Category: M/M Paranormal Fiction

The Werewolves of Manhattan are back in AC Katt’s ‘Alexi’s Mouse’ (excerpt and giveaway)

AlexeisMouse_432

Alexei’s Mouse (Werewolves of Manhattan #5) by A.C. Katt
 Release Date: May 20, 2016

Goodreads Link
Publisher: MLR Press
Cover Artist: Lex Valentine

Blurb

Alexei Davidoff suffered three years in a Russian labor camp where he was tortured and defiled daily. Alexei knows suffering on an intimate basis. He’s rescued by Armand and Etienne members of the North American Council of werewolves. His household came with him from Russia and all of them are worried that Alexei will go back and challenge both the government and the Russian First.

Then early one morning Alexei goes jogging in Central Park in an effort to get back his strength to fight the Russian First. He finds a prostitute on a park bench covered in newspaper and not moving. Bearing in mind his recent ordeal Alexei decides to help the boy. He lifts up the newspaper and finds a needle hanging out of his arm. The boy is dying of an overdose and he’s Alexei’s Mate.

 

 

Pages or Words: 64,118
 Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Wolf Shifters

 

Excerpt

Moscow,

February

Four years ago

Ominous dark gray clouds rolled in. Snow came down as small ice pellets that cut like glass shards on the skin. They swirled around the mourners as they stood over the twin coffins. A northeast wind blew over the loup garou cemetery outside of Moscow. It cut through the thickest coats and scarves. Alexei Davidoff shivered in his beaver coat and hat. His Enforcers lowered the bodies of his former Chief Beta and his Beta’s Mate into the ground. Newly joined, they were dead for the crime of being gay and holding hands in a public square in Moscow.

“This cannot stand. There has to be an answer to this, someone has to stand up against these thugs.” Alexei moved his platinum hair off his face. His navy blue eyes flashed both anguish and resolve.

“The perpetrators were human, one of the government’s army of gay bashers, Alpha. There is nothing we can do. We cannot harm a human, and the government gives us no recourse to law.” The Beta shook his head.

“When is the next protest?” Alexei paced across the icy ground in front of the graves.

“Tomorrow at noon, in the square,” Vasily Yudin, Alexei’s new Chief Beta said reluctantly.

“I will be there.” Alexei watched Vasily’s expression. His body folded in on itself in resignation. Alexei knew Vasily realized it was useless to argue. He saw that his Alpha had made up his mind. Alexei could tell his Betas were scheming to mitigate the damage.

“We’ll go with you, Alpha.” Vasily gestured to Grigory and the six Enforcers in the funeral party.

“No, I will go alone.” Alexei clenched his fists and set his jaw in defiance.

“Alpha, it’s dangerous. We can’t let you go alone. If the FSB picks you up, there is no guarantee that the council will be able to negotiate your release. Please, both Grigory and I think you should let us and the Enforcers go with you, or you should stay at home. The FSB under the current president is worse than the KGB that preceded them. Peter and Sasha wouldn’t have wanted you to put yourself in danger. There is no helping them now.”

“I cannot let this go unanswered, Vasily. The man who did this wasn’t even arrested despite the fact that I reported the assault. I must protest to the authorities. We have an obligation to try to right this wrong. He was one of mine, one of my household, my personal staff. I am responsible.”

“But, Alpha, we can’t let you go alone into a dangerous situation,” Grigory persisted. “We would be shirking our duty as your Betas if we let you go alone.”

Alexei Ivanovich Davidoff straightened his spine and spat. “I will lose no one else to the government. As your Alpha, I am ordering you to stay away.”

“Alpha,” Vasily got on his knees in supplication.

Alexei put up his hand to silence his Beta. “I will hear no more of this. I will lead the demonstration tomorrow.”

Vasily and Grigory hung their heads in defeat.

* * *

March

Three Years Later

“I don’t think I can make it,” Alexei said as he attempted to walk out the front gate of the gulag to the waiting car.

“Let Grigory and I help to hold you up.” Vasily and Grigory each put an arm under one of his shoulders and half-walked, half-carried him to the car.

