Category: M/M Supernatural Fiction

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

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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.!

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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.:

StumptownSpirits_TourBanner

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

A MelanieM Review: Kellen’s Awakening (AURA Series #3) by Bellora Quinn and Angel Martinez

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Kellen's AwakeningThe staff at AURA has had a busy summer. Between chronic understaffing, dealing with warring goblin factions and an unusual number of hazardous Events, everyone is overworked. Sinistrus the incubus, newly hired as an AURA medic, actually enjoys his busy new life of responsible employee and faithful lover to his gorgeous police sergeant, Ness the centaur. Life would be perfect, except for a niggling suspicion about a colleague. Everyone else seems to disagree, but Sin’s certain something’s not right with that pixie.

Kellen, a pixie crossover, loves his job working in AURA medical, even if he is something of an outsider. His job and the friends he manages to make are happy spots in an otherwise dark and secretive life. As the rest of AURA tries to discover the root of the inexplicable rise in violence and large scale Events, Kellen fights to preserve his own life and what dignity he has left.

These two unlikely heroes must put their differences aside and navigate tragedy and ever-escalating disaster together in order to stop the sinister forces that hold Kellen in thrall.

The AURA series from Bellora Quinn and Angel Martinez just keeps getting better and this book is perhaps my favorite in the series.  It did it by breaking my heart and then slowly, finally putting it back together again.  But oh how the tears flowed before that happened.

In this world (what an amazing world it is) a magical, human engineered explosion has created a rift in world dimensions, causing beings to fall out of their worlds into ours, with often tragic consequences to both.  AURA was set up to handle moving these ‘otherworldly’ and often magical beings into our society with as smooth a transition as could be handled, which is saying a lot with trolls, mermaids, elf warriors  and such.  And always there is the  threat of darkness and madness looming on the edge from those seeking power or a return or an inability to deal with loss.

Its an amazing universe they built and they’ve created a cast of characters and couples/triads who are just as complicated and addicting as their stories.  Lucky for us, most of them make appearances in each succeeding book, so we get to keep up with their relationships as well.  Here we get back to Sin and Ness, happily enjoying their new love and jobs.  Sin is such a great character, a succubus who has fallen for a centaur, a great love story we followed in a previous tale.  We also meet up again with Kellen, again a secondary character brought forward to get his due.

Kellen has so many secrets but his character is one that you can’t help but love and root for immediately.  He’s wounded, complicated, and leaking pain from every pore if only they would notice.  Trouble is the whole city is full of magical pain and problems at the moment, so other things like Kellen’s are easy to bury.

The author’s writing is deeply emotional, their descriptions will tug at your heart, their scenes pulling you into the story and the conflicts arising everywhere.  And before you know it, you’ve emptied a box of tissues and reached for a second.

One note, these are not standalone novels, they build on each other like building blocks.  So go back to books one and two before picking this one up.  After finishing this one, you just might want to do that anyway because the characters will call out to you to make your reacquaintance.  How I love them all.  Now I can’t wait to see where the authors will take us  next…..

Cover art by Posh Gosh is so so.  Needs more of magic, I wish there was more of a hint of wings there as well.

Sales Links:  Pride Publishing | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, First
Published April 5th 2016 by Pride Publishing
Original TitleKellen’s Awakening (AURA, #3)
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesAURA Series #3

A Paul B Review: Signed with a Heart (Signed, Sealed, Delivered #2) by Caitlin Ricci and A.J. Marcus

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Signed with a HeartLeo the cheetah shifter has recently witnessed his friend Cam get mated.  Despite the widely held beliefs that arranged matings are miserable, Cam honestly loves his mate Jenner.  Now he is waiting for his own arranged mating.  In Spain with his father, Leo finds out that he is to be mated to Antonio, a wealthy businessman.  Leo is disheartened when he finds out that he will be basically cut off from society, including his best friend Cam, after the mating takes place.  When he hears this, Leo decides to flee Spain and visit his friend in the United States.

Taruk is best friends with Jenner.  His friend’s mating makes Taruk realize that he will probably never be mated.  Taruk is not from a prominent nor rich family to pay the fee needed to arrange a mating.  However, he is glad to see Leo again when he comes to visit Cam.  Taruk is then disappointed to learn that the sweet young shifter is now arranged to be mated in a month’s time.  His is alarmed to find out that Leo believes that the mating will not be a love match like their friends’ pairing.  When Leo’s intended mate Antonio shows up to claim him, Taruk can do nothing but watch him leave.

The mating goes about as poorly for Leo as he expected.  Locked in his room and chained to his bed, Leo must watch as his mate uses a call boy service and flaunt it in front of him.  The only time he sees his mate is when Antonio wants to use him sexually.  The only thing Leo is allowed to do is read the collection of classic books that Antonio has provided for him so that Leo does not make a fool of himself in front of company.  Leo is resigned to his life as an unhappy mate.   When Leo is taken to a birthday party, life takes a turn for the worse soon after.  Leo must live with the consequences of his actions which will affect not only him and his mate, but also that of Taruk and their friends.

