Month: February 2019

A MelanieM Review: Gage (Trenton Security #3) by J.M. Dabney

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

The forbidden is the sweetest lure.

Trenton Security’s Public Relations go-to was Hayden Gage. He loved his job, and it kept him distracted from the demons haunting his nightmares. His past wasn’t up for discussion, and Hayden wouldn’t allow it to intrude on his future. Yet, that was easier said than done when his best friend came to him desperate for help, and it put him right on the path to his one weakness.

Young didn’t equal lost.

Derrick Thorpe lived in the shadow of his father’s mistakes. Although he was adopted by Linus Trenton, he wanted to prove that he wasn’t like his biological father. When he was asked to go undercover to help at Trenton Security, it put him in close quarters with Gage. Being Gage’s was only an act, but when lines blur, what happens when the operation ends?

I know going in what to expect from one of these interconnected stories.  Damaged men who don’t think they deserve love, perhaps someone who already loves them, a case that needs to be investigated and many of our couples from the series and stories that orbit each other, serving as friends and extended families. Yet within this framework, J.M. Dabney brings new characters or rather familiar characters to the front for a closer examination and revelations.  We get to see where their damage came from, their past histories revealed, and who, most often, has drawn their attention and maybe even love.

The author also folds into their stories important current international elements such as child trafficking and slavery that makes our headlines daily and puts a face to the horror in Cameron in the daughter that is missing,   Through Alex we feel his pain, panic , and outright despair at ever finding her, if not alive, then whole.

While the investigation is frantically intensifying for Cameron (and the author horrifIcally details why the searchers have such a short frame of time to accomplish their goals), Gage and Derrick are working through a minefield of emotions themselves about each other.

There is enough material here for Gage to be twice as long.  I wanted more to be frank.  More of the high wire act that was the investigation and suspenseful search for Cameron.  That has me in knots every step of the way.  And then, almost as a second story, the romance and dynamics that was playing out between Gage and Derrick.  That involves all the voilence and extreme angst of Gage’s background which he hadn’t quite worked through and still required, as he acknowledged, the needs of a therapist, to help him.

In that respect this is very much a HFN, which realistically all you could expect.

There is Daddy kink, bdsm, D/s.  and for people with  triggers… beating, domestic violence, self harm such as cutting, and mention of suicide.

J.M. Dabney’s books, especially in these series are dark, gritty, and  not for the faint hearted.  I prefer them that way.  They are true to these wounded men and the situations around them.

I have listed all the connected series below.  It helps to obtain a sense of community and who all the people and couples are that are mentioned here or appear in the scenes.

I recommend them all.

Cover art by Reese Dante.  I love that cover by Reese Dante, That is my idea of Gage.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

184 pages
Published January 29th 2019 by Hostile Whispers Press, LLC
Edition Language English
Series Trenton Security #3

An Alisa Review: Omega Teacher’s Secret (Men of Meadowfall #5) by Anna Wineheart

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

Saddled with debt and a crippling self-esteem, Professor Ian McMillan has struggled for decades with his demons. But that isn’t his biggest secret–seven years ago, he spent his heat with an alpha he shouldn’t have… his student.

Nothing should’ve come out of it. Except Ian conceived, and his baby’s father… is also the department head’s son. Under the threat of losing his job, Ian made a choice: keep his child, and sever all contact with Brad.

With no inkling of the baby he left, Brad Saxon graduated from college and joined the Meadowfall fire department, making mistakes along the way. Lives have been lost at his hands, and the guilt he carries is suffocating. How can he protect an omega, when he’s failed others before?

But Brad can’t forget about the omega from years ago–Ian, with his soft smiles and yearning eyes. When Brad enrolls in a Master’s course hoping to see his professor again, he finds something he doesn’t expect: Ian’s in heat. This time, there’s a child with him… a little girl with Brad’s eyes.

