Category: LGBTQ Book Reviews

A VVivacious Review: How to Love a Monster by Lyssa Dering

Rating: 3.75 Stars out of 5

Seraphim finds himself in an afterlife. He finds himself in Wish City a place created by Wish for super-humans like Sera and himself.

In Wish City, Sera finds himself in the company of Fiend who may or may not have imprisoned Sera in his house. While Sera finds himself falling for Fiend, he keeps coming across clues pointing out the fact that everything he believes about Fiend might not true. When Fiend’s strange proclivities come to light what will become of Sera and their budding relationship?

This book made for a very interesting read. I personally find the subject of afterlife quite interesting and Wish City is a very innovative outlook on the afterlife. Also, the fact that these people are super-humans is kind of amazing.

What really had me interested was Sera’s power and I really wanted to see what applications would come of having such a power so, I was a bit disappointed about the fact that we didn’t get to see much about that. Sera’s power is deactivated for much of the book and doesn’t really contribute much to the storyline. Fortunately, the loss of emphasis on Sera’s super-ability was made up by all the emphasis on Wish’s ability.

Wish’s super-ability is the fact that everything he creates in his mind becomes reality, like if he makes up a place in his head where super-humans end up after death then this place actually exists and becomes reality.  So Wish is basically a miniature God and if he were to turn evil things would actually be very, very bad which actually brings me to the question about how such a powerful human being ended up being captured which just illustrates the fact that there isn’t much we know about how Wish’s ability worked while he was alive but he is definitely the God of Wish City. So you can imagine his surprise when on getting to Wish City he is immediately sedated and imprisoned by his childhood Bogeyman, Fiend, a monster he had forgotten even existed.

Fiend is an amazing character. I must commend the author’s characterisation of Fiend because his character is one that could only have been dreamt up by a kid. He is this rare mixture of sweet with a hunger for brains. There is just something about Fiend that makes it very obvious that only innocence could have birthed his character.

I loved the world of Wish City I especially loved how the author made use of the uniqueness of Wish City to carry the plot forward. This was something that made the story very intriguing.

I loved the premise for the book and the plot. The author paces this book very well. Just before you start getting bored of a particular set of events she turns the tide keeping things interesting at all times.

All in all, this makes for a unique and interesting tale and if you are looking for something different, this is the book to go for.

Cover Art by Lyssa Dering. I like the cover it truly fits the book.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 164 pages
Published August 12th 2017
ASINB074S89JKF

A Lila Review: The Heart of the Lost Star by Megan Derr

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

 

Kamir is on the verge of losing everything. Knowing full well he can’t meet the ultimatum his parents have issued, he instead finally puts in motion his plans to live completely independent of them. His plans are interrupted, however, by the unexpected return of his despised ex-husband—and thrown even further into upheaval when he ends up comforting the man he’s secretly loved for years.

Jader may not know where he comes from, but he knows where he belongs and what he wants—until he helps rescue some stranded Bentan travelers, one of whom look almost exactly like Jader, throwing his life and everything he thought he knew into tumult. Scared and overwhelmed, Jader flees—and lands unexpectedly in the arms of a man he’s always seen, but never really noticed.

 

The Heart of the Lost Star brings two lonely men together despite their differences. They come from different stations in life and have achieved success through hard work. They complement each other and understand their need for independence and to have space to take their own decisions.

 

Some of those decisions put them at odds with their families, the court, and those around them that want to control their lives or feel the need to look down at them due to their circumstances. Throughout the story, we experience how they deal with all this and the future they built, separate and as a couple.

 

This is an unorthodox romance story since the characters spent more time apart than together. Even so, their relationship works and we get invested in their journeys. We do follow their courtship from the distance and that allows the reader to experience, in real time, what the characters did.

 

The differences between genders and nonbinary characters are shown a bit more in this installment. I need to admit that I didn’t realize them during the first two books in the series. The author did an excellent job integrating all the information between the culture and world-build. Every small detail added to the overall feeling of place in the story.

 

We also get updates about the previous couples and they do play a recurring role. Also, we learn more about the relationship between the kingdoms and their geography, politics, and culture. And during the story, as it is to be expected, we get small hints about the next story in the series, The Mercenaries of the Stolen Moon.

