Category: Fantasy

A MelanieM Review: The Poison Within (Inspector Skaer #1) by Kasia Bacon

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Black clouds of xenophobia gather over Radvadur, the western province of the Empire. The political climate is strained and fragile. A surge of Nymph refugees has stirred widespread hostility towards non-humans. When the investigation of a gruesome triple murder linked to the refugee camp ensues, it takes Inspector Käyru Skaer and his lover, Count Ellydhar Finn-Jánn, along an unusual path, at the end of which a precious gift awaits.

Käyru and Elly are worlds apart in social standing, but they have found common ground in the bedroom—up against the wall and the stable doors, too. The arrangement between them ought to have been temporary and of no consequence. As their circumstances change, will they find the courage to risk their hearts?

Warning: Contains mentions of off page sexual assault.

Kasia Bacon’s novella Don’t Fight the Spark (Soldiers and Mercenaries #1) had included in the Author’s Book Notes a sentence or  two where the author indicated that she thought all readers should head to this story first for a better foundation on the  characters and then pick up Don’t Fight the Sparkk.  I hadn’t but wanted to rectify that as soon as possible.  Plus get a better look at Bacon’s Order Universe, which seems to be coming together much the way a quilter completes a quilt, one patch or in this case a story at a time.

Did I find that to be true? No.  Yes,The Poison Within (Inspector Skaer #1) by Kasia Bacon fills in some gaps nicely.  Like what and who is a Furia and who is that nymph meeting her at the end of Don’t Fight the Spark.  We get those answers here.  We also meet Käyru Skaer and his lover, Count Ellydhar Finn-Jánn here.  And if you play with the names and take into account their looks, then you have a long established couple in Don’t Fight the Spark.  However,  this couple here is practically at the first part of the path of their relationship, however the fact that they are an established couple given what we know from the other story.  There one is practically unrecognizable in some respects. their lives having changed drastically somewhere in between this story and that one.

Which sort of makes this all the more frustrating.  The author hands you both one section here towards the beginning of their story, and then  another towards the middle or whatever latter part, and leaves you missing huge gaps in between if you have read both books.  So I will say it’s hard for me to judge this strictly on it’s own merit.

I do find that the author has a wonderful way with her characterizations.  Layered, rich, and full of life, they are easy to connect with.  The same goes for the situations they find themselves in, in this case an unequal love affair,  officially unacknowledged due to the differences in social strata (The Count’s high birth and Käyru Skaer;s low).  Also the fact that the relationship between two men is tolerated only if it appears not to be serious.  All of which is placing incredible stress on them both while they try to investigate  a local crime.

You can see the author laying the groundwork for the other story and the events that will follow in the men’s relationship.  But it ends far too soon for me to feel any sense of completion, because of my additional knowledge past this story.  It just felt too short.

There is a nice amount of suspense and drama and the established relationship feels real between the two.

The world building here is good in sections.  That is for this section of the world the author does a great job of giving us a feel for the type of culture and political life that swirls around the people and this couple.  How restrictive and yes, poisonous it can be.

For the larger framework for the entire  world, its history, geography etc.  once again you need to consult the Glossary.  Something I’m divided about.  I need to read more about The Order Universe.  Perhaps the earlier books contain within them the foundations I’m seeking like the Elf/Human wars that were so devastating that left the humans on the losing end and rearranged everything.  Somewhere there’s a story that folds it all in, rather than resorts to a Glossary for a framework and grounding.  I appreciate a patchwork quilt of short stories but would love to see them attached to one overall cohesive novel that jump started it all.  I’m still in search of that one.

If you are a fan of The Order Universe, then this is one more short story you must add to the collection.  I will be following along to see how this couple got from here to Don’t Fight the Spark status.  Should be quite the ride.  I will be waiting.  If you love fantasy and a series, try The Order Universe.  You might find it as fascinating as I do.

Book Cover art is terrific.  Bloody wonderful.

Sales Link:  Amazon

Book Details:

As of 14th December 2017, The Poison Within also includes a short bonus read titled A Late Bite to Eat

Kindle Edition, 51 pages
Published March 18th 2017
ASINB06XFGX3BT
Edition LanguageEnglish
Series Inspector Skaer #1
CharactersInspector Käyru Skaer, Count Ellydhar Finn-Jánn or ‘Elly’
settingRadvadur

An Alisa Review: Where Song Replaces Silence by Layla Dorine

Rating:  2 stars out of 5

Raze halts his midnight joy ride to give chase to twinkling lights that appear in the road before him and then lead him deep into a forest, where he falls into another world. There, magic is real, wishes are granted, and no one is considered odd or out of place.

