A riveting, nail-biting, thought-provoking, frightening thriller, this story is much more than an M/M romance—it’s a brilliant tale worthy of recognition on the NY Times Bestsellers List.
Cayce D’Amico is just a regular guy raising his seven-year-old son on his own, holding down a job as a waiter at the local diner in the economically-repressed town of Fawcettville, Pennsylvania. He’s young, gay, divorced, and totally focused on his son, Luke. One evening, when he realizes Luke is no longer in his back yard, he sets out to find him just as a thunderstorm hits the area. At the edge of the woods, he’s struck by a broken limb as lightning strikes the tree next to him. Luke is okay, but Cayce isn’t.
Waking in the hospital, he finds it odd that he knows something personal about the aide who touches his arm, and next, he’s struck with images that he soon learns are from a missing girl—one who Cayce can see is dead. It happens again the next day—this time with visions of another kidnap victim. Frightened, but knowing that if it was his son who was missing he’d want help, he goes to the home of the latest victim to offer assistance in finding her but is promptly turned away. Later that night he receives a call from the mother of the first victim, who claims the other mother called her in warning, but that she’s willing to listen to him. The two set out to find the girl, following Cayce’s visions.
Dave Newton is a reporter, if you can call it that in this small town of very little news. A native of England, he followed his lover here years ago—a lover who left him here with only the company of a bottle and a handful of drugs to get by. He’s kicked the drugs but still toys with the booze occasionally—anything to get through the boredom of his life. He’s intrigued by the story of the man who was hit with the limb and when he went to the hospital to say hello, he became even more intrigued by the man himself. Cayce is a nice guy, one who could possibly thaw his heart if he allowed it. It’s Dave who Cayce turns to when he and the mother of the missing girl find her grave. And it’s Dave who offers a shoulder for Cayce to lean on as the story develops, and Cayce is hounded by the press and shunned by the police.
It’s also Dave who supports and assists Cayce as he tries to solve the most important mystery of his life when someone close to him is taken. And when the two rush headlong into an exciting, nail-biting search they get results, just not the results they were looking for.
In this story, the author leads us on an emotional journey fraught with danger and more ups and downs and hairpin turns than an out-of-control eighteen-wheeler. It’s completely different from any of his other works and absolutely brilliant in its execution. Seriously, this ranks right up there with any of the world-renowned mystery writers of our time. The complexity of the storytelling, the attention to detail and the hold-your-breath plotline make this story outstanding. The author keeps the reader on the edge of their seat with flashbacks via Cayce’s visions alternating with scenes of what’s happening in real time to Cayce, and then scenes of the kidnappers and their victims, telling us just enough in each chapter to make the move to the next chapter vital to the reader’s need to breathe. Seriously, this book is very difficult to put down!
The romance in this story is secondary to the major plot with no explicit sex scenes. The attraction between Dave and Cayce develops as more of a true support of one partner for another with some kissing and handholding rather than the hot and heavy sex “on page” that could have been portrayed but would have detracted from the core story.
I can’t recommend this story highly enough. To be honest, I’m not a person who normally reads thrillers, and I never watch horror movies unless I’m forced to do so, and even then I peek through my fingers. I desperately wished I could peek through my fingers at some points in this story, but I was compelled to keep going and I’m so glad I did. The ending was all I had hoped it would be, and the possibility for a happy future for Dave, Cayce, and Luke was set in place. All is well in my world. Don’t miss the chance to read this book.
Caution: This book contains graphic violence and hetero rape with some scenes through flashback and some in real time.
Cover art by Aaron Anderson. Cover depicts a bright light superimposed over the figures of a man and a clock. The light may have been meant to illustrate the visions the man had, and the clock would symbolize time running out. Although I can understand that, I did not find the cover particularly attractive or attention-getting.
Cursed by Hera at birth, Ciro Pyktis must try to keep his brothers from wrecking havoc on the world. Things become complicated when he meets his mate, architect Carter Olabasu. Can this son of Zeus stop his hellion brothers while keeping his lover safe?
Ciro Pyktis, son of Zeus and the goddess of the Storm Winds, along with his brothers are cursed by their step mother Hera. As Ciro is the first born, his mother and the Olympians have tasked him to try to keep his brothers in line. When his brother Gala causes a storm and refused to back down, Ciro must take his life. To try to forget the fight with his brother, Ciro decides to head to a bar to unwind.
Carter Olabasu’s relationship with his brother Kofi has been strained since Carter came out to him. Trying to patch things up with his brother, Kofi suggests the two go out to dinner and a party at the Firewall, a popular straight club. There he is approached by Ciro, who offers to buy him a drink. Before things progress much further, Kofi comes looking for Carter. Ciro mistakes him for Carter’s boyfriend and takes off. But the instant attraction between them sets off events that will change everything for them both.
Ciro is the first book of the Shivers series by Remmy Duchene. I enjoyed how Ms. Duchene has actually added to story of the Olympians by including a new branch in the mix. Also terrific? How the author included several lesser known children of the Olympians to the known pantheon of the main twelve gods. It is difficult to add something to two millennia of storytelling but the author should be commended for her accomplishment.
I also liked how the idea of mates was mixed into the mythology. As most know, the gods just went after whomever they wanted. The idea of predestined love is a nice addition to this mythology and I enjoyed the author’s twist to the Greek gods.
This is a great start to a new series and am looking forward to seeing where Ms. Duchene will go in future books. I highly recommend reading this story.
The cover art by Posh Gosh depicts Carter and Ciro looking down on a storm raging over a Grecian arch. It draws you in and is well done.
Publisher’s Note: This book was previously released by another publisher. It has been revised and re-edited for release with Totally Bound Publishing
Ebook, 151 pages
Published: October 31, 2014 by Totally Bound
ISBN: 978-1-78430-259-7
Edition Language: English
Once upon a time . . . that’s how the old stories always begin.
And so this one begins, in a land both foreign and familiar, it’s a tale of princes, and merfolk and love…of a sort.
Once upon a time there was a king of a fallen kingdom. He was just and he was beloved. Or so the numbers said. One day, he gathered together the greatest, wisest minds in all the land—not sorcerers, but scientists—and he bade them fashion him a son. A prince. A perfect prince to embody his father’s legacy.
But as fate would have it, nothing ever turns out as planned and the golden perfect prince had other ideas for his future. After gazing upon the dances of the mer in a performance, our prince runs off to join the circus, the Cirque de la Mer. Once there the prince trained the merfolk, he performed with them, and thought he was happy…for a year.
