Category: 5 star Rating

The Sidewinders are Back with Part & Parcel by Abigail Roux (Riptide Tour/contest)

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Part & Parcel (Sidewinder #3)  by Abigail Roux
Published by Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist L.C. Chase

Release Date:  December 19, 2015
Buy the book here at Riptide’s Part & Parcel page

About Part & Parcel

Nick O’Flaherty and Kelly Abbott had their happy ending in sight when a friend’s call for help almost ended with them losing it to the blade of a knife. Now, in the aftermath of near-disaster, both men are trying to heal and move on.

Moving on together, though, is harder than either of them realized it would be. Kelly struggles with simply being a lover instead of the Doc, while Nick is mired in his recovery. The distance between them inches along in stilted silence.

Desperately seeking solace, Nick finally gathers the courage to sort through the possessions his dear friend and fellow Sidewinder teammate Elias Sanchez left him when he died. Instead of comforting memories, Nick and Kelly find a stack of letters and strict instructions from Eli that prompt them to send out a call for assistance. With Eli’s letters in hand, Sidewinder sets out on one last mission together, seeking peace and absolution from beyond the grave—and from each other.

About Abigail Roux

Abigail Roux was born and raised in North Carolina. A past volleyball star who specializes in sarcasm and painful historical accuracy, she currently spends her time coaching high school volleyball and investigating the mysteries of single motherhood. Any spare time is spent living and dying with every Atlanta Braves and Carolina Panthers game of the year.

Abigail has a daughter, Little Roux, who is the light of her life, a boxer, four rescued cats who play an ongoing live-action variation of Call of Duty throughout the house, a certifiable extended family down the road, and a cast of thousands in her head.

Connect with Abi:

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Part & Parcel, we are selecting TWO giveaway winners! One will receive the last four Cut & Run books in audio, and the other will receive the full Sidewinder series in audio. Your first comment at each stop on this tour enters you in the drawing. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 26, 2015. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. Entries.  HYPERLINK Follow the tour for more opportunities to enter the giveaway, and don’t forget to leave your email or method of contact so Riptide can reach you if you win!

Sidewinder

This series is part of the Cut & Run universe.

– See more at: Riptide Publishing’s Sidewinder page.

A BJ Review: Turbulence (Turbulence #1) by Lyn Gala

Rating:  5 stars out of 5                 ★★★★★

TurbulenceCorporal Jacqs Glebov is a simple soldier who wants a bunk, decent food and the company of other battle-hardened men and women who understand the realities of fighting. Instead he’s stuck patrolling a remote corner of the border with cadets straight out of boot camp. They don’t understand him, and he sure doesn’t have an ounce of respect for them.

After a field promotion, Earth sends Commander Zeke Waters to the Candiru for some practical experience in a leadership role. Instead, Zeke falls in lust with the adamantly heterosexual Jacqs. The way Jacqs fights and the way he sees the world draws Zeke closer, even if common sense tells him to walk away.

Even if they can find a way to reconcile their sexual differences, they are both still soldiers. The war will eventually take them away from each other unless they can find a way to escape the rules that have defined their lives.

Let me begin by saying that while I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by this author, no matter the genre, sci-fi is a lifetime addiction of mine and Lyn Gala’s sci-fi has become my new addiction.

Excellent world-building, perfect pacing, all around well-written. This story has it all: spaceships, action, political maneuverings, blazing hot sexy times in just the right proportion to story, AND a society in which one declares their sexuality publicly on their records (but can also change it at any time) and no one looks down on them for it (um… well, unless they are dyssexual).

But it was the characters that truly captivated me. And not only the main characters, but ALL of them were amazingly well-drawn, nuanced, and varied. We get a few strong kick-ass females, a few brainy, brave but fragile females; some wimpy milksops of both sexes, an alcoholic captain who still manages to pull his head out when needed, a hot, smart, skilled long-haired guy with a background as a pirate background (who shows up again in book two, yeehaw!), and I still haven’t gotten to talking about the awesome main characters yet!

