Category: Contemporary fiction

The Sage of Will & Patrick Continues with ‘Will & Patrick Fight Their Feelings’ by Leta Blake & Alice Griffiths

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Title:  Will & Patrick Fight Their Feelings (Wake Up Married, Episode 4)
Author: Leta Blake & Alice Griffiths
Publisher:  Leta Blake Books
Release Date: 1/25/16

Book/Buy Links: Goodreads | Amazon

Book Blurb

Follow Will & Patrick in this fourth installment of the romantic-comedy serial, Wake Up Married, by best-selling author Leta Blake and newcomer Alice Griffiths!

Will and Patrick have embraced adding hot sexy-times to their fake marriage, but as their emotions deepen, they confront whether or not they want to be more than friends-with-benefits. Freshly free of a restrictive relationship, Will’s not ready for more than exploratory fun. And no matter how Patrick feels about Will, his own difficult past has left him wary of love.

The heat is high (and occasionally kinky) in this episode of the Wake Up Married serial, but Will and Patrick struggle to accept their mutual affection, much less confess it. How long will they fight their feelings?

Episode 4 of 6 in the Wake Up Married serial.

Genre:  Romantic Comedy M/M Romance
Tags:  gay, woke up married, tropes, rom-com, mafia, forced marriage, disabled heroes
Heat Level: 5
Pairing: M/M
Length: 38,000 words

Excerpt

Wrung out after the long night, Patrick shovels in the eggs and toast he ordered from room service. His mind drifts lazily as he eats, but when he hears the shower turn off, his stomach churns. He hates that his brain can ruin a perfectly good moment with memories that make him twitchy.

“About last night…” Will’s voice cracks slightly.

Patrick’s heart stops.

“Maybe it shouldn’t happen again?”

A sharp, deep pain lances into Patrick and he can’t breathe. It’s so unexpected, this horrible feeling, and he can’t think of anything to say. But hope and lust surge together as Will shoves away from the door. He grabs Patrick so hard it hurts and kisses him until the world shifts under their feet. 

Yep, it had happened again. Had it ever. God, their second night in a row of sex had been—

Patrick jerks back to the present as the bathroom door swings open and Will strides out fully dressed in a pair of trousers and a button-up shirt. The eggs churn faster in Patrick’s stomach.

Will sits at the breakfast table. He tests, calculates, and injects his insulin before starting on his cottage cheese on toast. He looks up, fixing Patrick with a resolute gaze.

Patrick dodges the look and pokes his eggs with his fork. “Do we have to talk about it?”

Will takes another bite and chews deliberately.

“Because I don’t want to talk about it.” Patrick’s much more interested in a “don’t think, just do” policy when it comes to sex with Will. He’ll take that over revisiting the surprising pain of Will’s near-rejection the night before.

Will’s brows draw low and he chews for a long, tense moment. Patrick’s heart lurches like a skipping record until Will speaks. “Really? So you think there’s nothing to talk about?”

“Nope.” Patrick’s fork scrapes against his plate. “I don’t see why there would be.”

Will, of course, has other ideas. Like that’s anything new. “Patrick, we had sex again last night. Three times.”

“I know what we did, Will.”

“And?”

“And I liked it. And I don’t regret it.”

Will pulls his lower lip between his teeth. “You really liked it?”

“Puddin’-pop, you were there. Do you doubt you’re the best lay I’ve ever had?”

“The best?”

“Unequivocally.”

Will grins and eats some more of his cottage cheese on toast, joy rising up like the sun on his face. “You too. I mean, you’re the best I’ve had.”

Shocking. Patrick wants an award for not saying that out loud. He reaches out and takes hold of Will’s fingers. “I like being with you. I like what we’re doing and I don’t want to talk about it.”

Will pulls his hand away and scratches his ear uncertainly. “Why?”

“Because I don’t want us to stop.” He clenches his fist on the table and summons the strength to say, “Unless you want to stop?”

Will shakes his head and studies the food. After putting some eggs on his plate and compiling another cottage cheese and whole-wheat toast sandwich, he clears his throat and tentatively meets Patrick’s eye again. “So you think it’s okay if we—”

“Screw without professing our undying love first?”