Raze has never fit in anywhere in his own world and uses his angry attitude to keep others at bay and mask his anxieties and fears in this new place. A dangerous combination in Loas, where rudeness is frowned upon and foul language can land him in a dungeon.

Rurin, an inhabitant of Loas, tries to teach Raze about their world, its magic and its residents, but he faces Raze’s stubborn resistance at every turn. Bitter about his past, pessimistic about his future, Raze sees what could be, but he struggles to accept it. In the meantime, his encounters with the Fae range from hostile sarcasm to potential danger. While he attempts to keep the promises he’s made to Rurin and follow the rules laid out for him, Raze grows more and more curious about the place where he’s landed. It’s too bad he keeps making poor choices.

As the connection between them grows, Rurin works to keep Raze from being banished, but Raze may be cast out of the Loas before he has the opportunity to discover the true reason he was led there in the first place.

This was not a story for me.  While it was well written the world that Raze ended up in and his and the others actions just caused me to get upset during most of the story.  I also couldn’t help but feel the teeny bit of romance was forced and did absolutely nothing for what was happening.

I will admit from the beginning Raze is a jerk but at the same time this wonderful, accepting and peaceful group is sure quick to judge and look down on him even when he is trying.  Mostly we see Raze getting let around by Rurin to learn about the world he has found himself in while at the same time Rurin expecting him to just know how it works down there.  I felt that Raze’s sudden acceptance and change of heart when he found his magic was just too little too late for all around.

The cover art by Natasha Snow is a beautiful picture but doesn’t do anything for the story.

Sales Links: Nine Star Press | Amazon | B&N

Book Details:

ebook, 33,300 words

Published: April 22, 2019 by Nine Star Press

ISBN: 978-1-950412-49-5

Edition Language: English

Release Blitz and Giveaway for Prisoner Of Shadows (Lord of the Underworld #2) by Sam Burns and W.M. Fawkes

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link – Exclusive to Amazon and Available to Borrow with Kindle Unlimited
 
Length: 70,000 words approx.
 
Cover Design: Natasha Snow
 
Lords of the Underworld Series
 
Prince of Death – Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link
 
Blurb
 

For more than five thousand years, Prometheus has been chained in the underworld. Every day, an eagle tears out his liver. Every night, he heals. When Hermes releases him in a gambit to save himself from his father’s wrath, Prometheus must adjust to a world that’s forgotten him. Hunted by the twins, Artemis and Apollo, he finds help in an unexpected place.


Julian Bell is a vampire lost. He left his Louisiana home in 1936 and hasn’t settled since. Ten years ago he followed his best friend to New York, but the country they came to wasn’t the America he left. After losing his friend, he found himself unmoored in a strange land. As he nears his hundredth birthday, he’s realizing how truly alone he is.


When Prometheus and Julian’s paths cross one fateful night, they find in each other a safe path through the shadows.

 

About The Authors



Sam Burns wrote her first fantasy epic with her best friend when she was ten. Like almost any epic fiction written by a ten year old, it was awful. She likes to think she’s improved since then, if only because she has better handwriting now.
If she’s not writing, she’s almost certainly either reading or lost down a Wikipedia rabbit hole while pretending to research for a novel.


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W.M. Fawkes is an author of LGBTQ+ urban fantasy and paranormal romance. With coauthor Sam Burns, she writes feisty Greek gods, men, and monsters in the Lords of the Underworld series. She lives with her partner in a house owned by three halloween-hued felines that dabble regularly in shadow walking.