When Brad reaches out and Ian conceives again, the embers between them kindle back to life. Brad makes the decision to stay. As the sparks between them grow, will Ian and Brad heal each other, or will their pasts come to tear them apart?

This was another great book in this series.  Ian has been running himself ragged keeping up with his job and taking care of his daughter and her health problems.  Brad has never moved on from the one older Omega from years earlier and when he finds him again he finds even more reasons to stay.

Both of these guys have crappy family lives.  Brad’s dad is a jerk and is the one who kept these two apart and pushes them apart again.  Ian’s mom essentially hated him while doting on his brothers, I just has trouble understanding how they and his dad allowed him to be treated that way though it doesn’t seem he has any relationship with any of them.

I felt for both of them and neither seemed to really have any support, a friend or two but nothing to keep them going.  I loved Gwen and how dedicated they are to her.  I loved watching Brad work hard to show Ian how wonderful he is.

I love the cover art, how well it works for the story and the visuals of the characters.

Sales Links: Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 402 pages

Publication: October 30, 2018

Edition Language: English

Series: Men of Meadowfall #5

A Jeri Review: Rewind by Rowan Shaw

Rating: 3 Stars out of 5

I am always drawn to stories with a hearing impaired character. Although Enzo is deaf, he does have a cochlear implant- but he doesn’t wear that all of the time. And from the perspective of another hearing impaired person, a lot of it was spot on. But not all.
Enzo and Florian were boyfriends in high school until a hate crime led to Enzo losing his hearing and Florian losing his home when his parents found out he was dating a boy. By chance they meet again about 8 years later and are immediately drawn together.
I really liked a lot of this story, but while some things were lacking, others were really overdone. There were a lot of different things that the author was trying to make a point on. Being deaf, French sign language, being bisexual, being thrown out for being gay, hate crimes committed against them, etc, etc. There would have been more impact if only 2 or 3 of those were highlighted and explored more.
Enzo also went from hearing to deaf as an 18 year old. That is seriously traumatic and he acts like it is no big deal. He never laments what he has lost and how much has changed. He just shrugs it off. Lots of people talking at once and he can’t understand them. Oh well, he will just sit quietly. No, sorry. You’ll be upset that you can’t communicate, but you also don’t want to make a big deal of it.
I did enjoy the love story between Enzo and Florian. It was really sweet and loving and just so obvious how much they loved each other. How broken they both were by their “break up” which really wasn’t even their fault.
There were also some unanswered questions. And while one of those will be answered in the next book, there are at least 2 big ones that iare central to Enzo and Florian each that I don’t see getting answered in the next since they aren’t the main characters.
Generic cover. Would have been nice to see the model wearing a cochlear implant or have a scar on his face.
Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, First, 350 pages
Expected publication: March 2019
Original Title Rewind
Edition Language English

Andrew Demcak on Writing, Characters, and his new release Darkfeather (The Elusive Spark #3) by Andrew Demcak (guest blog)

Darkfeather (The Elusive Spark #3) by Andrew Demcak

Harmony Ink Press
Cover Artist: Kanaxa
Sales Links:  Harmony Ink Press | Amazon

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Andrew Demcak here today talking about his latest novel Darkfeather.  Welcome, Andrew.

✒︎

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Interview  with Andrew Demcak, Darkfeather (Harmony Ink Press, 2019.)

Q: If you write contemporary romance, is there such a thing as making a main character too “real”?  Do you think you can bring too many faults into a character that eventually it becomes too flawed to become a love interest?

A: I write GLBTQ YA paranormal and sci-fi, but romance always creeps in. Darkfeather has my most romantic storylines yet. My longest standing couple, James and Paul, are going to break up when James meets someone new, someone really different, someone who stepped right from the pages of Abominable Snowman Casebook. Kiera and Lumen are going to add a third person to their relationship and become a throuple. My gay aliens, EBE and UBE, were reunited in the previous volume of this series (The Elusive Spark), Alpha Wave, and it felt so good. I like bringing reality to these very fanciful characters, it helps make them believable. I don’t think a character could be so flawed as to be unlovable. That’s what make characters interesting, their flaws. It makes them more like us.