They strapped him in the back and Grigory spent the twelve hours it took to get to the dacha trying to hold his Alpha up so he wouldn’t fall where he sat.

When Vasily and Grigory finally got him into the dacha, Vasily’s mouth hung open in shock when he took off his Alpha’s coat. Their six foot six, two-hundred-pound Alpha weighed less than one hundred forty pounds.

“What did they do to you?” Vasily asked, tears pouring down his face.

“I was caged most of the time I spent in the gulag. They tortured, beat, and defiled me daily, all because I’m gay and dared to report Sasha’s and Peter’s deaths, and point to who was responsible.”

“They call it prison now, Alpha.”

Alexei sighed wearily, “In modern Russia, they call it a prison. But I’ve been alive long enough to remember Stalin, Khrushchev, and Brezhnev’s slave labor camps. They can change the name but it’s still the gulag to me.”

“Alpha, you need to make the change. It will erase your scars and after you’ve changed a number of times, your injuries. It will take a while. Your injuries are severe.” Grigory helped Alexei into a roughhewn chair.

“I can’t change. I don’t have the strength.” Alexei put his head in his hands.

“Katya, Boris, something to eat for the Alpha, right away.” Katya ran to the kitchen and brought back some borscht.

“Finish this, Alpha. You have to eat constantly so your stomach can extend again.”

Grigory and Vasily knelt in front of their Alpha. Vasily spoke, “We’ve been pleading with the First for three years. The council finally negotiated your early release on the condition that you emigrate once you recover. We took the liberty of contacting Alpha Daurensbourg, from Saskatchewan and the Central US…”

“I am aware of Etienne Daurensbourg. He is a friend.”

“The council arranged for your emigration and that of your household. Alpha Daurensbourg will receive you in New York and already purchased a seven-floor townhouse and nine two-bedroom apartments for our people in New York City. Grigory, I, and our Enforcers will emigrate with you along with Boris and Katya.”

“But I have no funds, and you have families here. There I will no longer be an Alpha. I won’t be able to care for you.”

“You are our Alpha,” Vasily said with a stubbornness he had not shown to Alexei before. Alexei narrowed his eyes.

Alexei didn’t fight the emigration, only their participation. Vasily continued, “That’s the beauty of this course of action. Alpha La Farge, who was the North America’s Second, is no longer an Alpha. He is an Omega scrubbing Siberian toilets and can’t make the change. They sent him here eighteen months ago to die in disgrace for kidnapping The Alpha Mate. You have blood right to his territory in Colorado. Alpha La Marche has it now. I know he finds the packs fractious because he has no blood tie and they want one of their own. I’ve made inquiries. He’ll give it to you and you can become Second in North America.”

“I don’t want to be Second, Third, or Fourth for that matter. I can’t save the world. I learned that lesson the hard way. I will see my old friend Etienne Daurensbourg and maybe he can help me find a place to go. I have no funds…”

“Excuse me for the interruption, Alpha, but you do,” Vasily said with some satisfaction.

“As your factotum, Boris handled your funds. He put all of your accounts overseas as soon as the government started its campaign against homosexuals, only leaving enough rubles in Russia for operating expenses. As soon as they arrested you, he liquidated the rest of your investments and wired the funds to our London banker who in turn, had them sent them to The North American Alpha for safekeeping. Alpha La Marche reinvested everything. The American Stock Market has done very well. You are worth ten times what you were before and it’s all protected from the Russian government.”

“We bought first-class tickets to New York flying Air France on a nonstop flight to JFK where Alpha Daurensbourg will meet our party. Alpha Daurensbourg would have sent his jet, but the Russian government refused entry. However, Alpha Daurensbourg obtained green cards for the whole household. It’s all arranged for as soon as you are able to travel,” Grigory added.

