Ashnavayarian was a powerful, god-like being of the leythe, the place from which magical energies emanate. But Ash has been a bad boy. His thoughtless, selfish meddling and manipulating has led to a war and disturbances within the leythe. Ash needs to be taken down a peg or two, so the goddess Jhara punishes him by forcing him to live in human form with most of his power stripped from him. She hopes he’ll learn that using other creatures for his own amusement isn’t right and that some of the things he considers human frailties (like compassion and love) are just what he needs to learn. Of course, that doesn’t go over well with Ash, and he’s determined to thwart Jhara by any means necessary and break his exile. Jhara throws Ash another curveball when she leythe-bonds him to Toryn MacAran, a human!
Tor has never fit in and always harbored a painful emptiness inside, like something is missing. When a strange encounter at a bookstore one night ends up landing him at the feet of the handsome Ash, he may have found the answer. Ash’s touch takes his emptiness and pain away and makes him feel compete.
Both main characters are well developed and interesting in their own right, but when they come together, oh boy! The chemistry goes off the charts. I adored the interaction between these two. An emotional rollercoaster.
Ash is a self-centered, full of himself ass at the beginning of this story, but he’s so damn fun. Tor is the broken boy that I always adore. And I do adore him… except that by the end, I’m so in love with Ash that even Tor’s delicious brokenness cannot compare. These guys go through hell and back in this story, but the growth of the characters throughout is such a treat to read.
This is a complex fantasy that takes place on another world separate from the earth (from which Tor came). The world building is quite intricate and yet so smoothly woven that it never felt cumbersome as some fantasies do for me. Fast-paced, lots of wit, smoking hot sex, angst, sexy long-haired men (my fav!), and some freaky bad guys to hate from Lucano in the first section on to some of his horrible creations in the second.
And then there’s Carrik Tarn, a very interesting and pivotal secondary character. I won’t say much about him for fear of it being a spoiler, but I’d really like to know more of his background. Maybe that will come out in a sequel. Oh, and there’s this one scene where I just wanted to kick him in the nuts so bad I could taste it. Except, well, that would have been impossible even if I were there at the time.
So much happens in this book, much more than I’d expect for the number of pages. It has the depth of a much longer read–almost like an epic. I read the first half, Human Frailties, about a year ago as a freebie. Since I’d enjoyed the first half of the story quite a lot, I really have no idea why I waited so long to read the full story. But very glad I finally did because the second half took the tale into awesome territory. The second half made me fall in love.
So if you’ve read Human Frailties and never went on to read the rest, don’t wait! It only gets better.
Ash and Tor need a sequel, and actually, I’m pretty sure there is one currently in the works. I can’t wait. And one last thing–I have to mention how much I love the name Ashnavayarian and all its interesting variants!
The cover by Cinchbug depicts both characters just as I’d pictured them along with the other important elements of the story. The dark, mysterious mood is perfect.
ebook, Smashwords, 272 pages
Published September 30th 2013 by Jaye McKenna, via Smashwords
ISBN139781301308873
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.smashwords.com/books/view/363010
seriesGuardians of the Leythe #1.0
Sam Chancellor has been in love with the steam engine Old Bess since he was six years old. Well, maybe not literally, but even when he’s lost everything else in his life, he’s always had her. But now her place in his heart has been unexpectedly challenged. Her new driver, Ryan Saunders, is the embodiment of all Sam’s fantasies.
Ryan has written off Sam as just another geeky trainspotter—until the moment Ryan sees him without his usual shapeless hoodie, and realizes that for a nerd, Sam’s pretty built.
When Ryan overlooks Sam’s awkwardness long enough to suggest a hook-up, Sam seizes the opportunity—and Ryan—with both very eager hands. Finding common ground in their shared love of Bess, their time together is better than Sam ever dared dream.
But there’s a reason Ryan never talks about his past. And when Ryan’s job is threatened, Sam’s well-meaning intervention puts both Ryan and Bess in deadly danger.
It was that train on the cover that was the initial draw for me. I’ve always been a “train” lover. My grandfather worked for Pullman and I had free rides (at age 5 on) on the Silver Comet or Silver Meteor from Long Island to Miami growing up (something that would never be allowed today at the age I travelled by myself) to go see my grandparents. I can still feel those Pullman wool blankets pulled warmly around me and feel the comforting sway and rumbling as the train rolled its way south. Now comes a story about two very different young men brought together by their love for trains, especially for Bessie, or more accurately Elizabeth of Shrewsbury to give that old steam locomotive its formal name. And from the first paragraph, I was lost in this world of trains, small villages in England and two young men on their way to a relationship and love.