 

The cover by John Coulthart follows the style of the previous two books. It’s beautiful and it fits the story to perfection, showing us a profile view of Jader and Benta.

 

Sale Links: LT3 | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 

Book Details:

 

ebook, 320 pages
Published: August 23, 2017, by Less Than Three Press
ISBN: 1684310601 (ISBN13: 9781684310609)
Edition Language: English

 

Series: Tales of the High Court
Book #1: The High King’s Golden Tongue
Book #2: The Pirate of Fathoms Deep
Book #3: The Heart of the Lost Star

A Jeri Review: Tops Down Bottoms Up by Jay Northcote

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

This was a fun little read! Jay writes feel good books with little or no angst. And sometimes that is exactly what you need.
This was another example of not only opposites attract, but of one of the main characters getting caught making fun of what the other main character does. Namely Morris dancing. I had no idea what this was (silly American that I am!) and was off to youtube to get a better picture. But once Rowan is softly pushed into trying it, he doesn’t hate it like he thought he would. And that isn’t just because Seth is hot and the sexual innuendos fly.
But after a quickly punched in phone number turns out to be one digit wrong, Rowan figures it was a festival fling and to move on. But his best friend finds out where the Morris dancers are next and has a plan to get Rowan and Seth back together.
This book is a perfect read for sitting by the beach or pool. It will put a smile on your face, the sex isn’t off the charts steamy so you won’t be red in the face in public, and it is a quick read.
Enjoy this little Morris dancing romp.
Cover Design: Garrett Leigh @ Black Jazz Design.  Sexy and appealing.

Sales Links:

Amazon US:http://amzn.to/2uHLViY

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2w92Wmu

Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 91 pages
Published August 16th 2017 by Jaybird Press
Original TitleTops Down Bottoms Up
ASINB074TVDMFQ

Review Tour for Jay Northcote’s Tops Down Bottoms Up

 

Buy Links: Amazon US:http://amzn.to/2uHLViY

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2w92Wmu

 
Length: 23,000 words approx 
 
Cover Design: Garrett Leigh @ Black Jazz Design
 
Blurb

 

Will Rowan’s festival fling with sexy dancer Seth lead to something more permanent?


Rowan is stuck at a folk festival helping out a mate, and it really isn’t his scene. The yoga and singing workshops are bad enough, but morris dancing is the final straw. Bearded men with beer guts prancing around wearing bells—who wants to watch that?


All Rowan’s preconceptions are shattered when he meets Seth—a morris dancer, and the stuff Rowan’s fantasies are made of. Seth persuades Rowan to come to a dancing workshop, and Rowan’s willing to do whatever it takes to get to know Seth better. The attraction is mutual, and a lesson filled with innuendo and flirting leads to an incredible night together.


When Rowan arrives home, he’s gutted to find that Seth has given him the wrong phone number. Assuming Seth did it on purpose, Rowan resolves to forget about him. But fate—and friends—conspire to get them back together. Will they manage to stay in step this time around?

A much shorter version of this story was originally published in the Not Quite Shakespeare Anthology by Dreamspinner Press. This version has been revised and extended. Almost half of it is new content


 


Author Bio

Jay lives just outside Bristol in the West of England. He comes from a family of writers, but always used to believe that the gene for fiction writing had passed him by. He spent years only ever writing emails, articles, or website content.


One day, Jay decided to try and write a short story—just to see if he could—and found it rather addictive. He hasn’t stopped writing since.


Jay writes contemporary romance about men who fall in love with other men. He has five books published by Dreamspinner Press, and also self-publishes under the imprint Jaybird Press. Many of his books are now available as audiobooks.


Jay is transgender and was formerly known as she/her.

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Blog Tour for Inhuman Beings by Richard May (excerpt and giveaway)

IB banner

Title: Inhuman Beings
Author: Richard May
Release Date: June 15th 2017
Genre: Gay Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal, Sci-Fi, Erotic

Inhuman Beings-Front cover

BLURB

Fall in love with a shapeshifter in San Francisco, a ghost in Scotland, or a vampire in Russia. Time travel to 1920s Mesopotamia, 1600’s Africa, or to ancient Greece before time even existed. Find yourself on a distant planet, in love with a creature whose very being can destroy you, or in a post-apocalyptic world, drawn to a mutation created by the destruction of Earth.