Jacqs Glebov doesn’t think of himself as smart, but he has a simple, straight forward way of seeing things, a natural common sense, and top notch skills at his job. He was such an amazing character. None of the usual angst when he figures out after meeting Zeke, the new commander that he’s not heterosexual after all. Not entirely. I’d actually never heard of stenosexual, but it totally makes sense! I love that more than I can say. As someone who has always been attracted to people, not their gender, that makes total sense to me. I don’t understand why its so hard for folks to get that bi/pan does not mean we are sluts or we want both or we are just not ready to come out, etc. Can’t folks just understand that the equipment someone has isn’t what matters for some of us, but rather personality and/or many other attributes. I’ve had a hard time with the way many m/m books that portray bisexual/pansexual characters… so this book was like a breath of fresh air for me. I completely and totally adore Jacqs.

Not to say that I don’t also admire Zeke, the new commander. He’s a smart alpha male, an officer/leader who doesn’t let rank/authority go to his head. He’s handsome and competent, but he’s accessible, level headed, and not full of himself. He listens to his men rather than putting on airs. And he is pansexual. Double score!

This book was perfect for me, and I rarely re-read books, but I might just make an exception for this one. Oh, and one more thing this story has done to me. It’s rather made me eager to do something I haven’t done much at all over the last several years…read a M/F romance! Gasp! Because the M/F book two of this series is calling my name, folks!

The cover is hot and screams sci-fi, which I love.


Book Details:  343 pages

Published October 22nd 2013 by Loose Id

A MelanieM Audiobook Review: Hell For The Company (Brimstone #1) by Angel Martinez, Narrator: Vance Bastian

Rating: 4.75 rounded up to 5 stars out of 5

Banner300x250Demons and Angels have been among us for thousands of years, in many cultures and in many forms. What happens when you set the Mischief Corner authors loose on the vague prompt “Write a story about angels or demons?” The poor unsuspecting world is about to find out.

From Angel Martinez – Hell For The Company: Brimstone #1

Shax, the Demon Prince of Thieves, has reconciled himself to exile. He has a grand time careening around the galaxy as a high-end, intergalactic purloiner of pretties. Everything’s going just fine, thank you very much. All right, fine, the anti-gravity cows are a bit problematic and some of his buyers are bad for his health, but he manages until he comes across an injured angel in a psychedelic alien jungle.

He only rescues the wing boy for his golden feathers, but what Shax doesn’t know about angels could fill an intergalactic encyclopedia.

Hell For The Company (Brimstone #1) by Angel Martinez as narrated by Vance Bastian was my very first audiobook.  I normally take one look at the running length on an audiobook, think about all the things I have to do, and move along.  But Hell for the Company was different.  At a play time of 2 hours, 2 minutes, I thought that’s doable, given my schedule, even during the holidays.  Another absolute plus?  I had already read the story, loved the series, so I thought I was prepared for what I would find in a narrated version.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

This was so much better. Boy, am I going to have to rethink my entire approach about audio books.  This version, listening to Vance Bastian’s narration made me see (hear) the story in an entirely new light. I enjoyed it even more, laughed at places I didn’t even remember reading the first time around.  And even when I knew the dramatic scenes were coming, the sniffles still flowed.

Vance’s voice went from melodic for the wonderful drag queen IA. Ivana, to gruff and surly for the demon Verin, the later posing my first and only stumbling block for audiobooks.  It wasn’t the way I imagined Verin sounded, I expected more hell fire I suppose.  Its the same issue you might have with characters going from book to the screen, we imagine them a certain way, not the way they appear on the movie screen. So I had to expand my versions into the verbalized ones here.  Once done,  there were no limits to my enjoyments of the narration and the enthusiasm that Vance Bastian employed in his reading of Angel Martinez’ story.