It took until November for Alexei to regain his health and put on enough weight to have the strength to make the change that would take away the scars from the constant whippings. He still had some internal bruising that would only go away with time. Alexei needed rest, food, and a place to recover. But, even many transformations couldn’t take away the psychological damage the gulag caused, the malaise of the soul. For that, Vasily thought his Alpha needed a miracle. As soon as Alexei could bring out his wolf, Vasily and Grigory had their Alpha and his party on a plane to America. It was right before Yule.

* * *

At Alpha Daurensbourg’s urging, Armand La Marche, the Chief Alpha of North America, gave Alpha Alexei Ivanovich Davidoff the territory of Colorado and a seat as Fifth on the Loup Garou Council of North America.

“You were Second in Russia, Fifth is an insult,” Vasily complained.

“No, it’s not. I’m grateful. I’m tired of tilting at Russian windmills. I need time to gather my strength and clear my mind. I have a place waiting for me at Garou as the officer in charge of Research and Development once I’ve fully regained my health.”

“You’re entitled to…” Grigory sputtered.

“I’m entitled to nothing. I was born in Russia. My mother was a citizen of the United States. She never filed for American citizenship for me when I was born. It was too long ago. I’d have to forge papers and with my accent, they would know I’m Russian which in the current climate, is not a good thing. I have a green card. I can become an American. For once, I’m going to be able to do the job I trained for. I have degrees in three kinds of sciences. Research and Development is where I belong.” Alexei sighed. “I don’t want anything else.”

“Your status…”

“If you are upset about the reduction in my status, go work for the new Russian Second.” Alexei’s face turned hard.

Vasily bowed his head in supplication baring his neck. “No, Alpha, we’re yours. Whatever you decide to do, we will go with you. I just wanted you to have options.”

“I’m taking an option. I’ll be Fifth and grateful for the consideration. I’ll leave the politics to Armand. Obviously, he’s better at it than we are. Although there has been some resentment, miraculously gay bashing is now a hate crime in the United States, against federal law, and gay marriage has become legal.”

 

Buy the book:  MLR Books

 

 

 

Meet the author:

AC Katt was born in New York City’s Greenwich Village. She remembers sitting at the fountain in Washington Square Park listening to folk music while they passed the hat. At nine, her parents dragged her to New Jersey where she grew up, married and raised four children and became a voracious reader of romantic fiction. At one time she owned over two thousand novels, until she and her husband took themselves and the cat to New Mexico for their health and its great beauty.

Now, most of AC’s books are electronic (although she still keeps six bookcases of hardcovers), so she never has to give away another book. AC is a late bloomer, however, she claims to have found her niche writing LGBT romance.

She hangs out at ACKatt.com and ackattsjournal.com; where she keeps her blog. To get snippets of new releases and Works in Progress subscribe to AC Katt’s Kattery by sending an e-mail to mlhansel@gmail.com.

Where to find the author:

 


Tour Dates & Stops:

Parker Williams, Divine Magazine, Bayou Book Junkie, Making It Happen, Open Skye Book Reviews, 3 Chicks After Dark, Dawn’s Reading Nook, The Jena Wade, Ogitchida Book Blog, Nephy Hart, BFD Book Blog, V’s Reads, Outrageous Heroes, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Molly Lolly, Oh My Shelves, Happily Ever Chapter, Alpha Book Club, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Velvet Panic, MM Good Book Reviews, Gay Media Reviews

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 Giveaway

Enter to win the first FOUR books of the ’Werewolves of Manhattan’!  Must be 18 years of age or older.

 

 

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A Paul B Review: Second Alpha (River Wolf Pack #2) by Rebecca James

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Second AlphaDavid is the second in command of the River Wolf Pack.  After his fathers were killed by humans, David is wary of the human world.  This begins to change of the pack alpha River mates with the half human Josiah.  At River’s request, David goes as the pack’s representative to the Human-Werewolf Congress.  There he meets Jax, one of the humans at the Congress.

Jax believes humans and weres are really more alike than dissimilar.  The myths that have been circulated in the human world about weres are just that, he knows.  He also finds the River Pack representative irresistible.  He has been splitting his time between the city and the wolf compound in order to be with David.   When David pursues moving their relationship to the next level and changing Jax into a werewolf, Jax is hesitant.

