Category: Fantasy

A MelanieM Review: Lukos Heat (Heart of Fire #1) by Megan Derr

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

Lukos Heat coverDragon Najlah is on the hunt with his fellow shifters in the Royal Shifter Corp.  His quarry? The court assassin who just tried to kill the King and his brother in the process. So far the mage has eluded them, but now Najlah and his battle brothers have chased the betrayer to the snowy Shide Mountains where few would dare venture, including themselves.  The cold is beyond frigid and the peaks fearsome in their height and ruggedness.  The Shide territory controlled by the Lukos,  the wild wolf shifters.  And it is the Lukos who meet them as they enter the range on their hunt.  The feral wolves hate interlopers but agree to help in the search for the mage, if for no other reason than to get the hunters out of their territory.

Barkus, the head of the Lukos pack that intercepts the King’s Shifters is amazed to see a dragon among them.  Dragons are so rare in the Shide that they are assumed to be folklore, beings used to scare small kits.  But there roaring and unhappy in the cold, appears Najlah and Barkus is intrigued.  Najlah returns his interest but first the race is on to find the mage and navigate the treacherous conditions they find themselves in.   When a fight turns deadly, Najlah and Barkus must use every advantage they have to survive, including one that just might bind them together forever.

Lukos Heat is another intriguing start to a new series by Megan Derr.  Heart of Fire’s first story, Lukos Heat introduces us to the Kingdom of Restuel, its Rulers, and the non humans among them.  At the top of the group are the Dragons, not dragon shifters but dragons who can assume a somewhat human form but remain always dragons in mindset and action.  Derr starts laying out her universe and beings almost immediately.

There are 3 types of dragons.  Najlah is a hornless black scale, the most fearsome warriors.  His brother Fayth?  Huge, horned and a protector who just happened to have married a human who is royalty.  And then there are the Bitches, the awe-inspiring female dragons who live in the caves, have the young and are basically the rulers in dragon society. Najlah’s home is inside a volcano where the fires sooth and refresh him.  I expect more dragon natural history to appear along with more stories.  What Derr gives us is fascinating while provoking more questions.

By royal marriage and agreements set between their rulers, dragons have come to live in Restuel, along with bird and cat shifters.  The wolves?  They are a feral group that lives apart in the Shide territories, content to remain aloof and isolated by choice and geographical and meteorological  conditions.  But a war is brewing and the attempt on the King’s life is just the start of the attacks.  Who is behind it and how will they stop it?  More questions pop up then are answered here.

This short story is all about the hunt for the poisoner and the meeting between wolf and dragon.  Each is a fierce warrior, courageous, loyal, and impulsive in their actions.  Both Najlah and Barkus recognize like souls immediately and how they pull together is the charm of this story.  I love the descriptions that let us know that Najlah retains his poisonous claws, scales and even fangs in his human like form, fangs so long that he is unable to talk but communicates through growls and hisses.   Barkus is as entertaining as he is savage and able.  The two make an aggressively attractive pair. I can’t wait to see where Derr takes them and this series.

I recommend this story and will be waiting along with the rest of you to see what happens next to our dangerous duo and the Kingdom of Restuel.  I can imagine the battles and snark now, and that’s just the courtship between wolf and dragon!  Whatever it turns out to be, I am sure it will be entertaining,  inventive and a must  story for all lovers of dragons and fantasy!

Cover art by Julie Wright.  Love that cover, works perfectly for Najlah.

Sales Links:   Less Than Three Press (preorder)

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: October 22nd 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC
(first published May 17th 2013)
original title”Lukos Heat” published in Dracones
ISBN139781620044438
edition languageEnglish
series:  Heart of Fire

A MelanieM Review: No Fae Is An Island (Endangered Fae #4) by Angel Martinez

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

TNoFaeIsAnIsland_200hree years ago Diego Sandoval was banished from the human world as punishment for the crimes he committed while out of his mind.  With him went his Pookie lover, Finnochad.  Now the time of their banishment is up and Diego and Finn are returning to Tearmann Island, and to all the friends they left behind.  Living amongst the wild Fae has taught Diego many lessons he needed to learn and time to assuage the pain deep inside himself.  But has it been enough?

The human world and Tearmann Island has moved on in Diego’s absence.  Theo Aguilar, the rogue vampire, is now head of Prince Lugh’s security while Zack moved into Diego’s spot as Chief Liaison for the Fae Collective.  What will happen when Diego and Finn return?  It’s not just Diego who is uncertain about what happens next for them all.

To further complicate an already complicated situation, a number of Fae and gifted humans have been imprisoned by country who sees magic as dangerous and forbidden.  A  diplomatic mission mounted to save them turns deadly and its left to  Theo and a surprise stowaway to save the day.  And the stowaway?  Well, that would be a young curious selkie who followed Diego and Finn home from the wild Fae lands.  He wanted to see the world and got far more than he ever expected.  When the world goes crazy once more, its up to the inhabitants of Tearmann Island to find a way out of the precarious position Diego and Finn find themselves in and save them all.

No Fae  Is An Island, the fourth story in the Endangered Fae series by Angel Martinez, picks up three years after Danu’s banishment of Diego to the wild lands of the Fae.  Its been 3 years and 3 days and now its time for Diego and Finn to return home.  During that time Diego has listeneed and learned from many of the Fae in the Otherworld.  From the counsel of dragons to learning about the singular joys of laughter and living in the moment from a pod of selkies, Diego finds himself older, wiser, and finally more at peace with himself and the damage he caused while temporarily deranged.   From the darkness of Semper Fae emerges a quieter, more uncertain Diego and that change in character translates realistically and beautifully here in the opening chapter.

