Category: Book Reviews

A Free Dreamer Review: The Relics of Gods (Between Heaven and Earth #1) by Yeyu

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

The Relics of the GodsWhat is worse: Being so broke you can barely afford food, getting hired for dangerous missions way out of your league, suffocating under mountains of unanswered questions—or wanting to sexually dominate someone who can kill you without lifting a finger?

Lu Delong is a mercenary who evaluates antiques most of the time and deals with the paranormal on rare occasions—even though it’s supposed to be the other way around. When he joins a dangerous quest for an ancient artifact, he meets and becomes strongly attracted to a mysterious and powerful immortal named Cangji. Despite his friends’ warnings and Cangji’s icy, unsociable demeanor, Delong is unable to resist befriending him. However, Cangji is deeply involved in a matter beyond mortals, and Delong is drawn into a chaotic struggle by both visible and invisible forces.

Always the pacifist who wanted to live a simple human life, Delong never imagined he’d end up involved in a conflict that will affect everything from the lowest insects on earth to the highest gods in heaven.

I wanted to like this book. I really, really did. I mean, dragons, gods AND Asian fantasy? That just had to be awesome. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed.

First off, the author’s style really didn’t work for me. It felt awkward and a little clumsy. It didn’t really fit the setting of the story. The way Delong talked felt way too modern.

Then, there were the MCs themselves. Delong soon got annoying. He was very whiney and extremely naïve. He seemed to fail at everything and followed Cangji like a dog. He got jealous over the most ridiculous things, like a dog-like demon creature. He didn’t behave like a grown man. At times, he actually read more like a three-year-old throwing a temper tantrum.

We didn’t really get to know Cangji. He’s the silent, mysterious type. He has some terrible secrets, but we never really find out what those are.

Overall, these two felt like the stereotypical seme/uke pairing you’ll find in most yaois. The only difference is that Delong wants to be the dominant part in the bedroom.

There are lots of minor characters, that seem important at first but they quickly disappear after they’ve served their purpose, never to be heard of again.

The love story didn’t work for me at all. I really couldn’t understand why Delong would fall in love with Cangji. Cangji seems more annoyed by Delong than anything else. Delong mostly gets ignored or glared at. And yet there’s insta-love on Delong’s part. Why? I have no idea. Cangji doesn’t get his own POV, so I don’t know how he truly felt about Delong.

Somehow, the plot moved too fast and yet didn’t seem to go anywhere either. There was mission after mission, Delong gets hurt, Cangji grumbles and rescues him, every minor character is evil. Honestly, I was rather bored at times and seriously considered skimming great parts of the story. It didn’t feel like I’d miss anything important if I were to just read the beginning and the end.

There was also a lot of mythology mixed in. Usually I love that and I like to think that I’m not completely clueless about the topic. But here I felt like I would have needed a degree in Chinese mythology to get all those references. There was a glossary at the end of the book, but I think the author should have explained at least the basics during the story itself.

And before I forget, the blurb is missing a warning about some dub-con kink. Oh, and it does get rather violent at times.

Long story short, I was sorely disappointed by this book. It had great potential but didn’t live up to it.

Cover: The cover by Reese Dante is absolutely gorgeous, just like most DSP covers. I love that dragon.

Sales Links:  DSP Publications |  Amazon

Series: Part 1 of the Between Heaven and Earth series

Book details:

ebook, 350 pages
Published January 6th 2015 by DSP Publications
Original TitleThe Relics of Gods
ISBN139781627987790
Edition LanguageEnglish
URL
SeriesBetween Heaven and Earth #1

Its Release Day for A.M. Leibowitz’s ‘Anthem’ (excerpt and giveaway)

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Anthem (Notes from Boston #1) by A.M. Leibowitz
 Release Date: March 1, 2016

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Acquitted Books
Cover Artist: Brett Kessler

Blurb

Trevor Davidson has everything going for him. He’s just moved out on his own with three friends, and he’s landed a job as music director at a large Boston church. He has high hopes for marrying his long-term girlfriend and settling into a comfortable, devout lifestyle.

Andre Cole has spent the past few years throwing himself into a dead-end job at a Cape Cod-based call center. When an opportunity to move back to Boston arises, Andre believes it will be the do-over he needs to put his past behind him.

A chance meeting in a club on New Year’s Eve brings Trevor and Andre together for a brief but steamy encounter. Both assuming that’s the end of it, they are unexpectedly thrown back into each other’s lives when Trevor’s church hires Andre for their website design. While Andre is content at first to move on, Trevor’s conflicted feelings bubble over into his songwriting. Before he can stop it, his ode to Andre becomes an inadvertent Christian radio hit.