Time brought strange thoughts and emotions to the prince the closer he got to the merfolk. Then Nerites arrives, a mesmerizing merman who refused to be trained or tamed. Nerites was something far more than the prince ever expected. Nerites was savage and unknown.
How does the tale end? Ah, there’s the rub. For every prince, there exists a beast, and for every love, there exists a forever heartbreak. Sand and Ruin and Gold has them all.
Sand and Ruin and Gold hearkens back to the olden stories. Not the comforting ” Disneyfied” fairytales but those of Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. Here the darkness and unknown reign supreme, not happy endings or light. Less a tale of romance, this beautifully written short story builds an atmosphere of creeping foreboding, a sense that not everything is as it seems. The poetic nature of the narrative combined with an imagery that will enchant, then leave you haunted by the possibilities, make Sand and Ruin and Gold by Alexis Hall a short story that refuses to be limited by category or trope.
The feeling of something just off kilter is already present at the beginning. Hall’s prince isn’t born, he’s a genetically perfected young man, created to be the ideal heir to a “good” king who resides over a fallen land. The clues and telling phrases are slipped in sparingly at first, then in ever increasing numbers. As new descriptions of the circus and the shows appear, a far different picture emerges from our original assumptions of the merfolk and the circumstances at the Circus. And along with it comes the feeling one gets when the hairs rise off your arm when frightened or the queasiness that originates in your stomach when it dawns on you that something you thought was happily normal or ordinary turns out to be fearfully, horrifically wrong.
Alexis Hall understands how to build a powerfully evocative story, one that runs more along the lines of those classics passed from bard to bard, told around fires in great halls and forests alike. Whether those bards be from the past or perhaps even our future, that is but one more chilling aspect of this story, a tale that exists in the mists and ocean eddies of the dark seas of this unknown world. But its Hall’s stylistically vivid and powerful narrative with its lush descriptions that makes this story so stunning, so poignant. This is how it starts out:
“I must have been very young when I saw the mermaids at the Cirque de la Mer because it was the nurse who took me and her place in my life was soon surrendered to tutors. I don’t think my father ever found out. He would not have approved.
The day is little more than a sensory haze, of pastel children, the laughter of strangers, and the burn of salt and chemicals at the back of my throat.
The mermaids, though. They are as vivid as stained glass, even now.”
Told from the prince’s pov, we feel his assumptions of his life and the circus fall slowly away as comprehension and understanding arrive building block by building block as events unfold around him. It is a tale of deep love faced amidst horrifying truths. One reading will not be enough to capture all the incredible and terrifying moments as sudden realization, and insight sets in.
And then there is that ending, the one that will refuse to let you go. Its in the words and feelings that emerge, and the tears that will run down your face as you try to decide the implications of words strung like pearls, luminescent and beyond value. An ending that will send you back to the beginning of the story and start this tale once more.
I highly recommend this story to all readers. This is a story that should be on everyones shelf, whether it be made of wood or eReader. This is one of Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Best of 2014 as is its cover.
Cover Artist: Simone. The artwork for Sand and Ruin and Gold is every bit as lush and haunting as the story itself. One of the best covers of the year.
Book Name: Kiss My Ash Goodreads Link
Author Name: Renee George
Author Bio:
Multi-published, best-selling author Renee George has been a factory worker, an army medic, a nurse, a website designer, a small press editor, an artist, and a teacher, but writing stories about sexy alpha men is the BEST job she’s ever had. When she turned thirty, she went back to college and earned her BA in creative writing. She has been married to the love of her life, a wonderful man who supports in every way, for over half her life (and that is a VERY long time!). She happily lives in a small, Midwest town with her husband, two needy dogs and a very independent cat. Anything else you want to know, just ask. She’ll give you all the nitty gritty dirt.
A water sprite who can’t hold his shape at the slightest touch of water.
An ash-tree nymph with a black thumb who kills every bit of flora in her vicinity.
That’s Fortunate, Missouri, in a nutshell—the town for abnormal paranormals. Nymph Romy, however, can one-up them all—her particular flaw is killing her. But thanks to a possible love spell, the wolf and the water sprite could be Romy’s key to cheating death. And the three misfits may find that even imperfect creatures can still create a sexy, loving, perfect union.
Inside Scoop: Sol, Romy and Lucien love each other—emotionally, spiritually and physically. Which means both ménage and male/male action. You lucky reader, you.
A Romantica® paranormal erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave
Ellora’s Cave Publishing note: “Kiss My Ass” Excerpt is only for those who are 18 years of age and older: By reading further, you state that you are 18 years of age or above:
Mathias was a korrigan, a fairy dwarf, and to his detriment, he’d been born male. An abomination amongst the korrigans, who were always female. Even his own mother had wanted him dead, but you can’t kill an immortal.
When he finally strolled out from behind the counter, his height no more than four feet, he held a red clay pot filled to the brim with a dark, loamy soil. Carefully, he handed it to Romy. “Here.”
She stepped away. “And what the hell am I supposed to do with dirt?” Maybe Mathias was tired of her bringing back dead plant after dead plant. It didn’t matter how much she watered the damn things, fed them, or even talked to them—none survived. She’d stopped giving them names after a while, awash with guilt and shame over each death.
His red eyes sparkled with excitement. “In this soil, there is a very special seed, my girl. Very rare and unique. I’m entrusting you with its care.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. There is no way in hell I’m taking on a ‘rare and unique’ plant. No. No. No. Give me a hardy shrub or weed. Better yet, maybe a cabbage. I won’t feel so bad about a cabbage when it croaks.”
Romy was a dryad; specifically, an ash tree nymph. Which meant, in theory, plants should flourish around her, but she couldn’t even keep her own tree alive. Her mother had postulated it had something to do with the sperm donor, aka Romy’s biological father, but the elder dryad had refused to say more on the subject. Tree nymphs were traditionally a love-’em-and-leave-’em race of females. They didn’t get involved with beings they considered no more than means to an end. Males born to tree nymphs always developed into the same race as the male halves of the couplings, while the females were always dryads.
Unfortunately, something had gone very wrong in the making of Romy. It hadn’t taken long after the dryad equivalent of puberty set in before her people had decided she was toxic.
She pushed the pot back to Mathias. “Uh-uh. You’ve seen my track record.”
When her “birth defect” had eventually started to affect the trees of her forest six months ago, Romy had been summarily kicked out by the other dryads. Of course, her people had called it a “long, extended respite” and sent her to the town of Fortunate, Missouri.
The moniker, over the years, had become a joke. The town had been named after the Fortunate Isles, also called the Isles of the Blessed, and had been used for more than two hundred years as a dumping ground for the “paranormally challenged”. Those who didn’t fit in with their own kind were sent to Fortunate to finish out their days. For immortals like Mathias, the end of days was a long-ass time.