What an amazing story….even if you aren’t in thrall to trains as I am you will love this book. Joy Lynn Fielding brings this joy of trains, trainspotting, and Ryan and Sam alive to such a degree that I felt I walked along side of them in town or rumbling along on the rails with Sam, Ryan and Bessie every step of the way.
Honestly, I don’t know if any element stands out more than the others from this narrative, all are so well done. The characters are layered, beautifully defined and, even more, I felt as though I had never met them before on a page in any novel. Sam starts off as a naif. Sam is tall, prone to wearing shapeless clothes and hoodies, living alone in the house bequeathed to him by his uncle. His outlook on life and people is full of innocence, goodheartedness, and simplicity. Sam comes across as though he is someone who has been sheltered from the harder elements of life, which he sort of has.
I’m sure you are thinking…”well, I’ve read characters like Sam before”. But that’s such a small part of who Sam actually is. This character is one that continually surprises you with his depth and grace. And that certainly goes for his impact upon Ryan Saunders, a more jaded, world weary young man who has found his passion finally in life….as the engineer for Bessie as he calls her. Ryan has raised walls of steel, appropriate for someone who spends his days inside a “steel horse”, around himself for protection. Outwardly he projects the hard facade he’s created over the years, mostly due to his upbringing, his father’s attitude towards his son and Ryan’s past excesses as a wild, partying youth. But inside? Something else has started to grow and it started with Bessie. Ryan stumbled by accident into his current profession but now she’s everything to him.
Oh, Bessie or Bess or Elizabeth of Shrewsbury. What ever the name she is called she shines as a major character in her own right. Bessie rumbles her way into your heart just as clearly as she does to Sam and Ryan. Fielding either has a passion for trains, and knows her stuff or her research is so thorough and deep that it flows easily into every part of her story, making Bessie sings as she steams her way through the plot and into our minds and consciousness. The trains are pulled into their “sheds” at night, pull up next to the platforms, walk about the footboards. There are rail enthusiasts’ message boards and train schedules and, oh, when Sam gets started on various explanations as to how Bessie or any type of train works, well, those conversation not only feel believable but you will find yourself grinning with fondness as Sam’s passion spills forth in wave after verbal wave to the bemusement of whatever soul he is talking too. I could hear Sam, I could see Ryan driving Bessie…Fielding makes it all so real and immediate in every scene that you don’t want to put the book down.
Here is the first time Sam ever steps inside of Bessie, courtesy of an invite from Ryan…
With a quick glance at Ryan to make sure he really was allowed, he crossed over to her and reached up to press a hand against her gleaming metal side.
“Hi, Bess,” he said. His voice was supposed to be too low for Ryan to hear him, but it was filled with such love and warmth that he was glad he could hear it. Just yesterday Ryan would have laughed himself sick at the idea of a trainspotter wanting to talk to a train, but now he saw what it meant to Sam, he no longer felt the urge to laugh. Especially not when he remembered the way he always slapped her in greeting and farewell and most days said something to her as he did so. He gave them a moment together, then climbed up onto the footplate.
“You want to come up?” he asked.
It was the stupidest question ever asked, he realised, as Sam scrambled up after him, his face alight and eager. Gazing at the array of controls in front of him, Sam grinned until Ryan’s face ached in sympathy. He couldn’t seem to stop touching Bessie, his long, sensitive fingers caressing every part of her. Somewhere in the back of his mind when he’d invited Sam to see Bessie, Ryan had thought about pushing him up against her and fucking him, because he was pretty sure Sam would be halfway to coming just from being so close to Bessie. But once he saw the delight in Sam’s face as he looked around, those thoughts faded from his mind, especially when Sam wanted to know how she was to drive. Not just the nuts and bolts of it, but how it felt.
How did he know deep inside that she was ready to start moving? Yes, there were all the gauges, but was there something more? As Sam hung on his every word, warmth stirred inside Ryan at being the recipient of such open, genuine admiration. He couldn’t remember ever being admired for anything except having a rich father or a good body, and the respect with which Sam seemed to regard him felt like spring sunshine after a long, hard winter.
He told Sam how she was a bit crabby first thing in the mornings, how sometimes her gauges said she was ready to go, but she still juddered as the wheels bit and held. And he told him something he’d never mentioned to another soul—the way she downright sulked when the carriages were first coupled to her, despite having more than enough power to pull them. It meant he had to nurse her those first few hundred yards until she got over it and seemed content to puff away happily. Finally, they left the cab and after one final, slow, walk around her, Sam turned to Ryan. “Thank you,” he said, and the depth of feeling in his voice was like nothing Ryan had ever heard before.
