A Sammy Review: Spartan Love (Spartan Love #1) by Kayla Jameth

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

With a final sigh of satisfaction, he ran his hand over the smooth surface and placed the bowl on the ground. His small act of creation was in no way comparable to what the gods had achieved, but it still gave him satisfaction and a sense of pleasure.

Andreas lost his father to a kryptes when he was a small child, and his mother to illness just four years ago. Now he lives alone, toiling the land he lives on with only the company of the animals and the occasional neighbor.

Being a helot, certain rules apply – like not being inside after the sun sets. Darkness brings kryptes, young warriors who are given permission to slay the helots. It’s dangerous, and one night, Andreas barely escapes.

But that kryptes enters his home, takes his food… and out of need for something more, friendship – a companion, Andreas begins to leave food, an offering to the kryptes.

As the days go on, Andreas boldness grows, and one day, he invites the kryptes in, and Theron isn’t quite like the bloodthirsty stories he’s heard, like the kryptes who slaughtered his father.

But a man loving a man is forbidden in Sparta, not to mention a helot and a kryptes are as different in status as one can get. But some things are just impossible to resist.

He’d thought the warrior fearless, but maybe there were things even a warrior had to fear.

Kayla Jameth does a superb job of bringing the ancient world of warriors, slaves, and gods to life. It is clear from the very beginning that a great deal of research went into this book, and that’s very deliberately laid out for the reader.

Some may find it difficult to get through the different words, but a glossary at the end proves to be most helpful and a great reference point throughout the book – and for a history geek like me, just plain fun to read anyways.

I really enjoyed the setting and the characters, but I think I wanted to see even more of Theron’s personality. I got a very good grasp of Andreas, but not quite so with Theron. I missed hearing more about his warrior instincts that were literally beat into him. On that same line of characters, I so loved the personality given to Ictis and Pan.

Still, I had some problems. Around the 40% mark or so, it began to drag, and drag, and drag some more. It became monotonous to me. Their internal battles felt like they were repeated a bit too much, and I was ready to move on, and then when we did, I felt like I just kept getting more of Andreas and his daily activities, which is fine, but it just wasn’t very… lively. Even when Theron initially gets sick, things didn’t really pick up for me, except when Apollo became involved. (Speaking of Apollo, I loved the element that the Gods brought to this. It was a bit fantasy, but treated as real – as it is real in this place in time. It was really nice.)

I was waiting for something more to happen, and I kept waiting, and it never did. This story is incomplete, a cliffhanger in my eyes. It sort of just stops and leaves a lot of questions and things unexplored. For example, Andreas never tells Theron about what happened to his father, which I felt was pretty important.

This is listed as a series, but it ended almost more like a serial fiction to me. I checked the authors site and it mentioned that the next book follows not only Andreas and Theron but also Coridan, and I really hope it isn’t made into a threesome. It’d just muddle a perfectly complicated relationship that the story is just beginning to depict.

But nevertheless, I look forward to seeing their journey continue, and I am hoping for a bit more action in the upcoming books. We’ve got a very solid foundation of how their lives are, now I’m hoping to see things take off and the plot grow.

The cover art by Catt Ford is fitting. The red cloak is a signature in the story and for kryptes in general, so I’m glad that it is depicted here. I just wonder if the men on the cover appear a bit too old for Theron and Andreas.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon buy it here

Book Details:

ebook, 210 pages
Published December 8th 2014 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781632162670
edition languageEnglish
seriesSpartan Love #1, Apollo’s Men #2

A MelanieM Review: The Body on the Beach (Under the Southern Cross) by L.J. LaBarthe

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

It’s 1920 in Adelaide, the only free colony in Australia. When a body on the beach is found to be marked up with Chinese symbols, it only makes sense for the local constable to call upon William “Billy” Liang for advice and help with the investigation. Billy Liang, prominent member of both cultures in Adelaide, has often worked as a liaison between the various emigrant societies in Adelaide and the white establishment.

With his lover and business manager, Tom Williams, at his side (and with the support of Billy’s wife), Billy and Tom must investigate a crime that looks to implicate the local Chinese community in the murder. Billy and Tom deal with illegal opium dens, fantan games and gambling, racism, and being shot at throughout the investigation. And while Billy’s family accepts the love he and Tom share, Australia’s laws against sodomy and homosexuality pose a constant danger. It’s a delicate balance that Billy and Tom maintain, one that this murder and the ripples it sets in motion threaten to destroy.