For Romy, well…without a tree to tend, she wouldn’t live another year, the chlorophyll drying in her veins. The plants were test subjects for her, to see if she could sustain life. So far, they’d served only to help ease the ache of dying. But as far as tending plants and making them flourish, she failed constantly.
For Mathias to trust her with a “special” plant…no way was she taking on that kind of responsibility.
It was one thing to kill a common houseplant, but a whole ’nother thing to be responsible for something “rare and unique”. Was Mathias crazy? Romy shook her head again. “I can’t. Don’t you have an air plant or something? Hell, those suckers don’t even require watering.”
He patted her hands, his fingers soothing and gentle. “Ah, but my dear, I hope this may be the answer to—”
Mathias’ explanation was cut off by a barking baritone. “Ah, shit!”
Romy put the pot on the counter as she scooted around Mathias to see who the unfamiliar voice belonged to.
In the greenhouse area beyond the main shop, two long, well-muscled legs and a firm ass, all packaged in perfectly tight jeans, stood nestled between two rows of plants.
“Hello,” Romy said.
The owner of the legs and ass straightened, making him a foot taller than Romy. And oh goddess, did he have an upper body and face to go with the lower half—thickly muscled chest and broad shoulders crowned by a face with bow lips, a Roman nose and the brightest green eyes. All framed by messy, shiny black hair that fell about his shoulders. It was as if the gods had decided to create perfection.
Ridiculous though—they would never do that. But hot damn, they’d come pretty close.
“Uh, hello yourself,” he said back, dusting his palms against his jeans.
His really low voice, which would have better suited a grizzly bear, sent a humming through Romy that made her body sing.
“What have you done now, Lucien?” Mathias asked when he walked into the back. His presence was enough to break the harmony, and Romy snapped out of her new-guy-induced daze.
“What a great name.” She smiled. It made her feel foolish, but she couldn’t punch down the giddiness.
“It’s a name.” He shrugged then leaned over again, which gave Romy another clear shot of his fabulous ass. When he stood once more, he held a small plant, cradling the roots carefully. He looked at Mathias. “I broke the pot, but the fern is fine.”
Lucien had a slight accent, but Romy couldn’t put her finger on the origin. If possible, it made the young man even more exotic and mysterious.
Mathias shook his head, making his red beard sweep his chest. “Where’s Sol?”
“I’m here!” Sol Winter, who’d been working for Mathias long before Romy had moved to Fortunate, stepped out from behind the last row of plants. He wore a baby-blue polo shirt that matched his light-blue eyes. It also complemented his tan, a deep golden bronze. Natural, according to him. Strange for an elf, but who was Romy to judge? His long blond hair was pulled into a ponytail. He often wore it down and spilling over his shoulders, but generally had it tied back for work.
Sol was taller than Lucien by several inches and a little broader. His smile brightened when he saw Romy. “Hey, you.” His mouth turned down in sympathy. “Kill another one?”
They’d had a strange relationship ever since Romy had arrived in Fortunate, which generally involved spirited banter and sarcasm. Even when the conversation turned a little mean, Romy was still thankful for Sol. He was the closest thing she had to a friend.
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Nice.” He raised a brow. “Bitchy much?”
Even though she was certain Sol was gay, it didn’t stop her from having some wicked fantasies about him. After all, the man was hot-hot and knew how to dress. “Takes one to know one.”
“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the oak this morning.” Sol scooped a handful of topsoil and pitched it at her.
“Oh no you didn’t.” In retaliation, Romy grabbed a nearby hose and squeezed the nozzle trigger, dowsing Sol where he stood.
“Stop!” Lucien yelled.
Too late. At Lucien’s shout, Romy turned, the spray of water slapping across the man’s face—and Lucien instantly melted into a clear puddle on the greenhouse floor.
Mortified, she dropped the hose. “Oh no!” She shook her head and stumbled forward. “What have I done?” Not only was she a plant killer, apparently she was a man killer as well.
Two lips formed in the clear pool. “I’m fine. Really.”
Words: 27,000 Tour Dates: November 26
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Hi, everyone, thanks for having me on this tour for Gabriel’s City! Don’t forget to leave a comment at the end of this post to win a chance at the ZOMG Smells giveaway! Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
Spoiled young aristocrat Colin Harwood has always enjoyed flirting with danger, but he’s always been able to retreat to safety—until bad decisions and a chance encounter plunge him into a world far more savage than his own. Gabriel is an urban legend, famous in the underworld for his unpredictability and violence. He’s also a believer fairy tales, and quick to decide to the handsome stranger who came to his aid must be good luck. With few other options remaining, Colin will need to keep his wits about him to learn to survive in Gabriel’s City.
Gabriel’s City Blurb:
For spoiled young aristocrat Colin Harwood, the port city of Casmile is a buffet of easy pleasures. But when he steps into a pub brawl to help a dangerously outnumbered young man, he is drawn into the seedy underbelly of the city the young man calls home.
Gabriel is a cutpurse and a knife for hire, practically an urban legend. His vision of Casmile is touched by a strange combination of faith and madness, driven by fairytale logic and a capacity for love that he often must suppress to survive. He’s always worked alone, but when a dashing dragon who calls himself Colin saves him in a bar fight, he pulls Colin into his world.
Gabriel’s city is nothing like the refined, socialite existence that bored Colin senseless. Colin finds adventure and excitement there—and maybe even love. But with his layers of finery stripped away, nothing remains to protect him from poverty or danger—except Gabriel. So he must choose: go back to the civilized young man he once was, or fly free as Gabriel’s dragon.
Laylah Hunter is a third-gendered butch queer who writes true stories about imaginary people in worlds that never were. Most of hir work deals with queer characters, erotic themes, and the search for happy endings in unfavorable circumstances.
Hir mild-mannered alter ego lives in Seattle, at the mercy of the requisite cats and cultivating the requisite caffeine habit, and dreams of a day when telling stories will pay all the bills.
Giveaway! I have the good fortune to be friends with the charming people who run ZOMG Smells, who make, as their tagline says, “Fine nerdy scents for fine nerdy people.” They have created a set of perfume oil blends inspired by the characters of Gabriel’s City, and I’d like to give some away at the end of this tour! You’ll get seven 5-ml bottles, one of each of these scents, including a nice spectrum of masculine through feminine notes. Leave a comment that includes your email address to enter!