Enjoy these 18 erotic stories about romantic encounters between men and not men–monsters and myths, gods and demons, science fiction and fantasy. Each story is the stuff of nightmares–and of dreams.

Add Inhuman Beings to Goodreads

Paperback Purchase: Amazon US | Amazon UK *The paperback version has 3 new stories*

Ebook Purchase: Amazon US | Amazon UK | MLR Press

REVIEWS

“With Inhuman Beings, May seductively crosses the boundaries of time and space, the real and the imaginary, in these spellbinding tales of love and lust and things that go bump, not to mention hump, in the night.”

– Rob Rosen, editor of the Best Gay Erotica series

“Inhuman Beings is an enormously imaginative, genre-crossing work in the tradition of Peter Cashorali’s groundbreaking Fairy Tales but with greater breadth and franker eroticism; an impres­sive achievement.”

– Michael Nava, author of the Henry Rios novels

“Inhuman Beings represents a seminal work in gay male erotic literature that draws on the threads and yarns of our cultures and civiliza­tions. Tales from many countries and eras transport you across the globe and through the years, making this book one that will stand the test of time.”

– Wayne Goodman, author of Better Angels

“Richard May’s new collection of short fiction contains an international menagerie of legendary creatures. There’s a Hindu god, a Native American cyclone spirit, a Chinese rain dragon, a moody Jewish golem, a sadistic Iraqi jinn, and more. Fans of the homoerotic melded with the speculative and the paranormal will savor every page of Inhuman Beings.”

—Jeff Mann, author of Country and Consent

“The beauty of this collection lies in its imagination – May is doing nothing less than writing a gay mythology, complete with monsters and fairy tales, imagined futures and refreshed pasts. His bold infusion of desire into mythology and encounters with the paranormal is unique, bracing and insightful. Inhuman Beings is full of a kind of sacred frivolity.”

—Trebor Healey, author of Faun and Eros & Dust

EXCERPT

Clocks told me it was after midnight, the new last day for the Daberleys at Enscombe. I climbed the central staircase, thinking of all the feet which had trod before me.

My father’s bedroom felt freezing so in quick order I stripped, not bothering to hang my clothes, and slid under the heavy blankets. Sleep came quickly but I was awakened soon after, or so it seemed, by the sound of footsteps in the hall outside my room. I was groggy and pulling myself into sitting when the bedroom door opened and the shadow of a tall man stood in the doorframe.

“Aren’t you afraid?” he asked in Stephen Taylor’s voice.

“No,” I lied, jumping out of bed and turning on the lamp, only belatedly covering myself with underwear tossed aside.

“But I do want to know what you’re doing in my house in the middle of the night.”

“I come here often,” was all he said as he entered the room and closed the door. I made ready for him as he came across the carpet but he just sat, slumping in the armchair.

“He killed me, you know.”

Giveaway: Comment on this post for a chance to win a copy of Inhuman Beings

About the Author

Richard May

Richard May’s short fiction has been published in his collections Inhuman Beings and Ginger Snaps: Photos & Stories (with photographer David Sweet), his series Gay All Year on Amazon Kindle, in anthologies like Never Too Late, Best Gay Erotica, and the Lambda Literary nominated Outer Voices Inner Lives, and in literary journals, including Bay Laurel, Chelsea Station, and Hyacinth Noir.

Rick also organizes the monthly Perfectly Queer book reading series with his partner Wayne Goodman in Oakland CA at Nomadic Press: Uptown and in San Francisco at Dog Eared Books Castro, individual LGBTQ Pride Readings for visiting authors, the annual literary festival Word Week in Noe Valley CA, and an online book club Reading Queer Authors Lost to AIDS.

Rick is from Sacramento CA and Brooklyn NY and now lives in San Francisco. He has red hair and truly believes in all things ginger. Another genetic stunner: he is 19th cousin to Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.

Please follow him on social media at facebook.com/richardmaywriter, @rickmaywritr on Twitter, and richard.may1313 on Instagram.

Links: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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A MelanieM Review: The Bones Of Our Fathers by Elin Gregory

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Malcolm Bright, brand new museum curator in a small Welsh Border town, is a little lonely until – acting as emergency archaeological consultant on a new housing development – he crosses the path of Rob Escley, aka Dirty Rob, who makes Mal’s earth move in more ways than one.

