to his hometown of Littleton with enigmatic fashion designer Jacques Clement on his arm. Their whirlwind romance and high-profile engagement have kept Charlie trending on the socials for weeks, and his management company couldn’t be happier.

But there’s just one problem. Charlie and Jacques aren’t engaged. They aren’t even in a relationship. Charlie needed someone to bring home for Christmas and had also hoped the news of their ‘engagement’ might tempt an old flame.

Things haven’t quite gone according to plan. Now Charlie feels he has no choice but to ask Jacques to continue with the charade, even though his fake fiancé has a Valentine’s Day fashion show in Paris to prepare for. Jacques agrees to stay, but Charlie is now beginning to wonder if saving face is the only reason he’s so desperate to keep Jacques in Littleton.

Continue reading “New Release Blitz: Our Valentine’s by S.J. Coles” →

Shari Reviews Stuff: Soap Stone Figures

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Shari Reviews Stuff

Purchase: https://www.crystalshop.co.uk/ or https://www.etsy.com/uk

IMG_8621I was shopping in Chichester the other week and found these beautiful hand-carved soap stone figures in the local crystal shop! It was 3 for £12.50 so I had to pick some up! They are handmade in Peru and so detailed! Not to mention they are adorable!

I chose to get the cobra, scorpion and mouse. The cobra in honour of Khaled who is one of my favourite squishmallows. The scorpion as a nod to the Animal Crossing scorpion that always jumps out at me when I’m trying to catch moths, and the mouse because I love little rodents!

The lady in the shop said I need to be very careful as they will break easily so I have put them well away from a curious cat! These are really inexpensive and cute little figures. I am definitely going to collect more of them in the future!

Disclaimer: These are my own thoughts on the above product, and I have not been asked or paid by companies to provide a review.

 

 

Shari’s Life: Writing and Social Media

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Shari's Life

Rather than New Year’s resolutions that I always fail to keep, I set myself a couple of goals for this year. One is to finish and publish Demon’s Past. I feel that this is achievable as I am more than halfway through now. I started writing this novel at least two years ago now and have been reluctant to finish it as I felt when I started that it would be the last book featuring Taku and Thane. The two of them are characters that mean a lot to me and I didn’t want to ‘let them go’ as it were. However, I do feel that there is more scope to continue their story after Demon’s Past, but I will only publish further a continuation if I feel it is as good as the other books featuring them. The Demon’s Blood universe will certainly continue as I have more of Koji’s story to tell as well his relationship with Atsuo.

Another goal is to start Perfect World 4. I believe I can certainly do this too and I have the opening scene all planned out, I just need to put pen to paper as it were. I doubt a draft will be finalised this year, but a start will be something and I am very keen to do this.

My last goal is to maintain a consistent social media presence. I don’t know if anyone else finds this but for me social media is hard. A lot of it is to do with my social anxiety and I’ve never had any negative feedback to what I post, but it is still there. So for me this is out of my comfort zone, but something I am keen to do. I am taking this slowly and am sticking to Instagram mainly for the time being. It is the social media I enjoy the most as I get to show my creative side with designing my posts too. My Instagram page is here if you want to check it out or follow me on that. I am aiming to post a couple of times a week at the moment.

Have you set any goals for the year? If so, I would love to here what they are and how they are coming along!

Book Review: Shards of Hope (FISA Agents #1) by B.L. Jones

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Twenty years ago, an infamous scientist created Liquid Onyx, a world-changing chemical which led to the rise of superheroes and supervillains.

Jack Roth is not a superhero. He’s an assassin, a killer, a lethal weapon forged and controlled by the evil organisation Obsidian Inc.

Leo Snow isn’t a superhero either. He’s a British secret agent who spends his life protecting the world and saving everyone he can.

When these two men’s lives collide on the streets of Danger City just as Obsidian Inc is gearing up for another cataclysmic scientific discovery, they’ll both need to reckon with their dark past, messy present and potentially hopeful future.

Purchase Link: Amazon.com

Goodreads: Shards of Hope (FISA Agents #1) by B.L. Jones

Review

Rating: 4 stars

*I received this novel for free in exchange for an honest review*

I love a good superhero novel, and Shards of Hope did not disappoint. When trained killer and super-human Jack Roth is ‘rescued’ from Obsidian Inc by FISA Agent Leo Snow, he is less than thrilled by the new situation that he finds himself in. Rather than kill him, FISA offers Jack a chance at redemption and to join them as an agent. He reluctantly agrees and finds himself partnered with Leo. From the beginning they both recognise the chemistry between them, however they must navigate Jack’s traumatic past with Obsidian Inc and also the new threat that is looming on the horizon.

Shards of Hope switches between the viewpoints of Leo and Jack throughout. I liked this, as well as giving you an insight into what they are both thinking and feeling, the contrasting personalities really came across as a result. Leo is naturally upbeat and light-hearted whereas, unsurprisingly, Jack broods a lot and his mood is darker due to his trauma. Despite being opposites, they work well together and develop a naturally occurring bond. I often found myself chuckling at the banter between them.

The world in which the characters inhabit was explained between the two of them, again with their contrasting views adding an interesting perspective. I did however feel like perhaps too much information was given at times and feeding it in a bit more gradually would have made the story flow a bit better.

Overall, this is a great addition to the superhero genre and one that I very much enjoyed reading.

Shards of Hope ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger and I eagerly away the second novel in the series.

Shari’s Life: New Year Move Around

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Shari's Life

After a bit of a hectic December and New Year, it has taken me a few days to get back into the swing of things. I honestly think I need to book an extra week off after Christmas just to have time to sort out! Anyways, I do love a January clear out. I feel it sets the year off right and I have been going through my flat again and donating things I don’t need to charity and generally having a clear up.

One thing I want to do is move all the furniture around. I was looking around my lounge and I think I have found a better way to have everything so my sister and I are going to plan a day to move it all and see what it looks like. I have already moved my desk from my bedroom into my lounge. I found a space for it next to my display cabinet and it fits in so much better there! My room looks better having it moved too and I was also able to move my dresser and the squish collection so they are all in better places too!

I then had a quick move around in the kitchen. I moved Tash’s bowls to a new spot and it is so funny as at mealtimes she keeps rushing back to the old spot and looking confused! But to be fair, I have tried to put them down there a few times too!

New Release Blitz: As Long As Stars Are Above You by Shana Schwarz

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Title: As Long As Stars Are Above You

Author: Shana Schwarz

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: 12/27/2022

Heat Level: 2 – Fade to Black Sex

Pairing: Male/Female, Female/Female

Length: 58400

Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, Contemporary, romance, comedy, family-drama, bisexual, time travel, do-over, fortune teller, London, established couple, tearjerker

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Description

Joey had different dreams when she was in high school, but she thinks she’s built a perfect life. Then her marriage hits the rocks.

When she goes to her high school reunion, a chance encounter with a fortune teller sends Joey back twenty years and she has the chance to live out those teenage dreams.

Joey begins a whole new life with her band camp crush. But are there consequences to taking a different path, and are some things simply meant to be?

Continue reading “New Release Blitz: As Long As Stars Are Above You by Shana Schwarz” →