Oh, all the emotions and thoughts flowing from those two men standing inside the locomotive they both love. And its just the beginning of the journey for them both to something quite remarkable. There is no case of instant love here. A quiet crush rolls into the walls erected by long time anonymous hookups but that connection only starts to work to pull them together when other outside forces make Ryan look behind the nebbish exterior that Sam projects to the glowing human being inside. As that happens we get to meet even more wonderfully quirky and believable characters, like Mrs. Verity, a old friend of Sam’s and his Uncle Ken, Mabel the spider who lives inside Sam’s shower to Ryan’s dismay and so many others. The town of Cardale is an authentic an element as all the rest here.
But its through Sam’s love of trains, his passion as a trainspotter (what we call train buffs here in the US) and Ryan’s love for his profession as a driver of Bessie that raises this story above the vast sea of romances out there. Trains are a symbolic image for so many things, journeys, sex, power, you name it and you can probably find a passage some place where trains are used as a metaphor or embodiment of an idea. They are romance, and mysterious, and have an allure that has never quite faded. That power is present here in Blowing Off Steam. Its in the descriptions of the trains, of the emotions they engender and the love people feel for them deeply on so many levels.
Here is Sam at the beginning of the novel running to catch a glimpse of a train….
“Gotta go—the London express is due!”
He didn’t quite run, but his heart was still pounding fit to burst by the time he emerged onto the sunlit platform and made his way up the steep flight of stairs onto the footbridge that crossed the tracks. He’d need to avoid the ticket office for the next few days, till she’d got another victim in her crosshairs.
In the meantime, he hadn’t been lying—the London train was due in three minutes’ time. He walked across the bridge until he was standing over the middle of the track down which it would come. And he stood and waited.
He heard it before he saw it. When it became visible in the clear air of early morning, it looked like some mythical dragon with sun glinting on its metal hide as it wound through the countryside and rounded the long curve into the station. He grabbed at the handrail on the bridge as the train thundered down the track towards him. Although he knew it had slowed for safety reasons, it was moving with such force, such power, that it seemed it was coming at him like a cannonball. It swept beneath him, and the deafening sound it made and the smell of diesel left hanging in the air after it had passed were the most perfect things in the world. Its speed and noise had the footbridge trembling slightly, and he knew how it felt—there was something about that much power that left him weak-kneed and gasping.
Blowing Off Steam will make you feel the power of those moments too. I love this story. It brought back so many happy memories and made me want to go grab a ticket and ride the rails once more. Blowing Off Steam by Joy Lynn Fielding also made me feel as though I had never encountered another romance story like hers The men, Sam and Ryan and their path towards romance feels like new territory, an uncharted journey towards love that I hadn’t read before. It sparkled with joy, it overflowed with texture and love and authenticity. It’s a book I will pick up again and again because I love it so and will need a trip back to this universe and couple….and Bessie of course. Blowing Off Steam is highly recommended and I expect to find it among my Best of 2015 at the end of the year.
I will leave you with a Youtube of Steam Engines underway….
Cover art by Syneca is as great as the story behind it. Love it.
Sam Chancellor has been in love with the steam engine Old Bess since he was six years old. Well, maybe not literally, but even when he’s lost everything else in his life, he’s always had her. But now her place in his heart has been unexpectedly challenged. Her new driver, Ryan Saunders, is the embodiment of all Sam’s fantasies.
Ryan has written off Sam as just another geeky trainspotter—until the moment Ryan sees him without his usual shapeless hoodie and realizes that, for a nerd, Sam’s pretty built.
When Ryan overlooks Sam’s awkwardness long enough to suggest a hook-up, Sam seizes the opportunity—and Ryan—with both very eager hands. Finding common ground in their shared love of Bess, their time together is better than Sam ever dared dream.
But there’s a reason Ryan never talks about his past. And when Ryan’s job is threatened, Sam’s well-meaning intervention puts both Ryan and Bess in deadly danger.
Warning: Contains train geekery, bed-hogging, a hero with no experience and another with plenty to spare, and a spider called Mabel.
Pages or Words: 66,000 words
Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, M/M Romance
Blowing Off Steam by Joy Lynn Fielding
“You’re kind of built for a nerd, aren’t you?” Ryan said. “I guess trainspotting’s a more active hobby than I’d thought.”
Sam should have walked away because this guy was insufferable. Except there was humour gleaming in those eyes as well as something else. Something that if he wasn’t entirely losing his mind was actual, sexual interest.