Will flushes but nods.

“We’re having sex, not committing a crime. Of course it’s okay. Why make it into something it’s not?”

Will butters his toast and carefully doesn’t meet Patrick’s gaze again. This. This is why Patrick doesn’t want to talk about things. “What did I say wrong now?”

Will shrugs and takes a bite of toast. He finishes chewing and swallows. “What would we make it into that it’s not?”

“That’s what I don’t want to talk about.”

“Because you think I’ll say we can’t have sex anymore if there’s no hope of us really falling in love and making a little family together?”

Patrick breaks into a fine sweat. “Won’t you?”

He has no idea what thoughts the tiny hamsters on the wheels in Will’s mind are cranking out, but he can imagine they’re racing overtime as Will gazes at him silently. He feels like he might puke.

Will’s mouth tilts up at the corner. “No.”

“What?” Patrick chokes on his toast and has to grab a swallow of water.

“No, I won’t say we have to stop. We’ll keep on…you know.”

“Having sex.”

Will’s eyes go hot with lust. “Yeah. We’ll keep having sex.”

“I knew you liked it.” He leans forward, smirking. “Now, tell me what you liked best. In detail.”

Will adjusts his napkin in his lap. “I thought you didn’t want to talk about it.”

“I didn’t want to talk about ‘Oh, woe, it was wrong, and I’m still hurting over Ryan, and we’re getting divorced as soon as possible,’ because I know all that.”

Will finishes off his cottage cheese sandwich. “I get it.”

“Tell me all the dirty stuff. I want to hear how much you loved it.”

Will’s smile is soft. “Oh, I loved it.”

Author Bios

Leta Blake

Author of the bestselling book Smoky Mountain Dreams and the fan favorite Training Season, Leta Blake’s educational and professional background is in psychology and finance, respectively. However, her passion has always been for writing. She enjoys crafting romance stories and exploring the psyches of made up people. At home in the Southern U.S., Leta works hard at achieving balance between her day job, her writing, and her family.

You can find out more about her by following her online:

Alice Griffiths

A long-time reader of romance novels, Alice Griffiths finally took the plunge into writing, teaming up with best-selling author Leta Blake for the ‘Woke up Married’ serialized comedy. A lover of tropes, Alice enjoys mining old ideas and putting a fresh, funny spin on them. Formerly working in the newspaper industry, Alice is now an art curator. She lives in Sydney, Australia.

You can find out more about her by following her online:

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Giveaway

Enter to win 1 copy of any Will & Patrick episode. 2 winners will be selected. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

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In Our YA Spotlight: Poz ( The Lives of Remy and Michael #2) by Christopher Koehler ( exclusive excerpt and giveaway)

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 Poz ( The Lives of Remy and Michael #2) by Christopher Koehler
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Publication Date: 8 Jan 2015
Cover Artist: Paul Richmond

Blurb

The Lives of Remy and Michael: Book Two

A CalPac Crew Story

I thought life after high school would be easier. I’d go to California Pacific for a year while I got a handle on my HIV, then after Michael graduated from high school, we’d blast out of here for colleges—and life—on the East Coast. Then I visited Boston and everything changed. I realized I like CalPac. Turns out, Boston didn’t have anything for me beyond one of the biggest regattas in North America.

Life grew more complicated when I got home. I couldn’t find a way to tell Michael that I’d just blown our plan for our lives out of the water. Then my CalPac coaches dropped a bomb on me. Those rowing officials who’d been watching me? They were recruiters for the national team, and my coaches wanted me to try out. They’d even let Lodestone coach me. Now I have to choose, school or crew, CalPac or Michael, and I still haven’t told Michael I can’t transfer. Is there even a place for Michael in my life? Somehow we have to withstand training at the highest levels and having different goals. Will love hold us together… or tear us apart?

