Category: M/M Supernatural Fiction

An Alisa Review: Human Instincts (Roguefalls #1) by April Kelley

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

 

A human soldier and an omega wolf shifter find out they’re mates in a world where segregation between humans and paranormals is standard operating procedure.

 

Dylan Kole knows how to do one thing, and that’s to be a soldier in the human army. He doesn’t know how to fit in with a bunch of paranormal beings, and he certainly doesn’t know how to be a mate to Rudy Malone, the only omega wolf shifter on Roguefalls Island. One thing Dylan does have going for him is his ability to follow his instincts.

 

This was an interesting and entertaining story.  Dylan and his buddy, Christian, are selected to become a part of the paranormal army.  Both know some things but are a bit unprepared for everything that comes up, especially the whole mate thing.  Rudy is so happy to find his mate while Dylan is confused by his reaction to the man and tries to take a step back.  But he can’t resist for long.

 

The world is a bit different with humans living in family groups or as singles (which are usually criminals) and paranormals living in clans so they don’t feel as if they get many choices on what they want to do with their life; Dylan was kicked out of his family group and joined the human army to avoid becoming a single.  He is so puzzled by his instincts to protect and love on Rudy; he has always believed that he will be alone since he was kicked out.  Rudy came to Roguefalls to provide a calming presence but to also get some distance from his over protective brother and he will not let his mate do the same thing to him.

 

We get to see both of these characters working through their thoughts and coming to terms with how they feel for each other.  These two know how they feel but are a bit lost on what to do and do end up taking time to get to know each other a bit before a claiming.  I can’t wait to see what happens between Christian and Ward in the next story.

 

The cover art by Erin Dameron-Hill is nice and a typical romance cover with the view of a man’s midsection.

 

Sales Links: Extasy Books | Amazon | B&N

 

Book Details:

ebook, 98 pages

Published: May 5, 2017 by Extasy Books

ISBN: 9781487412395

Edition Language: English

Series: Roguefalls #1

Katey Hawthorne’s Release Day Blog for THE TAKEDOWN (Superpowered Love #8) (vid excerpt and giveaway package)

The Takedown (Superpowered Love #8) by Katey Hawthorne
Publisher: Loose Id
Publication Date: June 6, 2017
Cover by P.L. Nunn

Buy Links:    Loose id LLC |    KateyHawthorne.com  
Amazon

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Katey Hawthorne here today with a new book from her Superpowered Love series. Katey has a great giveaway package for the readers to enter to win and a wonderful vid excerpt to watch.  Welcome, Katey!

🔥

The Takedown Excerpt

(https://youtu.be/qOh-tx4hfgg)

About The Takedown

Jody Aguirre’s family was kidnapped and tortured by witch hunters, and after a few days of captivity, he’s all that’s left. Using his frosty awakened superpowers, Jody manages to escape—and is rescued from the side of the road by Bren Faulkner’s stretch Town Car. Bren, a hot-thermal awakened with government connections, promises to help find the witch hunters who destroyed Jody’s life.

While navigating his trauma and pain, Jody comes to rely on Bren for more than just food, his house, and his superpowered connections. Brendan is all that reminds Jody what’s left to live for, and a strong advocate for justice vs. vengeance, like the proverbial knight in shining armor he is. As their affection for one another deepens and their attraction becomes impossible to deny, Bren wonders if acting on their feelings would be taking advantage. Jody, meanwhile, struggles to claw his way back to something like normality, knowing that Bren’s part of the solution, not the problem.

But none of it matters if they don’t take down those witch hunters.

About The Superpowered Love Series

The “Superpowered Love” books feature stories of the awakened, people with either thermal or electrical superpowers. While they share a world, there is little to no character crossover, and they can be read in any order. For more info: http://www.kateyhawthorne.com/p/superpowered-love.html

Giveaway:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/3105535d7/?

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About the Author

Katey Hawthorne is an avid reader and writer of superpowered and paranormal romance, even though the only degree she holds is in the history of art. (Or, possibly, because the only degree she holds is in the history of art.) Originally from the Appalachian foothills of West Virginia, she currently lives in Ohio with her family, two cats, and one very large puppy. In her spare time she enjoys travel, comic books, B-movies, loud music, video games, Epiphones, and Bushmills. Her favorite causes include animal rescue and bisexual representation in media. She is an unashamed fangirl and collects nerdy tattoos like she’s trying to prove it.

