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Much of Madness (The Conexus Chronicles Book 1) Kindle Edition

by S. E. Summa (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 24 ratings
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Seraphina Pearce doesn't know what's more frustrating: her magic's affinity for death, her best friend's transformation into an albino Sin Eater, or that simply touching a guy she loves means someone's headed to the morgue.

After a sin-eating job goes awry, she casts a risky spell and butts heads with a handsome stranger in order to win an infamous grimoire.

Marceau L'Argent is the last person she should confide in because the occult cat burglar has a mysterious past, and he's made it no secret he also wants the grimoire. He recognizes her dark magic and offers his unique help as a rare curse breaker. If all that weren't enough, Marceau causes butterflies in her stomach--a feeling she'd long thought dead.

Seraphina was only trying to break her curse--not piss off Death himself.

MUCH OF MADNESS is a Southern Gothic Paranormal story about loyalty, sacrifice, and maintaining hope no matter the odds.
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  1. Print length
    277 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    February 29, 2016
  5. File size
    511 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

S. E. Summa lives in Tennessee with her husband and a menagerie of spoiled pets.  Growing up in Nashville, she always felt the city's unique culture and landmarks would be the perfect setting for monsters to play. 

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01B73JXEC
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Inkmancy Press (February 29, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 29, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 511 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 277 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 24 ratings

About the author

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S. E. Summa

S. E. Summa

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Nocturnal author, designer, lover of all things strange and unusual, and proud winner of the “Most Enthusiastic” superlative in the sixth grade.

S. E. Summa lives in Middle Tennessee with her husband and a menagerie of spoiled pets. Growing up in Nashville, she always felt the city’s unique culture and landmarks would be the perfect setting for monsters to play.

Her Southern Paranormal novel, Much of Madness, has over 40 reviews and a 4+ star rating.

S.E. is a PRO member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) and a member of her local chapter, the Music City Romance Writers (MCRW). She graduated magna cum laude from Belmont University.

S. E. started The Debut Collective-a group of writers, editors, and graphic artists- which published a series of five anthologies with seventy-five stories in 2016.

Published titles:

Much of Madness

Anthologies:

Carnivale Mystique

Debut Collective:

• Acts of Bravery

• Underdogs

• Hostile Takeover

• Secret Identity

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2rzIO9q

Facebook: /www.facebook.com/sesumma

Instagram, Pinterest, & Twitter: @sesumma

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
24 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

tpolen
5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging Characters, Surprising Twists
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2016
Verified Purchase
First, I have to comment on this beautiful cover - so eye-catching and perfect for the story within. Second - I'm such a sucker for a Southern Gothic horror story - and this one introduced me to supernatural characters I've never read about.

A sin eater, spell caster, curse breaker and djinn - as far as supernatural stories go, all of these were new to me, so I enjoyed learning about each of them. And Death as a character? The only time I'd seen that was when Death played games with Bill and Ted during their bogus journey; however, Death in this novel definitely isn't the type to play Twister. The characters are so easy to like and it's nice to see a loving, platonic friendship between a man and woman that doesn't evolve into a romance. I especially enjoyed Marceau - I like the way his mind works, his understated sense of humor, and how he keeps his cards close, only revealing them when necessary. His gentlemanly ways are a throwback to another era. There are some unforeseen events in the plot and an ending I never saw coming.

The only negatives I encountered were some missing words and misplaced commas overlooked in final editing, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of this novel.

If you're a fan of books with engaging, supernatural characters, magic and curses, strong friendships, surprising twists and a touch of the macabre, this is your book.
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Solynn
3.0 out of 5 stars I wish Amazon did 1/2 stars because I would've given this book 2 1/2 stars.
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2016
Verified Purchase
I'm going to start with what I liked, because what I liked was enough to make me read to the end of the book, and that's good enough for 3 stars, in my opinion.

Pros:
• Loved the theme of the book! Give me magic, supernaturals, and death and I'm hooked.
• Love the powers that the different characters have in the book. Each was unique and interesting, and kept me wanting to know more about how they work, how the whole system works.
• I cared about the characters, which is what kept me reading to the end.
• The set-up was interesting. The author kept giving little nuggets of information as far as hexes, powers, deals made, scheming, etc… This created tension, the good kind.