The River Wolf Pack receives human representatives from the Congress into the compound.  While some are there to learn, others seem to be trying to confirm their own beliefs about werewolves.  Trent, one of the humans, takes shine to Xavier, one of the alpha wolves.  When Xavier claims Trent as his mate, changing him into a werewolf, Jax is appalled.  He blames Xavier for turning Trent into a monster.  David is saddened his lover has expressed this view and decides that they need to break up.  A couple of weeks later, David must go back to the city for the next round of talks at the Congress and face Jax.  However, plans have been set in motion that may cost not only any possible future with Jax but also David’s life.

The second book in Rebecca James’s River Wolf Pack series picks up shortly after the first book.  The uneasiness between weres and humans is again central to the action of the story.  An added danger comes in the form of the Turned, the feral weres who are mostly to blame for the violence against humans.

The relationship between David and Jax seems to grow but is constrained by the values of different cultures.  David still isn’t sure about humans completely but finds Jax as one of the honorable ones until what happened with Trent.  Jax is not sure he wants to go through the process of becoming a werewolf and fully committing to David because of how his family will react.  By the end of the book, they seem to have reached a happy place for the time being.  The duplicity of some members of the Congress and the birth of Josiah’s twins will have implications for further books in the series, I am sure.  I look forward to seeing it play out.

The cover design by Written Ink designs is pleasant enough for the book.  It depicts Jax shirtless with David’s white wolf in the background, both overlooking a city.

Sales Links:  JMS Books | ARe | Amazon

Book Details

ebook, 140 pages
Published April 10th 2016 by Smashwords Edition
ISBN139781634860802
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesRiver Wolf Pack #2

Series:  River Wolf Pack

In Our Spotlight: How to Wish Upon a Star (Howl at the Moon #3) by Eli Easton (excerpt and giveaway)

 

How to Wish Upon a Star 
(Howl at the Moon #3)
by Eli Easton


Blurb:
Dr. Jason Kunik is working on the most earth-shattering genetics project ever, DNA mapping of a new species, the quickened—dogs who can shift into human form.  The problem is, no one knows the quickened exist and Jason can’t betray them by publishing his studies. When he moves to Mad Creek to continue his research in a town full of quickened, all he wants is peace, quiet, and to be allowed to bury himself in his work.  Perhaps if he figures how out the mutation is activated, he can silence his own inner dog forever.

Milo is a hospice comfort dog who has bonded with, and lost, many beloved patients in his life. He intuitively understands sickness and pain on a spiritual level most can’t see. When he gains the ability to become a man, he thinks he finally has everything he ever wanted. But being a man isn’t the same thing as being loved, and taking shelter in Mad Creek isn’t the same thing as finding a home.

When a mysterious illness hits Mad Creek and threatens all the quickened in town, it’s up to the scientist and the comfort dog to figure out what it is and how to stop it. Along the way they might discover that true love is possible—if you wish upon a star.

This is the third book in the “Howl at the Moon” series, but it can be read as a stand-alone.

Available for purchase

 

Excerpt

 