I have been eagerly awaiting this story since I finished Semper Fae, an outstanding novel at every aspect but one that was darker in scope than the previous stories.  Like the rest of the inhabitants of Tearmann Island, the Fae nation locale on the human world, I have waited to see what the banishment and time has done for Diego and his lover, Finn.  I was teary eyed as I “watched” them go, so I was overjoyed to find this story opens up on a sandy beach in the Otherworld with Diego watching Finn play with a pod of selkies in the ocean.  It’s joyful, peaceful, and the Diego found here is the one I was hoping to see.  He’s not yet fully healed but clearly on his way.  I love how believable Diego and his journey towards becoming the man/mage he is capable of being.  Each book has seen Diego become a more nuanced and layered being, complete with moments of depression, pride and arrogance vying with guilt and humility to arrive at a person who acknowledges he is still a work in progress.  I believe in Diego wholeheartedly, and with that, comes a belief in Finn, his Pookie lover who has also made some important transitions of his own.  They change, their relationship changes and deepens and so does their place in the world they have had a share in making.

Angel Martinez manages to temper her moments of seriousness and angst with those of laughter and joy.  Attaining that balance can be tricky but Martinez handles that beautifully here in the form of Limpet, a young selkie (150 years young) who is one of the most endearing characters of recent memory. Limpet is the levity and heart of innocence of this story.  It’s his pod that’s playing with Finn in the opening chapter but the pod’s life has gotten too small for Limpet who wishes to see the human world of Finn’s stories and tall tales.  Limpet is the balm to Theo’s pain and watching those two beings connect and establish a relationship is one of this story’s strengths and delights. He may come across as simple at first but nothing in this series is ever as simple as it appears.  The author does a tremendous job in providing layer upon layer to her story and characters, The characters change and grow as the plot twists and turns in a pattern as complex as a mandala.

To all the other mythic lore Martinez has introduced in the previous stories, in No Fae Is An Island adds yet another culture’s myths, this time those of the Middle East and Tales of the Arabian Nights.  Here it makes sense and brings a whole new cast of characters to fold into her universe and Fae collection.  And what a startling group it is.  Especially Nusair but I will let you discover him on your own.

The author’s on-going themes of identity, self awareness, and the journey towards a completeness of being continues in No Fae Is An Island and not just in the character of Diego.  Others are on that path too.  Its a tortuous journey but a believable one.  Is it tough to suspend our belief in our universe to take in all the mythical creatures Martinez brings to her world?  Not at all.  You slide into this world and universe building with an ease and pleasure that never lets up. I love this story and series.  And I can’t wait to see where it goes next, some place dark if any of the portents I read here are an indication. I will be waiting to see where these amazing characters and series go next.  It’s an astonishing trip, make sure you come with us every step of the way.

No Fae Is An Island is a story I can highly recommend as I do the entire Endangered Fae series.  Pick them all up today but make sure you read them in the order they were written, a must to understand the characters, their growth and relationships.  I will leave you an excerpt at the end of this review.  Succinct and charming…meet Limpet!

Cover art by Winterheart Designs.  Love that cover.  That is Theo and Limpet to perfection.

Sales links:   MLR Press        All Romance eBooks (ARe)       Amazon          No Fae Is An Island

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 255 pages
Published September 5th 2014 by MLR Press
ASINB00NBI2UP6
edition languageEnglish
seriesEndangered Fae #4

I have listed all the Endangered Fae stories in the order they were written and should be read to understand the events and character development. Put all on your must read list today!

Finn (Endangered Fae #1) (includes Finn’s Christmas)
Diego (Endangered Fae #2)
Semper Fae (Endangered Fae #3)
No Fae Is An Island (Endangered Fae #4)

No Fae Is An Island Excerpt

“You don’t need to come with me.” Theo fought clenched teeth. The selkie was a friend of Mr. Sandoval’s and Finn’s, too—Finn who had been so kind to him after accidentally squashing him in dragon form. No need to be rude.

“Quite all right. I’ve nothing better to do.”

“You can’t come with me,” Theo said in the chilliest, sternest tone he could muster.

“Oh, of course I can. I see quite well at night.”

Theo squeezed his eyes shut against the headache. It shouldn’t have been there. He’d fed that morning and napped the rest of the day in lethargic, sated bliss. Fine. He’ll get bored and leave soon. “All right. But you have to be quiet.”

“Yes, yes, of course. In case something bad is here. A pack of nixes maybe. Oh, they’re bad. Or a kraken tries to swim close and ambush you, yes? You’re a real warrior, then? Have you seen many battles? Do you have scars? I have scars, but only because I was very young—”

“Limpet.” Theo stopped and took the selkie’s chin in his hand, holding his head still. “Whispering is not being quiet.”

“Right you are. Sorry. You have beautiful eyes.”

Theo dropped his hand and walked away, shaking his head. It was going to be long night.

On Tour with Rae Brewer and David’s Dilemma! (contest)

 

DavidsDilemmaBanner300x250

❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖

Rae Brewer’s David’s Dilemma

Book Tour and Contest

For contest details and link, scroll down after the excerpt to the end of the post. And look for my upcoming review of David’s Dilemma!