Okay, on to what I didn’t like.

Cons:
• My biggest problem with the book was the writing.
1. Transitions were jarring, which means something would happen out of the blue with no warning to the reader. This pulled me out of enjoying the story A LOT.
2. The character’s voice, and the author’s voice, was too formal for me. Granted, one of the characters was raised by an aristocrat. Still, it felt disjointed and choppy.
3. The dialogue felt forced, stilted, and unnatural. I found myself rolling my eyes at the way information was conveyed through dialogue. I just can’t imagine these characters actually talking like that.
4. There was TONS of telling, instead of showing. When you tell me a character is sly, upset, happy, etc… it puts a barrier between me and experiencing the characters experiencing their lives. And the emotions feel crammed down my throat instead of natural.
• Characters were introduced and taken away without explanation. It was several chapters into the book before we discover Seraphina has a ghost companion, yet with the setting in the beginning, this should’ve come up way before we meet him. Rolf’s introduction and subsequent exit from the story felt like a contrived way to force the plot to move a certain direction. Also, Vespa feels the same way. She comes and goes. We never really get to know anything about her, and she serves no real purpose to the story. Honestly, she is a character that could be removed and the story would be better for it.
• The ending bugged me. The set up (without spoiling it too much) is a power struggle between two characters with a long history. Both have magic powers beyond imagining. But with a single promise and the flick of her wrist, the character that’s been terrorizing everyone this whole book, is promptly dealt with. I wanted to see a fight. Something. Anything to make me believe the set-up was real. I don’t want a clean wrap-up to the story. I wanted the end to be messy. I wanted the characters to deal with the consequences of the choices they made. They don’t. Not really.
• Finally, the romance between Seraphina and Marceau felt stiff at best. I get that they fell in love, and that needed to happen for the entire book to happen. BUT, because of the writing style feeling dry, as a reader I didn’t get to experience them falling for one another. Sure, I saw it a mile away, but I never felt it, felt what it was like for each of the characters. I didn’t experience their struggle and why they believed they couldn’t be together through their eyes. Yes, things were explained by the author. Yes, I know what their conflict was in falling in love. BUT, I didn’t feel anything for them, so them getting together at the end was expected but it was kind of like…meh.

Basically, the take away is this: read the book for the magic and the interesting characters, but be prepared to overlook the disjointed, clunky writing style of the author.

I sincerely hope these kinks are worked out for books 2 and 3, because despite my criticisms, I care about these characters and I want to see what happens to them.
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Camano Island mom
4.0 out of 5 stars ... often read horror but Much of Madness came highly recommended so I decided to give it a shot
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2016
Verified Purchase
I don't often read horror but Much of Madness came highly recommended so I decided to give it a shot. I love the characters that Summa has introduced. Each has their own quirks and their own motivations. I also love that Summa has given us characters that care about each other without falling in love or setting up a love-triangle. There's romance and loyalty and second chances and even bravery. I would have given the book a 5 except for some clunky editing that took me out of the story at times. Looking forward to book 2.
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Travis Allen
5.0 out of 5 stars "..some kind of madness has started to evolve"
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2016
Verified Purchase
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The author did an excellent job of introducing an alternate reality full of supernatural characters and events without spoon feeding the information. You are given enough to follow the story, but left with questions that keep you turning the pages. I am intrigued by the plot, and eagerly await the next installment.

The characters are unique and interesting, I personally enjoyed reading Finn and Maximilian the most. The settings are very vivid and described in excellent detail without bogging down in minutia. I found it quite easy to visualize each scene and become immersed in the action. The plot was paced well with some wonderful twists and turns along the way. I finished this book about 36 hours after I started it because I had to know where the story was going, and I was not disappointed at the end.

I jumped into this story blind and really enjoyed unraveling the story. I have kept this review on the vague side to preserve that experience for future readers. If you enjoy supernatural/horror/mystery/romance stories I would definitely give this one a shot.
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Jackie Bach
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2016
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I absolutely loved this book!! I've been to Nashville and you described it perfectly. The story itself was awesome and very unique. I can't wait for book two!
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