The Battle of Troll Bridge
There are a lot of stories embedded in the narrative of Gabriel’s City. Some of them are told in the book and others are only mentioned, because I’m pretty sure I can’t get away with pulling a Tolkein and interrupting the main story with folklore every few pages. But this one seemed like a good insight into the way Gabriel approaches the world, so here it is: his account of the Battle of Troll Bridge. It’s a bit gory. But only a bit.
“And if nothing more clever has come along, why, he must be living there still,” Colin finishes. It’s the way tales always end, nothing particularly interesting, but Gabriel sighs contentedly all the same. “Does that make it your turn?”
“Mmm. It does.” Gabriel leans back, looking up at the old stones of the bridge overhead, as if some cue is written there. “This was not so many years ago, maybe a handful, maybe less. It was a strange winter in Casmile that year—which means colder than this, but dry.”
Colin nods. He remembers the winter Gabriel’s talking about; there were barely any winter rains, and the next year’s harvest was poor.
“And there was a boy in the city who had the favor of the Lady, but not much else to speak of.”
How many people get to hear the tales of Gabriel’s exploits from his own mouth? “He must have had his wits about him,” Colin says.
Gabriel’s smile flickers knife-quick and disappears as if he’s pocketed it again. “Oh, always. The Lady wouldn’t love someone who couldn’t find his way back out of trouble.
“But times were hard, and the winter had been strange, so the boy had nothing to keep off the rain when one afternoon he was caught in it. He had no coin for taverns, but he was close by the river, so he darted down to take shelter beneath a bridge.”
He pauses there, and Colin thinks his arched brow might be prompting a response. “But the trouble with sheltering under a bridge is that you might run afoul of a troll.”
“It’s nearly guaranteed, in the winter,” Gabriel agrees. “The troll under this bridge was called Black Tom, and he was a nasty thing. Huge and hulking, snaggle-toothed and mean. This was his bridge, and he meant to share it with no-one.
“He said as much, in his booming growl, when the boy came tumbling down the bank to take shelter from the rain.
“It’s raining, the boy pointed out to him, and I don’t plan to stand out in it.”
“I bet he did.” Colin can imagine the way Gabriel would have sounded then, the petulant tone that means he’s only moments away from making someone bleed. “That can’t have pleased the troll.”
Gabriel shakes his head. “He wasn’t kind in the least, and nor was he clever.” His expression turns cold and guarded. “He said he couldn’t see why he’d want to let someone under his bridge who was too scrawny even to make a good meal.”
Colin feels a chill that has nothing to do with the stone at his back. He’d bet that wasn’t really the appetite Black Tom wanted to satisfy. The cold winter he remembers was four years ago; he was having his first polite fencing lessons that year, and Gabriel was already facing this. “What did you do?”
“The boy laughed at him. When your enemies are big and mean, it helps if they’re also angry, because then they forget whatever cleverness they had. Black Tom was easy to anger. He struck out at the boy, a vicious blow, but the boy was too quick for him, and dodged it. Again he tried, and again he missed. But as he reared back for a third strike, the boy slipped on a patch of wet moss and fell. The troll was on him in a moment, claws at his throat.”
Even though he knows how this story ended, Colin finds himself tense. “And then?”
“Then he’d made a terrible mistake.” The grim satisfaction in Gabriel’s tone makes Colin brace for the worst. “He’d forgotten to watch the boy’s hands, hadn’t he? And he had such a soft underbelly. So easy to cut up.”
“And then you pushed him into the river,” Colin says, hoping they can skip the rest of the killing.
“He lost his grip on the boy’s throat,” Gabriel goes on, undeterred. “And he tried to grab the knife, but he had always been too slow. It went up beneath his ribs, here, and then blood started running from his mouth, and even if you’re a troll, you’re done for then. The boy pushed him away as his strength failed, and then watched all the strength run out of him, until he was finally still.
“The boy had come there with the Lady’s favor, and he still had it. So he thanked her, and rolled Black Tom into the water, where She turned him to stone.”
“That’s—” But it would do no good to say that was impossible, would it? Colin bites his tongue.
“So the troll was defeated, and the boy had his shelter, and if nothing more wicked has come along, why,” Gabriel spreads his arms, taking in the scene, their place under the bridge, “perhaps he shelters there still.”
Book Name: Chestnuts Roasting Anthology Goodreads Link Authors Names: Toni Griffin, Angel Martinez, Silvia Violet, Freddy MacKay
Four authors, four different perspective on the holidays. Now for something a little different. Instead of a full author interview, I asked each of the authors one question. Where did your inspiration come from? Here are their answers…
Angel Martinez:
Yes. Everywhere. Everything. A conversation, a painting, a moment on the street, Freddy daring me to try something – there are no limits or predictable patterns for inspiration. I use a lot of science news and folktale as starting points, but those are certainly not my only inspirations.
Silvia Violet:
My story is set in Baton Rouge. I lived there for six years so all the celebrating Christmas when it still feely summery outside comes from personal experience. A scene with a barista asking out a guy who considered himself straight just popped into my head one day. I wrote it down, knowing I’d use it eventually and when I started thinking about Christmas stories, there it was.
Freddy MacKay:
I decided I wanted to write a fantasy, so I went shopping for mythical creatures. I like to go for the more obscure, lesser used/known creatures. When I found my “demon” I was hooked because I knew I hit something different and fun for me to write.
Toni Griffin:
My story, Wreath of Fire, is book two in my Smokey Mountain Bears series. It’s my only series set outside of Australia and the reason for that is in 2012 I visited Gatlinburg TN and the surrounding areas. I met some amazing people, had the time of my life in one of the most relaxing, picturesque settings I could have ever imagined. This place needed to be put down on paper. When the idea for the Cabin for Two anthology was being thrown around I knew exactly what I wanted to write. A Bear in the Woods was born. It’s taken me a little while to get back to the characters and write book two, but I can guarantee you won’t have to wait as long for book three.
Author Group Bio:
Mischief Corner Books is an organization of superheroes… no, it’s a platinum-album techno-fusion group…no, hold on a sec here… Ah, yes. Mischief Corner is a diverse group of authors who met on a mountain in Tennessee and decided since we probably were too easily distracted to rule the world that we’d settle for causing a bit of mayhem instead. In addition to making mayhem, we publish books with a diverse range of genres and topics… we live to break molds. MCB. Giving voice to LGBTQ fiction.
Christmas means different things to everyone, but most often it’s all about pulling loved ones close and brightening the gloom. The fire’s crackling. The snow is piling up outside, even if it’s only in your dreams. Time to snuggle up with some cocoa and some stories carefully crafted by the Mischief Corner Crew to warm hearts and cockles.