In him, Sam Chancellor.
“It’s all that running alongside the engines to get the numbers down,” he blurted out before he could stop himself.
To his amazement, Ryan laughed. A true laugh that caused his eyes to crinkle at the corners. It made him even more gorgeous than he already was.
“Ryan Saunders,” he said. “I drive old Bessie.”
“Bessie?” Sam was horrified at the heresy. “She’s Bess. She’s always been Bess.”
“Given I’m the one whose hands have been over every inch of her, I guess she’s allowing me intimacies the general public doesn’t get,” Ryan said.
The low seductive voice and the thought of Ryan’s hands stroking over him the way they did over Bess meant Sam was getting hard. He clutched his satchel in front of him like some sort of shield, except that wasn’t helping at all because it was pressed against his dick and, God above, he was about to get a hard-on, here and now, right in front of Ryan Saunders.
“You haven’t told me your name,” Ryan said.
“Sam,” he choked out. “Sam Chancellor, and I have to go.”
He put his head down and fled.
About the author:
Joy Lynn Fielding lives in a small English market town, where she indulges her passions for vintage aircraft, horse-riding and gardening (though not all at the same time).
Joy has a tendency to wax lyrical about the fascinating facts she discovers during her research for books. Thankfully she has a very patient Labrador who has a gift for looking interested in what she’s saying while he waits for the food to arrive.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions. Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: $20 Amazon gift card
Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway
It’s Memorial Weekend and the roar and rumble from the Rolling Thunder bikes going by is a fresh reminder of exactly why and who we are remembering this weekend.
A lunch in town saw people passing out poppies in rememberance and thanks for those that fought in the many wars. My dad was beyond pleased to accept the poppy and the person’s thanks for his service when she gave it to him. That and an invitation to the VFW luncheon on Monday…well, his day was made.
As was mine.
The concert on the Mall is tomorrow but its the memorials that drew people in today in crowds. While the weather was perfect, the grief and stillness at the memorials, especially the Black Wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was immeasurable. And haunting. For me, the Wall and all the artifacts and aura of loss that lingers over it, has the most lasting impact of collective grief and sacrifice that I have seen outside of Arlington Cemetery.
If you come to Washington, DC, whether to see the Cherry Blossoms or the Capital or White House, take time to head over to the Mall. Visit the WWII Memorial, then head over to the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial, also known as The Wall, or The Wall That Heals. Here is The Wall’s page link for those of you who have never seen it. On the home page you will find these words.
“If you are able, save for them a place inside of you and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go. Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not have always. Take what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own.
And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind.
Major Michael Davis O’Donnell 1 January 1970 Dak To, Vietnam Listed as KIA February 7, 1978
Then proceed thru the website. It’s moving, its painful and their sacrifice for us in war becomes fresh once more.
Take some time this weekend to thank a veteran, in person or in memory.
This Week At Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
Sunday, May 24 – Ireland Did It, They Really Did It! Woohoo!
Its Memorial Weekend and This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
Monday, May 25:
Jane Davitt’s “Closing the Loop” Tour and Riptide Contest
In the Book Spotlight: His Womanly Ways by K. Lynn (excerpt and giveaway)
Book Tour: The Hidden Wolf by Sue Brown (excerpt and giveaway)
A BJ Review: Mountain Prey by Lyn Gala
A MelanieM Review: The Hidden Wolf by Sue Brown
Tuesday, May 26:
Lane Hayes cover reveal for The Right Time – cover reveal and giveaway
Annabeth Albert’s ‘Delivered Fast‘ (Book 3 of the series) book blast and giveaway
A MelanieM Review: Delivered Fast by Annabeth Albert
A Mika Review: Time Waits by C. B. Lewis
Wednesday, May 27:
Joy Lynn Fielding – Blowing Off Steam (Virtual tour and contest)
From the Ashes by Lillian T. MacGowan book blast and giveaway
A MelanieM Review: Blood and Ghosts by Shira Anthony
A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Butt Riders on the Range Anthology
Thursday, May 28:
In the Spotlight: Mia Kerick’s Love Spell (excerpt and giveaway)
Annabelle Jacobs The Altered 2 Tour and Contest
A Stella Review: Cliff’s Edge by Laura Harner
A MelanieM Review: The Line by Angel Martinez
Friday, May 29:
Tour for Lexi Alexander and Alpha Trine
A Stella Review: No Matter What (Sex & Mayhem #4) by K.A. Merikan
A BJ Review: Human Frailties, Human Strengths by Jaye McKenna
A MelanieM Review: Tall With Room by A.J. Llewellyn
Saturday, May 30:
YA Saturday Continues:
An Aurora YA Review: After I Wake by Emma Griffiths
Sergeant Wilkes has had a long and prestigious military career. When he’s injured on the front, Murphy brings him in. Murphy is the opposite of Sarge… big, tattooed, and delightfully submissive. Can a couple space marines stationed on an alien planet where an endless war rages on find something special in each other?