 Milo put a hand over the keyboard as if to break Jason’s never-ending focus. “Why ask so many questions, Jason? What is the work to do?”
“Do you mean, what is my work for? What am I trying to accomplish?” Jason corrected.
“Yes.”
Jason tried to at least hit CTRL-S to save his progress in Excel, but Milo threaded his hand through Jason’s. By now, Jason was so used to Milo’s touch, he didn’t think twice about it. He held Milo’s hand. Milo’s body temperature ran warm and touching him was like touching a man-shaped heater.
“Well, Milo, I’m glad you asked me that. It’s good for a man to be curious about what’s going on around him. And I’d like it if you took an interest in my work.”
Milo gave him a look of disbelief. “Jason, I answer every question.”
It was remarkable how adept Milo was at throwing shade, seemingly unconsciously. Jason couldn’t hold back a smile. “Yes. You’ve already shown an interest in my work. Quite right. Well, to answer your question, the point of all this is that I’m trying to determine how an ordinary dog, like you were, Milo, gains the ability to change into a man. What triggers that process.”
“Oh, that. I know that,” said Milo, very matter-of-factly.
Jason chuckled. “Well that would be nice, Milo. But I don’t think you really do know. Not the way I mean.”
“How do you mean?” Milo squeezed Jason’s hand as his feet started to kick under the table restlessly.
“I mean the actual scientific process, what happens inside the body.” Jason waved his free hand up and down to indicate Milo’s physique. “Inside the cells.”
Milo looked befuddled, as well he might. “Oh. I don’t know that. But I do know why it happens.”
Jason was curious. “Why do you think it happens, Milo?”
Milo got a bashful look on his face and he leaned in to whisper, as if it were a great secret. “You make a wish on a star.”
Jason turned his face away and pretended to look out the window. Laughter bubbled inside him, and he had to swallow hard to keep it down. Milo was so serious. It was adorable. If you were the sort of person who found things adorable. Which Jason wasn’t. It really wouldn’t do to laugh in Milo’s face.
Milo continued, pointing towards the window. “You go outside at night and pick a good star. You look at it and make a wish. That’s how I became a man.”
Obviously, Milo was not educated enough to understand the difference between fantasy and reality, or cause and effect. Maybe he had made a wish and assumed it had come true. Still, it was odd. No dog, no matter how smart or sensitive, would think to look up in the night sky and ‘make a wish’. Did dogs even know what wishes were?
“This is important, Milo,” Jason said carefully. “You’re sure you looked up at a star, and made a wish, before you ever shifted into a man’s form, or before you even had any symptoms of it? The itching under the skin? The noticeable change in the ability to think or understand speech?”
Milo thought about it. “I could understand what people said sometimes. But I was just a dog.”
Jason hummed. “Who suggested such a thing? Did you hear one of the nurses talking about it? One of the patients?”
Milo’s lips somehow turned up and down at the same time, resulting in a sad little smile. “An angel told me to.”
“What?”
“When she came for Parker. I was so, so, so sad.” His lower lip trembled and he blinked rapidly. He looked down and picked at a thread on his jeans. “She told me: ‘Oh little pup, don’t cry. Make a wish upon a star, and if you want something badly enough, it will happen.’ It came into my head what she meant. How to do it. So the next night, when Sally took me for a walk, I made a wish upon a star.”
Wow. That was…. Jason rubbed his forehead with his fingers. Sad. But also more than a little ridiculous. Where did he even start? “Milo… there are no such things as angels.”
Milo looked at Jason with his thousand yard stare. “But I saw them.”
“You saw them.”
“At the hospice. They come when people die.”
Jason felt a flash of annoyance. Probably some nurse at the hospice had talked about angels and heaven and all that rubbish, and Milo had bought it hook, line, and sinker. Of course he had. He was a dog. He would believe anything human’s said. “You, personally, saw angels? I suppose you can describe what they look like?”
Milo wrinkled his nose. His eyes looked past Jason as he tried to remember. “You don’t see them here.” He pointed to his eyes. “You see them here.” He tapped his belly.
“You saw angels with your stomach,” Jason said flatly.
Milo tilted his head and bit his lip. He looked at Jason from under his lashes, guiltily, as though he could tell he’d said something wrong, but he didn’t know what.
“I want some cheese,” Milo said. He stood up and wandered off towards the kitchen.


The Howl at the Moon Series
About The Author

Having been, at various times and under different names, a minister’s daughter, a computer programmer, a game designer, the author of paranormal mysteries, a fan fiction writer, an organic farmer and a profound sleeper, Eli is happily embarking on yet another incarnation as a m/m romance author.

As an avid reader of such, she is tinkled pink when an author manages to combine literary merit, vast stores of humor, melting hotness and eye-dabbing sweetness into one story.  She promises to strive to achieve most of that most of the time.  She currently lives on a farm in Pennsylvania with her husband, three bulldogs, three cows and six chickens.  All of them (except for the husband) are female, hence explaining the naked men that have taken up residence in her latest fiction writing.