Wreath of Fire: Smokey Mountains Bears 2 – Toni Griffin:
Michael’s trying to start a new life away from his abusive father, but he’s drifting and not sure what he wants. When he accidentally starts a kitchen fire, the hot new fireman who comes to the rescue is not only another bear shifter. He’s Michael’s mate. Michael desperately needs to get his act together and figure out what he wants if he has any hope of claiming the bear fated to be his.
A Christmas Cactus for the General – Angel Martinez
Exiled to Earth for perhaps the worst failure in Irasolan history, General Teer must assimilate or die. Earth is too warm, too wet, too foreign, but he does the best he can even though human males are loud, childish louts whom he can’t imitate successfully. When a grieving seaplane pilot strikes up a strange and uneasy friendship with him, he finds he may have been too quick to judge human males. They are strange to look at, but perhaps not as unbearable as he thought.
Holly Jolly – Silvia Violet
I’m not gay. I just notice men sometimes. Everybody does, right? I notice Dane a lot, like every time I’m near him, but just because I think he’s an attractive man that doesn’t mean I like him, does it? I’m also not a fan of Christmas. Too many years “celebrating” with my Bible-thumping family ruined the holiday for me. So what if I envy all these cheerful souls dashing about with smiles on their faces? I don’t have to like Christmas, do I? If anyone could get me in the Christmas spirit, it would be Dane with his easy, relaxed manner and his gorgeous smile. If that were going to happen, though, I’d have to find the courage to talk to him and to admit that maybe I don’t know myself all that well after all.
Snow on Spirit Bridge – Freddy MacKay
Alone in Japan, Finni is struggling against the constant distrust, avoidance, and xenophobia he experiences every day. He misses home. He misses his family. Nightmares come all too frequently because of the stress, and well, Christmas is just not Christmas in Japan. Not how he understands it. Distressed by how miserable Finni is, his roommate, Mamoru, offers to be Finni’s family for Christmas. Little does he know how much one agreement would change everything between them, because both of them kept secrets neither ever dreamed were true.
Categories: Contemporary, Fantasy, Humor, M/M Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy (Please note: Not all tags refer to the collection of stories.)
Excerpt From Snow on Spirit Bridge by Freddy MacKay
Chapter One
There should be snow. Lots of it. Moreover, it should be below freezing with clouds, not this sunny and fifties crap. People should be huddled together and hurrying to get inside. It didn’t feel like Christmas otherwise.
With a sigh, Finni glanced around the train platform.
If he’d been home in Chicago, snow would blanket the streets and salt would crunch under his feet. Shop windows with mannequins would line the Magnificent Mile with Christmas winter scenes. The tree would be up at his parents’, decorated with bright lights and homemade ornaments he and his siblings made over the years. One or two presents would lie under the tree as a teaser for the younger cousins. Warm drinks would be waiting for him as he stepped through the door and brushed the snow off his coat. His family would smile at him and voices would call out to him.
If he’d been home in Chicago.
Tokyo wasn’t home.
A big, bustling city, yes, but not home.
As people hurried from one shop to the next, got on and off the trains, and ran about in their jackets and sweaters, Tokyo couldn’t have been farther from home. Yes, decorations were up at cake shops and at the department stores, but they weren’t the same. The plastic Christmas trees seemed more likely to come alive and hunt people down than give off a relaxing pine scent. They didn’t give off the same cozy family feeling Finni connected with. Everything was geared toward couples.
Since when was Christmas about couples?
A pang of loneliness ate at Finni’s gut. All he wanted was his parents, his brothers and sisters, and his cousins, aunts, uncles, and some snow. He needed to see everyone was happy and okay. Was that too much to ask for?
A chilled wind blasted Finni, and he looked up, expecting the train, but nothing rattled down the tracks. Other people grabbed their coats and hunched. Some young girls squealed and huddled closer to each other. Finally, a shiver wracked Finni, clueing him in to the unusual temperature drop.
Temperatures had plummeted from the fifties to almost thirty since he’d arrived on the platform, not normal weather. In only a T-shirt, even Finni felt the cold.
Finni sighed, closed his eyes, and concentrated on sunshine and warm thoughts. He almost laughed under the circumstances. The people would think he was odd and leave an even bigger circle around him. One more oddity to make Finni miss home even more.
The swoosh and rattle of a train making its way down the tracks caused Finni to open his eyes, watching expectantly with the others.
About damn time. Usually the trains didn’t run late unless something untoward happened. Like a jumper, which occurred more often than Finni comprehended. He risked a glance around and saw the people more relaxed, the extreme temperature flux now gone, just an oddity to discuss among themselves.
The train hissed to a stop, the doors popped open, and everyone hurried on, ready to leave the unusual drop in temperature behind them. While the men and women bumped into each other, the girls giggling as they passed Finni, he still got a wide berth as he ducked through. The crowd moved and swayed in a loose circle around him until Finni got to his spot by the doors and faced the window.
Once again, the seat next to him remained empty, no one sitting down even though the train was packed. Not every foreigner got quite the same treatment he did, but his size—not to mention the blond hair and blue eyes—made people’s reaction to him more extreme. Finni ignored the slight, though it stung more than it had the past couple of months. He’d learned not to notice when people stared or jumped in surprised when they looked up at him or moved away as soon as they noticed him after they sat down. Better to stay quiet and pretend nothing happened than draw attention to the behavior. It only made things worse.
Except today, the unfounded fears of the people he’d rode the train with since his move mid-October dug into him like claws. He sighed, leaned against the windows, and closed his eyes, exhausted.
Sleep wasn’t easy lately. Nightmares waited for him, ones that made it harder to be away from his family. He yawned, fighting off the weariness, but the rocking of the train called to him like a siren to a sailor.
No matter the direction he looked in, Finni only saw white. The snow beat down on him as he cried out. Torrents of wind spiraled all around him, the weather mimicking his heart.
Why hadn’t anyone come? The sky was dark. Someone should have found them by now. He trembled in the cold and felt so tired. He just wanted to sleep.
But he couldn’t. Not yet.
Finni tried to call out, but his voice had given out long before the sun went down.
He clutched Gunder to him. Realization had finally sunk in, but as he sniffed, Finni knew he’d never let Gunder go. No matter what.
He should’ve kept up with him. Kept Gunder in his sights, but his brother ran so much faster than he did. His legs were so long and big compared to Finni’s scrawny ones. Someday, he’d be bigger than Gunder, though, he just knew it. Then he’d be able to outrun his brother.
When they were grown up, three years wouldn’t be that big of a difference in age.