Then Rob discovers something wonderful, and together they must combat greedy developers and a treasure hunter determined to get his hands on the find. Are desperate measures justified to save the bones of our fathers? Will Dirty Rob live up to his reputation? Do museum curators really do it meticulously?

Answers must be found for the sake of Mal’s future, his happiness and his heart.

The Bones Of Our Fathers by Elin Gregory is the type of book I sigh and cuddle up with.  From the moment I settle into the quaint Welsh village of Pemberland and its surrounding towns of Escley, Brynglas and King’s Norton, I know I’m in for a treat.  I love Elin Gregory and having a main character who’s a museum curator is a subject she’s uniquely qualified to write about (read her author’s bio).   The descriptions of the Pemberland Centre for Heritage and Culture, formerly the Town Museum and its staff are vivid, sometimes hilarious,and feel created with an eye of someone familiar with similar settings and associates, albeit with fondness and sometimes exasperation.  The last with the ladies of the Library with whom Mal and his staff now have to share a building.  The bickering, the relationship dynamics that unfold between the town’s inhabitants and Mal, someone newly arrived in Pemberland and new to small village society maneuverings is both charming, believable, and cosy reading.

Its Rob Escley and their mutual attraction that helps to launch Mal further into becoming part of his newly adopted town and further his passion for his new little museum. Rob makes a remarkable discovery upon land that’s being prepared for development and that find propels Mal and Rob to new togetherness and a fight to save it for the village and prosperity.

However, nothing is ever simple.  This is a terrific story where trust is a big issue for Mal, misunderstandings and miscommunication loom large, mostly because Mal just doesn’t understand what it means to live and be part of village life as he’s been so solitary for most of his.  To switch from one mental and emotional state to one of almost constant connectedness is a transition we watch Mal make throughout the story.  Sometimes funny, sometimes it filled with mistakes and angst (a rainy bike race through town is one of my favorite scenes here), Mal has to choose which life he’s going to live in the end.  That choice will include Rob.

Ah Rob Escley.  A bundle of vulnerability, sex appeal and smarts.  Plus loyalty of course.  He was so easy to fall for.  But then this entire story from Betty , Zoe, Harvey, the regulars at the tavern called the Friday Nighters, even Morris,  a certain gigantic dog, The Bones of Our Fathers overflows with characters to love.  I mean I swear I’m going to hound this author until we get a story for a certain PC Brian Ferriner. I need to know his back history and want him to find a love too.  How I really hated for this story to end and for me to have to leave this town and people behind.

I highly recommend The Bones of Our Fathers by Elin Gregory.  The romance is gentle, believable and happy.  This village and townspeople have a staying power and an ability to creep into your heart as a place you’ll want to return to.  I hope the author decides this is a universe she will visit often in future stories as well.

Cover art by Michelle Peart is wonderful with a mug that shows up in the storyline.

Buy Links: Manifold Press | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book Details:

ebook, 231 pages
Published August 1st 2017 by Manifold Press
ISBN139781908312549
Edition LanguageEnglish
URLhttp://manifoldpress.co.uk

A Free Dreamer Release Day Review: The Tiger’s Watch (Ashes of Gold #1) by Julia Ember

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Sixteen-year-old Tashi has spent their life training as a inhabitor, a soldier who spies and kills using a bonded animal. When the capital falls after a brutal siege, Tashi flees to a remote monastery to hide. But the invading army turns the monastery into a hospital, and Tashi catches the eye of Xian, the regiment’s fearless young commander.

Tashi spies on Xian’s every move. In front of his men, Xian seems dangerous, even sadistic, but Tashi discovers a more vulnerable side of the enemy commander—a side that draws them to Xian.

When their spying unveils that everything they’ve been taught is a lie, Tashi faces an impossible choice: save their country or the boy they’re growing to love. Though Tashi grapples with their decision, their volatile bonded tiger doesn’t question her allegiances. Katala slaughters Xian’s soldiers, leading the enemy to hunt her. But an inhabitor’s bond to their animal is for life—if Katala dies, so will Tashi.

