Category: M/M Paranormal Fiction

A MelanieM Review: Death Mask (Black Harbinger MC #1) by Lexi Ander

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

death-mask-by-lexi-anderGrim Misery, the President of the Black Harbinger Motorcycle Club, discovers a wounded warlock and four werepups aboard the club’s LSD shipment. And the news kept getting better and better. Not only is the warlock sitting on the edge of death, he’s illegally bonded to the werepups, which could trigger a war with the werewolves—and he turns out to be Misery’s estranged husband.

Years ago, Griffin turned Misery away to be with another warlock by the name of Marcheso Aldo. Misery left everything behind, even his family, but couldn’t shake the heartbreak Griffin caused. With Griffin thrust back into Misery’s life, he discovers things aren’t as they seem… and everything is about to get much, much worse.

Hard to write a review when so much about the story has twists and turns that contain spoilers for most of the story.  Can’t really talk about much of the plot or even the characters. So lets see what it does leave me with.

Lexi Ander hooked me on both.

Yes, there is so much going on here, enough clearly for two or more stories because of past histories and layers to all the characters you will meet, not just the MCs.  Its the secondary characters and even the levels surrounding those.  Its the world building, that will still leave you asking questions and wanting to know more.  Its those pups that I fell in love with with a heartbreaking  history.  But most of all  its Misery and his husband, Griffin, whose story this is.  Theirs and the evil that’s coming for them.

Ander did a wonderful job filling out both Grim and Griffin while still letting us be surprised when the twists and turns came into play.   The author managed to show us all  sides of their relationship.  Not just the angst, but the anger, the growth each has gone through and the adjustments each realize they need to make in order for any future relationship to work between them.  All while dealing with the pups and unimaginable horrors on the horizon.

This was a very quick read.  I gobbled it up in one sitting and was left wishing for more.  As its the first book in the series, I know I will get my wish.  It includes so many incredible characters that I foresee a long enjoyable run if they are all as good as this one.  Love tales of the supernatural as well as a romance?  Pick up Death Mask and get started.  I absolutely recommend it.

Cover art by Kirby Crow is absolutely perfect.  Love it.

Sales Links

Less Than Three

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: November 9th 2016 by Less Than Three Press
ISBN139781620048849
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesBlack Harbinger MC #1

A VVivacious Review: Before Lovers by Wayne Mansfield

Rating: 3.75 Stars out of 5
 

before-loversCalvin is convinced that he has met Paul before and for the first time in his life he seems to be attracted to a man. As Paul and Calvin start to explore this rather unusual occurrence they discover a genuine love for each other. 

 
But everything isn’t right, because every time Paul and Calvin have sex Paul seems to get flashbacks that feel vividly like memories.
 
This story is a paranormal romance. I liked the story’s plot and it was a quick and interesting read.
 
The best part of this book was its plot, how Calvin and Paul meet and how their relationship develops, and gets complicated by these flashbacks that Paul has, and how they resolve the issue is very interesting. The plot of this book while simple was also very intriguing and it made for a good read.
 
I liked the characters in this book especially Linda and Rick. Linda is a hopelessly pessimistic person but her dry take on the world was actually quite amusing and entertaining meanwhile Rick is a big brawny man who loves to cross dress. In fact Linda and Rick while not the focus of this story left quite an impression with their unique personalities. Paradoxically at the end of this story I feel that I had a better grasp on Linda and Rick then Calvin and Paul, even though Paul is the narrator of this story.
 
In regards to Calvin I think that there were a lot of things that we could have explored about his character that we didn’t probably because the book was from Paul’s POV and there were way weirder things happening to Paul. But I would have loved to know his opinion on this newly discovered aspect of his sexuality and how it was affected by the revelations in the end.
 
What I didn’t like about this book was its lack of detail to the extent that I was actually making up my own sentences in between transitions. This is especially true in the beginning of the book. Towards the end this is less obvious but this lack of detail made for some stilted transitions.
 
Also the scene which settles the conflict of this book could have done with better descriptions. I feel like the scene is good as it is but could have been better and more impactful if it was written from another perspective because right now even though it is written from Paul’s perspective it seems to be written solely for the benefit of a third party and is narrated completely devoid of any emotions on Paul’s part. On the whole if the author still wanted to keep the tone of the scene as it is it would have been better if a third person like Calvin was describing it so that we could better understand the implications of this scene.
 
Overall this book is a light, quirky and quick read that is very enjoyable and interesting.
 
Cover Art by Written Ink Designs. I like the cover with its bright and vibrant colours.
Sales Links
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Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 66 pages
Published October 15th 2016
ASINB01LYNEO21
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Paul B Review: Julio’s Wolf (Werewolves of Manhattan #6) by A.C. Katt

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

julios-wolf-by-ac-kattThe sixth installment of the Wolves of Manhattan starts a little differently than the rest.  We have already met Julio Reyes, the destined mate of Etienne Daurensbourg.  As an independent call boy, he helped Donal when Donal was under control of an abusive pimp.  Due to his generous nature, Donal’s mate Alexi thanks him by making Julio’s dream come true—tuition for beauty school and an apartment to live in while attending with a promise to help start his own business after.  However, all that may never come to be as a former client of his stabs him in his new apartment.

Etienne is one of three unranked alphas on the board of Garou, the company run by the North American werewolf council.  He and Alexi went through alpha training together when they were younger.  He, along with Armand, helped secure the release of Alexi from a Russian prison and relocate him and his staff to America.  Having been introduced to his mate just recently, Etienne hopes he does not have the problems the other alphas had with claiming their mates.  To be safe, he sends one of his betas to Julio’s new apartment to check out the area.  Luckily, he arrives in time to save Julio’s life. 

With Julio recovering from injuries and his assailant caught, Etienne hopes that his mate will be receptive to the idea of werewolves and mates.  However, there is trouble brewing in his home pack as one beta believes Etienne is unworthy of being alpha as Alexi, a stranger to America, got his mate first.  The other alphas believe that the charge is unwarranted as mates are given by the gods as they see fit.  However this problem must be dealt with.  As Etienne faces the challenge of the pit, or where werewolf challenges are fought to the death, he wants to take care of this problem before he officially makes Julio his mate. 

This is another enjoyable read in A. C. Katt’s engrossing werewolf series.  The basic story line remains the same but each novel seems to have a different twist to it, which prevents it from ever being boring.  As the rest of the alphas meet their mates (there are only two left), it appears that the series is gearing up for a final confrontation with the leader of the Russian werewolf council and his tyrannical ways.  It appears that Julio will be the strategist of the mates being a human high beta.  The end of the book previews the next mate, who happens to have been a childhood friend of Julio’s, who is also of Celt descent. 

Winterheart Designs again comes up with a cover that serves its purpose.  The models for Julio and Etienne are how I would have pictured them.  They are pictured above a New York skyline.

Sales Links

MLR Press

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Book Details

EBook, 191 pages

Edition Language:  English

Published:  September 20, 2016 by MLR Press

ISBN:  978-1-944770-33-4

Series:  Werewolves of Manhattan