The Body on the Beach, part of the Under the Southern Cross Anthology, is a perfect little window into a time and societal framework of 1920 Adelaide, Australia. L.J. LaBarthe recreates gallimaufry of cultures that is Adelaide, a situation that hasn’t changed much today. Within the limits of the town, there exists the Chinese, the Greeks, the Russians, and more nationalities that have flooded into the region and are now coexisting, however uneasily, with the white population. I especially loved the intimate look at the Chinese community from the viewpoint of Billy Liang. The character of William “Billy” Liang is a compelling one. He acts as the bridge between all the “foreigners” and the local establishment by way of his success as a businessman and his status within the Chinese insular community. And he does so successfully because he lives in both worlds in his private life. He is married to an intelligent, understanding wife who accepts his love and relationship with Tom. Indeed, they have created for themselves their own insulated world where their servants are supportive of their unique relationship dynamics, including the fact that he and Tom live in one section of the huge house and his wife in another.

Some readers might balk at this arrangement, but as its laid out here by L.J. LaBarthe, it not only works but we enjoy the camaraderie and ease in which they all deal with each other. I enjoyed Billy’s wife for her grace and intelligence as much as I did Tom, a terrific balancing act indeed.

While the plot has Tom and Billy investigating a complex murder, it was all the descriptions of the various sides to Adelaide and its people that I really enjoyed. I felt as though I was there, walking the streets and beaches with Billy and Tom. There is the realistic aspect of racism that has to be dealt with along with the need to keep their sexuality and true nature of their relationship hidden. And within all of that complicated framework, a murderer needs to be caught and brought to justice.

When an author brings me takes me back to the past and makes it feel alive once more, as LaBarthe does here, then I feel that I have taken a marvelous journey, one I was unwilling to see end. The Body on the Beach is just such a story. If you are unfamiliar with L. J. LaBarthe, this is a wonderful place to start!

Cover Artist Anne Cain. How I love this cover! Everything, from the design to the characters, pull you in as does this story.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy it Here

Book Details:

ebook
Published March 13th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press (first published March 12th 2013)
ISBN139781623805494
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3630
seriesUnder the Southern Cross

Down Under Day 6: L.J. LaBarthe, AUS/NZ Facts and Contest Details

Welcome to Day 6 of STRW Down Under Author Showcase. Our Featured Author today is L. J. LaBarthe, a prolific author of multiple series and stand alone romances. Make sure you visit her page, check out her bio and books. And don’t forget to enter her giveaway contest and search out the Scavenger Hunt word of the Day as well as enter Bottom Drawer Publications contest on the Down Under Author Showcase Page.

Australia Fact of the Day:

Australia’s Migrants I
Around 24% of Australia’s residents were born overseas. This compares with 20% in New Zealand, 17% in Canada, 10% in the USA and 6% in the UK.

Australia’s Migrants II
Australia has been a magnet for immigration for many years. In fact, Australia’s immigration policy used to be targeted towards attracting people from the British Isles. The emphasis now is to attract anyone from anywhere who has the skills to contribute to Australia’s development.

City of Adelaide Skyline – see link for more information about Adelaide.

New Zealand Fact of the Day:

It’s a fact: at 41.2o South, Wellington is the most southerly capital city on the planet. Cities on similar latitudes in the Northern hemisphere are Barcelona, Istanbul and Chicago.

A Sammy Review: Rival Within by S.J.D. Peterson

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

“Sometimes it’s those unexpected storms that pop up out of nowhere that leave you the most satisfied after they pass.” Ben looked up at Tom with hooded lids. “Wouldn’t you agree, Officer?”

Tom pulled Ben’s keys from his pocket and handed them to Ben. “And sometimes they leave the most destruction,” Tom said coldly and opened the door.

Thomas Webber takes his vows in life seriously. He’s a proud officer of the law, a loving father, and he provides for his wife. He also vowed a long time ago to resist a temptation that resides deep within himself. That all changes one night when he comes across William Benjamin Parker, a stranded traveler with a hard edge and an irresistible edge.