What traits do you find the most interesting in someone? Do you write them into your characters?

I love loyalty, even blind loyalty. I also love bumblers. I think it’s really sweet to see a bumbler finally do it right and get his guy.  That’s what I did in Darkfeather with my yeti prince, Falling Star.

Have you ever put a story away, thinking it just didn’t work?  Then years/months/whatever later inspiration struck and you loved it?  Is there a title we would recognize if that happened?

Yes – I wrote the beginning of my novel If There’s a Heaven Above (JMS Books) back in 1987, but didn’t look at it again until 2007. It’s a story about my 20-something years in the Los Angeles club/music scene. When I discovered the writing again, I was completely transported to that place and time. I had to write the story and I did.

What’s  the wildest scene you’ve imagined and did it make it into a story?

I wanted James and Falling Star’s first kiss to be special. It happens in a lake when they are chasing each other underwater. I think I’m the first person to write an underwater yeti kiss, but I hope I’m not the last.

With so much going on in the world today, do you write to explain?  To get away?  To move past?  To widen our knowledge?  Why do you write?

I write because none of these GLBTQ YA characters or stories existed when I was a teenager in the 1980s. I would have loved to have read them. I’m writing to my 17-year-old self, filling in the emotional blanks, and making up for all that lost time.

Blurb:
James, Keira, Lumen, and Paul—teens with special abilities granted by their alien DNA—bonded over hardship, becoming friends and sometimes more. But now they’re held in Fort Bragg and subjected to painful tests by the evil Dr. Albion, and those ties are coming loose just when they need them the most. Budding romances and family relationships are tested as each teen struggles to choose where to stand and who can be trusted. Reunions with lost family members and the possibility of love with new allies strain already tense relationships, and not every heart will survive unscathed. But the Star Children are the only ones who can command an alien spaceship needed to intercept the Nibiru object—an unidentified celestial mass plummeting toward the planet. If they can’t work together, an unimaginable catastrophe will strike the earth, and they’re the only ones who can stop it.

About the Author

 Andrew Demcak is an American poet and novelist, the author of five poetry collections and six Young Adult novels. His books have been featured by The American Library Association, Verse Daily, The Lambda Literary Foundation, The Best American Poetry, and Poets and Writers. He was a *FINALIST* for the prestigious Dorset Poetry Prize, the Gloria E. Anzaldúa Poetry Prize,  The Crazyhorse Poetry Award, and the Louise Bogan Award for Artistic Merit and Excellence in Poetry.

He has a new collection of flash fiction/prose poems coming out from Nomadic Press in 2019 titled Cryptopedia. His newest YA/Teen GLBTQ2-S novel is Darkfeather, The Elusive Spark series, Book 3, (Harmony Ink Press, 2019).  He recently released two other YA/Teen GLBTQ2-S novels, How Do You Deal with a Dead Girl? (Big 23 Press, 2018) which Kirkus Reviews called “An eerily amusing horror tale that will have readers rooting for the characters,” and Alpha Wave, The Elusive Spark series, Book 2, (Harmony Ink Press, 2018). About his Teen GLBTQ Sci-Fi Coming-Out novel, A Little Bit Langston, The Elusive Spark series, Book 1,  Kirkus Reviews raved “This book really … takes its place in the marginalized-will-lead-us genre, as popularized by The Matrix and the X-Men franchises.” His first Young Adult (YA) novel, Ghost Songs, was published March 13, 2014. His first literary novel, If There’s A Heaven Above, was published January 5, 2013 by JMS Books, and was nominated by The American Library Association as an “Outstanding” novel for older Teens (17+). His first play, The Inevitable Crunch Factor, won the Cal Arts’ New Playwrights Series and was cast and produced in a multi-week run. His fourth book of poetry, Night Chant, was published by Lethe Press. His other poetry books are: A Single Hurt Color, GOSS 183::Casa Menendez Press, 2010, Zero Summer, BlazeVOX [Books], NY, 2009 and his first poetry book, Catching Tigers in Red Weather, three candles press, 2007, which was selected by Joan Larkin to win the Three Candles Press Open Book Award.