Jaguar Bk 4Book Name: David’s Dilemma
Author Name: Rae Brewer

  • Author Bio: Rae Brewer is new to writing romance and has found a niche in the M/M paranormal genre. After growing up in San Francisco, Rae now calls Chicago home. Author Contact: Facebook

Publisher: JK Publishing, Inc
Cover Artist: Jess Buffett

 David’s Dilemma Blurb: It’s been three years since David broke up with Michael. He’s ready to find his mate. Only the only man he’s attracted to at all is a hookup from a bar. After hours of passion they separate and David only discovers the next morning the man was his mate. Where can he find him again? And what is his name?

♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢

David’s Dilemma Excerpt:

David woke late Sunday afternoon with a headache, which didn’t seem fair because he hadn’t drunk very much the night before. Damn head cold! He still remembered every minute of the night before. Part of him wished he’d broken his own rule and let the handsome hunk stay over. He got what he wanted, he would have blown me off when he saw me in the light of day. Getting out of bed he stumbled to the bathroom sneezing. He decided to take a hot shower, the steam would clear up his sinuses, for a while. He wanted a clear head so he could convince himself it was time to settle down and find a forever love. No more casual sex!

Setting the temp as hot as he could stand, he stepped into the oversized stall. The room quickly filled with steam and his nose started running. He gave a fleeting thought to the scents he was washing down the drain before he remembered his sheets. His cougar wasn’t very happy with him for kicking HH, the handsome hunk, out of their bed and was pouting by being silent. Of course his cougar was generally subdued when he was showering.

After twenty minutes in the steam his muscles were loose and he could breathe again, for now. Stepping out of the shower onto the bathmat he grabbed a clean towel off the shelf and after a quick rub down, wrapped it around his waist. Taking a look in the mirror he decided to take some cold medicine and spend the day being lazy. He was already envisioning a long afternoon on the couch snuggled in a blanket with a pitcher of lemon water and some chicken soup within easy reach. I’m wallowing, because I already miss him.

First though, he needed to strip the bed and put the sheets in the wash. Later, he knew he’d want cool fresh sheets to sleep in. And right now he was as awake, alert, and as energetic as he was going to be for the rest of the day. Walking through the door to the bedroom the scents from his sheets hit him all at once. His inner cat roared and David was so surprised he didn’t stop the shift.

Leaping onto the bed in his puma form, he rolled around in the sheets before sneezing. Sitting up in the bed he had a sheet wrapped around him, the end flopping over his head. He could see his reflection in the mirror on the opposite wall. Big tough cat, not! Mate! We found our mate!
Shifting back into his human form allowed him to say what he was thinking. “Shit! Shit, shit, shit!” Untangling himself from the bedding he began to pace around the room. I don’t even know his name!

*********************


DavidsDilemmaBadgeTour Dates: 9/4/14
Tour Stops: Parker Williams, Prism Book Alliance, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Velvet Panic, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, Guilty Indulgence Book Club, Andrew Q. Gordon, The Hat Party, Cathy Brock Romances, MM Good Book Reviews, Hearts on Fire, Multitasking Mommas, Up All Night, Read All Day, Iyana Jenna, Redz World, Nic Starr, Carly’s Book Reviews, Michael Mandrake

Rafflecopter Code:    a Rafflecopter giveaway

Contest: Rafflecopter Prize: One of three copies of David’s Dilemma.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Prize awarded is not supplied by ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords.  See the Rafflecopter link  above for entry form and additional contest details.

A MelanieM Review: A Suitable Replacement (Deceived #5) by Megan Derr

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

A Suitable Replacement coverReturning home after three years abroad on an exhaustive research expedition,  Lord Maximilian wants nothing more than to see his twin sister Mavin and meet her fiance to whom she got engaged while he was away.  But as usual with his imperious sister things have already gone awry on his first day home.  Shortly after Max’s return,  a man barges into Max’s study demanding to see his sister.  The problem?  It’s Master Kelcey Moore, Mavin’s fiancé  wanting to know where Mavin has gone and why. Max doesn’t know what’s going on.

It doesn’t take much investigation on Max’s part to find out that his bold as brass sister has run away with someone else’s fiance, leaving her own (and another’s) far behind without warning to handle the social and personal embarrassment by themselves.  Floored by his sister’s actions, Max gets to know Kelcey, the man left behind.  He’s hurt, embittered by the fact that he thought Mavin was his friend and impoverished by his circumstances, something the marriage would have alleviated.  It isn’t soon before Max is finding himself concerned by Kelcey and his future.

Max thinks he has found the answer to all Kelcey’s  problems in his marriage contract to Mavin.  A suitable replacement must be found if the marriage doesn’t take place.  So Max reasons, all he must do is find a replacement for Mavin.  Another rich, suitable person for Kelcey to marry.  As more problems pop up to confront Max and Kelcey, the biggest of all just might be the fact that Max is wishing the suitable replacement to be himself.

In the world of Megan Derr, the word “typical” and “normally” are banished to the realm of others.   If Megan Derr is  writing an story that might seem historical on the surface, you can be sure that dragons, or trolls, or something magical or mysterious is lurking just around the corner, alongside carriages and horses and things.  In the world of Megan Derr, the young heir to the title and lands is not the twin brother but his twin sister, Mavin, a force of nature of her own.  Mavin, the cigar smoking,gun wielding, imperious and yes, impulsive wild child and head royal here.   Her twin brother, Max, also has his moments of wildness and peculiarities but they are nothing when stacked up against those of his sister.  I loved that its Mavin who fills the role of the  “typical” uncontrollable heir instead of her brother.  And its her exploits that set off the explosive and crazy events to come.  But back to Max and Kelcey.