Gritty, violent, somewhat gory short novella. Its kinky, smoking hot and romantic almost in spite of itself. This story made me bawl like a baby, and I loved it!
Sarge is an older, hardened officer Dom; Murphy a younger 6ft 8in quiet, muscular, tattooed, sweet enlisted sub. Murphy also has the ability to see psychic/emotional colors (auras?). The two come together when Sarge is injured fighting on the front line, and Murphy uses his special talent to help him. Right there on the battlefield, wounded and in pain, Sarge propositions Murphy:
“You’re a good boy, Murph,” he says softly to me. “You get me home, get me patched up, and you’ll see what good boys get.”
At first it’s just an interesting diversion for Sarge, but that changes as he comes to realize what he’s found in Murphy.
Murphy is intelligent, but he doesn’t talk much. And damn it, he doesn’t need to because the nuance of communication between him and Sarge is exquisite. When it comes to D/s, one thing that fascinates me is when the physically larger guy is the submissive/bottom. And my goodness isn’t Murphy an enticing one. But its more the two together that really gets me about this story. They’re perfect together. Such devotion. I was seriously holding my breath and biting my nails at the end.
Speaking of the ending, it felt a bit abrupt at first. But the more I thought on it, the more I realized that wasn’t the case–the ending is perfect. I would love to explain that specifically, but don’t want to spoil it. Just read this little gem. I highly recommend it and cannot wait for the next in this series to come out.
The cover conveys the savage heat of the planet, and the overlaid images give a hint of the size difference of the characters. A good representation of what the book has to offer.
After being shunned by his home pack, all Caleb wants to do is raise his son and get away from his abusive alpha. Derek, the alpha from the rival pack offers sanctuary until Caleb is well enough to travel again. Will Derek be able to convince Caleb that there might be a future in his pack?
Derek is the young alpha of the Hawkthorn pack. He and his best friend and beta Nate have the general support of the pack. However the former alpha’s cronies have been pushing Derek to find himself a mate and produce the next generation of alphas. To complicate matters, there have been rumors of border encroachment from the neighbor rival Yesterfront pack. While on patrol on the pack border, Nate sees the rival pack shunned what appears to be an omega wolf and his pup.
Caleb is the omega from the Yesterfront pack. He had a relationship with the alpha and had a son as a result of the relationship. Caleb is isolated in the pack as the alpha has decided to take a female as a mate. She decides that Caleb is a threat to her relationship to the alpha and decides that Caleb has to go. She gets the alpha to have Caleb and his son shunned and run out of Yesterfront territory. They end up wandering onto Hawkthorn territory trying to escape.
When Derek and a border patrol find Caleb, Derek decides to take in the omega and his son. Although they agree that it would only be long enough for Caleb to recuperate from the shunning, the two quickly grow close. Caleb’s son Matthew and Derek take a liking to each other. This surprises Caleb as Matthew’s father did his best to avoid his son whenever possible. Caleb hopes that Derek’s interest in both him and his son will mean a future at the Hawkthorn pack and not a homeless shelter for rejected shifters. These dreams seem to be dashed when Nate is found severely injured while doing a border patrol. Seeing this as a message, Caleb must decide whether to put his happiness in front of the safety of the pack that has taken him in. It appears his former alpha does not want Caleb to find happiness and will do what is necessary to prevent it.
I really enjoyed this book. This story is told from three different points of view. This allows readers to have more insight as to what each characters thoughts are. The romance between Derek and Caleb is slow and well done. Derek knows that Caleb must put his son first and does what he can to help protect him. It is Derek’s affection for Matthew that actually provides a counterpoint for Caleb to his former alpha. Derek sees Caleb as a person and not just an omega for use.
Derek also sees in Matthew as a potential alpha heir through his actions with the other pups in the pack. When Caleb decides to leave, Derek is heartbroken but is determined to get the pair to their next destination safely. While facing off with the rival alpha, Derek is determined that no harm fall upon the two guys that have his heart.