“Hear that, Gunder?” Finni asked in a whisper, pressing his face against his brother’s. “I’m going to be bigger than you someday. Be able to run faster. So…so…so…”
He broke down, sobs torn from his chest. How did they get home? Finni just wanted Mom and Dad. He just wanted to go home with Gunder.
“Mom!” His voice barely made it out, but he had to try. “Dad! Somebody!”
Nothing. He was alone. All alone.
Mom. Dad. I don’t want to be alone.
He screamed and the wind picked up, whipped around him in a cyclone. The temperature dropped farther.
“Finni! Gunder!”
Who was that?
“Finni! Where are you boys?”
“Gr-gr-grandpa?” Guilt warred with hope. He should hide. Everyone was gonna be mad. So, so mad. They’d never like him again.
The wind’s moaning stopped. The snowflakes stirred no more. Grandpa’s huge, hulking figure appeared.
“Grandpa,” Finni cried out. The hiccups came as he tried to get it all out. “G-G-Gunder fell through the ice… I-I-couldn’t reach him. Gunder…he… I-I-tried to g-g-get us home.”
“Oh, oh. Oh, Finni,” his grandpa said quietly. Tears ran down his cheeks.
Oh no. Grandpa was mad.
“My little boy.” Grandpa wrapped his big arms around them and kissed his forehead. “My poor boys.”
Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: First prize: $25.00 GC (choice of Amazon or ARe) and a choice of Tote or Mug from the MCB Redbubble store (choice of graphic). Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Use the link provided for the entry form and for all additional contest details.
Second prize: $5.00 GC (choice of Amazon or ARe) and choice of sticker from the MCB Redbubble store
Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway
Start Your Gift Giving Early by Helping Choose the Charity to benefit from Riptide’s Share the Love Collection!
This week we have the first of three holiday story book tours from Riptide Publishing. Riptide has a holiday bundle of 3 stories, Share the Love collection, whose proceeds benefit chosen charites. Now its time for Share The Love 2014 and the first tour, Three Hearts by Kelly Jamieson kicks off the Choose the Charity Contest for 2015.
Here is the blog release from Riptide Publishing:
Each year, Riptide Publishing releases a holiday collection in support of an LGBTQ charity. Twenty percent of all proceeds from the Share the Love collection will be donated to the It Gets Better Project.
Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a $25 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 7. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.
Every year, Riptide Publishing releases a Holiday charity bundle with themed stories by bestselling authors. Twenty percent of the net proceeds of each bundle goes to a charity that serves the LGBTQ population.
For 2015, the theme will be Holiday Surprises, and we’ll have stories by HelenKay Dimon, Christine d’Abo, and Marie Sexton. But we don’t have a charity yet.
We need YOUR help to choose the 2015 charity. Nominate your favorite LGBTQ charity and Riptide might choose it as the 2015 Holiday bundle charity!
The chosen charity for 2015 will immediately receive a $5,000 advance against royalties (paid in 2015 on announcement of the award recipient). The charity will continue to receive 20% of all lifetime net sales income from the 2015 holiday charity collection, in the form of a monthly royalty check.
Three honorable mention charities will each receive a $250 donation.
This collection would not be possible without the talent and generosity of its authors, who have brought us the following 2014 holiday stories:
Three of Hearts by Kelly Jamieson (releasing November 17)
Lucky Strike by Jane Davitt (releasing November 24)
Three the Hard Way by Sydney Croft (releasing December 1)
Check out Kelly Jamieson’s tour on Thursday, the 20th!
✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍
This schedule this week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words:
Monday, November 17:
Shannon West’s “Moonstruck” Book Tour and Contest
Book Tour: “Across Worlds: Collision” Author: S.A. Snow (contest)
MelanieM Review: Forgiving Thayne by J.R. Loveless
Tuesday, November 18:
“Saving Crofton Hall” by Rebecca Cohen book tour and contest
Rick R Reed’s” Third Eye” Book Tour and Contest
A MelanieM Review: Saving Crofton Hall by Rebecca Cohen
Wednesday, November 19:
A Sammy Review: The Eskimo Slugger by Brad Boney
A MelanieM Review: The Shearing Gun by Renae Kaye
A Mika Review: Damaged Package by S.A. McAuley
Thursday, November 20:
Three of Hearts by Kelly Jamieson – Choose the Charity Tour and Contest by Riptide
Chestnuts Roasting Anthology by Mischief Corner Books Authors (contest)
A MelanieM Review: The Best Corpse for the Job by Charlie Cochrane
Friday, November 21:
Riptide’s Book tour and contest for Gabrielle’s City by Layla Hunter
Into the Thick of Things with Lee Brazil ‘Cranberry Pi’ (book tour and contest)
Virtual Book Tour for Patricia Logan’s The Superstar (contest)
A MelanieM REview: And Then The Stars Fall by Brandon Witt
YA Saturday,, November 22:
Liam Livings Blog Tour from Love Lane Books (contest)
Beany Sparks is paying us a visit today to talk about shifters, magic, and her latest release, Ryan’s Wizard! Read the interview, check out the excerpt and don’t forget to enter the contest for the ebook copy of Ryan’s Wizard!.
Our interview:
Q. What was the inspiration for Ryan’s Wizard?
BS: Well with the way I ended Aiden’s Shepherd (Paws and Magic 1) I kinda had to write Ryan and Olly’s story, and fast! It helped that PITA was feeling chatty.
Q. I love books with a magical component, especially wizards. What is it about magic and wizards that prompted you to put them into your story?
BS: To be honest, Aiden was initially going to be just a regular human. I remember getting to a point and thinking, do I want to give him magic? And then I thought, why not! So Aiden got his magic, then his cousin Olly, a wizard, made his debut.
I like the freedom you get with the magical/paranormal world, you can do anything you want.
Q. Magic and mates, they seem made for each other. How did you think of combining the two?
BS: The shifter aspect was always going to be there. In fact that’s what the series was going to be about. But then as I was writing Aiden’s Shepherd, the magic practically jumped in front of me and yelled SURPRISE! The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. So the series went from being a shifter series to shifters and magic, becoming Paws and Magic.
Q. Favorite genre to read? Favorite to write in? Or are they the same?
BS: I love to read and write about shifters, vampires, magic, and paranormal in general. I like contemporary too, but it doesn’t give you as much as freedom to play.
Q. Have you always loved a good fantasy? What was the first fantasy story that made you love this genre?
BS: I have actually. Books in general were my escape, but fantasy let you escape to a completely different world and that appealed to me.