Social Media:
Twitter – https://twitter.com/hawthornetaylor
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/katey.hawthorne.33
Tumblr – http://hawthornetaylor.tumblr.com/
Blog – http://www.kateyhawthorne.com/

An Alisa Audiobook Review: Wake Me Up Inside (Mates #1) by Cardeno C. and Charlie David (Narrator)

Rating:  5 stars out of 5

 

A powerful Alpha wolf shifter and a strong-willed human overcome traditions ingrained over generations and uncover long-buried secrets to fulfill their destiny as true mates.

 

Regarded as the strongest wolf shifter in generations, Alpha Zev Hassick is surprised and confused by his attraction to his best friend. His very human, very male best friend. A male shifter has to mate with a female shifter to keep his humanity, so shifters can’t be gay. Yet, everything inside Zev tells him Jonah is his true mate.

 

Maintaining a relationship with the man he has loved since childhood isn’t easy for Jonah Marvel, but he won’t let distance or Zev’s odd family get in their way. When unexplained ailments begin to plague Jonah, he needs to save his own life and sanity in order to have a future with Zev.

 

Zev and Jonah know they’re destined for each other, but they must overcome traditions ingrained over generations and long-buried secrets to fulfill their destiny.

 

I loved this story just as much as when I read it the first time.  Zev and Jonah have been friends forever, even longer than Jonah knows.  When Zev realizes that Jonah is his mate he does everything he can to keep their new relationship going and to keep Jonah happy until they are able to fully mate, he is determined to let his mate finish getting his degree and become a doctor before he ties him down.

 

This story is told from both of the characters’ points of view so we can see both of their internal struggles.  Zev does everything he can to keep Jonah happy even when they can’t be together all the time.  While Jonah struggles with their separation and his need to Zev when they are together Zev works very hard for them to communicate as clearly as possible so that they are both satisfied.  Zev and Jonah’s relationship was instinctual from the beginning and their bond only got stronger the longer they were together.

 

Charlie David did a great job narrating this story.  I could connect with the characters through the voices and emotions he portrayed.  He did a good job of separating the characters using different voices and inflections.  The one thing this book have over the other audios is it did not have the music between chapters which I found a bit distracting before.

 

Cover art is wonderful and gives a great visual of these two characters together.

 

Sales Links: Audible | Amazon

 

Audiobook Details:

Audiobook, 7 hrs 55 min
Published: May 24, 2017 (ebook, 2nd edition, published July, 15 2015)
Edition Language: English

Series: Mates Collection

A MelanieM Review: Seduced by the Tide (Dragon Soul #2) by Sean Michael

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Meet the Beteferoce brothers. Five dragon shifters, each with a strong elemental power. And each with a fierce desire to find his soul mate.
…
Deke has yet to meet a man who gives him a rush. Coast Guard rescue has kept the dragon shifter busy, but there’s no harder work than finding a mate. Then comes Bryan. Bearded and inked, the personal trainer turned mechanic smells of grease, sweat and red meat. How irresistibly human can you get? And when it comes to hot, slamming sex, they’re the perfect fit. Now all Deke has to do is to tell Bryan what he really is, and what he has planned for them.

Bryan has never met anyone like Deke, a consuming lover with a body so arousing it damn near hurts. And he knows how to use every inch of it. Yet he can’t shake the feeling that Deke is hiding something. Just not this-the stud he’s falling for is a centuries-old dragon who has marked him as a mate.
Bryan has to admit that something inside him is changing. For the first time ever, he’s satisfied, body and soul. If Deke really is telling the truth, this could be his destiny-if he’s ready to face it.