Genre: Contemporary, Gay, Young Adult

Exclusive Excerpt

All That Is Solid Melts Into Air blog tour exclusive excerpt (edited for clarity)

Christopher Koehler

The junior varsity boats appeared to be in front, and I’m sure Michael would have something to say about that. That the JV were in front doubtlessly meant they had won a scrimmage, and if there was one thing varsity hated, it was losing to junior varsity. I’d have to gauge Michael’s mood before I said anything snarky.

In the meantime Coach Lodestone drove his launch toward its berth at the dock. A huge grin split his face as he called out, “Remy!”

“Coach Lodestone!”

I waved as I loped over to his boat. This man had been responsible for some of the greatest triumphs of my young life, as well as helping me through some of my most challenging times. He was a mentor, a father figure, a friend. So it wasn’t like he was important to me or anything. I rowed varsity under him for three years—okay, maybe not under him in the way some of my more overheated fantasies might have had it—so in many ways he helped to shape the man I was becoming.

I helped pull Lodestone’s launch the rest of the way in. Cap City forbade coaches driving their launches all the way into their berths. Apparently the club’s board frowned on ripping the bottom out of the boat by forcing it up onto the dock with the engines.

As important as Lodestone had been to me, and as much as I was doing a member of his gentlemen’s crew—being done by?—I’d been somewhat shy about showing my face around here, at least since I stopped helping with the learn-to-row camps at the end of summer. I lived inside my head, but sometimes I didn’t like to examine my motives too closely. I didn’t want to think about making a break from the most important four years of my life to date. My father’s a therapist. I learned a snoutful growing up about the stages of childhood development, and when Geoff and I were in high school, we couldn’t turn around without hearing about how it was another step in the separation process. If therapists’ kids were nuts, it’s because their parents made them that way. I didn’t want to think about separating from a place in which I had learned so many lessons about life. I didn’t want to think about making a break from a place where I had grown up.

Then something else occurred to me. What if I had avoided the Cap City boathouse up until now because I was pulling away from Michael? It had occurred to me before, and I had discussed the matter with my own therapist, but I sure as hell wasn’t going there right then.

I faked a smile as Lodestone jumped out of his launch. He grabbed my hand to pull me into a bear hug. Guess I wasn’t the only one with familial feelings. “Remy, it’s great to see you! Where’ve you been?”

“Oof. You might consider leaving a rib or two intact, Coach Lodestone.” Seriously, dude, ease up.

Lodestone shook his head. “You could call me by my name. You know, since you don’t row for me.”

“I thought I did.” I pretended to be puzzled. “Your name’s Coach, right?”

I blinked at him in innocence, an innocence no one on that dock believed for a shred of a second.

Lodestone stared at me. “Angels and ministers of grace, was that a joke?”

“No.” I held my face expressionless, even though it about killed me.

“How I’ve missed you.” Lodestone laughed hard. “Do you know none of these boys have the stones to bust my chops?”

“Shocking. I see Michael’s rowing varsity.”

We both lost it at that point. Lodestone, seeing some potential in me, had encouraged me to ride along in his launch so he could show me rowing from another perspective. I learned an incredible amount from those ride alongs, including that a certain now-varsity rower wouldn’t be stuck in JV for long. When I pointed this out to Lodestone at the San Diego Crew Classic one year, he grew rather testy. I stood my ground, and I think he respected that. It helped that I’d been right, because Michael now rowed at seven seat in the gentlemen’s varsity A boat, a boat that was most definitely not going to be first back to the dock.

I could’ve watched Michael row all day, although he was obviously tired. We might’ve met when we were both in high school, but we had both grown. My own maturation barely registered when I looked in the mirror. I mean, who observed himself on a daily basis, right? But Michael—Mikey—I paid attention to. Two years of puberty had been very good to him. He was now taller than I was and far heavier of build, and I fucking loved it. Let’s be honest, I’m subby, and our physical differences worked very well together.

By the time Michael’s boat landed, I stared openly. He looked up and smiled, so yeah, I’d been caught. Neither of us cared. I guess a few of the other guys noticed. I had only graduated the year before, and some of them recognized me, acknowledging my existence with a nod or a wave, but they had other things to do, like carry the oars to the oar racks and otherwise prepare to get the boat back into the boathouse and wipe the water off it. I didn’t recognize one or two faces. They ignored me, and I returned the favor.

