Category: M/M Supernatural Fiction

A MelanieM Review: The New Wolf (Building The Pack #1) by R.J. Scott

Rating: 2.75 stars out of 5

the-new-wolfA dangerous lone wolf is intent on destroying the beginnings of a pack and when Connor is attacked and near death, there is only one thing that can save him. A wolf shifter’s bite.

N.B. Originally published through Extasy Publishing, this edition features the same story with new cover art.

 

After a hate crime leaves one of them near dead, Veterinarian, Josh Nolan and Cop, Connor Vincent are starting a new life in Black Creek, a remote town on the edge of the Green Mountains Park, Vermont.

Josh is taking over his grandfather’s practice and Connor settles into working in the sheriff’s office covering the area.

When Connor pieces together a whole list of unsolved crimes going back fifty years he puts his life, and that of his partners, in danger.

A dangerous lone wolf is intent on destroying the beginnings of a pack and when Connor is attacked and near death there is only one thing that can save him. A wolf shifter’s bite.

I love RJ Scott, she and her stories are an immediate Must Buy/Must Read for me.  They are normally so well pulled together, cohesive, the characters as well thought out as her plots.  They make sense, emotionally, rationally even when you are  playing around with the supernatural.  Yet that doesn’t occur here in The New Wolf it pains me to say.

I love the plot.  After an attack on couple veterinarian Josh Nolan and police officer Connor Vincent (it was Vincent left hospitalized), both are starting a new life in the country, something that’s taking a major adjustment for Connor, the former city cop.

That’s where the problem  with the narrative is.  You get a hint that the balance of power in the relationship, maybe a D/s  is Josh is the Dom and Connor is a submissive but that doesn’t really go anywhere for long.  There’s too much that the author wants to accomplish in a small amount of length. So plot points start getting dropped in favor of all the many threads Scott wants to see introduced for the books down the road.

Connor is a cop who’s been involved in a near death attack.  He’s having PTSD issues (not really addressed here). Yet they move to the country where, yes, he’s attacked (its in the blurb) and almost killed.  So you would think two attacks would leave him shattered.  That would be at least close to realistic yet its brushed over in a way that astonished me considering its R.J. Scott.  The lack of depth when dealing with his attacks and the ramifications it would have on such a man and his relationships floor me.  Then comes the realization.  Where’s the anger?  There is no believable realistic emotions here.  Its like, ok, I’m a werewolf.  Its so surprising in its utter lack of foundation in this character’s makeup or storyline.  It almost made me look at the cover again to double check the author.

How the local police department handled it.  Much worse.  You can pretty much guess the scenario.  There are huge holes in the plot, a cliffhanger as to a killer on the loose, and a relationship that should be in pieces seems ok.  It just didn’t make a whole lot of sense when looked at as a whole.  Trouble is, I loved the beginning.  It has such promise.  Before it degenerated into a sort of supernatural mess.

So, don’t know what to tell you.  I loved half a book. Or less.  I’ll leave whether or not you want to read it, up to you.

Cover art by Meredith Russell is terrific.  Strong and dramatic. Love it.

Buy Links:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2jseies

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2jUYgGJ

Book Details:

Kindle Edition
Published January 16th 2017 by Love Lane Books Ltd (first published August 1st 2013)
ASINB01MUBNP7M
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesBuilding The Pack #1
CharactersJosh Nolan, Connor Vincent settingBlack Creek, Vermont (United States)

Word Count: 25,500

In the New Release Spotlight: The New Wolf (Building The Pack #1) by RJ Scott (excerpt and giveaway)

The New Wolf (Building The Pack #1) – RJ Scott

 

Buy Links:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2jseies

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2jUYgGJ

Length: 25,500 words

Cover: Meredith Russell 

Blurb

A dangerous lone wolf is intent on destroying the beginnings of a pack and when Connor is attacked and near death, there is only one thing that can save him. A wolf shifter’s bite.

After a hate crime leaves one of them near dead, Veterinarian Josh Nolan and Cop Connor Vincent are starting a new life in Black Creek, a remote town on the edge of the Green Mountains range, Vermont. Josh is taking over his grandfather’s practice, and Connor starts a new position with the local sheriff’s office. When Connor becomes curious about unsolved crimes going back fifty years he cant know the kind of secrets he begins to unearth. Or the danger that he puts himself and Josh in.