Max is your “preoccupied disheveled scientist” in a historical context.  But what is Max researching?  Troll magic, an unpopular if not totally rejected subject for research and scientific study.  Not typically an historic element.  Apparently, there was a Troll War and Max is determined to research what he thinks is the use of magic during that war.  Max is most at home in his study or at the various bookstores where he is known as a generous patron.  But  when he gets the idea to find a replacement for his sister for Kelcey to marry, Max must once more take up the trappings of society and his royal status to achieve his ends.  This is just the sort of character Derr does so well.  Irritable yet soft hearted, highly intelligent and isolated, and truly in need of love.  He finds his match in Kelcey, an enigmatic man who pushes all Max’s buttons.  The courtship between them starts off slow and then takes off at a gallop. No, really a gallop at they flee town together.

There are quite a few obstacles to happiness and HEA thrown in their way.  That they are raised by the actions of Mavin in the first place, ones she shows little accountability for later on, might take away some of your enjoyment of her character and this story.  I thought her thoughtlessness of others around her and her self centered outlook was perfectly in keeping with her character.  Did I want to see her throttled? Of course but I found her a viable and interesting persona.  You need a character like her to add a prickly tartness here and she does that well.  And how Max and Kelcey react and adjust to the following chaos is lovely to behold.

The resolution is a little drawn out in a manner that might put off some readers.  Mavin’s actions has some real consequences, and as in real life, the person responsible is not always the person who pays the price.  I thought it realistic but for some this might be a tad unpalatable. I do wish a troll or two had shown up or even a magical wand.  That would have been stupendous (although not necessary for the plot).  I would love to have known more about the Troll Wars and past history that Max was researching, that got my interest going too.  But this story?  I still enjoyed the heck out of it.  Like them or not, I think you will find yourself empathizing with their circumstances, relationships and events to follow.  I loved the plot and the twists Megan Derr wove into a typical Regency novel.   Consider A Suitable Replacement totally recommended.  Now off to find the other stories in this series.

 Cover artist: Aisha Akeju.  Terrific cover, totally works here.

Sales Links:    Less Than Three Press     All Romance eBooks (ARe)        Amazon         A Suitable Replacement

Book Details:

ebook, 218 pages
Published August 6th 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC (first published August 4th 2014)
original titleA Suitable Replacement
ISBN 1620044013 (ISBN13: 9781620044018)
edition languageEnglish
seriesDeceived #5

A MelanieM Review: Firestorm (SoulShares #4) by Rory Ni Coileain

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

FirestormFinalCoverCuinn an Dearmad is the last surviving Fae Loremaster, and he’s just seen the beginning of the death of the Realm, the land the Fae fled to after the battle with the Marfach.  The Fae sealed off The Realm from Earth to protect the last of the Fae and insure that the Marfach didn’t follow them.  The method they used cost them all the Loremasters but one.    But now cutoff from Earth’s magic, the Realm is dying and the only hope of stopping it starts with Cuinn finding the Prince Royal of Fire, a baby he stole from the cradle, and lost in the human world, many years ago.  But where to start looking?  It seems that Fate and Fae have combined to make the impossible happen.

Rian Sheridan was found and adopted by a Northern Irish Catholic family who whose Da was already deeply involved with the IRA and the liberation movement in Belfast. For all his 21 years, fire has been Rian’s companion and curse. His human parents loved him without knowing who exactly Rian was, a Prince of the Demesne of Fire and the hope of the Fae Realm. But fire was both his pain and salvation when his world and sense of self was destroyed by the Orangemen on July 12.  Now all Rian knows is pain, and a need for punishment.  But he is about to get something more…much, much more.  A future and a name for who and what he is.

Cuinn an Dearmad or Cuinn the Exiled and Prince Rian Aodan whose signet ring, Croi na Dothan, means he’s the heart of the Flame, are on a collision course with Fate and each other.  For Cuinn and Rian are SoulShares, something Cuinn thought only happened between Fae and Human, not Fae and Fae.  But will Rian be able to accept Cuinn, the man responsible for stealing him away from his Fae mother and the agony he experienced on Earth?  And Cuinn?  Can he overcome his guilt and foresworn duty to heal his SoulShare and with him save both worlds?

Firestorm is the last and, quite naturally, the most incendiary book in the SoulShares series by Rory Ni Coileain.  Through three stories and elements, we have watched the Fae of the Demesnes of Earth (Tiernan), Air (Conall), and Water (Lochlann Doran) find their human SoulShares and engage in battle with the Marfach.  Now time has run out for The Realm and Earth with the last of the magic dries up killing The Realm in the process and the Marfach plans for Armageddon on Earth.  Three couples stand prepared but they are incomplete without the last element of fire.

Having brought her characters and readers to this highly suspenseful and anticipatory state, author Rory Ni Coileain ups the stakes with her last two major characters.  One is Cuinn an Dearmad or Cuinn the Exiled, the last Fae Loremaster, the missing chink in the Pattern.  The absent Fae of the Demesne of Fire? A Prince stolen at birth from Queen Nuala, the Fae ruler and deposited with a human Irish family.  The culprit?  That would be Cuinn an Dearmad who to the day carries the burden and guilt of the pain he inflicted on an innocent.