It’s no secret that I love unusual fantasy stories. And “The Tiger’s Watch” is definitely unusual. We have Tashi, our genderfluid protagonist, who’s magically bonded to a tiger.

Tashi is a very sweet person. The story is told in first person POV and that worked really well here. I liked Tashi, though they did cry a bit much. Almost a little whiney, but still mostly alright.

Then there’s Xian. He’s the cruel enemy commander who Tashi needs to spy on. He was actually a really interesting person. At first I hated him, because he’s the enemy and he killed Tashi’s friends. But then we see another side of him and I slowly started to like and maybe even understand him. Only for him to once again remind me that he’s a cruel military commander. I was really conflicted about what to think about him.

The gender-fluidity was mostly implied. Tashi is in hiding, so they need to lay low and not draw attention. It’s mostly just them on insisting to be adressed as “they” and not “he”. And sometimes they wish they could wear a dress. It’s sort of implied that they faced some difficult times when they were younger, but now everybody is really very accepting.

The world was really interesting. Some chosen humans magically bond with animals. But the animals choose them, not the other way round. The catch: The humans die when their bonded animal dies. Since most animals have relatively short lifespans, their bonded humans tend to die young too.

The world building was sadly a little lacking. There’s a war between Tashi’s people and Xian’s people that’s been going for a long time apparently. But we never learn why these two peoples actually fight each other. The whole bonding process seemed a little odd too. Why would anybody actually choose to lower their life expectation so drastically?

There wasn’t all that much of a romance plot here. Tashi is very attracted to Xian, but love somebody else. I didn’t quite understand Tashi’s attraction, tbh. I mean, the man killed one of Tashi’s best friends in front of his eyes and he’s responsible for the deaths of many other people. It would have made more sense for Tashi to hate him. And I’m not too fond of love triangles on principle.

Overall, the story felt as if it was just getting started when it ended. The world and the plot are so complex, 180 pages just weren’t anywhere near enough to follow up on all those promising ideas. Which is a real shame, because the author seemed to have so many great ideas.

This is the first part in a new series and I definitely want to read the next instalment. I really hope some of the unanswered questions will be covered in the next part.

The cover by Meghan Moss is absolutely gorgeous. I absolutely love it!

Sales Links:  Harmony Ink Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 180 pages
Expected publication: August 22nd 2017 by Harmony Ink Press
ISBN139781635334869
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesAshes of Gold #1

In the Spotlight: Suspicious Behavior (Bad Behavior #2) by LA Witt and Cari Z (Riptide Publishing Tour and Giveaway)

Suspicious Behavior (Bad Behavior #2) by L.A. Witt and Cari Z.
Riptide Publishing
Cover by: G.D. Leigh

Read an Excerpt/Buy It Here at Riptide Publishing

 

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host L.A.Witt and Cari Z. on their Suspicious Behavior (Bad Behavior #2) Tour.  After checking out the story, be sure to enter the giveaway below.

♦︎

About Suspicious Behavior

 

Detective Darren Corliss is hanging by a thread. In between recovering from a near-fatal wound and returning to work at a hostile precinct, he’s struggling to help care for his ailing brother. His partner and boyfriend, Detective Andreas Ruffner, wants to help, but doesn’t know how. And with his own family crises brewing, Andreas is spread almost as thin as Darren.

 

For cops, though, life takes a backseat to the job. When a stack of unsolved homicides drops into their laps, Andreas and Darren think they’re unrelated cold cases. But when a connection surfaces, they find themselves on the tail of a prolific serial killer who’s about to strike again.

 

Except they’ve got nothing. No leads. No suspects. Just a pile of circumstantial evidence and a whole lot of hunches. Time is running out to stop the next murder—and to pull themselves back from their breaking points.

 

Available now from Riptide Publishing. http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/suspicious-behavior

About the Bad Behavior Series

 

It’s “hell no” at first sight for newly partnered detectives Andreas Ruffner and Darren Corliss. Darren is too chipper, Andreas is too gruff, and that whole “IA wants me to prove you’re a dirty cop” thing really doesn’t get them off on the right foot.

 

It doesn’t matter if they like each other. They’re partners and that’s final. Though Andreas is easy on the eyes. And Darren is kind of cute. And . . . okay, maybe they can make this work.