Unfortunately for Trevor, he isn’t the only one who knows the song’s hidden meaning. Someone has leaked the story and upended Trevor’s life. In order to put the pieces back together, he needs to learn to be honest with his girlfriend, with Andre, and especially with himself.

 

Pages or Words: 85,000 words/270 pages
 Categories: Bisexual, Contemporary, Polyamory

Excerpt

A sliver of light and the door thumping shut alerted him to the presence of someone else. His hands stopped moving, hovering over the keyboard. He looked up to see Pastor Bret standing at the back of the aud.

Trevor jumped, his face flaming, and he was glad for the dim light hiding the red flush he was sure marked his cheeks. “Uh…hi?” he squawked out.

“Don’t stop on my account,” Pastor Bret said. “The song is fantastic. You’ve been holding out on us, acting like you didn’t have anything big for the recording. Where’ve you been hiding that one?”

Covering his tracks, Trevor joked, “Under my hat.” His stomach churned.

“Uh huh. Well, I’d like to see you finish up your new song so we can use it. How long do you think it’ll take?”

“It’s about done, but—” He coughed, stalling while he worked out what to say to Bret to put him off. “I was thinking about changing some of the words, though. It’s not—I mean, it doesn’t specifically say God or Jesus, and it probably needs some other fixes. You know, so it sounds more…spiritual.” Trevor gritted his teeth in frustration as the inspiration for the song rose to the forefront of his mind.

Bret looked thoughtful. “I don’t know. Can you play it for me?”

All the blood which had previously rushed to Trevor’s face drained away, and sweat trickled down his neck to his collar. “I—”

“Not sure you want anyone to hear it til it’s perfect, eh?” Bret laughed. “Come on. Don’t worry that it’s not good enough.”

Oh, God, help me! Trevor prayed. “Okay,” he heard himself say, even though he’d really meant to say, No way in hell.

He played the opening chords and began to sing, quietly at first and then with more confidence. “You touch my heart…”

He immersed himself in the song and in the memories he’d drawn on to write it. It didn’t matter what it was about; he was perfectly capable of making it sound like a love song to his God. He kept his gaze trained on the chord sheet in front of him, not daring to look Bret in the eye just in case. When he was through, he let the note fade away and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to see Bret’s reaction.

It took a moment, but Bret finally broke the silence. “Wonderful. I wouldn’t change a thing. When we have a thousand members all singing this together, they’ll all know who they’re singing it for.”

Trevor’s immediate reaction was, No, they won’t.

Buy the book

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

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Meet the Author

A. M. Leibowitz is a queer spouse, parent, feminist, and book-lover falling somewhere on the Geek-Nerd Spectrum. Ze keeps warm through the long, cold western New York winters by writing about life, relationships, hope, and happy-for-now endings. In between noveling and editing, ze blogs coffee-fueled, quirky commentary on faith, culture, writing, books, and hir family.

Where to find the author:

 


Tour Dates & Stops:

Parker Williams, Divine Magazine, The Hat Party, Three Books Over The Rainbow, KathyMac Reviews, BFD Book Blog, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Bayou Book Junkie, Elaine White, Unquietly Me, Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, MM Good Book Reviews, My Fiction Nook, Happily Ever Chapter, Molly Lolly,

Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Alpha Book Club, Wake Up Your Wild Side, Louise Lyons, Boys on the Brink Reviews, Inked Rainbow Reads, Love Bytes, Velvet Panic, Kirsty Loves Books, Dawn’s Reading Nook, Cheekypee Reads and Reviews

Final

Giveaway

Enter to win a prize. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.
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A MelanieM Review: Lovers Leap by JL Merrow

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

LoversLeap_600x900If they looked, would they ever leap?

Good-looking, confident, and doted on by his widowed mum, Michael is used to thinking only of himself. Getting shoved off an Isle of Wight pier by an exasperated ex ought to come as a wake-up call—but then he meets Rufus and he’s right back to letting the little head take charge. Rufus is cute, keen, and gets under Michael’s skin in a disturbing way.

Would-be chef Rufus can’t believe his luck when a dripping wet dream of a man walks out of the sea on his birthday, especially when Michael ends up staying at the family B&B. Life is perfect—at least until Michael has to go home to the mainland.

Rufus can’t leave the island for reasons he’s entirely neglected to mention. And though Michael identifies as bi, breaking his mum’s heart by coming out and having an actual relationship with a guy has never been his plan. With both men determined to keep their secrets, a leap of faith could land them in deep water.