When a storm hits the small town, the two are left stranded beneath the police station. It’s too much for Tom to resist, and finally he breaks down and gives into the desires he’s been hiding for so long.

But it’s the 1950s, and being gay only gets you ostracized or worse. And Tom’s got a family and a life to live.

Can these two weather the storm, both within each other and out in the world?

He wasn’t afraid of the new storm rolling in. The one that had blown through in the form of William Parker had already caused Tom’s complete destruction.

I was so excited for this. A new S.J.D. Peterson and a story line that sounded oh so promising. I literally couldn’t wait to read it… so I didn’t.

And I’m very sad to say that it was a big let down for me on many fronts. The first chapter was your usual character building one, in which we get to know Tom and the pressures he faces as a father, husband, and officer who has a secret. After that, the book went right into the storm and I found it to be completely unrealistic and all too sudden for me. It really felt off. For example, Ben strips down in the cell and is wearing just a towel when the storm hits. Uh… what? And then a bottle of oil magically appears when it is needed, and again, I was left to ask “what?”

Another issue I had is that the title is Rival Within – which implies that someone’s greatest rival is their inner demons, in this case, that would be Tom’s inner demons. This held up for a few chapters, and then suddenly, Tom was at peace with himself following an impromptu blow job (a hot one, but still). He’d spent his entire life building this hatred up, and for it to crumble so easily felt like it wasn’t doing the story justice. It was just too easy. With the ending, I was also a bit angered at how easily <spoiler>.

Finally, this is meant to be a historical novel. It’s set in Tennessee in 1952. I love historicals. They have a way of transporting you to a different time and place when done right. In this case, it could’ve been any year, even present, in any small town across the United States. I sensed when the author was trying to pull in bits of history, but it didn’t really work. The small town thing still exists, and this didn’t transport me anywhere beyond middle-of-nowhere United States. At one point, a character even puts a camera in his pocket. Granted, I’m not an expert of the 1950s, but I have a hard time imaging a camera that fits in ones pocket.

This book tries to tackle a lot of pretty deep topics. For one, it has an obvious theme of adultery, which you can tell just from the blurb. But it also has a really heavy amount of religion to it, which I expected, but if you’re someone who is uncomfortable with organized religions in your story, this really won’t be for you. It also has a bit of post WWII issues for a returning soldier, and then out of nowhere comes pedophilia – see spoiler for more on this. A character (not main) is caught with an underage boy. In order to blackmail him, they have another underage boy perform a sexual act with him and take pictures. It’s not really in detail, but if you’re triggered by even the idea, I wanted to let you know it exists. There is also some of what I would consider heavy alcohol use, bordering on abuse. It’s not framed that way in the story, and it could very well be the time frame, but it did stick out to me.

So that’s all of my bones to pick with the story, but it did have positives. I enjoyed Marna and how she was depicted. I expected one thing and got a complete other, and I was happy with that. I also think it had a lot of potential in general with the plot, it just didn’t come through. As a whole, it was flat.

I will not give up on S.J.D Peterson, though. One of my favorites are by Peterson, this just wasn’t one of them.

The cover art by Anna Sikorska is pretty nice. I think Anna really hit the right note with the grunge aspect, and I appreciate the use of font. It’s simple but the blurring works for the story. The problem is that there’s a heavy area around the left eye that stands out, and not in the best of ways. Furthermore, I thought this was meant to be Ben, but Ben is known to have a scar across his face – something notably missing from the cover.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press eBook & Paperback All Romance (ARe) Amazon buy it here

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: December 29th 2014 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781632164254
edition languageEnglish

An Aurora YA Review: Children of the Knight (Children of the Knight #1) by Michael J. Bowler

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

A Harmony Ink Press Young Adult Title

According to legend, King Arthur is supposed to return when Britain needs him most. So why does a man claiming to be the once and future king suddenly appear in Los Angeles?

This charismatic young Arthur creates a new Camelot within the City of Angels to lead a crusade of unwanted kids against an adult society that discards and ignores them. Under his banner of equality, every needy child is welcome, regardless of race, creed, sexual orientation, or gang affiliation.