To reach Andrew:

Author website:  www.andrewdemcak.org
Social media: Twitter: @andrewdemcak,
Facebook: Andrew Demcak, Vero: Andrew D

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: His First Family by Victoria Sue

Rating 5 stars out of 5

Lorne Austen was relieved of his duties as omega and nanny on the day the alpha’s youngest children, twins, turned 15. He wasn’t even allowed to say goodbye—just booted out and sent on his way with his meager belongings. An omega’s life isn’t wonderful in this world and Lorne, though a sweetheart, is now 32 and past his prime, so his only hope is to find another job and make it on his own. Caught in a snowstorm, he’s found by Johnathan Owens, a doctor who is on personal leave after breaking off with his fiancé and taking care of his grandmother.

The two ride out the storm in each other’s arms in bed, but Lorne disappears the next morning. His reasoning is that Johnathan is too sweet and he doesn’t want to possibly become attached. Imagine his surprise when six months later, he arrives at a medical clinic seeking nutrients to help him survive his unexpected pregnancy and he finds Dr. Owens—the father of his babies.

The story of their relationship is somewhat complex, with the monkey wrench primarily thrown at Lorne by Johnathan’s ex-fiancé who is also a doctor. Unmated omegas aren’t allowed to keep their babies in this world and though it seems a simple solution, Johnathan hesitates to contract with Lorne—for other reasons, but of course, Lorne misunderstands. There’s lots of angst here. But there’s more complexity, as well, as the author builds the world of these alphas and omegas—not shifters. It’s the same world as the story of His First Christmas, another warm and fuzzy feelings book I enjoyed by this author.

I needed this story today! It gave me the perfect escape when I decided to focus on something pleasant. The author always grabs me by the feels early in a story and develops characters I can love. I know there are a number of readers who don’t care for mpreg stories but this one was more about the worry a couple faces when it looks like their baby (or babies in this case) may not make it through pregnancy, and the fear faced after the birth when the premie is struggling for survival in the neonatal unit.

Eventually the five of them become a family but it sure is an angsty push and pull along the way. I definitely recommend it to lovers of MM romance with memorable characters.

Cover by Jay Aheer features two men about to kiss and in the lower part of the panel, three babies sitting with backs to the camera represent the babies in this story. The cover and blurb sold me on starting this story, and the author made it very satisfying.

Sales Link:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 167 pages
Published January 21st 2019
ASINB07N16H845

BOOK BLAST for The Selkie Prince’s Forbidden Mate (The Royal Alphas # 4) by J.J. Masters (excerpt)

BOOK BLAST

Book Title: The Selkie Prince’s Forbidden Mate

Series: The Royal Alphas, Book 4

Author: J.J. Masters

Publisher: Self-Published

Cover Artist: Megan Parker of EmCat Designs

Genre/s: Contemporary Romance (PNR/Gay/mpreg)

Length: 60,400 words / 236 pages

A standalone book within a series

Add on Goodreads   

 

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US   

Amazon UK

 

Blurb

Secrets, lies and a forbidden bond that could change the fate of a kingdom.

Marlin, Selkie prince and fourth alpha-born son of the King of the North, desires someone he shouldn’t. While taking a human lover is not quite forbidden, the one who caught his eye happens to be his brother’s scorned former lover. Nevertheless, every time Marlin’s around the man, he finds Nic hard to resist, even though his attitude can be frustrating. However, Marlin likes a challenge, and Nic’s a challenge he’s willing to tackle.