“I said,” Lodestone repeated, snapping his fingers in front of my eyes, “are you rowing at Head of the Charles in Boston?”

I blinked. “I’m sorry, I heard some annoying, buzzing sound. Did you ask a serious question?”

“And the ego has landed.” Lodestone shook his head.

I blushed. “It’s not ego if it’s true.” I looked at my former coach. “You didn’t train me to row a novice boat. Junior varsity, freshman walk-in.”

“Damn straight,” Lodestone said.

“As it were.”

Lodestone gave me a shove toward the boathouse. “Go help your boyfriend wipe his boat down, and you’ll be out of here faster. And out of my hair sooner.”

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Author Bio:

Christopher Koehler learned to read late (or so his teachers thought) but never looked back. It was not, however, until he was nearly done with grad school in the history of science that he realized that he needed to spend his life writing and not on the publish-or-perish treadmill. At risk of being thought frivolous, he found that academic writing sucked all the fun out of putting pen to paper.

Christopher is also something of a hothouse flower. Inside of almost unreal conditions he thrives to set the results of his imagination free, and for most of his life he has been lucky enough to be surrounded by people who encouraged both that tendency and the writing. Chief among them is his long-suffering husband of twenty-two years and counting.

When it comes to writing, Christopher follows Anne Lamott’s advice: “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” So while he writes fiction, at times he ruthlessly mines his past for character traits and situations. Reality is far stranger than fiction.

Christopher loves many genres of fiction and nonfiction, but he’s especially fond of romances, because it is in them that human emotions and relations, at least most of the ones fit to be discussed publicly, are laid bare.

Writing is his passion and his life, but when Christopher is not doing that, he’s an at-home dad and oarsman with a slightly disturbing interest in manners and other ways people behave badly.

Visit him at  http://christopherkoehler.net/blog or follow him on Twitter   @christopherink.

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Tour links:

21 Jan –  Hearts on Fire Reviews

22 Jan –  Dreamspinner Press Blog

23 Jan –  Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

26 Jan –  BFD Book Blog

28 Jan –  The Land of Make Believe

30 Jan –   Prism Book Alliance

1 Feb –   MM Good Book Reviews

3 Feb –  JP Barnaby

6 Feb –   The Novel Approach

9 Feb –   The Purple Rose Teahouse

10 Feb –  Diverse Reader

Buy links:

Dreamspinner eBook |Dreamspinner Print | Amazon US  | Amazon UK | All Romance eBooks

Giveaway

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Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and prize provided by the author and Prizm Book Alliance.

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A Must Read Series Spotlight: Of Gods and Monsters: Hades (Of Gods and Monsters #2) by Wulf Francu Godgluck (excerpt and giveaway)

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Of Gods and Monsters: Hades (Of Gods and Monsters #2) by Wulf Francu Godgluck
 Release Date: January 22, 2016

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Wulf Francu Godgluck
Cover Artist: Wulf Francu Godgluck

 

Blurb

******WARNING*******
This is not a story about a hero, or some bad boy-badass-antihero.
This is a love story between two monstrous villains and one valiant kid, held together by their entwined heartstrings.
It won’t be pretty.
It won’t be pleasant.
There’s no fluffy good feelings about it.
It will rip out your heart and never give it back.

Breno Hades el Oscuro took no bullshit from anyone. He ruled the crime world of the United States. When the King fell, what was left in the ashes was not the small boy that grew up without his father, not the same kid that chose a life of crime at seventeen, nor was it the King who had killed and clawed through a river of blood to stand at the top.

The King was dragged from his throne of bones into a deep dark pit, leaving only the raw flesh of a savage monster to crawl out of Hell.
One that knew love, but didn’t want it again.