Excerpt

The smell of coffee woke him and he reached across the bed to check for Josh. When he felt empty sheets, he assumed Josh was the one making coffee. His feet hitting the floor sent a sensation of pain up his legs and he cursed under his breath. He had issued a check with Josh that his body couldn’t cash. Either that or he was getting old. Padding into the kitchen, he blearily rubbed his eyes. It seemed they’d slept through the day and it was after nine in the evening. Josh was wearing sweats that hung from his hipbones and in the soft light from the hall, the dark kitchen was casting weird shadows around his lover. Connor had never seen anything so beautiful as Josh leaning against the counter, waiting for the coffee machine to do its thing.

He yawned widely behind a hand and crossed to Josh, cuddling him from behind. Josh tensed in his arms momentarily in surprise. Evidently, he hadn’t expected Connor out of bed yet. Then he relaxed back into Connor’s hold and finally turned in his arms and pulled Connor closer for a hug.

“How you doing?” he asked gently.

“Aching a bit,” Connor answered truthfully. After five years together, Josh could see through Connor like his mom used to be able to do. According to Josh, he could tell when Connor was lying, joking, or any other ing Connor attempted to pull on him.

“You should probably take some more pain meds.” Josh punctuated that with a kiss and, for a second, they stood close and kissed gentle close-mouthed kisses and simply held each other.

“It’s weird,” Connor started. “My thigh is fine, my chest, fine, but I feel like every muscle in me aches, and my joints, my knees, even my damn elbows. Like I’ve pushed too many weights, or run three marathons back to back.”

Josh tugged back a little and, even without being able to see into Josh’s eyes, Connor knew his other half was probably going to mention the unnecessary sex in the hallway. He wasn’t wrong.

“We shouldn’t have done that this morning,” Josh admonished. “You’re not well enough.”

“I was fine. You weren’t complaining.”

Josh huffed a laugh, then turned back to the coffee. Carrying two mugs into the front room, they sat next to each other on the old wide sofa that had come as part of the house.

“I’ll be complaining tomorrow,” Josh deadpanned. “I’m not saying it wasn’t hot, but jeez, look at this.” He wriggled a little and pushed down his sweats to expose his left hipbone and five perfect crescent dents that were red and sore.

“Shit, babe,” Connor snapped immediately. He placed the coffee down, then touched the marks on Josh’s beautiful unblemished skin. “Did I do that?” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the marks, then sat back up, not knowing what to say. Should he say sorry? Is that what Josh wanted. Why was it so difficult to read Josh’s expression? Normally he could read Josh as easily as he, himself could be read.

“You just don’t know your own strength,” Josh said without accusation. Then he straddled Connor’s lap and buried his face in Connor’s neck. “I fucking loved it,” Josh mumbled.

Connor held him tight and relished the feel of Josh’s skin against his own. “I love you,” he said gently.

“I love you, too,” Josh murmured. “Don’t ever get attacked in the forest again. Okay?”

Connor moved so that more of Josh’s weight rested on him. The feeling of him was exquisite. Then he cuddled hard and made a mental promise never to go into the trees again.

Author Bio

RJ Scott is the bestselling romance author of over 100 romance books. She writes emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men and women who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing.

The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.

mailto:rj@rjscott.co.uk

www.rjscott.co.uk/
www.facebook.com/author.rjscott?ref=ts&fref=ts
www.goodreads.com/author/show/3432558.R_J_Scott
twitter.com/Rjscott_author
www.librarything.com/author/scottrj

 

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A PaulB Review: Max, Brad, and Maisie Mystery Series by L.G. Fabbo-Gonnella

Series Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

murder-in-the-string-of-g-2Author L. G. Fabbo-Gonnella spins the classic noir murder mystery for modern times in the Max, Brad and Maisie series.  Max and Brad are two young (early 20s), struggling actors trying to break onto Broadway who work in a local pub to pay the bills.  When signing up to audition for a role in a new play at a renovated theater, they encounter the ghost of Maisie, a burlesque dancer who was murdered in 1959.  This begins an unusual friendship between the three as go about trying to emulate Hercule Poirot and Topper at the same time. 

Brad is a straight male of Italian heritage who fancies himself a ladies man with a thing for voluptuous women.  Max often complains that he thinks with the head in his pants instead of the one on his shoulders, which can get him into trouble.   

Max is a gay male who is searching for something meaningful.  Having moved to New York from Kansas, he finds a friend in Brad and they decide to room together.  He knows that they should not get involved in trying to solve these mysteries, but as Ethel always seemed to go along with Lucy, he backs his friend whole-heartedly.  He just hopes that they don’t get killed in the process.

Maisie doesn’t have that problem as she’s already dead.  Previously tied to the theater where she was killed, she know moves around with “her boys” as they try to solve the mysteries that they encounter.  While she was a burlesque performer, she is still a lady.  She laments the decline of civility in the modern world but finds a hobby in watching wrestling on television.