You can find Eli at
         

 

Giveaway

 

Presented By

 

A Paul B Review: First Omega (River Wolf Pack #1) by Rebecca James

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

First OmegaJosiah Kimbrel has always been fascinated with the werewolf tales that the uncle that raise him told as Josiah was growing up.  Uncle Horace had always promised Josiah a visit to werewolf territory when he was older but had died before he got the chance.  Now, as the first ambassador from the Human Werewolf Congress, Josiah is finally getting his chance.

River is the pack alpha of the River wolf pack.  While not totally trusting humans, he believes that communication with them is necessary in order to prevent a war among the species.  Somewhat reluctantly, River agrees to accept a human into his territory in order to foster this communication.

As Josiah is beginning to gather information he feels he needs to take back to the Congress, he notices a secretion that is coming out of his ass.  Annoyed that it has dampened his underwear, he goes out for a walk.  All of a sudden, River is on him and asks Josiah why he never told River that he was an omega wolf.  This surprises Josiah as his parents have long been dead and his uncle never mentioned to him about being a werewolf.  River claims that not only is Josiah an omega, but HIS omega.

Josiah must now deal with the implications of this new information.  Already looked down upon by some members of the wolf pack because he is human, Josiah now must face the fact that he will be looked down upon by the human world for being half werewolf.  There are also implications of his being River’s mate and assuming the role of First Omega within the pack.  There are also forces both from the pack and the human world that seem to want to do Josiah harm.  This mating is off to a rocky start to say the least.

Author Rebecca James has created a fascinating new werewolf world in the first book in her new River Wolf Pack series.  The houses that the werewolves have built blend into the landscape of the forest that they inhabit.  While they shun most technology as they do not want to deal with human interaction for the most part, they do have running water.  The idea of more than one alpha in a pack was also surprising.  The fact that neither the humans nor weres trust each other sets the stage for plot lines in further books.  It looks like the Human-Werewolf Congress might a good idea that those behind the scenes are using for their own purposes.  I am looking forward to following books in the series.

Sales Links:  JMS Books | ARe | Amazon

Book Details

EBook, 151 pages
Published:  January 10, 2016 by JMS Books
ISBN:  9781634860215
Edition Language:  English

Series:  River Wolf Pack

  • First Omega (River Wolf Pack #1)
  • Second Alpha (River Wolf Pack #2)

A Lila Review: Werewolves of Chernobyl by K.A. Merikan and L.A. Witt

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

Werewolves of ChernobylQuinn is a travel blogger in search of the next great story. He specializes in finding the big shot and news no other blogger would post. During his trip to Chernobyl, he enters the exclusion zone he had been ordered to stay away by the armed tour guides. As he explores, he found one of the animals he had been warned about, but he realizes there’s more behind his findings.

Dima is the werewolf Quinn meets. During their brief encounter, Dima gets mesmerized by Quinn and wants to make him his. Unfortunately, they don’t have an effective way to communicate even when Dima understands Quinn. After the guides come to Quinn’s rescue, Dima runs home to find his best friend, Nazar.

Nazar has been Dima’s protector since they were pups. He would do anything to make him happy, including rescuing Dima’s new craving. Nazar and Dima have a deep connection that gets tested by Quinn’s arrival and pack dynamics. It would be up to the three of them to find their place in each other’s life.

Werewolves of Chernobyl isn’t your typical werewolves’ story, nor, the story I expected. There’s no fated mate, fairytale-like forests, or ruling alpha male claiming the main character. Instead, we get a human MC, a werewolf soldier, and the lowest werewolf in the hierarchy. And all these made for a refreshing take on a well-known troupe.

It’s amazing to see how three authors can work in one single story without making it obvious. The pacing, flow, and characterizations were executed flawlessly. Each main character has a solid backstory, and their personalities are unique. Together, they balanced their relationship and their future.