Kemono Orochi was destined to inherit the legacy of his father, known as The Dragon’s Tongue. It was an inheritance he never wanted it, never desiring the power that came with the title of Dragon. Kemono ended it all by tearing off the Dragon’s head, watching the serpent’s remains be consumed in hellfire. Now tormented by the scars of his past inflicted by his father, he is struggling to come to terms with the Akuma he has become.

One that wants to devour everyone in his path to protect the only one that matters to him.

The only person that had ever made his icy heart beat.

His heart. His love. His beautiful pride.

Rex Hunter dreams of becoming a principal ballerino…all fierce, like a Phoenix. But this Phoenix has lost his wings and fallen prey, straight into the clutched claws and callus hands of two vicious beasts. Each bore the blackest of hearts, each desiring to keep him safe, cherished and loved unconditionally. Or was Rex just destined to be the goo that would stick two shattered souls together and prevent them from forever falling to pieces?

There will be blood, gore and nasty shit.

There will be watersports, crude, angry, sometimes sensual and other times just downright dirty and dysfunctional sex.

BUT…

There will always be LOVE…

Because even villains understand the tortured scars love leaves in her wake.

 

Pages or Words: 118,000 words
Book may be read as as standalone, but it is suggested you read both for the full story
 Categories: Contemporary, Crimed Fiction, Erotica, Gay Fiction, Romance, Thriller

Excerpt

He knew Wendigo wouldn’t follow him into this place. Any club, lounge, brothel that even hinted at the use of whips and chains freaked the pup out. Wendigo wasn’t weak. What irked Hades was that this shit still had a grip over Wendigo’s life. That he’d never had a childhood, he never once knew what it was to be a kid, to be happy. It tore at Hades to still see that shit haunt Wendigo’s eyes. And the brother did deserve some happiness. But he would never get it as long as he held on to the past.

He looked up at the sight in front of him. The upgrade had sure been worth it. Max had long talked about giving the VIPs their own private lobby. Before, they’d had a separate entrance via a short hall leading straight into the White Room. Now it held one as large as the main entrance. Hades moved past the black marble counter and stepped into the White Room.

He peered around, the fireplaces were unlit, but the antique ceramic stoves were already going. The light was set too brightly, bouncing off all the white in the room. And Dios, his dick went hard behind his leathers ’cause that thought sent images jumping into his head of a little fire kitten sprawled out naked on the plush carpet in front of one of those fires. Light dappling over the pale flesh of Rex’s body while Hades explored—each and every cut, mold and curve the boy’s muscles made—with his fingers.

Dios, he needed to get a fireplace installed. Hades closed his eyes and clenched his fists, vibrating as the growl trembled his chest.

Don’t motherfuckin’ make plans for a future you know for fuck will never fuckin’ be. He shouldn’t be touching Rex, tasting him, not again. He knew he should walk away ’cause he would make that kid break and that Hades didn’t want to do. But hell, fuck, couldn’t he at least allow himself some happiness before he went?

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Meet the author:

They come to me in the night, creeping into my head. Their voices are all different, their stories all dissimilar, but they keep saying the same thing…

“Show us, tell us, bring us into your world, and make us known.”

Then I sit and they take over. They tell their tales of love, loss and sinister misfortune. Not all of them get a happy ending, but they are pleased when their part is written.

I sometimes find myself lost in my own mind; a world very similar to our own yet so different. Things don’t go bump in the night— they squeal and crawl under your skin, making you grind your teeth, and making your stomach turn over and putting your nerves on edge. Then there’s the drama. Oh, the drama!

Wulf Francú Godgluck hails from South Africa. His work is not for the faint-hearted! In his books you’ll find… all the beasties with their nasty claws and teeth, and some you didn’t even know existed.