Book Details:
Ebook, 172 pages
Edition: English
Published: February 13, 2015 by Northstar Alpha Press
ASIN: B00TLXXRLG
Series: The Exiled Omega
The Exiled Omega (Exiled Omega #1)
Full Moon Heat (Exiled Omega #2)
A Purrfect Match (Exiled Omega #3)
When the line between “need” and “want” gets blurred…
Gabriel DuVal, rising soccer star.
Jared Sheldon, team physician.
To the outside world, they’re just good friends. But the truth is, Gabriel isn’t entirely sure what they are to each other.
Some call their relationship unhealthy. Some call it codependency. Gabriel calls it confusing. He knows Jared wants him – as more than a friend. He doesn’t want Jared. He’s straight, he has a girlfriend, and he loves her. But Jared is… Jared is more. Jared is his. He needs him – his touch and his strength.
But is it enough for Jared?
Gabriel DuVal is a soccer star and Jared Sheldon the team physician who pulled him up from hell after an accident that threatened to end his career. Jared loves Gabriel, has for a long time. He tries to hide it because Gabriel is straight and has a girlfriend. Jared secretly knows exactly how Jared feels for him. Knows he should let him go, but can’t. Codependency? Maybe. When Jared discovers that Gabriel knows and quits the team, Gabriel is devastated. He makes a deal to get him back. A very unhealthy deal.
The latest in the GFY “Straight Boy” series is not a light-hearted, sweet romance… it’s just as the title implies, quite more than a bit unhealthy. Watching Gabriel struggle with wanting Jared, thinking of him as his and yet not thinking he physically wants him the way he knows Jared wants him was a fun ride. Both of these guys are rather shitty to each other at time and to others as well, so I can see why some folks might dislike them both. Despite that, I felt their connection, felt they belonged together, and thus I thoroughly enjoyed this!
This well-written series centers on “Straight Guys” who discover or come to terms with their sexuality a bit later and usually not without some trauma along the way. If that’s not what you are interested in reading, then this series may not be for you.
Cover was a bit different from the others in the series, not a matched set so to speak, but it works well enough for the story.
Kindle Edition, 193 pages
Published March 26th 2015 by Alessandra Hazard
ASINB00V8L0G5O
edition languageEnglish
seriesStraight Guys #3
Publisher’s warning: This is not a light-hearted story; this is a rather twisted gay-for-you story. It contains some steamy MM scenes, explicit language, and two people so wrapped up in each other that the nature of their relationship goes beyond friendship–and beyond normal.
5 Best friends, 4 Vicious brothers, 3 STD tests, 2 Guys in love, 1 Car bombing & nowhere to run
Follow the burgeoning love of two teens during the worst year of their lives. Irish-born Declan David de Quirke II is the son of two ambassadors, one Irish and one American. He is ‘out’ to his parents but to no one else. French-born Jean Isidore de Sauveterre is also the son of two ambassadors, one Catalan and one Parisian. His four half brothers have been told to cure him of his homosexuality. Both teens have lost a parent in a London car bombing.
5 Weeks of hell, 4 Attempts on their lives, 3 Law enforcement agencies, 2 Dead high school seniors, 1 Jealous friend & a love that won’t be denied
Declan and Isidore meet at the beginning of their senior year at a private academy in the United States. Declan is immediately smitten with Isidore and becomes his knight in shining armor. Isidore wants to keep what is left of his sanity and needs Declan’s love to do it. One is beaten, one is drugged, one is nearly raped, one has been raped. They are harassed by professors and police, and have fights at school, but none of it compares to running for their lives. When the headmaster’s popular son attempts suicide and someone tries to assassinate Declan’s mother, they are thrown headlong into chaos, betrayal, conspiracy, allegations of sexual coercion, even murder. And one of them carries a secret that may get them killed.
5 New family members, 4 BFF’s, 3 Countries, 2 Extraordinary Psychologists, 1 Courageous Mother & a new beginning for two young men in love
I took me a chapter or so to really get into this book, but as soon as I did, I was absolutely hooked. I saw the title, and I saw the cover and I was pretty sure going in that I was going to love it. And I totally did. It was so wonderfully written, I loved the imagery, the characterization, everything. This is, for me, a must-read and a must-recommend. The only criticism that I could possibly come up with is that there were a few parts that were a little bit slow. But this is definitely not enough to bring the quality of the book down or make me enjoy it any less. As soon as I realized for even a second that it had slowed down, it was right back to a fast pace.
I think the author did a good job of using language for the teenage characters that teenagers actually use. There are times when I’m reading books that are aimed toward young adults and they’re really enjoyable, but I just laugh out loud at some of the things the authors have their teenage characters saying. I didn’t find myself questioning the slang terms or language used by teenagers in this book. It really seemed like a couple of friends talking, and I really loved that about it. Even not considering the language aspects, the characters all seemed very real and relateable to me as a teenager, which I love so much in young adult books.