There is no question that Sean Michael writes hot, sexy men and combustible sex scenes.  That’s in abundance here with dragon shifter Deke and his soul mate Bryan.  This is not a 1-🔥 story but 10 🔥 as their scenes together almost set the room on fire, ironic when one dragon’s element is water.  But I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

Seduced by the Tide by Sean Michael is the second story in the Dragon Soul series and the first one I’ve read (something I’m going to remedy asap).  While I would have liked to have had the background and history of that first story, I don’t feel it was necessary to have in order to understand everything that was going on here.  Michael delivers enough past information that I wasn’t left floundering in the dark, instead I felt I had a pretty good foundation of this universe to sit back and enjoy the meeting and mating of Deke and Bryan. Plus they were surrounded by the first couple (and Bryan’s neighbors),Jack and Shae. This was beneficial in so many ways.  Having Jack and Shae there provided additional information as to what was happening to this couple (they had  gone through it) and gave a wonderful update to those readers who had read the first story.

I loved the depth of world building here and the glimpses I got of the other brothers who’s books  I know are coming.  There was the tattoo and Elf ink master I wanted to know more about, plus the dragon home world and of course the rest of the Beteferoce brothers.  Michael makes each man interesting and their mating sexy, hot and intimate.

I can’t wait for the next story and get to find out how it all began with the first installment Branded by Flames (Dragon Soul, #1) by which I’m guessing that Jake the dragon shifter’s element is fire.  I hope it’s as good as this story.  As it is, if you love hot men, hot sex, love and dragons, you will love Seduced by the Tide (Dragon Soul #2) by Sean Michael.

Cover design is perfect for this story.  I love the dragon elements on the bottom half especially.

Sales Links:  Carina Press 


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Book Details:

Book two in the Dragon Soul series
This book is approximately 79,000 words

Kindle Edition
Expected publication: June 26th 2017 by Carina Press
Original Title Seduced by the Tide
ASIN B06XFJPWPS
Edition Language English
Series Dragon Soul #2

An Alisa Review: To Touch You (Mates #4) by Cardeno C.

Rating:  4.5 stars out of 5

 

“His name is Salvatore Rossi. He’s a vampire. And he’s my true mate.”

 

By not relying on anyone except himself, Salvatore Rossi escaped a dead-end existence and reached the height of corporate success. But just when he has everything he always wanted, fate throws Salvatore a challenge he can’t solve alone and a young wolf shifter comes to his rescue.

 

Since childhood, Yoram Smith’s family was certain he would grow to become Alpha and save their beloved pack from its slow demise. When the time comes for a new leader, Yoram is forced to juggle his duty to care for a splintering pack with his duty to care for an absent mate, and his own strength suffers.

 

Being turned into a vampire didn’t alter Salvatore’s life philosophy: if you don’t rely on anyone, nobody can let you down. But when the boy who saved his life becomes a man who needs his help, the icy vampire must find his humanity.

 

I enjoyed this book just as much as I have the others in the series.  Yoram is a very strong shifter and when he recognizes his true mate at the age of 7 and is then able to convince his family to help Sal when he is very sick.  As he gets older he will do anything to protect his mate even if than man doesn’t want him.

 

I loved Yoram’s unending love for his mate no matter what his mate wants he will take care of him.  Salvatore has always known that he has to protect himself and doesn’t rely on anyone else; when he realizes that he actually is relying on Yoram he just lets it happen and doesn’t actively acknowledge it.  For the longest time Yoram does all the bending but I loved Sal’s determination to help his mate and his pack once he fully understands and accepts his place at Yoram’s side.

 

For the first half of this book we see most of the story through Yoram’s eyes and see how accepting he is of his life and his determination to do what is right for his mate and also for his pack.  We begin to see more of Sal’s thoughts and in that we can see his confusion when it comes to what he was told originally and how he begins to feel as Yoram gets older.  We got to see the other characters in this series in the book more frequently than we have in others and I loved seeing how Yoram was able to finally bring Ethan back into his home pack after such a long time.

 

Cover art is wonderful and I love the visual of these two characters together.

 

Sales Links: Amazon | PayHip

 

Book Details:

ebook, 260 pages

Published: May 4, 2017
ISBN: 9781942184690

Edition Language: English

Series: Mates Collection

An Alisa Review: Hybrid (A Darker Hollow #1) by Shannon West & T.S. McKinney

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

 

Jax’s little brother Mason is all grown up and finds himself longing for a life of adventure. He finds it in a way he never planned late one night while walking home to the lodge beneath a full moon, when he is attacked, bitten and left for dead by a huge black werewolf. As he’s dying and all hope is fading, he is discovered on the trail and believes he’s being saved. Instead, he’s bitten a second time, and this time by a vampire.