I just  love JL Merrow and her ability to deliver characters that, whether you adore them, look at them with a little dislike and (yes, contempt for some), always feel downright real and human.   In Lovers Leap, Merrow delivers just such a story full of characters that are almost guaranteed to put readers down on one side or the other.  I fall firmly down on the side that sees this as a story full of characters that I understood, believed in and even when I was less then fond of their actions, I accepted them once I got the back history and foundation upon which they were based.  That’s wonderful storytelling.

The character in conflict, for the reader, himself and Rufus?  Michael, the man who came from the sea…the reason for which is one that is startling and is probably the basis for many readers dislike.  His actions that follow don’t help.  But there is something, as Merrow has written him, that draws you in, a certain vulnerability that pays off the more the story unfolds.  There are some very serious issues for Michael to deal with, his sexuality, his faith and family, and some are deeply shattering as the story unfolds.  Especially when it comes to his mother.  All his prior arrogance and obnoxiousness in words and deeds?  Well, there are reasons and a basis for all of them and Merrow lays it out for us like a very sad banquet.

Rufus is not without deep issues himself.  They too start at home with a father and stepmother whose fragile relationship with each other and perhaps Rufus is keeping them all tied in a knot that might be choking them in the B & B in which they all work and live.

Lovers Leap is all about twin needs that speak to each other without Rufus and Michael realizing how much at first, and then slowing pulling towards each other, with humor, with heartbreak, with passion…in true English form on the Isle of Wight.  I even adored the best friend, and her surprise coupling.  Definitely could have used more of them.

If you like your main characters with flaws that you can handle, you know a little gruff, nothing too bad, certainly not obnoxious or bi, perhaps this isn’t your story.  But if you love layered characters, people who need to work on themselves, and relationships that need just that bit of luck as well as love?  Don’t let Lovers Leap pass you by.  I highly recommend it and can’t wait to see what the Isle of Wight inspires JL Merrow to write next.

Cover art by Lou Harper is well done and indicative of the characters and story. Loved it.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 202 pages
Published February 27th 2016 by Riptide Publishing
Original TitleLovers Leap
ISBN 1626493820 (ISBN13: 9781626493827)
Edition LanguageEnglish

A MelanieM Review: Wolf, Becoming by Rory Ni Coileain ( A Release Day Redux)

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Wolf BecomingVolyk learns very young that he has to hide what he is—oboroten’, shape-shifter—after his father is killed and skinned by a hunter, and the pack that takes in his pregnant mother is hostile to his kind. When Volyk is ordered to fight the pack’s beta to prove his fitness, but instead obeys his hormones and tries to mount him, he’s declared an abomination and forced to flee.

Ilya, too, hides a secret. Being young and gay in modern Russia is dangerous, and he knows it. But the truth eventually gets out, and his brothers lure him into the forest to kill him. They’re stopped by Volyk, who hides the mortally wounded Ilya in his den. The only way to heal the human is to turn him into an oboroten’.

Unfortunately, Ilya’s gentle nature is ill-suited to the life of a wolf. But when Volyk’s old pack returns, seeking to take away Volyk’s magickal den, Ilya will have to embrace—truly become—the wolf Volyk made him to save both his mate’s life and his own.

Very few authors do primal, elemental characters like Rory Ni Coileain which is very good for this story full of such characters.  They feel steeped in Mother Russia and the ancient earth they trod on and the blood they easily spill.   It may take place in Modern Russia but the actions and dark emotions feel anything but.

Those hatreds and fears are timeless and the author makes us experience it through her story and the lives of characters of Volyk and Ilya.

I found Wolf, Becoming to be part old Grimm fairytale and part shifter romance,  with some horror story thrown in for good measure and it all kept me enthralled.

Volyk’s past is one we are tumbled into at the beginning of the story and its heartbreaking.  Nor does it get any better for him as a young kit.  For him life is one of loss, endurance, and pain.  Then a chance meeting with Ilya changes everything for both of them.  I love the language that Rory Ni Coileain employs in her narrative, somehow it seems old and modern at the same time, anchored in the past with Volyk and yet modern with Ilya, the freshness of the current times must coming from  him.

There are some things I would have loved to have seen enlarged on here, Marik is a formidable and evil character, one that this author does so well.  I’m torn between wanting to have more and less of him.  And definitely wanted more of Ilya and Volyk’s relationship.

As it is I can absolutely recommend Wolf, Becoming to all lovers of shifter romance and romance in general.  It kept me enthralled from the first page until the end and the storytelling was everything I expect was this wonderful author.