Another thing about the book that I loved is just that Declan is so cool. Not to say that he’s without flaws or anything, but it’s so nice to read a book where I just feel like I would have so much fun hanging out with the main character. He’s really well written, he has a lot of depth, he’s very interesting as a character. And all of the characters are. But Declan, especially, seems like such a good and interesting person, beyond just being a great character. I feel like a lot of teenagers who are reading this book will empathize with him because in a lot of ways he and his friends are just normal teenagers with is really refreshing to read. Sometimes young adult books just write teenagers as small adults which they aren’t, exactly, and it’s nice to see a teenage character with depth and a personality without it being ignored that he is a teenager.
This book was really well written, really enjoyable from start to finish, and I loved reading it. I think teens will really relate to the characters and feel at home reading it. Personally, I loved it, it’s been one of my favorite books to review. If you have a chance, at least read the first two chapters and I can almost guarantee that you won’t be able to put this book down.
This cover by Reese Dante is so nice. It draws the eyes straight away with the orange in the foreground and then the blue background is really smooth and lovely. It’s very easy on the eyes and then as you look at it a little more there’s more details that you understand as you read through the book. If I saw this cover I would definitely pick it up in a book store.
ebook, 443 pages, also in paperback
Published April 9th 2015 by Harmony Ink Press (a DSP press)
original titleSlaying Isidore’s Dragons
ISBN139781634760034
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.harmonyinkpress.com
author’s website: C. Kennedy (read the 1st chapter here)
Tristan’s in Shamwell for one last summer of freedom before he joins the family firm in New York—no more farting around on stage, as his father puts it. But the classically trained actor can’t resist when members of the local amateur dramatics society beg him to take a role in their production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Especially as he’ll also be giving private acting lessons to gorgeous local handyman, Con, who’s been curiously resistant to Tristan’s advances. Tristan’s determined to get Con in his bed—not only is the man delicious, there’s fifty pounds riding on Tristan’s success after a bet made with his drama school chum Amanda.
Con’s never dared to act before. A late-diagnosed dyslexic who had a hard time at school, he’s always been convinced he’d never be able to learn his lines—but with Tristan helping him, he might just be in with a chance. Trouble is, the last time Con fell for a guy, he ended up getting his heart broken, and with Tristan due to leave the country in a matter of months, Con’s determined not to give in and start anything that’s bound to finish badly.
Just as Tristan thinks he’s finally won Con’s heart—and given his own in return—disaster strikes. And the curtain may have fallen forever on their chance of happiness.
Warning: contains a surfeit of Bottoms and asses, together with enough mangled quotations to have the Bard of Avon gyrating in his grave.
“Hello. I perused your advertisement in our local emporium. All—”
“You what?”
“I read your card in Tesco,” Tristan clarified with a sigh. Some people had no appreciation for the beauties of the English language. “All household job’s—I assume the apostrophe was ironic?—done, reasonable rates.”
“Er, yeah.” The man on the other end of the phone sounded somewhat nonplussed, possibly due to the way Tristan had stressed the “ibble” at the end of reasonable. “What’s the problem?”
“Biblical.”
“What?”
“I have a plague of frogs.”[…] “A frog,” the handyman was saying. There was another pause. “So technically, yeah, that’s a plague of frog. One of ’em.”
“Semantics. The plural, in this case, may be taken to include the singular.”
“Right… Look, I think you want pest control, anyhow.”
“Finally we reach agreement. So how soon can you be here?”
This is where I fell in love with Tristan. He was amazing, hilarious. I loved how Tristan talked.
Let’s start my review saying I read Played!, which is the second book in the Shamwell Tales series by JL Merrow, without having read Caught!, the first one, and I can assure you I didn’t miss anything, it just increased my curiosity about Caught! Having different main characters, it isn’t exactly a sequel. So if you are interested just in Tristan and Con’s story, you can totally buy it. You won’t regret it.
Tristan has just moved to Shamwell where he is going to spend the the “last summer of freedom”. He is trading is biggest passion for acting with a boring (and hated) career at a desk job, working for his father’s firm in NY, a father who has never supported him in his dream of acting. No one ever supported him in his dreams, apart from his dear grandmother (Nana Geary). She’s just passed away and left him her house. So he’s planning to spend the summer in Shamwell to dispose Nana’s things before starting his new and boring life.