The Night World series by L.J. Smith was one series that introduced me to vampires, witches, werewolves, and shapeshifters. I’m still waiting for the final book to be published though…
Q. Lately I have been reading some marvelous books by terrific Australian and NZ authors. This feels like a tidal wave of delight. What do you think has prompted this marvelous influx? Ebooks, perhaps?
BS: I think eBooks have played a big role. I also think we have some wonderful scenery that just can’t help but inspire people to write.
Q. Is there special Australian folklore to draw upon for magical elements or creatures?
BS: Hm… I’m sure there is but nothing is coming to mind. I might have to have a good look into that. I see a possible plot bunny in my future…
Q. When thinking about constellations, here in the US ( Northern Hemisphere) we have the Big and Little Dipper that can’t be seen down under, you have the Southern Cross, which can only be seen from your perspective.. How are our stories different and Is there a similarity to be found in our stories? Apart from speech or spelling?
BS: I think language itself would definitely be a big difference. Not because of the spelling but because of the slang. Even between Australia and New Zealand there are different words for the same thing.
Then there’s the weather. When we think of Christmas we think of sunshine, heat, beach and BBQ (okay and shirtless men in shorts), not cold and snow. In fact, we dont have snow, not even during winter. Not unless you head to one of the few places that actually have snow.
Even our cowboys would have different scenery and different issues to deal with.
Q. What childhood story or author had the biggest impact on you as a child, an adult or a writer?
BS: L.J. Smith definitely and how can you go past Harry Potter? I also have to say Amber Kell because Amber’s story (Attracting Anthony) was the first MM story I ever read.
Q. What’s next for Beany Sparks?
BS: I’ve got a Christmas merman story coming out December 15th from eXtasy Books with the sequel coming out in February 2015. Then it’s back to Paws and Magic with book 3 scheduled for March.
Author Bio:
Beany lives in Western Australia. She first started reading romance novels in 2008, but it wasn’t until January 2010 when her Kindle got delivered that the world of erotic romance opened its doors to her, and she hasn’t looked back.
With suggestions and support from friends, her muse—“affectionately” known as PITA—was finally able to break free, and in January 2014 her first story was written. Since she can’t put PITA back in his box, Beany has decided to give in and team up with him. Together they’ve made plans to write both MF and MM stories.
Author Contact:
She can be reached at beany.sparks@gmail.com
Or visit her at www.beanysparks.com
An alpha ends up with more than he bargained for when he finds his mate…his wizard mate.
After years of no contact, Oliver “Olly” Grey was finally able to reunite with his cousin Aiden. He’s surprised to find that Aiden now has a mate—a male, shifter mate—named Lex. And it’s Lex’s pack mates that Olly is there to help save. What he hadn’t expected was Lex’s brother Ryan.
Ryan Shepherd was happy to have found his brother Lex, and even happier to know that his brother was happily mated. But there is something about Aiden’s cousin Olly that Ryan doesn’t trust, especially when he also smells like the man currently holding his pack members captive. Yet that doesn’t stop Ryan from wanting to hold and comfort the man, and eventually he realizes why—Olly is his mate.
Now the four of them need to plan a rescue mission, but what happens when they run into the two men that had held Lex captive and those same men come to the cabin in the middle of the night?
Categories: Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Paranormal
Ryan’s Wizard Excerpt:
Aiden burst out laughing and moved one hand to ruffle Olly’s hair.
“Hey!” Olly exclaimed as he pulled back in order to glare at Aiden, who just smiled bigger and pulled him back into his arms.
“I couldn’t resist,” Aiden said, the laughter evident in his voice.
“Yeah, whatever. Anyway, back to what I was saying, but hopefully without interruptions this time.” Olly looked pointedly at Ryan when he said that. Ryan seemed to be studying him intently, but didn’t utter a word.
Olly looked away and started talking again. “I know where the pack is, or at least, I know where a bunch of canine shifters are being held.”
“How do you know that they’re part of our pack?” Lex asked, sounding like he was trying to restrain his eagerness.
Olly turned to him. “Because I heard a few of the guards talk about how they captured a bunch of them together.”
“And why didn’t you get caught?” Ryan asked, anger in his voice.
“Because,” Olly paused, then sighed. “The house they’re being held in belongs to Walter.”
Aiden gasped and when Olly looked at him, he saw the horror that was on his face.
“How long has Walter had shifters imprisoned on his property?” Aiden asked, outrage in his voice.
“I don’t know for sure, but it would be a number of years.” Olly couldn’t face any of them as he said that.
“Who is this Walter?” Ryan growled.
Olly looked up at him, then looked away as he replied, “My father.”
Contest: Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of Ryan’s Wizard. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Use the link provided for the entry form and for all additional contest details.
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Captain Elliott Parrish of Her Majesty’s 17th Lancers cavalry division and his men make the treacherous voyage across the seas as part of the British forces grouping in the Ottoman Empire to fight along side the French and Turks in the Crimea War against the Russians, Storms make passage for the frigates hazardous and vomit inducing. But the conditions the troops find upon landing are scarcely better. Rampant cholera, missing supplies, inept planning and unbearable heat quickly dose the hope for a summer victory for the British. Then winter arrives bringing with it starvation, freezing temperatures and a lack of rations and shelter that quickly takes it toll on all involved. But even worse are the rumors of black magic and witchcraft that spread throughout the encampments, mostly revolving around the enigmatic, solitary figure of Cornet Ilyas Kovakin. It’s Illyas Kovakin who catches Eilliot’s attention, attracting him as a man while raising Elliot’s suspicions about his orders.
Cornet Ilyas Kovakin is half British, half Russian and returning to his homeland under conditions so heartrending and horrific that you want to weep for him. For Ilyas carries within him something monstrous, something that even the camp rumors can’t begin to encompass. Ilyas is on a mission, reporting only to one man high up in British command. Isolation, along with other factors make him both a target of suspicion and a danger to all who get in his way. But one man seems to be unable to let him be. That would be the handsome Captain Elliot Parrish who goes out of his way to welcome Ilyas and try to get to know him better. Ilyas feels as though he has no barriers he can raise against the feelings building in him, for Elliot. Something far darker lurks inside him. Because Ilyas is not totally in control and the monster’s strength is growing.
Against the backdrop of the Crimean War, Elliot and Ilyas do battle with forces far beyond the natural world, the stakes are nothing less than their lives and those of all nations.