The story incorporates historical events to a paranormal world without resting importance to them. The authors were versed on the facts surrounding the Chernobyl disaster and the previous and current state of the surrounding areas and countries. It’s easy to see the story from the characters perspective and to understand the settings.

Even when the story was well-crafted, smexy, and interesting enough to keep reading, it lacks complexity. Everything that happens to the characters is simply a background. It doesn’t interfere directly with their daily events or the final outcome. More than a story about the possibility of werewolves in Chernobyl, it’s a story about how to adjust to the ins and outs of a polyamorous relationship.

It’s not about romance or a thriller. Overall, this story is about three “men” figuring out a long term relationship.

The cover by Natasha Snow portraits Quinn in the dark woods of the Chernobyl exclusion zone. But doesn’t provide any more details.

Sales Link:  Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 214 pages
Published: May 5, 2016, by Wing & Fang Press
ASIN: B01EZAWJ6S
Edition Language: English

E.J. Russell On Characters, Inspiration, and ‘Stumptown Spirits’ (guest blog and giveaway)

StumptownSpirits_600x900

Stumptown Spirits by E.J. Russell
Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist L.C. Chase

Read An Excerpt/Buy It Here

********

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have E.J. Russell here this morning to talk about her novel, Stumptown Spirits, and the inspiration behind her characters.  Welcome, E.J.!

********

Maybe because I was an actor for years, or maybe because I’m an introvert and all my best conversations occur in my head, my first drafts are always dialogue-heavy. In fact, some **cough**most**cough** scenes might be dialogue only on that first pass. I have to force myself to write description. Consequently, to make that process as easy as possible . . .

I cheat.

It’s a method I use all the time in my day job — copy and paste.

Okay, with descriptions it’s a little more effort than that — I still have to write the words. But if I find pictures of major story elements, I can look at them and just, you know, describe them.

So before I start the actual first draft of any book, I have to find pictures of my main characters. For Stumptown Spirits, I happened on a picture of Dylan O’Brien and Tyler Hoechlin cuddled together on a boat, Dylan’s arm around Tyler’s shoulders, Tyler’s finger on Dylan’s lips.

Hello.

Then I found a picture of Dylan O’Brien in glasses and that was it. Game over.

That’s right—I was totally shipping Sterek—Stiles and Derek from Teen Wolf.

Since this particular ship is extremely popular in Teen Wolf fandom—and the two actors obviously get a huge kick out of teasing the fans along—locating other images wasn’t too difficult. My Pinterest inspiration board got littered with all kinds of fabulous pins. Things like Tyler kissing a smiling Dylan on the cheek. The two of them lying in bed, Dylan’s hand on Tyler’s shoulder and Tyler gripping Dylan’s wrist (with the bonus of the very nice definition in Dylan’s upper arm, courtesy of a rucked-up T-shirt sleeve). Oh, yeah. And that fan art illustration of a shirtless Derek pinning Stiles against the wall, obviously one breath away from a pretty steamy kiss? Unfortunately, I didn’t find that one until after I wrote the book.

But what the heck. I’m always game for another Sterek shot.

Here’s the board, if you’d like to take a look. https://www.pinterest.com/ejrussell/stumptown-spirits/

And that first picture? Dylan and Tyler on the boat (shipping themselves, the sly devils)? The description of that picture makes a cameo appearance in Stumptown Spirits—as the wallpaper on Riley’s laptop.

About Stumptown Spirits

What price would you pay to rescue a friend from hell?

For Logan Conner, the answer is almost anything. Guilt-ridden over trapping his college roommate in a ghost war rooted in Portland’s pioneer past, Logan has spent years searching for a solution. Then his new boyfriend, folklorist Riley Morrel, inadvertently gives him the key. Determined to pay his debt—and keep Riley safe—Logan abandons Riley and returns to Portland, prepared to give up his freedom and his future to make things right.

Crushed by Logan’s betrayal, Riley drops out of school and takes a job on a lackluster paranormal investigation show. When the crew arrives in Portland to film an episode about a local legend of feuding ghosts, he stumbles across Logan working at a local bar, and learns the truth about Logan’s plan.