The time went by so quickly.  Floating cows please come back.  Ness, I adore you. Oh, Shax, you demon you, I can never get enough of you! Much more so this time around.  Angel and Vance, you have me convinced.  Yes, it looks like audiobooks are the thing for me.  There will be more in the future.  And it all started with the marvelous Hell For The Company (Brimstone #1) by Angel Martinez and the wonderful narration by Vance Bastian.

I love this series.  Shax, the Brimstone crew and all its misadventures and now I get to look forward to listening to them as well.  Are you a lover of the supernatural? A reader of science fiction?  And romance too?  How about a combination of all three?  Here is a story and series you can’t pass up and a lively narrator that makes the words shout, laugh, giggle and snort.  Such two joyful hours I never imagined.

Are you a audiobook virgin too?  Make this your first and see what an adventure lies before you!

Cover Artist: Freddie MacKay did a terrific job on the cover.  Love the floating cows.

Sales Links: iTunes  | Amazon | Audible

Book Details:

Audible Audio, Play Time: 2 hours, 2 minutes
Published November 17th 2015 by
Mischief Corner Books (first published December 31st 2013)
ASINB017Y2HI1K
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesBrimstone #1

 

A Review Redux: A MelanieM Review: With This Bling (Romano and Albright, #3) by L.B. Gregg

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars ★★★★★

With This Bling coverCaesar Romano’s catering career is doing better than he’d ever dreamed. And so is his love life—even if his boyfriend’s house in Staten Island is way too far from civilization for his liking. But then in short order, Caesar is duped into helping his cousin propose, is tricked by his best friend and business partner into appearing on live television, and is harassed by a thug-like personal trainer and his far too beautiful wife. In fact, Caesar is almost too busy to notice that something is troubling his PI boyfriend, Dan Albright.

Almost.

Laid-back, open, charming—that’s the impression hunky former NYPD Detective Dan Albright gives everyone. Caesar can add sexually adventurous and a bit of an exhibitionist. But he also knows that Dan is hiding something—something dark and a little dangerous—and when Dan’s silence over his mysterious past threatens to harm them both, it’s Caesar’s turn to save the day.

But then again, a break-in, a gallery party, an heirloom ring, a new suit, and a stalker with bad BO are all just a typical week for Caesar Romano.

In 2010, L. B. Gregg released a story, Catch Me If You Can (Romano and Albright, #1) which introduced me and so many other readers to Caesar Romano and P.I. Dan Albright.  And I fell in love.  The second novel, also 2010, saw that love affair deepen and become an addiction.

Then the stories stopped.

But I was hopeful.  And patient.  Now I’ve finally been rewarded along with all the other fans of this author and amazing series.  Romano and Albright are back and better than ever!

We dive right back into confirmed city dweller Caesar’s life.  He’s out on Staten Island, staying in boyfriend Dan’s house.

“Sunshine poured into the kitchen, warming a row of spiny potted herbs on the windowsill. Outside, the neat suburban backyard burst with green shrubbery and midsummer flowers. A plump gray bird sat on the clothesline and a squirrel frolicked in the grass, both a reminder that I needed to get the hell back to the city because honest to God, it was like the country out there.”

Yep, nothing suits Caesar so well as the smell of the city and the congested, exuberant life he leads there.  To him, the quiet of a Staten Island neighborhood screams country, even though his beloved city is with well within eyesight.  From that wonderful start, L.B. Gregg’s lively, snarky narrative takes off, her dialogs a perfect match for each and every one of her memorable characters.  A mystery popped up almost immediately (this is Caesar and Dan) and we are off on another case and misadventure.  I was grinning from the very beginning in anticipation and L. B. Gregg didn’t let me down!