But the monsters aren’t all real. Some live inside us. Who knows what he will make you discover about yourself, lurking in your heart, behind the closed walls in the deep, black recesses where no light penetrates? Wulf will steal your heart and never give it back. More than likely, he’ll pin it to the wall with a bobbypin and sit there sipping his tea while you writhe and squeal on the floor…

Where to find the author:

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheWulfChronicles/?ref=hl

Twitter: @turboverse


Tour Dates & Stops:

Parker Williams, KathyMac Reviews, Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, MM Good Book Reviews, Bayou Book Junkie, The Hat Party, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Inked Rainbow Reads, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, BFD Book Blog, Happily Ever Chapter, Wake Up Your Wild Side, Unquietly Me, Book Lovers 4Ever, The Jena Wade, Boy Meets Boy Reviews, Charley Descoteaux, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Molly Lolly, Alpha Book Club, the Twins: Talon ps & Princess so, 3 Chicks After Dark, Lee Brazil, Divine Magazine, My Fiction Nook

 

A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 5 Star Recommended Story and Author

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Giveaway

 

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ‘Hades’ by Wulf Francu Godgluck.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Link and prize provided by the author and Pride Promotions.

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A Stella Review: Of Gods and Monsters: Hades (Of Gods and Monsters #2) by Wulf Francu Godgluck

RATING 5 out of 5 stars          ★★★★★

******WARNING*******
Hades of Gods and MonstersThis is not a story about a hero, or some bad boy-badass-antihero.
This is a love story between two monstrous villains and one valiant kid, held together by their entwined heartstrings.
It won’t be pretty.
It won’t be pleasant.
There’s no fluffy good feelings about it.
It will rip out your heart and never give it back.

Breno Hades el Oscuro took no bullshit from anyone. He ruled the crime world of the United States. When the King fell, what was left in the ashes was not the small boy that grew up without his father, not the same kid that chose a life of crime at seventeen, nor was it the King who had killed and clawed through a river of blood to stand at the top.

The King was dragged from his throne of bones into a deep dark pit, leaving only the raw flesh of a savage monster to crawl out of Hell.
One that knew love, but didn’t want it again.

Kemono Orochi was destined to inherit the legacy of his father, known as The Dragon’s Tongue. It was an inheritance he never wanted it, never desiring the power that came with the title of Dragon. Kemono ended it all by tearing off the Dragon’s head, watching the serpent’s remains be consumed in hellfire. Now tormented by the scars of his past inflicted by his father, he is struggling to come to terms with the Akuma he has become.

One that wants to devour everyone in his path to protect the only one that matters to him.

The only person that had ever made his icy heart beat.

His heart. His love. His beautiful pride.

Rex Hunter dreams of becoming a principal ballerino…all fierce, like a Phoenix. But this Phoenix has lost his wings and fallen prey, straight into the clutched claws and callus hands of two vicious beasts. Each bore the blackest of hearts, each desiring to keep him safe, cherished and loved unconditionally. Or was Rex just destined to be the goo that would stick two shattered souls together and prevent them from forever falling to pieces?

There will be blood, gore and nasty shit.

There will be watersports, crude, angry, sometimes sensual and other times just downright dirty and dysfunctional sex.

BUT…

There will always be LOVE…

Because even villains understand the tortured scars love leaves in its wake.

Let’s start this review saying I loved the book a lot and when I finished reading it, I hated the author a lot. As an after thought I should have seen it coming but in my defence I was so enrolled in the story, I was blind to little details I should have been more careful with. Nonetheless in the following days when I was finally able to let the anger go, I realized that maybe it was the right choice and it is one of my favorite books I’ve read lately.

I’m honestly not sure what to write in this review because I don’t want to spoil the story. If you’re a fan of Wulf’s work, you know he is very good at surprising us with unexpected characters and developments, so just two words, be ready. I wasn’t.

Of Gods and Monsters: Hades is a story about betrayal, about second chances at love, enemies to lovers, about a monster with a cold heart that can maybe still beat for someone. It’s about a beautiful young man and the need to be human again. It’s the story of three lives, interwoven in times and fate.

The story of Hades takes place four years after Menoetius. In these four years, Hades has found and let go of who could have been the love of his life, he was betrayed by a brother and forced to live in a prison fighting ring.

Four years has passed from the day Rex has left Japan and the place that was his home and life for twelve years, where he kissed Kemono, the young man he watched become a cold hearted killer. The day he was escorted to the airport and put on a plane to the States. With his cat, Bacon, he’s now living under the Dragon’s Tongue “care”, a powerful criminal organization.