Nic has been bitter ever since the firstborn prince, Kai, broke off their affair abruptly years ago. To become involved with Kai’s younger brother could be just as heartbreaking because Marlin, like Kai, is obligated to find his fated mate and produce heirs. Something Nic can’t do. However, neither can fight their mutual attraction.

When a traitor escapes, Marlin’s skin is stolen, and danger ensues, it’s Nic who becomes the prince’s hero. And it’s at that very moment that Marlin can’t deny their fate, whether it’s forbidden or not.

Note: A 60k-plus word m/m shifter mpreg story, this is the fourth book in the Royal Alpha series. Due to the “knotty” times in this book, it is recommended for mature readers only. While it can be read as a standalone, it’s recommended to read the series in order. And, like all of my books, it has an HEA.

 

 

Excerpt

Marlin, Selkie prince and fourth alpha-born son of King Solomon, and, not to mention, complete utter fool, stood staring up at the little cabin in the woods.

He closed his eyes for a moment and inhaled the aroma of the forest surrounding him. That didn’t slow the runaway train that was his heartbeat.

Nor did it help his cock that flexed in his pants at the anticipation of doing something so wrong, but also so… desired.

It wasn’t necessarily wrong for a Selkie to find pleasure with a human… as long as that human was willing. But what made this feel iniquitous was that the man who lived in that little cabin in the woods was the former lover of his oldest brother, Kai.

His heartbeat went from racing to thumping loudly in his ears as the front screen door opened and the subject of his recent inappropriate dreams stood staring back at him while leaning against the door frame.

Dominic. Nic for short.

He was long and lean, his body built like a normal human. His shoulders were broad, his hips narrow. Even from where Marlin stood, he could see Nic’s dark hair appeared to be a ruffled mess, which made him even more attractive.

Maybe Marlin had disturbed the man’s afternoon nap.

“You just going to stand there? Like a stalker?”

His voice was deep, smooth, and all that delicious goodness swirled around Marlin, pulling him forward like he was a marlin being reeled in on a fisherman’s line. He wanted to fight it, but he couldn’t.

He couldn’t because he was exhausted from doing just that… resisting his desires. There was something about Nic…

Maybe it was his expressive brown eyes, and his attitude. Strong-willed, sometimes crass, but definitely sensual at other times.

Like that little bit of time Marlin spent with him the last time he was here. When his brother Zale was searching for his omega, when Nic had hid Finn in his home. While Zale was sneaking around inside the cabin searching for his mate, Marlin had kept the human occupied.

And it was then that he knew he was doomed. Knew he’d eventually show back up on the man’s doorstep no matter how many times he told himself it was wrong.

Plenty of other humans or betas were willing to take care of Marlin’s needs. But he didn’t want any of them.

He wanted Nic.

Even if it was just once. Just a simple taste. Maybe them spending a night together would exorcise the man from his system.

For the last few weeks, he couldn’t sleep through the night. No, he’d wake up in a sweat after dreaming about taking Nic, pleasuring him, making him come, then giving the human his knot.

Which never should happen.

Human males weren’t physically built to take Selkie knots. Not like an omega.

So, giving Nic his knot would only ever remain a fantasy. One that—when Marlin would wake up with a raging erection—would fuel his own release so he could go back to sleep.

But now it was happening every night. And, even worse, during the daylight hours thoughts of Nic would drift through his mind.

These thoughts of the male, the one standing on his porch and watching him intently, were interrupting his life and Marlin needed to get them to stop. Out of his brothers, he was the next prince in line to find his omega. His fated mate. Though he was in no rush, he knew the Presentation Ceremonies might begin at any time. Or at least as soon as the Selkie Seekers could find six appropriate omegas to present to him. So, he needed to concentrate on doing his duty and finding the right mate to produce pups, he should not give in to his base desires.

While Nic could never be Marlin’s mate, nor become pregnant with his heirs, he could be simply a temporary detour.