Dan’s personal background has always been a bit of a question for Caesar (and the readers).  Some of those are answered here. I had to double check the timeline and it appears its still been about 6 months since the first time they met, so that feels about right in a relationship still working on its foundation.  The author’s characterizations are so good, her plots so well thought out, that everything just comes together just as it should.  We know that Dan and Caesar belong together…no matter how scary it gets.  And yes, it can get plenty scary here.  But the action and suspense never overwhelms the relationship between Caesar and Dan, or any of  the other interpersonal ties going on at the moment.  Plenty of those too.  The connections here are all about the family.

New York City and its neighborhoods is easily not just a setting but a character all of its own.  Gregg’s familiarity with each borough and their unique “feel” gives this book another layer to flavor.  This also carries over to  Gregg’s characters, all of the Romano family (and they are many and varied) to the Albright upright clan and everyone in between.  Lots and lots of in between.   His cousin Joey and Caesar’s business partner, Poppy, uncles Tino and Vito, among the large and hugely entertaining cast.  How I love them all.

But the heart of the series and this story will always be Caesar and Dan, a relationship that continues to flourish and grow.  Here Caesar makes enormous emotional strides forward…even if it comes at the end.

I whipped through this story because I was starved for it, then started through once again.  It got even better the second time around.   I’m not sure I would call this a standalone.  I’m sure you could read it that way but why would you?  Don’t you want to see how it all started?  Watch Caesar meet Dan, watch Dan loosen up Caesar more than a little?  Watch Dan (a ex NYPD Detective) meet the huge Romano family whose connection to the law is somewhat loose and shaky?  The humor in these novels will have you laughing out loud in places.  Romano and Albright!  A couple that sexy, intelligent, fun and full of action in the best sense of the word.  What more could you want?

I highly recommend this story and all in the series.  Now begins the wait for the next story.  I can be patient.  I know it will be worth the wait.

Cover art by L. C. Chase is absolutely perfect.  Whether its Joey or Caesar (they look almost identical).  Chase has them down.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 264 pages
Expected publication: December 7th 2015 by Riptide Publishing
original titleWith This Bling
ISBN139781626493599
edition languageEnglish

Series Romano and Albright

A BJ Review: SPECTR: The Complete First Series (#1-6) by Jordan L. Hawk, 
Audio narration by Brad Langer

Rating:  5 stars out of 5      ★★★★★audiobook clipart bw

Audiobook cover of SPECTRSPECTR: The Complete First Series contains:
Hunter of Demon
Master of Ghouls
Reaper of Souls
Eater of Lives
Destroyer of Worlds
Summoner of Storms

What happens when an exorcist falls in love with the demon he’s supposed to destroy?

Unregistered paranormal Caleb Jansen only wants a normal life. But when the demon-hunting spirit Gray accidentally possesses him, Caleb finds himself in a countdown for his very existence.

Hotshot federal agent John Starkweather thinks he’s seen it all. But when he’s called to exorcise Caleb, he finds a creature that isn’t supposed to exist outside of stories. For Gray is a drakul: a vampire who drinks the blood of the demon-possessed.

If Gray can’t be exorcised within 40 days, the possession will become permanent. In the meantime, the three must find a way to work together. As they hunt down demons and save the innocent, the heat between John and Caleb explodes into passion. But when divided loyalties threaten his last chance at exorcism, Caleb discovers love may come at a price higher than he’d ever imagined.

I did a combination of listening to the audio and reading with this series, depending on what I was doing so this is not strictly an audio review. The narrator had a voice that was easy to listen to, and he did a nice job with the series. If you decide to purchase the full set audio from Audible, you may see a review there that indicates the audio is not unabridged. Rest assured, it is. There was a bit of a snafu when first released where a few sections were left out, that was corrected. Please don’t let that review stand in your way of purchasing the full audio as it is an enjoyable listen! The story takes place in the south, and there isn’t really a noticeable southern accent used (I’m Southern born/raised, albeit I not longer live there). However, that didn’t actually bother me. I’d much rather have that than listen to incorrect or overuse of particular southernisms as I’ve heard in some other books recently. So overall, a lovely series whether you read it or listen to it. Highly recommend. Now on to the individual stories, which all fit together wonderfully as a whole and should definitely be read in order!