With the help of his amazing First Knight, homeless fourteen-year-old Lance, Arthur transforms this ragtag band of rejected children and teens into a well-trained army—the Children of the Knight. Through his intervention, they win the hearts and minds of the populace at large, and gain a truer understanding of themselves and their worth to society. But seeking more rights for kids pits Arthur and the children squarely against the rich, the influential, and the self-satisfied politicians who want nothing more than to maintain the status quo.

Can right truly overcome might? Arthur’s hopeful young knights are about to find out, and the City of Angels will never be the same.

Arthur, a boy apparently the reborn King Arthur, of legend, is in Los Angeles, California, with a Camelot of his very own, fighting the oppressive nature of the city with an admirable message of equality and acceptance.

I think this book had a really original idea behind it, which was something that I immediately loved, with so many books marketed toward young adults seeming like a copy of The Hunger Games or Twilight or Harry Potter. This book definitely didn’t seem like that, and the author took the idea that had a lot of potential, and transformed it into a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. It was interesting to see an attitude toward the adult world from someone who hadn’t quite reached adulthood yet, and seeing a young person fighting for something they really believed in, in an inclusive way. The book sends a great message without being overt about it, or pushing the theme to the point where it distracts from the actual story.

The characters were great, as well, and, again, the original idea behind the story fueled my interest at the beginning, but before long, I really cared about the characters and wanted to know how their journeys were going to play out. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it very highly.

Cover Artist: Reese Dante. I’ve said this before, and it is absolutely my own personal bias, but I simply don’t enjoy photo-edited covers as much as drawn covers except in very rare cases. That being said, this cover is well put together, and it is suited to the book, it simply isn’t my cup of tea.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press All Romance (ARe) amazon buy it here

Book Details:

ebook, 344 pages
Published June 20th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press (first published June 19th 2013)
original titleChildren of the Knight
ISBN 1623806569 (ISBN13: 9781623806569)
edition languageEnglish

Series the Knight Cycle:

Children of the Knight #1, The Knight Cycle #1

Down Under Showcase Day 2:Nicki J. Markus, AUS/NZ Fun Facts and Contest Details

Day Two of STRW Down Under Showcase. Our author of the day is Nicki J. Markus, make sure to visit her author page. Discover her books, find the Scavenger Hunt word of the day and don’t forget to enter her contest/giveway. Now here are the Australia and New Zealand Fun Facts of the Day:

Australia:

Biggest State in Australia (you knew they had states, right?)

Western Australia is the biggest Australian state and covers one third of the continent. Its total area is over 2.5 million square kilometres. That makes it 3.6 times bigger than Texas, 4.6 times bigger than France and 11 times bigger than the UK. It’s an interesting fact that, despite its large size, Western Australia is home to only around two million people.

Which Down Under Authors have books that take place in Western Australia?

New Zealand:

New Zealand was first discovered by Europeans in 1642 when Dutch sailor Abel Tasman arrived. He left New Zealand after several of his crew were killed by Maoris, and it was not until 1769 that English Captain James Cook arrived and mapped the land.

Tasman and Tasmania? Hmmmm….do you know what the connection is?

Contests:

1. Nicki J. Markus’ Giveaway -see Rafflecopter Link

2. Scavenger Hunt continues-search for the green bold word or phrase to collect.

3. Bottom Drawer Publications Contest –

Bottom Drawer Publications will provide a $20 gift voucher to spend in our shop and a copy of each of the e-books from our participating authors:

Mythica – L. J. LaBarthe
Cutting Out – Meredith Shayne
Second Chances Anthology – contains 2 stories contributed by Lisa Harris (Heart of Glass) and Bette Browne (Dirty Martini)

enter here

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now onto today’s Down Under Author Nicki J. Markus!

Happy New Year! Down Under Author Showcase Begins Today!

Happy New Year, everyone! Today kicks off Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Down Under Author Showcase, an entire month of authors, their books and stories from Australia and New Zealand. Each day brings a new featured author, an interview or guest blog, information on the writers and their books, as well as a personal giveaway from each person.