Their destinies once more intertwined, the two men attempt to reforge their relationship while dodging a narcissistic TV personality, a craven ex-ghost, and a curmudgeonly bar owner with a hidden agenda. But Logan’s date with destiny is looming, and his life might not be the only one at stake.

About EJ Russell

E.J. Russell holds a BA and an MFA in theater, so naturally she’s spent the last three decades as a financial manager, database designer, and business-intelligence consultant. After her twin sons left for college and she no longer spent half her waking hours ferrying them to dance class, she returned to her childhood love of writing fiction. Now she wonders why she ever thought an empty nest meant leisure.

E.J. lives in rural Oregon with her curmudgeonly husband, the only man on the planet who cares less about sports than she does. She enjoys visits from her wonderful adult children, and indulges in good books, red wine, and the occasional hyperbole.

Connect with E.J.:

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Stumptown Spirits, EJ is giving away $25 in Riptide credit. Leave a comment to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 21, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Legend Tripping

The ghost that walks at midnight . . . The man who transforms into a beast . . . The sinister figure lurking in the shadow of dreams . . .

The door between our world and . . . something other.

There’s a reason why such legends persist in every country, every region, every town.

They’re real.

For most, they’re the stuff of nightmares, terrors to be avoided. But for others, they’re an irresistible challenge—a chance to raise the ghost, stalk the beast, open that inter-dimensional door, and say “It’s all true, and I’ve lived to tell the tale.”

These legend trippers are in it for the thrill, the adventure—and sometimes, when they least expect it, for love.

–

A Paul B Review: For the Love of a Wolf (Wolves of Stone Ridge #34) by Charlie Richards

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

For the Love of a WolfStake Dolan, Dolan to his friends, is a firefighter for the Stone Ridge fire department.  He does not intend to insult people but he seems to have no brain to mouth filter.  So when he insults a detective who is helping to investigate a series of arsons going on in the community, he gets called in to see his supervisor.  He is told that he must apologize in writing to the detective, serve a three day suspension and “volunteer” his services clearing the brush away at the local nature park.

Cecil Rochette is a member of the local wolf shifter pack near Stone Ridge.  After his brother has mated with a cat shifter that was recently rescued from some scientists, thoughts of a mate are on his mind.  In the meantime, he has adopted a kitten for companionship.  Cecil decides to help the forest rangers in his pack with the annual clean up and brush removal.  Not knowing better, Cecil takes his new kitten with him to the park.  Cecil notices the kitten is missing and finds her in the branches of a tree.

Cecil is grateful when a hunky fireman offers to rescue the kitten from the tree.  Dolan states that as a firefighter, he has done this a number of times.  Cecil realizes that his would be hero is in fact his mate.  He kisses Dolan for his offer to help.  Dolan is taken aback by the forwardness of this man.  After all, Dolan is not gay.  Cecil realizes that his mate is new to man to man relations and decides he has to woo his mate before he can claim him.  Cecil just hopes that the reputation Dolan has as an insensitive loudmouth can be tamed.

I have been a long time reader of the Wolves of Stone Ridge series, which this is the thirty-fourth book.  What I like about the series is that Charlie Richards keeps her previous characters around as supporting players in her newer books.  They might not be mentioned for a few books but suddenly they appear again, like old friends back for a visit.  They are especially useful when initiating a new human mate into the world of the paranormal.  I know with each book in the series I will get a good story each time.  This and the related series (Kontra’s Menagerie, A Paranormal’s Love, A Loving Nip) are on my comfort reading list.

The cover art by Angela Waters is spot on as usual.  In the foreground we see a shirtless Cecil and his wolf while in the background we see Dolan in full firefighting regalia.

Sales Links:  eXtasy Books | Amazon

Book Details :

ebook, 106 pages
Published April 1st 2016 by Extasy Books
ISBN139781487406936
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesWolves of Stone Ridge #34

Series:  Wolves of Stone Ridge