 

They’d better, because as their cases get more horrifying—and more personal—they’ll have to trust each other with their lives, and with their hearts.

 

Check out Bad Behavior! http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/series/bad-behavior

 

About Cari Z.

 

Cari Z was a bookworm as a child and remains one to this day. In an effort to combat her antisocial reading behavior, she did all sorts of crazy things, from competitive gymnastics to alligator wresting (who even knew that was legal!) to finally joining the Peace Corps, which promptly sent her and her husband to the wilds of West Africa, stuck them in a hut, and said, “See ya!” She also started writing, because some things she just thought she could do better. She’s still climbing that ladder, but can’t stop herself from writing, or from sharing what she creates.

 

Cari enjoys a wide range of literary genres, from the classics (get ‘im, Ahab) to science fiction and fantasy of all types, to historical fiction and reference materials (no, seriously, there are so many great encyclopedias out there). She writes in a wide range of genres as well, but somehow 90% of what she produces ends up falling into the broad and exciting category of m/m erotica. There’s a sprinkling of f/m and f/f and even m/f/m in her repertoire, but her true love is man love. And there’s a lot of love to go around.

 

Cari has published short stories, novellas, and novels with numerous print and e-presses, and she also offers up a tremendous amount of free content on Literotica.com, under the name Carizabeth.

 

Connect with Cari at http://cari-z.net/  or via her blog, http://carizerotica.blogspot.com/

 

About L.A. Witt

 

L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer who has finally been released from the purgatorial corn maze of Omaha, Nebraska, and now spends her time on the southwestern coast of Spain. In between wondering how she didn’t lose her mind in Omaha, she explores the country with her husband, several clairvoyant hamsters, and an ever-growing herd of rabid plot bunnies. She also has substantially more time on her hands these days, as she has recruited a small army of mercenaries to search South America for her nemesis, romance author Lauren Gallagher, but don’t tell Lauren. And definitely don’t tell Lori A. Witt or Ann Gallagher. Neither of those twits can keep their mouths shut . . .

  1. A.’s backlist is available on her website, and updates (as well as random thoughts and the odd snarky comment) can be found on her blog or on Twitter (@GallagherWitt).

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Suspicious Behavior, one lucky winner will receive a $10 Riptide credit and their choice in an ebook from each of Cari and L.A.’s backlist! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on August 26, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Review Tour – Elin Gregory’s The Bones Of Our Fathers

 

Buy Links: Manifold Press | Amazon US | Amazon UK
 
Length: 80,000 words approx
 
Publisher: Manifold Press
 
Cover Design: Michelle Peart
 
Blurb
 

Malcolm Bright, brand new museum curator in a small Welsh Border town, is a little lonely until – acting as emergency archaeological consultant on a new housing development – he crosses the path of Rob Escley, aka Dirty Rob, who makes Mal’s earth move in more ways than one.


Then Rob discovers something wonderful, and together they must combat greedy developers and a treasure hunter determined to get his hands on the find. Are desperate measures justified to save the bones of our fathers? Will Dirty Rob live up to his reputation? Do museum curators really do it meticulously?


Answers must be found for the sake of Mal’s future, his happiness and his heart.



August 22 – The Way She Reads, BooksLaidBareBoys, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Nerdy Dirty and Flirty, MM Good Book Reviews, My Timeout Book Blog
August 24 – Love That’s Out of This World, BFD Book Blog
August 29 – Zipper Rippers, Sexy Erotic Xciting, Padme’s Library, Bayou Book Junkie, The Geekery Book Review, Louise Lyons
 

Author Bio

Elin Gregory lives in South Wales and works in a museum in a castle built on the edge of a Roman Fort! She reckons that’s a pretty cool job.


Elin usually writes on historical subjects, and enjoys weaving the weird and wonderful facts she comes across in her research into her plots. She likes her heroes hard as nails but capable of tenderness when circumstances allow. Often they are in danger, frequently they have to make hard choices, but happy endings are always assured.