In addition, we have more fabulous contests to go along all month long. There is a Down Under Scavenger Hunt where you visit each author’s page each day to search out a Hunt word or phrase in bold green, gather them up all month long and then submit them to me on January 31st! We will be awarding seven prizes to Down Under Scavenger Hunt participants. These include a $75 Amazon gift card, four gift packages of items from Australia and New Zealand (two from each country courtesy of the Embassy of Australia and the Embassy of New Zealand here in DC), the Under the Southern Cross Anthology from Dreamspinner Press-6 individual novellas in all, the book How To Speak Kangaroo, and more.

Then Bottom Drawer Publications will provide a $20 gift voucher to spend in our shop and a copy of each of the e-books from our participating authors:

Mythica – L. J. LaBarthe
Cutting Out – Meredith Shayne
Second Chances Anthology – contains 2 stories contributed by Lisa Harris (Heart of Glass) and Bette Browne (Dirty Martini)

Vacationeers to NZ and AUS! This contest is for you! We would love to have the people who have vacationed/visited our Down Under countries to share their memories and photos, their favorite places to visit or eat or whatever they wish to share. A special prize will be saved for one winner picked from all the participants who guest blog with us all month long. Just send in your memories or places to share, short or long or anything in between anytime between now and January 31st. Send them to melaniem54@msn.com and watch for your post to appear throughout the month.

Over 37 prizes to be awarded this month! Don’t miss out on a day of Down Under Author Showcase.

Today’s Down Under Author is Christian Baines. I loved his book The Beast Without!

Also we will be posting interesting facts, places to visit and more “stuff to know” about each country every day! If visiting Australia and New Zealand weren’t already on your bucket list, then these amazing authors, and their books and stories will have you pining for airlines tickets!

Australia Fun Fact of the Day:

How Big is Australia?
Australia is the word’s smallest continent and the world’s sixth largest country. Australia covers an area of 7,686,900 square kilometres. That’s slightly smaller than the United States mainland which is 7,827,848 square kilometres (does not include Hawaii and Alaska).

New Zealand Fun Fact of the Day:

A kiwi is not a fruit – it is New Zealand’s native flightless bird and a slang term for a New Zealander. Kiwis call the fruit “kiwifruit” – they are also known as Chinese Gooseberries.

Acknowledgements

My thanks goes out to the Embassies of Australia and New Zealand for their contributions of the gift packages. My thanks also to Bottom Drawer Publications and Dreamspinner Press for their contest and donations. And my appreciation of all the participating authors who gave of their time and books to this event! Happy New Year All!

Blast Back to the Past with Abigail Roux’s According to Hoyle (book tour and contest)

Hi! I’m Abigail Roux, the author of ACCORDING TO HOYLE. Thanks for having me. And don’t forget the giveaway! Check out the details at the bottom of the post to see what you can win!

Blurb

By the close of 1882 in the American West, the line between heroes and villains is narrow. Total chaos is staved off only by the few who take the law at its word and risk their lives to uphold it. But in the West, the rules aren’t always played according to Hoyle.

US Marshals Eli Flynn and William Henry Washington—longtime friends and colleagues—are escorting two prisoners to New Orleans for trial when they discover there’s more than outlawry to the infamous shootist Dusty Rose and the enigmatic man known as Cage. As the two prisoners form an unlikely partnership, the marshals can’t help but look closer at their own.

When forces beyond the marshals’ control converge on the paddle wheeler they’ve hired to take them downriver, they must choose between two dangers: playing by the rules at any cost, or trusting the very men they are meant to bring to justice.

According to Hoyle Excerpt:

“Mr. Baird, I trust your end of this issue has been taken care of?” the old man rasped.

“I’m afraid there were some complications,” Baird reported. “Stringer is well on his way, but Rose refused to work with us. He then escaped before we could dispatch him.”

“Escaped.”

“Yes, sir. Escaped.”

“How ?”

“Pure luck, I assure you, sir. An earthquake, in fact.”

“An act of God,” the old man said in his disconcerting voice. He raised his spotted hand to scratch at his eyebrow.

The gold and jewels of the rings on his fingers reflected the light in odd patterns.

Baird fought not to be distracted by it. The silence fell heavy in the room. Dust motes floated by his head in the shaft of light let in by the frosted window. Baird waited for the old man to continue.

“Very well. Can his knowledge harm us? Harm our plan?”