In Murder in the String of G, the trio set about to prove that Maisie was in fact murdered and whom committed the crime.  In Murder in the Square Circle, Maisie insists that she and her boys investigate when her favorite wrestler is charged with the murder of his rival in the ring.  In Murder in Noir, the boys finally have parts in an upcoming Broadway play (bit parts, but you have to start somewhere).  The boys find blackmail notes tossed on the floor and decide to investigate further. 

To say that these three are not Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot would be an understatement.  While they have good instincts as to what paths to follow, it seems they always stumble unto the proper solution to the mysteries.  Add to that the fact that Brad somehow seems to find himself naked and tied or handcuffed to a bed and you see that they should not be in the private investigating business.  If you are nostalgic for classic mysteries, give this series a try.  I will state that the books could use a more thorough editing but was not a major problem. 

Dustin Kime does a good job with the covers of the three books.  For String of G, the ghost of Maisie is superimposed on the backdrop of the Cassandra Theater where she was murdered.  For Square Circle, a young wrestler is on the cover.  And for Noir, the lead actor for the boys’ play is featured in a classic noir pose.

Buy links:

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A7SOOKM/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A7SOOKM

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EC0ZY0A/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EC0ZY0A/

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUSMEKM/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EUSMEKM/

murder-in-the-squared-circle

murder-in-noirBook Details

Murder in the String of G

EBook, 127 pages

Edition Language:  English

Published:  December 2012 by Amazon Digital Services

ASIN: B00A7SOOKM

A MelanieM Review: Hellbeasts by Katya Harris

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

 

hellbeastsWhen restlessness drives Shadow out of his MC’s clubhouse and into the night, the last thing he expected was to find a half-dead werewolf. Shadow has never been known for his altruism, but he takes the wounded man back to his motorcycle club, the Hellbeasts.

Rand doesn’t know who attacked him, but suspects at least one person from his own pack is involved. But even that might not be as bad as waking up in the midst of a group of misfit weres who don’t seem to like him. Especially Shadow, the man charged with taking care of Rand, as compelling to Rand as he is frightening.

But before he and Shadow can work out what exactly they are and want to be to each other, Rand’s attackers show up to finish the job.

Another in the Hellbeasts series from Less Than Three Press from numerous authors that revolves around a werebeast motorcycle club, I thought this one had promise but in the end didn’t completely deliver.  I loved the character of Shadow, and the others from the Hellbeasts MC.  They are the best drawn of all of the characters here in the story. Rand is perhaps the one with the least amount of support to his personality.  We are “told” about his history in different sections of the story but never actually get it from his point of view.  He just feels too much of a submissive to have ever fit the description of the wolf he’s supposed to have been.  He’s sweet, wounded, and yes sort of vague.  The complete opposite of Shadow.  Ironic.

Maybe the short length is part of the issue here.  Had this story been longer, it and the characters could have been developed to their full potential.  As it is, I liked it but the big showdown and the ending both felt rushed and left me feeling a bit disappointed.  Not what I would have wanted for such a strong character as Shadow.

Cover art is terrific.  Its eye catching and makes you want to read the story.

Sales Links

Less Than Three Press

c60a7-waxcreative-amazon-kindle

 

Book Details:

ebook, 61 pages
Published November 9th 2016 by Less Than Three Press
ISBN139781620048931
Edition LanguageEnglish

An Alisa Review: Night of the Blue Moon by Cassandra Pierce

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

 

night-of-the-blue-moon-by-cassandra-pierceScot North is intrigued when he is invited to a New Year’s Eve celebration on a private island. But his host is a mysterious man who seems to know a little too much about him…

 

In late December, Scot North is mysteriously summoned from his London home to a private island to ring in the new year with an unknown host. As midnight and the highly anticipated Blue Moon approach, Scot grows more and more baffled as to exactly why he’s been invited…and what is the connection between this New Year’s event and the bizarre encounter he experienced in an underground club the month before?

 

This book’s blurb left just enough questions to be intrigued.  Scot has been really out of it since his encounter a month ago.  He has also been having a mysterious man following him around and every time he tries to approach the man turns and disappears.

 

It’s a long road for Scot to find the answers to his questions, but he continues to hope that his host may have those answers.  Brendan is intriguing and does really well talking in circles when they meet.  You can just sense their loneliness; Scot has been trying to find someone while Brendan has kept himself hidden away.  They have a great connection and you can see the opportunity for the future.