What an absolutely stunning story! Astrid Amara combines the heartbreak and history of the military campaign in the Crimea War with romance and magic to arrive at The Devil Lancer, a story so huge in scope and impact that it goes beyond genre into something that can’t be restricted by categories or boxes. The story opens on May 1854 on board ships crossing the Bay of Biscay France. The voyage is harrowing, the men and horses sick and sometimes dying. Through descriptions so vivid and raw, we feel every wave, every squeal of the frightening horses tossing about below deck, and the fear that all must have felt becomes real. And once they land at Varna in the Ottoman Empire, the men find themselves and their horses thrown into hellish conditions that few will escape from.
Each chapter moves the story and campaign forward as the men march into Crimea. By Chapter 4 its August 1854 in a war that will last a little over two years. Here history isn’t dry but alive and writhing with the everyday horrors of sickness, starvation, arrogance and death that war brings, especially to the enlisted men. And into this nightmare of geography, hysterical national fervor, and strategy, Astrid Amara weaves a tale not only of romance but of ancient malevolent magic let loose once more.
The characters feel so alive and believable. Whether it is Elliot Parrish, the fifth son trying to find a future for himself or Ilyas, a man with a mission and secret that threatens to consume him, our hearts and attention are focused on them and the wars that wage around them. Yes, wars, because there are so many layers here waiting to be revealed and each one carries an unanticipated nasty surprise. There is the battle to accept their attraction and feelings for each other where such a discovery means death. A battle for trust, support, and finally of survival. This is a saga for sitting around halls and blazing fires as the tale unfolds. Even the side characters ring with a humanity and force that makes them hard to forget, whether its Henry, Elliot’s friend, chilly Charles Cattley with his secret intelligence department or even Valentin, Ilyas’ black stallion. Read and be prepared for them to captures shards of your heart as the story proceeds.
And those elements of magic and mythology that anchor this story along with the location and campaign! From subtle hints and glimpses in scene to scene is a pantheon of evil built that will shake the foundations of this story and the hopes for all the characters you have come to love. Amara makes this mystical aspect of the story feel every bit as believable and authentic as her factual research on the war. It’s epic, as unforgettable as all the other facets to be found within this story.
Finally, there is the deep and complicated romance between two soldiers under the most horrendous conditions you could imagine. Its brutal at times, gentle when possible, and heartrendingly believable. You are never quite sure how the author is going to pull it off and where she will take it. I loved that uncertainty and it heightens the suspense for the final outcome for both men. The ending was just as splendid as I could have hoped for. But its the journey there that will have the reader on the edge of their chair, caught between actions loving, erotic, bloody, and heroic in scope.
Amara has done a huge amount of research for this story, from the various battles to camp conditions, even down to the jackets and equipment used. This attention to detail and the manner in which they are folded into the narrative combine to produce a powerful, and appalling portrait of men at war under the worst of conditions and leadership. There is a list of references used at the end, some so fascinating that they cry out for exploration. Where others might falter, this author brings together the gods of war, the frailty of human beings combined with the need to love and survive into a story that will continue to resonate long past the last word read.
Who should read this book? Everyone. Yes, everyone. I know some will say they don’t read historical fiction because its too dry or has too many dates. Not so here. This book will reach out and shatter those beliefs and assumptions. The Devil Lancer will make you realize that history is vital, raw and real. Its full of blood, sweat, tears, death, and sometimes things you can’t explain. Its full of love and romance and an uncertain path that needs to be negotiated before you can arrive at a HFN or even HEA. The Devil Lancer should be on everyone’s must have, must read list. It will certainly be at the top of Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Best of 2014 in December. Don’t wait until then to pick it up and begin your introduction to this unforgettable story.
Cover art by Dawn Kimberling. Not a favorite of mine. There are so many elements that could have been included or highlighted, that the figure on the cover feels to rough and singular for the scope of this saga.
“O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being. Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing.” – Percy Bysshe Shelley
Yes, November has arrived along with the falling colored leaves and winds that briskly move them over the landscape to hide the few flowers that remain of summer and the ordered gardens where they reside. The last of the plants that migrate indoors and out have returned to their wintering places inside and all the pups have gotten their new sweaters to ward off the approaching cold.
I love this time of year, the month that Emily Dickinson always called “..the Norway of the year.” The cold sets in, birds swarm in flittering layers looking for warmth and food, and the days grow shorter until the sunlight feels fleeting indeed. It’s a wonderful time for reflection, reading, writing, and knitting. Of cosy rooms and closeness. Its Thanksgiving, family gatherings and sharing. Its quiet, and dark, and contemplative. So many things to so many people.
For the terriers, it’s the deer in the backyard munching on acorns and the remnants of the hostas. It’s the squirrels, and raccoons, and possums at the feeders, sharing along with the birds and odd field mouse. And always watching in the background, still and opportunistic, wait the fox, the hawk and the owl. Even as the pups voice their objections to our visitors, I love the interplay I can observe and the many places they all find within the confines of my gardens and trees.
Even now as the wind whips by and the threat of our first frost appears, I love that it’s November.
I hope you all had a wonderful October. There were so many great books released that your lists should be bulging by now. If you missed it, check out our October 2014 Summary of Reviews and Best Covers. Let me know what covers you loved that we missed and what books you have added to your pile of novels you’re swearing to get to now.
Here is this week’s schedule at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words:
Monday, November 3:
A MelanieM Review: The Devil Lancer by Astrid Amara
A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Starstruck by L.A. Witt
Tuesday, November 4:
Riptide tour: Cornelia Grey’s Circus of the Damned Tour
A MelanieM Review: Circus of the Damned by Cornelia Grey
A MelanieM Review: Sleigh Bells: Minnesota Christmas by Heidi Cullinan
Wednesday, November 5:
Book Tour: Jude Dunn’s One Thing Leads (contest)
Riptide Book Tour: L.A. Witt’s Starstruck
A MelanieM Review: Heat by Chris Quinton and RJ Scott
Thursday, November 6:
TB Tour: LM Brown’s Between Heaven and Hell
A MelanieM Review: The Best Corpse for the Job by Charlie Cochrane
A MelanieM Review: Cold Day in Hell by Lee Brazil (PF2014, story 5)
Friday, November 7:
RJ Scott Book tour: Darach, book 2 in the Fire Series
DESERT FOXE: A Skyler Foxe Mystery Haley Walsh Book Tour (contest)
A MelanieM Review: Off Course by Bailey Bradford
YA Saturday, November 8:
An Aurora YA Review: Carnival-Decatur by Zoe Lynne
We are still looking for reviewers. If you are interested, please email me at melaniem54@msn.com.
A riveting, nail-biting, thought-provoking, frightening thriller, this story is much more than an M/M romance—it’s a brilliant tale worthy of recognition on the NY Times Bestsellers List.
Ciro
Sand and Ruin and Gold
The Devil Lancer
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 