“Certainly, if ever he were to find all the pieces.” Baird knew better than to hedge his answers. The truth and only the truth was the thing to give to his employer.

“Will he?”

“He couldn’t possibly, sir.”

“You believe a man who would be so lucky as to stumble upon an earthquake when one is needed could not possibly have the good fortune to piece together this puzzle you have so artfully taken apart?”

Baird pressed his lips tightly together to hide his frustration. “Point well made, sir. What would you have me do?”

“Kill him.”

“It’s already in the works, sir.” Baird had hired two men to track Rose down and dispatch him. The last telegram he’d received had put them somewhere in Nebraska. Baird was confident Rose would find no earthquakes there.

“And Stringer ?” the old man asked without acknowledging Baird’s forethought.

“He is quite capable. I have given him the bare bones of our orders and he assures me it will be done.”

The old man’s thin white hair flew in wisps around his head and his eyebrows seemed to weigh down the skin of his forehead, giving the impression he was constantly scowling. When he offered his snaggletooth grin, he appeared quite ghastly.

Baird smiled politely. He knew how this game was played. He’d begun his lengthy career as a Pinkerton agent during the War Between the States. He and others like him had acted as spies for the Union army, repeatedly going behind enemy lines to do the bidding of those with higher rank.

Baird had risen quickly. After the war, when the Secret Service department had been formed to help handle the workload of the US Marshals, Baird had been one of the first ones to be recruited. On the surface, the Secret Ser vice were involved with suppressing the counterfeiting of paper money, which had become popular since the currency of the failed Confederacy so many people had hoarded lost its value. But their reach extended much further than that; though they still performed the duties that had been their beginning , now they were also tasked with protecting government officials at certain times, and more importantly, they still acted as spies for the government, on both native and foreign soil.

Baird did not like farming out jobs to untrustworthy and unpredictable outlaws. If they failed, it would be on his head.

“And the information you intended to harvest from Rose. Where do you intend to get it now ?” the old man asked.

Baird had no good answer for that. Men who’d spent time peacefully with the tribes were few and far between. “I’m still seeking an answer to that, sir.”

“Very well. Inform me at once when you hear of any news.”

“Yes, sir,” Baird answered as he stood and tipped his head. “A good day to you, General.”

“John,” the general called after him as he turned to take his leave. “You may see fit to make certain your loose ends are tied. If Rose shows his face in New York, you had better not shows yours.”

Baird’s polite smile faltered only slightly. “Yes, General,” he said obediently, cursing under his breath as the heavy door shut behind him.

You can purchase According to Hoyle here!

About Abigail Roux

Abigail Roux was born and raised in North Carolina. A past volleyball star who specializes in sarcasm and painful historical accuracy, she currently spends her time coaching high school volleyball and investigating the mysteries of single motherhood. Any spare time is spent living and dying with every Atlanta Braves and Carolina Panthers game of the year.

Abigail has a daughter, Little Roux, who is the light of her life, a boxer, four rescued cats who play an ongoing live-action variation of Call of Duty throughout the house, a certifiable extended family down the road, and a cast of thousands in her head.

Connect with Abi:

Website: http://www.abigailroux.com
Twitter: @abigailroux
Facebook: facebook.com/Abigail-Roux
Tumblr: abiroux.tumblr.com
Goodreads: goodreads.com/AbigailRoux

Giveaway

Thanks for following the tour! You can win an ebook copy of a novel of your choice from my back catalog, and a $10 Riptide gift certificate!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post. Please put your email in the body of the comment, not just in email section of the comment form, because I won’t be able to see it otherwise! On January 9, I’ll draw a winner from all eligible comments! Be sure to follow the whole tour, because the more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win the prize! Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

MelanieM’s Best Books of 2014

Winnowing down my list of Best Books is always a near impossible project. To me it always feels like trying to leave a book shop during a particularly wonderful sale. My arms are full to overflowing with books, with ones toppling off the pile here and there as I totter over to the sales counter. My impulse is to go back and get more because all are books I loved and need to have near me. Sigh. And this year makes it particularly hard. So many great books came out this year, terrific short stories,, fabulous endings to series I love…..so this is as close as I got…check it all out below:

Best Series:

Elemental Connections – Pulp Friction 2014 Group-authors Laura Harner, Havan Fellows, T.A. Webb, and Lee Brazil
Endangered Fae Series by Angel Martinez
Mahu series by Neil S. Plakcy
Princes of the Blood series by Megan Derr
Red Dirt Heart series by N. R. Walker
The Granby Knitting Series by Amy Lane:
Blackbird Knitting in a Bunny’s Lair by Amy Lane

Best Holiday/Whatever Time of the Year Anthologies:

Chestnuts Roasting Anthology by Mischief Corner Books (Angel Martinez, Silvia Violet, Freddy McKay, Toni Griffin)
Comfort and Joy Anthology by Josh Lanyon, L.B. Gregg, Harper Fox, Joanna Chambers

Best Contemporary Fiction:

Best Science Fiction:

Best Fantasy:

Best Supernatural/Paranormal:

A Sammy Review: Slave Eternal (In His Arena #1) by Nasia Maksima

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

Fight or fuck, that was the decree of the Empress, and the way of life for her gladiators.

Lucan is an Unnamed – a slave with little skill, belonging to a house that is falling more by the day, until it finally crumbles. It is then that he becomes property of House Vulpinius, the Slaver-Priests. He is literally marked and claimed, bound by an Ebon that is rumored to only be broken by the truest of loves.

Little does he know that he’s part of a bigger plan, one in which he will become a puppet. Ignorant, he relishes being trained by Hektor Actaeon, primus palus and most favored by even the empress herself. Between blood, gore, battle, and love, their story winds together in an inseparable way.

But Lucan is simply a pawn in this game, and even his survival is not guaranteed.

“Pain is temporary,” Hektor’s words rang in the back of his mind. “Glory will resound through the ages.”

I simply cannot hide the fact that I have a thing for historical stories that involve warriors, particularly gladiators. There’s something so enchanting about the grotesque nature of their fights and the sheer violence that dictates their culture. So, of course, I was pumped for Slave Eternal.

The story is far from historically accurate, and the author acknowledges that in the beginning, mentioning that she takes liberties. With the basis of a gladiators life she creates a culture that is quite intriguing – and hot. Even the most evil of characters drew me in and made me engaged in their stories.

Unfortunately, it had some downfalls. For one, the editor missed a few things. For example, at one point during a Claim, the name of the one to be claimed is incorrect – it switches to a past character instead of the one it should be. Granted, it switches right back, but at the moment it takes you out of the story. Also, there were some typos peppered in, but nothing I couldn’t overlook. I think the thing that will lead most people to roll their eyes is the choice of words, most often during sex. I wish I could just tell authors that they do not need to crack open the thesaurus to find more words for cock or dick. Those are just fine, thank you. Furthermore, you do not have to embellish every description. It didn’t annoy me as much as I know it will annoy others, but sometimes I just wanted to say “for the love of God, you can just call it a cock. It doesn’t have to be a pole or man flesh.”

I’m also not a big fan of the blurb because it gives away some really great parts of the plot, and some of my favorite elements. Lover pinned against lover in a battle to the death? Talk about tension. If she had kept it a surprise, it would’ve had so much more impact. It’s still a very interesting plot line, especially when you throw in just a dash of dark magic to make everything all that more interesting. It wasn’t enough that I felt like it dominated the book, but it had a backdrop as to what made certain characters act the way they did at times. It just would’ve been better served, again, if the author didn’t make everything come out in the blurb.

Still, did this story quench my gladiator thirst? That it did! I would certainly read more of this series, and I hope we get to see Alession, the evil bastard that he is, get a taste of his own medicine. Or love. I’m cool with either.

The cover art by Fiona Jayde Media speaks to the story. With a coliseum in the background, it sets the stage for much of the story. My only point of contention is that the hairstyle is borderline mullet, but beyond that, it’s a nice cover for a pretty good story.

Sales Links: Loose-id LLC All Romance (ARe) amazon buy it here

Book Details:

ebook, 266 pages
Published November 11th 2014 by Loose Id, LLC
ISBN139781623006174
edition languageEnglish
seriesIn His Arena #1

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Now onto today’s Down Under Author Nicki J. Markus!

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MelanieM’s Best Books of 2014

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