Ni Coileain’s complicated plot becomes even more convoluted with the pairing of Cuinn and Rian, each carrying with them a past and foretold future even more tortuous and tangled then any of the others.  Cuinn has been the willing puppet of the Loremasters  plans and manipulations with Rian one of their subjects in the harshest way.  Rian has paid in anguish and torment just as he turned 21 and came into his magic.  Now Cuinn must not only heal Rian, convince him  about the reality of Fae and his own true birthright but get all of them prepared for the final stage of the Loremasters machinations.   Rory Ni Coileain is quite the puppetmaster herself to keep all these major themes and plot threads unreeling simultaneously while building the suspense and anxiety for all involved.

The point of view changes from the SoulShares (all of them)  to Marfach’s zombie host and back again.  Its effective and harrowing if a little complicated. But it’s Rian who captures our empathy and shared pain with his constant, overwhelming need for abuse and  sexual punishment.  The basis for this need is shattering for the readers and for Cuinn who by then has become his SoulShare.  Cuinn also has secrets he has been hiding and all must come out. Not just to Rian but all the other couples involved in the battle against the Marfach and the ley lines under Purgatory, the DC leather bar.

How I loved this part.  I adored having all the couples I have become so fond of here at the final installment and still managed to make more room in my affections for the tormented couple of Cuinn and Rian.  Rian is fire!  The images that Rory Ni Coileain uses to build his portrait are as combustible as his element.   Hot, powerful and quick tempered, Rian is as incendiary as it comes.  But the center of Rian is total darkness and pain and the author brings that to life as well.  Cuinn is all cold guilt and responsibility to Rian’s heat. Cuinn’s character is more removed from emotion, more bound to service and the change that happens to Cuinn is purposeful and believable.  Great characters both of them, Ni Coileain balances the growing relationship between Rian and Cuinn against the ever increasing desperation of the Marfach and the Realm.   And at times, the balance is undone by the emotions and events that are occurring within the story.  The march towards action or Rian and Cuinn?  More of the story  comes down on Rian and Cuinn here and while that works beautifully towards making their SoulShare real, it takes away from the Marfach’s impact at times.

Never more so than at the ending.  Some will love it,, others not so much.  Yes, there is resolution to be found here and yet there are also plenty of openings for this series to continue.  I wish I knew which way the author was leaning.  I was almost satisfied and yet….I left the story and the series with a vague sense of  incompleteness and a bit of irritation.   Normally, that would bring the rating down considerably.  But Firestorm and the entire SoulShares series  is so beautifully woven through with its lore, imagery, characters, and plot, that its hard not to celebrate Rory Ni Coileain’s writing in this series with a high  rating.

Do I recommend this book and series?  Absolutely.  Its remarkable, its entertaining, and its magical, full of pain,obstacles,  heartache and love.  Don’t miss out on any of the four stories and like me, continue to hope for a fifth.

Cover artist:  Allen Penn.  Of all 4 covers, this is my favorite.  Dramatic and hot!

Sales Links:        Ravenous Romance          All Romance eBooks                 Amazon        Firestorm

Books in the SoulShares series in the order they were written and should be read are:

Hard As Stone (SoulShares #1)
Gale Force (Soulshares #2)
Deep Plunge (SoulShares #3)
Firestorm (SoulShares #4)

Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 248 pages
Published February 27th 2014 by Ravenous Romance
ASINB00IOWB2BW
edition languageEnglish
seriesSoulShares #4

Cover Reveal Time for Angel Martinez’ No Fae Is An Island! (contest)

****************************

FaeBanner300x250

blue question mark

Its release time for the 4th Book, No Fae is an Island,  in Angel Martinez’ Endangered Fae series, a favorite of mine!  Ready to see what’s next for this wonderful  group of characters?  Keep reading for more information and contest details…

 

Book Name: No Fae Is An Island
Goodreads Link:
Author Name: Angel Martinez
Publisher:  MLR Press LLC
Sales Links: http://www.mlrbooks.com/books.php

Author Bio:

While Angel Martinez is the erotic fiction pen name of a writer of several genres, she writes both kinds of gay romance – Science Fiction and Fantasy. Currently living part time in the hectic sprawl of northern Delaware, (and full time inside the author’s head) Angel has one husband, one son, two cats, a changing variety of other furred and scaled companions, a love of all things beautiful and a terrible addiction to the consumption of both knowledge and chocolate.

Author Contacts:

NoFaeIsAnIsland_200Title:  No Fae Is An Island (Endangered Fae #4) by Angel Martinez
Publisher: MLR Press
Cover Artist: Lex Valentine

Blurb:

Three years ago, Danu banished Diego for a time from the human world. Three years and three days doesn’t seem that long to be away from home but living among the wild fae can change a man and the human world returns the favor by changing while he’s gone. There’s a vampire on Tearmann Island’s security force. A curious selkie’s followed him home. So much to do to keep the world safe…but Diego’s no longer sure he has the right to interfere.

Theo Aguilar started his vampire life on the wrong side of the law. He’s killed and knows he’s dangerous if he doesn’t stay in control every moment. But the fae took him in and Prince Lugh has given him a position of trust. So when Diego and Finn are arrested on a diplomatic mission far from home, he knows his duty. He’s striking out on his own to rescue them, a lone vigilante once again, this time for the good guys. The only glitch? The selkie, Limpet, can’t seem to understand the alone part.

Categories: Contemporary, Fantasy, M/M Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy

♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢

No Fae Is An Island Excerpt:

“You don’t need to come with me.” Theo fought clenched teeth. The selkie was a friend of Mr. Sandoval’s and Finn’s, too—Finn who had been so kind to him after accidentally squashing him in dragon form. No need to be rude.

“Quite all right. I’ve nothing better to do.”