Cover art by Maria Fanning is beautiful and perfect for the characters.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: February 24th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781634771405
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Stella Review: Drawing Love by Tully Vincent

Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

Drawing LoveYears ago a childhood trauma ripped away Taylor Elliot’s confidence and made leaving his own home a struggle. Now a senior in high school, he finally has his life back on track. As head of the decorating committee for the Cupid Dance, he’s determined to showcase his creativity by dazzling his fellow students with glitz and glamour they won’t soon forget. But when his committee’s resident techie bails at the last minute, Taylor’s chance to shine is slipping through his fingers, and he’s on the verge of a panic attack.

Can the unexpected appearance of a real-life cupid help Taylor create something special after all?

Drawing Love is a short young adult story about Taylor, a high school student who suffers of agoraphobia and lives in a small town. He is planning the Cupid Dance, the yearly Valentine dance but something is going wrong.

What a surprise! I have to say I’m always in awe of authors who can write story so short and do it right. Just like this one. In so few pages (just 19!) I was able to know the main characters pretty well, especially Taylor. The author gave me all the important things about his life, his thoughts, his wishes, his fears. Plus she gifted him a tenacious best friend, Drina, a powerful mum and a sweet kindergarten friend, someone who is now back to join Taylor in their adult life.

It’s a quick story, short of course but well done, with unbelievable well defined characters and an unexpected ending. Can I tell you the truth? I wanted more and this is the only reason I didn’t give this review five stars. Still Drawing Love is a lovely read. I highly recommend to everyone who wants to spend half hour with a sweet and well thought read.

The cover art is simple, clean and fitting, I like it.

Sales Link:  Amazon

Book Details;

Kindle Edition, 19 pages
Published February 17th 2016
ASINB01BW8K4P4
Edition LanguageEnglish

Two Lovers Take a Leap of Faith with J.L. Merrow’s Lovers Leap (author’s blog and contest)

LoversLeap_600x900

Lovers Leap by J.L. Merrow
Published by Riptide Publishing
Cover Art by Lou Harper

Goodreads Link

Purchase/Read an Excerpt

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have JL Merrow here today to talk about Lovers Leap, her latest novel.  Welcome, JL.

*********

Hi, I’m JL Merrow, and I’m delighted to be here as part of the blog tour to celebrate the release of Lovers Leap, my fast-paced romantic comedy with a leap year theme set on my beloved, native Isle of Wight. Lovers Leap features two very different young men—each of whom will need to take a leap of faith if their love is to survive!

About Lovers Leap

If they looked, would they ever leap?

Good-looking, confident, and doted on by his widowed mum, Michael is used to thinking only of himself. Getting shoved off an Isle of Wight pier by an exasperated ex ought to come as a wake-up call—but then he meets Rufus and he’s right back to letting the little head take charge. Rufus is cute, keen, and gets under Michael’s skin in a disturbing way.

Would-be chef Rufus can’t believe his luck when a dripping wet dream of a man walks out of the sea on his birthday, especially when Michael ends up staying at the family B&B. Life is perfect—at least until Michael has to go home to the mainland.

Rufus can’t leave the island for reasons he’s entirely neglected to mention. And though Michael identifies as bi, breaking his mum’s heart by coming out and having an actual relationship with a guy has never been his plan. With both men determined to keep their secrets, a leap of faith could land them in deep water.

Lovers Leap is also available in audio from Amazon and Audible!

About J.L. Merrow

JL Merrow is that rare beast, an English person who refuses to drink tea.  She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again.  Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne.

She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance and mysteries, and is frequently accused of humour.  Her novel Slam! won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best LGBT Romantic Comedy, and her novella Muscling Through and novel Relief Valve were both EPIC Awards finalists.

JL Merrow is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, International Thriller Writers, Verulam Writers’ Circle and the UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet organising team.

Connect with JL:

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Giveaway

Leave a comment for a chance to win $29 in Riptide credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on March 5, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. Entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

An Aurora YA Review: Angel Radio by A.M. Blaushield

Rating: 5 out of 5     .★★★★★

angel RadioIt is on the cusp of summer that strange angels of eyes and wings appear throughout the world, and a week later all of humanity is dead. Except one girl. Months later, Erika Cantor continues to wander her desolate hometown without purpose or answers—until a strange radio broadcast sends her into the dangerous world outside—a world past civilization, whose only inhabitants are monsters and demons.

There, Erika meets Midori, a naïve girl with a cryptic connection to the angels, and Gav, a boy who seems to have knowledge he refuses to share with Erika. The appearance of the mysterious Fex raises even more questions. Can he be trusted?