 

Mason finds himself in the middle of an ancient war between the vampires and the Dire werewolves, and during a raid, he’s captured by the wolf who first bit him, a strong alpha named Finn. Finn is powerfully attracted to him, but Mason is changing, becoming something not quite wolf and not quite vampire—a new creature with powers of his own.

 

A hybrid is an interesting idea, made me think of Underworld, but I had some issues with how the characters acted throughout the story.  Mason has been feeling like something big was going to happen but he never expected it to be for him become something that has never existed before.  Valeran and Finn have been trying to destroy each other for as long as they can remember.

 

Valeran saves Mason after Finn’s attack and takes him as a lover and teaching him to hate werewolves.  When they finally go after Finn’s pack Mason is captured and Finn takes him as a mate and causes Mason to second guess his feelings for Valeran.  It takes a lot for Mason to start using his brain to examine his thoughts and actions.

 

We get to see all the characters’ points of view which should help to understand them better but most of the time I couldn’t help but think why is he doing that?  I didn’t like that Valeran and Finn tried to use Mason against each other for most of the book and Mason doesn’t even realize it until close to the end.  His seemingly acceptance that the essentially is suffering from Stockholm Syndrom but is determined to make everything work with both lovers is a bit wacky to me.  It takes until the very end of the story for Valeran and Finn to kind of accept their attraction to each other.  I am hoping that the series will continue with these three actually having a relationship and getting Finn’s pack back.

 

The cover art by E Keith is nice and gives good visuals of the Mason.

 

Sales Links: Painted Hearts Publishing | Amazon | B&N

 

Book Details:

ebook, 200 pages

Published: March 29, 2017 by Painted Hearts Publishing

Edition Language: English

Series: A Darker Hollow #1

A VVivacious Review: Lion’s Mate (Hell’s Creek #1) by Shannon West & T.S. McKinney

Rating: 3 Stars out of 5
 
Julian finds himself right up Hell’s Creek, literally, when a wrong turn ends up with him right in the middle of Crazytown, USA. He finds himself immediately assaulted by a group of people who keep calling him kitty and keep telling him that the consequences of him ignoring the treaty will be grave indeed. As a last ditch effort Julian runs and finds himself across an imaginary border, only to faint at the sight of a lion headed his way.
 
He wakes up to find himself tied to a bed with a person who calls himself Leo and claims that they are mates. Can Julian escape Hell’s Creek before the craziness catches up to him or will this venture not only lead him on the path to love but also to answers about himself?
 
I am kind of on the fence with this book. I really enjoyed reading the book, but there was always this nagging thought at the back of my mind that I should be enjoying this book more, which I think was because I had really high expectations with this book. I love shifter romances and I love how Shannon West writes shifter romance and though I have never read T.S. McKinney before, I was really excited to read this.
 
The first thing that I found a little unbelievable was how clueless Julian is prior to Leo’s reveal. Up till that point he meets up with a ton of people who call him kitty and have weird ass notions of mates and scents and, treaties and borders. Not only that his first introduction to this oddity is violent enough to leave an impact so how is that not even once does Julian have a what if moment, I mean I would have enjoyed one and it would have made the whole thing a little more natural even if the moment were to be followed up by a vigorous refute of the notion.
 
In the first chapter of this book I stopped reading the book twice but when I did pick it up for the third time I read it till the very end. I don’t exactly know why I would stop reading but I’m pretty sure it was because of the fact that I didn’t particularly like that chapter. I mean the fact that Julian doesn’t understand what the Canis are saying and the Canis don’t believe what Julian is saying, kind of grates on the nerves. Also there is a whole lot of posturing and promises of an ill fate like every TV villain ever but when things actually boil down to action it is over very fast. Also can I just confess here that Canis is a very awkward name, what happened to the good old canine shifters?
 