And the man did seem to show some interest the last time they were face to face.

“Marlin,” Nic called from the porch. “Why are you here? Is something wrong? Did you royals lose another omega?”

 

About the Author 

J.J. Masters is the alter-ego of a USA Today bestselling author who writes hot, gay romance filled with heart, humor and heat. J.J. became fascinated with mpreg romance as soon as she figured out what mpreg stood for. She loves to write about “knotty” men!

You can join JJ’s FB Group here: https://www.facebook.com/JJMastersAuthor/  or her newsletter here: https://bit.ly/2E2zcaB to keep up with exclusive content and news.

 

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A Free Dreamer Review: The Witchin’ Canoe by Mel Bossa

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Though his mother named him after a priest, there’s nothing saintly about McGauran O’Dowd. He needs to escape the slums before he’s forced into marrying his friend’s sister and revealing the sin he’s managed to hide so far.

When McGauran gets hired as a logger by ruthless business man Gédéon Latendresse, people warn him –the Latendresse family is cursed. Twenty years ago, Gédéon rode the witchin’ canoe from the camps to the city to stop his brother’s wedding. But that night, Gédéon broke one of the Chasse Galerie rules, and now the Devil’s come for his due.

And that due, McGauran soon finds out, is Gédéon’s sheltered young nephew Honoré, the most enchanting man McGauran’s ever met. The lover he’s been praying for.

Cursed, Honoré is slipping into madness and threatened to be interned. When the winter comes, McGauran is stuck at the shanties, helpless to save Honoré from his tragic fate. He’ll do anything to save the man he loves, even bargain with the Devil himself.

The Witchin’ Canoe is a very unusual setting and definitely nothing like any other book I’ve read before.

First of all, I have no idea how historically accurate this book is. I literally know nothing about Canada during this period in history. But it all seemed realistic, for what that’s worth.

This book is about two very different people falling in love with each other. There’s Honoré, he’s rich, but lonely and possibly cursed or mentally ill or maybe he just doesn’t fit society’s expectations. He’s an intriguing young man and I liked him from the very start. Then there’s McGauran, who lives in the slums in desperate poverty. He’s lonely too, even though he has friends and a woman he’s expected to marry soon. He was also extremely likable. There are many minor characters showing up throughout the book, but no matter how short or unimportant their appearance, they all got a unique personality with actual depth. Not all of them were likable, but that made the cast all the more interesting.

The poverty surrounding Mac was extremely well described. I could literally taste Mac’s desperation to somehow change his depressing surroundings. But with a sickly mother and no education to speak of, that’s not exactly easy.

Likewise, the house Honoré lives in was easy to imagine. It was all very mysterious and also a little bit creepy at times. Just enough to give you a little thrill.

The whole story had a gothic, mysterious feel to it that was very addicting and made it very hard to put down the book.

There were only two things that bothered me. First, there’s the romance part of the story. While the relationship itself takes a while to develop, it’s essentially love at first sight for both of them. They barely even talk to each other during their first meeting and still they’re in love. There’s a huge societal gulf between these two and they seemingly had no trouble whatsoever to cross that, which seemed a bit idealistic to me. Then there was Mac’s mother. She can’t support herself and yet Mac plans to run off to the wild all on his own, seemingly without a care what that would mean for his mother. He’s such a responsible young man otherwise, so it just felt very much out of character for him.

“The Witchin’ Canoe” is very high quality fiction, with a subtle creepiness. Some very mysterious things are going on here and it’s sometimes hard to tell reality from imagination. I enjoyed this book very much and look forward to more fascinating books by this author.

The cover has all the important elements of the story and yet it still doesn’t quite do it justice. It just doesn’t look mysterious enough to me.

Sales  Links:  JMS Books LLC  | Amazon

Book details:

ebook
Published January 5th 2019 by JMS Books
ISBN 139781634867894
Edition Language English