He meets Con when he called for help after a plague of frogs (it was really just one frog!).
Con works as an handyman with Sean (MC in Caught!). He moved to Shamwell where he met Geary the time he went to do some home repairs to her. She took him in and treated him like the mother Con’s has never been.
The first meeting with Tristan doesn’t go well. Tristan is funny but a prick, he’s used to having what he wants, he speaks perfectly and can’t stop himself in correcting the people who don’t. Con can’t stand Tristan. But nobody has ever turned Tristan down, Con is the first one, because he is not looking for just some fun, he needs something real and not casual.
When a new actor is needed for the role of Bottom in the Midsummer Night’s Dream production by the local theater, it will take Tristan to convince Con to join the play and to help him with his dyslexia. Con starts to overcome his fears and most of all to see who is the real Tristan hiding behind the snobby one.
There is a great cast of second characters, starting from Heather, Con’s friend. Some seem snobby as Tristan, others simple and sweet and caring as Con. They have some kickass friends.
Shortly JL Merrow did it again. She gave me another favorite book which is going to join the beautiful Muscling Through. The amazing Tristan will stay in my heart as Al did. I found this book fascinated. As I think I already said I love how the author puts words together in this so British way she has. She delivered a funny and light story, with a plot and great characters, a Tristan full of doubts and fears on his future. Sometime sure convinced that working for his dad will help him mature and become more responsible, other times that theater was just for fun. The relationship with Con will help him grow up so much at the end of the book, I (and Con) couldn’t love him more.
Moreover I can add I’m not a huge fan of slow burn and with almost no sex stories, I like my men to start loving each other pretty quickly in the book I’m reading and rather only a few times, otherwise I bore easily. Well in Played! I had no time to be bored. There was no dead moment, every sentence was full of humor, I laughed so much at Tristan.
Played! was an absolute winner, really really good. I don’t even know what to say to recommend you to buy it. I loved it so much.
Cover art by Kanaxa. You know, I can’t explain why, cause honestly there is nothing special about it, but I really like it.
Published January 30th 2015 by Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Kindle Edition
ASIN B00U3M60TU
Edition language English The Shamwell Tales series
Caught! #1
Played! #2
Young, blond and handsome, Sage attracts unwanted attention in prison. When his cellmate offers him protection, Sage accepts the offer, even though he doesn’t trust the guy. Little does he know how much it will change his life.
When he’s released from prison, Sage finds himself needing and wanting things he shouldn’t want. Sage is straight. He really is. He has a girlfriend. What happened in prison stayed in prison–or so Sage tells himself.
Until he meets his former cellmate again. Xavier. The guy he hates and craves.
This short novelette contains explicit language and very steamy M/M sex. For mature audiences only. ~12,500 words
Handsome young Sage finds himself in prison for a DUI and attracting a lot of attention from the other inmates. Fearing whether he’ll survive his one-year sentence alive, he accepts an offer of protection from his cellmate, Xavier. The price for that protection is his body. Although Sage tells himself he’s straight and just doing it to get by, but he finds out things about himself he didn’t know. When he’s released from prison, he finds himself unable to control his body from wanting what he had in prison, or his mind from thinking of Xavier.
But Sage tried to pick his life up again, to focus on his girlfriend, firmly telling himself he’s straight, that nothing’s changed. Until he meets Xavier, the man he hates and craves, again on the outside.
I have a bit of a thing for prison stories, so I enjoyed the hell out of this short. It’s well-written, excellent pacing, and all kinds of hot. The sexual tension buildup is off the charts and smoking. This is one on my re-read shelf for times that I want something short and scorching. I’d love an expansion of this story that tells more background on Xavier, I really would, because I loved him. A little of it comes out a sequel, but it wasn’t nearly enough. My one tiny niggle with this book is the name Sage. It sounds so feminine to me no matter how I keep telling myself it’s unisex. But that’s minor. I thoroughly enjoyed this.
Ashnavayarian was a powerful, god-like being of the leythe, the place from which magical energies emanate. But Ash has been a bad boy. His thoughtless, selfish meddling and manipulating has led to a war and disturbances within the leythe. Ash needs to be taken down a peg or two, so the goddess Jhara punishes him by forcing him to live in human form with most of his power stripped from him. She hopes he’ll learn that using other creatures for his own amusement isn’t right and that some of the things he considers human frailties (like compassion and love) are just what he needs to learn. Of course, that doesn’t go over well with Ash, and he’s determined to thwart Jhara by any means necessary and break his exile. Jhara throws Ash another curveball when she leythe-bonds him to Toryn MacAran, a human!
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