“You can’t come with me,” Theo said in the chilliest, sternest tone he could muster.

“Oh, of course I can. I see quite well at night.”

Theo squeezed his eyes shut against the headache. It shouldn’t have been there. He’d fed that morning and napped the rest of the day in lethargic, sated bliss. Fine. He’ll get bored and leave soon. “All right. But you have to be quiet.”

“Yes, yes, of course. In case something bad is here. A pack of nixes maybe. Oh, they’re bad. Or a kraken tries to swim close and ambush you, yes? You’re a real warrior, then? Have you seen many battles? Do you have scars? I have scars, but only because I was very young—”

“Limpet.” Theo stopped and took the selkie’s chin in his hand, holding his head still. “Whispering is not being quiet.”

“Right you are. Sorry. You have beautiful eyes.”

Theo dropped his hand and walked away, shaking his head. It was going to be long night.


FaeBadgeTour Dates: 9/2/14

Tour Stops: Parker Williams, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Multitasking Mommas, Velvet Panic, Love Bytes, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Tara Lain, Amanda C. Stone, Hearts on Fire, Fallen Angel Reviews, Andrew Q. Gordon, Cate Ashwood, Regular Guys, Hot Romance, Gaylist Book Reviews, Romance the Night, Queer Town Abbey, Cathy Brockman Romances, Kimi-Chan, MM Good Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves, Smoocher’s Voice, It’s Raining Men, Michael Mandrake

Contest: Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ‘No Fae Is An Island’. Use the Rafflecopter Link below to enter and for additional contest details.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway

A MelanieM Review: Deep Plunge (SoulShares #3) by Rory Ni Coileain

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

DeepPlungeCoverFor over two thousand years Lochlann Doran has wandered the continents of Earth, watching as little by little his magic dwindled away to nothing. For Lochlann Doran’s a Fae torn from his war torn world, his soul sundered as he was sent through the Pattern by fellow Loremaster and friend Cuinn to Earth. Now only his faceted aquamarine eyes and the fact that he can’t die remain as reminders of his true nature. Also lost? The ability to heal that goes along with being a Fae of the Demesne of Water.

Stripper Garrett Templar has been dancing along time. The club Purgatory, prior to being bought by Tiernan Guiare, was a hard, indifferent place to work. Garrett turned tricks in the back room to pay his bills and rent, something that would never happen now. But then? The dancers were unprotected by management something Garrett found out the hard way when at eighteen, one of the johns he entertained infected him with HIV. And while it may have been a “manageable” disease” with others, in his system the virus has inexplicably mutated into full-blown AIDS. And no known cocktail has managed to work to slow it down. Now the only place Garrett can find solace is to loose himself as he dances on stage, always alone by necessity and by choice.

Then Lochlann’s travels brings him into Washington, DC and to the very stage in Purgatory where Garrett is dancing.  It only takes a few glances for the SoulShares bond to snap to attention, startling Garrett and freaking out Lochlann deeply.  Lochlann never expected to find his SoulShare after so many centuries alone.  And then he finds out from Garrett that he is dying from AIDS.  Lochlann is devastated.  If he had his magic back, he could heal Garrett immediately.  But his magic is gone.  And Garrett flees from Lochlann, not wanting to hope for a future he is sure they can never have.

But Purgatory has more surprises in store for Lochlann when the SoulShares appear along with his ex friend and now old enemy, Loremaster Cuinn.  It seems their ancient evil, Marfach, has  stirred and wants access to a unSouled Fae to return Marfach to the Realm.  And Lochlann is the key to the  survival of all.

Deep Plunge is the penultimate story in Rory Ni Coileain’s SoulShares series and with it Ni Coileain’s achieves a remarkable bit of storytelling. There is a huge amount of world building going on here.  Two universes, that of the Fae Realm and that of modern urban Washington, DC, are both rendered with equal amounts of realism and imagination.  Then the author builds onto that an epic battle of good and evil (evil being the Marfach) where evil almost conquered all.  It left behind a blackened Fae landscape and a multitude of dead or dying Fae.  To support such a cataclysmic event, Rory Ni Coileain builds a Fae society in dire straits, one that has to re-imagine itself in order to survive.  That aspect of this story is mesmerizing, the history constructed to make all the events that occur in the books not only necessary but manipulated and foretold (yes, two different things are happening here…this layering is magnificent).

Facts about the Fae and the Pattern that we thought we knew from prior events are turned on their head here.  Nothing is as it has seemed.  There are so many elements in play here that you almost have to pause in your reading to make sure you have it all straight, including the latest revelations that have knocked you (and the characters) right on their butts.  I love it when that happens.  Smoke and mirrors, or merely the Fae at work…doesn’t matter because the end result is magical, suspenseful, and downright addictive.

The two protagonists here are unarguably poignant,  deeply damaged characters, each with an emptiness inside where their other souled half should reside (more universe building).  That they have found each other should be cause for celebration.  Instead its marked by pain, and enough angst to fill a bathtub. Ni Coileain pulls off  terrific non-human characters in her Fae.  They do not have the same emotions as humans so that the fact that half their souls end up in humans is not only a neat twist but helps pull all the author’s Fae back down into characters we can empathize with as well as connect with on an elemental basis.  For their human Soulshares it is easy to believe in them and their myriad lifestyles and issues.  All couples from previous stories appear in important roles here as Ni Coileain starts pulling together all the threads she has been sowing in the books so far.  But of them all, Garrett and Lochlann have to be among the most star-crossed.  Garrett who’s HIV became full blown AIDS in almost no time and Lochlann the person who loves him and should be able to cure him but can’t.  It’s both poetic and unbearably painful.