Hunter of Demons – 4.5 stars

Right from book one, which I picked up free and read before getting into the series as a while, I could see that this paranormal is imaginative and different. The world building is solid and the two human characters captured my interest right away but adding Gray, the drakul, into the equation really upped the ante. I’m not usually all that hot on ménage, but this one is an exception. I adored the concept of this unusual threesome! Caleb and Gray’s internal dialogue was perfect. There are trust issues all around from the start. Between Caleb and John, since as an unregistered “mal” Caleb has always been leery of the government and isn’t pleased to find himself attracted to a federal agent. Between Caleb and Gray, because he blames him for his brother’s death. And of course John’s duty is to destroy Gray. Could there be any more tension among these three?! This was well-paced story and a quick read for me. The first is still free, I think. Read it and if you’re anything like me, you’ll quickly be chomping at the bit for the series as a whole.

Master of Ghouls – 4.5 stars

This one takes place just a few days after the end of book one. It starts off with a bang… oh, no, that’s a blow actually. In this second book, the mystery revolves around someone who is summoning demons and forcing them to possess folks snatched from the streets. We get plenty of heat, and we get to know the characters more. Gray and Caleb begin the first tentative steps towards understanding, but there is still a ways to go, while John and Caleb’s relationship deepens.   

Reaper of Souls – 5 stars

When an incubus murders an ally of a senator who’s very much anti-paranormal, John and Caleb are on the case. The mystery and action in this one was fast-paced, but it was something else entirely that made this my first five star of the series. This is the one where Gray truly became more of a character in his own right for me, where we come to see that his voyeurism of Caleb and John’s relationship is more than that. This one made me, someone who’s not big into threesomes, begin to long for that third party’s active participation. That little hint of it was like a combustion!

Eater of Lives – 4.75 stars

This one takes the prize for gruesome, icky, creepy bad guy. Cannibalism! The guys are on the case, Caleb’s forty days are running out, and John’s ex shows up to make the tension even higher. Emotions are really starting to run high in all three. I don’t want to give too much of the story away, so suffice it to say that the ending was very abrupt, yep a cliffhanger. Not a problem if you have the whole series, like I did, but I’m sure I would have been frothing at the mouth if I hadn’t had the next part in queue. The possession aspect of this series and the way John meshes well with both Caleb and Gray is just fascinating to watch unfold.

Destroyer of Worlds – 5 stars

And now we come to my most favorite book of the series. Now I know that even if I been one of those who had to wait a month for this next excerpt, it would have been well worth it. Fast-paced, plenty of tension, blazing heat, excellent characterizations, and twists galore. A betrayal that comes out of left field and turns everything on it’s head. But in this one we begin to get answers and the triad I’d been long for blooms. A heavenly delicious delicacy with a demon on top. Yum!

Summoner of Storms – 5 stars

John is finally forced to take off the rose-tinted glasses and face the knowledge that things he thought he knew and could trust in are smoke. Outstanding action and battle scenes with serious baddie ass kicking, lovely sexy, emotional, hot times, and a satisfying ending. Nonetheless, it left me wanting more of these three. And I am so glad that the author heard her fan’s please for more. Book one of SPECTR 2 is already available. Yay.

This series is awesome, highly recommended. If you don’t believe me already, pick up book one for free (Amazon, Kobo, B&N) and give it a read today.

COVER Art by Jordan L. Hawk: The covers which vary from Caleb, John and Gray are just STUNNING.

Sales Links:  Amazon Kindle |  Audible | Buy It Here | Goodreads Other Links


Book Details:  

798 pages

Audiobook
Published by Widdershins Press LLC (first published November 30th 2014)
edition languageEnglish
seriesSPECTR #1-6