And four years ago, Kemono has killed the one who kept him away from Rex and turned him into a monster, the new dragon.

After four year spent in hell, Hades comes back to his apartment and find it occupied by a little ginger, Rex. And of course he needs to scare the young man to death. First impressions matter.

There is a lot going on this book, there are quite some second characters to keep track of, but it’s never chaotic because every new event, every new person is welcomed and fully explained.

The characters in this story are not easy, all of them have really heavy baggages on their shoulders (no one excluded), all of them are fucked up in different ways. I love knowing there are more books planned and that I’m going to meet them again and follow them in their journey to the love land. Cause they are all getting their HEA.

The story is a continuous story of messy, hard scenes. Not for everyone. It’s on the line of Menoetius but different and in my opinion so much better.

There are some things I’m very strict about in my MM books and they are often have been a deal breaker to me, this second installment has a couple of them, but I didn’t care. As I already said, the story took me completely, I couldn’t put it down for a moment. My opinion on the author is the same, he’s amazingly talented.

I can’t wait for the next one. I want to know more about Richard (and James I hope), but it seems that Monroe, a NYPD chief, has just fallen in love with someone.

Cover Art by Wulf Francú Godgluck. It’s well done and fitting, I can totally see Hades in it. And I like the black and the red together.

Sales Links:   All Romance (ARe) | Amazon

Book Details:

Published January 22nd 2016 by Wulf Francu Godgluck
Kindle Edition, 319 pages
ASIN B018WUWI18
Edition Language English

Of Gods and Monsters series

A Stella Review: THE UGLIEST SWEATER by Gillian St. Kevern

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

The Ugliest SweaterDan’s favourite festive sweater is so ugly, it’s cost him not one but three boyfriends and sent him back to his parents’ place for the third Christmas in a row. About to give up hope of ever having a Christmas date, Dan meets Jake, a hot guy with a rock and roll edge. Jake is infatuated with Dan’s sweater but vanishes before Dan can decide if Jake is for real or really in need of an eye-check. After all, no one has ever liked the sweater.

Dan’s sweater is rocketed to national attention, when Jake’s radio colleagues launch a hunt for the mystery man in the hideous jumper. Dan jumps at the chance to meet Jake again, and they hit it off in a big way, to the accompaniment of intimate gigs, exclusive clubs, and the paparazzi. Dan falls hard, but despite obvious mutual attraction, Jake refuses to take him back to his apartment. Is the relationship real – or a ratings stunt? After all, Jake has a reputation for cool that Dan, a lowly gym instructor, could never approach. Is a fondness for tacky Christmas clothing the only thing they have in common? Or does uber-cool Jake hide a Christmas secret of his own?

“Have you lost your goddamn mind?”

“That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?” Dan looked down at himself. “It’s only a sweater.”

Aston snorted. “That is ‘only a sweater’ the same way the Titanic was a bit of a wreck.”

Dan forced a laugh. “You can’t compare a sweater to an actual tragedy.”

“That sweater is an actual tragedy. Honestly, Dan. Have you gone blind?”

I honestly can say this story disappointed me a little, maybe my hopes were too high, because I fell in love with the gorgeous cover and then I read the blurb and thought The Ugliest Sweater could be original and sweet. What I got was a lovely reading with cute characters (main and secondary too) but nothing more. Even in stories so short, I need some characters’ background or just an epilogue to see where the relationship has gone after the first sex night together. While here I got none. As a matter of fact, the ending felt to me rushed and very unexpected, I turned page on my kindle and there was the author’s bio. It was frustating.

That said, if I try and forget about these things, I had a good holiday story, sweet and fluffy. I was looking for a light book because  I was coming from a heavy reads, and The Ugliest Sweater was perfect, it took my mind away from dark places and filled it with colors and gingerbread smells.

Plus the cover art by Aria Tan caught my attention at first sight. It’s super cute and adorable.

Sales Links:  NineStar Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 65 pages
Published December 14th 2015 by NineStar Press
isbn13 9781911153108
Edition Language English