Website: https://www.fawkeswrites.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fawkeswrites
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FawkesWrites

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Love Fantasy? Check Out the Blog Tour for The King’s Fear (The Brass Machine #2) by Isaac Grisham

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Book Title: The King’s Fear (The Brass Machine #2)

Author: Isaac Grisham

Publisher: Cooper Blue Books, LLC

Cover Artist: Dissect Designs

Genre/s: Fantasy, LGBT Fiction

Trope/s: Good vs. Evil, Magic, Shifter, Bi the Way

Themes: Darkness and Light, Heartbreak of Betrayal, Revenge and Forgiveness

Heat Rating:  3 flames      

Length:  95,000 words/290 pages

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Everything will burn

Blurb

Myobu has waited all his life to find love, and just as he makes a connection, it’s taken from him in an instant. Reeling from the fatal climax of his love story with Prince Kitsune, the magical Yokai must take advantage of his second chance at life, reconciling his past and present while keeping the prince from going down a path of darkness. Together with Kitsune, Myobu is tasked with destroying an evil that threatens the brass machine—and their world.

Meanwhile, Prince Kitsune is lost in the depths of responsibility and the murkiness of grief. His role is at the head of an army, defending against the whims of his deranged father. King Oni’s aggression is mounting, and he will stop at nothing to maintain his power over Kitsunetsuki. 

Overcome with the guilt of killing the man he loved, Kitsune finds direction when he discovers the legendary Sword of Inari—but when the voices within the steel speak to him, they lead him deeper down a path of deceit. In a tale of good versus evil, life and death, Kitsune and Myobu must come together alongside their allies to face unspeakable horrors.

 

Buy Links

Amazon US

Amazon UK

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Excerpt

It was the perfect morning.

Treating himself to a good long stretch, Myobu worked his way up to sitting. With his back against the wooden headboard, he looked down at the pair with whom he had spent the night. Ryn and Nikki owned one of the oldest taverns in Hawte, having belonged to Ryn’s family for generations. Myobu had met them not long after arriving in the capital nearly three sun cycles ago.

Something else had happened as their friendship grew. Late one night after helping close up the tavern, they had spent a few hours drinking by the hearth. Ryn and Nikki spoke of their first encounter and subsequent marriage, purportedly a scandalous affair.

Having lived over a century without ever engaging in sexual activity, Myobu had drunkenly bombarded them with endless questions on the subject. The pair looked at one another, a glimmer of humor and desire in their eyes, and decided to answer his queries physically rather than verbally. Taking him by the hand, they led him upstairs to bed.

Upon closing the bedroom door, the first thing the couple did was peel off their clothing. Myobu had watched in awe as the differences in their skin were revealed. Ryn was a burly man, and there were few areas on his body not covered in hair. Nikki was dark-skinned and appeared free of any blemishes or extraneous hair.

The two had begun tugging at Myobu’s own clothing, which he sluggishly gave up. He wasn’t timid or particularly self-conscious, though he had wondered if the human form he had taken was correct in the details. He possessed all the parts of a man, but he lacked the massive tufts of hair Ryn displayed. He was almost as smooth as Nikki. Concerned they would figure out he wasn’t actually human, he had contemplated adding hair to his body before his shirt could be removed.

In the end, the two hadn’t given a second thought to his nearly hairless form. They stripped him naked, looked at him appreciatively, and began running their hands over his body. The dual sensations of Ryn’s rougher palms and Nikki’s smoother fingertips elicited a gasp from Myobu. Goosebumps broke out over his flesh. It heightened his tactile awareness, dulled his sense of time, and deeply aroused him. He tentatively put a hand on each of their bodies, awkward at first, but easily got into it once he realized his touch elicited the same types of responses from them.

 

About the Author

Isaac Grisham currently lives in a blue county of Illinois with his partner and doggos. By day, he works at a local college. The King’s Fear is his second completed novel and, by night, he is busy assembling the gears of the third and final piece of The Brass Machine.

 

Author Links

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Facebook: @AuthorIsaacGrisham

Twitter: @isaacgrisham 

Instagram: isaac.grisham 

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A VVivacious Review: The King’s Fear (The Brass Machine #2) by Isaac Grisham

Rating: 5 *wow* stars out of 5

Myobu’s death leaves Kitsune lost. He finds the legendary sword “Tsukumogami” when he is at his most vulnerable but Tsukumogami is no ordinary sword. It is wreathed with the souls of its previous owners and now all those voices are filling Kitsune’s head and as time passes he finds himself increasingly in the thrall of one particular voice that resides in the sword leading him to increasing destruction and devastation. Myobu sacrificed himself to save the world but it grows evermore unclear who will bring this destruction – King Oni or Kitsune himelf?