Current works in progress include one set during the Great War, another in WW2, one set in the Dark Ages and a series of contemporary romances set in a small town on the Welsh border.



www.elingregory.com
www.facebook.com/elin.gregory
@ElinGregory
www.elingregory.wordpress.com

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A MelanieM Review: Ghost (Executioners #1) by JM Dabney

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Gideon Jane earned the name Ghost for his reclusive nature when he joined a group of guys in Powers, Georgia in a band called Executioners. It had been his way of settling into small town life after living in New York for the past twenty years. He loved the band and his small organic farm. What he didn’t love was being single, but it appeared it was his new reality. He didn’t want his ex back, although he did want something. What that was eluded him until the evening he walked into Nightingale’s Books.

Small town girl Harper Sage knew pain, and she’d lived with it—she had the scars both mental and physical to prove it. It would’ve been easier to hop in her car to find safety and anonymity, but Harper stayed to prove she was stronger than hurled fists and bruising prejudice. She found herself within the safety of a close-knit group of rough bikers and bar bouncers. That didn’t mean it was all perfect.

What’s a girl to do when she craves normalcy and acceptance: she just smiles. Choices are made, some with dire consequences and others that bring her closer to her dream. Will she make the right decision or finally discover escape is her best option?

Author Note: This book contains scenes of violence and descriptions of self-harm.

I was wavering about reading this story as I have a huge stack of books to read but something about that cover and synopsis reached out to me.  That and the fact that the times we live in has made it so important that people in the LGBTQIA spectrum be made to feel loved and normal and as part of society as everyone else. Ghost helps highlight the lives that many have been made to live as it has a main character who has been marginalized and abused for most of her life.

So I picked this up and dived into a world of pain, self abuse, recovery and love.  It’s a remarkable story, full of characters that have such staying power that I’m still mulling over how to write this review even now.  Told from Gideon’s (aka Ghost) and Harper’s perspective, an emotionally gripping, deeply moving story unfolds. From Harper, we see her pain, her self-harm, her journey from boy to woman and the trauma inflicted by others on her for that choice.  This story does contain graphic descriptions of violence as Harper chose to inflict harm on herself through bad choices in men, one horror of a man in particular.  The scenes are vivid and carry a huge emotional impact.  If this is a trigger for you be warned.  We are there inside Harper’s heart and mind, we feel how little she believes she deserves in life and how far to the ground her self esteem has fallen.  Prepare for your own heart to be as bruised and broken as Harper.

Then there’s Gideon Jane, known as Ghost because his presence around town is so fleeting.  He’s moved to this small town needing peace, quiet, friends and a new start after a long-term relationship destructed.  Gideon is beautiful and layered, moving solidly and quietly into Harper’s life like a balm, a wonderful large, perhaps chubby (his ex’s words) rock of a man.  He recognizes how wounded she is and how slowly he has to move, winning her trust inch by inch.  It’s done through communication and by actions, the reader falling in love with Gideon along with Harper.

J.M. Dabney has also chosen to have Harper not undergo gender reassignment surgery and Harper talks/muses about her emotional choice to live with body dysmorphic disorder and what it’s cost her.  Everything about this aspect of the story is handled realistically and with extreme sensitivity.  The scars that line Harper’s body are extensive.  How she views her body image and how that changes over the course of the story will bring tears to your eyes.

There is so many layers here.  The romance between Gideon and Harper is tender and slow moving as it should be.  There is the element of her abusive ex who is still around. Plus Dabney gives us a town of amazing characters whose stories we need to be told.  I hope that Joker’s story will be the second to arrive in this series.  As a character who pulled on my heart he was on a level with Harper with his angst and trauma filled past history.

The only reason Ghost did not reach a full 5 star rating is that I felt it wrapped up too quickly for everything that had gone on before. Had the author spread out the ending as she had the rest of the story, this novel would have reached perfection.  As it was it came amazingly close.

Ghost (Executioners #1) by JM Dabney is a deeply moving love story.  Its contemporary in it’s subject and timing.  But timeless in its message and beauty.  I highly recommend it but please heed the warnings.

Cover Design: Winterheart Design.  I love this cover.  It’s a perfect representation of Gideon and the story. Perfection!

Sales Links:  Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | PayHip | KOBO

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 157 pages
Published July 18th 2017 by Hostile Whispers Press, LLC
ASINB073WH7WFJ
URL https://www.jmdabneyauthor.com/executioners
SeriesExecutioners #1 settingGeorgia (United States)