 

The cover art by E Connors is nice and gives a nice setting for the story.

 

Sales Links: Dark Hollows Press | Amazon | ARe

 

Book Details:

ebook, 43 pages

Published: December 2, 2016 by Dark Hollows Press

Edition Language: English

An Alisa Review: Quarry (The Vampire Guard #2) by Elizabeth Noble

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

 

quarryThe members of the Vampire Guard—Jonas Forge, spy and soldier turned cop; computer hacker extraordinaire Blair Turner; Declan, thief, con man, and ex-pirate; and medical examiner and werewolf Dr. Lucas Coate—face a dangerous and elusive enemy.

 

And this time, it’s personal.

 

Over the course of three hundred years, a man has touched each of their lives in ways they are only just realizing. When a hunt for a psychotic killer in the present resurrects memories and clues from the past, they discover how they have been affected and are bound by the existence of a ruthless vampire criminal. Now, while preventing a heist at a high-tech art show and thwarting several large-scale explosions, the team must employ their unique blend of science and supernatural abilities to put an end to the machinations of the man toying with their lives.

 

This time, he won’t slip through their fingers.

 

This time, it’s more than a case. It’s a hunt, and Forge, Blair, Declan, and Lucas won’t stop until they’ve captured their quarry.

 

This was a great continuance of the Vampire Guard series.  These four characters are wonderful for each other; they can play off the others’ strengths wonderfully.  This book kept moving with another twist just around the corner to keep the reader’s interest.

 

In this story we see even more of the characters’ backgrounds and how they are connected.  I love how connected all of the friends are and not just the soul mates when disasters happen and when they are just laid back.  They are all surprised by the additional connections they find to each other while working on this case.

 

I loved seeing them play off each other’s strengths to solve the mystery and catch the bad guy.  Being able to see the thoughts and emotions of the four main characters goes a long way to understand what is going on in the story and to stay connected with the many characters.  I will commend this author, she does a wonderful job with her writing of keeping the characters separated that I don’t get confused and have to check back on which character I am focusing on at the time as I often to in other books.  I am loving this series and can’t wait to read more when they come out.

 

Cover art by TL Bland is great and is following the basic pattern for the series.

 

Sales Links: DSP Publications | Amazon | B&N

 

Book Details:

ebook, 200 pages

Expected Publication: January 17, 2017 by DSP Publications

Edition Language: English

Series: The Vampire Guard #2

 

Release Tour for Amelia Faulkner’s Lord of Ravens

Lord Of Ravens (Inheritance Series #3) 

 Amelia Faulkner

 

Buy Links:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2iLjlUM

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2iiZRWj

 
Inheritance Series
Jack of Thorns (Book #1) Amazon US | Amazon UK
Knight of Flames (Book #2) Amazon US | Amazon UK
 

Blurb

Lover. Predator. Killer.

Laurence Riley’s inheritance comes with a price – one he’s not at all sure he can pay. When his urge to hunt grows out of control, he sends a desperate prayer to his ancestor for guidance. But he never expected that Herne the Hunter would answer.

Scion. Target. Victim.

There are horrors lurking in Quentin d’Arcy’s past, but they won’t hide there forever. Something ancient is coming to take him home: a creature of nightmare who feasts on the flesh of children. When the choice is between his own life and the lives of innocents, there is no choice at all.

Honesty is the worst policy.

A legendary horror comes to San Diego, but it’s merely an emissary. Laurence has seen the real monster, and it’s a darkness which will destroy everything he loves – especially if Quentin ever finds out what it did to him as a child.

It’s down to Laurence to prepare for war against a force which far outmatches him. The enemy has the most powerful weapon of all at his disposal, and if they’re to stand a chance, Laurence must master the same power.

He must learn magic.

Lord of Ravens is the third book in the Rainbow Award winning Inheritance series and contains mature themes and events which may be distressing to some readers. It has a moderate heat rating and an HFN ending

Author Bio


Amelia Faulkner was born in Thame, Oxfordshire, and sprouted upward in short order. The ground around Thame is reasonably mucky, especially in the winter, and she can’t be blamed for wanting to get away from it.

Raised on a steady diet of Star Trek and Doctor Who, Amelia stood no chance in not becoming a grade-A geek. She has sat on the board of the British Fantasy Society, contributed fiction and fluff to various published roleplaying games, and written non-fiction for SciFiNow and SFX Magazines. For every positive there is an equal and opposite negative, and Amelia is forced to admit that she loves Wild Wild West.

In her spare time she enjoys travel, photography, walking her Corgi, and trying to convince her friends to replay the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game with all the Goblins decks.