Trust me when I say it almost hurts not to spill all the details that are revealed here, the twists, the turns, the “never saw that coming” revelations.  And Deep Plunge sets all the  elements rolling for the final story in the series, Firestorm.  The final battle between the Marfach against the Fae and humans is almost here.  Who will be able to stop them?  I can’t wait to find out!  Mark this series down as a Must Read and this story as one of the best of the year!  What an adventure Rory Ni Coileain has pulled us into!  A multidimensional saga with characters who continue to astonish and deep loves that have me swooning for more.  Consider the series, the story and the author among ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords Highly Recommended Reads!

Cover art by Allen Penn.  Does a great job branding the series but missing the fantasy element.

Sales Links:      Ravenous Romance        All Romance eBooks (ARe)     Amazon          Deep Plunge

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 202 pages
Published August 28th 2013 by Ravenous Romance
ASINB00EV7OAYU
edition languageEnglish
seriesSoulShares #3

Books in the SoulShares series in the order they were written and should be read are:

Hard As Stone (SoulShares #1)
Gale Force (Soulshares #2)
Deep Plunge (SoulShares #3)
Firestorm (SoulShares #4)

On Tour with Rory Ni Coileain and the SoulShares Series (contest)

✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍

SoulshareBanner

 

Series: SoulShares
Book Names: Hard As Stone

Author Name: Rory Ni Coileain

Author Bio: Rory Ni Coileain majored in creative writing, back when Respectable Colleges didn’t offer such a major, so she designed it herself – being careful to ensure that she never had to take a class before nine in the morning or take a Hemingway survey course. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa at the age of nineteen, sent off her first short story to an anthology being assembled by an author she idolized, got shot down in flames, and found other things to do, such as nightclub singing, for the next thirty years or so, until her stories started whispering to her. Now she’s a lawyer, a legal editor, a sopraltenor in her church choir, the mother of a budding video game designer, and amanuensis to a host of fantastic creatures who are all anxious to tell their stories, and sometimes even wait their turns.

Author Links:

Facebook Author
Facebook soulshares page   ,
Twitter: RoryNi
Cover Artist: Allan Penn
Publisher: Ravenous Romance

The Four Books in the SoulShares series are listed below with the accompanying blurbs and excerpts:

♦Hard As Stone:

Blurb:
Hard as Stone Final

Hard As Stone: Tiernan Guaire is a Fae in exile. Forced from the Realm into the human world for the unimaginable crime of a brother’s murder, he lives by a century-old vow, to trust no one, and never to allow himself to love or be loved.
Kevin Almstead has just lost his future, to a vote of the partners at his law firm. Trying to escape for an evening, he ventures into Purgatory, the hottest all-male nightclub in Washington, D.C., where he allows himself to be seduced by a stranger with long blond hair and ice-blue eyes.
Drawn into a Soulshare bond with his intended one-night stand, Tiernan soon learns that the most ancient and evil enemy of the Fae still walks the human world, and it will stop at nothing – certainly not Kevin Almstead – to possess the magick of a Noble Fae.

 Hard As Stone Excerpt:

Tiernan stirred, muttered under his breath, the first signs of distress he’d shown since falling asleep. Passing out. Whatever. Kevin sighed, resting a hand lightly on the blond’s smooth chest; in short order, he found himself running his fingertips lightly over his lover’s chest, tracing the lines of the muscles, and then down, a fingertip traveling along the intricate tattoo over his hip. Tiernan wasn’t buff, not like some men were and Kevin himself tried to be. Lean, hard-bodied, almost impossibly fit. And with that long, unruly blond hair, and his crystalline blue eyes, Tiernan would turn heads in rooms full of men or women. And no doubt had.

Mine.

The Fae rolled onto his side, away from Kevin; chuckling softly, Kevin settled himself behind his lover, glancing over the shoulder in front of him at the bedside clock. He could still get almost three hours of sleep if he was lucky. He wrapped an arm around Tiernan, nuzzled into the curve where neck met shoulder, breathed in the scent of wild hair and sated male body and honey, and closed his eyes. So this is what magic smells like.

Sales Links: Hard as Stone for Kindle    All Romance eBooks   Nook    Kobo

 Ravenous Romance’s Web site

♦Gale Force:

Gale Force Cover FinalBlurb:
Conall Dary is the most powerful mage born to the Fae race since the Realm was parted from the human world, over two thousand years ago. But that very power condemns him to a lifetime of celibacy, because sex calls to power, and he has power enough to drain a world. When he refuses to use his talents for a Noble lady’s petty revenge, he finds himself shanghaied to the human world, his soul torn in half and his magick blocked.

Josh LaFontaine is the beautifully inked owner of Raging Art-On, a Washington, D.C. tattoo and piercing parlor. While taking part in New York City’s Pride march with a former lover’s dance company, his world changes forever when the man of his dreams materializes out of nowhere at his feet. Josh’s sensual and loving touch, the first Conall has ever known, may be enough to give him back the magick he’s lost. But before they can complete their Soulshare, a terrible accident leaves Conall bodiless, lost, and invisible, to everyone except – maybe – the human with whom he shares a soul. But Josh will need to find him before the ancient evil of the Marfach does or everything they have – and more – will be lost.

GALE FORCE EXCERPT:

The sense of relief as he got out of the taxi was like nothing he’d ever felt before, and even knowing most of it wasn’t his own didn’t make it any less overwhelming. Only the presence of the foot traffic in and out of Purgatory kept him from falling to his knees in gratitude, maybe doing some pavement-kissing.