Also what is up with Chloe, I so don’t believe her explanation that nothing would have happened to Leo, the Canis seemed dead set on raping Julian, and I for one don’t believe that they wouldn’t have gone through with it because then why did he have to run for his life if it was all just for fun. Moreover she knew that Julian was a feline shifter then why didn’t she try to rescue him or help him before he had to run for his life. Because after this incident she was all sugary nice and that left a very venomous after taste in my mouth. Yuck!
 
Apart from these three things the rest of the book is exactly what I like in a shifter romance. There is an amazing romance between Leo and Julian and I loved how it develops. I loved how the authors showed us a little bit of how Julian’s psyche affected their relationship and how he doesn’t believe he can be loved and how Leo has to slowly break down his walls. These two were incredibly hot together.
 
I also liked the plot of this book though everything did feel a little last minute but I am definitely intrigued as to the future of this series.
 
Cover art by E. Keith. I liked the cover. It fit the book and the genre.

Sales Links:  Painted Hearts Publishing | Amazon

Book Details:
ebook
Published May 9th 2017 by Painted Hearts Publishing
Edition Language English
Series Hell’s Creek #1

An Alisa Review: Laurent and the Beast (Kings of Hell MC #1) by K.A. Merikan

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
— Nothing can stop true love. Not time. Not even the devil himself. —

1805. Laurent. Indentured servant. Desperate to escape a life that is falling apart. 
2017. Beast. Kings of Hell Motorcycle Club vice president. His fists do the talking.

Beast has been disfigured in a fire, but he’s covered his skin with tattoos to make sure no one mistakes his scars for weakness. The accident not only hurt his body, but damaged his soul and self-esteem, so he’s wrapped himself in a tight cocoon of violence and mayhem where no one can reach him.

Until one night, when he finds a young man covered in blood in their clubhouse. Sweet, innocent, and as beautiful as an angel fallen from heaven, Laurent pulls on all of Beast’s heartstrings. Laurent is so lost in the world around him, and is such a tangled mystery, that Beast can’t help but let the man claw his way into the stone that is Beast’s heart.

In 1805, Laurent has no family, no means, and his eyesight is failing. To escape a life of poverty, he uses his beauty, but that only backfires and leads him to a catastrophe that changes his life forever. He takes one step into the abyss and is transported to the future, ready to fight for a life worth living. 

What he doesn’t expect in his way is a brutal, gruff wall of tattooed muscle with a tender side that only Laurent is allowed to touch. And yet, if Laurent ever wants to earn his freedom, he might have to tear out the heart of the very man who took care of him when it mattered most.
I generally don’t read biker books.  It’s a genre I’m not fond of at all but I like these authors and the time travel aspect sounded so unique I had to give it a try.   I’m glad I did because I really enjoyed this.  
The story is told is alternating points of view.  I liked this because we got to see what both Laurent and Beast were thinking.  They were very different men and their perceptions of each situation was totally different.  They start off not trusting each other but as the story goes on they start to slowly open up to each other.  
I thought both MC’s were really well done and I liked them both but for different reasons.  Beast was the tortured hero that you really want to see get a happy ending.  He struggled with his own self-esteem and it was wonderful to watch him as he starts to trust Laurent and open up to him.  Laurent was a little immature (as expected since he was very young) but overall he took the whole situation like a trooper.  He didn’t whine or complain and he made the best of a bad situation.  It was also a bit funny to watch him explore the present time and learn all about the things around him.  Their scenes together were both sweet and sexy.  The two men had great chemistry and I was really rooting for them the entire time.
The overall plot was a mystery of sorts and I loved the paranormal aspect.  There was a devil and a serial killer and a present day bad guy.  I liked the ending and was excited to see that there are more books planned in the series.  We meet all of the guys in this book and my interest was peaked for all of them.  
I thought this was unique and well done.  It had a bit of everything.  There was some action and adventure, some sexy times and a beautiful love story.  This is a definite recommend from me.
The cover was done by Natasha Snow and I loved it.  It’s got a great vibe to it and it really catches the eye.  It’s also a great representation of Beast.
Sales Links:  Amazon
Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 360 pages
Published April 29th 2017 by Acerbi & Villani ltd (first published April 2017)
ASINB071NCQZPZ
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesKings of Hell MC #1
CharactersLaurent Mercier, Kai