 As Erika travels across Vermont searching for some remnant of society, she learns that there’s a reason she survived—that the angels, horrid creatures that they are—have a plan for her.

The action in this book starts right off the bat, which is a good thing in some ways and a not-so-good thing in others. I was really intrigued by the concept of the book, and the things that did happen within the first chapter really interested me, so I was compelled to keep reading. However, the nature of the book is that it starts out pretty directly with our main character alone in the world, or thinking that she is, at least. This definitely bolsters the stakes and makes it interesting to find out what’s going to happen next. However, there is very limited character interaction because of it. While I did understand this, I would have liked to have seen some more interaction between Erika and her parents, or even with some of her friends at school who were panicking, before we got to at least a whole chapter where I didn’t get to see Erika interact with anyone but herself.

 
For me, I was interested in Erika, I was intrigued by the way she thought about things, and her narration was interesting enough that I wanted to read if only to see what would happen to her. This is master characterization on the part of the author, because it wasn’t too overt, Erika didn’t just tell the readers exactly what her personality was. There were little comments here and there, little shifts in attitude from what would have been perceived as normal, that hinted as to Erika’s eccentricities. And it was enough to keep me interested through her journey until she met up with some other characters. Really, the whole book contained really strong characters. No one seemed one dimensional, apart, perhaps, from the people who were introduced in the first chapter and dead before it was over. The characters who were still alive were interesting within a paragraph of being introduced, sometimes in as much as a sentence.
 
And the plot wasn’t lacking either. Once it got on its feet and got past the set up for the book, the angels coming, Erika leaving home, it was captivating until the end of the book. An original idea is good, but keeping the plot engaging beyond that initial idea can be challenging. This book didn’t struggle with that at all, and definitely kept me interested beyond just the tagline of ‘angels destroy humanity.’ 
 
This book wasn’t your typical YA dystopian novel. It flourished with engaging characters, a stellar plot throughout, and lots of imagery to help the movie in my head.
 
The cover for this book is so beautiful. It definitely caught my eye from the moment I saw it, and drew me to the book really effectively. Some people have problems with a main character being pictured on the cover, but I actually liked having that drawing to flip back to and put an already constructed face to the name. It is really well done and shows great artistic ability, as well as being paired up just perfectly with the tone and plot of the book. It looks like a cover the main character could have chosen for herself.
Sales Links:  Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon
Book Details:
ebook, 250 pages
Published December 31st 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1634762800 (ISBN13: 9781634762809)
Edition LanguageEnglish

Young, On the Streets, and Then… Find Out More About ‘The Guy With The Suitcase’ by Chris Ethan‏ (excerpt and giveaway)

The Guy With The Suitcase Banner

Title: The Guy With The Suitcase
Series: Once Upon a Guy, Book One
Author: Chris Ethan
Genre: Gay Romance, Contemporary, New Adult
Length: Novel

Synopsis

Pierce is homeless.
Young and strong-willed Pierce has been living in the streets of New York City for six months, since his parents kicked him out of their perfect, Christian, suburban house. Pierce is gay. And he is suffering the consequences for being true to himself.

Rafe is homeless.
He is also sick. Impressionable, but far from innocent, Rafe ran away from home almost a year ago. His sickness is slowly killing him. But Rafe is not a hopeless case. He has learned to get by. Nights of paid passion turn to sheltering warmth from the imminent New York winter.

And then there’s a suitcase. Pierce’s suitcase, which holds secrets from everyone including its owner.

When their worlds collide, their lives intertwine and when the world seems bent on bringing the two souls to their knees, fate has other plans for them.

Caution: Contains adult language, New York City streets, tough life choices, sexual tension, stubborn brutes and swoon-worthy romance.

The Guy With The Suitcase Cover

Buy Links

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B018RE9K7E/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B018RE9K7E/
Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B018RE9K7E/
Amazon DE: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B018RE9K7E/

Giveaway

Prize Bundle: The Guy With The Suitcase Mug, Chris Ethan pen, and $5 Amazon Gift Card

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About the Author

Chris Ethan is a book whore. He enjoys selling his feelings for money and other pleasures and is blatantly unashamed to do so for as long as he breathes. Chris Ethan is also a persona for Rhys Christopher Ethan, author of fantasy and sci-fi. He uses Chris Ethan to share stories of adult queer romance with those who need it. Before you delve into his books however, be warned. He likes putting his characters through shitstorms and hates anything conventional. But then there’s that darned happy-ever-after. Also, he likes swearing. Deal with it!

Social links:

Website: http://www.rcethan.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Rhys_Ethan
Facebook: http://facebook.com/rcethan1