Well, that and a sense of haste only slightly less urgent than a cattle prod. He fumbled the keys off the hook at his belt and unlocked the deadbolt, then keyed in the combination on the touchpad, wincing as the tiny crystalline tones tried to pierce his eardrums.

Are you sure you can do this, lanan? There might be another way. Just let me think, now that I can.

Josh shook his head. Letting himself into the small client lounge in the front, he locked the door behind himself and made straight for the tattoo studio.

No time. Every minute you’re disembodied makes it less likely you’ll ever get back, you said so yourself. And me…” He paused, his hand on the doorknob of his studio. “I’m not sure how much longer I can stand this.”

Buy Links:  Gale Force for Kindle (US)   All Romance eBooks Barnes & Noble (Nook)   Kobo   Ravenous Romance

♦Deep Plunge:

DeepPlungeCoverBLURB:
For the last six hundred years or so, the only things reminding Lochlann Doran he’s a Fae have been his faceted aquamarine eyes and the fact that he can’t die. He’s been a wanderer for so long in the human world – over two thousand years – that he’s lost his magick, including the gift of healing that goes along with being a Fae of the Demesne of Water. Finding his SoulShare might get it back for him. But it might kill him, too.

Garrett Templar has been living on borrowed time, in a sense, since he was eighteen, when one of the johns he entertained to pay the bills while he danced at Purgatory infected him with HIV. It was always supposed to be a “manageable” disease, though, at least until a cure was found. Except he’s just found out that the virus in his system has inexplicably mutated into full-blown AIDS, and no known drug cocktail can even slow it down.

And when Lochlann and Garrett find each other at last, on Purgatory’s dance floor, the only thing as urgent as their need for one another is the hunger of an ancient evil to do whatever is necessary to possess Lochlann’s magick…

Deep Plunge Excerpt:

Shit. His grip tightened on the strap of his bag, ready to swing it — or ditch it, if it looked like that would help him escape . And for one sick, sweaty, gut-wrenching moment, he was ten years old again, hearing the kids closing in behind him, knowing there was no way in hell he was going to get away without another split lip, ruined shirt, blackened eye. Almost hearing his mother’s voice again. Garrett Lee Templar, I swear, you find more trouble than any ten other boys ever dreamed of. Do you think I can just make new clothes appear out of thin air?

“Garrett?”

He recognized that voice from somewhere. Slowly, he turned. And stared up into eyes that gleamed blue even in the crappy light from the streetlight on the corner.

“Lochlann?”

He hadn’t had to rent his ass out for a while now, but the idea of a john following him home from the club still made his skin crawl. Yet there was something about those eyes, something different.

No. Fuck that shit. You get hurt the worst when you let yourself hope.

Buy Links:  Deep Plunge for Kindle (US)  Barnes & Noble (Nook)   Kobo    Ravenous Romance   ARe

♦Firestorm:

FirestormFinalCoverFirestorm BLURB:
Rian Sheridan is a foundling, a Northern Irish Catholic corner boy whose world was destroyed in fire, and reborn the same way, beside an Orangemen’s bonfire last July the Twelfth. A consuming, dimly-remembered pain in his past calls to him, taunting him, daring him to find it and lose himself to it in the S&M underground of Belfast.

Cuinn an Dearmad is the last surviving Fae Loremaster, and he’s just seen the beginning of the death of the Realm, the haven of the Fae race. The only hope of stopping it starts with him finding the Prince Royal of Fire he stole from the cradle, and lost in the human world, many years ago. He has a few guesses about where that hope ends, and he doesn’t like any of them.

Rian and Cuinn are an impossible pairing, two SoulShared Fae. Any two Fae will strike sparks, but these two Fae are a conflagration. Unable to stand one another, yet drawn into an escalating series of sexual collisions, their passion will either save a world or destroy it.

FIRESTORM EXCERPT:

He gave up on trying to sleep, rolling onto his back and lying sprawled out in the great bed fit for a king. Or a Prince. Shite. He didn’t want to be a fecking Royal. Whatever that meant. But if there was one thing he could say he’d learned in life, it was that what he wanted had fuck all to do with what happened to him.

Though ever since the Twalf, last summer, there was one thing he nearly always got, when he wanted it. The thrill. They’d thought to break him that night, and perhaps they had, but after the breaking he’d been made anew. Into a man who craved what the bastards sought to shame him with, and who used them, in the end, more cruelly than they had used him. After all, he could use them, and others like them, any time he liked.

Addicted? Hell, no. Victorious.

Firestorm Buy Links: Amazon   ARe

SoulShareBadgeTour Dates:

July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
August 5, 12, 19, 26

Tour Stops:
July 1: Smoocher’s Voice, Jade Crystal
July 8: Hearts on Fire, Nephylim
July 15: Parker Williams, Kimi-Chan
July 22: Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves, Fallen Angel Reviews
July 29: The Novel Approach, MM Good Book Reviews
August 5: Dawn’s Reading Nook, Love Bytes, Because Two Men Are Better Than One
August 12: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, My Fiction Nook

August 19: Prism Book Alliance, Book Reviews and More by Kathy
August 26: The Blogger Girls, Amanda C. Stone

 

WillPride

Contest:  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Prizes provided by Pride Promotions and Rory Ni Coileian. The Rafflecopter Prize: One set of SoulShares series

a Rafflecopter giveaway