This second book in Ricci and Marcus’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered series takes place shortly after the end of the first.  While the first book showed that arranged matings can sometimes turn out well, this second book shows what happens when then they do not.  It is mentioned that Antonio had two previous mates that had died under mysterious circumstances.  Was this not a red flag for Leo’s father or was the dowry he received more important than his son?  It seems that nobody in authority has had any power to investigate their deaths.  It would have been smart of one of the characters to suggest that Antonio might be doing something to Leo.

And these matings seem more like 18th or 19th century marriages where the “lesser” of the partners becomes property of the legally superior partner.  The other thing is that (SPOILER) Leo should not be beating himself up for the actions that he took.

The cover art by Latrisha Waters is nicely done.  It shows both Leo’s cheetah and human forms.

Sales Links:  eXtasy Books | Amazon

Book Details

Kindle Edition, 91 pages
Published April 22nd 2016 by eXtasy Books
ASINB01EDH47GI
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesSigned, Sealed, Delivered #2

Series:  Signed Sealed Delivered

Sealed With Honor (Signed Sealed Delivered #1)

Signed With a Heart (Signed Sealed Delivered #2)

A MelanieM Review: MCB Quarterly Vol. 4

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

The MCB Quarterly Vol 4The Quarterly series: A quarterly eMagazine featuring queer short stories, interviews and artist/author features.

The Quarterly is an eMagazine of LGBTQ fiction – of all kinds. This volume features four short stories:
Finishing Touches by Rebecca Cohen
Repetition by J. Scott Coatsworth
Outpost by Dominick Domingo
The Wish Granter by L. Bellamy
It also includes an Interview with Brandilyn Carpenter talking about “What’s in a Review”, and a Featured Author section with Carole Cummings. And our very own Angel Martinez offers an Op-Ed on “Rehoming Lost Books.”

If you are not familiar with either this press or the eMagazine that Mischief Corner Press puts out, then its high time you make its acquaintance.  Full of fascinating articles, great interviews and stories that will send you running to seek out more by the authors (if they aren’t already on your TBR list).  This volume is no exception.

The first article is my Angel Martinez, full of advice to authors and future writers on what happens when publishing houses close and you are left without homes for your stories.  Its a fascinating glimpse into a situation that occurring often now sadly, and no matter what side of the page you are on,  it will leave you thinking.

And then the stories…those wonderful stories.  Four of them here, with the first being my favorite. That would be Finishing Touches by Rebecca Cohen, a author I love.

Finishing Touches, (5 Stars), tells the ‘touching’ story of an inventor and his assistant.  The descriptions of the shop were so imaginative and so perfect, that I was there in my mind from the beginning of the story.  But it was William and Marcus that really drew me in, plus the detailed lovely little mechanisms that one created that drew not only Marcus to them but me as well.  I felt myself leaning forward as though that could let me see further into them as though that was possible. I wanted more of everything of this world, workshop and this couple.  It was magical, in a totally non magical way.  Loved it.

Repetition by J. Scott Coatsworth (4 stars) A mind twister with no romantic plot lines so don’t expect any.  A shocker but a wonderful Moebius plot that will keep you  thinking involving time travel.  The less said about it the better.  No  spoilers.

Outpost by Dominick Domingo (5 stars)  Such a beautifully written story of a man full of regrets, a drifter who find that one place will finally lets him come to terms with parts of his past and allows him to move forward.  Again its the descriptions of the rundown old mining town in the Mojave Desert in 1965, the drifter Jake Preston,  old  Mabel Robins looking after her dying husband, and the rest of the dusty inhabitants of Cold Lake Lodge.  Its haunting, timeless, and the pain of these people stretches across the pages like the thin dry air they are breathing.

But here even the broken can find solace and mending.  Its believable, beautiful and memorable in every way.  Ok, two favorite stories.

The Wish Granter by L. Bellamy (3 stars)  A djinn in a bottle story.  I liked the characterizations just thought the ending felt rushed and the romances doubly so.  In fact I loved the first half of the story so much that when the second came about it felt as though I was reading two different tales.  Perhaps it was me.  Not sure, just didn’t connect with the turn about and the romance.

There was a bonus story buried within the Featured Author section with Carole Cummings, another favorite author of mine.  Cummings talks about speculative fiction, its history, what it means and then gives us ‘Fates Written In Indelible Ink’.  Yes, dragons.  Loved it.

Also a neat interview with a fellow reviewer, Brandilyn Carpenter talking about “What’s in a Review”, which I loved.

All that in one Quarterly  eMagazine.  No, you really can’t pass this up.  Stop by Mischief Corner Books and pick up a copy and check out their authors while you are there!

Cover art is perfect.  

Sales Links:  Mischief Corner Books LLC

Magazine Details:

ebook, First
Published April 13th 2016 by Mischief Corner Books, LLC
ISBN139781311536679
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Quarterly #4