Wow! Just Wow! I was blown away. I had a lot of difficulty just starting but once I did I was so captivated with the words I couldn’t keep away, I just had to finish the book. This book just flew by, I devoured it.

It has almost been a year since I read The King’s Sun and I had forgotten a lot about the characters and I feel like killing myself for this because I didn’t even remember who Myobu was and I had to look that up which I hate myself for. But, then I started reading it and before I knew it I had finished and I remembered more than I gave myself credit for.

The initial part of the book is about Myobu who we know very little of from book one but this book starts from the very beginning and tells us everything about Myobu which was just fascinating. We get the events of the first book from Myobu’s perspective and seeing things from his POV really helped clear so much and it was an amazing way of telling what had happened while giving a fresh outlook to those very same events. Personally, I am now in love with Myobu, I feel like in the first book I only liked him as Kitsune’s lover but now, I know who Myobu is and he is such a fascinating and interesting character. He is amazing.

The plot of this one is much more cohesive that that of the previous book and overall it is so well written. It manages to engross you no matter what is happening which I feel is the reason I felt like this book just flew by. The only scene that was a bit chaotic is the last battle sequence because I feel it wasn’t very clear what the armies were doing and the events felt a little haphazard and seemed to suffer from tunnel vision because it really wasn’t clear what people around Kitsune were doing exactly. That scene was a little confusing but there is a lot going on in the scene and there was so much happening that I feel like maybe it was safer to stick with Kitsune’s perspective on the whole to make it concise.

But, oh my God, this book was really good. I really liked it. It was amazing seeing Myobu from this broader perspective armed with the knowledge of his past and everything that is happening with Kitsune was really intriguing. The story of the book is just so good.

I really liked the concept of the Tsukumogami which definitely deserves a place up there in the realm of amazing swords. I also really came to like Mai she is a crazy character but she makes it work. Her relationship with Kitsune might turn some people off but I feel like she served as a nice compass to Kitsune’s messed up emotions and feelings. The events in this book really felt very organic and I can’t wait to see where we go from here.

The larger metaphor of the Brass Machine is also something that is just such a mind-bogglingly amazing concept. I really wish it would be explained at some point in time though I have a fair idea of what it is. Also, I love how this story syncs up with the story of the girl from the diary that Kitsune finds. I am really looking forward to whatever is going to happen next.

This book was amazing and people often say second books don’t live up to the expectations of the first but this one lived up to it and more.

Cover Art by Dissect Designs. I love the cover, it is a modification of the first book’s cover and I like the theme they have going on with the brass machine in the background and with the words being licked by the flames.

Sales Links:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Book Details:

ebook, 290 pages
Expected publication: May 6th 2019 by Cooper Blue Books, LLC
ISBN 139781732140639
Edition Language English
Series The Brass Machine #2

The Brass Machine Series

The King’s Sun

The King’s Fear

An Alisa Review: Unimaginable by Iyana Jenna

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Callum Saxon wakes up to a totally different universe where all around him is water. Strangely he can breathe it as if it’s air. The bad thing is he can’t remember how he got there. He can’t remember himself, either.

Ainsley Carlisle is more than a man with long blond hair. He’s a unicorn shifter with secrets as widely stretched as the rainbow supposedly coming out of his rear. Ainsley won’t help Callum uncover who he is because Ainsley wants him to remember it himself.

In this new universe, Callum has to survive the creatures that live there, such as vampires, shifters, werewolves, you name it. But there’s more to Callum than meets the eye.

This book had so much potential but left me wanting.  There was not much explanation and what there was ended up being told to you not shown so there isn’t any connection to the story.  Callum is trying to understand this new world with Ainsley as his guide but all it does is confuse things more as we learn about how Callum came to be where he was.

I never really get how Callum & Ainsley ended up coming together other than Ainsley once again rescues Callum and apparently takes him back to earth.  And I was once again lost about why Ainsley was going back by himself.  I think this story really needed more fleshing out and length added to it in order to make sense.

I think the cover art by Written Ink Designs works okay for the story but while the unicorn is majectic on the cover we are led to believe that they are lower class in the story.

Sales Links: JMS Books | Amazon | B&N

Book Details:

ebook, 14,675 words

Published: March 23, 2019 by JMS Books

ISBN: 9781634868808

Edition Language: English